There is a saying that heroes are born in turbulent times.
A famous saying known far and wide.
The history of the past was so, and the present era was no different.
Written records proved that those words held their own reality.
Where there is crisis, there are those who exist to block it and overcome it.
Those who find hope in desperate situations and burn their souls to nurture that hope.
Without care for their own bodies.
Those who tremble in fear of death yet do not stop advancing.
The masses, seeing this, commonly called them heroes.
The incident where Shinryong Hall was attacked this time was no different.
In days so peaceful they could be called an era of peace, save for the demonic beasts, an unprecedented incident occurred where many rising stars were injured and killed.
Fortunately, it was suppressed before a day had passed, but
it was after many casualties had already appeared.
The Murim League had not measured exact numbers, but the death toll was estimated to be easily several tens to over a hundred.
If this wasn't a bolt from the blue, what was?
People cursed the Murim League for failing to respond before the situation occurred,
and some even began casting negative gazes regarding its reason for existence.
They were not curious about what the situation had been or what problems existed.
For the people, they would only focus on the fact that the League failed to protect them.
That the Murim League was incompetent and had trampled the sprouts that would soon take flight.
The attackers were the Demonic faction, yet the Murim League took the blame.
It had always been this way. When incidents occurred, people were bound to find something to blame.
This time, it merely happened to be the Murim League.
Though in truth, the Murim League's incompetence also played a part.
And.
The more the situation became like this, the more people were bound to turn their eyes to figures who stood out within it.
Who had been active in such a mess.
The Central Plains still had not overcome the catastrophe known as the Demonic Realm.
Because they always longed for heroes, it was a generation that created heroes where there were none.
In other words, it could be called a generation where it was easy to become a hero.
That is, if one had even a little ability.
So, while the Murim League was taking the blame,
who were the figures highlighted in this incident?
Was it the Hidden Dragon who stepped forward, saying he would not lose to the Demonic faction and would protect his martial brothers?
Or if not him, was it the Sword Dragon who carried the scent of plum blossoms and showed the bearing of a true knight?
There were many hall disciples and instructors who upheld the righteousness and chivalry of the Orthodoxy during the cruel attack, not just these two, but
ridiculously, the existence that became known and began receiving attention was another figure.
There was a figure who made the Demon Head, the leader of the Demonic faction who had attacked Shinryong Hall, kneel.
The Qinghai Single Sword, the head of the Kunlun Sect, had lost an arm and been defeated.
The fact that a martial artist who was at best a rising star had blocked such a Demon Head astonished many.
Thanks to this, there was also talk on many people's lips.
It was talk about whether or not that rising star had reached the Transcendent Realm.
The Transcendent Realm was a state where, even if one counted all martial artists who had reached it, they would not number more than a thousand.
It was a height so lofty that one could not reach it even after a lifetime of grinding and polishing.
It was not for nothing that the Apex realm was called the grave of martial artists.
No matter how hard they tried, they remained at the Apex and could not cross the wall to the Transcendent Realm.
People called it both the grave of martial artists and the grave of the mediocre.
Had a rising star who had not yet passed his prime reached such a state? It was not something easily believed.
Because in history, such a martial artist had never existed.
Of course, that did not mean the story of that martial artist making the Demon Head kneel was false.
It was testimony from the clear-minded Qinghai Single Sword, after all.
And that wasn't all.
Immediately after subduing the Demon Head, the young martial artist did not tarry and moved his steps, they said.
To judge the other Demonic faction members who were committing slaughter.
Afterwards, eyewitnesses said:
That day, the sky was unusually red, they said.
Mount Tai, where the scent of blood began to spread, soon had that scent erased and was filled with the smell of scorched flesh as the sky reddened.
The screams and terror of the rising stars turned into the shrieks of the Demonic faction members.
The fighting aura and killing intent that had swallowed Mount Tai all vanished by sunset, and it was said to be filled solely with fiery qi.
The master of the red sky did not hesitate to judge the wicked.
Moreover, his methods were said to be extremely excessive for an Orthodox martial artist. Breaking parts of bodies to cripple them.
Or grabbing them by the neck and burning them to death was the norm.
Putting aside that he was an Orthodox martial artist, many frowned hearing of such excessively extreme and cruel methods from a young man, but
many hypothesized that he had simply been enraged beyond endurance.
Because his Orthodox comrades were being killed by the Demonic faction.
They said that having smelled the blood that filled Mount Tai, he was so furious that he showed no mercy.
‘Bullshit.’
