It was a truly shocking arrival.

Six captains had gathered for a meeting. None had feared for their safety. With their combined strength approaching absolute supremacy, if only for a moment, it was difficult for anyone to deny the sense of security. Even in a troubled age where the strong devoured the weak, they could speak of safety.

People said that even three Blacks together could lay claim to invincibility. It was not an entirely baseless claim, however prone gossipmongers were to exaggeration.

And yet.

SHHHH—

Not a speck of dust clung to the clothes of the man who had driven the Captain of the Forest-Treading Squad's head into the floor. Even as a hazy cloud spread around him, his robes retained their vivid pink. Protective force qi enveloped even their hems.

It meant the internal energy surrounding his entire body was so seamless that not even water could seep through.

He knelt on one knee, pressing down on the back of Xiahou Weizhen's head.

The sight did not feel real. Even with his head lowered slightly toward the captain, he looked imperious. An unrestrained martial presence poured from his entire body. The colorless waves surging around him were tremendously powerful and utterly free.

"Did I not ask you a question, you truly insignificant wretch?"

His voice rumbled like a lion's growl.

Xiahou Weizhen could not answer. The mouth that had been shouting at his newly appointed junior was crushed against the floor. His lips ground their way into the marble.

What would have happened without his constantly active armor of internal energy? It was a blow that could have shattered the mouth of a Black in an instant, even though internal energy filled the very inside of his body.

"I listened for a while, and what a spectacle you made. I should have come down sooner."

The man spoke as though muttering to himself. No one answered immediately.

Throughout the martial world, the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace was a place known largely through rumors. Nowhere else did so many of the Desolate Fortress's Blacks gather. It should have been the most dangerous place under heaven.

Yet until the moment before the ceiling collapsed, not one of them had reacted.

It was almost inconceivable. They could have called it a calamity. It made no sense unless the intruder's internal cultivation had reached Return to Simplicity and Truth—a realm of such supreme attainment that its practitioner could instead pass for someone ordinary.

"..."

Silence fell for a moment.

Cheon Soso, the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord, opened her blue eyes wide and clear. She gazed steadily at the man, gathering her qi waves within the stillness peculiar to ice arts. The energy embodied the mysteries of movement within stillness, cold and immensely powerful.

Un Soyu, who had drawn her sword as the ceiling cracked, kept its point trained on the man. Even amid the raging storm, her long black hair remained still. She had cultivated her clan's innate abilities alongside her swordsmanship. She was a supreme master who commanded the wind in wondrous ways.

SHHHH.

With his arms folded, Jin Myeongjo, the Supreme Demon of Divine Blood, honed a keen energy in his hands. His expression had not shifted in the slightest at the astonishing sight. He stood with refined elegance, wrapped in qi waves that spread thickly and irregularly—the distinctive dignity of the Blood-Preserving Squad Captain.

Though the captains were thoroughly accustomed to sudden combat, they could not attack immediately. First they had to gauge their opponent.

There was no mistaking what the Desolate Fortress captains' energy detection told them. Xiahou Weizhen, the Thousand-Fist, Dragon-Strength Retainer, had been subdued with ease. Great though the advantage of surprise might be, this was no time to underestimate the man.

"Coordinate with me," Jin Myeongjo said tersely.

The words themselves were a feint. The effectiveness of a combined assault depended on the compatibility of the participants' martial arts. The Blood-Preserving Squad Captain and the noble-race captains were the worst possible match.

He did not actually mean they should coordinate with him. He meant they should attack first, and he would find an opening himself.

Cheon Soso and Un Soyu did not answer. This had nothing to do with their usual contempt for Jin Myeongjo's bloodline.

The uninvited guest had deceived the energy detection of Black-ranked supreme masters by concealing his internal energy completely. A peerless master. He could assume at least a fraction of the Desolate Fortress Master's nature-like presence.

They had to be prepared to die and use meticulous eye techniques to uncover everything they could about him.

Ak Surim had already drawn the spear from her back. Her brow creased slightly.

"What is this?"

She held the black spear lowered in one hand. Her opening stance was extraordinary, a transparent shimmer enveloping her entire body. Terrifying power surged along the shaft rising behind her slender back.

It was the Yue Clan Spear Art, the most renowned polearm art under heaven. Once it had been counted alongside the Yang Family Spear Art as one of the world's two greatest spear arts, but she had made that an obsolete claim. The Desolate Divine Spear's might had far surpassed that of the Yang Family Spear masters.

"Those qi waves feel somehow familiar, yet strange. Deeply unpleasant. Is he a Lord of the Thirteen Skies I've never seen? Otherwise, there's no way anyone could breach headquarters like this..."

Ak Surim muttered as she watched the man pressing down on the back of Xiahou Weizhen's head. She could not see the intruder's face. He had his head lowered toward the captain, as though lecturing him.

Slowly, she parted her lips.

"Lightning Genius, you need to watch him properly."

Concern colored her tone. Her dear junior was looking away from the uninvited guest.

"Ah."

The new captain of the Radiant Demon Squad's response was flat. His thick brows did not so much as twitch. A long, slender breath flowed beneath his finely shaped nose.

