Chapter 83: Chapter 83
Early morning.
The atmosphere of the Martial Alliance was quite tumultuous. It was because the greatest festival, held once every three years, was fast approaching.
In the upper echelon, quite a lengthy meeting was held as ominous events unfolded ahead of the festival.
The opinion questioning holding a sparring tournament in such an atmosphere sharply clashed with the opinion that, all the more in times like these, it should be held even more grandly than usual to demonstrate the Alliance’s strength.
The victor was the side favoring holding the festival grandly.
Because Chief Strategist Sima Hwi raised his hand in their favor.
For that reason, all the attention of the Martial Alliance was directed toward the new members who had entered the Alliance this time. More specifically, toward Cheon Woo-jin.
“Young Hero Cheon, who are you going to choose?”
The moment they returned to the Black Tortoise Pavilion after completing their morning run, Song Yi-yeon asked. At that question, the other Black Tortoise Squad members secretly perked their ears while pretending otherwise.
Cheon Woo-jin tilted his head.
“About what?”
“…”
Song Yi-yeon wore a flabbergasted expression. During morning run, others had gossiped so intensely about whom Cheon Woo-jin would choose, yet could he truly be this uninterested?
“The sparring tournament is opening soon. It is a stage where new alliance members nominate an opponent to compete. Any member of the Martial Alliance can be nominated. In principle, one can even hold a duel with the Alliance Leader.”
Of course, in history, there had never been a single recruit who nominated the Alliance Leader. In the martial world of the Righteous Path, where etiquette was valued above all, it was something that could never happen.
Yet Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes shone with rare brilliance.
“With the Alliance Leader?”
“Good grief, did I say something unnecessary?”
Song Yi-yeon scratched his head with a peculiar smile. Then Zhuge Rin, stepping up briskly, roughly wrapped one arm around Song Yi-yeon’s neck.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? If I leave you be, you always instigate from the side.”
“V-Vice Squad Leader! My breath…!”
Song Yi-yeon tapped Zhuge Rin’s arm repeatedly.
Having had her Severed Meridians Disorder cured by Cheon Woo-jin, Zhuge Rin had recently been unable to properly handle her overflowing energy.
She was also a martial artist who was called a genius in her clan in her youth. Even if her body could not follow, she had attained countless enlightenments in her mind.
Those accumulated enlightenments had arrived all at once the moment her Severed Meridians Disorder disappeared.
Thanks to that, power overflowed through her entire body even without intending it.
Unlike before when she found even a thin soft sword heavy, she could now wield even a thick heavy sword as lightly as a writing brush.
Her footsteps had become noticeably vigorous, and for some reason, leaping out of bed in the middle of sleep to go for a stroll became frequent.
Cheon Woo-jin had said an adaptation period of at least three months would be necessary.
“Ah, sorry. I cannot control my strength today either.”
“…You did that on purpose.”
“You are needlessly smart.”
Zhuge Rin patted Song Yi-yeon’s shoulder firmly.
Song Yi-yeon looked at Zhuge Rin with displeased eyes, then soon asked Cheon Woo-jin once more.
“So, whom on earth are you going to choose? Wait, no. Whoever you choose doesn’t matter, just please don’t choose me at least. My father is coming to watch.”
The sparring tournament was open to commoners as well. Thanks to that, all kinds of merchants, duel gamblers, families who came out to watch with children yearning for martial artists, officials keenly interested in martial arts, and even local notables politically intertwined with the Martial Alliance would gather.
All sorts of people would flock together, bustling the vicinity for a while.
As everyone waited for an answer, Cheon Woo-jin scratched his chin with his index finger and answered casually.
“Most likely, with the Alliance Leader…”
“Ah, Squad Leader!”
Zhuge Rin hurriedly cut off Cheon Woo-jin’s words. Because listening to those blasphemous words to the very end would make her an accomplice.
