The Black Frost Sword
Dawn broke. Brilliant morning sunlight washed the vast Yongneung Mountain Range in gold.
Yeop Pung stepped out of his tent and headed for the Azure Stone Terrace high on the mountainside. More than two thousand participants had gathered for this year's hunting tournament.
Every competitor was required to collect a hunting token before the match began. Crafted by the Military Supply Bureau through advanced refinement techniques, each token held not only a map of the entire hunting grounds but a mysterious function that absorbed the blood essence of slain beasts.
After registering his information with the clerk beneath the terrace, Yeop Pung pricked a drop of blood and let it soak into a pristine white jade token. The clerk handed it over with an explanation.
"Channel Profound Qi into it and a map of the hunting grounds will appear, along with your current location. After you hunt a beast, dip this side of the token in its blood to absorb the essence. Once the entire token is stained red with beast blood, your hunting task is complete, and you'll be eligible for the final Ascent Battle."
"Thank you."
Yeop Pung bowed politely, but his mind was already racing ahead. The tournament rules seemed simple enough, yet aside from a prohibition against harming other participants, there were virtually no restrictions. That meant countless variables — and countless opportunities.
If beast blood alone could stain a token red, it didn't matter who had actually killed the creature. In other words, the rules were practically an invitation to steal someone else's spoils.
And if filling the token with blood was the only way into the Ascent Battle, what happened if you lost it — or had it taken from you?
Behind those deceptively peaceful rules lurked a storm of blood. Yeop Pung finally understood why Han Un and the other elders had hammered home the importance of staying safe above all else.
On the path up to the terrace, he saw participants from every faction already clustered together, hashing out their tactics for once they entered the hunting grounds. The Cheonun Sect disciples had gathered in one place as well, clustered around Wang Maeng and the five-meridian experts like Beom Undae. Wang Maeng was speaking in a loud, carrying voice.
"I heard from some of the senior brothers that once we enter the hunting grounds, we'll all be scattered. So the most important thing after the start isn't hunting beasts — it's finding a way to regroup. There are a few methods, so remember them well. You can leave trail markers. You can light a campfire…"
Everyone was hanging on his words. That was when Beom Undae spotted Yeop Pung and let out a mocking laugh.
"Well, well. If it isn't Brother Yeop — the man who doesn't give us a second thought. What's this? Taking an interest in our little plans now?"
Every gaze swung toward Yeop Pung. He didn't take the bait for even a heartbeat. He walked straight past them.
"Forget it. Don't mind him."
Wang Maeng waved a hand, pulling everyone's attention back.
"Leave that guy to his own devices. What matters is us. And remember — the beast blood absorbed by the tokens can be shared. So we hunt in groups as much as possible, minimize our losses, and push through to Taibai Peak."
"Understood, Senior Brother Wang!"
The chorus of assent rang out.
The same scene was playing out all across the mountainside. From the night before, every scrap of information about the hunting tournament had become precious. A few enterprising martial artists were even doing a roaring trade in pamphlets with titles like A Guide to the Yongneung Terrain, The Ten Deadliest Beasts of Yongneung, and My Twenty-One Days Surviving the Wilds of Yongneung.
That was when the true heavyweights climbed onto the Azure Stone Terrace. A familiar voice boomed down from above, loud enough to rattle the air.
"Hahaha! Brother Gi! Brother Gi, don't walk away! I was just too drunk yesterday, that's all! Don't take it so hard! I'll apologize properly — tonight I'll treat you to dinner in Phoenix City. Come on, let's share a drink!"
Damn it!
Gi Yeo-hae climbed the terrace with a face like stone. He gave no sign of even hearing Maeng Chang-haeng trailing after him.
Is there anyone in this world more shameless? Yesterday the man vomited all over my face, and today he's acting like nothing happened and asking me out for drinks? I never even knew Cheonun Sect had a character like this!
Behind the two of them came the patriarchs of the other two clans, Ouyang Cheong and Gongsun Hong, along with Commander Naeng Chu of the Military Supply Bureau, clad in full armor.
The three of them looked at Gi Yeo-hae with something like pity and kept their distance. They were already worrying about what they would do if they got tangled up with Maeng Chang-haeng. He was a Peak Master of Cheonun Sect, so they could hardly treat him carelessly at an occasion like this. Getting involved would only sour their mood — staying far away was the wisest course.
"Commander Naeng. Begin the hunting tournament."
Gi Yeo-hae could endure it no longer. He all but barked the request for help.
And so, in that chaotic atmosphere, the curtain rose on this year's Autumn Hunt. Even the opening ceremony was rushed through.
Naeng Chu, the highest-ranking official of the Military Supply Bureau, delivered the shortest opening address of his life. He had originally had a great deal to say. He never got the chance. Maeng Chang-haeng, standing behind him, could no longer hold it in and let out a belch, and every face on the terrace turned the color of dirt. The stench of liquor he had been drinking all night spread like poison gas. Even a Spirit Realm expert like Naeng Chu could barely endure it.
In the end, Naeng Chu cut every scrap of fluff and said only what mattered.
