“Bwahahahaha!”

It was an utterly ridiculous sound. The Supreme Flame Dragon roared with laughter, pounding the roof of the four-horse carriage. He paid no heed to the Radiant Demon Squad seniors riding inside. Even the leg he had propped at an angle twisted this way and that. He was quite a sight.

His anger was immense, and so was his joy. This short-lived prodigy was making his way through life in a very different fashion from Jung Yeonshin.

He was utterly honest with his emotions. He had been like fire when battering Yoo Hyun at the Dragon-Phoenix Summit, and when something amused him, he laughed regardless of where he was.

Everyone present knew the lifespan imposed by the Solar Divine Meridians. No one stopped him. Only Baek Miryeo’s irritated voice drifted from inside the carriage, telling Mumyeong he was being noisy.

“What’s so funny?”

Heon Wonchang sounded bewildered. The corners of his mouth drooped a little; he seemed somewhat offended.

The boy’s lips formed a slight curve.

“He’s right. Though I misspoke, whatever my intentions were.”

Without stopping, Jung Yeonshin began to raise his hands in an apologetic martial salute.

Ma Yeonjeok’s condition was not common knowledge. If the Young Sword Empress had approached without knowing, then Jung Yeonshin had been rude. Above all, he had just been warned to beware of core-energy shock waves. He did not want to provoke an unnecessary fight.

It was then.

Chwi So-ok’s lips, briefly stiff, relaxed and lifted, their corners softening. A light, inconsequential laugh escaped her, creating a curious impression. Her face looked gentle, yet her thoughts were hard to read.

“It seems the Indomitable Hero’s injuries must be quite serious.”

Still smiling, she spoke again.

“Lightning Genius... Young Master Jung? That is right, isn’t it? I’ve been discourteous. Please forgive me.”

“...”

“Oh, I wasn’t slyly trying to sound you out. I truly only wanted to pay my respects to the Indomitable Hero. Wouldn’t receiving even a few words of encouragement from the man who slew the peerless Blood Flame Cult Leader be the greatest honor a martial artist could ask for?”

“You weren’t sounding us out?”

“If it isn’t possible, then there’s nothing to be done about it. ... I can still find a role of my own as a fellow traveler of the martial world.”

Her voice was soft. Carried on the summer breeze, it reached him gently.

The Young Sword Empress, Chwi So-ok, clasped her hands and raised them. Her long hair spilled to either side of her shoulders. The martial salute was directed at Jung Yeonshin. She had apologized first instead.

‘The Young Sword Empress. She seems unusual.’

Jung Yeonshin silently returned her salute. He had never encountered someone quite like her.

Her bearing held the freedom the Blue Qilin, Namgoong Sejin, had spoken of. She behaved as she pleased without bothering to read others’ reactions, then apologized politely if she felt she had crossed a line. He had heard she would be Diancang’s next sect leader, but she was different from the heirs of noble clans.

‘But freedom comes at a price.’

So it had been with the Blue Qilin. He had been unable to relinquish his position as young clan head easily. Looking back now, Jung Yeonshin thought it had been because he feared his clan would take the wrong path. The way he had helped Namgoong Hwashin leave home, and coldly treated his vicious sister, made that much clear.

Precisely because he was a great hero, he had been unable to abandon power.

The boy slowly parted his lips.

“What role would that be?”

“Ah.”

Chwi So-ok’s smile faded slightly.

“Do you happen to know anything of the martial world’s current situation?”

“No.”

Jung Yeonshin’s answer was brief. He had only been traveling between Kuizhou and the Tang Clan’s stronghold. After several battles, his attention had been consumed by his maternal grandfather’s internal injuries.

He wanted to hear everything she knew. He had had no time to keep abreast of news from the Central Plains.

“I see.”

Chwi So-ok smiled without a care. She looked somewhat distracted, her attention seemingly fixed on the three carriages rather than Jung Yeonshin. She evidently wanted very badly to meet the Indomitable Hero, Ma Yeonjeok.

Very slowly, she began to speak.

“Hmm... Still, I imagine you’ve heard about the formation of the Martial Alliance.”

“Yes, I have.”

“The Zhuge Clan in Hanzhong brought everyone together. Seven great houses and dozens of sects and associations that call themselves orthodox are forming an alliance. I understand invitations have also gone out to the nine mountain sects, including my own.”

“And?”

“The Thirteen Skies and others of the evil and unorthodox paths are reacting sharply. To them, it must look like the founding of a second Desolate Fortress. And just now... rumors are spreading that the life-and-death duel between a purple-robed master of the Desolate Fortress and the Blood Flame Cult Leader ended in something close to mutual destruction.”

