Central Assembly Hall of the Command Bureau.

Mun Gok was not present. Was it because he had gone on other business? At the wide round table, the only one who welcomed Jeong Yeon-shin was Wollyo’s head.

“Ipwang Divine Spear has sent me.”

Like an orchid placed at the center of the table, Wollyo smiled as if part of a painting.

“He said my chatter was too noisy to continue his closed-door training... but those who struggle with focus will use even the chirping of an owl as an excuse. It’s pitiful, really.”

He clicked his tongue in feigned pity, his posture visible to the Myung Clansmen and Shaolin monks who had followed behind Jeong Yeon-shin.

“......”

“Hm, such distinguished guests.”

Wollyo offered them a slight bow.

“I was once the master of the Shinyogwangjeokmun, a musical sect, though now another divine musician likely occupies that position, so you may consider me the former master. In any case, may you all return safely from this den of devils known as Ipwang Fortress....”

Jeong Yeon-shin lowered the hilt of his sword at his waist slightly and turned his back on the table. Naturally, what followed was an almost apologetic remark, after having knocked Wollyo away like a potted plant with a strike of sword energy.

“He was one of the Thirteen Heavens who seized his nature—a fine trophy for Suncheon Ik.”

“Not even rest is allowed...?”

Beom-ryeol of Hell Heaven looked away from the staircase where Geumbyeok had been left behind. He seemed mildly impressed by the cruelty of the Divine Sword Corps.

Abbot Beomha simply smiled kindly.

“Lord Namgung has overcome a long tribulation and finally achieved greatness. Truly, well done—this too is a blessing for the Divine Sword Corps Leader.”

“Is everyone here insane?”

It was then that a voice, like a muttered dream from Geumbyeok, drifted up from beneath the assembly hall.

Jeong Yeon-shin caught sight of Empress Dowager Wi Yeon already seated in the seat of honor. Her movement was so natural, it seemed as though if she set out to kill, she would become the world’s foremost assassin.

Wi Yeon spoke in a weathered voice.

“I have a proposal.”

The four Myung Clansmen who had followed to the assembly hall, as well as the Shaolin elders, hesitated in their seats. Before her words even took shape, they sensed them through aura and lip movement.

“Become the Lord of Ipwang Fortress.”

“......”

Jeong Yeon-shin silently gazed at her lips, moving lifelessly like leaves swaying in the breeze.

“There was a decision among the roots. If you agree, we will yield the Sword of Annihilation currently planted in the garden.”

Root—or Origin Root.

It was the name the Myung Clansmen used for the city of Cheonhamok. In sect terms, it was the main division, the gathering of all Unification Great Dharma Protectors and Myung bloodlines. Naturally, it was the overwhelming pinnacle of the Central Plains.

‘The masters of the Ming Dynasty...’

Those who had remained hidden as if veiled by clouds suddenly rose up last winter and claimed dominion.

Jeong Yeon-shin sat opposite the aged Myung elder and asked,

“Is this my master’s will?”

—Of course not. They seek to bind the identity of the Divine Sword to prevent a new imperial dynasty from rising in the ruins of Ming.

Mun Gok’s secret voice rose from the floor. Yet there was no sign of his massive strategist’s presence.

Considering that even the return-to-innocence technique of a mere scholar impersonator couldn’t compare to the Divine Sword Corps Commander’s footsteps, he must have been speaking from beneath the Command Bureau.

‘He’s using the command hall like it’s his own.’

Among the arrays beneath the Command Bureau, several cut off aura waves. A defense system meant to let Ipwang’s scribes command safely even during wartime. It was said that many elders, including Shin Cheonhwa and previous generals, had reinforced it over the years.

In that moment, Mun Gok’s and Wi Yeon’s voices overlapped.

—Though Empress Dowager Wi Yeon is said to see the world with the power of the Wind King, such preposterous techniques cannot be used indiscriminately. Moreover, my technique, Illusion of Extinction, distorts perception like flames. I’m sure you, Divine Sword, know that better than anyone.

“It is the will of the Root.”

At that moment, Wi Yeon seemed to sense that some report was being delivered to Jeong Yeon-shin. But the aura of the secret message, filtered through the command formations, was not something she could eavesdrop on.

As if pleased with this new innovation, Mun Gok’s voice followed with a smile.

—There were quite a few martial artists in Jinryeong and Yangyang who were hunting for my appearance, but I’ve arranged things as if I were never there. The later they find out, the better for my identity. Though the Simmuryun Lord remains a concern... he won’t act for now. His ambition is too great to approach the Unification Myung Clansmen of his own accord.

‘That monster...’

Jeong Yeon-shin recalled Mun Gok’s Nine-Welled Devil Force Step. As soon as he thought of that overwhelming ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) advancing motion, his eyes met those of the Empress Dowager—who seemed to be waiting for him to finish processing the report.

Her wrinkled lips slowly parted.

“It is good to heed the words of one’s subordinates. A virtue fitting for the leader of a force that sustains the current world. However, in this matter, what matters is your own will alone.”

