While Jung Yeonshin countered the ambush with a seemingly casual move, the Wing-Returning Unit’s two geniuses moved just as swiftly.

WHOOSH

Namgoong Hwashin and the Supreme Flame Dragon blurred out of sight. They closed the distance while the Poison Dragon and Poison Phoenix stood stunned, as though stretching a single instant indefinitely.

SHING!

The instant Namgoong Hwashin drew his sword, he brought it to the Poison Phoenix’s throat. The White Qilin’s Desolate Sword gleamed blue. With his expression set, clear waves of qi rose in coils from his body.

The Supreme Flame Dragon placed a hand against the Poison Dragon’s nape. He released none of his characteristic heat, but the energy churning silently inside him attested to the tremendous force he possessed.

Neither man’s movements had allowed for the possibility of Jung Yeonshin falling to the attack. That was precisely how they had caught the diminutive siblings off guard.

“Want me to kill them?” the Supreme Flame Dragon asked languidly.

“Kill? You’re going to kill us?” the Poison Dragon echoed. His face, which looked only just on the verge of manhood, shone pale and smooth.

'Mixed blood of the iron race?' Jung Yeonshin wondered. His assailants had remarkably unusual builds.

Little people.

For a start, they barely seemed tall enough to reach his shoulders. Their heads and the rest of their bodies were proportionate to their height: narrow shoulders and small heads.

It was said that the hidden weapons crafted by the iron race at the Tang Clan estate were almost divine weapons. Apparently, that was more than an empty rumor.

When Jung Yeonshin said nothing, no one answered. The Poison Dragon cried out indignantly.

“That man! He mentioned Thunderclap Bombs first! In connection with the Tang Clan! Who wouldn’t lose their head when someone tries to frame their family for treason? Our clan never violates the Great Ming Code!”

If that was true, there were mitigating circumstances for his immediately throwing hidden weapons. If the imperial army mobilized, even the Tang Clan would have to retreat deep into the mountains. Their entire home would be swept away.

“...”

“Those flower darts we threw barely had any core energy in them! We only meant to subdue you first! You—you blocked them, so you should know that...!”

Entirely valid arguments poured out without pause. He spoke and acted like a commoner pleading against an injustice. Yet his behavior was genuinely unexpected. He had a childish side that matched his small frame.

“The Tang Clan?” Jung Yeonshin asked briefly. He had already suspected as much.

“They are the Twin Poisons of Dragon and Phoenix.”

The Beggar Heir nodded from some distance away. He had been staring at Jung Yeonshin with a somewhat dazed expression.

'Has he trained in hidden-weapon arts?'

He had effortlessly countered an attack by the Tang Clan’s finest rising disciples. The stamp of Jung Yeonshin’s foot had verged on a divine feat. Such reflexes, such precision. Martial skill aside, no one without an innate feel for it could even contemplate that move.

Who could manipulate internal energy like that? Even the realm of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, entered by only some seasoned supreme masters, would not permit it.

'An internal-energy realm should only affect the depth of one’s core energy and the speed at which one circulates it.'

Another supreme master would have evaded with Mobility Arts or countered with a swift sword. But kicking a stone to create a hidden weapon that split into precise fragments? That spoke to an innate gift for finesse and perception—one almost beyond imagination.

'Lightning Genius. I’ve received plenty of reports, but... he really is someone to watch. I must make certain he’s entered in our sect’s register.'

Present rating—right now: middle of the upper tier. Future rating: doubly exceptional, above the top tier.

That was his private assessment of Jung Yeonshin’s current and future worth.

The rumors of his prowess and the talent he had just displayed alone merited an upper-tier rating. It meant he was beginning to move beyond the bounds of the rising generation. The assessment also accounted for his present position and standing, his affiliation, his potential, and even his martial lineage. It was a judgment subject to change at any time.

What else would he show them? The Beggar Heir’s innate curiosity rose beyond mere interest.

'All the fuses of Sichuan’s Murim are gathered now. There’ll be an explosion soon. It seems worth following them for a while.'

Lost in thought, the Beggar Heir had forgotten one thing. More precisely, he had unwittingly overlooked it while measuring the Desolate Fortress’s Lightning Genius. The clan would never have allowed the twins, hailed as its treasures, to travel alone.

Killing intent spread like mist. The will carried in that martial power was venomous.

Green-robed figures emerged behind them: warriors emitting keenly honed waves of qi. One wore a sword, another gauntlets, another rows of daggers. There were only seven, but none could be underestimated. The lethal power of Tang Clan poison arts had made itself known repeatedly throughout Murim’s history.

“The Sichuan Tang Clan...!” the Beggar Heir murmured, looking as though he had realized his mistake.

“Release them.”

