Chapter 126: Chapter 126
At Cheon Woo-jin’s question, the Daoists exchanged glances.
Soon they widened the distance a little, checked the intervals between one another, and even drew their swords.
It was a kind of sword formation. A sword formation meant to deal with a single master.
Cheon Woo-jin felt a strange sensation at that sight.
All this time, he had felt multiple times that the Righteous Path was not identical to what Master White Elder had described.
Yet, those called the most upright and respected Daoists of the Righteous Path. Those young ones. They drew their swords before corpses.
What was this feeling?
Cheon Woo-jin thought for a moment before soon realizing that it was intent to kill.
Cheon Woo-jin, having looked at them for a moment, put away the Crescent Moon Staff.
For some reason, when dealing with them, he wanted to exist not as Black Elder’s disciple, but as Cheon Woo-jin, disciple of the White Flower Sword Immortal.
Hummm!
The unfolded Crane Feather Fan came into contact with the air of the Qingcheng Sect, letting out a cry as if it felt disgusted.
A lofty white energy dyed the Crane Feather Fan white and overflowed, blossoming around it like a haze.
One of the Daoists who saw this spoke.
“Go and bring the elders.”
Young though they were, they too were respectable martial artists of the Qingcheng Sect.
They had instinctively realized he was a master they could not handle.
Receiving his senior brother’s command, the youngest Daoist hastily began running back along the path he had come.
“I did not give permission.”
The Crane Feather Fan fluttered gently.
As always, a gentle wind gathered around him.
The speed of the Daoist running as if fleeing in haste gradually slowed. It was clearly a gentle wind, yet his body was pushed back repeatedly as if facing a massive typhoon.
Soon, he returned to the place where he had originally stood.
Seeing that spectacle, the Daoists lost their will to fight.
When they could not even overcome this gentle wind conjured by their opponent, how could they possibly face him?
‘If I just shout to the elders instead…’
However, the Daoist could not continue that thought either.
His mouth would not open. To be exact, he could do nothing, as if his entire body were completely frozen. In the end, even breathing became arduous.
“I pray that in death you will surely meet my masters.”
Speaking calmly, Cheon Woo-jin swung the Crane Feather Fan.
Crane Wind Chaotic Annihilation.
Soon, a gale incomparable to anything before rushed outward like blades, centering on him.
Crashhh!
The white gale slashed everything around.
Once, twice… it slashed and slashed again beyond count. It was truly as if tens of thousands of blades were hacking the entire grounds to pieces.
Giant trees that had guarded this place for hundreds of years turned to powder and scattered, and stone statues of immortals, erected with intentions unknown from long ago, were also ground to pieces.
The Daoists could not hold out in such a situation. Their limbs, necks, chests, and entire bodies were torn by the blades. So violent was the gale that even the dying screams they let out were completely shredded apart.
When the gale that had raged like that subsided,
All that remained on the grounds were Cheon Woo-jin and corpses.
Remarkably, within that gale in which even giant trees and stone statues could not endure and were obliterated, the corpses alone bore not the slightest injury.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at them for a moment.
The expressions of the corpses tangled and buried like skeins of thread looked exceedingly anguished. They were merely common folk struggling to live day by day.
“Just why did you do that?”
It was a question directed at White Elder.
Could his master truly not have known about this double-faced nature of the Righteous Path? There was no way that was true. Rather, he must have known better than anyone.
Yet why had he always emphasized only the bright side of the Righteous Path when speaking to his disciple?
He must have known that once his disciple stepped into the world, he would see the many faces of the Righteous Path.
As he was now, Cheon Woo-jin could not comprehend the reason at all.
“Squad Leader Cheon!”
“Young Hero Cheon! Do you know how worried we were when you suddenly disappeared…”
The steps of Zhuge Rin and Song Yi-yeon, who had rushed over in haste, slowly came to a halt. Their gazes were directed toward the corpses.
The expressions of the Black Tortoise Squad members, Jin Un, and Namgung Jin, who arrived right after, were hardly different from theirs.
“They are people of Dujiangyan. We should return them to their families’ embrace. However, before that.”
Strength gathered in Cheon Woo-jin’s hand holding the Crane Feather Fan.
