Jeong Yeon-shin slowly drank the wine. When he operated Jeong Family Dynamic Technique while drinking the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine, something strange happened.

New true energy gradually filled his middle dantian. He observed his body. There was no change in the baihui acupoint at his crown.

‘So that’s why.’

He must distance himself from vain hopes.

This was why Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t rest his heart on the Desolate Sect Lord’s warmth.

Though he hadn’t expected much, he felt strength slightly leaving his whole body.

At times like this, even the middle dantian’s function had no particular use. His mood sank despite experiencing something good.

The Desolate Sect Lord with her mysterious smile came into view, and it was the first time she looked annoying to him.

Jeong Yeon-shin looked around and clasped his hands.

“Thank you to all the heroes who watched over the coming of age ceremony.”

There was a picturesque aspect to the bold youth’s humble etiquette.

One by one, faces began showing satisfaction. People threw out comments.

“So he was of Desolate Ma Family bloodline.”

“Indeed, a famous family’s spirit doesn’t abandon its descendants.”

“Standing alone without relying on family? Isn’t that the bearing of a great master?”

“He’ll establish his own sect someday.”

Jeong Yeon-shin, bowing once more, came down from the platform.

Passing by his maternal grandfather Ma Yeon-jeok whose eyes were trembling, he stopped at Ma Se-in’s feet.

He had to look down since the guy was kneeling on one knee.

Ma Se-in’s face was dyed with futility. His thick eyebrows drooped as he made a blank expression.

Jeong Yeon-shin felt he could somewhat understand that heart. The guy who first threw away his pride must have completely submitted to him.

‘Without that, he couldn’t have discussed succession.’

Though it was a decision that would determine Ma Se-in’s own life, Jeong Yeon-shin brushed it off with one drink.

He spoke of the martial world while drinking the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine he obtained himself. Walking the martial world alone.

It meant being satisfied as an Desolate Sect martial artist roaming the world alone. Anyone would feel deflated.

Jeong Yeon-shin opened his mouth.

“You, you seem like you’ll be a good leader.”

“What…?”

He passed by Ma Se-in who flinched and raised his head. It became certain today.

His maternal grandfather Ma Yeon-jeok was inferior to the Zhongnan Sword Immortal. He distanced his chosen adopted grandson and kept his eye on Jeong Yeon-shin.

If he could have seen through the upper dantian’s state, his behavior would have been different.

‘That Sword Immortal seemed to notice my constitution.’

Dealing with his troublesome maternal family made him think of the Zhongnan Sword Immortal and Wei Ji Myo-hwa. Those peaceful training days.

He thought it wouldn’t be bad to spend his remaining life in a famous mountain full of immortal energy like Zhongnan Mountain.

‘Hope that remaining life is at least thirty years.’

He left the banquet hall praying to Buddha and the Primordial Heavenly Lord. Somehow having come out first, Ma Jin was waiting.

Confirming no one was around, Jeong Yeon-shin asked abruptly.

“Squad leader, are you not married?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you the Desolate Ma family’s direct eldest son? You should be in your prime, but they’re making a fuss about succession. It doesn’t makes sense.”

“……”

The scar across Ma Jin’s face twisted this way and that. He somehow seemed overwhelmed.

Then Cheong Myeong, who thrust his face in beside Jeong Yeon-shin, smiled brightly.

He too had watched Jeong Yeon-shin’s coming of age ceremony.

“Shouldn’t Lightning Flash know? I’ll tell you.”

“…Go ahead.”

Cheong Myeong waited until Ma Jin, who turned his back, was quite far away.

Jeong Yeon-shin, who looked at them each once with a puzzled expression, immediately closed both his questions and eyelids.

Even a moment’s time was precious. He was observing his middle dantian.

“When the squad leader was white-level, he returned from a mission holding Mi-ryeo’s hand.”

“You mean Senior Baek Mi-ryeo?”

He opened his eyes. Cheong Myeong smiled casually.

“Yes. She was a small child then. About this tall?”

Cheong Myeong patted his own waist and continued speaking.

“They said they brought her from a secretly transmitted sect. Saying she would become Desolate Sect’s main force. The problem wasn’t that. The mission location was Xinjiang, and that’s a battlefield where remnants of the annihilated Demonic Cult run wild.”

“Demonic Cult?”

Jeong Yeon-shin reflexively asked back. He knew it as the place that mutually destroyed with the Kunlun Sect that was once counted among the Nine Sects.

They said it helped establish the Ming Dynasty but became a religion that deluded the masses.

He had often heard stories of the old evil sect. They said the supreme being of the demonic path called the Heavenly Demon often appeared and ran rampant.

