Jinsoyun

Jinsoyun (Korean version: Jin Seo Yeon) was the former pupil of Jiwan, the Righteous Blade. With the Twilight's Edge in her hand and Dark Chi fueling her martial arts prowess, she appears to be unstoppable. Seeking revenge for the death of her master, she orchestrates the events which put the entire Earthen Realm at stake. She has a knack for taking a person's weakness or hatred and twisting it to her own needs.

Upon her rebirth, free of any memory of her dark past, Jinsoyun enrolls at the Hongmoon School alongside Ryu, Jinbin, Bunyang, and Bunah. She is affectionately called "Soyun".

History
Jinsoyun was born a servant to a wealthy family in Highland Central. When the gate to the Dark Realm was opened during a botched Divine Mandate Ritual, the whole city fell under the influence of Dark Chi. Poisoned by Dark Chi, frightened, and nearing death, the young Jinsoyun was rescued when Jiwan, despite the warnings of the other Guardians, healed her and took her in as her first and only pupil.

She lived happily under the tutelage of Jiwan who showered her with motherly affection and love. Jiwan hoped that Jinsoyun would one day overcome the Dark Chi that still threatened to overcome her soul.

Before the Dark Chi took over Jinsoyun, Jiwan decided against the wishes of her fellow Guardians to transfer her Chi into Jinsoyun to purge the Dark Chi forever. The process was interrupted when Mushin struck Jiwan down, demanding the Twilight's Edge. Jiwan weakly urged Jinsoyun to flee with the sword. Despite some protests, Jinsoyun obeyed, taking the sword in hand and ran down the steps of Jiwan's Peak. Mushin, Iksanun, and Hong Sokyun confronted her before she was able to leave Jiwan's Peak.

Seeing a perfect opportunity to use the situation for his own purposes, Mushin accused Jinsoyun of betraying her master and stealing the sword. Iksanun remarked on the commonality of a pupil murdering their own master for their own selfish needs. Before Jinsoyun had a chance to tell the truth, Mushin rushed to silence her with a fatal blow. The badly wounded Jiwan flung herself before in front of the attack, sacrificing herself for her beloved student. Distraught and angry at the loss of her master, Jinsoyun took up the Twilight's Edge and attacked the Guardians. She managed to severely wound Iksanun and leave Mushin with a scar on his face before Hong Sokyun delivered a powerful blast that sent her falling tearfully off Jiwan's Peak to her presumed death. As she fell, the Dark Lord spoke to her, offering her the power to take vengeance. He transported her to the Aransu School in Gunwon City.

Jinsoyun woke to a young Sanzu urging her bodyguard to help the stranger who fell from the sky. Confused and unsure of where she was, Jinsoyun thanked the bodyguard for their help. Sanzu brought Jinsoyun to the Aransu School Healer Yulin who made a tonic for her. Still disoriented, Jinsoyun was surprised to learn how far she had fallen from Jiwan's Peak and found recalling the fate of her master too painful to disclose. Jinsoyun was unaware that her presence at the Aransu School had brought Dark Chi into their midst. Even so, she felt unwelcome as the Aransu apprentices treated her as an outsider. Sanzu took Jinsoyun to the sacred falls against the other apprentices' wishes, in hopes of befriending her and helping her heal but are soon attacked by a mysterious corrupted boar. Sun Quan, Sanzu's father, arrived regarding Jinsoyun's suspicious arrival and the strange boar attack too odd to be a coincidence. Jinsoyun thanked the bodyguard for helping her once again. She commented that the situation would not have become so bad were she still in possession of her master's sword, but did not reveal it was the Twilight's Edge. Jinsoyun and Sanzu head back to the Aransu School where Sanzu gave the famed Aransu Sword to Jinsoyun. Sanzu explained that she discovered that Jinsoyun learned sword fighting from Jiwan herself and that she had been attacked prior to arriving. She thought that Jinsoyun would be able to use the sword to defend herself.

Meanwhile, Sun Quan received news from a Silverfrost School messenger who reported that Jinsoyun had purportedly killed Jiwan to steal the Twilight's Edge. Sun Quan, convinced that Jinsoyun is a murderer out to get the Aransu Sword as well. Jinsoyun was worried that people might think she took the sword and explained that Sanzu gave her the sword. She thought that perhaps she would feel better and less helpless if she had a sword but she continued to remember her painful experience involving the Twilight's Edge and decided to return the sword. Before Jinsoyun was able to return the sword, corrupted Thralls threaten the sanctuary and Aransu School Apprentice Huyan arrived to escort Sanzu and Jinsoyun to safety. However, Sun Quan had his sentries gathered to corner Jinsoyun away from Sanzu, accusing her of attempting to steal the Aransu Sword. Despite trying to convince them otherwise, they attacked her, causing her Dark Chi to burst out and kill everyone around her. Sun Quan knocked her back to protect Sanzu. The Dark Lord once again spoke to her, offering her his power if she would join him. Jinsoyun's hatred and resentment towards everyone who had wrongly accused her of crimes she didn't commit came to a forefront and she succumbed to the Dark Lord's temptations. She was infused with Dark Energy, becoming a taller, powerful version of herself. She took the Aransu Sword and ran it through Sun Quan's throat, killing him. Sanzu swore she would one day kill Jinsoyun to which Jinsoyun responded that she would await that day before walking off to begin her long haul plan to summon the Dark Lord to the Earthen Realm to destroy the world that had revered her master's murderers.

