Xiahou Weizhen's eyebrows froze in their raised position, like strokes painted in thick, dark ink. His mouth remained open even after his answer, leaving him looking rather stupefied.

His admission that he had not known had been plain and immediate. It seemed to have slipped out without thought.

"Yes... It never even occurred to me."

Xiahou Weizhen spoke again, his deep voice very quiet. Rather than bearing down on Jung Yeonshin's head, it now flowed forward in a dazed murmur.

He hardly seemed the same man who had smashed his way through the Alliance's halls to confront a clan head. The extraordinary spirit of a supreme master seemed to have scattered.

WHOOSH.

Suddenly, a powerful wind sprang from his enormous black-robed frame, spilling out with a pulse of qi in a brief instant. The water beside the lakeshore they were passing rippled and distorted, catching the sunset's glow.

As the water spread outward in layers of small concentric rings, Xiahou Weizhen stamped lightly, as though executing a stomping strike.

THUD.

Dust rose beneath his briefly airborne figure.

WHOOOSH!

He sprang upward with astonishing elasticity. It was truly befitting the noble race. The texture of the core energy extending from the Yongquan points in his soles was palpable.

The currents of internal energy that pushed away the dust were taut yet flexible. An elastic quality had entered his use of power. Beside him, Jung Yeonshin's jet-black hair streamed in the wind.

'He picked it up immediately. Thank goodness he can understand.'

A small stamp had lifted that massive body with ease. This was different from when he had employed his domineering fist techniques at the Alliance. He was no longer insisting on those exceedingly heavy movements.

Regardless of his build, he moved like one of the noble race. His black robe, with its immensely roomy sleeves, dropped as his body rose, then fluttered upward a little.

'Just the skill you'd expect of a supreme master at Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. Though he'll still need training to master it.'

Jung Yeonshin's gaze traveled downward. Xiahou Weizhen had landed with his mouth slightly open and his broad brow furrowed.

Surprise and bewilderment were written plainly on his face. His direct, honest nature was unmistakable.

"How could such a secret... You understand the human body better than I do. I never knew the muscles throughout the body and the twelve primary meridians could produce such effects. This... truly deserves to be called a closely guarded secret. You have taught me something. Something immensely valuable, and ideally suited to me."

The rambling captain of the Forest-Treading Squad was lifting his foot again when the new captain of the Radiant Demon Squad cautiously spoke.

"You needn't jump around right now..."

"Hm?"

"Didn't you speak of the dignity expected of a captain of this fortress? You said we must be mindful of people's eyes. Your conduct seems rather lacking in dignity, Senior Xiahou. The passing merchants and officials may take you for some eccentric. I think you should stop."

"..."

Jung Yeonshin took Xiahou Weizhen's silence as a positive sign. He had provided a useful qi-circulation route and added some practical advice.

This senior seemed deeply concerned with the dignity of the Desolate Fortress's black robes. Surely this would leave a good impression.

Xiahou Weizhen blinked his large eyes several times, then changed the subject.

"My training was a succession of ordeals. My body was unlike those of my clanspeople. Simply moving as they did yielded little benefit, yet I could hardly abandon my foundations. I had to rack my brains as though I were trying to become the founding master of a school."

His deep, bitter voice filled the air, carrying the years of hardship he must have endured before attaining black robes in the Desolate Fortress.

"I regret all the time I spent training without knowing what you have taught me. How futile. Utterly futile."

"I'm glad I could help."

Jung Yeonshin answered with impeccable posture.

Now that he looked at him, he found he rather liked Xiahou Weizhen. They were both more comfortable being frank in word and deed.

The man was like the lakeshore at their feet, smooth as a mirror once more. He would take words at face value, without any need to embellish or hold back.

So Jung Yeonshin continued calmly.

"If you didn't know, I understand. These things happen."

His tone was oddly dry. One could immediately sense that he was merely saying what courtesy required.

In truth, he did not understand at all.

