Chapter 374: Chapter 374
Shaanxi, Xianyang.
Ominous sounds were erupting within Chang’an as darkness fell.
SQUELCH—.
“Guurgh.”
A man crumpled with an agonized scream.
He was clearly in mortal danger, yet his comrade couldn’t intervene.
A threat too dangerous to shake stood directly in his own path.
CLANG, CLANG, SHING.
Parrying the menacing blade, the man shouted to warn his comrades.
“Enemy attack! Hold them!”
But no one came.
Or perhaps they were on their way but had encountered yet another attacker and couldn’t break through.
Realizing he could neither defeat the enemy nor retreat, the man began drawing upon every last shred of his power.
He unleashed the Azure Dragon Flowing Sea Fist, which he had mastered to the tenth star, and the opponent’s sword path began to tangle.
“You bastard!!!”
His long robe swelled as though about to burst as he drove the enemy back.
The opponent who had initially seemed overwhelming was now being forced to retreat, and Gong Won-so—Sect Leader of the Flowing Dragon Fist Sect—seized that momentum without mercy, pressing the attack to its limit.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
With every punch, fist wind erupted from his gauntlets and tore at the enemy’s clothes.
The enemy tried to jam a sword into the gaps, but Gong Won-so blocked the blade while simultaneously launching a counter.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
The intricate subtleties of the Azure Dragon Flowing Sea Fist, which could execute offense and defense at the same time, shone in moments like these.
Sent flying backward in an instant, the enemy rolled twice across the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.
PTOO.
“Who are you?!”
“……”
Black martial arts uniforms. Not a single word in response.
The moment he first laid eyes on them, Gong Won-so was reminded of the people his daughter had described in her letter.
Those bastards who had tried to kill his daughter in the Black Forest.
But the ones he now faced in person were different from the enemies in the letter.
His daughter had described them as devoid of life, utterly emotionless—yet the eyes visible through the masks occasionally flickered with alarm, and they flinched visibly when struck.
Well, none of that mattered right now.
Whether they were those enemies or not, scaling the walls of the Flowing Dragon Fist Sect in the dead of night was unforgivable.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
His fist strikes hammered out, tangling the opponent’s hands and feet more severely than before.
Gone was the initial ferocity; hesitation now hung on the enemy’s blade.
Gong Won-so launched his killing move to finish the man quickly and go help his disciples.
But.
SLICE.
The arm that had been driving fist qi was simply gone, and blood was gushing from his shoulder socket.
“!!!”
A scream tore from his throat at pain he had never known.
“GAAAH!”
He frantically pressed the acupoint, but the hemorrhage from a severed arm wouldn’t stop so easily.
“Hah, hah, hah.”
His mind went blank for a moment. Then, realizing he was still in the middle of a fight, he lurched back two steps.
But no follow-up attack came.
It should have been the perfect opening—he’d lost his composure and shown a gap.
Yet the attacker seemed to have no intention of capitalizing on it.
‘Why……’
Even though it had happened before he could react, the assailant didn’t appear interested in pressing the advantage.
Then it struck him that the swordsmanship the attacker had used was hauntingly familiar.
At that moment—
“Curious why I didn’t attack?”
————!
The sudden voice shocked Gong Won-so so thoroughly that he couldn’t even scream.
The attacker removed his mask to reveal a vile grin, and Gong Won-so was struck dumb with horror.
“……Seon Ja-chun, how could you——!!!”
It was a face he never could have imagined.
And for good reason: the two of them had studied together as Lay Disciples of Zhongnan, fought side by side in their youth under the shared epithet of the Ghost-Shadow Sword and Fist, and in their later years established their own martial sects nearby, supporting each other all the while.
Even when Gong Won-so first realized the attack was underway, his first thought had been how to get word to Seon Ja-chun.
Betraying that trust, Seon Ja-chun sneered.
“My condolences, friend.”
“……How…… How can you say that?!”
“What choice did I have? I was starting to hit the limits of expansion. Zhongnan, too, has been agonizing over which sect to back.”
“Even so……!”
In the neighboring province of Shanxi, the Black Thought Alliance had been establishing itself, and the influence of the Black Path was growing.
As the customary tribute money was halved and rivals began expanding recklessly, Gong Won-so himself had been mulling over whether he needed to consume someone.
But no matter how dire things became, the thought of striking a friend of over thirty years had never crossed his mind.
“Think of it the other way around. We’re the ones who can see each other’s strengths and weaknesses clear as day. You were my greatest vulnerability, and I was yours.”
“Ha……”
A hollow groan escaped Gong Won-so.
“……I know the murim is merciless, but to think you’d go that far.”
“Be honest. You thought about it too, didn’t you?”
“……”
There was no need to lend weight to words meant to ease his guilt.
Gong Won-so drew upon every ounce of inner arts and faced his friend, Seon Ja-chun.
“You’ve made a terrible choice. As you said, I know your weaknesses best.”
Then he assumed the starting stance of the Azure Dragon Flowing Sea Fist.
“Oh, and did you know? I’ve always been better with my left hand.”
“Ho ho. Is that so?”
“I’ll kill you here and exterminate your sect as well.”
