The Hwangbo family was an ancient one.

The Hwangbo bloodline, which rose to prominence in Shandong during the late Yuan dynasty, established their base in the heart of Shandong Province. It was Jinan.

There had been great masters who honed the family’s martial arts over time.

The consolidated family’s martial arts grew increasingly powerful. It was a chaotic era. They seized Yuan dynasty’s large estates wherever they could.

This continued until the noble families who claimed to have descended from light came to power.

The Hwangbo family began to be called local nobles in exchange for conforming to the new Ming dynasty.

It was the birth of a martial arts family. They acted as rulers of Jinan for generations.

“Mom, when is brother coming?”

A girl about fourteen or fifteen planted an axe with a thud next to household items.

They were a family that had been chopping wood for two generations in Pingyin County of Jinan.

Though they say martial arts aren’t easy to learn, those who could read often kept books on qi circulation and breathing methods.

The Three Powers Internal Energy Technique distributed by the imperial court increased the manpower.

They said even ignorant commoners could draw in a bit of atmospheric energy.

It was said to be a prestigious family’s secret technique that created mighty warriors by planting strength in body and earth, and made fields fertile.

A middle-aged woman sitting and twisting straw rope opened her mouth.

Though wearing shabby hemp clothes, her tone carried dignity and her pronunciation was clear.

“The Hwangbo family took him, didn’t they? Let’s wait patiently. Your brother might return as a martial artist. If he becomes even a gatekeeper for a powerful family, we won’t have to skip meals.”

“The trees in the back mountain aren’t good these days. Uncle Ma keeps cutting the price. Why wasn’t he taken away?”

The girl complained.

Though quite skilled with an axe for her age, she wasn’t truly mighty.

The Three Powers Internal Energy Technique was mysterious but closer to a cultivation technique. The girl could work as much as grown men because of her outstanding talent.

Even Uncle Ma, who seemed to have connections with the Hwangbo family, had started pressuring her to join aggressively.

Her startled mother whispered.

“‘Taken away’? Watch your words. They say martial artists have ears as good as bats.”

“They’re all probably feasting with the magistrate anyway. I’m glad those playboys who kept bothering me were taken away, but we might starve to death at this rate. Wood prices are dirt cheap, and food’s scarce. What little there is, the magistrate and Hwangbo folks take it all.”

“I said watch your words!”

The middle-aged woman who screamed in a whisper said while catching her breath.

“The Hwangbo family is a noble house that protects us. It was the same in your grandfather’s time when he passed the civil service exam.”

“Always talking about grandfather!”

“He said people outside Jinan constantly have their wages stolen by martial artists. At least we don’t have that happening to us. If your dead father hadn’t been a gambler, we would have lived properly.”

“Stealing wages? That’s what the Hwangbo folks are doing. How much could brother earn if he were here.”

“Child, really! You’ll be in big trouble cursing an orthodox sect!”

The girl who got slapped on the back left the house grumbling.

“What orthodox sect, they kill all the heroes! Mom uses characters strangely! What happened to teaching me letters!”

The mother’s scolding leaked through the closed door gap. The girl paid no attention and set out.

Perhaps because she walked aimlessly, she carelessly reached the Hwangbo house of Pingyin County, the largest in the village.

It was the moment the girl quickly turned after glancing up at the large estate.

“Oh?”

“Perfect timing.”

It was a voice with thick resonance. A strong hand grabbed and lifted her by the scruff of her neck.

“I heard one branch family was exterminated by Desolate Sect thugs.”

“Un-Uncle Ma?”

The girl’s body was spun around. A middle-aged man wearing yellow silk clothes wore an indifferent expression.

He muttered while walking toward the shattered gate.

“You could be a question for those fellows. What is chivalry?”

* * *

Sword Song. The power revealed by the sword’s sound attack was overwhelming.

“What is this……”

Deep Autumn Sword Hwangbo Mei-wei looked around the estate in bewilderment.

Fallen dead and unconscious bodies were strewn everywhere in succession.

The battle stopped. Until the servants who had withdrawn leaving only the table settings when the fight began slightly showed their faces.

“Wh-what?”