A man stepped forward, large-framed and wearing thick gauntlets. He appeared to lead the Tang Clan warriors.

“If a single fine hair falls from the young master or young lady, we’ll take you all down with us.”

That single remark gave Jung Yeonshin a sense of the Tang Clan’s nature. All that talk of fine hairs spoke to their insularity. On the other hand, the threat of mutual destruction meant they had measured their enemies’ strength. They recognized that they stood no chance unless they were prepared to die.

The Sichuan Tang Clan. The Tang Family of Sichuan. Tang Family Stronghold. Murim had many names for them. They were said to be fearsome people.

Repay kindness twofold, enmity tenfold. The saying originated with the Tang Clan.

They faced the actual balance of power squarely, yet possessed enough pride to exalt the direct-line siblings above all else. He had often heard that such contradictory behavior gave rise to vicious martial might.

“You stink every bit as badly as they say. My hand’s shaking with fear.”

The Supreme Flame Dragon smiled faintly. Fiery qi rose from the fingers that idly stroked the Poison Dragon’s nape. It was a deliberately provocative threat.

“You bastard!”

The man who had threatened mutual destruction roared and took a step. Just then—

“Stop.”

It was the small woman with Namgoong Hwashin’s sword at her throat. She seemed unconcerned by her captive brother beside her. Her pitch-black eyes fixed on Jung Yeonshin. The Sichuan Tang Clan warriors stopped moving.

“I’ll apologize, but I won’t beg forgiveness. Our clan making Thunderclap Bombs... that’s news to us, too.”

The Poison Phoenix’s small lips moved. Her voice sounded like a whisper, yet every word was clear.

“Wouldn’t you have reacted as we did? If some stranger were muttering something that could bring your entire family to ruin?”

“That’s a harsh thing to say. Did you know? Our captain has a lot in common with me. His family’s already been destroyed, too.”

The Supreme Flame Dragon tossed out the words casually. The Poison Phoenix’s eyes widened.

Jung Yeonshin gazed at the unranked disciple, who knew all sorts of things. The corners of the Supreme Flame Dragon’s mouth lifted slightly. Yet when their eyes met, he quietly turned his head away—hardly the behavior of the Hwangbo heir said to have won the Dragon-Phoenix Summit time and again.

“... I beg your forgiveness for my thoughtless words.”

The Poison Phoenix, looking somewhat flustered, spoke demurely. She even bowed her head with Namgoong Hwashin’s sword still at her throat.

A fair and virtuous lady. Her conduct recalled a passage from the Book of Songs, one of the Four Books and Three Classics. Was this how a well-bred daughter of a great house behaved? It was also rather amusing that she should beg forgiveness now. Together with the Poison Dragon, who likewise looked like a boy because of his iron-race blood, she made for a decidedly curious pair of siblings.

Jung Yeonshin’s brows drew together slightly. He felt a strange kinship—not with the Supreme Flame Dragon, but with the Tang siblings.

'What is this?'

He could not identify the feeling. The spiritual nature passing in and out through his Baihui point seemed to be whispering something.

“Captain.”

A clear voice rang out. Namgoong Hwashin had addressed him calmly. The gaze that met his was weighty, asking what to do with the siblings.

Jung Yeonshin did not answer. He merely stamped and kicked at the ground once more.

TAP!

This time, a stone split in two and cut through the air. The siblings let out small gasps at the thudding impacts. The fragments had struck lightly but sharply against their Yin Intersection points, above their energy cores, before dropping away.

These pressure points lay directly above the Sea of Qi points of their energy cores. They were also the intersections of the body’s yin meridians, which branched in three directions. The core energy Jung Yeonshin had imbued in the stones lodged as obstructions in their qi flows. It was an adaptation of the Seventh Apostle’s Blood Art pressure-point sealing, and it completely prevented smooth circulation of their internal energy.

“Look how little effort he puts into that kick. I’d feel like shit if someone did that to me,” the Supreme Flame Dragon muttered.

“Over here.”

Jung Yeonshin beckoned calmly. Namgoong Hwashin and the Supreme Flame Dragon gave the siblings a push in the back.

The Sichuan Tang Clan warriors started forward as though seized by a fit, then flinched. A rain of deadly, formless sword qi had descended.

WHOOSH!

It was the White Qilin Namgoong Hwashin’s Boundless Heaven Technique. Fine dust rose as furrows scored the ground.

“Your side struck first. Even if you did not intend to kill.”

His tone was cold and stern.

Namgoong Hwashin had certainly changed. He looked as though he would not hesitate to slay anyone with his sublime swordsmanship.

'I should speak to him once the mission is over,' Jung Yeonshin thought as he watched them in silence.

