A flash of violet light flickered before his eyes.

The warrior of the Overlord Fortress gritted his teeth and swung his axe to cleave the dazzling light.

Crash!

The axe, imbued with immense internal energy, shattered effortlessly, leaving a gaping hole in the warrior’s chest. The beam of light that pierced through him continued its deadly path, striking the warriors behind him.

The violet light showed no signs of stopping, and the number of fallen warriors from the Overlord Fortress only grew.

“Gah!”

“Run for your lives!”

The violet sword light filled their vision. With each flash, the warriors before them fell, blood spraying as they hit the ground.

If it were a single master cutting down the warriors, it might have been more bearable. At least they would have faced their deaths with some resolve. But the true culprit, who had already decimated three entire battalions, was a lone, flying sword.

The sword sliced through the air like a bolt of lightning, cutting down anything in its path, be it weapons or men. The overwhelming power left the warriors of the Overlord Fortress in despair.

“This is madness!”

The leader of the First King Battalion, who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the reports, couldn’t help but curse. He witnessed the lone sword that had turned their formation into chaos.

The leader was stunned by the sight of the Simmyung Sword, leaving a long, comet-like trail of violet light in the sky.

“The Sword of Will!”

To master the art of wielding an invisible sword with one’s entire being, uniting natural energy and will, is to achieve the state of Body and Sword as One.

This is the new horizon of swordsmanship: the Sword of Will and the Heart Sword.

It’s the starting point of the legendary martial arts that every swordsman dreams of.

Some novices might dismiss the Sword of Will as merely a sword moving on its own, akin to a trick. But they couldn’t be more wrong.

The true terror of the Sword of Will lies in its freedom.

A sword typically moves according to the swordsman’s hands. The path it traces is limited by the length of the arms, the strength of the muscles, and the precision of the nerves. No matter how much one trains, the range of human movement has its limits.

But the Sword of Will transcends the swordsman’s hands, moving as if it were alive.

It breaks free from the constraints of traditional swordsmanship, allowing the same techniques and paths to be interpreted and executed in entirely new ways.

It also defies the conventional strengths and weaknesses of weapons based on distance and length.

‘Even now, the Volcano Sword Saint is toying with the warriors of the fortress without showing himself.’

In some situations, it might be better to wield the sword directly, but the Sword of Will is undoubtedly a realm of its own, beyond the ordinary.

Experiencing the Sword of Will firsthand, the fear doubled, yet it was so awe-inspiring that it was almost exhilarating.

The leader of the First King Battalion bit his lip until it bled and drew his sword with a fierce determination.

Glaring at the Simmyung Sword, which hovered in the sky, cloaked in violet sword energy, he shouted, “Show yourself, Volcano Sword Saint!”

“Here I am. What will you do now?”

Responding to the call, Mu Hui appeared as if he had sprung from the sky, suddenly materializing in the open field. The leader of the First King Battalion gasped.

Even as a supreme master, he couldn’t sense Mu Hui’s movements at all.

But it was the aura surrounding Mu Hui that made the leader’s heart race as if it would burst.

There was none of the oppressive, lofty aura befitting an absolute master like the Ghost King of the Five Armies or the Poison Marquis of Sichuan.

Instead, Mu Hui exuded no aura at all, like an ordinary man untrained in martial arts.

‘Yet how can he be so terrifying!’

The leader’s clenched fists were slick with cold sweat.

“You were so eager to find me, yet now you stand frozen. Come, the Volcano Sword Saint you sought is right here.”

Mu Hui taunted with a smirk, but the leader couldn’t move a single step.

Even the slightest movement of Mu Hui’s fingers, the mere flutter of his hair in the wind, filled the leader with a profound fear of death.

Just meeting Mu Hui’s gaze felt like being pierced by countless invisible blades.

The Volcano Sword Saint before him seemed to be nothing more than a living sword, a razor-sharp blade that could cut through anything.

“Ugh.”

A red line of blood trickled down the leader’s jawline.

“As expected of the First King Battalion leader. Your instincts are sharp.”

Mu Hui glanced at the surviving warriors of the Overlord Fortress surrounding the leader and smiled.

“The First King Battalion. And five battalions of the Overlord Fortress.”

If this force joined the ongoing battle at the capital, the tide of war would undoubtedly turn against them.

Though no killing intent emanated from Mu Hui, the leader sensed the chill in his eyes and quickly spoke.

“Three battalions have already been annihilated. More than half of our forces are dead. We concede defeat. We will withdraw and not join the battle at the capital.”

The leader gritted his teeth.

