Chapter 153: Chapter 153
The Martial Alliance’s Sichuan Temporary Headquarters.
After the eradication of the Demonic Cult’s Ghost Demon Squad, a tense current flowed within the Martial Alliance. Depending on the Demonic Cult’s response, it was a situation where the Righteous-Demonic War could break out at any moment.
Amidst such an atmosphere.
Watching a group entering the headquarters, Alliance members buzzed with murmurs. Because martial artists of the Tang Clan, who were members of the Five Great Clans but had practically closed their gates after the Tang Bi-cheon incident, had walked in.
Led by none other than the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader Cheon Woo-jin at that.
“Great Hero! Will you truly not tell us! We are people who cannot even sleep unless we repay both grace and grudges.”
“…What am I to do when there is nothing I need?”
Cheon Woo-jin showed a rare, evident look of exhaustion.
Following the treatment of the Poison King, the martial artists of the Sichuan Tang Clan kept following him around, shouting clamorously to let them repay the favor.
It was practically at the level of coercion, putting Cheon Woo-jin in an awkward spot since he did not particularly need their assistance.
Befitting the hegemon of Sichuan, Tang Clan martial artists were everywhere: at inns, tavern pavilions, fabric shops, and markets.
Because of that, during the entire journey to the headquarters, Tang Clan members joined the group one by one from here and there, until eventually nearly fifty people were following behind the Hidden Dragon Squad.
Naturally, a spectacle that drew all gazes unfolded.
All the Alliance members stationed at the temporary headquarters came out to watch, and the leaders gathered in the grand conference hall also stuck their faces out the window.
The Chief Strategist spoke.
“Look at that. As soon as we granted autonomous authority to the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader, he brought dozens of Tang Clan martial artists right away. Was my judgment not correct?”
Strength entered the Chief Strategist’s shoulders. In truth, in war, masters of poison arts held the greatest value compared to swordsmen, saber masters, fist, palm, and staff experts.
If the situation was right, a single squad-leader-level poison art master could kill hundreds of martial artists in war.
Therefore, the Tang Clan should have been summoned first ahead of the Righteous-Demonic War, but they had been unable to do so. Because of Tang Bi-cheon’s incident, the Sichuan Tang Clan had firmly locked their great gates.
Yet, not only had those gates opened, but dozens of Tang Clan martial artists had entered the Martial Alliance on their own two feet.
Around the time the Chief Strategist was feeling pleased.
The door to the grand conference hall opened.
What appeared was a young woman.
Even though it was a gathering where only leader-class figures of factions, including the Alliance Leader, gathered, no one looked down on her.
Because setting aside martial prowess and age, she was the Acting Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, a member of the Five Great Clans and the originators of poison.
“Tang So-yeon, Acting Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Only now do I greet you, Seniors. I have only an apologetic heart for being late with my greetings.”
Once a talent who achieved great results in the Martial Alliance recruitment examination, and once a member of the Heavenly Tiger Squad. The reappeared Tang So-yeon possessed qualifications equal to those gathered here.
“You have truly come well. Our Martial Alliance sincerely welcomes the return of the Tang Clan.”
The Chief Strategist personally brought a chair placed on one side and offered the seat to Tang So-yeon. Tang So-yeon expressed her thanks with a light nod and took her seat.
Soon, her green pupils looked at those gathered one by one. The Abbot of Shaolin, the leaders of the Nine Great Sects and One Clan headed by the Wudang Sect Leader. The heads of the Five Great Clans represented by the Sword Maiden of Namgung.
And Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon, the very symbol of the Righteous Path, along with Chief Strategist Sima Hwi, the only man capable of moving him.
Each and every one was a person radiating immense presence in the martial world, yet Tang So-yeon was not daunted in the slightest.
Because she had come to this gathering representing her father, the Poison King. Her objective was clear, and she knew full well that the Martial Alliance had no choice but to accept the Tang Clan.
Tang So-yeon spoke with dignity.
“There is only one reason the Tang Clan has returned to the Alliance.”
Everyone wore tense expressions. Although the Tang Clan was needed more than any other faction in times of war, they were rather rough and venomous people, so there was a bit of worry over what she might say.
Soon, Tang So-yeon’s words continued.
