The Celestial Immortal Divine Art

Jinyeong and Ryeong stepped up onto the sparring stage. Starved for entertainment, the third-generation disciples eagerly circled the elevated ring, settling in to watch.

The cheers were overwhelmingly biased in Ryeong's favor. It was not that Jinyeong was unpopular or poorly behaved; rather, a great many of his junior martial brothers simply relished the thought of seeing him knocked down a peg.

Loosening her shoulders, Ryeong focused her qi and cast a sound transmission straight into Jinyeong's ear.

Jinyeong gave an almost imperceptible nod. Judging by the look on his face, he had already surrendered to despair.

Did I toy with him too much? They said even horses needed the carrot alongside the stick. Perhaps humans were no different.

"We will permit only the barest trace of internal qi. Do both parties agree?"

"Yes, of course," Ryeong replied cheerfully.

Following the rules laid out by Jinseong, the Eldest Senior Brother among the third-generation disciples serving as referee, Ryeong leveled a wooden sword of modest length toward Jinyeong.

"Please don't hold back on my account. Come at me with everything you have."

"...Understood."

Hearing his curt, subdued reply, the surrounding juniors tilted their heads in confusion. It was completely unlike him to offer such a listless response. Naturally, doubts arose about whether he was unwell, for Jinyeong had always been the liveliest presence among the third generation.

Ryeong caught the shift in the atmosphere immediately. With Jinyeong acting out of character, he was drawing unwanted scrutiny.

She sent another swift sound transmission reminding him to mind his facial expressions. Jinyeong forced his lips into a strained smirk, adjusting his stance with visible effort.

"Begin!"

At Jinseong's signal, Ryeong took the first step. Since the Jongnam disciples believed she was a complete novice who had only just stepped onto the martial path, she closed the distance with an ordinary run rather than any profound lightness technique.

"Too slow."

"Ah!"

Jinyeong vanished before her eyes in a blur of footwork, his wooden sword thrusting toward her right temple with sharp precision.

Ryeong contorted her body with exaggerated clumsiness, making it appear as though she had evaded the strike by a mere hair's breadth. A ripple of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gasps broke out among the disciples.

"Oho. That movement wasn't bad at all!"

"For someone who just began cultivating, aren't her reflexes incredible?"

"Could it be natural talent?"

Jinyeong, however, failed to press his advantage. No matter how much she had assured him through sound transmission that she would play along, she was still someone who had held his life in her hands. His instincts inevitably recoiled, leaving his follow-up hesitant.

Fortunately, his junior brothers interpreted the pause as mercy. In truth, he had simply flinched and retreated out of sheer intimidation.

"My turn now!"

Shifting her posture, Ryeong crossed her feet in an erratic cadence. Channeling internal qi into both legs, she made it look as though she had stumbled into an impromptu body movement technique purely by accident.

The third-generation disciples gasped in collective shock.

"Footwork...!"

"Don't tell me she absorbed it after seeing it just once?!"

"What kind of monstrous talent is this?!"

Her stride lacked the refined momentum to be called a true footwork technique, yet for someone wielding internal qi for the very first time to produce such motion was nothing short of miraculous.

"Hyah!"

"Kh!"

Jinyeong blocked Ryeong's downward strike with every ounce of his concentration. Even if her movement technique was feigned incompetence, her raw physical strength rivaled his own.

Why is she so damn strong?!

Twisting his right wrist, Jinyeong deflected her blade and channeled palm force through his left hand, snapping a palm strike directly at her wrist.

Smack!

It was a shock sufficient to disarm any fledgling cultivator who had barely learned to circulate qi. To Ryeong, however, the impact did little more than deflect her forearm. Feigning an inability to withstand the blow, she deliberately let go of her wooden sword and threw herself straight at Jinyeong's midsection.

Grab!

"Yaaargh!"

Her battle cry was downright bizarre. Caught off guard, Jinyeong hastily employed the Thousand-Pound Weight technique, rooting his lower body into the earth to resist the collision. Before Ryeong could pull any other tricks, he swiftly leveled his wooden sword against her throat, desperate to end the farce as quickly as possible.

"Jinyeong takes the victory! Well fought, Young Lady Ryeong."

"Ugh... what a shame. I really thought I had a chance," Ryeong said, pouting with theatrical disappointment.

Jinseong burst into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! Young Lady Ryeong, Jinyeong may seem easygoing, but he is widely hailed as the Sword Dragon of our generation. Had he taken the field in earnest, you would not have lasted a single exchange."

"Is that so? Truly, the path of the martial artist is a long and arduous one."

Ryeong smoothly indulged Jinseong's flattery, playing the part of the humbled novice. The trouble arose immediately afterward.

"Young Lady Ryeong. Have you ever considered joining the Jongnam Sect?"

"Pardon?"

"Ryeong, joining Jongnam?! Eldest Senior Brother, what on earth are you saying?!"

Jinyeong rushed in front of Jinseong, his face drained of color. This was a dangerous viper who ought to be driven from Mount Jongnam immediately, not welcomed as a sister disciple. He wanted nothing more than to scream the truth at the top of his lungs, but the invisible restraint binding him made active protest impossible.

Worse still, the looks in the other disciples' eyes mirrored Jinseong's enthusiasm. Ryeong had already bewitched the entire third generation.

"Jinyeong, you saw it yourself, didn't you?" Jinseong argued warmly. "Young Lady Ryeong's movements bore the unmistakable shape of advanced footwork."

"Well... that's..."

"Her potential is boundless. If she can cultivate systematically under Jongnam's guidance—"

"Forgive me for interrupting," Ryeong chimed in, "but I'm afraid becoming a disciple would be difficult."

