Chapter 544: Chapter 544
Gun Mugeol lifted the tea.
He drank the cold tea.
It tasted bitter.
He set it down.
It was time to rein in his ambition.
Unification of the martial world was not something to accomplish immediately.
A board broke if one moved too hastily.
Killing Kang Cheonwoo had not been part of the plan either.
The duel to the death had taken place because Kang Cheonwoo wanted it.
Gun Mugeol had merely accepted. He had thought the result would leave Sichuan open, but there had been the variable called Unhwi.
A variable had to be acknowledged.
And when there was a variable, the board had to change.
Retreat.
Gun Mugeol did not fear that word.
Retreat is not defeat.
It meant stepping back to secure a better position. A man with ambition had to know restraint. Ambition without restraint was greed. Greed destroyed the one who possessed it.
A man should also know when to rein in his desires.
Gun Mugeol closed his eyes.
He considered his next moves.
How long will it take Unhwi to stabilize Sichuan?
How deep will the connection between Blood Heaven Sect and the Sichuan Alliance become?
What can be done before that connection deepens?
His thoughts continued.
That was when it happened.
There was no sign of anyone’s presence.
Literally none. No footsteps. No sound of a door opening. No breathing. There had simply been nothing.
Gun Mugeol opened his eyes.
Reflexively. His instincts reacted first. A body that had lived as a martial artist for decades sensed danger. Yet his hand did not go to his sword. Not because he knew drawing it would be useless.
Because he was surprised.
There was a man in the room.
He could not tell how long the man had been there.
Had he already been there before Gun Mugeol closed his eyes, or had he entered while they were closed?
He could not tell.
The man was simply there.
As though he had been standing there from the beginning.
He stood beside a pillar.
It was a place the lamplight did not reach. He stood within the shadows. But Gun Mugeol could see even in darkness.
He was a supreme expert of the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm.
It was a man.
His age was difficult to judge. He looked thirty at one moment and fifty at another. His hair was long, neatly tied back. His robe was immaculate. He stood with his hands folded before him.
Like a meditation master.
His eyes were fixed on Gun Mugeol.
He was smiling.
Faintly.
Gun Mugeol looked at the man.
It took him a moment to recognize him.
He had never seen him in person, but he had at least seen a portrait and description.
And he knew this energy as well.
How many people in this world possessed energy like this?
Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm.
The realm in which one became one with the essence of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The final stage of the Five Martial God Realms.
How many people in the martial world had reached that realm?
And among them, how many could erase their presence this completely?
Two.
And as far as Gun Mugeol knew, one of those two did not possess energy like this.
That left only one.
Gun Mugeol slowly rose from his seat.
Remaining seated before a Mixed Origin Sovereign was discourteous.
That was proper conduct for a martial artist.
Even if the person before him was an enemy.
No. Is this man an enemy?
He still could not tell.
Gun Mugeol spoke.
“The Vice Leader of Blood Heaven Sect.”
His voice did not tremble. He truly had been surprised, but Gun Mugeol did not reveal such things.
“I never expected you to come here.”
The man smiled faintly.
“I imagine not.”
His voice was extremely gentle. It was not threatening.
And yet that gentleness carried even greater weight.
“Forgive me for standing here so long.”
The man took one step forward.
The lamplight touched his face.
His features were clear and refined. He was handsome.
But what could be read from that face was not beauty.
It was depth.
The face of a man who carried something ancient within him.
Gun Mugeol looked at that face.
The Vice Leader of Blood Heaven Sect.
The man beneath Heavenly Wayfarer.
But Gun Mugeol knew.
The world called Gun Mugeol a hero of the martial world.
A great man.
A gentleman.
And the next Supreme Master of the Martial World, having reached the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm.
That was how the world saw him.
Through the eyes of a martial artist, it was different.
This man—
stood somewhere Gun Mugeol would find difficult to reach.
They were both in the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm.
But even within the same realm, there were differences.
Gun Mugeol knew that.
Even on the same mountain, one could stand upon a different peak.
This man stood on a higher peak.
He had reached the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm faster.
And more deeply.
The world called Gun Mugeol the next Supreme Master of the Martial World because that was how the world perceived him.
But if he actually fought this man, Gun Mugeol knew what the result would be.
I cannot win.
Admitting that was not easy.
But Gun Mugeol had the ability to see reality for what it was.
That was one of the reasons he had come this far.
The man spoke with a smile.
“My name is Yu Cheong.”
“……”
“There is something I came to discuss.”
Gun Mugeol looked at Yu Cheong.
He had said there was something to discuss.
Those words were not light.
A Mixed Origin Sovereign had appeared in the Alliance Leader’s Hall of the Murim Alliance in the middle of the night and said he had something to discuss.
There was no possibility that it was trivial.
Gun Mugeol gestured toward the opposite side of the table.
“Please, sit.”
“Thank you.”
Yu Cheong walked over.
There was no sound.
It was impossible to tell whether his feet were touching the floor at all.
It simply seemed as though he had been here one moment and was there the next.
This was what happened when a martial artist of the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm concealed his movement.
He sat opposite Gun Mugeol.
He looked at the tea on the table.
“It has gone cold.”
