As the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect and the Dark Rakshasa Way clashed in various places, a storm of blood swept through the Jianghu.
Among these clashes, the people of the Jianghu referred to the fierce battle that took place in the River Capital a month ago by several names.
The River Capital Incident, the River Capital Affair, the Great River Capital War.
This was because it was an unprecedented and unexpectedly large battle.
With two victories in the first and second battles fought in the River Capital, the Vast Heaven side, which had been helplessly pushed back by the Dark Rakshasa in the beginning, succeeded in restoring balance.
Judging by the initial situation, the flow was completely in the Dark Rakshasa's favor.
Their momentum was so unstoppable that it seemed the Vast Heaven might be exterminated without even living up to its name as the suzerain of the sword.
Following the wipeout of the five hundred members of the Branch Sword Corps, which formed the backbone of the branch defense system, Vast Heaven branches were shattered one after another, with some even facing extermination.
Only a handful of defeated soldiers remained from each branch, wandering aimlessly.
In effect, the regional strongholds that the Main Sect could have used to turn the tide had been annihilated all at once.
Riding this momentum, a large Dark Rakshasa force of about two thousand, led by the Left Guardian and three of the Upper Four Rakshasas, stormed the River Capital.
However, the Vast Heaven side annihilated them on a nearby plain, instantly overcoming their previous disadvantage.
And that was not all.
The Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance, one of the Three Powers Beyond the Heavens, fully joined the Vast Heaven side following this battle.
However.
The core of the rumors about the Great River Capital War lay elsewhere.
Just why?
Why did the Dark Rakshasa Way deploy such a massive force to the River Capital, a place that was not only on the outskirts of the Jianghu but also had no connection whatsoever to the Vast Heaven?
And to stop them, the Vast Heaven dispatched even the Iron-Faced Lady, Yeop Bihwa, known as the greatest swordsman of the Vast Heaven, to the River Capital.
Although they achieved a great victory in the end, it still did not make sense.
Why?
"Because hundreds of Vast Heaven's defeated soldiers were trapped and besieged there."
Or, "The entire Patrol Sword Corps of the Vast Heaven was caught in a surprise attack by the Dark Rakshasa and was stranded in the River Capital."
Or, "The powers of the River Capital were recently unified, and both sides clashed there to be the first to form an alliance with them."
Or even the absurd rumor that, "A Buddha descended upon the River Capital to punish the heretical Dark Rakshasa Way."
All sorts of unconfirmed information spread throughout the Jianghu.
Amidst it all, there was one reliable rumor.
It was a piece of news thoroughly verified, having been cross-referenced through information groups like the Great Beggars' Sect and the Five Crows Sect.
—Kim Rae-won, one of the Three Monsters who had vanished from the Jianghu long ago, has appeared in the River Capital and founded a Murim Sect. The name of the sect was the Hero's Sect.
A rumor circulated that the Vast Heaven side, where Yeop Bihwa, also one of the Three Monsters, was, dispatched the Patrol Sword Corps to the River Capital to draw them in as an ally.
To stop this, the Dark Rakshasa Way sent troops, but when they were blocked by the Patrol Sword Corps in the first engagement, they sent an additional large force of two thousand led by the Left Guardian for the second.
However, they were defeated by the Orthodox Faction alliance, which mobilized Kim Rae-won, Yeop Bihwa, the Patrol Sword Corps, and three Trigram Masters from the Formation Tower.
It was impossible to know what was true and what was false among these stories, but it was generally agreed that one thing, the source of it all, was certain.
Kim Rae-won.
The return of one of the Three Monsters, the High School Student, to the Jianghu.
The fact that upon his return, he had founded a sect with the grandiose name of Hero's Sect.
And.
The fact that, because of him, the landscape of the Jianghu was in turmoil.
● ● ●
Time, like a flowing wind, has its own velocity.
When the flow is slow, things change slowly; when it is fast, they change quickly.
The velocity of the River Capital was a gale.
A super high-speed gale at that.
And within that gale, a typhoon was always raging inside the Hero's Sect.
It was no exaggeration to say that the landscape of the River Capital's Jianghu, centered around the Hero's Sect, was changing rapidly.
