The rising disciples and the Hwangbo clan guards lost their impassive expressions in an instant. Dozens of faces changed one after another.

"The Desolate Fortress? Why is the Desolate Fortress...?"

"What incredible qi..."

"Desolate Fortress blue robes? Isn't that the Radiant Demon Squad?!"

"He said he came from a minor sect! That qi, those black robes... Aren't they Desolate Fortress captains? Why are there three of them...?!"

These noble-clan martial artists, who prided themselves on being qualified to discuss the affairs of the world, could not conceal their feelings. Even Supreme Sword Hwangbo Jun faltered, his bewilderment laid bare. Every one of them seemed filled with questions and shock.

"A Desolate Fortress blue robe at that age... I've heard of him."

Hwangbo Myeongrin's lower lip trembled. So did her voice as she continued.

"Lightning Genius... Gu Gwa, you bastard... You're the Desolate Fortress's Lightning Genius?"

"My name shouldn't have reached Shandong. Isn't it rather far away?"

Jung Yeonshin answered in mild bewilderment. He seemed to recall hearing about people like Hwangbo Myeongrin: people who collected rumors, taking an interest even in martial artists who had no influence on the greater currents of the martial world. The Beggars' Sect and the Hao Faction were well known for it.

All Murim watched the Desolate Fortress. She had apparently come across the name Lightning Genius while looking into emerging masters.

"Why? Why on earth? We would have treated you with the utmost hospitality."

Her question puzzled him instead. He simply repeated what he had heard.

"Hospitality? That's a joke. Everyone knows Murim gives the Desolate Fortress the cold shoulder."

"... Why did you conceal your identity?"

"I'm a Desolate Fortress warrior. What reason could there be besides a mission?"

"A mission?"

Supreme Sword interjected. Gone was the middle-aged swordsman who had radiated an overwhelming presence. His expression had grown grave, and his eyes wavered uneasily as they kept sweeping over the fortress masters.

Then it happened.

"I-I failed to recognize a member of the imperial family!"

One of the young disciples abruptly dropped to his knees with an unusually heavy thud. Those around him tried to stop him, looking bewildered.

"Young Master Cheon, what's wrong? The imperial family?"

"Isn't the Desolate Fortress Master's direct disciple a member of the imperial family?! I heard it has been that way for generations. He doesn't appear to belong to the noble race, either. How could a commoner receive her martial teachings?"

It was a ridiculous commotion. Yeonshin turned away without answering and met the eyes of Ma Jin, who had come up beside him unnoticed. Even the scar crossing his face seemed to hold concern. Presumably, Yeonshin looked that bad—bad enough for anyone to tell at a glance, even without belonging to the noble race.

"... Even I didn't anticipate volleys of Thunderclap Bombs. Are your internal injuries bearable?"

Ma Jin asked with a slight twist of his mouth. Yeonshin nodded readily and spoke.

"You've learned what happened in Huizhou, then. Do you happen to know what became of Yoo Hyun of Mount Hua?"

"The Mount Hua sect leader's youngest disciple? The Namgoong clan responded immediately and protected him. As I understand it, that young Daoist Yoo Hyun has already smashed a couple of Blood Flame Cult branches with the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. Mount Hua left Huizhou long ago."

"I see."

It had been weighing on him that they had been separated in the chaos, with no telling when they would meet again. He felt immense relief, but also an inward jolt of surprise. Yoo Hyun was one of his few friends, yet they had spent little time together. Had he really grown so attached?

'Is it because he was so friendly, even saying he'd come to the Desolate Fortress?'

Come to think of it, he could count his friends his own age on one hand. The emperor's grandson and heir, Joo Yoonmyung, did not qualify yet. There were Yoo Hyun, Shin Sobin, and perhaps Ma Se-In of the Desolate's Ma Clan. He thought of the Zhongnan Sect's Sword Dragon, wiji myohwa, as an older-sister figure somewhere between them and Baek Miryeo.

He was making roughly one friend per mission. Thinking about it now, that wasn't so bad. If he died without ever eating the fruit of the World Tree, there would be people to remember him.

'Not something I particularly want to think about.'

Supreme Sword Hwangbo Jun stepped forward then.

"From that conversation, you're not of imperial blood. You bastard—no."

Ignored by Yeonshin and Ma Jin, he broke off briefly. It seemed to be a humiliation he had never experienced before. He exhaled at length and composed himself.

"Young Master. And Master Ma."

He offered a precise clasped-hands salute. His attitude had changed completely.

Had it been only the Radiant Demon Squad, a member of one of the Eight Great Families would not have bowed so low. The gathering of three combat squads from the Divine Sword Squad seemed to have given him an inkling of something. Cold sweat even showed on the back of his neck.

