In a corner of a tavern in a village near Sichuan province, Baek Yoonjun was sipping his wine.

In front of him, a drunk Cheon was constantly chattering about something, but it no longer reached Baek Yoonjun's ears.

Only Baek Yoonjun's interests, the wine and food, were in his space.

'There's wine and food, and I don't have to worry about others, so it feels like I'm all alone under the sky and on the earth.'

For a moment, Baek Yoonjun's vision blurred and his consciousness became clear.

'Ah, my delusions must be acting up again.'

It was a common occurrence for Baek Yoonjun, and he dismissed it as a disease unique to homebody introverts, delusion.

"Brother Baek? Could it be that you've just attained enlightenment?"

Baek Yoonjun was dismissing it as a delusion, but from Cheon's perspective, it was the enlightenment that every martial artist desired.

"You are truly a wondrous person. This is not the time. I will stand guard."

Although it didn't reach Baek Yoonjun's ears at all, Cheon raised his energy, blew away the effects of the alcohol, and stood up from his seat with his sword, guarding Baek Yoonjun's side.

And so, a short while later.

"Phew."

Baek Yoonjun slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

A short time, not even enough to drink a cup of tea.

It was an absurdly short amount of time compared to the time it usually takes for martial artists to consolidate their enlightenment.

Seeing that, Cheon immediately performed a polite fist-and-palm salute.

"Congratulations on your achievement."

"Achievement? I'm just sorry that I seem to have lost my mind for a moment."

Baek Yoonjun answered, inwardly dumbfounded by Cheon's words.

'To express enlightenment as losing one's mind, Brother Baek is an unpretentious person.'

Cheon misunderstood on his own and understood.

"Could you tell me, Cheon so-and-so, what kind of enlightenment you have obtained?"

"Enlightenment, what. If I had to say..."

At Cheon's serious question, Baek Yoonjun glanced around.

"It's just that it's become a little more comfortable to come out of my house."

Baek Yoonjun hadn't twisted his words, he had just said it as it was.

But with his outward atmosphere and the strange dizziness felt in his eyes, Cheon took Baek Yoonjun's words as profound.

'It's become a little more comfortable to come out of my house. The house refers to the area where Brother Baek lives, and his current realm has reached a level where he can leave such an area? It's difficult.'

It was truly an over-interpretation with a difference as big as the sky and the earth.

"It seems to be an enlightenment of a deep realm that I cannot understand. Congratulations once again."

Baek Yoonjun looked at Cheon silently with a dumbfounded heart, thinking, 'What kind of nonsense is this?'

'Enlightenment, what kind of nonsensical talk is that? Is this person really a cultist?'

But that appearance came across differently to Cheon.

'Seeing as he's not saying any more, it must be a realm that I wouldn't understand even if I heard it. I've really met an extraordinary person.'

Although they were thinking different things, the two of them, as if by promise, closed their mouths and quietly drank their wine.

Baek Yoonjun was satisfied with the relatively quiet environment.

At that moment.

Bang!

The tavern door was roughly opened, and a group of rough-looking men rushed inside.

"Hey, owner, is business good?"

A man with a build that looked like he could use some strength among the group swaggered and brought his face close to the tavern owner.

"Yes, yes! Thanks to the heroes of the Black Sword Gang, it's going well!"

The tavern owner bowed his head to the man, sweating profusely, and the man who saw that smiled slyly.

"But why is the payment of the protection fee late?"

"What? B-but the protection fee was definitely last time..."

"Hey! You! The whole Central Plains is struggling to death, so how can the protection fee stay the same? Of course, it has to go up as much as it's difficult, right?"

"Th-that's..."

Cheon's face distorted into a grimace upon hearing the conversation between the man and the owner.

And next to him, Baek Yoonjun.

'They're obviously bad guys, should I just cut them down? But if I cut them down here, I'll stand out for no reason, right?'

He was contemplating whether to cut down the group that looked like they could use some strength here or not.

Flinch!

Whether Baek Yoonjun's thought had become killing intent and reached the man who was swaggering in front of the tavern owner, the man was flustered and looked around.

Then his gaze turned back to the tavern owner.

"You bastard! You were cursing me in your mind, weren't you?"

"N-no! How could I curse a hero of the Black Sword Gang?!"

"We're the Black Sword Gang, you bastard!!"

The innocent tavern owner's collar was grabbed.

