Silk King Murong Hyeok.

He was the Clan Head of the Murong Clan, one of the Five Great Clans, and one of the Five Kings Under Heaven.

He was also the man called the Conqueror and Ruler of Liaoning.

Not only was he strong enough to be granted the sobriquet of “King,” but in the realm of influence—the thing you needed to even be given such a sobriquet—he stood in an overwhelmingly dominant position.

Because among the Five Great Clans, the one who had achieved the greatest commercial success was him.

The Conqueror of Liaoning.

That wasn’t a title earned through force alone. It was because he had absorbed every merchant group in the surrounding region.

To the point people around there said that if you wanted to set up a business in Liaoning, you had to go through the Murong Clan.

So when the world spoke of Murong Hyeok—

If the other Kings were men obsessed with martial arts...

Then, “The Silk King is obsessed with money,” was something you’d hear now and then.

That was how much Murong Hyeok—despite being a martial man—often poured his focus into merchant groups.

And because he focused, he achieved results so enormous they were absurd.

Ruler of the merchant groups.

Conqueror of Liaoning.

Among those who clutched wealth and were called the Seven Great Merchant Groups of the Central Plains, the only one who was also the head of a prestigious clan.

The name “Silk King” was attached while recalling the Murong Clan’s distinctive swordsmanship and Murong Hyeok’s martial might, and aside from that—

“God of Wealth.”

He even had a title like that attached to him, praising his achievements.

So in the Central Plains, the Silk King wasn’t just one of the Five Kings Under Heaven—he was a man placed in an outstanding position.

And that Silk King—

“Son-in-law?”

“Son-in-law, he said?”

“Didn’t the Silk King just say ‘son-in-law’?”

“The Little Sword Saint is his son-in-law. What the...?”

He’d called me son-in-law with his own mouth. The reaction from the people in the medical unit burst out in a way that was anything but normal.

“What does that mean?”

“Did the Silk King have a daughter...?”

“Hah! He does. He does.”

The moment the questions exploded, someone spoke like they’d suddenly remembered something.

“Liaoning’s Most Beautiful. They said she’s the Silk King’s daughter.”

“Oh....”

“Most Beautiful? How beautiful could she be...?”

“I heard she practically shines from her face.”

“No way someone like that—”

“It’s not shining, exactly. I’m just pretty enough.”

“Hm?”

As the men talked, a clear, delicate voice cut in.

Click.

With light footsteps, the woman drifted into the medical unit as if she were swaying. She wore flowing clothes and a veil.

She walked toward me with calm steps, and then—

SLOWLY.

She took off the veil she’d been wearing.

“Gasp....”

“Ah....”

The people who saw the face hidden behind the veil let out strangled sounds.

“...How...?”

How could someone be that beautiful?

Her looks were enough to make that question rise on its own, but—

“...You again... No, I mean—Young Lady Murong, why are you here...?”

All I could do was frown as I looked at her.

When I asked, Murong Yeongsun frowned back at me.

GRIP—!

“—!”

All of a sudden, she pressed down hard on my shoulder with her finger.

I felt it and clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Ghh... ngh....”

If I hadn’t, I would’ve screamed right then.

“Tsk.”

Murong Yeongsun clicked her tongue briefly.

“...What are you doing...?”

I asked, forcing the pain down. Murong Yeongsun asked me back.

“That’s what I want to ask.”

There was something I couldn’t name in her quiet voice—something chilling.

“What were you fighting for, until you ended up like this? That wasn’t like you.”

“......”

To that, I didn’t really have anything to say.

Even I thought it was something that wasn’t like me.

“And on top of that. What was that?”

Same question as Tang Cheon-il. Again, it was about my “appearance.”

They said my hair had turned white for a moment, right?

As I wondered how the hell my hair color could suddenly change—

[It’s the power of Moon Heaven.]

Yoo Cheongil explained it to me.

[When the internal art melts into the body, Moon Eyes bloom. Like I explained earlier, that’s a mark. Moon Heaven is the growth form of that.]

