Chapter 444: The Annihilated Azure Forest (3)

The Grand Library Master Yu Jeong-shin was alive.

He was not the only one who survived.

More people survived than expected.

There were about a hundred people.

They were hiding in a refuge.

The secret passage leading from the Five Flower Great Library led directly to the refuge where they hid.

“Su-rin!”

Someone greeted Yu Su-rin.

Yu Su-rin ran and threw herself into the Taoist’s embrace.

“Senior Uncle Do Seon!”

“You’re safe! Thank goodness!”

Do Seon was a large, kindly-looking Taoist.

He was the Snowflake Hermit Palace’s Bright Sun Pavilion Master and a first-generation disciple who led the Taoist flower disciples.

He looked leaner than before, his flesh thinned.

Jun Myung and Son Hee-il were the same.

They each reunited with surviving Azure Forest Disciples.

“Se-yeong and Yu Jun are dead. I saw them.”

“Yes, yes. That’s how it was.”

Tears finally burst from Yu Su-rin’s eyes.

It was a relief, and unquestionably a joy that more people survived than expected.

But it was only about a hundred.

Out of well over a thousand disciples, only a hundred survived. Too many had died.

In Azure Forest, where they had lived for so long, they now lay as snow-covered corpses, lonely and…

“Ugh!”

The disciples wept and shared their grief with one another.

Yi-gang and Dam Hyun stood a short distance away.

A few recognized them and greeted them, and they received the greetings with flowing bows.

The Grass Flower Hall Master and the Wisdom Sword Pavilion Master also came and patted Yi-gang’s shoulder after a long time.

They all looked exhausted.

And on each of their faces was the same thing: guilt.

There was no need to ask why.

Those who survive always suffer, mourning for those who died in their stead.

Seeing their bitter expressions, Yi-gang could not help but think.

‘Many survived… How?’

Although more than nine out of ten Azure Forest disciples had died, the fact that about a hundred survived was astonishing.

The traces of battle left in the sect were brutal.

The Evil Cult showed no mercy.

The resisting Azure Forest disciples were the same.

In the face of an attack on their sect, no one held back. They all resisted with everything they had.

‘They even managed to seize the Sealing Box.’

Yi-gang knew Azure Forest’s greatest duty.

Protecting the Sealing Box on White Cloud Peak from the Evil Cult was the most important duty.

But that Sealing Box had been taken.

That meant Azure Forest had tried everything and yet failed.

The Forest Lord, Azure Forest’s greatest master, lay dead on White Cloud Peak.

Seeing that, the current scene surprised Yi-gang.

“The Forest Lord sacrificed himself for us.”

Yu Jeong-shin placed a hand on Yi-gang’s shoulder.

Yi-gang looked back at his master.

He was a master Yi-gang hadn’t seen much since he got older.

But that gentle smile remained unchanged.

Years had settled like dust, but the warm gaze that looked on his young, ailing disciple remained the same.

“The most powerful Cardinal of the Evil Cult, Heuk-am, came. He brought hundreds of cultists who can use Power Borrowing.”

Yi-gang clearly understood the danger of Power Borrowing.

Moreover, Heuk-am himself was likely stronger than the Forest Lord.

“The Forest Lord tried to evacuate me and several disciples.”

Though he tried to speak calmly, Yu Jeong-shin’s voice trembled slightly.

“About a hundred people, myself included, were the ones he aimed to save.”

The Forest Lord had made arrangements.

To save a portion of the disciples.

“You may not know, but the fourth-generation disciples were admitted about five years ago. He sent those children home. Blood would’ve surely flown otherwise.”

He excommunicated the children who could not fight.

“After that, he chose those who would die. Everyone wanted to stay by the Forest Lord’s side, but the Forest Lord would not allow it.”

Yu Jeong-shin also wanted to stay.

But the Forest Lord sent out about a hundred disciples.

“If they all died there, Azure Forest would be finished. the Forest Lord stayed on White Cloud Peak to fulfill his duty to the end.”

The Forest Lord could not have fled.