Cheol Ji-ak, who returned late to the Black Tortoise Pavilion after concluding the squad leaders’ meeting, grinned upon seeing the squad members in the training ground.
“What are you all discussing so delightfully…”
“S-Squad Leader! There is something I must report. Shall we go inside for a moment?”
Zhuge Rin dragged Cheol Ji-ak along into the Black Tortoise Pavilion hall.
Lately, Zhuge Rin was exceptionally busy.
She could not slack off on training to fully adjust to her newly acquired energy, and she had to look after Cheol Ji-ak, who forced a smile before the squad members despite being betrayed by the White Dragon Squad Leader.
In addition, she occasionally caught bastards who spread strange rumors out of jealousy toward Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon to hold physical conversations with them, and she constantly kept her nerves taut in preparation for the Dragon and Phoenix Society checking the two.
Of course, no one had ordered her to do any of this. Yet she considered all those tasks to be things she ought to do as vice squad leader.
As Zhuge Rin disappeared taking Cheol Ji-ak with her, the Black Tortoise Squad members resumed their training with somewhat relieved expressions.
Suddenly, Cheon Woo-jin asked.
“So, whom is Young Hero Song going to designate?”
“Who else could it be?”
Song Yi-yeon grinned. Even amidst his deep worries after being entrusted with the White Dragon Squad Leader’s money, he had not neglected his training.
Rather, he was spurring his cultivation more than ever before.
Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head.
“It is indeed something you must face at least once eventually.”
Anyone born and raised in Anhui revered the Namgung Clan while fearing them on the other hand. Song Yi-yeon, the eldest son of the Song Clan, was no different.
In Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes, Song Yi-yeon’s martial talent was by no means inferior to Namgung Jin’s. It was merely that, unable to shake off that deep-seated fear in the abyss of his heart, he shrank back before Namgung Jin.
Song Yi-yeon drew his long saber with a refreshing smile.
“In that sense, how about a sparring match? It feels like my White Flower has grown considerably sharper these days.”
The white long saber Song Yi-yeon brandished with flair glittered all the more in the sunlight.
“White Flower? Did you name it already?”
“Naturally. People have been calling me the White Flower Saber quite often, so I gave it a fitting name. After all, aren’t martial artists a breed that lives and dies by style?”
Regardless of reality, such was Song Yi-yeon’s mindset.
The only martial artist who stood before the mirror in his room every night before sleeping, practicing how to draw his sword stylishly and rehearsing the smile to wear after felling an opponent, was Song Yi-yeon.
Cheon Woo-jin burst into a soft chuckle. It was because every time he heard Song Yi-yeon’s moniker, Master White Elder came to mind.
“Very well.”
Cheon Woo-jin took out the Crescent Moon Staff.
At that, Song Yi-yeon hastily sheathed White Flower and spoke.
“Let us spar with hand-to-hand combat. My achievement in the Black Tortoise Iron Leg Art has increased quite a bit lately.”
Truthfully, it was because he felt that colliding with that dark iron staff would shatter his splendid White Flower to pieces. Cheon Woo-jin also nodded without another word and put away the Crescent Moon Staff.
* * *
Across quite a long table, martial artists of all ages and genders sat facing one another.
The one seated at the head scrutinized the faces of those he had summoned, his eyes glowing with that characteristic green light.
“Everyone must know that there has not been a single day when turmoil subsided in the Martial Alliance lately. Moreover, you must know who stands at the center of all that turmoil.”
“…”
Everyone nodded their heads. Except for three people seated at the lowest seats: Namgung Jin, Jin Un, and Tang So-yeon.
Tang Bi-cheon eyed the three with apparent displeasure before continuing.
“The objective of our Dragon and Phoenix Society is solely one. We gathered to uphold the justice of the Martial Alliance. We sought to embrace and guide with generous tolerance the two alliance members who cause trouble every time, yet they ultimately rejected our proposal. Insolent. And arrogant.”
“Truly righteous words. We cannot leave those bastards as they are any longer.”
