The martial skill was not just overwhelming—it was astonishing. The two disciples couldn't hide their shock.
So Yunhui, the Young Sword Immortal, displayed martial prowess so extraordinary it seemed inhuman.
With each swing of his sword, dozens of trees were split apart, and the ground caved in under his steps—it wasn't even surprising anymore.
Baek Hyangmuk had once thought the fake Lee Jeonggeom, whose entire body was dyed black, was a monster.
But now—
> "The real monster is over there."
With this level of martial power, he could probably handle a thousand—no, even ten thousand—by himself.
And not just ordinary men, but seasoned martial artists.
Even though the fake Lee Jeonggeom was struggling desperately to escape So Yunhui's grasp, his body was being crushed and severed so thoroughly that it evoked pity.
> "...This growth rate is unbelievable."
He hadn't been like this when Baek Hyangmuk first saw him.
He had been stronger than most late-stage disciples, but lacked experience and enlightenment—so much that Baek hadn't even bothered teaching him.
Now, he felt like he was the one who needed to learn.
> "Is the shadow of the Sword Immortal really this large?"
So Yunhui wasn't even the Sword Immortal himself—just a disciple of a disciple. Yet he was this strong.
If a disciple of the Sword Immortal's successor was this powerful, maybe the successor himself hadn't even gone all out when he fought Baek.
[Master.]
Just then, Lee Jeonggeom sent a voice transmission.
[What is it?]
[So-hyung… I mean, the Young Sword Immortal's martial power is unbelievable, but that blood-red hair of his…]
[You're right. It's from learning the Blood Heaven Great Ascension Technique.]
Jeonggeom's eyes widened.
He had known that his master, Baek Hyangmuk, had mastered the technique—it had spread throughout the martial world.
But that So Yunhui had mastered it too—
[No way...]
[Just listen.]
Baek Hyangmuk knew, thanks to persuasion from the current Emperor, that the Young Sword Immortal and the Blood Demon were the same person.
But Jeonggeom had no idea.
So Baek began to briefly explain what he had gone through.
Jeonggeom was astonished.
[Ha! So-hyung is both the Sword Immortal's successor and the Blood Demon...?]
[Only you must know this.]
Baek hadn't planned to reveal it unless he had to, but seeing Yunhui in action had made it necessary. He figured Jeonggeom would keep it quiet if he knew.
> "He must be shocked."
Baek himself had been when he first learned.
So Yunhui was becoming the new hero and symbol of the righteous faction.
He was also a candidate for the next leader of the Martial Alliance.
To think that this man's secret identity was the Blood Demon had been earth-shattering.
Watching the still-dumbfounded Jeonggeom, Baek sent another voice message.
[Still shocked?]
Jeonggeom hesitated, then cautiously said:
[...There's something I haven't told you.]
[Something you didn't tell me?]
[Yes. I intended to keep quiet since I liked him and didn't want to stir trouble with Musang Fortress, but…]
[Musang Fortress? What are you talking about?]
Baek was confused by the sudden mention of Musang Fortress.
Jeonggeom continued:
[...Do you remember when you sent me to take the Pungyeong Eightfold Trial?]
[Of course. I sent you personally.]
Baek had sent Jeonggeom to that trial to ease tensions with Musang Fortress.
But he didn't understand why this was coming up.
[Why bring that up?]
[Back then, didn't I report that someone named Ha Un became the minor sect leader?]
[Yes, you did.]
Baek remembered clearly.
A man claiming to be the son of Mujung Pungshin Jin Seongbaek had suddenly appeared and taken the seat.
But Jeonggeom now said something completely unexpected.
[I didn't say it then, but Ha Un was So-hyung—So Yunhui.]
'!!!'
Baek was beyond shocked.
He couldn't even comprehend what his disciple was saying.
[What are you talking about? So Yunhui is Ha Un?]
[As you know, even before I trained in martial arts, I was sensitive to energy and could distinguish people's auras.]
That was true. It was one reason Baek accepted him as a disciple.
[Ha Un's energy had subtly changed compared to his late-stage disciple days, but during the trial, I was certain it was him.]
[And you didn't tell me?!]
