Master Hyunta, the elder of the Mudang Sect, Sa Jeonghu, intuited the moment the youth stood before him.
He is strong.
He sensed at once that this young man far surpassed him.
The extreme yang qi surging uncontrollably within the youth’s body burned as if it would consume the entire Mudang Mountain, and Hyunta, having descended the mountain at that moment, could not help but reveal himself to the youth’s overwhelming martial prowess.
“A wielder of demonic arts imbued with extreme yang qi?”
There was something decidedly strange about the youth.
He brought to mind the rogue swordsman Yeopgeom, who wields immense yang qi to ignite his sword spirit—and yet, the youth’s martial art hid his qi and blended him into shadow, clearly demonic in nature.
“If that isn’t demonic art, I’ll eat my own entrails.”
Whenever plum blossom sword Qi blooms in a sword technique, it is without fail the Plum Blossom Sword Style of the Mount Hua Sect. Yet the youth’s art shared its same refinement, and Sa Jeonghu was certain his supposition was correct.
“It has to be demonic art! If not, then could it be the Taiji Hye Sword?!”
Whether a remnant of the Demonic Sect or someone who inherited demonic art through fate remained unclear.
He would know once their blades clashed.
Sa Jeonghu drew his Taiji Sword to subdue the youth, but the youth clearly intended to conceal his true strength.
Even a demonic artist’s sect can often be deduced from their forms and footwork, yet the youth attacked him with the obscure Samjae Sword Style—a form no third-rate warrior would ever use.
He pressed an elder destined to be one of the next Sect Leaders of the Mudang Sect with Samjae Sword Style, humiliating him.
“What kind of Samjae Sword Style is this?!”
Slash and thrust in a cross.
The endlessly repeating sequence of attacks was so precise, so direct, so rapid—as though practiced ten thousand times in a single day—that Sa Jeonghu broke into a cold sweat.
He could only barely parry. His Taiji Sword excelled at redirecting attacks, and his cultivation put him among the high masters who mastered Ascension Arts—yet even he struggled.
In other words, Samjae Sword Style was so formidable that even a supreme master would find it hard to block. Sa Jeonghu grimaced as the onslaught accelerated, his blood roaring in his veins.
“He’s definitely playing tricks!”
One hallmark of demonic artists:
They never attack honestly.
Despite his stance weakening, Sa Jeonghu searched for an opening. If the youth continued to press straightforwardly, his defense would eventually break—but he waited for the moment the youth cut corners, straying from the cross form.
Sure enough.
“Demonic bastards!”
As if mocking Samjae Sword Style’s feints, the youth’s blade slipped into a blind spot.
Sa Jeonghu tilted his blade on full defense, deflecting the strike and counterattacking. The blade, like a surging river current, barely grazed the youth’s face—as thin as a sheet of paper.
“Pfft.”
The youth laughed disdainfully, his reflexes alone evading the critical strike. He taunted Sa Jeonghu, speaking eagerly to unsettle him, whether truth or deception.
“I’ll show you the realm beyond realms.”
And the youth assumed a stance so familiar it sent ice through Sa Jeonghu’s veins.
Taiji Sword.
Not a crude mimicry, but a posture so flawless that Sa Jeonghu wished he could learn it himself. As the blade extended forward, his arm splayed back in perfect symmetry, exuding gentle, profound internal power.
“A woman?”
Though the voice was undeniably the youth’s, the graceful form hinted at a woman’s presence. The pent-up extreme yang qi blossomed like yin and yang in harmony.
“No. He’s definitely a man.”
From the Adam’s apple at his throat to his bearing, he could only be male. Yet his martial art embodied the Taiji Sword as if mastered by a woman who had cultivated it to perfection, heightening Sa Jeonghu’s disorientation.
“What on earth is this bastard?”
An entity whose age, identity, even gender were uncertain, yet he displayed Taiji Sword at the level of a Sect Leader in the midst of Mudang Mountain. Suddenly, a possibility struck Sa Jeonghu.
“A retired Grand Master?”
