Beneath the delicate layers of his veil, Jin Cheon-hee offered only a cold, unblinking stare. Silence stretched between them, a void the water stronghold chiefs mistook for terror.

“If you surrender now, we will be gentle in our abduction,” one chief chuckled, his voice dripping with false benevolence.

“We promise to treat you with the utmost respect. No harassment, on my honor.”

One would expect river pirates to spew filth, but they were being surprisingly polite, likely cowed by the presence of a ‘noble princess.’ It was then that Wang Gak-yeon and Gongsun Yeong stepped forward, shielding him.

“Princess, rest easy. We will handle this rabble.”

“Please step back, Your Highness.”

The chiefs paused, taken aback by the authentic aura of these loyal bodyguards. Recognition dawned on one of the pirate’s faces.

“Wait… we know who you are. Are you not Gongsun Yeong and Wang Gak-yeon, the Leader and Deputy Squad Leader of the Heavenly Pine Squad?”

Well, Eonni did warn us to be prepared for our identities to be revealed, Gongsun Yeong thought, her hand drifting to her sword.

Just then, Jin Cheon-hee’s voice resonated in their minds via telepathy.

[Noona, all four are supreme masters, but none have reached the Transformation Realm.]

[Understood. Leave them to us. The more you fight, the greater the risk of exposing your identity.]

Jin Cheon-hee nodded imperceptibly. It was sound logic, but the pirates were testing his patience.

“For women to dress as men… Heh. Then again, there’s a certain appeal to that as well. Heheheh.”

“Kekekek, looks like we’ll have some fun tonight.”

Hearing the lewd jeers typical of river trash, Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes narrowed instinctively.

Hwanggu. I require the wrath of Hwanggu.

These ruffians needed to be taught the profound sorrow of losing their family jewels. Though he was currently portraying a delicate flower, getting mauled by a rabid dog—or perhaps an alpaca, given his current internal mood—would be a unique trauma they deserved.

Sensing the rising fury radiating from the ‘princess,’ Wang Gak-yeon projected a quick warning.

[Cheon-hee. You stay put.]

Not wanting her charge to sully his hands with such filth, Wang Gak-yeon moved.

Thwip-thwip-thwip!

Her speed was nearly invisible to the naked eye. Her movements left afterimages like the hands of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, unleashing a sudden storm of arrows.

“Hah?!”

The four chiefs, caught mid-laugh, scrambled to draw their weapons as steel rained down upon them.

“To think an orthodox practitioner would launch a sneak attack! Unforgivable!”

As if you lot are paragons of justice, Jin Cheon-hee thought dryly.

The battle erupted in earnest. One man wielded a thick broadsword; another held a curved saber in each hand; a third carried a double-bladed axe; and the last gripped a trident. Jin Cheon-hee’s extraordinary mind immediately cross-referenced them with the Directory of Figures in the Martial World, but for the sake of simplicity, he assigned them his own mental tags: Broadsword Bastard, Dual Blade Bastard, Axe Bastard, and Trident Bastard.

Against them, Gongsun Yeong and Wang Gak-yeon charged.

***

Having spent considerable time training with Wang Gak-yeon, Gongsun Yeong felt no fear in taking the point.

Hiss—crack!

Her sword energy extended in a long, sharp line. The men she faced were veteran warriors of the Gangho, seasoned by countless battles, yet they were flustered by Wang Gak-yeon’s suppressive volley, unable to form a proper formation.

The opening is… here!

Like a gale, she charged headfirst toward the Dual Blade Bastard. The startled chief coated his two sabers with qi to counter, but there was a chasm between their speeds. Before his sabers could even complete their arc, she was already within his guard, thrusting her blade.

Thwack!

Sword energy pierced his throat. It was a strike designed for an instant kill, a necessity when facing multiple opponents.

“Keok!”

The Dual Blade Bastard staggered, a wet gurgle escaping his ruined throat. Gongsun Yeong didn’t linger; she vaulted past him, leaping to the right just as a trident swept through the space she had occupied a heartbeat prior. The Trident Chief had rushed to his comrade’s aid, but he was too slow.

In that fleeting moment of suspension, she flipped her body in mid-air, scattering her sword strikes into a crescent-shaped wave of energy.

“What?!”

The wave was so powerful that the stunned Trident Chief began to spin his weapon like a windmill in a desperate attempt to neutralize it. However, that action left him wide open to Wang Gak-yeon, who had been waiting for exactly that mistake.

Thud-thud-thud!

“Kuaaak!”

With three arrows suddenly embedded in his back, the Trident Bastard’s movements faltered. The un-dissipated remnants of Gongsun Yeong’s sword energy tore into his defenseless form. He wasn’t dead, but his body was a tattered mess as he collapsed into unconsciousness.

Thump!

In an instant, two supreme masters had been neutralized.

“Gods… their reputation was an understatement!”

“Why is someone with that kind of skill doing mercenary work instead of leading her clan?”

The morale of the onlooking pirates plummeted. The faces of the remaining Broadsword and Axe chiefs turned ashen, cold sweat beading on their brows.

This is insane! How are they this strong?! Shit, I need to run!

***

Amidst the chaos, Noe-jin spotted a ship approaching in the distance. Unable to cry out without revealing his identity, he circled above, sending a silent signal.

