If I stepped forward personally for a spar with the Sword Saint, whether I’d be acknowledged was uncertain.

‘Just being a mage is already a point deduction.’

Ignorant sword-swingers and vile spell-slingers had despised each other since long ago.

You could tell just by looking at the relationship between the Swordsmanship Club and the White Magic Club.

Even if he was a gentle grandfather type, who knew what his values were like?

Asking the Dang clan head to do it wasn’t a good option, either.

He’d only just reached S-rank, while the Sword Saint had apparently been there for quite a while.

With that gap, the odds of winning were low.

So the breakthrough I chose was the Invitation.

My inner world was packed full of S-rank swordmasters.

I’d raised them until there wasn’t even a corner left to further optimize. No matter who stepped out, they’d be able to subdue someone like the Sword Saint without trouble.

And it looked like my prediction had landed perfectly.

Spitting blood meant the experience inside the inner world had been that shocking.

Even after that, the Sword Saint coughed hard several times.

COUGH, COUGH!

Mo Yongjun and Sima Gyeong hurried as if to approach, but he waved a hand as if telling them not to come closer.

“I’m... fine! COUGH! Don’t act rashly.”

Then, after steadying himself, he offered me an impossibly respectful bow.

Like a greenhorn martial artist facing the head of a sect.

“I failed to recognize a great senior and committed a grave discourtesy. I ask that you be magnanimous and forgive me.”

“What is there to forgive? If anything, I was the one who acted discourteously first.”

“Thank you for your generous treatment.”

It seemed the guys in the inner world had unexpectedly drilled etiquette into him, too.

I smiled faintly and asked.

“How was it? Were you satisfied with my proxy...?”

“More than satisfied. For this Mo Yong so-and-so, I merely received a stroke of fortune instead. I don’t even know how I should express my gratitude.”

He was even thanking me?

My people must’ve worked harder than I thought.

If I were a proper great hero, the right thing would be to refuse gracefully here, but I was nothing more than a pitiful being struggling for world peace.

[ Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition ] aside, I had to take everything I could take.

Still, the timing wasn’t right, so I answered with courtesy.

“Let’s speak again later. For now, I believe tending your internal injuries comes first.”

“Thank you for your understanding. I will come again tomorrow.”

After once more showing me extreme respect, the Sword Saint led his group and left.

“...?”

“What is this...?”

The clan head and the others could only exchange confused looks.

Only Dang Gyu-young, who had experienced something similar, looked toward the door with pity in their eyes.

*****

Mo Yonghyeonseong didn’t say a word for a long time.

Walking behind him, Sima Gyeong carefully asked.

“May I ask what happened?”

“......”

Instead of answering, Mo Yonghyeonseong sank into recollection.

The place he arrived at after receiving “the Sovereign’s Invitation.”

It was a den of demons filled with countless strong ones.

He took pride in having built his life on the sword, yet there, he couldn’t find even a single weakling.

Soon, a man came out to greet the guest, and Mo Yonghyeonseong couldn’t hide his shock.

The man’s aura was extremely similar to his own.

‘A warrior of our Mo Yong family.’

He had trained the Mo Yong family’s divine arts his entire life, and he’d watched the Mo Yong family’s swordsmen all his life as well.

There was no way he could mistake it.

At that point, Mo Yonghyeonseong briefly raised a doubt.

‘Am I caught in an illusion?’

But the more he thought that, the more things didn’t add up.

Things that appeared in illusions were usually copies, or degraded versions.

If so, the man before him should have been someone similar to him—or inferior.

Yet while the other man’s aura was that of the Mo Yong family, he was clearly a different existence from Mo Yonghyeonseong himself.

His realm looked vastly higher, too.

No matter how exquisite an illusion was, it couldn’t reproduce S-rank secret arts and enlightenment.

Then this person’s identity was...

‘...He is surely a distant ancestor of our family!’

The spar that followed hardened suspicion into certainty.

From that man’s hands, the Mo Yong family’s sword arts unfolded.

As Mo Yonghyeonseong had guessed, he was several moves above him.

Naturally, Mo Yonghyeonseong couldn’t last long and was defeated, realizing there was always a sky above the sky.

And realizing as well that his own sword art could advance another step.

It was an ancestor’s teaching—an opportunity.

‘Then what, exactly, is that man’s identity?’

The man in question was Kim Ho.

To be able to put forth overwhelmingly powerful experts as proxies, and arrange a meeting with a single Invitation...

‘And there’s no way that’s all of it.’

If it hadn’t been an Invitation but a summons—and if the ancestor hadn’t held back—

It wouldn’t have ended with internal injury and spitting blood.

One thing was certain.

‘He is not someone we should provoke lightly.’

So Mo Yonghyeonseong abruptly said this to Sima Gyeong.

“Give up on the soul-summoning bell.”

“...!”

“Originally, I intended to lend strength to your argument. A sinister item like that should be kept somewhere safe.”

“Then why have you changed your mind?”

“After experiencing it myself, I became certain. Just as the Dang clan head said—he, no, that gentleman is the most fitting owner of the soul-summoning bell.”

“......”

Mo Yonghyeonseong warned him again.

“You would not do such a thing, but do not invite disaster with foolish schemes. Tell the Alliance Leader the same.”

“...Understood.”

With two S-rank figures declaring it and even issuing a warning, Sima Gyeong had no choice.

He could only let go of the matter.

Next, Mo Yonghyeonseong asked his grandson.