In this he was like any boy his age. He could barely conceal his feelings, yet his apparent belief that he was hiding them only made him more exasperating.

Xiahou Weizhen's lips trembled slightly.

He was torn. He marveled at this junior's unbelievable knowledge of the body. The new Radiant Demon Squad captain was truly an astonishing grandmaster of the human form.

He felt profound gratitude for the favor. But the boy's habit of saying nothing but correct things was another matter. Those words and actions, so upright as to be almost oblivious, seemed to scrape at his heart.

'That must be my problem, mustn't it?'

Awareness of his own unworthy feelings returned as shame. Xiahou Weizhen wondered whether he had ever been qualified to lecture the boy in the first place. Damn it.

"... Yes, you've given me a tremendous insight. No ordinary enlightenment, either. You have opened a new path in Mobility Arts that will influence my martial arts as a whole. I would be a petty man if I failed to repay you properly. I will give you Dawn Tree Sword Kang Changmu. He is the blue robe I mentioned before, the one who belongs to your lineage."

The Desolate Fortress's blue-robed experts had generally already made names for themselves. Jung Yeonshin had heard the epithet Dawn Tree Sword as well.

He was said to be a swordsman who wielded fierce illusion swordsmanship. There was an interesting tale about him: with a sword that seemed to fragment into afterimages in the dawn light, he had taken the head of the Southern Peak Fiend.

He had tracked down and executed that unorthodox master, who had been secretly threatening the prefect of Wuchang in Huguang Province to live in luxury.

'I heard he has taken up the Radiant Sword Art and reached eighty-percent mastery.'

He had heard it on the road from the Alliance to the fortress.

A formidable addition to their strength. Even if the man could not defeat Chung Myung, the azure-eyed demonic swordsman, he would at least be able to discuss swordsmanship with him.

With a bit of unremarkable knowledge, he had gained a blue-robed expert. It would have been difficult to achieve through a contest of martial strength.

Jung Yeonshin cupped his fist toward Xiahou Weizhen.

"Thank you for your decision, Senior."

"I'm repaying a kindness. That's all."

Xiahou Weizhen smiled awkwardly.

Just then, a soft footstep sounded.

Ak Surim, who had kept her hands behind her back throughout, stepped ahead and swung around to face them. Her ebony hair, falling just below her ears, swayed briskly. A jet-black gleam sparkled in her eyes.

"Surely one blue robe isn't enough to settle this? I hear you have two white robes from the Lightning Genius martial lineage as well."

"What?"

"The twelve primary meridians and the fine meridians throughout the body are profoundly mysterious. A single page showing a qi-circulation route can spark a bloodbath. That's why the words 'secret manual' carry such weight. There's a reason sects pass these things down as closely guarded secrets."

"..."

"If our Lightning Genius hadn't told you, could a dullard like you ever have learned to use his body that way? Repay him properly. You ought to be generous. Unless you'd like me to humiliate you."

Ak Surim spoke with a smile.

She was proposing that he present the new Radiant Demon Squad captain with three swords: one blue robe and two white robes.

That was enough strength to dominate a regional martial world without a great faction. Their addition would be immensely reassuring for the Radiant Demon Squad.

"... There is no fault in your words."

Xiahou Weizhen answered in an old-fashioned turn of phrase. He raised no objection to Ak Surim's words, accepting them as reasonable.

His face full of assent, he gave the names and epithets of two people under his command in the Forest-Treading Squad.

Steel-Severing Saber Ho Uncheol.

Deep Chivalry Fist Gongya Miryeong.

Jung Yeonshin secured a promise that the two white-robed warriors would be handed over. He also learned how their transfer from the Forest-Treading Squad to the Radiant Demon Squad would work: a request had to be submitted to the Command Bureau and processed through the proper procedures.

"Big fellow here will take care of that. Lightning Genius, all you need to do is have your people prepare a feast. And think about how you'll teach your martial lineage. That's a real headache. We had plenty in the Divine Sword Unit who couldn't understand a word they were told. You'd do well to remember that patience is a captain's greatest virtue."

