When the Central Armed Escort Agency's Junior Agency Leader and promising talent of the eminent Qingcheng Sword Sect Jang Woo-kang returned from the bathroom accompanied by Deputy Head Deung Yeo-ho, there was not a single empty seat left in the dining hall. Deputy Head Deung had just concluded bargaining over lodging fees with the proprietor of Flower Cloud Pavilion, Zhuzhou's No.1 inn, Master Na, and turned to exit when he bumped into the returning Jang Woo-kang, entering the hall together.
But there lay an issue – upon entering, they found every seat completely occupied with nowhere for them to sit, despite the peculiar silence pervading the packed dining floor. Nevertheless, any pondering would deem this an anomaly. Neither was it the owner's oversight. Flower Cloud Pavilion's Master Na had precisely set aside 60 seats as per Central Armed Escort Agency's reservation – 15 circular four-seat tables exacting 60 total occupancy. Then why was there an insufficiency? The culprits were none other than Jang Woo-yang and Bi Ryu-yeon, occupying one table by themselves for the meal. All this while at meals, Jang Woo-kang customarily kept his distance, seating instead with Deputy Head Deung at another table. The strained atmosphere lingering between Jang Woo-kang and Bi Ryu-yeon was far too precarious. Jang Woo-kang's resentment toward Bi Ryu-yeon resembled a hair-trigger ready to explode any instant. While its exact magnitude remained incalculable, Agency Leader Jang Woo-yang's conjecture placed it as 'one step past loathing'. Therefore, sensing the perils, he had arranged his son's meals away from Bi Ryu-yeon's presence.Unexpectedly today, perhaps Flower Cloud Pavilion's business luck was turning, every seat filled. Deung Yeo-ho and Jang Woo-kang considered squeezing in to share tables but those choices were also depleted inside the inn. They began scanning the hall for any place that may still permit seats to adjoin. And there the two spotted, or rather, were forced to take note of that person. Naturally his identity needed no clarification from anyone. Even amidst the martial forces swarming the crouching tigers, hidden dragons' zones of Sichuan Province, this character stood as number one bladesman, without argument. Admittedly, though the prevalent martial artists' influences in Sichuan favored the sword and eccentric arms over blades, that man remained an exception. No individual or faction in Sichuan Province would dare dismiss or take him lightly. His very existence commanded such deference.Nobody attempted to approach the red-haired man. Even the table selection appeared to be purposely placed far away from him. A two-table radius appeared conspicuously vacant around where he sat. As Deung Yeo-ho and Jang Woo-kang fixed concentrated attention upon crimson-haired, and also Sichuan's number one bladesman, Central Armed Escort Agency's company members found themselves in awkward positions. With the Junior Head left standing for lack of seats – moreover accompanied by the Deputy Head – they couldn't feel at ease being the only ones sitting comfortably. Going against their superiors in an escort agency wasn't conducive towards a smooth career.Superiors' disfavor often arises over seemingly trivial matters. An old adage passed down warns, "Read the air and take action!" – implying organizational membership demands constantly discerning others' psyche and behavior to handle situations proactively. Exchanging tense glances, the escort agency members sought a sacrificial lamb – who would stand and relinquish seats for the Junior Head and Deputy Head? To extract them from this awkward bog, an offering before the altar was necessary. Such visual pushing of responsibility continued briefly. Gazing at the blazing fiery figure with filled eyes, the agency members locked stares among themselves while waging battle of nerves.Just then, something wholly unexpected transpired – thrusting extreme iciness saturating their minds, dumping frozen water on burning hearts, seizing souls to walnut-sizes. "CREEAK!" "BANG!"Rending the air, a polearm came hurtling and noisily embedded itself onto the crimson-haired man's table. Tapered at its tip for penetration, it cleanly pierced through the table right in front of the red-haired and bearded man before drilling into the floor below. Judging by the angle, that polearm must have burst through the ceiling on its way here. Smashing through the roof and easily stabbing through the table due to sheer momentum, only stopping once its tip bored into the floorboards. The impact almost flipped over the dishes on the tabletop into the air and broke them just as they were about to spill.But right at that instant, before the plates and winecups could fall over, the crimson-haired man casually slapped the table once with his palm. Along with a hollow thunk resounding from the table, the previously airborne cutlery perfectly regained their original positions upon its surface, landing gently and completely undamaged. Without even a hint of clattering noise. Subtle yet ingenious maneuver. Wrapped