Yeon chose Thunder God Fist because she was used to using her fists. Sword techniques that required wielding a blade or palm-based martial arts still felt awkward to her.
And more than anything else, the most important reason was...
"Beating people up feels best with your fists!"
Swish!
Yeon’s powerful punch shot toward Namgung Jihyeon. In an instant, their hands tangled in a rapid exchange before separating again.
Paah!
Yeon widened the distance once more. Her pupils slowly expanded, and her lips parted slightly. It was a habit that surfaced when she was in deep concentration.
And the more focused she beca, the sharper her mind worked. Her innate talent for understanding the principles of combat was breaking down the martial arts of Zhongyuan with surgical precision.
‘So this is how it’s done.’
Namgung Jihyeon’s footwork was no longer a threat. Moving in sync with Heavenly King Step, Yeon had already mastered the sense of distance. The elegant footwork that once made Namgung Jihyeon seem untouchable was now being steadily overtaken by Yeon’s own steps.
"Tch!"
Unwilling to lose control, Namgung Jihyeon threw a punch. The Namgung Family was famous for their swordsmanship, but that didn’t an they were lacking in hand-to-hand combat. Her sharp fist struck straight toward Yeon’s solar plexus.
At this range, a direct, linear attack ant a head-on clash. Yeon didn’t hesitate. She t Namgung Jihyeon’s fist with her own.
Thwack!
"Aagh!"
Their fists collided, and the one who was sent flying with a scream was Namgung Jihyeon. It wasn’t a difference in martial arts skill—it was a difference in sheer physicality.
Namgung Jihyeon clutched her wrist, as if her bones had been shattered, and cried out.
"H-how is this possible?!"
Her blind faith in the superiority of the Namgung martial arts over the Hwang Bo style—her twisted pride in her family—was her downfall. What mattered wasn’t the martial art itself, but the person wielding it.
Her wavering resolve was reflected in her shaken eyes, her fighting spirit rapidly diminishing. All that remained was denial of reality.
"This doesn’t make sense!"
"It does!"
Yeon shot forward like a bullet, unleashing a flurry of consecutive strikes. With her left hand rendered useless, Namgung Jihyeon had no way to block the onslaught.
"Hngh!"
Gasping for air, Namgung Jihyeon instinctively raised her right hand to shield her face. Even in this mont, she still didn’t want to get hit in the face—a clear sign of her subconscious priorities. Yeon let out a bitter smirk before slamming a rciless blow into her exposed side.
Kwang!
"Guhh!"
Yeon had held back her internal energy and deliberately avoided her ribs. No matter how much of a bully Namgung Jihyeon was, she wasn’t about to kill her. But that didn’t an she spared her from the agony of her organs twisting from the impact.
"Kghh..."
Namgung Jihyeon curled up like a shrimp and rolled on the ground. The face she had desperately tried to protect was now a complete ss, her saliva dripping uncontrollably. The saying “there’s no such thing as a body shot that doesn’t hurt” held true here as well.
"Jihyeon!"
"Kyaaah!"
The sound of her attendants rushing over filled the air. They made a commotion as if sothing catastrophic had happened, yet none of them dared to challenge Yeon directly.
"Tsk."
Yeon hadn’t expected it to end this easily. Losing interest, she turned away. She was about to say sothing to Tang Soso when—
"Soso, now we can—"
"Unnieee!"
At Tang Soso’s warning, Yeon spun around in an instant, pivoting as if she were drifting midair. Her eyes caught sight of Namgung Jihyeon, suspended in the air.
At so point, a sword had appeared in her hand. Its surface shimred faintly, brimming with internal energy.
"Hwang Bo Yeon!"
Namgung Jihyeon, her face twisted in rage, slashed her sword forward. The killing intent oozing from her attack was unmistakable. At that mont, an absurd thought crossed Yeon’s mind.
Was this how Paeng Donghu had felt?
"She really needs to see the coffin before she cries."
