Yi-gang had once entered the Imperial Palace Armory.

Before reaching the section containing the major sects’ secret manuals, there was a place where all kinds of weapons were gathered.

It housed everything from the eighteen types of weapons to various strange and unconventional weapons whose purpose and usage were unknown.

Since the storage contained an overwhelming number of items, many of them held little value.

Some weapons were not properly maintained and had rusted over time.

However, despite this, there were weapons that had not lost their brilliant radiance.

Weapons so rare that they had become the emperor’s possessions.

Treasured swords and relics.

Among them were the legendary treasured swords Ganjiang and Moye.

Yi-gang had earned merit by helping King Gye-yeong suppress the imperial rebellion.

As a reward, he was granted supreme elixirs and the privilege of selecting a treasured sword from the Imperial Palace Armory.

The sword Yi-gang chose was something truly special.

Amidst swords worthy of being recorded in history, he deliberately selected one that was largely unknown.

It was a pure white sword.

In fact, it might not even have been proper to call it a sword.

It lacked a hilt or a guard—none of the typical components of a sword.

All that remained was a pristine white blade embedded into the ground.

That’s right. It wasn’t hanging—it was embedded in the bare ground.

It didn’t take long to understand why it had been stored in such a state.

Originally, the sword had been mounted on the wall, but for some reason, it had fallen to the floor.

And instead of simply lying there, it had smoothly burrowed into the solid stone ground, remaining in that state.

Yi-gang was captivated by its almost unbelievable sharpness and the remarkable flexibility of its blade.

Later, he learned that even the records in the Imperial Palace Armory contained no information about this sword.

Its metallic composition was unknown, and its ductility was so high that it was as flexible as a whip sword, yet it never broke.

Even when a hilt was attached, it would either slip off or shatter, which was why it remained in this form.

Yi-gang chose this unique sword, one that no matter how skilled a swordsman was, they wouldn’t be able to wield.

He named it White Fang.

Using the telekinetic sword technique—

—A sword sharp enough to sever the fingers of the Ten Grandmasters.

It was a weapon that only Yi-gang could wield properly.

The telekinetic sword technique, which he had practiced away from prying eyes, had finally found its moment to shine.

Yi-gang had now mastered not only the Shooting Star Fang but also the White Fang.

The Shooting Star Fang, which had been stuck to Gal Sa-hyuk’s axe, was now free.

Yi-gang once again gathered his True Qi and unleashed Sword Aura.

“Huuup!”

The internal energy he had inherited from the Divine Monk was so immense that it rivaled all the energy he had accumulated until now.

Because of this, he could wield his sword aura even more freely.

Ka-kang! Kang!

Even as blood spurted from his severed fingers, Gal Sa-hyuk continued to fight back.

As expected of the Green Forest Tyrant King, his fighting spirit was unyielding.

However, amidst this fierce exchange, Yi-gang’s White Fang moved freely through the air.

Whenever the White Fang flashed, another wound appeared on Gal Sa-hyuk’s body.

Paak—Slash!

The only reason he hadn’t sustained a fatal injury yet was thanks to his incredible external martial arts.

He managed to endure by using his axe to guard his vital acupoints, but his injuries were piling up.

Clenching his teeth, Gal Sa-hyuk desperately sought an opportunity to turn the tide.

Even as the White Fang slashed across his side, he endured it and swung his axe with full force.

He was attempting to unleash his incomplete supreme ultimate technique once more.

But this time, its pulling force didn’t activate properly.

Attempting to recklessly use a supreme ultimate technique without even reaching the Absolute realm was sheer arrogance.

Seizing that opening, Yi-gang slashed Gal Sa-hyuk down.

At that moment, Yi-gang withdrew his sword aura, which had risen over a jang in length—it was an act of mercy.

Chwaaak!

Blood splattered.

Gal Sa-hyuk staggered backward.

The fierce momentum with which he had been swinging his massive great axe just moments ago vanished in an instant.

After taking a few steps back, he came to a sudden halt.

Then, as if a giant tree were toppling, he fell to his knees.

The sound of his knees hitting the ground echoed.

“Huff… huff…”

Gal Sa-hyuk weakly let his great axe hang down.

Heaven’s Secret Scholar did not declare the victor of the duel.

Yi-gang, holding his sword, addressed Gal Sa-hyuk, “Do you admit defeat?”

Unlike before, his tone carried the proper decorum.

Perhaps it was because he was now standing as the victor.

“…ard.”

Gal Sa-hyuk murmured faintly.

Yi-gang narrowed his eyes.

However, Gal Sa-hyuk only lowered his head slightly and let out a faint whisper, “…tard.”

