The closer Baek Sowol got to Mount Song, the more the miserable situation there came into her eyes.

That place was a battlefield.

Numerous martial artists were swinging their weapons at each other.

As she got closer, the battlefield became more clearly visible.

Beggars and monks, and martial artists who looked like an army in the same armor were confronting each other.

‘Did the military come out from the government?’

Baek Sowol cursed her senior brother inwardly for sending her here without telling her about this situation.

‘What am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to take a side? Then which side should I take?’

Baek Sowol couldn't make up her mind until she arrived at Mount Song.

But.

‘Given my senior brother's personality, he wouldn't have sent me on a meaningless errand.’

Recalling Zhuge Hyun's personality, she climbed the mountain.

‘His personality is dirty, but his head is good.’

Baek Sowol trembled as she recalled Zhuge Hyun's evil deeds when they were together.

Although she had also become stronger, she didn't think she could do anything about it.

‘Sigh, I'll just follow his orders for now and never run into him again.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

And so, as Baek Sowol was climbing the mountain, a very familiar back came into her eyes.

A back she had never forgotten.

A being she had hated even in her dreams.

"Namgung Jehyun!!"

Baek Sowol's internal energy ran wild like a beast, and her figure shot towards that back.

The White Iron Sword was drawn from Baek Sowol's hand and swung.

Kaang!!

The opponent blocked such a blow from Baek Sowol without even looking back.

As soon as her attack was blocked, Baek Sowol quickly retreated.

"Is it Sowol?"

The opponent slowly turned around and faced Baek Sowol.

"You've grown a lot."

An appearance that was much younger, unlike her previous memory.

Baek Sowol's eyes, who had judged the opponent only by his back, widened.

"Who?"

"It seems you can't recognize me because my appearance has changed."

At those words, Baek Sowol gritted her teeth.

Although he had clearly become younger, it was Namgung Jehyun.

It was that Namgung Jehyun who had been involved in the annihilation of the Baek family clan.

‘It's still just a suspicion, but...’

Baek Sowol glared at the Namgung Jehyun in front of her and struggled to open her mouth.

"Were you involved in the annihilation of the Baek family clan?"

"I was. I led it."

Namgung Jehyun answered Baek Sowol's question without a single bit of hesitation.

At that proud appearance without a single bit of hesitation, sparks flew from Baek Sowol's eyes.

"My father trusted you!!"

"A being that is only good will eventually be eaten."

"You damn bastard!!"

Baek Sowol rushed at Namgung Jehyun again.

As she took a step, a sense of pressure, as if space itself were being crushed, fell upon Namgung Jehyun.

An arrogant and hegemonic movement technique that would put the world under her feet.

The Emperor's Step.

Although it was for a moment, it momentarily stopped even the movement of Namgung Jehyun, who exuded the aura of a king.

Baek Sowol did not miss that moment.

The sword stretched out straight towards Namgung Jehyun's neck.

"A hegemonic martial art."

Namgung Jehyun, looking at the sword aimed at his neck, muttered nonchalantly and stretched out his hand.

A hand that stretched out without any technique or anything, it grabbed the blade of the sword.

"But, to dare to block the path of a king... it is too light."

Then he swung it and threw Baek Sowol, who was holding the sword, away at once.

"Keuk!!"

Baek Sowol was slammed into the wall of Shaolin.

Although she had protected her body with her internal energy for a moment, the impact of the shock was so strong that her breathing stopped for a moment.

Wiping the fresh blood flowing from her mouth, Baek Sowol immediately readjusted her posture.

From the side of such a Baek Sowol.

"Sowol-ah?"

A familiar voice was heard.

Baek Sowol turned her head and immediately recognized the opponent who had spoken.

"Brother Cheon... Namgung Cheon!!"

Baek Sowol, who had almost used the title 'older brother' like in the past, immediately corrected her title and glared at Zhang Sanfeng.

Her suspicion was naturally also directed at him, the son of the former Namgung Jehyun.

Although Zhang Sanfeng showed a pleased expression for a moment, he bowed his head at Baek Sowol's hostile appearance.

"Sowol-ah."

"Don't call me familiarly while using the dirty Namgung surname!"

"...It seems no excuse will reach you... but please know, I really didn't know."

