Jin Cheon-hee drew a long, jagged drag from the herbal cigarette, letting the acrid smoke swirl through his mind before swallowing it down. His master’s judgment had been astute; this was the only tether keeping a patient riddled with PTSD functional on this maddening battlefield.

In the realm of Lightness Arts, speed was often touted as king, but endurance was the true monarch of survival.

There was a reason the Void God Thief from the novels was hailed as the greatest thief in the Gangho. How many could sprint the entire distance from the Hundred Thousand Mountains with a sick granddaughter strapped to their back? It was only possible because his internal energy had reached an extreme density—like a vehicle equipped with a massive fuel tank and impeccable mileage. Without that, the remnants of the Demonic Cult or the Heavenly Demon would have caught him and flayed him alive long ago.

Now, what about my internal energy and mileage?

Since he had consumed fortuitous encounters as casually as one eats rice, no one of his age could rival him in sheer quantity of internal energy. And efficiency? Was there a single soul better at manipulating True Qi than him, who had achieved Grand Completion in the Profound Primordial Complete Foundation Divine Art?

“Your Highness.”

“You stopped speaking as if something came to mind. Well, is there such a person?”

“I think I have the best mileage,” Jin Cheon-hee replied flatly.

“Mileage?”

“I mean, it’s me. Me.”

“Hmm?”

“So… I will test it right away.”

One shouldn’t ask for permission for things like this. It was better to act directly, catching the opponent—and one’s allies—off guard. Besides, he needed to test his hypothesis: Can the martial power of a single individual stop a war, or at least stem the tide of casualties?

“Wait, what are you trying to—”

Before His Highness Eun could finish his sentence, Jin Cheon-hee stepped off the ledge.

The wall stood at a staggering ten zhang—approximately thirty meters in modern terms, the height of a small office building. Despite the dizzying drop, he felt no fear. Was it the herbal cigarette dampening his nerves, or had a corner of his mind finally snapped under the pressure?

Screams, shouts, and angry roars filled the air below. Amidst the chaos, he heard familiar voices tearing through the wind.

“Hyung? Are you crazy?!”

“Physician Jin, what are you doing!”

“Hyung, let go! I’m going too!”

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding the answer.

In a fracture of a second, slicing through the flow of time, his blue eyes traced a trajectory. He shifted his center of gravity mid-air, preparing for a breakfall with the grace of a cat.

Thud.

Simultaneously with the landing, he sprinted.

…Here I go!

True Qi surged through his Yongquan acupoints. The moment he kicked the earth, his body became lighter than a feather, cutting through space like a rocket.

Thousand Li Divine Footwork.

This was a Lightness Art of the Divine level, acquired from the Imperial Palace Library and now exerted to its absolute peak. His velocity was so extreme that unless one was mounted on a Thousand Li Horse, the human eye would struggle to track him. If measured now, he was accelerating like a sports car hitting its limit.

Regardless of the metrics, being fast was enough. Jin Cheon-hee’s figure breached the Suksin battle line in a heartbeat. He saw the shock plastered on the faces of the Suksin warriors.

Well, they probably think I’m a crazy bastard.

Even a Transformation Realm master wouldn’t dare this feat alone. The Suksin’s peculiar horsemanship was capable of annihilating even fearless Gangho warriors, but he was fine with that because he didn’t believe he would die. Strangely, he felt his mind become liberated.

Jin Cheon-hee fired a blast of Extreme Yang Palm of Scorching Fire from his hands, the energy flying straight toward a cannon.

Ka-boom!

Jin Cheon-hee didn’t even bother to watch the impact. He just sprinted toward the next target. Only then did he process the Suksin warriors thrusting Moon Blades and spears; some were nocking arrows, while others wielded whips.

Whips are okay.

Thanks to Tang Ah, Jin Cheon-hee had become quite proficient at blocking them—martial arts improved by getting hit, after all. Swallowing such thoughts, he absorbed all surrounding information like a black hole.

Profound Primordial Complete Foundation Divine Art, Transcendental Core Martial Art: Benevolence.