“Is there anything you failed to tell me, or anything you hid?”

“I told you everything in detail.”

The only friction Mo Yongjun had had with Kim Ho up to now was the final exam.

Even that was because they’d been placed in different groups, and he’d paid the price in full.

Aside from that, they’d maintained a fairly amicable relationship.

Only then did Mo Yonghyeonseong nod with a relieved expression.

“Be careful from now on as well. Do not offend that gentleman’s feelings.”

“...I will take it to heart.”

*****

The next day.

The Sword Saint appeared at the training grounds with Mo Yongjun.

I bowed first and asked.

“Are you feeling much better?”

“If I rest a few more days, I should fully recover.”

“I was worried, since I unintentionally caused you internal injury.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but you may set your worry aside.”

“Then I’m glad.”

I didn’t do it on purpose, but... you’re not holding a grudge, right?

Don’t worry? Fine. Let’s do better going forward.

As if afraid I might say something else, the Sword Saint quickly got to the point.

“As promised, I will demonstrate [Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition].”

His tone was extremely cautious—like he was misunderstanding something.

A person strong enough to subdue him in a single exchange wanted to learn from him?

It didn’t add up.

Maybe he thought he was being tested.

I didn’t bother correcting the misunderstanding and answered politely.

“This junior will receive your instruction.”

“......”

Tension rose in the Sword Saint’s face.

He cleared his throat and called his grandson.

“Ahem. Jun, prepare.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

Mo Yongjun answered with a bow.

Then, taking position opposite, he drew his sword.

After raising his internal energy, he slashed diagonally, and a fierce sword aura shot out.

SWISH—!

The Sword Saint fixed his gaze forward and slowly brought his blade out in front of him.

At a glance, it looked like the aura would slice through blade and man alike, but the result was the opposite.

The sword aura was almost absorbed into the blade.

“......”

In that state, the Sword Saint gently stirred his blade, then snapped it upward—

SWISH—!

Mo Yongjun’s sword aura surged high into the sky and vanished.

‘He diverted the direction upward.’

If used well, it could even be sent back.

And it wasn’t limited to sword aura, either—it could be applied to any skill, including magic.

Satisfied, I activated my skill.

[‘Copy-Skill’ will be used.]

[The target’s skill ‘Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition(S)’ is registered to the slot.]

▷Copy-Skill[4/4]

[Featherstep(A+)]

[Space Fold(B)]

[Ice Wall(B)]

[Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition(S)]

Until I got a [Fixed Pin], I’d overwrite the [Destructive Gale] slot with it.

After finishing the demonstration, the Sword Saint looked at me again, still tense.

“I worry I may have only dazzled your eyes with a paltry trick.”

“Not at all. Thank you for your teaching.”

Taking my answer as approval, he looked relieved.

“That’s a relief. Then I will take my leave. I wish to finish tending my internal injury and organize my enlightenment.”

It seemed he’d gained something from the spar inside the inner world.

I understood, but it was too soon to let him go.

Yesterday, he said he didn’t know how to express his gratitude, didn’t he?

So I decided to remind him.

“With your indulgence, may I ask one request?”

“Speak. Anything.”

“If you have any good materials, I’d like to borrow them.”

“Materials, you say...”

“Metal, wood, medicinal ingredients—things like that.”

An S-rank martial artist should have something or other in their inventory, right?

If I got it, I could raise the Exp on the [Greedy Selection Ticket].

For the record, I said “borrow” rather than “give.”

When I’d repay it was... somewhat unclear.

The Sword Saint seemed to ponder briefly, then opened his inventory.

He took out a large, rough lump.

As if it hadn’t been processed yet, metal and stone were mixed together messily.

[Meteoric Iron(??)]

“I happened upon it recently by chance. I had no opportunity to forge it into a blade... perhaps it was meant to find a better owner.”

“Are you sure? It feels a bit excessive to merely borrow.”

Meteoric iron came in many kinds, and before it was made into an ingot, it couldn’t be ranked precisely.

Still, on average, it was between A and S.

So, out of conscience, I asked one more time, and the Sword Saint answered casually.

“Even if meteoric iron is rare, an opportunity cannot be bought even for a thousand pieces of gold. It cannot compare.”

“Then I’ll use it with gratitude.”

The conversation ended warmly.

The Sword Saint headed for the guest annex, while Mo Yongjun stayed behind.

He looked at me, parted his lips as if to speak, then made an awkward expression.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to treat you, since Grandfather gave me that warning.”

“Just act like normal. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable.”

“...Is that really fine?”

“We’ve been doing it for a year. Why start making it weird now?”

“Then... alright.”

Mo Yongjun’s expression loosened.

He glanced toward the guest annex and continued.

“I haven’t even been here long, but I’ll be leaving within a few days.”

“Is he feeling uncomfortable?”

“That isn’t not a reason. But as Grandfather said, I think the bigger reason is that he wants to gather up his enlightenment.”

“He’s going into seclusion.”

“That’s likely.”

There were at least a few risk factors if he tried to organize his enlightenment here, and he didn’t know how long it would take.

He intended to do it properly at home.

Mo Yongjun continued.

“It looks like the Alliance side is starting to pack ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) things up as well. There’s no reason for them to stay any longer, either.”

“That’s true.”

And the Murim Alliance delegation leaving meant one thing.

I turned my head toward one side of the training grounds and looked at Zhuge Soso, who was in the middle of sparring.

It was almost time to say goodbye.