“What did you just say?”

Dang Gwan’s eyes spilled a threatening light.

Mo Yonggun thought: this man showed more sides than he had expected.

Ever since Tang Sang-a entered the operational team, Dang Gwan’s mood had been close to the worst it could be.

Mo Yonggun did not know whether that was because he was worried about his daughter, or because—though he would never admit it—it was because of Yeon Hojeong, an obvious political enemy.

It could be both.

Mo Yonggun wet his throat with tea and spoke.

“I said the reason Yeon Hojeong took the Clan Lord’s daughter was for the Tang Clan’s hidden-weapon skill.”

BANG!

The table shook under the fist that came down hard.

Dang Gwan spoke in a terrifying voice.

“So the bastard tried to use the main family’s studies to draw Yangcheon’s interest?”

“That’s right.”

“Because until those Dark Path bastards stockpile strength, they’ll need real combat power?”

“That’s right.”

“...!”

“Of course, if I were Yangcheon, I would have approached it the same way.”

FSSSS.

Dang Gwan’s fist punched straight through the table. Ferocious Poisonous Qi erupted from his knuckles and melted the wood.

Mo Yonggun clicked his tongue.

“That was an expensive table.”

Dang Gwan opened his mouth.

“That damned bastard—how dare he look down on the main family’s hidden-weapon skill?”

Hidden weapons were, in some ways, harder to master than barehanded combat, even harder than weapon techniques.

There was no device like a bow that fixed an arrow into a stable line. To wield hidden weapons, the user’s delicate sensation and concentration were absolutely necessary.

In other words, contrary to what people assumed, hidden weapons were difficult to learn. Even within the Tang Clan, at least ten blood relatives died every year while learning hidden-weapon skill.

To use that supreme-level study as nothing more than bait to catch an enemy’s interest?

To Dang Gwan, it was an insult to his pride.

Mo Yonggun gave a bitter smile.

“Do you really think that bastard looked down on the Tang Clan’s hidden-weapon skill?”

“And what if Sang-a falls for his sweet talk and teaches him the Tang Clan’s secret arts?!”

“That won’t happen.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Dang Gwan’s gaze deepened.

“Because you joined hands with him for a moment, did your bad feelings toward him soften that much?”

In that instant, Mo Yonggun’s eyes flared with a blade-sharp light.

FLASH!

It was as if lightning had flashed.

It was a crushing gaze filled with pressure—one he had never shown in front of Dang Gwan even once. Naturally, Dang Gwan had no choice but to be startled inside.

“Clan Lord.”

“.......”

“I don’t want to have this talk every time from here on out, so I’ll make it clear today.”

Mo Yonggun smiled coldly.

“To me, Yeon Hojeong—and Yeon Wi, and Je Gal Munho as well—are all enemies.”

“.......”

“Can I join hands depending on the moment? Of course. If I’m going to kill an enemy, I can’t turn the world I will one day seize into chaos along the way.”

CRACK! CRZZT!

Lightning spat in the air.

Mo Yonggun’s Lightning Qi instantly burned away the Poisonous Qi lingering in the room. Mo Yonggun himself would be fine, but for anyone else it was poison-heavy enough to leave lasting illness.

And at that momentary release of internal force, Dang Gwan was truly shocked.

An absurd amount of power!

The density of his True Qi was beyond imagination.

It was Mo Yonggun’s real strength—the strength he had never properly shown. If the power he released for only an instant was this much, there was no telling how terrifying he would be if he released it with intent.

“Still, testing me with talk about how my will has weakened, or how I forgot my dream—that’s a thoroughly unpleasant thing to do.”

“.......”

Dang Gwan stared at Mo Yonggun in silence.

Mo Yonggun, who had kept that icy expression, suddenly smiled.

“I reached out my hand to you, and you were looking for someone to stand with you. We were tangled by necessity, and we gained a great deal from it, didn’t we? We’re tighter than ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ any political alliance.”

