“I had better loosen up my core energy.”

Xiahou Weizhen smiled as he spoke. It was a rather fierce smile. The upturned corners of his mouth even looked savage.

HUM.

His black sleeves, as generously cut as his massive frame demanded, stiffened for a moment. He really had released and readied his internal power.

How much internal energy had he accumulated as a member of the noble race? For an instant, his clothing felt like metal. He had reached a level where his robe alone could deflect a steel sword. His mastery was truly profound.

No one objected. Even the chief administrator merely fell silent for a moment.

The captain of the Radiant Demon Squad had issued a provocation. Just as no one rebuked the new captain, there would be no particular reason to stop the Captain of the Forest-Treading Squad, however heavy-handed he chose to be.

“You are right,” Xiahou Weizhen continued. “The Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path is a tremendous achievement in itself. It was bound to come back to us anyway. Your seniors ought to wait with the dignity befitting Blacks. You are entirely right to concentrate on the matters at hand. For now, I shall content myself with seeing whether your martial arts are as sharp as your tongue. There is no need to rush.”

“...?”

Jung Yeonshin tilted his head slightly. He had no idea what the man meant. His tongue was sharp?

There was an innocence to the new captain’s little gesture. Yet Lightning Genius’s bearing could only be taken as another provocation.

Xiahou Weizhen’s smile deepened. Old-fashioned words, typical of his age, flowed from his lips.

“Who can say which item on the agenda shall move me to strike?”

His words and manner of speaking were at odds. This was the competitive spirit peculiar to noble-race experts, who retained their youth for so long.

“How undignified.”

The Blood-Preserving Squad Captain ran his tongue over his lips and leaned back slightly. After casting a languid sidelong glance at Xiahou Weizhen, he silently lowered his eyes.

His bearing was refined, his pale face steeped in loneliness.

He had already earned the new Radiant Demon Squad captain’s respect once again by ignoring Jung Yeonshin’s greeting glance. He seemed a senior who drew a strict line between private relationships and official business.

As Jung Yeonshin’s eyes shone, Xiahou Weizhen furrowed his brow.

“What was that?”

“I said nothing.”

He answered without raising his eyes.

A few words from Lightning Genius, captain of the Radiant Demon Squad, had signaled the beginning of a battle of nerves.

The Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace was a legally sanctioned fighting ground. It could well be called a battlefield. Anyone who spoke bore sole responsibility for handling the attacks their words invited. They were free to persuade with words or subdue with martial arts.

The strong devoured the weak.

Such was the Desolate Fortress’s administration as a martial organization. The captains’ decision-making resembled that of the military, while also carrying the temperament of a sect between the two paths. Unless it was grossly unreasonable, the stronger party took the better missions and the more capable subordinates.

“I have been curious to taste our Lightning Genius’s blade.”

Ak Surim smiled, a smooth curve forming on her girlish face. A supreme master who had achieved Rejuvenation, she was known as the Divine Sword Squad’s second-in-command.

Of all the Blacks present, she was the least beholden to the Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path. There was no special reason. She was simply that powerful.

The same held true of her position as Divine Sword deputy commander. The Divine Sword Squad’s Divine Sword Unit was in a different class from the other combat units. This elite force, led by the Divine Sword Squad Leader in his capacity as its captain, might be able to handle two of the weakened Radiant Demon Squad. Everyone knew it.

The newly appointed Jung Yeonshin had yet to begin reorganizing his unit internally.

“First, let us examine the current state of affairs in the martial world.”

The chief administrator gestured toward the round table with his chin. Spread upon it was a privilege reserved for the Desolate Fortress’s Blacks: a complete map of the Central Plains.

The document was top secret, both within and outside the fortress. A map of the Ming Empire that no martial artist could access lay openly before them, shifting slightly beneath the chief administrator’s pointing finger. It was so large that one would have to spread both arms wide to cover its breadth.

“Given the vastness of the land, you must account for delays in intelligence. Remember that these are not real-time reports from the field. We cannot know how the situation may have changed.”

His gaze briefly brushed the Radiant Demon Squad captain. The advice was meant for the newcomer.

Jung Yeonshin answered with a bow of his head. The corners of the chief administrator’s mouth lifted slightly.

“First, Sichuan, directly to our west.”

Here in Huguang, the martial world was more peaceful than anywhere else under heaven, for the Desolate Fortress stood in its northern reaches. Incidents worthy of inclusion on a captains’ meeting agenda rarely arose. With little that required warriors from headquarters, most matters could be resolved by the Desolate Fortress’s Hunan branch.