“...”

“It is an astonishing event, certainly, but wouldn’t it also be a chance to strip an enemy faction of an enormous fighting force? There’s even talk that another peerless purple-robed master is bedridden...”

Her dreamy eyes swept over the three four-horse carriages in turn, as though trying to see through to the Elder Council Leader’s bed. Then, when her gaze met Jung Yeonshin’s, she gave him a soft smile.

The Young Sword Empress was a curious person indeed. She unmistakably carried the upright, impartial bearing of the Nine Great Sects. Free-spirited and uncomplicated, she even seemed a little absentminded, yet every concluding remark and glance touched on a fatal vulnerability.

With a quiet movement, Heon Wonchang adjusted his grip on his sword hilt. Jung Yeonshin sensed it at once.

Namgoong Hwashin was only feigning composure as well. He could not conceal the powerful resurgence of his qi. Familiarity with her as the White Qilin of the rising generation had not made him drop his guard.

“So there are definitely people targeting our fortress’s traveling party.”

The boy made no effort to hide his unease. Chwi So-ok nodded gently.

Then it happened.

The man beside the Young Sword Empress, her junior, apparently found Jung Yeonshin’s manner offensive.

“I am Sa Doryeong, a disciple of Diancang.”

Dressed in blue martial robes with a sword at his waist, he offered a brief salute.

Sa Doryeong, the Sun-Piercing Sword. He was famous as the swordsman who guarded the Young Sword Empress like a bodyguard. After descending the mountain, he was said to have used his outstanding martial arts to perform chivalrous deeds and relieve the people’s suffering. His fame extended far—from Yunnan, home of Mount Diancang, all the way here to Sichuan. In every one of those deeds, he had accompanied the Young Sword Empress.

“Senior Sister, why don’t we leave? I believe we’ve given them ample advice.”

Sa Doryeong made no effort to lower his voice.

He understood that they had inadvertently been discourteous. But the way the boy treated his senior sister was another matter.

‘Lightning Genius, Jung Yeonshin?’

Even the boy’s appearance was exceedingly strange: a black robe with sleeves of different lengths, coupled with careless words and behavior. The fame of the Desolate Fortress’s Lightning Genius might be spreading throughout the martial world, but he should not be so rude to Chwi So-ok, who had already mastered her swordsmanship and spent years performing chivalrous deeds.

Yet he could not challenge him over it.

Even without their purple-robed masters, these people were powerful. More than a dozen blue-robed experts alone were guarding the four-horse carriages—a force comparable to one of the Divine Sword Squad’s seventeen squads.

There were also rumors that the Desolate Fortress’s young master had defeated supreme masters of the Ten Perfections Sect and Pure Demon Alliance one after another. Those could hardly be dismissed as idle tales, given the crowds that had witnessed the battle on Kuizhou’s main avenue.

They were vastly outmatched. Having been discourteous first, they lacked justification as well. All Sa Doryeong could do to vent his displeasure was leave.

“Hmm... Shall we?”

Chwi So-ok tilted her head slightly. Her ebony hair shifted to one side, as though bearing witness to her free nature.

Jung Yeonshin gazed steadily at the extraordinary Diancang swordswoman.

“Leave?”

He absently repeated Sa Doryeong’s words. Perhaps Chwi So-ok took the boy’s murmur as a question directed at her. Her lips formed a radiant smile.

“That does seem to be the only comfortable solution for both sides.”

“You’ve looked into our situation, and now you’re leaving...?”

An edge entered Jung Yeonshin’s words and manner. Avoiding enemies was not always the answer. These people had already guessed something of Ma Yeonjeok’s condition. The matter was too serious to let slide merely because they were disciples of the Nine Great Sects.

Abruptly, the boy in black robes muttered,

“Seize them.”

WHOOSH!

A fireball plunged from above. A figure wreathed in enormous flames hurtled diagonally down, stopping right before Sa Doryeong.

As the air warped into colorless distortions, the Supreme Flame Dragon grinned, chewing roasted poppy. The Blazing Yang Core Energy of the Solar Divine Meridians enveloped his entire body.

“Want me to leave them alive, sir? Our acting captain’s usual methods—”

“I said seize them.”

CLANG!

The Supreme Flame Dragon’s fist struck Sa Doryeong’s half-drawn narrow-bladed sword. A heated shock wave burst outward as the thin blade shattered.

