Chapter 250

The Demonic Cult.

If they had never existed—if those who called themselves the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had never appeared—the Murim under heaven would never have united as one.

But when Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan fell into the Demonic Cult’s hands in a mere four months, everything changed.

The leaders of countless orthodox factions, including the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, gathered in one place. Even major figures from the unorthodox factions and dark-path forces, such as the Yangtze River Channel League and the Green Forest Alliance, lent their strength.

And at the center of it all stood the Martial God.

An unparalleled master known as the greatest beneath heaven. An invincible man who belonged to no faction.

Let us raise a single flag. It is the only way.

Thus, after years of joining together and splitting apart, the orthodox factions, unorthodox factions, and dark-path forces united beneath a single flag.

The Murim Alliance was born.

Not long after the fierce ten-year Great War ended, the Murim Alliance was dissolved along with the Martial God’s disappearance. But the site where the heroes of old had once gathered remained, carrying on in a new form with new people.

“Good grief, it’s packed.”

A middle-aged man stared wearily at the long line stretching out in front of the Murim Alliance.

They hadn’t even entered yet, and it was already this crowded. Just imagining the chaos inside was enough to make his vision go dark.

To make matters worse, he still hadn’t recovered from yesterday’s drinking.

“Honey, why don’t we just take a lap around the market and go home? Hm?”

At his desperate whisper, his wife firmly shook her head.

“No. Do you have any idea how excited he is? He’s been begging us for three whole days, ever since the main event began.”

“No, no. It’ll be fine. We can take a lap around the market and put some candy in his mouth. That’ll keep him quiet. To hell with the Star-Array Grand Banquet and all that. What’s so impressive about watching Murim people fight anyway… Huh?”

The middle-aged man sucked in a startled breath.

His son, who had been asleep on his wife’s back, was now awake and staring at him.

The boy’s large eyes were moist, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

“Dad. Aren’t we going to see the Star-Array Grand Banquet?”

“No, son. That’s not what I—”

“Sniff… Sob…”

“W-Wait. Just hear me out.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

“…My boy sure has a powerful set of lungs.”

A short while later, the child held candy in one hand and a wooden doll the size of an adult’s palm in the other.

The unexpected expense left the middle-aged man grumbling.

“Damn thieves. How can a little chunk of wood cost that much?”

But he was still a parent. The sight of his son’s beaming face eased his irritation a little.

“You like it that much?”

“Yes! Jin Taekyung is so cool! The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi is the best!”

“Jin Taekyung? The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi? Is that wooden doll’s name Jin Taekyung?”

“Dad, you don’t know Jin Taekyung?”

“O-Of course I do.”

“Really?”

“Of course. There’s nothing your dad doesn’t know.”

He couldn’t sacrifice his dignity as a father over some wooden doll.

Having narrowly escaped the crisis, the middle-aged man waited until his son was looking away, then quietly asked his wife, “Honey. Who’s Jin Taekyung, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi? You don’t know either, do you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

His wife looked at him as if he were hopeless.

“We came here to watch his duel today.”

“…”

“The Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, Jin Taekyung. Hyeok has told you over and over that he’s won three straight duels in the main event… How can a father take so little interest in his own child?”

As his wife continued lecturing him, the middle-aged man had only one thought.

I hope this Sleeping Dragon or whatever gets his ass kicked today.

Whoosh!

I calmly watched the sword sweep toward me.

Fast as an arrow, agile as a snake.

After a bewildering series of forms, red Sword Energy shot toward me.

Shhk-shhk-shhk-shhk!

I flipped through the air. The Sword Energy passed less than half a span¹ from me, and I thrust out my fist.

One punch wreathed in blue flame—the first form of the Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

Boom!

A powerful collision.

Sword Energy and Fist Energy crashed together, sending a thunderous boom across the arena. Stone dust from the dueling platform billowed up, blocking my view.

I stepped forward.

Again. One more time.

Boom! Kraa-boom!

The shock wave bursting from my fist split the air. The flames of the Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist devoured the cloud of dust.

Beyond it stood a man.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his face deathly pale. He clutched a broken sword and stared at me with wide eyes.

“H-How?”

“Well.”

The moment I answered, I kicked off the ground.

