Chapter 236: Chapter 236
A middle-aged man with an appearance like a wild beast.
The Green Forest Great Emperor, Im Yang Baek, stared at Heavenly Ear Beggar with a gaze as hard as a rock.
“The sun must be rising in the west. To think I would meet you, who shudders at the very mention of the Martial Alliance, in a branch of the Martial Alliance.”
“Ahem, it’s not something to be so surprised about.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar coughed in vain, struggling to shake off the tension.
“Isn’t it stranger for you to invade than for me to be here?”
At the ensuing words, Im Yang Baek twisted one corner of his mouth.
“I suppose that’s true.”
“What brings you all the way here? You’ve been cooped up in the General Stronghold for ten years.”
“There is only one reason, isn’t there?”
“If it’s one thing…”
“Hengshan Stronghold.”
“That’s unexpected. I didn’t know you cared for your subordinates so dearly.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar was struggling to converse comfortably right now, but his insides were greatly agitated and noisy.
‘To think this guy came in person.’
No matter how much the Hengshan Stronghold had suffered, who would have thought that he, the General Stronghold Leader, would come directly to the branch in person?
“Then are you planning to take your subordinates back?”
“You ask the obvious.”
Im Yang Baek’s eyes sank coldly.
“Release them all.”
At those words, Heavenly Ear Beggar clicked his tongue.
“Your face has grown thicker in the time I haven’t seen you. You were the ones who attacked. Yet you think you can just take them as you please… Keuk!”
Grab!
While he was speaking, Im Yang Baek seized his neck.
‘Wh-when?’
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s pupils shook.
He didn’t even see the hand move.
It merely felt like something suddenly appeared, and then a thick hand full of scars was gripping his neck.
“You’ve always had too many useless words since the old days.”
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s gaze grew cold.
Heavenly Ear Beggar struggled against the emotionless eyes and parted his lips.
“Keu, keuk. If, if you kill me… the Martial Alliance won’t… leave the Green Forest… alone…”
“Are you daring to threaten me?”
Im Yang Baek put more strength into his hand.
“Keuk, keu-geu-geuk!”
“Great Hero!”
Gang In-hyo was terrified.
The thick veins bulging on the strangled Heavenly Ear Beggar’s neck made it seem like he would die at any moment.
“Ha Ap!”
Urgently drawing up his internal energy, he extended both hands with a shout.
Rumble!
Along with a sound of thunder, an intense palm wind cut through the air and was shot at Im Yang Baek.
Gang In-hyo unleashed the Thunderbolt Palm that had elevated him to the position of Martial Alliance branch leader, but…
“Pathetic.”
Im Yang Baek looked down on his move as ridiculous and spread his left hand wide open.
At that moment.
“……!”
Gang In-hyo felt completely overwhelmed.
The palm full of scars momentarily grew larger and was grasping the Thunderbolt Palm.
Crackle!
It seemed as if lightning sparked within the palm, but it soon became quiet.
Im Yang Baek lightly unfurled his clenched left fist and aimed for Gang In-hyo’s head.
An incomparably slow movement.
However, Gang In-hyo could not avoid it.
It was because he couldn’t twitch a single finger the moment he faced the palm.
‘Ah, was the Green Forest Great Emperor at this level of skill…?’
When Gang In-hyo tightly closed his eyes, giving up on living as the hand approached.
“D-damn it…!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar kicked out through his gritted teeth.
Smack!
“Keuk!”
Gang In-hyo’s body floated up and flew away.
Was it because he was in a defenseless state?
Gang In-hyo, who took a direct hit from Heavenly Ear Beggar’s Jade Shattering Kick, fainted on the spot.
“Good judgment.”
Im Yang Baek, who spoke in a low voice, lifted Heavenly Ear Beggar effortlessly.
“Ugh!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar struggled to grasp Im Yang Baek’s wrist, which was still holding his neck, and parted his lips.
“A-are you… trying to… start a war now?”
“A war, that sounds good too.”
“C-crazy… bastard!”
“Hehe. As expected of a Beggars’ Sect disciple, you know me very well.”
Im Yang Baek, who laughed chillingly, roughly threw Heavenly Ear Beggar, whom he had been holding in his hand.
Crash!
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s body, which flew helplessly, slammed into the wall, and he vomited blood from his mouth.
“Keuheok!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar struggled to his knees.
‘My, my internal injuries…!’
He urgently drew up the Eight Drunken Immortals Footwork to mend his messy insides.
The internal energy spreading throughout his entire body calmed his internal injuries in a single breath and helped him regain stability.
‘A-at this rate, even escaping will be difficult.’
Heavenly Ear Beggar, who had somewhat sorted out his insides, wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
‘Was this guy this strong? If it’s this martial prowess, even compared to the Sword Saint…’
Biting his lip, he looked at Im Yang Baek.
At that moment, his mouth opened.
