Mu-hwi felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the elderly men execute the Baekhyeong Palm Technique.

It wasn’t because their martial arts were so formidable that even the elders of the Great Sect would have to concede.

These old men had appeared out of nowhere on his way back from killing Jeonjin’s Ghost Sword, targeting the Jeonjin Sect’s secret techniques. They unleashed the Baekhyeong Palm Technique of the White-Faced Demon Elder.

How was he supposed to interpret this?

It seemed to Mu-hwi that the strange twists of Jeonjin’s Ghost Sword had been influenced by the deceit and malice of the White-Faced Demon Elder.

Perhaps Jeonjin’s Ghost Sword was just another plaything for the White-Faced Demon Elder.

Having encountered the White-Faced Demon Elder, even briefly, Mu-hwi didn’t dismiss this thought as mere speculation.

“So, the White-Faced Demon Elder isn’t wandering alone. Is he the leader, or are these old men part of his faction?”

The Red Elder and the Blue Elder didn’t bother to respond, but the Yellow Elder’s expression turned grim.

“He’s not someone you can speak of so lightly.”

Mu-hwi scoffed and raised his sword.

In that moment, the three colors—blue, red, and yellow—surrounded Mu-hwi from three sides.

The Blue and Red Elders aimed their fists and the backs of their hands at his temples.

Mu-hwi dodged, pulling his head back, but the Yellow Elder’s palm, aimed at his forehead, seemed to grow larger as it approached.

The Yellow Elder’s palm thrust through the gap left by the retreating arms of the other two elders.

The Red and Blue Elders, whose initial strikes had missed, reached out from behind to grab Mu-hwi’s shoulders.

A frontal palm technique and two streams of force from behind.

The coordinated attack from three sides left no room for escape.

Their teamwork was as precise as if it had been honed over decades. It was clear these three had been working together for a long time.

Defending against simultaneous attacks from the front and back was no easy task, but the Huashan Sect’s swordplay, rooted in the Six Harmonies, was not constrained by such challenges.

Mu-hwi lifted his left foot, spinning his body and slicing his sword vertically in five directions.

Clang!

The elders’ hands, hardened by internal energy, were like iron, but they were forced back by Mu-hwi’s sword strikes.

As he fended off the skilled coordination of the three elders, Mu-hwi’s eyes sparkled with recognition.

“Now I remember. The Three Elders of Mu-won. I thought you were dead since there hadn’t been any news for so long.”

All three were legendary martial artists at the peak of their abilities.

Individually, they were formidable, but together, their Mu-won Triple Formation, honed over forty years, was said to be unbeatable in the martial world.

“Your nickname has almost been forgotten in the martial world.”

“Surprising that a young one like you recognizes us.”

As the Three Elders of Mu-won launched another attack, Mu-hwi unleashed a flurry of sword strikes.

His swordplay spread out like branches of a tree, constantly changing, making it difficult for the elders to counter.

The coordinated attack of the Three Elders began to show gaps, and purple petals scattered through the air.

The dazzling transformations of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique bloomed around Mu-hwi, but the elders were not easily outdone.

The three elders, each executing different techniques of the Baekhyeong Palm, pressed in on Mu-hwi.

Their ever-changing techniques intertwined, filling the space around them.

Mu-hwi deflected the Yellow Elder’s punch aimed at his solar plexus and drew a curve to split the three streams of force coming from the left.

Blocking the Blue Elder’s force, he used his left hand to deploy the Plum Blossom Mountain Technique, crushing the Red Elder’s foot aimed at his thigh.

The clash of techniques was a dazzling spectacle, with the four martial artists entangled as if they were a single entity.

“Building power in the shadows, the White-Faced Demon Elder’s schemes remain as insidious as ever.”

Mu-hwi muttered, observing the Three Elders of Mu-won.

His continued speech caught the elders off guard, as they hadn’t expected him to maintain such composure while fending off their attacks.

“What is the White-Faced Demon Elder thinking, orchestrating such trivial schemes? Why do this, old men?”

“Silence!”

The Yellow Elder’s hand swept in a wide arc, unleashing a force much greater than before, pressing down on Mu-hwi.

The Red and Blue Elders synchronized their attacks with the Yellow Elder’s force.