in coils around the polearm's upper shaft was a crimson pennant. Due to the piercing momentum, it unfurled broadly right before the man and everyone else's eyes after stabbing through his table.All their eyes grew as wide as beacons, mouths gaping so enormously an entire fist could squeeze through easily. They were flabbergasted. The moment that banner's identity was verified, mysterious astonished cries rang out sporadically from the crowd, resembling the sound of hearts stopping – Huh-uhk! Soon, only endless silence followed. Set against a scarlet background were lotus flowers, a sword emblem, and the Chinese character for 'Central (中)' at its center – the unmistakable insignia of the Central Armed Escort Agency! Someone dared throw their banner marking their own agency's territory? This straightforward amounted to blatant provocation and confrontation!"I…Impossible…! Utterly implausible!" Jang Woo-kang stammered out struggling against his chattering teeth. But his desperate cries dripping with shirking responsibility found no receptive ear. Mere futile flailing. The mood within the premises chilled to frigid temperatures akin to peaks of Mount Tianshan's summit. Symptoms of elevated heart rates and blood pressure from vascular constriction began arising simultaneously among the inn's guests. At the same time, the complexions of the majority from the Central Armed Escort Agency currently occupying most of the seats turned deathly white.At first, the scarlet man was silent. His wordlessness condensed into unseen boulders weighing down their heads. What followed next was a searing killing intent engulfing the entire inn in a flash, blistering waves drowning everything – fury, no less. At the epicenter of that enraged aura lay the existence of crimson hair, brows and beard.***Blazing Blade!People of Gangho referred to him with mingled awe and deference as the Blazing Blade, encapsulating their dread towards him. His existence held undeniable distinction within the upper martial circles. As the foremost blademaster of Sichuan Province, occupying a seat amongst the so-called Hundred Greatest Masters- even when compared to the innumerable martial artists in the pugilist world, bright as the stars filling the heavens – how could he not be special?While his precise ranking was indefinable, only one thing was definite – he was no insignificant bottom-feeder. Since direct confrontations between these Hundred Grandmasters rarely occurred, extraordinarily as plucking stars from the sky, observers could only speculate on the rankings based on known facts and eyewitness testimonies.Truthfully, even that hundred designation lacked total accuracy, covering only publicly known figures. Doesn't rumor speak of countless recluse masters and hermit predecessors scattered throughout the land? Alas, people enjoyed assigning ranks, hence the conceptualized benchmarks of these so-called hundred grandmasters from among identifiable candidates. Yet in this community where there are hidden tigers and crouching dragons, especially when considering top-tiers, the number hundred is absolutely not grand. It should rather be deemed extremely tiny instead! Just roughly tallying the major experts of the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy, Black Blood Alliance[1], the Orthodox and Unorthodox Martial Alliances – over a hundred could be easily surpassed. It has been said that just the top masters from those four major factions alone number over a hundred – and not even close to covering all of them. Adding the Patriarchs and Elders of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans, how enormous would that number grow? This alone showed the extreme impressiveness of being named one of the Hundred Greatest Masters.The reason his hair, beard and eyebrows were all a fiery red like flames was because his mastery of the Blazing Spirit Skill – the mystic art that made him one of the Hundred Greatest Masters – had reached a nigh pinnacle level.***Sword Flame Qi!The unique qi and technique employed that Blazing Blade was known for in Gangho was called as such. Undoubtedly his 'dao' methods produced Blade Qi, yet why the qi was associated with the word 'Sword'? But since Blazing Blade was his original name passed down by tradition, the famously intelligent Yeo-ryang of Heavenly Academy said to have come up with the following speculation:"Then it is highly likely that his exclusive art, the Vermillion Seventeen Flames, was originally a sword technique instead of a blade technique. However, in the process of passing it down through the generations, the preciseness and variations emphasized in sword arts were deemed incompatible with the Blazing Spirit Skill's pursuit of overpowering might and destruction. Thus, it was changed to favor the power and devastation of the blade over intricacy and adaptability. The name 'Sword Flame Qi' was surely what it was called when the Vermillion Seventeen Flames was still a sword art."His extensive knowledge and high credibility added weight to this claim. The people of Gangho nodded