He moved his hands so subtly that even Yi-gang, standing right in front of him, couldn’t notice.

The Green Mountain Great Axe was actually a weapon designed so that its handle and axe blade could be separated.

By pressing the locking mechanism in the middle of the handle and twisting it to the right, the handle would detach.

The end of the detached handle was sharpened to a fine point—and coated with a potent paralytic poison.

It was a secret weapon, not meant for formal duels but for real combat, used in ambushes.

Heaven’s Secret Scholar parted his lips, preparing to declare Yi-gang’s victory.

That moment ignited the treacherous intent within Gal Sa-hyuk.

“…tard. Eat this, you bastard!”

Click—

Just as he separated the handle and attempted to stab Yi-gang like lightning—

Gal Sa-hyuk froze.

Still gripping the axe handle, he swallowed dryly.

A cold, chilling sensation touched the back of his neck.

The razor-sharp tip of the White Fang was poised against his throat, threatening his life.

Yi-gang simply looked down at Gal Sa-hyuk with a sunken gaze.

“Do you admit defeat?”

There was no need for Gal Sa-hyuk to answer.

Because Heaven’s Secret Scholar raised his hand and made the declaration, “Ba… Baek Yi-gang wins!”

The outcome of the duel was clear.

Yi-gang had won.

The suppressed cheers and roars that had been held back finally erupted explosively.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Immortal Divine Dragon!”

“He used the telekinetic sword technique!?”

A battle between the young Yi-gang and the seasoned Green Forest Tyrant King.

How many among the countless martial artists gathered here had predicted Yi-gang’s victory?

Most had expected Gal Sa-hyuk to win.

Few had even considered the possibility of an even match—after all, experience and reputation were not things to be ignored.

However, the duel had been both brutal and dazzling.

“Th-that sword… it looked like it was alive, didn’t it?”

“How could anyone fight against that? It’s terrifying…”

Even the telekinetic sword technique, a technique only heard of in legends, had been displayed.

Even in the three-on-one duel at the Paper Flower Abyss, Yi-gang had only wielded a single sword—the Shooting Star Fang.

Historically, those who had used the telekinetic sword technique had done the same.

It was believed impossible to wield one sword in hand while simultaneously controlling another.

But Yi-gang had accomplished it.

It was thanks to his Great Yin Meridian Blockage, which gifted him with an extraordinary mind, and his simultaneous use of telekinesis.

It was a secret technique that only Yi-gang could wield.

Amidst the overwhelming cheers, Yi-gang descended from the stage.

Healers rushed toward Gal Sa-hyuk, who lay collapsed on the dueling platform.

“The Twelve Stars of the Divine Land…” Baek Ryu-san muttered in a trembling voice.

Ahead of him, Yi-gang walked forward, carrying the weight of everyone’s gaze.

Admiration, reverence, jealousy, longing, despair…

Amidst that complex storm of emotions and the roaring cheers, his son strode forward with confidence—he was already a hero.

The weak, frail boy from childhood was nowhere to be seen.

The Iron Blood Merciless Baek Ryu-san and the Immortal Divine Dragon Baek Yi-gang were now bound together as part of the Twelve Stars of the Divine Land.

“If I get overtaken, there would be no greater shame…”

But despite those words, a bright smile lingered on Baek Ryu-san’s lips.

The twelve martial artists, recognized as the strongest in the world, had been newly reorganized.

Among them, Baek Yi-gang, who had barely passed his early twenties, had been included.

And not just anywhere—he was ranked above Gal Sa-hyuk, the Green Forest Tyrant King.

This astonishing news spread through the martial world like wildfire.

For storytellers, nothing made for a better tale than that of a young hero.

Yi-gang’s story was polished and exaggerated.

Especially in Henan Province, there wasn’t a single storyteller who didn’t mention the duel between Yi-gang and Gal Sa-hyuk.

To earn money from storytelling, one naturally had to make it as dramatic as possible.

Yi-gang’s exploits, sending treasured swords flying through the air using telekinetic sword technique, were already fantastical—but as time passed, the story became even more exaggerated.

“I saw it with my own eyes! The Green Forest Tyrant King was at least a head taller than Baek Yi-gang… No, wait! Two heads taller!”

First, the size difference was changed.

Soon, Gal Sa-hyuk was described as an Asura with three heads.

A month later, storytellers had taken it to an even more extreme level.

“The three-headed Gal Sa-hyuk lifted an axe as large as a roof beam, and green energy poured out of it like a raging storm!”

Children sitting around the storyteller gaped in awe, while wandering martial artists passing by couldn’t help but stop and listen.