“Mm.”

“Life is too short even to live with a smile. At least between us, let’s make it so there’s no suspicion.”

Dang Gwan, who had been staring at him, nodded.

“I apologize.”

It was a plain apology.

In that one sentence, Dang Gwan’s personality showed through completely. Mo Yonggun burst out laughing.

“In a way, I overreacted as well. I feel embarrassed that I seemed to ruin the mood for no reason.”

“You said what needed to be said. My mind has been complicated lately as well, so I ask that you understand.”

“Of course. Publicly and privately, aren’t we bound to become one?”

He meant the marriage of Mo Yong-woo and Tang Sang-a.

Dang Gwan’s expression eased. When clans became tied by marriage, they had no choice but to walk the same road. Mo Yonggun’s words were entirely correct.

Mo Yonggun continued.

“Back to the main point. Even Yeon Hojeong can’t pressure the Clan Lord’s daughter to hand over the Tang Clan’s secret arts.”

“I need an explanation.”

“There’s no need to cut off an ally’s arm and offer it up just to take a closer look at someone you bumped into while fighting over territory.”

Dang Gwan’s eyes glittered.

“An ally.”

“That’s right. Right now, we shouldn’t be fighting as political enemies—we have to move as a single ally. I already explained the reason before.”

“Even if we become the Orthodox Path’s highest power, Yangcheon is still an annoyance.”

“Exactly.”

Dang Gwan’s eyes shone.

“You think the same?”

Mo Yonggun smiled.

“I think the same. But right now, Yeon Hojeong isn’t inside the Alliance of the Martial World.”

It meant he was advancing his preparations step by step.

Dang Gwan let out a small laugh.

“You should have told me earlier.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, so I hope you won’t take offense.”

“I don’t take offense over that.”

“I know. I’m only saying it just in case.”

“Hoo.”

Dang Gwan let out a sigh.

His tangled mood had calmed quite a bit. But his mind was still complicated.

Mo Yonggun asked.

“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“Speak.”

“This is a question because I’m ignorant about hidden weapons. I know hidden-weapon skill has its own unique characteristics, but do traces of each sect show up even in the fundamentals?”

Dang Gwan nodded.

“Hidden weapons are the same as swordsmanship. You just throw and hit? A sword’s basic principle is the same, too—you thrust and cut.”

“Right.”

“Minute changes in the wrist, finger movement, Eye Technique, the angle of the arm’s swing, the spring of the waist—anywhere at all, a sect’s traces will inevitably appear.”

Mo Yonggun stroked his chin.

“Even when teaching the basic training, those traits seep through....”

“That’s right. It even differs by regional style and by the type of hidden weapon. The world of hidden weapons is that complicated.”

“In the end, for the operational team, the best outcome is this: infiltrate without teaching the enemy anything, and extract only information.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Who knows. That’s the operational team’s burden, and with so many variables, it isn’t easy to predict.”

Mo Yonggun looked out the window.

“And Yeon Hojeong won’t be ignorant of that, either.”

*****

Pae Yul’s eyes flashed.

Strong.

Among the seven experts, the one standing in the center, staring at this place with chilling eyes.

His martial skill was strong enough to startle even Pae Yul, an elder of the Azure Mountain Sect.

WOOOOONG.

He was not deliberately releasing internal force, and he was not draping Killing Intent—yet the air trembled with a SHIVER.

Pae Yul did not know whether it was his innate presence or the martial arts he had learned. Whatever the reason, the rough wave of energy that could be felt even while he stood still was deeply impressive.

So the Dark Path has people like this.

A competitive urge surged up. The man was a powerhouse who did not fall behind Pae Yul at all, even by comparison.

Ga Deoksang asked in an icy voice.

“Who are you?”

His irritation seeped through plainly.

The middle-aged man did not get excited. That rough wave of energy remained, but his personality seemed far calmer than expected.

