The capital of the Demon Realm.

Despite its name—Black Capital—the cloud-covered sky was as clear and blue as a painted landscape. It looked as if a sea of cobalt paint had been spilled across the heavens. Even the sun gleamed with a cold brilliance.

In contrast, the spiked rooftops that pierced the sky were all black.

A color like something scorched from reaching for the sun. Or more accurately, the shade of blackened ash. And so the Black Capital was filled with blue and black in equal measure.

So much so that even a pure white swallow cutting across the vast sky left barely a trace.

Screee—

Reflected in the swallow’s snowy eyes was a sprawling arrangement of palace structures, set out like a Go board. At this height, everything should have looked tiny, and yet the Northern humans’ city still felt immense.

At the edge of the city—

Even the massive octagonal roof of the Black Capital Palace could be faintly seen. It was the first time Baekyeon, who had followed Jeong Yeon-shin all this time, had witnessed such a scale in her short life.

A translucent energy covered the palace.

Something difficult to predict was unfolding within. The atmosphere was strange. Of course, the swallow’s master must have sensed it too.

“Those who look too far miss the meadow before them. A proverb from the Heavenly Realm.”

A voice drifted faintly from the ground below.

Naturally, the words weren’t meant for the swallow. Her wings remained free.

And in the next instant, Baekyeon’s gaze dipped fast to capture the scene below.

A one-armed woman.

She was wrapped in a swath of shimmering blue silk, and from her empty shoulder crackled blue lightning. At a glance, it looked like another arm.

Her body wasn’t formed of mere blood and flesh like a beast’s.

Baekyeon had seen such beings before.

Those who adapted swiftly to the loss of both body and meridian points. Where the natural energy outside and the inner power within merged seamlessly.

This was a matter of innate talent. Such beings rarely lost their balance of essence, energy, and spirit even with age.

It had been difficult for one of her master’s blood relatives—who had ceased to be a man—but this moment, it was clearly possible for this woman bearing the scent of foreign lands.

Right now, she was swinging her thunder-forged arm at the Lord of Celestial Wood, Cheon So-so, atop a roof.

Vmmm—

In a flash, Baekyeon’s pupils shimmered with a dark blue light. The wild animal instinct vanished from her jet-black eyes, and a human-like focus settled in.

Divine Secret Art.

Clarity Gaze.

An ocular art passed down to Jeong Yeon-shin by the Grand Marshal Im Jin-myeong, after his victory in the Great Yellow Battle. A high-grade inner technique that allowed shared vision with Baekyeon even from a vast distance.

It was said to be on a different level from other scholars' vision arts.

And now, in Baekyeon’s eyes—

The Lord of the Divine Sword Corps had manifested.

CRACKLE—

From atop a remote rooftop, the moment Cheon So-so’s side was struck by the thunder-forged hand blade—

—Forceful Strike to the Wijun Point to Weejung Acupoint.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s intent echoed. Just as Celestial Dragon Star Lord Wei Ji-geuk was about to snare the Great Queen Vajra’s waist with a thick rope.

In that instant, the wrist grasping the rope bent inward along the flow of Jeong Family Inner Art’s qi wave.

The rope whipped like a lash, slamming into Vajra’s hamstring.

BANG!

“Urgh...!”

Vajra didn’t lose her balance at all, but the lightning that served as her left hand scattered in an instant.

The great flow of Daechun within her, swirling like a torrent, had been severed. Amidst the blackened rags, Cheon So-so suddenly came to her senses, baring a patch of pale side.

Wei Ji-geuk was startled at his own move.

He knew Forceful Strike to the Wijun Point...!

Not only the secret attack form of Celestial Dragon’s Heaven Blade Binding Art, but even Wei Ji-geuk’s reaction time and attack speed had been precisely predicted.

To disrupt a supreme expert like Vajra purely with guidance—it had to be that. Even the construction and speed of the phrase formed by the intent had to be exquisitely precise.

—Senior Bukgung of the Yeoui Celestial Staff, please make full use of the modified Phantom Wing Step. Senior Wei Ji-geuk has a strong right arm and a precise left leg. If you shift your balance step toward the left of the enemy Northern King, a favorable interval will appear. At that moment, remember that the key to Jeong Family Inner Art isn’t the Imperial Territory—it’s the world of the martial artists. Strike with irritation. Your qi will become more robust.

Around that time—

Wei Ji-geuk suddenly realized. Jeong Yeon-shin’s intent was being transmitted through a refined structure similar to the Gon King’s Spoken Transmission Art of Myungryudae. Just like the sword strikes that had fallen like meteors earlier. Ultra-long-distance voice transmission.

How carefully must he have watched his seniors?

He was a young man who had become the head of a family too early, memorizing even his relatives’ habits. No different now.

