“Er, have you decided on a name for your swordsmanship?”

“I've decided to call it the Radiant Sword Art.”

Jung Yeonshin answered Heon Wonchang's hesitant question as the delicate fragrance of tea rose around them.

The Radiant Sword Art.

He had chosen the name in the hope that his own life would endure, just as the light filling every corner of the world never died in the sun, moon, and stars. The way the swordsmanship scattered radiance along its trajectories had also played a part.

“Ah... That has a better ring to it than the name I thought of. What a shame.”

“What name did you have in mind?”

“I was going to suggest the World-Subduing Radiant Cleaving Formula. That was the impression it gave me. Master it fully, and you could take on the world with a single stroke encompassing heaven and earth!”

“...”

Jung Yeonshin silently drank his tea. The flavor washing over his tongue was exquisite. They had called it Jingwei Fu Tea, and the shimmering golden brew spoke volumes about the treatment they were receiving at the Zhongnan Sect.

'That was bewildering.'

The Zhongnan Sword Immortal's reaction to the Radiant Sword Art had exceeded anything he could have imagined. His brusqueness had instantly turned to warmth. He had even embraced Jung Yeonshin with tears in his eyes. Compared with the way he treated Yeonshin's second elder brother, Jung Joongsan, he might have been a different person.

Yeonshin had rescued his niece and created his own swordsmanship. He had done nothing for the Zhongnan Sect, yet they were treating him as an honored guest. It left him bemused and uncomfortable.

Heon Wonchang, however, seemed to feel differently.

“I'd like to get some of this golden tea to take back with us.”

He looked so carefree that it was hard to believe he had been cutting down enemies with murderous intent not long ago. They spent some time chatting.

They decided on their mission between themselves, as Ma Jin had given them discretion to do. Their objective was either to prevent harm to ordinary people's livelihoods or to deal a meaningful blow to the Tyrant Sword Tribe. They had earned Zhongnan's goodwill. They would be able to hear news of the fighting immediately.

“Young Master Jung?”

A pleasant voice sounded from outside the door. It belonged to the Sword Dragon, wiji myohwa. Leaving Heon Wonchang and his envious expression behind, Yeonshin stepped out of the room.

She looked just as she had at their first meeting, standing with a distinctive feather ornament above her flowing ebony hair. Her sky-blue martial robes and the hand resting on her sword hilt revealed several facets of her character.

Even from the little Jung Yeonshin had seen and heard, he could not help liking her as a fellow martial artist: the resolve to rebuke her juniors without hesitation, the chivalrous desire to help the common people, and the bearing of a swordswoman pursuing a higher martial path. Along with her powerful martial arts, those qualities must have helped make her a dragon.

“I've come to hear what we didn't get to discuss earlier.”

“You mean the venerable Sword Ancestor's sword marks?”

She nodded.

“It's shameful to admit this as a disciple of my sect, but I want to step out of the Sword Ancestor's shadow. In both chivalry and the way of the sword, I must walk my own path. I intend to become a Grandmaster.”

She spoke of her ambitions boldly before a boy younger than herself. Her attitude had changed subtly after witnessing Jung Yeonshin's Radiant Sword Art. Her mettle seemed worthy of her renown as the strongest of Zhongnan's rising generation disciples.

“I'll be rooting for you.”

His matter-of-fact reply seemed to deflate her a little, but she soon composed herself.

“If you help me restore Eclipse of the Nine Suns...” Her red lips moved as she continued. “I promise to honor you as my benefactor for the rest of my life. You would be sparing me much of the time I might otherwise spend dissatisfied, however long that might be.”

Peaceful sunlight lay bright upon the earth. Amid the gentle midday rays and the still mountain landscape, only her clear voice rang out.

Few things in Murim were more sacred. That was what sharing martial arts meant.

“Would you?”

Her smooth red lips curved into a smile. There was nothing servile about her request. Confidence overflowed from her very gaze, like a flame that would never go out. Was this the spirit of someone who stood at the pinnacle of a renowned orthodox sect's rising generation?

She surely did not mean that she would remain at his side for life. She meant that, as a martial artist indebted to him, she would help whenever she could, to the best of her ability. Jung Yeonshin readily nodded.

