A sudden storm descended upon the tranquil mountain path.

It was the recoil from the clash between the Heavenly Armor and the shoulder of the Lord of Simmuryun, whose Unshining Radiance Technique was always active.

The hardened ground flipped in rows and surged in all directions, shaking the entire mountainside like an earthquake for a brief moment.

Ruuuuumble—

Shockwaves rippled through the atmosphere.

Even members of the Divine Sword Corps had to brace themselves to stay upright.

Yet their eyes were swiftly scanning in all directions, rapidly assessing the situation—because they had already experienced worse in the Demonic Realm.

The true commotion, however, came from the uninvited guests.

The mountain path was choked with clouds of dust.

“What the hell...!”

“Up—! Look up!”

These were the martial artists who were just about to collide with the Divine Sword Corps. Their panicked voices erupted.

[Why are you here—!]

A burst of intent exploded from Gun Wi-hu, the Lord of Simmuryun.

Just that was enough to shake loose piles of dirt and stone fragments.

Shock and disbelief sprouted from all corners of the mountainside like the dust.

All eyes turned toward both Gun Wi-hu, who had come to a stop after carving deep trenches into the slope, and the figure he had just collided with.

“The Lord of Simmuryun...!”

“It’s Gun Wi-hu! Disciples, fall back!”

The martial artists, suddenly finding themselves in close proximity to a one-armed peerless master, retreated like arrows.

The accomplishments that Gun Wi-hu had recently achieved were the talk of the martial world.

“Don’t stand in the Lord of Simmuryun’s convergence path! You’ll be drawn into it!”

“Senior, I thought the Unshining Radiance Technique was a sluggish internal art focused on single-point impact. Isn’t it different from the Suction Form of Nangsung?”

“The man lost an arm, yet he moves with overwhelming momentum! Can you imagine the depth of his inner force refinement?”

Meanwhile, just behind Jeong Hye of Jongcheon Valley—

‘Oh great, now someone’s out here trying to read a peerless master’s martial art?’

The youngest after Shin So-bin in the Divine Sword Corps, Yeon So-ha, silently watched the chaos of the uninvited guests unfold.

As the girl flinched from the sudden awareness of his presence, he tapped a pressure point on her shoulder with finger wind, calming her meridians.

“Don’t be too tense. Most of them aren’t even worth your uncle’s exhale.”

At the same time, he extended voice transmission like spider silk to the rest of the Divine Sword Corps.

Such a technique was impossible for most, but not for one of the young Blue Ranks.

―The Lord of Simmuryun is one thing, but the people surrounding him are the real problem. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

The immediate response came from Hyeon Won-chang.

―Are there familiar faces among the uninvited?

Though he had long held a subtle rivalry with Yeon So-ha, the appearance of the Lord of Simmuryun gave weight to his tone.

Yeon So-ha replied just as seriously.

―The former Spear King from Taiyuan is there. And the Clan Leader of the Gyeong family from Kaifeng too. These are all old men presumed dead in the martial world... especially the head of the Kaifeng Gyeong Clan—the one in the palanquin. I heard he never left his estate. Richer than kings, they said.

Suddenly, Oh Wol-hyang cut in.

―I also see those Heavenly Pivot Sword Curtain bastards, the ones who rallied northern assassins right after the fall of Salmun. Wait—are those beggars from the Beggars’ Sect?

―There’s no one here we can take lightly. All of them came here to rob graves, yet look at them.

Yeon So-ha kept a nonchalant tone, but inwardly, he thought:

‘Still, it’s a relief. They’re not the type to unite.’

An alliance—now that was frightening.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The vastness of the martial world was like a gathering of several nations. Even if Ipwang Fortress was the strongest sect in the world, it couldn’t oversee all corners of the Central Plains.

That was why the death of a Divine Sword Corps warrior was not considered unusual in times of war.

Among the martial artists gathered in the Jinryeong Mountains now, few could do anything to the Divine Sword Corps.

One could liken them to a fortress of sand.

‘However—’

No matter how strong a person’s hand, it could only hold a handful of sand.