Daoist Master Un-seong, a second-generation disciple of the Qingcheng Sect, nodded vigorously.
His master, Daoist Master Cheong-hyeon, was someone with deep ties to the Gu Clan Patriarch and the deceased Elder Zhuge Seong. Naturally, he was also the one among the Martial Alliance’s eminent masters who looked least favorably upon Cheon Woo-jin.
As Un-seong agreed passionately, Tang Bi-cheon wore a satisfied expression.
“Indeed. It is not something we can overlook. I know that even the seniors who retired from the Society are deeply troubled. How could I, as the current president, merely sit by and watch?”
The Dragon and Phoenix Society elected its president on a ten-year cycle.
Tang Bi-cheon’s remaining term was two years.
At the very peak of his authority, nuisances named Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon had appeared.
No one could deny the fact that they were once-in-a-century geniuses. Because he failed to recruit such geniuses into the Dragon and Phoenix Society, the eminent seniors who stepped down from the front lines were even questioning Tang Bi-cheon’s competence.
All extraordinary individuals within the Martial Alliance were required to join the Dragon and Phoenix Society. Even after stepping down from the front lines, they pulled their juniors up as ranking officials of the Alliance.
Because the most outstanding rising stars, alliance members, and ranking officials all belonging to or hailing from the Dragon and Phoenix Society was precisely their true power.
From that perspective, Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon, who made their prominence known with all their might while refusing to join the Society, could not help but be protruding nails.
The protruding nail was bound to be hammered down. The Dragon and Phoenix Society had convened a meeting to personally raise that hammer.
Various opinions were voiced under Tang Bi-cheon’s leadership.
First was the opinion to cut off all their missions by leveraging the power of hall masters and strategists hailing from the Dragon and Phoenix Society.
“That is impossible. Have you forgotten what happened to the Black Tortoise Squad Leader recently? Touching the Black Tortoise Squad again in this current situation will cause the Alliance Leader to intervene personally.”
The current Alliance Leader, Bukli Cheon, loathed the Dragon and Phoenix Society. It was because he was of a disposition that was extremely vigilant against the corruption of power.
Upon taking office, he went so far as to purge a third of the figures hailing from the Dragon and Phoenix Society. Consequently, he incurred backlash from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans, who had invested heavily in the Dragon and Phoenix Society.
In the present Martial Alliance, a perilous tightrope walk was taking place between the Dragon and Phoenix Society representing vested interests and, paradoxically, the Alliance Leader representing anti-establishment forces.
“The reason such an Alliance Leader tolerates the Dragon and Phoenix Society is simple. It is because he has not been in office for long and has not gathered enough power to purge us. But if we provide a justification, the story changes.”
Public sentiment sympathizing with the Black Tortoise Squad Leader was already established in the Martial Alliance. In such a situation, if we used authority to cut off the Black Tortoise Squad’s missions, the Alliance Leader would gleefully dance with his blade.
“Are there no other opinions?”
“When they go out on a mission, simply send people to…”
Daoist Master Un-seong trailed off as he tried to say something. However, everyone present felt as if they had heard the unsaid words.
“Daoist Master Un-seong!”
Jin Un, who had remained still all along, sprang to his feet. Even before entering the Martial Alliance, he had repeatedly heard from the elders of Mount Hua that he must belong to the Dragon and Phoenix Society.
Jin Un was the sole hope of Mount Hua, whose influence had waned. Naturally, the closer Jin Un came to becoming Alliance Leader or reaching near that position, the closer Mount Hua would come to its past glory.
That was why Jin Un had kept his mouth shut. More precisely, he had been agonizing while picturing the faces of his martial uncles alongside those of Cheon Woo-jin and Song Yi-yeon at the same time.
However, what Un-seong had spoken of just now truly crossed the line.
“Is the Daoist Master truly not a martial artist of the Righteous Path!”
“Wh-What! What about you, then! Just how great do you think you are to scream and raise your voice at a senior of the martial world!”