Seon Ja-chun’s lips tightened for a moment.
The aura pouring off Gong Won-so was that formidable.
But a thin smile soon crept back onto Seon Ja-chun’s face.
“I’m afraid that won’t be happening.”
TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP.
A dozen or more black-masked figures closed in around Gong Won-so.
“You’re the last one.”
Seon Ja-chun gave a bloody grin.
Damn it all.
Gong Won-so muttered a quiet curse.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he drew upon his Innate Energy.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
A tremendous explosion of qi erupted around him.
A moment later.
Standing amid more than ten corpses, Gong Won-so quietly dropped to one knee.
“Phew…… you made it difficult right to the end, friend.”
Seon Ja-chun shook his head and turned away.
Gong Won-so, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, collapsed to the ground.
In his final moment, absurdly, what came to mind was not his own life but the image of his daughter, a thousand li away.
‘……I wonder if she managed to buy a good outfit for the graduation ceremony.’
She’d sent letter after letter insisting she had to buy the finest outfit, and though he’d grumbled, he’d secretly been looking forward to the graduation.
‘What a shame…… I wanted so badly to see it.’
Picturing the bright smile of his daughter—one he had never actually seen—he slowly drew his last breath.
It was the sort of thing that happened all too often whenever dark nights descended upon the murim.
***
“She’s not attending graduation?”
That made three now.
Three Academy students heading home with the graduation ceremony right around the corner.
Of course, missing the ceremony didn’t invalidate one’s graduation, but leaving before the event one had dreamed of their entire life could only mean something extraordinary had occurred.
“Again?”
Jang Woo-jae nodded at my question.
“Whew……”
A sigh escaped at Gong Yu-seon’s story.
As a fist sect disciple of the Zhongnan lineage, she had always dreamed of entering the Azure Dragon Pavilion.
But her middling grades had put it out of reach, and she’d been looking into other pavilions when fate intervened.
Unlike previous classes, this year’s Academy students had chosen such unorthodox paths that the competition rate for the Azure Dragon Pavilion had plummeted. Thanks to that, she’d been accepted and was enjoying some of her happiest days.
Then the devastating news arrived.
“No leads on the attackers?”
“None.”
That made three.
Three just among the sects tied to Academy students.
Across the entire murim, far more sects were vanishing overnight without a trace.
According to recent reports, the Maoshan Sect and Jegal Clan had been so inundated with Mystic Gate Formation commissions that the Spell Practitioners couldn’t get a proper night’s rest.
“The Black Path murim is even worse, isn’t it?”
What was almost laughable was that the “real” Demonic Cult had only just begun to stir, yet the “fake” Demonic Cult was more active than ever.
If this chaos deepened, an internal war within the Murim Alliance would follow, and the Alliance would pay a devastating price.
But no one was worried about it.
Those whose sole purpose had become attacking the colleague beside them and seizing that person’s rice bowl—because of them, the murim would fail to prepare for the true enemy and end up fighting desperately when the time came.
“Representative-nim…… is your own sect safe?”
Anhui Province, where the Taeul Sect was located, was no less competitive than anywhere else.
Moreover, the Taeul Sect’s growing revenue through the Great Heaven Merchant Guild had attracted increasing ill will.
It was more than plausible that the Taeul Sect could become a casualty in this wave of shadowy warfare.
I looked at Jang Woo-jae and nodded.
“We’ve made some preparations, at least.”
Jegal Cheon-gi’s Mechanism Formation was complete, and Baek Hae-gwang was there as a guest retainer. Unless the real Demonic Cult showed up, there would be no news of the Taeul Sect’s extermination at the hands of the “fakes.”
Jang Woo-jae let out a small gasp of admiration, murmuring, “As expected.”
“I see. You mean the Mechanism Formation you mentioned before.”
He seemed to remember something I’d mentioned in passing long ago.
After a moment of deliberation and quiet murmuring, Jang Woo-jae looked up.
“Could I…… possibly ask you to have one installed at our Yujang Sect as well?”
“Oh?”
While the Wang Estate had also installed Jegal Cheon-gi’s Mechanism Formation after the Taeul Sect, the prevailing belief in the murim was still that “Mechanism Formations are inferior to Mystic Gate Formations.”
And he wanted a Mechanism Formation installed?
“When the elders of my sect heard that you’d installed a Mechanism Formation instead of a Mystic Gate Formation at the Taeul Sect, they decided to go with a Mechanism Formation as well.”
“Oh!”
In his past life, Jegal Cheon-gi had harbored deep regret over never completing his Mechanism Formation.
This was nothing short of the perfect opportunity to validate his theory.
I practically leaped to my feet in my excitement.
“Of course.”
We’d already finished preparations to sell the Mechanism Formation commercially through the Great Heaven Merchant Guild with the Wang Estate’s backing.
Every time Jegal Cheon-gi’s dream came true, a mountain of money poured into the Great Heaven Merchant Guild—if that wasn’t killing two birds with one stone, what was?
Again, the thought of his dream being realized made my shoulders want to dance all on their own.
After the Mechanism Formation discussion wrapped up, Jang Woo-jae asked me.
