Return of the Martial Soul – Chapter 5: The Fifth Echo – Wind That Cuts the Sky

  Part I: The Gathering Storm

  Mujin had barely descended from the volcanic shrine of Wungcheon when a storm began to brew—not in the skies, but among the powers of Baekje and beyond.

  Four of the Seven Treasures had now awakened.

  And so had the world’s attention.

  In the royal court of Baekje, word of the fourth relic’s activation stirred unease.

  “The Heaven’s Seal pulses with too much power,” muttered Chancellor Hwang Jisuk.

  General Yu Jangcheon clenched his fists. “Then we move first. Before the relics choose him completely.”

  The king sat in silence, his gaze drifting toward the horizon.

  “A wind will rise,” he said softly. “And we must know if it will carry us—or cut us down.”

  Far away, beyond the eastern ridges, Mujin and Woon Gihyeon traveled deeper into a hidden mountain range known as Piryong-san, where the next treasure was rumored to slumber.

  It was an area said to be unreachable by map or memory—only felt by those attuned to the Heaven’s Seal.

  Bifung remained behind to gather intel on new movements from the shadow sects. Mujin now traveled only with Gihyeon—and his own questions.

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  “Why me?” Mujin asked. “Why not someone from this world?”

  Gihyeon did not look back. “Because your soul bears no roots in this land. Which means... it can pass through barriers we cannot.”

  Part II: The Blade of Wind, the Trial of Echoes

  After a day’s trek, they arrived at a glade filled with floating spores that shimmered under moonlight. At its center stood an ancient stone platform with spiral carvings, half-covered in moss.

  The Heaven’s Seal pulsed rapidly.

  “This is it,” Gihyeon whispered. “The Fifth Echo.”

  A sudden gust of wind knocked them back.

  From the spiraling platform rose a humanoid figure, its body formed entirely of dancing wind currents and razor-thin airblades.

  “Name yourself,” it spoke—not aloud, but inside Mujin’s mind.

  “I am Kang Mujin,” he replied, planting his feet. “Bearer of the Heaven’s Seal.”

  The wind-entity raised a translucent sword, its edges whistling like a storm.

  “You must cut, and be cut. To claim the blade of skies.”

  The duel began.

  Mujin struggled at first. Each strike from the wind-being left fine cuts across his arms and cheek. But he began to see the rhythm—not just in its attacks, but in the entire glade.

  Every gust, every sway of leaf, was part of a larger breath.

  He closed his eyes. He matched that breath.

  When the wind-being came again, Mujin did not block. He redirected.

  He flowed.

  One final spin—guided by the pulse of the seal—and Mujin landed a blow through the center of the entity.

  It paused, nodded once, and then vanished.

  In its place hovered a dagger forged of wind crystal and soft silver.

  The Skycut Fang—the fifth treasure.

  Part III: Shadows in the Rain

  As Mujin held the Skycut Fang, clouds gathered above them.

  A sudden downpour began, drenching the glade.

  From within the trees, black-clad figures emerged.

  Not spirits. Not guardians. But assassins.

  Emissaries of the Heaven-Killing Sect—a group long thought extinct.

  Woon Gihyeon stepped forward, his robes already soaked.

  “Get ready. They’ve come not for the treasure… but for your life.”

  Lightning cracked the sky.

  And Mujin, holding the wind-carved dagger, finally understood.

  Every treasure he found... attracted not only truth—but war.

  To be continued.