HOOOOOOONG.

The late-winter wind had quieted down considerably, but spring had still not come.

Even bundled in fur clothes, the weather was cold. In that cold, Tang Sang-a stood on the training ground in light martial attire, her eyes closed.

Sssup. Hooo.

Unlike her usual long, calm breathing, her breaths were very short and deep.

.......

How much time passed like that?

Riiip.

A small piece of paper fixed to the wall fluttered in the freezing wind, then tore loose and flew away.

In that instant, Tang Sang-a’s eyes flashed open.

FWIIIIING!

With a sharp sound, two iron coins flew out, drawing arcs to the left and right.

THUD! CLANG!

A hole opened cleanly through the center of the flying paper. The two iron coins had punched through the same spot with a slight delay between them. After piercing the paper, the iron coins embedded themselves in the wall with a sharp metallic ring.

Flutter!

The pierced paper flew even higher.

Tang Sang-a let out a sigh.

“I still can’t control the force.”

Her hidden-weapon techniques were extremely refined. Her properly trained eye, her supple wrist, and even the formless net of qi she spread like a spiderweb—none of them were lacking.

The one thing she lacked was control over the output of her Inner Qi.

I still can’t do it. Was I lacking effort?

That could not be true.

Many things had happened in the Martial Alliance during that time, but Tang Sang-a had kept herself apart and devoted herself to training. Of course, since she belonged to the Demon-Sweeping Corps, she had never skipped joint training, but aside from that, she had trained so intensely she even forgot mealtimes.

Perhaps because of that, her martial arts had entered a realm different from a few months ago.

But martial arts, like countless other studies, made one’s flaws more visible the higher one climbed.

That was why Tang Sang-a was growing more and more obsessed with training. As she reached higher levels, she felt her weaknesses more clearly, and so she sought to make up for them.

She watched the paper drifting away.

I thought I could do it this time.

She had not been trying to pierce the center of the paper. Her intention had been to press the center down, send the iron coin into the wall, and pin the paper there.

One might ask what the difference was, but to Tang Sang-a, it was the difference between taking another step forward at a decisive moment and stagnating. The reason was simple: the act itself required extremely delicate Inner Qi control.

Only when she became capable of Inner Qi control that delicate could she, upon reaching higher ground, manifest more diverse martial principles. In other words, she would become stronger.

Tang Sang-a drew in a deep breath.

“Whether it’s effort or talent, if I’m lacking, I have to acknowledge that I’m lacking. If I can’t do it, I just have to keep going until I can.”

She shook off her disappointment cleanly. Like everyone else who had grown, she, too, seemed to have grown greatly.

And the driving force of that growth lay in the reestablishment of a relationship.

FWIIIIING! CHING!

Tang Sang-a’s eyes widened.

An iron coin that had flown from somewhere curved through the air, caught the paper, and pinned it to the wall with a THUNK.

There it was—the ideal Inner Qi control she had wanted. And in this Martial Alliance, only one person was capable of such high-level hidden-weapon techniques.

“It is not a problem of Inner Qi.”

Tang Sang-a turned around.

Tang Gwan was walking toward her, hands clasped behind his back.

“Father.”

Tang Gwan spoke in his uniquely stiff voice.

“Broaden your field of vision.”

“Yes?”

Though the two of them still did not perfectly understand each other, their relationship had clearly improved greatly. That was why Tang Sang-a had been able to devote herself to training without wavering.

Even so, the conflict that had built up between them had been too deep. That was why Tang Sang-a had not been able to easily ask her father for instruction.

“Inner Qi is the product of intent. Therefore, the subject that moves Inner Qi is this as well.”

Tang Gwan tapped his own head with a finger.

Will, intent, concentration.

Tang Sang-a asked carefully, “Are you saying I failed to concentrate more deeply...?”

“Your concentration is sufficient. But you overlooked one thing.”

“Yes?”

“If Inner Qi is controlled by intent, then the Inner Qi one has accumulated is also the product of intent. But what is that intent connected to?”

“......?”

“This.”

