Meanwhile, Gongsun Yeong focused her fighting spirit on the masked man before her.

Hiss—

The sword in her grip was no divine artifact, yet it was a masterwork of comparable pedigree. Forged by one of the northern region’s most renowned blacksmiths, the blade was an alloy infused with Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, granting it superb resilience and an exceptional capacity for conducting energy. She felt a flicker of gratitude that the weapon had been completed before this ambush.

Sword energy surged from the steel, elongating the weapon’s reach; while the physical blade measured three chi, the manifesting aura extended it to five.

Seeing this, the nameless masked warrior from the Shandong Yue Clan narrowed his eyes, a reaction Gongsun Yeong caught through the eyeholes of his disguise.

“It seems the young lass has been swallowing elixirs as if they were common rice.”

“And it seems your clan didn’t provide any for you, old man,” she retorted.

“Show some respect to your senior.”

“Senior? All I see before me is an elderly thief.”

A dense, suffocating killing intent began to saturate the air.

“Young lady, I intended to spare you out of respect for the Gongsun Clan, but I have changed my mind. Once I kill you, I imagine the Black Ice Poison Dragon will become much more docile.”

So, he really is my eonni’s enemy.

If this wasn’t merely a check on the Gongsun Clan’s expansion but a personal grudge against the Black Ice Poison Dragon herself, the stakes were entirely different. Apart from the necessity of victory, Gongsun Yeong felt the fine hairs on her skin rise in warning; his killing intent was triggering her primal instincts.

She was undoubtedly a martial prodigy who had ascended to the Transformation Realm at a young age through relentless effort, the clan’s lavish support, and several fortuitous encounters. However, her opponent was a veteran who had weathered the storms of the Gangho for decades. Even if they stood within the same realm of cultivation, the chasm in their experience was vast. Furthermore, elixirs only served to accelerate the accumulation of internal energy; her opponent had been naturally building his power for decades, meaning she held no advantage even in raw strength.

I’m afraid.

One of them would likely not leave this ship alive today, and she could not shake the premonition that it would be her. But even so…

I am my eonni’s sword. I decided to be.

Gongsun Yeong thought of Gongsun Hyeon—her sister’s strangely twisted posture and gaunt, frail body. Her sister rarely ate as it was; the thought that Hyeon might truly waste away and die of grief if Yeong perished crossed her mind.

My mouth feels dry. I could really go for some gamju right now.

It was ridiculous to crave sweet rice wine at a time like this, but it was fine. As long as the thought helped distract her from the creeping fear, that was enough. This was her first life-or-death battle against another Transformation Realm master, but she had no intention of dying.

Clang!

The masked man from the Shandong Yue Clan struck first. He stomped his foot, smashing the deck with a sharp, explosive step. Momentum traveled up through his leg and waist, channeling directly into his spear. The thrust, executed with perfect kinetic transfer, arrived as fast as lightning, but the Gongsun Sword Art was a discipline that prioritized speed above all else.

She reacted like a thunderbolt, and the two weapons collided in mid-air.

Clash! Ring! Clatter!

Sword energy and spear energy, blade and point, collided in a sparking series of explosions. Yet neither combatant blinked, their eyes locked on one another as they maneuvered.

One step. Then another. As their weapons clashed, the deadly distance between them closed.

It was then—Whirrr!

The shaft of the spear bent, writhing with a strange, serpentine movement. In an instant, its afterimage doubled, then quadrupled, until dozens of phantom spears multiplied in a flash to rush toward her.

Yue Clan Spear Art: Thousand Killing Army Annihilation!

The peerless martial art that the Spear King, Ak Jin, had once used in the legendary Battle of Bidong was being unleashed here.

For someone wearing a mask, he has no intention of hiding his identity.

But that also meant he considered her a worthy opponent.

It’s a good sign when the enemy grows impatient.

The sword in her hand spun, its shadow instantly forming a defensive screen to intercept the storm of spear thrusts.

Gongsun Sword Art: Thousand Pines, Ten Thousand Leaves!

A sword art that likened its defense to the countless needles of a thousand-year-old pine tree. The principle of ‘striking second but landing first,’ which had brought her to the Transformation Realm, bloomed in her hands once more. As the two peerless divine arts clashed, Gongsun Yeong broke out in a cold sweat; her experience was not yet deep enough to handle an exchange of this caliber with ease.

And then, an opening was revealed. A gap appeared in her sword screen, and the spear flew through it like a ghost.

Ka-kang!

However, the spear was forced to hastily change its trajectory and retreat. An arrow had flown in with uncanny timing to intercept the killing blow.

“How dare you interfere in a duel!” the masked man roared.

“Look who’s talking. A bunch of thieves.”

Behind Gongsun Yeong stood Wang Gak-yeon, bow in hand, sticking her tongue out impudently.

“How dare you?!”

Wang Gak-yeon drew her bowstring again, aiming directly at the glaring elder.

Creak…

She pulled the empty bowstring to its limit. “I’ll consider it a duel when you take off your mask, you thief.”

Thwip—!

There was only a sound; the arrow was invisible.

Has she reached the Realm of Mind Bow?

The masked man immediately expanded his energy sense, his spear striking down the invisible qi arrow. Seeing this, Wang Gak-yeon clicked her tongue.

As expected of a Transformation Realm master. He seems to be at an elder level, too.

But her eyes showed no sign of wavering or fear as she stared down her enemy.

“With that level of skill, with that depth of understanding, why did you join hands with river pirates? You thief.”

