Lightning Genius, captain of the Radiant Demon Squad, used the Tang clan’s secret art.

Those in the know had long since heard. Within the Desolate Fortress proper, it had been common knowledge since his promotion ceremony. He had revealed it there while taking his Black-rank promotion exam under Law Enforcement Squad Captain Un Soyu.

Those with a keen ear for rumors had dug deeper, learning that Lightning Genius had forged master-disciple ties with the Tang clan head in distant Sichuan.

A connection between figures of their stature was almost a fortuitous encounter in itself. The Tang clan head’s journey all the way to the Martial Alliance to lend Jung Yeonshin his support proved as much. The bond they had forged through martial arts was formidable.

The same went for the Radiant River form. Information on a Desolate Fortress captain was worth a fortune. Such figures stood atop the martial world, looking down on countless others and even deciding their deaths. To face one in ignorance was to die.

Lightning Genius and Radiant River. The Radiant Demon Squad captain and Blossoms Raining Across the Sky.

Many now knew of them. These ultimate techniques were all but inseparable from Jung Yeonshin.

But using them simultaneously was another matter. No one had heard of that.

Manifesting two ultimate techniques at once was extraordinarily difficult. Even a form that moved each hand differently could not compare.

One had to direct the internal energy flowing through the entire body’s meridians along different courses within a single breath. Without insight penetrating the twelve primary meridians, the three hundred sixty-five pressure points, and the still more numerous minor channels, the attempt would bring one dangerously close to qi deviation. The paths of core energy had to be smoothed out so that the two flows would not become entangled.

With ultimate techniques on the level of Radiant River and Blossoms Raining Across the Sky, the difficulty would rise to a terrifying degree.

Even after forming a complete picture of their simultaneous execution, problems remained. Separately controlling the movements of every muscle and the internal energy to actually manifest both techniques was the crowning challenge of executing the forms. Opposing intentions had to be carried through hundreds of pressure points.

The resulting efficiency would fall short of devoting oneself wholly to a single supreme move. Even most supreme masters who had attained Three Flowers Gather at the Crown would not consider attempting it.

Many in the watching crowd were masters. From the first signs of the forms’ execution, numerous spectators had noticed that something extraordinary was happening.

A flash of wonder crossed their faces.

“The Wudang Sect’s Dual Mind Art?”

“If he’s divided his mind in two, that would explain it.”

“Even so, that’s absurd.”

“Surely Wudang’s supreme treasure cannot have fallen into the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s hands.”

“Then how do you explain Blossoms Raining Across the Sky?”

“You cannot put an internal art on the same footing as a form. Isn’t a discipline encompassing the body’s interior incomparably more complex?”

The Desolate Fortress masters’ lips moved rapidly. Words burst out with waves of qi, as fast as rapid gunfire.

It was called the Lip Art, a method of communication used in extreme situations by the Desolate Fortress warriors, who frequently fought in groups.

“He can do that through sheer instinct...?”

“The difficulty must be on an entirely different level from wielding two swords.”

Apart from their lightning-fast debate, events on the sparring platform raced onward. However swift the masters’ lips might be, they were slower than the hands of Desolate Fortress captains.

SHHHHH!

The captain of the Radiant Demon Squad and the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord.

The whirlwind of ice surrounding them scattered rainbow light. Snow-white crystals unfurled around the Radiant Demon Squad captain and spun in a cyclone, a sight truly like a vision.

Blossoms Raining Across the Sky, wrought from snowflakes, was restricting Cheon Soso’s evasive movement technique. Its function was evident at a glance. Improvised as it was, it could not pierce her protective force qi, but merely constraining a black-robed expert’s movements was remarkable.

Immortal Wood Spirit Lord Cheon Soso’s Cold Heaven, Flowless Ice Art was a divine technique. Her spiritual nature further enhanced the effects of an already powerful martial art.

The moment insignificant water vapor froze under her cold yin qi, it became not mere frost but hidden weapons suitable for Blossoms Raining Across the Sky. These were ice crystals hardened by internal energy. Now they raged as snowflakes of fearsome hidden weapons.

Seven-colored radiance flashed throughout the whirlwind that filled her vision with white. Even to a captain who had traveled the length and breadth of the continent, this was an astonishing ultimate technique.

Cheon Soso calmly met the new captain’s pitch-black eyes. Her right wrist, held in his grip, began to ache.

‘He’s trained in external arts. His grip is strong.’

Perhaps it was the power of a Movement Art that used internal energy to enhance the effects of external training.

Either way, his attainment exceeded the limits of his age. They said he enjoyed the fortress master’s favor. Had he been given a fragment of the Fruit of the World Tree?

No. That could not be.

Cheon Soso dismissed the thought that had arisen unbidden. That spirit medicine was beyond what the new captain could endure. Even a mere fragment would be no different. Her people’s treasure was not something just anyone could readily consume.

