A Shift in Perspective (1)
“Ah, I’m stuffed.”
He knew he should nourish his body gradually with restrained meals, but his hunger had been too fierce to ignore. For the first time in his life, Yeon Jipyeong had devoured five full bowls in one sitting. His belly now protruded noticeably. Still, he didn’t mind the satisfying fullness.
As he stepped out of the restaurant, Yeon Jipyeong glanced around on a whim.
‘Huh?’
Yeon Jipyeong blinked.
‘Who’s that?’
He’d wandered aimlessly and somehow ended up near his brother’s quarters. Then, from within the Yeon Ryeo Pavilion beside them, someone was chopping firewood. The figure’s appearance seemed unfamiliar at first glance.
Curiosity piqued, Yeon Jipyeong crept toward the pavilion.
Thwack!
A gentle swing of the axe split a thick log cleanly in two. Surprise flickered across Yeon Jipyeong’s curious face.
‘Whoa!’
Thwack!
Another log split. It was nothing special—an axe swing without brute force, executed with one hand. Yet the wood parted sharply under its smooth arc. The blunt blade carried an edge born of precise energy.
What astonished him was the quality of the energy gathered on the axe and the fluidity of its motion. Even in minimal quantity, it erupted with flood-like intensity. The form seemed simple, yet exquisitely beautiful.
‘A master!’
Incredible. At Yeon Jipyeong’s current level, he couldn’t dream of matching her.
Clang!
‘Huh?’
The axe missed. A rebounding log flew off into the distance. A complex expression crossed the woman—Muk Bi’s—face.
“Um……”
Yeon Jipyeong realized his mistake and stood.
“Sorry. I got lost staring without thinking. That was rude of me, wasn’t it?”
He apologized sincerely. Muk Bi didn’t understand why he was apologizing. She was just curious why watching someone chop wood warranted such attention.
“No, it’s fine. But……”
She started to ask who he was, then hesitated. After all, she was a guest here. Anyone she didn’t know was almost certainly from the Yeon family.
Muk Bi bowed her head.
“I’m Muk Bi.”
“Oh, yes! I’m Yeon Jipyeong! Nice to meet you!”
A brief silence fell. Yeon Jipyeong blinked, while Muk Bi averted her gaze in awkwardness.
In that moment, Muk Bi thought:
‘Yeon Jipyeong? Then he’s that guy’s little brother?’
She’d heard plenty about him on the way here. Young, but a once-in-a-generation genius with a gentle personality.
Muk Bi looked at Yeon Jipyeong again. His bright, sparkling eyes matched the innocent face she’d been told about.
Muk Bi cleared her throat.
“Ahem, well, I……”
“You’re a guest!”
“Pardon?”
“Uh, you’re not?”
Muk Bi scratched her head. She was a guest, technically. But Yeon Hojeong and Yeon Wi had told her to treat the place like her own home and everyone like family.
“Guest…… or maybe more like family……?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Muk Bi racked her brain for a way to cut through the awkwardness and inevitable stilted conversation. The answer: mention Yeon Hojeong.
“I came here with Yeon Hojeong.”
Yeon Jipyeong’s eyes widened.
“B-Brother’s here?!”
“Huh? Oh…… yes. That’s right.”
“Whoa! I had no idea! I thought he’d come later, not this soon?!”
Joy lit Yeon Jipyeong’s face. But it faded quickly.
“Wait…… but……”
That guy? The word choice felt odd. That guy, that guy……
“Gah!”
Yeon Jipyeong rushed forward and grabbed both of Muk Bi’s hands. It was so sudden she couldn’t dodge.
Muk Bi looked down at him in bewilderment. Yeon Jipyeong said with utter seriousness:
“Sister-in-law!”
Muk Bi pondered which was more shocking: her vow to massacre Gwanil Valley herself, or this moment.
* * *
BOOM!
The eighty-geun heavy axe brimmed with steel-like offensive power from White Tiger Qi. Bi-ra Jin-gyeol harmonized his body’s rigidity, while his constantly tempering muscles produced explosive output and unyielding endurance.
Yet he was still pushed back.
Clang!
Yeon Hojeong’s body rebounded. The sword in Yeon Wi’s grip was an ordinary long sword. But the prowess emanating from it crashed like a tsunami.
Its blade, less than a tenth the weight of Yeon Hojeong’s axe, felt like a thousand geun.
Thud!
Yeon Hojeong charged again. From the moment he unleashed White Tiger Overlord Step, he was in full combat readiness—one step forward, two steps kill. He deployed his martial arts without hesitation.
Whoosh!
Invisible flames seemed to ignite around the swinging axe. It was fast despite the immense weight, maximizing the weapon’s advantages in a single strike. Even peak masters would hesitate to clash directly with such destructive force.
Yeon Wi’s sword traced a straight line.
Craaang!
His upper arm and shoulder muscles twitched. Yeon Wi couldn’t hide his admiration for his son’s monstrous strength.
‘Where does this power come from?’
Among the Seven Great Families—or now Six—his martial prowess rivaled the top patriarchs. And he wasn’t holding back like before. This was genuine effort, if not full power.
