Chapter 10: Strangely enough, I’m having good luck today.

A woman born of southern lineage.

Kali, as she was called,
Had carved her own path in a world that shunned her for her different appearance.

Her journey began in her youth, when she, by chance, wielded a dagger and slaughtered a group of thugs who sought to violate her.

Despite swinging the blade purely on instinct, the thugs fell like leaves in a storm.

Moments before, they had approached her like vile beasts, but now they groveled, begging for their lives like terrified dogs.

Witnessing this,
Kali, once an orphan scraping by in the back alleys, learned how she must live and what she must pursue.

Power.

Unassailable, overwhelming power.

With it, she would fear nothing, and all would kneel before her.

Following this simple truth, she honed her innate talent alone, growing rapidly.

She soon defeated the renowned masters of Qinghai, earning a fearsome reputation as a tigress.
Though many skilled martial artists challenged her fame, they were merely stepping stones for her growth.

From first-rate warriors to those said to have crossed the peak-level threshold,
They came with bravado but always ended defeated, injured, or begging for mercy.

Kali, who never lost a fight, always emerged victorious.

But her life took a dramatic turn when she met an unexpected figure.

A man who introduced himself as the leader of the Kunlun Sect appeared before Kali, who had been wreaking havoc in Qinghai’s martial world.
He offered her a deal: stop causing trouble, and if she won, he’d cede leadership of the Kunlun Sect to her.

Though she cared little for the sect’s leadership, Kali had no reason to refuse a fight with an arrogant master.

Thus began a legendary duel that left its mark on Qinghai’s martial history.

And the result was Kali’s defeat by the slimmest of margins.

Her first taste of loss.

Yet, far from breaking her, it only fueled her thirst for greater power.

The failure to secure a victory she had taken for granted left her with an insatiable hunger.

To seize the win she had narrowly missed, she felt an urgent need to train harder than ever.

Thus, Kali moved to the lawless Gansu region, free from the Kunlun Sect’s oversight, dedicating herself to training.

Her training wasn’t solitary practice in seclusion but slaughtering living enemies, taking their lives to sharpen her killing techniques.

By becoming the bandits’ trump card, she gained a stage to engage in life-or-death battles against skilled martial artists.

The result was the perfection of her art:
Not restrained power, but an explosive technique that unleashed her full inner energy to end her opponent in a single strike.

The Black Tiger Ghost Blade.

A technique that concentrated all her power into the tip of her black dagger, ending her opponent’s life in one blow.

This art, refined with deadly precision, made her incomparably stronger than before.

Having reached her desired realm, she began preparing for a rematch with the Kunlun Sect leader, a goal she had never forgotten,
Treating this battle as a mere warm-up for that day.

But in this moment,
Kali felt as though all her years of effort—her entire life—
Were being utterly negated and crushed.

The man who had appeared before her
Effortlessly nullified her attack, one that had never failed her before.

‘What… have I been doing all this time?’

It was as if a naive child swinging a twig had encountered a bandit wielding a steel sword.

Gripped by overwhelming despair, Kali, consumed by unbearable fear, let go of the dagger she had never dropped in battle.

And then…

“Arghhh!!!”

She screamed and fled.

In that moment, her pride and dignity as a martial artist vanished entirely.

All she could think of was escaping this terrifying monster.

Using her legs, capable of moving faster than the wind, she fled with all her might.

“P-Please… spare me… I beg you… Argh!”

Hyangbi and the escorts mercilessly cut down every remaining bandit.

After the southern dancer fled, most bandits lost their will to fight, begging for mercy, but we showed none, ending their lives.

It might seem cruel, but the reality wasn’t so simple.

These were bandits—
Scum who stole lives and wealth to sustain themselves, destined for execution even if taken to the authorities.

In this martial world, unlike the modern one, there was no need to drag them to justice. Ending them here was no issue.

Moreover, with some escorts and caravan members killed in the battle, there was no room for mercy.

After dealing with most of the bandits,
Our gazes turned to the last one standing—the bandit chieftain.

“Why… why can’t we feast on such a juicy prize… I thought today was a lucky day…”

Muttering in a daze as his men lay dead around him,
One of the escorts swiftly beheaded him.

With the situation fully resolved, Hyangbi stood before me.

Covered in blood, her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
As always, I reached under her veil and gently patted her head.

“Well done, Hyangbi. You worked hard.”

“…Thank you.”

Though her voice was calm, her face flushed with clear joy.

After our usual moment of praise, Hyangbi asked with a hint of doubt:

“Um… but, Master… I mean, Oppa. Why did you let that woman go? She could cause trouble later.”

“You mean Black Beast Kali?”

“Huh? You knew who she was?”

Hyangbi looked surprised at my words.
Smiling, I shared some details I hadn’t mentioned during the earlier taunts.

“Of course. She’s quite famous in Gansu. She’s the only Hwa-kyung master around here, after all.”

“Oh… But if that’s the case, shouldn’t we have captured or killed her? If she reveals our identities…”

“No need to worry about that. Given the situation, there’s only one place she’ll go.”

“What do you mean…”

Hyangbi looked puzzled.

With a smile, I thought about what would come next.

‘This should make for a perfect gift, along with the letter.’

The Sichuan Tang Clan.

A prestigious sect that had ruled Sichuan for generations, a pillar of the Martial Alliance.

At this moment,
The key figures of the Tang Clan were gathered, expressing heated frustration.

“This is unacceptable! After all the sacrifices we made in the war against the Heavenly Demon, how can the Martial Alliance treat us like this?”

In the recent merit distribution following the Heavenly Demon’s defeat,
The Martial Alliance rewarded sects and clans with gold and treasures seized from the Demonic Cult,
Allowing those who suffered losses to recover somewhat.

But unlike other prominent sects, the Sichuan Tang Clan was relegated to second-tier merit, not first.

This naturally sparked immense dissatisfaction, given the clan’s significant contributions and heavy losses in the war.

“Have we protested to the Martial Alliance?”

“It was useless. They said they regret our losses but our contributions weren’t significant enough compared to others.”

“What nonsense is that?”

“Not significant? What kind of outrageous claim is that!”

“Our Clan Leader played a key role in slaying the Heavenly Demon, and they treat us like this? This cannot be overlooked!”

The more they spoke, the more heated the atmosphere grew.

But in this moment, their young Clan Leader, Tang Miryeong,
Was lost in thoughts far removed from the current discussion.

‘It’s my fault… I shouldn’t have let Hero Yang leave back then… At the very least, I should’ve stayed and searched for him.’