Blade King spoke with a laugh. "...You’re calmer than the rumors. I heard you fight like a mad dog." I didn’t move rashly like a rabid dog glaring at its prey, but Blade King prowled around me, observing. From the start, he had an air of confidence, like someone who never even considered losing. Still, since I was being treated like a mad dog, I responded without much thought. "Quit prowling like a mutt and let’s begin." Only then did the smile slowly fade from Blade King’s face. "Lord, don’t people usually hold their tongue around sovereigns?" "Do I look like the local lunatic to you? I don’t think so." The windows of Wolhagwan creaked open one by one, and Baek Rise’s voice, the High Duke’s, came drifting in. "Senior, may I watch the spar?" As Blade King kept his eyes on me, he gave a curt reply. When another window opened, my instincts caused my gaze to flick toward it—only for me to feel a chill on my face. Because I moved my eyes just once, I had to parry Blade King’s sword four times while retreating, barely managing one decent counterattack. Blade King retreated with ease, snorting. "Where are you looking? How arrogant." Voices spilled from the windows—Fist King. "They’re already fighting." "Watch carefully. These are fights between famous people." "Is it really okay to watch so openly?" "If they didn’t want an audience, they’d go fight in the mountains. They’re doing it here because they want to be seen. Go ahead and watch." The conversation between master and disciple, tossing around punches, grated on my nerves, but I focused on Blade King. Normally, a senior yields the first move to a junior, but Blade King had no such courtesy. Then again, I was the one who ambushed him first, so maybe it was my fault. From inside the room, where he could only hear the fight, Sword King chimed in. "Blade King, aren’t you being a bit too cautious with a junior?" He must’ve figured out the attack just by sound. "Shut up. You don’t even kno—" As Blade King replied, I attacked. It was the only moment I saw an opening. I swung my sword as if to force him into defense, checking how far Dokgo Junggeom’s offense could reach. Each time our wooden swords clashed, my wrist felt strained, and a sharp sting occasionally jolted my elbow. Since Blade King didn’t yet know my style, he stayed wary, hopping around and widening the distance. I pressed forward, chasing his footwork, swinging faster than usual with clear intent to attack. Though I had clumsily blocked his blade four times earlier, this time I launched six or seven continuous strikes—until Blade King suddenly lowered his stance and countered swiftly. My knee felt like it was breaking—but I had already dodged instinctively, so only my back went cold for a moment. It was a counter technique I had seen in my previous life. Blade King reversed the pressure with nothing but precise distancing, not even flinching at Dokgo Junggeom. I had no choice but to retreat again. After deflecting his Unnamed Blade a dozen times, I turned my blade downward to block a low slash and simultaneously met Blade King’s forceful palm technique—Flame Palm Seal—with my upper body. I wondered if this was even allowed in a spar, but his palm strike shattered instantly, and the Unnamed Blade surged forward. Since we were fighting with sheathed weapons, I had no choice but to respond with the tip of my wooden sword. As soon as the tip of his blade, backed with internal energy, clashed with mine, we both winced and stepped back. My shoulder ached like it had been torn, but if I had responded with a swing instead, it would've ended much worse for me. As soon as Blade King saw my expression, he charged again. My shoulder wasn’t in proper shape, so I grabbed the Unnamed Blade's sheath with my left hand infused with ice energy, aiming for his shoulder with my wooden sword. A perilous moment for both of us... The sword slid out of the sheath I held with ice power, and Blade King leapt back in an instant. His eyes widened at last. Blade King moved faster than the ice spreading through the sheath. Though he unsheathed the blade in violation of our agreement, he looked at me awkwardly. I waited for him to respond. "Give me the sheath. I mistook it for a real battle. Let’s reset." "It felt like the blade was sticking to something, so I instinctively drew it. My bad." His reaction was faster than his thoughts. As he caught the sheath I tossed back, sheathing the Unnamed Blade, he said, "Lord, you’re annoying as hell, but I can’t very well slice you up with a real blade." As I regrouped from the initial bout, I reviewed stray thoughts as potential strategies and deleted some. In that short time, I recalled the sparring with Blade King in my past life and applied it to now. Fighting him head-on, I realized our experience was quite close. Maybe that’s the advantage of regression. The memories of our past-life fight helped me stabilize. The only gap