A strike that unconsciously tensed the muscles of such a transcendent master was a force that would dominate anywhere in the Central Plains.
Ching!
Yeon Wi’s sword, touching the axe, flowed softly for an instant.
‘……!’
Yeon Hojeong’s expression changed. Like a serpent slithering down the blade, it rode the axe head, slid along the haft, and aimed for his wrist. The motion was so natural and fluid that he lost sight of it momentarily.
Whack!
He released the haft with both hands and kicked the end. Clang! The axe shot forward at close range. Yeon Wi’s sword struck the blade twelve times in linked strikes, reducing its power.
BOOM!
Yeon Wi’s eyes widened. Without looking up, he sensed his son had somehow leaped overhead.
‘Fast!’
The descending heat was tremendous. White metallic energy shifted to crimson flames. The transition from White Tiger Art to Vermilion Bird Art was lightning-quick.
And that wasn’t all.
“Hah!”
A rare kiai. Crimson wings on his legs, a white storm in his right fist—he struck down. Four Gods Martial Arts, manifesting two attributes at once.
KABOOM!
The training ground floor cracked where his fist pierced. The punch’s destructive force fissured the entire arena. A mighty fist technique of unimaginable power: Tiger King Nine Thunder Strikes in fist form.
Whoosh!
Yeon Wi evaded with Heavenly Net Divine Step and closed in with Archer’s Shadow Leap.
‘……!’
Tremendous speed. As fast as Blood Wing Swing Heaven. Not because Yeon Wi knew that step, but pure martial attainment. His inner energy, body, and insight fused, granting such velocity from mere footsteps.
Flash!
Yeon Hojeong dodged Yeon Wi, grabbed his axe from the left, and reset his stance. Yeon Wi, pivoting instantly, was already within a zhang of him.
Their weapons unleashed divine speeds.
Clangclangclang!Chingching!
Eighteen clashes in a single exchange. Yeon Wi’s sword speed was unparalleled, but Yeon Hojeong’s axe speed transcended human limits. Few heavy weapon users in the martial world could match this swiftness.
‘Strong.’
Yeon Wi finally grasped his son’s realm, leaps beyond his pre-regression self.
‘Incredibly strong!’
Mysterious inner arts aided Yeon Hojeong. But that wasn’t the point. He hadn’t grown by learning new arts—he’d learned them to refine his already advanced foundation.
His insight was complete enough to encompass multiple arts. Perhaps even more.
The exquisite rhythm through his weapon, the profound martial principles in his adaptability—its limits were unimaginable.
‘How?!’
Even prodigy Yeon Jipyeong might not achieve this. He’d surpassed decades in months.
If Yeon Wi marveled at his son’s growth, Yeon Hojeong was equally stunned by his father’s ironclad martial arts.
‘Stronger than Myeong Cheon!’
Once the world’s top clan, now a criminal, yet Yeon Wi surpassed its patriarch. Fake Four Gods Martial Arts might unbalance Myeong Cheon, but even accounting for that, Yeon Wi exceeded him.
‘Amazing. So much I lack……!’
His father’s sword force, unleashed in earnest. Not comparable to Black Emperor Yeon Hojeong, yet it embodied an ideal warrior’s insight, filling gaps he’d overlooked.
Perfect. Complete. As he’d sensed before, his father’s martial path was a flawless whole—no more, no less. The pinnacle of orthodox arts, beyond decades of his own realization.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, Yeon Hojeong pressed Yeon Wi. White Tiger Overlord Step gained momentum with each exchange. Relentless chain advances and Tiger King Nine Thunder Strikes sharpened like beast fangs, growing fiercer.
Yeon Wi parried with Iron Sword Great Chain’s exquisite sword principles.
‘Yes, at this level.’
The onslaught’s pressure outshone the arts themselves. A warrior’s killing intent sweeping foes, a general’s dignity.
‘He can withstand this sword.’
Yeon Wi’s eyes flashed.
Craaang!
The ferocious sword strike derailed the axe. One slash sapped White Tiger Overlord Step’s momentum and severed Tiger King Nine Thunder Strikes’ fangs. Monstrous sword force.
But it didn’t end there. Potent true energy gathered at Yeon Wi’s sword tip.
That instant—
Whoosh!
Yeon Wi saw a massive hand blotting his vision in darkness. The writhing strike resembled a coiling dragon. Yet impossibly fast. Blockable, but unavoidable.
Surprise crossed Yeon Wi’s face.
‘Reverse Dragon Palm!!’
The palm thrust without pause carried immense power. Leveraging supreme lung capacity for ultra-high-speed attack. No chance to reveal his new insight’s sword.
Yeon Wi swiftly shifted energy to block with palm art.
BOOM!
Yeon Hojeong staggered back a dozen paces. Yeon Wi stood firm.
“Whew.”
Yeon Hojeong shook his hand and straightened.
“Still not enough, huh.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes wavered.
“You knew?”
“Pardon?”
“You read my next attack.”
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
“No. I just saw a slight gap uncharacteristic of your arts, so I struck what I took for a clear weakness.”
“……!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Shing. Clack!
Yeon Wi sheathed his sword.
“Let’s end the spar here.”