"How dare you try to end the Moyong Noble Clan's bloodlineeeee?!!!!!!"

His two tightly clenched fists.

His flushed red face.

His bloodshot eyes with popped capillaries.

Even the snorts of air he was huffing out, having thrown all face and dignity aside.

Anyway, just looking at him, it was clear he hadn't been able to take his anger out on Moyong Jaehwa.

But why was that arrow of anger flying toward me?

"What are you talking about? Ending the bloodline?"

"Ha, so you're going to play dumb?"

Moyong Gang, who was about to enter the office, grabbed the remains of the broken door that caught his clothes with one hand.

CRACK, CRUNCH... CRASH.

... And tore it apart.

Wow... You could even do something like that if you became a supreme expert.

Separate from my awe, Moyong Gang still had an incredibly furious look on his face.

"Then I'll make you remember."

CRACK, CRACK.

The sound of finger joints seemingly breaking and the cracking of his neck echoed throughout the entire office.

How on earth did that look like the demeanor of a supreme expert? He looked more like a local street thug.

What I had hoped for all along was the beautiful scenario where I would hurriedly stop Moyong Gang while he was beating Moyong Jaehwa half to death, represent Moyong Jaehwa's position, and resolve the misunderstanding between grandfather and grandson.

But somehow, this absolute expert with anger management issues, whom even the Underworld practitioners trembled at, was treating me like his mortal enemy.

If I glibly moved my tongue like I did in front of Zhuge Somyeong, would he understand?

Maybe he would.

The problem was that I needed to let him vent that anger somewhere before I could persuade him.

"Wait!"

"..."

"Please wait just a moment."

As I stood up confidently from my seat, Moyong Gang didn't take his eyes off me, as if daring me to try whatever trick I had.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Phew... The dust... Cough, cough... I can't even speak. Why did you have to break an innocent door?"

"What?"

I clicked my tongue and slowly walked toward the window.

Moyong Gang was looking at me with his eyes trembling, seemingly dumbfounded.

"Fine, say whatever you want to say. That way, I won't have to break all your limbs."

His eyes were even tinged with killing intent now.

"... Still, am I not the benefactor who saved the Minor Patriarch's life?"

No, in the first place, if I'm his son's benefactor, he shouldn't be breaking my limbs.

He lacked all common sense and reason.

There was only one best way to deal with a person like that.

SLIDE.

I opened the window and stepped onto the windowsill.

"What are you doing right—"

The greatest stratagem even written in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

The thirty-sixth stratagem: running away.

BOOM.

The World-Traversing Lone Footwork, executed at full power, instantly changed the surrounding scenery.

"Jin Sowoooooon!!!!!!!"

Moyong Gang's voice gradually faded into the distance.

The autumn air felt more refreshing than ever.

* * *

"You better stop while I'm still asking nicely."

A booming voice that I couldn't tell was a sound transmission or a sonic martial art rang out as if to tear my eardrums.

What the hell, that's scary.

Feeling completely terrified, I moved my feet even faster.

When I was young, my father once told me about three types of people I should never meet.

Someone with overwhelming martial arts.

Someone incapable of controlling their anger.

Someone whose inner thoughts cannot be read.

Even my father probably didn't know that all three of those types could exist within a single person, right?

Anyway, the best way to deal with Moyong Gang right now was simply 'running away'.

From my experience.

The World-Traversing Lone Footwork was an excellent footwork technique that would rank within the top five even if you searched all of Jianghu.

Even if the Moyong Noble Clan's footwork technique was excellent, it couldn't catch up to a footwork technique created through the combined efforts of the Heavenly Demon and the Taiyi Sword Emperor.

Moreover, my internal energy amounted to a whopping four 60-year cycles.

If I even deployed my moving cultivation, which I was as accustomed to as my daily routine...

'I could run away all day long!'

Why did I feel like my mind would be even more at ease if I held a shield too?

"Oho! It seems you are quite confident in your footwork technique!"

