If he could claim the fortuitous encounter within, he would emerge the victor of this secret realm. Certain of that, Yise calmly surveyed his surroundings.

He recalled the advice the tiger king at the western edge had given him: find the path of life and follow only that route. At the time, he had thought it was merely a grand-sounding way of telling him to be careful—that the spirit beast king was trying to repay his kindness on the cheap. But the advice had meant exactly what it said: there was a path through the inner depths that he could travel alive.

Yise slowly advanced along the boundary between the last two stone puppets he had located. One step. Judging by the distance, he had clearly entered their territory, yet neither puppet reacted. Another step. Still, all was quiet.

He tried taking a step sideways.

BOOM!

A ponderous footfall immediately answered from the distance. One of the puppets had turned and begun approaching. The moment Yise returned to his original position, the footsteps fell silent again.

Between the stone puppets' territories lay an invisible path barely a pace wide. Yise felt his way down that narrow strip one step at a time, as though crossing a single rope stretched over a bottomless precipice.

The path ran straight ahead. For a while, at least. But at a certain point, the instant he stepped forward, he heard a stone puppet react. He hastily withdrew his foot and stopped. The path bent here—to the right and left, in increments of the same stride.

From here on, stepping off the path would make it difficult to escape alive. He had come too far in. However fast he moved, he had no way to evade a beam fired at the speed of light from point-blank range.

The path wound inward in staggered, stairlike turns. Yise steadied his breathing and followed those turns step by step. After a long stretch of feeling his way forward, the path broke off once more, just as his destination came into view.

Ahead stood an enclosure of grayish-white walls, with a single stone puppet circling nearby. From this point, whichever direction he stepped, the puppet immediately turned its head.

'So finding the path alone doesn't qualify me.'

To reach his destination, he needed enough ability to break past at least one stone puppet on his own.

Yise glanced at the gatekeeper guarding his fortuitous encounter. Every flicker of the blue light embedded where its head should have been sent chills down his spine. He swallowed and loosened his limbs. Having come this far, he could not turn back.

First, he calmed his mind with a deep breath. This was a true test of qualification, one that allowed not a single mistake. He brought every means of accelerating his movements to bear.

The moment the stone puppet gliding around the enclosure reached the point farthest from him, Yise launched himself like a stone from a catapult. Its head turned at once, and its massive body thundered around the wall and into view. As a streak of blue light burst from its forehead, Yise veered away from it.

CRACK!

The beam slashed diagonally across the spot he had just passed. The stone fragment he had stepped on split cleanly in two, its severed faces glowing red with lingering heat.

Five zhang remained to the wall. Yise poured all his spiritual power into one final step and kicked off the ground. At that instant, a stone hurled by the puppet clipped his ankle.

CRACK!

Pain shot through him as his ankle folded the wrong way in midair.

Biting his lip, he channeled the impact into a spin. He turned once through the air and tumbled over the wall. Rather than landing lightly, he crashed down and rolled noisily across the ground. He immediately braced himself on one knee and steadied his breathing.

He tossed a Healing Pill into his mouth and began circulating his energy. Its medicinal effects slowly flowed along his spiritual meridians into shattered bone and torn skin. Only after the aching pain subsided did Yise have the leisure to look around.

Inside the walls stood an intact stone building, utterly out of place amid the ruins. Its clean, grayish-white masonry seemed untouched even by moss or weathering. In the shade before it sat a familiar man in faded gray robes, his hair hanging loose. It was the sword Cultivator Yise had encountered in the inner depths a few days earlier, seated in exactly the same posture.

"We meet again."

His voice was calm. Yise hastily stopped circulating his energy and went on guard, but the sword Cultivator merely regarded him placidly, seemingly without any intention of attacking.

Yise let out a short sigh, treated his injury until it was roughly half healed, then stood. The sword Cultivator's gaze slowly followed him. Yise studied him silently for a moment, then approached the stone building's entrance, keeping some distance between them.

A pair of enormous stone doors stood firmly shut. A single line of text was engraved across their center. Beneath it were two round holes, each the size of a human fist, set side by side.

「Let the one who has proven worthy stand alone and offer the proof.」

Yise's gaze lingered on the elegant lettering. Worthiness, proof, and alone. Those three words, combined with what he knew, brought to mind a silver orb tucked away in his robes: the inner core the spirit beast king of the Great Silver Three-Eyed Tiger lineage had given him.

'... It must mean bringing back cores from the kings at either end.'

Yise clicked his tongue softly. After all the trouble he had endured to get here, he would have to travel all the way to the demonic beast king's territory at the eastern edge. He had no idea how much longer that would take, nor any guarantee that he would reach this place safely a second time.

If he had to weigh his chances, getting out would be twice as difficult as getting in. Nothing guaranteed that the spot he stepped onto while evading the stone puppet would lie on the path of life.

