I mostly spent my time splitting firewood with an axe. Not long ago, So Gunpyeong and Nam Garak had come to see me after hearing the news, but I sent them back after a round of heavy drinking. I did ask both of them to gather flags however they could.

There was no need to stay here unless you were a martial artist with skills on par with the Four Great Evils.

That was the minimum qualification I’d set.

Because the enemy was a force that even the Four Great Evils would struggle to handle.

Unhyangmun’s flag and financial support had arrived, but there was still no word from the Ghost Demon. In a way, I felt it was for the best. Strangely, a part of me hoped he wouldn’t show up.

While splitting logs, I mostly contemplated the Gold Turtle Sojourning Art.

Construction of the Zaha Inn was underway with hired workers, but I didn’t interfere. I wasn’t a construction expert anyway. Instead, I focused on gathering firewood, which was always useful, no matter what.

Big Brother was mostly absorbed in meditation or training.

After sending off my visiting acquaintances, I spent my days solely focused on chopping wood. I used the combined strength of Mokgye’s internal force and external techniques to split the logs cleanly. In other words, I was using the inner and outer martial arts I learned from the Steel Cabin to chop wood.

I hadn’t yet become the greatest master under heaven.

But in terms of wood quality, I might as well have been the greatest lumberjack in the world.

Because the firewood was so uniformly and neatly split, sometimes the laborers would gather during breaks just to watch me work.

“......”

I was too focused on chopping wood to chat with them.

When hungry, I ate with the workers, sharpened my axe, rested briefly, then resumed splitting wood.

The reason I was working like this was because I knew the Zaha Inn would be destroyed. The workers didn’t know that. They were all getting paid generously and participating in the construction, but I couldn’t tell them that everything might collapse soon.

So I chose to work alongside them.

Among the workers, a new nickname started to spread...

One of the more popular ones was “Axe Lord.”

Maybe because I looked young, many didn’t know who I really was. Some of the more easygoing workers started calling me “Third Young Master.” Everyone was afraid of Big Brother, but they seemed to feel like I was the third son in the family.

Surprisingly, the Lust Demon returned with the flag of the Murim Alliance, only to leave again saying he was off to train lightness skills. I didn’t ask, but it felt like he was trying to seek out another of the White Path sects.

Had something changed in his mindset?

Big Brother and I didn’t ask. We were independent men, after all—our relationship wasn’t one of giving or taking orders.

While using Mokgye’s internal energy, I kept mulling over what the Elder had told me...

And I began to realize again how different the Gold Turtle Sojourning Art was from other martial arts. Normally, most martial arts focus on foundational teachings during the early stages, then delve into deeper, more complex principles as one’s level grows...

But what Mokgye emphasized in the Gold Turtle Sojourning Art was primarily mindset.

Mokgye wasn’t just a wooden chicken—it symbolized the state of a fighting rooster’s fierce heart becoming as calm as a wooden sculpture. In other words, to fight well, one had to first maintain inner peace. So then, was my current state—waiting for the Demonic Cult’s army—one of Mokgye?

Of course not.

I was a fighting cock.

So I kept splitting logs in an effort to maintain my composure. Literally training to become a wooden rooster.

I was well aware that the Cult Leader was stronger than I was. That unsettling truth weighed on my mind. But if I was going to fight, I had to either ignore it or accept it.

If a full-scale battle broke out, many would inevitably die. But that too was the fate of a martial artist, and I accepted it.

The Gold Turtle Sojourning Art, in a very unusual way...

Put the greatest emphasis on the mindset of the person practicing it. Questions like “How strong are your skills?” or “How advanced is your technique?” came later.

Flame Rooster, Fighting Rooster, and Super Rooster were all technical stages.

After repeatedly splitting logs, I began to think that maybe Mokgye was actually the true core of the Gold Turtle Sojourning Art. Because in my past life, I frequently trained while experiencing mental deviation, I had gone through qi deviation during each of the stages: Flame, Fighting, and Super Rooster.

Maybe it was because I’d been training without truly understanding the essence of the martial art I was practicing?

Even though the Elder had already given me the answer, I’d ignored it and fallen into the wrong path.

