Chapter 29

When Jang U-gang, the young master of the Jungyang Escort Bureau and a promising talent of the great Qingcheng Sect, returned to the dining hall with Deputy Chief Escort Deung Yeo-ho after finishing his business, there wasn't a single empty seat. Just as Deputy Chief Escort Flickering Flame Spear Deung Yeo-ho had finished negotiating the lodging fees with Master Na, the owner of Zhuzhou's number one inn, Hwaunru, and was about to turn around, he ran into Jang U-gang who was returning from his business, and they entered the dining hall together.

However, a problem arose. As the two of them stepped into the dining hall, they found that all the seats were taken; there was nowhere for them to sit. But no matter how they thought about it, it was strange that the dining hall, packed to the brim with people, was so quiet. It wasn't that Master Na, the owner, had made a mistake. Master Na, the owner of Hwaunru, had accurately saved 60 seats as reserved by the Jungyang Escort Bureau's contact. The tables for the Jungyang Escort Bureau were 15 round tables for four, which, if you do the math, is exactly 60 seats.

So why was there a shortage of seats? The culprits were none other than Jang U-yang and Bi Ryu-yeon. It was because these two were occupying a single table and having their meal. Until now, Jang U-gang had always eaten at a different table far from Jang U-yang and Bi Ryu-yeon, together with Deputy Chief Escort Deung Yeo-ho. This was because the atmosphere between Jang U-gang and Bi Ryu-yeon was extremely bad. The dissatisfaction Jang U-gang held for Bi Ryu-yeon was as dangerous as a bomb on the verge of exploding.

The magnitude of that dissatisfaction and hatred was impossible to measure accurately, but from Jang U-yang's rough estimation, he felt it was 'one step beyond hatred.' That's why Bureau Chief Jang U-yang, feeling a sense of foreboding, had made his son eat in a place separate from Bi Ryu-yeon.

However, for some reason, business at Hwaunru was booming today, and all the seats were full. Deung Yeo-ho and Jang U-gang thought about sharing a table, but there wasn't even room for that in the inn. They began to look around the inn, carefully searching for a place they could share. It was then that the two of them saw him. No, he was impossible not to see. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he made himself seen. Naturally, the two of them knew exactly who he was.

Even in the land of Sichuan, a region of crouching tigers and hidden dragons where all martial arts factions were concentrated, that man was the number one saber master. Of course, the martial arts factions in the Sichuan region focused more on swords and strange weapons than sabers. But he was an exception. There was no person or faction in Sichuan Province who ignored or thought lightly of him. He was that kind of existence.

No one dared to approach the red-haired man. The traces of effort to keep the tables as far away from him as possible were evident. A circular empty space with a radius of about 6 meters centered on his table spoke volumes.

While Deung Yeo-ho and Jang U-gang were focusing all their attention on the red man, the number one saber master of Sichuan, the escorts who were receiving wages and working for the Jungyang Escort Bureau found themselves in a rather awkward position. With the young master standing there without a seat—and with the Deputy Chief Escort Deung Yeo-ho at that—they felt extremely uncomfortable just sitting there comfortably. One couldn't live a comfortable life in the escort bureau by getting on a superior's bad side.

Getting on a superior's bad side often stems from surprisingly trivial things. There is a famous saying passed down from ancient times: "Know your place and grovel accordingly!" It means that if you are part of a group, you must always have the wit to read the other person's psychology and behavior and react proactively to the situation. The escorts exchanged sharp, electric glances, searching for a sacrifice. Who would get up and offer their seat to the young master and the deputy chief escort?

Who would pull them out of this swamp of awkwardness? For that, a sacrifice willing to be offered on the altar was needed. The gazes, as if shifting responsibility, continued for a moment. With blazing red flames filling their eyes, the escorts exchanged glances, waging a fiery war of nerves.

At that moment, something completely unexpected happened. It was an event that poured a whole bucket of ice-cold water infused with extreme yin energy on everyone's hearts, an event that made their hearts sink, their pulses race, and their livers shrink to the size of a pea.

Swiiissssh!

PANG!