Boom!

Ten streams of force and two punches surged from the sides. Each of the elders’ attacks was formidable.

With no openings in sight, it seemed there was no escape for Mu-hwi. But he had never intended to flee.

The Plum Blossom Sword, exuding a deep sword aura, traced a large circle. At its center, plum blossoms began to bloom from the ends of his sword strikes.

Dozens of plum blossoms bloomed around Mu-hwi, as if he were a single plum tree.

The blossoms scattered petals, gradually obscuring Mu-hwi from view.

Crash!

A barrage of attacks rained down on the plum blossoms surrounding Mu-hwi, shaking the ground with their force.

The purple blossoms trembled violently, yet held their ground, continuing to emit their fragrance like a defiant winter wind.

“Hmm!”

The Red Elder felt the recoil in his hands and glared at the plum blossoms. Despite their fragility, they held firm against the force.

“Impressive. I didn’t know the Huashan Sect’s swordplay had such defensive techniques.”

Though some blossoms had withered under the relentless assault, most remained vibrant, displaying their purple hue and sword aura.

Plum Blossom Endurance.

A technique that focused on defense, incorporating the essence of the heavy sword, which had always been about offense in a past life.

By twisting and deflecting attacks with the plum blossom’s transformations, the blossoms themselves became a shield.

It was one of the techniques created by the Sword Demon in a past life, now reborn with the insights of the Huashan Sect.

Having escaped danger with his newly devised technique, Mu-hwi immediately swung his Plum Blossom Sword vertically and horizontally.

Swish!

As the plum blossoms of Plum Blossom Endurance scattered into the air, the Purple Mist Sword Qi filled the space, sweeping over the elders.

It was a scene like petals swirling in a spring breeze.

Following the Plum Blossom Sword, the petals danced through the air, and the sword aura grew more intense.

Deflecting the Red Elder’s hand and blocking the Yellow Elder’s force, the Plum Blossom Sword continued to carve elegant paths through the air.

The petals multiplied, tinting the surroundings with a purple hue.

Soon, the purple petals filled the space so completely that the elders could barely see each other.

Though they were the ones executing the coordinated attack, the Three Elders of Mu-won felt themselves being drawn into Mu-hwi’s flow.

“Strike!”

The Yellow Elder shouted, channeling his internal energy into a powerful blow, but Mu-hwi’s petals merely quivered, unmoved.

The elders swung their arms to disperse the petals, but more petals surged in than they could push away.

“Damn it!”

The elders, working their hands tirelessly, felt a sense of helplessness, as if they were trapped in a mire.

As they prepared to unleash a powerful technique to scatter the petals, the Plum Blossom Sword sliced through the air.

New blossoms began to bloom along the sword’s path, and the petals on the ground started to ripple.

The purple waves undulated, with blossoms swaying precariously above them. The elders, caught in the flow, were equally at risk.

Plum Shadow River.

The once-calm petals surged violently with the Plum Blossom Sword’s strokes.

The swirling petals and blossoms quickly engulfed the three elders.

Despite their efforts to unleash force and punches, it was futile against the overwhelming current.

‘Unheard-of techniques, one after another!’

The Yellow Elder gritted his teeth, unable to afford the luxury of marveling at Mu-hwi’s continuous display of new techniques.

Slash!

The Yellow Elder’s diagonal hand strike parted the oncoming wave of petals, but like a river, it inevitably flowed again.

The Plum Shadow River’s current seeped into the Yellow Elder.

Even with his hands enveloped in internal energy, each petal that brushed past left a red line.

Blood spurted from his hands, and his sleeves were shredded. The spreading red lines seemed to grow, extending across his body.

“Argh!”

Yet the blood from the Yellow Elder’s body was swallowed by the purple light of the Purple Mist Sword Qi and the plum blossoms, leaving no trace.

Around the Yellow Elder, only the purple light bloomed. As the overwhelming sword aura surged, the Yellow Elder gathered his remaining energy to tear through the plum blossoms ahead.

Boom!

When the Plum Shadow River’s current ceased, the three elders were left barely standing.

The ground around them was stained red with an enormous amount of blood.

As the weakest martial artist, the Red Elder staggered, and Mu-hwi’s sleeve fluttered as he decapitated him.

