Chapter 262: Emergence of the Divine Dragon

The Yue Maiden Sword Sutra is inherently awkward.

For every single form, the most suitable blade—in length, weight, and shape—differs completely. There were even some forms she hadn’t touched at all.

It didn’t even distinguish between a sword and a saber. Hadn’t Namgung Shinjae mentioned it? Perhaps it was because it was a sword art from the distant past, when the two weren’t considered different, simply called ‘blades’.

Hmph. 'Sword Brother,' 'Sword Acquaintance,' whatever. Next it'll be 'Sword Stranger,' then probably 'Sword Enemy.'

He seemed knowledgeable about swords, but he was wrong this time.

It wasn’t that the Yue Maiden Sword required various blades.

It was simply that whatever was held in the hand became the sword.

Long branches, short branches, swaying willow twigs, fire pokers, iron rods—even without an edge, single-sided or double-sided, whatever was held in the hand was the sword.

Suddenly, Qing realized she was standing before a wall.

A wall so high it filled her entire vision.

A barrier built up to the very heavens, cutting off the world, making it impossible to know what existed beyond, impossible to even dare look over.

She saw a massive iron gate set into it.

It was so wide she’d have to sprint to cross its breadth, and countless enormous hinges, each twice the width of her own torso, stretched dizzyingly upwards.

Qing let out a chuckle.

Despite its imposing appearance, the little things stuck all over it caught her eye.

Prohibition notices of all shapes and languages were plastered haphazardly—it wasn't exactly modern art.

Alright. So this must be that whole 'crossing the wall' thing, huh?

There really is a wall? If I open the gate and go out, I'll be in the Transcendent Realm, right?

Well then, gotta go.

Qing clapped her hands together, dusting them off, then pressed both palms firmly against the gate.

She pushed with all her might.

Greeeeeeeak—the gate groaned a dull scream.

Qing pushed the gate with every ounce of her strength.

And then, suddenly, a voice.

"Hey there. Planning on going beyond?"

Qing turned her head. A young girl, holding a beautifully shaped branch, was looking at her. The branch was so perfectly formed that even though it was just a piece of wood, it inspired envy.

Hmm, could this be Jiutian Xuannü? [^(Deity associated with Yue Maiden Sword Technique)]

The young girl spoke again. "Does that matter? But really, are you going out? Do you even know what’s out there? Aren’t you scared? Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘It’s dangerous outside the blanket’? If it’s dangerous outside the blanket, are you really going out there?"

Qing hesitated.

Uh. This. Maybe this is a bit dangerous.

At that, the girl burst into giggles.

"Beyond lies a world of starlight. Here. Listen."

"Listen to the great malice waiting just beyond, eagerly anticipating devouring you."

From beyond the wall, a colossal roar shook the very earth. A howl like malice itself.

It was calling for Qing.

"Come quickly. I am waiting for you."

It was a voice threatening that the paltry pains she had felt in her life were mere child's play, incomparable to true suffering; a voice vowing to trap her in an eternal agony where she couldn't even die, even if all her organs were torn out and displayed one by one.

Qing’s legs trembled violently. Not just her legs.

Her hands, her body, her jaw—she couldn’t control the shaking, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. She was scared, terrified of what lurked beyond.

"See?" the girl asked. "Isn't it better to just wait quietly?"

"If you wait, won't a solution eventually come your way? A mission to reach the Transcendent Realm will appear someday. Don't bother trying to cross this wall when you don't know what lurks beyond, when you can't even peek a hair's breadth. Just wait safely inside here."

But though Qing trembled, she didn't collapse, didn't crumple to the ground.

Qing looked at the girl again. And shook her head.

"What the hell. I actually thought you were Jiutian Xuannü for a second. Guess not. "

Instantly, the girl shot up, taking the form of a woman. An incredibly beautiful maiden—the one always reflected in the mirror, the startling beauty that surprised her every time she looked. A beauty that never grew tiresome, always thrilling.

Qing held out her hand towards her reflection. "Give it here."

But Qing's mirror image shook her head, backing away, trying to dissuade her.

"Not yet. Let's wait. If we wait, it will be resolved."

"Can you really handle that, the malice beyond?"

Though still trembling, Qing smiled.

"Asked you to give it, but you won’t. Even if you don’t, it’s mine anyway, right?"

And then, somehow, a sword was in Qing's hand.

A shabby, rusted, broken half-sword.

