Chapter 40
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 40
The Alliance Elder shouted, pulling a blue Sound Transmission Talisman from his sleeve.
“Hold him off while I call for reinforcements!”
The navy-robed cultivator lunged forward with his Black Iron Spear.
Whoosh—
The spiritual power swirling around the spearhead coalesced into a single point. The moment he twisted the shaft, three spear shadows—each as thick as a man’s torso—fanned out like a folding screen and swept across the clearing. Two of them hurtled ruthlessly toward the Everlasting Spring Sect disciples, intending to slaughter them in a single strike.
Simultaneously, the six Bronze Flying Swords belonging to the grey-robed Alliance Elder dispersed.
Three targeted Lee Hyun, while the rest cut off the disciples’ flanks and their escape route into the sky. Slender threads of bronze light connected the flying swords, severing all avenues of retreat.
The earth cratered as fallen leaves and stones were whipped up into a raging storm.
“Ten-Direction Yin Wood Formation!”
At Sim Yeon-ju’s shout, the Qi Refining disciples from Pill Cauldron Peak scattered, planting their formation tablets in their designated positions.
Wuuung—
Emerald spiritual light linked the ten disciples. A thin barrier of light blossomed into a dome, enveloping all twelve of them.
Bae Gyeong-song stepped before the formation and slammed both palms into the ground.
Rumble!
Three layers of earthen walls surged up at an angle. From Sim Yeon-ju’s sleeves, four red talismans took flight.
Swiiish!
Four fireballs shot out in a crisscrossing pattern toward the spear shadows and flying swords.
Yet even as the fireballs collided with them, the momentum of the spear shadows barely wavered. At this rate, the moment they struck, the earthen walls and the light barrier would be pulverized together.
In that split second, Lee Hyun moved.
An explosive suction force erupted from his left hand. His target was the blue Sound Transmission Talisman gleaming between the Alliance Elder’s fingers.
At the same time, the Mountain-Suppressing Sword in his right hand slashed twice through the air with imperceptible speed.
Flash!
Two streaks of dazzling sword light shot forth, precisely severing the midsections of the spear shadows hurtling toward the disciples. The heavy spear shadows of the Foundation Establishment cultivator split in half, exploding in midair.
Simultaneously, the Sound Transmission Talisman tore free from the Alliance Elder’s grip and was sucked into Lee Hyun’s left hand.
“What—?”
Clenching his fist, Lee Hyun blurred into motion. In the instant the blue talisman was crushed to dust, the final spear shadow aimed at him and the three bronze flying swords cleaved through empty air.
Almost at the same moment, the weakened remnants of the two severed spear shadows and the remaining three flying swords slammed into the disciples’ defensive perimeter.
Thud! Boom-boom-crash!
The first earthen wall split apart, and the second collapsed.
Fortunately, the third wall held against the remnants of the spear shadows.
However, as the three bronze flying swords pierced through the fireballs and pressed down upon the green barrier, all ten disciples coughed up blood and groaned in agony.
Crack!
Fissures spread across the light barrier.
Even so, not a single one of them let go of their formation tablet.
When one disciple was thrown aside, the two next to him grabbed his waist and arm. The severed beam of green light immediately reconnected.
Seizing that opening, the navy-robed cultivator closed in on Lee Hyun.
The Black Iron Spear pierced clean through his chest.
“Junior Martial Brother Lee!” Sim Yeon-ju shrieked.
Yet Lee Hyun’s body wavered and dissolved.
It was the technique of Form-Shifting Displacement.
Thump!
Lee Hyun had already closed the distance, appearing right in front of the navy-robed cultivator’s face.
The cultivator twisted, jerking the spear shaft upward.
Screeech!
Three black iron rings fitted around the spear shaft slid past the tip with a harsh screech.
Shot forward, the iron rings swelled to the size of wagon wheels in midair, spinning furiously.
Tracing distinct arcs, the three hurtled toward Lee Hyun, aiming to shatter his neck, waist, and legs.
Whoosh!
