Mount Hua, South Peak.

The underground thunder prison.

A place where horrific demonic energy blurred the boundary between reality and nightmare.

Eun Byeok was starting to think he was going insane.

It made sense.

Because of that overpowering demonic energy, he kept seeing strange things.

And if he had to pick the most disgusting and terrifying thing among them…

It was the wall.

The wall of the cave.

That sheer, artificial wall…

Wriggled like the intestines of an animal.

So much so that he hunched his body, afraid that if he so much as braced a hand against it, something terrible would happen.

“Get a grip, Eun Byeok.”

Master Myunggon’s voice carried deep internal power.

Mount Hua was a Daoist sect.

And the Primordial Clear-Heart Method was a Daoist inner method.

Naturally, its purity and uprightness were outstanding.

Eun Byeok wiped the cold sweat running down his forehead and looked at Master Myunggon.

Unlike him, his master didn’t look particularly strained.

“B-But why are we going down here in the first place?”

A fundamental question.

And yet one he hadn’t been able to ask out loud until now.

Why?

Why come into a place this horrific on purpose?

Eun Byeok didn’t know.

The answer…

Was known only to Master Myunggon and Sect Leader Jeongyang.

“We’re here.”

Instead of answering, Sect Leader Jeongyang and Master Myunggon stopped.

The end of the cave.

A massive steel door stood there, blocking the way.

Even through his dizzy mind, Eun Byeok realized it wasn’t ordinary steel.

A subtle, mysterious light leaking from the door.

A black luster.

Black Iron.

“Just what…”

They took that precious Black Iron and made it into a door that size?

It was madness he’d never even heard of.

But Sect Leader Jeongyang and Master Myunggon didn’t seem to feel anything about it.

Other than wanting to open it.

“P-Please, wait a moment.”

“Why?”

Jeongyang glared at Eun Byeok with an openly annoyed look.

He looked like he wouldn’t let it slide if Eun Byeok interrupted again.

The purple current of Purple Mist Divine Power he’d drawn up was so immense it made Eun Byeok’s vision swim.

But Eun Byeok couldn’t not ask.

“What are you going to do with the Demonic Cult’s young lord’s arm…?”

“I will create a master of the Great Radiant Ten-Thousand-Plum Sword.”

“How—who are you talking about…?”

It was incomprehensible.

What could you possibly do with the Demonic Cult’s young lord’s left arm?

Grind it up and make a pill out of it?

“The Great Radiant Ten-Thousand-Plum Sword is a martial art from the distant past.”

Eun Byeok thought his head master was suddenly talking nonsense.

But he wasn’t.

“Long ago—around the time Shaolin, Wudang, and Mount Hua were first established—the Demonic Cult wasn’t what it is now. So even righteous sects would sometimes attempt Heaven-Toppling martial arts that run internal power in reverse.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean this was before the martial arts of the sects across the world became so clearly divided from one another as they are now.”

Sect Leader Jeongyang drew his sword.

A replica of the Thousand-Night Crow Sword.

But even that was forged from ten-thousand-year cold iron.

A distant halo of light gathered on the blade.

Sword Force.

“Back then, the line called ‘taboo’ was blurrier than it is now. Mount Hua has such a martial art as well. Do you know why, after the grandmaster, there was only ever one master of the Great Radiant Ten-Thousand-Plum Sword?”

“Why…?”

“He ran the full-orbit circulation in reverse. In other words, there was only that one man who committed the madness of Heaven-Toppling cultivation.”

A man born with a Heaven-Martial body.

The greatest under heaven from over three hundred years ago.

Myunggun of the Mount Hua Sword Order.

Thanks to his constitution, he could safely learn martial arts that run internal power in reverse.

That was the “talent” of a Heaven-Martial body.

An aptitude that accepts, absorbs, and comprehends any martial art.

“And the young lord’s body remembers it. Even if you don’t have a Heaven-Martial body, it will make you accustomed to Heaven-Toppling cultivation.”

“…Pardon?”

Jeongyang seized Eun Byeok by the head.

Eun Byeok felt a chill and tried to recoil—

But Master Myunggon was already behind him.

And he drove several silver needles into Eun Byeok around his heart, his lower abdomen, and his throat.

“This will protect your lower abdomen, your life, and your self from the demonic energy.”

“W-Wait, Head Master, H-Head—!!!”

Master Myunggon pressed an acupoint.

Eun Byeok’s voice clogged in his throat until he could only open and close his mouth…

And Jeongyang swung his sword, severing Eun Byeok’s left arm.

A soundless scream filled the cave.

As if answering it, the demonic energy beyond the door began to swell even thicker.

*****

Just as the Hebei Peng Family is in Hebei, and the Sichuan Tang Clan is in Sichuan…

The Shandong Ak Family, naturally, is in Shandong.

