Tap the text to show or hide reading controls.
Neung Je-gang returned to the inn.
“Chief, Lady Go came back and bawled her eyes out.”
“Why?”
“If you don’t know, who does? You went out together.”
“Was saying we should part ways that shocking?”
“Huh? You told Lady Go you wanted to split up?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Oh ho! So that’s it. No wonder she cried like that.”
“What’s the reason?”
“You blockhead of a Chief—do you not know how much it hurts a woman to hear ‘let’s break up’? Some even kill themselves after hearing that.”
“Suicide? Surely not…”
“I’m telling you, surely yes.”
Majil felt stifled by Neung Je-gang, who wouldn’t get it, and Neung Je-gang felt stifled by Majil, who was saying things that made no sense to him.
One side understood the phrase “let’s break up” as between lovers; the other understood it as “let’s stop traveling together.” No wonder they couldn’t communicate.
“I give up! You deal with it.”
At last, worn out by the impasse, Majil dropped it.
“I’ll soothe her tomorrow. Heh! Since she split with the Chief, maybe she’ll come around. Hee!”
Majil’s thoughts went off in the wrong direction.
Dawn broke.
After the night’s endless debate with Neung Je-gang and Majil, Go So-jeong seemed to have recovered; she looked as bright as ever.
“That’s strange.”
Majil tilted his head.
“What now?”
“Lady Go’s reaction. It’s weird. Chief, how can she look that fresh after hearing the killer line ‘let’s split up’ last night?”
“Is that a problem for you?”
“Of course. Now I can’t comfort her. Damn!”
Grumbling, Majil started the day.
After breakfast, Neung Je-gang intended to head to the Black Alliance.
But a problem arose. Word of his “cowards” remark from last evening had drawn dozens outside the inn.
Their murderous anger sent the other guests fleeing; even the innkeeper had run to the tavern across the street.
Paying for the inn’s damages now seemed likely.
Neung Je-gang sat down in the inn for the moment.
Meeting the No-Poison Sect Lord would have to wait. If he dumped this on Majil and left, the crowd of masters outside might cost Majil his life.
“They look truly, thoroughly angry.”
Go So-jeong flashed a thin smile at Neung Je-gang.
“I meant to rile them. It would be stranger if they didn’t get angry. Amazing how powerful the word ‘coward’ is.”
“Chief, not the time to admire that. Do I have to fight that many?”
“First round, you sort them and send them to me. Don’t kill anyone. If you do, the whole Alliance will swarm us.”
“Got it. I’ll give it a go. Hehehe!”
Majil strode out boldly and led them all to the annex courtyard.
In moments, it became a dueling ground.
“I am ‘Blazing Fire Sword,’ the sole subordinate of Captain Secret Shadow, and the one you must face first.”
On his own authority, Majil adopted the epithet Blazing Fire Sword.
“There is one condition to dueling Captain Secret Shadow.”
He was about to say they had to beat him first— but the crowd suddenly buzzed, and someone shouted.
“What duel? We came for Secret Shadow’s apology! Come out and apologize for saying the Black Alliance is full of cowards!”
“Apologize! Apologize!”
“Boo! Secret Shadow, apologize! Apologize for slandering the Black Alliance!”
“Apologize!”
They clamored for Neung Je-gang to apologize.
The mood was odd. They did not seem here to duel at all.
“Everyone!”
Majil sensed it too—this wasn’t a dueling atmosphere.
Only after he shouted did they quiet down.
“Did some of you come only to protest, not to duel? Raise your hands.”
Nearly all the gathered hands crept up.
Majil was dumbfounded.
All the ones who looked easy had raised hands.
Of the dozens, only a few had truly come to duel; even they, sensing the weird mood, stood apart from the crowd.
“Damn it! All hand-raisers—out!”
Whoosh!
Majil formed a large fire-orb and hurled it into the midst of the protesters.
Startled, they scattered as the blazing mass arced overhead.
Paaak!
The fire-orb shattered on the ground, sparks spraying everywhere.
“Ah!”
“Hot!”
“Aaagh! It won’t go out!”
“Help!”
Some clothes caught, and men ran in a panic.
“Fetch water fast or you’ll all die. That fire doesn’t go out on its own. Now—anyone else want to protest?”
Those unscathed hauled water for the burning ones, and no one died.
After the commotion, they had no strength left to protest.
A few huddled to confer, but Majil ignored them.
Flames spreading in the yard began to catch grass, but the innkeeper and boys, rushing over at the sight, soon doused them.
Only then did Majil finally face those who truly wished to duel.