Darting forward, Lee Hyun’s figure traced a semicircle in the air. The first iron ring grazed the hem of his robe; the second whisked past his back. When the third blocked his path, the Mountain-Suppressing Sword slashed diagonally.
Crack!
The black iron ring split in two, its halves embedding themselves in trees on either side of him.
Lee Hyun’s left hand reached toward the Black Iron Spear.
Wuuung!
The shaft was yanked a full handspan to the side.
What the—?!
The navy-robed cultivator forced the spear back on trajectory with brute strength.
By then, however, the Mountain-Suppressing Sword had already slipped inside his guard.
Lee Hyun’s sword radiated an uncanny brilliance as it carved a magnificent diagonal arc.
The navy-robed cultivator looked down at the faint, thin line traced from his shoulder across to his opposite hip.
Behind him stood five thick, ancient trees.
Rustle.
The tops of the ancient trees tilted at the exact same angle.
A moment later, the cultivator’s upper torso slid down along that very line.
In that instant, extreme terror flickered through the Alliance Elder’s eyes as he witnessed his comrade cleaved in a single blow.
What kind of monster is this?!
He knew he had no chance in close quarters. Without hesitation, the Alliance Elder soared into the sky, weaving hand seals.
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
Above the Everlasting Spring Sect disciples, the six bronze flying swords formed a massive sword net and plunged down like a thunderbolt.
He intended to slaughter the disciples to tie Lee Hyun down while he made his own escape into the high heavens.
“Everyone, defend!”
At Sim Yeon-ju’s cry, the disciples poured out all their spiritual power and talismans.
Kaboom!
Fireballs, earthen walls, and stone spikes surged upward, clashing against the sword net, but they were no match for the brutal might of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Just as the barrier of the Ten-Direction Yin Wood Formation shredded and the six flying swords were about to tear into the disciples’ flesh—
Lee Hyun, having just cut down the navy-robed cultivator, spun around and stomped heavily on the earth.
Riding the recoil, he vaulted into the air and thrust his left hand toward the airborne Alliance Elder.
Before the splinters of the toppling trees could even touch the ground, Lee Hyun’s figure shot skyward.
“Gah?!”
As if snagged by an invisible anchor, the Alliance Elder’s ascending body snapped backward and was dragged downward toward Lee Hyun at a terrifying speed.
Along with the Alliance Elder’s scream, the flying swords forming the sword net wavered and scattered.
With his own life on the line, the Elder completely forgot about killing the disciples.
He drew a blue bead from his sleeve and crushed it.
Chwaaa—
The water sealed inside the bead surged outward in a spherical wave, forming a water screen that enveloped him.
At the same time, the six bronze flying swords tore away from the disciples, frantically recalling to their master.
Swish-swish-swish!
The flying swords once again formed a hexagon.
The six blades began spinning in alternate directions.
A sword wheel surrounded Lee Hyun from all sides.
The Alliance Elder clenched his fist.
The sword wheel contracted.
Lee Hyun assumed an opening stance.
In the Alliance Elder’s mind, a streak of sword light flashed—the very strike that had pierced his flank back on Jeokyo Island.
It’s the same technique from back then!
He condensed the water screen before his chest. A double layer of light settled over the center of the sword wheel as well.
Right then, the Mountain-Suppressing Sword in Lee Hyun’s hand trembled faintly.
In a flash too rapid for the eye to track, the tip of his sword pointed in six distinct directions.
Sixth Stance of the Six Swords of the Single Ultimate.
Whirling Six Flowers.
From a single point, six rays of pure white sword light blossomed.
Clang! Cl-cl-cl-clang!
Six collisions overlapped into a single, long, crystalline chime.
The bronze sword wheel burst wide open.
Between the trajectories of the repelled flying swords, pure white sword lights curved and intersected, as if six petals were blooming in succession across the void.
The Alliance Elder’s vision was swallowed by the brilliant radiance.
He couldn’t tell which ray of light to block first.
No—from the very beginning, not one of those six rays had been aimed at him.
