Sichuan.

The largest city in the Sichuan region, and a place that was relatively peaceful compared to the large cities of other regions.

There, a member of the Cheongseong Sect was on guard duty.

Since it was a region far from the capital, Nanjing, and a region where the government's manpower had been drastically reduced due to the policy of reducing the number of feudal lords, and a region that received no attention, it was a member of the Cheongseong Sect, not the army, who was on guard duty.

In this era, it was a common sight for a powerful sect or family clan to stand guard in a city far from Nanjing.

And so, the sect member who was on guard duty on the city wall discovered a group approaching this place, raising a cloud of dust in the distance.

"What is it? Are they refugees?"

Since it was a common occurrence in this harsh and chaotic era, the sect member who witnessed it did not think much of it, but since it was his duty, he continued to watch that place.

And so, after a short while, the sect member was able to clearly recognize it.

"Th-that's?!"

The sect member let out a groan.

A huge crowd was flocking towards Sichuan.

The problem was that the appearance of the crowd was not normal at all.

Although he couldn't see them in detail because of the distance, he could tell that they were moving in a bizarrely twisted state, as if all their joints were stiffly hardened.

The sect member quickly judged that those things were dangerous and began to strike the alarm bell like crazy.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

"It's an attack!!"

The sound of the bell and the sect member's shout spread in all directions, and the relatively quiet night street became noisy.

And that sect member.

"H-how?"

He looked at the bizarrely shaped figure flying towards him.

It was different from martial arts or anything like that.

With movements that he could not understand at all, it jumped up and came at the sect member.

The appearance of it, which had reached the sect member in an instant.

"Kraaaaaa!!"

Its pupils were dilated and whitened, and its mouth was drooling and was bizarrely wide open.

A moving corpse, a jiangshi.

There were no other words to describe it.

"Jiangshi!"

That was the last memory of a Cheongseong Sect member.

And so, Sichuan, which had been invaded by the corpses that had lost their reason, instantly became a battlefield.

"Evacuate the civilians!"

"Martial artists who can fight, to the south gate!!"

The Cheongseong Sect martial artists evacuated the people even in the midst of the chaos and dealt with the jiangshi who were trying to invade through the south city wall.

Among them was Zhuge Wuhyeon, who was using the alias Ha Wuhyeon under Zhuge Hyun's orders and had infiltrated this place.

Kaang!

Zhuge Wuhyeon blocked the attack of the jiangshi rushing at him and thought.

'Jiangshi. I've only heard of them, but I didn't know they really existed.'

The situation was not good.

After the war between the Sichuan Son family and the Cheongseong Sect, the Cheongseong Sect had firmly established itself in Sichuan.

Although they had been strengthening their internal affairs since then, there was a limit.

The biggest problem was not money or food.

It was the martial artists themselves.

Martial arts was not something that could be achieved in a day or two.

It was difficult to find even a martial artist who had just entered the third-rate, let alone the second-rate.

Since short-term training was naturally impossible, it was not even worth mentioning.

Although it would be a different story if it were an institution of the court, for the Cheongseong Sect, which was a strictly civilian organization, there was a clear limit.

'The only good thing is that the Diancang Sect martial artists who had escaped from the unidentified assailant and the Emei Sect martial artists who had come for an agreement have joined us.'

Certainly, in terms of numbers, the situation was much better than when the Cheongseong Sect was alone.

However, the problem was not the numbers.

Kaang!

'What kind of skin is this! Is it made of iron?'

The jiangshi was hard.

So hard that the sword of him, a first-rate martial artist, could not penetrate it.

Whoosh!

Zhuge Wuhyeon twisted his body and avoided the limbs that the jiangshi was swinging like a whip.

The jiangshi was not only hard but also fast and strong.

On top of that, its bizarre movements were completely unpredictable.

Although it was a body from which no internal energy was felt at all, it was difficult to deal with even with the martial prowess of a first-rate.

The achievement of being a first-rate at an age not even twenty was by no means low.

The level of those who were called masters in the Central Plains was mostly first-rate.

Even he was struggling, so there was no need to look at those below him.

"Keok!"

A martial artist who was dealing with a jiangshi near Zhuge Wuhyeon could not handle the jiangshi's power and rolled on the floor.

Zhuge Wuhyeon deflected the attack of the jiangshi in front of him and immediately blocked the path in front of the fallen martial artist.

Kaang!

Thanks to that, he was able to save a martial artist whose life was in danger.

Zhuge Wuhyeon struggled to push the jiangshi away and shouted at the martial artist.

"Those of the second-rate or lower, retreat!"

"Yes, yes! Thank you!"

