The mountain path leading to Zhongnan Mountain.

Now, it was nearly severed by massive craters.

The branches and underbrush climbing the trail were no different—crushed down to the edge of a pit as deep as a volcanic crater, with only the faint scent of dry grass and the scorched residue of aura drifting in the air. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“If that reached all the way to Zhongnan Sect...”

Sword Keeper of the Divine Sword Unit, Yeon So-ha, swallowed dryly as he looked down. His blue robes were scorched just from guarding Jeong Hye during the clash between Mun Gok and the Lord of the Heartless Union.

It wasn’t because of the Heat Yang Qi Art.

When bursts of near-absolute Conquest Path energies collide, the sheer friction alone generates overwhelming waves of heat.

“Seeing the Lord of the Heartless Union, it really is a chaotic era.”

Oh Wol-hyang flicked the blood off his long sword with his one remaining hand.

“To think he could clash with Mun Gok and still retreat...”

The blue-clad elites of the Divine Sword Unit had endured the collision of monsters. And yet they hadn’t left even a single speck of soot on Jeong Hye’s face.

“Eh, what’s the big deal?”

Yeon So-ha said, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“For the leaders of the Great Sects, that much is to be expected. How do you catch a supreme master who wants to run? And Mun Gok isn’t even the unit leader.”

“The martial level didn’t match the records from the headquarters in Bonseong. Even accounting for inaccuracies in the information on supreme masters.”

At that point, Oh Wol-hyang turned his gaze downhill. Two of the Divine Sword Unit’s top elites—Hyeon Won-chang and Shin So-bin—stood like statues.

They were engaged in idle talk.

“Heon Won-sunbae.”

“Mm.”

“Your swordsmanship’s gotten oddly faster. You’re close to unifying mind, energy, and spirit, aren’t you?”

“Too late, really.”

“What are you talking about? You’re only twenty-six. You could probably go toe-to-toe with Northern Heaven’s Lord of Yeouicheon Bukgung Ah by now.”

“These are troubled times. Too many monsters. Bastards with no honor or chivalry are desperate to become stronger, and they advance faster than most people in seclusion. You too.”

“I do have honor and chivalry.”

“You’re out of your mind. There’s not a single person in the unit who doesn’t know you fell into inner demons. That’s why Jeong Gong kept trying to talk to you whenever he had a moment.”

“I want some Oven Mountain early herbs...”

With her hands behind her back, Shin So-bin lightly kicked a broken °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° rock left by the Lord of the Heartless Union. Hyeon Won-chang shook his head.

“So-bin-ah, the fact that you and I are younger than the monsters of the martial world... that’s not a point of pride. It just means we started late.”

“...What’s gotten into you lately? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“Life will chip away at you. One side, then the other.”

Hyeon Won-chang spoke like an enlightened old man.

Then, as he glanced back, his eyes caught Yeon So-ha and Jeong Hye. And with them, a woman who had silently joined them like a mirage.

Hair like melted gold, ears sharp as spear tips, and an orange scholar’s robe flowing with poise.

“......”

Time clung to space.

Her features were as beautiful as a fairy from the Peach Blossom Land, but the color of her irises—ashen gray—gave her a foreign, eerie air. Like crushed, faded autumn leaves bundled together.

Hyeon Won-chang had met her before in his youth. He’d crossed paths with her at Zhongnan Mountain, alongside Jeong Yeon-shin.

“Thought she was an enemy. Looks exactly like the facial rendering of Grand Elder Yeo Il-shin of Zhongnan.”

It was Shin So-bin.

Her breath, which had paused for internal energy circulation, suddenly grew heavier like a lie. The murderous aura flashing in her colorless eyes faded.

Because Yeo Il-shin was someone who had known Jeong Yeon-shin since the Jeong Family Manor.

Among all the martial artists of Ipwang Fortress, no one had recognized Jeong Yeon-shin’s true worth before she had.

To Shin So-bin—who now didn’t even dare to step on Jeong Yeon-shin’s shadow—she was a figure worthy of reverence.

“Did she come down out of worry? But there’s something... something like transcendence in her qi pattern...?”

Just then, Hyeon Won-chang’s hand lifted in greeting—and blurred in place.

Zzzeooom—!

Three shockwaves burst from Yeo Il-shin’s body, one after another. Even the last intact ground was turned over completely.

It was Hyeon Won-chang’s dagger hurled like a lightning bolt.

Yeon So-ha’s Radiant Blade Arts strike.

And simultaneously, a long-range arrow strike from Sa-wol Bow Demon Wi Ye-ryeong.

But Yeo Il-shin stood motionless.

Only the hand reaching gently toward the back of Jeong Hye’s neck had stopped.

Her bodyguard aura remained intact.