“Why are they lying down? They’re bleeding.”

“They’re not moving? Are they dead?”

It was the moment their shrill screams rang out at seeing the tragic scene.

Energy waves flowed from Deep Autumn Sword’s hand resting on her sword hilt.

Despite all her adornments, her hands alone couldn’t hide traces of training.

She was certainly a rare swordsman. Her killing intent could be felt in her voice even though only her lips moved between her teeth.

“How dare you.”

“…Sound attacks are martial arts that’s rare in the world.”

The magistrate muttered. Gone was the appearance of a dignified pleasure-seeker who wanted to watch a bloody battle with music.

He could only stare with sunken grave eyes at Ma Gwang-ik’s three people.

There was time for a few breaths. Jeong Yeon-shin took a long inhale.

The Moon Spirit Harmony Technique was also a method of breathing in and out.

His mind calmed as he recalled Desolate Sect Lord’s long, thin breath when receiving the technique.

‘I overdid it.’

The true qi operation method used to cast the sword song was incredibly precise. He pushed his senses to their limit.

It was about loading radiating true qi onto sound created by Internal energy.

It was martial arts that greatly used upper dantian abilities. It could even be called divine skill.

“Weren’t we discussing elegance? Why no more words?”

Though Jeong Yeon-shin spoke deliberately calmly, he felt extreme fatigue.

It felt like having a water-soaked cloth in his head.

It was his first time using the sword song at full power. That was necessary to instantly kill martial artists.

The same was true even for those inferior to him.

Since natural protective energy was also clearly an internal energy barrier, there was no choice when trying to pierce ears and kill with sword resonance.

‘I can’t use it twice. I didn’t know even doing it once would be this hard.’

His previously excellent physical condition rapidly deteriorated. They said life and death in the world of masters is divided by the smallest difference.

If there were opponents of equal or greater number among the enemies, he would have to continue a difficult fight.

‘Hmm?’

It was the moment he observed his interior thanks to the Moon Spirit Harmony Technique’s breathing. Jeong Yeon-shin briefly lost his senses.

Above his head. The crown.

It was clearly different from morning. He recognized the difference over one day with his innate senses.

The Baihui point had widened. It seemed like three days’ worth.

T/Note- Baihui (DU20), known as the “Hundred Meetings” point, is a significant acupuncture point located at the crown of the head where various neurological pathways converge.

‘My hand.’

His index finger trembled in the middle of actual combat. It wasn’t from lack of strength.

It was because panic visited briefly.

An instinctive fear of death suddenly approached. The abyss briefly overwhelmed him.

Moving true qi was like using muscle power.

They said if one could freely handle power without exerting force in Internal Energy focus, they were already a peerless master.

The internal energy realms called Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Energies Returning to Origin, Reaching the Peak etc. were that process.

It was different from Jeong Yeon-shin’s innate senses. It was like climbing a massive mountain.

‘I’ll think about solutions later.’

A life-and-death battle lies ahead.

He forcibly returned his consciousness. He deliberately pushed his anxiety to one corner of his mind.

Like how he had crumpled the shock of his first kill during the Jeong Family’s extermination.

‘Think about martial arts first. Would there be no recoil if I reached at least the black-rank realm?’

Jeong Yeon-shin’s power control relied greatly on his innate upper dantian.

He operated true qi through senses alone without fundamental changes in internal energy realm.

There had to be reaction to transcending limits.

“Golden threads. A disciple of Desolate Sects lord.”

Deep Autumn Sword Hwangbo Mei-wei muttered while slowly approaching.

The scene spread around her was compensation for the price Jeong Yeon-shin paid.

The sight created by the collapsed encirclement was truly overwhelming.

A blue-ranked warrior had single-handedly shattered the entire force of one branch of the Eight Great Families.

“……”

How did Jeong Yeon-shin appear as he stood silently?

Deep Autumn Sword’s steps were cautious. Though she seemed to have started using footwork techniques, no particular energy wave was felt.

Jeong Yeon-shin just stared blankly.

‘Deep Autumn Sword Hwangbo Mei-wei.’

She was nominally the head of a branch family.

Her appearance of applying rouge to her lips and showing affection to her lord among many concubines had to be viewed separately.