His qi-art breathing had become astonishingly deep, yet he also looked dazed, like someone his age might. It was exceedingly rare.

The Desolate Divine Spear had a broad field of vision. She could see Lightning Genius without even turning her gaze. She could not help asking worriedly,

"Are you all right?"

"Senior Ak."

Her junior began with his head tilted down.

"What is it? Tell me."

Ak Surim gently encouraged him. Even with a formidable enemy before her, her words and manner were warm.

She truly was a senior to be grateful for.

"Well..."

At that moment, Jung Yeonshin felt utterly alone. Emotionally, at least. The expression he had labored to erase from his face bore witness to his immense embarrassment.

Only he knew how he felt. An unfamiliar shame with nowhere to go rolled over him like clouds, accompanied by profound regret. He should simply have come with his grandfather.

'Ah...'

Still, he had to speak. From the look of things, his maternal grandfather had no intention of identifying himself. He was wholly occupied with pressing down, again and again, on the back of Xiahou Weizhen's head.

He was behaving like an utterly obstinate old master from between the two paths. Was he too furious to spare a thought for his surroundings? Even so, the supreme presence that permitted no one to approach was nothing short of astonishing.

He could not let his Black-ranked seniors attack first.

A peerless Purple clashing with four Black-ranked supreme masters? Every one of them could pierce steel with a single strike. Regardless of who won, the outcome would not be pretty.

Jung Yeonshin could stop his grandfather. But he could do nothing about the split-second attack the Indomitable Hero might launch before that. If matters escalated any further, attending meetings at the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace would become difficult. He would never be able to show his face again.

'No.'

With difficulty, his resolve rose above his shame. Just as he was about to speak—

"Let him be for a moment."

It was the chief administrator's sound transmission.

Jung Yeonshin turned his gaze and immediately spotted him. He was smiling. The curve amid his thick beard conveyed a remarkably cheerful disposition. It was difficult to comprehend.

The chief administrator continued.

"Once he returns from his summons to the imperial court, he must live for a time as our fortress's Dark Sword. It is work ill-suited to the Indomitable Hero's temperament. His frustration must have been building. I would hardly dare stop something so commonplace in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace. Besides... the clash you fear may not occur, young master. Not one of our Blacks is ordinary, after all..."

Just then, terrifying qi waves rose from several points around the shattered round table. The captains had finished preparing to strike.

The instant they reached an unspoken agreement, they circulated energy throughout their bodies. They had achieved unity of essence, qi, and spirit. With their attainment of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, they were about to unleash their supreme arts.

There would be no questions asked.

A clash had already occurred. Xiahou Weizhen was still alive, but the attack had plainly been hostile. A Desolate Fortress captain engaged in combat did not converse with the enemy. It was a code of conduct hardened into long-standing tradition, meant to keep them from being swayed by the words of powerful officials.

That was why Ak Surim had expressed concern for Jung Yeonshin but had not addressed the intruder.

'That protective force qi is not something fist and palm arts can penetrate.'

Jin Myeongjo, the Supreme Demon of Divine Blood, considered his options. Born with yin qi, his energy detection was no worse than that of the noble race. He had immediately discerned the garment of internal energy his opponent wore.

It was woven with extraordinary solidity, like armor made of core energy. The blunt striking surfaces of fist and palm arts would struggle against it. He had no choice but to use the Flashing Blood Claw Art.

'If only that bastard weren't here...!'

His ruby eyes flashed as they swept over the new captain of the Radiant Demon Squad, practically his mortal enemy.

The presence enveloping the fellow's entire body was profoundly numinous. He had supposedly devised Dharma-powered martial arts as a white robe. Now he seemed to be circulating his qi with Dharma power itself.

Even at a distance, Jin Myeongjo felt his life was in danger. Gooseflesh rose on his smooth skin. He was not sure he could properly execute his ultimate moves.

'The Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord is the monster of Shaanxi Province? Does that matter? Damn it.'

The Desolate Fortress's monster was right here.

He had to encounter the very person he most wanted to avoid at every meeting. The Radiant Demon Squad captain, whose mere existence oppressed him, was a greater threat than the unidentified intruder who had not killed the Forest-Treading Squad captain outright.

Psychologically, too. Whenever he recalled the two blue-robed subordinates he had handed over like a lesser man presenting tribute, his heart clenched. The loss nearly drove him mad.

Pung Ran. Na Ilcheon. My faithful hands and feet.

'And now a combined assault? With the Radiant Demon Squad captain?'

Jin Myeongjo glared without thinking. Then he flinched preemptively and lowered his lashes. That junior bastard had mastered a Dharma-powered divine technique.

If he got on his bad side, the captains' meetings would become a torment. Simply sitting beside him might send him into convulsions. Damn it.

'Ah...'

Jung Yeonshin interpreted that scarlet glance quite differently.

There were two sides to his bearing: desperate resolve and nobility. Like the taciturn senior he was, he had spoken with his eyes. I will take responsibility for the vanguard. I leave the rear to you.

'He is every bit as dependable as Senior Ak.'