Jeonggeom scratched his head.
[...I liked him.]
[So you kept it secret just because you liked him?!]
Baek felt a headache forming.
Then again, this wasn't the worst thing Jeonggeom had ever done.
He had once been possessed by the Killing Sword's spirit and committed many atrocities, but once he remembered, he had confessed everything.
[This wasn't something to hide.]
[Forgive me. I thought someone from the So family of Ikyang must have had a reason to seek out Mujung Pungshin without revealing the truth.]
So yes—he had hidden it because he genuinely liked Yunhui.
Baek had always worried that Jeonggeom lacked human connection, and now the only person he'd bonded with was So Yunhui.
[I didn't plan to hide it forever. If conflict arose with Musang Fortress, I intended to ask for So-hyung's help.]
[And you're only telling me this now?]
Baek clicked his tongue.
The truth Jeonggeom had just revealed could shake the entire martial world.
> "How could this be… Ha!"
Baek was astounded.
The current martial world was effectively split into three powers: the Martial Alliance, the Blood Sect, and Musang Fortress.
And now it turned out that a single man was at the center of all three.
If So Yunhui became the Martial Alliance leader, he would effectively rule all three major powers.
> "The Emperor isn't the problem here."
All the central martial powers were about to fall into one man's hands.
Things the Emperor couldn't do from the shadows, So Yunhui had nearly achieved.
As Baek mulled over the severity of this, Jeonggeom added:
[And there's one more thing.]
[...What now?]
[I just realized this: the energy of the supposed descendant of the Sword Immortal who impersonated the Golden-Eyed One... It's very similar to So-hyung's.]
[What?!]
Baek's eyes widened.
---
-CRACK!
"Gaaaah!"
What stubborn vitality.
He wasn't as persistent as Seobok, but even as his body was slashed and crushed, it kept regenerating.
Of course, he remade each part just to destroy it again, so the man must be in hell.
–You're something else.
Something else? As if.
Do you know how painful it is when every vital point is pierced with needles?
He was simply returning the pain in full.
Now that the difference in strength was clear, he could stop.
Leaving the head and upper torso intact, he stabbed Namcheon Iron Sword into the man's heart and said:
–Thunk!
"Guhhh..."
"What are you?"
The man grimaced in pain but replied:
"Ki… kill me."
"I will. But not before I hear the truth from you."
At that, the man looked at him in fear.
Even in this state, he kept his mouth shut. That was no ordinary willpower.
But earlier, when Baek Hyangmuk provoked him, something clicked.
"How did you embed your 'Baek' (spirit) into the Killing Sword?"
The man's expression hardened.
So this was the key point.
Initially, he'd tried to absorb the energy with Heavenly Authority, thinking this was just a fake Jeonggeom possessed by the sword's spirit.
But the man lacked the Baek he should have had inside.
"Humans maintain a balance between 'Hun' (soul) and 'Baek' (spirit). But your body didn't have one."
"..."
"Which means you must have placed your Baek into the Killing Sword."
The man's eyes flickered.
That confirmed part of the theory.
The interrogator continued:
"You said three hundred years ago… What's your connection to Jakyungjeong?"
"...."
"If the Emperor knew about the detonator, he'd have figured out my identity. But he didn't. Which means you must be related to Jakyungjeong somehow."
"...What are you talking about."
"Don't play dumb."
–Thunk!
"Guuuuh!"
As the sword twisted inside, the man screamed in agony.
"Anyone who knows the detonator must be connected to the Taoist of Jakyungjeong. Who are you really?"
The man's face twitched in frustration.
He was one tight-lipped bastard.
There was no doubt he was linked to Jakyungjeong.
But back then, the Taoists following Jakyungjeong had their martial arts sealed and memories erased before being banished.
–Could it be one of them?
No. Those people wouldn't reappear in this time frame, even if they regained their memories.
Then who?
Jakyungjeong had been beheaded, then his body was completely burned.
There's no way he survived.
"Hah… hah… kill me. You'll… never find out…"
"You think I won't?"
Turning his gaze behind him, he nodded.
About twenty paces away, Baek Hyangmuk stood with the real Lee Jeonggeom.
