Chapter 177: Unveiling the Martial League
Byeok Ji-sim, whose vitality was rapidly draining, let out a hollow laugh.
“In my past life… was I a frog? I’ve heard… of the Bone-Shrinking Art that makes the body… smaller, but I didn’t know… there was a martial art that expands it… to be larger. If I had learned it… the night would have been… even more enjoyable…”
“So you knew how to joke. Had I known, I wouldn’t have had to spend time so boringly.”
“Now that… is a funny thing to say…”
Byeok Ji-sim tried to laugh out loud, but no strength entered his body.
Limp in all four limbs, Byeok Ji-sim stopped even twitching, as if he had given up on everything.
“I can’t even… scream. It’s a dreadful… poison…”
“That is also the reason I did not seal your acupoints. Do not overexert yourself. It is a special product of the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“Sigh…”
Byeok Ji-sim swallowed the words he was about to bring out.
Considering the rapidly spreading poison qi, he had no time to waste on useless arguments.
“If you plan… to pose as me… it will be… very difficult… Aren’t I… quite outstanding…”
“You do not need to worry about that. I have already finished analyzing your habits and way of thinking. After all, I had quite a lot of time.”
Although it was Byeok Ji-sim who had taken his time to play with the Seventy-two Forts of the Green Forest, that time was also an opportunity for the man in black.
“…What about… the martial arts?”
“The origin of the Celestial God Fortress was the resistance army created by the Great Hero of Jiangnan, Seo Ja-seung, during the Great Beilan War. The Dry Dragon Twelve Blades you learned is a martial art created by Seo Ja-seung, a former disciple of the Zhongnan Sect, based on the Great Heavenly Pleiades Sword Art.”
“So… what?”
“Analyzing the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects was already finished long ago. In the first place, it was us who twisted the core foundations of the Nine Great Sects. There is no reason we cannot imitate your martial art derived from there.”
“Aha… even the Nine Great Sects?”
“What is so great about the Nine Great Sects? You seem to have a grand illusion about them, but those Nine Great Sects will also split soon.”
At the words lightly dismissing the Nine Great Sects, Byeok Ji-sim felt that the backers behind these people were much vaster than he thought.
At the same time, he realized that there was also some problem with the Nine Great Sects.
“Do you plan… to grasp… the realm in your hands?”
“I cannot be sure. Although it is the place I belong to, there are many parts I do not understand. Even though they have power, they behave with bizarre self-restraint. Though it feels a bit different lately. Well, what can the underlings do? We just do as we are ordered.”
Was it because of the affection built up, or was his mouth simply itchy all this time?
The man in black told Byeok Ji-sim everything down to the trivial details.
A power whose end was unknown. The current situation that showed they were playing with the realm.
And to think that even an expert of this caliber was treated as an underling.
Byeok Ji-sim realized he was completely done for.
Feeling his end approaching, Byeok Ji-sim squeezed out his final strength to speak the words kept inside.
“My subordinates… please take good care…”
“That is the most unlike-you thing I have heard from you.”
The man in black closed the eyes of the deceased Byeok Ji-sim.
*Crunch!*
And then he stomped on the head, crushing it.
Changing into Byeok Ji-sim’s clothes, the man in black poured a chemical, disposing of the corpse without a trace.
Having eliminated the real one, the man in black was no longer a nameless person.
“Ah… Ah…”
The Fortress Leader of the Celestial God Fortress, Dry Dragon Great Blade Byeok Ji-sim, stood perfectly fine.
Soon, the ‘Byeok Ji-sim’ who walked out of the building shouted toward the ‘many’ subordinates waiting far outside.
“We move as well.”
“Yes!”
The subordinates shouted in unison.
Hearing that grand response, ‘Byeok Ji-sim’ eventually set fire to the quarters he had stayed in until just now using a nearby torch.
The flames, which started to spread slowly but gradually, swallowed the shabby house in an instant.
Along with the crushed corpse left inside.
Burning the shabby house fiercely, the rapidly growing flames sent a signal, raising a huge column of smoke that could be seen from afar.
“Tsk! I heard the Divine Monk descended from the mountain… but at this rate, it can only be a half-successful victory. Still, if we can eliminate the Divine Monk, we might turn the profit and loss around.”