Yeon’s gaze sharpened, and she reinforced her fist with internal energy. As a modern woman, she never imagined she’d end up fighting a sword barehanded. But this was the martial world, where even that was possible.
Kaaaang!
The impact of their clash rang out like tal striking tal. Namgung Jihyeon staggered backward, but this ti, her spirit didn’t falter. After all, the sword was her specialty.
"Die!"
With a fierce battle cry, she charged forward, unleashing the Namgung Family’s signature technique—Boundless Sky Swordplay.
Yeon didn’t back down an inch. She t the sword head-on with Thunder God Fist.
Sword versus fist.
Either one of them could die from this exchange.
Just before their fatal attacks collided—
"Stop this at once!"
A figure suddenly leapt between them.
It was an incredibly reckless move, but the way he deflected both of their strikes as if tracing a circle made it clear—only soone of imnse skill could pull off such a feat.
Shaa...
The violent energy in the air gradually dissipated, revealing the man in white robes.
Yi Cheon-gang.
He turned to Yeon and spoke.
"If you use lethal force at a martial gathering, you will be imdiately expelled."
"Move."
Namgung Jihyeon stepped forward, but Yi Cheon-gang didn’t budge.
"I said, move. Why are you interfering?"
"If I hadn’t, soone would have been seriously hurt."
‘Who?’
Yeon was curious but didn’t ask. Yi Cheon-gang’s attention had shifted toward Namgung Jihyeon.
Her hand, still gripping the sword, trembled uncontrollably. Her lips were pressed tightly together, as if she were forcing down so overwhelming emotion.
‘Wait a second. Overwheld?’
Was Namgung Jihyeon really just angry at Yi Cheon-gang for implying her defeat? Or... was there sothing more?
Yeon had a gut feeling—sothing only another woman could sense.
‘What is this?’
Then, Namgung Jihyeon finally spoke.
"You don’t usually care about other people’s business."
"I never said that."
"You didn’t?"
"That’s right."
"...Of course. That’s just how you always are."
‘Huh?’
The sorrow laced in her voice made Yeon’s ears twitch in disbelief.
And then, a wild thought crossed her mind.
‘No way... does Namgung Jihyeon have a crush on Yi Cheon-gang?’
It was the only explanation that made sense.
Nothing else could justify her reaction. The Namgung Jihyeon from monts ago—the one filled with murderous intent—felt like a completely different person now.
"What brings you here, anyway? You never even show up to these gatherings."
"......"
"You won’t even answer that?"
"I had an appointnt."
Yi Cheon-gang’s answer was blunt as always.
Yeon felt an odd emotion stirring inside her.
‘So this is what he’s usually like.’
At the sa ti, her feelings toward Namgung Jihyeon also shifted.
‘So this is what she’s really like, too.’
"An appointnt? You?"
Namgung Jihyeon’s doubtful gaze suddenly wavered. Slowly, her head turned.
Toward Yeon.
"...No way..."
Her eyes brimd with disbelief.
Her eyelids quivered so visibly that Yeon could see them tremble.
Unable /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ to watch anymore, Yeon stepped in.
"Let’s stop here."
There was more than one reason behind those words. Yeon had no interest in getting caught in so ridiculous love-triangle drama, and more than anything, she didn’t want to turn Namgung Jihyeon into a spectacle any further.
Namgung Jihyeon might not have noticed since she was facing Yeon, but behind her, her attendants were busily darting their eyes around.
Their faces were lit with amusent, like they were watching so morning drama. If popcorn existed in this world, they’d probably be holding a bucket of it.
Yeon despised the first-tier socialites, but the parasites clinging to them—those in the so-called "1.5-tier"—were even worse. People who lacked loyalty were the lowest of the low.
‘Just a mont ago, they were glued to Namgung Jihyeon, acting like they’d lay down their lives for her. And now, look at them...’
The word "attendants" had never felt more fitting than it did today. With that thought, Yeon shifted her steps—toward Yi Cheon-gang.
"As you can see, a peaceful tour of the forest is out of the question. Let’s postpone our appointnt for another ti."