The warriors of Ipwang Fortress had always fought against that truth.

Even with a giant from the Demonic Realm standing before them, they could not lower their guard.

“...Hard to believe.”

The voice rose quietly from the bottom of the slope.

It belonged to the one with the heaviest presence across the entire mountainside.

Gun Wi-hu, Lord of Simmuryun in this era.

His features—marked by deep brows and a dignified air—were the epitome of weight and certainty. In just those few moments, he had already surveyed the entire situation.

He asked,

“Why are those who must never stand together lined up side by side?”

His right sleeve fluttered solemnly like a banner.

It was completely empty.

There was only one figure permitted to speak.

“It’s been a while, Lord Gun.”

The voice flowed out from within the cloud of dust atop the slope.

Gun Wi-hu’s eyes narrowed.

“That’s not your original Soul Severing Technique, is it? That Heavenly Armor of yours.”

At the same time—

Tap, tap.

The crimson-black energy of his defensive internal energy began to change color within the dust.

What once burned fiercely like karmic flame gradually subdued itself, turning into a calm, deep blue hue—an internal energy barrier that dampened its own momentum.

It came with a gentle smile.

“My defensive cultivation broke down recently, so I was experimenting with some changes... But since I didn’t kill you in one exchange, I suppose this path might’ve been the wrong one.”

The absurd words flowed out with terrifying ease.

Peerless masters never stayed stagnant, it was said.

But save for a handful of warriors famed for their instant-kill duels, no one else could speak that way to the Lord of Simmuryun.

“......”

Yet the nearby mountain path had fallen into a different kind of silence.

It wasn’t just that Jeong Hye of Jongcheon Valley—who should have been crushed like a roadside pebble—had survived.

It was because Mun Gok stood fully revealed the moment the shockwave and dust cleared.

The mountain path that led directly toward Jongnam Sect.

He was looking down at Gun Wi-hu from nearly nine feet of height. His limbs were as thick as iron pillars, and every muscle fiber pulsed as if it were alive.

The martial artists stirred.

“...That’s really a Yojok.”

“No way...”

“Didn’t he just protect Jongcheon Valley? A Yojok guarding a disciple of Jongnam?”

“That荒symbol...! Are they also from the Divine Sword Corps?”

Utter chaos.

That was the nature of martial artists from the Demonic Realm.

They were the ancient burden the Central Plains’ martial world had long since passed onto the state—monsters said to eat humans, foreign in every way, impossible to coexist with.

Undoubtedly public enemies of the martial world.

Just last year, in the Northern Regions of the realm, the Thirteen Heavens had been annihilated by the Ten Thousand Elephant Water Fortress, drawing even the attention and wariness of Central Plains’ own unorthodox sects.

Then two elderly men quietly veered off the path.

“I can’t exactly launch a joint attack with Gun Wi-hu... Looks like I’ll have to trespass on Mount Hua.”

“I’ll go with you. This land’s spiritual flow doesn’t feel right.”

The former Spear King, tall and carrying a long spear, moved first.

The Patriarch of the Gyeong Clan of Kaifeng, who had been alone in a palanquin carried by four men, followed after.

The surrounding martial artists instinctively cleared a path for them, even with disbelief and shock written across their faces.

“Truly unbelievable. Even if I told the gossipers at the foot of this mountain, who would believe it?”

“I am not like you. Unlike the Spear King, I do not stand alone in the martial world.”

The two elders disappeared around the mountainside, leaving behind only their aged voices. Though they had clearly changed course, they moved with a kind of timeless ease.

Watching the scene in silence, Yeon So-ha turned to Mun Gok and asked,

“We’re not going after them? They said they’ll spread rumors.”

“It would take someone like Geomcheon, Shintu, or Ju Gwang-singae to chase them. More importantly, the Lord of Simmuryun, having cast off his former self, stands right in front of me.”

The giant replied.

Yeon So-ha’s eyes widened.

‘This monster... he’s staying put just to protect Jeong Hye?’

Mun Gok, of the Six-Origin Star Corps.

Even if he pretended to be a well-read scholar, he was the most violent being in the Demonic Realm.