They were mere petals blossoming to conceal the single, fatal point of the Mountain-Suppressing Sword.
At the center of the forced-open sword wheel.
Light flashed.
A needle-thin hole pierced through the water screen.
Lee Hyun brushed past the Alliance Elder and flipped his body with the Wind-Riding Formula. Treading upon the air, he landed softly atop the stump of a severed tree.
Suspended in midair, the Alliance Elder remained motionless for several moments.
Only then did a crimson dot appear at the center of his chest.
“Even faster… than back then…”
A thin jet of blood sprayed from that red dot.
The Alliance Elder plummeted from the sky.
Thud.
Sim Yeon-ju stood frozen, her red flying sword still raised.
Bae Gyeong-song couldn’t even release the hand seal sustaining the cracked light barrier. The ten disciples also stared at Lee Hyun, still clutching their formation tablets.
In the space of a few breaths, two Foundation Establishment cultivators had died.
Belatedly, sound crashed over the clearing.
Rumble—
The severed trees crashed down, and the six deflected bronze flying swords embedded themselves into rock and earth one after another. The section of forest carved up by the sword net collapsed in heaps, and the green light barrier that had held out till the end disintegrated into motes of light.
A gust of wind cleared away the leaves and dust.
At its center stood Lee Hyun.
Flick.
He snapped his sword, flicking off the blood.
Silence fell over the clearing.
The disciples of the Everlasting Spring Sect looked back and forth between the two fallen Foundation Establishment cultivators and Lee Hyun.
Bae Gyeong-song parted his lips.
“Two Foundation Establishment cultivators…”
Sim Yeon-ju swallowed dryly.
“Junior Martial Brother Lee.”
“Please wait a moment. The two of you should look after the injured junior martial brothers and sisters. I will erase our traces first.”
Lee Hyun approached the two cultivators’ corpses.
Identity tokens hung from their waists.
With a single flash of the Mountain-Suppressing Sword, both identity tokens split apart.
Using the Fireball Technique, Lee Hyun melted the tokens until no trace remained, then used the Soil-Turning Spell to scatter the residue deep underground.
Next, he inspected their two storage pouches.
Using the knowledge of formations and the Qi-Observation Technique he had acquired during his time at the Everlasting Spring Sect, he checked the formation inscriptions inside and out. There were no hidden restrictions, nor any trace of spiritual power leaking outward.
From inside the pouches, he took out every unidentified talisman, jade token, directional instrument, or item that could potentially be used for tracking, destroying them just as he had the identity tokens.
He kept only the spirit stones, pills, standard talismans, and common spirit materials.
Having swiftly sorted what to keep and what to discard, Lee Hyun waved his hand. The six bronze flying swords, the Black Iron Spear, the two scattered iron rings, and their severed shards were instantly drawn toward him.
The craftsmanship of these two Foundation Establishment cultivators’ magical artifacts was extraordinary.
Rippling wave patterns ran along the blades of the flying swords; when the six swords were laid side by side, the patterns aligned into a continuous whole.
The Black Iron Spear showed no seam between its shaft and head, and dense formation inscriptions glimmered beneath its lustrous black surface.
Either of these would be far beyond the reach of a Qi Refining cultivator, even if they spent a lifetime hoarding spirit stones.
These are definitely high-grade Magical Artifacts! Tier 2 low-grade or mid-grade spirit materials must have been used… It would be a waste to throw them away.
Lee Hyun scrutinized the two artifacts repeatedly with the Qi-Observation Technique. For now, there seemed to be no suspicious restrictions or formation inscriptions.
The Azure Tide Merchant Alliance is less a unified sect and more a merchant coalition established by the heads of several Foundation Establishment clans. They each practiced their clan’s own inheritances, and there likely wasn’t any standardized system for artifact crafting. The chances that tracking mechanisms were engraved into every single one of these are slim to none.
Lee Hyun stowed the flying swords, spear, iron rings, and shards into his storage pouch.
Next, he incinerated the corpses and pooled blood with the Fireball Technique.
