The dust scattered around the cave gate began to settle, revealing three figures standing proudly at the entrance. They wore black robes emblazoned with the red crescent moon emblem of the elite soldiers sent by the Demon Empress. Their leader, a man with a scar on his cheek, twirled his short spear in a showy gesture that, in Yoe Choin's eyes, was nothing but a waste of kinetic energy.
"Wow, wow. Look at this,"
the leader of the delegation smiled, his eyes narrowing at Moen Kang Yo, who stood upright in the darkness of the cave.
"So this little trash still has the strength to stand. Was the poison not enough, or are you just as stubborn as your mother?"
Inwardly, Moen Kang Yo was screaming with rage, his aura exploding, wanting to rip the man's heart out. However, Yoe Choin restrained him with the composure of a foreman dealing with a troublesome subcontractor.
"Patience, Boss. Don't get emotional yet,"
Choin whispered in his conscious space.
"If we attack carelessly, this newly repaired energy will break again. Let me handle this first 'audit.'"
Choin didn't respond to the insult with a curse. Instead, he took a deep breath, allowing Qi to flow through the meridian pathways he was now managing like the distribution of weight on a skyscraper. The world around Choin suddenly changed. The stone walls, the enemy's weapons, and even the opponent's posture were now covered in transparent Blueprint lines.
As a civil engineer, Choin didn't see them as warriors, but rather as flawed structures:
Leader of the Envoy: The point of load is on the slightly tilted left knee, indicating an old injury that wasn't promptly addressed.
Enemy Qi Flow: Overly focused on the right shoulder, causing the left side to lose dynamic balance.
Structural Weakness: The neck area that opens wide every time he laughs—a fatal ventilation gap.
"Hey, Bill Collector,"
Choin's voice was cold and flat, breaking the silence of the cave.
"You entered my 'project' area without permission, insulted the 'materials' I manage, and worst of all... you have a messed-up fighting pose."
The envoys were stunned for a moment, looking at each other, confused by the terms
"project" and "materials"
coming from the mouth of the supposedly dead young master.
"Have you gone mad from Qi deviation?!"
The leader of the envoys lost his temper and lunged forward with his spear.
The strike was swift, aimed straight for the heart. However, in Choin's eyes, the strike had a very predictable force vector. Using the laws of classical mechanics, Choin didn't retreat. Instead, he stepped forward an inch toward the spear's dead angle.
He positioned his feet at a 45° angle, a position designed to absorb even the most extreme shock loads.
Choin let the spear slide just millimeters past his robes, then he twisted his body, converting his opponent's momentum into torque for his Black Iron Heavy Sword.
"In construction, if you can't handle the load, you'll break,"
Choin said.
"And now, it's time for demolition."
The black sword, as heavy as a pile driver, swung in a perfect arc, ready to strike the weak point in the demon empress's envoy's body structure.