A hermit who left the Mudang Sect generations ago. Sa Jeonghu had mistaken his earlier demonic art for stolen martial skill. If not that, no Demonic Sect figure would wield such pure Taiji Sword.
“Was Samjae Sword Style just a ploy to toy with me?”
But the style was laced with murderous intent. Sa Jeonghu steadied his mind and resolved:
“I’ll know once our blades meet.”
Even if he died, he would die at the hands of a stronger opponent. With a wordless kiai, Sa Jeonghu leapt and brought his sword crashing down.
KAHHANG—!
The vertical slash slipped off the youth’s angled blade and was deflected away. Sa Jeonghu recovered and thrust forward.
KLANG, KLING, KAHHANG!
His simultaneous thrusts to upper, middle, and lower dantian flowed in one continuous motion. The youth tilted his head to evade, planted his blade upright to repel the point, then twisted aside, avoiding every attack.
“The lower opening is exposed.”
Murmuring as if reading a map, the youth released one hand from his sword. His slender hand, more fitting for a brush than a blade, jabbed at Sa Jeonghu’s abdomen like a bee.
“Ugh!”
His insides lurched. Though the youth only tapped lightly on his abdomen, Sa Jeonghu felt as if his organs had been scrambled. He swallowed back the pain and staggered back.
“Kyahk... hahk!”
It connected solidly. He sensed the youth’s deliberate restraint—he could have struck harder but clearly chose not to kill.
Yet surrender was out of the question. The youth had not yet unleashed a single true form.
“Hahp!”
Sa Jeonghu cut off his breath, wrapping qi around his body. Suppressing the pain, he seized his sword and whirled it like a swollen river raging in a downpour, cutting and thrusting from all directions.
“As expected of Hyunta. The least Mudang-like Mudang master.”
The youth’s tone, as though looking down on Sa Jeonghu from above, let him know every blade he struck was deflected. Sa Jeonghu’s own sword bounced wildly, as if threatened to overflow.
“You try to capture nature in your blade, so it overflows.”
“You brute! Do you think you can teach me?”
“Sorry, I can’t help myself when I use it.”
The youth’s mocking laughter accompanied his total defense. Every strike aimed at his shoulder, every blow unleashed by Sa Jeonghu’s fury, was received and diverted.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Not a single attack landed. Not even his collar brushed the youth.
Sa Jeonghu’s sword had torn the youth’s collar ragged, yet the youth flowed his arms to catch and deflect the Taiji Sword like water.
“This can’t be! It can’t!”
“So what are you going to do?”
“You fiend!”
Sa Jeonghu brought his sword down at the ground in a wide arc. The blade’s path carved a half-moon, and the youth’s eyes flickered as he leapt back. The gray aura from the blade seemed poised to cleave him.
“Weak.”
The youth swung his blade in a full circle. Red qi blossomed from its tip. The youth’s vertical slash clashed with Sa Jeonghu’s diagonal strike.
“You eat nothing but vegetables, so your muscles lack power.”
Supporting the tip of his sword with one hand underneath, the youth stepped back and lifted the blade overhead. The red yang qi swallowed Sa Jeonghu’s blade aura and flung it skyward.
Shash—
As if consumed by immense qi, the blade aura crumbled. The youth smoothed his bangs from his face with the breeze from the sword gust, shrugging his shoulders.
“Your sword lacks qi. Eat some meat—what’s the point of living otherwise?”
No sooner had he spoken than he closed the distance. In a single step, he was upon Sa Jeonghu’s face.
“Your muscles lack power, lack power.”
“Gah...!”
Sa Jeonghu swung with all his might, but the youth, with a soft smile, flicked the strike upward.
KAH—ANG!!
Both swords flew into the sky, and Sa Jeonghu had to freeze in place as the youth punched him in the solar plexus.
“It’s over.”
“…Not yet. I still have Taijiquan (Supreme Ultimate Fist).”
“Is that so? But what now?”
The youth pointed to the sky. Despite knowing he shouldn’t look up at his opponent, Sa Jeonghu found himself tilting his head.
