The Golden Heaven Divine Sword, Ma Heuk-rang
The formation I intended to build was one that, at my current level, I could never construct by my own strength alone. Only by borrowing the power of purified qi — an energy far beyond the ordinary kind — and the potency of elixirs could I hold its shape at all, and even then it would carry less than half of its true might.
I needed more elixirs.
The elixir energy already poured into the formation came to roughly four hundred years' worth, and it still wasn't enough.
I stepped out of the side chamber and opened the elixir box waiting by the door.
From that stock, I set aside the single Hundred-Year Ginseng, the two fifty-year Taemyeong Pills, and the three Tae-eul Pills.
I was about to face the Golden Heaven Divine Sword. I could not afford to lean on the formation alone.
There was no chance in hell that this formation, by itself, would kill him.
A formation was only ever a formation.
Its duration was a problem as well. An hour at most, if that.
The outcome would have to be decided within that span — which meant that, for one fleeting instant, for the barest sliver of a moment, I would need to drag out something resembling the power of my past life.
...So I may need to steel myself for a mutual kill after all.
A calamity summoned by the hands of men ought to be put right by the hands of men.
I could not convert all two hundred and ninety years of energy into purified qi in one breath — but I could raise it to the Five Dragons Peak.
With that settled, I headed for the Clan Head's Hall.
Yi Won, seated at his desk poring over documents, looked up at me and offered an awkward smile.
Yes. An awkward smile.
"How goes it? Is everything in readiness?"
"Brother."
"Hm?"
"I need more elixirs."
"...Yi Do. The clan's circumstances are not good at present. I am doing what I can to gather what elixirs remain, but I fear anything beyond that will be difficult."
My brow creased.
"As I understand it, the Un Clan is sitting on a considerable fortune."
"...Well, yes. There is money, and, ah..."
If he couldn't feel something wrong with this, he deserved to be a corpse.
"What exactly are you doing right now?"
"Hm?"
"Thinking about something else, behind your eyes?"
Yi Won shot up from his seat.
"What nonsense is this? Why would I be thinking of anything else?"
"If not, then good — because my patience is about to run out. Decide which side you're standing on, and decide it now. Am I understood?"
"...Hmm."
"Strip the Un Clan down to its bones if you must, and bring me more elixirs. I will give you four hours."
"...Very well."
I turned to leave. Behind me, Yi Won spoke up.
"By the way — the clan head's residence... how long do you intend to keep using it?"
I turned my head.
"I am the clan head in name, at least. It's only right that I move into the residence proper, no?"
"My apologies, but that residence is mine from now on."
"..."
"Use every other space in the estate. Give me that one residence, and that is all I ask. Is that so difficult?"
"...It is not difficult. It's only that... no. Understood. I will gather the elixirs as quickly as I can and bring them to you."
I nodded once.
As I turned away, I caught Yi Won's reflection in the mirror facing the entrance. He wore the expression of a man who had just made up his mind about something.
And what, I wondered, had he decided?
For now, I returned to the side chamber. Whatever else was coming, this came first.
Once the formation was complete, I folded myself into a cross-legged seat, chewed down the Hundred-Year Ginseng, and closed my eyes.
Today, I would ascend to the Five Dragons Peak.
Beneath the surface, the gears had long since begun to turn.
Centered on Wun Mu-jeong and Lady Un, a series of secret meetings had taken place — and attending every single one of them, without exception, were the head of the Hyeokli Clan, Hyeokli Wonpyeong, and its young master, Hyeokli Yang-geon.
They came because Lady Un's argument carried real weight, and because her offer was a satisfying one.
Her case was simple. The Yi Clan had grown far too vast. It had swallowed not only the businesses the Jang Clan once controlled but their capital as well, and though its merchant caravans now flew a single unified banner, a closer look revealed no fewer than fifteen separate trading companies operating beneath it.
It was an enormous thing.
So she made Hyeokli Wonpyeong an offer: she would divide every prize gained from devouring the Jang Clan exactly in half — and in return, he would help her persuade the Golden Heaven Divine Sword.
Truthfully, from the standpoint of the famously cautious Hyeokli Wonpyeong, the ideal outcome would have been to let the Golden Heaven Divine Sword annihilate the Yi Clan first and then gather up whatever remained. But.
What Lady Un said next settled his mind once and for all.
It was an offer he could not refuse.
"Elevating Won to the seat of clan head was a mistake."
So her speech began —
— and so it ended:
"Enter into a marriage pact with me."
"...A marriage pact?"
"Yes. Let the Yi Clan live as the Yi Clan, and the Hyeokli Clan as the Hyeokli Clan. But if either house should ever face a threat, the other comes to its aid — and with that bond between us, the Yi Clan and the Hyeokli Clan will rule Jangryeong Commandery for generations."
In plain terms, she was proposing that they become to each other what the Yi Clan and the Un Clan already were.
An alliance sealed by marriage.
Whether the two of them ever shared a bed was beside the point. What mattered was that the pact existed.
