Behind the Dark Alliance compound stood a bamboo grove. It had been the exclusive training ground of the Dark Alliance Lord alone.

And now, it belonged to Seo Woojin.

Not that he had been officially designated as successor — but being the Alliance Lord’s son was enough to grant him at least this much privilege.

Three days.

Three days had passed since Cho Igyeom’s visit.

In that time, Seo Woojin had shut himself inside the bamboo grove and devoted every waking hour to training.

Training can’t stop. Especially for someone in my situation — no amount is ever enough.

The assassination attempt had confirmed something for him.

I’m not weak.

He had no way of knowing the exact level of those assassins. But anyone bold enough to prepare an assault on White Cloud Village at the base of the mountain was no pushover. And facing them had felt completely manageable.

By that measure, he clearly wasn’t weak.

The problem was that he had no way to objectively gauge his own level.

That could become a serious issue in quite a few situations.

Think about it simply: if he came up against someone beyond his ability to handle, the odds of dying for nothing were high.

Reading the gap between his own martial level and an enemy’s — knowing when to retreat and when to press forward — was the only way to stay alive to the end.

It was a bigger weakness than he’d first considered.

So should he ask Woon Seorin for help? The Four Black Dragons?

That’s the last resort.

He had come back to the Dark Alliance for revenge — but he couldn’t afford to make everyone an enemy. Woon Seorin and the Four Black Dragons, at least, needed to be treated as allies. That alone would dramatically reduce his exposure to risk.

But confiding his weaknesses to them outright was another matter entirely.

Treating someone like an ally and having a genuine ally were two different things.

They were still Dark Path people at the end of the day. He had no way of knowing when they might decide to cut him loose.

For now, build real trust with Woon Seorin. Earn hers, and the Four Black Dragons will follow.

Which left him with one option.

Training.

Whatever level the enemy was at.

Whatever level he was at.

He would train and push himself higher.

The higher he climbed, the smaller the risk.

“Haah……”

Seo Woojin exhaled slowly and cleared his mind.

The true qi coiled in his dantian began to move.

The Lingering Heart Sword Art followed its orthodox path.

Descending to the Huiyin point before rising upward again — passing through Changqiang, through Mingmen, arriving at Baihui.

Pausing briefly at the Danzhong point near the chest.

Then returning at last to settle back in the dantian.

In terms of its route alone, it was the safest and most orthodox of internal arts.

But the Lingering Heart Sword Art added something else: rotation.

“Huu……”

The moment he consciously directed his true qi to rotate, its speed picked up slightly.

A little more. Just a little more.

The rotations multiplied, growing sharper and faster with each one.

What should have been a safe, steady flow of true qi began to tear forward like a runaway horse — wild and unrestrained.

That wasn’t all.

The sustained rotation caused the true qi to compress into an increasingly fine thread. And as it concentrated, it gathered mass — until a massive vortex had formed. The sensation was like violent waves crashing through his meridians.

Grk——!

Normally, this was where he stopped.

[The Lingering Heart Sword Art is a double-edged sword. It can destroy the enemy — and it can destroy you. Do you remember the stages I told you about? First Connection, Non-Action, Fine Needle, Annihilation Realm. These measure how far the spiraling force within you can reach. But the final stage — Reverse Flow — is different. Reverse Flow is a warning. A line that tells you how far you can go before you go too far. If you force the true qi into rotations beyond what you can bear……]

The true qi would turn against you. Qi deviation.

And not only that.

The meridians would sustain damage that could never fully heal. The result would be a ruined body for the rest of one’s life.

Which was exactly why greed was forbidden.

That was why his grandfather had named the final stage of the Lingering Heart Sword Art “Reverse Flow” — as a warning carved into the technique itself.

ROOOOAAAARR——!

Inside his skull, something like a typhoon tore through.

A surge of blood rose in his throat. He clenched his jaw and swallowed it back down.

Just a little…… just a little more——!

He could still bear it.

He pushed another rotation into the true qi returning to his dantian.

BOOM! CRAAAASH——!

The true qi that left the dantian drove forward like a thunderbolt.

