Chapter 6: The Jade Tiger's Shadow
The sun had barely climbed over the hills when the village's outer path stirred with foreign footsteps.
Ironwood Village rarely saw strangers. Tucked deep within the wilds and surrounded by ancient forest, it was practically invisible to the martial world. A ghost town to those who followed the way of the sword.
Yet today, a man walked its dirt path.
He was tall, cloaked in black with silver trim—robes light and flowing, bearing the insignia of a snarling jade tiger on the back. His hair was tied high, his jaw sharp, and his eyes cold enough to freeze fire.
Elder Jang Hui of the Jade Tiger Sect.
He had come alone, but his presence was like that of a hundred warriors. Every villager who saw him quickly bowed, instinctively shrinking away.
"W-who… who is that?" whispered a farmer.
"No idea. He's not from here. Look at the embroidery on his robe—definitely someone powerful."
"Don't look him in the eyes!"
Old Man Baek watched from a distance, his expression grim.
Jang Hui's gaze swept across the village with disinterest. His attention wasn't on the people. It was on the residual energy—barely perceptible, but still lingering near the ironwood tree beyond the hill.
Crimson. Chaotic. Ancient.
The same energy he had seen in the mirror.
> "A forbidden technique… but who used it in this place?"
He turned and began walking toward the forest.
---
Meanwhile, Jin Mu-won sat cross-legged in the depths of the woods, surrounded by the remains of his training: shattered bark, blood-soaked grass, and bruises painting his body like war paint.
He had spent the entire night pushing the Crimson Pulse Body Tempering Art to its limits—his body had bled, ached, and bent under pressure. But now it was stronger. Denser. Faster.
And he felt it: the first true stage of power awakening within him.
Stage One: Blood Resonance
His heartbeat could now resonate with his muscles and bones, giving him bursts of power beyond his physical limit for a short period. With control, it could even dull pain.
He opened his eyes slowly, his breath steady.
"I need to refine this. It's still too wild. One mistake during battle and I'll tear my own body apart."
Suddenly, he froze.
Someone was watching him.
He didn't hear them. He didn't see them.
But he felt them.
An overwhelming aura pressed down on him, like a mountain threatening to crush an ant.
> "You're not from this village," came a calm, commanding voice.
Mu-won rose slowly. His back faced the stranger, but his fingers twitched, ready to strike.
"And you don't smell like a traveler," Mu-won replied.
Jang Hui appeared beside him without sound, as if he had always been there. His presence reeked of refined martial arts—disciplined, honed, deadly.
"I'm searching for the source of a forbidden power," he said. "A pulse that shook the heavens for a moment. Tell me, boy… did you see anything strange a few nights ago?"
Mu-won turned and smiled politely.
"No, Elder. I must've been asleep."
Their eyes met—one cold and calculating, the other warm yet hiding razors behind the iris.
Jang Hui stared at him a moment longer.
Then, he smiled faintly. "Very well."
But as he turned to leave, his hand brushed against a nearby tree. The bark crumbled to ash.
> He knows, Mu-won thought. He suspects.
The game had begun.
And Mu-won loved games
To be continued.....