Time slowed down dramatically. One second of reality stretched into several for Jin Cheon-hee, the influx of data alternating between serial and parallel processing to guide his steps.

Heavenly Energy Bewildering Footwork.

One of the Zhuge Clan’s Divine Arts. Its secrets hadn’t spread even in the Gangho, so a peerless footwork technique—used only by Jin Cheon-hee and Zhuge Rin in this vast world—unfolded on the battlefield. He predicted every attack, dodging everything with just an inch to spare. Spears and swords missed, whips cracked against empty air, and arrows pierced only the illusion of his afterimage.

The ghost-like figure left the Suksin warriors in shock. As the saying went: There’s no match for pure performance.

Suddenly, the sound of gunpowder exploding echoed from behind. He sprinted straight ahead, passing another cannon in a blur. As he passed, the Burning Yang Palm Force struck the gunpowder barrel, triggering a massive detonation.

“Crazy bastard! Stop him! Stop him!”

“The Central Plains people called this the Thieving Phantom!”

Even these men knew the fame of Thieving Phantom Gong Ya-geon. Perhaps she had swiped some treasures from their side as well?

Thieving Phantom Logistics runs a delivery service from our house! You bastards! Rapid delivery! Safety first!

It seemed less than fifteen minutes had passed since he had destroyed five cannons and their gunpowder stores. Then, the Suksin horse archers formed a line, preparing a barrage of arrows.

Wow, I can’t block that.

But who cared? Jin Cheon-hee was determined to flee! His figure was already banking back towards the fortress. Countless arrows rained down upon his retreat path. With miraculous senses, he deftly dodged, deflected, or blocked each shaft as he ran. Despite his calculated maneuvers, however, one arrow managed to pierce through his defenses.

Thwack!

Feeling a searing pain in his back, he gritted his teeth and kept running.

Kuh… That hurts quite a bit! Could the Suksin infuse Qi into arrows too? It pierced my protective clothing.

Fleeing while showing his back was indeed dangerous. Still, he reached the wall, so it was fine, right? Maintaining the Thousand Li Divine Footwork, he ran straight up the vertical surface of the wall.

Thump!

Landing in front of His Highness Eun in one fluid motion, like a gymnast sticking a dismount, he left everyone speechless with disbelief.

His Highness Eun finally broke the silence. “…You cannot do this twice. It was possible only because it was a surprise attack.”

“Next time, they’ll deploy the horse archers.”

“Does that cigarette have any effect on mastering Lightness Arts?”

“Master said it somehow ensures survival when the mind and body are exhausted from war.”

“…Indeed.”

Soon, the martial artists regained their senses and erupted.

“Waaaaaaah!”

“One Light! One Light!”

“Martial God One Light!”

The entire wall transformed into a crucible of enthusiasm in an instant. Being chanted as ‘One Light’ was a bit embarrassing, so Jin Cheon-hee suppressed the urge to tell them to shut up.

His Highness Eun reiterated, grave and serious. “Do not do it twice. You will surely die.”

“Hmm… If I calculate the angles correctly, I think it’s okay. This reduces the number of patients,” Jin Cheon-hee replied casually, reaching back to yank the arrow from his shoulder.

Watching him, His Highness Eun felt he finally understood the essence of the human named Jin Cheon-hee.

First and foremost, this man was not human. It was unbelievable that he possessed such immense strength at a young age, but there was something that transcended human common sense when he was pushed. The moment his calculations concluded and he was convinced of their accuracy, hesitation vanished completely.

“Hoo… I think I understand why the White Qilin Divine Physician is so anxious. It is simply because he couldn’t restrain you.”

“You overpraise me.”

“It’s not a compliment. Tsk… Anyway…”

His Highness Eun turned his gaze to the distance, where the Suksin army was retreating in confusion.

***

Heavenly Lord Won clicked his tongue, gazing up at the darkened sky, pondering whether the Heavenly Will—despite its dimming—still held the power to hinder them.