"I have long heard of the Radiant Demon Squad captain's great reputation. I, Hwangbo Jun, failed to recognize the direct disciple whom the Desolate Fortress Master has taken in, and spoke rashly. I ask that you be generous enough to overlook it."

"What did you say?"

Ma Jin's question was curt. For a moment, no answer came.

"Scum, lowborn wretch, bastard with no breeding."

Shin Sobin jumped in and rattled them off, looking positively delighted.

"Aren't those all insults to you, Captain? I understand Senior Lightning Genius has the blood of the Desolate's Ma Clan, too. It became famous at the coming-of-age ceremony back at the fortress. I heard you shouted, 'This is the martial world!' and downed the Lightning Immortal Treasure Liquor in one go."

"..."

Ma Jin's face froze into icy indifference. The presence rising like frost along his scar was bitterly cold. By now, most people in the know understood that Lightning Genius was the Desolate's Ma Clan's inviolable reverse scale. Contrary to his appearance, Ma Jin was said to be warmhearted and deeply affectionate. He would never forgive someone who impugned Yeonshin's breeding.

"Hwangbo clan."

Ma Jin spoke with an expressionless face.

"A mere regional noble clan, guilty of forcing the people into labor. A grave crime. Their number reached a thousand."

"..."

"You asked about Lightning Genius's mission. It was to open a breach in the Hwangbo nobles who rule Jinan by force. We made it possible for him to secure grounds for your clan's destruction. He accomplished it admirably. Here you all are, aren't you?"

"What are you..."

Hwangbo Jun let out a low groan. Those words had come from a captain serving under the Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Squad. No one could dismiss them as empty talk.

But admitting guilt was another matter. Even if damning evidence had been taken, he had no choice but to deny it, whether that evidence was a person or a document. Unless he was a fool, he would never admit anything here. Even Yeonshin, with his limited experience of the martial world, could see that.

He turned and offered a clasped-hands salute, taking in Ma Jin, the Annihilation Squad captain, and the Azure Heaven Squad captain together.

"I humbly ask your permission. May this junior signal the beginning of battle?"

"Hmm."

It came from the Annihilation Squad captain, so gaunt that the generous cut of his black robe stood out all the more.

For three combat squads to operate together, they needed a unified chain of command. Yeonshin had heard that the Annihilation Squad captain had temporary command, owing to his age—nearly fifty—and long years as a captain. Ma Jin and the Azure Heaven Squad captain were in their thirties, reportedly quite young for their positions.

"Lightning Genius of the Radiant Demon Squad. I watched your Promotion Exam. Quite impressive."

The eyes of an internal martial arts master of supreme attainment studied him closely. Meeting that jet-black, flashing gaze, Yeonshin could not help tensing. Unlike the Fortress Master, who kept her qi completely concealed, this man allowed him to feel the full extent of his martial power.

'I still have a long way to go. Captains are on an entirely different level.'

As he felt firsthand the realm of a Desolate Fortress black robe, the Annihilation Squad captain spoke slowly.

"Signal the beginning of battle... Yes, that was your mission. Permission granted."

"Thank you."

Still holding his salute, Yeonshin bent slightly at the waist before lowering his arms.

STEP.

He turned back and stepped forward alone, putting the Pill of Luminous Rectitude in his left hand into his mouth. He chewed it carelessly, like the Supreme Flame Dragon with his beloved poppies, never breaking stride as he headed straight toward the gathered young disciples and Hwangbo warriors.

'They said there was no need to sit and circulate my qi. They were right.'

It was said to combine the noble race's secret arts with the medicine of Shaolin's Medicine King Hall. He felt cool, refreshing qi welling up through the fine meridians throughout his body. Its mysterious effects spread everywhere, healing his internal injuries.

All the while, no one dared make a rash move. The fortress's three combat squads exerted a terrifying deterrent.

He walked past Supreme Sword and ignored the Supreme Flame Dragon as well. Originally, he had intended to take the head of Supreme Sword, the strongest enemy present, and then Hwangbo Myeongrin's. But facing the Annihilation Squad captain's intense battlefield presence had changed his mind.

He was a blue-robed warrior serving beneath Black Captains. Exchange dozens of blows with Supreme Sword? That would be nothing but reckless bravado born of a hunger for merit. With the captains' abilities, they could slay a man like Supreme Sword in a handful of moves. Aspiring to lead the Divine Sword Squad, he could not afford to fall out of favor with the Azure Heaven and Annihilation captains.

'I'm part of the mission to strike the Hwangbo clan now. Making my mark will be enough.'

Yeonshin stopped three paces in front of Hwangbo Myeongrin. He had come so deep into their ranks that no one could readily imagine he would run wild on his own. He spoke slowly.

"Let's settle our debts."

"What?"

"You can answer however you like. I'll say what I have to say."

"..."

"You told me to surrender an arm. You said you'd interrogate me, then cut off my head. And there was the Dragon-Phoenix Summit. Shin Sobin could have died. She would have, if I hadn't saved her."