“Young Hero Cheon. No, the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader. Our Tang Clan owes him a debt. As you know, the Tang Clan are people who cannot live while forgetting grace and grudges. So give us an opportunity. An opportunity to aid the Hidden Dragon Squad. If you do so, the Tang Clan will fight at the forefront on the Martial Alliance’s side more than anyone.”
Even when they said they would repay the grace, Cheon Woo-jin continuously refused. Given his personality, it was also certain that there would never be an occasion where he asked for help first until the day he died.
And so, the Tang Clan thought: let us use the Martial Alliance.
If the Righteous-Demonic War broke out, Cheon Woo-jin would certainly be deployed to the most difficult and dangerous missions. It was only natural. There were hardly any experts who could match his worth.
If so, the Tang Clan would join him. Because being unable to repay grace was more terrifying than death.
Clap, clap, clap!
Sima Hwi clapped wildly with a face more moved than ever before. From the reason for returning to the Martial Alliance to the determination displayed ahead of the war. To Sima Hwi right now, Tang So-yeon was no different from a goddess of war.
“I, Sima Hwi! Am truly touched by the Tang Clan’s remarkable righteousness. Staking my name and honor, I shall assist. If I refuse when a junior of the Righteous Path makes a request with such a magnificent spirit, how could I be a strategist of the Martial Alliance and a descendant of the Sima Clan!”
“…”
People looked at Sima Hwi with incredulous faces, but as if paying no mind to such things from the start, Sima Hwi even gave a standing ovation. There even seemed to be faint tears welling around his eyes.
* * *
Cheon Woo-jin stepped into the manor of the Hidden Dragon Squad.
As the Tang Clan martial artists tried to naturally follow him inside, the door slammed shut with a bang!
However, it was not enough to block the Tang Clan’s firm resolve.
One martial artist opened the door and entered the manor.
Afterwards, with a thud!, he was sent flying over the wall.
Collapsing onto the ground with a thud, the martial artist trembled a few times before passing out cold.
“…”
The Tang Clan martial artists exchanged glances.
Soon, giving up on entering the manor, they headed toward the Military Strategy Department. They intended to request a manor from the Alliance as close as possible to the Tang Clan.
.
.
.
Cheon Woo-jin shook his head from side to side. While he was someone who rarely got exhausted, the Tang Clan’s tenacity was beyond ordinary levels.
“They are more relentless than I heard.”
Speaking thus, Cheon Woo-jin set down the Crescent Moon Staff and Crane Feather Fan on the wooden veranda and sat cross-legged beside them.
“Young Hero Cheon, you worked hard. If Elder Poison King wakes up, that alone will be an enormous pressure on the Demonic Cult bastards.”
Song Yi-yeon spoke, and Namgung Jin and Jin Un also nodded.
While there was a complex hierarchy of power and interests among the Five Great Clans and the Nine Great Sects and One Clan, if asked to pick an enemy they did not want to fight, all of them would choose the Tang Clan.
Though a Tang Clan martial artist had flown over the wall with a nosebleed, the members of the Hidden Dragon Squad now paid no particular attention to such things.
“What do you think will happen now?”
Song Yi-yeon asked. It was a question asking how he thought the Demonic Cult would react upon learning that the Ghost Demon Squad was annihilated.
Cheon Woo-jin merely shrugged his shoulders. He had not particularly thought about it. If they conceded defeat and remained quiet, the matter would end there, and if they sought revenge again, he planned to personally visit the Heavenly Demon Cult then.
It was something possible because he had obtained autonomous authority.
Unlike the nonchalant Cheon Woo-jin, the three Hidden Dragon Squad members showed clear signs of tension. To those born and raised in the central martial factions, fear of the Demonic Cult was like an instinct.
“I should spur on my cultivation. In any case, Hall Master of Courier Hall has recovered considerably and suggested resuming training starting today.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head. It was a good thing that Song Yi-yeon had become the Courier Hall Master’s disciple. The Courier Hall Master’s exclusive footwork and Song Yi-yeon’s Pure Yang Boy Art matched quite well. In just a month, his level of lightness arts had improved astonishingly.
Now, even searching throughout the Martial Alliance, there would not be many people faster on their feet than Song Yi-yeon.
Jin Un beside him also stepped forward.
“I think I will visit the Sect Leader as well. I felt it acutely at the Kunlun Sect. That I am still too weak, and that if war truly breaks out, I need to become much stronger. I plan to take the test and officially become the Eldest Disciple. There is a divine art that only the Eldest Disciple can learn.”