Of course, the young man who heard this shouted that he had simply grabbed them to vent his anger while he was at it.
Everyone praised it as modesty and humility.
Whatever the case, he was ultimately the hero who made the Demon Head kneel and stopped the attack.
While becoming more cruel than anyone when facing the wicked,
he did not hesitate to save people.
His fierce appearance was so fearsome that one would flinch at first sight, but
the character within was gentler than anyone's.
An appearance that seemed to follow directly in the footsteps of his father, the Tiger Knight.
In the past, he had been a figure shrouded in absurd rumors of being the son of a tiger and a dog, but
now, it had spread to the point where many were saying those rumors were nonsense deliberately spread by the Tiger Knight to hide his son's talent.
Naturally,
the person in question, hearing this, ground his teeth and cursed them to stop talking nonsense.
No matter how much he insisted it wasn't true, or shouted that he wasn't that kind of person,
the rumors spread throughout the Central Plains had already spread so far they couldn't be corrected.
Moreover, what of the martial artist's background?
The only son of the Tiger Knight, who had reigned as terror itself in the minds of the Demonic faction in the past.
The younger brother of Jianfeng, who had been called the foremost among the rising stars.
The champion of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
The youngest Apex martial artist in history.
A genius who held the nickname "True Dragon" among the Six Dragons and Three Peaks.
In other words, he even had the epithet of being the biggest star in the generation of meteors.
In this situation, due to this incident, the young man was acknowledged by people as an expert, transcending his status as a rising star.
They said True Dragon was not a martial artist who could be bound by the label of a rising star.
The people of the Central Plains began to acknowledge him as a martial artist beyond his age.
Therefore, a new nickname was created.
Not as the rising star True Dragon, but in the sense of the birth of a new expert.
Had I not said the masses longed for heroes?
In this sense, he was the hero everyone wanted.
While possessing the righteousness and chivalry to move without hesitation to save others,
he was infinitely cruel to the Demonic faction.
Inflicting cruel punishments and penalties fearsome enough to make the wicked tremble.
His appearance was said to be like an evil ghost.
Many bestowed this name as True Dragon's new nickname.
"Little Yama."
"...!"
Stagger.
B-Boom-!
His fist, extending in a straight line, wavered at those words and struck a different place.
As his fist met the wall, cracks formed and a sound burst out.
That sound reverberated throughout the entire cave.
Hiding ears that flushed red in an instant, I looked at the one who spat out that damned word to me.
"Kuk, kuk."
"...Funny?"
When I looked at her with an expression of disbelief,
Murong Xiya, who had been picking up dumplings with one hand, smirked and spoke.
"It's so funny."
"I'm not amused at all. That."
"How strange... Do you hate it that much? It's clearly a cool nickname."
"If you're going to say that... you should lower the corners of your mouth a little, Lady Xuefeng."
"Oh my, I've made a mistake unlike me."
At my words, Murong Xiya made an oops expression and then
used her finger to pull down the corner of her mouth.
That expression made my teeth grind on their own.
‘*Sigh.*’
But I couldn't dare snap at her.
Because I couldn't do that to a kid who'd come looking for me since broad daylight, saying she would bring me food.
All I could do was curse inwardly.
‘Little Yama, my ass.’
Every time I recalled that shitty word, I felt something bubbling and boiling inside.
‘Whoever made that up, just let me find them. I'll show them the real King Yama.’
It was an epithet so uncomfortably awkward that True Dragon seemed preferable. What kind of dog-shit situation was it for an Orthodox martial artist to have Yama attached to his nickname?
‘Which bastard was it?’
The more I imagined it, the more furious I got.
I'd been called like that for only about a month.
The problem was probably that strange talk about me had started circulating from somewhere.
‘...What? Judging the wicked... whatever nonsense?’
I was already in a bad mood, and those bastards rampaged so I didn't like it and just killed them all, that's all.
But somehow it got weirdly packaged.
From the start, it was true that I hated the Demonic faction, but
it wasn't something to attach grand words like "judgment" or "punishment" to.
It was simply that they were bastards who deserved to die, so I killed them.
And because killing them wouldn't cause me problems, I simply didn't hesitate.
I don't know why people see this as something done with some grand cause and mindset.
‘Anyway, humans really fucking love spreading rumors.’
The biggest problem was definitely...
When the Qinghai Single Sword, that old man, testified the moment he regained consciousness, the problem was he made it sound like I caught them all.
‘I'm going crazy.’
No... strictly speaking, it wasn't wrong.