Ak Surim's smiling advice ended beneath a dark crimson sky.

In the gathering dusk, they turned down separate paths, having promised to meet again at the captains' meeting place, the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace. The Desolate Fortress was vast, and the combat units' quarters were scattered throughout it.

With only their three shadows stretching in the same direction, Jung Yeonshin at last set off toward the Radiant Demon Squad's halls.

'Who will I see first?'

The faces of those who were both his seniors and his subordinates flitted through his mind.

Warmth filled his chest.

* * *

Before the Radiant Demon Squad's main training ground, the twilight stillness shattered. An unexpected uproar erupted.

All manner of qi waves and voices tangled together, creating a vitality brighter than light.

"Captain! I have reached seventy-percent mastery of the Infinite Blossom Fist Strike! I can now alternate freely between Formidable Wall and Fist Blossoms!"

"We've been waiting ages after hearing what that Hwangbo wastrel had to say!"

"Our great hero of Desolate Fortress must have found the journey exhausting. He went straight to bed..."

"Brother Lightning Genius, I mean, Captain...!"

"Tell us about your exploits! They say you turned the righteous alliance upside down!"

Seniors of every sort came out to greet him. Not only the blue and white robes, but even the young unranked disciples ran over and hugged Jung Yeonshin's legs.

They welcomed their captain with faces full of delight.

Off to one side, the Hwangbo wastrel stood with his weight on one leg, chewing a poppy. He addressed the unranked disciple beside him.

"Hey, when did you say the next promotion ceremony was?"

"I may be younger, but I'm still your senior. Ask politely and I'll answer. And swallow what you're eating before you ask. That's good manners."

"..."

"So cool..."

The ten-year-old boy in unranked robes murmured as he gazed at the new black-robed captain surrounded by people.

His refusal even to look at the Supreme Flame Dragon was remarkably brazen, but nothing unusual in the Radiant Demon Squad.

Just then, someone spoke.

"Everyone, let go of him and get inside."

A woman in a long blue robe stepped forward. She was a swordswoman with strikingly cool eyes and a sword at her side that gleamed with an even colder quality.

The bearing that enveloped her pressed upon them like heavy air. Alongside Chung Myung, the azure-eyed demonic swordsman, she was renowned for possessing both beauty and skill with the sword.

Baek Miryeo, the Wave Swordswoman.

'Senior Baek.'

Pleasure lit Jung Yeonshin's expression. As their eyes met, Baek Miryeo's gaze softened as well.

"The captain has been away on a long mission. Let him recover from the journey first. Haven't you all heard what happened at the Martial Alliance several times already? Stop crowding him and leave him be. Tomorrow is the time to catch up."

The Wave Swordswoman's characteristically level voice rang clear, its cadence familiar to his ears.

'Ah.'

Jung Yeonshin finally realized that he had come home.

Tomorrow's announcement of the Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path, the Command Bureau's reward, his spars with the captains to replenish his ranks—all of it receded from his mind for an instant.

A curious feeling arose. It was as though that gentle sensation had become bedding, wrapping itself around his mind.

Then those who had readily accepted Baek Miryeo's words turned away. This elite combat unit, said to have fought the Plum Blossom Swordsmen on equal terms, was quick to judge a situation.

More than a dozen moved as one. Each nodded, and some offered him kind words.

"I look forward to your instruction tomorrow. Frankly, you haven't really had a chance to act as captain yet, so it's rather awkward..."

"It's enough that you're unhurt. Sort through the papers and give us some missions. Tomorrow, of course."

"I want the stories! I want to hear what Mount Hua's Sword Saint's Blossoms Adrift in Hidden Fragrance was like! And how you countered it, Captain!"

"Captain... put in a promotion application for me, will you? Ideally, I'd like to go straight to blue."

The Supreme Flame Dragon trudged away as well, his fingers interlaced behind his neck.