This was something one wouldn’t believe even while witnessing it.

Until another one-armed figure casually stepped out from behind the Lord of Simmuryun.

“The Divine Sword Corps of Ipwang Fortress has joined hands with a Yojok?!”

Jeon Baek, an Evil Cult Practitioner.

A well-known expert of the Simmuryun Sect.

Rumor had it he studied at the Guozijian of Beijing under special status—one of the Yin Supervisors, a title given to elite scholars of noble background.

It seemed the Lord of Simmuryun was determined to maintain a sense of decorum even in this crude grave-robbing conflict.

“Let it be known to the martial world! Judging from the current situation, Ipwang Fortress has clearly been defeated in the North, and these remnants of the Divine Sword Corps have betrayed the Central Plains by following the Six-Origin Star Corps! This is not the time for martial artists to distrust one another!”

With just a few words, Jeon Baek extinguished the chaos in the crowd.

By tying together the Divine Sword Corps and the Yojok—both hated presences in the martial world—he had united even the low-ranking martial artists like a single alliance.

‘Now we’ll be fighting endlessly...’

This was a snapshot of how the Central Plains had come to be.

Yeon So-ha, who was already activating Light-Spectrum Resonance, looked visibly troubled.

“They’ve completely gone rogue... Are those Simmuryun bastards trying to start their own dynasty? Looks like they’ve fully turned their backs on the Ming Imperial Court.”

“Well, same could be said for us.”

Wi Ye-ryeong, the Ghost of the Fourth Moon Palace, had already drawn her bowstring toward Jeon Baek.

Just for a moment, the unique shimmer of Light-Spectrum Resonance formed on her greatbow—

—and in the blink of an eye, a single arrow flashed in a faint straight line, piercing toward Jeon Baek’s forehead.

Only then did an explosive roar erupt from her bowstring.

KIIIIIIING—!

It was stopped, unbelievably, by the left hand of the Lord of Simmuryun.

The arrow shattered from tip to shaft into powder—broken by its own excessive secret art of a short-burst kill technique.

The shockwave from the bow strike followed soon after, sweeping through the area. The already torn-up ground flipped again like sand under a wave.

“Urgh!”

Jeon Baek recoiled in horror.

Even Gun Wi-hu’s eyes held a hint of surprise.

“...That’s not the power of a mere Blue Rank. What ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) happened in the Demonic Realm?”

But Wi Ye-ryeong was now looking at Mun Gok.

“If the main force stands as guardians, then your presence alone ensures the Divine Sword Corps will no longer need to dodge the tongues of silver-tongued speech-makers or eloquent deceivers. Prove your worth—right here.”

She wasn’t the only one.

The Blue Ranks of the Divine Sword Corps had already distanced themselves from Mun Gok. Among them, Yeon So-ha and Heon Won-chang naturally took positions around Jeong Hye.

The formation along the slope now led from the Divine Sword Corps to Mun Gok to the uninvited guests.

Every martial artist was now face-to-face with one member of the Six-Origin Star Corps.

Down below, they were already in the midst of analyzing Mun Gok.

“He’s clearly mastered an external technique on the level of divine secret arts. Don’t let him get a grip on you. We’ve seen Ipwang Fortress techniques before, so we know how to counter them.”

“They say the Six-Origin Star Corps rival the Five Greatest Swords of the realm... Are we just going to climb up there like this?”

“Let the Lord of Simmuryun handle it. Unless you’re Ju Gwang-singae, only a peerless master can face a peerless master...”

And in that very moment—

In the middle of the uninvited guests—

As if in a dream, a massive crater appeared in the heart of the mountain ridge.

A hemispherical depression with a diameter of over a hundred jang formed.

It looked as if a meteor had fallen from the sky.

The shock came belatedly.

Reputable martial artists standing on solid ground, carefree vagabonds lounging on rocks, even high-born observers perched atop barren trees—all were swept up in the storm of raw power.

All those who had set their sights on Jongnam Mountain were blurred and torn.

The side slope of the path leading to Jongnam Sect was cleaved apart—

It was the result of one punch from Mun Gok.