Immortal Wood Spirit Lord Cheon Soso was different from those of the Han people who had reached this realm. She had honed her people’s uniquely acute senses like a treasured sword. Having also acquired wondrous insight through the North Sea lineage’s eye technique, she had understood the moment she faced the new Radiant Demon Squad captain.

He was still a greenhorn who had yet to unify essence, qi, and spirit.

She had been unable to examine his interior any further. Like her, the Radiant Demon Squad captain had refined his core energy through a divine technique. His numinous internal energy fundamentally barred eyes that sought to penetrate anything beyond its nature.

Unless one had honed one’s eyes enough to contend with a purple-robed master, it would be difficult to glean any more merely by looking at him.

She did not let that put her at ease. This was no occasion for carelessness, even if her opponent had not attained Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.

The Immortal Wood Spirit Lord’s discipline was not as shallow as that of masters from the evil and unorthodox paths or noble clans. She approached every mission dispassionately. She knew well that knowing oneself and one’s enemy was a virtue more important than most martial arts.

Though she had no particular desire to befriend the Radiant Demon Squad captain, as a Desolate Fortress captain she had reviewed all her fellow black-robed expert’s achievements. She had readily acknowledged that he was extraordinary.

‘The nature of his martial arts is exceptionally clear. His formulas embody speed and strength.’

Cheon Soso’s thoughts flowed like lightning. This was truly the domain of higher mastery. The sensations now surging like waves were the exclusive province of supreme masters.

The cold wind brushing the protective force qi over her skin felt like a length of silk. Its touch dragged on and on. In this realm, she perceived everything at an exceedingly slow pace.

Yet the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s palm approaching her abdomen was exceptionally fast. It seemed a strike launched without passing through thought.

The energy rising in his palm would reach its culmination, however unstable, at the very instant it slammed into her abdomen. It would come with immeasurable force. She could not take such a blow undefended.

Radiant River, they called it.

He was overcoming the palm technique’s slow execution in three ways. Blossoms Raining Across the Sky checked Cheon Soso’s movements. His grip on the pulse point of her extended right arm blocked her internal energy circulation. Meanwhile, his control of internal energy—surely swift by nature—completed the palm technique’s key workings as quickly as possible.

He had the makings of a born fighter. She could well understand how he had become a captain so young. His talent suited the character of a great faction like the Desolate Fortress.

WHOOOOSH!

The sensation of her black robe whipping violently around her abdomen reached Cheon Soso slowly. The palm was now close at hand. The mere repercussions of the technique’s execution seemed to tighten the muscles of her lower abdomen.

Within that fleeting instant, she considered her options. Supreme masters in the domain of higher mastery were those who could clearly determine their next action even when every breath was urgent. Countless thoughts flowed through the realm of instinct.

‘What should I do?’

She was already half a breath too late to strike with her remaining left hand. She had not expected the freezing of her divine technique to shatter with a single exhalation from the Radiant Demon Squad captain.

The core energy filling every minor channel in his body must have vibrated with tremendous force. She could not fathom how his pressure points were structured to withstand such dynamism. That was why she had been surprised.

‘Rise.’

She murmured inwardly. At the same time, the cool internal energy of Cold Heaven, Flowless Ice Art surged from her energy core like a shaft of light.

The intent of a supreme master whose essence, qi, and spirit were united flowed together with internal energy. That meant the speed of gathering and releasing core energy approached the speed of thought.

HUM!

Core energy raced in a single surge to the Yin Intersection point above her navel, then spread through the surrounding abdominal muscles. The prescribed formula wove her internal energy into shape faster than the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s palm could reach her.

This was how a fully realized black-robed expert controlled core energy.

Immortal Wood Spirit Lord Cheon Soso was a master of ice arts.

The fundamental key to cold yin qi lay in a subtle state of repose: movement within stillness. An ice art that reached the domain of divine techniques bestowed countless abilities.

An internal-energy barrier was one of them. More readily than masters of other martial lineages, she could elevate her protective force qi into the realm of a divine technique.

Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield.

A formless wall of core energy encircled her abdomen. It was protective force qi fashioned from the mental image of eternal snow said never to melt.

Another of the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord’s ultimate techniques, these ten layers of internal energy afforded truly tremendous defense.

It had even allowed her to take the coordinated assault of Yang Family Spear masters she had encountered not long ago. Even warriors of considerable renown could not break a single layer.

The outer surface of Cheon Soso’s long black robe was smooth and utterly unblemished, a testament to the strength of Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield.

The instant that divine technique took complete shape, the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s right hand detonated against her abdomen.

BOOOOOOM!

A terrifying shock wave erupted. Both supreme masters’ black hair shot upward. Even the petals of Blossoms Raining Across the Sky, which had been whirling like snow, scattered in every direction. The palm technique’s Burst Discharge swept beneath their feet as well.

It was as though the explosive force of a Thunderclap Bomb had been compressed and detonated. Cracks raced across the sparring platform.

‘Ugh.’