The sound transmission rang out, seemingly tearing my eardrums once again.

I sent out a profound apology in my heart.

No matter how much of an absolute powerhouse Moyong Gang was, his means of catching up would be...

BOOM! BA-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Huh?

Feeling a chill on the back of my head at the sound of the air exploding, I looked back.

Wasn't Moyong Gang's figure, which had been as tiny as a grain of millet, rapidly closing the distance with massive strides alongside the explosions?

What the hell! Fuck!

I pushed my speed even higher in shock, but Moyong Gang's sound transmission pierced terrifyingly into my ears.

"Did you think none of my enemies had feet as fast as yours?"

No, I'm not your enemy in the first place!

BOOM! BA-BOOM-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Moyong Gang was causing explosions of qi at his feet, then using them as footholds to compress space.

Wow... So in my past life, Moyong Jaehwa had learned the concept of sending arrows far away from his grandfather...

While I was basking in the joy of gaining another realization, Moyong Gang had already compressed the distance to within thirty paces.

To the point where he could catch up to me if he just did the same thing a few more times.

I increased my speed until my thighs and calves felt like they would burst.

"You stupid fool! You should've just taken the beating, yet you dared to provoke my anger further!"

He was planning to hit me no matter what I said from the start. That man!

Moyong Gang had now caught up to a distance where he didn't even need to use sound transmissions.

Perhaps immensely frustrated that I was remaining just barely out of reach, he eventually caused another explosion at his feet to get ahead of me.

BOOM!

His intention was to instantly pass me and get in front to stop me in my tracks.

But I had no intention of going down easily either.

The moment Moyong Gang blocked my path in front of me.

'Now!'

CRACK.

I instantaneously changed direction so violently that all the joints in my lower body, including my ankles, screamed in agony.

"Y-You! You damn bastard!"

Moyong Gang, who had been waiting for me in front, began chasing me with an even more infuriated expression.

It wasn't like Moyong Gang was the type of person to utilize his internal energy finely enough to delicately control the intensity of his explosions.

His martial title was Wind God Breaking Sword, after all, wasn't it?

'If I just keep running away like this...'

Right then.

Engaged in a life-or-death game of tag with Moyong Gang, I momentarily felt the space before my eyes distort.

"W-What is this..."

The perfectly normal scenery of the academy became wildly tangled and murky.

And the distorted space transformed into the distinct shape of a hand.

Fist Force? Telekinesis? No, wasn't it far too distinct and huge to be called that?

"Gah!"

The moment I perceived the unidentifiable entity, I desperately changed direction as if my life depended on it, but the massive formless hand had already struck my side.

CRASH!

My feet tangled and I rolled across the ground dozens of times before hurriedly getting up.

"You brat!!"

Before I knew it, Moyong Gang was approaching through the hazy dust, harboring a massive fist strike.

CLANG!

I desperately drew the Black Dragon Sword and blocked Moyong Gang's fist.

CRASH!

Moyong Gang's fist met the ultimate metal known as Vajra Indestructible Iron.

However, far from his fist strike being neutralized, it bypassed the sword completely and struck my solar plexus.

BA-BOOM!

I felt like I would lose my mind from the pain that felt as if my ribs were shattering, but I couldn't just stand there hurting.

Because Moyong Gang had already unleashed his second move.

Heaven and Earth Invincible Palm.

A ruthless palm technique whose destructive power was no less than the Heaven and Earth Breaking Flash Sword.

Ha, this old man is being serious?

Using the Black Dragon Sword, I executed the Lotus technique to deflect the Heaven and Earth Invincible Palm, while simultaneously unleashing the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist with my left hand.

Seeing the fist form of the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist spreading out to fill his vision, Moyong Gang's gaze grew even sharper.

"You punk! How dare you rebel against your elder?!"

No, you were the one who went all out against a much younger rising star in the first place...!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

As Moyong Gang's fist strikes responding with the Breaking Wave Fist clashed with my fist forms, a sound like a ringing bell spread far and wide.