With a sound that tore through the air, a flagpole flew in and embedded itself in the man's table with a rough noise. The end of the flagpole was conical and sharp, and that very tip pierced through the table of the man with red hair and beard and stuck into the floorboards. Judging by the angle of the flagpole stuck in the table, it must have flown through the roof. It had flown through the roof, lightly penetrated the table, and with the remaining force, its tip had pierced the floorboards. Due to the impact, the food on the table was about to fly into the air, flip over, and become useless.

Just then—at the very instant the plates and cups were about to spill—the red-haired man lightly struck the table once with his palm. With a thud from the table, the food that was about to flip in mid-air found its original position and landed perfectly on the table as if nothing had happened. Not even a ceramic plate broke. There was no loud noise upon landing. It was a light but profound move. A red flag was rolled up on the upper part of the flagpole that had flown through the roof, but due to the impact of it piercing the table, it unfurled completely, revealing itself before the eyes of the man and everyone in the inn.

Everyone's eyes widened like lanterns. Their mouths gaped open, wide enough for a fist to fit in with room to spare. Everyone was horrified. The moment they identified the flag, unidentified gasps—like the sound one makes when their heart stops—erupted from here and there, followed by an endless silence. A red background with a lotus flower, a sword, and the character for 'Jung' in the middle—no matter how they looked at it, it was unmistakably the flag of the Jungyang Escort Bureau. Throwing the flag that represented their own faction? This was a clear provocation and a challenge to the other party.

"N-no way! This... this is impossible."

Jang U-gang shouted, forcing out words that were stuttered due to his chattering teeth. But no one listened to his shout, which was thick with the excuse of evading responsibility. It was a meaningless gesture. The air in the hall grew as cold as the air on the summit of the Tianshan Mountains. 'Group liver-shrinking syndrome' and 'high blood pressure symptoms' due to increased heart rates began to occur simultaneously among the guests in the inn. Along with that, the complexions of the Jungyang Escort Bureau members, who occupied most of the seats in the inn, turned deathly white.

The red man was silent at first. That silence became a silent monolith, crushing people's heads. Next came a burning killing intent, as if about to explode. A hot killing intent that instantly enveloped the entire inn—it was rage. At the center of that furious killing intent was the presence of the man with blood-red hair, beard, and eyebrows.

Yeomdo!

The people of the Jianghu, with a mix of fear and respect, called him Yeomdo—the Blade of Flames. His existence in the martial world of Jianghu was bound to be special. If the number one saber master of Sichuan, a man who proudly held a place among the top 100 masters said to be the strongest among the countless martial artists as numerous as the stars in the sky, wasn't special, then who would be?

It was impossible to determine his exact rank, but it was certain that he was not in the lower ranks. Since it was as rare as plucking a star from the sky for these so-called top 100 masters to fight each other directly, people could only estimate their rankings based on known facts and the testimonies of eyewitnesses and witnesses.

In truth, even the list of the top 100 masters couldn't be called accurate, as it only gathered those who were known to the public. Don't they say that the world is full of countless eccentrics and reclusive masters of previous generations? Still, people love to rank things, so they created the so-called top 100 masters based on the people they knew. The number one hundred is by no means a large number in the Jianghu, especially when it comes to counting masters. Rather, it would be correct to say it's an extremely small number. This is because if you roughly add up the main masters from the Cheonmu Academy, the Demonic Heaven, the orthodox Murim Alliance, and the Black Blood Alliance, the martial alliance of the unorthodox path, the number easily exceeds one hundred.

It is said that in these four organizations, where the martial power of the Jianghu is said to be concentrated, the number of individuals known as supreme masters alone quickly surpasses one hundred and is a little less than two hundred. If you add the heads and influential figures of the nine great sects and five great families to that, how many would there be? Just from this, one could easily guess the greatness of the top 100 masters.

The reason his hair, beard, and even eyebrows were all a fiery red was that his mastery of the Fire Spirit Divine Art, his unique divine art and the foundation that made him one of the top 100 masters, had reached near its peak.

Sword Flame Ki!

It is the unique energy and technique used by the man called Yeomdo in the Jianghu. Since he used a saber, it was clearly a Saber Ki, but the people of the Jianghu were curious why the character for 'sword' was attached. However, when it was said that Yeomdo was the original name and it was used as is according to tradition, Yeo-ryang of the Heavenly View, who would be sad if he were called second in the Jianghu for his intelligence, was said to have made the following conjecture.