Cheon Soso met the palm strike standing straight, preparing her next attack with her free left hand. Outwardly, her bearing was proud and upright. In contrast with her wildly flapping robes, she looked almost beautiful.

It was the sort of wondrous sight a contest between supreme masters could produce.

She narrowed her eyes. Even as the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s famed ultimate technique, Radiant River, smashed through six layers of Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield at once, she studied her opponent with a cool gaze.

All this had taken only an instant. She could land a meaningful blow only after his strike ended. If she prolonged the fight, she would be swept up in his combat instincts.

She resolved to prepare a major form and end the spar quickly. She trusted Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield, a divine technique rare in all the world.

HUMMMMM!

The power within his palm was indeed monstrous. The internal energy battering her abdomen seemed about to break the seventh layer outright. But it would not penetrate deeply enough to inflict an internal injury.

‘This Han man is strong. He took my opening move and created this situation. His response was extraordinarily instinctive. Unless I execute my next move properly, I’ll have no choice but to concede another clean hit.’

Her thoughts flashed like lightning. She had to seize the initiative on the next, third form.

The Radiant Demon Squad captain did not register as a boy. She saw a threatening supreme master. Thus, to her, he was a man.

That remained true within this fleeting instant, even as the flame-like force of Radiant River continued breaking the formless Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield gathered over her abdomen.

The Burst Discharge did not stop. He was drawing out the brief duration of a close-range blow to an extraordinary length.

The palm force of Radiant River lodged against her abdomen would not die away. It was like lightning ceaselessly striking a peak capped with eternal snow.

The typhoon of palm force raging at her abdomen. The Radiant Demon Squad captain’s eyes, which had held hers for so long in this realm of thought.

Cheon Soso’s blue eyes widened, fully revealing the lustrous azure distinctive to the noble race.

‘Another flow of internal energy...?!’

Realization flashed through her mind.

This was not a dual execution of Blossoms Raining Across the Sky and Radiant River. From the outset, he had woven his internal energy into three flows before launching his counterattack.

He had loaded a succession of Radiant Rivers into the Inner Pass pressure point at his wrist like cannon shells.

He was well known to favor quick, decisive fights, but this went so far as to cut off thought itself. She had never expected him to stake everything on two exchanges against a fellow black-robed expert.

Had he given no thought to the consequences if this single assault failed? He could hardly have any strength left afterward. That was why not everyone favored a swift showdown.

Both the meridians that endured such a burden of internal energy and the combat instincts that drove him to gamble so boldly were hard to believe.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Violent tremors shook her vision. Deep Jade, Heavenly Ice Shield shattered layer after layer. The sensation of short, sharp blows to her abdomen came relentlessly.

The Radiant Demon Squad captain’s palm, which seemed to have struck empty air before her stomach, was truly terrifying. Radiant River’s waves of force reached their peak in an instant.

—Even if you strike now, you are already too late.

The swirling storm of martial force seemed to say as much.

With a violent tremor, Cheon Soso’s bangs swept backward. The qi waves of her upper dantian, gathered at her smooth forehead, distorted as if ordering a counterattack.

The frost distinctive to Cold Heaven, Flowless Ice Art formed. This was no time to trust her protective force qi and prepare a major form. Just as her left hand rose slightly—

The seventh layer, the eighth, the ninth...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Even with her consciousness immersed in the domain of higher mastery, they shattered at a terrifying speed. However fast a strike delivered in the state of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown might be, it was slower than the monstrous power the Radiant Demon Squad captain had already unleashed.

CRAAAAACK!

It took a single breath for the final layer to break.

A small cough escaped Cheon Soso’s mouth. Bright blood spattered Jung Yeonshin’s shoulder.

“...!”

For a moment, it seemed as though the ice art had spread around the sparring platform. The masters who had been debating without pause fell silent. A stillness, as if everything had frozen, settled over the surroundings.

It was then.

Beyond the graceful line of Cheon Soso’s muscles running from neck to shoulder, Jung Yeonshin met the eyes of someone in the distant spectator seats.

It was a handsome man with skin as white as snow. The cuffs of his long black robe were loose, but the fabric fitted closely around his forearms, revealing the contours of firm muscles beneath. His physique was exceedingly lean and agile.

Yeonshin recalled his likeness near the top of the Divine Sword Squad’s records.

‘Blood-Preserving Squad Captain Jin Myeongjo.’

He had a pale complexion and slender features. The black robe covering him gave an impression of coldness. Arms folded, he had raised only his chin slightly toward the sparring platform.

There was no guessing how deeply he had cultivated the martial arts of the evil and unorthodox paths. An eerie quality emanated from his entire body.

Suddenly, his lips moved. It was unclear whether he was talking to himself or addressing the Radiant Demon Squad captain.

For a brief moment, Jung Yeonshin studied the movements of his lips.

‘Damn it. Fucking hell. Shit.’

Blood-Preserving Squad Captain Jin Myeongjo spat the words out, his face expressionless.