Chapter 545: Chapter 545
Unhwi looked at the Elders one by one.
Slowly.
Without skipping anyone.
He looked into each person’s eyes.
The eyes of one of the mid-ranking Elders trembled. When he met Unhwi’s gaze, he slightly lowered his head. The Elder sitting beside him had already lowered his gaze to the table.
There were things.
There were things left unsaid.
Unhwi walked toward those two Elders.
He stopped.
The two Elders raised their heads.
They looked up.
“Speak.”
Unhwi said.
His voice was low and flat.
It was not a threat.
However, that voice was heavier than a threat.
An older Elder spoke first.
He was in his late fifties.
A man who had spent twenty years in the Sichuan Alliance.
“……I am troubled by the matters of Azure Dragon Sect and Iron Mountain Sect.”
“In what way?”
“Both sects have been part of the Sichuan Alliance for a long time. Even if there were wrongdoings, ending it with dissolution……”
“Even if there were wrongdoings?”
“……Yes.”
“Do you know what kind of wrongdoings they were?”
The Elder closed his mouth.
“Azure Dragon Sect moved from the day Alliance Leader Kang passed away. They circulated a declaration and pressured the surrounding sects. They claimed that the Sichuan Alliance had fallen beneath the shadow of the Demonic Path. While those words spread, what kind of eyes do you think the martial artists of the Sichuan Alliance were forced to look at the outside world with?”
“……”
“Iron Mountain Sect received information from Gun Mugeol and tried to kill me. They mobilized hundreds. They made that move while Alliance Leader Kang’s corpse was still warm.”
Unhwi looked at the Elder.
“Is that a mistake that can be covered by the bond of having been together for a long time?”
The Elder’s lips moved.
No answer came.
Unhwi shifted his gaze.
To the second Elder.
He was in his mid-forties.
His eyes were sharp and clever.
But those eyes had lost their strength now.
“Do you have something to say?”
“……No.”
“From where I stand, it looks like you do.”
The Elder looked at Unhwi for a moment before lowering his head.
“Speak.”
His voice had not changed, but the Elder moved.
He rose from his seat and gave a clasped-hands salute.
“……I am still uneasy about a representative of Blood Heaven Sect leading the Sichuan Alliance. That is my honest feeling.”
Overlord Hall became silent.
Unhwi looked at the Elder.
He looked for a long time.
“What is your name?”
“Lu Jungbae.”
“You are Elder Lu.”
“Yes.”
“You spoke honestly. I acknowledge that courage.”
Lu Jungbae looked at Unhwi.
Unhwi stepped forward.
One step.
Two steps.
He stood before Lu Jungbae.
The distance was close.
Less than two steps.
Sweat ran down Lu Jungbae’s back.
Something flowed from Unhwi’s body.
The energy of the Boundless Manifestation Realm.
It was not an intention to kill.
Yet it was heavier.
“Elder Lu.”
“……Yes.”
“It is natural to feel uneasy.”
“……”
“I am not a member of the Sichuan Alliance either. I know that.”
Lu Jungbae looked at Unhwi.
“However.”
Unhwi spoke.
“Feeling uneasy and refusing to act are different things. If you feel uneasy, then open your eyes and watch. Watch what I do. Whether it is for Sichuan or not. Judge after seeing that.”
“……”
“However, if you hold different thoughts behind my back before reaching that judgment.”
Unhwi placed his hand on Lu Jungbae’s shoulder.
“Then I will not speak with words.”
Lu Jungbae’s knees buckled.
Energy flowed from his shoulder through his entire body.
It was suppression.
This was what it meant for the energy of the Boundless Manifestation Realm to weigh down a martial artist of the Celestial Realm.
His breath was blocked.
He could not remain standing.
Lu Jungbae dropped to one knee.
Unhwi withdrew his hand.
Lu Jungbae inhaled sharply.
“Stand.”
Unhwi said.
Lu Jungbae stood.
His legs trembled.
“Sit.”
He returned to his seat and sat down.
Overlord Hall was silent.
Unhwi returned to his position.
Opposite Kang Cheonwoo’s empty seat.
Standing, he looked at the Elders.
“Does anyone else have something to say?”
No one did.
Unhwi nodded.
“Then I will say one thing. As Elder Lu said, there are likely those who are concerned about a person from Blood Heaven Sect remaining in this position.”
“……”
“As I said before, there are those who understand the situation and those who do not. I will explain. First.”
Unhwi paused briefly before continuing.
“I will speak about why Alliance Leader Kang requested a duel to the death with Gun Mugeol.”
Overlord Hall changed.
The silence was different from before.
It was not tension.
It was the silence of people listening.
Liu Zhenheng raised his head.
Guo Renhe had been watching Unhwi from the beginning.
Zhu Yishan placed his hand on the table.
Unhwi slowly spoke.
“Gun Mugeol had never intended to have a duel to the death from the beginning.”
“……”
“He intended to use Alliance Leader Kang.”
The Elders did not move.
“Gun Mugeol’s plan was this. Use the duel to the death as justification and begin an all-out war against the Sichuan Alliance. During that process, create justification for the Murim Alliance to intervene in Sichuan. Because the opinion of the martial world favored Gun Mugeol, if the Sichuan Alliance refused the duel to the death first, they would become cowards. If they accepted, it would become the excuse for war.”
“……”
“Either way, it was a board where Gun Mugeol won. Under pressure, various martial artists including Beggars’ Sect were raising their voices and applying pressure. It was a situation where blood would be spilled whether they moved or remained still. A completely trapped board.”
Liu Zhenheng’s eyes narrowed.
Guo Renhe closed his eyes.
“Alliance Leader Kang knew that.”