Immediately after the Great River Capital War, the forty-odd elite warriors led by Sword Forest Elder Unseok and Outer Hall's First Corps Leader Chang Munjin joined Yeop Bihwa and immediately set off for Vast Heaven Mountain to report everything that had happened here directly to the Sword Venerate.
The fate of Heaven Reflecting Sword Manor's Lord Jin Hagyeong and the personnel he led became a separate point of contention.
Should they be returned to the Main Sect to be used as part of the regional stronghold restoration efforts, or should they be allowed to remain with the Hero's Sect as they wished?
To that, Kim Rae-won stated it in one sentence.
He made it a condition of the alliance for the Hero's Sect to take these people in.
He added that the Vast Heaven side could take them back anytime later if the individuals themselves wished for it.
Having witnessed Kim Rae-won's tremendous skill in crushing the Left Guardian and three of the Upper Four Rakshasas, there was no reason for the Vast Heaven to refuse this condition.
The Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance joining them was even more decisive.
External Affairs Elder Baek Hando actively advocated for it at the Main Sect meeting.
His decision, made after stopping on a field path right after the Great River Capital War and repeating the words, "Well, well… this is something," hundreds of times, was more than firm.
The Yin-Yang Guard also actively accepted his opinion, and the Formation Tower's Main Sect completely joined the Vast Heaven side with this war as the turning point.
The three Formation Tower Trigram Masters, Dongmun Mutoe, Myo Jinheo, and Yan Bilyeong, decided to remain with the Hero's Sect of their own accord, with the stipulation that they would only join when a request from the Main Sect came down.
And that request had already been issued.
The Vast Heaven had formally placed several requests with the Formation Tower, and since the Hero's Sect was in a temporary alliance with the Vast Heaven, the justification for the three to stay with the Hero's Sect naturally aligned.
However, the three were not currently in the River Capital.
Although the war between the Vast Heaven and the Dark Rakshasa was in a lull, sporadic battles were still breaking out, so they were extremely busy setting up Formation Daos in the disputed areas.
And so.
Everything had changed, was changing, and would continue to change even more rapidly in the future.
During this period, under Jeon Rahwa's planning and guidance, the Hero's Sect also underwent a complete transformation.
A new Main Hall stood tall on the site where the ruins of the Iron God Gang had been neatly cleared.
Black roof tiles and white plaster walls.
It had a serene appearance rather than a majestic one.
The Main Hall was surrounded by four annexes to the east, west, south, and north.
The eastern one was the sect members' dormitory, the western one was Hoae's and her siblings' residence, the southern one was the Guest Hall, and the northern one was a pavilion that served as both a library and a medicine hall.
Behind the Main Hall, a separate camp housing the two hundred defeated soldiers from the Vast Heaven led by Jin Hagyeong stretched out, bordering a spacious yard.
The Training Ground in front of the Main Hall was paved with polished stones, and dozens of wooden dummies for striking practice were lined up in rows.
Also, the most splendid and expensive building, the [Alchemy Workshop], built on Kim Rae-won's orders, was completed, though its purpose was unknown.
The number of people also increased.
Those who had suffered from the lawlessness of the Jianghu heard of Kim Rae-won's fame and Righteous Deeds and gathered in the River Capital.
Among them, the martial artists flocked to the Hero's Sect.
After the Great River Capital War, about a hundred people passed the interview, and another hundred, consisting of former slaves and orphans taken in by the Hero's Sect, joined.
With the two hundred defeated soldiers from the Vast Heaven added to that, the number of family members, which had been just over ten right after the unification of the River Capital, swelled to a scale of five hundred.
In the front yard of the Main Hall, someone was always swinging a sword.
Under the eaves of the annexes, the steam from brewing medicine and the needlework of mending Martial Robes never ceased.
And in the [Alchemy Workshop], for the time being, various weapons were being crafted.
So, what about the Sect Leader, Kim Rae-won?
He was, of course, the busiest of all these people.
In one corner of Dong Bongsu's vision, the [Guild] capacity limit was being updated with a new number every day.