The Seven Kings of the Overlord Fortress were its elite forces.

Among them, the First King Battalion was the symbol of the fortress’s might, alongside the Five Armies.

For the leader to utter words of defeat and retreat was the ultimate humiliation.

Mu Hui’s smile deepened at the leader’s words.

“Who said I’d let you go? What madness.”

Mu Hui’s hand, holding the sword seal, lowered gently.

Boom!

The Simmyung Sword, which had been hovering in the air, plunged down like a bolt of lightning, embedding itself right in front of Mu Hui.

Watching Mu Hui slowly reach for the sword, the leader asked with a hardened expression, “Are you really going to slaughter retreating enemies? Do you, a righteous warrior, enjoy bloodshed so much?”

Mu Hui sneered openly.

“Worms. You turned all of Sichuan into a sea of blood, and now you expect mercy and escape?”

The atmosphere began to change.

With each word Mu Hui spoke, the wind felt sharper and more biting, like blades cutting through the air.

“If you thought I was just another righteous warrior, you were mistaken.”

Other righteous warriors or members of the Martial Alliance might have let them go.

They wouldn’t have pursued enemies who had lost their will to fight.

But Mu Hui was different.

He valued practicality.

The Overlord Fortress, even without the Five Armies, was a formidable force. Their ability to pressure the Sichuan Alliance with the Seven Kings as their core was proof enough.

Even if the turmoil subsided for now, it could erupt again at any moment.

Mu Hui felt the need to completely crush the fortress’s momentum.

“That way, there won’t be any trouble later.”

Though known as the Volcano Sword Saint in the righteous world, Mu Hui still retained the identity of the Sword Demon, once hailed as the greatest sword of the unorthodox sects.

Opportunities like today were rare.

Mu Hui intended to seize this chance to thoroughly cleanse the battlefield.

The Simmyung Sword emitted a clear, resonant sound.

But to the warriors of the Overlord Fortress, it was the chilling wail of a ghost, heralding their doom.

As the Simmyung Sword soared back into the sky from Mu Hui’s hand, the leader of the First King Battalion roared in defiance.

“Volcano Sword Saint!”

Unwilling to die quietly, the leader launched himself like lightning. His movements were befitting a master leading the First King Battalion.

Boom!

Blocking the leader’s path was Dokgo Yul, who appeared out of nowhere.

“Arang Sword! You’re still alive!”

Recognizing Dokgo Yul immediately, the leader swung his sword, aiming to cut through Dokgo Yul’s shoulder with a surge of dark energy.

But Dokgo Yul deftly parried the attack with a diagonal slash of his Ghost Sword.

“Gah!”

The leader, pushed back by the overwhelming sword force, looked at Dokgo Yul in shock.

A large shadow fell over the leader’s face as Dokgo Yul leaped into the air, bringing his Ghost Sword down in a vertical slash.

Boom!

The leader’s feet dug into the ground as he blocked the Ghost Sword.

‘How did he become so strong!’

Panicked, the leader quickly angled his sword to deflect the Ghost Sword’s strike.

Crash!

Mu Hui, having lost interest in the leader, focused on the Sword of Will with the hand holding the sword seal.

The Sword of Will, in a sense, is a realm where the constraints of swordsmanship are cast aside.

By transcending all standards and limitations, the Sword of Will dances in the realm of the absolute, guiding the swordsman to new heights.

Slash!

“Aaah!”

“Damn it. How can we fight that!”

The Simmyung Sword, tracing its path freely at Mu Hui’s command, was a calamity for the warriors of the Overlord Fortress.

Countless plum blossoms bloomed in the air, regardless of distance. Like petals scattered by the spring breeze, the petals of sword energy covered the plains.

At the tip of Mu Hui’s sword seal, the internal energy of the Purple Cloud Divine Art blazed like a flame.

‘For now, the Sword of Hand is my limit.’

Controlling the Sword of Will with the hand, the Sword of Hand.

If he reached the realm of the Sword of Heart, where the sword moved with the mind, he wouldn’t need to move with the sword seal at all.

With the Sword of Will in one hand, Mu-hui found himself free to wield other martial arts with his empty hands, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to challenge the Sword of the Heart.

“Even at the peak of absolute mastery, there’s always a higher summit to climb.”

Yet, instead of looking overwhelmed, Mu-hui wore an expression of excitement. The endless possibilities of martial arts only fueled his determination.

“The Three Thrones. And the Black Heaven.”

What once seemed like insurmountable heights now felt within reach.

“I can do it.”

A larger, violet flame began to blaze in Mu-hui’s hand as he gripped his sword.