“Yes. It’s dangerous in many ways for white-levels to go. They said the squad leader who coveted blue-level promotion volunteered then. He completed the mission, but during a fight with an internal force master from Xinjiang…”

Cheong Myeong’s words trailed off. Even his usual hanging smile faded.

Looking at Jeong Yeon-shin urging with his expression, he sighs and opens his mouth again.

“He was hit with an internal force technique. It was a vital point. He kicked at the face with foot technique, but the guy dodged and dug in.”

“What?”

“They said he was a vicious guy. Several seniors who went on the mission together also became squad leaders, but even the Azury Sky Lord who doesn’t get along won’t mention that incident.”

“……”

“Ma sect leader hasn’t been able to function as a man since then. That’s why fierce Mi-ryeo serves the sect leader as a benefactor. How could she not?”

“I understand.”

They said in masters’ fights, it was common to float the body with body techniques.

If one learned Radiant Demon techniques, one couldn’t help but use leg techniques, and lifting a leg to kick meant exposing the central vital point.

The martial world is a harsh place. Injuries leading to disability weren’t rare.

The inexperienced white-level Ma Jin was pictured in his mind. Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.

“Kunlun Sect’s Cloud Dragon Great Eight Forms, Shaolin’s Buddha Light Energy Flow.”

“Hm?”

“I know they’re body techniques that can move in empty air. I’d like to witness them.”

Cheong Myeong smiled.

“The next mission seems to be in Henan. We’ll cooperate with Shaolin, so if luck follows, you might see it. The Buddha Light Energy Flow, that is.”

* * *

A month’s rest was given after the coming of age ceremony. It was meaningless.

Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to go on missions without rest.

“It might be good to secure a position in Henan early.”

Ma Jin, sitting in the chief seat of the office, said.

He accepted Jeong Yeon-shin’s usual gaze somewhat uncomfortably. Jeong Yeon-shin asked without minding.

“What exactly is the mission?”

“Annihilation. This mission, we cut off one of the Blood Flame Sect’s arms. If luck follows, we might learn about their main headquarters.”

He took a sip of tea and spoke again.

“While you were catching Thieving Ghost, there was an apostle who engaged with me. One whose hair had completely turned black. Not a single red strand. A monster surpassing the Blood Swordmasters. We’ve tracked his movements.”

“Did he go from Shaanxi to Henan?”

“They say his trail ended at Mount Pingding in Henan, whatever his scheme was. It’s Shaolin Temple’s territory.”

“Isn’t Shaolin at Mount Song in Zhengzhou? That’s quite a distance.”

“They’re the first orthodox sect. They say all martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin. Few sects in the Central Plains haven’t been influenced by Shaolin martial arts. The number of secular branch sects is uncountable. You can consider all of Henan Province under Shaolin’s influence. You should realize it, being from Henan.”

Ma Jin turned his gaze while mentioning his origin. As an uncle, he seemed to feel uncomfortable.

Jeong Yeon-shin nodded while being surprised by another aspect.

It was his first time seeing a Desolate Sect supreme master respect a martial sect so much.

It was an era where belonging to a group directly became one’s identity.

They said few among Desolate Sect’s masters didn’t watch the martial world from a civilian perspective.

To them, martial artists were potential rebels with power and ruffians who disturbed public order.

‘Mount Song’s Shaolin. Indeed a sect reaching all under heaven.’

Their power and reputation were greater than anywhere in the martial world. Jeong Yeon-shin felt his heart race for once.

Mount Song was the birthplace of Central Plains martial arts. What inspiration would Shaolin’s martial arts bestow upon him?

“But with the Blood Flame Sect, couldn’t Shaolin handle it?”

“Though the warrior monks shout about destroying evil and revealing righteousness, and conquering demons and eliminating evil, this is Desolate Sect. We can’t just sit idle. We’ll behead them directly. Not just the apostle, but there are quite a few Blood Swordmasters too.”

“How is the personnel composition?”

“Radiant Demon First Team and Second Team will go with me.”

Radiant Demon First Team. Ma Jin created it after completing the Great Violet Pill mission in Shaanxi.

Jeong Yeon-shin, Hyeon Won-chang, Cheong Myeong, and Baek Mi-ryeo were grouped together. Radiant Demon Wing was reorganized into teams.

They said it was to make coordination easier.

“Does our team not need to rest?”

“Everyone’s like you. Either they like achieving merit or enjoy traveling the murim.”

The former seemed to be Jeong Yeon-shin and Baek Mi-ryeo, the latter Hyeon Won-chang and Cheong Myeong.

