Chapter 190: Chapter 190
“They are coming. Sect Leader Senior Martial Brother.”
“……I see.”
Watching Cheon-hwi’s party coming up the mountain, the Sect Leader swept his chest once.
“I was worried because they were a little late……. It was an unnecessary concern.”
“It is an unnecessary worry. Didn’t Cheon-hwi go with them?”
Beside him, the Pavilion Lord of the Martial Training Pavilion laughed.
Seeing that smile, the Sect Leader also inadvertently wore a soft smile.
“Your words are correct.”
It was a statement that revealed infinite trust.
It would be a matter of course.
The actions and things Cheon-hwi had done so far instilled trust in them.
While the two were laughing.
“Huh? What brings you out to the mountain gate?”
Cheon-hwi, who had approached at some point, asked.
The Sect Leader looked at the somewhat puzzled Cheon-hwi with a pleased face.
“I was getting some fresh air for a moment.”
“Yes? Fresh air?”
Cheon-hwi looked at the Sect Leader with a face asking what he was talking about.
‘What kind of vague talk is this?’
If it was wind, it was everywhere.
There was no need to come out to the mountain gate.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. I was going to meet with the Sect Leader anyway.’
Cheon-hwi met the Sect Leader’s gaze.
“I have completed the mission.”
“Yes, everyone worked hard.”
The Sect Leader looked over Cheon-hwi’s shoulder. The Flying Sword Squad and Fire Spirit Squad, including Jeok-geom and Cheon-hyang, looked out of breath.
“……It seems they suffered quite a bit.”
“What suffering? They are like that because they lack stamina.”
Cheon-hwi clicked his tongue ‘Tsk’ and spoke.
“To think they are trembling their legs like that after running only that distance, phew.”
‘Only that distance……?’
‘We covered a distance that would take four days on horseback in just two days using footwork!’
At that, a few instantaneously flared up.
After leaving the Sayu Valley, they returned quickly to the Mount Hua Sect by repeating only these two things: footwork and circulating qi.
If asked whether it was a short distance, it was not, so from their standpoint, they felt wronged.
However.
“…….”
None of them spoke.
Having spent time with Cheon-hwi and knowing his temperament, they just kept their mouths shut.
It was because what would happen if they spoke was vivid in their eyes.
At that time, Cheon-hwi let out a low voice.
“To be this exhausted. I will have to make the training a bit harder than now.”
It was a sound like a bolt out of the blue.
Even Jeok-geom, who had received training from Cheon-hwi for a long time, was startled and hurriedly ran over.
“Ma, Martial Uncle!”
“Why?”
“R, right now the training is also overwhelming. But if you make it harder here, it will be difficult…….”
“Oh? So you’re saying you can’t do it?”
Jeok-geom sweated profusely.
“It’s not that, how about we increase it a little slowly…….”
“Wow, you are more relaxed than I thought.”
Cheon-hwi looked at Jeok-geom and the Flying Sword Squad.
“Didn’t you realize anything from this mission?”
“Yes……?”
Cheon-hwi fluently spat out words while pointing at the Flying Sword Squad members one by one with his index finger.
“Those three over there suffered injuries on their forearms, and Jeok Wun, I saw back then, was almost cut on the side by a sword. And those two together over there…….”
“Heup!”
“Wh, when?!”
When he recited their shortcomings without missing a single person, their faces gradually darkened and lowered down.
“And Jeok-geom.”
Cheon-hwi’s index finger finally pointed straight at Jeok-geom right in front of him.
“You aren’t hurt anywhere, but you were mesmerized by the Flying Sword Formation and made a mistake in the middle. So you suffered a shallow internal injury, didn’t you?”
Jeok-geom deeply bowed his head.
“……That is correct.”
“There are no severely injured, but ten lightly injured. Is that all? If you had just deployed the Flying Sword Formation properly, half of the lightly injured would have ended up with just bruises. But what? The training is overwhelming? Even after suffering that state right now?”