was in internal energy due to age, but thanks to the Heavenly Pearl, the difference wasn’t insurmountable. Like Im Sobaek said, this duel had to become a study in how to overcome an opponent with deeper inner strength. Since I wasn’t close with Blade King, I didn’t even know his sword art’s name or the names of his techniques. But as I deflected his blade, sometimes with instinct, sometimes with experience, and other times because I had faced it in a past life—I responded correctly. Blade King’s expression grew more serious with each counter to Dokgo Junggeom. When I pressed the offense, he had to wait for a chance while staying on defense. But he was terrifyingly quick at grasping Dokgo Junggeom. So we both unleashed swift blades, mixing all sorts of /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ techniques in short bursts. Without a word, we clashed swords sixty or seventy times, neither yielding an inch. Blade King’s sword style had tricks embedded in its form, depth in its technique, and solid inner energy. But I didn’t falter—I kept deflecting his blade and occasionally countered. Each time I parried his blade, I looked carefully at his face. Just like in my past life, he was now using trickery in his gaze—looking at my waist and slashing at my shoulder, gazing right and attacking left. But I read the deception in his eyes and responded accordingly. I had seen them all before—almost felt glad to see them again. However, the speed of his sword was exactly as it had been in the past. Moreover, the weight of those fast strikes shifted constantly. If I responded to a light blow with too much force, I’d fall into a trap and get countered. If I treated a heavy one too lightly, I’d drop my sword or rip my grip. Thankfully, I had mastered Jeunjong, which allowed me to manage these shifts better than before. I could now fully sense the wind and rhythm from the Unnamed Blade. Strangely enough, it felt duel was forcibly merging the past-life Crazy Demon and the present Haomun Lord into one. It was an indescribable, uncanny sensation. Apparently, Blade King realized he couldn’t overwhelm me with techniques alone, so he began drawing out a blade cry from the Unnamed Blade. A clear hum—his inner power deepening. If I tried matching that level of energy with my wooden sword, it’d shatter immediately. As I continued reading his rhythm, afterimages of his blade began to multiply. But they weren’t illusions—they were actual swift strikes. Suddenly, at close range, Blade King brought his blade down like he was executing a secret technique, and the force of the strike blew away part of Wolhagwan’s wall. I dodged by turning, adding spin, and scattered the cold of Moonlight Cold Heart Technique forward. The icy wave sliced forward in a line—and from the space split by that line, Blade King burst out again, swinging his sword ferociously. I unleashed the thunderous force of Hundred Battles Tenfold Technique from five fingers and simultaneously brought my wooden sword down in a vertical slash with the intent of One Slash, Two Halves. Five streaks of thunder qi combined with a clear strike—Blade King laid the Unnamed Blade flat and reinforced its back with force. The sword wind, split like shattered steel under pressure, shattered both the thunder qi and the sword wind in front of him. ‘...Is it even possible to settle this with a spar?’ There was no way we could decide a winner with restraint. As the urge to propose a real duel welled up, Blade King looked toward the entrance of Wolhagwan. At some point, Lord Im Sobaek had joined the spectators. "I prepared a large arena for duels, and yet you’re fighting in front of the inn?" Now I saw that Wolhagwan’s outer wall had collapsed enough for several people to walk through. Im Sobaek looked at me. "It’s hard to tell if this is a spar or a grudge match. Lord, you’re not letting emotions get the better of you, are you?" Seems the broken wall gave the wrong impression. "...It’s a spar, but Blade King broke it. Wasn’t me." Blade King stared at me, dumbfounded. "Weren’t we both fighting when it broke?" I shook my head with a calm expression. "You can’t just destroy the Martial Alliance’s property like that." Blade King suddenly looked sour. "I’ll pay for the wall. Let’s continue the match." "Blade King, you’re broke. How are you going to pay for it? Calm down and treat this as a draw for now." "A draw? I haven’t even gone all out yet." Im Sobaek defended me. "If you went all out, Lord here would’ve blown away the whole inn behind you. I saw him do it in Namak." Blade King looked at Wolhagwan. "The whole inn? That’s a bit much." But honestly, I could obliterate Wolhagwan with Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance, so the lord’s defense wasn’t a lie. Just then, the windows opened and Sword Demon and Sword King revealed themselves. Looked like they’d avoided watching on purpose. As soon as Blade King