He succeeded in saving some disciples through his and the disciples’ sacrifice.

As the person responsible, Yu Jeong-shin set up a barrier here and hid several disciples and forbidden treasures.

Was this refuge meant to preserve Azure Forest’s lineage?

“We did not preserve our lives merely to survive.”

Yu Jeong-shin firmly denied that.

“We have become a single dagger.”

Though the world fell under the Evil Cult, there remained those who would resist to the end.

That was Azure Forest.

And Azure Forest concealed its final blade of about a hundred disciples.

“Thus, we have gathered here, waiting for the moment to strike one last time.”

Yu Jeong-shin’s face was filled with a resolve Yi-gang had never seen before.

When Yi-gang kept looking at him, Yu Jeong-shin suddenly smiled sheepishly.

“I heard you achieved something. That you reached the Absolute Realm?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“The pupil surpasses the master indeed. Ha ha, shall we see your skill?”

Yu Jeong-shin was naturally curious.

After so long, what achievement had his disciple attained?

When Yi-gang nodded, Yu Jeong-shin loudly called out.

“Senior Brother Do-gang, Senior Brother Do-seon. Come and see!”

Do-gang was the Wisdom Sword Pavilion Master and Azure Forest’s foremost swordsman.

Do-seon, being the Bright Sun Pavilion Master, could be called Azure Forest’s top sorcerer.

They gathered to witness Yi-gang’s skill.

The problem was that not only they, but most of the hundred disciples had come to watch.

It was loud, like entertainers arriving at a marketplace.

Yi-gang realized this was the elders’ plan.

Yu Jeong-shin and the Senior Uncles wanted to show the disciples how strong their returning elite disciple, Yi-gang, had become.

“Then, I’ll show you the modest achievements I’ve gained.”

Yi-gang made up his mind because of that.

He vowed to do his best to demonstrate what he had gained.

Do-gang and Do-seon fully knew that Yi-gang had reached the Absolute Realm.

They displayed Azure Forest’s ultimate arts without reserve.

A sharp sword aura surged at Yi-gang’s whole body.

Blade-like spells flew in from all directions.

Ka-ka-kang!

They moved like lightning and made thunderous noises.

It didn’t take long before Do-gang and Do-seon were knocked down.

“Ugh!”

Do-gang rolled, covered in dust.

Do-seon had his hands on the ground, panting.

A cold silence settled.

Even without using Power Borrowing, their martial arts and spellcraft ranked among the best of the survivors.

But Yi-gang easily defeated them.

He hadn’t even used his Supreme Ultimate Technique.

With the single Shooting Star Fang in his hand, and White Fang flying about as if alive.

That alone was enough to subdue the two masters.

“How impressive, Yi-gang.”

Do-gang said that, and the heavy silence was thoroughly broken.

“Waaaaa!”

“Amazing!”

The Azure Forest disciples chanted Yi-gang’s name.

Shouts and excitement filled the hall.

A range of disciples from first-generation to third-generation were gathered.

Younger disciples were especially excited by Yi-gang’s performance.

“The Immortal Divine Dragon, as expected of the Immortal Divine Dragon!”

“That was an old title, now he’s the Blue-Eyed Sword Immortal!”

Many talked about Yi-gang’s somewhat embarrassing old nicknames.

Yi-gang’s fame from the martial world actually echoed even more loudly within Azure Forest.

To the Martial Flower disciples and Taoist Flower disciples who didn’t leave the sect, Yi-gang was nothing less than a hero.

Yi-gang realized this only after returning to Azure Forest.

“With the return of my disciple, we have another chance!”

When Yu Jeong-shin said that, the cheers grew louder.

Young disciples approached Yi-gang to greet him, and those who used swords asked him about the subtleties of swordplay.

He didn’t know how effective his advice would be here, but Yi-gang helped the disciples earnestly.

It took quite some time until all the clustered disciples had left.

Yi-gang felt somewhat tired.

Honestly, it was more tiring than sparring with Do-seon and Do-gang.

