The Scent of Blood on the Mountain Path
Wi Seong-ha had just delivered a textbook example of a completely flustered self-introduction. Wi Ji-ryang wasn't about to let the opportunity slip by.
"…Stop laughing."
Wi Seong-ha ground her teeth and forced her anger down as her brother kept jabbing her in the side with his elbow, openly mocking her. But Wi Ji-ryang had already seized the perfect opening. Age gap of six years or not, when a big brother catches his little sister’s weakness, how could he possibly resist teasing her?
Wi Ji-ryang kept needling his silent sister until he finally decided he’d had enough fun. He dropped the teasing tone and spoke normally again.
They had already finished their formal introductions back when they first met at the rogue martial artists’ gathering. No matter how straightforward and bold Wi Seong-ha usually acted—like a proper daughter of a martial family—she was still a woman. Wi Ji-ryang figured that even he had been stunned by Namgung Woo’s appearance the first time he saw him, so it made sense that his sister might feel a little tense.
"…Do you think I’m the kind of shallow person who only cares about looks?"
"Then what? What’s the problem?"
Wi Ji-ryang glanced ahead at the group walking a short distance in front of them. Yang Kvae was walking somewhat awkwardly, Yang Jeong was doing the same, and Namgung Woo appeared to be giving them some kind of advice. Even their ordinary movement was being treated as footwork training. Naturally their pace should have slowed down, yet they were somehow moving faster than Wi Ji-ryang and his sister, who were lightly using their lightness techniques. It was enough to tell him that Namgung Woo’s level was considerable.
"You still haven’t noticed? Seriously, if my brother becomes the sect leader, I’m going to have mountains of worries. Mountains!"
"Just spit it out already. Oh, Senior Brother, did you notice something?"
"Hmm. That man called Yang Kvae is definitely in the Peak Realm, though."
That’s men for you. Wi Seong-ha clicked her tongue and muttered the one thing only she had noticed in the group, keeping her voice as low as possible. Since she had not yet reached the Peak Realm and could not use sound transmission, she was doing her best to make sure Namgung Woo wouldn’t hear.
"That outfit. It’s made from the blood silk of the Dark Shadow Lord."
"Huh?"
Even the sect leader of the Clear Water Sect—the father of the Wi siblings—had been unable to obtain such a thing. It wasn’t that he lacked the ability; the sect leader simply had a frugal personality. Still, the fact remained that it was an item so expensive it would be considered extravagant even for a sect leader. And a rogue martial artist was walking around wearing it? While wandering the martial world, where power ruled everything?
That was only possible for the three Supreme Peak experts among the thousands of rogue martial artists. Or someone with a powerful backer equal to them.
> [Who among the rogue martial artists has reached the Transcendent Realm?]
Wi Ji-ryang sent the question clumsily through sound transmission. Lee Gong-seo, a fully mature Peak expert, answered smoothly.
> [The Rogue King, the Yellow Dragon Tiger, and the Undefeated Battle Guest. Those three.]
> [Is there anyone whose appearance matches…]
> [No one.]
All three were known to be men in their forties. As Transcendent Realm experts, they would possess bodies younger than their actual age, but that still didn’t match Namgung Woo, who looked to be in his early twenties at most.
> [Then it must be the latter.]
> [If he came from Hebei, there’s only one possibility that comes to mind…]
"No way…?"
Wi Ji-ryang swallowed the rest of his words. Even after thinking it himself, the idea was so absurd that he let out a hollow laugh. Blood silk of the Dark Shadow Lord’s caliber was something only direct-line descendants or great elders of the Hebei Paeng Family could wear. And such people were far too famous; even if they tried to hide their identities, they would be recognized immediately.
The only slight possibility was the veiled woman, but…
'A direct-line young lady of the Hebei Paeng Family working as a rogue martial artist? That’s insane.'
The reason the Seven Great Families were called “great families” was precisely because they had held power across many generations. They were fundamentally different from the Four Great Powers of the Black Martial Alliance, which had only risen sharply a few decades ago.
"By the way, Seong-ha. You’ve got good eyes. How did you even notice that?"
"…I’m a woman too, you know?"
Explaining the actual process would have been far too embarrassing, so Wi Seong-ha summed it up in that single sentence. How could she say it? At first she had been completely distracted by Namgung Woo’s face. Then she had stared at the woman beside him like a rival, and only then noticed that her clothing didn’t look like ordinary silk. Having seen actual garments made from the Dark Shadow Lord’s blood silk while following the Clear Water Sect leader, she had barely managed to recognize it. That unique luster. The blood silk gave off a more beautiful light than even the finest brocade, and it had been burned into Wi Seong-ha’s memory.
"Anyway, they’re definitely not ordinary people."
"We knew that from the start. The fact that he’s already a Peak expert at that age puts him far beyond ordinary."
