“Honored Sect Master.”

I finished washing my face and came straight to see Moon-Thread Sword. The moment I arrived, Moon-Thread Sword greeted me with a hand, then kept his eyes fixed on nothing but letters.

Damn. Why is there so much?

The stack of letters on the desk wasn’t normal. Not only were they packed full of writing, the height of the pile alone made my throat feel like it was closing.

...Is he processing all of that?

Well, it was the season for it.

It was the end of the year, and for some reason orthodox-side festivals were especially thick in winter, so it looked like he was handling all of it.

Watching Moon-Thread Sword like that, I spoke.

“I heard you summoned me.”

“Sit.”

“...Sit?”

Where...?

Even the floor was packed with things. I couldn’t even see a chair.

At my reaction, Moon-Thread Sword’s eyes turned this way.

“Hmm.”

Maybe he realized the situation himself, because he let out a low hum and flicked his hand through empty air.

In that instant—

FWOOOOOOOM—!!!

“...!”

Wind rose and slammed into the floor. Letters that had been scattered lifted into the air, then stacked themselves up in neat piles.

Just like that, space opened up.

It wasn’t exactly spotless, but it was organized enough. Seeing it, I gaped.

Holy—. This is insane.

Air-Lifting. A qi application that said only absolute masters—people who could lift objects using nothing but inner power—could use it.

So that was why it had been left so messy.

Because it ends with one wave of his hand anyway?

Still. I’d never imagined someone would apply Air-Lifting like that.

The masters standing at the peak of the current Central Plains.

If you had to pick the very top names among them, Moon-Thread Sword always made the list.

And I’d just gotten a glimpse of that kind of power.

...Tch.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him. I couldn’t even use the “empty” of Air-Lifting.

[Of course you can’t. There’s no way a mere pinnacle would awaken the ultimate mastery of qi.]

The ultimate mastery of qi. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Yoo Cheongil called pinnacle “mere.”

His indifferent words hit me differently.

...Mere, huh. Yeah.

Other people rolled around like lunatics to reach pinnacle, or failed and died without ever getting there.

The world I lived in... made that difference feel real.

“Unit Member Bang.”

“Yes.”

“I heard you finished your seclusion.”

“That’s right. I finished today.”

I finished today, and you still couldn’t let me rest before calling me in.

That meaning was stuffed to the brim inside my words, but—

“I see.”

Moon-Thread Sword just nodded like he didn’t give a damn.

What a bastard. I didn’t expect anything, anyway.

Then—

“Did you get results.”

Moon-Thread Sword’s Moon Eyes, which had been on the letters, turned toward me.

Even in bright daylight, his irises shone more brightly than the sun.

When I met those sharp eyes—eyes that made me think he wasn’t a man, but a sword shaped like a human—my body braced on its own.

WOOOONG.

What?

Inside me, a single sword rose.

Against my will, it # Nоvеlight # lifted its point.

Drip.

Cold sweat almost ran.

Then—

“I see.”

Moon-Thread Sword nodded again and spoke.

“Looks like you did.”

“....”

Only after I heard that did the sword inside me vanish.

And only then did I understand.

He did something.

Moon-Thread Sword did something to me. It wasn’t killing intent, and he wasn’t releasing hostility.

It felt like he forcibly prodded my instincts.

[Heh heh heh.]

Yoo Cheongil chuckled as he watched.

[That brat. He’s doing exactly what I used to do to him.]

I didn’t answer, just pricked up my ears.

[It’s what I did to him when he was young. Must’ve stuck with him, because he’s using it like this now.]

...

Something Yoo Cheongil used to do to a young Moon-Thread Sword? And he learned it and used it on me.

What, is he taking it out on me?

Was he venting at me or something? The thought left a sour taste.

“One month, you said. Was that right.”

“Yes.”

It sounded like he meant the amount of time I spent in seclusion, so I answered without asking back.

“One month...”

His gaze swept me from head to toe.

“For that, you polished yourself well. Good work.”

At the praise, I scratched my cheek.

“Thank you.”

If Moon-Thread Sword praised me, I figured I’d turned out decent. With that in mind, I said,

“Then, may I ask why you summoned me?”

As I moved to the main point, Moon-Thread Sword pulled out a single letter and held it out toward me.

It looked like he meant for me to take it, so I accepted carefully.

“Winter begins soon.”

Hearing him, I looked down at the letter.

“...!”

The moment I saw the contents, my eyes widened.

The letter began with a crest stamped in pale blue.

That meant it was a letter sent directly from the Martial Alliance.

And the title stamped beneath it—

Dragon-Phoenix Gathering Invitation.

It said they were inviting me to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering held in winter.

“As I told you before, this Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is one where the Alliance Leader personally used his authority to have BLUE MOON SECT participate.”

It was an exceptional thing. So why did it have to keep being exceptional...? Damn it.

“Participants are four to five. And the representative is.”

“......”

“You.”

Goddamn it.

I bit down on my lip at Moon-Thread Sword’s words.

It was written on the invitation too.

That they were inviting the representative, a SMALL MOON UNIT member—Little Sword Saint Bang Sungyeon.

...Yeah, sure.

This was not going to be easy.

And it’s even gold.

The Martial Alliance emblem stamped on the letter.

I could see gold mixed into the lines.

There was only one meaning.

An honored guest invited by the Martial Alliance.