With the guardians hidden away in seclusion, Jinsoyun swiftly rose to power. She first appealed to the budding Talus Dominion in their bid to take over the Stratus Empire in the Stratus-Talus War. She turned the tide in favor of the Talus with her dark powers. With the Talus Dominion in control of the Eastern Continent and the power granted to her as Royal Emissary, she quickly began unfolding her revenge plan. When Emperor Yunma Kahn saw Jinsoyun for what she truly was and refused to be her pawn any further, she locked him away in the Talus Dungeon and replaced him with a demon imposter. With her in control of the Emperor, she uses the Emperor's Talus Intelligence to keep tabs on everything happening within the empire. With the Talus capitol Zaiwei under her control, she then ordered the construction of an Altar of Divine Will all the while hunting down the remaining guardians who are the only ones capable of standing in her way.

Requiring copious amounts of Soulstones for the altar, sixteen years before, she led the Talus forces into Brightstone Village to forcibly seize control of the Soulstone Mine. Intent on also finding Iksanun there, she blocks the Skygate Dragon Pulse but accidentally forces the Mark of the Black Rose upon Madun instead. Requiring a powerful anchor like the Twilight's Edge for the ritual, she then turns her sights on Master Hong in Heaven's Reach.

Current Timeline
Promising Lusung power, Jinsoyun turns him against his master and fellow students. Lusung slowly weakens Master Hong with poison daily until she is finally ready to make her move. She attacks Heaven's Reach with her followers Gubong and Yura, killing all of the Hongmoon Disciples. Jinsoyun threatens to kill the last Hongmoon student, and Master Hong relinquishes the Twilight's Edge before Jinsoyun uses Dark Chi to kill him. Jinsoyun sends the last Hongmoon student flying off of Heaven's Reach with the Mark of the Black Rose, assuming them dead.

Followed closely by the last Hongmoon student, she continued to ravage the southern continent with Dark Chi as she passes through, laying waste to everything she touches. She tracks down the Tyrian Cult Leader, Gwihan, to take Mushin's Compass and find Mushin's Heir, a potential vessel. She kills Gwihan with Dark Chi before noticing the hero, subdued by the Black Rose. Lusung steps forward and offers to kill them, but Jinsoyun stops him, seeing that the hero could make a potential vessel. She sends Lusung off to kidnap Mushin's Heir, Yunwa, only to have him ignore her orders and use Yunwa to obtain Mushin's Legacy for himself. Jinsoyun arrives a the Wings of Mushin realizing Lusung's betrayal, killing off Colonel Yonkai and his brigade. Jinsoyun punishes Lusung for his insubordination by infusing him with Dark Chi, sending him to the Dark Realm.

Through her spy network, she learns of the Skyhaven Resistance, a secret rebellion against the Talus Dominion and Jinsoyun's forces, being led by none other than the Talus Princess, Yunma Fei. She approaches Ilsim, and feeds into his desire to take revenge upon Iksanun, who he believed betrayed Brightstone Village. Ilsim asks her to remove the Talus forces from Brightstone Village in exchange for bringing her the Skyhaven Leader. Jinsoyun uses Ilsim to act on the behalf of Brightstone to form an alliance with the Skyhaven, to lure the princess to a meeting at the Fish Stock. However, the Skyhaven sent a body double instead. Ilsim apologizes for his mistake and offers to bring Jinsoyun Iksanun instead. Jinsoyun knowing that Ilsim is Iksanun's son, she takes him with her to lure Iksanun back to Brightstone Village. She sends Yura to track down Iksanun to inform him that Jinsoyun has his son hostage. Meanwhile, Jinsoyun bestows Ilsim with the Twilight's Edge in the form of a small dagger, tasking him with killing Iksanun. Through betrayers of the Skyhaven Resistance, she learns of their plan to invade Zaiwei via the Skygate. She instead invades Brightstone once again through the opened Dragon Pulse. Ilsim stabs Iksanun before Jinsoyun comes and takes back the Twilight's Edge. When Ilsim asks that she keep her promise to free Brightstone Village, she tells him to go see for himself that the villagers are free. She floods Brightstone with Dark Chi, turning the villagers into demons that proceed to kill Ilsim.

Searching for a royal blood sacrifice, she tracks down Namsoyoo, revealed to be the daughter of the late Stratus Emperor Wan and Stratus Empress Namsolyn. She lands upon Captain Gwon's ship and approaches Namsoyoo. Promising to make Namsoyoo an empress, she spirits her away into the capitol, leaving Gwon for dead. At the capitol, she waits for the hero to arrives, planning to use them as a vessel. She asks that no one disturb her during the Hundred Day Prayer.

The hero, letting the Dark Chi inside them take over, infiltrates the palace to face off against Jinsoyun who is disappointed in their failure to defeat her. She dismisses the hero as a vessel realizing that Mushin must have been the one to cause their fall into darkness. Yura comes forth with Yunwa's unconscious body as a gift, but Jinsoyun is already aware that Yura is a double agent working with Mushin. She inflicts a severe wound upon the hero before having them thrown into the Talus Dungeon, fully expecting them to die with the extent of their injuries. With the Altar of Divine Will completed, she makes the final preparations for the ritual. It is assumed that she uses dark powers to speed up the day of the eclipse in order to catch the resistance movement by surprise. The day of the ritual, the hero attempts to use the Incantation of Clairvoyance to see into the ritual undetected. Somehow, Jinsoyun sees through the ruse and attacks the hero. Realizing that the hero is on their way to stop her, she completes the ritual. The Dark Gate opens above Zaiwei, flooding the capitol with demons and Dark Chi. She stands upon a floating stadium, waiting for the moment of her revenge.

Just as she released Yunwa's body to the Dark Gate, the hero arrives and battles her. She releases her demon form, explaining to the hero that it is the appearance of revenge. Defeated, she explains that her sole purpose for resurrecting as the Dark Lord's herald is to get revenge upon her master's murderer and destroy the world that defended him. She remarks how everyone is getting what they wanted: the Dark Lord would destroy the world, and the hero would finally take revenge on her for killing Master Hong. However, the hero decides to use the Twilight's Edge to purge the darkness inside Jinsoyun, leaving her unharmed. As the hero heads off to seal the Dark Gate, Jinsoyun marvels at the hero's answer, secretly hoping that she could have a second chance at life.

After the hero uses the Twilight's Edge to close the Dark Gate and the secret Hongmoon Arts to purify the world, Jiwan brings Jinsoyun's body to the hero at Heaven's Reach, asking that the hero purge her body of Dark Chi to give Jinsoyun a second chance. Jinsoyun's purified body is reverted back to the child that Jiwan found in Highland Central so many years ago. Jiwan thanks the hero before heading off to the Divine Realm with Jinsoyun.

Second Arc
After some time, Jiwan sends a letter to the hero through Dochun, requesting that they take Jinsoyun in as a student and guide her on the path of righteousness. Jinsoyun appears in the form of a cheery, sweet child with no memory of her previous life. Jinsoyun is taken to Snowforest Monastery to be looked after while the hero decides what to do with Jinsoyun. The new Eight Masters discover Jinsoyun's identity and come to kill her. The hero protects Jinsoyun, insisting that she is not the same person she once was. Despite some conflicted feelings, the hero agrees and Jinsoyun, affectionately nicknamed "Soyun", becomes a student of the Hongmoon School. She happily adjusts to her new life on Heaven's Reach and acknowledges the hero as her master. One year later, she falls ill and is taken to Bamboo Village to be cured. The new Bamboo Guard Captain Dodan assures the hero that their students will be escorted to Heaven's Reach safely once Jinsoyun is better. While the hero was away assisting Blackram Vice Admiral Poharan rescue her grandfather, Admiral Hae Mujin, the new Eight Masters abduct the sleeping Soyun.

They take her to Gunwon City where she is held within the Ebondrake Keep. Sanzu, a member of the original Eight Masters, walks in revealing that she was the one who ordered Jinsoyun's kidnapping. Jinsoyun demands that they let her go and that she hasn't done anything wrong. Sanzu meets in another room with the Ebondrake Dark Vicar, ordering them to take Jinsoyun to the East Gate within Dasari Palace.

At the altar within the Palace, Sanzu reveals herself as Zulia and the reason for taking Jinsoyun captive is to remove the fragment of the Twilight's Edge embedded in her body. After Zulia forcibly rips the shard from Jinsoyun's body, she leaves through a Dragon Pulse, leaving Jinsoyun unconscious. Jinsoyun is brought back to Admiral Chol Mugo's ship, the Iron Shadow. Jinsoyun mumbles in her sleep but is unable to wake up. The hero travels to Zaiwei to seek help from Royal Healer Lee Yen but learn that Zulia has placed a Dark Enchantment on Jinsoyun. While Jinsoyun's body is intact, her soul is no longer within the Earthen Realms and cannot be healed by any normal means. Jinsoyun is kept under the royal doctor's care as the hero looks to travel to the western continent, Solak, in search of Zulia.

Trivia

 * Jinsoyun appears as a playable character in Master X Master, another game developed by NCSOFT.