The embarrassment his grandfather caused him. The guilt his seniors inspired.

Even so, he could not strike his grandfather. As Jung Yeonshin swallowed his anguish, a voice rang out, filled with anger.

"You wretches intend to raise your hands against your superior?"

At last, the man in pink robes lifted his head. Xiahou Weizhen, subdued by the surprise attack and the grip on the vital point at the back of his neck, had finally lost consciousness.

His face was revealed, its features bold despite the near absence of flesh.

He was astonishingly young.

Though he was not of the noble race, vitality seemed to brim throughout his body. The temperament stamped on his face looked almost savage. He was the very image of a lord of lions racing across the wilderness.

"Attack now..."

Jin Myeongjo, the Blood-Preserving Squad Captain, had sharpened all five fingernails into blades, but his words slowly trailed off. He had cast aside the austere dignity of a Black to propose a combined assault. Anyone with experience ought to have done the same.

But he could not finish.

"What are these fools doing?"

Jin Myeongjo frowned. Ak Surim, Cheon Soso, and Un Soyu had stopped moving. Every one of them stood rigid, as though frozen. They looked as if they had witnessed something they should never have seen. Even their burgeoning, powerful qi waves subsided.

All three were captains of considerable age. The Desolate Divine Spear had lived long through Rejuvenation, while the Immortal Wood Spirit Lord and the Law Enforcement Squad Captain had done so as members of the noble race.

They were unlike Jin Myeongjo, who had entered the fortress relatively recently and risen hastily to a captain's seat.

He glanced at the Radiant Demon Squad captain.

'What is he doing now...?'

His newly appointed junior was looking in an entirely different direction. He seemed to be outright averting his eyes.

Then—

"No."

Ak Surim's lips trembled slightly. So did her grip on the black spear. The force that had surged like a wildfire through her Yue Clan Spear Art vanished without a trace.

"No..."

She seemed more shocked than anyone present. Dazed, even. Her lips parted slightly, and her eyes, bright with the distinctive gleam of a supreme master, quivered faintly. Her black gaze kept darting between Jung Yeonshin and the uninvited guest.

"What in the..."

Hers was not a pleasant astonishment. Anyone could see that.

Ma Yeonjeok rose smoothly to his feet, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"I have been waiting for this ever since you spoke of my grandson as your husband-to-be. Still, you did have an eye for talent. Time itself has been reversed at my grandson's hands—an achievement your paltry Ak Family Spear could never dare aspire to."

"Really, truly... this is insane...!"

Ak Surim's reaction was intense. She had spent many years being worked mercilessly under Divine Sword Squad Leader Ma Yeonjeok. Her thick, upturned lashes trembled. Even when the short hair she always swept behind her neck slipped over her ears, she did not raise a hand. Her eyes urgently sought her junior.

"That's a joke, right? The Elder Council Leader recovered and is playing a prank, isn't he? Wearing a human-skin mask. This is a horrible joke, so I'd like you to tell me now. To think I'd see that face again in my lifetime..."

"My maternal grandfather has achieved Rejuvenation."

Jung Yeonshin spoke, struggling to hide his embarrassment.

"It really was you? You made him like that?"

"... Yes."

"You're my enemy now..."

A devastated Ak Surim murmured feebly.

Cleaning up the aftermath fell to Chief Administrator Im Jinmyeong.

With the shock still lingering, they agreed to continue the meeting seated cross-legged on the floor. Ma Yeonjeok took the place of honor, with the captains seated below him on either side. Ak Surim dragged Jung Yeonshin to the spot farthest away.

Cheon Soso, Un Soyu, and Jin Myeongjo all looked bewildered. Only the degree differed. They had not yet absorbed Ma Yeonjeok's transformation, which could only be called a cataclysmic change.

It had all happened in so little time. Xiahou Weizhen, who had come around belatedly, sat silent with clear eyes. His tightly closed lips were unlike their usual state. There was no trace of his furious temperament. With both hands resting on his knees, he looked like a man of profound discipline, his mind as clear as a mirror and still as water.

The Indomitable Hero paid him no mind.

"You were discussing assignments. Yeonshin, where would you like to go?"

Jung Yeonshin turned his gaze slightly. His worries were mountainous. His grandfather had barged into his workplace, grown furious over his grandson's affairs, and resorted to violence. How was he supposed to show his face from now on?

With difficulty, he simply looked at Xiahou Weizhen and spoke.

"My skills are still insufficient to undertake a mission with the Suncheon Wing's safety at stake. That is why I proposed going to Shaanxi. I thought Shaanxi would be preferable, even with Zhongnan, Mount Hua, the Tyrant Sword Tribe, and Lingering Spirits all there. I must reiterate that Senior Xiahou misunderstood me."

"Shaanxi? Very well. The captain of the Radiant Demon Squad will go to Shaanxi."

Ma Yeonjeok's words were all but a proclamation.

"..."

The chief administrator alone gave a hearty chuckle as he unfolded the next document.

"And..."

The meeting accelerated astonishingly. At an unprecedented pace, the agenda items in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace began passing in a flash.