Sublime as the Black Dragon Sect Master

Yun Cheon's eyes sank deep.

So Ryong, who read the killing intent steeped in that stillness, felt a chill crawl up his spine.

H-here it comes!

Yun Cheon drew back his legs, clad in Black Steel Cold Iron, just slightly.

Then he stamped the earth.

KWAAANG—!

His new form shot forward.

A blinding footwork art that closed the distance in an instant. Carrying that momentum, his leg—loaded with its full weight—tore through the air as it rotated.

Whirlwind Leg.

The devastating kick art he had devised in his duel with Jeok Mu-gwang, its power compounded by the weight of the Black Steel Cold Iron. It was like a colossal battering ram splitting the very air.

The same kick that had once smashed the Black Dragon Sect's front gate to pieces.

So Ryong instinctively crossed his arms into a guarding stance.

"Kuhk—?!"

It was absolute defense, his Black Dragon Rigid Body pushed to its absolute limit. But before overwhelming mass, neither technique nor defense meant anything.

THUD—CRACK!

A dull, hideous sound of rupture rang through the training grounds. So Ryong's arm bones screamed as they were flung aside, and the merciless rotational force drove straight into his abdomen.

"GRUAAAAGH!"

So Ryong's massive frame was flung ungracefully into the air. He sailed clear off the dueling platform and crashed into the spectator seats, and even after landing, he rolled another three or four times before finally coming to a stop.

KUDANGTANG!

Buried in a cloud of dust, So Ryong could not rise for a long while.

Then came the silence.

"……"

The rowdy crowd went quiet as if doused with cold water.

A single strike. One kick. With that one blow, a master ranked 100th on the Wind Cloud Board had been crumpled like a sheet of paper and sent flying.

An overwhelming gap.

Even the Drunken Sword Lee Mok, watching from the sidelines, jolted upright as if sobered on the spot.

...Hah, that... that's the real deal!

While the crowd sat frozen in silence, the fallen So Ryong stirred in the distance, dragging himself up inch by inch. Amid the hush, a shadow writhed within the dust cloud.

It was So Ryong.

"Uuuugh..."

He swayed as he barely pushed his upper body upright. Bright red blood dripped steadily from the corner of his mouth, and waves of searing pain radiated from his abdomen as though it might tear apart.

I... I nearly died just now...

So Ryong swallowed every curse he knew.

That was no human kick. It felt like being clubbed by an iron pillar.

Yet even through the agony of cracked bones, the abacus in So Ryong's head was clicking away furiously.

If I go down pathetically here, it's all over. I have to keep at least a shred of dignity!

Forcing his trembling legs to hold, So Ryong summoned a resolute expression. Then, slowly—almost reverently—he knelt before Yun Cheon.

It was not the groveling of a defeated man. It was a posture meticulously staged to look like the awe of a martial artist facing a true master.

"You're strong...! In all my life... I have never met a master like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you...!"

So Ryong pointed a bloody hand at Yun Cheon and roared with everything he had.

"The outcome is decided!"

His declaration echoed across the training grounds.

"I, So Ryong of the Black Dragon Sect, acknowledge my defeat!"

As if time, frozen until that moment, had begun to flow again, a roar erupted from the crowd.

"WAAAAAH—!"

"Incredible! That boy just broke So Ryong!"

"In a single strike! A monster has appeared!"

The stands were in an uproar. Yayul Hui, who had won the wager, wore a triumphant smile, while those who had lost their money beat the ground in despair. Everyone was intoxicated by the birth of a new strongman.

It seemed the duel would close with Yun Cheon's flawless victory.

Yun Cheon indifferently straightened his rumpled clothing. His business here was done.

With a commotion this big, the 100th rank is as good as secured.

The tedious part was over. All that remained was to wait for the Wind Cloud Board to update. He turned without regret and moved to leave.

That was when it happened.

So Ryong's booming voice snagged Yun Cheon by the ankle.

"In accordance with the laws of the Black Dragon Sect!"

Yun Cheon's steps stopped dead.

The kneeling So Ryong was suddenly on his feet, striding up to Yun Cheon. Yun Cheon's brow furrowed.

What does this guy still have left?

Spreading his arms wide toward the crowd, So Ryong cried out with theatrical gravity.