A lifeline appeared from the least expected direction. It was Ryeong herself who severed the proposal.

What is she playing at? Jinyeong thought, staring at her in disbelief.

As far as Jinyeong knew, she was obsessed with the sacred relics. Though she claimed she meant no harm to Jongnam, anyone could see her ultimate objective lay with the relic. Her very reason for lingering as a guest could be explained by that alone.

In that case, would it not be far more advantageous to enter as a disciple? Becoming an insider would grant her easy access to the sect's innermost sanctums and bring her closer to the divine artifact.

Why kick away the shortest path? As Jinyeong puzzled over her refusal, a chilling realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Don't tell me... she's not just after the Tang Clan's sacred relic, but others as well?

It made sense. If a single relic was not her sole ambition, swearing fealty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to a specific sect would only bind her hands. Jinyeong felt as though he had caught a glimpse of the shadowy design beneath her mask. Whatever her ultimate goal, she intended to collect the divine artifacts across the realm.

"I am deeply grateful for your kind consideration, but I have personal circumstances to attend to..." Ryeong demurred with a polite, sorrowful bow.

"If that is your decision, it cannot be helped," Jinseong sighed with genuine regret. "Nevertheless, Jongnam's gates will always remain open to you."

"Yes! If Young Lady Ryeong joined, I could finally stop being the youngest—"

"Jinyu, unless you wish to hold the horse stance for an entire hour, hold your tongue."

"...Yes, Senior Brother."

The one whose eyes had shone the brightest at the prospect of her entry was none other than the youngest disciple, Jinyu. Believing his days of running errands as the junior-most member were finally coming to an end, he was crushed by her refusal.

Ryeong offered Jinyu a gentle, reassuring smile, quietly hinting that the future remained unwritten.

Now then, I wonder how they will react?

While mingling smoothly with the chattering disciples, Ryeong's true focus drifted toward the roof of a pavilion standing far in the distance.

Someone was watching her.

She had lived her entire life as an assassin. Surveying her surroundings before taking any action was as natural as breathing. Furthermore, the Heaven-Killing Art was an internal cultivation method that suppressed one's presence while sharpening the senses to an extraordinary degree. When she heightened her perception to its absolute limit, she had immediately caught the hidden gaze.

The watcher remained firmly within the grounds of Jongnam. Had it been an outside intruder, the sect's sentries would have raised the alarm long before now.

In short, she was being monitored on the orders of someone very high up in the hierarchy.

Jinyeong met with the Sect Leader earlier. Even if he only spoke with the elders...

If an internal member of Jongnam was keeping watch over a guest, it was safe to assume the Sect Leader had sanctioned it.

Which meant...

They are almost certainly reporting the details of my spar right this second.

A woman who had supposedly just acquired internal energy had nearly manifested a genuine body movement technique during a simple duel. Her unrefined, stumbling steps proved it was no coincidence. If the third-generation disciples had been this astonished, could the watcher remain indifferent?

Showing the potential to mimic advanced footwork on the very first day of forming internal qi was unheard of. How would the leader of a prestigious martial sect react upon receiving such a report?

What else could he do? He'll move heaven and earth to take me in as a disciple.

The great clans and sects of the martial world constantly engaged in an invisible war of prestige. Even if they stood side by side under the banner of the Murim Alliance, the Nine Great Sects, the One Beggars' Sect, and the Five Great Clans were fundamentally rival powers. It was only natural for each to desire greater glory than their peers.

Moreover, Jongnam's current Sect Leader took immense pride in Mount Jongnam's reputation as Shaanxi's Number One Sword Sect. Would such a man willingly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let an unpolished gem slip through his fingers? Ryeong knew that if she were in his position, she would never let such raw talent go.

And right on cue...

He's gone.

As she continued her pleasant banter with the disciples, she sensed the distant presence fade away. The bait had been cast, and the fish had bitten hook, line, and sinker.

All that remained was to reel it in properly.

Just in case, I need to polish the Heaven-Killing Art a little further.

The Sect Leader of Jongnam, Taecheong Jin'in, was a revered master ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠residing in the Transcendent Realm. Before facing him alone, she had to raise her Heaven-Killing Art to at least the fourth stage. Only then could she eliminate even the slightest possibility of having her true depths exposed.

Now that the watcher has left to deliver his report, I'll break through to the fourth stage today, no matter what.

Meanwhile, Samyeong, the senior Taoist dispatched by Taecheong Jin'in to observe Ryeong, was racing across the compound in sheer disbelief.

It defies all reason. Such talent could only be a gift bestowed directly by the heavens!

Having witnessed the duel with his own eyes, Samyeong hastened toward the Sect Leader's residence. In all his years as a martial artist, he had never seen anything like it. For a woman with a laughable sliver of internal qi to stumble onto the threshold of a true body movement technique?

Even if one argued it was luck, it hardly mattered. She had clearly grasped the essence of Jinyeong's movements and mirrored them in the heat of combat. She either possessed a body blessed with peerless affinity for internal qi, or an uncanny set of eyes capable of memorizing and reproducing any form after a single glance.

Either way, she was a diamond in the rough. If polished properly by Jongnam's heritage, their sect would no longer be confined to being Shaanxi's Number One Sword Sect. They might very well surpass Wudang and ascend as the undisputed Number One Sword Sect Under the Heavens.

"Sect Leader, it is Samyeong."

Arriving before the doors of the Sect Leader's quarters, Samyeong knelt and delivered a breathless account of everything he had observed.

Listening in silence, Taecheong Jin'in made his decision: he would meet this young woman in person.