The Green Forest War King was taken aback.

How could someone this young have reached such a realm?

‘Truly....’

Truly, was this young woman a master of the Flowering Realm?

And with skill that crushed him this thoroughly?

WHUDUDUDUD—!

Sweat beaded across the Green Forest War King’s brow as he hurled his fists.

Before he knew it, he was fighting her at full power.

WHOOSH—!

Then, in an instant, an ominous current whipped around the woman.

The Green Forest War King felt a chill run down his spine.

‘This is dangerous.’

This was different from everything she had thrown at him so far—

A sense of peril he had never felt anywhere.

He immediately unfurled a palm art to counter.

Linked-Breaking Palm!

PAPAPAPAP—!

The palm art he deployed was not to attack, but to block the sword that was about to come crashing down.

Directly before him, in the empty air, hundreds of qi seals stacked atop one another in a stamp-like lattice in the blink of an eye.

SHRAAAK—!

At last, the woman’s sword moved.

A blade charged with the Namgoong Clan’s intent and an overwhelming force, it came cleaving toward him as if to split the world.

PAPAPAPAP—!

His hands moved faster, more frantically.

Cold sweat now ran in a trickle down his forehead.

SHRIEEEEEK—

PAPAPAPAP—!

BOOOOOM—

A crimson-white aura and a golden aura slammed into each other with ferocious force.

The duel between the two martialists was both violent and majestic.

For those watching their friendly match, it no longer mattered who was Orthodox or Unorthodox.

It no longer even mattered who would win.

Astonishment, awe, and yearning—

Respect as martialists thrummed in the chests of those watching.

Then—

CRACK—!

As he struggled just to ward off Seolhwa’s sword, the Green Forest War King slipped his palm through a fleeting gap in the sword’s path.

The sword had already been swung, and with a strike driven in through that sidelong opening, the Green Forest War King was certain of his victory.

But—

CRACK—!

‘When—?!’

Seolhwa’s right hand intercepted his.

For a heartbeat, their gazes locked.

KWAAAAAA—

Their inner power surged like a storm.

A friendly match of exchanged techniques had become a friendly match of contested inner strength.

KRAKAKAKAKA—!

A standoff so tense that the slightest slackening would see one swept away by qi.

The Green Forest War King drew up every drop of his inner power and blasted it out.

He poured out so much that his features wrenched tight.

Not even back then—when he fought Outlanders in the gorge under the pretext of helping the Beggar’s Union—had he unleashed this much inner power at once.

KRAKAKAKAKAK—!

He stared at his opponent, who was likewise pouring out an awe-inspiring reservoir of power across from him.

A young woman facing him with a calm—yet unwavering—gaze, unlike his own.

From her issued the oppressive presence of a peerless grandmaster that someone her age should never have been able to possess.

“!”

In that instant, the Green Forest War King’s brow twitched and trembled.

At the same moment—

FWAAAANG—!

A pitch-black energy like dark night slid in between their auras.

“!”

“!”

Seolhwa and the Green Forest War King both, without anyone needing to say a word, swiftly drew back their qi.

Yet they could not nullify in an instant the power that had been colliding to shove the other away, so the two wheeled through the air, letting the shock bleed off.

TAT— TAK—!

They alighted on the Friendly Match platform at the same time.

Between the two of them, a figure descended, black long coat flaring.

“Greetings to the Union Lord!”

“Greetings to the Union Lord!”

Inside the Friendly Match Grounds, the warriors of the Sado Union dropped to one knee in unison.

The one who had intruded on the two-person match was none other than the Sado Union Lord, the Shadowless Demon God.

Upon the figure’s shoulder, as ever, a black snake sat in stately poise.

“...”

Ssssss....

The light dust that had risen drifted and scattered around the one who stepped down onto the platform.

The Shadowless Demon God looked at the Green Forest War King.

The War King wore a startled expression, but soon cupped his fist and bowed his head.

“Greetings to the Union Lord.”

The Shadowless Demon God’s gaze shifted to Seolhwa.

Seolhwa bowed her head toward the figure.

“What is your name?”

The Shadowless Demon God asked her.

Seolhwa answered with her head lowered.

“Namgoong Seolhwa.”

In that moment, the thoughts of those who had suspected she might be the Shadowless Demon God shattered to pieces.

And before the warriors of the Martial Alliance and the Sado Union alike, the name “Namgoong Seolhwa” was engraved.

The Shadowless Demon God stared straight through her.

A stillness fell over the Friendly Match Grounds so deep that even breathing felt like a trespass.

‘The rampaging Green Forest War King and Namgoong Seolhwa’s inner power were quelled in an instant.’

To suppress in a blink the strength of masters of the Flowering Realm, and not anyone else.

Just how strong was the Sado Union Lord?