In Jin Un’s eyes, disdain gathered undisguised.
Amidst that, Un-seong erupted in an even louder roar of anger.
“Right, if you are so great, why don’t you speak for once? You have been sticking close to those two bastards quite frequently lately. Your martial uncle, Daoist Master Ja-cheong, asked me to look after you, yet what a splendid deed you are performing.”
“…”
When his martial uncle was mentioned, Jin Un bit his lip.
If what shackled Song Yi-yeon was the shadow of the Namgung Clan, what shackled Jin Un was none other than the Mount Hua Sect itself.
Throughout his entire life, under the fine pretext of being the talent who would restore Mount Hua, Jin Un had endured the expectations of his master and martial uncles and the envy of his junior brothers.
When Jin Un could say nothing and only trembled his lowered fists, Un-seong smirked.
“You seem to recognize your own fault, do you? Right, at your age, one might indulge in a bit of deviation. When circumstances are suffocating, one can avert their eyes. Viewing power as evil, rejecting it, and resolving to become a chivalrous hero who transforms a troubled world. Yes, that can happen. It is naturally that kind of age. But.”
Un-seong’s smoothly flowing voice instantly grew colder than ever.
“But. You should not act like that, should you! I also share deep ties with the elders of Mount Hua. Knowing better than anyone just how special and heartbreaking the hopes they place on you are, how could you behave like this!”
For a moment, Jin Un felt as though his breath grew short. He was even gripped by an impulse to draw the sword at his waist and plunge it into his own chest right this second.
Even if others did not know, Namgung Jin and Tang So-yeon sitting right beside him noticed that subtle emotion. The two exchanged glances. They had to stop Jin Un before he did something rash.
Believing he had completely shut Jin Un’s mouth, Un-seong raised the corners of his lips and added in a low voice.
“In Daoist sects, there is a common saying that when it rains, one must get wet. If one is a Daoist, one should follow the natural order. The natural order bestowed upon you, Jin Un, is to live up to the expectations of your predecessors.”
Un-seong had uttered those words intending to ridicule Jin Un, yet the moment he heard them.
Jin Un’s trembling subsided.
It was because a single voice in his memory surfaced.
– It is so heavy, isn’t it? If your clothes get completely soaked by the rain.
When he had nearly died falling into a trap set by horse bandits previously, those were the words Cheon Woo-jin had offered to Jin Un after saving his life.
When everyone placed a chest of burdens upon Jin Un’s shoulders, Cheon Woo-jin was the first person who told him to unload that burden.
He was the only person who told him that sometimes it was fine to avoid it, fine to run away, and fine to hide behind someone.
Soon, having regained his composure, Jin Un let out a quiet breath.
“It is unbearably heavy. I should stop.”
“What are you talking about now?”
Jin Un glared at Un-seong with eyes clearer than ever before.
If one could load blades into a gaze, it would be sharp enough to slash him apart dozens of times over.
Soon, Jin Un spoke with conviction.
“You bastard who deserves heavenly punishment!”
“Wh-What?”
It was not particularly foul profanity.
However, because the one who spat those words was Jin Un, usually gentler than anyone, it sounded harsher than any curse.
Moreover, everyone knew that those words were not aimed solely at Un-seong.
“Young Hero Jin Un. Will you have no regrets?”
Tang Bi-cheon, who had observed the situation from the highest seat, asked.
Jin Un looked straight into his deep green eyes and spoke.
“As of today, I no longer belong to the Dragon and Phoenix Society. Furthermore, in the upcoming sparring tournament, I shall designate Daoist Master Un-seong.”
“Y-You…!”
Abruptly nominated, Un-seong pointed his finger in dumbfounded outrage, but Jin Un did not even spare him a glance.
Soon, Jin Un grabbed the Plum Blossom Sword propped against the table and exited the conference room. The plum blossom ornament dangling from the hilt clinked more blithely than ever.