“Lightning Genius... I envy the others. They'll witness an earth-shattering clash. I certainly didn't expect that opponent for the Namgoong clan head.”

“Wasn't it inevitable? The fortress master has already ventured out once recently.”

“We're facing the head of one of the Eight Great Families. Who else is there but the squad leader?”

Jung Yeonshin listened silently to the seniors surrounding him. There was only one person in the world whom they would respectfully call the squad leader.

Seventeen combat units, including the Radiant Demon Squad, Suncheon Wing, and Annihilation Squad, together formed the Divine Sword Squad. By squad leader, they meant the Divine Sword Squad Leader of the Desolate Fortress. Below the fortress master alone, he stood above everyone else in the fortress. His was an exalted position.

'I've never met him.'

He hadn't seen the man even once since joining the Desolate Fortress. The Divine Sword Squad Leader was constantly traversing the martial world. They said his exploits were the stuff of legend among those who delighted in such tales. On the front lines, he wielded all but absolute martial might to fulfill the Desolate Fortress's true purpose.

“Isn't he out on a mission?”

“His personal Divine Sword Unit has been gone for some time, too. Rumor has it they've gone to strike at the Lingering Spirits.”

“Then he'll head straight to the Namgoong clan without returning...”

The seniors continued their conversation over the seated Jung Yeonshin's head.

“Did you say the Lingering Spirits?” Jung Yeonshin suddenly asked.

“They're counted among the Thirteen Skies. They value wealth and information above martial arts. A very troublesome major faction.”

The middle-aged woman who answered stroked his head. Her eyes were exceptionally sharp. A blue-robed warrior named Oh Wolhyang, she was a saber expert who treated Jung Yeonshin like a son.

Several other seniors chimed in.

“It's their scheming rather than their strength. Those Lingering Spirits bastards are masters at plotting behind the scenes. I'd sooner deal with sword maniacs like the Tyrant Sword Tribe.”

“Some say they control the Hao Faction. There's also information going around that they have more ties to the other Thirteen Skies than anyone else. Lightning Genius, you might have fallen victim to them several times without even knowing.”

The Lingering Spirits. Another of the Thirteen Skies.

'The Thirteen Skies...'

They said those thirteen unorthodox factions possessed might to rival the Nine Sects and Eight Families. The world was vast indeed. It seemed the Divine Sword Squad Leader had his hands full merely keeping them in check.

Some of the Eight Great Families might practice hypocrisy in the secular world, but the depredations of the Thirteen Skies, rooted in evil and unorthodox paths from their inception, were more flagrant still.

'I've personally clashed with the Blood Flame Cult and Tyrant Sword Tribe. And there's the Martial Alliance.'

The Blood Flame Cult and Tyrant Sword Tribe went without saying, after their repeated clashes. He had also beheaded a rising generation disciple of the Martial Alliance called the Sword Flower.

He recalled Ma Jin's warning about her background and betrothed. It had come just after Ma Jin cut down Supreme Sword Hwangbo Jun, who had arrived while they were being pursued by the Blood Flame Cult.

[“The martial world's reaction to you is troubling. Open warfare isn't the only way martial factions fight. Battles between informants are every bit as fierce. The Command Bureau sent word. Apparently, some people have been asking around about the exploits of the Desolate Fortress's Lightning Genius.”]

'I'm making more enemies.'

The debts and grudges he accumulated with each mission were growing rapidly. He had a feeling this venture into the martial world wouldn't go smoothly either.

Was it a premonition born of his upper dantian's powers? It didn't seem likely to prove an unfounded worry.

“He leaves in four days. He's pressed for time just consolidating what he has. You should all give him some room.”

It was Chung Myung.

A casual wave of his hand sent a wind as chilling as a sword's passage blowing through them. The Radiant Demon Squad experts drew back. Then, chuckling as though it were an everyday occurrence, they offered Jung Yeonshin words of encouragement and dispersed.