“It won't take long.”

“That's both surprising and delightful.”

She smiled faintly.

PAD.

The two set off side by side. It felt strange. By Desolate Fortress standards, the sky sword dragon, wiji myohwa, was unquestionably a blue-robed warrior. To offer one-sided assistance to a martial artist of such prowess and experience was hardly an everyday occurrence.

Still feeling that peculiar sensation, he reached the cliff's edge. Some distance away, the Zhongnan Sword Immortal watched them with his hands clasped behind his back. His smiling face was astonishingly relaxed compared with their first meeting. He had been that way ever since seeing the Radiant Sword Art. Heon Wonchang had even whispered that he might ascend to immortality at this rate.

“I'll give you the formula first.”

“What did you just... Did you say the formula?”

She whipped her head around. Her swinging hair struck Jung Yeonshin's face, and he brushed it away with a few pats. Glancing at her embarrassed expression, he spoke slowly.

“It won't be exactly the same. I believe that part will be up to you, Sword Dragon.”

He had worked backward from the manifestation of the profound principles he discerned in the traces of the sword paths. In that way, he had completely reconstructed the method of circulating core energy. He did not mention that.

Having received Chung Myung's outer robe, he was now one of the Desolate Fortress's principal warriors. He knew what he should and should not say.

'The Sword Dragon seems trustworthy, but...'

A talent capable of stealing other people's martial arts? Nothing good would come of that rumor spreading. Even now, her voice had risen another pitch.

“They said this was a matter of inspiration, but your talent is simply...!”

Her expression seemed to ask how such a thing could possibly exist.

“Then, when you say it's up to me...”

“I'll teach you the unfinished formula, and you'll refine it until it's closer to completion. Isn't that it?”

Was that such a difficult conclusion to reach? Jung Yeonshin spoke without concealing his puzzlement. It was a very easy task. It could hardly compare to retracing the formula one piece at a time from the lingering marks.

As she fell silent, the sun sank lower.

* * *

After receiving the formula, wiji myohwa was nowhere to be seen for a while. The Zhongnan Sword Immortal told Yeonshin that she had succumbed to an inner demon. Even an upright character, he said, could not make someone immune to the workings of the heart.

“She was never one to flaunt her martial arts. But your talent seems to have shocked her.”

The Zhongnan Sword Immortal regarded Jung Yeonshin with a peculiar look.

“She was a prodigy without an equal among Shaanxi's martial artists of her age. That includes Mount Hua. Here in the Central Plains, even a fair-sized small kingdom cannot compare to Shaanxi. She came to consider herself the greatest martial talent under heaven.”

“The greatest under heaven.”

Jung Yeonshin murmured the words as though turning them over in his mind. They had an unfamiliar ring.

The Zhongnan Sword Immortal nodded slowly.

“Yes. For the first time, she felt her own talent was paltry. After seeing the real thing.”

“It's meaningless. The Sword Dragon is several levels above me as a martial artist.”

For Jung Yeonshin, who was racing against time, it was difficult to understand. Neither invisible talent nor age could stand in for one's present level of attainment. Seeing him shake his head, the Zhongnan Sword Immortal gave a disbelieving chuckle.

“What a grievous mistake heaven has made. Talent alone would have been enough, yet it gave you a heart that hungers to remedy its shortcomings as well. There is no fairness in this world.”

“You're embarrassing me.”

They had grown quite close by now. Someone else in the Zhongnan Sect had even remarked that they looked like grandfather and grandson. Jung Yeonshin, too, felt far more at ease with the Zhongnan Sword Immortal than with his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeonjeok.

Just then—

“Elder Jong. Young Master Jung.”

By the time her voice reached them, she was already before their eyes. As her marvelous Mobility Arts brought her to a halt, jet-black hair swayed over sky-blue martial robes.

“Sword Dragon.”

“You've come. I knew you would overcome it quickly.”

It was wiji myohwa, the very person they had been discussing. She had grown so haggard that her fair face looked pallid. After greeting the Zhongnan Sword Immortal, she faced Jung Yeonshin and exchanged fist-and-palm salutes with him. Her expression was resolute.