"In that case, it is highly probable that his unique saber art, the Crimson Seventeen Flames, was originally a sword art, not a saber art. However, in the process of being passed down through generations, it was likely judged that sword arts, which emphasize delicacy and change, did not match the Fire Spirit Divine Art, which pursues dominance and extreme power. Thus, it is highly likely that it was changed to the saber, which emphasizes power and strength over change. The name Sword Flame Ki was most likely given when the Crimson Seventeen Flames was a sword art, not a saber art."

His erudition and high credibility added weight to this claim, and the people of the Jianghu nodded without much suspicion. And his conjecture soon became the established theory. Regarding this, Yeomdo was said to have remained silent, not expressing his position in the slightest. The claim by a nameless storyteller that it was simply called Sword Flame Ki because it sounded better than 'Saber Flame Ki' was dismissed amidst countless jeers and buried without a trace. Everyone thought such a thing was impossible.

Anyway, the energy and technique called Sword Flame Ki, which had been the subject of much talk and trouble, was a peculiar energy that arose from the influence of practicing the Fire Spirit Divine Art. It contained extreme fire energy, and it was said that a mere graze would burn the flesh, and a cut would incinerate the entire body. To be precise, it was a type of Saber Ki generated by the power and aftereffects of the saber art Crimson Seventeen Flames, which was created as an extension of his unique divine art, the Fire Spirit Divine Art. Even if one blocked the descending crimson flame, the Sword Flame Ki imbued in the saber would curve through the opponent's sword and strike their arm. His unique saber art, the Crimson Seventeen Flames, was a powerful saber art that ranked among the top five ultimate saber arts in the Murim world. However, the reason he was estimated to be definitely below the 50th rank despite possessing such a great martial art was his movement arts.

His movement arts were not delicate, swift, or fantastical enough to support his powerful divine art and destructive, supreme saber art. This was his weakness and the flaw in the jewel. His movements, especially the speed of his footwork, were too slow compared to his martial arts. In particular, his movement arts severely lacked the charging power most needed for a domineering saber art. Since his movement arts couldn't keep up with his divine art and saber art, his overall skill was inevitably undervalued.

However, no matter how weak his movement arts were, that was only when thinking in terms of supreme masters; he was more than sufficient compared to the average, and the fact that he was strong and one of the top 100 masters remained unchanged. He was an existence worthy of being included among the top 100 masters of the Jianghu with just his saber art and divine art alone.

For him, who was counted among the honorable top 100 masters of the Jianghu, there was one unwritten rule. Regardless of whether they were from the orthodox or unorthodox path, black or white, a martial artist or a commoner, a king or a nobleman, everyone had to abide by his unwritten rule in front of Yeomdo. He was a neutral figure between the orthodox and unorthodox paths, but when it came to this unwritten rule, there was no forgiveness. There has yet to be a confirmed case of anyone who did not abide by his taboo remaining unscathed.

The reason he was an object of fear for many people, despite not being from the unorthodox path, was because of his shitty personality. Whether it was due to a poor educational environment in his childhood, he couldn't practice the single short word 'patience.' Later, in a more improved educational environment, there were attempts to teach him the word 'patience,' which contains the character for 'patience,' but it was already too late. It was a good example that proved the saying, "A habit from age three lasts until eighty, and one's temper remains even in their last will and testament."

People felt immense fear of his temper, which made him see nothing before his eyes when he got angry. Combined with his rough and fierce appearance of red hair, red beard, and red eyebrows, the fear and terror towards him were doubled. A particularly famous story among the anecdotes was when Geukdo Gadaenan, the leader of the Black Tiger Squad, one of the action assault teams of the Black Blood Alliance, who thought he knew a thing or two about sabers, acted cocky with a saber in front of Yeomdo. He was skewered by Yeomdo's single strike, hung on his beloved saber, Hongyeom, like a piece of meat on a skewer, and then, having mistimed it and missed his chance, burst into flames like a fish burnt black on a bonfire. Eyewitnesses at the time unanimously testify that the clothes around the place where he was pierced by Yeomdo's beloved saber, Hongyeom, began to burn first, and the crimson flames spread to Gadaenan's entire body in an instant.