Tang Gwan pressed his thumb against the pit of his stomach several times.

Tang Sang-a’s eyes shone.

The head, and then the chest.

“The upper dantian, and then the middle dantian?”

“There is no need to go that far. What matters is that the nature of your Inner Qi can change subtly depending on your state of mind.”

“The nature can change? My Inner Qi has advanced, but its nature is the same as before...”

Tang Gwan stared at Tang Sang-a without saying anything.

He was not exactly glaring. It was closer to a steady gaze. But Tang Sang-a felt strangely embarrassed.

“Wait a moment.”

Tang Sang-a closed her eyes and focused her mind on her Inner Qi.

It’s the same, though?

It was the internal force of the Guiding-Reversal Three-Yang Return-to-Origin Art that she had personally learned from her grandfather. Thanks to her grandfather transferring force through her body with an extremely minute amount of Inner Qi, the quality of the Inner Qi she had accumulated so far had risen at terrifying speed. But that did not mean this Inner Qi was her grandfather’s Inner Qi, did it?

Tang Sang-a opened her eyes again, about to ask her father a question, then stopped herself.

He didn’t say that for no reason. I’m just the one who hasn’t seen it.

She believed in her father’s ability. Though their relationship had become twisted beyond measure, her father’s skill was real. Even among the heads of the Six Great Clans, he would likely lack nothing when contending for the very top.

If her father said it was so, then it was so. She looked at her own Inner Qi a little more deeply, a little more seriously.

A moment later.

......Huh?

Tang Sang-a’s eyes flashed open. They were dyed with shock.

“How can this be...!”

“Do you understand now?”

Tang Gwan frowned.

“Until now, you merely followed the flow of the internal force your grandfather passed to you. Through your talent, effort, and your grandfather’s force transfer, you were able to become strong faster than anyone else, but you had not yet made it wholly yours.”

That was right.

Tang Sang-a had been mistaken. The Inner Qi she had refined until now had resembled not so much her own as that of her grandfather—the Dark King, one of the Thirteen Seats of the Supreme Heavens.

She had not thought that strange. Her grandfather had transferred force through her body not for the quantity of Inner Qi, but to improve its quality. In other words, he had shown her the path forward.

Naturally, it could only come to resemble her grandfather’s Inner Qi. That was what she had thought.

But now, her Inner Qi was subtly different from the Dark King’s.

“Your Inner Qi still resembles your grandfather’s. But its root is changing. To my eyes, I can see it.”

“......!!”

“That is your true Inner Qi.”

Tang Sang-a let out a hollow laugh.

“Why in the world...?!”

The question of why the nature of her Inner Qi had only changed now was secondary.

What truly shocked her was the foolishness of having mistaken the Inner Qi she had refined until now as wholly her own. How could she possibly have mistaken something like this?

“Because you lived passively.”

“......Passively?”

“Inner Qi is the heart. The stronger the practitioner’s heart and intent, the greater the power of the self becomes.”

“.......”

“The fact that the qi in your dantian has only now become yours means the immaturity that depended on your grandfather has disappeared.”

Tang Gwan pulled a handkerchief from inside his robe.

“Now control your Inner Qi in your own way. Your grandfather must have possessed extreme Inner Qi even at your age. He is different from you.”

Tang Sang-a’s eyes shone.

Tang Gwan threw the handkerchief without another word.

FWIP! HOOOOOOONG.

The handkerchief flew like a throwing knife, then lost its force near the wall and drifted down gently.

At that moment, Tang Sang-a’s hand moved like lightning. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

CHING!

An iron coin flew in an arc, pulled the handkerchief along, and embedded itself in the wall.

Tang Sang-a’s expression brightened. Though the handkerchief was heavier than paper, she had still succeeded.

“Father...!”

She turned her head to call Tang Gwan, and her eyes widened. Before she knew it, her father had his hands behind his back and was walking far away with long, loose strides.

“Father!”

Tang Gwan stopped walking. Of course, he did not turn around.

Tang Sang-a hurried toward him and spoke in an awkward voice.