Rustle.

Even the fragmented particles of energy drifting like leaves returned to her body and turned transparent again.

It was the mystery of circulation.

Not the craft of man—she seemed like a tree absorbing nature itself.

“Start with Radiant Blade!”

Boom!

Shin So-bin had already burst forward with Ten-Mile Light Sprint. A dozen or so pale lights shimmered in every direction—bursting waves of aura from the rest of the Divine Sword Unit.

In that moment—

“The humans of Ipwang Fortress,”

Yeo Il-shin’s lips moved slowly. It was like someone else was speaking.

“Would be my familiars.”

The next moment, Yeon So-ha’s Ipwang Sword—resting against her collarbone—exploded.

His right-hand skin tore open at the grip.

Pwaak!

He spun, using his own blood as propulsion. In the same motion, he threw Jeong Hye with his other hand, and with the hand peeled to the elbow, he grasped not a sword but light.

A collective burst of Radiant Blade Arts had flooded in like a tidal wave.

Joint Attack Formation

Flash Strike

The beam of light drawn like a formless sword cleaved upward at Yeo Il-shin. Sparks flared along the sharp trajectory.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

“Support!”

As soon as Yeon So-ha shouted, Shin So-bin’s heel slammed into the back of his reddened hand.

The incredible combat sense of the Divine Sword Unit’s prodigies consumed even agony.

And Yeon So-ha’s hand, which had once reached toward the heavens, fell in a feinting, low-angle sword path.

KUGUGUGUGUGUGUNG!

The ground caved in endlessly like it was holding thunder.

It was the concentrated force of the entire unit’s Radiant Blade aura condensed into a single point.

It might’ve been enough to trouble even a supreme master.

But Yeo Il-shin was no longer there.

The moment she used a mirage-like retreat technique, she was already colliding with Shin So-bin’s Phantom Palm.

“......”

Yeo Il-shin’s hand twisted like a leaf in the wind.

Zhongnan Dragon-Towing Hand.

She gently curled Shin So-bin’s wrist, which had shot forward like a lightning bolt.

Crunch—

“Ah...!”

Shin So-bin’s eyes rolled back white. Her wrist had shattered to the bone.

The rotational force of her Phantom Palm vanished.

Her foot, trailing sparks from the propulsion of Ten-Mile Light Sprint, slammed into Yeo Il-shin’s abdomen.

KWAHHHHHNG!

The earth trembled.

She had turned even the failure of her desperate strike into a calculated lead-in.

For a brief instant, Yeo Il-shin’s robe was pressed tightly enough to outline the muscles of her abs.

But her bodyguard aura didn’t break.

As if she were truly facing a supreme master.

“You...”

Shin So-bin, dangling like a puppet, was lifted by her wrist.

Yeo Il-shin whispered softly.

“The Divine Sword Unit... still full of battle maniacs, huh. I’m deeply pleased.”

Then it happened.

Whoosh.

A blade brushed up Yeo Il-shin’s back along her spinal column—like in a dream.

It pierced completely through her bodyguard aura.

Blood trickled calmly down in the wake of that chilling strike.

Hyeon Won-chang stood behind her with a face devoid of emotion, like a killing spirit.

A sword in hand that pulsed like a living arm.

“It’s like I didn’t cut a person, but a tree. Your internal structure’s bizarrely tough. You’re not really Elder Yeo, are you?”

Yeo Il-shin replied without turning around.

“...I am all things in the Nine Provinces Under Heaven.”

The voice didn’t sound human—it was an echo that imitated human speech.

It felt like a non-human being pretending to be one.

“All things, huh.”

Hyeon Won-chang nodded.

“Nutjob. Halfwit. Dumbass. Moron... quite a variety, aren’t you?”

Yeo Il-shin said nothing, and Hyeon Won-chang pressed on.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

“With that flashy demon sword of yours, you aren’t qualified to ask me that. You lack the standing.”

“Well then... since I don’t know your name, I’ll just call you what you gave me. Nutjob, halfwit, dumbass...”

Suddenly, his words stopped.

Because Yeo Il-shin’s gray eyes were now flickering with a faint blue glow.

Even through energy sense, it was unmistakable.

Even her previously misaligned pupils briefly aligned.

Thud.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Shin So-bin dropped to the ground.

Yeo Il-shin, who had released her, murmured,

“Forgive me. Truly... forgive me.”

This time, it was a real human voice rising from her throat.

Her eyes had already locked onto Jeong Hye, who had rolled to a stop and stood in the distance.

“Hye-ah.”

“G-Grand Elder...”

“With your standing, you’re entitled to propose this to the sect leader.”

As if her lips were the only part allowed to move, she whispered with difficulty.

