Is This Paradise?!
The next morning.
I leaned crookedly against the railing of the pavilion, where bright morning sunlight poured down, staring blankly at the base of the cliff where the sea breeze blew in.
“Thirty years ago…”
A dejected mutter slipped from between my lips.
Yeon-jin had been crystal clear that the ‘Imperial Palace Arson Incident,’ which had shaken the entire Central Plains, had taken place this very summer.
That event had happened right when I was just coming of age, which meant I had traveled back exactly thirty years.
Besides that, the face of the young Sword Empress, Yeon-jin, proved the truth more clearly than any evidence possibly could.
Fucking hell.
My mother’s back.
The ceiling of the gisaeng house thick with hazy smoke.
The hands that violated me.
Perhaps because the distance to my past had shrunk as I rewound time, the memories surged back the instant I clenched my eyes shut.
Every time I closed my eyes, every time I fell asleep, those damned memories crawled out and grabbed my ankles, leaving my head still noisy and restless.
I turned my face into the rough sea breeze, trying to wipe away those hellish afterimages somehow.
Shwaaaa—! Crash!
Below the pavilion perched on the sheer cliff lay a thousand-li precipice where countless strange rocks were piled atop one another, its maw gaping wide.
Beneath that stretched the spectacular sight of waves carrying white foam smashing against the cliff and shattering into pieces.
Shwaaaa….
The salty sea breeze, heavy with mist, brushed my cheeks.
When I breathed in, the salt-laden air sank deep into my lungs.
Putting everything else aside, at least I know exactly where I am right now.
There was no room for doubt.
This was the southern tip of Zhejiang, a mysterious sect cut off from the world.
It was Namhae Bota-am.
A place the martial artists of the gangho commonly called the Sword Pavilion.
While it was said that all martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin, making Shaolin the greatest of the great, the place that boasted a history and martial heritage deep enough to rival it was none other than the Potalo Sect.
Besides its long history, very little was known about the mysterious sect called Bota-mun. Along with its name, exactly two facts were known in the gangho.
First, unless it was a crisis involving the fate of the Central Plains itself, they never intervened in murim affairs.
Second, the sect consisted of only about twenty women, including the sect leader, the Sword Empress, and her successor, the Little Sword Empress.
“...Ha.”
And through some unknown twist of fate, I had become the Little Sword Empress—the young owner of this place.
Shwaaaa—!
Even thinking about it again while listening to the crashing waves, the whole thing was absurd enough to leave me speechless.
I was frowning with a troubled expression when I sensed someone’s presence behind me, accompanied by careful footsteps.
What now?
When I turned my head, two young ladies were looking at me with worried eyes.
The slightly taller of the two politely brought her palms together toward me.
“Namu Bodhisattva. Senior Sister Seol-hye, how is your body? We were terribly shocked to see you collapse in the Dharma Hall yesterday.”
Following her greeting, the girl beside her also clasped her hands with a tearful face.
“That’s right. If Senior Sister is unwell, our hearts become troubled too. Please don’t overdo it…!”
“Uh…?”
Both of them looked so genuinely worried that it felt almost burdensome.
Having lived half my life among the scum of the unorthodox factions—people who spat curses, raised their voices, wore fake smiles, and hid sinister intentions—I was completely flustered by an atmosphere I couldn’t adapt to.
How the hell was I supposed to respond to such pure goodwill?
“Um, uhh…”
Not knowing what to say, I stood there blankly for a moment before opening my mouth with an awkward expression.
“Uh, yeah…! Thanks, everyone.”
Damn it.
The great Wi Yeon-seol, who could topple ten ladies with a single glance, was now stuttering because he didn’t know how to answer two young ladies.
“Yes…! Take care, Senior Sister.”
“We’ll pray sincerely to Guanyin Bodhisattva for your swift recovery…!”
It had been a vague, embarrassed answer while I scratched my cheek, but they bowed politely as if deeply moved.
After that, the two young ladies—still unable to shake their worried expressions—checked my complexion one more time before finally turning and heading down from the pavilion.
This is harder than fighting those righteous-faction idiots….
I rested my chin on the railing, calmed my flustered mind, and slowly began to retrace the situation I now faced.
The horrific five-year-long Righteous and Evil Great War.
The tense balance of power between the righteous and unorthodox factions had been on the verge of collapse when the female swordswomen of Bota-mun—the Sword Pavilion—and the hidden masters of the Central Plains who had been in seclusion joined the fight, shattering it completely.
Sealed sects opened their gates, and the leaders of the unorthodox factions who had enjoyed absolute power were beheaded one by one.