If you looked at everything, except for the rumors being dressed up as if I had some grand cause, the rest was actually true.
The problem was also that the rumors spread too fast.
And the biggest problem was that the nickname I'd ended up with was bizarre beyond belief.
"I think it's rather okay, don't you hate it that much, young master?"
"You... do you really think that's okay?"
Did she truly think Little Yama looked okay? Was she serious?
Murong Xiya smiled awkwardly at my expression of revulsion.
Seeing that, she too didn't seem to think it was a normal nickname.
"The name is a bit much, but..."
"See, you think so too."
"...Anyway, it's an important thing for a martial artist to receive a nickname."
She was right.
A nickname was quite an important part for a martial artist.
A nickname was a kind of essence for a martial artist.
It was like a karmic result created by gathering the martial arts I used, my characteristics, my achieved realm, and so on.
Because of this, there were many foolish ones who gave themselves cool nicknames.
Such hollow nicknames would naturally fade quickly anyway.
A true nickname could be said to be a name given by others.
Even the experts called the Three Supremes.
They did not become the Three Supremes because they called themselves that.
They were called the Three Supremes because countless people saw them and acknowledged them as the three strongest.
The same went for my father's nickname, the Tiger Knight.
The various nicknames held by the family heads of the Four Great Families were for the same reason.
Therefore, a nickname was ultimately, in a way, a kind of value for a martial artist.
...Even so.
"No matter what, this is too much...!"
As I stomped my foot on the ground as if displeased, Murong Xiya simply watched without her expression faltering in the slightest.
Because she had seen me do this far too many times.
‘Everything else is fine.’
Acknowledged as an expert beyond being a rising star?
Good.
Everything was good.
Anyway, he had gained fame, and it might help later, so let's say that was fine.
Little Yama? Even if the nickname was a bit off, what could I do?
I thought it was better than the nickname I'd gotten in my previous life no matter how I looked at it...
‘...No, they both seem similar.’
...Even so, I could overlook it if I tried.
Already, people recognized me everywhere I went, shouting "Little Yama!" "Small Yama!" and I was hearing things like "scary" and "amazing."
I could overlook that too.
The important thing was.
‘Why did the rumors spread so quickly.’
My rumors had spread with excessive speed.
I didn't know about other regions, but even in Henan alone, the speed of the spread was no joke.
Wasn't it so bad that taverns and inns day and night were all talking only about me?
"It is strange."
As if to confirm it wasn't just me, Murong Xiya seemed to feel the strangeness too.
"I can't help but feel it's too artificial."
"Right."
"But... if that's the case, you already know the reason, don't you, young master?"
"..."
She was right about that too.
I vaguely knew the reason I was in this situation.
‘It's all a scheme.’
In my view, the current situation was partly because the incident I caused was huge.
Strictly speaking, it was something the Murim League was doing while taking all the blame.
"This kind of speed means the Beggars' Sect has intervened as well."
It was something I was half-certain of.
My current rumors had the Murim League intervening in them.
It was something that wouldn't make sense otherwise.
The Murim League was in a situation where public sentiment was at rock bottom.
Because it was at least called the symbol of the Orthodoxy.
It was a situation where people overlooked matters even if they handled them terribly.
It had been accumulating and accumulating, and I figured this attack had caused it to explode.
Thanks to that, another story that came up often besides mine right now was
that the League should be overthrown,
talk about why the Murim League even existed if it was going to be like this.
So it was even more questionable.
‘Why me in this situation?’
At first, I thought it was to divert the plummeting reputation of the Murim League a little.
More precisely, to cover up the talk about the Murim League that kept coming out all day.
I figured they were selling me out to captivate people.
This was a method the Murim League often used to cover things up when an accident happened.
So I thought it was roughly something like that this time too, but looking at it now, it wasn't on that level.
‘At this point, it's just...’
It felt like they were actually pushing me up.
To the extent that it felt like they were elevating me even at the cost of the Murim League's own reputation.
‘Why?’
If that was right, why go so far to elevate me?
No matter how much I thought, I couldn't understand right now.
Because I didn't know the purpose.
And the biggest problem was.
‘...Why did the nickname have to be like that?’
I circled back again to thinking about the nickname currently attached to me.
If that was the case, the people pushing this name were the people of the Murim League.
*Grind-*
I gritted my teeth and threw a punch.
*Thud! Thud!*
The sound that had reverberated in the cave earlier began bursting out again.
Murong Xiya, watching that, let out a deep sigh.
"Please, I told you to rest while doing it."
"I've rested enough."