At Zhang Sanfeng's gloomy appearance, Baek Sowol's heart softened slightly.

Perhaps thanks to that, her head cooled slightly, and she was able to look at the current situation a little more calmly.

‘Why are Namgung Jehyun and Brother Cheon being hostile to each other? The statement that he didn't know also seems to be sincere.’

Although the situation was visible to her eyes.

But emotions like a long-held grudge did not let her easily admit it.

Gritting her teeth so hard that blood flowed from her mouth, Baek Sowol struggled to ask Zhang Sanfeng.

"...What is the situation?"

"Father... no, that person has completely become a monster. As someone who had a father-son relationship in the past, I am just trying to stop him."

Although Zhang Sanfeng's eyes were not crying, a deep sadness could be seen.

Baek Sowol quickly scanned such a Zhang Sanfeng's condition.

Although there were no major visible injuries, his two arms were hanging limp, as if they could not move properly.

No matter how she looked, it did not seem he was falsely being hostile to Namgung Jehyun.

Gritting her teeth at the unsuppressible heat, Baek Sowol's eyes widened.

Then she struggled to turn her head and glared at Namgung Jehyun.

"I will listen to the story slowly later. For now, let's focus on the present."

"I understand... and thank you."

Zhang Sanfeng smiled bitterly and forcibly raised his unmoving arms, taking a ready stance.

Next to him, Baek Sowol was also already in a ready stance, looking at Namgung Jehyun.

Namgung Jehyun quietly looked at the two with his arms crossed.

"Hah, to think Shaolin would become like this."

Hyunjun Hyun watched the disaster happening in Shaolin with a miserable gaze.

Thanks to that, Hyunjun Hyun's gaze, who had been climbing the mountain, lagging behind the party, turned to one side.

A long line of blood drawn on the floor.

At its end, Shinseung was leaning against a tree, struggling to catch his breath.

"Shinseung, you!"

As Hyunjun Hyun approached such a Shinseung, Shinseung raised his head and smiled with difficulty.

"Benefactor Hyun, what brings you here?"

"You man! Didn't I come because I heard Shaolin was in danger!"

In fact, he had gotten up from his sickbed and followed Baek Sowol, and had thus reached Mount Song, but the fact that he had arrived was important to him.

"What happened to that wound?"

"Namgung benefactor's martial arts have become profound. That's why I ended up in this state. Amitabha."

"Namgung Jehyun! That bastard, by all means!!"

Hearing the story from Shinseung, Hyunjun Hyun was enraged.

"Move aside."

Pushing such a Hyunjun Hyun, a small figure approached Shinseung.

"Ah! Young lady, you were a doctor, right? Can you treat this friend?"

"I will treat him."

Tang Yuhwa approached Shinseung and checked his condition.

"The cut is deep."

Having made a diagnosis, Tang Yuhwa took out a needle and thread from her bosom.

"I need to disinfect and stitch it."

"I will stand guard, so please take good care of this friend!"

To guard Tang Yuhwa, who was treating Shinseung, Hyunjun Hyun got up from his seat and watched the surroundings with glaring eyes.

And so, a moment later.

"Shinseung is here!"

The martial artists of the Martial Alliance, having noticed Shinseung's presence, began to approach with their weapons drawn.

Seeing that, Hyunjun Hyun unconsciously reached for his back.

'Ah, I didn't bring my bow.'

Recalling that he had not brought his weapon, Hyunjun Hyun scanned his surroundings.

As if many battles had come and gone, there were quite a few weapons rolling on the floor.

Among them, Hyunjun Hyun's gaze was fixed on a single sword.

After looking at the sword on the floor for a moment, Hyunjun Hyun shook his head and turned his gaze to the martial artists.

"Hey, I'm warning you, but stop coming closer."

Hyunjun Hyun sternly warned the martial artists.

But the martial artists who heard that warning snorted.

"What's this old man saying?"

"This is a battlefield, so go home quietly, old man."

"Our purpose is the monk behind you, so if you stay quiet, you won't get hurt."

The snorting martial artists gradually approached the place where Hyunjun Hyun was.

"In the end, you're making this old man grab a sword."

Hyunjun Hyun lightly kicked up the sword that had fallen on the floor.

Then he snatched it with his hand.

"This old man definitely warned you."

