The moment the Martial Alliance Leader and Kim Muhyuk faced each other on the sparring platform, the broadcaster’s ratings—already climbing steeply—hit their peak.

Every community even remotely related to martial artists was being plastered with posts about Kim Muhyuk.

[Does that guy have something? Why’s he acting up like this?]

[He used to be a famous young talent. But I heard his constitution test got ruined.]

[I’ll bet my chicken coupon he gets blown away in one hit.]

[Still, he looks like he can fight. Maybe he barely hangs on for three techniques?]

[This is gonna get preserved as peak cringe.]

People didn’t think well of Kim Muhyuk’s attitude. It felt less like confidence and more like arrogance.

Even the VIPs who’d been invited to their seats looked at Kim Muhyuk with annoyed eyes.

“Trying to take the pinnacle-expert test...”

“Courage and recklessness must be distinguished.”

“The Alliance Leader will give him a sharp lesson.”

That was because earning a pinnacle-expert license on your very first test had never happened before.

Even Richard Han—The Strongest in the World—had only managed a first-rate license on his first license exam.

Of course, after he became a naturalized citizen of the United States, he obtained pinnacle-expert status almost immediately, but...

With harsh stares and criticism pouring down on him, Kim Muhyuk kicked off the sparring platform and took the initiative.

“You’ll have to prove your skill matches your confidence!”

Yeo Pilgeuk shouted at the charging Kim Muhyuk and swung a single blow. In that instant, everyone felt as if the Martial Alliance Leader’s fist had grown several times larger.

It was the kind of strike that would send most young talents flying in one hit—just as the VIPs watching started to nod along—

CLANG!

After deflecting the Martial Alliance Leader’s first strike aside with his sword, Kim Muhyuk took one step back and settled into stance again.

His expression looked calm—no, more than calm. He looked peaceful, like someone who’d come out for a stroll.

[...Huh?]

[That easily?]

[Just one step...]

Eyes that had been watching him with skepticism widened.

Until now, no one had been able to stop the Alliance Leader’s first strike as ordinarily as Kim Muhyuk just had.

Before anyone could even think, That’s incredible, they felt like they’d seen something that shouldn’t exist, leaving them dazed.

“Haha! So it’s not just talk!”

Yeo Pilgeuk laughed as if he’d expected nothing less and clenched his fist again. The second fist—heavier now—shot out like a cannonball.

But Kim Muhyuk’s response was simple again. He dropped his body and snapped his sword upward, twisting the fist’s trajectory to the side.

CLANG!

If his timing had been even a little early or late, the sword could have shattered under that force—but Kim Muhyuk caught the exact moment and minimized the shock.

BOOOOM!

A beat later, the diverted punch exploded into wind pressure. Down below, the watching young talents’ hair whipped in every direction.

People watching the broadcast felt blank, like they’d been possessed.

[What...?]

[Why is he blocking it so easily?]

[Is the Alliance Leader going easy on him?]

But those who’d learned even a little martial arts—or had real eyes—gaped as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

It wasn’t simply that Kim Muhyuk’s martial arts were strong.

His technique—on a level that couldn’t even be compared to the earlier young talents.

The simplicity with which he hid that technique.

And above all, the split-second judgment, and the boldness to execute it.

CLANG!

After blocking the Martial Alliance Leader’s third technique in succession, Kim Muhyuk instead slipped into his opponent’s range.

At that moment, most people expected Kim Muhyuk to throw his decisive move, like Shin Kangheon had.

But Kim Muhyuk’s way was different—not just from Shin Kangheon, but from everyone.

The Alliance Leader’s eyebrow twitched as he waited to counterattack.

‘A trick?’

The motion that looked like an entry was a feint.

Right in front of the gap where Yeo Pilgeuk had been waiting to counter, Kim Muhyuk pulled back a half-step and swung his sword.

SLASH!

A cold sensation skimmed over Yeo Pilgeuk’s thigh.

It didn’t reach skin, but the blade’s sharp edge sliced away the hem of his martial robe.

The first incident since the license exam began.

Yeo Pilgeuk didn’t chase the retreating Kim Muhyuk. He simply watched him.

“Why did you aim for my leg instead of a vital point?”

“When you fight someone stronger than you, don’t get excited—stay calm. If possible, break their mobility first. That’s what I was taught.”

By my past self.

And in this life—by Sword Demon Choi Geon.

—Even if you’ve obtained a divine art, you don’t need to change how you fight.

Learning the Five Elements Divine Art was, without question, an opportunity of a lifetime.

But Choi Geon advised his disciple not to rely on it too heavily.

—You already carry a completed sword. Whether it’s a divine art or anything else, don’t force yourself to fit it. Make it fit you, and use it that way.

Choi Geon also didn’t try to forcibly reshape Kim Muhyuk’s sword.

He simply honed the rough, feral sword of a drifter until it became sharper and harder.

Seeing someone in the young man’s face, Yeo Pilgeuk curled his lips into a grin.

“Sounds like you have a good teacher.”

“The best.”

For a brief moment, the same mischievous smile formed at both their mouths.

Then— 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

THUD!

Yeo Pilgeuk strode forward again and rushed Kim Muhyuk. A colorless wave of force gathered on his fist and tore the air apart in every direction.

SWIIISH!

But the Martial Alliance Leader’s fourth punch—and his fifth attack—were both met calmly, and Kim Muhyuk blocked them all.

“He’s actually insane...”

“That was five techniques in an instant, right?”

It only took a few minutes for Kim Muhyuk to turn the suspicious stares aimed at him into admiration and shock.

Even viewers watching the broadcast, even the people who’d been mocking him online—without realizing it, all of them stopped what they were doing and stared at him without blinking.

“...Is it possible for a young talent taking his first license exam to be that seasoned?”