Wangya Ju, surprisingly, is still alive. Moreover, the One-Eyed Iron Fist of Wudang and the Thousand-Faced Fox of the Hao Sect have joined forces, becoming stronger.

Everything was changing.

Did the Heavenly Will twist further because of these two variables? Heavenly Lord Won thought deeply, then a smirk curled his lips.

Ku… Kukukuku.

The reason the Blood Immortal desired the Seed of the Half-Immortal must be similar. How many could twist the world this much? Even an outstanding prophet would usually sit down and accept fate as unchangeable. He was the same. Ultimately, it wasn’t easy for humans to alter a grand fate.

How could humans block a flowing river?

However, that young man carried sandbags daily with mere human strength, as if trying to construct a dam against the deluge.

But how long will that last?

Eventually, everything would end with the inevitable flood. The war was just beginning. At best, it was one human’s strength against the tide. The river would eventually find its natural path and flow repeatedly; that was the providence of nature. Although he was currently blocking the chaotic world by force, destruction was bound to come.

Heavenly Lord Won folded a talisman and sent it soaring into the sky. Surprisingly, the paper, folded into the shape of a bird, flapped its wings and flew independently toward the horizon. He watched it for a moment before scattering into nothingness, leaving only an afterimage.

***

The next day, Jin Cheon-hee found himself confined to a sickbed, his back bandaged where the arrow had pierced him. He had to endure both the pain of the injury and the treatment.

“Hee-ya, this Master…” Zhuge Rin began, his voice barely above a whisper, laced with dangerous calm. “I don’t know if what I just heard is true or not. They say some crazy bastard ran towards the enemy camp with Lightness Arts, destroyed cannons himself, and returned.”

“I see.”

Master Zhuge Rin continued, his expression thoughtful. “They say that crazy bastard got hit by an arrow in the back, pulled it out alone on the wall where everyone could see, and even smiled?”

“I wonder whose disciple he is,” Jin Cheon-hee mused, avoiding eye contact. “It’s truly unfortunate.”

Zhuge Rin’s hand pressed firmly on Jin Cheon-hee’s wound, a combination of medical treatment and corporal punishment.

“They say that crazy bastard was smoking a cigarette… strangely similar to the one I gave my disciple.”

“……”

Jin Cheon-hee remained silent. He couldn’t tell if his master was asking out of sheer absurdity or if he was being grilled for a confession.

“I apologize, Master,” Jin Cheon-hee finally said, his voice trembling.

“Were you that crazy bastard? Hee-ya, tell me.”

Jin Cheon-hee hesitated for a moment before speaking rapidly. “I… was not crazy. That… no matter how I thought about it, it was the most rational thing to do.”

He then passionately launched into an explanation involving the distance between the wall and the enemy, the required expenditure of Lightness Art and internal energy, the probabilities of success, and the risk management involved in his actions. If he had paper, Jin Cheon-hee was confident he could have held a seminar rivaling the testament lectures at the Wudang Sect. However, the lack of a PowerPoint presentation left him feeling deeply regretful.

After listening to his disciple’s lecture for a long time, Master Zhuge Rin finally spoke.

“I certainly formulated a medicine to calm anxiety and clear the head, Hee-ya. I cannot teach you this formula, even to you.”

Well, since I’m not a true blood successor of the Zhuge Clan…

Jin Cheon-hee tried to accept it easily. “I understand.”

But Zhuge Rin spoke quickly, cutting off Jin Cheon-hee’s internal resignation. “No, it is not that. I thought if you knew the formula, you might make it arbitrarily and smoke it. Or increase the potency yourself. Even risking ‘slight’ side effects.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Jin Cheon-hee replied firmly, though his voice lacked conviction.

“It’s not without its addictive nature. Most medicines for anger-induced ailments have that effect. I’ve tailored it to better suit your constitution, based on the Zhuge Clan’s secret knowledge.”

“That…”

“Next time you decide to destroy cannons, call me. Hahaha.”

His master’s graceful, smiling expression conveyed a clear message: Do it again, and I will snap your spine in half.

Jin Cheon-hee broke into a cold sweat.