[Chapter 1]

"He is like an evil spirit."

Jin Lee-Bong, the head of the Rare Goods Merchants' Association, was losing his mind.

Gwi Myung, the Ghost Killing Sect's best assassin, pondered upon what kind of individual had caused such a disaster for the wealthiest man in Hebei.

"If he were truly an evil spirit, then you would not have been spared."

Jin Lee-Bong turned his gaze upwards towards Gwi Myung's sneer.

Jin Lee-Bong's eyes appeared sunken and hollow, making him look ten years above his actual age. It was clear that he hadn't had proper sleep for days.

His gaze turned dim as he stared at Gwi Myung's bamboo hat and spoke.

"…The only reason I was spared was so that he could make me suffer even more."

"What do you mean?"

"That guy robbed me of all my wealth."

Whoever this individual was, they were thorough with their job. What was the exact amount of wealth the Rare Goods Merchants' Association contained? It was certain that it wouldn't be easy to clean it all out.

Gwi Myung instinctively knew that this opponent would not be easy to track. If he had indeed robbed this man of all his wealth, then he should be very elusive. However, he had confidence in his own tracking skills, so sooner or later, he would be caught.

Maybe due to his anxiousness, Jin Lee-Bong added.

"You shouldn't underestimate my wealth. Even with the leftover scraps he left, I am still considered wealthy within the martial world."

Still, the fact that Gwi Myung had been called to meet with Jin Lee-Bong was unusual.

If an assassin is working under an organization, there is never contact between the one performing the task and the client. The assassin should never know who the one commissioning the job is, due to the possibility of the assassination failing. If they were to get caught, and their suicide attempt was thwarted, there would be danger in knowing the client's identity. How would the organization's reputation look then? Who would come to them with commissions?

However, this case was a different issue.

The Ghost Killing Sect Leader secretly briefed Gwi Myung on the task before he left. The task was not an official commission, but instead, a personal request. He didn't know how much compensation the Sect Leader received, but he had been given a rare note worth a thousand nyang.

Although he had doubts as to why this simple task was handled so complicatedly, he knew there must be special circumstances for the wealthy client. If there was a special request for Gwi Myung to be sent, then Jin Lee-Bong must've been an important client for the Ghost Killing Sect.

This person accumulated his wealth through assassinations, and even if he had lost ten million nyang, he was not one that deserved sympathy.

Taking out a piece of paper from his pocket, Gwi Myung handed it to him.

"Write down the individual's name, appearance, and any other information you believe I should know to identify him."

The target was likely going by a pseudonym, but this was necessary to start tracking him.

This request would offer a larger reward the sooner he found the target, so Gwi Myung wanted to finish the job quickly and return.

Jin Lee-Bong gave him a nasty smirk, as if he could see right through his intentions.

Gwi Myung returned his smirk with a frown full of killing intent, but Jin Lee-Bong didn't even flinch. Instead, he pushed the paper he received aside.

"There's no rush."

Did Jin Lee-Bong even know who he was facing?

The Ghost Killing Sect was one of the three major assassin organizations within the entire martial world, and he was known as the most capable within the organization. Among the 97 commissions he was tasked with, there was not one failure. Given his track record, he could be considered the undefeated king of assassins.

'Best in the Martial World' often preceded his name nowadays, making him the current most successful assassin.

Jin Lee-Bong's eyes should be filled with tears of gratitude for him to be personally taking on this job. Why did he not show such an attitude? Well, those who had lost all that they had tend to be fearless.

Jin Lee-Bong spoke in a calm manner.

"The man is young; he looks to have just turned twenty years old."

He hadn't expected the opponent to be so young, and instead thought it would have been an old ghost who had either swindled him out of his wealth or had taken it by force. Gwi Myung was intrigued as to how a mere twenty-year-old had outsmarted Jin Lee-Bong.

After gaining this knowledge, he felt a wave of relief. Although the target may be highly skilled, he would be lacking in experience. Those who are highly skilled without experience are not as scary, as the lack of it would lead to complacency.

If the target lacked experience, then they wouldn't be able to catch the assassin in one move. These rookies, excited and in a state of panic, would fall prey to the second or third move of the assassin. The real fear came from failing to kill an experienced master in the first attack. Failure in the initial move would lead to death.

No matter how lucky an individual may be, it could not replace experience.

"He is not one to be underestimated."

"I believe a twenty-year-old can be underestimated."

"What if that twenty-year-old had the gall to bite an old man who has experienced many hardships?"

"The mountains and rivers you have experienced… were probably child's play."

Even though Gwi Myung was stating such things, he was an assassin that was anything but complacent. In fact, he had lived hunting down complacent opponents as prey. However, he did not want to act tense over a mere twenty-year-old in front of this old, greedy, and shabby man.

"Has there ever been a case where a tiger was afraid of a rabbit?"