Jung Yeonshin rose, brushing off his trousers.

“Senior.”

“You've received quite a lot since coming back, haven't you? You should put it all in order before heading out again.”

His single blue eye curved slightly. Smiling, Chung Myung continued.

“Your spirit pill, for instance.”

* * *

“Uncle Jangmyeong, you're looking well! Have you been brewing yourself something good?”

A young swordswoman of about twenty greeted him brightly. The blue of her martial robes was exceptionally deep. She approached the Namgoong clan's magnificent main gate without hesitation, clouds of dust rising beneath her lively steps. The servants and warriors escorting her followed like part of the scenery.

“My lady.”

One of the gate guards gazed at her as though dazzled anew. As she approached, he bowed his head and clasped his hands in a martial salute.

“It seems you are the one who has truly changed, Lord of Changling Blossoms. Congratulations on attaining Great Completion.”

“Congratulations on attaining Great Completion!”

The five warriors guarding the gate with him paid their respects as well. Their hands rose together in perfectly synchronized salutes. Even their crisp precision seemed to radiate like a wave of force from Burst Discharge.

Not just anyone could guard a major martial faction's main gate. That was doubly true of martial houses whose power had endured long enough to earn them the name of noble clans. The gate guards were, after all, the face of their faction.

Naturally, they conducted themselves with a grandeur rarely matched in Huizhou, Southern Zhili. Passersby on the broad road opposite couldn't take their eyes off them. As they walked past, they whispered very quietly.

“They're showing someone that much respect?”

“You fool. Her escorts are Namgoong people, too. Isn't it obvious she's a cherished daughter of the clan?”

“The Namgoong clan's Lord of Changling Blossoms? But that young lady has a healthy tan. Isn't this one very pale?”

“How do you run a merchant company when you're so slow to hear the news? They say she consumed the human-shaped snow ginseng of legend. Its mysterious, frigid energy must have transformed even her skin. We're very fortunate. We've witnessed a legend of the martial world.”

“What? Human-shaped snow ginseng?”

Namgoong Mi, the Lord of Changling Blossoms, heard every word. She paid them no particular heed.

They weren't wrong. She had indeed consumed the legendary human-shaped snow ginseng. Her elder brother and father—the young clan head and clan head—were already experts in internal cultivation whose lower dantians were filled to capacity with core energy.

“Well, it's all thanks to fighting those blood fiends so well. Have a good day, everyone.”

She passed them with an airy smile. Behind her, she could clearly sense their restrained flurry of excitement.

The clan's warriors made useful underlings. It was easy to win the sort of adoration one might offer an imperial princess. A single smile and a casual greeting were enough. The privileges she had rightfully enjoyed since birth tasted all the sweeter today.

“I'm going to see my brother. Go rest after the journey. You've worked hard.”

Having bestowed those words upon her followers, she moved on. She answered their respectful bows with a wave.

WHOOSH!

A few steps of her lightness skill carried her through the air. Those walking through the clan's inner courtyard started in surprise and hastened to pay their respects.

Only direct-line members were permitted to use Mobility Arts within the estate. The Namgoong clan's eye techniques allowed them to recognize their noble young lady easily, though her skin had changed color.

Namgoong Mi headed straight for the Azure Sky Palace, where the young clan head learned the clan head's duties.

“Congratulations on your Great Completion.”

Guards bowed the moment she entered. These were all warriors of the Azure Sky Palace, a different breed from the gate guards. They carried themselves as though serving imperial blood. Here were true loyal retainers—the pillars of the clan, unshaken by whatever rumors might blow in from outside.

'Even if the imperial dogs prattle about violating our house...'

So thought Namgoong Mi.

“The young clan head left instructions.”

One of the warriors guided her inside. Blue draperies of exquisite texture elegantly adorned the palace interior. Stopping at one side of the corridor, he said,

“He said you may go straight in.”