Right. It's been a while. The Moonlight Sword must be getting hungry. I guess I’ve been neglectful and haven’t fed it.

Tomorrow is always frightening. Unknown malice always resided in tomorrow.

But had she ever known what tomorrow held in advance?

Yet the reason she hadn't died, couldn't die, was the thought that tomorrow might be okay. Yes.

Maybe tomorrow, I can catch a rat with this. Maybe I can impress some kind-hearted passerby and get a silver sycee. If I gather enough Training Points and raise it by one star, maybe I can even kill that King Beggar bastard.

So it would be okay.

When had she not been afraid? Just as she had managed well so far, she could continue to do well.

Qing raised her hand high.

Still afraid, still trembling, but somehow, somehow, it felt like it would work out. Because she thought she could do it.

Qing's hand fell.

The Moonlight Sword scattered a chillingly blue moonlight.

A crack appeared on the massive barrier.

Guuuuung—the sound of the world tilting. Slowly, backwards, the colossal barrier toppled, fell—Kwaaa-rung—the sound of a world collapsing. Thick dust filled everything between heaven and earth.

As it gradually began to settle, beyond it…

"What the. There’s nothing here. It was no big deal after all."

Qing gave a faint, pretty smile.

<Read at Celestial Pavilion>

Ximen Surin shot up from her seat.

Like this, so suddenly?

The experts in the special seating area all rose as well, watching with bated breath as a young martial artist finally broke out of her shell.

A faint starlight, revealing itself to the world for the first time—the moment a martial artist, through their own mental landscape, achieved self-illumination, whole and complete.

The audience held its breath.

They knew nothing of martial arts intricacies, but they understood that something extraordinary was happening at this moment.

Because it was the birth of a star, the moment a new star found its place in the vast cosmos and unleashed its colors for the very first time.

And so, the divine presence let out its first cry.

Instantly, the watching crowd gasped—Huk—expelling all the air from their lungs at once.

All that remained was a single sword.

There was clearly a woman holding the sword, yet looking at the woman, the sword was unseen; looking at the sword, the woman was unseen. There was no distinction between the two—person and sword were one, a figure perfected as a sword wielder holding a sword.

Person-as-sword, sword-as-person, danced.

Inside Qing’s dantian, clusters of True Qi collided, crumpled, and crushed against each other, yet clamored frantically to be the first one out.

The moment of first coalescing into starlight—a moment that neither the Daoist path's immortal energy nor the Demonic Arts' Demonic Qi could ever afford to miss, for it was the proof of existence. Thus, all True Qi was released at once.

Gently undulating, a slow sword swirled violently. Sword Force of various colors—a warm yellow like the setting sun, the hopeful green of spring, a pitch-black, tenacious resentment, a chillingly white and cold frost. And a crimson, lewd beyond compare. Petals of five colors unfurled.

Obangsaek, the Five Cardinal Colors—the five fundamentals from which all colors arise, representing all the colors under heaven.

Thousands, tens of thousands of strands of Sword Force scattered like flower petals, drifting and flowing, tumbling playfully amongst themselves, swirling and soaring, a dance of colors illuminating the entire surroundings in sheer brilliance.

Truly a magnificent sight one wished would last forever.

But beauty is always fleeting, destined eventually to wither and fade.

The colors that filled heaven and earth vanished without a trace.

Ahhh—a collective sigh burst simultaneously from everyone, the world filled with regret.

And at the center of it all, Qing opened her eyes.

"Whew. Well, that wasn't such a big deal."

"Young Lady Ximen? Just now, what on earth…?" Gongson Yoye's voice trembled with excitement.

She couldn't believe the spectacle she had just witnessed.

"That technique just now, what in the world was that?"

Seeing Gongson Yoye pressing her urgently, Qing merely tilted her head.

"Huh? Did I do something? Sorry, did I just zone out during the match? Anyway, I crossed the wall, get it? You're looking at Transcendent Qing now. Call me Transcendent Qing, got it? Wanna go again—"

Qing staggered and collapsed.

Just like when she finished her Lithe Grace Refinement training, every muscle in her body simultaneously went on strike, screaming as if pleading, ‘This is the limit, just kill me already.’

"Uh, huh?"

Qing tried to circulate her True Qi to force herself up, but panicked at her completely empty dantian. Truly, not even a handful of True Qi, not even the faintest wisp of internal energy drawn with a breath, remained. Her dantian was wiped clean.

Having never emptied her dantian to this extent in her life, Qing couldn't help but be flustered.

