“Correct.”

The very air around Baek Cheong, the “Steel Dragon Fang” and disciple of the former Wudang Sect Leader, seemed to warp and distort, buckling under the weight of his presence.

“I am Baek Cheong.”

His eyes burned like dying embers, and his robes snapped violently against the wind. It was Fighting Spirit so potent it had materialized into visible form, pressing down on everything in its vicinity.

“As expected…!”

Yeon Seo-rin gazed up, her eyes gleaming with unreserved admiration for the aura radiating from him.

“They said a genius swordsman resided on Mount Wudang who would turn the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly upside down if only he participated…!”

The Mount Hua Sword Dragon and the Full-Blossom Sword Phoenix were established masters who had already entered their prime. But Baek Cheong was different. He was a master in his twenties, just like her.

A burning competitive spirit that disregarded the dangers of fire and water. An arrogant momentum that refused to shrink before any living soul. These were the privileges of young geniuses.

“I rushed to the North in a single breath to see the Grand Young Master of the Sword Clan.”

Baek Cheong spoke with a hardened expression. Despite Yeon Seo-rin’s high praise, there was not a flicker of excitement in his demeanor.

“To think I would meet the opportunity to cross swords with the Sword Clan’s Seamless Heavenly Robe here…”

It was understandable. What captivated his gaze right now was none other than the famous Sword Dragon of Mount Hua—or rather, what was left of him.

Gurgle.

Complete Defeat.

Gam Woo-hyeon lay twitching in the mud, unconscious. Bloody froth bubbled from his lips, his face utterly destroyed. To reduce the Sword Dragon to such a state in so short a time required monstrous ability.

Of course, Baek Cheong did not believe he would lose to the Sword Dragon himself.

But… could I defeat him as cleanly as Seamless Heavenly Robe did?

Yeon Seo-rin bore wounds here and there, but they were all superficial. She stood tall, breathing easily.

“Why?”

Yeon Seo-rin, looking up from the bottom of the pit, smirked.

“Scared?”

“Hardly.”

It wasn’t a bluff. Facing a strong enemy, the Fighting Spirit of the Steel Dragon Fang soared terrifyingly higher, sharpening like a blade against a whetstone.

“Haha, good.”

Yeon Seo-rin laughed refreshingly, slapping her fist into her palm as if loosening up for a spar.

“Will you give me a chance to retrieve my sword?”

Her blade remained embedded in the basement ceiling alongside Gam Woo-hyeon’s weapon.

“My apologies.”

At her question, Baek Cheong smiled bitterly.

“I wish to grant it as much as a chimney wishes to smoke, but given the time and place…”

“Well, no matter.”

Yeon Seo-rin didn’t seem to care.

“However.”

Her laughter ceased in the darkness of the basement.

“Mount Hua has given me much disappointment.”

A tension and pressure so intense it seemed to pause the falling raindrops filled the air.

“Do not let Wudang disappoint me…!”

The sheer pressure felt like an explosion erupting from the depths of the pit.

Those with lower cultivation levels reflexively stepped back, their faces draining of color. Conversely, Baek Cheong lowered his stance. It wasn’t to let her momentum flow past him, but to meet it.

“Demonstrate properly the skill that broke the Mount Hua Sword Dragon.”

It was a stance for drawing the sword.

Huuuup.

With a sharp inhalation, his foot pressed heavily into the ground, causing the solid stone roof to dent like wet mud. It was a stance radiating the will to split Yeon Seo-rin in half the moment she surged upward.

He was on the roof. She was underground. He had no intention of relinquishing his positional advantage.

“I see. Is that how it is?”

Yeon Seo-rin spread her feet wide, twisted her entire body, and pulled back a fist.

“Then, I’m coming…!”

At her declaration, Baek Cheong, who had reflexively heightened his concentration to the limit, instinctively felt something wrong.

Why announce an attack out loud?

His gaze flickered to the Sword Dragon lying on the floor.

Surely not—?!

“Hap—!”

A shout filled with such power that the building vibrated and stone dust rained down like snow.

BOOM!

A Stamping Foot, powerful enough to sink the basement floor by an inch exploded outward.

And then.

The body containing that overwhelming flexibility and strength, which the Sword Dragon had experienced firsthand, condensed to its limit and unleashed.

Yeon Seo-rin…!

Simultaneously, Baek Cheong moved.

I won’t let you do as you please…!

Flash—!

Wudang Sect.

Supreme Clarity Sword Art.

Primary Source: Flash Scattering Strike.

It looked as though he was pouring down bundles of incandescent lightning, blinding to behold.

Crash! Cra-a-ack!

Sword lights rode down the cross-sections of the collapsing building like writhing dragons, striking downward. Since they weren’t aimed directly at Yeon Seo-rin, they brushed past her, but accuracy wasn’t the point.

His goal was to prevent her from finishing off the Sword Dragon. His sword lights successfully severed the path between Yeon Seo-rin and Gam Woo-hyeon.

But.

Yeon Seo-rin hadn’t even moved from the spot where she stamped her foot.

What? What is she aiming for?

If her move was a feint to make him reveal his hand to save the Sword Dragon, she should have already lunged at him. She was making a mockery of Baek Cheong’s hidden move prepared just in case…

“Hap!”

She struck nothing but the floor with her fist.

Thud!

Compared to the time she took to wind up that strike, the sound was ridiculously small, and the power seemed absurdly lacking.

However, before bewilderment could even settle in the eyes of the onlookers—

Creak! Craaaaaack!

The entire building groaned, the structural integrity shattered at its foundation.

“D-Dodge…!”

“The building is coming down!”

The Wudang warriors leaped into the air as if treading on clouds, escaping to the adjacent building.

“No…!”

“We must save the Master…!”