To raise that limit even one more level, he was diligently handling all the minor Righteous Deeds—read as quests—inside and outside the River Capital.
And that wasn't all.
To him, the Hero's Sect was a [Guild], and the members were [Guild Members].
And they were all 'resources' and 'believers' to be utilized.
That's why whenever he had time, he would come out to the Training Ground like this to help them with their training.
Kim Rae-won stood in the middle of the Training Ground, watching Hoae and Seok Gyeong train.
Then he suddenly stopped in front of them, specifically in front of Seok Gyeong, and spoke.
"Do it again."
"Pardon?"
"The move you just did."
"…"
"I said, perform it again."
Hoae tactfully scurried to the side.
Still, she tilted her head.
"Is there a problem with Mister Seok Gyeong's movements?"
"No."
"Huh…? Then why are you telling him to do it again?"
"That's why."
"Pardon?"
"Because there's no problem with his movements."
"…"
Seok Gyeong also heard him clearly.
He didn't know the reason, but it was clear that in the Sect Leader's eyes, the problem was that there was 'no problem'.
"What are you doing? I told you to do it again."
Although he was still at a level that hadn't even surpassed the second-rate, Seok Gyeong had been consistently practicing the Spirit Step and Spirit Step Slash he had learned from Hoae.
When it came to these two martial arts, he could perform them as well as Hoae.
Seok Gyeong executed the sword while performing the Spirit Step.
His movements were certainly more precise and fluid than those of the other disciples who had joined at the same time or Hoae's siblings.
However.
"Why do you use your body that way?"
Kim Rae-won, who was watching him closely, shook his head.
"Why do you move the sword that way?"
"I… am doing it as I was taught."
"Why do you move as you were taught?"
"…Pardon?!"
Swoosh-.
The Evil-Slaying Sword appeared in Kim Rae-won's hand.
It was a marvelous sight, but by now, no one in the training ground was surprised, having seen it so many times.
Because he was Kim Rae-won.
At this point, not just the members of the Hero's Sect, but most people living in the River Capital would believe it if a stone he touched turned to gold.
To be surprised by something like this meant one wasn't qualified to be in the Hero's Sect.
Soon, Kim Rae-won replicated the movements Seok Gyeong had just performed.
Slowly, so slowly that anyone could see how he moved.
Then, at some point, it changed.
"In martial arts, there is originally no such thing as a set path. People simply created their own martial arts and, not wanting others to deviate from that path, established a system called moves."
He was clearly repeating the same movements, yet they were subtly different.
"Moves and forms are like clothes."
If asked how they were different, it would be hard to explain, but they were definitely different.
The same movement, the same move, yet…
"Do you wear the same clothes as the creator?"
However, the change was so natural.
It was as if he were wearing clothes that fit him perfectly, without a single flaw.
Even though this was the first time he was performing this move.
"I'm asking if you all wear the same clothes."
"…"
"…"
Before long, his discourse on martial arts was being etched into the minds of everyone gathered in the Training Ground.
Even though he did not speak loudly, it was so.
"Performing a move in the exact Form the creator made is something only a third-rate practitioner would do."
"…"
"…"
"I am asking you, do you want to live your whole lives as third-rate practitioners?"
"N-No, sir!"
Thud-.
"Don't move like me either. You are not me."
As if he had never been moving, Kim Rae-won's movements stopped.
Right in front of Seok Gyeong, just as before.
"As long as you don't completely stray from the path, move as you feel comfortable. That is how you can polish a move that is truly your own."
"Yes! We will keep that in mind!"
"Yes! We will keep that in mind!"
Kim Rae-won patted Seok Gyeong's shoulder, and as he always did, ruffled Hoae's hair before heading outside the Hero's Sect.
The large gates of the Hero's Sect closed behind him.
As he walked by, the people on the street silently moved to either side, creating a main road for him.
Some offered a long bow with their palms together, while others simply bowed their heads deeply from a distance.
Dong Bongsu's impassive eyes swept over the path once.
The River Capital already belonged to Kim Rae-won, and its people had faith in him.
And…
That Kim Rae-won belonged to Dong Bongsu.