The man's eyes widened in shock.
"If you won't talk, maybe I'll check the Baek still inside the real Jeonggeom."
He clearly hadn't expected that.
Even if he didn't talk, there were ways to find out.
Seeing the smirk on his tormentor's face, the man screamed in fury:
"You really can't be satisfied unless you steal everything from others. Why would I ever… give everything to someone like you…"
He tried to say more in rage.
And then—
–WHOOOOOOM!
The space before my eyes wavered, and suddenly someone appeared and cut off the fake Lee Jeong-gyeom's neck.
— Slash!
"Gah!"
He appeared so suddenly that there was no time to react.
'Damn it!'
I swung the Namcheon Iron Sword toward him.
The man quickly leapt back.
He wore a bamboo hat over a masked face and narrowly avoided my strike.
Even though I had canceled my synchronization with the Blood Demon Flame and Thunder Qi, he still managed to dodge my sword strike so easily.
— Crackle!
I immediately re-synchronized with the Blood Demon Flame and Thunder Qi.
Just as I was about to thrust my sword at him, the space behind him warped, and he disappeared as if sucked into it.
I couldn't hide my confusion upon seeing that.
'Shukjibeop?'
Shukjibeop (縮地法)—the art of folding space and traveling through it. It's a technique that can only be performed by someone who has reached the realm of the Dao.
As someone who never became a Daoist and never cultivated the Dao, I couldn't learn such a technique.
It's a high-level Dao technique that only the Eight Masters could potentially achieve through their deep cultivation.
My shock was brief—my thoughts shifted.
'He killed the fake to silence him. The next target must be…'
There was no time to think further.
I immediately dashed toward the two disciples.
— Whoosh!
With immense lightness skill, it felt like time itself had slowed down.
Moving with Thunder Qi-enhanced lightness skill, my speed surpassed imagination.
In the slow-flowing time, I saw space behind the real Lee Jeong-gyeom ripple, and the masked figure with the bamboo hat appeared again.
Lee Jeong-gyeom and Baek Hyang-muk's heads slowly turned.
But the masked man's sword was even faster.
Before they could fully react, it was already reaching toward Lee Jeong-gyeom's neck.
'Wind-Shadow Divine Step!'
— Crackle!
In an instant, I accelerated further and reached them in a flash.
'!!!'
The masked figure's eyes widened from within his disguise.
"Where do you think you're aiming?!"
I swung my hand, and the slowly-moving Lee Jeong-gyeom and Baek Hyang-muk were knocked away to either side by powerful internal energy.
— Boom!
"Ughhh!"
"Wha—what the hell is happening…!"
As they were thrown aside and space opened up, I didn't hesitate to thrust my sword at the masked man.
Panicked, he tried to leap back and perform Shukjibeop.
Space distorted, and his body was sucked in.
But the red thunder-clad sword strike I had unleashed was also sucked into the same space.
— Crackle! Whooom!
The man vanished as if nothing had happened.
Time, which had slowed, began to flow normally again.
— Zap!
Baek Hyang-muk, who had been knocked aside, regained his posture with a landing technique and shouted at me.
"Wh-what was that just now?"
I didn't know either.
But one thing was clear: the masked man could use Shukjibeop.
— What if we let him get away?
I looked at the trembling tip of the Namcheon Iron Sword, still sparking with residual red thunder.
I was sure my strike had hit him.
---
About 200 li away, in a deep valley.
At the same moment the space rippled—
— BOOOOOM!!
A portion of the valley was obliterated by the thunder-infused sword strike.
As if struck by a natural disaster, the valley was destroyed and the rushing waters overflowed in all directions.
— Rumble!!
In the chaos, a dark figure frantically pulled something out.
It was none other than the masked man with the bamboo hat.
Only the upper half of his body above the chest remained—his lower body had been completely blown away by the sword strike.
"Are you all right, Lord Raijin?"
Coughing violently, the masked man replied,
"Cough… cough… His power far exceeded my expectations."
The shadow figure clicked his tongue while looking at the devastated valley.
"Can that really be the power of a mere human?"
Even the masked man was dumbfounded.