"This is a rabbit that can bite and kill a tiger."

"There is no such rabbit that lives in the forest I know."

Jin Lee-Bong closed his mouth as he seemed to take offense at the last statement.

There was a moment of silence that passed between the two.

What stimulated Gwi Myung's curiosity was that Jin Lee-Bong had lived a rather rough life. Although he might not be a tiger, he was at least a wolf. Just what kind of person had brought this old, cunning wolf to his downfall?

"Are you thinking about why you were the one hired to retrieve the money?"

Indeed, he was pondering deeply into the situation because an assassin would not be of much help in retrieving the wealth. This was a job that required the help of a reliable master.

Due to the rough life that Jin Lee-Bong had lived, it could be assumed that there were many masters that he should have been acquainted with.

While doubting the situation again, he heard an answer from Jin Lee-Bong as if he read his mind.

"Ordinary masters could not handle him."

This answer caused Gwi Myung's eyes to sparkle with interest.

Jin Lee-Bong sighed and continued to speak in a softer tone.

"You must listen carefully to what I am about to say."

Gwi Myung untied the sword he had been carrying on his back and placed it to the side, ready to listen to what Jin Lee-Bong had to say. Although he did have a certain interest in his story, he did not think very highly of this man and inwardly mocked him. He wanted to hear about what kind of individual could defeat this cunning man.

"We met by chance at a drinking party about six months ago. At first, he gave off an impressive impression with his wit and eloquence. After that first meeting, we continued to meet often, and he used these meetups to approach me."

Jin Lee-Bong bit his lip–just thinking about the start of his ordeal with this man raised the anger in him.

"We would occasionally hang out and drink together because my interest was piqued by his vast knowledge. He had traveled all over the Central Plains and knew just about everything about the happenings within. To be honest, I wanted to wed this man to my daughter if I had one. Then, about two months later, he revealed that he had obtained a martial arts manual while he was drunk."

The mention of a martial arts manual sparked interest within the eyes of Gwi Myung.

"What kind of martial arts were contained within the manual?"

"The manual contained the secret martial arts of the Thunder Sword."

"The Thunder Sword? Which Thunder Sword are you talking about?"

"It was the secret martial arts manual of the actual Thunder Sword, Naeng Lee-Sang!"

Gwi Myung's eyes opened widely, showing his surprise.

'Thunder' was a unique article of description associated with many different kinds of martial arts within the martial world, but there was only one martial art associated with being the true technique of the Thunder Sword, Naeng Lee-Sang.

He was an absolute master ranked within the top ten for his prowess and made his appearance within the martial world forty years ago. A few years before the Great War of the Orthodox and the Demonic, he had disappeared from the martial world. Many speculated the exact reason behind his disappearance, but he had not revealed himself until now, and it was presumed that he had died.

The situation caused Gwi Myung to burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! The great Jin Lee-Bong was swindled out of his wealth because of a martial arts manual?"

The conclusion that Gwi Myung came to was that the manual was a scam, because it was unlikely that Naeng Lee-Sang's manual would appear out of nowhere, and even if it did, there was no way that this extraordinary martial arts manual would be in the hands of such a young man.

However, Jin Lee-Bong's answer was shocking.

"The manual contained the true martial arts of the Thunder Sword."

"That is not possible."

When Jin Lee-Bong signaled for a servant with his hand, the servant removed a screen covering something. There was a wall located behind the screen that was slightly smaller than the screen itself.

"Take a look."

Gwi Myung's gaze turned to the wall, and once he saw it, he was astonished.

There was a mark that appeared to be a lightning bolt, soaring as if it were a dragon. It was definitely the markings of the Thunder Sword that he had only heard of in rumors. However, he still could not bring himself to believe what he saw.

"This must have been forged."

"The move was performed right in front of my eyes; he said this was the level of just one strike."

"Such a mark was left from only one strike?"

The sword mark on the wall captivated Gwi Myung, and he couldn't turn his gaze away from it.

Then Jin Lee-Bong left a final statement that broke down his suspicions.

"In order to confirm that the renowned master, Naeng Lee-Sang, was indeed the one who wrote the manual, I secretly acquired a sample of his actual handwriting. He was indeed the one who wrote that manual."

"So what happened next?"

Jin Lee-Bong let out a sigh.

"You should know that the value of the secret manual is worth more than a thousand gold. I only had one choice once I verified its legitimacy."

Jin Lee-Bong would never have become the wealthiest man in Hebei if he had the common decency to not covet the belongings of others. Gwi Myung already knew what he had done.

"Who did you send to steal the manual?"

Gwi Myung was now hooked on what this story would entail.

"At first, I decided to send only the most trusted warriors within my household, but they are not ones that should be underestimated due to their old age. Among those sent, there was the Life and Death Sword, Chu Baek."

Gwi Myung flinched after hearing that name.

"The Life and Death Sword, Chu Baek?"