All that remained was the rock-solid lump of Sky-Rending Demonic Energy, stubbornly stuck and unresponsive. Not that it mattered, since she couldn't use it anyway. But even the tiny fraction that used to move was gone too. What? Does reaching the Transcendent Realm reset your resources or something?

Instead of filling resources, it empties them?

"Um. Hey. I don't think I can continue the match. Sorry. Just when things were getting exciting, I guess I have to withdraw. Hey, Mister Referee-"

Just as Qing was about to call the referee to declare her defeat—

Rumble rumble—with a vibration, the floating stage began to shake and sway, then—Crash!—it collapsed and scattered.

Splash! Qing fell into the waters of the Grand Canal.

Fortunately, large and small pieces of broken wood littered the surface, floating about. Qing reached out to grab a sturdy-looking piece to hang onto, when—

Not a chance! It felt as though all of Qing's muscles screamed it.

She had unconsciously unleashed divine power far beyond her realm, subjecting her entire body's muscles to torture-level exertion.

Qing's muscles unleashed their resentment upon their owner. The muscles' revenge manifested as cramps—one of the world's most horrific pains, colloquially known as 'getting a mouse'.

"Gah! Cramp! Cramp! Glub, blub, gulp—Cramp! Help me!"

Not just her arms and legs, but her shoulder, back, and even neck muscles spasmed wildly, venting their grudge. Even her jaw muscles—why, can you even get a cramp in your jaw?!

Qing didn't know it, but jaw cramps are surprisingly common. Eating too enthusiastically can sometimes cause them.

What Qing should have been surprised about wasn't her jaw, but her abs. Cramps in the rectus abdominis are truly rare.

"Ugh, glub, gurgle, pah, keok, gack."

With her jaw muscles spasming, Qing couldn't even scream properly, only swallowing water until her stomach felt ready to burst. Then water shot up her nose, her airway burning like fire, her mind a complete blank. Help, somebody help…

As Qing faded into unconsciousness, she thought she saw her Master's face.

It was a grand and miserable end to the tournament match.

Originally, the schedule dictated that the winner and runner-up would offer greetings after the tournament concluded.

However, thanks to Qing demolishing the floating stage far too quickly, that part of the schedule was scrapped.

As an aside, the Murim Alliance organizing committee members let out truly heartfelt screams.

First, the members of the Military Affairs Department screamed because the entire schedule was ruined, requiring them to replan everything from scratch and manage the crowds.

And the General Affairs Department, which had planned to carefully dismantle the floating stage and sell off the lumber, couldn't even scream, struck dumb by cosmic horror.

"Huh, me? I did that?" Qing blinked.

Sword Body Unification? Me? Merged with a sword?

Does that even make sense?

How can a person merge with a sword?

Seeing 'that expression' on Qing's face, Ximen Surin despaired.

This one's hopeless.

It seemed something deep within her had simply spilled out once by chance while she was lost in a trance.

Still, even if she didn't remember it, having manifested it with her body once was undoubtedly auspicious, a good thing.

And she was an incredibly praiseworthy disciple for having achieved the Transcendent Realm regardless.

With this, the record for the youngest Transcendent was also broken.

The female martial artist Ximen Qing, having achieved it at precisely the age of twenty—her coming of age—would remain eternally immortalized in Murim history!

Fortunately, Qing's disgraceful display was not recorded.

The youngest winner of the Hidden Dragon Tournament, the first female martial artist winner, and the simultaneous breaker of records for the youngest Transcendent martial artist and the youngest female martial artist to reach the realm—the owner of these wondrous achievements had immediately suffered a full-body muscle rebellion and nearly drowned. It was an unbelievably disgraceful spectacle.

Thankfully, Ximen Surin, who had been keeping a close eye on Qing's condition, immediately flew over on her sword and fished her out, her disciple-locating skills—honed by precision targeting with nuclear weapons—proving invaluable.

Otherwise, Murim history might have recorded its most tragic tale.

If only that Divine Maiden Sect disciple hadn't drowned back then, wouldn't the second Celestial Martial Emperor—or perhaps Celestial Martial Empress—have emerged?—those kinds of meaningless 'what ifs' about past history.

(T/N) IT FINALLY HAPPENED. YOOOOO. OH MY GOODNESS AHHH 😭🙏💓✌🎀😫✨🙏 OUR QING IS TRANSCENDENT! AHHHH!!! 💓💓