Seeing that, Cheon was on the verge of drawing his sword and rushing out.

"Those wicked ruffians!"

At that moment.

Bang!

The tavern door fell off, and a group wearing blue martial arts uniforms rushed into the tavern.

"The evil deeds end here! The great Namgung family will punish the wicked black-robed group!"

"H-how did the Namgung family come all the way to Sichuan?!"

The martial artists who called themselves the Namgung family, wearing blue martial arts uniforms, made the rough-looking group who called themselves the Black Sword Gang kneel in an instant.

Seeing that, Baek Yoonjun frowned.

'What is this? It looks like it's all staged, doesn't it?'

It wasn't that the Black Sword Gang had easily kneeled.

They had fiercely exchanged blows with the martial artists of the Namgung family.

But it seemed like they were quickly subdued because the martial artists of the Namgung family had more numbers, better quality weapons, and better movements.

No one died, but there were quite a few injured people.

Of course, no one except Baek Yoonjun felt that this seemed staged.

'Strange? Am I the only one who felt it? Well. Since it ended without any trouble, I should just stay still.'

Baek Yoonjun strongly felt that the exchange of blows and the way they were subdued was a well-staged act, but since his homebody introvert nature was strong, he didn't step forward.

In the meantime, the matter continued to proceed.

"The wicked black-robed group, the Black Sword Gang, has been dealt with by our Namgung family, so please rest assured!"

"Waaaaaah!!"

Baek Yoonjun just cheered moderately along with the cheering crowd and sipped his wine again.

As he brought the wine to his lips, Baek Yoonjun's gaze went to Cheon, who was sitting in front of him.

'What's wrong with this person again?'

Cheon had pulled down a bamboo hat from somewhere and was looking at the tavern wall as if looking at a distant mountain.

"What are you doing?"

"Brother Baek, please don't say anything and pretend you don't know."

"Did you commit a crime?"

"That's not it, so please, I beg you."

Baek Yoonjun kept his mouth shut at Cheon's earnest request and sipped his wine.

Although there was a small commotion, it was a relatively peaceful ending.

Thanks to the commotion, the attention of the tavern was all directed to the martial artists of the Namgung family, which was also a good thing for Baek Yoonjun.

As he was sipping his wine with a slightly more comfortable feeling.

"Ha, there were two cowards with swords here."

One of the Namgung family martial artists sneered, looking at Baek Yoonjun's side.

'What? Why are you picking a fight?'

Baek Yoonjun, who was originally a homebody introvert, was reluctant to get involved with people.

But because he was such a homebody introvert, he also couldn't control his emotions well.

"You who are not even third-rate. Why are you picking a fight?"

In other words, he would normally just avoid people, but if they picked a fight, it was an exception, and he would get quite angry.

Baek Yoonjun timidly muttered without even looking at the person who had picked a fight.

'No matter how scared I am of people, I can't just stay still when someone picks a fight. Still, I didn't look at him directly, so he won't pick a fight again, right?'

But Baek Yoonjun's outward appearance was like that of someone leisurely sipping his wine and evaluating someone not even worth dealing with.

"What! How dare you look down on a martial artist of the great Namgung family!!"

The martial artist who heard Baek Yoonjun's words got angry and approached him.

He was on the verge of hitting him right away.

'No, he's the one who picked a fight, so why is he getting angry at my one word?'

Baek Yoonjun also thought, 'Should I hit him?', but the words 'Namgung family' bothered him.

'I don't know what the Namgung family does, but since it has 'family' attached to it, doesn't that mean it's a big family? If I get into a fight for no reason, won't people come rushing in like before?'

Baek Yoonjun regretted speaking out a little.

'If I apologize now, won't he just let it go?'

But while Baek Yoonjun was thinking about whether to apologize or not, the opponent acted first.

He flipped the table in front of Baek Yoonjun.

The table and the food flew into the air.

'Why is this bastard taking his anger out on the innocent food?!'

At that moment, Baek Yoonjun got very, very angry.

He immediately raised his internal energy, held the table and the food floating in the air, and returned them to their original positions.

Then he immediately threw the wine cup in his hand and hit the forehead of the man who had flipped the table.

Thwack!

A very light hitting sound.

But the effect was considerable.

Thud!

The man couldn't even let out a groan and collapsed on the spot.

At that sight, everyone in the tavern froze.

