Celestial Immortal Divine Art
The next day.
Martial Alliance enforcers descended upon the alley where Ryeong had slain the beggar. The surrounding area was cordoned off in an instant, and before long, the rumors had swept through the inner courtyards of the Jongnam Sect.
"Did you hear? Some lunatic went on a slaughter spree in town yesterday."
"You'd have to be living under a rock not to know. I heard even the elders went down to inspect the scene."
"A massacre in Xi'an of all places... The Unorthodox factions have truly lost their minds."
Amid the chatter of third-generation disciples, Ryeong sat quietly, circulating her qi through the forms of the Celestial Immortal Divine Art.
The Heaven-Killing Art is already at the fourth stage, so that won't give me any trouble for now.
It was time to focus on raising her mastery over the Celestial Immortal Divine Art.
Planting two distinct cultivation methods in the lower and middle dantians was generally considered reckless folly among martial artists. There was good reason it was called reckless.
Consider two vessels, one filled with water and the other with oil. Using them one at a time was manageable, but drawing upon both simultaneously?
They would never mix. Instead, the conflicting currents would tear the body apart from the inside out.
For that reason, martial artists who unsealed their middle dantian rarely dared to cultivate another technique within it unless their conditions aligned with miraculous perfection. A single misstep would erect an insurmountable barrier in their cultivation path.
This very principle was why the Wudang Sect reigned supreme among the Nine Great Sects. Their esoteric technique, the Two Polarities Divine Art, allowed internal energies cultivated in the lower and middle dantians to harmonize in perfect equilibrium. By wielding an entire extra cultivation method over ordinary martial artists, Wudang had naturally held the highest seat in the realm ever since its founding.
In a similar vein, the Heaven-Killing Art and the Hunyuan Art complemented each other exceptionally well. That had been the entire reason she planned to plant the Hunyuan Art in her middle dantian in the first place—while not quite on par with the Two Polarities Divine Art, the two would at least avoid clashing violently.
The problem was the sudden, uninvited appearance of the Celestial Immortal Divine Art.
At first, she thought she was thoroughly finished. Yet, surprisingly, its affinity with the Heaven-Killing Art wasn't bad at all. Perhaps because the Celestial Immortal Divine Art was pure and unassertive by nature, it seemed to assimilate smoothly alongside other arts.
In short, there was no reason not to cultivate it.
"Phew..."
How many hours had slipped by? Ryeong opened her eyes just as the sunset began to bleed across the horizon.
Her mastery of the Celestial Immortal Divine Art had reached the second stage—the fruit of a full day spent in unbroken focus. Early progress in orthodox arts was always swift; it was the later stages that gradually slowed to a crawl. And why call it an orthodox art? The name alone practically reeked of righteous piety.
"You are quite diligent."
"You don't need to speak so formally when it's just the two of us. What brings you here?"
Jin-yeong approached, offering a cup of water. Ryeong accepted it readily and drank the cool water down, washing away the grogginess from hours of deep meditation.
"Last night. I heard a massacre took place in Xi'an."
"You don't seriously think I did it, do you?"
"I suspect you are not entirely unrelated."
"Well, I did kill the ringleader."
"..."
Jin-yeong's brow twitched. He clearly hadn't expected an immediate confession. To be frank, he had braced himself before bringing it up, noting that the timing of her outing matched the incident precisely. Yet she hadn't even bothered to deny it.
"What in the world is your purpose here?"
"I was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. He tried to kill me first, so I killed him back."
"...An investigation team from the Alliance will arrive shortly. As an outsider residing within Jongnam, you will face thorough questioning, Young Lady."
"And?"
Ryeong's gaze chilled. It wasn't that she doubted his words; rather, his attitude felt strange. Jin-yeong flinched slightly before averting his gaze with a dry cough. Having started this conversation, he had to see it through.
"Take care. The man leading this investigation holds a prominent post."
"Are you worried about me?"
"You said you took down the perpetrator of the massacre. Besides... you do not strike me as someone who would lie about such matters."
Ryeong blinked in surprise. She couldn't recall treating him particularly well. What on earth made him trust her? Yet his gaze was clear and steady. He was being sincere.
"Are you finally opening up to me?"
"Not entirely. However... you do not seem like an inherently wicked person."
"Is that so? Good enough for me, then."
The previous night, Jin-yeong had spent hours reading texts on the middle dantian in the archives. Ordinarily, martial artists cultivated energies of identical or similar properties in the lower and middle dantians. Ryeong, however, harbored two entirely distinct cultivation methods. The energy in her lower dantian was an imperceptible dark art, while the energy in her middle dantian was unmistakably orthodox.
Given that she was at least a First-Rate master, and that he hadn't sensed a speck of orthodox energy back in the carriage, Jin-yeong had deliberated long and hard before coming to a conclusion regarding her condition. Though his guess was far from the truth, Jin-yeong reasoned that she had cultivated an orthodox art to prove she harbored no ill intent toward Jongnam—even at the cost of weakening herself by dividing her cultivation.