“I will give you one last chance.”
Im Yang Baek said with his hands behind his back.
“If you release my subordinates even now, I will spare all of your lives. What do you say, isn’t it a good condition?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar furrowed his brow at Im Yang Baek’s attitude, acting as if he was bestowing mercy.
It was an arrogant attitude that he did not like, but he couldn’t bring himself to refute it.
Im Yang Baek possessed that much power. The power to annihilate everyone in the Shanxi Branch, not to mention himself, if he just made up his mind right now.
‘Damn it!’
In the end, Heavenly Ear Beggar nodded his head.
“……I understand.”
“It’s a relief we can communicate. I almost committed an useless slaughter.”
Im Yang Baek grinned.
Heavenly Ear Beggar looked at him with an expression of displeasure before looking around and speaking.
“Release the Green Forest bandits.”
When the martial artists hesitated, pondering whether they should follow those words, Heavenly Ear Beggar yelled in a rage.
“Do you want to die like this?!”
The martial artists, suddenly coming to their senses, dragged all the Green Forest bandits out of the prison.
“General Stronghold Leader?”
The Green Forest bandits, who had been brought out shortly after being imprisoned in the prison, were flustered but finally grasped the situation upon seeing Im Yang Baek.
Im Yang Baek looked at them and said.
“Return to the General Stronghold.”
“U-understood!”
Led by the Green Forest bandit who shouted vigorously, they rushed out in a hurry.
Subsequently, when Im Yang Baek was also about to turn his body, Heavenly Ear Beggar opened his mouth.
“Did you have to go this far? It would have ended peacefully if you had just sent a separate letter to the Martial Alliance to request a deal…”
Im Yang Baek raised his chin, cutting off Heavenly Ear Beggar’s words.
“In other words, bow my head to the Martial Alliance, is that what you mean?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar lost his words.
He didn’t mean it that way, but when he thought about it, every single word was correct.
Im Yang Baek gazed intently at the silent Heavenly Ear Beggar and added softly.
“You underestimate the Green Forest, you underestimate us.”
An intense presence flowed out from Im Yang Baek’s entire body as he narrowed his eyes.
“We are also part of the Unorthodox Faction. Do not think we will bow our heads to you forever.”
Im Yang Baek swiftly turned his body, his gray robe fluttering widely.
“Damn it…”
As Heavenly Ear Beggar bit his lip and pondered the situation that would unfold from now on.
Step- step-
Im Yang Baek, who came outside, climbed into the carriage that was waiting outside the branch.
There were already passengers in the carriage.
They were Go Hong, whose appearance made it hard to tell if they were a woman or a man, and Hyo-gwan, the guild leader of the Daeeun Merchant Guild.
“Have you arrived?”
“Hoho, you’re here.”
The two welcomed Im Yang Baek as he climbed into the carriage.
Hyo-gwan, in particular, looked at Im Yang Baek with a gaze of awe and wore a smile.
‘A big catch. A really huge one at that.’
For a merchant, having an eye for things was important.
Hyo-gwan considered the eye for people to be the most important of all.
And right now, he felt the aura of a massive catch from Im Yang Baek who was right in front of him.
‘If I’m with this person, our merchant guild too…’
At that moment, Go Hong asked carefully.
“However, did you need to act so aggressively?”
Im Yang Baek’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“The Unorthodox Faction has historically only been able to survive in the Jianghu by reigning as objects of terror.”
Instantly, icy killing intent flowed out.
Im Yang Baek crossed his arms and his eyes sparkled.
“But if I backed down here, who do you think would fear us?”
Go Hong was inwardly surprised by those firm words.
‘I underestimated him because he was from the Green Forest.’
In truth, they had been secretly looking down on the Green Forest because it was a sect of bandits, but this Im Yang Baek’s martial prowess and mindset were different from what they expected.
‘Even compared to the sect leaders of the Five Imperial Sects…’
As Go Hong was revising their evaluation, Im Yang Baek opened his mouth.
“Also, I know you took the remaining members of the Black Shadow Squad with you thanks to me.”
“……!”
Go Hong’s eyes shook momentarily.
They quickly composed themselves, but couldn’t escape Im Yang Baek’s sharp gaze.
“Did you know?”
“How arrogant. Do you think you can deceive my eyes?”
Go Hong’s hands became drenched in sweat.
It was a chilling gaze.
Im Yang Baek’s gaze that pierced through them felt as if a snake had crawled up their body and was sticking out its fangs and tongue right before their eyes.
“I apologize.”
At Go Hong’s apology, Im Yang Baek withdrew his gaze and spoke.
“However, it’s a strange matter. Even with Heavenly Ear Beggar present, they shouldn’t have been able to defeat the Hengshan Stronghold and the Black Shadow Squad with that fighting power.”
Im Yang Baek’s eyes half-closed.
“Who on earth killed the Hengshan Stronghold Leader?”