“To fight Captain Secret Shadow, you must defeat me first. Anyone who beats me will face the Captain himself.”
He was tense.
The ones remaining did not look trivial.
Among them was Jo Gwang-yeong, the “Flame-Delight Demon-Seed” they’d glimpsed last night.
His aura was no joke; Majil’s spirit shrank already.
“W-well then, who first…”
Before he finished, the first to leap out was Jo Gwang-yeong, already radiating a fearsome will.
“I’ll go first.”
Srring.
He swung an arm back and drew a great saber.
Compared to it, the Fire Blade Majil could barely form was not even half the size.
“I’ll attack first.”
He spoke before Majil could form the Fire Blade, channeling a flood of internal power into the saber.
“Wait!”
Majil blurted. Neung Je-gang had told him to strike first—but he’d run into a man who was doing just that.
“What?”
“How can you attack before I’ve even readied a weapon? Give me a moment.”
“…Fair enough. Sorry. I forgot about that fireball of yours—right, your epithet was Blazing Fire Sword. I’ll wait. Prepare.”
Barely calming him, Majil drew up True Fire Energy and shaped a single Fire Blade.
Eyes widened all around.
The fireball had been shocking enough—but a sword of flame?
They’d heard such fire could not be doused except with water. A mere graze could mean a grievous wound.
“Oh, a formidable weapon. ‘Blazing Fire Sword’ fits it perfectly. Then, I’ll attack.”
Jo Gwang-yeong again filled his saber with inner force; saber-qi flashed forth, stretching like taffy with surging momentum.
“Pass!”
Majil dispelled the Fire Blade and shouted. The lengthening saber-qi left him no nerve to face it.
“What? Are you mocking me?”
His eyes bulged. He took it as mockery, and his already hot temper flared.
“I’m not mocking you. That fireball drained my qi. Even if you win, beating a weary man isn’t exactly honorable, is it?”
Majil spoke quickly, feigning fatigue and backing away— then, before Jo Gwang-yeong could argue, he promptly called for Neung Je-gang.
“Chief, your turn!”
Inside, Neung Je-gang had heard it all.
At Majil’s call, he rubbed his brow.
He’d told him to gain real experience, and the boy had bolted at the first scare.
There was nothing for it. Neung Je-gang went out.
Majil greeted him with a mischievous grin.
“You—just wait.”
“Chief, what could I do? His saber-qi stretched a full jang; how do I hold that off with my little Fire Blade?”
Majil whispered.
“A full jang?”
“Not exactly measured, but that long. Look—you’ll be shocked.”
Hearing his excuse, Neung Je-gang walked up to Jo Gwang-yeong, who stood in the center of the yard.
“My apologies. My one subordinate proved disappointing.”
“No, I was hasty, forgetting he’d already expended qi.”
“You wish to duel?”
“Of course. I refuse to be a coward.”
“I said that to lure duelists, but fewer came than I hoped. Forgive me—I must see the No-Poison Sect Lord urgently, so I can’t face everyone one by one. Would you and the others combine your attacks?”
At that, Jo Gwang-yeong’s simmered anger surged, and the four waiting men lost patience as well.
Ching! Sreung!
They drew weapons, murderous intent rising.
Jo Gwang-yeong glanced at them, then back at Neung Je-gang.
“I know your name is high, but these are no pushovers. Are you sure you want a combined assault? Underestimating us could end badly for you.”
“If that’s the price of my arrogance, I’ll pay it. Come.”
Neung Je-gang drew the No-Mind Sword. His blade aura flowed naturally—a realm reached. Even five at once posed no real danger to him.
The distant four shifted, closing in to encircle him. He waited until the ring was complete.
In that stance, he recalled and contemplated the formulas of the Seven Saber Principles of Empty Spirit.
Seven principles—no fixed “moves.”
Even Butcher-Captain Yuk Cheon-u’s storm of blade-qi had not been a move, merely a manifestation of the seventh principle.
Incomplete as it was then, it showed how dangerous the art was.
Half-lidded, contemplating the principles, Neung Je-gang looked flawless as a drawn sword.
Sweat beaded on Jo Gwang-yeong’s brow. Five-on-one—yet there was no opening.
Even giving Neung Je-gang the most generous age estimate, he was around their age or younger. How could there be such a gulf?
Jo Gwang-yeong thought,
“If we wait longer, his momentum will crush us; we won’t even have strength to lift our blades.”
He signaled the others, who were likewise cowed.
[Attack together.]
Though he had meant to strike alone despite the encirclement, he chose a combined assault to counter their disadvantage.
