The Answer is One (1)
Gi U-hui's eyes trembled.
Whoosh.
Yeon Hojeong's aura was as still as a lake without a whisper of wind. But Gi U-hui could see it—the terrifying flames blazing in his eyes. Cold as the North Sea, where the mysterious land was said to be encased in transparent ice on all sides, yet boiling within with lava hot enough to incinerate the world.
'Evil god.'
Evil. The destructive spiritual energy she had felt from Yeon Hojeong before was fully present now.
'Even stronger than back then.'
An malice imperceptible to ordinary people. In truth, it was merely something caught by Gi U-hui's innate spiritual eyes; there was no actual evil aura or anything of the sort. But as a physician rather than a martial artist, she could sense Yeon Hojeong's qi.
'He's achieved something in martial arts!'
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong's lips parted.
"Fascinating."
"Y-yes?!"
A thick excitement colored Yeon Hojeong's face as he looked down at Jam Yeong-il-ho.
"I've seen people from the Sinhwa Church before, but never a true expert. Even so, I could sense that peculiar dissonance in your internal energy's nature."
Yeon Hojeong turned his gaze to Gi U-hui. In that instant, she felt an urge to whip her head away. His eyes were terrifying enough to raise gooseflesh.
"That dissonance was strikingly similar to the Three Sects' lackeys, especially the Saneumgyo bastards. That's how I deduced you were with one of the Three Sects. But..."
Yeon Hojeong shifted his eyes back to Jam Yeong-il-ho.
"This guy's different."
Twitch! Twitch!
Jam Yeong-il-ho's body jerked repeatedly. Even with his pressure points sealed—including both mute and pulse points—he was resisting. It was astonishing.
A master of Yeon Hojeong's caliber couldn't be shaken off with internal energy or brute force. Forcing it would only tear the meridians, inflicting fatal damage.
Yet he resisted. Unimaginable for a Central Plains martial artist inheriting the orthodox lineage.
A faint smile tugged at Yeon Hojeong's lips.
"You're clearly trained in the Three Sects' martial arts... but your foundation is Central Plains style. More precisely, it seems based on Central Plains assassination arts."
The ability to discern the origin of internal energy just by reading the qi. At the level of a Black Path Grandmaster, one encountered martial arts beyond common sense. Some were outrageously extreme, while others, though unconventional, inspired awe.
Even with such peculiarities, experience with thousands of arts allowed categorization. Fierce qi waves but pure true energy marked righteous arts—like the Yeon Family divine arts Yeon Hojeong practiced, or those of the Nine Great Sects and Six Great Clans.
Calm qi waves but extreme, unbalanced true energy marked evil arts—like Pa Sa Leok's, the Hwarang Group leader he had battled alongside the Tang Ma Myeol Sa Army.
Between those extremes lay most of the current martial world's heart methods: stably balanced, purifying qi when practiced properly, with clear pros and cons but no extremes.
His master's Hongcheon Qi had been such an art on the cusp of righteousness and evil—lacking in enlightenment or extreme power, but quick to accumulate and remarkably balanced.
So what was Jam Yeong-il-ho's art? Pure assassination technique. Not some foreign variant, but reeking of Central Plains' signature extreme stealth.
Yeon Hojeong was certain. This man's art was a Central Plains killing method—one of supreme subtlety.
Countless killing arts existed in the Central Plains, but few matched this insidious stealth. And Yeon Hojeong pierced its identity precisely.
"You've learned Yin Fire Red Style too, but your mainstay is Yin Cold White Style. That's what makes you this stealthy."
In that instant, Jam Yeong-il-ho's eyes shook like an earthquake.
Yin Fire. And Yin Cold.
"The Yin God I know is someone else. Are you a disciple or something?"
Yin God. A mysterious assassin so shadowy that even those who dwelled in darkness had seen his face fewer than five times. Most didn't even know if he existed. Even the Beggar Sect, tops in intelligence, was ignorant of him.
But Yeon Hojeong had seen him. The supreme assassin of the world, who mastered the twin ultimate arts of Yin Fire and Yin Cold to extremes, claiming lives with a mere gesture—a death god.
Yeon Hojeong wore a peculiar expression.
"What a twist of fate. After my return, I once saw a third-rate warrior who inherited the Yin God's arts at the spot where the Western Sichuan Tyrant met his end. That fool hadn't even awakened a third of the Yin Fire before succumbing to qi deviation. You're different, though."
While entering Anhui with Yeon Jipyeong for the Later Generation Assembly...
At Choseong-ru in Hwahyeon, Anhui Province, he had burned alive a madman half-trained in Yin Fire Red Style. Name was Ma Bang, probably? That was also where he first met the Jegal siblings. Many connections had sprouted from that incident.