“Young Master Jung. Since you obtained the formula first, you can demonstrate the swordsmanship as well, can't you?”

“... Yes. That's right.”

“Would you practice Eclipse of the Nine Suns with me? I'd progress faster than training alone.”

“I'm sorry.” Jung Yeonshin shook his head. “I barely have enough time to hone my own swordsmanship.”

“Ah...”

Unable to press him, she let out a disappointed sigh. He slowly added,

“They share the same source, so watching each other's swordsmanship should be enough. You're welcome to join me when I practice the Radiant Sword Art. You can work on Eclipse of the Nine Suns beside me.”

That was how he had learned the Mobility Arts inspired by Chung Myung, too. Jung Yeonshin could discern an opponent's martial arts upon first encountering them in battle. The custom of forbidding others from watching one's martial training therefore meant little to him.

But the other two reacted differently. For the first time, admiration filled her eyes.

“... You're the true great hero of our age, Young Master Jung.”

“There ought to be limits even to generosity. You already possess the breadth of spirit to reach the heights of the world.”

The Zhongnan Sword Immortal sighed. His expression mirrored hers, and his affection seemed to have deepened. This seemed to be admiration for Yeonshin's magnanimity, quite apart from his talent. Both faces held profound warmth.

Displaying a moment of enlightenment and allowing someone to watch the practice of an established martial art were entirely different matters.

'The misunderstandings keep piling up.'

Jung Yeonshin put the thought aside and headed to the training ground behind the Patrol and Inspection Pavilion. He could sense wiji myohwa's graceful presence following with soft footsteps. Taking a spot to one side, he looked over at her. She smiled and stopped in place.

They drew their swords almost simultaneously.

SHING.

Revealed beneath the sun, the Desolate Sword looked subtly more beautiful than before. They said swords forged by the iron race grew with their owners. Apparently, even a standard-issue sword was no exception. It had shared Jung Yeonshin's battles and achievements and had now come to embody the Radiant Sword Art. No sword in the world could suit him better.

'Radiance.'

Reciting the word inwardly, he set the formula into motion. The Radiant Sword Art's core energy circulation was utterly different from that of the Infinite Blossom Fist Strike. Whereas each blow of the fist art ended as a discrete strike, the Radiant Sword Art possessed an unbroken, continuous flow.

HUM.

With the image of sunlight gathering into flowing waves, he began moving the Desolate Sword. Its tip, steeped in light from the sun overhead, descended toward the earth in a circle. His sword moved without impediment. The radiance and wind gathered on the blade seemed to spread to his body. It felt astonishingly familiar.

The Radiant Sword Art. It felt this way because he had created it himself.

'I'm its master.'

In that moment, he fully felt it. He was the father of this martial art.

“Ah.”

A sigh dispersed without reaching Jung Yeonshin's ears. Beside him, wiji myohwa's sword had stopped. Standing motionless, she watched him. She had been circulating her core energy alongside him, performing Eclipse of the Nine Suns.

At first, her vastly superior experience and knowledge had clearly put her ahead. She had even reproached herself for the pettiness of feeling a little relieved by Jung Yeonshin's seemingly crude swordplay.

Yet in the realm of mastery, he had caught up in an instant.

Jung Yeonshin was dancing a sword dance of sunlight. They had begun learning new sword arts at the same time, yet their attainment was utterly different. Even a brief glance made that clear, though both Eclipse of the Nine Suns and the Radiant Sword Art were sublime forms of swordsmanship no one could belittle.

As she swallowed a groan, the Desolate Sword changed speed. Before she knew it, even the Swift Sword Formula was blending into Jung Yeonshin's swordsmanship.

WHOOSH! WHOOOSH!

Amid the rippling streams of light from the Radiant Sword Art, the Sword Dragon's blade slowly lowered.

The serpent holding the wish-granting pearl—the one poised to become a true dragon—was someone else. An unfamiliar sense of defeat before overwhelming martial talent washed over her.

Masters who had cultivated their internal energy deeply possessed a light in their eyes: a radiance born of core energy that sometimes flashed like the gaze of a wild beast.

“What am I even...”

Wiji myohwa's eyes, always clear and lucid, clouded over. Slowly, they lost their focus.