met Sword Demon’s eyes, he asked with an edgy tone, "And who the hell are you?" Was it Sword Demon’s killer intent that triggered his own? Blade King’s bluntness was met with a flat response. "Not something you need to know." Im Sobaek smiled and said, "If you want a proper match, eat first and head to the official arena. No duels here. We’ll have the members fix the wall, so don’t worry." Blade King asked to confirm. "Lord, a real sword match?" When I nodded, Im Sobaek raised a hand. "We have special wooden swords made of dense danmok here in the Martial Alliance. With your level of skill, they’ll still be dangerous enough. Use those." "But they’re different from actual swords..." Im Sobaek didn’t budge. "Use them. We have danmok knives, too. I didn’t invite you both to watch you cut each other to pieces. Everyone must spar with danmok blades. No exceptions." Apparently, these wooden swords were made of danmok wood. Since I normally used a wooden sword anyway, this was to my advantage. Blade King glanced at me once, then followed Im Sobaek to go eat. While eating at Wolhagwan, I was so busy analyzing Blade King’s movements that I wasn’t even sure if the food went into my mouth or my nose. Deep in thought, even Sword Demon and the Drunk didn’t talk to me. Because I barely chewed, my stomach felt bloated, but I still felt like I needed more time to think. When I put my chopsticks down early, the Drunk asked, "Can’t find an opening?" I snapped out of it and nodded. "He’s not someone I can beat without killing. But they want a winner, so it’s tricky. I really don’t want to lose either." A sigh slipped out mid-sentence. Sword Demon replied briefly. "He’s probably thinking the same thing. Don’t overthink it." "It looked dangerous. It wasn’t a spar at the end. He was serious." I shared my thoughts with them. "A spar is hard in a different way. Come to think of it, Eldest Brother’s duel with the Alliance Lord at Oksoo Villa—that was a real spar. Clean and decisive. Maybe I’m still too hung up on winning." Those two had simply confirmed their martial ranks and ended it cleanly. In hindsight, it had been an impressive duel. Compared to that, Blade King and I were sneaking in tricks, looking for openings. But if you focus only on tricks, you end up mastering those and nothing else—never reaching higher. I kept reminding myself that this fight wasn’t just about winning, but about growing stronger. "...Need to sort my thoughts." As I headed to the arena, I kept reviewing the exchange. Living differently from how I used to live—it’s as hard as mastering martial arts. Fingering the danmok sword placed on the stage, I sank into thought again. My digestion sped up, and I felt hungry again. Why couldn’t I settle my heart? No matter how deeply I thought, I couldn’t see any opening in Blade King. My old habit was to use the environment, escape, or set traps—but none of those worked on a confined stage. Going for a head-on fight meant confronting the speed of Blade King’s sword—his strength revealed no weaknesses. A battle of internal energy wouldn’t suit either. There was no need to settle it that way. So my thoughts kept circling back. ‘This is driving me nuts.’ By now, people had finished eating and gathered to watch the duel, but the Alliance Lord and Blade King had yet to appear. I looked at Sword Demon, who had come near the arena. "Sorted your thoughts?" I shook my head, and Sword Demon gave calm advice. "He’s worthy of it. Settle your heart first. If you’re too hyped, you’ll lose coordination. Don’t think you’re the only one struggling." He wasn’t wrong. I took a deep breath. My nerves were so tight I had started shaking my leg—like back in my Jomsoi days. Even though the crowd was here, Blade King still hadn’t shown up. Then, suddenly, the Lecher walked onto the stage from his stroll and looked around. The Lecher turned to the crowd and spoke. "On the way back, I ran into Blade King and the Alliance Lord walking together." "...Blade King said he can’t find any opening in you, Lord of Haomun. So settling things now would be hard. He’s taking a walk with the Lord, so go inside and rest. Show’s over—everyone, go back to your business." A long sigh escaped me without realizing it. The strange pressure I felt seeped out with it. As people slowly dispersed, only us Four Great Villains remained by the stage. Sword Demon looked at me and smiled faintly. "You weren’t the only one feeling the pressure. Don’t drown in your own head. It was a fine duel. Your opponent was Blade King." His words blew away the weight and worry that had filled my chest. Was mental pressure always this heavy? I’d been trapped in the fog of my own mind—and now I finally saw the world clearly again. Having clashed once, I gave my thoughts to the Four Great Villains. "...There’s a reason he’s a sovereign. He’s something else." All three—Sword Demon, the Drunk, and the Lecher—nodded at once.