Dae Guhwi, imprisoned in the Pang Clan’s Wall-Facing Cave for days in place of Pang Muncheon, felt his breath growing stifled.
Not only did light barely penetrate the space, but a foul, cloying scent rose from somewhere within.
It was the Remnant Heart Extreme Incense, a vicious fragrance that clouded the human mind and ignited murderous intent.
Pang Yeok regarded his son, Pang Muncheon, as nothing more than a tool.
One reason he had confined Pang Muncheon to the Wall-Facing Cave was to conduct an experiment, and the Remnant Heart Extreme Incense was the device for that test.
Knowing this, Pang Muncheon had been silently reciting the Pure Heart Secret even without inner energy.
‘This is troublesome.’
Yet Dae Guhwi, who had trained in the Beast Martial Arts, felt a surge of killing intent rise within him upon inhaling the incense. Until now, he had been unable to fully manifest the Power of the Wild.
But thanks to unleashing his rage in the Valley of Lost Souls, he could once again draw forth the Power of the Wild. Moreover, thanks to the teachings of Nae Bihon, who had accompanied him all this time, he had entered the initial stage of the Wild Beast Style.
Now, he could manifest and retract the Power of the Wild at will.
Yet the fragrance of the Remnant Heart Extreme Incense, regardless of his control, provoked a relentless killing aura.
If he failed to endure it, he would unwittingly unleash the Power of the Wild. And if that happened, he would lose his reason and become a single beast craving only slaughter.
‘I must hold it back.’ Dae Guhwi calmly circulated the Thunder Spirit Divine Art passed down by Nae Bihon.
Then, the Thunder Spirit Energy slumbering within his body began to rapidly course through his meridians.
Crackle, crackle.
As he operated the Thunder Spirit Divine Art while suppressing the explosive killing intent, the Remnant Heart Extreme Incense absorbed into his body gradually dissipated.
Crack, pop.
Without ceasing his circulation, sounds of bones and muscles cracking resounded endlessly from his frame.
As the Power of the Wild and Thunder Spirit Energy fused, his physique was being newly realigned.
Originally, to complete the Wild Beast Style, the process of suppressing killing intent was more crucial than unleashing it, because otherwise the Beast Martial Arts could otherwise become a mad martial art driven solely by instinct.
Thus, after entering the initial stage of the Wild Beast Style, the first task was to master the suppression of the tremendous Power of the Wild and instincts surging from the body.
In other words, unbeknownst to himself, Dae Guhwi had gained the fortuitous opportunity in the Pang Clan’s Wall-Facing Cave to advance from the initial stage of the Wild Beast Style to the next level.
‘I must become useful when Master Bu and Master Nae arrive.’
His heart was filled only with concern for Bu Eunseol and Nae Bihon.
According to the plan, a battle would soon erupt within the Pang Clan to capture the descendant of the Blade Emperor.
Thus, he needed to grow even slightly stronger to be of help.
‘I will give my all until then.’
In the darkness, Dae Guhwi ceaselessly circulated the Thunder Spirit Divine Art, suppressing his killing intent.
***
The current situation in the Pang Clan was structured in a highly peculiar way.
Ideally, the Clan Leader should lead in cooperation with the leaders of each organization.
Yet Pang Yeok had granted considerable autonomy to the heads of each group.
For instance, the Secret Council, which handled external threats to the Pang Clan, could arbitrarily deal with and eliminate any enemies threatening the clan without the head’s permission.
The Wind and Rain Pavilion, responsible for intelligence gathering and security, could independently plan and execute related operations and missions.
However, such a structure had the drawback of frequent clashes between the leaders’ opinions or between organizations.
Yet within the Pang Clan, such incidents rarely occurred.
Pang Yeok.
As the absolute ruler and tyrant dominating the Pang Clan, he had voluntarily granted this autonomy. To avoid offending him, the leaders cooperated on their own and carried out their duties.
Of course, apart from the clan functioning smoothly, the majority of organization members and leaders expressed discontent with Pang Yeok.
In principle, the Supreme Elder was merely an honorary position. He held no authority, nor the right to command them.
