Episode 44

On the day we resolved Cheong-yeon Sojeo’s matter, the Sword Saint elder told us he would stay here with us for a while.

He explained that since the people at the main house already believed he had entered seclusion before the Blood Purification Council, showing himself too soon might only arouse Je-gal Ji-gang’s suspicion.

Of course, to me, it just sounded like a doting father’s excuse to stay close to his daughter.

“You don’t understand. I’ve yet to see a girl surpass Cheong-yeon in wisdom, beauty, or martial talent. Seo-yul is quite skilled, but compared to Cheong-yeon, she’s like a firefly beside a full moon.”

This was the Sword Saint elder suddenly interjecting when the conversation turned to Je-gal Ji-gang’s daughter, Je-gal Seo-yul of the Heavenly Sword Peak.

Everyone agreed Cheong-yeon’s wisdom was exceptional, but to claim she outshone Seo-yul in beauty or martial arts was a stretch.

“Ah, I see,” we replied reluctantly, forcing polite smiles.

The elder thumped his chest, clearly frustrated.

“You don’t believe me, do you? Cheong-yeon hasn’t reached her peak because she’s never been that interested in martial arts. She’s always been curious about so many things that since her teens, she hasn’t trained seriously.”

But from what we’d seen on the front lines, she trained diligently and earnestly, so his words didn’t quite add up.

“Ah, yes.”

“Not only that, though she hides it behind her bangs, Cheong-yeon’s beauty is truly—”

“Father!”

Suddenly, Cheong-yeon Sojeo appeared out of nowhere, shouting sharply, and the elder stopped mid-sentence, startled.

“Ah, Cheong-yeon, my dear, I was just—”

She grabbed his arm and dragged him away, saying, “My father is wonderful, but sometimes his pride in his daughter goes a bit overboard. Please understand.”

A doting Sword Saint elder—somehow, it shattered the image I had of him.

I’d thought he was a legendary figure, but meeting him felt more like meeting the friendly neighbor next door.

Bi Sa-yeong muttered quietly, “I’m so… jealous.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

None of us had really known a father’s love growing up—me, who never felt it; Bi Sa-yeong, who lost a mentor who was like a parent; Bae Jong-gwan, who lived with only his grandfather after his father died; and Seol Poong, the chief of the Seol clan, who lived alone in the mountains with his grandfather.

We were all starved for that kind of affection.

So, seeing a father and daughter openly cherish each other was something we deeply envied.

But the Sword Saint elder wasn’t just a doting father.

He was thrilled to meet talented young warriors and took the time to guide each of us personally.

At those moments, he truly lived up to his title.

If his doting side was unexpected, his mastery when wielding a sword was beyond imagination.

“Haah!”

Seol Poong, the chief, unleashed his Beast Fist and charged like a tiger, aiming a powerful strike.

Whoosh!

But he had to halt abruptly at the sword the elder held right before his arm.

“!”

And in that instant, the sword’s tip was already at Seol Poong’s chin.

“Ugh!”

The Sword Saint elder smiled gently.

“You’ve died for the tenth time already.”

It all happened in less than half a breath.

Even the formidable Seol Poong looked like a child before the elder.

“Thank you, Elder.”

After the sparring, Seol Poong bowed respectfully.

“You’re ready to advance to the next level. The only barrier is not your body, but your mind. I don’t know your circumstances, but you should reflect inwardly. You’ll find the key. Also, your martial arts lean too much toward movement. That’s not bad, but movement without stillness can become scattered. If you grasp the balance of stillness within movement, not only will you overcome this wall, but the next one as well.”

Seol Poong’s internal energy was at a full eighty years; the next stage was ninety, and beyond that, the ultimate peak at a hundred years.

Hearing such words so casually left us stunned.

The teachings from the Sword Saint, an absolute master, were worth more than years of training.

Lost in thought, Seol Poong suddenly snapped back and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you! Truly, thank you, Elder!”

He wasn’t the only one.

The Sword Saint shared such guidance with all of us.

To me, he said:

“You’re just one step away from reaching the pinnacle. That step is the ‘Strong Energy’.”

That part I already knew.

“But have you ever wondered what ‘Strong Energy’ really is?”

“Sir? Isn’t it condensed, solidified energy?”

