The Corrupted Dragon
Ryeong traveled toward Shandong alongside Ak Gui-yu. Stripping away all hidden intent, Ak Gui-yu was the one who had asked Ryeong to accompany him in the first place, and during the journey, Ryeong entrusted Jin Yeong to his care.
The Captain of the Spirit Sword Unit of the Murim Alliance was, in many respects, colder and more ruthless than most unorthodox masters. Though Jin Yeong had already trained in martial arts forged for practical combat, engaging in live sparring against a master of such caliber provided the perfect crucible for ironing out flaws and lingering bad habits.
It was hardly a burdensome request, so Ak Gui-yu readily agreed. While the trek turned into an unexpected ordeal for Jin Yeong, the young man was well aware of the Spirit Sword Unit Captain's formidable renown.
Such an opportunity was nothing short of a miraculous stroke of fortune. Sparring with the Captain of the Spirit Sword Unit was a privilege practically impossible for anyone outside the Alliance Leader himself and Ak Gui-yu's direct subordinates. Exhausting though it was, Jin Yeong gritted his teeth and pushed himself relentlessly to keep up.
"That will be enough for today."
"Phew! Thank you for the guidance, Unit Captain."
"Go circulate your qi at once. If internal injuries settle deep, they will turn to poison later."
"Thank you for your consideration. I shall enter meditation for a moment."
Faint wisps of steam rose from Jin Yeong's body as the intense heat built up from unrelenting bouts vented outward into the crisp air.
Ryeong observed the two men's sparring with keen interest. A spear was a versatile armament capable of covering both close and mid-range engagements depending on how one wielded its reach. True spear masters were exceedingly rare across the martial world, lending Ak Gui-yu's martial prowess an intriguing edge.
Come to think of it, she had briefly wondered why the commander of something called the 'Spirit Sword Unit' fought with a spear instead of a blade, but she chalked it up to prejudice; clinging to the notion that the unit's leader had to wield a sword was mere preconception.
"We will reach Shandong soon. This concludes our sparring. You must bring your body to peak condition."
Jin Yeong nodded with his eyes closed, unable to speak while channeling his internal energy. Seeing the silent acknowledgment, Ak Gui-yu walked over to Ryeong.
"How fares your body?"
"Couldn't be better. But are you sure we shouldn't hurry?"
"The Ak Family is not frail. They will hold out somehow until our arrival."
Ak Gui-yu placed firm trust in his clan and refrained from draining his stamina unnecessarily. What could reinforcements accomplish if they arrived depleted of inner energy? Maintaining peak readiness was the only proper stance.
Meanwhile, at the Shandong Ak Family's estate, an emergency council was underway as the crisis spiraled far beyond all expectations.
"The Evil Dragon is thrashing with more fury than ever before. At this rate, maintaining the seal will become impossible."
The speaker was the Patriarch of the Shandong Ak Family, Ak Bi-hon. Though staring down his eightieth winter, he had yet to step down from the seat of patriarch. The reason was simple: he was the sole master in the Ak Family who had attained the Life-and-Death Realm.
Throughout the entirety of martial history, ancient and modern alike, masters of the Life-and-Death Realm could be counted on one's fingers. His son was still merely in the mature Profound Realm; thus, despite his advanced age, Ak Bi-hon retained the patriarch's mantle. And not a soul could dispute it.
"We must shatter the seal completely and face the beast. Delay any longer, and we won't even have the strength left to fight. If we postpone this decision, there will be no turning back."
"Father. If the Evil Dragon has begun rampaging, there must be a reason. If it has grown stronger even beneath the seal, we alone may not be able to stop it."
"Then is leaving it sealed any less dangerous? Would you saddle our descendants with a bomb waiting to explode?"
"Pardon my boldness, but I believe our ancestors chose to seal it for the very same reason."
Ak Bi-hon closed his eyes slowly. He believed that if they did not kill the Evil Dragon now, they would never have another chance. What was the point of kicking the can down the road when they knew the explosion was inevitable?
Better to detonate it now, while a glimmer of hope remained. Yet the elders of the Ak Family, his own son included, rejected Ak Bi-hon's will, arguing that the seal remained their only viable path.
Right then, the chamber doors swung open, and a middle-aged man delivered an urgent report.
"Patriarch! Gui-yu, who ventured out into the martial world, has returned to the estate accompanied by a guest. However..."
"Returned with a guest? Speak, tell me more."
"The energy carried by the companion is extraordinary. It appears identical to the aura emanating from the Yellow Dragon Scale."
"Identical to the Yellow Dragon Scale? Lead the way at once!"
Ak Bi-hon rose abruptly, galvanized by a legend passed down strictly from patriarch to patriarch.
In the past, the ancestor who sealed the Evil Dragon using the Yellow Dragon Scale had received the aid of an immortal. The scale of the Yellow Dragon bestowed by that immortal successfully suppressed and sealed the Evil Dragon.
