The imperial grandson approached.

Jung Yeonshin stood motionless, sword in hand.

A sword song. In this very moment, he had laid the foundation for an art that could contend with groups of enemies.

“Let us see each other from time to time,” said the imperial grandson, Joo Yoonmyung.

That was all. He revealed no further emotion. It seemed that was how he had lived his life.

'Does he mean I shouldn't go and die somewhere?'

Jung Yeonshin paid his respects, then raised his head. The imperial grandson had already entered the armory.

Chung Myung came over slowly and draped an arm around his shoulders.

“That's how goodwill works. You can't earn it all at once. If you want to become Divine Sword Squad Leader, even goodwill won't be enough. You need to build trust. Consistency is the answer, you might say.”

“You're right. In any case, earning merit comes first.”

Jung Yeonshin answered casually.

He sheathed the sword and fastened it at his waist alongside the Desolate Sword. Blades were expendable. Swords whose edges never suffered damage were said to be rare treasures even among the world's famed swords.

His newly acquired Northern Radiance felt pleasantly cool.

“Please head back without me. I have somewhere to go.”

“All right.”

Chung Myung answered simply and turned away.

Chung Myung, the Azure-Eyed Demonic Swordsman. For all his apparent warmth, he was a man who seemed to have little attachment to anything.

Jung Yeonshin watched him leave for a moment before setting off.

The sun was setting, so it was just the appointed hour. His steps through the gathering dusk brought him to the Desolate Fortress Master's main keep.

He entered without being stopped and climbed the stairs.

Ever since becoming a blue robe, he had felt fully a part of the Desolate Fortress.

“Lightning Genius, report...”

The moment he spoke the epithet that had become his courtesy name at his coming-of-age ceremony, the thick stone doors to the Fortress Master's office opened on their own. It was just as it had been during the Desolate Fortress trial.

Now, at least, he could sense the faintest ripple of qi.

They called it remote manipulation: a realm in which one could move things without touching them.

Was this a glimpse of the martial prowess with which she had reportedly destroyed the Dali Kingdom's royal house single-handedly?

The period just after the founding of Ming was said to have been turbulent.

Though the Desolate Fortress Master could have entered the imperial palace, she had never married anyone. She had reportedly refused even the repeated urging of the former grand empress, who remained hale to this day.

Instead, she had lived as Great Ming's divine sword, teaching the Son of Heaven's heirs as Grand Preceptor.

That was how her earth-shaking martial might had been forged.

'I really do need more internal energy.'

Jung Yeonshin pictured himself as Divine Sword Squad Leader, holding two swords aloft in midair.

If his swords could move independently while he performed the Infinite Blossom Fist Strike, the benefits would be immense.

At that level, perhaps he would no longer need to worry about his strength when earning merit. It was a distant prospect.

“You have grown quite at ease, letting your thoughts wander in my presence.”

The clear voice drew his gaze.

The thick tree trunks stretching through the office looked strange no matter how often he saw them.

A woman lay reclining upon the tree.

Her presence was as overwhelming as ever. Her beauty, which made her look only four or five years older than Jung Yeonshin, was said to be a symbol of immortality.

Her deep green eyes were overpowering, as though they could freeze the soul. They were unlike the piercing gaze of any other supreme master.

Her long, pale green hair did not stir at all. It meant she had completely contained the emanations of her qi.

'Yet I can still sense her stature. Just what realm has she reached?'

He first offered an apology.

The Desolate Fortress Master spoke slowly.

“It seems you have made your choice.”

“Yes. I ask that you grant me a mental cultivation method, Fortress Master. Preferably an art that allows me to draw in and expel qi quickly.”

He had come to claim the martial art she had promised him before.

It was all thanks to Ma Se-In of the Desolate Fortress's Ma clan and his obstinate demand for a spar.

The reward had been offered because of the friendship between the Fortress Master and his maternal grandfather, the former Divine Sword Squad Leader. There was no need to delay any longer.

Jung Yeonshin now knew exactly what he lacked most.

“A mental cultivation method. Yes. The quantity of one's core energy matters as well. Once you have polished the vessel, you must fill it with water.”

She smiled and continued.

“Something comes to mind. Come here.”

“Yes.”

Jung Yeonshin moved without hesitation.

He had already perfected the vessel for his martial arts. The Movement Art was ideal for tempering his body.

But there were many controlled breathing methods in the world for building up energy. Accumulating core energy was known as qi accumulation.

'I need to create a mental cultivation method that accumulates qi quickly.'

This was not something for which he could find inspiration by watching someone else's regulated breathing and circulation.

He needed to experience a divine technique firsthand. Simply learning the principles by which it rapidly drew in the world's qi would suffice.

Afterward, he intended to devise a mental cultivation method best suited to his own body.

“What are you doing?”

The Fortress Master seemed to ask because Jung Yeonshin had approached and was now standing blankly before her.

“You told me to come.”