They said they inherited the martial arts of the famous general Ak Bi.

But unfortunately, they were pushed aside by the Divine Spear Yang Family, and never made it onto the bedrock of the Five Great Clans.

That, however, was not proof they were weak.

Especially not if they held the family’s divine object—

The Demon-Warding Halberd.

“So we’re camping in the end.”

Cheonjeong let out a sigh.

A large tent—big enough for three children to fit inside.

Flame-Saber Lord Ak Jupae said he would sleep outside.

It had been about seven days since they left.

Just a little farther and they would reach the Shandong Ak Family.

Up until now, they’d been doing fine renting empty rooms at taverns and inns.

And yet, on the last night, they ended up camping.

“We need to sleep quickly so we can move again tomorrow.”

Cheon Soyak was already under the blanket, glancing over at them.

Cheongak and Cheonjeong fumbled, unable to bring themselves to lie down beside her.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable, Soyak?”

Cheongak asked in a flustered voice.

Soyak was fourteen.

Cheongak was fifteen.

And Cheonjeong was seventeen.

Honestly, at this age, they knew everything there was to know.

“Like I said earlier, it’s more uncomfortable that the two of you, my head seniors, have to sleep outside on the hard, cold ground because of me.”

If someone lay beside her, she wouldn’t know once she fell asleep.

But using this wide space alone and driving her two head seniors out?

With Soyak’s personality, that was the kind of discomfort that would keep her awake.

“Tch. We can’t exactly tell her to go sleep outside alone.”

“Exactly, Head Senior…”

“Let’s settle it with rock-paper-scissors.”

Cheongak and Cheonjeong sighed.

And the two of them started rock-paper-scissors.

To decide who would sleep beside Soyak.

Thankfully, Soyak had laid her bedding down in the right corner.

No matter what they chose, they couldn’t avoid the option of being “beside Soyak.”

But in that moment, Soyak’s voice cut in bluntly.

“Is it the loser? Or the winner?”

The two of them froze with their hands half-raised.

If the winner slept beside her?

Just winning itself would slap them with the label of a shameless bastard.

Then if the loser slept beside her?

That…

Soyak would probably keep it in her heart for a long time.

Asking if sleeping beside her was some kind of punishment.

Would they become shameless bastards fighting to claim their junior sister’s side?

Or vicious bastards treating their junior sister as a penalty?

A choice where either answer ended in a personal ruin.

After agonizing, Cheonjeong and Cheongak chose shameless.

It was better…

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

The winner was Cheonjeong.

And Cheongak immediately started acting like he was disappointed.

Of course, it didn’t work on Soyak.

“Cheongak. It’s really obvious how relieved you are.”

“N-No it isn’t? I’m honestly so disappointed I can’t guard our junior sister’s side.”

“Head Senior. Cheonjeong is lying.”

She said that, but Soyak was a little amused inside.

She’d properly toyed with her two head seniors.

With a light smile, Soyak turned her body to the right and lay down.

Then she curled up, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and tried to sleep.

…It would’ve been nice if she could just fall asleep without dreaming.

Maybe two hours passed.

Cheonjeong woke to the sound of someone moaning beside him.

Still half-asleep, he glanced at Soyak.

“…Father, m-mother, ugh…”

She looked like she was having a horrible dream.

Cold sweat poured down like rain, and her body shook violently.

Whatever was happening to her in the dream, her lips had gone pale blue.

“Soyak…?”

“No—no, sniff… I’ll kill… I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you…”

Only a calm, composed voice had ever come from her.

He’d never heard a voice this trembling, this furious, packed with killing intent.

Cheonjeong was thrown off for a moment by a side of Soyak he’d never known.

Any sleepiness was completely gone now.

Cheonjeong gently patted Soyak on the shoulder.

He thought it would be better to wake her.

Soyak’s small body twitched…

And she rolled over the other way.

And Cheonjeong saw it.

Teeth clenched tight, tears spilling from closed eyes, lips trembling.

“What kind of dream could make you…?”

“Revenge… I have to… I have to kill… burn them the same way…”

“…Soyak?”

A small fist clenched so hard her nails dug into her palm.

Her closed eyelids quivered, unable to endure her rage.

Her voice was practically sobbing.

In the end, Cheonjeong shook Soyak awake.

“…Ah—ah, ah.”

Soyak jolted and half-drew Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge beside her.

Cheonjeong startled, but he soothed her anyway.

Red-rimmed eyes, tears running down her cheeks, pupils trembling thinly…

She had clearly dreamed some horrific memory from her past.

“Put the sword away, Soyak.”

“…Yes, Head Senior. I’m s-sorry…”

“It’s fine. Let’s get some air.”

Chapter 69

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