Splat! Splat!

With each step the old men took, the sound of their feet squelching in the blood-soaked ground echoed ominously.

The rapid succession of these sounds seemed to mirror their growing desperation.

Qing Lao and Huang Lao lunged at Mu Hui, aiming for his back, but even in their wounded state, their attacks were effortlessly deflected by him.

“We miscalculated. To think we’d fall so easily.”

Qing Lao’s eyes grew dim as he watched Mu Hui, who had severed his own tattered arm and pierced a hole through his chest.

Using the force of the Plum Blossom Mountain technique, Mu Hui pushed Qing Lao away and swiftly twisted his upper body to evade Huang Lao’s attack.

“There’s something different about him.”

Huang Lao furrowed his brow, watching Mu Hui evade his technique and counterattack with ease.

It was shocking enough that a mere late-stage practitioner had reached such heights, but even so, he couldn’t fathom that Mu Hui’s depth could rival their own, honed over decades.

Yet, the more they engaged with Mu Hui’s swordplay, the deeper it seemed, like a bottomless abyss.

“This young one… what is he?”

Unable to gauge his depth, the three elders of the Mu Yuan sect were on the brink of being swallowed by Mu Hui’s unfathomable skill.

Mu Hui easily disrupted Huang Lao’s final desperate attack with the Plum Blossom Mountain technique, tightening his grip on his sword.

With a swift slash, Huang Lao’s arms were severed, yet his gaze remained fixed on Mu Hui.

“Who are you?”

“You already know. Why ask?”

Drained of strength from the blood loss, Huang Lao collapsed to his knees.

Watching the now motionless Qing Lao and Huang Lao, he let out a hollow laugh.

“To think it would end so futilely.”

When they were ordered to retrieve the secret manual of the Sword of the Forward March, none of the Mu Yuan elders imagined it would be their last mission.

They were more intrigued by the notion that a late-stage practitioner had bested the Sword of the Forward March than by the mission itself.

Yet, they couldn’t even touch the hem of his robe, let alone kill him.

“To think you’d still have such thoughts after all these years in the martial world.”

Mu Hui approached Huang Lao, raising his sword high.

“Did you think old men would be any different?”

Without hesitation, Mu Hui brought his sword down, severing Huang Lao’s head.

There was no point in questioning him about the White-Faced Demon or the mysterious society; Mu Hui saw no reason to waste time.

“The White-Faced Demon… and the Society. Damn shadowy forces.”

He pondered the various factions in the martial world, but it seemed the Society linked to the White-Faced Demon was a hidden force lurking in the shadows.

The martial world was vast, and somewhere, unknown forces always skulked in the darkness.

It wouldn’t be a problem if they stayed hidden, but they always emerged to cause trouble, like the Black Night Palace had.

Mu Hui had a strong premonition that he would eventually face not only the Black Night Palace and the Tyrant’s Castle but also this Society, whose name he didn’t even know yet.

“I need to perfect this sword technique quickly.”

With so many enemies to face, the best solution was to grow stronger himself.

Reflecting on the new techniques he had just employed, Mu Hui began his journey back to Mount Hua.

***

“They say that young Mu Hui even defeated the Sword of the Forward March alone. It’s hard to gauge his martial prowess. Truly a blessing for the martial world, isn’t it?”

Despite the words of Unjung, the head of the Wudang Sect, the old man simply stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the night sky.

The stars filled the sky over Wudang Mountain, centered around the Big Dipper.

After a long silence, the old man, who had been absorbing the brilliance and movement of the stars, finally spoke.

“Did you say that boy Mu Hui is from the Mount Hua Sect?”

“Yes, Master.”

In response to Unjung’s respectful answer, the old man looked at a star drawing closer to the Big Dipper.

The star shone brightly, its light growing more radiant with time, sparking curiosity about how bright it might become.

The old man was convinced that the one leaving a mark on the current martial world, borrowing the energy of that star, was Mu Hui.

“As that boy’s star draws closer to the Big Dipper, it seems he has a connection with the Wudang Sect. I would like to meet him.”

At the old man’s words, Unjung simply bowed his head.

“I will arrange a meeting, Master.”

Even after Unjung had left, the old man continued to gaze at the stars in the night sky for a long time.