Crack.

As my foot left the ground, spiderweb cracks spread across the solid bluestone. I tore through the fierce wind and threw a third punch at him.

“I surrender!”

The words burst from him like a scream.

My fist stopped directly in front of his nose. The pressure from its tremendous speed and force sent his hair whipping back.

The hero’s headband slipped from his forehead, fluttered out of the arena, and landed with a thud.

“S-Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi, victory!”

Waaaaah!

At the referee’s declaration, the cheers the crowd had been holding back erupted from every direction.

Hundreds—thousands—of spectators surged to their feet, throwing flowers and all manner of objects.

“Yeah! Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi!”

“Dad! I can’t see! Put me on your shoulders!”

“You’re the best, you punk! I even bought your wooden doll!”

The stands weren’t filled with martial artists alone. Plenty of ordinary people had come from Henan and even farther away to see the Star-Array Grand Banquet.

I waved to one particularly noisy father and son, then turned away.

Ding.

System

• You won the duel against Black Water Dart!
• An overwhelming victory! Everyone who watched the duel offers unreserved praise!
• Your Fame increased by 500!
• Your Fame increased by 430!
• Your Fame increased by…

I listened to the familiar notifications as I stepped down from the dueling platform. At the same moment, someone landed lightly in front of me using an elegant movement technique.

Tap!

“Good heavens, what are all these specks of dust on your precious body? This poor Daoist² will wipe them away for you.”

Damn it. This bastard’s here again.

No matter how many times I told him not to come, he refused to fucking listen. There was no helping him.

I snatched the towel from his hand.

“If you’re going to come, at least walk over like a normal person. Stop using the Cloud-Dragon Eight Forms or Oh Tae-sik or whatever.”

Baek Woo, the Kunlun Cloud Dragon, answered glumly.

“It is the Cloud-Dragon Eight Forms. Even so, it is one of the Kunlun Sect’s secret arts. You could at least remember its name…”

“Right. Imagine how heartbroken your Master would be if he saw you using that secret art to deliver towels. He’s probably watching from the VIP seats right now.”

“My Master told me to get along with Fellow Daoist.²”

“…”

“I heard Great Hero Jeok Cheongang, the Fire King, once saved my Master’s life…”

No wonder Baek Woo had been so unusually friendly since the day after we arrived.

He must have scampered over to his Master to tattle on me, only to have the whole thing blow up in his face.

Then there were my last three duels—or four, counting the one just now. Watching them must have driven one fact home.

I was far stronger than he was.

The same went for the other two idiots.

“Our sect’s Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms is one of the five greatest palm arts beneath heaven.”

“Sure. But you’ve only mastered it to the fifth level, right?”

“That is correct.”

“Is that why you brought that?”

“Yes.”

Gung Gibang approached with a solemn expression, carrying a basin of water for me to wash my face.

“…”

The whole thing was absurd, but I thanked him, washed my face, and dried it with the towel Baek Woo had brought.

The Beggars’ Sect’s Successor Beggar had brought me water, and the Kunlun Cloud Dragon, one of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes, had brought me a towel.

To everyone else, this must have looked like a very strange sight.

Wait.

Come to think of it, one of them was missing.

“Where’s Galgyun?”

Normally, he would have rushed over by now and started rambling about his ancestor, Zhuge Wuhou,³ but he was nowhere to be seen.

Baek Woo answered, “Young Master Zhuge went to fight his duel.”

“No wonder he’s not here.”

There were no fewer than five hundred competitors in the main event, so the duels were held in sequence across several different arenas.

Today was the third day. Once all the scheduled duels ended, only around thirty competitors would remain.

There have been more injuries than I expected.

Every participant was a master with at least one remarkable skill.

Injuries were unavoidable. Some people even won a razor-close duel only to withdraw afterward.

I’m the unusual one.

Counting the victory I had just secured, I had won four duels, and not one had lasted more than fifteen minutes.

The longest had gone for a little over two hundred exchanges, and only because I’d wanted to experience my opponent’s unusual martial art.

I’m glad I entered the Star-Array Grand Banquet.

From what I had seen, some of the competitors possessed a deeper understanding of particular martial arts than I did.