Silence returned to the Radiant Demon Squad's halls after darkness settled over the dusk. A crescent moon, curling up the night sky, shed a hazy light.

The commotion raised by the squad's experts vanished into the pitch-black silence. Through it, Baek Miryeo's and Jung Yeonshin's footsteps sounded side by side: soft, steady steps upon the earth that had become his home.

"Chung Myung is waiting."

Baek Miryeo spoke quietly.

She, Chung Myung, Heon Wonchang, and Jung Yeonshin had made up Radiant Demon Team One. He had told them about his life and his constitution when Ju Yeonjeong of the Desolate's Ma Clan had been pressuring him.

Later, after attaining black robes, he had given them permission to speak freely to him in private, as seniors and comrades. They had earned that right.

"I'm glad you're safe. I was worried when I heard you were facing the Sword Saint, Eon Hwaryeon, and the Sword Star one after another."

Her voice seeped into the moonlight.

Chung Myung was like a senior martial brother, and Baek Miryeo was no different from a senior martial sister.

Jung Yeonshin did not answer for a while. Simply feeling her concern was enough. That was what he wanted.

The silence lasted as they passed the main training ground and the living quarters, all the way to the Radiant Demon Squad captain's office.

For them, that was time enough. Even if the Desolate Fortress's laws recognized no master-disciple relationships, martial siblings certainly existed in the Radiant Demon Squad.

The two crossed the threshold of the quiet hall.

A footstep sounded.

They entered the office directly, and Jung Yeonshin caught a familiar scent. Metal and oil mingled with the lingering fragrance of old ink, drifting over the furniture, including the carved marble table.

It was the smell of weapons. The wall where several of Ma Jin's sabers had once hung was now filled with treasured swords from the Desolate's Ma Clan.

There were more than ten.

"It wasn't arrogance that kept me from coming out to greet you. I do hope our captain understands that. Acting as captain of the Radiant Demon Squad is no small task."

A handsome man in a blue headcloth sat sprawled in his chair, scanning documents. His features were well defined, his expression gentle. The invisible fluctuations of his martial power were unrestrained, and the ends of the headcloth behind his head never stopped swaying.

He had a mysterious air about him whenever one saw him.

"I have to review missions for our comrades, refuse requests from other combat units to borrow our people, spar with those who pick fights over it, and fiddle with the books just enough to wrangle a budget out of the Command Bureau."

"..."

"And this—this is a request to borrow Shin Sobin for a while. But she has to teach the unranked disciples, so that's out of the question. I have to word the refusal so it annoys them as little as possible. What else can I do when their captain sends over a sparring challenge if they don't like it? The request isn't entirely unreasonable, so the Command Bureau can't do anything either."

"... Thank you for all your hard work."

Jung Yeonshin commended his senior subordinate with the utmost care.

Only then did Chung Myung raise his head. His jade-blue eyes narrowed slightly in a smile. Befitting his noble blood, he seemed to feel little fatigue, but the words in his clear voice told a different story.

"We're half ruined. Getting pushed around from every side. The Desolate Fortress is enormous, and it has a survival-of-the-fittest streak. Right now, the Radiant Demon Squad is the weakest of the lot. Of course, there aren't any lowlifes openly acting like thugs, but we find ourselves watching our step in all sorts of ways. We shrink back all on our own."

Beside him, Baek Miryeo gave a small nod.

That was the reality of the Radiant Demon Squad. It was why Jung Yeonshin had sought to replenish its experts even before his return.

The seventeen squads under the Divine Sword Squad operated within an inherently competitive system. Promotion alone made that clear.

A great faction as vast as the Desolate Fortress was a world unto itself. The prestige of one's combat unit was one's own prestige. The martial strength of the captain one served would be no different.

The new Radiant Demon Squad captain slowly parted his lips.

"Prepare sparring challenges. And a list of the captains still in the fortress."

"Hm...?"

"I'll be sending them to my black-robed seniors."

Jung Yeonshin ran his hand over the hilt of the divine sword Northern Radiance.