"Respect to the Strong! This is the law of our Cult, and the iron rule the Black Dragon Sect has upheld since its founding!"

At his oratory, the crowd quieted once more. So Ryong's eyes flashed. Now was his chance.

"The Black Dragon Sect is a place that can be led only by the strong! Whoever defeats me, So Ryong, has the right to sit upon this sect's throne!"

Yun Cheon's eyes widened. A dreadful premonition brushed the back of his mind.

This bastard—don't tell me...?

So Ryong bowed at the waist toward Yun Cheon and declared in a voice that rang to the heavens.

"I, the Young Sect Leader, hereby declare before the assembled heroes of the martial world!"

"......?"

"In accordance with the laws of the Black Dragon Sect, I shall elevate Yun Cheon the Great Hero... as the Black Dragon Sect Master!"

Yun Cheon turned around, utterly dumbfounded.

What did I just hear?

But So Ryong, as if following a script prepared in advance, drove the nail home.

"The seat of Black Dragon Sect Master, so long vacant, has at last found its true master! All members of the Black Dragon Sect—pay homage to the new Sect Master!"

The Black Dragon Sect shills So Ryong had planted throughout the stands raised their cheers right on cue.

"WAAAH! Long live the Black Dragon Sect Master!"

"A new Sect Master is born!"

"Sect Master Yun Cheon! Sect Master Yun Cheon!"

In an instant, the training grounds filled with voices chanting Yun Cheon's name.

Yun Cheon's face hardened into stone. This was a development he had not anticipated at all.

...I thought the bastard was running this whole racket to fatten his purse—and now he's elevating ME to Sect Master?

Yun Cheon gazed down with frosty eyes at the crown of So Ryong's bowed head. So Ryong kept his head lowered in feigned solemnity, but on his hidden lips played a smile of quiet triumph.

Big brother, whether you like it or not, the water's already spilled.

So Ryong had never staged this whole affair just to scrape together pocket change.

The seat of Black Dragon Sect Master had sat empty for years. Ever since the previous Sect Master vanished, the sect's higher martial art—the internal cultivation method—had fallen into disuse, leaving nothing but the hollow shell of the external art, the Black Dragon Rigid Body. That was why So Ryong had been humbling himself as "Young Sect Leader," declaring all along that he would surrender the seat to whoever bested him.

Today, the Black Dragon Sect fulfills its long-cherished dream!

Of course, it was a shallow and cunning calculation: seat a genuine master on the throne to serve as his shield, then retreat into the second seat and quietly pocket the profits.

Heh heh heh... Real masters have always steered clear of playing chieftain to a backwater gang of street thugs like this. But not this big brother! While he's still green to the ways of the world—now is my chance!

Young, and with strength beyond the human limit. As the sect's face, there was no more perfect acquisition than this man.

A hollow laugh tugged at Yun Cheon's lips.

"Ha..."

So that was why the bastard went so big.

Before a crowd of hundreds, So Ryong had invoked "sect law" and "Respect to the Strong" and hammered the nail in flush. Backing out now with "I decline" would be more than a little awkward.

At that moment, Lee Mok, presiding over the match, sent Yun Cheon a private transmission of sound.

"Heh heh... You, my friend. Looks like you had no idea, hm?"

"...I got played. For a face like a bear, he's sly as a fox."

"Well... I got hooked by the rascal myself over wine, so I can't talk. In any case, as the presiding official I'm only doing my duty—so don't hold it against me."

Lee Mok raised Yun Cheon's hand high and proclaimed:

"The victor is the martial artist of the Mad Path Pavilion—Yun Cheon!"

Only now did it become clear: inviting the Drunken Sword Lee Mok, an old master of no small repute, to preside had been part of the scheme all along.

"Thus does the martial artist Yun Cheon, having bested Young Sect Leader So Ryong of the Black Dragon Sect, inscribe his name upon the Wind Cloud Board!"

"WAAAAAH!"

"And one more thing! In accordance with the laws of the Black Dragon Sect, I hereby formally proclaim before the assembled heroes that he has become the Black Dragon Sect Master!"

He was well and truly saddled with the cap of Black Dragon Sect Master.

