'Humiliate the hell out of them?'

The sort of expression a back-alley thug might use suited her strangely well.

Jung Yeonshin calmly offered Ak Surim a martial salute in thanks for her encouragement.

“There is something I would like to ask.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“About the Great Restoration Pill offered as a prize at the founding ceremony. May I use it for my own purposes?”

No sooner had the boy asked his question in that calm tone than Ak Surim burst out laughing.

“Ahahaha!”

Her body shook so hard that her short black hair bounced wildly, and she kept slapping Jung Yeonshin's shoulder with one hand.

The boy stood silently, watching her lips. One exhalation. Though her laughter broke her breath over and over, she never inhaled.

It was a display of almost uncanny attainment in her internal martial arts.

“That arrogance actually rather suits you,” Ak Surim said, laughter still in her voice. Then she asked him, “Are you going to take it yourself?”

“I heard it is good for restoring one's health. I was hoping to give it to my maternal grandfather...”

“Ah.”

A soft sigh escaped her, and her gaze grew gentler.

“Old Man Ma must already have all manner of medicines and divine physicians tending to him, but there really is no spirit medicine quite like a Great Restoration Pill. You've grown into such a fine young man, haven't you? Forgiving that mess of a maternal family, too... I don't suppose we need to worry about you going off and causing trouble, child.”

“...”

As Jung Yeonshin stood silent beside Ma Jin, who cleared his throat, Ak Surim planted her free hand on her hip, keeping her spear in the other.

“Of course you can do as you please with it. The Great Restoration Pill isn't a mission objective. Attending the founding ceremony as an envoy, investigating the Martial Alliance, and crushing their morale as a young supreme master will be enough. Honestly, what did Old Man Ma do to deserve such blessings in his twilight years? He never did any good deeds in his youth. Do you have any idea how hard I had to run myself ragged under the previous Divine Sword Squad Leader?”

She grumbled, even drawing her brows together.

“He's far too lucky in his old age. And here I was, determined to get my revenge somehow. What am I to do?”

“Thank you for answering. Then I shall take my leave...”

“Ah.”

Just as Jung Yeonshin was about to turn away, she let out a low exclamation and narrowed her eyes.

There was something peculiar in the way she looked him up and down again. Something startlingly unconventional was coming.

“If his grandson became the husband of the Divine Sword deputy leader...”

The corners of her mouth rose.

“Wouldn't that make him leap right out of his grave? That old man loathed me, you know. Said I was an insubordinate underling.”

“...”

Jung Yeonshin gazed steadily at his far senior.

Lately, along with his aching knees, strange feelings had occasionally come over him. Seeing someone who looked like a girl his own age speak of a husband brought a realization to mind.

'I'm starting to notice the opposite sex. I'm getting older.'

He recognized another kind of growth. It was not just his arms and legs that were growing.

Unfamiliar emotions swirled inside him. He had never been so needlessly conscious of a woman before. It was strange indeed, and frightening.

As these natural changes brought death closer, he felt it stroke his spine. A shudder climbed to his Baihui point.

'Just piss off for a moment.'

As he stood briefly dazed, Ak Surim's smile deepened. Then she grinned, gave his shoulder a light tap, and turned away.

The soft rustle of her clothes accompanied her larklike voice. “Look at that face. Can't even make a little joke.”

“That wasn't a joke. It was harassment. Come, Yeonshin.”

Ma Jin shook his head.

That settled it. The Great Restoration Pill was a treasure of the highest order, and Jung Yeonshin had been uncertain even as he asked.

He had needed a definite answer before leaving. If he could not bring it back to the fortress for his own use, he would have had to find another way.

'That's settled now.'

Knowing his anxiety had been needless left him feeling lighter.

He had chosen his companions for the mission and set down his mental burden. He was ready to venture out into the world again.

“May fortune favor your arms.”

“I wish you all success as well, Seniors.”

He exchanged farewells in turn with the Law Enforcement Squad Captain, the Annihilation Squad captain, and the Azure Heaven Squad Captain. The captain of the Suncheon Wing also returned his martial salute, albeit with a distinctly reluctant expression.

His first meeting, eventful in its own small way, had ended. Jung Yeonshin set off without delay.

He still had one last engagement to fulfill after taking up the captaincy. As he walked, he dodged the Young Sword Empress's hand as she reached to catch him lightly by the back of his neck.