Cheon-hwi shook his head side to side.
“There is absolutely no sense of crisis.”
“…….”
“Why do you think you do training?”
Cheon-hwi frowned.
And then he opened his mouth while glaring at the disciples lined up behind Jeok-geom.
“It is all to prepare for actual combat.”
“Prepare for actual combat……?”
“No matter how hard you train and raise your realm, if you make a mistake in actual combat, the one that dies is your life. Look at yourself too. Thanks to sparring and training with me this time, you won easily. Didn’t you?”
“That is…….”
“If I hadn’t taught you the Flying Sword Formation, or if we hadn’t sparred, how do you think it would have been?”
“……!”
For a moment, Jeok-geom’s body trembled.
As if a lightning bolt had struck down, he trembled and gently bit his lower lip.
“A few people would have lost their lives.”
“You know it well. But you say such words while knowing that?”
“I apologize. Because this martial nephew was lacking, I did not know Martial Uncle Cheon-hwi’s lofty intentions.”
Jeok-geom deeply bowed his head.
“Tsk, you are late, but it is a relief you know even now. Then since you realized it, shouldn’t you train?”
“Yes?”
When Jeok-geom let out an absent-minded sound.
“Falling Goose Peak three times.”
Cheon-hwi smiled brightly and pointed at the peak of Falling Goose Peak with his finger.
“I will give you an ample amount of time, one double-hour.”
Along with the words, his smile deepened.
As if they had only then grasped the situation, the faces of Jeok-geom and the Flying Sword Squad became on the verge of tears.
“Dammiiiiit!”
“I thought we would rest a bit now……!”
The Flying Sword Squad spat out spiteful sounds, and at the same time, they hurriedly started running.
Cheon-hwi, who was watching that, tilted his head.
“What are you doing not going there?”
“Us too……?”
Cheon-hyang asked in a panic.
“Then are you not going?”
“…….”
“It is one double-hour.”
Following closely, the Fire Spirit Squad also chased after the Flying Sword Squad with all their might and ran towards Falling Goose Peak.
Around the time everyone climbed Falling Goose Peak.
“Wouldn’t it be good to rest for about a day?”
The Sect Leader approached.
“No. Then it will be late.”
Cheon-hwi cut off the Sect Leader’s words completely.
“Even normally we are in a position of chasing, but if we rest even for a day, we have to suffer more than twice as much the next day. Rather, even if it is difficult right now, it is better for the future.”
“That is also true.”
The Sect Leader nodded his head.
Postponing was easy.
However, chasing as much as it had been delayed was the most difficult thing than anything else in the world.
‘Moreover, even more so in the current situation.’
At that time, Cheon-hwi spoke to the Sect Leader.
“I have something to say for a moment.”
A short while later, Cheon-hwi and the Sect Leader arrived at the Purple Mist Pavilion and sat facing each other.
Pour…
The Sect Leader asked while pouring tea.
“What is the matter for you to do so?”
“This time, I tore down the Sayu Valley.”
“Yes, you tore down the Sayu Valley…….”
At the overly calm words, the eyes of the Sect Leader, who had been speaking calmly, slightly widened.
It was a bewildering statement.
The mission he gave Cheon-hwi was to help the Hwayu Escort Agency, not to tear down the Sayu Valley.
“How did that happen?”
“The guys who attacked the Hwayu Escort Agency turned out to be the guys sent by the Sayu Valley. So, to pull out the roots as well, I struck them in a fit of anger.”
“In a fit of anger……?”
The Sect Leader looked at him absurdly.
Laughter did not even come out.
To just annihilate an entire sect in a fit of anger?
It was something he had never heard or seen in his entire life.
The Sect Leader pressed his forehead.
A headache came slightly.
‘Everything else is good……. But that confidence is a worry.’
He exhaled a deep breath and looked at Cheon-hwi.
He became worried.
