She Is Still Looking For You
It was then.
Yeop Hyeon's sword thrust straight toward the elder. But it halted just before piercing his brow.
The elder had caught the blade with both hands.
Another sword sprang from Yeop Hyeon's sword sheath. At the same moment, he twisted the first blade ferociously.
Shhk—!
Something sliced through the air, and the elder retreated over a hundred zhang. But by then, his arms had already been severed by Yeop Hyeon's sword.
The expressions of the warriors in the hall changed in an instant.
A Law Realm powerhouse is being pushed back?
Even Yeop Hyeon himself was startled, nearly dropping his sword. He had never imagined he could sever the arm of a Law Realm expert.
As if reading his thoughts, the Heavenly Maiden spoke calmly.
"If you never challenge yourself, you'll never know how great you truly are."
"You bastards...!"
The one-armed elder glared at Yeop Hyeon and the two women, roaring.
"I'll see with my own eyes just how exceptional you two are!"
He spread his hand, and a golden talisman shot up from his palm into the sky.
Calling for reinforcements!
Yeop Hyeon's face darkened, a fierce rage boiling within him.
Changmok Academy, the Shadow Realm, Heuhwan Sect, Hwanso Gate... and now even the Sado family.
These forces never stop—they just want me dead.
There's no end to them!
At that moment, the Heavenly Maiden approached Yeop Hyeon.
"The enemy you're fighting now isn't just people—it's yourself as well. And in the future, you'll have to battle heaven, fate, and the cycle of reincarnation!"
"Aigoo, does that mean I have to fight until I die?"
"Choose the first path now, and I'll wipe your enemies clean."
Yeop Hyeon shook his head.
"You refuse?"
After a moment's thought, he replied to her question.
"I want to meet you again someday, Heavenly Maiden. And show you then that I've grown strong enough."
The Heavenly Maiden gazed at Yeop Hyeon's face for a long while. Finally, a smile as radiant as the moon in the sky bloomed on her lips.
But Yeop Hyeon still couldn't see her face.
"Um... I've always wondered. What is your name, Senior?"
"Others have given me a few titles, but none pleased me. Here, only one knows my true name. If you meet me again in this world, I'll tell you then!"
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
"I'll do my best!"
Right then, the Heavenly Maiden took a step toward him. At a distance where their noses nearly touched, she gently placed her hand on his cheek. An indescribable emotion flickered in her eyes.
"I envy your little sister so much..."
Yeop Ryeong? She envies her?
As Yeop Hyeon panicked and opened his mouth to speak, a tremendous aura descended from the heavens.
She's here!
Yeop Hyeon looked up. Space tore open in the air, and a middle-aged man stepped out. Clad in a long robe embroidered with dragons, his hair fell to his shoulders. An overwhelming pressure emanated from his domineering features.
This was Sado Hwang, the current patriarch of the Sado family.
"We greet the patriarch!"
"We greet the patriarch!"
The Sado family warriors in the hall bowed toward him.
Sado Hwang nodded lightly to them, but his brows furrowed the moment he saw the Heavenly Maiden.
He couldn't gauge her depth at all.
Abandoning his intent to strike immediately, he addressed her.
"I know all the Sword Immortals of the Qingcang Realm, but I've never seen anyone like you. Are you not from the Qingcang Realm? Or perhaps..."
At that instant, Sado Hwang's expression changed drastically. In the blink of an eye, the woman had appeared before him, pressing formless sword qi between his brows.
Everyone in the hall was stunned.
Sado Hwang stared at her in disbelief.
He hadn't even sensed her movement.
The woman before him was no Sword Immortal—not even a Great Sword Immortal. She had clearly transcended that realm.
Instinctively, he sensed that the Sado family was in grave peril. Before coming here, he had met with Changmok Academy and the Hogye Meng members.
And they had hidden the crucial truth from him.
His heart felt like it might burst, but he quickly regained his composure and looked at her.
"It seems my Sado family has been rude to you this time. So we'll take our leave..."
Pfbt—!
The sword pierced Sado Hwang's brow.
The Sado disciples below watched, speechless. The black-robed elder trembled violently.
Then, the woman looked down at Yeop Hyeon and said,
"The three swords atop the tower seal it. But too much time has passed, and the original bodies of us sword owners—including myself—are too far from here, making management difficult. In this state, the entities trapped inside are slowly awakening. I've intervened many times, so the seal could collapse at any moment."
She walked slowly toward Yeop Hyeon.
"I'll now turn this clone into sword qi to suppress the tower. But it can hold for at most a year. Within that year, you must find the Dochik and claim the tower's true inheritance. Otherwise... you'll die!"
A clone!?
Yeop Hyeon's mind went blank.
The Heavenly Maiden before him was someone's clone?
If the clone was this powerful, what must the original be like...?
Suddenly, she grasped his cheeks and spoke softly.
"Remember: no one in this world can help you forever. I'll be waiting above the clouds!"