Most people would never jump to such a benevolent conclusion, but Jin-yeong was a gentle, naive Daoist scholar. Always striving to view things through the kindest lens possible, his trust in Ryeong had quietly deepened along a rather warped trajectory.
Ryeong saw no need to correct him. Why bother dispelling a misunderstanding that worked in her favor?
"The Vice Commander of the Heavenly Martial Corps. He has been dispatched to lead the investigation team."
"The Heavenly Martial Corps' Vice Commander... Isn't he a former Plum Blossom Sword Master from the Mount Hua Sect?"
Jin-yeong nodded. Like the Jongnam Sect, the Mount Hua Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects and a powerhouse residing in the Shaanxi region. On the surface, they maintained a cooperative relationship, but in truth, the two factions were perpetually at each other's throats over Shaanxi's commercial dominance.
The relationship between their disciples bordered on abysmal. Although they held the annual Jongnam–Mount Hua Martial Gathering in an attempt to ease tensions, a token tournament was nowhere near enough to mend the rift.
The bad blood had begun when Jongnam's ascendance snatched the title of 'Shaanxi's Foremost Sword Sect' away from Mount Hua. Ever since, Mount Hua had harbored deep resentment toward Jongnam. If one had to distinguish between perpetrator and victim, Mount Hua was undeniably the aggressor. And now, a martial artist hailing from that very sect was scheduled to visit Jongnam.
Even if he didn't resort to blatant underhanded schemes, the chances of things proceeding amicably were absurdly low.
"The 'Blooming True Sword,' Cheongsu. He has lived with an inferiority complex toward Jongnam his entire life. Years ago, during the selection of the Dragon and Phoenix prodigies, he was outshined by a rising star from our sect and failed to claim the title of Divine Dragon."
"Holding a grudge over a petty title is kind of pathetic."
"To the rising stars of the martial world, 'Divine Dragon' is an immense honor. It is enough to breed lingering resentment."
Competing over titles was baffling enough, but holding a lifelong grudge just because he lost out on one? Ryeong let out an incredulous chuckle. And this was the righteous orthodox faction? A passing dog would laugh.
"Right, enough about that. Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"Not yet."
"Then let's eat together. At least tonight won't be lonely."
Ryeong rose to her feet and reached out her hand. Jin-yeong tilted his head in confusion. She isn't normally the type to act like this...
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
"We've got eyes on us. Whoever it is, they're from Jongnam."
"Where?"
"To the left. Don't look—just blink twice. I'll grab your hand."
Jin-yeong blinked twice. With a bright smile, Ryeong took his hand.
"Come on, let's go eat!"
As she pulled him along with cheerful exuberance, Jin-yeong felt his heart thump wildly against his ribs. Even knowing it was an act, a smile worn on Ryeong's face packed an overwhelmingly potent punch.
Meanwhile, observing the pair from a distance was the escort warrior, Samyeong.
They were definitely speaking about something.
Having carried out the Sect Leader's orders, he had arrived late to keep watch over Ryeong. While their spoken exchange had sounded like a simple invitation to dinner, his instincts warned him that another conversation had transpired beneath the surface. Yet he could hardly march over and interrogate them.
The direct cause of death was a pierced carotid artery.
Samyeong had accompanied the elders to meet the Alliance soldiers. The soldiers had brought out the corpse, declaring that the culprit behind the massacre was already dead. The lethal blow had been a severed carotid artery, yet there was also a distinct wound where a flying dagger had pierced the heart from behind.
Judging from this, the person who killed the rampaging maniac and fled was highly likely an assassin. Stabbing the heart with a dagger from behind, striking acupoints to paralyze movement, and subsequently driving a short sword into the neck... It was the textbook methodology of an assassin.
One crucial detail was that the assassin's cultivation had to be lower than that of the dead man.
Why?
Because had the killer possessed superior cultivation, there would have been no need to ambush the heart from behind. A single decisive blow to the skull would have sufficed. Furthermore, the utter lack of signs indicating a struggle pointed to an operative aiming for the swiftest, quietest kill possible.
The Jongnam elders cooperated earnestly with the investigation. Although the Blooming True Sword had yet to arrive, the Alliance branch head stationed in Xi'an demanded information, and Samyeong had brought up Ryeong's name. As she was the only outsider to enter Jongnam in recent days, the branch head notified them that once Cheongsu reached the branch, an investigation team would immediately march on Jongnam.
Exercising the authority of the Alliance was not something Jongnam could refuse. Cheongsu setting foot past Jongnam's gates was now an inevitable reality.
Could that woman truly be an assassin?
In Samyeong's judgment, it seemed impossible. Even if she were an assassin, with her apparent level of skill, she would be no match for such an adversary. Having already witnessed the duel between her and Jin-yeong, Samyeong had no way of knowing that Ryeong was an elite assassin masking her true power.
There's always a one-in-a-million chance... but I hope she isn't.
He genuinely wished she was not an assassin. If an unpolished gem of such rare talent could not be properly honed, the loss would belong not merely to Jongnam, but to the entire martial world.