The rumors struck like a gale, sweeping beyond Xi'an to engulf all of Shaanxi in the blink of an eye.
"The Orthodox Martial Alliance collapsed overnight?"
"That is what they say! Apparently some man calling himself the Lord of Yellow Dragon Fortress drove every last member out!"
"Is that even possible?"
"It certainly is! That man is none other than the one who slew the Blood Sky Demon, Cheon Muyeol."
"The Blood Sky Demon? The one who reigned as the terror of the martial world?"
"That is what I am telling you!"
"But what does that have to do with Yellow Dragon Fortress?"
"Well, you see, the thing is......"
Patrons deep in their cups at an inn chattered away, carried on a tide of merriment.
Whether it was born of an inferiority complex toward the Martial Alliance, or because the Alliance had unknowingly earned itself ill will over the years, no one could say.
What was clear, however, was that the faces of the drunks who brought up the evacuation were plainly aglow with excitement.
The stories flowed without regard for marketplace or main road, field or common home.
"So the previous Alliance Leader set those terms right before he died."
"The condition that whoever killed the Blood Sky Demon could have anything they asked for?"
"Exactly. Limited, of course, to what the Martial Alliance could provide."
"And the thing that man chose was Yellow Dragon Fortress itself!"
"So it seems."
"Ha! Whoever he is, that is one hell of a clever head on his shoulders!"
Talk drifting from anglers who had cast their lines along the riverbank.
The conversation that followed passed between sentries standing guard before a government office.
"But did the Alliance members just accept a demand like that?"
"They were caught between a rock and a hard place."
"A rock and a hard place?"
"Indeed. If they refused, it would mean the ideals the Martial Alliance had championed were a lie."
"Hmm. So they had no choice but to comply, if only to save face?"
"Well, it seems there was an even bigger reason than saving face."
"An even bigger reason?"
"You have not heard that part of the story?"
"What part? What do you mean?"
"There was already a man who openly defied that fellow's demand."
"Defied, as in dug in his heels and refused?"
"In a rather more violent fashion."
"Surely not......?"
The next part of the story drifted from a secluded hermitage, far beyond the walls of Xi'an.
"So someone directly opposed that man's demand and it came to a duel."
"That is how it went."
"And who was it?"
"Azure Sky Sword King Namgung Un!"
"Goodness! Then surely......?"
"That man went and defeated even the Azure Sky Sword King. That was the deciding blow, in truth. A master among masters, one whose peer in swordsmanship would be hard to find in all the Martial Alliance, was broken in a head-on duel."
"But Master, if one does not limit it to swordsmanship alone, there are surely those who surpass the Azure Sky Sword King?"
"Perhaps. But most of them were either absent, or present but chose not to oppose that man's demand."
"Hmm......"
"Above all, it mattered greatly that Great Master Gomok, the Shaolin Abbot--the most senior elder of them all--sided with that man."
"......Could Shaolin be intending to install him as the new Alliance Leader?"
"I cannot say. Great Master Gomok does not seem the sort to act from a political calculus, but one can never be certain in matters of men."
While the unnamed master and student carried on their measured conversation, by coincidence, a strikingly similar discussion was unfolding at the Mount Hua Sect's estate.
"So...... in the end, you had no choice but to be thrown out?"
"Senior Brother, we were not thrown out. We walked out on our own two feet."
"I hear that those who stubbornly held out to the end were literally hurled outside."
"And? Are you proud of yourselves for being spared that indignity?"
"Senior Brother......"
"Jin Un, that is enough. From what I gather, simply standing one's ground was not necessarily the wisest course."
Another man of middle years, standing right beside the one whose temples pulsed with veins, stepped in to calm him.
The two junior brothers' faces flooded with relief at the sight of him.
"Eldest Senior Brother......"
"Exactly! That man is a monster who defeated none other than the Azure Sky Sword King!"
"Everyone who had been on the fence became fully convinced. That he truly......"
"Killed the Blood Sky Demon?"
"......Yes."
The eldest senior brother's brow twitched with interest at his junior's answer.
The man called Jin Un furrowed his brow.
He had scolded his juniors mainly because their bedraggled state was absurd, but he, too, would have stood no chance against a man who had bested the Azure Sky Sword King.
'But Eldest Senior Brother might......'
Jin Un stole a sidelong glance as the thought crossed his mind.
Plum Blossom Sword Hand Yu Honsan of the Mount Hua Sect spoke without sparing him a single glance.
"Trying to weigh me against that man, are you?"
"Eldest Senior Brother."
Jin Un's mouth went dry.
"How do you think...... it would go?"
"How would what go?"
"If you were to face that man."
At Jin Un's words, the junior brothers tensed and turned their eyes to Yu Honsan.
The man himself, however, seemed thoroughly indifferent.
"I would not know. I know nothing whatsoever about that man to begin with."
"What if you used the Azure Sky Sword King as a benchmark?"
"I would not know that, either. All I have ever heard of Patriarch Namgung are rumors."
"I-I suppose that is true."
Jin Un smacked his lips inwardly at the unexpectedly anticlimactic conclusion.
Then Yu Honsan posed the simplest yet most essential question of all.
"That aside...... who exactly is this man, anyway?"
***
"Dan Sahyeok."
Qianyang, Shaanxi.