Jin Un had also grown remarkably after crossing several life-and-death crises. Before anyone noticed, it was time for him to go beyond an outstanding rising star and prepare to take charge of a portion of the righteous martial world.
Cheon Woo-jin also recalled hearing about the Mount Hua Sect’s divine art. Master White Elder had picked the Mount Hua Sect’s Purple Mist Divine Art as one of the five most outstanding supreme arts of the Righteous Path.
Thus Song Yi-yeon and Jin Un left the Hidden Dragon Squad.
All that remained were Cheon Woo-jin and Namgung Jin.
As always, the two conversed with their eyes.
Namgung Jin also wore an expression saying he could not lose to Jin Un and Song Yi-yeon. If only he could display the Namgung Clan’s supreme art, the Emperor Sword Form, with full maturity, he would be able to play a major role in the war.
There was no worry about a master. Was there any need to speak of it when his father was a swordsman ranking in the top three under heaven and simultaneously the progenitor of the Namgung Sword Waves?
Nod.
Nod, nod.
Namgung Jin and Cheon Woo-jin nodded in sequence.
Having finished their silent conversation, Namgung Jin also left the Hidden Dragon Squad.
Able to spend time alone after a long while, Cheon Woo-jin looked at the Crescent Moon Staff and Crane Feather Fan for a moment.
“He said he heard Master Black Elder’s voice.”
Dok-ra-su had definitely said so when taking the Sun-Rivaling Flower.
Cheon Woo-jin had thought that the voices of his two masters he had heard until now were merely illusions born of longing.
Yet hearing that even Dok-ra-su had heard it, brushing it off as a mere illusion felt exceedingly uncomfortable.
Glaring at the Crescent Moon Staff, Cheon Woo-jin spoke.
“What are you?”
“…”
Naturally, the Crescent Moon Staff did not reply.
Engaging in a staring contest for a moment, Cheon Woo-jin soon let out a short sigh. Talking to an iron staff in an empty courtyard. Always being together with strange people, such as the Hidden Dragon Squad members, made him feel as if he was becoming strange as well.
Of course, had the three members of the Hidden Dragon Squad heard, they would have said, “No, the strangest one is Young Hero Cheon, so who is calling whom strange.”
It was at that moment.
A sudden disturbance arose outside.
Cheon Woo-jin rose from his spot with a fed-up expression. This time, the Crescent Moon Staff was also held in his hand. Having endured as much as he could, if they bothered him any further, he intended to beat them black and blue regardless of whether they were righteous path or the Sichuan Tang Clan.
However, what entered after opening the door was an old man.
It was the legendary artisan White Night Craftsman whom he had met in the village while subjugating the Ghost Demon Squad, who rushed in frantically with a pale face.
“S-Save me.”
“…What is the matter?”
Aiming his Crescent Moon Staff outward, Cheon Woo-jin asked.
At that sight, dozens of Martial Alliance members who had been pursuing the White Night Craftsman nervously gauged Cheon Woo-jin’s mood before scattering.
“Those people will not leave me alone. They truly do not leave me in peace for even a moment, so I cannot even eat my meals properly.”
It was understandable.
The master craftsman who had forged treasured swords of the era and the Crescent Moon Staff had visited the Martial Alliance. The love martial artists had for weapons was already famous. Naturally, they must have swarmed around to get on the White Night Craftsman’s good side and chattered endlessly.
Having suffered at the hands of the Tang Clan, Cheon Woo-jin felt a sense of mutual sympathy for the White Night Craftsman and let him into the Hidden Dragon Squad.
Seeing the people retreat, the White Night Craftsman let out a sigh of relief.
“It was true.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seeing me being chased, someone tipped me off. Saying that if I was with you, the Alliance members would not dare come recklessly. By the looks of it, it seems the martial artists fear you?”
“How could that be? Everyone must have simply remembered urgent business all of a sudden.”
The White Night Craftsman let out a long, hearty laugh.
The two sat side by side on the wooden veranda.
Throughout exchanging all kinds of everyday conversation, his gaze was fixed on the Crescent Moon Staff.
“Would you like to take a look?”
“May I really?”
The White Night Craftsman beamed with joy. In any case, because it was a piece that had already left his hands, it was awkward to ask for it again recklessly.