At the same time, I constricted his imposing presence with the Twin Heaven Sword Art.

SWOOSH-SHING-SHING-SHING!

Black Dragon Swords seamlessly filled the empty air.

Each and every one of them harbored enough Sword Qi to make one feel the crisis of imminent death, yet Moyong Gang maintained a deeply unimpressed expression.

"Did you view me on the same level as those fools playing around with snakes and chickens?"

Intense heat gathered in his right foot, and like a fire dragon spewing flames, it blasted heat in all directions, burning away the Sword Qi.

He really was a fiery man.

"Are you done now?"

Moyong Gang, who had blown away the heat and Sword Qi with a flick of his hand, approached with a face still unable to suppress its anger.

Was I done?

"No way."

Even though I look like this, I'm someone who even took the head of a Guardian Dharma King through sheer persistence alone.

I flashed a wide grin at him.

"It's only just beginning."

White Moon Heaven-Subduing Three Forms.

First Form.

'Extreme Speed.'

The Black Dragon Sword shot forward like a beam of light with an exhilarating sound.

* * *

"... Ugh."

"Raise your hands properly!!!"

At Moyong Gang's shout, Jin Sowoon, whose eyes were swollen completely shut like bruised chestnuts, threw both his hands high in the air.

"E-Elder, two hours have already passed. If I hold my hands up any longer..."

Watching Jin Sowoon visibly trembling his hands and pretending as if he were about to die, Moyong Gang wore an utterly dumbfounded expression.

'A brat with that depth of martial arts is struggling over a mere two hours?'

The first time he was surprised was when the boy dodged the Co-Destruction Fist, his lifelong enlightenment.

It was surprising enough that he overlaid Sword Qi onto the Twin Heaven Sword Art, but what on earth was that fast sword he unleashed right after?

Its sharpness aside, its speed had vastly exceeded his expectations.

If he had been even slightly slower, he might have suffered the humiliation of having the front of his robes sliced off by a brat who had only just grabbed a sword.

'It is definitely that bastard Sword Demon's martial art...'

How on earth did this kid learn the martial art of a man who vanished into thin air five years ago?

And near the end, didn't he even display the insane feat of wrapping Sword Force around the Ten Thousand Swords he had seen previously and swinging the Twin Heaven Sword Art?

Leaving aside his sheer amount of internal energy, it was a destructive power that could not be displayed unless his body was thoroughly tempered through external martial arts.

A brat who had reached such a level was struggling from just holding his hands up?

It was truly something a passing dog would laugh at.

"Tsk, I thought he would just about balance out with Seol. When did he catch up this much?"

Recently in Jianghu, Moyong Seol had been highly active, to the point of being called the next-generation Sword Empress.

So he thought it would be a good time to slowly bring up the topic, yet before he knew it, this brat had already pushed open the door to another realm entirely.

However, Jin Sowoon, having no idea what Moyong Gang was talking about, simply wore a blank expression.

"Pardon?"

"Just raise your hands properly!"

Seeing that look, Moyong Gang lashed out and yelled for no reason.

Not backing down, Jin Sowoon subtly lowered his hands little by little as he asked Moyong Gang a question.

"Elder, I'm really only asking because I'm genuinely curious... but why on earth are you doing this to me?"

"Why am I doing this?"

Jin Sowoon nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"I'm asking because I truly have no idea."

"Then why did you run away?"

"Isn't running away the natural response when a terrifying being comes after you?"

At his composed response, Moyong Gang let out a snort of disbelief. "Hah!"

"No, it's because you knew you did something wrong and fled."

"No! What wrong could I possibly have committed against you, Elder?!"

In the end, Jin Sowoon even started slamming the floor with both hands as if he were entirely unjustly accused.

"Raise your hands again..."

"Yes, sir!"

To think he was even trying to slack off in the middle of this.