Whoosh—
The black ash was buried beneath overturned soil using the Soil-Turning Spell.
Only then did Lee Hyun turn around.
Sim Yeon-ju asked, “That man called you Badger, Junior Martial Brother Lee. What on earth did he mean by that?”
“It was an alias I used a long time ago.”
“An alias…”
Bae Gyeong-song looked at Lee Hyun, as if gauging his aura anew. “Then is your cultivation realm of Qi Refining 7th layer a lie as well?”
“No. My cultivation realm truly is the 7th layer of Qi Refining.”
That reply bewildered the two even further.
A disciple behind them mumbled unconsciously, “The 7th layer of Qi Refining killed two Foundation Establishment cultivators… just like that?”
Sim Yeon-ju’s expression showed she had countless questions.
Over the past seventeen years, they had concocted pills together, carried out missions, and shared tea and wine while conversing. The Lee Dong-i they knew was a taciturn, cautious alchemist from a rogue cultivator background.
Yet the junior martial brother standing before them had slain two Foundation Establishment cultivators in the blink of an eye.
Sim Yeon-ju asked hesitantly, “Did you enter the Everlasting Spring Sect to deceive us?”
“That was never my intention.”
After a moment of thought, Lee Hyun answered honestly. “I simply wished to cultivate on a good spirit vein and study alchemy and formations. I never harbored any intention of harming the Everlasting Spring Sect.”
Helping up a fallen disciple, Bae Gyeong-song said, “I believe you, Junior Martial Brother. If you had intended harm, you would have had no reason to save us just now.”
Sim Yeon-ju slowly nodded as well.
Gratitude washed over her before vigilance ever could. Had it not been for Lee Hyun, not a single one of them would have survived.
“Thank you,” Sim Yeon-ju said.
Lee Hyun bowed his head briefly. “I learned a great deal from the two of you as well.”
“Are you leaving?”
“I will move on my own.”
Sim Yeon-ju’s expression hardened. “You’re parting ways with us right now?”
“They recognized my past. With an overseas Golden Core cultivator attacking the Everlasting Spring Sect, moving together with all of you will only place you in greater danger.”
Lee Hyun unfastened his Everlasting Spring Sect identity token, took off his green long robe, folded it neatly, and handed it to Sim Yeon-ju.
“It seems I can no longer use the name Lee Dong-i either.”
“What is your real name?” Bae Gyeong-song asked.
“It is better that you do not know.”
Bae Gyeong-song wore a look of regret but pressed no further.
Lee Hyun clasped his hands toward the two and the disciples behind them. “May you all survive in safety.”
Bae Gyeong-song clasped his hands in return. “Junior Martial Brother Lee, you as well… No, may you be safe as well, Fellow Daoist.”
Sim Yeon-ju did not change how she addressed him to the very end.
“Farewell, Junior Martial Brother Lee.”
Lee Hyun looked at them one last time, then turned away.
Ssshh—
His body melted into the earth.
Moments later, only the disciples of the Everlasting Spring Sect remained in the clearing.
* * *
A little over two shichen later.
Azure Wood Ridge, roughly a thousand li north of the Everlasting Spring Sect.
Lee Hyun slowed his pace about twenty-odd li away from Azure Wood Ridge. Detouring deep underground, he confirmed the perimeter of the Hojeon Defensive Formation, then cautiously ascended close to the surface.
Wuuung—
The entirety of Azure Wood Ridge was enveloped in a blue barrier.
There were no signs of a surprise attack. Disciples stationed there and those who had arrived to harvest spirit plants were hurriedly transferring warehouse goods into storage pouches. Flying boats lined the stone platforms, charged with spirit stones so they could depart at a moment’s notice.
Among them, a familiar voice drifted over.
“How many crates did you say?”
It was Na Gyeong-mun.
He was gathering crates alongside the Qi Refining disciples. Though he looked busy preparing for the evacuation, he seemed completely unharmed.
From a distance, Lee Hyun watched him for a quiet moment.
He’s safe.
