Episode 75

By the time I had swiftly taken care of the two peak-level warriors at the entrance, I turned my gaze and found Hwa Yeongbin—the Red Crane Divine Sword who had just slain the Ma-jang Sword—looking directly at me.

From what I gathered, he had also been investigating the kidnappings of women after hearing about them. Unable to find any leads, he had come seeking help from the Gwak Sword Sect, and by chance, had witnessed us.

We decided to postpone further discussion and head back to the Gwak Sword Sect first. I was worried about Bi Sa-yeong and Jeong An So-jeo’s safety.

Returning to the main gate of the Gwak Sword Sect, we were relieved to see three people emerging unharmed: Bi Sa-yeong, Jeong An So-jeo, and someone I hadn’t met before.

“Brother Hwa!” Jeong An So-jeo ran toward Hwa Yeongbin with a radiant smile.

Watching her, I noticed Bi Sa-yeong’s expression was tinged with bitterness.

Despite her charging forward as if to throw herself into his arms, Hwa Yeongbin simply smiled gently and said, “Still as bright as ever, Jeong An So-jeo. I’m glad you’re safe and sound.”

Only then did I finally understand the stories the two So-jeos had told me—the tales of a man who had served the A-mi Sect for over ten years, all the while mourning a lost lover. It sounded almost unreal.

For some reason, his handsome face, glowing as if lit from within, carried a profound sadness.

Just by looking at him, I could tell.

“He probably isn’t happy.”

Suddenly, I recalled a similar expression I’d seen before—not exactly the same, but close enough.

“The look in the leader’s eyes back in my previous life was just like that.”

After all my friends—Bi Sa-yeong, Bae Jong-gwan—had died, and I, too, had been lost to the Poisonous Snake Clan, the leader of Seolpung had worn that same hollow gaze.

He acted as usual, joked, smiled, but somewhere in his eyes lingered an unfillable emptiness.

Back then, I thought it was just grief over lost comrades and the weight of responsibility. But maybe the leader had lost something else, something impossible to forget.

And perhaps…

While I was lost in thought, the man standing beside Bi Sa-yeong smiled and spoke to me.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Geon of Cheongseong.”

Snapping back to attention, I replied, “Ah, pleased to meet you. I’m Sun Woo-jin of the Biryong Corps.”

He was a strikingly beautiful young man—so delicate he could almost be mistaken for a woman. Small in stature, with a bright smile, and most notably, his eyes were always closed.

He smiled again and said, “I’m blind. Please understand.”

He said it so casually that I felt embarrassed.

“Oh, not at all. If my gaze seemed rude, I apologize.”

“Not rude at all. I just find that people get curious if I don’t mention it upfront.”

As we talked, I realized one thing clearly.

He didn’t seem blind at all.

He moved as if he could see everything ahead of him—or perhaps even more than that.

One thing was certain.

“He’s a master. The leader of Seolpung? Maybe even beyond that.”

At that moment, Hwa Yeongbin spoke up.

“He’s my disciple. His martial arts are strong, but this is his first time out in the martial world. I hope you’ll become good friends.”

Jeong An So-jeo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Brother Hwa’s disciple?! The fifth disciple of the legendary Cheonggwang Jin-in, about whom so many rumors circulate?!”

Jeong An So-jeo also gasped.

“So that’s why he wields the Cheongun Jeokha Sword…!”

But that only made Jeong An So-jeo and me even more astonished.

“What?! The Cheongun Jeokha Sword?!”

Looking at him with wide eyes, he just smiled sheepishly.

It must be true.

Jeong An So-jeo muttered in disbelief.

“Incredible…”

There was a famous saying about the Cheongseong Sect in the martial world:

“If one can unite Cheongun and Jeokha, one can challenge the Divine Sword.”

It referred, of course, to the Cheongun Jeokha Sword.

Throughout the long history of the Cheongseong Sect, only a handful of warriors had mastered it—no more than ten.

And all of them were regarded as absolute powers in the martial world.

The most notable example was the current eccentric Cheonggwang Jin-in.

But even he was said to have only mastered the Cheongun Jeokha Sword after his forties…

And yet this young man, who looked barely in his early twenties, had already achieved it?