Among them, the fall of the Seven Evils of the Murim, the top unorthodox masters who had boasted invincibility, was utterly惨.
The Sword Demon, who had gone mad and slaughtered everyone in sight without distinguishing friend from foe, went missing.
The Blue Wave King of the waterway stronghold who had dyed the Yangtze red with blood, and the One-Eyed Scarlet Woman of Salmak, notorious for her poison and hidden weapons, were torn limb from limb by the subjugation force.
One by one they collapsed, and in the end the only ones left were me and that idiot Heavenly Demon bastard.
Yet even my Cheonryeon Yoru, which had boasted exceptionally strong unity among the unorthodox forces, eventually crumbled beneath the Murim Alliance’s all-out offensive.
Having barely kept my life, I fled to a snowy mountain in the North Sea. Driven to the edge, I finally threw myself off a thousand-li cliff.
And when I regained consciousness, I had opened my eyes here at Namhae Bota-am inside the body of a woman named Seol-hye.
Not just any woman—the body of this place’s Little Sword Empress.
“Does this situation even make sense?”
I asked myself, but the answer was obvious.
Of course it didn’t.
While wandering the gangho for a long time embedded in the unorthodox factions, I had encountered countless sorceries and dark arts.
Some could manipulate minds or raise the dead. But I had never heard of, let alone seen, any technique that reversed time or allowed perfect possession of another person’s body.
Then is it some kind of formation or high-level illusion technique?
I considered it briefly, but could only shake my head.
The salty scent brushing my nose, the heat of sunlight on my skin, and even this unfamiliar weight pressing on my chest.
A technique capable of such elaborate, perfect illusions would be impossible unless it came from an immortal.
In the end, I had to accept it.
This absurd situation was an inescapable reality.
“Hah, damn it…”
I was letting out a long, curse-filled sigh when—
-Step.
Once again I felt someone’s presence behind me.
It was a presence I had grown quite familiar with now—warm and gentle like a spring breeze.
“Sister, good morning. Did you sleep well last night?”
When I turned my head at the soft greeting, Yeon-jin was looking at me with a slightly flushed smile.
“...Yeah. Thanks to you.”
“...Hmm.”
I nodded briefly, trying to sound as casual as possible, but my answer must not have been very convincing. Yeon-jin’s lips twitched as she seemed to ponder something.
She lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then looked up with a determined expression.
“Sister, if it’s alright with you, would you like to spar with me? Swinging a sword will make all those complicated worries and troubles disappear!”
“Spar?”
I raised an eyebrow at the unexpected suggestion.
Well, I couldn’t just sit here lamenting forever.
No matter how unbelievable it was, what had happened had happened.
To adapt to this new body and gauge the level of martial arts it possessed, I had no choice but to move it myself.
I had grown somewhat used to light movements like walking or running, but that alone wasn’t enough.
To survive this mysterious situation, I first needed to make this unfamiliar body my own.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
When I nodded readily, Yeon-jin laughed brightly, grabbed my hand, and led me along as naturally as if she had always done so.
“Good decision! Let’s go quickly!”
“Whoa, wait a second!”
The warmth of her hand interlocking with mine and pulling me along felt surprisingly not bad at all. Was that just my imagination?
Yeah. Swinging a sword should clear away some of these idle thoughts too.
---
The place Yeon-jin led me to was a training ground prepared in a deep mountain valley.
In the wide-open space, disciples of the Sword Pavilion were already sweating profusely, sparring or practicing their forms.
“Hup! Haap!”
“Haat!”
Shouts rang out alongside swords slicing through the air.
But what first captured my gaze wasn’t their martial arts.
This, this is…!!!
Was it because this was an area where men were strictly forbidden?
The attire of the women executing their forms with shouts was so dizzying it made me doubt my eyes.
They had boldly cut off sleeves or rolled up hems for easier movement, so every swing of their swords openly revealed white thighs and deep cleavage.
The curves of their female bodies traced by thin training uniforms soaked with sweat and clinging to their skin.
And the way their inner garments showed faintly through—!
Kyah, this is insane!
I didn’t show it outwardly, but inside I let out a cheer with the most satisfied smile imaginable.
To Wi Yeon-seol, this place was truly no different from paradise…!
Around the training ground, osmanthus trees were planted densely.
When the wind blew, golden petals scattered down like snowflakes, filling the entire courtyard with a thick, sweet fragrance.
A fragrant flower rain.
And in the midst of it, peerless beauties practicing their martial arts as if dancing.
