The name from the Hao Sect Master’s lips was an unexpected force.

“The Green Forest...?”

Seolhwa repeated it as if she’d misheard, but the Hao Sect Master unerringly nodded.

“Yes. We caught the impersonators and put money in their hands—they spilled immediately.”

Bandits will be bandits: under threats they clammed up; with silver in their palms, they sang like larks.

Because the backer was so unforeseen, they grabbed a few more and pressed them; every one of them said the same—they belonged to the Green Forest.

“We haven’t learned why the Green Forest is impersonating the Sado Union. The ones we questioned only said they were following orders from above.”

Seolhwa tapped the table—tok, tok.

The Green Forest. So the Green Forest it was.

‘Why would that name crop up here?’

Even in her previous life, the Green Forest had shown no special movements.

Though their chief was a Flowering-realm master ranked among the ten foremost under heaven, they stayed holed up in the woods, living by banditry.

And yet now, in this moment, that force had begun to move—

Doing it under the Sado Union’s name, no less.

‘All the better.’

If the backer wasn’t the Blood Demon Cult but the Green Forest—

She would have had to meet the Green Forest War King sooner or later anyway.

She’d lacked a proper pretext to call on him; this gave her one.

“I’ll meet the Green Forest War King myself.”

The Sado Union officers turned toward Seolhwa, startled.

The Jade-Faced Master spoke, worried.

“They say the Green Forest War King ranks among the top ten under heaven. Are you certain about this?”

The Chief Strategist couldn’t hide his unease either.

“He’s on a level far beyond the Iron-Blood Lord or the Ten-Thousand Cavalry Fort Lord. Beneath him are no fewer than seventy-two stockades. He is not an opponent to be taken lightly.”

Seolhwa, who had listened in silence, looked to Maeng Deungho seated at the end of the table.

“What do you think, Lord of Surochae?”

Maeng Deungho met the Sado Union Lord’s gaze. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“You’re the only one here who has met the Green Forest War King face-to-face. I want your view.”

Surochae and the Green Forest differed only in the ground they held; both were bandits.

Because of that, they sometimes clashed, and depending on the region, some river halls and mountain stockades maintained unexpectedly good relations.

In the midst of that, when Maeng Deungho became Lord of Surochae, the two forces swore a pact: they would not trespass into each other’s domains.

“How does the Green Forest compare to Surochae?”

After a brief deliberation at the Sado Union Lord’s question, Maeng Deungho answered slowly.

“The Green Forest is a force on a wholly different plane than our Surochae.”

“That sounds like you’re saying Surochae can’t stand against them.”

“That’s right. Frankly, Surochae cannot be compared to the Green Forest. Of course, if the battle were on the water, that would be another story—but in the Central Plains, there is more land than water.”

Though he himself was Lord of Surochae, his view was cool and objective.

Though he served within the Sado Union as a Namgoong Clan agent, Maeng Deungho did not lie.

“Going alone would be suicide.”

At his forthright answer—so very Maeng Deungho—Seolhwa’s lips curved faintly beneath the mask.

“I see.”

The strategist, the Chief Strategist, and now even the Lord of Surochae had all come out against it.

Those gathered assumed the Sado Union Lord would bend. However—

“I won’t shove my subordinates into a place that dangerous.”

“Union Lord...!”

“I will meet the Green Forest War King alone.”

Their mouths fell open.

She truly meant to enter that danger by herself.

But the Sado Union Lord had never once yielded her intent, and there was no one present who could stop her.

The Hao Sect Master bowed her head slightly.

“I’ll find the War King’s whereabouts.”

“I already know where he is. Prioritize increasing the patrol cordons on the streets and keeping a close watch.”

“Not pulling back?”

Now that they knew the backer, wasn’t the situation better than before?

“I have a bad feeling.”

At the Union Lord’s words, a ripple of tension went through the room.

They might think things improved with the backer identified and the War King’s location known—but the Union Lord’s instincts had never been wrong.

“The tournament isn’t over. Do not relax for an instant.”

****

Crunch. Crunch.

Leaving the Sado Union branch disguised as an ordinary tavern, Seolhwa hadn’t gone far before she felt a tail on her again.

A man with his bamboo hat pulled low.

Feigning ignorance, she wound through the streets, drawing the Bamboo-Hatted Man toward a quieter, less-traveled alley.

Unaware he was being led, he followed after her.

Seolhwa turned at a branching lane.

After a beat, he turned the same corner—

“Uh...?”

The Bamboo-Hatted Man faltered to a stop.

Past the building’s corner lay a dead end boxed in by stone walls.

But nowhere at the end of that alley did Seolhwa appear.

“Where did she—”

As he spun to rush back out—

Whoosh—

A palm crashed in toward his eyes.