“If one speaks of the Sword of Annihilation so lightly before the Divine Sword Corps Leader, you must know no good can come of it.”

“I am allowed to do so.”

Long ago, she had assisted in founding Ipwang Fortress as its guardian. It was also said that she bestowed the first seat of the Divine Sword Corps to the swordsman who had stood beside the young Lord of Ipwang Fortress.

“As the former master’s direct disciple, I received Gunreung’s dying will and led the Northern Expedition to success. My symbolism and merit are peerless.”

Her words continued in a hushed tone.

“The Sword of Ascension represents ‘one who is always in motion.’ It no longer suits you. Unless you bear the intent to rebel and ascend the imperial throne, what suits you now is to awaken this age in your master’s absence. That is the role of the Lord of Ipwang Fortress.”

“My master.”

Jeong Yeon-shin cut her off.

“Is he in Cheonhamok?”

“Yes.”

“I have not seen him in a long time. I must pay my respects. May I travel to Cheonhamok to consider the proposal?”

“That is not allowed.”

Wi Yeon shook her head.

“A master of chaos like you cannot be allowed into the Root. If you stir up the city and run, we have no way to catch you.”

In that instant, Wollyo’s head on the table shuddered violently. As if moved by joy.

“Such words are in line with the drunken ramblings of Dongting Lake singers! Spilling tunes and pretending not to hear off-beats... a masterful way to stir one’s wrath.”

By that time, Abbot Beomha and the defrocked monk Beom-ryeol were seated at one end of the round table. Abbot Beomha closed his eyes, as if determined to pretend he hadn’t heard Jeong Yeon-shin’s private discussion. Beom-ryeol, on the other hand, kept casting insistent glances toward the stairway where Geumbyeok lay.

“To continue this conversation—”

Jeong Yeon-shin fixed his gaze on Wi Yeon.

“You must first tell me how my master is doing.”

Rumble―

The chamber trembled faintly. As if distant thunder echoed from the far sky—a prelude to Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword draw.

“...That too is not allowed.”

Wi Yeon’s reply came. Simultaneously, Mun Gok’s voice followed at Jeong Yeon-shin’s ear.

—Among the sacred texts, the hexagram “Lesser Surpassing” says: better to be lacking than to go too far. If I must twist that old crone’s neck, I will take the first step.

—Spare me the sophistry. Stay where you are.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

As Jeong Yeon-shin restrained the approaching cataclysm, the venerable Myung matron rose from her seat naturally. Though she had traveled far, there seemed to be no lingering regret.

“The Fortress Lord has lived by the natural order and shall continue so. But people like you abhor the flow of fate. Wolpung was so, and Gunreung as well. That is why I cannot tell you.”

She turned her back to Jeong Yeon-shin.

“I know your alias. ‘Extinction in the Wastelands’... a name given by Mount Hua’s Jade Sword. Now that I’ve met you in person, it seems his insight was akin to that of Sambong. If you will not inherit the Sword of Annihilation, so be it. The Root will decide its course. We shall become enemies.”

“...Master Jade Sword...?”

In that fleeting moment, Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes wavered like a storm-swept twilight. Wi Yeon stepped outside with the Unification Myung Clansmen escorting her. At the same time, their presence vanished like the wind—yet still felt within the inner walls of the Fortress Lord’s stronghold.

The group with Wi Yeon.

Their speed was monstrous. The mobility gained through union with Cheonhamok made them move in a way unique to the Myung bloodline.

But before a single blink passed, the inner castle was already surrounded by elite warriors of the Divine Sword Corps, who had charged in from every part of the fortress.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The roar of their landings echoed in sequence. High-ranking Divine Sword Corps warriors residing in the city—Sword Unit, Soyeon Unit, Myungryu Unit, Suncheon Ik, Extermination Island Unit, and Resonance Division—each took their positions in order. At the same time, the pale gleam of Gwangye Blood Formation slammed against the fortress walls like a wave.

At the forefront was the presence of Extermination Island Unit Commander Shin Hwang.

—Commander, your orders.

—Let them go.......

Jeong Yeon-shin suppressed, with great effort, the betrayal he felt for the first time in his life. His composure had never wavered this much outside of witnessing death—but even so, as the Divine Sword Corps Leader, it was a moment he had to face with correctness.

Such an opportunity will not come again.

[Divine Sword Corps Leader. You declared that you would walk your own path, but can you harm your master?]

Wi Yeon’s sixfold echo reverberated softly.

[You, who must uphold etiquette and law more than anyone—can you bear such a colossal disgrace?]

She continued, slowly.

[The Lord of Ipwang Fortress was a child who grew up clothed in the divine shadow of the Sacred Tree. Human by birth, but in essence, a being of Cheonhamok. In other words—]

“......”

[A fruit.]

Time stopped in Ipwang Fortress.

[If you truly choose to make the Root your enemy, then you must face the one most steeped in the will of Cheonhamok.]

At the words cast like a tumbling leaf by the one who stood at the pinnacle of Cheonhamok, the entire fortress began to fall into silence. Of those who surrounded the inner citadel, few could even breathe properly.