For the Hyeokli Clan, a potential rival would be bound to them as an outright ally — no more of this tiresome scheming behind closed doors. The offer was tempting, and Hyeokli Wonpyeong, in the end, crossed over.
With a single condition attached.
"I will cooperate — but whether the marriage pact is sealed depends entirely on whether that Golden Heaven Divine Sword is properly persuaded. Will that suit you?"
"Yes. It suits me fine."
And so the two powers joined hands.
Before long, the doors of the Hyeokli Clan's head hall — where the secret meetings were being held — swung open.
Two people walked through them.
One was Yi Won, clan head of the Yi Clan.
The other was Lim Cheol-san, the magistrate of Jangryeong Commandery.
The conversation flowed in a remarkably agreeable direction.
The magistrate flashed a genial smile.
"A demon by the name of Yi Do, taking root in a place like Jangryeong? That, I cannot allow."
And he did not stop there.
"Consider how much my Yi Clan has received from the crown. When a man has taken, it is his duty to give back in kind. Leave it to me — I will see to it that this Golden Heaven Divine Sword is persuaded."
Yi Won answered with a smile of his own.
"Thank you."
It was deep in the dead of night when the black-haired old man crossed into Jangryeong Commandery.
His frame stood a full six feet, his eyes were bright and clear, and his back was as straight as a drawn bowstring. A single sword hung at his hip. One look was enough to know he was no ordinary man.
This was Ma Heuk-rang, the Golden Heaven Divine Sword — elder of the Emperor Sword Sect.
And waiting to bar his path stood five figures.
"We are honored by your presence, Great Hero."
The four men and one woman bowed in the formal salute together.
"And who might you be?"
One by one, the five introduced themselves to the Golden Heaven Divine Sword's blunt question.
First came the Hyeokli clan head.
"Hyeokli Wonpyeong. I have long heard that your family is one of those that govern this commandery."
"To be remembered by you is honor enough for a lifetime."
Next was Wun Mu-jeong, head of the Wun Clan; then Lady Un; then Yi Won.
At those three introductions, the Golden Heaven Divine Sword said nothing — only rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, and an overwhelming pressure came rolling off him like a breaking tide.
It was then that Lim Cheol-san, silent until the very last, spoke.
"A pleasure. I am Lim Cheol-san, magistrate of this Jangryeong Commandery."
Ma Heuk-rang's hand paused mid-motion.
"...The government has involved itself in this as well?"
"Strictly speaking, 'involved' may be too strong a word — though how you take it is, of course, up to you. But before anything else, there is something I would say to you."
"Speak."
"This commandery has been thrown into considerable turmoil by the events of recent days."
"And what has that to do with me?"
"Jangryeong is a place the Battle King himself has set his gaze upon. Surely you are aware?"
"...Hmm."
The rumor that the tribute meant for the Battle King had burned to ash had already spread through every corner of the murim. But at the end of the day, that had been the affair of the Sangun Trading Company — and the Sangun Trading Company had since been swallowed whole by the Yi Clan.
The murim's inveterate gossips had even begun to whisper that the Yi Clan's devouring of the Sangun Trading Company was, in truth, the Battle King's own hand at work behind the scenes.
It was the opinion of a small minority among a minority — but that it existed at all was what mattered.
A man who had risen to the rank of magistrate was a master of the art of the half-truth. This much, he could weave together without effort.
"From what I hear, the young master of the Yi Clan had no part in the fall of the Jang Clan."
"How do you arrive at that? It is already common knowledge across the murim that the Yi Clan annihilated the Jang Clan."
"Then it was poorly spread, because it is false."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"This young master stood against Yi Do. The annihilation of the Jang Clan was the sole, demented doing of that madman and no one else."
Lady Un, as though she had been waiting for precisely this opening, took up the thread.
"We do not lie to you out of fear of drawing the wrath of a Great Hero and the Emperor Sword Sect. The Yi Clan is hardly famous enough for you to know its affairs in detail, but we — we have never been a family accustomed to slaughter. This is a fact anyone could confirm simply by seizing a random passerby and asking. And—"
"..."
"We did try to stop him. Truly, we railed against him for butchering people so wantonly. That much is certain, but..."
"The result has already been written. My disciple's family was annihilated, and every soul in their household was put to the sword. They even killed a first disciple of the Emperor Sword Sect itself — and you stand before me now and offer me excuses?"
"Your fury is understandable. But... the facts are plain, and to be misunderstood despite them is more than we can bear. What choice did we have but to come before you and speak the truth?"
"Hmm..."
"We know you have come to slay the beast. Kill Yi Do — that creature — and every debt and grudge between us is settled."
"You speak of debts and grudges rather freely, considering the Jang Clan was annihilated."
"Yes. Annihilated — but does not the most important piece of it still remain?"
"..."
"Your disciple, Jang Un-yeon. We intend to help him rebuild the Jang Clan here in Jangryeong, with everything we have. If you desire it, we will even draft a contract guaranteeing him every right to the Jang Clan's businesses that were folded into the Yi Clan."
"You would help him rebuild?"
"Yes."
He was silent for a moment, weighing it.