With those words, her figure began to fade into transparency.
Yeop Hyeon reached out in panic, but his hand sliced only empty air.
And the Heavenly Maiden's body vanished rapidly.
"Is it because of me that you've ended up like this, Heavenly Maiden?"
She smiled faintly.
"This clone's role ended with finding you in this world. I've stayed in the tower this long only because I wanted to remain by your side a bit longer. It's regrettable, but now it must control the tower. If the seal breaks, even this clone's power won't protect you. Don't forget—you must find me. My true body is so far away it hasn't noticed you're here. And I can't contact it either, fearing the seal might break. She's probably still wandering among those countless stars, searching for you..."
The Heavenly Maiden—no, her clone—gazed at the stars and continued.
"I've already contacted the nearest clone. If she receives it, she'll rush to you immediately. I pray she arrives in time..."
With that, her body vanished completely.
At that moment, a streak of sword light appeared above the Gyeok Ok Tower, entering the rightmost of the three swords. The sword trembled, enveloping the entire tower in brilliant sword radiance.
Right then, a roar thundered through the tower.
"You damned wench, I'll tear you limb from limb! When this king escapes the tower, I'll slice you into ten thousand pieces, grind your bones to dust, bind your souls to the God-Slaying Pillar, and burn them...!"
In that instant, the rightmost sword on the tower's roof plunged downward.
Boom—!
The Gyeok Ok Tower shook from the impact, and the wailing cries gradually faded.
Meanwhile, outside the Gyeok Ok Tower, Yeop Hyeon—unaware of what had transpired—collapsed to the ground as if struck by someone.
Right then, the sky tore open again, and another middle-aged man emerged.
It was Yuk Jon Ju, the Venerable Lord of Hogye Meng.
Gazing at the spot where the Heavenly Maiden's clone had stood, Yuk Jon Ju exhaled in relief and muttered,
"Finally gone..."
His eyes turned to Yeop Hyeon below. As he moved to strike, he suddenly halted.
A moment later, Yuk Jon Ju shook his head once or twice and spoke coldly.
"Yeop Hyeon has committed grave crimes against the laws of the Qingcang Realm. From this moment, a kill order for Yeop Hyeon is issued across the entire Qingcang Realm. To whoever slays him: one Heavenly-grade treasure, one Heavenly-grade weapon, one Heavenly-grade manual, one hundred million top-grade spirit stones, and five top-grade spirit veins..."
His gaze fell on Sado Hwang's corpse, its head pierced.
"...However, the warriors of Hogye Meng will not act."
Yeop Hyeon's name soon spread throughout the entire Qingcang Realm.
For it had boldly claimed second place on the Qingcang Realm's most-wanted list. Moreover, his realm—Divine Fusion Realm—was the lowest among them.
For reference, the tenth name on the list belonged to the Blade Emperor, a True Myriad Laws Realm powerhouse.
In the sky, Yuk Jon Ju glared down at Yeop Hyeon with fierce eyes. The disaster before him was one he desperately wanted to eliminate right then.
The reasons he so craved Yeop Hyeon's death were as follows.
First, the existence of the Heavenly Maiden.
Within the Qingcang Realm, no one could challenge Hogye Meng's authority. Yet the Heavenly Maiden had slain its warriors without hesitation. For Hogye Meng, which prided itself on unparalleled prestige, this was an utter humiliation.
Though they had swiftly suppressed the rumors, could any wall truly block the winds of gossip? The great powers of Jungto Sinju already knew, and it had badly damaged Hogye Meng's reputation.
Until now, no force in the Qingcang Realm had dared defy Hogye Meng—not even transcendent clans like the An family.
But after its warriors were killed with no retaliation, some great powers began to realize Hogye Meng wasn't an absolute, untouchable existence.
Thus, more and more forces in Jungto Sinju outwardly submitted while harboring other intentions behind the scenes.
The culprits behind it all were none other than the Heavenly Maiden and Yeop Hyeon.
Hogye Meng dared not touch the Heavenly Maiden.
She was terrifying, yes. But Yeop Hyeon?
Without her, he was just a small fry.
The second reason to eliminate him was his genius talent.
Moreover, he now claimed to be Qingzhou's guardian—giving Hogye Meng perfect justification.
Hogye Meng's withdrawal from Qingzhou was a ploy: after the spirit energy fully vanished from Qingzhou and Qingcang Province, they planned to seize the cores and transport them to Jungto Sinju.
Absorbing those two cores would gradually restore their spirit energy.
But Yeop Hyeon guarding Qingzhou disrupted that plan.
For these reasons, he yearned to execute Yeop Hyeon personally—but he couldn't dare.
A powerhouse like the Heavenly Maiden wouldn't vanish so easily. If she had left some measure to protect him, Hogye Meng couldn't handle it.
Thus, he couldn't act directly.
The only way was to borrow others' hands.
The hands of Jungto Sinju's powerhouses!