Even while answering, the punches kept flying.
"...At most five minutes?"
"That's enough."
"You're really crazy."
Murong Xiya spoke as if disgusted, but my movements didn't stop.
How many days has this been going on?
‘I don't know. I think it's been over seven days and nights.’
I haven't kept count, so I don't know. And even then, I only counted the days I stayed in the cave.
I didn't know how long it would be if I included the days before that.
At this point, even I felt like I'd get tired of it, but it couldn't be helped.
‘If he says to dig, I have to dig.’
The crazy thing I was doing now was something Paejon had ordered.
Thinking back to the time when I asked Paejon to teach me.
It was a bit later than that point.
The rule that to learn a different internal art, you must empty everything you originally contained and fill it anew
was a kind of iron rule for martial artists.
Everyone thought so because it was something that had to be done that way.
But I remember.
Paejon's face at the time when he reluctantly taught me the verses of the internal art because of my stubbornness.
And the change in his expression when I contained his internal art in my body.
Should I call it a kind of emptiness?
If not that, shock or trembling would be fine.
As expected, without discarding the internal energy of the Nine-Flame Wheel Art I had in my body,
I succeeded in inserting Paejon's unique internal art.
Setting aside receiving another martial art.
If you ask if succeeding in learning Paejon's martial art in just a few days makes sense.
‘It was much easier than expected.’
Surprisingly, Paejon's internal art was not a martial art difficult to learn.
Paejon himself had said it wasn't that difficult.
Of course, that didn't mean containing two internal arts was easy.
This was a fact told by the expression Paejon wore at the time.
"This is absurd."
It was simply because I was a body that lived well even after devouring all sorts of different energies, so I wondered if Paejon's martial art would be possible too.
And in reality, there was no problem.
I was slightly worried whether 'martial arts' might be different.
Seeing it settle without issue, this omnivorous body didn't seem to reject martial arts either.
However.
"You... you truly are a Heavenly Martial Body."
It seemed Paejon saw it a little differently.
At the time, Paejon spoke to me with an extremely shocked expression.
"To regulate the energy flowing in your body in such a way and contain two without issue... What in the world kind of control is this?"
Paejon spoke as if he had discovered a new world.
From my standpoint, I just thought, ‘What kind of bullshit is that?’
What is 'such a way,' and what does he mean the energy is being regulated?
It was something only Paejon, who had his hand on my back helping me learn the internal art, could feel.
"How in the world is such fine control possible?"
"...Yes?"
So much so that Paejon had asked me as if curious.
Of course, the only answer I could give.
"...I just do it, though."
I could only say that.
Because I didn't know.
It was a terribly insolent thing for me to say, so I briefly worried I might have offended Paejon.
Surprisingly, Paejon merely put on an expression that seemed even more excited.
‘What's with that face. Scary...’
Was that the problem? No matter how I looked at it, that was probably the problem.
The reason I'm doing this crazy thing now.
It was all because Paejon had ordered it.
Having learned the internal art in order, it was now time to learn the martial art.
The Tupacheonmu, called a divine martial art.
Its creator was Paejon, and it was a martial art born less than a hundred years ago.
It was a martial art called a divine art simply by the strength Paejon displayed.
Because I also had memories of facing it directly,
I knew better than anyone how strong it was.
When I was, uncharacteristically, anticipating what movements I would learn and how,
Paejon spoke to me with an excited face.
"Using only the energy of the Tupacheonmu, break through this mountain and go."
"...Yes?"
"The only thing you may use is your fist. You must not use other energies."
Saying we would begin training, he suddenly brought me to a mountain, uttered absurd words, and then turned to descend the mountain.
As I urgently tried to grab him to demand an explanation.
"...Wait, hold on..."
"Ah, right. And."
Paejon ignored my words and spoke thus.
"I don't want to hear the word 'master' yet, so you don't have to say it."
Saying that, he disappeared really quickly.
Now, he only occasionally appeared, checked my condition, and disappeared.
This was the reason I had started this crazy thing.
‘Crazy bastard.’
Punching through a mountain with only my fists? Was that an order or a joke?
No matter how I heard it, wasn't it absurd?
‘I'm also crazy for doing what he says.’
He said to break through, and I was really breaking through; I was equally crazy.
Others would ask.
Why are you doing that? And not for a day or two, but close to two months.
I thought it would be better to get stronger the original way rather than suffer like this, but
from the day I tried it thinking I was being tricked, I realized.
‘This.’
The internal art of the Tupacheonmu, called a divine martial art.