“Closer.”

“What do you mean by closer?”

At his puzzled question, the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

“It seems this is your first proper instruction in circulation and controlled breathing. If secret manuals were sufficient for training, masters would have no reason to exist. Reciting a formula alone is not enough.”

She slowly sat up, drawing in her outstretched legs.

The hem of her pale green martial robes made a faint sound as it brushed the bark.

She settled with each foot resting on the opposite thigh, in the lotus position.

“Sit upright before me. I shall guide your core energy. A mental cultivation method must be learned in one sitting like this.”

“Yes. But first...”

Jung Yeonshin stepped back three paces and slowly began to bow.

It was because of what martial arts meant in Murim. This was an age in which a sect's honor mattered more than personal advancement.

She was imparting an ultimate technique that would endure in history. He could hardly do anything but honor her as his master.

Master-disciple bonds were forbidden? The Fortress Master stood above the Desolate Fortress's laws.

'She isn't stopping me.'

He took that as acceptance. Jung Yeonshin rose after a single bow.

That was enough. One did not bow twice or more to the living.

Such was the custom of the Central Plains, where Taoism had taken root. For now, Murim observed it as well.

He sat before the Fortress Master, who wore an enigmatic smile.

Face-to-face at such close range, her skin was astonishingly white and translucent.

She chuckled softly.

“Not like that. Turn your back to me.”

Her faint breath brushed Jung Yeonshin's cheek. It was an exceedingly fine exhalation.

He wondered just how much internal cultivation it took to make one's breathing so deep.

Feeling a renewed sense of awe, he turned around.

'I thought she would teach me the formula before guiding my core energy.'

She seemed intent on completing the instruction quickly. He recalled transferring the Purple Radiance Pill's energy to Yoo Hyun, the Mount Hua Sect Leader's disciple.

Jung Yeonshin could circulate energy while speaking. The Desolate Fortress Master apparently could as well.

“It is called the Moon Spirit Harmonization Art. It is my personal martial art.”

As she spoke, her hand touched Jung Yeonshin's back. It was very warm.

Though she looked like an older sister, he wondered if this was what the mother he had never seen might have felt like.

HUM.

Internal energy purer than anything he could have imagined penetrated his body.

A clear stream entered him, as though it held the energy of nature itself unchanged.

The fine meridians and pressure points throughout his body began to fill in sequence. Its movement showed him the Moon Spirit Harmonization Art's path for accumulating qi.

“This is how it is done. Feel it.”

Jung Yeonshin let his mind settle and closed his eyes.

He felt the flow of core energy as the Fortress Master's voice imparted the formula.

As time passed, his own intent gradually began to circulate the energy.

“Yes. That's right.”

Her quiet voice encouraged the flow.

Half a shichen was enough.

As the Fortress Master's fingertips left his back, her internal energy dispersed as well.

Jung Yeonshin had mastered the divine technique from a single circulation experienced while listening to the formula. He needed nothing more.

A breath tinged with laughter tickled his nape. Her whisper sounded beside his ear.

“Come and ask if anything eludes you.”

“Thank you for the reward.”

Jung Yeonshin climbed down, turned, and respectfully cupped his fist. She smiled at him again.

On his way from the office to the Radiant Demon Squad's quarters, his heart soared.

Jung Yeonshin realized anew how vast the world of martial learning was.

This was different again from the use of core energy in swordsmanship or fist and foot techniques.

He had experienced for himself that even drawing in nature's qi and storing it within the body could be an art of the highest order.

Was it the Fortress Master's consideration? The Moon Spirit Harmonization Art did not even reject the Movement Art's energy.

Just like her presence, which seemed to embrace all things.

“Excellent.”

He was so pleased that the word escaped him aloud. All manner of inspiration seemed to well up within him.

He felt he could create a mental cultivation method far beyond third-rate right this instant.

'I'd rather like to see Se-In.'

He suddenly felt deeply grateful to his distant relative Ma Se-In and his wretched maternal grandfather, Ma Yeonjeok.

* * *

Until the following evening, Jung Yeonshin devoted himself to practicing and devising a mental cultivation method.

It was his first time since childhood cultivating internal energy seated on the floor beside his bed.

Focusing solely on the energy living and breathing within and around his body felt rather pleasant.

He had just completed a greater circulation through his entire body when Do Yoowon of the Command Bureau visited his room.

“This truly calls for congratulations. The Fortress Master has gained another direct disciple.”

Do Yoowon beamed, two sets of blue clothing draped over his arm.

“Are those...?”

“You only received your new martial robes a few days ago, but I am afraid you must change into something else.”

Do Yoowon carefully unfolded one of the garments in his arms.

It was a martial robe, apparently little different from the blue one the Fortress Master had placed on him during his promotion ceremony.

Only the color of the character for “desolate” embroidered on both shoulders and the back was different.

It had been stitched in golden thread.

