'The Black-ranked seniors...?'

Jung Yeonshin spun the radiant wheel in his heart. A small measure of Dharma-Surpassing Radiant Wheel qi immediately rose upward. It passed his solar plexus, deepening the internal energy in his Fengchi points, where the meridians at the back of his head and beneath his ears met. The channels around the neighboring blood vessels sharpened his nerves. It was a sensory discipline for enhancing hearing.

The sounds reaching his ears grew louder. Even so, the Blacks' conversation remained faint. Only after spreading his radiant wheel qi more densely could he catch their voices. They seemed to have erected a barrier of internal power immediately after the Forest-Treading Squad Captain's shout.

Xiahou Weizhen had shouted with internal power only once. After that, he spoke normally. Within the captains' curtain of qi, their words were inaudible to anyone but Jung Yeonshin. The pure potency of the Dharma-Surpassing Radiant Wheel Art faintly conveyed a girl's voice.

"... You lunatic! Why would you announce the secret manual's name?!"

Few people in the world could berate the Forest-Treading Squad Captain like that. It was unmistakably the voice of Ak Surim, the Desolate Divine Spear. She seemed to be running alongside Xiahou Weizhen. A surly question followed.

"What's the problem?"

"I know you're not stupid, so why act like it? The name itself is the problem. It's provoking the martial lineages of the righteous path, as if anyone needed proof that Lightning Genius wrote it."

"An exceedingly well-chosen name."

"Doesn't it tell you at once what sort of manual it is? Anyone could at least make a guess. Anyone capable of a little thought, that is. You great oaf, have you truly lost your mind?"

"I simply dislike keeping it hidden. Something like this ought to be widely known. Maintaining one's dignity is very different from watching others' reactions. Holding our tongues for fear of outsiders' martial might? That is precisely the sort of conduct unworthy of a Black."

"You have lost your mind. Have you any idea what will happen to the fortress if this gets out? Stop looking at things like a bear and look at them like one of the noble race! Do you think being good at eye techniques is everything?"

"We can handle it. The Divine Sword Squad is strong."

"Even if a dozen or more purple robes and scores of Blacks descend on us? You realize this warrants that kind of response, don't you? You just visited the Martial Alliance, and you're still full of hot air. And this time, it won't end with something on the Alliance's scale."

"Leaving the Nine Great Sects aside, you rate the clan heads too highly. A dozen or more purple robes, indeed."

"Don't quibble over trifles. Understand my point. Am I wrong? Pick any head of the Eight Great Families and fight them. If you can kill even one single-handedly, I'll concede. You've failed to do it for decades despite that bulk of yours. Can you do it now? And the great factions aren't all we need to consider. What about the peerless masters who roam the martial world without a sect?"

"If the Divine Sword Squad's seventeen squads unite..."

"Even with three purple robes, we struggled to handle the whole martial world. And start by suggesting something possible. If the fortress abandons the common people of the world, can it still call itself the Desolate Fortress?"

"..."

"What an idiot. You have a fox's shrewdness, but you whittle it away with your pride. If you die on a mission, that will be the reason. Nothing else. Truly."

"I have a plan. This should not be reserved for the Blacks alone. Better to seek an increase in the entire fortress's strength..."

"What's the point of risking the spread of rumors just to become stronger against orthodox factions? Do you think the Thirteen Skies will stay cowering like dogs? Restricting it to the Blacks is absolutely the right decision. Actually, more importantly, look at you talking back when you'd only last fifty moves against me! Springing something like that on us without discussing it is madness!"

"Which Black in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace takes my words seriously? I would have been dismissed the moment I broached it. And fifty moves, you say? That differs considerably from my recollection."

"What?"

"Didn't I unleash at least sixty forms?"

A snort sounded at once.

"Are you boasting about your short internal breathing cycles? Your attacks are so inefficient. That's why you're beneath me!"

"It is done, so let us stop here. The Forest-Treading Squad Captain was rash. There will likely be repercussions. Perhaps we should count ourselves fortunate that it is so late at night."

The arguing voices drew steadily closer. By the time the clear voice of Un Soyu, the Law Enforcement Squad Captain, sounded at the end, three figures were coming into view directly opposite the Radiant Demon Squad headquarters' main gate. Each had a distinctive style of Mobility Arts.

WHOOOSH!