I stared blankly at the sight, so beautiful it felt like a waste to even blink.
If this isn’t paradise, then where the hell is?!
“Ahem, hmm…!”
I thoroughly hid the dark lust rising within me and outwardly maintained a strictly solemn expression while staring at their movements.
But the eye candy lasted only a moment.
I soon found myself impressed in an entirely different way.
“...Amazing.”
Every one of them—even the youngest disciples—possessed skill and inner energy that would earn them immediate recognition as first-rate masters if they went out into the gangho.
There wasn’t the slightest disorder from the tip of their blades to the breathing that controlled their inner energy.
Above all, their sword paths were as sharp and fierce as freshly honed blades.
Even the youngest disciple is already at the first-rate level.
No prestigious sect in the Central Plains had anything like this.
While the gangho was full of martial artists who trained their entire lives without crossing the threshold of first-rate and remained third- or second-rate, this place was a den of monsters.
As expected of the Sword Pavilion, where only the greatest female talents under heaven are gathered.
It was while I was lost in admiration that—
“Hey, Sister!”
Before I knew it, Yeon-jin had brought two wooden swords and stepped right in front of me, blocking my view.
She puffed out both cheeks and deliberately made a pouty face at me.
“Right now you should be sparring with me instead of paying attention to the other junior sisters!”
“Pfft, alright, alright.”
Yeon-jin’s genuinely slightly sulky expression was so cute that I burst out laughing and took the wooden sword she offered.
-Swish.
The heavy weight of the wooden sword.
When I was a man, the hilt had felt like an extension of my own body, but holding it with a woman’s slender, delicate hands brought an intense sense of incongruity.
Good. Let’s check the inner energy first.
I took a deep breath and slowly sent my consciousness down to my dantian.
A heavy, slow sensation like pulling up a bucket submerged in a deep well.
It must be because I hadn’t fully grasped this body’s meridians yet.
-Woooong….
At first the inner energy seemed to rise quietly and gradually, but—
-Kuuuung—!
With the next breath it suddenly swelled all at once.
The inner energy, which could only be described as a tidal wave, rushed through my blood points with uncontrollable force and emitted a fierce aura that made even my fingertips and toes tingle!
What the hell is this?!
Just who was this woman named Seol-hye?
The amount and purity of inner energy this body possessed had already reached the mature pinnacle stage despite only just coming of age.
And it wasn’t the kind of demonic energy raised through unorthodox sorcery.
It was refined, orthodox inner energy—the kind I had never possessed in my entire life.
It was so overwhelmingly superior that even the dragon-and-phoenix talents from prestigious sects and families would find it unimaginable. I was genuinely speechless at the growth rate.
And I wasn’t the only one radiating such an unusual aura.
-Goooo…!
Yeon-jin stood before me, wooden sword in hand, forming a sword stance.
The red inner energy rising from her body like haze and her refined aura also contained power hard to believe for someone so young.
She too had clearly reached the pinnacle stage without difficulty.
“Ha…!”
A hollow laugh burst out as one corner of my mouth curled upward.
They all looked like beautiful flowers on the outside. But when you look closely, they’re all just monsters…!
Not only the old monster who appeared to be the previous Sword Empress named Hyeon-wol, but me, Yeon-jin, and the female disciples swinging swords nearby—all of them were clearly peerless female heroes I had rarely encountered even when I was Wi Yeon-seol.
The Cheonryeon Yoru I had built while wandering the Central Plains, gathering selected young ladies.
Even among the women there who could easily snap ordinary men’s necks, unless it was Hwa-ran, I wouldn’t have dared guarantee victory against these girls.
So that was why, when Bota-mun later entered the Righteous-Evil War, the mediocre unorthodox riffraff had been swept away like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
“Huu……”
Feeling both admiration and thrill at once, I slowly regulated my breathing and raised my sword into position.
A crude stance—gripping the hilt firmly with both hands and pointing the tip straight at the center.
-Tap.
Yeon-jin tilted her head when she saw my posture.
“Huh? That stance is…?”
“Why, don’t you like it?”
I asked her with a grin.
Because the stance I had taken was the so-called Three Talents Sword Style, a basic and extremely common stance used only by third-rate martial artists in the gangho.
Yeon-jin widened her eyes for a moment, then smiled back at me.
“Hehe, alright. If it was the old me, maybe, but with just the Three Talents Sword, it’ll be tough for you to handle the current me!”
“Heh. That confidence looks good on you.”
“Then, here I come!”
The moment she finished speaking, her toes kicked off the ground.