In Baek Yoonjun's mind, he had just restored the flipped table and food, thrown the wine cup to hit the man, and then pulled the wine cup back to his hand.

But the people who saw that scene from the side couldn't help but freeze.

'Spatial Manipulation?'

'What kind of skill must one perform to subdue an opponent without even lifting a finger?!'

As the martial artists and the people in the tavern were frozen, Baek Yoonjun raised his hand.

At that sight, the martial artists flinched and cowered, and Baek Yoonjun.

'Why are you staring at me without saying anything? It's burdensome.'

He just wanted to escape from the tavern where the gazes were burdensome.

"Waiter! Please pack up the remaining food here quickly!"

"Yes, yes! Great hero! I'll pack it up for you quickly!"

Baek Yoonjun had raised his hand to get the food packed.

Normally, he would never get anything packed, but the food was so delicious that he wanted to eat it again.

But he had no intention of coming here again, so he mustered up great courage and got it packed.

He had called the waiter, but Baek Yoonjun wondered why the tavern owner was taking the order, but the gazes of the people bothered him more.

"Here you are! Great hero!"

"This friend will pay the price."

"Is there any question! I've put in plenty of food, so please take it with a comfortable heart."

"No, what's all this..."

Baek Yoonjun felt burdened by the tavern owner's words that he had put in more food and decided not to come to this tavern again.

And so, as Baek Yoonjun left the tavern with the bundle of food.

"Heok."

Only then did the martial artists in the tavern let out their breath.

Then they hurriedly looked out of the tavern, their eyes on the floor, and stealthily looked at Baek Yoonjun's back, wary, and only after Baek Yoonjun's figure was some distance away did they gasp for breath and open their mouths.

"How can there be such a master in a corner of Sichuan?!"

"The only decent sect near Sichuan is the Emei Sect!"

"Damn it! Expanding our influence to Sichuan is not the problem! We're going back to the main family right away!!"

A short while after Baek Yoonjun left, the martial artists of the Namgung family dragged the ruffians of the Black Sword Gang and rushed out.

"Phew."

Only after all the martial artists had disappeared could the people in the tavern breathe.

"No, the Black Sword Gang guys are always messing up the neighborhood, so that's one thing, but the Namgung family? Why are the guys from Anhui coming all the way here?"

"And who is the esteemed person who subdued the Namgung family martial artist without lifting a finger?!"

For them, it was as if disasters had struck one after another.

The only place that could be called a proper sect in Sichuan was the Emei Sect.

Even that Emei Sect was so closed off that seeing an Emei Sect monk in Sichuan was a rare sight.

At best, there were third-rate black-robed groups with grand names or martial artists from small martial arts schools.

The shock of the appearance of a group of martial artists from the Namgung family and an unidentified martial artist who had subdued that martial artist in one blow in such a place was great.

The people in the tavern began to drink, using the recent events as a side dish to their conversation.

"I couldn't see clearly, but it was a very unique appearance, wasn't it? White hair, white clothes, and a black sword?"

"Come to think of it, I think I've heard a story about a martial artist with such an appearance?"

And so, in the bustling tavern where even the crowd who had been watching from outside had joined.

"The White-Robed Sword Immortal!"

Someone shouted that name.

"Who is the White-Robed Sword Immortal?"

"You don't know?! If you're interested in martial arts history, how can you not know that name?!"

Then, in the tavern that had suddenly become noisy, the words 'White-Robed Sword Immortal' were repeatedly mentioned.

"Isn't he too old?"

"80 years is more than enough time to have passed away."

"Hey, you! His descendant could be here! In the first place, does it make sense that that renowned person didn't raise a single descendant?"

"The descendant of the White-Robed Sword Immortal!"

And at the word 'descendant' that someone mentioned, the inside of the tavern fell silent in an instant.

Although it was a relatively peaceful area near Sichuan, the world was in chaos, and the name of a once-renowned hero was by no means light.

"Perhaps a new star will appear in Sichuan."

"Let's just hope we're not disappointed."

"Well, the martial world that actually appeared was, well..."

"But wouldn't the White-Robed Sword Immortal be different?"

And so, various stories about the White-Robed Sword Immortal were exchanged in the tavern, and in a corner, Cheon, Namgung Cheon, who was listening to their stories and collecting his dizzy mind.

'Could it be?'

He felt a palpitation in his chest that he had only felt in his childhood and looked out of the tavern with a look of longing.

(End of Chapter)