Rumble….
The sparring match was over. It was Seolhwa's complete victory. No Mun watched with a hardened gaze as the child of Namgung approached, step by step.
“It's over.”
“…”
“How cowardly!”
Shing—!
The sharp sound of a sword being drawn was heard. Soon after, someone else drew their sword.
“Daoist of Mount Hua, watch your words. The children's sparring match was fair.”
The one who drew his sword on the child was Yu Pyo. And the one who stood protectively before the child was Cheong-un.
“Fair? Did she not hide her true strength from the very beginning! To maliciously deceive us when you knew Mount Hua needed the item! How cowardly!”
“Seolhwa originally requested a sparring match with you. Was it not Mount Hua that changed the opponent?”
“Still, her strength…!”
“Hah! Hiding one's true power is also a part of skill! How can you call that cowardly! Was Mount Hua always a sect so ignorant of courtesy?”
“Are you… daring… to insult Mount Hua…?”
A deep, rose-pink energy flowed from Yu Pyo. In response, a blue energy emerged from Cheong-un. As the two auras clashed without yielding an inch, Seolhwa spoke to No Mun.
“Did you perhaps have some honey during the match?”
The corner of No Mun's mouth, who had been silently watching the rampaging Yu Pyo, twitched briefly. It was a fleeting moment, too short to be called a smile. He quickly returned to a smileless expression and shouted.
“Yu Pyo, stand down!”
“…Yes.”
No Mun strode toward Seolhwa.
“Yes. You have won. I have clearly confirmed how bright the future of Namgung is. I heard it hasn't been long since you returned to Namgung, when did you learn Namgung's martial arts so well?”
“My Grandfather taught me a few days ago.”
“You can use a sword technique you learned just a few days ago so skillfully?”
“That’s what my Grandfather said. That I am, after all, the Sword Sovereign’s granddaughter.”
“…!”
The Sword Sovereign’s granddaughter. The meaning behind those words was anything but light. It was a statement laden with multiple implications: who stood behind her, from where her strength originated, and who one would make an enemy of by denying it.
“Though we lost the match, we still need that elixir. So, name another condition.”
With this, Seolhwa had seized complete control. Knowing that Mount Hua would not give up on the elixir even if they lost the match, Seolhwa gave her prepared answer.
“I will offer you two proposals.”
“Two, you say.”
“The first is the same as before. Show me the proof that Mount Hua and Shaolin traded for the Great Rebirth Pill.”
No Mun’s face turned grim.
‘He won’t be able to say.’
If it ended with just Mount Hua, it would be fine, but this would drag Shaolin into it as well. Mount Hua wasn't the only one wanting to keep it a secret, so they couldn't publicly acknowledge the deal so carelessly. She offered it as an option because she knew this.
‘Something impossible, and something with a sliver of a possibility.’
If you present two options together, the one with even a sliver of a chance will seem relatively better.
“…What is the second one?”
“Let me meet the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.”
“…!”
“If you allow me to meet the Sect Leader, I will give it to him myself.”
It was then.
Rumble…
Suddenly, the ground of the training ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
“Seolhwa!”
Namgung Cheongun hurriedly rushed to Seolhwa to protect her. The one who had caused this wave of energy, comparable to a natural disaster, was…
“You…”
The Plum Blossom Divine Sword, No Mun. Inside the pavilion, his energy had been somewhat suppressed for fear of collapsing the building, but now it was raging like an untethered colt.
“What do you know?”
“M-Master!”
Yu Kang urgently tried to stop him, but he couldn't get close due to the sheer force emanating from No Mun. Pssh— Unable to withstand the pressure, a thin cut appeared on Seolhwa’s cheek. Such was the Transformation Realm.
A realm where one's presence becomes the sword. Where one could cut an opponent with presence alone. An unfathomable realm that those who couldn't withstand the pressure could not even approach.
“Seolhwa! It's dangerous!”
“I’m fine, Father.”
Seolhwa pushed aside Cheong-un, who was embracing her, and faced the pressure head-on. No Mun's presence poured down on her as if to swallow her whole, but Seolhwa did not retreat. Step by step, she advanced toward him.
“As expected, a fearless child.”
“As expected, you have no conscience. A grand elder of Mount Hua, do you really want to do this to a child?”
“It seems you truly wish to die.”
“Why are you trying to kill me? I simply wish to meet the Sect Leader of Mount Hua.”
“No.” Kwakwakwakwakwa—!
The pressure grazed her cheek and forearm, leaving scratches. Her clothes were torn, and the number of thin cuts increased. But watching the child who didn't seem to care in the slightest, No Mun spoke with a voice laced with inner energy.