As all trembled, the Sado Union Lord addressed the Hao Sect Lord.

“What happened?”

As if waiting for that, the Hao Sect Lord stepped out toward the platform and answered.

“There was a small quarrel with the Martial Alliance side. We only crossed hands in a friendly match to determine the truth of it.”

“A quarrel, is it.”

The Martial Alliance’s warriors flinched in surprise.

Regardless of the outcome, the spark for this incident had been on the Martial Alliance’s side.

It was plainly an affair that began with disparaging words toward the Black Path coming from the Alliance’s side. The Sado Union Lord might seize on this and make unreasonable demands.

No, the Black Path would by rights do exactly that.

They waited in anxious silence for the next words to come out of the Sado Union Lord’s mouth—

“I see.”

The Sado Union Lord’s reply was so concise it wrong-footed everyone in the grounds.

The Sado Union warriors, who had grown buoyant at the Lord’s arrival, were no less nonplussed.

‘“I see”?!’

‘What is it that you see? Is that it? Won’t you ask what kind of quarrel it was?’

One Sado Union warrior, agitated, blurted out in haste.

“The Martial Alliance looked down on our Sado Union and slighted us! They called us filthy Black Path bastards!”

At those words, the faces of the Sado warriors again flushed as the earlier shouting match came back to them.

They grew heated, as if they might launch into a fight at any moment.

But—

“And so?”

“...Pardon?”

“Is that wrong?”

“!”

Ssssss....

Black smoke coiled up, snaking around the Shadowless Demon God.

“We are bandits, river pirates, wastrels. What sort of fine words did you expect to hear for men who live by taking what belongs to others?”

The Sado Union warriors ducked their heads in a panic and trembled in fear.

More than anger toward the Martial Alliance, it was fear toward their own Union Lord that overwhelmed them.

Seeing them suddenly cowed, the Alliance warriors cheered inwardly.

They had no complaint: the matter would not be pursued, and the arrogant Black Path louts had just been told the right of it by their own leader.

But just as they swallowed their smiles, unable to show them openly—

“The Sado Union did not accept the Martial Alliance’s invitation to curry favor, nor to be reviled.”

The Sado Union Lord’s gaze turned toward the Martial Alliance this time.

“!”

With a look alone, a pressure like a weight on the air bore down, and the Alliance warriors involuntarily drew breath.

“The filthy conduct you condemn may, for someone, be a last bastion.”

This was also why Seolhwa had formed the Sado Union.

Yes, there were many wicked people among the Black Path.

She did not deny that fact—yet there were also many who had been driven this far not by what they were as “people,” but by a wicked “situation.”

Men who, standing on a cliff’s edge, scrabbled to keep living and so became thieves, became wastrels.

A presence that stood behind them so they would not be driven onto an even deadlier precipice—

That was the Sado Union’s reason to exist.

“I would be grateful if you refrained from careless judgment.”

The Martial Alliance warriors could not raise their heads.

The Shadowless Demon God’s voice was even and quiet, yet it cut into the chests of the Alliance like a keen blade.

They, too, knew that commoners who could not overcome hardship ran from their hometowns, became bandits, and flowed into Black Path sects.

They also knew that the Martial Alliance did not “exterminate” the Black Path precisely because they understood it was the flailing of people trying somehow to live.

Knowing that, and then looking squarely at their own conduct—how they had judged and belittled the Sado Union that embraced such people—made it impossible now to lift their heads, ashamed that they had been so ready to fight the Sado Union blindly.

Just then—

“On behalf of the Martial Alliance, I apologize.”

Every gaze in the Friendly Match Grounds swung as one toward the rear.

At some point, the Martial Alliance Lord Namgoong Mucheon had arrived at the grounds, standing with Strategist Jegal Myeong and Chief Division Lord Seop Mugwang.

“The reason the Martial Alliance invited the Sado Union was not to decide victory, defeat, or superiority. It was to discuss the turmoil in the martial world and seek ways to unravel it together.”

Namgoong Mucheon looked straight at the leaders who had engineered this affair.

“We, who should have been the first to extend a hand for that purpose, instead sowed chaos. I ask that you forgive our discourtesy.”

Namgoong Mucheon bowed his head to the Sado Union Lord in apology.

The Martial Alliance warriors followed him, bowing their heads toward the Sado Union all together.

The Shadowless Demon God, who had watched that sight in silence, accepted the apology with a nod, and with that the situation came to a close for the time being.

The warriors of the Martial Alliance and the Sado Union returned to their respective quarters, and the leaders of both powers left the grounds as well to prepare for the morning schedule.

For today, a meeting had been planned in which the leaders ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of the Martial Alliance and the Sado Union would gather to discuss the state of the martial world and exchange views.

It was less than half a shichen later, as the leaders in their quarters were making ready to attend the meeting, that a shocking report arrived.