That was why they began with Sichuan.

“I trust every captain knows that the Dragon-Slaying Alliance has changed its name to the Golden Wing Sect. From dragon-slaying to golden wings, and from an alliance to a single sect. It is the only one of the Thirteen skies still maintaining its strength in Sichuan.”

The chief administrator stroked his thick beard.

“They belong more to the world of sorcery than to Murim, and I hear they have recently been clashing fiercely with the Tang Clan. There have been no notable civilian casualties yet. The Tang Clan is compensating people for destroyed inns and houses, and merchants are apparently delighted by the increased demand for supplies... Still, I believe this is a matter the fortress should keep an eye on.”

“Did they ask the Tang Clan to help them capture that supernatural abomination? The Tang Clan would have no reason to agree.”

Xiahou Weizhen asked the question, and the chief administrator nodded.

“We know how those people behave. It was likely closer to coercion than a request, as befits the Thirteen skies. Well, I can understand their reasoning. With his lost supreme art restored, the Tang Clan’s Poison Lord could restrain any spirit beast, however briefly, with Blossoms Raining Across the Sky. Surely an area-spanning ultimate technique is essential if they are to approach their cherished goal?”

“Do we not have a supreme master here who can use it, too?”

At Xiahou Weizhen’s words, the gazes around the table shifted. The chief administrator and the Black-ranked supreme masters all looked toward the new Radiant Demon Squad captain.

Even the fortress’s own warriors did not know how Lightning Genius had come to wield Blossoms Raining Across the Sky. There was only endless speculation.

Probing deeply into another’s supreme arts was taboo in Murim. By now, it had been accepted as one of the several mysteries every Desolate Fortress captain tended to possess.

“Our Lightning Genius will have to be careful out in the martial world.”

Ak Surim spoke with a slight crease between her smooth brows.

“Your epithet in Sichuan is Hidden King Among Blossoms, isn’t it? So many people claim they saw you unleash Blossoms Raining Across the Sky alongside Poison Lord Tang Unhwang. Those Dragon-Slaying Alliance—no, Golden Wing Sect—people are a pack of lunatics. It wouldn’t be strange for them to lay hands on one of our captains traveling down a road at night.”

“They call themselves ‘dragon hunters,’ rather than martial artists,” Law Enforcement Squad Captain Un Soyu added calmly.

‘Dragon hunters?’

Jung Yeonshin’s eyebrow twitched. This setting was unlike anything he had experienced in his life. He had been told that any question was permitted in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace, and that mysterious knowledge passed freely here.

He had to ask.

“Do dragons truly exist in this world?”

“I don’t know about now. They say one ascended to heaven around the founding of the Ming. Because of that, all sorts of sinister superstitions ran rampant, apart from Buddhism, Taoism, and the Ming Cult. They dressed themselves up with the grand name of religion. It happened in the martial world, too, apparently. Well, the fortress smashed almost all of them. Except the stubborn Blood Flame Cult. Who knows how many branches it has?”

Ak Surim answered casually.

“There are all sorts of rumors. One even said our fortress master sliced off a yellow dragon’s horn with a single stroke.”

“Have you never asked the fortress master directly?”

“How could I dare ask the fortress master something like that? Anyway, be careful. The Thirteen skies aren’t called that merely because they’re powerful. Not one of them is sane. Stay on your guard if you don’t want to be blindsided on your travels.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“There’s no need for thanks. Didn’t I tell you I’m not your senior here?”

Ak Surim waved away Jung Yeonshin’s martial salute. Only the faint smile on her face seemed to betray her pleasure. She was a senior who did not hide her feelings.

The chief administrator cleared his throat.

“This is a factional war between one of the Thirteen skies and one of the Eight Families. That remains true even if the Tang Clan is limiting civilian harm. The Command Bureau is already monitoring it. A mediation mission may be issued soon, so those captains on standby should bear that in mind.”

Then his pointing finger moved diagonally up the map.

“From here on, we will discuss captain-level missions.”

“...!”

Jung Yeonshin’s eyes flashed. He had no intention of resting. If he failed to obtain a mission today, he would have to remain on standby at the fortress.

Two of the Divine Sword Squad’s combat units served as the Desolate Fortress’s standing force.