Ak Surim kicked lightly off the ground, while Un Soyu's footwork was soundless and springy. Xiahou Weizhen's Mobility Arts, by contrast, were awkwardly light. To an expert's eyes, he looked almost ungainly. He seemed to be practicing in accordance with Jung Yeonshin's advice.

All three were moving slowly relative to their martial prowess. Since they were within the fortress, they refrained from displaying their full speed. Even so, they were Blacks. The moment their figures registered in his eyes, they rapidly drew near.

The Radiant Demon Squad's blue robes, who had been standing on guard, withdrew behind Jung Yeonshin toward the gate. Chung Myung's and Baek Miryeo's blue hems brushed their captain's shoulders on either side. Pung Ran and Na Ilcheon, who said they had come from the Blood-Preserving Squad, unwittingly moved with them.

Meanwhile, the three captains arrived. A strong gust swept over them, blowing Jung Yeonshin's hair slightly backward.

"Greetings, Seniors."

He offered a simple clasped-fist salute, studying their faces.

Earlier, Xiahou Weizhen had mentioned the Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path. He had heard there was a meeting at the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace. Apparently, the secret manual he had put considerable effort into writing had been unveiled there. He wondered what they wanted. Had its contents been inadequate?

'Come to think of it... I countered the Yue clan of Shandong's Mobility Arts, too.'

He recalled Ak Yerim, the Spear Phoenix. Blue Qilin's betrothed, she had apologized to Jung Yeonshin when they parted. She was said to be the Desolate Divine Spear's niece. His countermeasures would work to some extent against Ak Surim's martial arts as well. He did not know how she would take that.

Just then, Ak Surim landed before him with a soft footfall and smiled brightly.

"Our Lightning Genius's features grow more defined by the day, don't they? Your arms and legs just keep growing, too. You'll need a firm grasp of your combat distance, child. You know a supreme master's sense of distance is their lifeline, don't you? A single inch changes the effectiveness of Burst Discharge."

"Thank you for the advice."

"As if you didn't already know."

As she gave a casual wave, an enormous figure cast a shadow over her head. Xiahou Weizhen's imposing physique stood out in the moonlit evening. Even his shadow looked immensely powerful.

He was a giant of seven feet, called the Desolate Fortress's largest wall. Among the common people, he was also known as a divine general who descended when heaven blessed them with good fortune. His presence befitted the epithet Thousand-Fist, Dragon-Strength Retainer. He was said to have served as a Black far longer than even Ak Surim.

"How can you see and think like that?"

He asked without preamble. Jung Yeonshin's reply was even shorter.

"Pardon?"

"You don't appear to have trained in any supreme eye technique, yet your powers of observation and your ideas are astounding. To create such a thing with your own hands, at your age. Even I, who have learned my race's eye techniques, lack such finesse."

"You flatter me."

"I came after skimming only a few pages of the first section. Now, first..."

WHOOF.

As Xiahou Weizhen drew out his words, a colorless wave spread from his body. It swept once over Jung Yeonshin's face. A hazy curtain unfurled: core energy given tangible form. Extending his internal power, he fashioned a hemispherical sound barrier. Ordinary internal cultivation could not accomplish such a feat. The same was true of his ability to release and withdraw core energy. This display of internal skill attested to a state of unified essence, qi, and spirit.

"Let's go inside first. There is something for the captains to discuss..."

"The Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path? What is..."

The sounds outside receded, along with the voices of the Radiant Demon Squad's blue-robed experts. Soon the barrier was completely sealed.

The Radiant Demon Squad captain, the Law Enforcement Squad Captain, the Forest-Treading Squad Captain, and the Divine Sword deputy commander. Xiahou Weizhen's curtain of qi enclosed only those four Blacks. It was a boundary separating the august Black-ranked warriors from everyone else. Its hum attested to the depth of the noble-race supreme master's internal energy.

Even the energy currently stored in Jung Yeonshin's Dharma-Surpassing Radiant Wheel fell short of that level. It was befitting of the noble race. The years they had spent drawing in and exhaling core energy were on another scale.

'Could I catch up if I kept the radiant wheel spinning nonstop for a year? It really is a distant prospect.'

As Jung Yeonshin marveled inwardly, Xiahou Weizhen looked down at his junior with an odd expression.