“I have neglected my hospitality.”
Gun Mugeol moved to prepare fresh tea, but Yu Cheong raised a hand.
“That is unnecessary. I did not come for tea.”
Gun Mugeol sat again.
The two men looked at one another.
A single lamp illuminated the space between them.
A narrow pool of light.
The two men sat within it.
The Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance and the Vice Leader of Blood Heaven Sect.
What would the world think if it knew these two men were sitting at the same table?
The thought briefly crossed Gun Mugeol’s mind before he shook it away.
That was not what mattered now.
Yu Cheong spoke first.
“You know Iron Mountain Sect failed.”
“I do.”
“You do not seem surprised.”
“There is nothing surprising about it.”
Yu Cheong smiled faintly.
“You know Unhwi well.”
“I have fought him myself.”
“Indeed.”
Yu Cheong nodded.
“The duel to the death with Kang Cheonwoo. Unhwi was there.”
“He was.”
“Did our Blood Heaven Arbiter not stop it?”
“If he had intended to stop it, he would have.”
Gun Mugeol spoke.
“He did not because it was Kang Cheonwoo’s choice. Unhwi understood that.”
Yu Cheong looked at Gun Mugeol for a moment.
“He respected Kang Cheonwoo. That man did.”
“……”
“And so did you.”
Gun Mugeol did not answer.
It was not wrong, but it was complicated to admit.
Kang Cheonwoo had been an enemy.
But he had also been a martial artist.
Those were different things.
Yu Cheong lowered his gaze to the table.
He looked at the cold teacup.
“You know what Unhwi is doing in Sichuan.”
“I know the broad outline.”
“Azure Dragon Sect. Iron Mountain Sect. And the internal purge.”
“He is fast.”
“Yes. Faster than expected.”
“That man is always faster than expected.”
There was something in Yu Cheong’s voice.
It was not mockery.
Nor contempt.
If anything, it was closer to the opposite.
Recognition.
But something else was mixed with that recognition.
A complicated emotion.
Gun Mugeol read it.
“Vice Leader, I have surmised that your relationship with Unhwi is not simple.”
Gun Mugeol spoke cautiously.
Yu Cheong looked at him.
“Surmised……”
“Am I wrong?”
“You are not.”
Yu Cheong smiled again.
This time it was a little different.
Shorter than before.
A smile with something absent from it.
“Blood Heaven Arbiter Unhwi and I.”
Yu Cheong spoke.
“Have never looked in the same direction. And we never will.”
“I see.”
“However.”
Yu Cheong placed a hand on the table.
“Not looking in the same direction and wanting the same thing at this particular moment are two different matters.”
Gun Mugeol looked at Yu Cheong.
He was weighing those words.
A martial artist of the Mixed Origin Sovereign Realm had appeared in the Alliance Leader’s Hall of the Murim Alliance and said this.
What lies behind those words?
“You.”
Yu Cheong spoke.
“Have decided to withdraw from Sichuan.”
“……”
“You made that decision just now.”
Gun Mugeol’s eyes narrowed.
It was a confirmation.
Not a question.
This man knew.
He knew that Gun Mugeol had decided to retreat.
How does he know?
When did he enter the room? Before I made that decision, or after?
There was no way to tell.
He simply knew.
Yu Cheong spoke.
“A wise decision.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. Provoking Unhwi where he stands now would not be wise. He is putting down roots. Shake a tree while its roots are taking hold, and those roots only sink deeper.”
“……A good analogy.”
“Because it is true.”
Yu Cheong looked at Gun Mugeol.
“You are an ambitious man. Unification of the martial world. I do not think that dream is absurd. If there is anyone in this world capable of achieving it, it would be you.”
Gun Mugeol looked at Yu Cheong.
Praise was when one needed to be most wary.
Something always followed praise.
“However.”
Yu Cheong continued.
“If Unhwi gains complete control of Sichuan, and Blood Heaven Sect and the Sichuan Alliance become aligned toward the same goal. If Heaven’s Will Alliance and Eternal Snow Palace become tied into it as well.”
“……”
“The picture you are drawing will become considerably more complicated.”
Gun Mugeol spoke.
“Is that why you came here, Vice Leader?”
Yu Cheong smiled.
“Yes. More precisely, I came because there is something I wish to discuss.”
It was the same smile as before.
Faint and gentle.
But carrying something within it.
“How to stop Unhwi.”
The lamp flickered.
A draft had come from somewhere.
The windows were closed, yet the flame trembled.
And the air between the two Mixed Origin Sovereigns changed.
It grew heavy.
Gun Mugeol looked at Yu Cheong.
Yu Cheong looked at Gun Mugeol.
Neither spoke.
But there was already much contained within that silence.
***
The second Elders’ Council was different from the first.
Xiao Xuanwu had been present at the first.
Everyone here had witnessed how that ended.
So the second was quiet.
No one spoke first.
The Elders sat in their places and looked at Unhwi.
Unhwi stood.
He did not sit.
He stood opposite Kang Cheonwoo’s empty seat.
Overlord Hall was silent.
Unhwi slowly spoke.
“If any of you have objections, please speak.”
No one said anything.
“None?”
Still, no one spoke.