Ak Surim was exempt as Divine Sword deputy commander, while Un Soyu enforced the fortress’s laws as Law Enforcement Squad Captain. That left him competing for missions with the Captain of the Forest-Treading Squad, the Blood-Preserving Squad Captain, and the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord.

All were seasoned captains with countless Black-level missions behind them. Not one would be easy to contend with.

‘I have to secure one.’

As Jung Yeonshin made that resolve, the chief administrator’s finger traveled northwest from Sichuan. That took it beyond the Ming Empire’s borders, straight to Xinjiang.

“The Ming Cult has risen. Its young cult leader’s momentum is formidable. Rumors that he is a grandmaster of sorcery and martial arts are now accepted as fact. He is said to be tremendously powerful.”

With his index finger fixed on Xinjiang, the chief administrator continued.

“The Suncheon Wing, sent to wipe them out, has been out of contact for a fortnight. This is unprecedented. Two of the captains here must set out. Perhaps we can count ourselves fortunate. Unlike the Radiant Demon Squad incident in the City of Master Artisans, we have spare combat units back at headquarters.”

“Ha Doun could not handle a single stripling...?”

Jin Myeongjo, the Supreme Demon of Divine Blood and Blood-Preserving Squad Captain, folded his arms. His very bearing revealed his dual nature: lofty, yet uncanny.

His robe fit closely around his arms, revealing the contours of well-honed muscles through the fabric. This was the body of a supreme master of fist and palm arts. Jung Yeonshin’s gaze fell on the sleek bundles of extensor muscles above his wrists.

Up close, the lines running up his arms to the biceps were especially distinct. His physique was specialized for extending his hands.

‘If I use that as a model and tune my body with the Movement Art...’

Even as he worried about the Suncheon Wing’s safety, Jung Yeonshin committed the configuration of Jin Myeongjo’s muscles to memory. It seemed he could shorten the time it took to unleash Radiant River.

After sending him blue-robed experts, the man was now helping him advance merely by being observed. He was a senior well worth emulating.

“A single stripling? He is likely three or four years older than the Radiant Demon Squad captain.”

The chief administrator glanced at Jin Myeongjo and shook his head before continuing.

“Even so, it is hard to deny that his age beggars belief... His talent, too, must be something of a supernatural abomination. He will also have drawn on sinister sorcery. Even excluding the Heavenly Demon branch, is the Ming Cult’s martial lineage not the very culmination of dark arts?”

He directed the question at the captains as he finished. Silent assent followed, each of them nodding.

“At any rate, that accounts for two places. As for the remaining one...”

His hand moved diagonally down again, toward the Central Plains. His index finger settled on Shaanxi.

“After killing the Qingcheng Sect Leader, the Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord continued north and engaged the twenty-four Plum Blossom Swordsmen. He clashed with Daoist Master Tianzhu, who commanded Mount Hua’s Plum Blossom Sword Formation, and shattered the formation in a single assault... This occurred just before the Radiant Demon Squad captain attended the Martial Alliance’s founding ceremony.”

“...”

“We believe the Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord’s martial arts have improved astonishingly. The circumstances make that clear. Had the battle not taken place in Huayin County, the slaughter would have been tremendous. It was fortunate indeed that they were beneath Mount Hua itself.”

“The monster of Shaanxi Province...” murmured Cheon Soso, the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord.

The chief administrator nodded.

“He always was. All peerless masters grow stronger without cease, but the current Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord does so faster still. I mention this because you must remember it when traveling to Shaanxi. The captains themselves should take care, of course, but be especially sure to warn your subordinates when they face Tyrant Sword Tribe warriors. Those sword fools—idiots for the blade—will be riding a tremendous surge of confidence.”

“If my unit did not handle Shaanxi, the Radiant Demon Squad often did. I selected subordinates skilled in the subtleties of softness overcoming hardness long ago. Men trained in internal martial arts that allow swift reactions.”

Xiahou Weizhen tapped the armrest with his thick fingertips and continued.

“What is the mission there?”

“We have word that a martial artist of the evil and unorthodox paths is posing as an orthodox martial artist in Qianyang Prefecture, at Shaanxi’s northern end. They suspect a supreme master of Lingering Spirits wearing another person’s facial skin. The prefect specifically requested a captain-level expert from our fortress in the letter, saying that Zhongnan and Mount Hua have no strength to spare. Apparently, this person is exploiting civilians under the banner of the White Sun Sect, an orthodox sect in Qianyang Prefecture.”