I was simply far superior in several other respects, and facing unfamiliar martial arts I had never encountered before was giving me valuable experience.

I never would’ve gained this kind of experience if I’d stayed in Fire Gate Cavern.

My gaze naturally drifted toward the VIP seats.

Jeok Cheongang was trying his hardest to control his expression, while Jin Wikyung looked so delighted he could barely contain himself.

And beside them…

“That old man’s here again today.”

“Who?”

“Who?”

“The Thousand-Faced Fox, Song Ho. He hasn’t missed a single day.”

Baek Woo and Gung Gibang started to turn, then froze.

“Why? Is he that important?”

“Sir Song?”

“You mean the Thousand-Faced Fox?”

They both asked at once, then lowered their voices.

“He is certainly an impressive man. No—perhaps frightening would be more accurate.”

“The Murim Alliance’s Hidden Shadow Pavilion once possessed an intelligence network that rivaled the Beggars’ Sect’s. It may even have surpassed ours.”

“The Hidden Shadow Pavilion?”

Gung Gibang nodded.

“I heard it performed truly astonishing feats during the Great Faction War. Of course, the Thousand-Faced Fox, who was its head, deserves much of the credit for the Hidden Shadow Pavilion’s existence.”

So in modern terms, was he something like the director of the FBI?

If even the Beggars’ Sect’s Successor Beggar spoke of it that way, the Hidden Shadow Pavilion’s intelligence network must have been extraordinary.

Judging from the past tense, it had probably followed the Murim Alliance into dissolution.

The former head of a retired intelligence organization…

As I watched him closely, Song Ho rose from his seat and disappeared somewhere.

I followed his retreating figure with my eyes until it vanished. Then a roar from the crowd rang in my ears.

“Waaaaah!”

“The Life-Sustaining Sword won again!”

I turned toward the cheers and saw Jongni Chu descending from a dueling platform, his clothes reduced to rags.

His entire body glistened with sweat, and he was gasping for breath.

The two idiots muttered as they watched him.

“Life-Sustaining Sword? Whoever came up with that epithet certainly has a way with names.”

“He does keep scraping out victories by a hair. In that sense, the Always-Victorious Sword truly is always victorious.”

The nickname Life-Sustaining Sword had been given to Jongni Chu because he won every match by barely surviving.

Even I hadn’t expected Jongni Chu to reach four wins, but apparently he was stronger in a real fight than I’d thought.

If he’s made it this far, he must have some skill.

Just how did he fight to earn a name like Life-Sustaining Sword?

A quiet laugh escaped me as I watched Jongni Chu frantically gulp down cold water.

Maybe I’ll meet him on the dueling platform later.

I hadn’t had much contact with Jongni Chu since three days ago. We merely acknowledged each other whenever we happened to cross paths.

If our next meeting was on the dueling platform, I might end up feeling a little sorry for him.

“Anyway, thanks for the towel and the water. You can clean these up while you’re at it.”

Baek Woo and Gung Gibang took the towel and basin respectively, then asked, “Where are you going?”

“Our sect’s Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms is one of the most renowned martial arts beneath heaven… Where are you going?”

“To watch Gyun’s duel.”

I had heard Zhuge Gyun practiced an unusual fan technique using a folding fan. I figured I might as well watch his duel and broaden my knowledge of martial arts.

I was about to head toward another dueling platform when I suddenly stopped.

“Oh, right. Who did they say his opponent was?”

The Invincible Divine Sword.

Zhuge Gyun gasped for breath.

When he had first heard his opponent’s epithet, he had laughed inwardly. It was far too grand a name for some unknown nobody with no reputation.

But…

How has someone like this remained unknown until now?

The hand gripping his fan trembled.

His legs had already lost half their strength, and merely staying upright was becoming difficult. His eyes ached from straining to follow sword strikes that moved too quickly to see.

The internal energy in his dantian had run dry long ago.

Zhuge Gyun was one of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes, yet he had been reduced to this state while the Invincible Divine Sword remained utterly at ease.

No—he even seemed excited.

“Wow! You’re the first person I’ve ever seen use a fan technique! Do you have another one? Another one?”

“…”

At the innocent voice drifting from beneath the deeply lowered bamboo hat, Zhuge Gyun threw away his fan.