Gold, silver, bronze.

They only sent gold-threaded invitations to the FIVE GREAT CLANS or the TEN GREAT SECTS—

or noble houses on that level.

And the invitation I got was exactly that.

Honored guests chosen by the Alliance.

The honor packed into that title was beyond measure, but—

In my case...

It wasn’t honor because of me.

It’s because of that old bastard.

That malicious-ghost-looking old man floating up in the sky, staring at me with his blue eyes.

It was no different from me receiving Yoo Cheongil’s honor.

My stomach turned heavy in an instant, but I forced myself to ignore it, and Moon-Thread Sword’s voice reached me.

“Departure is in three days. Destination is the Martial Alliance in the center of Henan. Anything else to ask?”

Was that even a question. I swallowed the laugh that tried to come out.

Ask? I had a shitload. Enough to fill a book.

And if I had to pick the one I wanted to ask most—

Can I not go?

Something like that.

Like hell that’d work.

Since I knew it was pointless, I asked something else.

“...Sect Master.”

“Speak.”

“You said four to five people are going. Who’s going?”

Four to five including me. The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was a festival for younger elites, which meant BLUE MOON SECT would be taking only younger elites.

Who’s even there?

More precisely—

There are way too many.

BLUE MOON SECT’s third-generation disciples were on the older side compared to other sects, but even then, younger elites were younger elites.

And since he was saying we were taking the strongest among them, I was curious.

Moon-Thread Sword answered my question.

“That.”

As he spoke, Moon-Thread Sword’s fingertip aimed at me.

“From now on, you decide.”

I frowned the moment I heard it.

What kind of bullshit is that?

“I decide?”

“Yes.”

“...Why?”

Why the hell would I decide?

I asked again, dumbfounded, but Moon-Thread Sword answered without changing his expression.

“Who knows.”

“...Excuse me?”

Who knows, you insane man.

What kind of useless answer is that?

I stared at him without even managing my face—

“Choose the members, Unit Member Bang, and report to me by tomorrow.”

“...No, why would I—”

“Instead.”

He cut me off.

“If you select them and produce results, I’ll give you a reward worthy of it.”

“......”

A reward.

I hesitated for a moment.

A reward worthy of it.

Take people and show results at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering...?

Then he’d reward me.

Why?

That was the first question that naturally came up.

What’s the reason?

Why Moon-Thread Sword was suddenly doing this.

No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t understand it. I rolled my eyes around, but—

I don’t know.

Thinking didn’t give me an answer.

So there weren’t many conclusions I could reach.

And the least bad one was—

“...Then may I ask one thing as well?”

“Hmm?”

I spoke to Moon-Thread Sword.

“I want some information from the BEGGAR CLAN. If possible, something deep.”

“BEGGAR CLAN?”

“Yes.”

“What information?”

Question colored his voice.

But the question in that voice didn’t last long.

“Detailed information on the SEVEN PRODIGIES.”

“...SEVEN PRODIGIES?”

Interest flashed in his eyes.

*****

The center of Henan. The Martial Alliance there.

The orthodox headquarters people called the main alliance.

With about three days left until we headed there—

there were only a few days left, time-wise.

And what I had to do in that time was already set.

Four people.

Four to five younger elites attending the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering under BLUE MOON SECT’s name.

It was “four to five,” but if possible, it was better to go with the minimum.

With that thought, I struggled.

Who do I take?

BLUE MOON SECT had too many younger elites, and it was giving me a headache, but—

The one good thing was that two of them were already decided.

“Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, huh.”

A handsome man with strong facial lines.

Do Hyeong nodded as he looked at me.

“I’ll do it. It’s the Sect Master’s order, so we should.”

“Oh...”

I relaxed at the answer.

If I had to pick four younger elites from BLUE MOON SECT, Do Hyeong was automatically in.

He was SMALL MOON UNIT.

A place only the elite of the elite could enter—somewhere you couldn’t even set foot unless you were at a certain level.

The fact that he’d entered at an age barely past coming-of-age meant one thing.

He was genius, without question.

It’s weirder that he’s not famous.

That level at that age.

The fact that Do Hyeong didn’t even have an epithet was what felt strange.

Good. Do Hyeong was easy.

Do Hyeong said we had to go because it was the Sect Master’s order, and answered readily.

It would’ve been weird if he refused, but it was still good news.

If Do Hyeong had been a no, this would’ve been a real mess.

Who could replace him? Sure, I could find someone if I dug, but it would’ve been a pain.

Alright. Do Hyeong is handled.

That filled one slot.

Now two left.

The problem was—

...This is where it gets hard.

After Do Hyeong, the remaining two were the issue.

*****

Leaving him behind, I came to meet the second member.

“So.”

A cold voice hit my ears the moment I arrived.

“You want me to go to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering with you? With me?”

A cold impression like Moon-Thread Sword’s, blue eyes that matched her pale skin too well.

It made me feel like the air around her alone was colder than everywhere else.

Ignoring that, I spoke.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

She let out a hollow laugh at my words.

“...Ha.”

Then a sneer settled on her face. I clicked my tongue inside.

She was SMALL MOON UNIT like Do Hyeong, and even in BLUE MOON SECT’s entire history, one of the few monsters you could call true talent.

One of the SEVEN PRODIGIES.

Moon Dancer Cheon Hyein.