It was said that the immortal vanished with the promise that one day, the true master of the scale would arrive. In other words, the Yellow Dragon Scale was never a divine relic created solely for the purpose of sealing the dragon.
It possessed an ordained master, and the Ak Family was merely keeping it in trust until that master claimed it. Taken from another angle, this meant that when the master of the Yellow Dragon Scale finally arrived, they would possess the means to confront the dragon even if the seal were unmade.
Moving to meet them, Ak Bi-hon gazed upon the guest Ak Gui-yu had brought. The moment he sensed the divine aura radiating from her entire body, his conviction hardened completely.
"Well met. I am Ak Bi-hon, Patriarch of the Ak Family."
"I am Jin Ryeong, a third-generation disciple of Jongnam. It is an honor to meet the Patriarch of the Shandong Ak Family."
Facing the patriarch, Ryeong felt her sense of reality fray. He was a master of the Life-and-Death Realm. She had assumed that no matter how strong he might be, he would at most stand at the pinnacle of the Profound Realm.
Yet standing before her was an overwhelming sovereign capable of laying waste to the Central Plains all on his own. Nor was that all; the martial aura permeating the surrounding area far exceeded normal bounds.
It was so suffocating that even Ak Gui-yu, who stood at the peak of the Transformation Realm, and Ryeong herself felt intimidated. It brought home just how terrifying a creature the Evil Dragon truly was.
"I have waited a very long time for someone like you. Master of the Yellow Dragon Scale."
"Excuse me?"
When Ryeong tilted her head in utter bewilderment, Ak Bi-hon momentarily wondered if he had mistaken her identity. Yet the aura she carried was identical to that of the Yellow Dragon Scale.
If she was not its master, who else could be? Still, he needed confirmation.
"Do you not know what the Yellow Dragon Scale is?"
"No, of course I know. It's a divine relic like the Red Cloud Divine Sword and the Taiji Heavenly Tablet, isn't it?"
"If you even possess those two divine relics, then you are indeed its master without a shadow of a doubt."
Ak Bi-hon raised a qi barrier to keep their voices from leaking outside. The patriarch's authority was absolute, and every member of the Ak Family was bound to obey his word.
Physically, he was also the supreme master of the clan, so none would dare openly defy him. Thanks to that, Ak Bi-hon was able to secure a private space to speak candidly with Ryeong.
"Long ago, an immortal aided our clan, allowing us to seal the Evil Dragon. The Yellow Dragon Scale was a gift from that immortal, and to this day, we have manifested its power through our own strength to keep the dragon imprisoned."
"I see. But why does that make me the owner of the Yellow Dragon Scale?"
Ryeong could not fathom what Ak Bi-hon was driving at. She had heard from Hyeok that the Yellow Dragon Scale was used to seal the Evil Dragon, and she knew he had helped the Ak Family.
So why was the conversation taking this turn? When Ryeong asked in genuine confusion, the answer flowed without hesitation.
"The immortal told us that one day, the owner of the Yellow Dragon Scale would seek out the Ak Family. The aura emanating from you is identical to that of the scale. I am not confusing it with the Red Cloud Divine Sword or the Taiji Heavenly Tablet."
"Well, of course it is. My ties with that fellow Hyeok are anything but shallow."
Ryeong's casual confirmation dispelled whatever lingering doubt Ak Bi-hon harbored. Knowing the immortal's identity left no room for error: she was indeed the benefactor destined to resolve this catastrophe.
"The Evil Dragon's resistance grows fiercer by the day. We wish to seek your aid. Rather than forcing the seal to hold, would you consider exterminating the Evil Dragon now?"
"If it lies within my power, why would I refuse to lend a hand? However... do you truly believe that what was impossible in the past can be achieved today?"
The realms attained by martial artists of old were far more dazzling than those of the present era. Back then, martial artists were few, and the worldly qi of the Central Plains was bountiful and dense.
Ever since the number of practitioners exploded, natural qi had been steadily desiccated in real time. Because so many consumed it so voraciously, the ceiling of growth had lowered compared to antiquity.
The Ak Family was the sole exception where that ceiling had not fallen. The sheer abundance of Profound Realm and Transformation Realm masters in their ranks was testament that the natural qi in Shandong had remained unchanged from ancient days.
That was promising news, but considering that the entire martial world had dispatched reinforcements when the Ak Family first battled the dragon...
She had no confidence that their current forces could secure victory.
"Yet if we do not try now—"
ROOOOOAAAAAAAR!!
Just as Ak Bi-hon attempted to press his case and persuade Ryeong, a deafening roar erupted from the east, and an aura of pure, unadulterated malice began to wash over the land.
The Evil Dragon had broken completely free from the seal of the Yellow Dragon Scale.