Unlike the Green Forest bandits, his muttering—knowing exactly the identity of Divine Monk Gongryo who had ascended Mount Tianzi with the Baek Family Escort—was quietly buried in the restless air.
***
That internal strife broke out and they were cutting their own flesh was not a bad opportunity for the Baek Family Escort and the factions attached to them.
“More gathered than I thought?”
It seemed that at least fifteen mountain fortresses had joined our side.
“There are many people with outstanding character after all.”
“…Well, that’s true.”
At Baek Mu-ho’s words spoken with a smirk, I unconsciously looked at the Divine Monk.
If subduing others into following by any means and methods counted as character, he was indeed someone with quite a character.
‘In the current position of the Green Forest, he is a disaster itself.’
If it were the Seventy-two Forts of the Green Forest tightly united as one, it might be different, but in a situation where they were split into four or five factions and getting destroyed individually, there was no way to handle the elder.
“Did your side go well?”
“It went very well. They will join us soon.”
“Really? Hearing from Uncle Dan, the fortresses categorized under that side were about seven… Wow, that makes a bit over twenty fortresses?”
Like the guy with good sociability he was, he seemed to already be on comfortable, personal-naming terms with Fortress Leader Dan Ya-heun.
‘That side must also welcome it.’
Considering the future plan Fortress Leader Dan Ya-heun had drawn, close ties with Baek Mu-ho, the successor of the Baek Family Escort, would be a precious connection.
Even more so in this situation where the Green Forest was shattered to pieces!
It was clear that this was far from the future plan for the Green Forest that had been initially expected.
It was because they had virtually shouted to the Martial World, “Be tense from now on, we are quite scary when united!” and then majestically failed.
“Where is Uncle Baek?”
“Harmful work, restricted to minors.”
Baek Mu-ho said, glancing at Yi Hwa beside me.
I could roughly guess what it was.
“Considering our position in this situation, torture is a bit much…”
“Don’t worry. The mountain bandit uncles proposed it first. The actual execution will be done by those uncles too. There were some significant words. Like, ‘Soon it will be the end for you too,’ or ‘When the signal is seen, everyone will rise up.'”
“It means something is left.”
If we took what they said literally, it meant that the traitors hidden in each faction would move in unison at the point of a certain signal…
‘Well, that must be why the Green Forest moved first.’
Anyone would feel uncomfortable thinking there might be a traitor inside.
They would want to vent their anger about making the situation a mess.
Decisively, they would also want to prove their innocence.
It was then.
“Is that the signal?”
Near the mountainside, which could be called the strategic point of Mount Tianzi. A large column of smoke rose from the place that appeared to be the center of the Celestial God Fortress.
Along with a sudden quiet silence, a heavy tension flowed.
If that was truly the signal they had decided upon, a traitor might drive a blade into one’s flank at this very moment.
Fortunately, there was no sudden action.
“We were neutral or moderates. No doubt the bastards instigating and planning betrayal from within are still among those fighting each other right now.”
The Fortress Leader of the Thousand Mount Fortress shouted loudly.
At the words spoken as if to let those around hear, everyone nodded in agreement.
As if claiming they were clean.
At least, unless it was a chaotic situation, they would not clumsily reveal their teeth.
‘Which means…’
“The other side must be a mess.”
Uncle Baek Jin-seong, who came out of the building where the minor-restricted work was being done, read the flowing situation.
I agreed.
If there were factions still fighting, the blade of betrayal that popped out with that signal could lead their battle lines to annihilation.
“Let’s go.”
It was easy to find where the fight was taking place.
“The injured remain. Those to protect them remain too. Only those who are unhurt and confident in their skills step forward!”
Uncle Baek Jin-seong quickly sorted out the situation.
Thus, a small elite group, including myself, was quickly picked and moved to find the place where the battle was occurring.
“Whew!”
“So many died.”
The number of Green Forest bandits gathered at Mount Tianzi exceeded ten thousand.
Even if only a portion of them lay dead, it was enough to create a mountain of corpses and a river of blood.
They had indeed died in massive numbers.
Evidence of greed making a mess was abundant everywhere.
*Grit!*
“That bastard Byeok Ji-sim… I will tear his limbs apart!”