Moreover, Pang Yeok immediately replaced or demoted any leader who did not follow his will.
“Where on earth is the Clan Leader?”
Several organization leaders asked the Supreme Elder about Pang Muncheon’s condition.
But they always received only a brief reply: “He is under treatment.”
As this situation persisted, individuals harboring doubts and grievances toward Pang Yeok began to emerge one by one.
And Pang Muncheon exploited this very aspect within the Pang Clan.
“The Supreme Elder has joined hands with a wicked force and is conducting cruel experiments. If such facts become known, our clan is finished.”
With Bu Eunseol’s help, Pang Muncheon secretly escaped the Wall-Facing Cave and began covertly contacting and persuading the Pang Clan’s organization leaders.
“However, this is an internal struggle within our clan. If external forces intervene or such rumors spread… our clan will bear that shameful name for eternity.”
The justification lay with Pang Muncheon.
The Pang Clan figures, already dissatisfied with Pang Yeok, immediately rallied to him upon hearing this. As he gathered forces one by one, before long, the majority of the Pang Clan’s organization leaders and warriors decided to follow Pang Muncheon.
“It’s done.” Pang Muncheon cheered inwardly.
The Martial Soul Command Lord was a man who kept his promises.
Having rallied over half the forces, he could no longer interfere in the Pang Clan’s affairs.
“I must imprison the Supreme Elder and quickly restore the Pang Clan to its original state.”
He had no doubt of victory.
No matter how formidable Supreme Elder Pang Yeok’s martial arts, nearly the entire Pang Clan force had rebelled.
“The uprising is in four days. In front of the Supreme Elder Hall.” The leaders all agreed with Pang Muncheon’s words and thoroughly prepared for the event in four days.
Everything proceeded smoothly.
Yet when Pang Muncheon recalled Supreme Elder Pang Yeok’s face, his expression darkened extremely.
‘Supreme Elder, please follow the tide.’
In truth, he had not abandoned hope in Pang Yeok.
With most of the Pang Clan forces turning their hearts, Pang Yeok would follow the tide. He hoped Pang Yeok would not choose an all-out war to prevent the centuries-old Pang Clan from collapsing.
At the end of each month, Pang Yeok personally inspected the skills of warriors he had selected.
And such actions were one reason the leadership harbored resentment.
The Pang Clan’s blade arts were difficult to master due to their domineering power. Moreover, they required a master to properly transmit and demonstrate the practical methods and movements.
Thus, meticulous guidance from outstanding warriors was essential.
As an elder of the Pang Clan, Pang Yeok should impart martial arts evenly without discrimination.
Yet he only cared for the armed escort he personally managed.
Creak.
For once, the doors of the Supreme Elder Hall within the Pang Clan swung wide open.
A loosely robed elder slowly emerged.
Though not large in stature, his eyes gleamed sharply, and an aura of lofty pride enveloped his entire body.
It was none other than the Pang Clan’s Supreme Elder, Pang Yeok.
“Supreme Elder.” Upon his appearance, Pang Seoun, standing at attention before the Supreme Elder Hall, clasped his hands.
“You have returned.”
Seeing the bright smile on Pang Seoun’s lips, Pang Yeok asked indifferently.
“What is it.”
“There is joyous news.”
“Joyous news?”
“The successor of Majeon visited our clan and returned the Five Tiger Blade. He also brought several gifts.”
“…”
“Of course, we handled it unofficially and in secret.”
Pang Yeok stared silently at Pang Seoun, then clicked his tongue.
“So, the tail has been caught after all.”
“Pardon?”
“You fool. Do you think a man of that caliber would return our clan’s treasure without reason?”
Pang Seoun quickly explained. “No, sir. He visited not only our clan but the other Eight Great Clans as well, returning the treasures they held.”
“…”
“And he expressed a strong desire to form ties with our clan. If recognized by us, he could easily interact with other orthodox sects-”
“You have lived to that age yet fail to grasp obvious truths.” Pang Yeok cut him off coldly. “When someone offers benefits without reason, that person is a swindler.”
“Supreme Elder.”
“No helping it. The Clan Leader cannot always remain here.”