At the same instant, the Supreme Flame Dragon seized the back of Sa Doryeong’s neck and whispered languidly.

“Where do you think you’re going after prying into another great faction’s critical affairs? Reverse the situation. If Diancang’s sect leader were in there, would you have let us walk away?”

“Hup...!”

“A weakling like you dares muster a battle cry?”

Smiling faintly, the Supreme Flame Dragon drove Blazing Yang Core Energy into the paralysis point at the nape of the man’s neck. Instantly immobilized, Sa Doryeong stared at him with wide eyes. The Supreme Flame Dragon’s smile deepened.

“Lower your eyes, you lowborn wretch.”

Those were the words and manner of the Hwangbo young clan head.

On the other side stood Namgoong Hwashin, his Desolate Sword leveled beneath the chin of the other woman in the Young Sword Empress’s party. She was their junior sister, the Dancing Sword of Diancang.

The White Qilin’s Boundless Heaven Sword Technique was so sublime that she had failed to withstand even a single move.

Jung Yeonshin was not the only one advancing. The Supreme Flame Dragon and Namgoong Hwashin were growing stronger without end as well. The wave of force from that punch and the exquisite sword path made it immediately apparent. Anyone who could subdue a disciple of the Nine Great Sects in a single move could be considered exceptionally powerful even among the blue-robed ranks.

“Brutal.”

Muttering, Heon Wonchang glanced aside.

The acting captain, Jung Yeonshin, faced the Young Sword Empress. It was a peculiar relationship. She could not truly be called an enemy, yet neither could they simply let her go.

At that moment, the boy was spinning the radiant wheel in his heart. Auspicious waves of the Dharma-Surpassing Radiant Wheel Art poured from his entire body, completely blocking the qi waves released moments before.

HISSS...

Dense pulses of core energy spread outward. Directly ahead, they pressed against the Young Sword Empress, preventing her from striking at either the Supreme Flame Dragon or Namgoong Hwashin.

“You...”

Chwi So-ok’s gentle eyes slowly narrowed. Her attention, previously fixed on the carriages carrying the purple-robed masters, shifted entirely to the boy.

“You’re not leaving,” Jung Yeonshin said calmly.

FLAP!

He flicked back his right sleeve, its pitch-black fabric billowing with his qi.

He thought of his uncle, who had sent no sound transmission even with the confrontation on the brink of disaster.

This journey home was the boy’s proving ground—a practical trial to rise straight to the rank of captain. The former Divine Sword Squad Leader, the Elder Council Leader, and the captain of the Radiant Demon Squad were watching and assessing him throughout the journey.

How would he lead a group as captain of a combat unit under the Divine Sword Squad? Could he fully exercise his own martial arts while entrusted with a mission of immense importance? Would he deploy his subordinates where they were needed and prove himself worthy of being a Black Captain of the Desolate Fortress?

‘He said the captains would convene once we returned to the fortress.’

He had heard that promotion to black rank was different again.

The Desolate Fortress’s black-robed officers even possessed authority to work in utmost secrecy with the imperial court and strip corrupt officials of office.

There was much he would have to demonstrate, he had been told. He would even have to prove he had the capacity to command a body of elite masters.

The corners of the Young Sword Empress’s mouth lifted gently. Her smile was out of place.

“To think such a handsome young hero would court me so boldly. My maiden heart—my heart in bloom—is all aflutter.”

She teased in a soft voice. Jung Yeonshin paid it no heed.

“You know perfectly well this isn’t something pleasant words can settle. You brought it on yourself.”

“I admit my mistake. Hmm... But I do hope you won’t misconstrue my good intentions...”

“I gratefully accept your advice.”

Jung Yeonshin readily bowed his head once.

That was all. When the boy raised his head, white lightning flickered within his pitch-black eyes.

The Young Sword Empress’s picture-perfect smile grew slightly awkward.

“This older sister swears on her honor that she won’t breathe a word.”

She tapped the hilt of the sword at her waist as she spoke.

“Your status is no guarantee of trust. Come with us. All the way to our fortress in Xiangyang.”

The boy gripped the pure-white hilt of the divine sword Northern Radiance. The feel of it against his palm was entirely new. Warmth rapidly filled the previously cool hilt.

“Will you resist?”

Clad in black robes, his hand resting on a divine sword, he posed the question. His voice sounded softly along the street, which had fallen hushed without anyone noticing.

With the radiant wheel’s qi slowly swirling the dust at his feet, he displayed the bearing of a Desolate Fortress captain.