“Expel me. Please... expel me.”

***

Winter had ended. It was early spring.

Even so, the fine snow carried by the northern wind spread across the sky like worn silk.

Each crystal-clear flake fell in silence, and beneath them, the ruins of the Emperor’s Palace were wrapped in a cold, translucent veil. It was the place swept up by the three Sword Lords of the Divine Sword Unit in late winter.

“I report to the Black Ring.”

There were those who had made this ruin their palace. Every one of them was imposing in stature.

“A man named Dohyo of Manju has caused a disturbance, claiming all forces should be heading south. His movements are exceptional, and even the Grand Warriors cannot capture him.”

A beastfolk martial artist from the rivers and lakes spoke from a kneeling position.

The man who silently listened to the report, seated on a stone throne with a long white beard, finally answered in a low voice.

“There’s no need to use such clumsy Han speech with me.”

“It’s the language of the Northern Empire. If we forbid its use, they’ll challenge and kill you. Us.”

“...In any case, we are bound to head south. Ready the entire Black Path army. This Dohyo fellow will be handled by King Vajra. Whether he kills him or chooses to speak, let it be done there.”

As the guard captain withdrew, the Black Ring turned his head toward the left wall.

On a half-collapsed rampart, a one-armed woman was lying down.

She had a blue silk sash wrapped around her waist, which she then drew up over her shoulders, wearing it like a robe.

She exuded a dreamlike exotic aura unique to the lands of Tenjuk.

As she gazed at the rice-grain-like snowflakes drifting down, she opened her lips.

“My stomach’s stuck to my backbone.”

“Vajra.”

“I’m starved. The Grand Warriors of the Divine Sword Unit were so powerful, my shoulders are still wrecked. So, how about sending the Serene Sword Lord instead?”

“You’re still ignorant of this land’s affairs. The Serene Sword Lord is the wall of the Demon Realm. He does not strike first. If you are unwilling, I will act myself.”

“Don’t be foolish. If the Emperor acts rashly, he’ll end up like the Southern Empire. If you sincerely ask, I’ll go.”

“Thank you.”

“Before that, I ask you this. You mentioned heading south.”

Under the shadow of King Vajra’s eyes, a faint curve formed. She spoke with antiquated formality.

“By the accord between the Northern Empire and the Demon Realm, the Black Path’s forces may not cross the Great Wall unless summoned. Do you mean to break that vow like a rusted sword? Like all the other rulers of the world?”

“Don’t speak nonsense. I know shame.”

“The Dharma King copied the Southern Empire’s magic formation into his sacred artifact, then disappeared. Surely he’s gone south. Explain yourself.”

“Western Heaven’s King of Illumination... he left to kill So Cheonmujuk. It was not my will.”

“That, at least, seems to be the truth. And yet you still speak of heading south?”

“The call from the Northern Empire is not far off.”

The Black Ring spoke calmly.

He was now the ruler of all the Whistling Wind Spirits of the Demon Realm. Even the rumors near the Great Wall reached his ears.

And then—

Zzzrreeeek—

Suddenly, a faint frost spread across the ruins.

There had been no warning.

It wasn’t just cold—it was a frigid chill so intense it felt like burning heat. And yet, no flow of energy preceded it.

It didn’t spread—it simply manifested.

“Cold Ice Energy?”

“The Ice Emperor...!”

A pair—a man and a woman—appeared in the ruins as if they had always been there. A stunning couple with completely opposite auras.

The Black Ring slowly opened his mouth.

“Ah. One is the bat from Ice Palace. Showing up unannounced—what business do you have, to trespass like this?”

Though his eyes were fixed on the Ice Emperor, he did not let her husband, the Solar Dragon, escape his field of vision.

From the moment he arrived, that man had been staring at one side of the throne with insolent eyes.

The very seat where the Divine Thunder of the Sword had once rested.

The Solar Dragon slowly parted his crimson lips like rising flames.

“Heard something on the way over. You said you’d march south when the Northern Empire called.”

“That is correct. In accordance with the will of the God of War—if you dwell in the Demon Realm, you too will be treated as one of the beastfolk. If you have a problem, speak.”

“If you’ve toyed with the War God’s Transmission Realm, then you must know. The Divine Sword Unit never had enough hands. Always lacking people—always getting hurt, dying. Even the Violet ones weren’t exceptions.”

“And?”

The Black Ring asked. By then, King Vajra had risen from the wall.

The Solar Dragon’s lips barely twitched.

There was nothing inside his mouth, but anyone could see—it was a long-held habit.

“Even if we’re not summoned, we have to go.”

“What did you say?”

“Isn’t that what underlings are supposed to do?”

The Solar Dragon pointed his chin at the Black Ring.

“Go now.”