The people of Azure Wood Ridge were already preparing to evacuate.
With Foundation Establishment cultivators present as well, there was nothing more for him to do.
Lee Hyun quietly turned back.
Leaving Azure Wood Ridge behind, he continued downward.
Three li underground.
Ten li underground.
Twenty li underground.
The deeper he went, the less soil there was, replaced by dense, solid bedrock. The air grew sweltering, and the fire qi flowing along the earth veins could be felt everywhere.
Finally reaching a depth of around twenty-five li, Lee Hyun slowed down.
Let’s travel at this depth.
Even if it proved somewhat cumbersome, Lee Hyun chose to prioritize safety.
Tunnel No. 2 was located about 21,000 li south of his current position.
He began carefully making his way south.
* * *
Half a month later.
A familiar current of earthfire could be sensed up ahead.
A small cavity, artificially hewn between dense layers of bedrock, came into view.
On the ground lay the Nine-Flame Fire-Accumulation Formation, composed of nine red formation stones. At its center rested the bronze pill cauldron purchased long ago from the Bureau of Heavenly Service.
Everything was exactly as he had left it.
Lee Hyun placed his hand on the surface of the cauldron.
“Phew… I’ve arrived.”
He packed the red formation stones and the cauldron into his storage pouch, wiped clean all traces of formation inscriptions on the floor, and ascended straight up by ten li.
Fifteen li underground.
A human head popped out from the earth.
Tunnel No. 2.
Drip.
Somewhere in the silent passage, a drop of water fell.
“Alright. Time to prepare for the move.”
The first thing he did was organize the space inside his storage pouches.
Lee Hyun laid out his three storage pouches and the two obtained from the Azure Tide Merchant Alliance’s Foundation Establishment cultivators on the warehouse floor.
Consolidating their contents into a single pouch, he emptied the remaining four completely.
Lee Hyun started by packing the warehouse items.
Pills and talismans, books recording the changes in the spirit fields and alchemy results, samples of medicinal herbs and soil, paper, timber, and even tools disappeared into the storage pouches one by one.
Next, the popular fiction novels covering an entire wall of the lounge caught his eye.
Purchased one or two sets at a time whenever he visited markets or mortal cities, they had grown to thousands of volumes before he knew it.
“No need to take all of these.”
Browsing the books, Lee Hyun set his criteria:
Books he had not yet read.
Masterpieces worth rereading time and again.
And books where reading them once was enough.
“Most of them fall into the third category…”
In the end, out of thousands of books, only a hundred or so went into his storage pouch.
Next were the spirit fields.
Moving from spirit field No. 1-1 to No. 1-7, Lee Hyun stored the spirit plants in his pouches, just as he had done many times before. Then, for the Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng in fields No. 2-1 through No. 2-5, he lifted the slabs of soil whole and stacked them neatly inside a pouch.
Last were the experimental fields. The spirit plants, which had been grown to varying ages to test their effects on bone age, were individually tagged and transferred.
As he moved the plants, the Fluffy Bees buzzed frantically around him.
Bzzzz—
Squeak. Squeak-squeak.
The little creatures seemed anxious as they watched their spirit fields vanish.
“We’re moving again,” Lee Hyun said.
Squeak?
“Let’s find a better place this time.”
Moving through the spirit fields, hunting burrows, and natural fissures in turn, Lee Hyun gathered all the Fluffy Bees into his spirit-insect pouch.
Bzzz— Bzzzz—
It took half a day to stow away every last bee.
He then dismantled the water supply systems and any other reusable components, packing them into his storage pouch as well.
At last, Tunnel No. 2 stood completely empty. Over five hundred years had passed since he first excavated this place. This was where he had returned after serving as the leader of the Heaven-Seizing Society, and where he had tended his spirit plants and Fluffy Bees while commuting from his hiding place in the Everlasting Spring Sect after fleeing Jeokyo Island.
Lee Hyun closed his eyes, listening to the silence for a long moment. Not a single sound could be heard.