Under ordinary circumstances, he would have followed Master White Elder’s will and guided them onto the right path, but the Qingcheng Sect had completely exceeded that level.
* * *
“Hahaha! So, is the Alliance Leader in good health?”
“Yes, how could someone like him ever catch a cold? He still comes out and runs an entire two hours earlier than the alliance members.”
Laughter blossomed between the two.
However, neither Daoist Master Cheong-hak’s nor Cheol Ji-ak’s laugh held much sincerity.
Neither touched the tea placed between them either.
“By the way, about the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader.”
“Ah, that boy Woo-jin.”
Cheol Ji-ak tensed. That was because the person who had opposed making Cheon Woo-jin the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader most fiercely during the grand meeting was Daoist Master Cheong-hyeon of the Qingcheng Sect. He was the junior martial brother of Sect Leader Daoist Master Cheong-hak.
“Indeed, it has become rather embarrassing. Truthfully, how could someone possessing skills like Squad Leader Cheon walk at the same pace as ordinary people? Furthermore, being the disciple of Senior White Flower Sword Immortal, his justification was also more than sufficient.”
“That is true, but…”
Cheol Ji-ak still remained wary of Daoist Master Cheong-hak. After learning that the Qingcheng Sect was involved in such ugly affairs, there was no trust in any words flowing from those benevolent lips.
“Please understand. Cheong-hyeon, that child, was quite close with the deceased Zhuge Seong. Of course, that fellow Zhuge Seong was not a very good person. However, how could the human heart be moved solely by right and wrong?”
“Haha…”
“Congratulations. At any rate, having such an excellent subordinate under you, all that remains is to rise endlessly.”
Remarkably, Daoist Master Cheong-hak sincerely congratulated Cheol Ji-ak.
In fact, ever since Tang Bi-cheon died, he had put aside all thoughts concerning the Righteous Heavenly Alliance. He only intended to quietly cling to the Martial Alliance and live.
‘So there is nothing bad about maintaining good relations with this fellow who will hold power in the future.’
Of course, Cheol Ji-ak was merely a tool. A tool to connect the disciple of the White Flower Sword Immortal with the Qingcheng Sect.
Of course, it was a thought he could harbor only because he believed the Inspection Hall still knew nothing.
Cheol Ji-ak smiled awkwardly.
Daoist Master Cheong-hak discarded the cooled tea, refilled it with warm tea, and offered it.
It was at that moment.
Clack, the door opened and a man stepped inside.
Daoist Master Cheong-hak, whose face had frowned for an instant, checked the visitor and smiled benevolently once again.
“Ah, Hidden Dragon Squad Leader. You arrived at the right time. We were just talking about you…”
Crack!
The folded Crane Feather Fan, stained red, slammed directly into Daoist Master Cheong-hak’s face.
Naturally, what stained the Crane Feather Fan was the blood of the Qingcheng Sect Daoists.
Struck squarely on the nose without warning, Daoist Master Cheong-hak hastily retreated while flaring his momentum. As if he had not won the position of Qingcheng Sect Leader through mere gambling, the furniture in the room trembled violently under that energy.
Even so, Cheon Woo-jin merely spoke in a calm tone.
“Hall Master, I found the corpses.”
Cheol Ji-ak rose from his seat. There was no longer any need to force a smile at this disgusting old man.
“Sect Leader, as the Inspection Hall Master of the Martial Alliance, I will now begin the inspection of the Qingcheng Sect. Please cooperate.”
“…I have no idea what you are talking about. Corpses? And Hidden Dragon Squad Leader, have you truly gone mad?”
Meanwhile, a commotion also arose outside.
“You bastards! Whom do you dare block!”
“How dare mere members of the Martial Alliance…!”
It was a situation where the elders of the Qingcheng Sect had flocked over.
Even so, the Inspection Hall members led by Zhuge Rin surrounded the Sect Leader’s pavilion and did not retreat a single step.
“All Inspection Hall members! From now on, ensure not a single person can enter inside. If anyone attempts to cross the line, you may cut them down.”
Zhuge Rin shouted so, and the Inspection Hall members flared their qi.