No shame—his opponent had asked for it.
Flash!
Two blades flashed in, their owners using their best techniques.
Rather than clash, Neung Je-gang slipped back and evaded.
Shwiik, shwik—
As if waiting for that moment, three cold sword-winds stabbed for his back.
Sensing them, he lowered his stance; his body spun once, and with the No-Mind Sword he swept the five men’s lower halves.
It was neither fast nor slow—easily avoidable.
None lowered weapons to block; all sprang up to avoid the sweep.
Neung Je-gang’s posture looked too low to ward strikes from all sides; a simultaneous attack should have been inescapable—
Flash!
At that instant, blinding light burst from the No-Mind Sword; sword-qi poured upward at the airborne men.
“Waugh!”
“Ahh!”
All five raised their weapons to block—
or thought they did.
The sword-qi Neung Je-gang loosed was not a single stroke.
No matter how they blocked, streams kept slipping for their vital lines.
“Ghh…!”
The weakest dropped his weapon first.
He foresaw death— but as his weapon fell, the sword-qi battering him vanished.
“Ugh…!”
Last came Jo Gwang-yeong. With a groan, he let fall the saber that was his life and dropped to his knees, having spent all his qi to block the storm.
“…I concede.”
Five against one—and they had not withstood even two exchanges.
His will to train further guttered; as a warrior, his confidence scraped bottom.
Sheathing the No-Mind Sword, Neung Je-gang felt he’d gone a bit far.
He hadn’t expected this outcome.
He had only tested Wave, the First Principle of the Seven Saber Principles of Empty Spirit.
But he could not comfort or apologize now; that would only humiliate them further.
“Then I’ll take my leave…”
He clasped fists lightly and walked past.
Watching from the annex, Go So-jeong and Majil gaped and hurried up.
“Chief! Can I learn that too?”
Majil asked, wheedling—of course he wanted to do that with a Fire Blade.
But without completing the Five Elements, it was unusable.
“No.”
“Damn! I knew it. Ah—why did I refuse when you offered to mend my dantian?”
He regretted it now; when he completed the Five Elements, he would likely be glad he had learned that path instead.
“You’re strong enough. You simply don’t use what you have properly. I heard your master researched on his own; you don’t. You only try to learn what I spoon-feed you. With that attitude, growth is hard.”
“Heh… Chief, research is for smart people. I’m dumb.”
“You were spooked by Jo Gwang-yeong’s saber-qi, weren’t you?”
“Heh! If I weren’t, that’d be abnormal.”
“Then research how to handle it. Think—if your hand could spew a flame longer than that saber-qi, who would win? If he casts out a one-jang saber-qi, you spit a fire-club longer than a jang.”
“Chief! You really think I can make flame over a jang long?”
“I do. If you gather more qi and practice enough. Think of making your Fire Blade longer than now.”
“Okay—if you say it’s possible, it’s possible. I’ll make a Fire Blade longer than a jang. Thanks, Chief.”
Majil beamed.
He couldn’t attack like Neung Je-gang, but he had what others lacked.
If he could make it longer and last longer, then one day he wouldn’t envy the Chief.
Go So-jeong watched the two talk and walk, and sighed to herself.
Compared to others, she had trained in comfort and attention.
Yet she had not completed the spy arts she originally learned, and the new martial arts she’d begun still drifted half-done.
At best, she used them to warm water or chill it.
What was the point of training like this?
Majil, whom she had thought weaker than herself, trained whenever he had time—riding in a carriage, before sleep—
proof that he truly believed practice made strength.
Now she could not be sure she would beat him.
She could avoid thrown fire with light footwork, but a swung Fire Blade was hard to counter.
In truth, a Fire Blade could not be “blocked.” Even if you met it with a weapon, it sheared there and splashed onto the body; once a fragment fell on you, nothing could quench it without nearby water.
“I have a favor.”
She spoke to Neung Je-gang.
“Speak.”
“You have an Ice Essence Crystal, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Could you entrust it to me?”
“What for?”
The crystal was the key treasure for saving Je So-yeon.
He could not simply hand it off and risk losing it.
“I want to train, but as you know, I practice Cold-Ice Arts. In heat like this, I make little progress.”
“Ah, I see. All right.”
Neung Je-gang took out the case with the crystal and handed it to her.
He could not refuse someone asking to train.
And in truth, the crystal’s original owner could be said to be her.
“Thank you.”
“No need. I stole it anyway…”
She slipped the crystal to her breast. A chill wrapped her body.
She no longer felt the heat.
That cold made her feel she might grow stronger at any moment.
Reading Settings