He made one final circuit around the entire tunnel, checking the locations of the bedrock pillars that supported the main stone chambers and passages. Then, using the Soil-Turning Spell, he began filling the side paths and smaller chambers with earth.
Drawing the Mountain-Suppressing Sword, he cleaved through the bedrock supporting the tunnel.
Kugugugu—
Deprived of structural support, the ceilings and walls began to cave in, one by one, from the inside out. The spaces where the spirit fields once lay, the warehouse, the cultivation chamber, and the martial training ground—all collapsed.
Finally, the wall engraved with the words “Tunnel No. 2” tilted and vanished beneath a cascade of falling rock.
Kwoooom—
When the tremors subsided, not even the Earth-Sensing Technique could detect any trace of the man-made tunnels.
Lee Hyun descended deeper, more than twenty li underground, before setting off toward the north.
* * *
One month later, while still moving deep beneath the earth, Lee Hyun came to a halt.
“Hm?”
Catching a droplet of water seeping from the bedrock on his fingertip, he touched it to his tongue.
Salty.
Have I reached the coast?
In the past, he had noticed seawater seeping into underground aquifers as he neared the sea, mingling with the fresh water.
Lee Hyun began to ascend.
Ten li underground.
Three li underground.
When he finally emerged through a secluded fissure in the rocks, a familiar salty breeze brushed across his face. Before his eyes stretched the azure sea.
This was not the southern coast of the Ram Kingdom, which bordered the Southern Nether Sea, but the northern coast of the Haeo Kingdom, situated north of Ram.
The thirty-thousand-li strait he had crossed over five hundred years ago, from Haemun City to Cheongjin Port—it was time to cross it again, but in reverse.
The following day, at Cheongjin Port in the Haeo Kingdom, he found that the port’s name had not changed despite the centuries that had passed.
Lee Hyun disguised himself as an ordinary peddler in his mid-forties and sought out a ship crossing the strait to Haemun City in the Haereung Kingdom.
“Do you go to Haemun City?”
“Aye, we do. The Changhae Ship departs the morning after tomorrow. It’s a direct voyage. If the winds favor us, we’ll arrive in about fifty days.”
Two days later, the sound of a drum announcing departure reverberated across the port.
Dong—
Mooring lines were cast off, and furled sails unfurled one by one.
Flap! Snap!
Catching the wind, the Changhae Ship departed from Cheongjin Port.
During the voyage, Lee Hyun occasionally strolled the deck, watching the sailors, merchants, and children running about. In his cabin, he read the popular novels he had bought at the port.
On the twentieth night, the wind was calm.
Lying on the deserted aft deck, Lee Hyun gazed up at the night sky. Innumerable stars hung above. With every gentle roll of the sea, the starlight mirrored on the water stretched long before shattering. Whenever the ship crested a wave, it felt as though the sky and ocean tilted together.
It was a vista one could never behold underground.
With his fingers interlaced behind his head, Lee Hyun lay there in tranquil stillness. Tonight’s sky was virtually unchanged from the one he had seen while crossing this very sea more than five hundred years ago.
Though cultivation sects rose and fell and the borders of mortal kingdoms shifted, the starlight rippled across the water as if none of it mattered in the slightest.
“Not bad.”
On the forty-seventh day of the voyage, a sprawling port city came into view.
Bwooooom—
“It’s Haemun City!”
Passengers began gathering their luggage.
Haemun City, situated at the southern tip of the Haereung Kingdom.
Lee Hyun disembarked and passed through maritime customs. The city had grown much larger than he remembered. Without lingering, he headed straight north.
The Ram Kingdom might be embroiled in war with forces from beyond the Southern Nether Sea, but its territory was vast. Having already crossed the ocean, he was in no hurry. Covering a leisurely thousand li a day, he took his time taking in the sights of the world.
Five days later, in a small county seat in the northern reaches of the Haereung Kingdom, Lee Hyun stepped into an inn along the main thoroughfare, both to rest and to watch the world go by.
“What can I get for you?” the waiter asked.