“!”

He reflexively thrust up his hand and met it.

Pak—!

He tried to retreat, but Seolhwa gave him no opening and pressed the attack.

Papapak! Papapapapak!

Dozens of exchanges flashed by in an instant.

Neither of them used internal power, so the clamor stayed small—but the fight was fierce.

Pabak—!

Shraaak—

They struck out at the same time; palm met palm, and both bodies skidded back.

Steadying her slightly roughened breath, Seolhwa looked at the Bamboo-Hatted Man.

After a short breath, her mouth curved in a quick smile.

“You’ve gotten stronger.”

He tipped up the bamboo hat and smiled back.

“You know how it is. In there, training’s all there is.”

The Bamboo-Hatted Man was Yu Gang.

After that rather intense greeting, the two dusted off their hands and stepped closer.

Seolhwa let out a brief laugh.

“You didn’t say a word about coming in your letters.”

They sometimes exchanged letters through Seolmae.

But Yu Gang had never once said he would enter the tournament.

“I wanted to surprise you. Though it seems you already knew.”

Yu Gang scratched the back of his head, sheepish.

“If you wanted to hide, you shouldn’t have registered under the sobriquet ‘Snow-Plum Sabre.’”

“It was the only name that came to mind...”

Yu Gang had entered the tournament under the name Snow-Plum Sabre.

Since his status as Ouyang Do’s disciple wasn’t publicly known, he was nothing more than an expelled Mount Hua disciple; with that status, he couldn’t enter openly.

Rather than stir up trouble, he hid his identity and entered.

“How is Elder Ouyang Do?”

Yu Gang shook his head.

“He hasn’t come yet. He told me to manage on my own.”

“Is his health better?”

The last letter they shared had been the news that Ouyang Do had awakened.

The Immortal Physician Seolhwa sent had, at length, healed even Ouyang Do.

“He’s not perfectly recovered yet, but the physician said he’s sturdy enough that he’ll recover quickly. To the eye, he’s nearly well.”

“And the physician left?”

“Yeah.”

As expected.

The Immortal Physician was a phantom to begin with.

But Seolhwa knew she would return someday.

‘Because she and I have a promise.’

She would surely come to collect on it.

“Why did you enter the tournament?”

“To win. But—you’re here.”

Yu Gang scratched the back of his head again, sheepish.

“This is a problem. I’m still not confident I can beat you.”

Seolhwa’s gaze skimmed over his frame.

For all his words, Yu Gang was strong.

Whether it was because the arts he’d inherited from Ouyang Do suited him, or because he learned under such an exceptional master—

‘He’s at the transcendent peak.’

And quite a strong one.

He might even be as strong as the Martial Alliance Division Lords now.

To reach that, in a mere four years, after abandoning Mount Hua’s internal art—wasn’t it astonishing?

“I should tell you ahead of time. I won’t use that power.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I’m keeping it hidden, for reasons. So—do your best.”

Yu Gang’s expression brightened a touch.

He knew it too: if Seolhwa didn’t use the Imoogi’s power, he might have a shot.

“Is it all right if I win?”

“If you can.”

Seolhwa’s lips slanted into a grin.

Somehow, this tedious tournament felt a little more interesting.

****

Leaders of each force—those who marked the tournament’s true beginning, the main event—arrived at the Martial Alliance one after another.

“Namgoong Seolhwa, victory!”

Finishing her last preliminary in an eyeblink and sealing her place in the main event, Seolhwa looked up toward the grand veranda of the Alliance’s main hall.

From there, the early-arrived leaders watched the bouts.

Catching Seolhwa’s ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) eye, Abbot Beopgong of Shaolin nodded with a kindly smile.

Seolhwa offered a brief fist-and-palm salute to him and the other leaders, then stepped down from the stage.

“Tang Hojin, victory!”

“Jin Ye, victory!”

On other stages, the final preliminary winners were being declared.

Only thirty-two would advance to the main event.

The crowd chanted the winners’ names; the victors stepped to the front of the arena and hung their name tokens on the prepared stone board.

Once all preliminaries were done and the thirty-two determined, the bracket would be drawn from those tokens.

Seolhwa hung her token on the slab as well.

Her eyes met Seop Mugwang’s beside the board; he grinned and dipped his head.

As she turned to descend, a result rang out from another stage.

“Snow-Plum Sabre, victory!”

Yu Gang had likewise advanced with ease.

You’d think he’d be leaping for joy.

But when Seolhwa looked, Yu Gang showed no sign of delight; his sabre hung loose as he stared at a single point.

Seolhwa’s gaze followed, almost absently.

No Un, Sect Leader of Mount Hua, was heading into the main building with Mount Hua’s elders.