Not to mention his martial prowess, his mind was also extraordinary.
But perhaps because he was too outstanding, there was no hesitation in his actions.
‘I only hope that confidence doesn’t hold him back in the future…….’
The Sect Leader, who smiled bitterly, opened his mouth.
“I will contact the Zhongnan Sect separately.”
Cheon-hwi wore a smile.
‘It means he understands right away if I just give a hint.’
The Sect Leader’s eyes became serious.
The soft impression disappeared, and the dignity of the Sect Leader filled his face.
“It is an all-out war with the fate of Shaanxi on the line.”
“And we have to finish it completely this time.”
“To finish it completely is…….”
The Sect Leader’s eyes flashed.
“Do you have a method?”
Cheon-hwi nodded his head and spoke.
“Please tell the Zhongnan Sect to wait quietly for about fifteen days.”
The Sect Leader’s eyebrows twitched.
“I think it would be better to move before those guys notice that the Sayu Valley has been annihilated.”
“Even if we attack now, we will only catch the empty husks. The guys who manipulated from behind would immediately cut off their tails and flee.”
Cheon-hwi half-opened his eyes.
“Then guys like the Divine Province Four Supremes would pop out from somewhere else again.”
“So you mean we wait.”
“That is right.”
The Sect Leader asked with a puzzled expression.
“However, if we keep waiting, those guys will try to hide their bodies even more.”
“If everything collapsed, they would. But right now, only the Sayu Valley collapsed, the other Divine Province Four Supremes are almost intact.”
The Sect Leader stroked his beard.
“Hmm, so you mean it is not yet the time for them to cut their tails.”
“Just because a pavilion is slightly broken, you do not build a new one. Repairing the broken parts is cheaper and more convenient.”
Cheon-hwi’s corners of the mouth twisted.
It was a smile as if he had some sort of scheme.
“Since they were driven into a corner like this, they will somehow test the waters one last time. And at that time, we should pull them all out and crush them completely. So that they can never step foot in Shaanxi again.”
* * *
Four days later, the top floor of the Wind Moon Pavilion.
Normally it would have been a space full of the strumming and laughter of courtesans greeting precious guests, but right now it was very silent.
That was because there were no courtesans in the room.
Only two men were present.
They were the Golden Brilliance Manor Lord and the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader.
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord, who heard the news of the Sayu Valley’s annihilation, secretly contacted the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader and had an emergency meeting.
However, the two of them just tilted their liquor cups without saying anything for about a quarter of an hour.
After doing so for a while.
“What are we going to do now?”
The Soul-Snatching Sect Leader opened his mouth.
His gaze stared at the Golden Brilliance Manor Lord.
In his two pupils, many emotions intersected and swirled.
Anxiety, excitement, panic…….
Most of them were negative emotions.
Rightfully so, it had only been a short while ago that the Divine Province Four Supremes had joined hands and were just about to stretch out.
However, one axis had completely collapsed.
“……Do we have anything to decide?”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord was unexpectedly calm.
No, he looked as if he had taken a philosophical view.
“Since the Divine Province Four Supremes joined their forces, we have crossed a river of no return.”
When the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader’s face contorted.
“You know it well.”
A soft voice interjected.
A woman was sitting between the two.
Very naturally, as if she had been there from the beginning.
‘When did she sit next to us?’
‘……I didn’t even feel her presence.’
The backs of the Golden Brilliance Manor Lord and the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader became damp with sweat.
They knew that the woman was a master.
However, did this not differentiate the class?
Around the time the two were breaking out in cold sweat.
“Shall I tell you a method to overcome this situation?”
The woman let out a whisper.
At that moment, the Golden Brilliance Manor Lord’s eyes widened.
“Is there a method?”
“It is simple.”
The woman moved her red lips.
“Request support from them.”
“……Are you suggesting we wage an all-out war?”
“Do we have a choice?”
The outer corners of the woman’s eyes curved.