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!"
Meanwhile, Namgung Woo was listening to every word of the quiet conversation coming from behind them.
"Looks like they figured it out."
Together with Paeng Ha-ryeong.
"Indeed. Is it usually this easy to notice?"
At Namgung Woo’s question, Paeng Ha-ryeong felt a pang of guilt. She cleared her throat awkwardly. 'It’s my fault we were found out.'
Namgung Woo was wearing a thin outer robe over his martial outfit. The robe was made of perfectly ordinary cotton, so there was no way it would give them away. Not unless someone used a special eye technique capable of seeing through fabric. The same went for Paeng Ha-ryeong. She had been wearing a sheer silk veil over her martial attire to hide what was underneath.
'How dare she stare at Gaga like that…!'
But the moment she saw the way Wi Seong-ha was looking at Namgung Woo, Paeng Ha-ryeong had removed the veil she had been wearing to conceal her identity. It was a warning: she had enough sense to figure out their status, so she should back off before things got unpleasant. The fact that she hadn’t removed her face veil entirely could be seen as the last remnant of Paeng Ha-ryeong’s self-restraint.
In any case, neither Namgung Woo nor the Yang twins seemed to have any intention of living as rogue martial artists forever. Accepting this request and operating as part of the rogue martial artists’ group had been partly for gathering information and partly due to Namgung Woo’s personal preferences. Paeng Ha-ryeong judged that this level of impulsive behavior was still within an acceptable range.
That said, it was still rather embarrassing to admit out loud. In short, she didn’t want to reveal that she had gotten into a territorial fight with another woman.
"She must have sharp eyes. By the way, Gaga, could you hear everything they were saying?"
Paeng Ha-ryeong smoothly changed the subject. The “conversation” she referred to naturally included not just their spoken words but their sound transmissions as well. Understanding her meaning, Namgung Woo gave a small nod.
Their sound transmissions sounded incredibly clumsy to his ears. Eavesdropping on sound transmission from an absolute expert like Paeng Hu-sang would be nearly impossible without borrowing the power of mystical arts, but catching the stuttering transmissions of someone who had only just stepped into the Peak Realm was simple for Namgung Woo. Paeng Hu-sang or Gwak Dan could probably have done it too. It wouldn’t be difficult for the East Sea Matchless, Han Gye-ran, either, and even Paeng Ja-ryeong could likely manage it with a little concentration.
Not thinking it was anything worth bragging about, Namgung Woo answered lightly.
"Nothing important."
"Really?"
But something about Namgung Woo’s mood seemed a little different… Just as Paeng Ha-ryeong was about to ask another question, the Yang twins’ voices abruptly cut her off.
"Aish! Captain, give us some advice! When stepping here with the left foot, how exactly should we circulate our internal energy?"
The footwork technique the Yang twins were training in was not Namgung Woo’s primary movement art, the Infinite Step. The Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms were powerful enough on their own, but to truly display their full potential, they needed suitable footwork to support them. For the twins, whose martial repertoire outside of their internal cultivation method had been rather lacking, Namgung Woo had taught them the Reverse Derivative Step Technique he had used before learning the Infinite Step.
Unlike the Infinite Step, which functioned as a high-level technique with multiple abilities simply by taking steps, the Reverse Derivative Step performed only the fundamental role of footwork. Even so, the brothers’ skills were rising at an astonishing rate. Yang Kvae in particular, having recently broken through to the Peak Realm and opened a new chapter in his martial path, showed incredible scholarly zeal. He was throwing himself into training voluntarily, just like now.
"Put strength into the Great Ton Point on the Liver Channel of Foot Jueyin while simultaneously releasing internal energy from the five Qi Gathering Points on the right side… but I’ll explain that in detail later."
Namgung Woo suddenly shifted his gaze to one side.
"For now, let’s review everything you’ve trained so far through actual combat."
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire atmosphere changed.
A fishy scent of blood drifted in from somewhere. It wasn’t an illusion. A thick, metallic smell of blood was truly assaulting everyone’s noses.
"Kekeke, what a good sense you have, young ones."
Squelch. Squelch.
With sounds like someone stepping through puddles, an old man walked out onto the mountain path. Everyone present immediately realized that the blood scent was coming from him. And they all knew his name as well.
"Blood Alliance Elder…."
The instant Wi Seong-ha let out a terrified whisper, the corners of Go Rok-gal’s mouth twisted up grotesquely. It was the face of someone clearly enjoying his opponent’s fear.
"This time you’ve even brought four more snacks for me."
Namgung Woo’s eyes took on a blue glow as he examined Go Rok-gal’s internal energy with his special sight. Then, as if it were nothing worth worrying about, he spoke in a calm, relaxed tone.
"Not a bad opponent. Yang Kvae and Yang Jeong, the two of you fighting together should be just right."