“Yes, many think that because of the name. So they try to compress their energy tightly. But I don’t see it that way. Energy is more like water than ice, isn’t it? It flows freely and can take any shape. Now, how would you cut something with water? Would compressing it make it solid?”

It sounded like a riddle.

But instinctively, I knew this was the most important question to elevate my level.

Cutting with water—not ice, but water.

How could that be?

As I pondered, sinking inward, the elder smiled softly and moved on to the next person.

The Sword Saint’s teachings weren’t limited to our group.

“If there are young warriors at the pinnacle in other squads, bring them to me. I’d like to help if I can. Many can train first-rate martial artists, but few can guide those at the absolute peak.”

Since this could raise the entire Thirteenth Generation’s strength, we had no reason to refuse.

The chief fetched Cheong Poong Geom-ryong Han Gyo-seong from the First Squad and Jeom Chang Geom-ryong Sa Gun-il from ours, and I brought Tang Ga Geom-bong Tang Yeo-eun from the Third.

They all promised to keep the secret and received the Sword Saint’s instruction.

It was no surprise that everyone was amazed and moved.

Only the Fourth Squad’s chief, Ma Yoo-gyeom, was an exception.

I was the one who went to talk to him.

Among our members, Ma Yoo-gyeom seemed to like me best, which was oddly true.

It felt strange that he liked me.

But when I went to find him, I couldn’t even talk to him.

He was passed out drunk on the training ground, not even in his quarters.

“Already drunk this early?”

I asked the squad member who showed me, bewildered.

He answered with a dark expression.

“I don’t know why, but he’s been like this since yesterday. When asked, he just gets angry. If there was a vice-chief, I’d try talking to him, but the vice-chief’s suddenly disappeared too…”

His words hit me like a bucket of cold water.

What? Ma Yoo-gyeom’s vice-chief was missing?

“Vice-chief Mae Yeo-gyeong?! Since when?”

“Since last night. Actually, the vice-chief’s been looking really troubled lately. Maybe she just wanted some time alone…”

“I understand!”

I cut him off and ran immediately.

‘Mae Yeo-gyeong is missing? The same Mae Yeo-gyeong who was attacked by the Dark Blood Phantom at this time? Damn it, I’ve been too distracted with Cheong-yeon Sojeo’s matter to pay attention to these two!’

Just as I was about to rush off, I stopped and asked again.

“When did Ma Yoo-gyeom start acting like this?”

“The chief? He’s been drinking like this since yesterday, but honestly, he’s been off since the Blood Purification Council.”

Since the Council…

If that’s true, Ma Yoo-gyeom’s downfall probably wasn’t because of Mae Yeo-gyeong.

Suddenly, Cheong-yeon Sojeo’s words flashed through my mind—that the Blood Phantom might have sent some kind of message.

But I still couldn’t imagine what.

What could the Blood Phantom have told him to break someone as strong as Ma Yoo-gyeom?

Could it be the former chief Jeon Ga-jang and the secret faction of Jeom Chang?

But they couldn’t have explained everything in such a short time.

And Ma Yoo-gyeom wouldn’t be shaken by just that.

Or maybe it was about his father, former chief Ma Won-il? Could he still be alive? And Ma Yoo-gyeom had become a puppet of the Blood Sect?

Thinking back to the Sunwoo family’s members who suffered at the hands of the Black Blood Phantom Du-dang, that was possible.

The Phantom’s twisted hobby was turning warriors into puppets to manipulate those connected to them.

But rumors said Ma Won-il had been buried alive with other warriors in the Mu-hwang Chong Blood Temple, and was already dead when the Jeom Chang faction fell.

So the idea of digging him up and turning him into a puppet seemed unlikely.

Besides, would that really be enough to break Ma Yoo-gyeom like this?

Lost in these chaotic thoughts as I ran back to the squad, I shook my head hard to clear them.

The most important thing now was to find Mae Yeo-gyeong Sojeo.

I hoped we could find her before something bad happened, but if she’d been missing since yesterday, the chances didn’t look good.

Back with the squad, I shouted out to everyone.

“Deputy Leader Mae Yeokyung of Squad Four has been missing since yesterday! But I have a really bad feeling about this!”

Our team had been through so much together that they trusted my instincts without question.