“A pot of tea and a bottle of liquor, please.”
“No food?”
“None.”
The waiter gave Lee Hyun a quizzical look but didn’t pry. Shortly after, hot tea and a clear grain liquor were placed on his table.
Lee Hyun drank a cup of tea, then poured himself a cup of liquor. The sweet warmth of the grain liquor mingled with the bitter, lingering aroma of tea on his palate. Nearby patrons shot sideways glances at him, wondering at the strange customer who ordered no food and simply alternated between tea and liquor.
Just then, the front door swung open.
Creeeak—
Five martial artists carrying swords and sabers stepped inside. Every one of them radiated a solid, disciplined aura. The middle-aged man leading them had a long scar tracing his temple, while the four young martial artists trailing him moved with synchronized strides and controlled breathing.
Showing little interest, Lee Hyun lifted his teacup once more.
At that exact moment, the Spirit-Insect Pouch at his waist trembled ever so slightly.
Bzzz.
The Fluffy Bees inside had suddenly grown agitated.
What’s gotten into them?
Lee Hyun placed a hand over the pouch. They were reacting just as they did whenever they discovered spirit insects or eggs inside hunting burrows. It was as if they perceived the martial artists as prey.
Are they trying to eat people?! These vicious little terrors… Have they finally shown their true colors? Are the bumblebees of the cultivation world just built different?
As he calmed them with a mental command, the middle-aged martial artist in the lead froze in his tracks. He suddenly clutched his lower abdomen.
“Senior Martial Brother, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. A sudden chill just ran through me.”
The martial artists behind him looked around warily.
“I feel strange as well.”
“Doesn’t it feel like someone is watching us?”
Their gazes swept across the inn before lingering briefly on Lee Hyun’s table. Lee Hyun was merely sipping his tea. Even so, an inexplicable dread crept over the martial artists.
The middle-aged man murmured in a hushed voice, “Let’s go somewhere else.”
“But—”
“Hurry.”
Barely moments after stepping inside, the five men turned and hurried out of the inn.
Lee Hyun looked back and forth between the closing door and his Spirit-Insect Pouch.
What was that about?
* * *
Two days later, Lee Hyun paused while traveling along the main road in the northern Haereung Kingdom.
Beside the thoroughfare stood an enormous boundary marker, towering at three times the height of a grown man. Gilded characters were deeply etched into the black stone surface:
[Heavenly Yang Kingdom, Nammun Pass]
Beyond it, banners emblazoned with a black sun fluttered atop fortress walls.
“Heavenly Yang Kingdom?”
Lee Hyun retrieved a worn map from his robes and unfurled it. According to the route in his memory, he should have had to traverse two more mortal kingdoms after leaving Haereung before reaching Heavenly Yang. Yet here lay its border, right before his eyes.
Did I take a wrong turn?
He checked the sun, the mountain ranges, and the surrounding rivers, but his direction was undeniably correct.
An old man selling tea near the boundary marker glanced at Lee Hyun’s aged map and burst into laughter.
“Bwahaha! Who’d you buy that map from? Looks like you got swindled, friend. Just how ancient is that thing?”
“Has Heavenly Yang always stretched this far south?”
“What do you mean, ‘this far’? This place has been Heavenly Yang territory for over two hundred years!”
“And what happened to the two kingdoms that used to lie in between?”
“One lost in war, and the other threw open its gates willingly. Both are provinces of Heavenly Yang now.”
“Heavenly Yang seems to have expanded considerably.”
The old man let out a dry chuckle. “Just what era are you living in, mister?”
Lee Hyun gazed down the wide road stretching past the boundary marker. He had known Heavenly Yang was a martial powerhouse that had fiercely pressured the Untaek Kingdom to its north, but he had never imagined it had also swallowed two whole kingdoms to its south.
* * *
At an inn near Nammun Pass, Lee Hyun spread a newly purchased map and a book titled Records of the Northern Region of Gonchang across the table.
Over the past several hundred years, changes far greater than he had ever imagined had swept across this land.