He didn’t think her accumulated martial arts would be shallow.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood here stepping on the enemies’ carelessness. He absolutely could not be in the opposite position.

SWISH.

He gripped the Desolate sword’s hilt and slowly drew it up.

“Deep Autumn Sword. I remember what you said.”

“…Being in Desolate doesn’t make a lowborn’s blood noble. You don’t qualify to exchange words with me.”

“You mentioned arms first. Evil sect trash.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said quietly. His head was ringing.

Though his overworked upper dantian felt burning hot like white heat, he transmitted words to Cheong Myeong and Baek Mi-ryeo through sound transmission.

That he was treating this as a solo mission.

It meant not to interfere. Advancing beyond black to purple martial robes? Perhaps there was no path except through chaos.

There would be battles where he’d hover between life and death. He absolutely needed experience in unleashing martial arts in a disturbed state like now.

Therefore he said:

“Come.”

In that moment, he felt presences crossing the estate’s threshold from afar. It wasn’t time to mind that now.

WHOOSH!

Heavy energy waves rose from her sword before his eyes.

The blade surface was very wide. It was as the blue-ranked senior of Annihilation Team had said.

They said the martial arts inherited by this Pingyin branch was heavy sword. It meant the sword energy was steady and firm, rarely wavering.

Linear energy waves extended toward him along with tremendous sword power.

It seemed like she had circulated true qi several times while walking here. It was a properly prepared strike.

CLANG!

He almost lost his grip when meeting it with the Desolate sword. Even though he tried to deflect it as much as possible.

Simultaneously, Jeong Yeon-shin’s slackened senses sharpened again.

TAK!

He stepped back once.

At the same time, his realm of instinct shone. Twisting his elbow, he led the opponent’s energy wave to his lower back internal oblique muscles.

His knees bent naturally. It was the moment the aftermath of the received sword strike passed through the gluteus maximus of his waist to reach the back of his thighs.

At that point, the opponent’s power became Jeong Yeon-shin’s energy wave.

Powerful energy explosively increased from his leg that had stepped back.

BOOM!

It became a true step without even lifting and stamping his foot. It was instantaneous.

The movement of his entire body’s muscles that had deflected power was instantly reversed.

The power that burned up to his hand gripping the sword hilt released an invisible heavy energy wave.

The air was shaken. It was the moment of returning heavy sword with heavy sword.

Wind gusts rose from fragments of energy force bursting from Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand holding the Desolate sword. He swung the sword upward just like that.

BANG!

“Heup!”

Deep Autumn Sword’s blade, which was just striking down for a second sword draw, flew away.

She was not an opponent who showed any carelessness.

This was Jeong Yeon-shin’s sense and the Lightning Flash’s martial might.

Her face that seemed to have lost its senses for a moment brushed the edge of his vision. The moment her sword flew, she rotated forward.

Jeong Yeon-shin too had immediately prepared a second strike.

CHWAK!

A distinctly cumbersome feeling was felt from the blade.

Blood stained the Desolate sword that returned with dim light. Deep Autumn Sword’s right arm had fallen off.

“Heuk!”

She exhaled empty breath and staggered back.

Jeong Yeon-shin shook his sword once.

In this moment, he was strong. He was clearly looking down on the head of a Hwangbo family branch.

It wasn’t talent limited to learning. Combat ability that sharpened even in moments of exhaustion.

In his senses was strength that couldn’t be estimated by martial arts ranking.

“Next time he might go out to the murim alone.”

Cheong Myeong’s voice tinged with laughter was heard from behind.

Jeong Yeon-shin moved his steps steadily.

Blood dripped from the lowered sword tip, and at its end was Deep Autumn Sword urgently striking the meridian point of her right forearm to stop the bleeding.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.

“You said it.”

He lifted the Desolate sword slightly while stepping forward indifferently. It was the moment of single-handedly destroying one branch of the Hwangbo family.

It seemed excessive as payment for three days of lifespan. At least it wasn’t merit a blue rank could accumulate alone.

Already Desolate Sect Lord’s face came to mind.

“After arms, you mentioned the neck.”

He said.