Why the Tupacheonmu's internal art was easier to learn than expected.
This was closer to a restriction than an internal art.
The more I moved my body while using the internal art, my muscles screamed in agony.
My dantian felt heavily pressed, and my whole body grew sluggish as if wearing iron beads.
At first, I cursed and spat, asking what kind of internal art he taught me.
After using it several more times, there was something I realized.
This internal art was not for giving pain to the body.
It was in the process of properly transforming the body.
The more it was used, the more changes occurred.
Very faintly, but I could feel my muscles being strengthened by the internal art.
It was an absurd internal art.
Its speed was absurdly slow, and I knew there would be no difference unless I kept at it consistently, but to think my body strengthened just by using it and moving?
If this became known, its impact would be tremendous.
Why Paejon's martial art was called a divine martial art.
It was a power that let me know how he could possess such a strong body even after undergoing rejuvenation.
But there was the biggest problem.
‘It hurts too much.’
The very act of using the internal art and moving my body
was too painful.
As I said before, it caused a pain as if receiving all kinds of punishments.
To what extent? At first, extending my arm even once was difficult.
Twisting my waist, raising my arm. The pain felt with each and every one was considerable.
And even now, after all this time, it was the same.
Moving even a little made me sweat, of course.
Sometimes I fainted from the pain.
Whenever that happened, I wondered, if the internal art itself was like this,
then did Paejon move in this pain every time he used the martial art?
Wouldn't that make him a pervert...?
No matter how I looked at it, it was truly a crazy martial art.
I wondered what kind of martial art this even was, but...
‘I can feel myself getting stronger.’
Even if it's just a tiny bit, I could feel myself gradually getting stronger. The very fact that I could feel myself getting stronger was important.
Should I call it physical strengthening rather than a rise in realm?
If Paejon had intended and created this, he was truly a monster.
Though I still hadn't received proper form training for the Tupacheonmu.
The reason I was crazily digging through the cave was ultimately
because I felt this was actually helping.
"Just how long are you going to do this?"
To those who didn't know, it would probably look like some useless training.
Murong Xiya was exactly like that.
"You'll hurt yourself like that. Young master..."
"I'm fine."
I couldn't tell anyone about Paejon's identity.
And I couldn't tell them I was being trained by him, so to the kids, I must have looked like a crazy guy just digging a cave with his fists.
Yet seeing how they didn't stop me and instead brought food like this.
Was it because I had done so many weird things... that they just accepted it?
That was somewhat unpleasant...
"Kuh..."
I stopped mid-punch. It was because the pain I had just felt was too intense.
If I hadn't held my mind, I surely would have fainted.
"..."
Murong Xiya, watching that, eventually let out a deep sigh and stood up.
"Please make sure to eat."
"You're leaving?"
"Yes, the Nangong lady will come tomorrow."
"Just tell her to rest. Why is she coming again?"
They seemed to be taking turns coming to bring food according to the date.
It's not like I'm in the cave all day.
I went back and ate at night anyway, so I didn't know why they came here at lunch.
And on a rotating schedule at that.
‘And even she, how does she know I go out at night and come find me?’
In Murong Xiya's case, whenever I headed to the cave at night, she would find me like a ghost.
How on earth did she know?
"I want to tell her to rest too. But it's not up to my heart. Lady Nangong is also quite perceptive. Unlike someone."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, I'll be going first, Young Master Gu. You will come in the evening, right?"
"Maybe...?"
Displeased by the answer, Murong Xiya frowned, but
perhaps with no intention of saying more, she turned her back toward the entrance.
Then.
"Ah, right."
"What now."
"Seven days and nights from now, you must come in proper shape?"
Murong Xiya spit out those words as if earnestly entrusting me.
She disappeared outside the cave as if truly finished.
"...Tch."
Hearing that, I recalled what I had briefly forgotten.
Seven days and nights later, as Murong Xiya had said.
That was the day the Orthodox Alliance Meeting would be held.
I was in a situation where I had to attend.
I wondered why I had to go, but I was also the one who had witnessed the attack incident most closely.
And because that damn Little Yama song was being sung everywhere.
Just thinking about it made my head throb.
That wasn't the only thing giving me a headache.
"Ha..."
Recalling the matter, a sigh came out on its own.
‘How many did they say were coming?’
It was because of the attendees of the Orthodox Alliance Meeting.
It was a given that great personages from the Four Great Families and the Nine Sects One Union would come.
But the reason I was hurting so much was something else.