“Your sword has reached the realm of Five Energies Converging to the Origin.”

Do-gang said that with a serious face.

“It was just luck.”

“Stop with the modesty, back then I should have taken you as my disciple.”

Do-gang had once suggested Yi-gang become his Martial Flower disciple.

His stern expression and fierce gaze remained unchanged.

Similarly, Do-seon who had once invited Yi-gang to become a Taoist Flower disciple chided him.

“What are you saying, Senior Brother? If that had happened, Yi-gang would have surpassed his master. Would you have been fine with that heartache?”

“Just as a disciple learns from a master, a master also learns from a disciple. If that had been so, I might have reached the Absolute Realm too.”

Do-gang had been Azure Forest’s top swordsman many years ago.

Even he ultimately never set foot in the Absolute Realm. It was that difficult.

“You are our hope.”

Do-gang said that with a bitter expression.

Yi-gang’s expression was not good either.

His master Yu Jeong-shin noticed it.

“You don’t look well.”

Yi-gang hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

His voice was low enough for only his master to hear.

“I wondered what good any of this would do.”

“Aren’t they even stronger?”

No matter how strong Yi-gang’s martial arts were, could he really be stronger than the Forest Lord?

If even the Forest Lord had been killed by Heuk-am, there were limits to what Yi-gang could do.

“I heard that not only the Cardinal but those under him also use Power Borrowing.”

Yi-gang had met and fought Pagoda Bearing Heavenly King. To be exact, a Evil Cult follower empowered by Pagoda Bearing Heavenly King’s Power Borrowing.

Someone of little innate power used the borrowed power of a Inescapable to stop Yi-gang.

If not for Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon, he might not have escaped the Inescapable Net.

“Humans inevitably have limits. I don’t know how a mere human like me can fight and win against those who are not human.”

Moreover, Zhang Sanfeng’s last words.

The insurmountable wall spoken of by the absolute masters who ruled the world weighed heavily on Yi-gang’s heart.

“…There is something Sanfeng Jin-in told me.”

Yi-gang told Yu Jeong-shin about Zhang Sanfeng.

Yu Jeong-shin looked surprised at first, then nodded.

“I understand your worry.”

Yu Jeong-shin was not ignorant of it either.

But he already had a plan.

“Therefore, there is a place where you can go further. Aren’t you all elite disciples?”

Yi-gang pulled Dam Hyun, who was sitting nearby, closer.

Dam Hyun raised a finger to point at himself.

“Me too?”

“Yes, come and sit here too.”

Dam Hyun sat down beside Yi-gang.

“Originally, there were teachings meant for elite disciples to inherit. But you were carrying out missions outside the sect, so I couldn’t teach you.”

A master’s role above all is to teach disciples.

Yu Jeong-shin, though late, intended to fulfill that duty.

“It’s time for you to learn Power Borrowing as well.”

All elite disciples learn Power Borrowing.

Yu Su-rin had also learned that Power Borrowing.

Dam Hyun and Yi-gang, being elite disciples, had no reason they couldn’t learn it.

“Is that something that can be learned so suddenly?”

In fact, Yi-gang had already done similar things to Power Borrowing through the possession of a soul fragment.

But their mechanics and essence were quite different.

The power Yi-gang borrowed was not the immortal Zhang Sanfeng but the human Zhang Sanfeng’s soul fragment.

“Of course it’s impossible.”

Yu Jeong-shin said that bluntly.

Just when one wondered what he meant, he added another remark.

“That would be true ordinarily. But I’m sure you two are no ordinary talents.”

He was confident that Yi-gang and Dam Hyun could achieve results in a short time.

Whether he could live up to that confidence, Yi-gang did not know, but he nodded.

“The most important issue in Power Borrowing is whose power you borrow. First…”

“And Master?”

Dam Hyun interjected.

“Master, from whom do you borrow power?”

Dam Hyun’s question made Yi-gang suddenly curious too.

Yu Jeong-shin chuckled softly.

“Me, you ask?”

It was as gentle as a Buddha’s smile.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep