**Chapter 124.**
—
After flying back to the **Pointed Sword Pavilion**, Yuri still could not shake off his concern, so he went to **Lorellia’s** room.
Someday, he had sworn that he would definitely drive his fist straight into Lorellia’s face.
But that did not mean he felt pleased that Lorellia had been injured by someone else.
“Come in!”
Even before he knocked on the closed door, a voice came from inside.
“Whoa—damn, you scared me.”
He had permission, so he opened the door, but the sight inside startled him so much that the words slipped out.
“What are you so surprised about? Is the appearance of I, Lorellia, that dreadful?”
“What are you doing?”
In the middle of the room, Lorellia was sitting cross-legged.
But she was not sitting on the floor.
She was sitting cross-legged **in midair**, her hands turned upward and resting on her knees.
Seeing someone sitting in the air alone was enough to make one flinch if caught off guard.
And Lorellia was not wearing her priestly robes either.
Instead of the familiar white robes, she was wearing **shorts**, and she had no top on at all—her chest merely wrapped in bandages.
“Even though I, Lorellia, am a devout priest, I am not stubborn enough to insist on wearing priestly robes that have become rags!”
“I mean your clothes. Either take them off or put them on—pick one.”
“I will put them on once the wounds are healed!”
Indeed, Lorellia’s body was covered in injuries.
Because she had removed her robes, all of them were clearly visible.
They were strange wounds.
Every one of them had frost clinging to it, the blood frozen solid. Some of them were deep enough that bone could be seen.
“She was not an easy opponent.”
As if she had noticed Yuri’s gaze, Lorellia smiled brightly.
Though she could almost be considered dressed only in underwear, Lorellia showed no embarrassment.
And aside from the initial surprise, Yuri did not feel particularly awkward either.
It was difficult to feel that way.
Lorellia’s pale body possessed both the beauty of a **divine statue** and the ferocity of a beast—no, a monster.
Every strand of muscle fiber seemed sharpened purely for violence.
All across Lorellia’s body were numerous scars, large and small, in addition to the injuries she had received from the **Silver Martial Queen**.
Among them, one stood out particularly clearly.
A scar that ran from her **abdomen to her chest**.
It was not a burn, yet it looked as though flames themselves had been carved into her flesh.
The thought that such a wound had been hidden beneath her spotless priestly robes left Yuri momentarily speechless.
“My body is not such a pleasant sight, so please do not stare so intently.”
Lorellia said this with a cheerful smile.
Yuri shook his head seriously.
“I wasn’t looking with that kind of thought. But… do scars not disappear even after **rebirth through body reconstruction**?”
“Ordinary scars disappear. The ones left on my body are not ordinary.”
“Not ordinary… who gave you that scar?”
“Who do you think?”
The faint smile cracked slightly.
“The **Heavenly Demon**.”
The one who had once been Lorellia’s **senior brother**.
“In the past, I, Lorellia, was defeated by his **Heavenly Demon Divine Art**, and that left scars on my body that cannot be erased. I have undergone rebirth through body reconstruction several times since then, but this wound has never disappeared.”
“……”
“But the wounds the Silver Martial Queen inflicted will not become scars.”
“How was your battle with the Silver Martial Queen?”
“In the past, I defeated her without receiving major injuries. But this time, it was quite an enjoyable fight. It seems she trained diligently while I wandered in the depths of my inner demons and learned to control them. Her **Intent Manifestation** in particular was quite impressive.”
“If I could have witnessed your battle myself, it would have been a great learning experience.”
“It was not a battle that could have spectators.”
*Crack.*
The frost clinging to one of her wounds shattered and fell to the floor.
Then, with a faint **hiss**, thin smoke rose from the wound.
Without even using holy water, the deep wound—one that had exposed bone—began regenerating rapidly before Yuri’s eyes.
“I, Lorellia, should finish healing and then eat dinner. Yuri-nim need not worry any longer.”
It was a roundabout way of telling him to leave.
Yuri nodded and stepped backward.
“You were injured, so please rest well for a few days.”
“I will be perfectly fine by tomorrow! Ah, Yuri!”
At her call, Yuri stopped walking.
A **bottle of holy water** flew toward him from Lorellia.
“Give that to the Silver Martial Queen. She must have suffered a mental shock as well, so she likely will not wake up immediately—but her injuries should still be healed.”
“Yes.”
Yuri took the holy water and left the room, heading toward the **Yicheon Sword Sect’s infirmary**.
There stood **Yeonri Eunha**, her face full of despair, and the **Yicheon Sword sect Master, Gongsun Myeong**.
On a bed lay **Yeonri Sang-ah**, her entire body wrapped in bandages.
“Lady Lorellia asked me to deliver this holy water.”
Having already seen the effects of holy water, Yeonri Eunha’s face brightened immediately.
Gongsun Myeong accepted it with a sigh of relief.
“Thank you for bringing it. I was planning to visit Lady Lorellia shortly myself. How is she?”
“She is recovering, but it doesn’t seem like it will take long.”
“I see…”
A bitter smile spread across Gongsun Myeong’s face.
He had not dared say it aloud, but he had inwardly suspected that Yeonri Sang-ah might lose.
Even so, seeing his elder sister defeated like this still made his heart ache.
“What did the **Calamity Saint** say about my master?”
Yeonri Eunha finally opened her tightly closed lips.
Back in the snow cave, she had confidently declared that the **Heavenly Snow White Transformation Art** was the greatest martial art under heaven, and that the Silver Martial Queen stood close to being the strongest person alive.
*“Today she will achieve the revenge she long desired.”*
Yuri still remembered clearly how confidently she had said that while nodding firmly.
But seeing her master now lying unconscious after defeat, Yuri was not such a terrible person that he would mock her.
“She said it was an enjoyable fight.”
“…What?”
He had simply repeated Lorellia’s words honestly, but Yeonri Eunha’s expression turned fierce.
“Just because she said it was enjoyable does not mean she fought carelessly. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“I—I am not misunderstanding anything.”
Yeonri Eunha quickly composed her expression and stood up, cupping her fists toward Yuri.
“Thank you for bringing the holy water for my master.”
“I only delivered it.”
“I will go thank the Calamity Saint later today as well. And… I believe you may have a misunderstanding, so I should say a few words.”
“A misunderstanding…?”
Yuri had no idea what she was talking about.
“What misunderstanding? I have no misunderstanding about you.”
“No. You do have one. If misunderstandings are not resolved immediately, they slowly fester. So I will clear it up now.”
“Ah… alright. I don’t know what it is, but go ahead.”
“The **Heavenly Snow White Transformation Art** is the greatest martial art under heaven.”
“…What?”
“I did not say my master is definitely the strongest under heaven. I only said she is very close. I still believe that. There are only a handful of martial artists stronger than my master.”
“……”
“Although my master failed to achieve the revenge she desired today, that too will become the past by tomorrow. And someday she will achieve that revenge.”
Yuri could only blink at the rapid stream of words.
Even **Gongsun Myeong**, who was holding the holy water bottle, looked confused about what exactly was being said.
“So please listen without misunderstanding and consider my master’s proposal seriously.”
Having cleared up every misunderstanding in her own mind, Yeonri Eunha nodded with satisfaction.
“May I leave now?”
“Wait.”
Just as he tried to leave again, he was stopped.
“As my master fought the Calamity Saint, I also wish to fight you.”
“Are you confident?”
Yuri asked out of genuine curiosity.
She had just watched **Hwangbo Jin-cheol** get beaten senseless without landing a single proper hit.
And yet she wanted to fight?
His judgment might not be perfect, but from what he could see, **Snow Princess Yeonri Eunha’s** martial ability was perhaps half a step above Hwangbo Jin-cheol’s.
Even so, that was only near the **upper stage of the 5th Rank**.
She would certainly lose even against **Haryeong**.
At that level, she could not create any variable against Yuri.
“Confident?”
A cold smile formed on Yeonri Eunha’s lips.
“Just because you toyed with that fool Hwangbo Jin-cheol, it seems you now take me lightly as well. I am Yeonri Eunha, disciple of the Silver Martial Queen and heir of the great Yeonri Clan. I know you are stronger than me—but I will not suffer such a pathetic defeat as Hwangbo Jin-cheol.”
“I see.”
“My master once said that although she lost to the Calamity Saint in the past, she gained enlightenment about martial arts from that defeat. I too will likely lose to you, but I believe I can gain something from it.”
“…I am confident I can teach you something.”
Learning from defeat was a saying Yuri had heard many times.
And during his stay at the Yicheon Sword sect, he had experienced its truth more than once.
Defeat hurts.
And a defeat suffered by being beaten with fists hurts even more.