The Mount Hua disciples shouted in panic for the Sword Dragon trapped underground, but Baek Cheong grabbed them by the shoulders and threw them off the crumbling roof.

“Do not worry! The Sword Dragon is safe!”

“…What do you mean?!”

The disciples found it hard to accept Baek Cheong’s strangely confident shout, but they had no choice.

Rumble-crash!

The building collapsed in earnest, burying the basement in a chaotic slide of timber and stone.

From the roof of the opposite building, the Mount Hua disciples could only watch the scene with anxious expressions.

Swish—!

At that moment, a figure in black martial robes burst through the massive dust cloud.

Cough…

On the old man’s shoulder was Gam Woo-hyeon, the Mount Hua Sword Dragon.

“As expected.”

Confirming the old man’s face and Gam Woo-hyeon’s safety, Baek Cheong waved his hand.

“Over here, Senior Brother!”

The old man, spotting him, gave a curt nod. Then, without stepping on anything, he twisted his body in mid-air and shot upward like a swallow.

The eyes of the Mount Hua disciples widened at the profound movement technique. The old man spun once in the air and landed lightly on the roof.

It was Wudang’s Cloud-Stepping Leap, reached to the peak of perfection.

“Take him.”

“T-Thank you!”

The disciples hurriedly received Gam Woo-hyeon from the old man.

“B-But who is this…?”

A Taoist who hadn’t even accompanied them suddenly appearing from below?

“This is my Senior Brother and an Elder of the Wudang Sect, Baek Cho.”

The old man was none other than the supreme commander of the Wudang Vanguard.

“…The Manifestation of the Profound!”

The Mount Hua disciples tried to bow immediately.

“Enough.”

Baek Cho waved his hand to stop them.

“Check the Sword Dragon’s condition and secure the perimeter.”

As the disciples stepped back, Baek Cheong asked him in a low voice, “Senior Brother. What about Seamless Heavenly Robe…?”

Baek Cho shook his head. “She has already escaped. It seems she realized I was hiding my presence nearby.”

“Tch…!”

Baek Cheong clicked his tongue.

“It was strange from the moment she suddenly struck the floor to collapse the building.”

Wudang’s plan had never been a head-on confrontation. The goal was to eliminate Yeon Seo-rin, a major obstacle to their retreat, via ambush. But she had sensed the trap, collapsed the building to create chaos, and fled.

“How in the world did she detect your presence, Senior Brother…?”

That was the most bizarre part. Baek Cho was a master of various Wudang arts and possessed capabilities in concealment and ambush that ranked among the best. Even Baek Cheong hadn’t located him until he revealed himself.

“…I do not know.”

Baek Cho stroked his rain-soaked beard.

“The way she spoke of the tide of battle changing, or the ‘color of the air’ shifting…”

His eyes deepened, fitting his alias, the Manifestation of the Profound.

“They say the world is full of extraordinary people like grains of sand. That child called Seamless Heavenly Robe seems to be born with some special talent as well.”

His deep eyes narrowed.

“It would have been a great gain to cut her down here…”

It was a killing intent unbecoming of a Taoist.

“Excuse me…”

A first-generation disciple of Mount Hua approached.

“First aid for the Eldest Senior Brother is complete. However…” He added cautiously, “If he undergoes continuous severe shocks during the escape, whether he will be alright is—”

“That child has also crossed the Wall,” Baek Cho cut him off firmly. “His life will not be in danger.”

His life might be safe, but other problems could certainly arise. However, the disciple, having received help from Wudang, could say nothing more.

“…Yes, understood.”

Turning with a grim expression, Baek Cho ordered Baek Cheong.

“Deploy our disciples to take the lead.”

In the old man’s deep eyes, the landscape of Shenyang city, which they had to break through, was visible in the dark distance. The city was a pandemonium of entangled forces.

“…It will be a harsh journey.”

Wind and rain lashed against his face.

***

At that moment.

The Grand Young Master’s Temporary Command Tent.

“The forces of the Neutral Tribal Alliance have suddenly pushed in…?” Se-ah asked again.

“Yes, my lord. They began charging through the breached walls alongside the Wudang Vanguard.”

The messenger who had arrived from the front line tapped several points on the tactical map with a wet finger.

“Here, here, and here. Our forces were forced to retreat.”

The Pavilion Mistress’s expression hardened. “Does that not mean our blocking line has effectively collapsed?”

The messenger answered with a stiff face, “Inside, the remaining martial artists of the Huashan Vanguard are responding desperately, and the remnants of the rebels are attacking with suicidal fervor.”

In such a situation, expecting Yeon So-hyeon’s forces—mostly constabulary troops—to block the Wudang Vanguard and Neutral Tribal Alliance charging from the front was absurd.

“…How? How did the Wudang Sect and the Neutral Tribal Alliance, who were at odds, suddenly coordinate?”

“That part is interesting, but…”

It was Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon who placed a hand on Se-ah’s shoulder as she muttered.

“What we must focus on now is the battle here in Shenyang.”

To Se-ah, his words sounded as if the cause of the enemy’s sudden charge lay not in Shenyang, but somewhere much farther away.

“Pass the word to Moyong Ho, who is commanding the constabulary.”

“Please give your command…!”

The Grand Young Master spoke to the messenger with a calm, unwavering demeanor.

“There is no need to force troops in to reconstruct the blocking line.”

He gave a clear directive.

“From the beginning until now, our objective remains unchanged.”

A smile hung on the Grand Young Master’s lips.

“Our goal is to inflict maximum damage on the retreating enemy.”

His smile deepened.

“Wudang and the Neutral Tribal Alliance have pushed in?”

He shook his head, the smile never leaving his face.

“It does not matter.”

His voice lowered to a chilling whisper.

“It just means there are more volunteers to experience the hell of a retreat battle.”