"Let me start with the Murong clan's Thirteen Ridge-Treading Sword Steps. Your explanation of the countermeasure was very short."

His deep voice carried a trace of fervor.

Jung Yeonshin recalled the Ridge-Treading Sword Squad captain, with whom he had crossed blades at the Martial Alliance's founding ceremony. The swordsman seemed to have some grievance against the Desolate Fortress. Appearing as the Murong clan's representative, he had schemed to make Jung Yeonshin lose face. It had been absurd behavior. Jung Yeonshin had simply defeated him through the finesse of his sword strikes.

'The swordsmanship itself had profound subtleties. It won't be that easy if we meet again.'

As Jung Yeonshin was thinking, Ak Surim spoke with a teasing curl of her lips.

"The big fellow nearly met his end in the Ridge-Treading Sword Formation once. I hear he charged in alone to spare his subordinates. He thought he'd take on a sword formation deployed by thirty members of the Murong clan's Ridge-Treading Sword Squad, all strong enough to qualify as blue robes."

"It's a wonder he survived. If they hadn't lured the Ridge-Treading Sword Squad captain off somewhere else, he really would have departed this world. As you can see, very few of your seniors are sane. Probably just the Law Enforcement Squad Captain here and me."

Jung Yeonshin lowered his lashes slightly, pretending not to hear. He felt a renewed gratitude for his maternal grandfather's unchanging words and deeds.

"I recorded the essentials in sufficient detail."

Xiahou Weizhen spoke with a stern face.

"That is not untrue. As far as the formulas go, yes. But there are bound to be parts difficult for anyone but the author to infer. For instance, when breaking through those Murong fellows' uniquely solid sword force... You said to arrange core energy in the strokes of the character rong at the point of contact, did you not? With roughly thirty percent more force in the lower, ji-shaped component. That was what you wrote."

"The Ridge-Treading Sword's force was fundamentally insidious," Jung Yeonshin began evenly.

"The internal power enveloping the arm through to the sword tip took a peculiar shape, with clearly defined strengths and weaknesses in its core-energy structure. To pierce it with a thrusting form, the rong shape is correct. A strike concentrated on a single point leaves it to chance. It would be fortunate to happen upon a weak point in the flow of internal power, but that is no way to maintain reliable control of a battle. By shaping the emitted wave of force into two strokes, you can seize the advantage."

Slowly, Xiahou Weizhen closed his mouth. His thick eyebrows twitched for an instant. The inscrutable expression characteristic of the Desolate Fortress's captains had wavered. With his hair swept cleanly back from his forehead, the change was particularly noticeable.

For a moment, he made no reply. Neither did Ak Surim or Un Soyu. Those words drove the reality home anew. The author of this secret manual for countering orthodox martial lineages truly was their junior. The owner of Breaking White. The rising Black had brought them an achievement surpassing his martial prowess. It was extraordinary indeed.

His accumulated merits would not compare with those of the established captains. Yet had any Black besides Lightning Genius ever accomplished so much in a single feat? They found him astonishing and felt immensely proud of him. At this point, however, they had to see him not as a new junior, but as a rival.

They were racing together along the road to the purple robe. Any one of them might reach it first. In that moment, all of them realized it.

Xiahou Weizhen slowly spoke.

"You ought to take a major assignment next. One requiring two combat units to work together."

His expression had gone cagily stiff to conceal his astonishment, and his voice was rough, as though his throat had tightened.

Anyone could see he was acting oddly. Jung Yeonshin tilted his head a fraction. What was this? Why?

"At any rate, let us return to the Thirteen Ridge-Treading Sword Steps."

Xiahou Weizhen changed the subject with feigned nonchalance.

"I understand the core-energy structure you described, and adding thirty percent to the lower stroke. But if powerful internal energy alone were sufficient, countering forms would not exist. Isn't the key how much internal power to put into it overall? There are several places where the formulas omit details like that. Of course, I understand you have been busy with matters both public and private."

"You came to ask about that?"

"Isn't it important?"

"It hadn't occurred to me. Isn't that foundational skill? There wasn't much room in the margins for annotations, either. In actual combat, you simply use however much feels sufficient..."

At that moment, Jung Yeonshin saw his three seniors' expressions change. They looked as though someone had challenged them to a duel in their sleep. Would supreme masters look like that if struck with a pillow? The sight made his voice trail off.

'Is there a problem?'