It was the continuation of what he’d been explaining right before.

[If pinnacle is when inner power melts into the body, then reaching Moon Heaven is when Blue Moon Heart Art itself seeps into the body. In that process, as Moon Eyes bloom, abnormalities appear in the hair on the body.]

It was the first I’d ever heard of it. More than anything—

‘If something like that existed, it should’ve been famous.’

If it was a martial art that changed your hair color itself, it should’ve been widely known throughout the Central Plains.

But it wasn’t.

Just as I wondered what that difference meant—

[Of course.]

Yoo Cheongil answered as if he’d read my thoughts.

[Moon Heaven is something I made.]

“...!”

My eyes widened. Yoo Cheongil made it?

[You have to properly melt the internal art into the body. Only then can you follow the path the moon shows you in full. That’s why I made you master and use Moon-Spirit Sword Path.]

“......”

The power that lets energy show you the path.

That was Moon-Spirit Sword Path—something that let you ride the sword and swing it, and perfectly execute the opponent’s weakest point.

Moonlight shows the way.

That luminous, alien force was so strange it barely felt right to call it a martial art at all.

‘A power that lets you use that perfectly.’

If you used Moon Heaven on top of that, you’d be able to perfectly control the optimal path Moon-Spirit Sword Path showed you.

Just hearing it, it sounded like an insane kind of power.

The problem was—

‘...But I don’t remember.’

I didn’t remember, and my body was a wreck.

It hurt like hell. Pain that didn’t even belong in the same universe as muscle soreness.

But since the physicians couldn’t notice anything, it meant it wasn’t just a physical problem.

‘If it’s not physical...’

Energy. And if it wasn’t even that—

‘The soul.’

A power that directly messes with the soul?

It was so absurd I almost laughed.

[So it can’t possibly be like ordinary Blue Moon Heart Art. In the entire Blue Moon Sect, the only one who could use Moon Heaven was me. But since I’m dead, now it’ll be only you.]

He created a power that hadn’t existed before.

At that, I swallowed without meaning to.

And the fact that—

‘I used it in front of that many people.’

Meant the story would spread before long. With a power that obvious and visible, there was no way rumors wouldn’t explode.

[You’re supposed to grow through an internal art that’s been altered directly, but you awakened it on your own. I can’t tell you how nice it is to see. Keheheheheh.]

“......”

That old bastard, grinning like it was great without knowing what was going on inside me, made me want to strangle him.

‘Goddamn it.’

I didn’t know how things were about to go from here.

But the most important thing was—

‘In the end, it is an insane power.’

It was power strong enough to beat the Thunder Dragon.

That meant it absolutely wasn’t some trivial thing.

[That’s right. If you succeed in controlling it perfectly, there won’t be anyone in the Central Plains who can beat you.]

“......”

Yoo Cheongil said it with absolute confidence.

And because it was Yoo Cheongil saying it, the belief slid in even if I didn’t want it to.

Because I’d felt how ridiculous that power was, too.

“Ghh....”

I forced myself up. It still hurt like hell, but I managed to sit up, somehow.

“...So. Why are you really here?”

I asked, enduring the pain.

“Why? Did I come somewhere I’m not allowed to?”

Murong Yeongsun answered curtly. Somewhere she wasn’t allowed to?

“Feels like this isn’t really somewhere you should be.” 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“...What?”

“I mean... it’s a medical unit. You know.”

It was the medical unit right after the tournament stage ended. Murong Yeongsun didn’t have any reason to come here in the first place.

“And you’re not even participating—why did you come all the way to Henan?”

I didn’t understand why Murong Yeongsun—who’d gone all the way back to Liaoning—had come to Henan again.

To that, Murong Yeongsun twisted her face like I’d said something idiotic.

“Is that even a question?”

She spoke as if it were obvious.

“I came to watch you do something weird again.”

“...Am I a zoo monkey?”

“What’s a zoo...?”

“It’s a thing.”

I let out a sigh. So she came because of me.

But—

“Then why is the Clan Head...?”