As I split logs, I trained and cultivated the Mokgye state.

Perhaps because I was so lost in thought, Big Brother didn’t speak to me except during meals. But on one of those days, while I was in a Mokgye trance chopping wood, some workers came to me and shared some news.

“...Lord Third, there are some people setting up barracks not far from here.”

It seemed “Axe Lord” and “Third Young Master” had now fused into “Lord Third.”

I looked at the worker.

“Barracks?”

“Yes, not too far from here. There’s even a flag posted beside them. What did it say again?”

They all tilted their heads, trying to remember.

“Something-something Merchant Group, I think.”

I rested my axe on my shoulder and walked out of the construction zone, surveying the surroundings. Just as they’d said, construction was underway not far off, and they were building barracks.

‘What the hell...’

As I approached with the axe still on my shoulder, I saw that a flag was indeed flapping in the wind.

“Jungcheon Merchant Group...”

I’d never heard of them. Which meant they weren’t a local force. Even though I was standing nearby watching, no one seemed particularly wary. They all looked like ordinary laborers, no different from the ones working at the Zaha Inn. But the way the barracks were set up reminded me of military camps used in war.

As I stood watching with the axe on my shoulder...

Only then did one of the workers nod and greet me.

“Greetings, Lord.”

I nodded back.

“Where are you from?”

“We’re workers hired by the Jungcheon Merchant Group.”

“Why do you recognize me?”

“Well, the requested location for building these barracks was around here, and we heard the Lord of Haomun was constructing an inn nearby. They told us to build in a position facing it. And we’ve heard more workers from various merchant groups will soon be coming to build even more barracks.”

“You’re saying there’ll be multiple?”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, several merchant groups have hired /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ laborers.”

“Do you know who placed the order with those merchant groups?”

The worker looked at me.

“That, we’re not sure of either. Probably someone higher up would know.”

I circled around the barracks, inspecting the area. If there were martial artists among the workers, I’d have noticed immediately, but they all appeared to be ordinary men.

A sigh escaped me.

“What a clever strategy. Carry on.”

“Yes, Lord.”

I returned to the Zaha Inn and locked eyes with Big Brother standing at the entrance.

He asked me,

“What did they say?”

“Looks like they’re building barracks.”

“Barracks? Who is?”

“The Demonic Cult...”

“What?”

Big Brother stared in the direction of the barracks. I shook my head.

“No martial artists—just laborers carrying out orders. Looks like they’re planning to set up several facing our inn.”

“What’s their intent?”

I looked again at the flag marked with “Jungcheon Merchant Group.”

“Probably to plant flags of the merchant groups and non-military factions aligned with the Cult.”

“So it’s not a barracks—they’re building a military camp.”

“Yeah. A camp, for sure.”

Big Brother and I sat on a nearby bench and stared at the growing military encampment. Thinking about it, the only ones who would see through this maneuver so quickly would be people like Im Sobaek or the Scholar in White.

“Big Brother, whether it was the Cult Leader who ordered this or someone else, they’re laying out a chessboard.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Hmm.”

“With the merchant flags mixed in like that, it becomes hard for me to just storm in and wipe them out.”

Big Brother finally seemed to grasp the intent and nodded.

“Then they don’t plan to destroy the Zaha Inn either?”

“Seems that way. Did I overplay my hand? Someone figured out my intent just from our flag.”

To be honest, it felt like I’d taken a hit. But maybe because I’d been training in the Mokgye state, I felt unusually calm.

While we talked, more wagons and carts streamed in like a line of ants and stopped around the encampment, unloading more workers and materials. Maybe because they were building a military camp, they were working at an incredible pace.

I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Hmph.”

Just like what the Demonic Cult had done near the Cheonri Inn before, they were using ropes to mark out a huge grid. Not long after, the Zaha Inn and the military camp were both boxed into their own quadrants—like pieces on a chessboard.

Since I couldn’t just start killing laborers hired by the Cult, I left them alone.

So then what’s the point of drawing lines between White Path, Black Path, and Demon Path?

Those working underneath them for money wouldn’t care about those distinctions anyway.

I grabbed some long firewood and began carving a wooden sword with my Flash Dagger. Then Big Brother held out his hand.