The hand of Hyunjun Hyun, who was holding the sword, was pulled back as if drawing a bowstring.

And the sword was shot forward.

Although it was the motion of a thrust, it was closer to a launch than a sword strike.

The sword that had left his hand shot out like lightning.

An arrow without a bow.

But its power was stronger than a crossbow.

"The sword of Diancang does not stop once it is drawn, you brat."

As Hyunjun Hyun had said, the sword did not stop with just piercing one martial artist.

It continued to pierce the martial artists like crazy as far as the length of the sword reached.

Since that process was as fast as an arrow that had left a bow, the martial artists could not even react.

And so, Hyunjun Hyun's sword was shot until it was embedded in the wall of Shaolin.

Kwaang!

As it hit the wall, it finally stopped.

A silence flowed for a moment.

In that silence, Hyunjun Hyun pulled out the sword from the pierced martial artists.

The surrounding martial artists, who had finally grasped the situation, were shocked.

"A-a master!"

The shocked martial artist could not finish his words.

His body was already pierced by Hyunjun Hyun's sword, and following that, the surrounding martial artists were pierced one after another.

There were no swords or martial artists there, only an arrow that had left a bowstring, persistently piercing the opponent.

The temporary base of the Martial Alliance in a village near Mount Song.

"Something, something is strange."

There, the Martial Alliance's military strategist, Sima Woon, was anxiously biting his nails.

The tide of the war should have been overwhelming.

But the result was a close battle.

Although it was clear that this side was still advantageous, it should not have been so.

'It should have been overwhelming.'

The situation on the battlefield was bound to change in real time.

But if it was this off, there was definitely something wrong.

'Why on earth did the beggars suddenly appear as if they had expected this situation? I had moved swiftly without giving the surroundings a chance to react!'

The most noticeable thing was the beggars.

And there were thousands of them, at a glance.

They had appeared without any warning.

Although each beggar was insignificant, their numbers were too large.

'The large number is a problem, but there was also a report that the one leading them is not an ordinary martial artist.'

He was a being who had blocked the alliance leader's blow.

An opponent's force that should never have existed.

'On top of that, the Taiji Sword God? Shouldn't this person be in the Sichuan area?'

Although the alliance leader's martial arts were profound, the name of the Taiji Sword God could by no means be ignored.

'There is no martial artist who can stop the alliance leader, who has reached the realm beyond the transcendent. But.'

Cracks continued to appear on the battlefield.

If it continued to flow like this, each and every one of those cracks would surely act fatally.

'And Shinseung? Why on earth has Shinseung not been caught yet?'

Given the alliance leader's personality, he had expected that he would not finish off Shinseung.

That's why he had already prepared the personnel to capture Shinseung afterwards.

But there was no news from them.

There was also no news of Shinseung.

And so, as Sima Woon was racking his brain over the unintentionally flowing situation of the battlefield.

-Who is it?!

The outside became noisy.

It didn't seem to be because of a passerby who had taken a wrong step.

The sound of weapons clashing echoed for a moment.

-They are not ordinary guys!

-Keoheok!

It became quiet.

Frowning, Sima Woon immediately came out of the barracks.

"Oh, you rat. It's been a while."

What greeted him was a delinquent young man with a crookedly raised corner of his mouth, who seemed very good at getting on people's nerves.

"Who are you! How dare you interfere with the alliance's event?"

"I've gotten a little younger, haven't I? But still, you don't recognize this older brother?"

From the young man's tone, Sima Woon recalled someone very unpleasant.

"Zhuge Hyun?"

"Zhuge Hyun is informal, you punk."

At those words, Sima Woon's body began to tremble like crazy.

He couldn't have forgotten it even in his dreams.

Zhuge Hyun.

The madman of the Kunlun Mountains.

Those three characters of his name brought back a nightmare that Sima Woon had forgotten in his mind.

To the Taoists who had trained in Kunlun at that time, he was a living disaster itself.

As if satisfied with such a reaction from Sima Woon, the corner of Zhuge Hyun's mouth curled up crookedly.

"I stopped by Kunlun and you weren't there, so a guy who's a Taoist crawls out to the secular world and what he does is war?"

Zhuge Hyun's eyes flashed.

Overwhelmed by just that gaze, Sima Woon, without realizing it, stumbled and took a step back.

(End of Chapter)