Noe-jin increased altitude following Jin Cheonhee’s hand signal.

Hwanggu, stick close and attack with me.

Dogs are among the most difficult animals for humans to fight against.

They’re large, but their heads are lower than humans, making their striking points low and vital spots difficult to target.

Well, I’m not trying to kill them—just make things a bit troublesome.

With Jin Cheonhee’s current skill level, he could easily dismember all seven of them.

However, having chosen the path of a physician, he was the kind of madman who insisted on letting everyone live.

And if he had one more desire, it was not to have troubled dreams in his old age.

He wanted to protect himself.

Noe-jin continued firing lightning.

Boom, crash, bang!

Its accuracy was still poor, but each strike was powerful enough to keep the Seven Warriors Group at bay.

Just then, one of the Transcendent masters blocked the lightning with sword energy rather than a shield.

Tzzzzzzzk!

Wow, he sliced through it?

Wind Thunder Sword, the leader of the Seven Warriors Formation, shouted:

“White-Robed Divine Dragon Jin Cheonhee! The internal energy of our seven is shared through our formation, so its total exceeds yours and your spiritual beasts’! In the end, you’ll be the one collapsing from exhaustion!”

Jin Cheonhee remained calm at these words, far from being terrified.

That… sounds like a line from a classic martial arts novel.

He merely laid his Ice Clarity Sword to the side with a relaxed expression.

But this is evidence of the Transformation Realm. What if I release strong energy?

The internal energy in his danjeon responded to his Transformation Realm enlightenment, beginning to coalesce into strong energy.

Crackle-

As if celebrating its master’s strong energy, the divine weapon exploded with cold energy, visibly freezing the surrounding air.

Each strand of strong energy froze like snowflakes.

It was summer.

Yet they clearly felt the scent of winter forming.

“I’d appreciate it if you withdrew now.”

Despite the intense cold generated by the strong energy that would make anyone frightened,

The Seven Warriors remained unmoved.

“Our Seven Warriors Formation can withstand even the strong energy of the Transformation Realm.”

Well… that might be true for ordinary Transformation Realm strong energy. But you’ve got the wrong opponent.

Here I come!

Five Elements Sovereign Step[1]-!

Krrrrrrg-

The pressure created by the Five Elements began pushing them horizontally.

Unlike the Celestial Horse Sovereign Step, the Five Elements Sovereign Step disturbed the sword energy itself.

“How… is this possible…?!”

“But it won’t break through! White-Robed Divine Dragon!”

Ah, breaking through isn’t my objective.

He only needed to shake them slightly.

Just as a solid concrete building sways during an earthquake, even the most tightly constructed sword formation shifts its center with a small tremor.

In that moment,

Snowflakes formed from Jin Cheonhee’s sword.

Cold energy frosted, and snow covered their vision. Each flake was a sword energy cloud and the realm of strong energy.

Winter… is it?

At that moment, a shield split.

The shield-bearer coughed up blood and collapsed.

Frost formed along a long cut.

He wasn’t dead. It wasn’t a fatal wound.

However, once the cold had penetrated, it was difficult to resist even with energy circulation.

Jin Cheonhee said:

“I’ll come back when this is over. If you resist, you’ll die from qi deviation.”

“Urgh… what did you do…?”

There was one aspect of the Five-Elemental Divine Technique that Jin Cheonhee had researched to the extreme.

Ice (氷).

How to eliminate the cold energy eating away at his master’s body.

How to treat that strange illness of the martial world that didn’t exist on Earth.

As a child becoming a boy, and a boy becoming a man, he had agonized intensely every day without exception.

It was a strange thing.

When researching to combat a disease, you conversely become well-acquainted with it.

Jin Cheonhee disliked winter.

Not because he was abandoned at an orphanage on the winter solstice, nor because his birthday was set on that day as a result.

Not because people injured in accidents always came in after snowfall, and such accidents were invariably fatal.

He just disliked the bone-chilling cold.

But why?

Why did his martial knowledge of the Five-Elemental Divine Technique’s Ice element explode in growth when it met the Ice Clarity Sword?

The two Transcendent masters targeted Jin Cheonhee’s blind spot, striking with their swords.

However, the Profound Origin Heaven and Earth Divine Technique never missed such attacks.

He fired scorching explosive energy through the snowflakes that filled the air.

Water Conquers Fire.

Yin-Yang Creation.

Steam Explosion.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

The Yin-Yang Creation, which would have required great effort to unleash in the past, now came as easily as breathing.

As steam exploded, the martial artists were swept away simultaneously.

With two of them flying away at once, the formation completely disintegrated.

In that gap, Jin Cheonhee fired a gold-generating energy pulse, and Noe-jin, following its master’s guidance, struck down lightning.

Kwa-ru-ru-rung!

They fell unconscious with a single strike.

“Hwanggu…”

Grrr-

“Arrrgh!”

It had been a while since Hwanggu bit someone in the groin.

It seemed the dog hadn’t bitten anyone for some time and felt like doing so now.

Foaming at the mouth, a man slowly collapsed forward.

Thud-

Jin Cheonhee watched him twitch like an insect and asked:

“Will you continue?”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, two people simultaneously dropped their weapons.

“We’ve underestimated you, great hero.”

“…We apologize for our rudeness.”

“It’s nothing.”

Jin Cheonhee smiled faintly, twirled his Ice Clarity Sword once, and sheathed it.

The sword that had been coated with extreme cold returned to an ordinary iron sword as if nothing had happened.

Transformation Realm. Has he already advanced beyond the initial stage of Transformation Realm…?

Even beyond the Transformation Realm, handling sword energy like an extension of one’s limbs is no easy feat.

It’s martial knowledge impossible for those at the initial stage.

Yet this young man had leaped well past the initial stage right after crossing into the Transformation Realm.

How is that possible…?

The greater the enlightenment and the higher the wall overcome, the longer it takes to consolidate afterward.

Especially after overcoming a barrier as significant as the Transformation Realm.

But the young man before them had surpassed the Transformation Realm in merely his twenties.

And how long had it taken him to digest that achievement?

How many talents like this existed in the martial world?

The Seven Warriors Group leader, Wind Thunder Sword, ground his teeth.

He clenched his jaw so hard that blood seeped between his teeth.

What’s the difference between him and me…?

Being defeated by someone young enough to be your child.

That’s actually quite common.

But this young martial artist fought with martial knowledge far beyond his own while also considering the lives of his enemies.

There could be no greater humiliation.

“White-Robed Divine Dragon. What’s the difference between you and me?”

“Hmm…”

One might have expected him to mock the question.

Instead, Jin Cheonhee appeared to be giving it serious consideration.

Finally, he answered:

“Well… efficient allocation of effort? Diversification of martial arts that can be applied both offensively and defensively?”

The unexpected, absurd response left him speechless.

Eventually, he smiled wryly.

“Though the Seven Warriors Group belongs to the unorthodox faction, I’ve heard you don’t go around killing innocent people. If you were truly evil, I’d destroy your danjeon, but that seems unnecessary.”

“What… do you plan to do with us?”

Jin Cheonhee replied as if the answer were obvious:

“Nothing. I’ll release you after receiving a ransom from the Unorthodox Alliance.”

“Ransom?”

“Hey! Come on, if you attack someone like this, you should pay compensation! How could you leave without paying?”

Watching this scene, Cheon Woo thought:

My brother… isn’t like a typical martial artist at all.

Would there ever come a day when he could truly understand his brother?

***

Jin Cheonhee handed them over to the Unorthodox Alliance and extracted a hefty ransom.

From the Unorthodox Alliance’s perspective, Jin Cheonhee’s demand—to return their people without execution, torture, or imprisonment in exchange for money—was baffling… but they had no choice but to comply.

However, the amount Jin Cheonhee demanded was so enormous that the Unorthodox Alliance’s Commander-in-Chief trembled at the figure.

But there was no alternative.

In the martial world where people lived by the sword, face still mattered.

If rumors spread that they didn’t rescue their subordinates due to lack of funds, the Unorthodox Alliance would be in an awkward position.

If it had been bandits or mountain brigands, they could have pushed the blame on them and cut ties, but the problem was that these were the Seven Warriors Group, directly under the Unorthodox Alliance.

Not killing them, not torturing them, but extorting money?

In the end, they had no choice but to hand over that teeth-chattering sum to the White-Robed Divine Dragon, or rather, the White-Robed Light Dragon.

This news began to spread throughout both the righteous and demonic factions.

“Have you heard? There’s a rumor that the White-Robed Divine Dragon completely destroyed one team of the Seven Warriors Group!”

“The Seven Warriors Group? Does that mean the White-Robed Divine Dragon has reached the Transformation Realm?”

“A man who hasn’t even reached thirty is at the Transformation Realm?”

“Forget thirty—he’s barely in his twenties.”

Transformation Realm.

There wasn’t a martial artist whose heart didn’t race at those words.

“Sister, have you heard! The White-Robed Divine Dragon has reached the Transformation Realm!”

Three Seasons Tiger was in the middle of drinking at an inn when she heard this news from a close martial artist friend.

“I’ve already heard. Hmph. A man who can’t even kill someone has reached the Transformation Realm? Kukuku-“

She had been tracking the Blood Immortal Sect.

Though she outwardly grumbled about Jin Cheonhee’s achievement, the smile that formed at the corners of her lips wouldn’t fade.

“It seems he’s a younger brother you care for, Sister.”

“Care for? Nonsense. He’s just a troublemaker.”

Three Seasons Tiger said this while flicking a silver coin toward the inn’s madam.

“Hey, tell me a story about the White-Robed Divine Dragon.”

The madam’s eyes widened at the hefty silver coin.

“What story would you like to hear? Ah, shall I tell you about the White-Robed Divine Dragon’s recent reputation? The White-Robed Divine Dragon who has reached the Transformation Realm!”

“If it’s reached even this backwater place, I suppose everyone in the central plains must know by now.”

She continued to grumble with her words while her face was full of smiles.

“He’s heading to where eyes and ears gather most, so it’s even more so. Sister.”

“That’s true. The place he’s heading to is Shanxi Province. It’s where three forces converge, and various sects are gathering individually as well.”

She hummed as she spoke, waving her wine bottle at the attendant.

“One more bottle of Bamboo Leaf Blue!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The attendant quickly brought a fresh bottle of Bamboo Leaf Blue.

Glug-glug-glug-glug-

“Sister, are you perhaps worried about your little brother, the White-Robed Divine Dragon?”

“Worried? Why would I be? He’ll manage fine. He’s reached the Transformation Realm at that age. Who’s worrying about whom?”

She said this as she emptied her sixth bottle of Bamboo Leaf Blue.

“More than that… it’s a shame that my report to the Martial Righteous Alliance about the Blood Immortal Sect’s scent was of no use.”

“It can’t be helped. After all, it’s the Conquering Heaven Peerless Divine Arts we’re talking about.”

“True. Greed always eats away at people’s minds. At the very least, I hope my little brother… hmm… no, nothing will happen to him, but still, I hope he doesn’t get hurt anywhere.”

Three Seasons Tiger prayed for Jin Cheonhee’s safety as she spoke.

Then she poured one more drink.

She clinked her cup against the empty air and immediately downed it.

The Bamboo Leaf Blue tasted particularly sweet and bitter today.

Such was the day, such was the rumor.