“How many people from your sect are coming to the graduation?”
Judging by the sly smile on his face, he was quite looking forward to the ceremony himself.
“Probably half the sect’s trying to come, causing all sorts of chaos.”
Under normal circumstances, emptying out the sect at a time like this would be unwise, but a sizable number were expected to attend.
Something about how an occasion like this would never come again.
Honestly, when it came to making a fuss, my sect was the best in all the murim.
‘Still, it’ll be lively for a while.’
Imagining the Taeul Sect members unable to contain their grins made me start looking forward to the graduation too.
***
“Hmm…… all these preparations have gone to waste.”
Wang Geum-san grimaced.
The provisions, carriages, and horses he’d prepared for this trip to Wuhan were on the scale of a large traveling party—but by the day of departure, the number of people heading to Wuhan had drastically shrunk.
“You’re telling me.”
Jin Tae-san, his eye bags as dark as a giant panda’s, shook his head resignedly.
“I never imagined it would go this far.”
The root of the problem was the agreement between Baek Hae-gwang and the Taeul Sect elders.
Only those who passed Baek Hae-gwang’s standards by departure day were allowed to join the Wuhan trip.
And the only person who had passed was Hong Mun-gi.
“Well, they brought it on themselves.”
Something cold in Hong Mun-gi’s tone struck Jin Tae-san as unfamiliar.
“From what I heard, the standards were rather extreme……”
Hong Mun-gi fixed his sturdy gaze on Jin Tae-san.
“Tae-san. Freedom is never given to the weak.”
“……”
Calloused ridges pressed against Jin Tae-san’s shoulder through Hong Mun-gi’s grip.
‘He really has changed.’
It wasn’t just the temperament—supposedly immutable past forty—that had shifted.
His appearance was completely different too.
Gone was that genial, well-fed look; in its place stood a gaunt, sharp-edged man.
Most striking of all was the peculiar fighting spirit that emanated from him even while he stood perfectly still.
‘……What kind of training is he being put through?’
When he’d first heard that Hong Mun-gi was training under Baek Hae-gwang, he’d wondered how much could really change. But this wasn’t mere change.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a different person entirely.
Take this very moment. The old Hong Mun-gi would have petitioned Baek Hae-gwang with fatherly compassion, gathered up the Hall Masters, and taken them to Wuhan himself. Instead, he gave a single cold glance to the Hall Masters—who were staring at him from the sidelines like oxen being led to the slaughter—and disappeared into his carriage.
“Honestly, is there a single normal person in this family?”
Jin Tae-san’s lament drew a wry laugh from Wang Geum-san.
“Why the long face? Your son’s graduating as the Murim Academy’s top representative. You should be grinning ear to ear……”
“That boy is the biggest problem of all! What on earth is he doing that his reputation as the Black Path’s rising star keeps growing by the day?!”
“Tsk. You’re still going on about that?”
Wang Geum-san clicked his tongue, and Jin Tae-san’s neck veins bulged.
“Still?! Is this a small matter?! The more fame he builds, the bigger the infamy gets!”
“That’s all ancient history now. Our son-in-law—no, So-un—is graduating as the top representative. Who’s going to dare spout nonsense about him being a Black Path joint successor or a spy?”
After all, the Murim Alliance Leader was reportedly going to hand over the diplomas in person.
Once that scene spread through the gossips of the murim, no one would be calling Jin So-un a member of the Black Path any longer.
“Now stop worrying about nothing and go get some sleep. You should show up to So-un’s graduation looking halfway decent.”
At Wang Geum-san’s urging, Jin Tae-san finally breathed a sigh of relief and climbed into the carriage.
***
Shanxi Province.
Black Thought Alliance.
Just as at the Taeul Sect’s entrance, a massive traveling party was undergoing its final inspection.
“Ho ho, graduation. How deeply moving.”
Cha Seok-du was preening at the scale of the convoy, and Dam Ak furrowed his brow.
“Alliance Leader. He is a man of the Murim Alliance.”
“Come now, Strategist Dam. Don’t say that. I’m the one who got him into the Academy. Tch, if I could, I’d go congratulate him at the graduation myself, but……”
Cha Seok-du trailed off with a wistful expression, and Dam Ak cut him off at once.
“Please. Absolutely. Never say that.”
“Ahem…… So you’ll go in my stead and make it a grand celebration. With a showing worthy of the Black Thought Alliance’s name.”
“I shall obey, since it is an order, however……”
Dam Ak trailed off with a scowl, and Cha Seok-du chuckled.
“You’re enjoying this too.”
“……No. I have been giving serious thought to the future relationship between the Murim Alliance and the Black Thought Alliance in light of this……”
“Fine. Handle that however you see fit. But remember—the celebration must be carried out exactly as I’ve planned.”
“Alliance Leader, regarding this agreement……”
“Exactly as I’ve planned.”
Dam Ak hesitated, then let out a small sigh.
“……Understood.”
The truth was, that part was what he was looking forward to most as well.
With Dam Ak’s nod, the traveling party set off.
Cha Seok-du watched its retreating silhouette and murmured.
“……Will this be the last graduation? I sincerely hope not.”