Ultimate Technique of the Divine Bow that Shatters Evil: Unsurpassed Void!

The meaning of this technique—a Buddhist transliteration of the Sanskrit Ankasa-anuttara—was ‘The Unsurpassed Void.’

All is void, all is empty.

The ultimate technique of the Divine Bow that Shatters Evil exploded from her hands. Rolling in the muddy pit of the Gangho, Wang Gak-yeon had arrived at a single answer. Whether it was a debt of gratitude or a grudge, none of it mattered. Only one thing was important to her:

Was it right?

If it was not right, then she would shatter the evil. That was the answer reached by the daughter who had grown up listening to her father’s tales of chivalry.

A one-on-one duel, my ass. That’s your idea, you thieving bastard!

She had no intention of playing by the rules of thieves, no matter how much they postured. In sync with Wang Gak-yeon’s ultimate technique, Gongsun Yeong also swung her sword.

Hmm, did I get too caught up in the atmosphere? Gongsun Yeong mused.

If Wang Gak-yeon hadn’t fired that arrow, she would have foolishly treated it as an honorable duel, likely earning a one-way trip to the underworld due to the gap in internal energy. This was probably why her sister, Gongsun Hyeon, tried so hard to keep Wang Gak-yeon by her side; it was always the archer who compensated for her weaknesses.

Clang!

The spear shaft blocked the arrow, but it couldn’t block the tip of Gongsun Yeong’s sword. The blade sank deep into the elder’s shoulder.

“Die!”

Gongsun Yeong swung her sword again.

***

While the Shandong Yue Clan masked man fought fiercely against the two women, Jin Cheon-hee was in the midst of his own battle.

“Poison Arts and a pipa. And you use silver threads… A typical assassin.”

The opponent analyzed him coldly. Jin Cheon-hee wasn’t using Sound Arts; he was simply swinging the heavy stone instrument like an axe, mixing in poison attacks, and using the Black Heaven Blood Silk as a hidden weapon.

“It is certainly difficult to track someone from an assassination clan. But it is strange. An assassin with such potent poison arts, yet completely unknown.”

“I am a princess,” Jin Cheon-hee introduced himself without a shred of shame.

Hmm, he must not know the second condition of being a princess.

If he smashed the man’s kneecaps, surely the enemy would acknowledge him as a princess. That was what it meant to be royalty!

Jin Cheon-hee immediately swung his pipa and charged toward his enemy. “Now then, allow me to show you my true power!”

Shouting like a true princess, he leaped into the air, gripped the handle of the stone pipa with both hands, and brought it down with cataclysmic force. There was a martial art he had requested from the Gongsun Clan for this very occasion. It wasn’t at the level of a divine art, but it was known in the Gangho as a superior technique: the Full Moon Axe Art.

Axe arts, much like sword arts, were a specific school of martial discipline. While less common than the mainstream styles of the Gangho, the Full Moon Axe Art was renowned for combining the ancient techniques of the Shanyue tribe with central plains martial theory.

Vwoom-vwoom-vwoom!

The stone pipa vibrated and hummed under the influence of the Full Moon Axe Art. It was a martial art of the hegemonic path—a technique that smashed the opponent with pure, overwhelming power, adding a shockwave to shatter their defense entirely.

Truly, a hegemonic path befitting a princess!

As the possessor of the Profound Primordial Complete Foundation Divine Art, Jin Cheon-hee had quickly grasped the essence of the style, training it to the eighth level of mastery in a very short time. He was now demonstrating its terrifying weight.

Kaboom!

“Keuk?!”

The masked man from the Hwangbo Clan blocked the descending stone pipa with both hands, but the force of the blow sent his legs crashing through the deck, his arms going numb from the impact.

“What is this power?!”

The Hwangbo Clan was a family famous for being naturally strong-boned and possessing monstrous physical strength. The Thunderclap Divine Fist, perfectly suited to their constitution, was also incredibly powerful. Yet, his opponent was now overwhelming him with pure brute strength.

For me to be overpowered in a contest of strength! Unbelievable!

But regardless of his indignation, the second attack was already on its way. With his legs pinned through the deck, his posture was unstable, leaving him at a fatal disadvantage.

“Hap!”

Crash!

The Hwangbo elder erupted with a protective aura, destroying the surrounding wood to free himself. At the same time, he threw his body to the side, dodging the second crushing blow and landing on the deck.

He and Jin Cheon-hee faced each other for a moment. This time, it was the masked man who moved first.

Rumble!

The Thunderclap Divine Fist was unleashed to its peak. A sound like rolling thunder echoed from his arms, and his entire body was bathed in arcs of lightning. This was the Thunderclap Divine Fist of a master who had reached the Transformation Realm; lightning qi and fist qi merged, solidifying into a blade aura. The time it took for the lightning to envelop his arms was truly the blink of an eye.

But in that fraction of a second, the silver thread had already wrapped around him. In the fleeting moment of opportunity the masked man had created to unleash his full power, Jin Cheon-hee had also moved his snare.

The silver thread did not possess a blade aura, but it was imbued with Thread Qi. The filament itself was a divine weapon with an edge sharp enough to slice a person like tofu. However, even a divine weapon would struggle to withstand the lightning blade aura of the Thunderclap Divine Fist.

Zip!

The spiraling silver thread, imbued with qi, tightened. In a movement like a snake striking its prey, the masked man’s arms drew a circle, sending out a wave of lightning blade aura.

Krak-boom!

Blade aura and qi, and the power contained within a divine weapon, collided, resulting in a massive explosion.