"Black Dragon Sect Master Yun Cheon! Black Dragon Sect Master Yun Cheon!"

The roar of the crowd threatened to pierce the sky.

Yun Cheon's eyes sank deep once more.

So Ryong's shallow scheme—hoisting him up as a shield while the man himself retreated to second place.

...Still, it's not bad.

He could not remain forever a sword of the Inspection Bureau or a martial artist of the Mad Path Pavilion. To cut out the throat of the Demonic Cult's leadership in the long run, he would need a power base of his own.

A position beyond the gaze of the Cult's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠headquarters' watchers. A den of street thugs nobody pays attention to. As a nest, it's actually perfect.

Yun Cheon finished his calculations in a heartbeat. And then he willingly stepped onto So Ryong's trap.

It was the moment his goal was set: to tear this hollow Black Dragon Sect down to its frame and rebuild it into a force entirely his own.

Yun Cheon's indifferent gaze slid past So Ryong prostrate at his feet and looked down upon the sea of humanity surging like clouds.

While his resolve sat cold and still, the area around the dueling platform had already become a crucible of frenzy. The roar greeting the Black Dragon Sect's new master shook the very air.

"One strike...! He shattered the Black Dragon Rigid Body in a single blow!"

"A monster like THAT is only ranked 100th on the Wind Cloud Board? Impossible!"

But awe and celebration soon began to curdle into something more primal—the raw instinct of beasts.

"Wait... then doesn't that mean if someone defeats HIM, they'd take the 100th rank AND the Black Dragon Sect throne in one stroke?"

The eyes of the many martial artists who had been waiting their turn to challenge So Ryong now gleamed with greed—fixed on Yun Cheon.

At that moment, Lee Mok, watching over the proceedings, chuckled and poured oil on the fire.

"If any among you take issue with this result—or wish to challenge the new Sect Master—step forward now!"

The crowd began to churn violently in response.

"After seeing a kick like THAT? Not me. No thanks!"

"No—wait. He's worn out. Isn't NOW the chance?"

"Right! Forget So Ryong—challenge the new Sect Master and take the seat for yourself!"

Hordes of masterless wanderers began to encircle the platform like a pack of starving wolves.

Seizing the chaos, So Ryong tried to slip quietly out behind the platform. With the elevation ceremony done, his plan was to dump the headache of handling challengers onto the "new Sect Master" and bolt.

Tak.

But Yun Cheon was faster. He reached out, indifferent, and seized So Ryong by the scruff of the neck as he tried to flee.

"And where do you think you're going, So Ryong?"

"...!"

So Ryong spun around, half fainting. Yun Cheon's eyes were not smiling in the slightest.

"Leave you, Sect Master? I would never. I was merely... returning to the Black Dragon Sect to make preparations for your enthronement..."

"Stay exactly where you are, right here. You haven't forgotten the deposit, have you?"

"Of—of course not!"

Yun Cheon's hand clamped down hard on So Ryong's shoulder. The cold qi he had planted the night before spread in a sharp, stinging wave down through it.

"You're the one who spouted all that rhetoric. So every challenger here is yours to deal with."

"Wh-what?! But Sect Master—!"

"I'll go ahead to the Black Dragon Sect first. If anyone manages to defeat you, I'll grant them their chance to challenge me."

"Se—Sect Master!"

So Ryong's scheme—tethering Yun Cheon to the dueling platform while he himself sneaked back to the sect—had been seen through completely. The color drained from his face to the gray of dirt.

Yun Cheon did not forget to toss a word to Lee Mok as well.

"Elder Drunken Sword, when today's matches conclude, come by the Black Dragon Sect. I'll stand you a drink."

"Kuk kuk... Declining would make it sound like I'm persecuting an old man, wouldn't it? I suppose I have no choice but to drop in."

And so So Ryong was left standing alone on the platform, wearing the face of a man headed to his own funeral.

"Hey, former Young Sect Leader! Fight me too!"

"You have to get through you first to challenge the new Sect Master, right?"

Challengers fired up over the throne of Sect Master closed in around So Ryong. He broke out in a cold sweat and screamed in utter desperation.

"F-fine, I get it! One at a time, you bastards!"

Leaving So Ryong's anguished screams behind him, Yun Cheon made his unhurried way toward the Black Dragon Sect.