Thunder clapped repeatedly inside his head.

S-stop——!

He fought with everything he had to rein in the true qi that had shot upward toward Baihui.

Peeling back the rotations one by one. Forcing the speed down.

Fortunately, it had to rest at Danzhong — and that pause gave him the window he needed to reclaim control.

“Haah……”

Seo Woojin exhaled and stripped away the remaining rotations.

The tightly compressed true qi dispersed through the smaller meridians throughout his body, and only the purest, most refined portion flowed back into the dantian to rest.

The moment his eyes opened, a blinding light briefly blazed in them.

It faded before he noticed it himself.

He sat there, breathing hard and wearing an expression somewhere between dazed and stunned.

J-just as expected……

Just as he had estimated — he had grown since his grandfather’s passing. He had pushed the rotation exactly as far as he had calculated.

Though it had been considerably more terrifying than expected.

D-does that mean every time I push further from here, I’ll feel this scared……?

At this point, he genuinely couldn’t fathom what his grandfather had been thinking — teaching him something like this.

Was it really alright to pass this to a grandchild?

Seo Woojin wiped the cold sweat from his face and hauled himself to his feet.

“Ugh……”

Completely drained — but this one step forward was a greater advancement than anything else could have been.

His meridians had now experienced this level of destructive force firsthand. They would grow accustomed to it.

Which meant he could circulate stronger true qi going forward. Move faster.

Which meant a higher chance of staying alive.

He’d still need to be careful about Reverse Flow, of course.

Seo Woojin exhaled once more and drew his sword.

He had planned to practice channeling his true qi into the blade next.

That plan immediately dissolved.

“Handsome Young Lord——! Did you miss me——?!”

A woman was sprinting toward him from far across the grove, waving both arms.

Seo Woojin let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“This is going to be exhausting again……”

The Four Black Dragons had returned.

Back at his quarters, Seo Woojin offered tea to the Four Black Dragons.

Or more precisely — to the Four Black Dragons minus Yoo Geonwoo.

He raised the question immediately.

“Yoo Warrior……?”

Song Biryeong was muttering about preferring wine to tea — but answered briefly.

“Pleasure house.”

“……Pleasure house?”

“Yep. That’s basically his home.”

His home being a pleasure house was a difficult concept to wrap his head around. He did his best to move past it.

“Did the business you went out for resolve cleanly?”

“Yep. Killed every last one of them.”

“Ah. Right. Haha……”

She delivered the brutal summary with the same ease as discussing the weather. He had no idea how to respond, so he just laughed awkwardly.

Song Biryeong furrowed her brow at that.

“Why are you still speaking formally, by the way?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you agree to work with Rin?”

“That’s right……?”

“Then you’re our master now.”

Seo Woojin tilted his head.

“W-well, but……”

Song Biryeong waved her hand impatiently.

“Oh, just drop it. Either way — once you become Alliance Lord, you’ll have to speak plainly to us. If the top of the Dark Path speaks formally to his own subordinates, the whole Central Plains would laugh.”

Whether the whole of the Central Plains would actually laugh seemed debatable. He was about to brush it off as a joke when Bae Seokjin backed her up.

“Biryeong is correct. The position of Alliance Lord means supreme authority within the Dark Alliance. Speaking formally to subordinates like us — even if not to the Seven Family heads — would undermine your dignity. Please speak comfortably with us.”

Bae Seokjin’s words landed differently.

That serious, measured delivery coming from that fierce, scarred face carried a certain gravity that was hard to dismiss.

Seo Woojin scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.

When he thought about it, they weren’t exactly wrong.

“Ah, alright. No — I mean, sure. I’ll speak plainly from now on.”

“Thank you.”

“Hehe. Hearing you drop the formality hits different, Young Lord. Feels kind of like a cheeky younger man making a bold move. A little exciting, honestly?”

At Song Biryeong’s teasing, Seo Woojin smirked.

“Would a noona like you really fall for the bold moves of someone so green?”

She clearly hadn’t expected him to tease back. Both eyes went wide.

Then she burst out laughing so hard she slapped Bae Seokjin on the arm.