Without hesitation, everyone joined the search. With the help of Sak Muheun, who was skilled in tracking techniques, we managed to find her in less than a day.

She was drained of blood, her body shriveled like a withered reed.

---

In the early dawn of the same day Sun Woojin found Mae Yeokyung, Do Heeyoung, a female member of Squad Five, woke up with a dazed, sleepwalking expression and stepped outside.

The women sharing her room noticed her movement but just sighed and didn’t pay much attention.

She’d been plagued by nightmares she couldn’t remember, waking up startled or restless, often getting up and wandering outside in the middle of the night over the past few days.

But no one realized she had gone outside barefoot this time.

Without hesitation, Do Heeyoung walked out and began venturing deeper into the jungle.

Her eyes were still glazed over, as if she hadn’t fully come to her senses, and she muttered incessantly.

“West… I have to go west.”

After walking for quite some time, far beyond the Thirteen Generations’ territory, she suddenly snapped to attention upon hearing unfamiliar voices.

“Ha ha ha! As expected, Elder Dudang’s words were spot on, brother!”

“Indeed! He said we just had to wait until today. The Black Blood Sorcerer’s suggestion is truly remarkable!”

Startled, she looked toward the voices and saw the first and second brothers of the Twin Seven Fiends—now twisted into monsters—grinning at her.

“Ah…! Ugh!”

Though she was only a second-tier martial artist, she was quickly overpowered by the two top masters.

With her blood channels sealed, she couldn’t move a muscle and could only watch them with tears streaming down her face.

The second brother, Gu Yojil, looked at her greedily and said, “How about we savor this one first, brother?”

The eldest, Jimak, scolded him sharply.

“Are you so blinded by petty gains that you’d let go of the gold? The moment they realize this woman is missing, everything we’ve worked for will be ruined!”

“B-But just for a moment… I understand, brother. I was shortsighted.”

Gu Yojil hung his head in defeat, and Jimak’s tone softened slightly.

“We can catch a woman like this anytime. But Dang Yeoeun—that’s the bait we need. And you know well that Elder Dudang only gave us two blood talismans. We can’t afford to waste even one.”

“Yes, brother.”

The two had sworn vengeance after losing five brothers trying to capture Dang Yeoeun.

To them, the ultimate revenge was to capture her.

They believed it was the best way to satisfy their desires and avenge their fallen brothers simultaneously.

So they had poured all their wealth into the Black Blood Sorcerer Dudang, begging him to help them catch Dang Yeoeun.

As a result, Dudang accompanied them to the Blood Pact meeting as a blood demon’s attendant and cast a suggestion spell on the weakest-looking member of the Thirteen Generations—Do Heeyoung.

He also handed over two blood talismans to the fiends.

After finishing his explanation, Jimak pulled a small vial from his robe.

His eyes gleamed with greed as he looked at it.

“Heh heh heh, finally, I get to use this.”

Carefully opening the vial, he forced Do Heeyoung’s mouth open and poured the contents inside.

Unable to move even a finger, Do Heeyoung shuddered at the soft, slimy sensation sliding down her throat.

Moments later, she lost consciousness.

What they had given her was the blood talisman—the pinnacle of blood control magic.

Other control spells could be broken with strong and pure internal energy, but once the blood talisman entered the body, the victim was utterly bound until it was removed.

And the righteous factions hadn’t even discovered the existence of the blood talisman yet.

Even if they had, they wouldn’t be able to remove it.

After imprinting his control over her through the talisman, Jimak released her blood channels and asked, “Which squad do you belong to?”

She answered in a daze, “I’m with Squad Five.”

Jimak and Gu Yojil exchanged disappointed looks.

She wasn’t from Squad Three, where Dang Yeoeun was.

They hurriedly asked, “Then… were you close to Dang Yeoeun at all?”

She shook her head.

“No. As far as I know, Squad Three’s leader Dang Yeoeun doesn’t have close friends. The only person she talks to regularly is Deputy Leader Myung Sahyeon of Squad Three.”

Jimak and Gu Yojil exchanged glances.

“Then it must be him, brother.”

“Yeah. It’s a shame to waste such a precious blood talisman on a man, but it can’t be helped.”

They began issuing orders to Do Heeyoung.

If her possession was to go unnoticed, they had to act quickly.