Could he be the one to inherit the divine title that had been lost since the era of the Martial God, Demon God, Thunder God, and Sword God a hundred years ago?

But I had no memory of hearing about such a person in my past life.

I looked again at his innocent, pretty face.

He looked embarrassed and said, “I haven’t fully united Cheongun and Jeokha yet. It’s just imitation. That’s why my master told me to rest for a year and then enter seclusion again.”

Seclusion.

Could that be why I never heard of him in my previous life?

I asked him suddenly.

“So, you’ll be in seclusion training until you complete the Cheongun Jeokha Sword?”

He shook his head awkwardly.

“My master said not to come out until I’ve caught a glimpse of the Divine Sword.”

“Ah, yes. The Divine Sword.”

My goodness.

His goal really was to become the Sword God.

I had nothing more to say.

---

After wiping out all the blood cultists of the Gwak Sword Sect and rescuing the women, we sent them back home. By then, dawn was breaking.

We had already informed the authorities and nearby sects that the Gwak Sword Sect was behind the kidnappings and had long been overrun by blood cultists, so we didn’t have to worry about the aftermath.

We told Hwa Yeongbin about the Jeonghyeop Faction and Jeong In So-jeo, who was still held captive.

He groaned, “The Jeonghyeop Faction was a forward base for the blood cult? That bastard Gu Yu-sang of Baekokjirong was a blood cultist?”

He seemed to know the man and looked deeply shocked.

But he quickly composed himself and said with a deadly gleam in his eyes, “To think the blood cult scum I’ve wanted to tear apart were right beside me. I can’t believe it.”

Then he turned to his disciple Lee Geon.

“You must return to Cheongseong immediately and inform the master. Ask him to gather forces to wipe out the Jeonghyeop Faction. The master will probably find it bothersome, so you can ask Cheongwon 400 to handle it.”

Lee Geon asked, “And what about you, brother?”

“I’ll go rescue Jeong In So-jeo first. Time is tight.”

I exchanged a satisfied glance with Bi Sa-yeong.

I couldn’t have been more impressed by his decisions—quick and wise, just hearing them made me feel reassured.

But then his next words changed our expressions completely.

He said, “The Jeonghyeop Faction is currently focusing all their efforts on attacking the San Sword Sect. Tell them the sooner we act, the easier it will be.”

“What?”

We were stunned and asked, “The Jeonghyeop Faction attacked the San Sword Sect?”

He nodded and explained, “About a thousand of their men, who had gathered to face the San Sword Sect, started moving stealthily toward the San Sword Sect last night. Probably planning a dawn strike. I learned this while gathering information at the Ao Sect.”

Bi Sa-yeong and I locked eyes.

Swallowing hard.

His gaze trembled like a storm-tossed sea.

I’m sure mine did too.

---

“Exterminate them all! Wipe out the scum of the heretical sect!”

Do Gangpae-do Gyeong Gadeung, a renowned peak master of the Jeonghyeop Faction, led the charge, scaling the San Sword Sect’s walls.

He swung his great sword immediately.

Thwack!

“Gyaaaah!”

“An ambush! Aaaah!”

It took him only two strikes to dispatch the guards.

Behind him, a thousand Jeonghyeop warriors surged over the walls like a tidal wave.

“Leave no one alive! Kill every heretic to honor the soul of the great hero Hwang Jang-gon!”

He had been close friends with Hwang Jang-gon, the Iron Chain Hero who died in the last battle, and he intended to leave no one alive in the San Sword Sect.

The outer defenses of the San Sword Sect were breached as easily as paper pierced by a needle.

---

Bi Sa-yeong asked me, “Shouldn’t we go back?”

Faces of our comrades flashed through my mind, and my heart and head burned with heat.

I couldn’t let any of them die.

There was no need to say who was more important—Jeong In So-jeo of the A-mi Sect or any of them.

But after a moment’s thought, I took a deep breath and shook my head.

“It’s already too late to go now. Besides…”

Two faces appeared in my mind.

The two people I trusted most in the world.

I told Bi Sa-yeong, who still looked uneasy, “The San Sword Sect has the leader and Cheong-yeon So-jeo. Even in the worst case, they’ll make sure nothing happens to our comrades.”

Bi Sa-yeong’s expression shifted several times, but in the end, he forced a smile and said, “True. If those two are there, they might have already wiped out the Jeonghyeop scum. Alright, let’s handle this first. That’s the wise move.”

I nodded with a forced smile.

“Yes, that’s our role.”

If we could rescue Jeong In So-jeo, we could probably bring the A-mi Sect into this.

And with the combined strength of the Cheongseong and A-mi Sects, no matter how large the Jeonghyeop Faction’s forces were, they’d be no more than a candle flickering in the wind.

Having joined forces with Hwayoungbin of Jeokhasingeom, we quickly set off toward Gwaneumjang, where Jeongin Sojeo had been captured.

---

Mancheonggak of the Martial Arts Alliance.

At the headquarters of the Alliance’s intelligence agency and the Amyeong Corps, Jegal Jigang was reading a newly arrived report with a grave expression.

“So, Georyeokma Jeo Ungwon is hiding in Jeonghyeopbang, Sichuan Province, and that Jeonghyeopbang is a forward base of the Blood Sect… Are we certain this is true?”

The Mancheonggak chief standing before Jegal Jigang bowed his head and replied cautiously.

“We haven’t confirmed it yet. But the report came with a Blood Sect secret manual.”

Jegal Jigang took the torn manual handed to him and examined it.

It was half of a Blood Sect secret manual, torn in two, sent through Sakmuhun by Sunwoo Jin.

Previously, Sakmuhun had used the Amyeong Corps’ Paljo’s secret dispatch to report to the Martial Arts Alliance.

Convinced that the report was very likely true, Jegal Jigang ground his teeth in anger.

“Blood Demon… How dare he…!”

The Mancheonggak chief asked carefully, “Shall we dispatch the Military Unit to Jeonghyeopbang?”

Jegal Jigang paused, stroking his chin in thought, then shook his head.

“No. First, we must verify the truth. Send a secret dispatch to the sects in Sichuan. Confirm whether Jeonghyeopbang is truly a Blood Sect forward base, and if so, wipe it out completely.”

“Yes, understood!”

He then gave a sharp-eyed additional order.

“Also, send the same message to the Sword Saint at the front lines. Add that this could escalate into a full-scale Blood War.”

The Mancheonggak chief’s face hardened.

“A Blood War… you say?”

“If this is true, it would justify such a war. But don’t worry too much. We’ll resolve this before it comes to that.”

“Yes, understood, Commander!”

After finishing, Jegal Jigang glanced again at the torn Blood Sect manual and asked, “Why was this manual torn when it arrived?”

“I’m not sure…”

Jegal Jigang fell into thought again, then asked, “The report came from the Amyeong Corps’ Paljo, right? The same Paljo who recently reported Georyeokma’s northward movement?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Commander.”

“If I recall correctly, we never ordered the Amyeong Corps to track Georyeokma. Yet they not only pursued him but also confirmed ties with Jeonghyeopbang?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Jegal Jigang fixed the Mancheonggak chief with a sharp gaze.

“This is strange. Summon them to the Alliance immediately. Bring all information and reports they’ve submitted to my office.”

“Yes, understood!”

Jegal Jigang’s eyes sharpened as he stared toward the distant front lines.

He had long known that the Blood Demon was no one to honor a non-aggression pact quietly.

He had suspected that a puppet force was being established north of the front.

But he had never imagined that puppet would be as large as a major sect like Jeonghyeopbang.

And to think they were caught kidnapping women from the old Amipa sect—this was far beyond any line.

Back in his office, he muttered quietly, “So they’re not satisfied with just Yunnan Province, huh? Heh heh heh… This works out well. This is the perfect chance to weaken the Blood Demon’s power and settle old scores.”

Though he had told the Mancheonggak chief this could lead to a full-scale Blood War, Jegal Jigang doubted it would come to that.

Because he would never allow it to happen.

Instead, he smiled faintly.

By wiping out Jeonghyeopbang, he could destroy the Blood Demon’s carefully prepared forward base—and leave him with a heavy debt to repay.

And at the same time, resolve the Sword Saint’s matter.

His mind was already turning over how to turn this situation to his advantage.

After a moment’s thought, he finally picked up his brush and began drafting a letter to the Blood Demon himself.