Rumble.
Then, shadows poured from all directions.
All wore swords, their expressions grave. Warriors from every Pang Clan organization emerged.
Step, step.
The aligned warriors parted left and right, forming a path.
At the same time, a middle-aged man in white robes walked forward slowly. It was Pang Muncheon.
“You have recovered your inner energy.” Pang Yeok, discerning Pang Muncheon’s condition at a glance, faintly curled his lips. “Do you not regret that decision?”
“I do not.” Pang Muncheon declared in a clear voice. “Though our clan has the shortest history among the Eight Great Clans, as a pillar of the martial world, we have done much to uphold justice! Yet the Supreme Elder-”
“Enough talk.” Pang Yeok interrupted Pang Muncheon and smiled coldly. “I can slaughter them all and rebuild the Pang Clan anyway.”
“Supreme Elder!”
“Did you think I spared you out of familial affection?” Pang Yeok said icily. “Despite not undergoing body modification, despite lacking divine power and talent, you mastered our clan’s blade studies. I kept you only for experiments.”
Pang Yeok snorted at Pang Muncheon. “But you made a foolish choice, rendering you useless even as experimental material.”
Pang Muncheon bit his lip.
He realized that not only was there no paternal love left, but humanity had long been eradicated.
Still, he had held a sliver of hope.
Even if not loved, Pang Yeok would not destroy the clan. He would not abandon the Pang Clan rooted in the martial world for centuries.
But Pang Yeok showed not a hint of hesitation.
He declared he would wipe out the Pang Clan bloodline rebelling against him and create a new Pang Clan.
“Everyone, listen!”
Resolving himself, Pang Muncheon gathered his inner energy and boomed.
“The Supreme Elder has allied with a wicked force and is destroying our clan! Let us subdue him and restore our clan’s glory once more!”
Rumble.
Yet something strange occurred.
Half the Pang Clan warriors standing behind Pang Muncheon strode toward Pang Yeok’s side.
Stunned by the unexpected turn, Pang Muncheon could only stare wide-eyed.
“What are you doing?” Regaining his senses, Pang Muncheon shouted, but they avoided his gaze without reply.
After a long silence, Pang Jinmyeong, head of the Cloud Forest Pavilion among them, spoke in a low voice.
“The Supreme Elder led our clan in the Clan Leader’s absence. If he has faults, should we not cover them as family?”
Then Pang Giun, head of the Gold Vault, nodded beside him.
“Indeed. Would it do for our clan to split and fight over this?”
Swallowing bursting rage, Pang Muncheon cried out. “The Supreme Elder conducted cruel human experiments one should never do. You all know this well, do you not?”
“If the Clan Leader seals his lips, who would know?”
At their brazen attitude, Pang Muncheon let out a hollow laugh.
The Martial Soul Command Lord was right.
If these men had been upright from the start, they would have long driven out the Supreme Elder. Or fought to normalize the Pang Clan.
But they were no different from Pang Yeok.
Accustomed to clinging to power and savoring its sweet fruits.
‘I see.’
Finally, Pang Muncheon understood Bu Eunseol’s words.
‘Our clan must thoroughly collapse.’
If upright people remained in the Pang Clan, they would never have allied with a force like the Infinite Realm.
They could never have conducted cruel human experiments.
The Pang Clan had already fused with the Three Realms, indistinguishable.
Then, what remained…
Was to reduce everything to nothingness and rebuild a new Pang Clan anew.
Taking a deep breath, Pang Muncheon looked at the warriors aligned behind him.
They were all loyal Pang Clan retainers, men who knew righteousness like himself.
Shing!
Just as Pang Muncheon drew his sword to issue the attack order,
“As Clan Leader, I command-”
Pang Yeok’s voice spread faster than Pang Muncheon’s.
“Eliminate them.”
Whoosh!
Then, warriors in black martial robes surged from the ground before the Supreme Elder Hall like rising from the earth.
They were the blade masters personally trained by Pang Yeok.
They had always stayed hidden around Pang Yeok, obeying only his commands without revealing themselves.
Clang!
Without a word, they charged the warriors in Pang Muncheon’s formation and began attacking.