[A fruit is one chosen by Cheonhamok to become a sword. One who protects the roots of the tree that guards the world from within the gate, and who lives eternally with the greatest mysteries of past and present. The ignorant martial artists of Jianghu have spoken of it as a panacea surpassing even the Great Elixir, yet...]

The wind howled in the background.

[The Lord of Ipwang Fortress, eroded by time, longed for someone to take her place. It seems she had considered you her successor for a long while... but she changed her mind. In the end, she didn’t call for you.]

“Go on...”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke plainly, with no shift in tone or use of honorifics.

“Keep talking.”

[The Fortress Lord now shares leadership of the Root with me. She is, at the same time, the greatest in the world—and personally, your master. Who else could so tightly bind the spirit of ‘Extinction in the Wastelands’?]

“......”

[If the times grow chaotic and you attempt such defiance, the power of public sentiment now gathering around you will also collapse.]

Think deeply—

That was as far as Wi Yeon’s words went.

At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin felt space twist like a strand of taffy. It was a method astonishingly similar to Dimensional Void.

Wi Yeon had opened something akin to a gate, using the trunk of Cheonhamok as a medium—just as Jeong Yeon-shin had once mimicked the sword strike of the Heavenly Pole Sect Master from its trunk.

The presence of the Unification Myung Clansmen began vanishing one by one. Even the qi of Geumbyeok, which had stepped into the inner citadel, dissipated.

Where were they headed?

There was no need to ask. Of course it was the main base of Cheonhamok. It was precisely the destination Jeong Yeon-shin had been waiting for.

‘Ten-Li Radiance.’

The moment he took a step, the scenery in his eyes changed. The inner chamber of the Lord of Ipwang Fortress, overflowing with vines.

It wasn’t a void shift—he had simply broken through time with a single step using lightness movement. In that instant, the shattered walls of the pavilion erupted in thunder.

Boom!

Jeong Yeon-shin had entered the twisted space, following the Unification Myung Clansmen. The afterimage that trailed behind him flickered like a fading beam of light.

From the inner citadel of Ipwang Fortress—

To the heart of a blue plaza—

And straight into the city of Cheonhamok.

“......!”

Jeong Yeon-shin stood, just like before, with a body pale as mist in the middle of a flower garden. For the first time, the Unification Myung Clansmen reacted with waves of shock.

Just as when he had first arrived at Ipwang Fortress from Zhongnan Mountain. He looked like some demon god emerging from within the gate.

“Empress Dowager! The Divine Sword Corps Leader has—!”

“Oh... that’s Wolpung, isn’t it?”

“We’ll respond immediately!”

But Jeong Yeon-shin only saw one person.

The place where all processes and outcomes had led him—at the center of flowers blooming like a dream untouched by famine.

The Lord of Ipwang Fortress was there.

“......”

Wearing a pale green martial robe draped like a court dress, dusk gathered at her elegant nose bridge. All other scenery lost its color. Now, Jeong Yeon-shin could clearly see the sword tied at her waist.

‘Master.’

Realizing too late that he couldn’t speak, he moved toward her.

Jeong Yeon-shin reached out his hand to her, within a time-space that flowed completely differently.

Grrrrrrk—

It was the sound of a hinge breaking. A result of forcing his body to move.

At that sound—

His master turned her head.

She said nothing.

Her eyes, a deep green like the abyss, were the same as always—yet the pupils were gone. It felt like his soul was being sucked in.

Half a step away.

Just like when he first learned the Mind Sword.

He could feel her long breath of internal energy, and faintly, the sound of her pulse brushed against his ear.

Slowly.

The Lord of Ipwang Fortress raised her hand.

――――――!

In that instant, a thunderous roar rang in Jeong Yeon-shin’s ears, like the bellow of a flood dragon. It was on a scale incomparable to when he moved—like the entire world was resisting her motion.

Tap.

Her long fingers touched his shoulder. The character 荒 (Wilderness), engraved in gold.

At that moment, the heat of Sammae True Fire rose from her fingertip, and the part of Jeong Yeon-shin’s robe she touched regained its original color.

It was a transcendent sight.

[What are you doing?!]

“How can she move by her own will...?!”

Cries of shock echoed from Wi Yeon and the Unification Myung Clansmen, as the Lord’s finger traced the Huang character and began burning the gold into black.

Chiiik—

The Huang character changed color in an instant, like one of her sword strikes.

The inscription symbolizing her direct disciple was charred black. What remained was only the acrid scent of ashes and the leaf-like fragrance of the Lord herself.

Painfully slowly,

the Lord of Ipwang Fortress moved her lips.

“You.”

“......”

“Are excommunicated.”

Her luminous voice came to an end.

In the moment infinite freedom was granted to the Divine Sword Corps Leader who had conquered the Northern Expedition—

While the proud Myung Clansmen, standing like a bamboo grove, were struck dumb—

Jeong Yeon-shin stood unmoving,

bearing the character, now rendered in pitch-black ash, on his shoulder.