in agreement without doubt, and his speculation soon became accepted theory. It is said Blazing Blade did not comment on this and remained silent. An anonymous storyteller's insistence that Sword Flame Qi simply sounded better than Blade Flame Qi, and that was the only reason for the name change, was drowned in peals of ridiculing laughter before being completely buried and disappearing without a trace. No one believed something so preposterous could be true.In any case, the so-called Sword Flame Qi, whether referring to the qi or the technique, was a unique energy produced under the influence of the Blazing Spirit Skill. It contained utmost extremes of fiery power – merely grazing it would burn flesh, and cutting into it would engulf the whole body in flames. To be precise, it was a type of blade qi generated as a side effect of the overwhelming might of his exclusive blade art, the Vermillion Seventeen Flames, itself an extension of his mystic Blazing Spirit Skill. Even if the descending crimson conflagration was blocked, the Sword Flame Qi coursing through the blade would bend around and into the opponent's weapon to strike his arm. Among martial arts sects, his Vermillion Seventeen Flames was regarded as one of the top five most supreme blade arts.Yet despite possessing such incredible martial prowess, the reason he was estimated to be ranked outside the top 50 was due to his movement skill. His divine attacks and destructive, overpowering bladework were not supported by movement techniques that were intricate, swift or illusory enough. This was precisely his weakness and Achilles heel. Specifically, his footwork and movement speed paled far too much in comparison to his martial skill. Most critically, the charging ability so essential to a domineering blade art was pathetically lacking. With his movement unable to keep up with his spiritual and blade arts, the evaluation of his overall abilities inevitably suffered.However, even with allegedly weak footwork, that was still by the standards of the peak masters. It remained well above normal, and did not detract one bit from his strength or status as one of the Hundred Greatest Masters. With his blade arts and inner power alone, he already qualified to stand tall among the elites of Gangho.For all his prestige as one of the esteemed Gangho's Hundred Greatest Masters, Blazing Blade had one cardinal rule that was absolutely inviolable regardless of alignment or morality – anyone in the Gangho community or outside it, be they commoners or kings and emperors, must obey this rule before him without fail. Though not aligned with either orthodox or demonic factions, he had zero tolerance when it came to violations of his taboo. There were no known cases of survivors who broke his prohibition.Despite not being from the dark martial paths, the reason he became an object of fear for many was due to his abhorrent temperament. Perhaps it was because of the poor educational environment of his youth that he never learned the character for 'endurance' (忍), or perhaps he simply lacked the capacity to practice the virtue of patience (忍耐心), this short yet significant word. Attempts were made later in a more conducive educational setting to teach him the value of patience, which includes the character for 'endurance' (忍), but it was already too late. The saying that habits formed at three last till eighty, and that one's temperament remains till it's noted in their will, was well exemplified in his case.When angered, his ability to see reason would vanish, instilling boundless fear in others. His fierce and daunting appearance, marked by red hair, red flames, and a red glow, intensified the fear and terror associated with him. A particularly famous anecdote involved Extreme Blade Ga Dae-nan, the leader of the Black Tiger Squad, a combat unit of the Black Blood Alliance. The man had waved his blade around bragging pretentiously about his swordsmanship before Blazing Blade, only to meet a gruesome end. Impaled by Blazing Blade's single strike, he was left hanging on that beloved sword like skewered meat over hot coals. Having poorly judged the timing, he missed his chance to break free and ended up roasted to charcoal like blackened fish left too long over a fiery brazier.The gruesome scene was consistently recounted by eyewitnesses that the clothes around where Extreme Blade's torso had been first pierced by Blazing Blade's cherished sword Crimson Flames caught fire, and in the blink of an eye the crimson blaze spread ravenously across Ga Dae-nan's entire body. In no time at all, not a single solid piece remained of what once was a whole man – only a lump of pitch-black charred meat. Extreme Blade Ga Dae-nan had been in his prime, gaining quite a bit of fame and rising rapidly through his skill with the sword. Yet with hardly an inkling of who he faced, Extreme Blade brashly brandished his weapon before Blazing Blade, babbling in feigned expertise about sword mastery until that one swing from Blazing Blade marked his life's end as he departed the mortal world.This tale