North of Chaoyang, Hubei Province.
A secluded house surrounded by cliffs.
A middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and a gentle appearance emerged from a still-burning hot forge.
As soon as he appeared, masked figures hiding like shadows around the forge revealed themselves.
The armed men, who had drawn their weapons, recognized the man and immediately lowered them.
One of the masked men bowed politely to him.
"You've arrived."
The middle-aged man asked,
"What about him?"
"He said he'd be away for a few days."
"Away?"
The middle-aged man frowned.
The Yogeom (Demon Sword) was set to be completed in just five days, so it was strange that he would be absent.
He thought he would be anxiously waiting.
The masked man asked him,
"Have you retrieved the sword?"
"It's here."
The man took out a sword wrapped in a leather scabbard from his back.
There was no need to "retrieve" it—it had been in his possession all along.
The masked man accepted the sword reverently and said with excitement,
"He will be very pleased."
The middle-aged man then asked,
"I have something to report. Do you know where he went?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
"Hmph."
As expected.
No matter how trusted someone was, he never fully trusted anyone.
But that didn't mean it was impossible to find out.
The middle-aged man gave a glance to one of the masked figures.
That person, as if it were nothing, sent him a sound transmission.
> [There's word that the whereabouts of Mansashinui (萬死神醫) have been found.]
[Mansashinui?]
[Yes. It seems he went directly to the Imperial Palace.]
The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed.
The person in charge of tracking Mansashinui in the palace was his own man, Mongju.
If he hadn't reported anything, yet the emperor had discovered Mansashinui's whereabouts, that meant the emperor had another informant unknown to him.
> "He still doesn't fully trust me."
But that didn't matter.
The time was drawing near.
When the moment came, their separation would occur naturally.
---
Lingnan, Guangxi Province
The main base of the Blood Sect.
In the underground training hall exclusively for the sect leader, three martial masters were engaged in fierce combat.
The hall was built from cheongokseok, a stone even harder than reinforced steel and capable of withstanding immense internal energy. But now, it was a mess.
Pa-pa-pa-pak! Boom!
The three unmatched masters clashed without giving an inch.
But among them, one was clearly at a disadvantage: Iljon Dan Wigang.
Though a master who had surpassed the "wall" (a metaphor for transcending normal limits), he had to fight using only his left arm, unfamiliar to him.
Compared to the other two, it was a significant handicap.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Even so, his swordsmanship remained sharp and profound.
Baek Hyehyang, who was attacking him, couldn't help but stick out her tongue in admiration.
"You seem even stronger than before you lost your arm, Iljon."
"Hahaha, not as strong as you, Vice Sect Leader."
Dan Wigang couldn't hide his satisfaction with Baek Hyehyang's now-stabilized martial prowess after her own transcendence.
He had been watching her since childhood.
> "The former sect leader would be proud too."
Becoming this powerful as a woman was no small feat.
And to have surpassed the wall in her twenties—it was truly something to be proud of.
"She is the pride of our sect. Don't you agree, Samjon?"
To that, the massive Samjon Gi Gwigoe Haehakcheon laughed heartily.
"Keuhahaha! With such a brilliant sect leader and vice leader, it won't be long before we conquer the orthodox factions!"
The current strength of the Blood Sect exceeded even its golden age 20 years ago.
Back then, they had two transcendent masters.
Now, there were three—just in this room alone.
And even more astonishing:
Even if these three joined forces, they still couldn't surpass the sect leader alone.
"Enough idle chatter. Both of you, come at me."
Baek Hyehyang taunted the two elders.
They smiled and were about to spring into action—when they heard banging from outside.
Boom boom!
The entrance made of cheongokseok opened, and in came Ijohn Seogalma.
Seeing him, Haehakcheon called out,
"Brother Seo! Here to join us?"
Seogalma frowned.
He wanted to, but this sparring session was already beyond his limits.
Joining in carelessly could get him seriously hurt.
"No, thank you. But more importantly, Vice Sect Leader, a telegram has arrived."
"A telegram?"
Baek Hyehyang, wiping the sweat from her brow, asked curiously.
"Already a reply from Unhui?"
"No. That message should arrive today or tomorrow."
"Then what is this?"
Seogalma hesitated as he handed her the letter.
"I'm not sure how to explain this…"
Haehakcheon interrupted,
"Did the Murim Alliance do something foolish again?"
"No, that's not it."
"Then why are you hesitating?"
"Well… The Sect Leader has been appointed as the new Leader of the Murim Alliance."
'!!!'
The three of them were stunned.
Did they hear that right?
Wasn't their Sect Leader So Unhui heading to the Murim Alliance to capture the emperor?
What kind of absurd news was this?
"What did you say?" Baek Hyehyang asked, frowning.
Seogalma then explained how their Sect Leader became the Murim Alliance Leader.
Upon hearing this, Haehakcheon burst into laughter.
"Kehahahahaha! I was wondering why he'd go through the trouble of infiltrating the Murim Alliance just to catch the emperor—but of course! He had a whole plan behind it!"
Even when he was just a disciple, he was always unpredictable.
Who would've thought he'd pull this off while posing as the Little Sword Immortal (Sogeomseon)?
Even more amusing—
"Our Sect Leader is now the Murim Alliance Leader. Kekeke."
Such a thing was unheard of in martial arts history.
It greatly amused Haehakcheon.
Even the usually stoic Dan Wigang was impressed.
"The Sect Leader is truly bold."
Had he been caught, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Still, they weren't worried. They knew his true strength.
"This is the same as our sect taking over the Murim Alliance. The Sect Leader is now its head. Kekeke! Right, Vice Sect Leader?"
Baek Hyehyang smirked.
"That's the man I chose."
It was a very "her" kind of praise.
Proud, arrogant, and thoroughly pleased.
Seogalma hesitated again.
"But Vice Sect Leader… one more thing."
"What now?"
She leaned in, expecting another fun twist.
"Well… the Sect Leader is now being hailed by the orthodox factions as the Greatest Sword Under Heaven."
"Orthodox factions…?"
Baek Hyehyang's smirk twisted in an instant.
Two days later,
"How amusing this situation has become."
"Hoo…"
At Sodamgeom's chuckling voice, a sigh escaped naturally.
The former leader of the Murim Alliance had stabbed them in the back like this.
This wasn't what I had intended.
"Your reputation has soared to the heavens."
My head throbbed.
I had been thoroughly handed the burden.
No matter how I looked at it, he had deliberately elevated me, as Sogeomseon, to the rank of the best martial artist in the world.
He's someone who would never do anything that might harm the righteous faction.
"Oh right. He made sure that the identity of the righteous faction's Sogeomseon became the best in the world."
That must be it.
That way, the position of the righteous martial world would be even stronger.
He'd passed the burden on deliberately while cleverly calculating everything.
"The Blood Cult must absolutely hate this."
They likely do.
Baek Hyehyang might even question what the hell is going on.
After all, I didn't receive the title of "best under heaven" as a member of the Blood Cult, but as Sogeomseon.
I might have to play the role again someday and reverse this relationship.
"Well, you achieved your goal anyway. From a spy to the Alliance Leader—what a leap."
Just like he said, I was unanimously appointed the leader of the Murim Alliance after Baek Hyangmuk gave up the fight.
There wasn't a separate inauguration ceremony.
Instead, in front of countless righteous martial artists gathered for both the grand competition and the election of the new leader, the Council of Elders officially announced me as the new Alliance Leader.
It was utter chaos at the time.
They said it was the birth of the youngest leader in Murim Alliance history.
I still can't forget the sight of tens of thousands of martial artists in the audience cheering and chanting my name.
It would have been even better if they had called me Jin Unhui, not So Unhui.
"You'll reveal everything someday, won't you?"
Not right now, but that time will surely come.
Anyway, there's something more urgent to handle first.
Originally, I planned to capture all of Geumsangje's spies who had infiltrated the Murim Alliance and use them to leak information that would draw him in.
But something more pressing happened.
The whereabouts of Mansashinui—the "God of All Medicine"—who had disappeared, were finally revealed.
The one who brought this news was Song Jwabaek.
> "The main sect sent word. They've found Mansashinui's location."
According to him, besides informing me, the main sect had already dispatched someone to the imperial palace.
But there was a twist.
I had intended to entrust this matter to Baek Hyehyang and the sect, but Mansashinui's location wasn't uncovered by spies within the palace. It became known because he publicly appeared.