* * *

With the fall of the Cheongseong Sect, the main front of the Sichuan Alliance shifted to Chengdu, where the Sichuan Tang Clan was based.

The Huashan Sword Saint and the Dokgo Leader had vanished after confronting the Overlord at Chamdan Mountain, and the Baekri Sword King, who was on his way to support Sichuan, had fallen in battle.

Despite the string of bad news, the Sichuan Alliance’s morale did not waver. Instead, they burned with a desire for revenge against the Overlord’s forces.

Among them, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and the Dokgo Clan were particularly relentless in their assault on the Overlord’s fortress.

They led the charge, cutting down the Overlord’s warriors and pushing the front lines forward.

Their goal was to break through the enemy lines, reach Chamdan Mountain, and find Mu-hui and Dokgo Yul.

“Ugh!”

Yi Wangdae clutched his chest, dropping his halved spear. He tried to stop the bleeding, but the wound was too deep.

“How dare you!”

Yi Wangdae glared up, but Mu-jin’s eyes were cold and unyielding as he stood over him.

“Today, we will annihilate Yi Wangdae and break through the Overlord’s camp.”

“Ha! Even if you do, do you think the Sword Saint who died at the hands of the Lord will come back to life? Finding his body at the bottom of the cliff would be a miracle.”

Mu-jin didn’t respond to Yi Wangdae’s mocking laughter. Instead, the violet aura on his Plum Blossom Sword flickered like flames.

After hearing about Mu-hui, Mu-jin had cut down countless masters of the Overlord’s fortress to reach Chamdan Mountain, breaking through the pinnacle of his abilities to reach a new height.

Fueled by his determination to find Mu-hui, Mu-jin defeated Yi Wangdae, an opponent he would not have been able to overcome otherwise.

“The Great Senior is alive.”

With those final words, Mu-jin decapitated Yi Wangdae without hesitation.

Turning around, Mu-jin saw that the entire Yi Wangdae unit had been decimated by the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who had only faced the elite Seven Overlords since arriving in Sichuan, had systematically dismantled them, to the point where the Seven Overlords now avoided them.

The reputation of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen soared to the heavens in Sichuan.

Swish!

Mu-hwa pierced the hearts of two Overlord warriors attempting a pincer attack almost simultaneously. His sword was more lethal than ever.

The eyes of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were filled with a ghostly aura.

Even as they rapidly grew stronger, the news of Mu-hui added a cold edge to their swords.

Hyun-gak’s twisted expression was mirrored in his merciless strikes against the Overlord’s warriors. Blood sprayed in all directions, but Hyun-gak’s sword showed no mercy.

“Mu-hui!”

The killing intent of the First Disciple was no less than that of the Second Disciple. In fact, it was even more intense.

“How incompetent must we be? We couldn’t protect our youngest, and now we’ve lost his disciple too! Hyun-baek, Hyun-baek, have we grown old and useless?”

Unlike the Second Disciples, who refused to accept Mu-hui’s death, the First Disciples faced the harsh reality. Though they didn’t voice it, they had accepted Mu-hui’s demise.

Having lost Hyun-jo, the previous Huashan Sword Saint, and now Mu-hui, his disciple, the First Disciples were consumed by a sense of helplessness and guilt far greater than the Second Disciples could comprehend.

In this state, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen became a blazing inferno, incinerating the Overlord’s warriors.

“Plum Blossom Swordsmen, pierce through to the center of the Overlord’s fortress.”

With Yi Wangdae subdued, there was no force on this front capable of blocking the Plum Blossom Swordsmen’s path.

“Yes!”

At Hyun-baek’s cold command, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen prepared to break through the Overlord’s camp with their Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Formation.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion erupted from the rear of the Overlord’s camp.

The deafening noise spread across the entire front line, halting the battle and drawing everyone’s attention.

Where the explosion had occurred, the flag of the First Overlord fluttered.

“The First Overlord. They’ve finally arrived.”

As the Plum Blossom Swordsmen steeled themselves at the sight of the flag, it was suddenly torn to shreds.

The sight made the Plum Blossom Swordsmen pause.

A violet sword light burst forth, shredding the flag and scattering its pieces.

The Plum Blossom Swordsmen’s eyes widened at the sight of the dark, gleaming sword.

A black blade, its obsidian surface glistening, cut through the air, leaving a trail of violet light.

“Could it be?”

“Ah!”

As the Plum Blossom Swordsmen’s fierce killing intent began to wane, a familiar voice rang out across the battlefield.

The voice, imbued with powerful inner strength, reached the ears of everyone present.

“Today, this front ends.”