The end of Yi Cheon-gang’s brow twitched slightly. He looked like he wanted to say sothing, but in the end, he only gave a short response.
“...Alright.”
That was the last exchange before Yeon left the area. This ti, even Namgung Jihyeon didn’t try to stop her. Only Tang Soso, who had been hesitating, quickly scurried after her.
And with that, the situation was settled.
****
Yeon and Tang Soso left the cypress forest behind and headed for a quieter spot. Once they found a suitable bench, Tang Soso, looking like she was on the verge of tears, spoke up.
“U-unnie, are you okay? Because of ...”
"It wasn’t because of you. You heard earlier, right? There was sothing between us that needed to be settled."
Yeon waved a hand dismissively, as if to say it was nothing, then grinned.
"We already fought yesterday at Jigak Hall."
“Huh? Oh, I see...”
The conversation paused for a mont. Tang Soso had always been just as timid as the original Hwang Bo Yeon, and Yeon, on the other hand, was thinking about the person she had just left behind.
Her last exchange with Yi Cheon-gang lingered in her mind.
"Let’s postpone our appointnt for another ti."
"...Alright."
The tinge of disappointnt in his short reply weighed on her. The way he had looked—like a drenched puppy—was also stuck in her head.
‘Ugh, why is this bothering ? I only said that because Soso was here. Did I act too indifferent? Wait... Could it be that Namgung Jihyeon is going to make a move on him?’
"Do it with instead, not with that woman."
Her imagination ran wild, and her shoulders twitched. She might have actually jumped to her feet if not for Tang Soso’s voice breaking through her thoughts.
“Unnie.”
“Hm?”
“This might sound weird, but...”
“What is it?”
Tang Soso hesitated for a mont before asking,
“Are you really Hwang Bo Yeon?”
‘Oh, right. This must be weird for her too.’
"Well, there’s a bit of a story behind that. Actually, when I was sick recently, it was really serious. You know how people say that near-death experiences can completely change soone? It’s like that."
Yeon forced out an awkward laugh, giving the best excuse she could co up with. Tang Soso, completely unsuspecting, simply nodded in surprise.
“Wow... I guess that makes sense.”
‘Can’t believe that actually worked.’
Both Tang Soso and So Jin were so naive—it was honestly lucky for Yeon.
“Uh, yeah.”
“...I want to go through a near-death experience too.”
“What?”
Tang Soso suddenly clamped her mouth shut. Yeon stared at her for a second, then changed the subject.
"What about your brothers?"
"They already went back to the clan."
"Why?"
"Well..."
After a mont of hesitation, Tang Soso spilled the details.
Apparently, sothing had happened at Jigak Hall before Yeon arrived. The Tang twins had been disrespected.
"Every ti we co to the gathering, there are always people who try to pick fights with my brothers. To be honest, it’s most of them, except for a few. But this ti, it turned into a real ss over just a few words. They called our family neutral ground."
"Neutral ground?"
That ant being neither orthodox nor unorthodox. In today’s world, where the orthodox sects reigned, it was almost an obsolete term—but it still carried a negative connotation. Especially when referring to the Sichuan Tang Clan.
"It’s because our family mainly uses poison and hidden weapons."
In other words, they were saying, We don’t acknowledge people who fight dirty.
So then why invite them to the gathering in the first place?
Yeon, having a rough understanding of Boundless Martial World’s setting, was dumbfounded.
‘And these idiots wonder why the Lord of the Demonic Cult wiped the floor with them. Instead of working together, they were busy ostracizing each other.’
Then, her thoughts drifted toward the future of the Tang twins.
One day, those two would slaughter countless orthodox martial artists with their ruthless efficiency and earn the title Twin Demons. Yeon didn’t know the exact reason for their transformation, but wasn’t this discrimination part of it?
‘Though, it probably wasn’t the only reason.’
As she mulled over it, Yeon asked,
"Why didn’t you go with them, Soso?"
"Well, actually..."
Tang Soso’s answer wasn’t what Yeon had expected.
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