She gave a slight nod and immediately opened the door. The magnificent sword motif painted on it slid aside, revealing the Namgoong young clan head's office with a soft sound.

The room was large enough to serve as a training ground. Precious rosewood tables stood in rows, their surfaces a rich reddish brown.

“You've attained minor success.”

Blue Qilin Namgoong Sejin spoke without rising. Calm eyes, a straight nose, features fine enough to be called beautiful—he was a truly dazzling young man. Yet he had not looked up from the document he was scanning.

Unbothered, Namgoong Mi pulled up a chair. She dropped into it opposite him, crossed her legs, and spoke.

“Everyone else calls it Great Completion.”

“When the Blood Flame Cult launched its surprise attack on our house, our forces were absent because we were searching for that human-shaped snow ginseng. All you've attained in internal cultivation is an oversized store of internal energy. Compared to the sacrifices, it's nothing remarkable.”

Her brother's reply was indifferent.

The Blue Qilin of the Namgoong clan's Blue and White Twin Qilins. He had received the divine beast's title before Namgoong Hwashin was ever called the White Qilin.

This scion of the direct line possessed the bearing of the White Qilin, famed for his fairness, with formidable power and dignity added to it. He had reason to be arrogant.

“Even with this?”

HISSS...

Her hair swayed lightly as her skin grew paler still. The sudden manifestation of her qi arts stirred the documents on the table. A mysterious white current swept over her entire body.

Her core energy vividly revealed her figure wreathed in chill winds, like a goddess of northern winds and snow. She carried a peerless spirit medicine within her. The depth of her qi waves seemed endless.

She spoke.

“Those imperial watchdogs dared declare war on our house, didn't they? And life-and-death sparring matches, at that? Such absurd arrogance. Can the Divine Sword Squad Leader really defeat Father, who has attained Great Completion in the king-style sword arts?”

The imperial army could not help the Desolate Fortress. In the martial world, where Mobility Arts were highly developed, a failed mission would deal a devastating blow to the imperial court's prestige.

The imperial court and the Desolate Fortress never publicly acknowledged their connection. That was why so many of the fortress's warriors died across the vast martial world.

This affair, too, would remain a battle between the two alone: the imperially founded Desolate Fortress and the powerful Namgoong clan, the foremost family of the orthodox martial world.

It wasn't even an all-out battle between forces, as the Hwangbo clan affair had been. If it came down to nothing more than fair duels between ten people, none of the Eight Great Families would begin by fearing defeat, no matter their opponents.

Namgoong Sejin spoke.

“Don't presume to judge matters between peerless masters. As you know, you've been named as well. The contents of the challenge are known across the Central Plains. The Desolate Fortress's doing, no doubt. If we refuse to step forward, the clan's name will be disgraced. We cannot decline. Spectators from the entire martial world are poised to descend on us.”

“And what if they lose after all that? The Desolate Fortress, I mean.”

“No martial artist enters a fight assuming defeat. Neither do we. This is no ordinary occasion. The victors' renown will rise to unparalleled heights.”

“Then my beauty and title will become even more famous. No, I'll push aside the Zhongnan Sect's wiji myohwa and become the Sword Dragon myself. And...”

Namgoong Mi continued serenely.

“I hear our Hwashin is coming home.”

A smooth smile formed on her lips. Namgoong Sejin's brow immediately furrowed.

“He is your elder brother, too.”

“How can a lowborn concubine's brat be my brother? It's strange to hear you say that. More importantly...”

Her smile deepened as she brushed the matter aside.

“The one who started this whole affair was on the list, wasn't he? The boy with that sound technique fit only for use against weaklings. Lightning Genius, was it? We saw him briefly last time.”

“That is not a martial art to belittle. It was a divine technique. Can you not imagine the threat it would pose in a battle between groups?”

She dismissed her brother's words with a faint scoff.

“I want to use him as a touchstone for my attainment. Let's go see them. The Lightning Genius and the White Qilin.”

“What?”