“The power of Green Blood Demonic Art isn’t something ordinary! That enormous axe came crashing down again and again! And what did Baek Yi-gang have? Just a single sword! He should’ve been chopped into tiny pieces, no doubt about it!”

The storyteller mimicked Gal Sa-hyuk’s wild axe swings.

To the trained eyes of martial artists, the storyteller’s movements were clumsy—but at least they were passionate.

“And how did Baek Yi-gang dodge that? He sent his sword soaring magnificently through the air and stood on top of it!”

The storyteller struck a dramatic pose, as if balancing on a sword.

The children gasped in awe.

“Flying on a sword like that is called Sword-Riding Flight! Baek Yi-gang rode his sword through the air and then struck down the Green Forest Tyrant King—”

“Now, hold on just a moment. Isn’t that a bit much?”

A martial artist, who had been sitting with his arms crossed at a distance, interrupted.

The storyteller frowned, displeased at having his tale disrupted, but upon seeing the martial artist’s sword, he held back his irritation.

“…What do you mean?”

“Sword-Riding Flight? Come on now, the Immortal Divine Dragon is talented, but he’s not the Sword Immortal Lu Dongbin. At least make it somewhat believable.”

Flying on a sword was a technique supposedly demonstrated by the Sword Immortal in legend.

As a swordsman himself, the martial artist found the storyteller’s exaggeration ridiculous and decided to call him out.

The storyteller huffed indignantly.

“I swear it’s true! I, Wang Chil, have made my living selling stories all my life, and I’ve never told a single lie!”

The murmured words that followed—“Well… maybe some exaggeration…”—were too faint to be heard clearly.

But the martial artist merely scoffed.

“Enough with the nonsense. Keep spouting such ridiculous tales, and one day, you’ll run into a bad-tempered swordsman and regret it.”

“B-but why are you interfering with my business…?”

“If the Immortal Divine Dragon were truly that strong, he wouldn’t just be compared to the Green Forest Tyrant King—he’d be ranked even higher. Wasn’t he only recently added to the lowest seat of the Twelve Stars?”

The storyteller wasn’t one to back down easily.

At a glance, the martial artist looked like a wandering rogue, someone who wasn’t respected anywhere.

It seemed like he was only picking a fight because he didn’t like hearing about a young hero’s success.

But Wang Chil swore that he had heard this story from someone who had actually witnessed the duel.

So, no matter what this martial artist said, it wasn’t complete nonsense.

“You speak with such certainty…”

And besides, the storyteller had his own kind of ‘proof.’

Smirking, he asked the martial artist a question, “Immortal Divine Dragon? You’re talking about Baek Yi-gang, right?”

“Of course, who else would I mean?”

“Then do you not know that during the Zhengzhou Duel, the Immortal Divine Dragon was given a brand-new title?”

“A new title?”

“The people who watched that duel bestowed it upon him themselves.”

The martial artist, taken aback, fell silent.

The storyteller dramatically slowed his speech, showcasing his talent.

“His eyes flashed with a blue radiance, moving like a thunderbolt…”

When Yi-gang unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Bell, his gaze often shimmered with a blue glow.

“Controlling two swords freely, as if the very Sword Immortal had returned…”

And then, the storyteller finally revealed Yi-gang’s new title.

“The Blue-Eyed Sword Immortal.”

Yi-gang only looked up a beat later upon hearing the title he was now referred to by.

A bitter feeling crept in.

Titles—he could never quite get used to them.

“At least it’s better than ‘Immortal Divine Dragon’… Or is it?”

It was eerily similar to the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon.

A title Yi-gang had never expected.

“Hehe, it’s a damn fine title. Sounds incredible!”

The one who had spoken his new title aloud was none other than Noh Shik.

“…Why did you call me?”

Yi-gang responded with a sullen expression, but Noh Shik remained as friendly as ever.

Even though his role as an instructor was over, he still hadn’t stopped addressing Yi-gang with honorifics.

Yi-gang also continued to address him informally.

It was a sign of the peculiar bond that had formed between them.

“That… Gal Dong-tak wants to meet you.”

“…Him?”

Even after the duel had ended, many of the masters from the unorthodox sects had not left.

This included Gal Sa-hyuk and his son.

They had to stay for the Divine Monk’s Golden Basin Ritual.

“Why does he want to see me?”

Gal Sa-hyuk, Gal Dong-tak’s father, had survived.

However, he had lost two fingers and suffered severe injuries.

So why was Gal Dong-tak seeking him out under these circumstances?

“Who knows?”

Noh Shik simply shrugged.

Yi-gang didn’t dwell on it for long and answered decisively, “Let him come.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep