“Haaaaah!”

A small whirlwind began to blow beneath Na Rin’s feet, and with the feeling of her hair standing on end, her internal energy rapidly circulated through all the meridians in her body.

Circulating energy from head to toe. Circulating energy to fingertips and toes.

Just as a faint pink aura seemed to seep out from Na Rin’s body.

“……”

Dokgo Cheon placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Here I come!”

Swish!

Na Rin rushed in swiftly, sliding in a low stance.

Considering the height difference with Dokgo Cheon, attacking from below could be considered a good strategy.

Twenty-Four Hand Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

Plum Fragrance Permeates the Bones!

In an instant, Na Rin dove inside Dokgo Cheon’s guard, twisting his posture as if crushing it, and thrust her blade into his vital point. Smoothly, yet sharply.

“Hmm!”

Dokgo Cheon hastily deflected Na Rin’s first attack with his blade and let out a small groan.

Ding!

[*You have succeeded in catching a master swordsman off guard. Your ability has increased. (Sense +10)]

‘Success!’

A notification window popped up, perfectly reflecting Na Rin’s intention to surprise him to the point of his eyes popping out.

Dokgo Cheon calmly reflected on the exchange they had just had.

‘Though her body isn’t fully developed, she has good bones and muscles, and an enormous amount of internal energy. Even at a glance, it seems to exceed 60 years… Did she receive some special method?’

But the person who had sent Na Rin to him was Gong Son Wu.

His sworn brother and the only person who could be called his friend.

The Guardian Lion of the East. Dhrtarastra Gong Son Wu.

‘If Dhrtarastra had a hand in this, it might not be a special method, but an elixir.’

But even thinking that way, Na Rin’s existence was difficult to explain.

Yes. Even if we concede a hundred times, muscles, bones, and internal energy could be built up.

But to be able to choose the right techniques at the right moments against the Heavenly Demon Dokgo Cheon, and to have such a high level of proficiency in those techniques…

Dokgo Cheon was about to finish his thought with ‘rare’ but stopped. No, not rare.

‘Non-existent.’

That’s right. It doesn’t exist.

To be a fully-formed swordsman at such a young age. There had never been such a case.

“What is your name?”

“Yes?”

“Your name.”

Na Rin was startled to realize that Dokgo Cheon had taken an interest in her.

‘He kept calling me… child, until now.’

Does asking for a name mean he’ll remember it?

Na Rin’s lips trembled slightly at the expectation that had unconsciously arisen.

Just in case he might recognize her when he heard her name.

“Na Rin.”

Na Rin swallowed hard and spoke strongly, putting firm strength into her tongue.

“My name is Ju Na Rin.”

“Ju Na Rin, is it.”

Dokgo Cheon muttered ‘Ju Na Rin, Ju Na Rin’ as if rolling a candy in his mouth.

Na Rin’s heart pounded as she watched him.

‘Father.’

It’s me.

I’m your daughter.

Please recognize me.

It took me a hundred years to find you.

Words that couldn’t be spoken out loud piled up one after another, and finally Dokgo Cheon’s gaze turned to Na Rin.

“Ju Na Rin. I want to see the limits of your talent.”

Ah. As expected.

‘He doesn’t remember.’

Na Rin’s heart sank to the floor, and her fingertips and toes grew cold.

Suddenly, the whole world lost its color, and everything felt empty and dizzy.

Why did I come all this way?

‘There’s no place for me here either.’

Dokgo Cheon, not noticing that Na Rin’s state had become strange, continued speaking.

“I’ll use killing techniques, so if you can’t block them, say you give up.”

“……”

Having finished speaking, Dokgo Cheon began to gather his energy.

Whoosh!

It was just one man circulating his internal energy, but a rough wind blew across the entire training ground.

A fierce wind, like a typhoon bringing dark clouds.

Rustle!

The leaves in the area whispered noisily, and birds feeling the danger took to the sky.

Simply because Dokgo Cheon had raised his energy.

Dokgo Cheon’s energy, tinged with a deep purple, layered and overlapped to create a shadow of strong energy that not a single ray of light could penetrate.

“Try to receive this.”

Whoosh!

There wasn’t even a technique to speak of.

As Dokgo Cheon simply swung his sword once, powerful sword energy shot towards Na Rin like ink splattering from the tip of a brush.

Each one was lethal and powerful, but the usual Na Rin would have been able to handle them without much difficulty.

After all, the Plum Blossom Sword Technique was best at deflecting powerful attacks and looking for counterattacks with brilliant variations.

But there was just one thing. A blind spot.

“…!”

The current Na Rin was not her usual self.

“Ugh!”

Na Rin’s movements were inevitably sluggish, only realizing that attacks were pouring in after the strong energy had already begun to fly.

Just deflecting one energy blast was enough to break her short sword and make her wrist tingle, yet wherever Na Rin dodged or blocked, the next energy blast seemed to be prepared to fly in.

‘Damn it. My reactions are too slow!’

Each time she barely managed to save her life and deflect the energy blasts, she felt a shock as if her soul was being scraped away.

At this rate, Na Rin kneeling down was as good as a foregone conclusion.

How long could she hold out?

‘Hold out?’

Na Rin clenched her teeth.

She had known from the beginning that there was a difference in skill.

She also knew that for a martial artist, the difference in realms was a high wall that could not be overcome even if one died and was reborn.

But to admit defeat in a battle that hasn’t even ended…

‘That’s not being a martial artist!’

Na Rin’s internal energy, reaching 120 years, writhed violently like a serpent about to ascend to the heavens.

You think I’ll just take this lying down?

Do you know who I am!

‘Hmm?’

Dokgo Cheon’s eyes sharpened as he sensed the unusual flow of internal energy.

“Haaaah!”

Na Rin, gripping her broken short sword in reverse, leapt straight at Dokgo Cheon.

Not caring even as her tender skin was cut by the energy blasts Dokgo Cheon had sent flying.

‘I am Ju Na Rin of the Blood Plum Blossom!’

The moment Na Rin thrust her broken short sword into the ground as if planting it, a surprising light flashed in Dokgo Cheon’s eyes.

It was a reaction rarely seen in him, who seldom showed emotion.

And for good reason.

‘Astonishing.’

In the middle of the training ground, stained black by Dokgo Cheon’s energy, a crimson plum tree had grown.

Creating a crack in the space dominated by a transcendent master?

A mere four-year-old child?

[This is the timeline separator]

Even if no one had covered their mouth, it was a story no one would believe.

Meanwhile, Ju Na Rin was barely catching her breath, sweating profusely.

“Huff… Hah…”

She had nearly died.

No joke, she had almost started her 12th life cycle!

‘Ah, shit. I shouldn’t have blocked it so recklessly.’

Normally, she would have dealt with each of Dokgo Cheon’s energy blasts one by one while closing the distance, then landed a hit.

But having missed the timing to counterattack, Ju Na Rin didn’t have many options.

The only choice was to erase all the energy blasts at once with overwhelming power.

“Ju Na Rin.”

“Huh? Ack!”

Ju Na Rin’s face suddenly turned pale as she looked up.

This is insane, right?

Beyond Dokgo Cheon’s raised palm, a ball of condensed purple-black sword energy was swelling.

Purple Lightning Demon Palm.

A demonic technique that only the leader of the Demonic Cult could learn.

A palm technique that could only be used by those who had mastered the Purple Lightning Demonic Technique to the fifth level.

“Can you receive this as well?”

Ju Na Rin fell on her bottom and backed away, waving her hands.

And just as she was about to shout that she gave up.

“Brave.”

As Dokgo Cheon’s hand, filled with palm force, spread open, the purple-black energy stretched out towards Ju Na Rin like a dragon’s yawn.

Kaboom!

Ju Na Rin’s head spun as the palm force approached, crushing the steel floor like tofu.

This couldn’t be blocked. No, it shouldn’t be blocked.

If she tried to block it head-on, she would be incinerated without a single piece of flesh left.

‘Can I dodge it?’

She didn’t know.

But for now…

‘Fly!’

Dark Fragrance Drifting.

It was the Hwashan Sect’s unique lightness skill, said to be unrivaled in straight-line speed.

Ju Na Rin’s legs slid away quickly, leaving a light pink trail.

In an instant, she had covered a distance of 30 meters.

‘I might be able to dodge it if I do well?’

…Just as she thought that.

‘Huh?’

The light pink energy lingering at Ju Na Rin’s toes lost its color, as if a candle had been blown out.

‘No way…! My internal energy!’

That’s right.

Just before, when she made the plum tree bloom to block Dokgo Cheon’s energy, Ju Na Rin’s dantian had already been emptied.

Of course, she had been constantly circulating her internal energy to recover, but it was far from enough to flee using Dark Fragrance Drifting.

‘Of all times, to run out of energy now!’

Unable to even run away, Ju Na Rin urgently looked back, only to see a serpent spewing purple lightning and black smoke, fiercely poised towards her.

Hehe. I’m dead.

“I give up!”

Ju Na Rin crouched down and bowed her head deeply.

‘Give up?’

Hearing Ju Na Rin’s words, Dokgo Cheon hurriedly tried to retract his palm force.

But it was difficult to recall the force that had already been released, and Ju Na Rin had shouted her surrender at an excessively close call.

A moment.

Truly just a moment.

In that brief time, there was only one thing Dokgo Cheon could do.

“Ugh!”

Dokgo Cheon let go of the hand controlling the palm force.

And he moved his body at a speed that didn’t even leave an afterimage.

It was to save Ju Na Rin.

Bang!

Just as a large hand slipped under the curled-up Ju Na Rin’s stomach, a belated explosion sound was heard.

Ju Na Rin raised her head in surprise, her vision filled with Dokgo Cheon’s face.

Dokgo Cheon, who had picked up Ju Na Rin in an instant, stood sideways facing the purple-black serpent he had unleashed.

“Don’t worry.”

In the midst of the approaching palm force, no different from a mad dragon, Dokgo Cheon smiled slightly.

Ju Na Rin was surprised by the small curve of Dokgo Cheon’s lips, which had been so expressionless she might have mistaken him for a doll. But she could only squeeze her eyes shut and cling tightly to Dokgo Cheon’s embrace.

Buzz!

A blue flash starting from Dokgo Cheon’s fingertips began erasing the palm force he had emitted.

Squinting and looking up, Ju Na Rin saw a cold blue light, like a winter sky, illuminating Dokgo Cheon’s pale face.

‘Don’t… worry?’

The tension in Ju Na Rin’s eyes relaxed, and darkness came.

Though she had lived ten lives, it was the first time she felt safe in someone’s arms.

[This is the timeline separator]

“How could you go this far with a child!”

Gong Son Wu unusually displayed genuine anger.

Considering his nature of laughing off even fairly annoying situations, this was quite rare.

But what was even rarer was the target of that anger.

“……”

The leader of the Demonic Cult. The Heavenly Demon Dokgo Cheon.

He was being scolded for the first time in his life.

“Say something, you blockhead!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Right! Sorry… Huh? What did you just say?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

Dokgo Cheon looked down at the unconscious Ju Na Rin in his arms with a gloomy expression.

Gong Son Wu rubbed his eyes as he saw Dokgo Cheon’s eyebrows drooping in a V shape.

‘Am I hallucinating right now?’

It was a reasonable doubt, but this time it was off the mark. Even after washing his eyes and looking again several times, it was the same.

“L-Leader. Since when…”

“…? What do you mean?”

“Since when did you have expressions?!”