> "Either Geumsangje or the Thunder General will act personally."
Seol Baek predicted that one of the two would make a move.
And I thought so too.
All our plans with Musang Castle, the Blood Cult, and the Murim Alliance had failed, and now that I had exposed Geumsangje's identity, he would stop at nothing to get his hands on Mansashinui.
"Getting to him first is key."
Exactly.
If not, I won't be able to restore Baek Ryeonhwa or Seobok to their original states.
I had hoped to revive the frozen Seobok and find out what that bastard had done, but it yielded no results.
Even after crushing his head in desperation to try reviving him, nothing worked.
In the end, I needed Mansashinui's help.
"It's fortunate that we have Seol Baek."
Yeah.
Seol Baek is continuously keeping Seobok's brain frozen with cold energy to prevent it from thawing.
But he can't keep doing that nonstop.
Securing Mansashinui first is the priority.
I looked at the grand walls of the imperial palace before me.
Torches lit every direction, and the sight was far more magnificent than the Murim Alliance or even Musang Castle.
"It's been a while."
In my previous life, I had once entered this palace as part of a Murim Alliance delegation to meet the Emperor.
Though I never actually met him and had to leave after staying in the outer palace briefly, the memory was vivid enough to allow me to reach the capital using martial movement techniques.
Since Mansashinui was reportedly treating the Emperor as his royal physician, he would likely be in the Emperor's palace.
"First, I'll enter the outer palace, disguise myself as a guard or someone else…."
Then, I'll infiltrate the main palace, secure Mansashinui, and escape using martial movement.
Thanks to that technique, success seemed likely.
"But be careful. Even among the Blood Cult's spies, no one has successfully infiltrated from the outer palace into the inner palace, remember?"
That's still a mystery.
Perhaps it has something to do with the rumored hidden power of the imperial palace.
Anyway, I need to go in now.
> Wuuuung!
First, to the outer palace reception room...
> Paaang!
"Urgh!"
At that moment, my body, which had folded space to move, was bounced out.
I had no idea what happened.
I clearly used the memory of that space to fold reality, but some unknown force repelled me.
"What happened?"
I don't know either.
I need to try again.
Maybe that specific room didn't exist in the past, so I'll aim for another spot.
> Wuuuung! Paaang!
"Ugh!"
Once again, I folded space—and once again, I was thrown back.
Some unknown force was rejecting me, disrupting the space-folding itself.
I tried two more times, but the result was the same.
"I guess I have no choice."
I didn't know why, but it seemed the only way now was to infiltrate directly, disguising myself multiple times.
First, I'd need to scale the palace wall and enter the outer palace.
Just as I was about to climb—
"Hmm?"
I saw a procession of torches approaching the palace gate.
At its center was a luxurious carriage, and in front were royal guards holding the imperial flag and another flag.
It bore a single character: "Gyeong" (景).
"Hooh."
---
Inside the carriage.
A beautiful woman dressed in military attire worn by rank-4 defense officers, alongside Prince Gyeong wearing the ceremonial garb of an imperial prince.
She had once been a courtesan known as Yeonsaeng.
Originally trained as an undercover bodyguard for the prince, she had somehow become a military officer after waking from sleep.
Biting her lip anxiously, Yeonsaeng said,
"I'm uneasy, Your Highness…"
"Do not be afraid."
"But Your Highness, I…"
"It's fine. The other princes, including Prince Yeong, are only afraid of your rumors, not your actual martial skill."
Yeonsaeng had never even stepped inside the imperial palace before.
She feared that something might go wrong if she entered under the identity of a royal bodyguard.
"Your Highness, if I get exposed, I might be charged with insulting the royal family, and you too could be—"
"Haah. I said it's fine. Inside the palace, no one would—"
Right at that moment—
> Wuuuung!
The space inside the carriage distorted as someone appeared.
"Wha—?!"
"Your Highness!"
At the sight of a woman wearing green combat robes, Yeonsaeng instinctively reached for her sword—then froze in shock.
'!?'
This woman looked exactly like her.
"You… you are…"
> Tatatat!
Before she could finish speaking, her pressure points were struck, and she collapsed unconscious.
Yet Prince Gyeong didn't react in alarm—instead, his face lit up with joy.
"Yeonsaeng!"
"It's been a while, Your Highness."