“HAHAHAHAHA! What was that?! He called me noona——! HAHAHAHAHA!”

The force of it was enough to make him embarrassed on her behalf.

Seo Woojin flushed faintly and muttered.

“It wasn’t that funny……”

She was still laughing hard enough to squeeze tears from the corners of her eyes when Bae Seokjin moved to settle her down. A familiar voice cut in from somewhere.

“What’s so funny? This hardly seems like the time.”

Woon Seorin had slipped inside without anyone noticing.

One cool look from her was all it took. Song Biryeong’s laughter cut off like a switch had been flipped. She looked away and fake-coughed.

Woon Seorin glanced at her briefly — then turned to Seo Woojin.

“Word has come from the Cho Clan.”

Tension moved into his expression.

“The test?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Woon Seorin was quiet for a moment.

She looked over the Four Black Dragons, then let out a deep sigh.

“I was waiting for the Four Black Dragons to return — but it turns out that wasn’t necessary.”

“What do you mean?”

“The test will be conducted three times in total. Whoever wins the most rounds is officially designated as the Dark Alliance Lord’s successor.”

Seo Woojin nodded.

“That’s actually better than I expected. I was worried I’d have to prove myself all three times.”

“Right. Such good news. I saw the content of the first test and immediately thought — might as well give up.”

“Right, might as well give up on that one and focus on the other two——” He stopped. “Wait. Did you just say give up?”

Woon Seorin sighed again and held out the letter from the Cho Clan.

Seo Woojin read the contents. His expression remained puzzled. He read it again.

“A high-ranking person has decided to develop a resort for personal use — and has entrusted the project to the Dark Alliance?”

“Yes. Six months ago.”

“A fairly large plot of land was purchased and buildings are being constructed — but right in the middle of it, there’s an old house whose owner refuses to leave?”

“That’s right.”

“Remove the owner of the old house by any means necessary. That’s the test?”

“Yes.”

He still couldn’t quite make sense of it.

“I have a lot of questions. Why this was chosen as a test is one. And why you’d want to give up — that’s another.”

Woon Seorin turned to Song Biryeong.

“Biryeong? What do you think?”

Song Biryeong had been listening to their exchange in silence. Her face had gone rigid.

She glanced at Seo Woojin and answered with visible effort.

“Give up…… is right. Let’s drop this one clean and focus on the next. If we’re helping, the second and third tests will be nothing!”

She was forcing brightness into her voice. But the faint fear behind her eyes was plain to see.

And she wasn’t alone.

In Bae Seokjin’s eyes — and Muk-yeong’s — the same thing was clearly visible.

“Come on. Giving up this easily at the very start — you think the second and third will somehow be different?”

His voice rose without meaning to.

Woon Seorin exhaled quietly.

“Seeing is believing. I could explain it — but it’d be better if you saw it yourself. Biryeong. Show him the way.”

“M-me……?”

She looked reluctant — but stood up anyway.

“Haah. Fine. Come on, handsome Young Lord. Follow me. We can talk after you’ve seen it.”

He watched her trudging off ahead of him — not her usual self at all.

Seo Woojin followed with a hollow laugh he couldn’t quite suppress.

After the two had gone, Woon Seorin sank into a chair and pressed her fingers to her temple.

“Are you alright?” Bae Seokjin asked.

She shook her head.

“Honestly — it’s not easy. Not a single thing is going the way I expected.”

Bae Seokjin smiled ruefully and lowered his head.

“I’m sorry. We should have found some thread connecting back to those assassins……”

“No. That’s fine. I never expected it would be easy to trace. But the way they erased every trace without hesitation suggests there are almost certainly other bases like that somewhere else in Zhejiang. That’s why they could afford to cut that one loose without looking back.”

She shook her head again.

“What matters right now is what’s directly ahead. Of all things…… of all things, it had to be the Crazed Fiend……”

She could say this with certainty.

No one would pass this first test.

Because from the very beginning, this test had been designed with only one person in mind.

Please — at least let him see it and take something from it……

The sighs kept coming. Woon Seorin sank deep into thought, already preparing for what came next.

(End of Chapter 14)