Jin Cheon-hee confirmed the approach. As his martial arts had deepened, he had developed the ability to gauge an opponent’s realm intuitively.

Transformation Realm… likely a master at or above that level.

He would have to cross weapons to be certain, but the pressure was undeniable.

Gongsun Yeong flicked the blood from her sword and panted slightly. “I’ll take one. The other is…”

[I’ll step in,] Jin Cheon-hee interjected, signaling for Wang Gak-yeon to provide support.

[If we get into trouble, it would be best for you to cover us. You’re not quite at the Transformation Realm yet, are you?]

At his blunt assessment, Wang Gak-yeon frowned.

[My eonni said I have the Body and the Qi.]

What she lacked was the epiphany. The Heart. At first, the energy he had sensed from her felt like that of a Transformation Realm master, leading him to assume she had crossed the threshold. However, watching the recent skirmish, he realized she had not yet broken through the final wall.

Come to think of it, she has been surrounded by too many monsters.

Wang Gak-yeon didn’t possess a peerless constitution like the Supreme Yang Physique, nor had she been raised by a great clan and fed elixirs like rice since birth. She was outstanding, certainly—her qi manipulation was skilled enough to fool him—but she was currently in a state of stagnation, much like Namgung Woon.

For her to fight a Transformation Realm master one-on-one would be a distinct disadvantage. She couldn’t trade blows like a swordsman, and as an archer, she required distance. The bow was excellent for culling grunts or ambushes, but hitting a swordsman with heightened senses was a different beast entirely.

The Elder Phantom Archer had found his answer, but Wang Gak-yeon was still searching for hers. If she ran to her father now, she could inherit his martial knowledge, but that would remain her father’s art, never truly her own.

In wuxia novels, this is always the period of greatest suffering.

Jin Cheon-hee had cast aside such struggles effortlessly, but for most, the wall to the Transformation Realm was insurmountable.

[Well, you’ll figure it out soon enough,] he sent, a small comfort that likely did little for her pride. Yet, that struggle was precisely why a martial artist continued to strive.

In that moment—

Clang!

Two masters leaped onto the bow, splitting the mast with a single exchange of power.

Whish—

A vivid blade aura cut through the darkness. To unleash sword aura of that magnitude in the dead of night signified they were not just Transformation Realm masters, but veterans well past the initial stage.

“The princess does not seem to be easily caught.”

“If you surrender obediently now, we will escort you home without a scratch.”

They had altered their voices with internal energy, but their refined speech patterns and ingrained posture betrayed them as members of prestigious clans.

Gongsun Yeong raised her hand, signaling her troops. “Everyone, fall back. You are no match for them.”

The warriors of the Gongsun Clan and the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency retreated into the shadows. Jin Cheon-hee, holding the white stone pipa in a reverse grip, walked calmly toward the two intruders.

“The princess seems to have considerable skill. It appears you use the Sound Arts.”

Since he had mastered the Seven Demonic Zither, Jin Cheon-hee could alter his voice far more naturally than by simply masking it with qi.

“I am more proficient with an axe than with Sound Arts,” he replied.

It was the quintessential voice of a highborn lady, delicate and melodic. The two masked men looked at the veiled woman, startled by the contrast between her voice and her words.

Jin Cheon-hee mused, What is a princess, really?

Countless princesses from beyond the Central Plains had graced the pages of the wuxia novels he had read. Compiling the ones who were significant characters, he found a common thread.

First, they were beautiful. He was naturally easy on the eyes, and with the help of the Gongsun Clan’s disguise expert, he had been transformed into a peerless beauty. Check.

Second, they had a temper.

If I smash a few kneecaps with this pipa, they’ll acknowledge I have a temper.

As a ‘princess,’ he couldn’t simply dislocate their joints with surgical precision like the Blue-Eyed Mad Physician; someone might recognize his signature touch. Brute force would have to suffice. Check.

Yes. I am a princess.

As Princess Jin stared eerily at the two masked men from beneath the veil, they mistook the silence for fear and burst out laughing.

“We have no intention of shedding blood.”

“That’s right. We will be satisfied with merely causing a certain someone a little trouble.”

Gongsun Yeong tightened her grip on her sword. She was not foolish enough to miss the implication; the ‘certain someone’ was undoubtedly her sister, Gongsun Hyeon.

One holds a spear, the other wears metal gauntlets.

There was no proof, but the deduction was obvious. It was clearly the Shandong Yue Clan and the Hwangbo Clan. The fact that they openly used their signature weapons implied they were confident no witnesses would survive to identify them.

[Cheon-hee. I’ll take the Shandong Yue Clan.]

[The Hwangbo Clan… I’ll take them.]

[Alright.]

She prayed silently that the masked man was not someone Jin Cheon-hee had a personal connection with. It wasn’t that he feared creating a grudge; rather, he feared seeing a friend who had lost their way.

Whether on Earth or in the Gangho, human nature remained constant. The asshole at the office could be a loyal friend, while a confidant could sell you out to the unorthodox for a pittance. The duality of man was terrifying. She simply hoped the one walking the wrong path tonight was a stranger.

“Princess, must we really fight?” the masked man from the Hwangbo Clan asked, his tone displeased as he settled into a stance.

Jin Cheon-hee’s fingers found the strings of the white pipa.

Twang—

It was not a song. It was a signal to attack.