Soon, the four approached him. The boy slowly parted his lips, pointing at the hidden-weapon marks in the ground.

“The trail of our fortress’s Radiant Demon Squad ends here. And these—aren’t these traces of the Tang Clan’s secret technique? Tell me what you know.”

He went straight to the point. Beside him, the Supreme Flame Dragon added his own words. He seemed to have no qualms about treating the direct blood descendants of a major sect roughly.

“No funny business. I doubt you’ve ever been tortured with Blazing Yang Core Energy.”

“...”

“We don’t know exactly, either.”

While the Poison Phoenix remained silent for a moment, the Poison Dragon spoke.

“We only suspected these were traces of our father’s attacks.”

“The Tang clan head?” Jung Yeonshin asked.

It was widely known that the man who headed the Sichuan Tang Clan as both sect leader and family head was wandering Murim. The story went that he had lost his wife to the machinations of two of the Thirteen Skies in Sichuan. When the retired clan head refused to permit all-out war between their sects, he had severed ties and left home. Thus began the much-praised tale of a man seeking to destroy great factions alone.

“... The marks originally here weren’t ours. They came from our father’s martial arts. We knew the moment we saw them. Other than us, our father is the only person who could master Blossoms Raining Across the Sky.”

The Poison Dragon finished bitterly. Then the Poison Phoenix spoke.

“We quickly erased Father’s traces and kept waiting, with no end in sight. In case he should return.”

“Yes. Without letting our grandfather know.”

“But we can guess why our father’s path crossed that of the Desolate Fortress’s Radiant Demon Squad.”

Jung Yeonshin’s eyes flashed at the Poison Phoenix’s words.

“Tell me.”

Overwhelmed by his presence for an instant, the Poison Phoenix went pale. Her lips moved slowly.

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but we heard that forces from the Ten Perfections Sect and Pure Demon Alliance, two of the Thirteen Skies, passed nearby. We can’t rule out a clash with the Radiant Demon Squad. We think Father may have intervened...”

“You mean the Tang clan head might know the full story,” Namgoong Hwashin said. The Supreme Flame Dragon tilted his head slightly.

“You’re being awfully forthcoming. That’s not like the Tang Clan, the most venomous of all the orthodox factions. What are you scheming?”

At that, the Tang siblings turned their eyes toward Jung Yeonshin. The Poison Phoenix slowly parted her lips.

“... Your talent means you could understand us.”

Beside her, the Poison Dragon began to grin. He was an unpredictable boy. Suddenly, a childish side emerged, as though someone had roughly tampered with his head when he was little.

“Everyone else seems so slow that the two of us ended up all alone. The whole world started looking easy only to us. When we talk about martial learning, no one understands.”

“Getting started with Blossoms Raining Across the Sky is the difficult part, but you seem like someone we could enjoy talking to. As long as you don’t bring up those Thunderclap Bombs we know nothing about.”

The Poison Phoenix spoke like a young girl, her dark eyes shining.

After a brief silence, Jung Yeonshin spoke.

“I’ve heard many accounts of Blossoms Raining Across the Sky. Of all the ultimate techniques, its form is probably the best known. They say hidden weapons fall like rain, following the wielder’s will.”

“Yes, exactly!” the Poison Dragon chimed in excitedly.

“If that’s literally what happens, I can guess the essential principle. The only issues are hidden-weapon skill and the degree of refinement of one’s internal energy. I mean supreme realms like Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and Five Qi Return to the Origin. Those would determine the technique’s power. The formula itself isn’t difficult.”

“What did you just...?” the Poison Phoenix asked, trailing off.

Jung Yeonshin bent down and picked up fragments of stone. A clear understanding of the phenomenon was enough.

WHOOSH!

The sound came from the crown of his head. The boy worked backward, just as he had when he saw Ma Se-In’s powerful punch, realized such a wave of force was possible, and grasped the formula of the Infinite Blossom Fist Strike.

But his present state could not compare with then. As his Baihui point opened of its own accord, the power of his upper dantian continued to grow. It was an ability that increased alongside Jung Yeonshin’s despair.

“From what I’ve heard, isn’t this how you use your internal power?”

CRUNCH.

The stone fragments crumbled into fine pieces above his hand, thoroughly saturated with the Movement Art’s core energy. Soon, the shards began whirling in orderly patterns—a tiny vortex.

“You can tell by looking, can’t you? Is this right?” the boy asked.

The Twin Poisons of Dragon and Phoenix did not answer. Jung Yeonshin spoke again.

“I hope we see eye to eye. There’s no time.”

“...”

“It’s a simple formula. It only takes a little finesse. If you still can’t understand after seeing it, I’ll teach you. In return, tell me everything about the Tang clan head.”

The siblings stood silent, as though frozen solid.