“So this is the Dujiangyan Irrigation System?” [1] The escorts buzzed with excitement as they admired the engineering marvel known as the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Right in front of their eyes, the beautiful Min River, with its flashy myriad colors, was split into two by a man-made structure. Originally, as winter turned into spring, snowmelt from the nearby mountains would flow into the Min River and flood the nearby areas, causing great suffering to the people living there. To solve the problem, Lee Bing, a local official of Sichuan Province during the Qin Dynasty, together with his son Lee Rang, worked together to design and construct an irrigation system that would redirect the waters of the Min River and prevent flooding. All in all, more than ten thousand workers were mobilized for the construction which took eight whole years to complete. When the river stream, which was originally one, was divided into an outer river and an inner river, the waterway stabilized and the

CRACK! CLINK! Pieces of a broken sword were scattered across the ground. “Haa…” A man’s sigh of despair went unheard in the wind as he looked down at his broken sword. It was the Taoist from Kongtong Sect, Mu-Jin. “How did you... I even went so far as to use Sword Flux…” he muttered, puzzled. He hadn’t felt any chi surrounding Jin Mu-Won’s sword, and yet, his own Bamboo Blade was the one that was broken in half. This defied common sense. He lifted his head and glanced at the black sword resting against his neck. There was no doubting his defeat. “What happened? How did you break through my Sword Flux…?” “Sword Flux is simply a technique for emitting and condensing energy on the outside of one’s blade. What I did instead was increase the density of chi inside my blade.” “Did my sword break because of the difference in chi density?” Why aren't you reading this at northbladetl.blogspot.com? “From my point of view... Yes, it did.” “Is that so? I can't quite acce

The next morning, I scaled the White Cloud Mountain Range (白雲山) [1] together with Dad. The White Cloud Mountain Range was famous for its rugged mountains, steep rocky cliffs, and thick fog that lasted all year long. Naturally, it was also infamous for dozens of people going missing or falling down the cliffs every year. Not even mountain bandits are willing to make this place their hideout. However, this is also the reason why Maeng Ho-Ak, the Bandit King, hid his secret stash here. Over the last few decades, the other secret stashes had probably already been found and robbed. The White Cloud Mountain Range stash was the most well-hidden one, and also the one most likely to remain untouched. If I manage to obtain and consume the elixirs that Maeng Ho-Ak left behind, I will be able to solidify my foundations in the Heaven Defying Divine Art and become a lot stronger. That will vastly improve my job prospects. Why aren't you reading this at northbladetl.blogspot.com? W

Mu-Jin looked at Seol-Goong and asked, “What’s going on here?” Seol-Goong remained silent and did not reply. After all, what was he supposed to say? That he came here to kill Ham Ji-Pyung and erase the evidence of their wrongdoing while Mu-Jin, Mu-Hae, Mu-Wol and the other four distracted Jin Mu-Won? There was no way he could admit that to Mu-Jin, who knew nothing about the dark side of Kongtong. Besides, his part in their plan was supposed to be the easiest one. Ham Ji-Pyung had already lost all of his martial arts and was no threat to him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t taken into account the fact that Kwak Moon-Jung would protect the Ham family and stall for time until Jin Mu-Won arrived and smashed the wall. On the other hand, one man's misery was another man's fortune. By virtue of Kwak Moon-Jung and Jin Mu-Won’s interference, Ham Ji-Pyung was saved from the brink of death once more. Seeing that Seol-Goong wasn’t about to answer him, Mu-Jin turned to face Ham Ji-Pyung

“Ugh...” Having spent the whole of the last night drinking, Go Ju-Yeol couldn’t wake up until afternoon the next day. “I'm dying…” As he rubbed his throbbing head, I politely handed him some honey water that I had prepared in advance. “Uncle, please have some honey water. This honey was harvested by Yi Go-Eul, the village beekeeper, and it's perfect for hangovers.” “Ooh…Thank you, Ryong.” As Go Ju-Yeol gulped down the honey water, Dad, who was lying weakly next to him, looked at me with foggy eyes. He opened his mouth, which stunk of alcohol, and groaned, “What about my honey water?” “We’re out of honey. I used up the last of what we had making Uncle’s share.” Why are you not reading this at northbladetl.blogspot.com? “...Couldn’t you have just diluted the honey water and made enough for two?” “Absolutely not. That would reduce the effectiveness of the honey. Besides, Uncle is our guest, and your best friend whom you haven’t met in almost thirty years. You

I found it strange that Go Ju-Yeol, the Flying Eagle, would suddenly tell us about the remnants of the Blood Cult despite it being a secret. Is he a loose-lipped person? If that was true, then I would be relieved. However, it was impossible for someone like that to become the Second Captain of the Investigation Squad at the Murim Alliance. That can only mean that he’s revealing this information on purpose. The murim is a place where schemes and deceptions abound. The only way to survive in such a place is to always be alert, and to carefully observe others’ words and body language. Thus, that is exactly what I did. From what I can see, he’s on guard against us. Why are you not reading this at northbladetl.blogspot.com? Go Ju-Yeol’s hands were placed lightly on top of his knees, which was a very convenient position to strike from. His eyes continually flickered around the room, as if he was planning his moves beforehand. The placement of his feet is the most importan