“Thank you.”

“I did not teach you because you are dear to me.”

“Yes?”

Tang Gwan looked at Tang Sang-a.

“Do not go anywhere calling yourself a talent of the Tang Clan in that pathetic state. You are still far, far too lacking.”

“Ah, yes.”

“The weight of the clan name is never light. If you do not wish to smear that name with dirt, you had best become at least better than that.”

Tang Sang-a smiled.

She now knew her father’s personality well. He was probably embarrassed that he had given her advice.

“Yes. I’ll keep striving.”

Tang Gwan silently turned his head away.

Tang Sang-a hurriedly continued.

“You came all the way here. Are you just going to leave?”

“.......”

“If you haven’t eaten, eat with me.”

“No.”

“Ah! You must be busy.”

Tang Sang-a tried hard to hide her disappointment.

Tang Gwan spoke in an even stiffer voice.

“He is not someone who would come to me first unless it were a serious matter. Since he even brought his axe, it seems he has made up his mind.”

“Yes?”

With a puzzled look, Tang Sang-a turned her gaze toward the place Tang Gwan was looking.

“Huh? Commander Yeon?”

That was right. Yeon Hojeong was walking toward them.

He wore the formal uniform of the Commander of the Evil-Smiting Corps, and Mad Dragon was slung over his shoulder. From the faint sound of iron striking iron, it seemed he also had Flood Dragon Chain wrapped beneath his clothes.

He was fully armed in the truest sense. Recently, she had not seen Yeon Hojeong armed like that.

But Tang Gwan saw what Tang Sang-a could not.

“He is different.”

“Yes?”

Tang Gwan’s eyes narrowed.

“Brat. Did something happen? The look in your eyes has changed.”

Tang Sang-a looked back at Yeon Hojeong.

An expressionless face. His eyes, clear in black and white, were the same as ever. She could not tell what about Yeon Hojeong’s eyes had changed.

A moment later, Yeon Hojeong stopped before the Tang father and daughter.

“Clan Lord.”

Tang Gwan asked with an indifferent face, “What brings you all the way here? Carrying that hideous axe, no less.”

“There is something I would like to ask of you.”

“How very serious.”

“But...”

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head as he looked at Tang Sang-a.

“Oh? Something changed.”

“Y-yes?”

“Your presence has changed subtly. It doesn’t seem to be because your Inner Qi increased. You must have gained some sort of realization.”

Shock appeared on Tang Sang-a’s face.

Her father was familiar with the Tang Clan’s Inner Qi, so that much was understandable. But she had never imagined Yeon Hojeong would see through her change at a glance.

“Whatever it was, congratulations. It feels as if you are wearing clothes that fit you far better than before. I look forward to seeing how you develop from here.”

“Th-thank you.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded, then looked back at Tang Gwan.

Tang Gwan’s eyes deepened.

“So, what is this about?”

“Before I ask the favor, please look at this first.”

WOOOOONG.

Yeon Hojeong gripped the shaft of Mad Dragon and held it out in front of him.

He held out the great axe, which weighed more than eighty geun, as lightly as if it were a hand axe. His physical strength was as impressive as ever.

Tang Gwan, who had been watching Yeon Hojeong quietly, lowered his gaze to Mad Dragon.

“Hmm.”

After feeling the axe blade of Mad Dragon, Tang Gwan nodded.

“Impressive. I do not know which craftsman made it, but there would be no shortage of grounds to call him a master craftsman.”

That evaluation had come from Tang Gwan’s mouth. It ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was no different from the highest praise.

“But why are you showing me this?”

Yeon Hojeong lowered the axe.

“Please make me a few more axes.”

“What?”

“They do not have to match Mad Dragon, but I would like you to put as much care into them as possible.”

“......I knew long ago that your arrogance pierced the heavens. For the moment, I will also ignore the fact that you dared make such a request of the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan.”

“.......”

“What happened?”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned bleak.

For an instant, Tang Gwan felt a chill in his chest.

“It seems there will be some blood to spill.”