“At least have breakfast with me tomorrow!” she called after him.

The boy heard something different. It sounded less like an invitation to breakfast than a sword being drawn.

'We can spar on the way to the Alliance. I am curious about the Diancang Sect's sword arts.'

* * *

A scholarly-looking young man approached the bank of a small river.

He was extraordinarily handsome. His slender jawline gave him a delicate appearance.

The light in his eyes belied those looks. A colorless, uncanny gleam flashed in both eyes, evidence of profound cultivation in the internal arts.

The Fan Dragon, Zhuge Hyeon.

The Zhuge young clan head, who served as the Martial Alliance's chief administrator, slowly clasped his hands behind his back.

At a glance, his bearing seemed leisurely and carefree. But only his larger movements were so composed.

As he moved the white fan in his right hand behind his back, the outermost rib of the folding fan trembled faintly.

It was unbecoming of so elegant a work of craftsmanship, reminiscent of the white-feather fan said to have been carried by Zhuge Liang, the Marquis of Wu. Its owner's state of mind was to blame.

STEP.

He moved cautiously, taking in the scent of autumn.

The newborn season settled over the world in clear sunlight.

He stood beside a river in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province. Early autumn leaves, a rarity in the Hanzhong basin, drifted down from above.

The Martial Alliance headquarters.

This was a riverbank in Hanzhong, now a focal point of the martial world alongside the Zhuge Clan.

Its charm would have been the envy of scholars and artists who devoted themselves to the zither, go, calligraphy, and painting, and took nature as their companion.

The devastation of the Hwangbo and Namgoong clans by the Desolate Fortress's swords had merely provided a pretext for forming the Alliance.

Ever since the Desolate Fortress had been established with the founding of the Ming, the orthodox sects of the world had watched eagerly for an opportunity to unite.

The vast headquarters, which encompassed even a tributary of the Yangtze, was proof of that. Dozens of imposing hall complexes lined both banks of the small river.

The Martial Alliance had, in truth, been steadily taking shape for a very long time.

Yet Zhuge Hyeon saw none of it.

He was feeling spring in the midst of autumn.

The gift left on the earth by the autumn wind looked especially lovely: a vividly colored autumn leaf.

The beautiful young man slowly bent down. He reached out and picked it up with his fingertips, and sunlight shone through the leaf in a luminous red.

Straightening again, he gazed at the slightly damp leaf and its brilliant color.

'Just like her.'

For a long while, the young man stood quietly looking down at the autumn leaf.

“I hear you asked for me.”

A smooth, beautiful voice displaced the murmur of the river. At that instant, gentle ripples spread over the mirrorlike water.

Zhuge Hyeon turned, opening his folding fan wide behind his back.

The place where he stood transformed from a landscape painting into a portrait of a beauty. So it seemed to him.

He looked ahead.

A woman with white cloth bound over both eyes came into view. Hers was a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky. She looked like a celestial maiden descended to earth.

Sunlight rippled over hair that fell far below her shoulders.

It was red, contrasting with her snow-white court dress. Its crimson, silken sheen was lovelier than the autumn leaves.

Zhuge Hyeon subtly hid the leaf between his fingers behind his back.

“Lady Ye,” he began.

“I have decided to compete at the founding ceremony. If I obtain the Great Restoration Pill, we can make an arrangement that serves us both. You will cure your qi deviation, and I will personally enjoy the protection of the Ye family... Your wish to regain your natural eyes and hair moved me. I, Zhuge Hyeon, will support you.”

He spoke as though he had made a momentous decision. The corners of the woman called Lady Ye's mouth lifted slightly.

“A rumor I heard recently...”

She slowly parted her lips.

“They say that if you cultivate the Blood Flame Cult's martial arts to the level of an Apostle, your hair turns black. And you gain regenerative abilities.”

“What a mischievous joke. Saying such things in the very heart of the Alliance...”

A wry smile formed on the young man's lips.

“Besides, your hair is beautiful as it is. It is quite unlike the coarse, murky red hair of those Blood fiends. Surely you can tell from the fact that no one dares mention the Blood Flame Cult in connection with you. If anything, you have no shortage of admirers, do you?”

Their quiet conversation continued.