Receiving the Crescent Moon Staff, the White Night Craftsman carefully stroked it as if handling porcelain, and tapped it lightly here and there.
Soon, the White Night Craftsman knitted his brows.
“Hoo, it has weakened a great deal.”
“Has it weakened?”
“It is astonishing. I do not know how that fellow who calls himself your master used it. But to think an iron staff I thought would easily last a thousand years has weakened this much in just a few decades.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head while recalling Black Elder’s battles.
“He was an incredible person. Then how much longer will the Crescent Moon Staff be usable?”
Asking thus, Cheon Woo-jin became uncharacteristically tense. The Crescent Moon Staff was a cherished weapon he enjoyed using more than the Crane Feather Fan. If the Crescent Moon Staff disappeared, where on earth could he find a weapon to replace it?
Examining the Crescent Moon Staff with a serious expression, the White Night Craftsman spoke.
“Well. By any chance, have you ever heard the cry of the Crescent Moon Staff?”
“I have not.”
“You were an incredible person.”
“Why is that?”
“It is embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but the Crescent Moon Staff is a divine weapon. It is a fellow that knows how to read its master’s heart. If it senses that its master is giving his all, it will surely produce a resonance. Listening to that sound and communing with it, you will be able to know instinctively. How much longer this fellow can hold out for you.”
In other words, never having heard the resonance meant that Cheon Woo-jin had never once exerted his full strength until now.
Adding that, the White Night Craftsman handed over the Crescent Moon Staff. It was a gaze urging him to hurry and channel his internal energy with all his might into the staff.
Taking the Crescent Moon Staff, Cheon Woo-jin contemplated for a moment.
Seeing that, the White Night Craftsman gave a boisterous laugh.
“I also possess a body and mind tougher than ordinary martial artists. Do not worry about me and try pouring in your full strength.”
Soon, Cheon Woo-jin rose from his seat.
A fellow that resonates and communes only when one gives one’s all.
Thinking anew that it was a fascinating fellow, he gradually raised his Dark Heavens Qi.
Ruumble!
The Dark Heavens Qi that Cheon Woo-jin conjured like dark clouds met the air, spreading fine sounds of thunder.
Soon, energy began to pour into the Crescent Moon Staff.
Wrapped in the dark, murky Dark Heavens Qi, the Crescent Moon Staff’s dark surface radiated a faint yet eerie luster.
“Haha, as expected, you were no ordinary martial artist.”
When ten percent of internal power was infused, the White Night Craftsman chuckled.
When it passed twenty percent and reached thirty percent, laughter was erased from the White Night Craftsman’s face.
Rrruuuumble!
By the time around forty percent was infused, the ground and buildings shook wildly, and the White Night Craftsman stepped back instinctively.
Even though there was a fair distance, merely feeling it against his skin churned his innards. Even so, the Crescent Moon Staff still did not release a resonance.
‘Just how much internal power does he possess…’
Around the time the White Night Craftsman’s face was turning pale.
“Are you all right?”
“I-I am still all right.”
“Yes.”
Nodding, Cheon Woo-jin began infusing more internal power.
The moment exactly fifty percent of his skill was infused.
Crash! Rrrruuumble!
Lightning energy began sparking in all directions. The air rubbed against the Dark Heavens Qi, raining lightning.
The pavilion shook as if on the verge of collapsing, and outside the Hidden Dragon Squad’s manor, Martial Alliance members ran about frantically.
“Wh-What is it!”
“Is it the Demonic Cult!”
The energy shockwave was immense enough to mistake it for the outbreak of war.
Concentrating on the Crescent Moon Staff, Cheon Woo-jin examined his surroundings for a moment. The White Night Craftsman was already lying gracefully, fallen into a deep slumber. Unable to bear the energy, he had fainted.
Soon, Cheon Woo-jin scattered his energy in a single breath.
The vibrations shaking the ground halted, and realizing that the energy wave had erupted from inside the Hidden Dragon Squad, the Alliance members returned to their original posts as if it were routine.
Cheon Woo-jin woke the White Night Craftsman. Startled, the White Night Craftsman bounced up and blinked his eyes.
“D-Did you verify it?”
“I stopped midway. Because if I infused my full strength here, it felt like the buildings would all collapse.”
Of course, the White Night Craftsman would have died before that, but he could not say so.