O Duseok, who had turned back toward Qianyang--the gateway into Gansu--stood gazing into the distance.
The surroundings were shrouded in fog so thick that even the road threading through the gorge was invisible.
For a master of O Duseok's caliber, of course, that posed no great obstacle.
The reason he hesitated to advance was singular.
The presence of someone trailing him from roughly fifty li behind.
"It does not feel like Dan Sahyeok, that bastard...... Then again, there is no way that damned brat would let his presence be detected this easily."
O Duseok muttered with a furrowed brow.
It was possible their paths simply happened to overlap, but he was certain that was not the case.
There was no particular reason for his certainty.
If he had to name one, it would be a warrior's instinct.
He had spent the last decade and more commanding a combat force that saw more frequent and fiercer real battle than anyone else in the Central Plains martial world, and that was the foundation of his conviction.
O Duseok's sixth sense had never once betrayed that trust.
"......So, who are you?"
When the pursuer came within rough visual range, O Duseok spun around and asked.
A figure in black he had never seen before.
As was typical of such types, a mask covered the lower half of their face, but a master of O Duseok's caliber could distinguish people by subtle scent and bearing alone.
The figure in black appeared to be no amateur, promptly offering a bow and a concise explanation.
"I am a member of the Sama Clan. I was dispatched by my superior, Sama Jin, to catch up with you, Branch Commander."
"Catch up? True, you seem rather confident in your movement arts. Though if I had been going at full speed, you would not have caught a glimpse of my backside."
"Naturally, it goes without saying that I could never match the Branch Commander's prowess."
"Hmph. Flattery. But the Strategist sent you?"
"He is the former Strategist now."
"Former Strategist?"
"That is correct. He is no longer the Martial Alliance's Strategist."
At the figure's words, O Duseok went blank for a moment.
"I understand Yellow Dragon Fortress was handed over to Dan Sahyeok, but are you saying the Alliance itself was dissolved?"
"Strictly speaking, it has not been officially dissolved. However, my superior has stepped down from the Strategist's post, regardless of the Alliance's continued existence."
"Ngh......! Then why did he send you?"
"To convey a single request to the Branch Commander."
"A request? What request?"
"My superior wishes for the Branch Commander to stay by Dan Sahyeok's side."
At the figure's quiet words, O Duseok's face crumpled.
"I left because I was sick of looking at that bastard's face, and that was only two days ago. Now you are telling me to go crawling back with a stupid grin?"
"He anticipated that, actually. He said he understands the difficulty, but asks that you make this decision for the greater good."
"......You do realize that if he is no longer the Alliance's Strategist, I have no obligation to follow his orders?"
"Of course."
The figure's response was unexpectedly matter-of-fact.
O Duseok folded his arms and studied the figure.
"In other words, this is not a simple request or an order, but a transaction. Very well--what exactly is the former Strategist offering in return?"
"This."
The figure reached into their clothing and produced something.
O Duseok went blank once more.
"Th-that is...... surely not?"
"It is exactly what you think."
"Ngh!"
O Duseok let out a groan of bewilderment.
If the item the figure had brought was genuine, then Sama Jin had made an offer that was virtually impossible to refuse.
"What will you do? I should mention that time is of the essence, so he asks that you decide immediately."
"......But you know, I do not think your master anticipated this. What if I simply take that by force, transaction be damned?"
"That is why I have maintained a distance of twenty paces from you, Branch Commander."
"What? Twenty paces?"
"Yes."
The figure nodded.
"At this distance, even if you employ your fastest short-range movement art--the Black Lacquer Steps--I can shatter this before you reach me."
"What? You would destroy something that precious?"
"I simply hope it does not come to that."
At the figure's reply, O Duseok's face twisted into a mass of wrinkles.
"Like master, like lackey. Fine. I will accept the offer."
"A wise choice. Thank you."
"But you will need to give me time. I have a duty to fulfill, after all."
He was the Martial Alliance's Gansu Branch Commander.
The Alliance itself might be on the verge of collapse, but precisely because of that, his duties as Branch Commander needed to be carried out.
"So I will return to Great Snow Mountain first, settle affairs, and then go back to that bastard Dan Sahyeok."
"That will not be necessary."
"Not necessary?"
"As you are well aware, Branch Commander, the Gansu Branch has also served its purpose."
"What did you just say?"
O Duseok's face darkened with anger at the figure's words.
"What a foolish thing to say. The Blood Sky Demon may be dead, but the Wild Wind Temple and the frontier forces beyond the border are still very much alive."
"More precisely, those would be the forces of the great steppe and the Northern Yuan. And excluding the Blood Sky Sect, the response to them falls not to the martial world, but to the government."
"That is what I am saying--only the Blood Sky Demon is dead. The rest of the Blood Sky Sect is still intact!"
"No. They are finished. Without the Blood Sky Demon, nothing awaits the Blood Sky Sect but ruin."
"Listen here, you little--!"
O Duseok finally lost his temper and bellowed.
"You are nothing but an underling, yet you prattle on as if you know everything! Just because your master was the Martial Alliance Strategist, do you fancy yourself some kind of advisor too?"
"I am an advisor, Branch Commander O Duseok."
"......What?"
O Duseok faltered, sensing that something was off.
The voice that had been so gender-neutral as to make identification impossible until now.
It had shifted, unmistakably, into the clear, bright timbre of a woman.