The curse of the Thousand Mount Fortress Leader echoed.
Whether sharing the same sentiment, the fortress leaders who followed also ground their teeth and emitted killing intent.
“The fight isn’t over yet.”
The sound of fighting could still be heard from afar.
As we ran toward it, while the sounds of battle were dying down, we saw people standing blankly with lost expressions.
“Forest Ridge Fortress Leader!”
Recognizing one of them, the Thousand Mount Fortress Leader ground his teeth and approached.
“What on earth have you done?”
At the interrogation mixed with anger, the Forest Ridge Fortress Leader raised his head.
The Forest Ridge Fortress Leader, who had completely lost his mind, looked precarious as if he would collapse at any moment.
“It was a tiger-riding situation… I couldn’t stop the fight once it started. This is not my fault… I only wanted to create a great Green Forest…”
He was merely laying out excuses.
He had planned to strike other factions to submit and absorb them, but it seemed once they saw blood, they had to see it to the end.
However, no one pitied the Forest Ridge Fortress Leader.
*Splack!*
“An idiot talking shit! So annoying!”
When another fortress leader standing beside him, the Combined Mountain Fortress Leader, crushed the Forest Ridge Fortress Leader’s head, there were those who were surprised, but no one was flustered.
The one who took the life of the Forest Ridge Fortress Leader, who was the head of a faction, with a surprise attack.
Everyone identified his identity.
A traitor!
“You rascal!!”
The Thousand Mount Fortress Leader threw himself toward the Combined Mountain Fortress Leader.
Like his alias Black-Minded Charging Tiger, the Thousand Mount Fortress Leader charged ferociously like a tiger, and the Combined Mountain Fortress Leader swung his fist to clash with him.
The result was astonishing.
*Boom!!*
“Ugh!!”
He bounced the Thousand Mount Fortress Leader away carelessly.
The problem was the martial art the Combined Mountain Fortress Leader displayed.
That martial art was familiar somewhere.
It had to be familiar. The moment I saw it, I felt a stiffness in my flank because I had experienced that martial art directly with my body.
“Arhat Divine Fist?”
It was a Shaolin martial art. It did not look like some clumsy martial art like Ak Gun-pae’s, but a genuine, orthodox one.
Wondering if my judgment was correct, I looked at the Divine Monk, and his face was stiffened hard.
But what happened next was even more absurd.
“Eighteen Arhat Formation?”
As if to show that their reason for stirring up trouble here was not to increase allies, those who crushed the heads of the Green Forest bandits came out one by one, formed a formation, and confronted us.
And that seemed to be the Eighteen Arhat Formation.
Since the Divine Monk saw it, it could not be an illusion.
The absolute art of Shaolin was blooming from the hands of mountain bandits.
“Attempting such a ridiculous imitation…”
“Imitation? Hahaha! Rather, you old man might be the fake!”
As they, who mocked the Divine Monk, fully took their formation, a grim weight pressed down on the surroundings.
Watching the majesty of the Eighteen Arhat Formation operating perfectly, I was convinced.
‘They are… not the Green Forest.’
A joint coordination formation can only display tight structure after practicing together and matching hands and feet for a long time.
That structure was no different from proving that they were those who had already matched hands and feet.
‘It’s the Crane.’
I didn’t know how they did it, but the Crane was seeped into the Green Forest.
Moreover, they were displaying Shaolin’s martial arts.
‘Their hands reach even there?’
Just how far did their hands stretch?
It was to a terrifying degree.
It was then.
[Ha! Ha! Ha! What is he talking about? That wretched mortal monk.]
‘Uh?’
Master Bodhidharma’s voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while, reached my mind.
[A complete mess. The mortal world is running quite well.]
Master Heavenly Demon’s mocking voice followed.
[Sigh… Overtime is confirmed.]
Even Master Zhang Sanfeng’s sigh, in which some sorrow could be felt.
My three masters had all gathered.
“Hahaha…”
Suddenly, strength entered my body.
The fear that had vibrated at the presence of a massive, unmeasurable enemy vanished as if washed away.
‘Right, what does it matter who the enemies are? My masters are here.’
Right now, the strongest reinforcements had arrived.