Zhuge Hyeon did most of the talking. The woman listened in silence, occasionally offering a brief remark, but even that was enough to brighten his face.

He could feel it himself.

'Of course.'

He thought nothing of it. Lady Ye was exceptionally captivating. No—to Zhuge Hyeon, she was the only one.

She had slapped him at their first meeting. It had been in the company of the leader of the Ye Sword School, who had been invited to serve as a retainer to the Alliance.

While discussing the envoys to the founding ceremony and the boy master from the Desolate Fortress, he had been sharply rebuked for lulling the Alliance's masters into complacency with his careless words.

By the very Lady Ye who now stood before him.

That strength of character.

Martial prowess far beyond her years.

She had said that qi deviation had discolored her hair and cost her her sight. Yet she could still distinguish everything around her.

It meant her energy detection had reached an extraordinary level. Zhuge Hyeon thought that, had she not lost her eye technique, she could easily have been his equal.

“In any case, I hope you will watch without worry,” Zhuge Hyeon said with a gentle smile, recalling the news brought by the Beggars' Sect's Beggar Heir.

Lightning Genius of the Radiant Demon Squad. His martial prowess was reportedly such that it merited comparison with the elders of the great sects.

He was someone to watch closely, someone they should hope would not attend the founding ceremony.

'Even so, he's a rising young master. He must have other weaknesses. It would be best if he didn't come... but I should prepare. The clan head has given me instructions, too.'

Putting his thoughts aside, he invited Lady Ye to walk back with him.

The Zhuge Clan's lodgings were close to the Ye family's quarters.

But she shook her head and declined, saying she did not want to concern herself with other people's eyes.

Disappointed, Zhuge Hyeon turned away.

He forced his reluctant feet to move and tried hard not to look back.

When he had walked for some time and was far away—

“What a pathetic little nobody,” the Seventh Apostle muttered.

* * *

The Radiant Demon Squad's hall in the Desolate Fortress was noisier than ever before. All manner of laborers and unfamiliar martial artists bustled about, and no one stopped them.

The squad's warriors simply stood to one side, staring blankly as valuable treasures were carried back and forth.

All fifteen or so masters and all twelve unranked disciples did the same.

“What's all that?”

Shin Sobin, who had just arrived from the training grounds, looked intrigued. Heon Wonchang shook his head and answered.

“They say it's all for Young Master Jung. Apparently there's nowhere to put it all, so they're using the courtyard too.”

“Let's see. There are servants from the Command Bureau, and the chief administrator's warriors too. Senior Lightning Genius's merits must have been assessed first. Since rewards for meritorious service come from the Command Bureau, all of that is from the Sichuan mission, then? Hmm...”

She hummed thoughtfully, bringing a finger beneath her chin.

There was something unusual about her expression as she studied the servants and masters of different affiliations.

Having grown up in a distinguished martial family, Shin Sobin knew how the world worked. She could judge the value of the many goods passing before her eyes.

“Isn't that cloth woven from Thousand-year Silk, rather than ordinary silk? The porcelain that person is carrying is white porcelain brought from the east... Wow, that's incredibly rare. How did they... Is it because silver isn't enough, and gold is scarce, so they're sending goods instead? Hmm? Aren't those Ma clan masters? Bundles of Spirit Treasure Jade, and all those treasured swords they're carrying by the armful—are they handing those over for training?”

“That's right,” Ma Jin said from beside her, wearing a peculiar expression.

“The family has finally come to its senses. They've sent unconditional support. And they're holding nothing back.”

“Ah...”

Shin Sobin nodded.

“Come to think of it, Senior Lightning Genius—no, our captain—is related by blood to a distinguished family. They say you'll soon become the clan head, former Captain. Could that lady from the Ju clan be trying to stay on your good side?”

“Perhaps she is,” replied Ma Jin, who had been chosen as the next Ma Clan head.

Shin Sobin's gaze shifted elsewhere. Only the area around Jung Yeonshin's room was quiet.

Four warriors barred its door.

“The Law Enforcement Squad...? They must have come with the Command Bureau, right? What did they bring that needs Law Enforcement Squad masters guarding it personally?”

These were the people who upheld the fortress's laws.

All were elite masters in long blue robes, and the sight of them standing before the room with such grave expressions was far from ordinary.

Ma Jin answered briefly.

“A Lesser Restoration Pill.”