Even now, the qi wave of voice transmission racing from the opposite mountains was not just one or two strands. Some were already flowing into Wei Ji-geuk’s flanks.

Even Infinite Polarity Star Lord Geum Cheong-won, balanced on one leg like a crane, and Cheon So-so, whose smile curled like fresh-fallen snow—

—In Fujian Province, the White Crane Fist is said to be famous. If Senior Geum Cheong-won uses his kicking technique as the core, it would be similar. If you apply the force of Thousand-Pound Pull to the leg stump, your balance should hold.

—Senior, use the Jeong Family Inner Art's Chang Ryeong Fire Palm form only when a large maneuver is needed. It’s not ideal for prolonged use. Also, I once studied ice arts thanks to a poppy-headed brat from the main group. If you generate friction with pre-freeze qi and release it, lightning can be drawn into it...

Zzzzzz—

The roof beneath them blackened. In an instant, bluish lightning flashed in sequence from Vajra’s body.

She slowly parted her lips.

“I’ve often tried to enrich the earth with my power. Fertile soil is always soaked in lightning qi.”

“......”

“But soon, it dries up. Such is a natural disaster.”

No one answered. Vajra glanced toward the mountains on the other side of the Black Capital and smiled faintly.

“But human affection never dries up. It’s a beautiful sight. The Lord of the Divine Sword Corps charging fiercely down the ridge, and you all, still burning with will.”

The sensory perception of a lightning master was said to be vast beyond imagination.

Just as Jeong Yeon-shin had dropped three swords from an impossible distance like meteors, Vajra too had sensed the presence of the Divine Sword Corps’ leader.

She slowly moved her lips.

“Southern Emperor, issue your command.”

—There’s a rotten lake in the eastern quarter of the city. Face them there. Use lightning qi with each step of your Leveling Footwork.

The command echoed through the Whipwind Order. Of course, the three black-clad warriors couldn’t hear it. Each was focused solely on embodying Jeong Yeon-shin’s orders with their entire being.

And that was the true beginning.

SCREEE—

From the sky above the entire Black Capital, Baekyeon spread her wings wide. The swallow’s field of vision expanded with it.

A vast city built in perfect squares.

The first shift came from the Divine Sword Corps.

—Ma Gwang-ik, Soyon Unit, Myungryu Unit, Celestial Wood Lord, Law Enforcement Unit, Blue Sky Unit form Divine Sword Formation One. Advance north with Ma Gwang-ik in the lead. The rest proceed until the fifth alley on the east. No engagements. Flow through like illusions.

Over a hundred blue-clad warriors broke from formation and sprinted north. Each was swift in spiritual acuity—masters of swift swordsmanship.

As the remaining units veered right, the martial troops of the Black Capital reacted.

From the end of the road where the Divine Sword Formation raced, a banner rose.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

A black dragon on a pure white field. The True White Flag. It symbolized Aesingarakra Heukhwan, the Southern Emperor’s eighth son.

Among the more than twenty siblings, he alone held the title of Northern King and never left the Southern Emperor’s side once within the Black Capital Palace.

Though the flag commanded over twenty thousand troops, only two hundred were present now.

Because the Divine Sword Corps had ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) raced north at impossible speed. Only a few elites who could keep up now stood beneath the True White Flag.

They had formed a wall with their crescent blades.

Each blade distorted the air around it. The True White Army’s Royal Guard White Blade formation’s shockwave defense.

A defensive formation with offensive capability. Different from the Army of Ultimate Silence.

Even the major sects of the martial world had used this strategy as a battering ram on the Great Wall front. Because they could switch between attack and defense with ease.

Suddenly sensing danger from above, Baekyeon twisted sideways in midair. She didn’t know when blade energy fragments might fly at her.

FWIP!

And at that moment, an absurd order fell.

—Radiant Pact Shockwave, Tenfold Overlay. Break through at a right diagonal.

Over a hundred bursts of inner power tore through the air like a swirl of pale blades. The blue experts of Divine Sword Formation One surged forward like ghosts, colliding with the True White Army in a flash.

“...!”

CRAAAAASH!

A massive shockwave exploded in a perfect circle. Fragments of footwork energy scattered like feathers. The blue masters leapt diagonally right, bounding along the stone walls of palace buildings.

Behind them, only shattered crescent blades and a portion of the True White Army remained.

Stacking impact power is a matter of finesse. Unleashing ten consecutive shockwave bursts with footwork alone—unthinkable. Even if possible, the rebound would rupture one’s meridians.

But the Divine Sword Formation charged ahead without hesitation. In this moment, they were swords resonating within Jeong Yeon-shin’s heart. The greatest sword control under heaven.

Tap, tatak—

From the Southern Radiant Grand Taiji encircling the Black Capital, the sound of fuel snapping echoed softly. Despite the scale, the sound was quiet and still.