The previously confident White Night Craftsman also finally nodded his head. Realizing that what had weakened the Crescent Moon Staff this much was not the one called his master, but Cheon Woo-jin before his eyes.
“In any case, it is not at the level where it will break immediately. If you get a chance later, check and tell me.”
“Yes.”
Cheon Woo-jin pondered where he should test it. Ever since parting with his masters, he had never once circulated his internal energy at full strength. Because his masters had earnestly warned him several times.
– In any case, shouldn’t Woo-jin know his own limits! Since your internal energy is deeper than mine, you should check it yourself!
– Black Elder, do you think I will be pleased that you acknowledge me only at times like this? Stop talking nonsense and check it yourself.
In the end, yielding to each other, the two masters had jointly received Cheon Woo-jin’s full strength. Engaging in a pure contest of internal power without any techniques, the Black and White Elders were bedridden for several days from that day on.
Cheon Woo-jin thought he should go alone to a wide plain sometime soon to verify it.
It was at that moment.
The outside, which had calmed down, grew turbulent once more, and urgent footsteps of Alliance members were heard. All their steps were heading toward the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
Cheon Woo-jin heightened his senses. Then, voices spoken far away were heard as if whispering right beside him.
– Alliance Leader! Urgent dispatch! Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province has been attacked!
– The frontline at Ailao Mountain has also collapsed!
– Kunming has also fallen! Some faction is marching north, and their momentum is immense!
Chief Strategist Sima Hwi was shocked out of his wits. From Xishuangbanna through Ailao Mountain to Kunming. It was a frontline of considerable distance, yet urgent dispatches flew in simultaneously from all three locations.
That is, it meant they were pushing upward at astonishing speed.
As far as he knew, there was only one faction under heaven capable of showing this kind of speed and momentum.
The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. Along with the North Sea Ice Palace and Poison Valley, it was an immense Beyond-the-Border power called one of the Three Powers Under Heaven.
Befitting the name Beast Palace, they were probably marching north while trampling everything in sight with a reckless attitude like wild beasts.
– At this speed, they will reach Sichuan shortly!
– That by no means can be allowed!
Sima Hwi was appalled. Sichuan was no different from the gateway to the heartland of the Central Plains. That it was attacked meant enemies would be stationed on Central Plains soil.
His mind worked frantically. They had to immediately send a large force of experts to block them. He rapidly brought to mind experts who could be sent on a mission right away.
The Dragon Head Chief could not go. The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace was very close with the Demonic Cult. Their stepping forward meant the Demonic Cult’s influence was at work. At times like this, they had to listen even more closely to intelligence.
The Namgung Clan could not go either. They could not lose those who would stand at the vanguard when war broke out here.
Other experts of the Realm Beyond the Heavens had only recently finished their missions. Because every one of them was supreme combat strength, intervals had to be placed between missions so they could always maintain peak physical condition.
This one could not go because of this, that one could not go because of that…
Eventually clutching his forehead in a headache, Sima Hwi looked at Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon.
As a strategist, it was a card he did not want to draw if possible, but there was no one else to send.
“Alliance Leader.”
“Just what I hoped for.”
With a slightly flushed face, Bukli Cheon picked up his sword. Recently, he was filled with skepticism toward the position of Alliance Leader. When battles were breaking out in various places, to think it was a position where he could not step forward.
Bukli Cheon was a man who swung his sword at the vanguard of the frontline, not one suited for armchair debates.
“I just need to cut them all down and return, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Then.”
Nodding his head, the Alliance Leader donned a white changshan with the character ‘Alliance’ written largely on it. His heart thumped wildly, and his treasured sword trembled as if eager to deploy into battle immediately.
It was at that moment.
A strategist hastily entered the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
“Disaster has struck!”
“Wh-What is it?”
The Chief Strategist asked with a fearful heart. Surely Sichuan hasn’t been attacked already…
Soon, the strategist spoke.
“A moment ago, the Hidden Dragon Squad Leader departed alone for Yunnan.”
“Huh?”
“As you know, because he has autonomous authority, we could not stop him. However, he left a message…”
The strategist hesitated, then under the badgering of Sima Hwi and Bukli Cheon, he continued speaking.
“He asked that the Alliance’s forces at the frontlines be pulled back to the rear. Saying that there is something he wants to test…”