Fast!

Fire Ape felt a chill slide down the spine at Yeon Hojeong’s footwork.

It wasn’t movement arts.

It was footwork.

Fire Ape couldn’t react in time—but Fire Ape could still see what kind of lightness technique Yeon Hojeong was using.

What kind of footwork is that?

Fire Ape had never even heard of something like it.

Footwork, put simply, was a way of walking.

In martial arts, it was interpreted as a kind of body movement meant to maximize advantage in offense and defense. It wasn’t a running method like movement arts that carried you across long distances. It was a single technique—one that created favorable situations for attacking, defending, and evading.

That was why people rarely learned footwork in isolation. Most of the time it was trained alongside weapon techniques or barehanded striking.

Whatever it is... he’s strong.

Fire Ape’s eyes wavered.

This strong...?

Mysterious footwork never seen before—and an overwhelming pressure that wrapped around the entire area.

Then does that mean I couldn’t even read his strength this whole time?!

A level where even Inner Qi—no, even the strength and weakness of martial arts—could be perfectly concealed.

He broke through the wall of martial arts!

Yeon Hojeong looked down at Ape Leg.

With eyes as cold as a winter snowwind, Ape Leg almost screamed by reflex.

“I’ve never liked you.”

Yeon Hojeong raised a hand.

WOOOOONG.

A sharp force rose from the hand.

Using True Qi, Yeon Hojeong manifested weapon-like sword aura. The Azure Dragon Qi wrapped around the entire hand-blade, shaping into a long, narrow form.

It wasn’t a blade.

A spear?!

Fire Ape shouted, “Stop, right now!”

THUNK!

Ape Leg’s eyes bulged as if they would split. Hands and feet trembled violently.

“Sorry, but.”

A thin line cut across the throat—across the Adam’s apple, across the neck bone. The “hand-spear” force ripped through the medulla and the brain itself.

Yeon Hojeong flicked the hand.

Blood sprayed outward from the blue-green True Qi.

“I don’t make empty threats.”

Ape Leg coughed up blood several times—

—and then went limp.

“......!!”

The atmosphere /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ in the estate dropped off a cliff.

Dead.

He really killed Ape Leg.

All because Ape Leg showed Killing Intent.

Yeon Hojeong looked at Fire Ape with icy eyes.

“You...!!”

Fire Ape’s body flared with a pressure that wasn’t normal.

But Fire Ape couldn’t easily strike.

It was hard to believe, but the opponent was a Transcendent Peak master who had broken through the wall of martial arts.

On a battlefield full of variables, maybe. But in a head-on fight, winning would be difficult. And behind Fire Ape was Yeon Hojeong’s group.

They were masters, too—none of them ordinary. The odds of winning were close to zero.

“I told you before. If you’re a guard, act like one and keep your house secure. We’re not under the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor yet, so we don’t need to follow his orders.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

It was a terrifying smile. The mouth curved, but the pressure pouring in like a waterfall was soaked in Killing Intent beyond imagination.

“And I told you this too. If you glare at me like that, I’ll rip your eyes out.”

“......!”

“You’re next. Stick your head out nicely. Wouldn’t want your skull to come off while I’m pulling your eyes.”

Fire Ape felt gooseflesh explode across the skin.

This lunatic!

This was a real madman.

Calling Yeon Hojeong a raving maniac, a mad demon—none of it was enough. Even with some kind of deal with the lord, pulling something like this in Ink Dragon Manor’s front yard was insane.

“Come here.”

Yeon Hojeong held out a hand.

A proud gesture—like demanding property be handed over.

“Stick your head out. Unless you want to die.”

“......Was it you?”

“I said stick your head out.”

Fire Ape shrieked, almost convulsively.

“Wasn’t it you who diverted the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate heir?!”

Yeon Hojeong answered bluntly.

“Sounds like you want to end up like your subordinate.”

“......!!”

“If that’s what you want, fine.”

Yeon Hojeong stepped forward, one step at a time.

WHAM!

A cool breeze carried a horrific Killing Intent.

It was monstrous.

The kind of maddened murderous intent only a true devil who killed like eating would have.

Ga Deoksang looked at Pae Yul.

“How are we handling this?”

“I don’t know, you beggar bastard.”

“That man... even if it’s staged, it’s way too vicious. If he really kills her, then what?!”

Pae Yul’s eyes sharpened.

Staged?

No way.

Pae Yul knew it. That kind of Killing Intent couldn’t be faked.

Even for someone who had broken through the wall of martial arts—same thing. That wasn’t just Inner Qi carrying intent outward. It was Killing Intent born from the genuine heart of someone who committed murder like eating.

Tsk.

What kind of life did that bastard live, to be able to spill something that terrifying?

This won’t do.

Pae Yul stepped forward.

“Wait.”

Yeon Hojeong’s foot paused.

Pae Yul spoke in a calm voice that didn’t suit Pae Yul at all.

“I don’t like that monkey bitch either, but you already killed one. Why not stop here?”

Yeon Hojeong frowned.

It was an expression of displeasure.

And Fire Ape saw it clearly.

Pae Yul smacked the lips.

“Wasn’t this kind of role supposed to be mine? When you rampage like that, it makes me feel off.”

“......”

“Hold back. We still have to consider the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor’s face.”

“......Haa.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a sigh.

Slip.

The air that had been boiling hot returned to its earlier coolness. Yeon Hojeong erased the Killing Intent.

Yeon Hojeong spoke to Fire Ape.

“You should know you’re lucky.”

Fire Ape bit down on the lip.

Yeon Hojeong kicked Ape Leg’s corpse. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

THUNK!

The kick was so hard the body flew over the wall.

“Aaaagh!”

“W-what is that?!”