Unhwi said.
“So he went to Gun Mugeol and fought the duel to the death.”
Overlord Hall completely froze.
“He lost. And he died. Standing.”
Unhwi’s voice did not waver.
“With the death of one man, Alliance Leader Kang destroyed Gun Mugeol’s plan. The justification for an all-out war with the Sichuan Alliance disappeared. Because Gun Mugeol had lost the duel to the death, the principles of the martial world prevented him from reaching out to Sichuan. And Alliance Leader Kang’s death became the opportunity that tied together the Sichuan Alliance, Heaven’s Will Alliance, Eternal Snow Palace, and Blood Heaven Sect toward one direction.”
Unhwi paused.
“Gun Mugeol won. In the duel to the death. By half an inch.”
“……”
“However, on the board, he lost. Completely.”
Overlord Hall became silent.
“Gun Mugeol is a cunning man. The world calls him a hero of the martial world and a gentleman, but that is only a facade. If it were him, he would have ignored the principles of the martial world and reached into Sichuan by any means necessary. And he would have swallowed it. That is why I was part of Alliance Leader Kang’s plan.”
“……”
“My presence was necessary for Alliance Leader Kang’s plan to be completed. Gun Mugeol could still reach out, but his moves would be shallow, and his strength would also be limited.”
For a long time.
For a very long time.
Only breathing could be heard inside Overlord Hall.
Unhwi said nothing.
Before long, one of the older Elders wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand.
Silently.
He tried not to be noticed, but the person sitting beside him saw.
That person also lowered his gaze.
Zhu Yishan looked down at the table.
His expression was stiff.
The stiffness meant he was enduring.
Liu Zhenheng lowered his head, and Guo Renhe remained with his eyes closed.
No one spoke.
Unhwi did not disturb the silence.
He waited.
This silence was necessary.
Time was needed to understand what kind of person Kang Cheonwoo had been and what his death meant.
There were things that could not be filled with words.
Liu Zhenheng raised his head.
His eyes were red.
He did not hide it.
“……Knowing that.”
His voice cracked.
“You knew that, and Alliance Leader Kang entered the duel to the death?”
“Yes.”
“Alone, to protect the Sichuan Alliance.”
“Yes.”
Liu Zhenheng bit his lip.
He said nothing more.
The words would not come.
Guo Renhe opened his eyes.
The old man’s eyes turned toward the ceiling.
He remained like that for a long time.
Then he slowly lowered his head.
Unhwi spoke again.
“Gun Mugeol is withdrawing.”
The Elders looked at Unhwi.
“The Murim Alliance forces that were moving toward Sichuan are pulling back. Information is coming from several places. Gun Mugeol has realized that directly attacking Sichuan at this point is not beneficial.”
“……You mean retreat?”
Zhu Yishan asked.
“More accurately, it is not retreat. It is restraint. That man knows how to rein in his desires. That is why he is more dangerous.”
Zhu Yishan nodded.
“Then the immediate threat has disappeared?”
“For now.”
Unhwi said.
“However, one person remains who has pointed a blade at the Sichuan Alliance.”
Overlord Hall became silent again.
“Beggars’ Sect.”
Beggars’ Sect.
After the Thousand-Year Chaos, all of the Nine Sects and One Alliance had collapsed.
Among those ruins, the only place that survived was Beggars’ Sect.
Its symbolism in the martial world was immense.
A place that did not fall even in an age of sect annihilation.
That alone made the name of Beggars’ Sect different.
The Leader of Beggars’ Sect was Zhengshan.
“When Gun Mugeol pressured the Sichuan Alliance, the place that spread the rumors from the front was Beggars’ Sect.”
Unhwi said.
“They spread the claim that the Sichuan Alliance had allied with the Demonic Path. They tried to isolate Alliance Leader Kang. Beggars’ Sect moved during that process and became the greatest force supporting Gun Mugeol.”
“……”
“Before his duel to the death with Gun Mugeol, Alliance Leader Kang annihilated five sects under the Murim Alliance. That was Alliance Leader Kang’s move. He removed the justification for an all-out war while simultaneously eliminating the blades that had been aimed at Sichuan beforehand.”
Liu Zhenheng narrowed his eyes.
“However, Beggars’ Sect remained.”
Unhwi said.
“There was a reason. Beggars’ Sect is a symbol of the martial world. Annihilating it requires justification. Alliance Leader Kang knew that as well.”
Guo Renhe looked at Unhwi.
“So you intend to create that justification?”
“No.”
Unhwi said.
“It already exists.”
Overlord Hall became silent.
“I am going.”
Zhu Yishan asked.
“You mean you will personally go to Beggars’ Sect’s headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“……Alone?”
“That is correct.”
Zhu Yishan closed his mouth.
Liu Zhenheng looked at Unhwi.
For a long time.
“Young master.”
“Yes.”
“Will you declare this in the name of the Sichuan Alliance?”
Unhwi looked at Liu Zhenheng.
Then he slowly looked around.
There seemed to still be people who did not understand.
So he had to make it clear.
“To the name of the acting Alliance Leader of the Sichuan Alliance, Unhwi, I will demand an accounting of crimes from Zhengshan, the Leader of Beggars’ Sect.”
Overlord Hall froze.
Liu Zhenheng slowly nodded.
Once.
That was all.
Guo Renhe closed his eyes and opened them again.
Zhu Yishan lowered his gaze, then raised it.
No one objected.
Unhwi stepped away from his position.
“Since the funeral ended, all of you have endured much.”
He walked slowly.
At the entrance of Overlord Hall, Unhwi stopped and spoke briefly.
“Thank you.”
With that, he left Overlord Hall.