Having undergone body modification, they possessed massive builds and had mastered the Five Tiger Severing Gate Blade Technique to its pinnacle.
Their prowess was one against a hundred. They boldly unleashed their blade arts against nearly half the Pang Clan’s military might.
“A perfect level to practice whether they properly learned the blade arts.” Pang Yeok, watching the fight, snorted. “The rest can watch or fight as they please.”
Then, as if uninterested, he turned and entered the Supreme Elder Hall.
“Supreme Elder!” Pang Muncheon charged toward Pang Yeok.
But he was soon surrounded by the black-robed warriors.
Clang, clang, clang!
Pang Muncheon relentlessly unleashed blade arts, engaging in fierce combat with the black-robed blade masters.
‘Was even self-destruction impossible?’
He wore a despairing expression.
Normally, fratricide between sect members dragged on protractedly, often with neither victor nor vanquished. No matter how superior the blade arts, they practiced the same martial arts and knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses too well.
Pang Muncheon thought even if not a complete victory, mutual annihilation was possible.
But contrary to expectations, the Five Tiger Severing Gate Blade Technique of Pang Yeok’s trained warriors differed entirely from the traditional.
The Pang Clan’s Five Tiger Severing Gate Blade Technique could be characterized by six words: rigid yet flexible, firm and unyielding.
But the blade arts of Pang Yeok’s personally raised warriors were ferocious, sly, and thieving.
Prioritizing speed over weightiness, they had become a completely different blade art from the orthodox Five Tiger Severing Gate Blade Technique.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
When differing blade arts clashed, it was not an evenly matched, drawn-out fight.
It became a fierce death struggle, as if battling external enemies.
Moreover, as even those who submitted to Pang Yeok joined the fray, the tide turned completely.
Ultimately, this battle was not the Pang Clan collapsing, but Pang Muncheon and his allied forces crumbling.
‘If only one more expert could reverse the momentum.’
In such a chaotic melee, what was needed was an outstanding master to overturn the battle in an instant.
If Bu Eunseol and Nae Bihon were present, this fight would have ended easily.
But their target was solely Supreme Elder Pang Yeok.
Even before the battle began, the two had secretly infiltrated the Supreme Elder Hall.
Moreover, to prevent exposing the Pang Clan’s internal situation externally, they had activated the energy-sealing arrays installed within the clan.
Even if reinforcements arrived from outside, they could not immediately enter the Pang Clan.
‘It’s over.’
As Pang Muncheon closed his eyes in despair,
Roar!
With a heaven-shaking roar, a shadow soared skyward from the Wall-Facing Cave to the north.
Whoosh!
The figure, having leaped into the air using footwork, surveyed the battlefield, then crossed mid-air toward them.
His eyes blazed red, and a dark crimson aura rose from his emaciated body.
It was Dae Guhwi, having unleashed the Power of the Wild to its maximum.
Splash! Sizzle!
He bounded across the battlefield on all fours, attacking Pang Yeok’s trained blade masters.
His body was enveloped in crimson fighting aura, and wherever he passed, the blade masters spurted blood and collapsed.
‘That man.’
Only then did Pang Muncheon spot Dae Guhwi and widen his eyes.
‘Did he predict this situation?’
The young man from the Wild Beast Palace who had rescued him from the Wall-Facing Cave. Was he not under the Martial Soul Command Lord’s orders?
‘Thank you, Martial Soul Command Lord.’
Finally realizing his own arrogance, Pang Muncheon gazed at the distant sky and cried out.
‘As promised, our clan will completely collapse. But in the future… it will be reborn anew.’
***
“I wonder if that kid alone will be alright.”
Nae Bihon, entering the Supreme Elder Hall, sensed Dae Guhwi’s movements bursting from the Wall-Facing Cave and said to Bu Eunseol.
“No matter how good real combat experience is, is there need to risk his life?”
From the start, Bu Eunseol had predicted that the forces Pang Muncheon gathered would betray him and fail against Pang Yeok’s forces.
He had instructed Dae Guhwi to escape the Wall-Facing Cave immediately upon battle and attack Pang Yeok’s warriors.