The handsome middle-aged man in front of me—Silk King Murong Hyeok—what did he come for?

When I asked that—

“I came to see my son-in—”

“Can you stop joking around?”

I cut off his ridiculous attempt at a joke.

“Mm.”

Murong Hyeok nodded at my words.

“......”

Ah. This uncle really hadn’t changed.

He was a man you could never read. He was like that the first time I saw him, and he was still like that now.

“...Why did you really come?”

What did this guy come for? The Silk King was famous for never leaving Liaoning.

With how many businesses he had to manage, how many things he had to handle—Murong Yeongsun was one thing, but this uncle showing up made no sense.

To that—

“I followed a friend.”

“...What?”

Murong Hyeok said something pretty damn strange.

A friend? A friend?

‘No way.’

A hazy thought flashed through my head.

I asked him immediately.

“That ‘friend’—it’s not that old man from my house, right...?”

I asked while desperately hoping it wasn’t.

“Correct.”

“Goddamn it.”

I’d just heard something that should never happen in this world.

I already knew one person loitering around Henan.

A person who—like the Silk King—should be in Liaoning.

The difference was, the Silk King couldn’t leave because he was busy, but that guy didn’t leave because he had nothing to do—so the fact he stayed put was what kept the Central Plains sane.

“...You followed my family’s punk. No—my father?”

The Silk King followed our household parasite?

What kind of insane statement was that?

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“He told me to come.”

“......”

There couldn’t be a more deranged answer than that.

“...Since when were you two that close?”

The Bang Clan of Liaoning and the Murong Clan had once been engaged, sure.

But that was an agreement between the previous generation. I’d never thought the clan heads themselves were actually close.

And now he’s saying friends.

There wasn’t a worse-matched pair in the world.

“He’s my friend.”

Murong Hyeok spat it out with a firm tone.

My head started to throb. My body hurt, and now my head hurt too.

Fine. Whatever. Let’s say that’s how it is.

“...So why did you come with my father?”

“......”

“Seriously, it can’t be that you came just because he told you to.”

“......”

“Clan Head...?”

The Silk King didn’t answer. Did he really come because my dad said so?

There was no way he’d do something that insane.

‘He’s still the most normal person I know.’

Among everyone I knew, Murong Hyeok was the one you could call the most normal.

As long as you didn’t touch a certain part, he was fine.

‘How did it end up like this?’

How did it get like this?

Just as I was sitting there clutching my aching head, forgetting all about the tournament results—

“Hey!”

Another voice barged in from the entrance.

“Little Sword Saint! I heard you’re here—are you in here?!”

“......”

Who the hell is it now.

My medical unit wasn’t a public square. Why did people keep crawling in?

I turned my head.

A huge young man stood there.

Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin.

“Ahahahaha! There you are. I came to—”

Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin stopped short when he saw Murong Yeongsun.

Ah. Right.

‘That bastard.’

When he saw me, I’m pretty sure he said some garbage about how Murong Yeongsun was his.

“Oh.”

Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin, who’d fallen silent, reacted with a short sound.

Then—

“Pretty girl!”

“...What?”

He blurted out pure nonsense. I gaped.

It wasn’t that I was shocked by the nickname itself.

I already knew Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin was a lunatic, so no matter how he reacted, it wouldn’t have been strange—

But—

‘This is bad.’

Because the real problem was the person who came with Murong Yeongsun.

“Ahahahaha!! My ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) pretty girl is—”

“Pretty girl?”

SSSSSSSS—.

A chill ran down my spine instantly.

Because—

“Right now.”

The Five Kings Under Heaven—the father of Murong Yeongsun standing right in front of me—

Killing intent was pouring out of the Silk King.

“What did you just say?”

‘Ah.’

The moment I felt it, I knew.

‘I’m screwed.’

Silk King Murong Hyeok.

He was the most normal person I knew—

But if you touched a certain part, he turned into a demon more vicious than anyone.

And that part was—

‘A terrifying, insane daughter-doting father.’

The fact that he treasured Murong Yeongsun more than anything in the world.