At the voice that was as sharp as a blade, a chill ran down the spines of the two.
Gulp-
Swallowing dry saliva, Go Hong carefully parted their red lips.
“It was a fellow named Cheon-hwi of the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Cheon-hwi…?”
Im Yang Baek’s forehead narrowed.
It was a name he felt he had heard somewhere before.
However, when he couldn’t quite remember where he had heard it, Go Hong slowly steadied their breath and added words.
“He is the one recently called the Plum Blossom Divine Hero in the Jianghu.”
* * *
“Huh?”
Cheon-hwi mumbled while picking his suddenly itchy ear.
“Seems like someone is talking about me?”
Speaking nonchalantly, Cheon-hwi shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window.
“Pant, pant.”
“I’m, I’m going to die.”
Beside him, the Splendid Spirit Squad members who hadn’t been able to ride horses were gasping for breath while executing footwork.
Even so, their eyes were fixed on the other Splendid Spirit Squad members who were riding horses.
With gazes mixed with anger.
“You said we’d ride the carriage together!”
“Sneakily betraying us like that…”
They spat out angry voices even as they panted.
Their trembling cheeks showed just how furious they were, to the extent that anyone could tell.
“Ahem.”
The four Splendid Spirit Squad members on horseback let out empty coughs upon hearing their words.
They did feel a pang of conscience.
Originally, the Splendid Spirit Squad had all conspired to refuse Cheon-hwi’s training.
However, the moment Cheon-hwi folded his fingers, they had run faster than anyone else.
But feeling a pang of conscience was only for a moment; a smile formed on their lips.
‘How can we walk again?’
‘Hmm, good job.’
Who cares if anyone glares or says anything.
When our bodies are this comfortable!
On the other hand, Cheon Hyang and Danmok Rin were peaceful amidst the commotion.
“The weather is nice, Junior Martial Sister.”
“It is, Senior Martial Sister.”
No one said anything to the two chatting away.
They hadn’t participated in the conspiracy, and they had originally intended to train anyway.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Chief Steward, who had been observing the Splendid Spirit Squad just like Cheon-hwi, muttered.
“You aren’t the Mount Hua Sect for nothing.”
He softly let out an exclamation of admiration.
He was holding hands with the Mount Hua Sect, but this was his first time seeing their direct martial prowess.
Of course, since he didn’t know martial arts, he couldn’t tell exactly what level of skill it was.
However, he could infer that their skills were exceptionally outstanding compared to their age.
Hadn’t they cornered the Hengshan Stronghold, the object of fear for merchant guilds?
Of course, they had been pushed back by the Four Black Alliances’ Black Shadow Squad, but that wasn’t a flaw.
Because the Black Shadow Squad were people of a different caliber.
Rather, simply competing with them for a long time was an astonishing feat.
‘On top of that, there’s even the Young Hero…’
His lips naturally loosened as his gaze turned towards Cheon-hwi.
The fact that Cheon-hwi was there was more reassuring than anything else in the world.
Before he knew it, bearing a happy smile on his lips, he spoke in a vigorous voice.
“It seems the name of the Mount Hua Sect will soon echo greatly throughout the Jianghu.”
Cheon-hwi chuckled.
“That’s only natural.”
It absolutely had to be that way.
‘Why else would I have taught those guys.’
It was all to spread the name of the Mount Hua Sect throughout the world and become the Number One Sect in the World.
So there’s no way they wouldn’t even be able to make a name for themselves.
‘Moreover, I even made Dark Fragrance Pills to give them, and taught them martial arts. And yet…’
Instantly, patheticness quickly spread in Cheon-hwi’s eyes as he stared at the Splendid Spirit Squad.
‘They still only have that level of skill. Sigh.’
A sigh naturally came out.
Even though they had basically obtained fortuitous encounters, he shook his head for a moment at their still severely lacking skills.
‘No, still, compared to the beginning, they’ve grown a lot. Back then, they were Plum Blossom Swordsmen but couldn’t even bloom sword flowers properly.’
Remembering their skills when he first faced them, he thought this was relatively decent.
Not only did they grasp the victory against the Hengshan Stronghold this time, but they also showed a form of holding out to some extent when facing the Black Shadow Squad.
‘If it were in the past, forget about holding out against the Black Shadow Squad. They would have just died as soon as they met them.’
Compared to the beginning, it was like a totally different era.
‘And now their mindset as martial artists is also properly set.’
Cheon-hwi nodded his head lightly.
Although it was quite slow considering what they had gained, they were still growing step by step, little by little, weren’t they?
‘Well, if their growth speed is slow, wouldn’t it be fine to roll them that much harder?’
The moment Cheon-hwi nodded his head up and down, thinking thoughts that would make the Mount Hua Sect disciples despair if they knew, a shout full of cheers was heard from outside the carriage.
“M-Mount Hua!”
“We’ve finally… arrived!”