“I understand well. Then, I’ll be going.”

“Rest.”

Leaving Ma Jin who had finished organizing the formation behind, he left the office.

Coming outside, crimson shadows were cast in the sky. He headed to his room without stopping by the training ground.

Jeong Yeon-shin immediately buried himself in bed.

Boisterous sounds were ringing. Seniors in other rooms seemed to be having a drinking gathering.

From further away, clashes from the training ground could be felt. Singing sword sounds, magnificent battle cries, laughter washing away exhaustion, clinking cups…

Sunlight blurred through the paper window brushed past his face. It was the touch of sunset hanging at day’s end.

His crown grew hot. It was always like this around this time. When had it started?

The upper dantian invited nature’s energy to dance within him.

The more it played, the wider the house grew. Regardless of the owner’s will.

It was when the boundary between day and night blurred.

The laughter of seniors enjoying wine and song grew louder. They must be having fun.

Suddenly he imagined shouting loudly for them to stop.

Jeong Yeon-shin closed his eyes. Blue clothes shone into his blackened vision.

For a moment it felt like being hit with cold water. Instantly all his body’s senses returned to reality.

No one was watching now. He curled up and crouched inside the bed.

‘Just one more time now.’

The final mission lay before blue-level promotion.

* * *

The wind brushing his cheeks up and down was fierce. It was because he was galloping along with his horse.

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced around from atop his fine horse.

‘This must be evidence that this matter is big.’

Eight people were riding horses beside him. It was an unprecedented number for a mission.

A mighty company. Nine Desolate Sect’s Radiant Demon Wing masters.

“Don’t know if it’s an inn or tavern. We’ll rest there.”

They entered the marketplace. Ma Jin’s voice resonated thickly as if imbued with a stream of true energy.

Passersby who had been taking hurried steps with anxious faces brightened upon seeing the Desolate Sect martial uniforms.

Desolate Sect was certainly not a sect that stayed only in Hubei.

They said they earned greater public sentiment than most censorate inspectors. Because they broke the swords of martial artists threatening people.

The group stopped in front of a tavern.

Though quite large, the framework looked shoddy, but it was still the best building in the vicinity.

Hyeon Won-chang, dismounting, looked around.

“Is this Xinye County? It’s different from what I heard.”

To cross Henan from Desolate Sect, one had to pass through Xinye County. They had already passed the site where the Jeong family had been.

It had become completely ruined. What Thieving Ghost said seemed true. Not a single tree could be seen on the back mountain.

‘They said they burned everything.’

Baek Mi-ryeo glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin’s expressionless face.

She soon spoke while touching her long white fingers.

“With the original occupants gone, black path groups are bound to run rampant. The back alley thugs must be managing everything.”

That’s when it happened.

“…With the Jeong family gone, it’s heaven. The leader was so surprised. The income from the forests they monopolized…”

“The Blood Flame Sect did us a favor. I was worried I’d have to jump in if kicked out of the organization.”

“A coward like you learning blood techniques? Ridiculous!”

Noisy voices echoed out to the street. It was the largest tavern in Xinye County.

The identity of the gathered guys was obvious.

Just their casual discussion of joining the Blood Flame Sect showed they lived without backing.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s brows furrowed.

‘Income from the forests.’

The day he left to enter Desolate Sect came to mind.

The administrator said he would manage it. It wasn’t money that should fall into black path guys’ hands.

“Let’s go in.”

While Cheong Myeong was leaving the horses with the attendant, Jeong Yeon-shin took the lead.

Even the Radiant Demon First Team masters followed watching their youngest member’s mood. They were good people.

When they entered pushing aside the fluttering curtains, the noise stopped briefly.

Unlike the outside, the interior was very spacious.

A bald guy holding an axe, a guy showing tricks with a dagger, guys with open shirts caught his eye first.

Men of all appearances were grinning with one courtesan each.

They looked like black path martial artists, but not one was familiar. All seemed to have come from elsewhere.

Jeong Yeon-shin stepped forward and calmly opened his mouth.

“You lot. Explain about the Jeong family’s land.”

“What?”

One guy snickered. And when he opened his mouth as if about to mention youngster, that’s when.

Hyeon Won-chang, who had entered abruptly, turned forward the hem below Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder.

Skill surpassing ordinary Grappling Hold could be felt. Now even Jeong Yeon-shin knew.

They said it was seniors who had emerged in the martial world’s way of skipping troublesome matters.

The guy’s lips froze as if frozen upon seeing the ‘Hwang’ character. People began murmuring.

“Say what you want to say.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke without minding.