The Qingcheng Sect elders wore dumbfounded expressions at that sight. It was because it truly looked like newborn puppies blocking their way without knowing fear of tigers.
That was actually true. No matter how much stronger the Inspection Hall members had become recently, they could not match elders of the Nine Great Sects.
They were people who had risen to the ranks of renowned masters more than a dozen years ago, and they proudly had their names listed among the Hundred Great Masters of the Martial World in the current era.
The moment the elders, enraged, took steps forward as if ready to cut down those blocking them and barge in right away,
Boom!
The wall of the pavilion shattered as if a thunderbolt bomb had exploded.
The man who broke through the wall and appeared was none other than Sect Leader Daoist Master Cheong-hak. Even after breaking the wall with his back, he slid back for quite a distance. Then, with his arms crossed, he vomited a handful of dark, clotted blood from his mouth.
“Cough!”
The elders were greatly alarmed at that sight.
“Sect Leader!”
“Senior Brother! No, just which worm of a bastard…!”
Everyone looked at the hole in the broken wall.
Cheon Woo-jin walked out steadily through the thick smoke.
The moment they met his gaze,
The elders, who had considered the Inspection Hall members newborn puppies and themselves tigers, shuddered once. They felt as though a single dragon was looking down on them.
Even so, they could not just stand still.
Where was this place? It was the Qingcheng Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, the nine most massive factions among the countless forces of the Righteous Path.
Who were they? They were the greatest elders of that Qingcheng Sect, the ones who would succeed their predecessors and become immortals.
“Kill him!”
Someone among the elders shouted.
At that, the elders, whose fear was washed away in an instant, each fiercely flared their energy and surged toward Cheon Woo-jin.
Six azure swords moved to kill a single person, Cheon Woo-jin. The sword arts of the Qingcheng Sect were so renowned that they were compared to the Mount Hua Sect and the Namgung Clan.
Sect Leader Daoist Master Cheong-hak turned pale with shock at that sight. He wanted to shout for them to stop immediately, but due to his roiling internal qi, he could not open his mouth.
It was merely a single exchange. Just by trading one move with that young fellow, he, the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, had suffered immense internal injuries.
‘You will die!’
Even while thinking so, Daoist Master Cheong-hak could only watch his junior brothers throwing themselves with all their might into the abyss of death.
There were seven elders in total in the Qingcheng Sect. Excluding Daoist Master Cheong-hyeon, who was out serving as an elder of the Martial Alliance, six remained.
All six of them attacked Cheon Woo-jin simultaneously.
However, Cheon Woo-jin did not move a single inch from his spot.
At that sight, the elders mistakenly assumed their opponent was overwhelmed by their intimidating pressure.
‘No matter what, he is still merely a crouching hidden dragon!’
The elder running at the forefront, Cheong-un, drew his azure blade down vertically.
It was the Clear Wind Sword Art, the pride of the Qingcheng Sect. Like its name, the blade rushing forward in harmony with the wind held an exceedingly gentle atmosphere. However, countless masters throughout the history of the martial world had their bodies split in half because they failed to see the single thread of sharpness hidden within that softness.
That was precisely the terror of the Qingcheng Sect. Because it embraced the subtlety of movement within stillness, one was bound to shed blood if they responded seeing only its softness.
It was a sword art particularly tricky to deal with for martial artists with shallow experience, but…
Clang!
Cheong-un’s sword was blocked by a small fan.
In that instant, Cheong-un’s pupils trembled. Deep disbelief lingered in his eyes.
However, he realized far too late that he should not have given even that split second to Cheon Woo-jin.
Whoosh!
The Crane Feather Fan, still unfolded, drew a long line from bottom to top. The pure white blade-like energy emitted along that trajectory slashed vertically across Cheong-un’s body.
Soon, a single line of blood appeared on his body,
Slash!
And Cheong-un’s body split cleanly in two.
Death was not special just because he was a renowned master of the Righteous Path and an elder of the Qingcheng Sect. It was merely a corpse split in half sprawling on the ground, blood pouring endlessly from it.
“…”
Rather, that sight made everyone freeze.
The elders following behind also stopped in their tracks and looked at their senior brother.