He had never imagined someone could deliver such a strike through Shukjibeop.
As a result, he was now in this state and wouldn't be able to move for several hours.
'I should have killed him.'
But it was too late.
By the time his body recovered and he could use Shukjibeop again, the Sword Sage's descendant would've already absorbed the Baek (魄).
The masked man spoke to the shadow carrying him.
"We must accelerate the plan."
---
Baek Hyang-muk steadied himself and asked me in a confused voice,
"What was that just now? The space suddenly distorted…"
"I don't know either."
There was no reason to tell him about Shukjibeop.
More importantly, I needed to quickly absorb the Baek (魄) from the real Lee Jeong-gyeom.
"Brother."
Lee Jeong-gyeom answered my call, but something about it felt off.
"Yes… brother."
What's this?
I could feel a subtle awkwardness in his response.
Was he afraid after witnessing my martial skill?
He didn't seem like the type to be shaken.
For now, I needed to put out the immediate fire.
"Brother, allow me to eliminate the sword demon energy on your behalf. Come here."
At that moment, Baek Hyang-muk stepped toward me and said seriously,
"There's no need to keep up the act. You are the heir of the Sword Sage, aren't you?"
'!?'
I paused mid-step toward Lee Jeong-gyeom.
How did he figure that out?
Feigning ignorance, I replied,
"What do you mean by that?"
Baek Hyang-muk shook his head.
"There was a time in the Murim Alliance when 'that man' impersonated you even though the young Sword Sage was still around. And now, instead of Lee Jeong-gyeom, you're here—suspicious, isn't it?"
"..."
So he was certain.
True, I had been less careful recently.
"There must be some misunderstanding."
Then, Lee Jeong-gyeom said to me,
"For now, I'll continue to call you brother. My sense of qi is far more sensitive than others—I can distinguish people's energy with precision."
"Sense their qi?"
It was similar to reading someone with a golden eye.
Could he really be that sensitive?
Wait, then maybe...
While I was still unsure, Lee Jeong-gyeom continued.
"I know that you're not only the Sword Sage's heir but also Ha Woon, the successor of Musang Fortress."
'Haah…'
I was at a loss for words.
So he knew my true identity back then too?
Then why didn't he say anything?
As I wondered, Lee Jeong-gyeom explained,
"…Back then, I thought you were just a disciple of the Southern Sword and the youngest of the Yi family in Ikyang. I figured you had your own reasons and even kept it secret from Master."
He kept it from his master?
Even Baek Hyang-muk didn't know?
"But the situation now is completely different."
"How so?"
"You're not just the heir of the Sword Sage. You're also a Blood Demon and the successor to Musang Fortress, aren't you?"
At his words, I went silent.
To think that my full identity would be revealed like this.
I hadn't expected things to unfold this way.
Baek Hyang-muk looked at me seriously and asked,
"As the Sword Sage's heir, what is your true objective? You said you stood against the ambitions of the self-proclaimed Emperor. But if that's the case, how are you any different from him?"
"Different…"
"If you become the leader of the Murim Alliance, then all three great powers of the martial world will be in your hands."
He looked at me as if to say this was unacceptable.
"Can you still claim to fight for justice in the Murim as the heir of the Sword Sage?"
It was as though he was testing my honor.
I let out a long sigh.
"Hoo…"
Then I spoke to Baek Hyang-muk.
"When did I ever say I'd take down the Emperor for the sake of justice?"
"What…?"
"Back when he sat on the throne, his goal was the destruction of the Murim. The only reason he stayed hidden all this time was because he feared my return."
That much, Baek Hyang-muk already knew.
He frowned and countered,
"But still, putting all of Murim into the hands of one person—"
"Why shouldn't it be?"
At my words, Baek Hyang-muk and Lee Jeong-gyeom's eyes shook.
Baek Hyang-muk tensed, gathering his qi, and spoke firmly,
"Though I have stepped down as leader, I once gave my all for the righteous sects. I can't just stand by and watch one person control all of Murim."
I smiled faintly and replied with a meaningful tone.
"Isn't that still better than destroying the righteous sects and unifying it all?"
'!!!'