"... I acknowledge the prestige of a Desolate Fortress blue-robed warrior. And as the Fortress Master's direct disciple, perhaps you can afford such arrogance."

Hwangbo Myeongrin straightened her back. A hint of dignity began to emerge from her wretched appearance after the long flight.

"But you cannot fabricate things that never happened. My conscience is clear. I would never stray from the righteous path."

"Still keeping that up. It doesn't matter anymore."

"...?"

"My remaining mission is the annihilation of the Hwangbo clan. Whatever bluster you spout is meaningless now."

Yeonshin tightened his grip on the Desolate Sword's hilt. Instantly, a wave of qi burst from the back of his hand and spread in every direction—the precursor to a sword technique, right in the heart of the enemy ranks.

Before Myeongrin could answer, her face filled with horror, and tendons rose on the back of his hand. She was vastly inferior to him. In that split second, her expression made it plain: the terror of a martial artist facing a sword form she could not possibly withstand.

"What? Please...!"

At that same instant, the Desolate Sword flashed. Swift Sword Style: Radiant Sword Art.

The blade blurred like a ray of light, too fast for any response.

SWISH!

A white thunderbolt swept through her neck. It was a swift sword strike that had reached the blue-robed realm.

For a moment, Hwangbo Myeongrin's head remained in place. Even the panic in her eyes had not faded.

The blood burst forth a breath later.

SPLOOSH!

Her head tumbled limply away, and her corpse collapsed.

Horrified, Supreme Sword charged in from behind, but the fortress masters were far faster. Arriving first with a ghostlike movement technique, the Annihilation Squad captain seized the back of his head and slammed him into the ground.

BOOM!

The internal energy gathered in that slender arm was tremendous. The earth cracked and split beneath it.

"Myeongrin!"

"My lady!"

"Leader!"

The second young master and the Hwangbo guards cried out. The young disciples seemed frozen stiff. Those faces, so indifferent when discussing Yeonshin's arm and head, were now more animated than ever—with desperation and terror.

THUD!

Ma Jin and the Azure Heaven Squad captain leaped into their midst. The two supreme masters radiated heavy waves of qi in every direction, drawing saber and sword with picturesque grace. They gave no warning. Destructive power whirled through their strikes as they began cutting down everything in their path.

Supreme Sword rolled frantically and barely escaped the Annihilation Squad captain's grasp. Gritting his teeth, he sprang up, apparently about to unleash the Hwangbo clan's swordsmanship.

BOOM!

With a violent stamp, Ma Jin tore through the air. He charged at truly explosive speed, and in an instant his pitch-black saber buried itself in the center of Supreme Sword's chest.

CRUNCH! CRACK!

The blade did not remain lodged there long. Ma Jin twisted at the waist and cut horizontally through Supreme Sword's upper body. Ribs split apart at once, and a great gush of blood erupted. The sheer force of it became a palpable presence that seemed to stop time.

"The D-Desolate Fortress. It was true."

"We can't fight them! We have to escape...!"

The Desolate Fortress's Radiant Demon Squad captain.

Supreme Sword had died with shocking futility. Ma Jin seemed to attach no great significance to it. He immediately charged back toward the Hwangbo warriors.

His saber claimed five more lives in an instant. Black blade shadows swept like a tempest, leaving tremendous blasts of displaced air as they sliced through necks, hearts, and waists. Entrails and blood spilled through torn muscle.

It was terrifying. The word tyrannical suited it perfectly. Such was the Radiant Demon Squad captain's treatment of enemies who had threatened his only nephew.

THUD!

Even the dust left by his leap was shredded apart. Suffocating killing intent poured from his entire body, constricting every direction before converging on his saber as an overwhelming wave of force.

"Run! Run away!"

Some finally turned their backs. His presence seemed to have dismantled every last shred of the noble-clan warriors' courage.

The three captains pursued and killed them, bursting their backs with palm techniques and severing their heads. The sight revealed their fundamental difference from other martial artists. They viewed martial artists who harmed the people's livelihoods entirely through the imperial court's eyes: thugs who did not even pay their tribute properly. The Desolate Fortress dealt mercilessly with these scourges of the nation.

"The captains don't leave us any openings. Not unless it's a fairly large battle."

"We'll only get to earn merit when we attack the Hwangbo clan's main estate."

"I envy Lightning Genius. He's already accomplished something rather significant, hasn't he?"

Very few members of the Radiant Demon, Azure Heaven, and Annihilation squads had joined their captains. Most approached without even taking part in the fighting. Some seized the young disciples and interrogated them.

"Ah, yes, arrest me. I'm the good-for-nothing young clan head of the wicked, villainous Hwangbo clan. Hmm? No, that won't do. Give me back my poppies, will you? Please..."

The Supreme Flame Dragon was among them.