***

Black Capital Palace.

Beneath the wide octagonal roof—spacious enough to house five or six massive halls—hung a dusky mist. The only clear shapes were the circular altar at the palace’s center, and So Cheonmujuk standing before it.

She wore a long robe of faded violet draped over a pure-white combat cloak, the colors stark beneath the absurdly vast and shadowed canopy above.

A dreamy jawline peeked out beneath her silver mask, framed by loose strands at her ears. Her flowing hair cascaded like a deep abyss, its silvery ends entwined with the hilt of a sword. A divine blade was sheathed at her waist, strapped to her back with a belt.

Seven shadows surrounded her.

Each one was a Northern King, arranged as if performing the world’s most sacred breathing formation. They stood in a protective circle, alert to the slightest disturbance.

It was the manifestation of the War God's Formation.

“Father Emperor, can you feel it?”

One of the noble silhouettes spoke.

“The moment that strange blue light wrapped around the capital, the martial aura of the Divine Sword Corps shifted. If you allow me to go, I’ll cut them down myself.”

It was Aisin Gioro Heukhwan.

But the Southern Emperor gave no reply.

Behind So Cheonmujuk, a tall and elongated shadow stretched across the floor, its fingers occasionally twitching as if strumming an invisible guqin.

He wasn’t simply using Whirling Wind Hollow but deploying spell martial arts to coordinate his forces.

He was in a state even more sensitive to the flow of energy than any breathing technique. This was the only way to enforce the War God's Formation and prevent enemies from getting close.

More than that—

Wuuuuuuuuuung!

The Northern Kings in this place were channeling their core combat strength. Their immense internal energy, born from endless reserves of qi, was flowing into So Cheonmujuk’s acupoints. Incredibly, she wielded this overwhelming power as though it were her own.

They all sensed it.

The formation’s completion was near.

Meanwhile—

“Why are you smiling?”

The King of Dragon Resonance asked the Southern Emperor.

Every Northern King present was sensing the entirety of the Black Capital. It was thanks to the command formation the Southern Emperor had deployed.

Naturally, they also felt the Divine Sword Corps split into the Second and Third Squads as they moved toward the eastern district.

Even the moment Thousand Woods Star Lord Hahое Wi-jin stormed the eastern lake and deflected Vajra.

Thus, the Black Capital was divided into three domains.

The First Squad of the Divine Sword Corps was already clashing with the nimble Yeom Jeong Army at the gates of the palace. The Second Squad blocked enemy flanking attempts in the heart of the city.

The Third Squad—composed of those like the Infinite Polarity Star Lord, clad in defensive armor—held the rear. They moved in the same direction as Mun Gok and the Sage Sword Lord of Goyo, tangled in a swarm of black.

Alone in the center stood the Great King Vajra.

The commander of the Divine Sword Corps had orchestrated it this way—controlling the battlefield from where none could see.

“That madman...”

Yeom Jeong muttered.

His use of formation tactics was godlike. He manipulated real and feint maneuvers from the realm of pure instinct.

It was possible only because every participant was a transcendental martial artist with their own unique skills. A great master who understood his allies down to the bone had begun breaking the Black Capital from the inside.

The Black Capital responded only with the formations they already had. The tangled echoes of Whirling Wind Hollow and the Ground Message Transmission technique filled the air, as the Southern Emperor, through Jeong Yeon-shin, now faced a living Grand Master of Myungryudae.

“He’ll be here soon. At this pace, no more than one quarter-hour...”

A shadow with arms folded murmured.

His voice was strangely archaic, relaxed. It was the Oldest Northern King—Luban Heavenly Son.

“Shall I handle it?”

He looked to the Southern Emperor.

But the Emperor’s shadow shook its head.

“To command martial masters requires a martial art of its own, the insight of knowing both self and enemy, and the measure of how well one has lived. It’s right that I face him.”

“The tide isn’t in our favor... Well, what’s a fallen emperor good for anyway?”

Just then, as Luban Heavenly Son turned his gaze toward So Cheonmujuk, a quiet exclamation escaped her lips.

“Mm...?”

Above the altar.

Suddenly, without warning—

Crash—

The dark sky shattered like glass. At the same moment, a scarred hand ripped the space open like a window and emerged.

It was transcendentally natural.

Even the Northern Kings, who hadn’t moved an inch at the Divine Sword Corps Commander’s approach, now all turned toward the shattered void as if compelled.

Each of them had their eyes wide open—only the whites visible in the dark.

A monstrous force of war.

There were no other words for such a being.

“Southern Emperor.”

Boom—

A massive limping figure stepped onto the altar, dragging a crippled leg. His voice was aged, his speech old-fashioned.

“My old friend.”

The War God had arrived.