The chief administrator suddenly frowned, looking troubled.

“Once we exclude the fortress’s standing force and those undertaking the Xinjiang mission, only one Black remains. It must be a captain capable of avoiding the danger posed by the Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord. This year’s harvest is already over, so we have a little time.”

At those last words, Jung Yeonshin immediately spoke.

“I will go.”

The chief administrator had just said there was time. It was the perfect mission to depart on after reorganizing the Radiant Demon Squad.

The mission to investigate the Suncheon Wing weighed heavily on his mind, but Jung Yeonshin did not arrogantly put himself forward. His martial prowess was below Xiahou Weizhen’s, and his experience fell short of the other captains’.

It was right to entrust the Suncheon Wing’s safety to more proven captains. Unlike in the City of Master Artisans, several combat units were available now.

Jung Yeonshin acknowledged that he and the Radiant Demon Squad were not the best choice. Even he thought it was a humble attitude.

Then—

“I have not known you long.”

Xiahou Weizhen abruptly spoke, staring at Jung Yeonshin from far across the table.

“But I never imagined you would be so eager to evade dangerous missions. Could your remarks about the Comprehensive Compendium for Breaking the Righteous Path have been groundwork for this? I confess they left me uneasy. I had been doing my best to swallow it.”

The Captain of the Forest-Treading Squad. The Thousand-Fist, Dragon-Strength Retainer.

By now, the light in his eyes was terrifying. His gathering, colorless internal power sent harsh streams of qi rippling outward. The faint sunlight filtering into the hall warped along with the dust.

“Ha.”

A small breath escaped the lips of Cheon Soso, the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord, who had remained silent. A trace of mockery mingled with the sigh. Light flickered in her blue eyes.

“And here I thought things would pass quietly.”

She brushed behind her pointed ear.

Jung Yeonshin frowned.

“You misunder—”

“A misunderstanding! Who could call it that after hearing your arrogant, insolent words?”

Immense internal power filled the voice. The shout became a deafening echo that flooded the hall. Even the ceiling shook violently, as though struck by an earthquake.

Jung Yeonshin knew instinctively.

‘He is going to attack.’

It was said that every supreme master who attained true mastery was an eccentric. Their bodies brimmed with such vitality that common folk revered them as gods. Some had become positively awkward at using words to resolve grudges and misunderstandings.

In the martial world at its rawest, only those with shallow martial arts observed etiquette and thought things through. Xiahou Weizhen was powerful enough to have no need of that.

He had heard from the outset that fights between captains were frequent in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace. They seized on trivial words and asserted dominance with martial arts, all to make the rest of the meeting easier for themselves.

Xiahou Weizhen’s words now would contain a mixture of sincerity and pretense. There was a reason they called this a battlefield.

“I learned from you and treated you as an equal of the noble race, yet perhaps the new Radiant Demon Squad captain cannot shed the ways of his paltry race after all!”

“There seems little need for further words.”

Just as Jung Yeonshin began turning the radiant wheel in his heart, before Ak Surim at the head of the table could intervene—

RUMBLE!

A thunderous explosion violently shook the ceiling. At the same instant, hundreds of slanting cracks raced down the marble walls in every direction.

Jung Yeonshin felt it distinctly. The sorcerous power of the hall’s Enchantment, which protected the Blacks, had been shattered in a single blow.

No one inside had time to react.

Then—

CRAAASH!

The entire ceiling collapsed with a tremendous tremor, like a landslide. Stone dust billowed like a cloud and settled in a dense haze.

The moment the captains’ powerful upward strikes knocked aside, sliced through, and shattered the falling stone—

“You rotten bastard!”

A man landed with pink robes fluttering and seized Xiahou Weizhen by the back of the head. From his large palm, outsized despite his gaunt frame, a wave of force raged like a typhoon.

The whitish whirlwind swept away the fragments of stone around them. It was a truly enormous vortex, filling the hall in an instant.

“The only paltry thing here is that jaw of yours!”

The man’s hand forced Xiahou Weizhen’s head down. The wave of force roaring like a gale from his grip surged savagely upward.

Even the Thousand-Fist, Dragon-Strength Retainer could not resist that strength. His forehead slammed straight into the table.

CRAAASH!

The round table shattered to pieces. A violent roar shot upward through the open air where the ceiling had been.

The shock wave was tremendous. It was as though an invisible storm had erupted.