“A corpse!”

Outside the wall, chaos erupted instantly. A corpse had just dropped into a path where people passed by—of course they’d panic.

Was this how a tyrant drunk on madness behaved?

Everyone except Pae Yul was startled by that violent act.

Yeon Hojeong said coldly, “So. What did you say?”

“Gh-gh-ghost iron....”

Cultivating martial arts naturally strengthened the mind. But was it because this scene was so far beyond imagination? Fire Ape’s voice trembled without meaning to.

Fire Ape hurriedly cleared the throat.

“Was it you who diverted the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate heir?”

“You. Your name was Fire Ape, right?”

“......?”

“If you ever come to me again, and you bring something you haven’t even confirmed—then I’ll tear you apart for real.”

A chill shot through the whole body.

There was no Killing Intent on display—yet the words felt even more vicious. Because this madman had just killed a subordinate in front of everyone.

Fire Ape ground the teeth.

Even after hearing that, Fire Ape still couldn’t avoid confirming it again.

“Th-then... you don’t know the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate heir?”

Yeon Hojeong snorted in bleak disbelief.

“Who told you that? That I hid away some Ghost-Iron Sword Gate heir?”

“.......”

“And before that—didn’t you say Ghost-Iron Sword Gate was annihilated?”

Fire Ape’s eyes shook.

“How do you know that?”

“How do I know? Walk one lap around the market and it goes straight into your ears.”

“.......”

“Annihilation of a sect means the sect is finished. Doesn’t that mean everyone died—from the leadership down to the heir? The heir survived?”

A furrowed face. A vague gaze.

Even through fear, Fire Ape caught a faint trace of genuine confusion in Yeon Hojeong’s face.

What? He really doesn’t know?

Fire Ape didn’t want to believe it.

To be precise—Fire Ape couldn’t imagine anyone else being the culprit but Yeon Hojeong. The timing was the timing, and Yeon Hojeong had too many suspicious points.

And even if Fire Ape hadn’t seen through Yeon Hojeong’s true strength, Fire Ape had heard the lord praised Yeon Hojeong heavily. If that was the case, Yeon Hojeong was obviously a master with significant cultivation.

So Fire Ape pushed.

More honestly—Fire Ape also wanted to vent the fury of losing subordinates.

Fire Ape had never imagined that choice would create a situation like this.

“So why are you so sure I captured this so-called heir?”

“Th-that’s....”

Yeon Hojeong’s expression turned cold.

This time even Pae Yul had no choice but to glare at Fire Ape with murderous eyes.

Ga Deoksang let out a small laugh.

“You came to see how we’d react.”

Fire Ape realized too late and tried to fix the face. Of course, it was far too late.

“That’s not it! Changsha’s informants said you were suspicious—!”

“Besides me, how many other suspicious people were there?”

Fire Ape couldn’t answer.

In truth, if you listed everyone who’d been labeled suspicious, there was no telling how many lists you’d need.

Ga Deoksang spoke in a mocking tone.

“I heard Dark Path’s information power was a cut above the Orthodox Path. But looking at this, it’s not that you’re good at information—you’re just bastards who manipulate it however you like.”

“That’s—!”

“I heard something once. In one village, they say people’s prayers reach the sky without fail. If they pray for rain, they keep praying until rain comes—so they say the success rate is ten out of ten.”

“.......”

“Isn’t what you people do the same thing?”

Ga Deoksang turned to Yeon Hojeong.

“Hey. What are you going to do about this? Are you really going to keep dealing with the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor? From where I’m standing, it looks flashy on the outside but hollow as hell.”

“Yeah,” Yeon Hojeong said. “I’m starting to regret it.”

Yeon Hojeong didn’t take the eyes off Fire Ape.

“I already hated the way those guards they attached to us kept getting under my skin, but now you pin us as the culprit without even being sure... Forget information power—does that mean the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor is so incompetent he can’t even train his own people properly?”

Fire Ape’s face flushed red.

Anger, and shame.

Fire Ape never imagined a single action would lead to the lord being judged like that.

Maybe it was because the rising emotion was impossible to suppress—Fire Ape shouted without thinking.

“Watch your mouth! This was just me venting—it has nothing to do with the lord—!”

Fire Ape couldn’t even finish.

Only then did Fire Ape realize that the outburst was basically an admission of fault.

HOOF!

The air heated violently.

It wasn’t Yeon Hojeong’s earlier, blood-soaked Killing Intent.

It was Pae Yul’s and Ga Deoksang’s—Tang Sang-a’s and Je Gal Ahyeon’s—Killing Intent slamming in all at once, forcibly dragging the temperature of the air upward.

Yeon Hojeong’s expression went flat.

Even the gaze.

“Today’s matter will be reported to the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor exactly as it happened.”

“.......”

“Now get out. Withdraw your unit, all of it.”

Fire Ape chewed the lip, then fled the estate as if running away.

WHOOOOM.

The air that had been blazing hot slowly settled back down.

Ga Deoksang clicked the tongue.

“I was trying to lighten the mood, but seeing that mess... now I’m actually not sure. Isn’t this organization looser than we thought?”

Pae Yul shook the head.

“Even in a temple you get murderers, and even in a daoist shrine you get thieves. Don’t underestimate Ink Dragon Manor just because there’s one bitch like that.”

“Tsk. Yeah, sure, but...”

Ga Deoksang looked at Yeon Hojeong with curious eyes.

“Hey, Brother Yeon. What’s this Ghost-Iron Sword Gate heir talk? Did you really do it?”

Yeon Hojeong stared at the front gate without speaking.

Not just Fire Ape’s presence—every trace of the Fire Ape Unit was receding.

“......Sharp bitch.”