“Those instructed in the Fortress Master's martial arts carry a symbolic significance regardless of the color of their robes. They inevitably become renowned throughout Murim. Thus, Young Master Jung, you ought to receive the fortress's formal honors just as the members of the imperial family do. The Command Bureau has prepared these for you.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Jung Yeonshin accepted the blue robes embroidered with golden thread.

At the same time, Do Yoowon looked as though he had just remembered something and added,

“In truth, we were mindful of His Highness the imperial grandson, who is already studying under her. The Fortress Master pays such matters no heed, but those of us beneath her cannot do the same. Yet for some reason, I am told he accepted it quite readily.”

Jung Yeonshin nodded calmly and saw him out.

He immediately changed and left his room. Ma Jin had summoned him.

The golden characters were very conspicuous.

Every senior he encountered along the way stared wide-eyed.

After brushing off their questions with a vague explanation that things had simply turned out that way, he reached the main training ground, where Radiant Demon Team One and Ma Jin were gathered.

His junior Shin Sobin, newly assigned to Team One, was there too.

“Y-Young Master! What is that resplendent golden splendor?!”

After Jung Yeonshin gave a perfunctory response to Heon Wonchang's fussing, Ma Jin spoke.

“I will be direct. You have all agreed to short intervals between missions. First, Heon Wonchang and Shin Sobin will set out under the command of blue robe Lightning Genius for the initial mission. You three are suited to it. This calls for young faces.”

“Young faces?”

Jung Yeonshin quietly echoed the words. Suddenly, he recalled Shaolin's little divine monk, who had spoken of the romance of young martial artists' lives.

“There is a family people call an honorable and just martial clan. You will have heard of them. The Hwangbo clan.”

Ma Jin twisted the scar beside his mouth as he spoke.

“The truth is different. The Heavenly Squad uncovered their secret long ago. Those bastards have been mobilizing common folk to build their new clan estate. Without payment, and without even letting them tend to their livelihoods. They are imposing labor the imperial court never ordered. On the people.”

“Despicable bastards!”

“It's common enough.”

Heon Wonchang's and Shin Sobin's reactions stood in stark contrast.

The martial artists of great sects were superhuman. Their strength was sufficient for them to act as virtual gods over the lives of ordinary people.

With laborers everywhere whom they could command with a flick of a finger, some simply could not resist wielding that power.

“There are over a thousand forced laborers. The people's livelihood is a sensitive matter indeed, directly tied to tribute. There are limits to how much we can overlook from the regional noble clans of Murim. But punishing an orthodox faction requires extreme care. Public sentiment and perception must be entirely on the Desolate Fortress's side...”

Ma Jin trailed off briefly before continuing.

“They have complete control of Jinan in Shandong. They already act like royalty there. There are limits to what we can do to expose their conduct. Lightning Genius. Your role is crucial.”

“What is the mission?”

“Conceal your identities and attend the Dragon-Phoenix Summit with the two white robes. As it happens, the Namgoong clan is hosting this summit in Southern Zhili. Shandong lies directly north, so the Hwangbo clan's young clan head will be there too.”

Ma Jin paused, then spoke again, finally delivering Jung Yeonshin's fourth mission.

“Your mission is provocation. Get under that young clan head's skin and drive him mad. Make him so desperate to eliminate you that he cannot help mobilizing his clan. You must force the Hwangbo clan to commit a substantial part of its strength, opening a gap in their control over all of Jinan.”

“What happens if I succeed?”

“While you are in Southern Zhili, we will immediately extract reliable witnesses and evidence. We have been preparing this for a long time. Three of the Divine Sword Squad's seventeen squads will assemble. The entire Radiant Demon Squad, the Heavenly Squad, and the Annihilation Squad will strike the Hwangbo clan together.”

He was talking about wiping out one of the orthodox martial world's Eight Great Families.

It was an immense undertaking. So was the cooperation of three of the Divine Sword Squad's combat units.

There were seventeen because they had to carry out missions across the vast realm, where the Central Plains alone held thirteen major unorthodox sects.

With three such forces assembled, invincibility was worth discussing.

'This is insane...!'

A shudder ran through Jung Yeonshin. Heon Wonchang and Shin Sobin seemed to feel the same way, their eyes widening.

He spoke with as composed an expression as he could manage. He had to ask the most important question.

“About the Hwangbo clan's young clan head. If his conduct or the circumstances call for it, may I take his head?”

“That is left to a blue-robed warrior's discretion. Such is the authority of the blue robe. You may take responsibility for any action yourself.”

Ma Jin answered with a smile. Beside him, Baek Miryeo spoke with concern on her face.

“Lightning Genius. Understand that this is an extremely dangerous mission. Don't overreach. That young clan head is destined to die anyway. He gained extraordinary talent at the cost of being born with a short-lived constitution. It's already well known.”

Chung Myung added a comment.

“They call him a genius with the Solar Divine Meridians. He'll be quite strong.”