If **Yeonri Eunha** wished to learn from defeat—
Yuri resolved that he would sincerely deliver that painful lesson.
“Then… when would you like to have the match?”
“It would be best after my master regains consciousness.”
“Hmm… In my opinion… it might be better to have the match tomorrow, even if the **Silver Martial Queen** has not yet awakened.”
“Why do you say that?”
“If she wakes up and immediately sees her disciple lose, the psychological blow might not be small.”
He had said it out of consideration, but Eunha’s eyebrow twitched.
“Hmph… I know that you are strong, but that was too arrogant. Even if I lose, I will make sure you understand that the **Heavenly Snow White Transformation Art** of the Yeonri Clan and the Silver Martial Queen is the greatest martial art under heaven.”
“Yes, I understand. Let’s fight tomorrow.”
“You must not take me lightly like you did Hwangbo Jin-cheol. You must face tomorrow’s duel seriously.”
It was true that differences in Rank determined victory and defeat.
Yet Eunha’s gaze did not waver.
The **Heavenly Snow White Transformation Art** was the greatest martial art under heaven.
—
—
Only after **two days** had passed did **Yeonri Sang-ah** open her eyes.
“……”
She stared at the ceiling with empty eyes.
Where was she? Why was she here?
Those thoughts did not arise.
Everything she had seen and experienced before losing consciousness was far too vivid.
*I lost….*
She had fought with the resolve of a **life-and-death battle**.
From the beginning she had given her all—no, she had fought with everything she had.
Compared to the defeat long ago, she had fought far better this time.
She had led the battle exactly as she had imagined it hundreds, thousands of times.
Every trap she had prepared had been executed without mistake.
And yet she lost.
That simple truth was all that remained.
Just as Yeonri Sang-ah had spent decades honing herself without pause, the **Calamity Saint** had done the same.
“Sst… ssster…”
While she lay there staring blankly at the ceiling and chewing over her defeat, a trembling voice came from beside her.
Without looking, Yeonri Sang-ah let out a short sigh.
“How much… time has passed?”
“Two d-days…”
“Ha… I see. So I’ve been lying in bed for two days…”
Crimson flames like blood that kept surging forward no matter how much she froze them, shattered them, or pushed them back.
Several times she had been certain of victory.
Each time it had been overturned.
The **Moonfang Netherblade**, which could cut through anything, could not sever the Calamity Saint’s fists and feet.
Meanwhile, those fists and feet had crushed the martial arts Yeonri Sang-ah had built over decades.
“Ugh…”
Even recalling it briefly made her stomach churn.
She let out a low groan and slowly sat up.
“Mas… master. Y-you should rest…”
“It’s fine. I… I’m fine. My physical wounds have already healed.”
Her body felt a little stiff, but there was no pain.
Even though she had coughed blood several times, her internal organs no longer hurt.
For a martial artist of Yeonri Sang-ah’s level, even severe injuries could be recovered from as long as they did not die.
But the price of that duel with the Calamity Saint was not the sort of injury that should heal completely in **two days**.
“Who treated me?”
“The C-Calamity Saint… g-gave us holy water…”
“Haa…”
At her disciple’s answer, Yeonri Sang-ah let out another long sigh.
She had suspected as much when she realized her body had recovered so quickly.
But hearing it confirmed made her feel even more miserable.
“Is the Calamity Saint at Sword Mountain Peak again?”
“Yes…”
Indeed, when she looked out the window, the sun had already set and the sky was dark.
Yeonri Sang-ah nodded slowly while staring outside.
“I was certain of victory, yet it ended like this. I showed you something shameful, Eunha. Although I lost again this time… the next time will be different.”
“No… Master.”
What?
Lost in emptiness after failing to achieve the revenge she had pursued for decades, Yeonri Sang-ah frowned.
She had thought her hearing was still dull because she had just regained consciousness.
But that did not seem to be the case.
“Eunha?”
She turned her head.
On the bed right beside her lay **Yeonri Eunha**.
The face once praised as the **Snow Princess** had both cheeks swollen like dumplings, her lips split open, and bandages wrapped around her right arm and left leg.
“E-Eunha?!”
Yeonri Sang-ah jumped to her feet in shock.
“Master.”
Happy that her master had awakened safely after two days of unconsciousness from severe injuries, Eunha smiled faintly.
Because of her split lips, the smile revealed a **gap where one of her front teeth was missing**.
“Eunha! Eunha! What happened to your face?!”
“I… fought Cloud Dragon…”
“Cloud Dragon! That brat Cloud Dragon did this to your face?!”
Yeonri Sang-ah’s hair stood on end.
“I’ll capture that brat and break all four of his limbs!”
“Please calm down, Sister!”
Hearing the shouting, **Gongsun Myeong** rushed into the infirmary.
“Eunha was the one who requested the duel!”
“What?”
“She grabbed the reluctant Cloud Dragon and insisted on fighting him!”
What in the world had happened during the two days she was unconscious?
“B-But still… even in a duel! To turn Eunha’s face into such a mess…!”
“Well… when Cloud Dragon tried to avoid hitting her face, Eunha became angry and asked if he was looking down on her…”
What admirable pride.
For a moment Yeonri Sang-ah felt admiration for her disciple’s boldness.
But seeing Eunha’s swollen face and injured limbs made her hair stand on end again.
“And the treatment? Why hasn’t she been treated? Was the holy water too precious to use on my disciple?”
“She said… since her master was still unconscious and she had suffered the humiliation of defeat in an unauthorized duel… she could not allow herself the comfort of holy water…”
“Eunha!”
Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, Yeonri Sang-ah cried out.
Now that her master had awakened, there was no longer any reason to stubbornly refuse treatment.
“I’m glad you woke safely, Master.”
Although the broken tooth had not regrown, the wounds in her mouth had healed enough that her speech was clearer.
Seeing the gap-toothed smile of her disciple, Yeonri Sang-ah felt as though a hole had opened in her own heart.
*Teeth can always be replaced…*
She tried to comfort herself with that thought.
But it did little to ease her mind.
No matter what, hitting someone hard enough to break their teeth seemed excessive.
“How was Cloud Dragon?”
“I felt that I could never defeat him.”
Eunha answered without the slightest hesitation.
“This is not simply a matter of Rank. Even a master who had spent several more years at the **6th Rank** could not confidently claim victory against Cloud Dragon.”
“He certainly had remarkable skill with his fists.”
“It was not only his fists. In every aspect of body movement he overwhelmed me. Especially…”
Eunha paused, falling into thought.
Yeonri Sang-ah waited patiently.
“His eyes… or perhaps his senses… maybe a sixth sense…”
“Explain more clearly.”
“It felt as though he wasn’t just reading my movements—he was reading my **internal energy itself**. My techniques were cut off at the moment they began, and once I executed them, they felt like they were moving exactly as Cloud Dragon intended… That was the helplessness I felt.”
“That is quite strange.”
Judging from his fight with **Hwangbo Jin-cheol**, Cloud Dragon had received instruction from the **Fist King**.
He did not seem to have inherited the **Wave-Severing Fist** directly, but he appeared to have learned its underlying principles.
*No… was it stolen from him?*
The Calamity Saint’s words echoed in her mind.
She had not seen everything clearly because of the restraint used in that match, but Cloud Dragon’s skill in playing with Hwangbo Jin-cheol…
was not exactly the same as the Wave-Severing Fist.
*If Eunha’s words are true, and if he can use that ability even against someone of equal—or higher—Rank…*
Then there would be very few people at the **6th Rank** who could confidently claim victory against Cloud Dragon.
That meant a youth younger than her grand-niece Eunha had already reached the feet of the greatest masters in the world.
“Did you see Cloud Dragon’s limits?”
“No. I did not. He will become even stronger.”
And not just Cloud Dragon.
Yeonri Sang-ah had also felt dazzling potential in the **Sword Dragon** and the **Dark Flower**.
A few months ago, before they entered **Yicheon Sword Mountain**, they had merely been outstanding youths known as the **Dragon and the Flower**.
After descending the mountain, they would still be young.
But how far would their strength eventually reach?
“…Eunha.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Can you defy an avalanche?”
That mad training method of the Calamity Saint kept returning to her mind.
“I will definitely defy it.”
The lesson from yesterday’s defeat was simple.
Being hit by fists hurts.
And **Cloud Dragon’s fists** hurt enough to make one want to cry.
That pain had become a lesson in defeat.
To avoid pain, one must become strong enough **not to be hit**.
Cloud Dragon’s strength had been forged through training so harsh it bordered on madness.
“Let’s return to the clan.”
Yeonri Sang-ah had been deeply impressed by the Calamity Saint’s training methods.
But she did not want to remain at the Yicheon Sword sect any longer to ask for help training her disciple.