“I am Blue Tiger.”

Blue Tiger.

It was an unbelievably common name—and yet, astonishingly, a name even Ga Deoksang had never heard.

“I serve under Elder Yang, the strongest man in the Dark Path, the one who will soon seize the entire martial world.”

“...!”

“I came under Elder Yang’s command—under Lord of Ink Dragon Manor.”

Ga Deoksang’s eyes sharpened.

He tells us?

He spoke Yangcheon’s name openly. More than that, he was even giving the name of Yangcheon’s organization without being asked.

He’s less cautious than I expected. But that side won’t be brainless. I shouldn’t interpret this as a lack of caution—I should interpret it as him having no need to be cautious.

Why?

“Are you planning to announce it to the world soon?”

Ga Deoksang glanced to the side.

Yeon Hojeong was already walking out.

“Ink Dragon Manor? That’s a name I’ve never heard.”

“.......”

“You moved pretty carefully, but you’re telling us too easily.”

Blue Tiger spoke.

“You can’t escape two paths.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes glittered.

“Die, or live?”

“That’s right.”

If things soured, he would kill them—so revealing an allied organization’s name did not matter. It was monstrous confidence.

Yeon Hojeong asked Ga Deoksang.

“Eldest senior brother. What do you want to do?”

There had been conflict two days ago, but Ga Deoksang caught the words as if they were perfectly fitted.

“Who knows? We came to see that ‘Elder Yang’ person anyway, didn’t we? I don’t want to die, so I guess I should look for a way to live.”

“As expected.”

“Of course. I don’t want to die.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a small laugh.

He asked Blue Tiger.

“So what do you want?”

“Proof.”

“Proof of what?”

Blue Tiger’s gaze turned icy.

“If you prove you’re truly from the Martial Ancestor Sect, I’ll take you to Ink Dragon Manor.”

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.

“Do you know what kind of sect the Martial Ancestor Sect is?”

“I do.”

“Then you’re saying that bullshit while knowing?”

Thick, heavy Killing Intent swelled up from the bodies of the six experts standing behind Blue Tiger.

From farther away, watching them, Je Gal Ahyeon’s face stiffened.

Strong.

Yeon Hojeong, Pae Yul, Ga Deoksang, Tang Sang-a.

There was not a single person among them who was not an expert. Especially Yeon Hojeong—his martial skill had long since formed a complete style of its own. By skill alone, he was at a level where he could establish a sect without shame.

But Yeon Hojeong was a special case. And Pae Yul was the youngest elder in the Azure Mountain Sect. Ga Deoksang and Tang Sang-a were the best rising stars of their respective sects.

In other words, this was a group gathered from among the Orthodox Path’s most exceptional talents—but those men were not like that.

They can’t be Yangcheon’s strongest underlings. Almost certainly. And yet they’re that strong? That’s not normal.

Tension rose in Je Gal Ahyeon’s face.

It’s a far stronger group than I expected.

Even more impressive was Blue Tiger’s response as their leader.

“Look for that kind of common sense somewhere else.”

“.......”

“If you can’t prove you’re from the Martial Ancestor Sect, then the only path in front of you is death.”

Ga Deoksang glanced at Yeon Hojeong.

He’s coming on strong.

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head again.

“There is one way.”

“Then prove it.”

“Are you sure? It might be a little dangerous.”

“I don’t say things twice.”

“I like that.”

Yeon Hojeong picked up the long spear he had set to the side.

In that instant, Ga Deoksang’s mouth fell open. Not only Pae Yul—Tang Sang-a and Je Gal Ahyeon also stared at him in shock.

That man—don’t tell me...

WHOOOOM.

True Qi flowing from the spear-shaft shoved the air down with heavy force.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes blazed.

“Fine. I’ll prove it.”

THUUUUNK!

Blue Tiger’s eyes shook.

The spearhead was already flying in, aiming for his throat.