Was this brat really not afraid of him, the man called the Breaking Sword, at all?

"Anyway, I really haven't done anything wrong."

"You haven't? If seducing and threatening a direct descendant of the Moyong Noble Clan to make him pick up a bow isn't a sin, then what is?"

When Moyong Gang asked straightforwardly, Jin Sowoon turned pale with shock.

"W-What are you talking about! Seducing and threatening...!"

He knew the boy would try to feign innocence like this.

That was why he had struggled so hard not to tear the letter to shreds in his blinding rage.

"Tsk."

Moyong Gang pulled the letter from his robes and threw it at Jin Sowoon.

The letter, which should have fluttered down, flew at Jin Sowoon perfectly flat and stiff, as if it were a solid iron plate.

Jin Sowoon gauged Moyong Gang's mood and lowered his hands again before snatching the letter and beginning to read it.

[This unworthy grandson, Moyong Jaehwa, should have come to see you in person, Grandfather. But please forgive me for greeting you like this, as I am far too ashamed of myself...

I had never once thought of picking up a bow, but the Great Warrior Black Flame Dragon, whom I began following out of a sense of chivalry, took advantage of my heart...

Furthermore, under the threat that everyone around me could die if I didn't pick up the bow, I had no choice but to...]

Having finished reading the letter, Jin Sowoon let out a small gasp of admiration.

"Wow, this Black Flame Dragon bastard mentioned here is a total son of a bitch."

The moment he read the letter, even knowing it was about himself, a fiery rage surged from within him.

Moreover, the occasional mentions of events in Jianghu interwoven into the story made it feel even more realistic.

Hah, if he had known it would be like this, he would have made Moyong Jaehwa pick up a brush instead of a bow.

But...

'Wait a minute... This handwriting looks very familiar?'

When he focused a bit and checked the handwriting, a different face floated up above the letter.

This was definitely, absolutely...

'... Eunho! This little bastard! You dared to sell out your Eldest Senior Brother for a friend?'

Jin Sowoon glared at the letter with blazing eyes, looking as if he would burn it to ashes at any moment.

Seeing Jin Sowoon trembling in uncontrollable anger, Moyong Gang asked.

"Are you admitting to your wrongdoings yourself?"

Jin Sowoon shot up as if he were bouncing off the floor.

"No, Elder! I am truly innocent. This letter is filled with fabrication and incitement..."

"Shut up! Even if there are lies in that letter, you wouldn't dare claim that making Moyong Jaehwa pick up a bow is also a lie, would you?"

Jin Sowoon, who had stood up with fierce momentum, momentarily flinched.

"T-That is..."

"I'm already on my way back from hearing everything from the Academy Director. I heard you even specially created an archery class for Jaehwa's sake?"

Fuck, it's checkmate.

"Are you saying you still refuse to admit your crime when the facts are this clear?!"

Jin Sowoon held his hands out forward, bringing Moyong Gang's footsteps to a halt.

"W-Wait a minute! Technically, the bloodline isn't actually broken, is it?!"

"What are you trying to say? You'd better speak carefully. Unless you want to eat your own memorial food this day next year."

Gulp.

Jin Sowoon swallowed hard, racking his brain as fast as he could.

"A-Actually, isn't Lady Moyong Seol even more excellent when it comes to swordsmanship?"

"Hmm?"

"And I heard the Moyong Noble Clan isn't such a stubbornly close-minded family."

A chilling smile spread across Moyong Gang's lips.

"Oho. So you're suggesting we take in a son-in-law?"

"Well, not necessarily, but that could be one method, and in addition..."

"Good. Then you can become the son-in-law of the Moyong Noble Clan."

"... Eh?"

At Moyong Gang's sudden remark, Jin Sowoon tilted his head.

'Fuck, what kind of nonsense is this now? I really feel like I'm going to lose my mind.'

Jin Sowoon felt a growing headache from Moyong Gang's completely incomprehensible thought process.