After confirming that the martial artist was retreating, Zhuge Wuhyeon looked at the jiangshi flocking to him.

Although he could barely block one even in a one-on-one, their numbers were too many.

And it didn't seem like a situation where he could get support from the surroundings.

'Is this the end?'

Zhuge Wuhyeon foresaw his end.

"The end. Interesting."

Zhuge Wuhyeon felt a thrill in a situation that could be his end.

Barely controlling the corner of his mouth that was rising on its own, he jumped into the middle of the jiangshi.

"Come on! All of you!!"

Zhuge Wuhyeon shouted, imbuing his internal energy.

The surroundings echoed, and the gazes of all the jiangshi turned to Zhuge Wuhyeon.

Zhuge Wuhyeon stood proudly in front of that gaze.

"Kraaaaaa!"

"Come!"

The appearance of Zhuge Wuhyeon, who stood proudly in the midst of dozens of jiangshi pouncing on him, was that of a hero himself.

But since everyone could predict the end, they could not hide their regret.

"Th-that's!"

"Keuk, such a young man full of the spirit of a hero, so pitifully!"

Although everyone could not hide their regret, there was no martial artist courageous enough to jump into that scene.

'It's thrilling! It's fun!'

However, only he himself knew that he was thinking something completely different from their thoughts.

And so, just before the jiangshi completely pounced on Zhuge Wuhyeon.

Someone jumped in between them.

Although it was faint, a blue wind blew, and the jiangshi were pushed back.

"Are you okay?"

"Acting Sect Leader Gu Wolju?"

A large physique and a bushy beard.

A middle-aged man with a face that seemed to be full of bluntness.

The one who had saved Zhuge Wuhyeon was the acting sect leader of the Cheongseong Sect, Gu Wolju.

From the corner of Gu Wolju's mouth, who was looking at Zhuge Wuhyeon, a stream of blood flowed down.

Although the jiangshi was of a transcendent martial prowess, it was so hard that a sword could not penetrate it well, and because of that, it was due to the rebound from overdoing it a little too much.

"Cough."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Saying so, Gu Wolju looked at Zhuge Wuhyeon as if he were proud.

"It is good to be courageous, but to risk your life recklessly is recklessness."

"What?"

"Still, thank you. For protecting the people."

"Uh... yes."

Although it was a seemingly solemn statement, the corner of Gu Wolju's mouth was raised, and he looked very satisfied.

"I would like to talk more, but the situation is not good. Let's help the people evacuate and retreat ourselves."

"Ah, yes..."

At Gu Wolju's words, Zhuge Wuhyeon retreated with a very regretful look.

'Just retreating is no fun.'

And so, as the two were gathering the surrounding martial artists and about to retreat.

"Kraaaaaa!!"

Again, from somewhere, a horde of jiangshi came pouncing.

"Damn it! Still like this?!"

"Oh!!"

Although Zhuge Wuhyeon let out a cry of joy, fortunately, it was buried by the strange cries of the jiangshi.

'Yes! This is it! It's thrilling!'

Whether he had such an impression in his heart or not, in any case, it was a desperate situation.

At that moment, a man quickly cut in between them.

The man with a neat impression and a stylish beard swung his sword at the jiangshi rushing at them.

No, that was not enough to be described as simply swinging.

A graceful movement of the sword that was fitting to be described as something flowing.

'Taiji?'

Although Zhuge Wuhyeon's brain was pickled in stimulation, since he was basically a bright person, he saw through the identity of the man's movements in an instant.

The man's movement technique, the movement of his sword, everything was forming a Taiji.

His sword reached the jiangshi.

Although he could not completely cut down the jiangshi, he changed the flow of the jiangshi's movements.

The man's movements did not end there.

The flow continued gracefully, and his arm reached another jiangshi.

The arm moved along the flow of the Taiji, and the jiangshi was caught up in the movement as if water were flowing and moved according to the man's hand.

The jiangshi moved as if they were being led by the man's sword and hand, and they became entangled and ended up in a state where they could do neither this nor that.

A martial art that was hard to see anywhere in the Central Plains.

No, it was closer to the immortal arts or Taoist arts commonly spoken of in Taoism rather than a martial art.

The surrounding jiangshi were subdued in an instant.

The man who had subdued the jiangshi turned his head to Gu Wolju and Zhuge Wuhyeon, smiled gently, and performed a fist-and-palm salute.

"Are you the esteemed Great Hero Gu Wolju, the acting sect leader of the most prestigious Cheongseong Sect in Sichuan?"

At the man's action, Gu Wolju returned the fist-and-palm salute.

"Great hero, are you perhaps the esteemed Great Hero Zhang Sanfeng, the Taiji Sword God, who has recently been making a name for himself?"