“The imperial watchdogs declared war, didn't they? They've already announced it to the whole martial world. Even the Divine Sword Squad Leader can't kill us before the duels. It's unlike you, but you have plenty of grievances over the Lightning Genius affair, don't you? Don't you want to see what sort of person he is, whether he's worth killing? And have a little reunion with your younger brother before he departs this life.”

“... Do you truly intend to kill little Shin?”

“Not little Shin. Hwashin. He's not a child anymore, is he?”

“...”

“They should be setting out about now, shouldn't they? I'd like to meet them beforehand and propose a winner-stays-on format. In a five-on-five match, they'll start with the youngest. I'll kill the Lightning Genius first and finish with Hwashin. With your hypocrisy, Brother, you wouldn't want even a concubine's son's blood on your hands.”

“Are you serious?”

“Do you think your little sister will lose?”

Namgoong Mi asked with a crimson smile. Against her snow-white skin, only the ruby color of her lips stood out.

“... That isn't what I meant. You won't lose.”

After gazing at her for a moment, Namgoong Sejin shook his head. She soon appeared reassured, as though she had heard what she wanted.

“I can imagine how your sword arts will work. The cold in your internal energy will freeze your opponent's meridians first. Without overwhelming internal energy, there will be no way to resist. Against someone of comparable standing, victory is certain. Unless your opponent has spent a lifetime practicing a Movement Art.”

“Why a Movement Art?”

“Warrior monks who attain Great Completion in Shaolin's Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic refine even the insides of their bodies. They are said to reach the point of effortlessly kindling the flames of True Samadhi Fire within themselves. But that isn't something you need concern yourself with now.”

“Mm.”

She furrowed her delicate brows as though that sounded troublesome, then smiled brightly again and asked,

“So, shall we go see them?”

* * *

On the day the delegation for the duels against the Namgoong clan was to depart into the martial world, Jung Yeonshin consumed the spirit pill he had collected from the Medical Pavilion.

It was his reward for the missions he had completed as a blue-robed warrior. They said it was classified as high-grade even within the Desolate Fortress.

The boy sat cross-legged in the middle of the Radiant Demon Squad's main training ground.

WHOOOSH!

The hem of his long blue robe fluttered ceaselessly. This was markedly different from the standard-issue spirit pill he had taken shortly after joining.

The qi waves spreading from his entire body were gradually growing denser. At moments, faint currents even became visible.

His core energy was taking tangible form. A dim golden radiance flashed and vanished at intervals.

Amid it all, sound transmissions flew back and forth. The Radiant Demon Squad's experts stood in a wide circle, guarding their youngest blue-robed member. Heon Wonchang was among them.

“Captain, that... What is that color?”

The great hero of Desolate Fortress did not hesitate to question even Ma Jin, captain of the Radiant Demon Squad. Gazing steadily at his nephew, Ma Jin parted his lips slightly.

“I hear he has found the beginnings of a mental cultivation method of his own. A sudden increase in core energy spurring the germination of insight is hardly rare. For now, it will merely be the spirit pill's energy, but perhaps a peerless mental cultivation method will be born before this year is out.”

“Oh...”

“You send a breathy exclamation through sound transmission? Mind your manners, Heon Wonchang.”

Heon Wonchang let the captain's rebuke go in one ear and out the other. He could hardly do otherwise. The benefactor who had saved his life had already drawn in the pulses of his core energy.

“Young Master Jung!”

Jung Yeonshin was drawing in a long, slow breath.

“Young Master Heon?”

He spoke with his eyes still closed. He seemed to have sensed Heon Wonchang's cautious approach. Heon Wonchang asked,

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.”

“I'm truly curious. How much stronger have you become?”

At those words, Jung Yeonshin slowly opened his eyes. The energy filling him manifested as a deep blue light in his gaze. The sky blue of his eyes was turning into a brilliant azure radiance.

“I'm not sure,” the boy replied.