“You surely know something. From what I’ve seen of you, you wouldn’t ask to meet the Sect Leader for no reason.”
“…”
‘What a sharp old man,’ she thought.
“Therefore, I must kill you to silence you. I will kill you and take the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Treasure, and that will be the end of it.”
“But there are so many eyes watching.”
As soon as Seolhwa finished speaking, a group of people rushed into the Cloud Guest Hall’s training ground. They were the Hall Masters, elders, and direct descendants of Namgung.
“Gasp…!”
“What in the world is this…!”
Among them, Namgung Cheonghae stepped forward and shouted.
“Plum Blossom Divine Sword, please withdraw your energy!”
No Mun merely spared him a brief glance, showing no interest. No Mun sneered and said.
“Do you think a swarm of small fries can even be a match for me?”
His opponent was one of the ten great masters under the heavens. Though said to be one of the weaker among the ten, he was a master of the Transformation Realm, of which there were only ten in the world. An opponent whose strength was such that it was uncertain if even ten supreme masters could face him.
And here, there was not a single supreme master.
“Are you planning to kill everyone in Namgung?”
“That wouldn't be so bad.”
“The ways of Mount Hua are more extreme than they appear.”
“True strength is said to be like water. How can one stop the heavens and earth from being swept away when the water overflows?”
“Is it a teaching of Mount Hua to interpret the words of the sages to your own liking?”
“It’s my will.”
“I told you, you have no conscience.”
Ruuuuuumble….
No Mun’s energy grew even rougher and more expansive.
“That arrogance of yours ends now.”
Just as No Mun placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Did you know?”
Seolhwa’s lips curved into a slight smile.
“A flooding stream is nothing compared to a tsunami.”
“Did you just call me… a stream…?”
Seolhwa shrugged.
Just as No Mun began to find her calm demeanor strange.
Booooom.
The world stopped. A feeling as if the entire world had been filled with a void for an instant overwhelmed No Mun.
“…!”
The energy No Mun was emitting was neutralized. No, it was devoured. A thick barrier of energy had formed around him without his notice.
A void, as if he had been cut off from the world, enveloped him.
“A poisonous insect has crawled into my courtyard.”
No Mun looked down at his trembling hand. It wasn't trembling from fear. This was a tremor from his instincts reacting.
No Mun slowly turned his head to look at the one who had overwhelmed him and his world.
“…Sword Sovereign?”
The Heavenly Dragon Sword Sovereign, Namgung Mucheon. One of the ten masters who spanned the heavens. Among them, a master of masters said to be within the top three.
He was, at some point, standing right behind him.
“No Mun.”
Namgung Mucheon’s gaze went past the energy barrier to Seolhwa.
“I’ll give you two choices.”
He scanned the scratches on the body and cheek of his granddaughter, for whom he had poured seventy percent of his inner energy to perform the Bone Marrow Cleansing. A blue light flared within his eyes.
“Do you want to die? Or be beaten within an inch of your life?”
Even within the same realm, there are levels. Those who have just reached the realm, those who have adapted to it to some extent, and those who have fully mastered it and are looking toward the next stage.
Even within the same realm, the difference in skill due to mastery and experience was severe, and the gap widened as the realm grew higher. In that sense, the disparity among those who reached the Transformation Realm was truly enormous.
The difference in inner energy between an initiate of the Transformation Realm and one who had perfected it could amount to a full sixty years. Namgung Mucheon took a step toward No Mun.
“I heard news that you had reached the Transformation Realm.”
“N-Namgung Mucheon…!”
No Mun unwittingly took a step back.
‘I heard it would take him five more days, so how…!’
“Reaching the realm is one thing…”
In that moment, the benevolent smile that had briefly appeared on Namgung Mucheon’s face vanished as if washed away.
“But you dare show off your strength in this Sword Sovereign’s estate?”
The blue light in his eyes glared at No Mun as if to kill him.
“To touch the granddaughter of this Heavenly Dragon. It seems you truly wish to die.”
“W-Wait a moment, Sword Sovereign! This isn't what you think…”
“Hah!”
The sound was like a thunderclap from a clear sky. At the wave of his energy, not only No Mun but everyone beyond the barrier in the Cloud Guest Hall flinched. If No Mun’s energy had shaken the training ground, Namgung Mucheon’s energy was shaking the entire Cloud Guest Hall.
“Who told you to make excuses! Are you trying to argue that you had a valid reason for touching my granddaughter? And in my own courtyard at that! You’ve lost all sense of fear!”
No Mun couldn't say a word. Because he was the one here who knew Namgung Mucheon’s eccentric personality the best.