―Rampage to your heart’s content. Release the killing intent you’ve suppressed until now.
Having spent over ten days in the Wall-Facing Cave, Dae Guhwi had advanced another stage in that time.
His Power of the Wild had also amplified several times over compared to before.
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Dae Guhwi unleashed his long-suppressed murderous intent and leaped into the battlefield as a single beast.
“He’ll be fine.” Bu Eunseol replied in a calm voice. “Guhwi has raised his martial prowess to another level while here. He may get injured, but he won’t be in danger.”
“I saw that too, of course.”
Uncharacteristically, Nae Bihon sighed.
“But do you think Pang Yeok deployed ordinary men?”
Bu Eunseol wore a mute smile.
He knew full well that Nae Bihon was anxious because he thought of Dae Guhwi like a son.
“Since Guhwi trained in the Beast Palace’s Beast Martial Arts, he needs much real combat experience, unlike masters of other sects.” Bu Eunseol explained calmly. “He has grown too quickly on this journey. Now, he must embody it through life-risking battles.”
“He’ll do well?”
“Of course.” Bu Eunseol nodded. “He has become a peerless master inheriting not only Power of the Wild but Thunder Spirit Energy. He’ll fight while recovering from ordinary wounds.”
At that, Nae Bihon smiled proudly.
Though not his biological son, Dae Guhwi, who inherited his martial studies and Thunder Spirit Energy, was like his own alter ego.
“Then, shall we go catch that fellow?” Nae Bihon stepped into the Supreme Elder Hall without hesitation.
It had been far too long.
Tormented by madness over his son and wife’s gruesome deaths, he had wandered the rivers and lakes alone seeking the culprit.
And finally, he was going to seize the longed-for villain and take revenge.
Slide.
Upon entering the Supreme Elder Hall, a bizarre scene unfolded.
This was no human dwelling but a ghost house, devoid of any furniture or trace of people.
The interior was empty, with only faint mechanical sounds echoing.
“He’s plastered the inside with traps.” At Nae Bihon’s words, Bu Eunseol nodded.
This Supreme Elder Hall was not where Pang Yeok conducted business or slept.
It was merely a secret passage to somewhere else.
Creak.
Bu Eunseol immediately located and operated an internal mechanism, causing one wall to rotate with a rumble.
Click.
When the mechanism stopped, a wide staircase leading underground appeared.
“People of the Three Realms seem to love basements.” Uncharacteristically, Bu Eunseol joked.
Because Nae Bihon’s expression was so solemn.
‘It’s only natural.’
After long years, the moment to face the enemy he had always wanted to catch. Even if it meant mutual death, he could not let Pang Yeok live.
“Brother. I have a request.”
Then Nae Bihon turned his head and said with utmost seriousness.
“Absolutely do not interfere in this fight.”
Bu Eunseol nodded. “Of course.”
Originally, he too had intended to avenge the Southern Sky Great Hero.
He was the benefactor who saved him from the old man’s attack and revealed his grandfather’s Seven-Finger Demon Blade.
But compared to Nae Bihon’s grudge—losing son and wife, everything ripped away—it was incomparable.
Naturally, this duel should be yielded to Nae Bihon.
‘But.’ Bu Eunseol’s expression darkened.
Though he had regained far stronger power than in the past, whether Nae Bihon could completely defeat the old man was uncertain.
Before the Blade Emperor’s blade art, Thunder Spirit Energy’s power did not work.
Yet hopefully, Nae Bihon, who had been unable to use any profound martial mysteries due to madness, could now fully unleash all the wondrous techniques of the Thunder Spirit Gate.
‘Moreover, Brother Nae would refuse help even if dying.’
Even if Nae Bihon died, he would not want interference.
Bu Eunseol could only watch that fight from afar.
‘But if my thoughts are correct…’
The actions of the Pang Clan’s Supreme Elder, Pang Yeok, had always diverged from the old man.
That meant a high probability of another figure behind him besides Pang Yeok.
Step, step.
Descending underground revealed a vast hall.
There, an elder sat in a grand chair, propping his chin.
It was Pang Yeok.