Whoooosh—
Floating in the sky were two swords aimed at him: the youth’s battered iron sword and Sa Jeonghu’s cherished blade.
“Flying sword technique…?! Could it be the Taiji Hye Sword…?!”
“Have a nap.”
The two swords descended like light and grazed Sa Jeonghu’s head. He had no time to evade and was helpless under the strikes. The youth’s flying swords brushed his head and struck the back with a sword face.
Clank, clank.
“How…?”
No answer came, only more questions. As Sa Jeonghu reeled toward unconsciousness, the youth frowned and swung his arm over his shoulder.
“Trying to cling to me, old man?”
Wham—
Sharper than any blade, the hilt struck Sa Jeonghu’s solar plexus, and he lost consciousness.
“Should’ve sent him off more gracefully. I showed nothing beyond the gap in our abilities. Hmph.”
Hyunta Dosa lay face-up, two large bumps swelling behind his head, his eyes rolled back in unconsciousness. I withdrew a white handkerchief from my robe and laid it over his face.
“Ugh, what an ugly sight.”
He’s not dead—just pounded hard enough to black out for half a day.
Still, seeing him sprawled with his tongue out, eyes upturned, swelling at the back of his head and in his chest was too grotesque. I didn’t want to touch him by hand, so a handkerchief was my only option.
‘With him like that, he almost looks dead.’
I considered folding my hands over my chest, but he’s a man. If he’d been a comely female high cultivator, I’d have spread my qi over her body, but this fellow was destined to be an old man with a shock of white hair.
‘Surprised he fought so well.’
Had he been hiding his true strength all along? Hyunta was far stronger than I expected. Not for nothing was he chosen as a Sect Leader at the Great Demon Tournament. Compared to then, he’s now a pup, yet he surpassed my expectations.
‘Then why didn’t he use demonic art?’
I mulled that question again and again during the fight, but never asked outright. There was no need, nor reason to be curious.
‘No need to wake him to ask—just take what I came for and leave.’
After all, I’m here to admire the flower and take a sip, then depart.
I had no deep ties to the Mudang Sect, and Hyunta was just another enemy. The only difference was that he once spared a lowly follower of mine in my Demonic Sect days.
“Foolish devotees of Mani... Begone! Never return here!”
When he struck the Mudang Sect, he spared the suicide squad I was part of.
Little did he know that that survivor would become the Blood Flood Corpse and wreak havoc. Fortunately, he never realized I was that rescued wretch.
“Since I saved him once, I’ll spare him this time.”
I saved him only once. Next time, if he bothers me again, he’ll become one with the ancestors. With that warning, I resumed my original purpose.
‘Where is she?’
I sought the dense yin qi. Sniffing like a hound, I scaled the mountain.
“Hmph, haah.”
A woman’s scent lingered. Through the underbrush came labored breaths, and I leapt from tree to tree to reach my destination.
“You cannot escape, wench!”
“Stay still! Kneel obediently!”
Two Mudang disciples in black robes gripped ropes, not swords. Opposite them, a black-haired woman shielded her face with her hands, retreating.
“...?”
The qi was right—but her face was too flawless.
‘Skin that clean can’t be natural.’
Through her fingers, I glimpsed a jade-like complexion. Had she been famed for her beauty since childhood? Or had her skin been overtreated in her youth?
‘Either way, that’s not important.’
What mattered was I had found her. I sprang onto a branch and unleashed two swords at the disciples.
Clack! Thud!
Using Taiji Hye Sword’s flying sword technique, I struck the pommels precisely on their crowns, knocking them out and seizing their ropes. The woman staggered back in shock at my sudden appearance.
“W-Who are—?!”
“Sagong Hui?”
“...!!”
Her face blanched at my recognition. I tugged the ropes and approached the future Taiji Sword Sovereign, Sagong Hui.
“Come speak with me—”
“Kyahhh! Rape thief?!”
Sagong Hui screamed and fled. In her eyes and actions, I saw the fear of a rape fiend—and chills ran down my spine.
“How did you know?”
Indeed, a future Sword Sovereign. I gripped the ropes and gave chase to Sagong Hui.