“Let me see.”

He showed me how to carve a wooden sword using his own dagger. I watched and followed along. As we made wooden swords, we talked now and then.

“...I didn’t expect the Demonic Cult to pull this kind of move.”

Sword Demon said as he stared at the military camp.

“If they go so far as to set up a General’s tent, the Cult Leader himself might show up.”

I let out a ridiculous laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“If the workers are that mixed in, I can’t even use Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance.”

Big Brother looked at me.

“Hey, Third.”

“Yeah?”

“Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance is nothing.”

I burst out laughing for the first time in a while. It didn’t feel like he had some grand plan—more like one of Sword Demon’s usual jokes.

I looked toward the military camp and asked,

“Was the Cult Leader always this clever?”

“If he’d been stupid, he’d have died during the succession struggle. If he’d been soft-hearted, he’d have died before it even began. And if he’d really been that much of an idiot, he wouldn’t have been appointed as one of the Grand Dukes in the first place. Not all of his siblings got that title.”

“Really? That’s bitter.”

“What is?”

“That means he began his life in the martial world by killing his own brothers. Or maybe he had to start by defending himself from their threats. I never had blood siblings, but I don’t think I could’ve ended things with them myself. I’d rather have left the martial world.”

“You wouldn’t have gotten out of it unscathed.”

“True. It’s the Demonic Cult, after all.”

Once the wooden swords were finished, we looked at each other. Big Brother took my sword, trimmed it one last time, then handed it back.

We went to the clearing without saying much.

Big Brother stopped first, and I walked a bit farther before turning to face him. We each held our wooden swords in our right hands.

Before Big Brother could speak, I struck with words first.

“Hey, Sword Demon.”

He nodded.

“Lord of Haomun.”

I stared at him and said,

“Don’t you think I have the advantage with wooden swords?”

Sword Demon shook his head.

“Your strengths are your versatility, adaptability, and lightness skills. If we only fight with swords, you’re at a disadvantage.”

I rubbed my nose and replied,

“Don’t get cocky. I’ve never lost since entering the martial world.”

Sword Demon responded,

“Then you’ve been lucky.”

“Luck’s part of skill. Have you ever tasted defeat, former Left Sage?”

“A few times.”

“And you survived?”

He smiled.

“I’ve never lost in a fight where my life was truly on the line.”

“Great. Two undefeated swordsmen. You’re worthy of being my opponent.”

Since he was older, I lowered my wooden sword and paid my respects first. Sword Demon gave a simple nod. He looked like he was letting me make the first move. I’d always thought we’d fight someday—today was the day. It wouldn’t be the last.

I deliberately closed the distance slowly, then thrust my wooden sword. Just as it extended in a straight line, it veered off with a crack as his wooden sword struck my neck. In that moment, I pushed off the ground and pulled my sword back. Sword Demon rushed in with his Dokgo Heavy Sword technique.

There was only one way to redirect that force—Hidden Incense Dart.

I instantly widened the distance, and when he chased after me, I responded to his wooden sword with a combined technique of external force and Mokgye.

The two wooden swords clashed with a sharp crack.

Since we were both injecting internal energy into the swords, they didn’t snap immediately, but the first one to break would likely lose, so I had to consider every move carefully. I read Sword Demon’s expression, responded to his footwork, parried his strikes, and prepared my counterattacks. None of my previously learned sword techniques worked. As if gauging my inner force, he gradually increased the pressure with each strike.

At some point, as our swords collided head-on...

Just like at Jade Hand Mountain Villa, Sword Demon unleashed his Left Palm. I countered it with only Mokgye’s energy.

Thud!

Maybe he had packed more power into that palm—because the shock forced me back several steps...

Sword Demon briefly lowered his sword.

“...You okay? I held back too much strength.”

I looked at him. At some point, Sword Demon had that familiar look on his face again—my Big Brother’s.

I asked,

“Should I draw out more force?”

Big Brother nodded.

“Do it.”

I nodded back and provoked him again.

“Bring it on.”

Sword Demon chuckled and charged at me again. Before his wooden sword even reached me, my hair was already blowing in his wind.