"To be called a sword god is embarrassing. It is too grand a title for me."

Having exchanged greetings with Gu Wolju, Zhang Sanfeng turned his gaze to Zhuge Wuhyeon.

Zhuge Wuhyeon also performed a fist-and-palm salute and quickly introduced himself.

"I am Ha Wuhyeon, a member of the Cheongseong Sect."

"Nice to meet you, Great Hero Ha."

Having finished his greetings, Zhang Sanfeng immediately turned his gaze to the battlefield.

"Then, let's go and sort out this mess."

Zhang Sanfeng immediately moved his feet.

Dignified steps without a moment's hesitation.

At that, Gu Wolju's worries came first, and he frowned.

"With all due respect, the current situation is not good. I judge that it is right to retreat for now."

"It's okay."

At those words, Zhang Sanfeng smiled benevolently.

On that face, there was a firm belief without any hesitation or fear.

"Since Brother Baek has come with us, you don't have to worry."

Almost at the same time as Zhang Sanfeng's words, a blue wind blew around them.

Slice.

After that, the necks of the jiangshi, which had been as hard as iron lumps, fell off like leaves.

Slice.

Their bodies were shattered into pieces.

At that transcendent sight, everyone was at a loss for words and stared blankly at the place where the jiangshi had disappeared, and then unconsciously turned their gaze.

At that, a man with a black sword, with a white robe and white hair fluttering, came into their eyes on the roof of a building far away.

The confusion from just now had disappeared as if it had been a lie, and only the area around that man felt an overwhelming aura, as if it were the center of everything.

"The immortal, the rightful master of the Cheongseong Sect, has returned!"

With a gaze full of awe, Gu Wolju looked up at the place where Baek Yoonjun was.

It was not just Gu Wolju.

Everyone there forgot the great threat of the jiangshi and only looked up at Baek Yoonjun.

And the person himself, Baek Yoonjun.

'Was the genre of the place I was living in not martial arts but an apocalypse?'

He scanned the surroundings with a very confused gaze.

Although he wanted to go home right away at the burdensome gazes that were occasionally looking up at him, his heart was not so cruel as to turn a blind eye to the people who were dying without any sin.

'Stop staring and catch the zombies! Hey! There's a zombie in front of you!!' 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Looking at the martial artist who had missed the movement of the jiangshi, which only Baek Yoonjun thought of as a zombie, because he was looking up at him, Baek Yoonjun swung his sword with a pathetic look.

A blue wind was imbued in the direction his sword was drawn, and that blue wind was shot at the jiangshi.

Slice.

The blue wind literally cut through one jiangshi.

The body of the jiangshi, which a sword could not even penetrate well even with the martial prowess of a transcendent, was scattered like tofu.

'They don't die well, and their numbers are damn high!'

Although it would have been more comfortable to crush and kill them over a wide area with his internal energy, since they were entangled with people now, that method was difficult to use.

'Hidden weapons and poison don't work!'

Originally, Baek Yoonjun, the homebody introvert, would not have revealed himself so conspicuously to people like this.

However, this time, since hidden weapons did not work and the situation was too bad to attack indiscriminately, he had revealed himself and was painstakingly cutting them down one by one.

Baek Yoonjun moved his hands busily.

As soon as he cut down all the surrounding jiangshi, he immediately moved to the place where the next jiangshi was.

Even if there was a means to attack from a long distance, it was not omnipotent.

Since the power decreased as the distance increased, he sometimes jumped directly into the scene and cut down the jiangshi.

Slice.

Even now, he was pushing away a martial artist who was on the verge of being pounced on by a jiangshi and was cutting down the jiangshi.

After cutting one jiangshi into pieces, Baek Yoonjun turned his gaze to the martial artist he had saved.

'Why is the gaze so burdensome?'

Since the gaze was very burdensome, Baek Yoonjun immediately kicked off the ground and moved to cut down the next jiangshi.

After Baek Yoonjun disappeared, the saved martial artist who was at that spot looked at the place where he had disappeared as if he were entranced.

"The White-Robed Sword Immortal."

He muttered unconsciously.

"The White-Robed Sword Immortal has descended!!"

He roared like crazy.

This roar began to spread to the surroundings like crazy.

The person Baek Yoonjun had saved, the person who had witnessed his deeds, everyone began to shout together like crazy.

"The White-Robed Sword Immortal!!"

"The immortal is with us!!"

That cheer echoed like crazy throughout the Sichuan area.

And the subject of that cheer, Baek Yoonjun.

'I want to go home.'

He wanted to go home like crazy because of the burden.

(End of Chapter)