'No wonder no one's claimed the great fortuitous encounter, even after this secret realm became famous across the continent.'

Yise sighed briefly and glanced behind him. Then his gaze stopped. The sword Cultivator was tossing a black orb up and catching it in his palm. Its surface was pitch-black, with Demonic Energy writhing along its fine grain—something akin to a spirit beast's inner core. A Demon core. The demonic beast king's Demon core.

"... That thing you've got."

The sword Cultivator caught the orb in his palm and held it up for Yise to see.

"This? I obtained it in the outer region. I fought a strange-looking serpent for quite some time, until it spat this out and retreated. It fits the hole in the stone door perfectly, but I'm one short."

Yise studied him again for a moment. This man had confronted a demonic beast king whose Rank far exceeded Great Attainment of Qi Refining and forced it to spit out its core. Only now did the level of attainment Yise had been unable to gauge at their last meeting begin to take shape.

The sword Cultivator slowly raised his head.

"But judging by your reaction, you already knew about this?"

For an instant, Yise regretted his slip, but he soon reconsidered. The man bore him no hostility. They would be better off cooperating. He drew the silver orb from his robes—the inner core of the Great Silver Three-Eyed Tiger king. A gleam flashed through the sword Cultivator's eyes.

"Oh?"

The sword Cultivator rose. As though by prior agreement, they approached the stone doors together. When they gently pushed their respective proofs into place, both holes began to glow. A strand of silver and a strand of black joined, circling over the surface of the doors, and the engraved words at the center flared a brilliant blue.

And that was all. The doors did not open. The light flickered once and faded, leaving a brief silence.

"'Stand alone.' It seems only one person can enter."

"Looks that way."

The sword Cultivator slowly reached out and retrieved his Demon core. At a slight glance from him, Yise recovered his inner core as well. The man put a little distance between them, then spoke in a relaxed stance.

"My apologies, but how about deciding who's worthy through skill? Of course, I won't force you."

"There's no other choice."

They could not both enter. Only one would be granted the right. Yet neither would turn back after coming this far. People said luck and timing mattered more to fortuitous encounters than effort or skill.

What were the odds that, during this particular opening of the secret realm, two people who had each won a king's recognition would reach this spot? That alone was miraculous enough to count as a fortuitous encounter. In the end, however, only one could claim the prize. And there was only one way to decide who was worthy.

Yise slowly drew his hand axe.

"Cheong Un of the Tyrant Sword Sect."

"Yise of Daemudo."

This man felt different from the enemies he had faced so far—more warrior than Daoist. A formidable opponent who had obtained a Great Black Serpent's Demon core. Yise sharpened his focus and prepared for battle.

"An axe warrior?"

"Just a butcher."

Cheong Un chuckled at the quip.

"I'll let you strike first."

Yise did not decline. He immediately launched a Firebolt. Unfazed by the sudden spell, Cheong Un drew his sword and sliced straight through it.

Yise had never seen anyone cleave a spell with swordsmanship alone, without even imbuing the blade with spiritual energy. That single stroke told him this man was a true sword Cultivator. The sword principles of someone who had devoted his entire life to the blade, who resolved everything with a single sword—Yise had thought such things were mere fanciful boasting in novels.

'He has spiritual meridians. A swordsman, but still a Cultivator.'

An Earthen Spear shot from Yise's hand, followed by a succession of spells produced from talismans. With light, agile movements, Cheong Un evaded or deflected every attack.

'He has a technique similar to Dokkaebi Steps.'

That speed did not come from talismans or spells. It was a movement technique.

Yise widened the distance between himself and the approaching sword Cultivator. Close combat was normally his preference, but he wanted to force his opponent to fight at a disadvantage.

BOOM!

A Stone Hand dropped from above, blocking Cheong Un's path. Yise had meant to strike his head, but at that instant Cheong Un had stopped short and let the attack pass.

An earthen wall surged upward, launching Cheong Un into the air. A jet of water struck him while he was still airborne. It sent him flying far back, where he landed and shook himself like a wet dog. Gushing Torrent was powerful enough to pierce steel, yet he looked perfectly unharmed, without a single broken bone. Cheong Un scratched his wet hair.

"You're a tricky one. You neither form hand seals nor recite formulas, yet your spells deploy so quickly. Don't tell me you're casting them by thought alone?"

"Isn't that how you're supposed to do it?"

"From the way you talk, it doesn't sound as though anyone taught you, either... A genius, then. I've never seen anyone like you."

So that was it. Yise nodded as though he had just learned something new. Thinking back, apart from a few others in his intake, most people did chant incantations or form hand seals to cast spells. That difference had decided victory or defeat for him quite a few times, too.

Resolving to make better use of that advantage in future fights against Cultivators, Yise added,

"Admit defeat, and I won't touch a hair on your head."

"Haha. I can't do that."