It was because I heard that the Gu family would attend this meeting.
Who was it that said who was coming?
First Elder, First Sword Lord, Lady Mi, and Gu Huibi...
And finally, Father was coming too.
Honestly, up to here it was fine.
An accident had happened and an alliance meeting was being held.
Since the Gu family was also called a prestigious Orthodox family, I thought they should show their faces.
But...
‘...Why Father?’
Father coming to Henan had various different implications.
Even when the heads of the Four Great Families were attending personally.
One might ask what reason the Gu family head had not to come.
But for some reason, Father had absolutely refused to go to Henan.
Though he was called the guardian of Shanxi and busy with family head duties.
He had shown signs of particularly not wanting to come to Henan.
From the start, he was someone who rarely left Shanxi unless it was a very big matter.
Thinking of how he left the region only for Gu Huibi's matter or my engagement ceremony, he probably just found Henan uncomfortable.
‘Then does that mean this matter is so big that even such a Father is coming to Henan?’
In a way, that could be.
But doubts were unavoidable.
Above all.
‘The very act of seeing Father is somehow uncomfortable.’
It still was.
Though better than before, facing Father was still an especially awkward matter for me.
How bad must it be that my extended fist had stopped?
"Shall I stop here for today?"
Perhaps because stray thoughts had entered once, I couldn't concentrate easily.
In the end, deciding today's labor would end here, I retrieved my fist hanging in midair and simultaneously
stopped the internal art circulating in my body.
Then all the shackles bound to my body released, and my body, steeped in pain, became free.
My body was drenched in sweat.
Because moving while enduring pain was especially hard.
But I also felt somewhat refreshed.
It was now almost impossible to break a sweat through training, so being able to sweat like this was fine in its own way.
Immediately after, I put on my clothes and exited the cave.
The destination was the inn allotted as lodging for the hall disciples.
The survivors after the attack could not return to their families or sects.
Unless their affiliated places sent people for them.
Of course, if their families or sects sent a letter saying they could send them back without issue, they would let them go.
There were very few such cases.
They had also heard there would be an Orthodox Alliance meeting in a few months anyway.
The Murim League itself had assigned them to fairly well-managed places.
It felt like everyone was enduring their stay.
When I entered the streets of Henan, the streets were still filled with buzzing words.
"-No, so the League..."
"-Didn't the League Lord say that last time..."
As always, they were noisily conversing, catching onto the rumors spreading now, and...
"-So that's why they say Little Yama..."
Feeling my story mixed in among them, I pressed the bamboo hat I was wearing a little deeper.
Normally, I wasn't the type to wear such bothersome things.
But because of that damn rumor, I was forced to wear it.
‘...This is really a pain.’
A sigh came out.
I didn't know what kind of mess this was.
‘I should go back quickly.’
With that in mind, as I moved my steps past people.
"Young hero."
I heard someone address me.
Who was it? Surely they hadn't recognized me?
I paused and shifted my gaze. I considered ignoring and shaking him off, but couldn't.
The one who called me was a man wearing a bamboo hat pressed down like me.
His face was not visible.
‘He's strong?’
I could tell the opponent was strong.
The man also flinched slightly upon seeing me. He probably felt the same as me.
"...What is it?"
By feeling, it didn't seem like he had recognized and stopped me.
At my words, the man spoke, pushing back his surprise.
"Do you perhaps know the way to the Baekrim Guesthouse?"
"...Hm?"
At the man's words, I slightly frowned.
The place he spoke of was none other than where I was going.
As I took a stance as if wary, the man continued.
"My daughter is staying there, but I came secretly and don't know the way well."
At those words, I looked the man up and down.
He was a strong man. The fact that I couldn't clearly discern his realm meant
he was a martial artist who had reached the Transcendent Realm, or someone touching the edge of the Apex.
Since I still didn't lower my guard.
The man took something from his bosom and showed me.
It was a letter stamped with the seal of the Murim League.
‘That...’
I wondered what it was; it was a letter containing information that the Orthodox Alliance Meeting would be held.
Only after seeing that did I turn my back to the man.
He seemed to be the family of a hall disciple staying there.
Since there were quite a few hall disciples staying there, I didn't know who, but sensing the man's momentum, he seemed to be a considerable martial artist. Was he from a family or a sect?
I was curious, but something else came first.
"Follow me."
"Will you guide me?"
"Not exactly. It's just that I happen to be going there as well."
I moved ahead as if guiding the man.
Following that.
The White Heaven Sword Lord, Murong Tai, also moved his steps.