In the end, it is said that the once-intact human body was nowhere to be seen, and only a lump of burnt-black meat remained. Geukdo Gadaenan was at a time when he was gaining some fame for his saber skills and was on a roll, but without knowing his place, he drew his sword in front of Yeomdo, acted all knowing about sabers, and ran his mouth, only to bid farewell to his life with a single strike from Yeomdo and depart for the next world.

This anecdote became even more famous because the Black Blood Alliance, the unorthodox martial arts alliance that Gadaenan belonged to, remained silent and did not hold Yeomdo responsible. That's how great Yeomdo's presence was. A story that became even more famous starting from this incident was, "When even the whites of Yeomdo's eyes turn red, the surrounding scenery turns into the color of a blood-red sunset."

When one says blood-red sunset here, many people imagine blood from a human body being smeared all over the surroundings, but that is a huge misunderstanding. His martial art is one that contains extreme fire energy, so it even burns human blood to a handful of ashes. Therefore, his martial art, surprisingly, is one that doesn't see blood. If one's body is cut by Yeomdo's Sword Ki, the wound is cauterized thanks to the powerful fire energy contained within. That's why even if limbs are severed, the blood vessels are sealed by the high heat, and blood does not flow.

The blood-red sunset refers to the opponent's body burning, and because of the flames, the surroundings appear all red. The only part of his face that was white was the whites of his eyes. However, one of Yeomdo's characteristics was that when he became furious to the top of his head, his eyes would become bloodshot, and even the whites of his eyes would turn red. Eyewitnesses unanimously testified that his appearance, with red hair, red beard, red eyebrows, and even red eyes, was as frightening and grotesque as a demon from hell. And everyone who had seen that appearance even once unanimously chorused that they had made a firm resolution to never get on Yeomdo's bad side in the future.

Red hair, red beard, red eyebrows, and even red eyes. And, red clothes and a red saber, and blood. It was an appearance that couldn't help but be grotesque even if it tried not to be. But fortunately, he was not yet in the final state of red eyes.

It was by no means an atmosphere to approach the incarnation of rage and flames, Yeomdo, to greet and converse with him now, but they couldn't not do it either. Moreover, the flag stuck in his table was unmistakably the Lotus Sword Flag that symbolized the Jungyang Escort Bureau! Deung Yeo-ho and Jang U-gang began to think furiously about how to resolve and smooth over this surprising and terrible situation. The use of force, where the outcome of victory and defeat was clearly decided from the start, was absolutely out of the question. The common thought of the two was that they had to resolve it through dialogue first, so after exchanging glances, they gathered their courage and approached Yeomdo. The fact that his eyes were not yet in a state of red was what gave them a sliver of courage.

Normally, Bureau Chief Jang U-yang should have rushed over, greeted Yeomdo, and bowed his head in apology. But right now, Bureau Chief Jang U-yang was at a loss, frantically racking his brain on how to handle this sudden and surprising situation. That's why Jang U-gang and Deung Yeo-ho stepped forward first. If things went wrong, an unavoidable fight might break out. If that happened, the damage to the Jungyang Escort Bureau would be immense. If things went wrong, they might even be annihilated. Yeomdo had more than enough capability and skill for that. Those who were evaluated as having the power of an entire sect were precisely these top 100 masters of the Jianghu.

The water was already spilled, but when you're desperate, you have to at least pretend to scoop it back up. Swallowing their dry saliva with effort, Jang U-gang and Deung Yeo-ho cautiously began to approach this extremely dangerous man called Yeomdo. The hearts of the two men were as taut as the string of a pipa, half a step before snapping.

At that moment, there was one person watching the two, who were cautiously approaching Yeomdo with dozens of beads of cold sweat on their foreheads, with an amused and excited, thrilling gaze. He was currently 20 years old with a mischievous face, a person who was currently freeloading on the Jungyang Escort Bureau's Nanchang escort mission, and his name was Bi Ryu-yeon. The place where Bi Ryu-yeon was currently located was near the railing on the third floor of Hwaunru.

From there, Bi Ryu-yeon was leaning over, watching the situation with a face full of excitement. No one knew the reason why Bi Ryu-yeon, who had clearly gone out the first-floor door to take care of business, was up on the third floor. Only the end of the mischievous, crescent-moon-like smile hanging on his lips foretold the misfortune that was about to befall someone.