"Ahem… Every year, the Military Supply Bureau and the heroes of Cheonun have prepared generous prizes for the top ten finishers, to encourage the young talents of the hunting tournament. This year, we have outdone ourselves. The three great clans and Cheonun Sect have all given without reservation, and the Military Supply Bureau has specially prepared a treasure to be awarded to this year's champion."
A collective gasp swept through the crowd. At Naeng Chu's words, every participant's eyes lit up.
"Behold."
He swept a hand through the air and summoned a dazzling light. Within it lay a long sword in a black scabbard. The blade was roughly three feet long and about two fingers wide. It had not even been drawn, and yet a sword-qi poured from it that seemed to bore into the bone — as if a keen edge were already pressed against every throat in the crowd.
What a fine sword!
A murmur of awe ran through the assembly.
Was that the legendary top-grade Profound Weapon?
A Profound Weapon, as the name implied, was a weapon forged from profound-grade spirit stones. From the moment of its making it carried a Profound Qi signature, and it was far keener than any ordinary blade. A top-grade Profound Weapon stood at the very peak of that class — there were fewer than twenty in all of Fengsang Commandery. Even within Cheonun Sect, only a handful of Peak Masters used such weapons as their own.
Naeng Chu seized the black-sheathed longsword and thrust it high into the sky.
"This sword is named Black Frost. The Commandery Administrator himself poured countless profound-grade spirit stones into its forging. Its edge is so keen that no weapon can stand against it. Not merely the finest famous sword in Fengsang Commandery — throughout all of Great Jin, there is none to match it."
Naeng Chu's words were polished enough. But his confident gaze slid toward a group standing nearest the terrace.
They all wore white martial uniforms with a great phoenix emblem emblazoned across the chest. They were the young geniuses hand-picked by the Military Supply Bureau.
Naeng Chu seemed to believe that no one present had the skill to snatch the Black Frost Sword from the Bureau's hands.
He failed to notice something important. The patriarchs of the three great clans, above the terrace and below it, and the participants themselves, were all staring at the Black Frost Sword with naked greed.
Among them, Yeop Pung studied Fengsang Commandery's finest Profound Weapon with a sharp, lingering gaze. A sword that fine — of course he wanted it too.
In truth, the Ascent Battle would be packed with formidable experts, so for Yeop Pung as he currently stood, it was a pie in the sky. But the hunting tournament had not even started yet. Perhaps an opportunity would present itself. He decided to think about it once the match was underway.
Having unveiled the Black Frost Sword, Naeng Chu swept his arm in a great arc and signaled the start of the competition. At the same moment, four colossal teleportation formations installed around the terrace flared to life and began transferring the participants into the hunting grounds.
This was the mechanism Wang Maeng had mentioned. Every participant would be sent through the formations to a random location within the hunting grounds, shattering their factions. It was designed to evaluate each competitor's individual ability to the fullest. What they did after that was entirely up to them.
"Move out!"
More than two thousand participants leapt into the teleportation formations without a moment's hesitation. They set off toward the Yongneung Mountain Range, still as the calm before a storm.
A flash of light flared before Yeop Pung's eyes, and the white jade token at his waist resonated with the teleportation formation. In an instant, he was transported deep into the Yongneung Mountain Range.
Dense coniferous forest closed in on every side, and weeds grew thick enough to swallow his ankles. Yongneung's elevation was high, and the enormous trees knitted together into a canopy so dense that sunlight itself could barely seep through, lending the woods a gloomy, oppressive air.
Yeop Pung drew a deep breath and muttered to himself.
"It's finally begun."
Honestly, it was Yeop Pung's first hunting tournament, and he could not quite hide the excitement and tension stirring in his chest. But the feeling lasted only a moment. He was immediately confronted with a serious problem.
He turned his head left and right, scanning his surroundings. Where the hell am I supposed to find a beast in this?
The notion that he could simply wander a circuit of the forest and drag every manner of beast back with him was absurd — utterly unrealistic.
Yongneung was vast, and it was true that beasts were plentiful, but searching for them in this rugged mountain range was a skill in its own right. You had to know how to tell direction. You had to distinguish the tracks and droppings of all kinds of beasts. You even had to be able to pick up an animal's trail from nothing but a scent on the air. All of it was knowledge.
Cheonun Sect had never taught any of it.
Looking back, it was understandable enough. The Cheonun Sect of today treated the hunting tournament with a shrug — figure it out yourselves. The disciples barely had time to train. Where was the leisure to learn this kind of useless trivia?
And then it happened. Whether Yeop Pung's luck was simply that good, or whether something else was at work, a rustling sounded in the grass behind him, and a black shadow burst out.
Huh? What was that?
Every nerve in Yeop Pung's body snapped taut on instinct. Profound Qi surged through him in a full-body circuit. He spun, dropped into a crouch, and flattened himself against the earth, fixing the black shadow that had lunged out with a fierce, unblinking stare. In a heartbeat the air went taut with tension, and the two of them faced off, each watching the other with wary intensity.
Every hair on Yeop Pung's body stood on end. What kind of vicious beast is this?
Then, in the next instant, his eyes went round.
The black shadow across from him gave a twitch of its long ears. Beneath a tuft of gray fur, a pair of glittering red eyes peeked out.
This is… a rabbit!
Yeop Pung was so deflated he couldn't find a single word.