Pushing through the crowd, on the road to the Black Dragon Sect—Yayul Hui had caught up with him at some point.

"Sect Master, out of nowhere? Don't tell me you staged the whole thing down to this?"

"...No. Even that was beyond my expectations."

Yun Cheon answered with a touch of bitterness. He had planned to snatch the Wind Cloud Board ranking and slip away, only to be dragged into So Ryong's petty scheme. But what was spilled was spilled.

...Well, since it's come to this, a base of operations is no bad thing.

At that thought, Yun Cheon's steps stopped dead.

Before the front gate of the Black Dragon Sect, a heap of collapsed stone and shattered fragments of the gate blocked the road.

The trail of his own clean, satisfying break-in the night before.

Yayul Hui's eyes went round.

"This... this was you?"

"...I suppose the gate comes first. I didn't know I'd be ending up Sect Master..."

As it turned out, he had demolished his own sect's front gate with his own hands.

Yayul Hui shook her head slowly.

"And here I wondered what you were up to last night... you smashed the gate and stormed in? No wonder So Ryong doesn't dare twitch around you."

Yun Cheon stepped over the wreckage of the broken gate and passed inside. But the real problem lay beyond it.

"......Ha."

A deep sigh escaped him.

It was a space too embarrassing to call a training ground. Instead of training equipment, it was littered with the wreckage of the previous night's drinking bout—the sour stench leaking from broken bottles, an overturned liquor table, dice rolling across the floor...

Yun Cheon clicked his tongue at the sight.

"Tsk. Is this a sect or a tavern?"

His eyes turned cold. Standing at the center of the Black Dragon Sect, he let his voice ring out like a bell.

"Everyone, assemble!"

Presently, the Black Dragon Sect members came shuffling together. And what a sight they were.

"Uuugh... my back."

"Aigoo, my legs..."

To a man, they were limping on bandaged limbs or hobbling on canes. Yun Cheon swept his gaze over them and frowned.

"Not a single one unscathed. Is this the entirety of your fighting strength?"

One of the members replied, weeping as if wronged.

"It's just... you hit us so hard yesterday, Sect Master..."

"......"

"The ones who were still in one shape went to the inn in front to prepare for today's tournament..."

Yun Cheon exhaled and examined the members closely, but not one of them showed signs of having learned proper martial arts. At best, they could imitate the Black Dragon Rigid Body So Ryong had taught them. As they stood, they were not a sect but a mere street gang.

"From today, the Black Dragon Sect will change. Any man unwilling to change is free to walk out now."

At Yun Cheon's frigid declaration, the members stirred uneasily.

"Change... how, exactly?"

"Are you going to expand the money-making, like Young Sect Leader So Ryong?"

"...I am going to teach you proper martial arts."

The members' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes went wide. Not money—martial arts?

Just then, a rolling laugh carried over from the ruined gate.

"Kah kah. So Ryong's front was all flash, but the inside's rotted clean through, eh? Tell me, friend—you didn't just step in it, did you?"

It was the Drunken Sword, Lee Mok. True to his promise, he had come to collect his free drink, and the sorry state of the Black Dragon Sect sent him into fits of laughter.

"What do you mean to do with this rabble? You'd be better off throwing the lot out and recruiting fresh."

"Anyone unwilling to change will be thrown out. But—"

KWOONG—!

A heavy clang of iron rang across the training ground. Weight enough to crack the flagstones beneath it.

"Hiiik...!"

"He... he fought the Young Sect Leader wearing THAT?!"

The members' jaws hung open.

"Whoever is ready to change, I will forge you thoroughly."

Once the ground fell silent, Yun Cheon declared:

"Effective now, the Black Dragon Sect's 'business' is over. No more challenge fees. No more lodging fees. No more gambling tables."

The members recoiled in horror.

"B-but Sect Master! Then how are we supposed to eat?!"

Yun Cheon swept aside their protests with a single stroke.

"From today, the Black Dragon Sect is reborn—not as a den of vagrants and street thugs, but as a true sect of the martial world. The money is my problem."

Power gathered in his voice.

"From this day on, you have exactly one duty."

"Wh-what is it?"

"Training. From the moment the sun rises until the moment it sets."