“They already helped you guys while bearing a huge loss. They wouldn’t want to lose what they have built up so far any longer.”
“The opponents are Zhongnan and Mount Hua. Even if they provide support, the numbers are limited. Since we are pushed back starting from the number of masters, the odds of winning are practically non-existent.”
“We just don’t have to fight sect versus sect.”
“What is that…….”
“Couldn’t we just propose a spar putting the fate of the sects on the line?”
“……!”
“……Sp, spar?!”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord and the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader were astonished.
It was a method of striking a blind spot.
If the number of masters was large, then only a limited number would clash from the very beginning.
However, that also had a problem.
“In Zhongnan and Mount Hua, there are numerous masters lined up, including the Zhongnan Sword Saint and the Mount Hua Divine Sword. Even if it is a spar, there are no odds of winning.”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord spat out skeptical words, and the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader nodded his head up and down as if agreeing with those words.
The woman, who saw that, swept over her lips.
“Therefore, you have to request support.”
“……You mean a master?”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord’s eyebrows wriggled.
“Do you think they will send such a master?”
“They will probably send one thinking it is rather good. Because instead of uselessly sending many troops, they would be able to handle it with just one master. On top of that, since they won’t die if it is a spar, from their standpoint, there wouldn’t be anything to regret, right?”
“It means it’s good if it works out, and if not, then drop it.”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord bit his lip.
Ultimately, these people were intending to put them forward and use them until the very end.
But what could they do?
He was the one who joined hands with them.
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord sighed and spoke.
“However, even so, we will not be able to defeat the Zhongnan Sword Saint and the Mount Hua Divine Sword.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The Zhongnan Sword Saint has left Shaanxi right now.”
The woman’s lips twisted.
“And since the Mount Hua Divine Sword is currently staying at the Murim Alliance, it will take a long time to come. So we just have to hurry and push forward with the spar before the two arrive in Shaanxi.”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord was momentarily enticed but.
“Then, wouldn’t they refuse?”
He pointed out the core contained in the words.
“No. They can never refuse. Because we will say let’s end the unnecessary disputes and settle the match with a spar. But if they postpone or refuse the spar?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
“Would they be able to handle the public’s gazes that will arise from that?”
The woman spoke, filled with certainty.
They were the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
Instead, the Divine Province Four Supremes were an emerging Unorthodox Faction.
But if the Unorthodox Faction, the Divine Province Four Supremes, recommended a spar to Zhongnan and Mount Hua saying they would end the long dispute, but they deliberately postponed it?
If that happened, it would cause an uproar.
Because they would be branded as sects with nothing without the Zhongnan Sword Saint and Mount Hua Divine Sword.
The status of Zhongnan and Mount Hua, which had already been shaken after being defeated by the Divine Province Four Supremes, might plummet to the ground.
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord carefully asked.
“Do you think we could win if it is a spar?”
“It depends on what kind of master they send from that side. Even if they don’t have the Zhongnan Sword Saint and the Mount Hua Divine Sword, it is a place lined with formidable masters.”
“Then, how about you?”
The woman smiled beamingly.
“If it isn’t the Sword Saint and the Mount Hua Divine Sword, it is easy.”
The Golden Brilliance Manor Lord’s eyes became wide.
Didn’t what those words meant was that the woman would unconditionally bring victory?
‘Is her skill really at that level?’
He closely stared at her.
Her pupils, spitting out words full of confidence, had absolutely no wavering.
“Good.”
He stood up from his seat and spoke.
“I will request support immediately. What will the Soul-Snatching Sect Leader do?”
The Soul-Snatching Sect Leader, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, frowned and nodded his head.
“I will follow. Thinking about it, there doesn’t seem to be a better method than this either.”
“Everyone’s opinions have aligned.”
The woman also stood up slowly.
“Then, let us send a letter to Zhongnan and Mount Hua in the name of the Four Demons Gang ten days later.”
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