became especially well-known because the Black Blood Alliance, an alliance of Dark martial arts factions which Extreme Blade's Black Tiger Squad belonged to, maintained complete silence and did not pursue any responsibility or retribution from Blazing Blade over the affair. This showed just how major a figure Blazing Blade was. What arose from the incident to become an even more popular tale was: "Once crimson seeps into even Blazing Blade's lower eyelids, the very landscape transforms into a sanguine dusk"Many people, upon hearing the description of a blood-red sunset, might imagine blood splattered all around, but this is a significant misconception. His martial art contains the utmost intensity of fire energy, capable of incinerating even blood to mere ash. As such, his martial art is surprisingly bloodless. When one is cut by Blazing Blade's sword qi, the wound is cauterized by the intense heat contained within, preventing any bleeding. Even if limbs are severed, the high temperature seals the blood vessels, stopping the flow of blood.The blood-red sunset refers to the surroundings appearing entirely red due to the flames engulfing an opponent's body. The only part of his face that was white were his eyes. However, one characteristic of Blazing Blade was that when he became enraged to the extreme, his eyes would redden with bloodshot veins, turning even the whites of his eyes red. Witnesses unanimously testified that his appearance, with red hair, red beard, red eyebrows, and then red eyes, was truly as fearsome and eerie as a demon from hell. Those who had seen him in this state even once made a firm resolution never to cross Blazing Blade again, unanimously echoing this sentiment.Red hair, red beard, red eyebrows, and red eyes, coupled with red attire and a red saber, and the blood—it's an undeniably eerie sight, impossible not to be. Fortunately, he had not yet reached the final state of having completely red eyes.Though the mood was hardly conducive for pleasantries with Blazing Blade right now, resembling a blazing inferno of wrath, they had no choice but to approach him. Moreover, the banner pierced into his table was unmistakably their Lotus Blossom Sword Flag, symbol of the Central Plains! Deung Yeo-ho and Jang Woo-kang racked their brains on how to defuse and smooth over this shocking and dreadful situation. Fighting was absolutely out of the question, with the outcome already glaringly apparent. Their consensus was to try resolving this through dialogue first. Exchanging glances, they worked up the courage to go speak with Blazing Blade, drawing faint bits of bravado from seeing his eyes had not yet turned crimson.Approaching Blazing Blade, who was like an incarnation of rage and flames, for greetings and conversation was decidedly not the right atmosphere at the moment, yet it could not be avoided. Moreover, the flag embedded in his table was undoubtedly the Lotus Sword Flag, symbolizing the Central Armed Escort Agency. Deung Yeo-ho and Jang Woo-kang began to fervently ponder how to resolve and defuse this alarming and dreadful situation. Resorting to force was out of the question, as the outcome would be decidedly one-sided. The consensus between the two was that they had to resolve the situation through dialogue, so they exchanged glances and mustered the courage to approach Blazing Blade, somewhat emboldened by the fact that his eyes had not yet turned completely red.Under normal circumstances, it would have been proper for the bureau chief, Jang Woo-yang, to rush over and bow in apology to Blazing Blade. However, Jang Woo-yang was currently preoccupied, wracking his brain on how to navigate this sudden and astonishing crisis, leading Deung Yeo-ho and Jang Woo-kang to step forward. A misstep could lead to an unavoidable conflict, potentially devastating for the Central Armed Escort Agency, possibly even leading to its annihilation, given Blazing Blade's more than sufficient capacity and skills. After all, those considered among the Hundred Great Masters of Gangho were individuals with the power of an entire clan.Despite the situation being akin to spilled water, they felt compelled to at least attempt to salvage what they could. Swallowing their dry saliva, Jang Woo-kang and Deung Yeo-ho cautiously started to approach the man known as Blazing Blade, their hearts as taut as the strings of a pipa about to snap.At that moment, there was someone watching the two cautiously approach Blazing Blade with an expression of amusement and excitement. This person, Bi Ryu-yeon, was a 20-year-old with a mischievous face, currently mingling aimlessly with the Central Armed Escort Agency's southern expedition and was on the third floor near the railing of Flower Cloud Pavilion.From his vantage point, Bi Ryu-yeon watched the unfolding events with keen interest. No one knew why Bi Ryu-yeon, who had supposedly gone outside for an errand, ended up on the third floor. The playful, crescent-moon-like smile hanging on the corner of his mouth hinted at the ominous turn of events that someone might soon face.