“That atmosphere... you only feel it from a warrior who’s fought a hundred battles...”

“Heh... it doesn’t even look like he’s spending that much internal energy.”

Murmur, murmur.

Even the VIPs from every field grew noisy, but the sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects—the strongest people present—fell into silence.

“......”

“......”

In truth, they were watching the spar more intently than anyone.

Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon suddenly let out a dry chuckle and muttered,

“Heh. Now I finally see why Yeonha was so desperate...”

Kim Muhyuk wasn’t proving the strength of his martial arts like the other young talents.

He was showing the way he fought.

He thrust his sword only when strictly necessary, and otherwise minimized movement—an approach that resembled the style of drifters or assassins.

But even if the overall method was like that, the sword skill that flashed out in brief glimpses didn’t fall short even compared to the swordsmen of prestigious sword sects.

Meaning—if he wanted to, he could unleash dazzling sword strikes as much as he pleased.

“He waits for openings without using more strength than necessary. A wolf-like nature—always ready to bite. And yet, it’s also extremely precise...”

The complicated impression Na Ilcheon voiced was compressed into one sentence by the person sitting beside him.

“A genius.”

At Sun and Moon Gate sect leader Jang Jinmyeong’s faint murmur, the other sect leaders unconsciously nodded.

They, too, were warriors who’d lived their whole lives being called geniuses.

Among the sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects, who wasn’t?

Even so, what Kim Muhyuk was showing was enough to shock even them.

“...No matter what it takes, we have to bring him into our sect.”

“Don’t be so quick to claim him. Golden Glory Gate will move first.”

“Heh. What are you fools doing right now?”

The sect leaders of Supreme Pole Sword Gate, Golden Glory Gate, and Azure Sky Sword Gate began checking each other over a single young talent.

GRIT.

Only Jang Jinmyeong of Sun and Moon Gate stayed out of the contest of pressure, quietly grinding his teeth.

‘So that clueless brat who saved Yang Hayun... was him.’

In truth, he was barely suppressing the killing intent boiling inside him.

He hated everything about it.

The recent incidents, and the arrogant genius in front of his eyes showing off that paltry “talent.”

Just like he’d wanted to do to the GREAT HEAVEN GATE sect leader, he was forcing himself—barely—to refrain from burning everything here to ash.

“Jinmyeong. Are you feeling unwell?”

“...It’s nothing.”

At Na Ilcheon’s question, Jang Jinmyeong forced a smile and shook his head.

CLANG! KABOOOM!

Before anyone knew it, Kim Muhyuk had already exchanged seven techniques with Yeo Pilgeuk.

The moment he surpassed the prior best record—set by Sun and Moon Gate’s Yang Hayun—

Yeo Pilgeuk drew back his fist briefly and spoke.

“Excellent. It does seem insufficient to evaluate you by the standard of a first-rate expert.”

Recognition from the Martial Alliance Leader.

Kim Muhyuk had shown skill that anyone watching could accept.

Because it was the natural result, everyone nodded and waited for what came next.

“However, to be acknowledged as a pinnacle expert, what you’ve shown so far is not enough.”

Saying it with finality, the Martial Alliance Leader lowered his posture and drew his right fist back, loading it at his side like a shot being chambered.

RRRRRUMBLE......

Thunder rolled from the fist that had been loaded with force, and the air around it began to warp.

Feeling that brutish power, Kim Muhyuk broke into a cold sweat for the first time since the spar began.

“Alliance Leader. Is that really for the pinnacle-expert test?”

Yeo Pilgeuk chuckled.

“A pinnacle expert means you’ve built your own world through martial power. Do you know the best way to confirm that?”

As if he hadn’t expected an answer in the first place, Yeo Pilgeuk continued immediately.

“Hardship and adversity that surpass limits! For example—surviving against an opponent of a higher tier than yourself. I believe only such a warrior deserves to be called pinnacle!”

In that moment, Kim Muhyuk regretted—just a little—deciding to help the Martial Alliance as it spiraled downhill.

“I heard that until last year, if you just showed sword aura you basically passed...”

“Enough!”

With a lion’s roar, Yeo Pilgeuk crushed Kim Muhyuk’s complaint and turned his head, warning the pinnacle-expert test participants waiting for their turn.

“Junior warriors with limitless potential! Trust the martial arts you have completed with your own hands. Then you will surely overcome the adversity to come!”

After making some of the participants seriously consider forfeiting, Yeo Pilgeuk looked back at Kim Muhyuk.

“Golden Ape Meteor Fist Secret Art. First Form—Flashlight Play.”

“This is insane...!”

After kindly reciting the technique’s name, Yeo Pilgeuk thrust his fist out in a sweeping, heroic motion. A golden fist at a speed that couldn’t be dodged.

The fist wind bursting from the strike whipped Kim Muhyuk’s hair violently backward.

‘Is this deranged old man actually trying to kill me?!’

Swallowing the curse that surged up to my throat, I threw everything I had into a defensive technique.

KABOOOOOM!

One side of the sparring platform collapsed, and thick dust surged upward, blotting out the view.

A moment later, beyond the settling dust, Kim Muhyuk stood there in a wretched state.

His once-clean martial robe was ruined, blood ran at the corner of his mouth as if he’d taken internal injuries.

But he hadn’t fallen. He still held his sword. And his eyes were still blazing.

“You endured it, after all. The sight of a young warrior trying to surpass his limits is very pleasing.”

Yeo Pilgeuk nodded once as if it had been obvious, then took stance again.

“Now, there are two techniques left.”

“...Ptoo. Are you seriously going to do this?”

Spitting blood onto the ground, Kim Muhyuk glared at Yeo Pilgeuk with eyes that had turned savage without him even meaning to.