To anyone watching, it might have looked like wavering. It was not. The Golden Heaven Divine Sword had not wavered for an instant.
His mind was already made up. Only one thing snagged on it.
The magistrate.
The government had put its hand in.
Which meant there was no choice but to construct a situation.
The plan assembled itself in his head. Yi Do annihilated his own family; Yi Do annihilated the Hyeokli Clan as well; and then he, the Golden Heaven Divine Sword, slew Yi Do for it. If the magistrate standing right there vouched for that account, the honor of the Emperor Sword Sect would soar to the heavens — and the magistrate, in exchange, would secure for himself a lasting friendship with the Sect.
Was that not, in the truest sense of the word, an alliance?
The Golden Heaven Divine Sword, Ma Heuk-rang, donned a benevolent smile.
"I care nothing for the rest — but that Yi Do, I will kill before I leave. If any of you intends to shield him, say so now."
Lady Un smiled.
"Heavens, no. His character is so vile that even within his own clan his name is spat upon. There is not a soul here who would lift a finger to protect him."
"Good. Then I will go and have a look at this Yi Do myself. Where is he?"
Yi Won, who had been sitting quietly, answered in a hurry.
"In the clan head's residence."
Kill Yi Do first. Then build the situation.
The Golden Heaven Divine Sword set off in silence.
I opened my eyes.
Through the iron door came an old man.
Kuuung.
The iron door closed behind him.
He surveyed the chamber around him.
"...The smell of blood. Hundreds of lives at the least — no. Thousands, I would wager."
I rose slowly from where I sat.
"They said your heart was singularly wicked. So this is where you trained in the demonic arts."
Strictly speaking, this space had belonged to Yi Se-geuk, and everything he had done within it had nothing whatsoever to do with me.
But I had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding.
"My heart aches."
"...Aches? How much can the man who shattered my disciple's family possibly be permitted to ache?"
"It's not the same ache. I raised to the seat of clan head a brother who once knelt before me begging for it. Time and again he crossed the line, and time and again I told myself he could be reined in, and I entrusted him with real duties of his own. And instead of being persuaded — he sold me."
"Yes. This is the murim."
"That it is. The moment I walk out of this place, I will kill every soul connected to this — every last one. That is my debt to settle."
"Then you will have to pass over me first. And do you truly believe you can?"
Without a word, I drew the sword from my hip.
"Golden Heaven Divine Sword, Ma Heuk-rang. Harmony Realm. It is a steep climb for the man I am now — but..."
A soft smile curved at the corner of my mouth.
"worth a try."
Ma Heuk-rang, who had been staring fixedly at that smile, spoke at last.
"There is killing intent packed into your laughter. Just how long have you been wearing a smile like that?"
"A very long time. Longer than I could count."
"...You are different."
A complicated expression crossed the old man's face.
"You are not like those fools who came to me hawking their bargains — and that is what makes it a shame. Talent in abundance, and fangs to match. Had you walked the righteous path, you might have been a blessing upon the murim entire..."
I ignored him.
"Didn't you come to settle a grudge? If you've come to spout honeyed words instead, turn around and walk back out the way you came."
"Heh... what a sharp tongue on such a young whelp."
Silently, I kicked the stele lying at my feet.
It toppled.
And in the same instant—
With a sound like the world collapsing, the landscape around us transformed utterly.
The Golden Heaven Divine Sword's eyes flew wide open.
"Wh... what... what is this...?"
I answered flatly.
"It is called the Nine Palaces Thunder-Tribulation Death Emperor Demon Light Array."
"..."
"A formation built from no fewer than six hundred years of energy. Within this place, you will not be able to draw upon natural qi."
The Golden Heaven Divine Sword's eyes narrowed and twitched.
To reach the Heaven-Earth Realms was to wield natural qi — and the Harmony Realm was merely its threshold. Even borrowing a thread of it was enough to make such masters all but superhuman.
Even a martial artist of the Qi Condensation Realms could borrow the qi of nature. But what the Heaven-Earth Realms commanded was of an entirely different order. Where the Qi Condensation Realms borrowed a measure of the world's energy, those of the Heaven-Earth Realms drew nature itself into their whole being until they became nature. That was natural qi.
That was the gulf between the two.
Even a hundred experts of the Ogi Jowon gathered together could not stand against a single Harmony Realm master.
That was the kind of power it was.
And right now, that power was sealed away from him. To this place, the Golden Heaven Divine Sword was nothing more than an Ogi Jowon expert with a somewhat sturdier body.
Whereas I — I could wield not natural qi, nor even ordinary internal energy, but purified qi.
Yes. Definitely worth a try.
I drew the purified qi up slowly — riding it through the lower dantian, through the middle dantian flung wide open, and through my two Qi Rings.
The qi that came surging up like an explosion poured down into my legs — and I tore my foot from the ground.
The Golden Heaven Divine Sword wrenched his body sideways, sword flashing from its sheath —
Kwaaaaaang—!!
But my outstretched foot slammed into him full force.
His body hurtled across the chamber and buried itself in the far wall.