"Gi U-hui."
"Y-yes?!"
"This guy's not born and bred in the Sinhwa Church, right?"
Gi U-hui swallowed unwittingly.
"I... I don't know."
Shock filled Jam Yeong-il-ho's eyes.
'No way?!'
The young man who sealed his pressure points was surely that expert who had guarded the Saintess last time. The world's top later-generation talent, they said? Yet here he was, conversing naturally with the Saintess. Even with the assassin right there.
And Sinhwa Church?!
'Th-this bastard! He knows about our church!'
No, beyond that.
'Saintess!'
Had she betrayed them? Really?
Then Yeon Hojeong chuckled.
"Well, whether he was born in the Sinhwa Church or recruited by them, it doesn't matter now."
Thud!
"Guhhh!"
A trembling groan escaped Jam Yeong-il-ho's lips. The mute point released, but the pulse point was resealed harder. This time, the infiltrating energy not only ravaged his body but sealed his qi sea too.
Sealing the qi sea—crippling the dantian. Like unbreakable shackles preventing any internal energy operation.
"I was curious."
Light burst from Yeon Hojeong's eyes.
"To infiltrate the Martial Alliance's inner castle means absolute confidence in stealth, regardless of raw power. Normally, you should've been watching her from the shadows when we escorted her. But I don't recall seeing any flies around."
In truth, only Yeon Hojeong could pull that off. He had spotted Gi U-hui as a Three Sects plant at a glance. Or close enough to certainty to act on it. Right after, he constantly scanned her surroundings for guards, assassins, or allies with his qi sense.
Jam Yeong-il-ho's stealth perfect? Hardly. Impressive, but not flawless. If it were, Yeon Hojeong couldn't have ambushed him.
Thus, Jam Yeong-il-ho hadn't been at Gi U-hui's side when the Uiseon Pavilion assassins pursued her.
Why?
"As I thought."
Yeon Hojeong's lip curled.
"You didn't trust us, nor did you want to stick close. Clearly, upper command forbade escorting her. So why throw the so-called Saintess into peril?"
He'd heard her bloodline was complicated, and many in the Sinhwa Church despised her. But she was the Church Lord's daughter. No matter how despised, without his permission, they wouldn't let noble blood die.
Thus, this guard hadn't aided her against assassins due to pressure from above.
'But now he's here on orders to steal information.'
It clicked. During the Saneumgyo chaos that ravaged the Central Plains, Sinhwa Church and Gwanghyeol Church stayed hidden. Because Saneumgyo sufficed? Unlikely. The damage was immense, but victory demanded overwhelming force swiftly. The other two should've joined.
'They weren't held back. They couldn't act.'
Internal issues? No. They wouldn't wage war unprepared.
Sinhwa and Gwanghyeol hadn't aided Saneumgyo—they couldn't.
Why?
Whirr. Whirrr.
Yeon Hojeong's mind spun terrifyingly. Amplified cognition. Contrasting past and present, piercing enemy positions and thoughts.
"...The government."
Yeon Hojeong's eyes flashed like lightning.
"You were handling the imperial palace and government offices."
"...!!"
He looked at Gi U-hui.
"Do you know how the Sinhwa Church plans to conquer the Central Plains?"
"Wh-what?!"
No answer needed. Her expression said it all.
'She doesn't know. She couldn't.'
Bringing her to the Alliance, he'd talked much with her. To him, Gi U-hui lacked the guile to deceive.
Yeon Hojeong grinned down at Jam Yeong-il-ho.
"What a lucky day. Not only new insights, but you alone reveal so many truths."
Sizzle.
White steam rose from Jam Yeong-il-ho's body—Yin Cold White Style's yin cold qi. Even with dantian crippled, he emitted energy. The mechanism unknown.
Yeon Hojeong's hand moved.
Bam!
"Kahk!"
Jam Yeong-il-ho spewed blood and lost consciousness. Dantian shattered—no more energy possible.
Gi U-hui paled at the ruthless strike.
"Hey, Physician Gi U-hui."
"...?!"
Yeon Hojeong smiled at her. She was certain: no face or aura she'd seen terrified her more. Eviler than her father, the Sinhwa Church Lord's killing intent.
"You refused to be the Tang Family Head's sponsor?"
"...!"
"Once in the Alliance, you gotta earn your keep beyond medicine. What makes you refuse? Huh?"
Gi U-hui's hands shook. Creeping dread plummeted her reason.
"Step up as sponsor. Got it?"
"Y-yes!"
"Come with me to the military bureau now. No more double-agent bullshit—fly right as the Alliance's new wing. Or what?"
Yeon Hojeong bared white teeth in a grin.
"Soar high. Gloriously. And lure in the prey who think themselves hunters, one by one."