Chapter 989

The Thousand-Faced Fox, Song Ho, was having another day so busy he couldn’t catch his breath.

Or, more accurately, he was supposed to be.

When he rose after less than two hours of sleep, he already had his day planned out in fifteen-minute increments.

But the moment he read the red missive brought by a Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent before sunrise, the Thousand-Faced Fox realized one thing:

Today would not go according to plan.

“Cancel the meeting already on the schedule. Instead, summon the Inner Hall’s officers within fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll make sure every one of them is notified.”

“What’s the situation in the Outer Hall?”

“They’re already on alert. The messenger eagles bound for each province are ready and waiting for your orders, Pavilion Master—”

“Send them out at once. I’ll see the Alliance Leader in the meantime.”

After giving several more orders, the Thousand-Faced Fox hurried toward his destination.

As always, Sword Saint Mae Jonghak was waiting for him, seated cross-legged.

“It’s early for bad news. You could’ve waited until sunrise, at least.”

His voice and gaze were as clear as the water at a lakeshore.

Usually, the Number One Sword Under Heaven’s composure made him seem utterly carefree. Faced with it now, the Thousand-Faced Fox spoke cautiously.

“Did you already… know?”

“I can’t say I know. I just found it hard to sleep last night.”

Mae Jonghak slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Thousand-Faced Fox.

Or, more precisely, at the red missive in his hand.

“So. Who is it this time?”

Mae Jonghak’s voice had sunk low.

Many years had passed, and much had changed. But some things remained the same.

Red missives bearing tragic news were one of them.

During the Great Faction War, whenever an important figure died or heavy casualties were reported, they had written those missives with heavy hearts.

Just like the one in the Thousand-Faced Fox’s hand now.

“Alliance Leader.”

“It’s all right. Tell me the name written in that red missive.”

The Thousand-Faced Fox hesitated, then spoke somberly.

“The Thunderbolt Saber King, who was staying with the Jin Family of Taiyuan, has finally…”

“Enough. That will do.”

Mae Jonghak waved a hand, his expression bitter.

“So it came to this, after all.”

“I’m sorry to bring you such news.”

“You? No. If someone must be blamed, it should be me—the Alliance Leader.”

The Thousand-Faced Fox bowed his head without a word.

The two men had known each other for decades: first as promising young martial artists of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, then as comrades who had joined forces to weather the war.

For now, he needed to give Mae Jonghak time to receive the news as the dead man’s friend, not as the Alliance Leader. Fortunately, the silence did not last long.

“How did Senior Peng pass?”

“They say he was smiling until the end. He knew he had little time left, so he passed on everything he had through Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body.”

The astonishing news left out one crucial detail: to whom.

But Mae Jonghak didn’t need to ask. Before the Thousand-Faced Fox had finished speaking, a name had already come to mind.

“Jin Taekyung. It must have been that boy.”

“Yes. It was an extremely dangerous attempt, but I’m told the technique succeeded.”

Mae Jonghak nodded quietly.

Though he’d spent only a short time with Jin Taekyung, he’d had a vague sense that the transfer would succeed.

“That boy could certainly pull it off. There’s no telling how deep his abilities run.”

The Thousand-Faced Fox’s next report, however, drew a disbelieving laugh even from Mae Jonghak.

“Bone Transformation?”

The Heavenly Martial Physique was something one was born with. Bone Transformation, by contrast, completely rebuilt the body through immense internal energy and enlightenment.

Even a white-haired old man on the verge of death could regain his youth and make remarkable gains in martial arts through Bone Transformation.

And yet that fortune, coveted by all, had come to a young man around twenty.

Even the Thousand-Faced Fox, who had read the report with his own eyes, plainly struggled to believe it.

“Is this truly… possible?”

“You don’t seem convinced.”

“I doubt most people would be.”

“Why do you think it’s impossible?”

“In the entire thousand-year history of Murim, how many have experienced Bone Transformation? As far as I know, fewer than twenty.”

“You have a point. But there’s something you’re overlooking.”

“What is it?”

Mae Jonghak spread one hand instead of answering.

“Five.”

“What does that—”

“Of those fewer than twenty, five have appeared in this age alone.”

“…!”

“No—now there’ll be six.”

The Martial God and the Three Saints.

The Fire King, Jeok Cheongang, and his Disciple, the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon, Jin Taekyung.

Mae Jonghak raised another finger as he named them, then continued calmly.

“Isn’t it strange? Only around twenty people have undergone Bone Transformation in the last thousand years, yet the orthodox Murim alone already has six.”

“That’s…”

“You’ve felt it yourself, I’m sure. You just can’t easily accept it out loud.”

Mae Jonghak uncrossed his legs and stood.

He looked so ordinary that the Thousand-Faced Fox might have passed him anywhere without a second glance. But the eyes meeting his were clear as glass.

“We live in a truly strange age. The boundaries of common sense collapsed long ago, and a vast, unimaginable shadow has fallen over the world.”

More than fifty years ago, two supreme figures had appeared in the same age: the Martial God and the Heavenly Demon.

And that was hardly all.

Dozens of Supreme Peak masters from the orthodox, unorthodox, and Demonic factions had gathered around them, and a battle had begun between superhumans wielding unprecedented power.

The Three Saints and the Ten Kings. Great fiends of the Demonic Cult and the unorthodox faction, with power enough to shake heaven and earth.

And…

“Now Dark Heaven has appeared, surpassing even the Demonic Cult of that era by far.”

Does the age make the people, or do the people make the age?

The question had inspired countless debates, but no one had found a clear answer. Sword Saint Mae Jonghak was no exception.

Yet deep down, he knew the age he lived in was more than a mere time of chaos.

He sensed something hidden behind the conflict between superhumans—whether they had been born of this chaotic age or were bringing it into being.

“Supernatural powers we cannot understand. Monsters in horrific forms. And at the center of it all, someone called the Lord of Heaven.”

His gaze deepened as he murmured, almost to himself.

“Sometimes I wonder if all of this is a scheme devised by someone beyond our imagining.”

Mae Jonghak suddenly turned to look out the window.

White snowflakes drifted slowly down, so thick they obscured the sunlight spreading from the distant east.

Snow in early autumn. A tremendous snowfall, at that.

In Henan’s warm climate, such a thing was not merely rare—it had been unheard of. Yet it had begun happening several months ago.

And not only in Henan. It was happening across the world.

The changes were not confined to the ground, either.

The sky that had always hung above them—the heavenly patterns whose change Dharma King Hong Dao had long ago foreseen—was changing rapidly.

“Can you make sense of any of this?”

At Mae Jonghak’s question, the Thousand-Faced Fox, Song Ho, bit his lip without a word.

Cold sweat had soaked his back.

“I—I can’t. I can’t even begin to guess what’s about to happen.”

His voice trembled.

Even a man who had served the Martial God at close quarters and fought the hundred thousand followers of the Demonic Path led by the Heavenly Demon could not stay calm when he thought of what lay ahead.

It was as though…

Something beyond the bounds of the human world.

The words hovered on the tip of his tongue. The Thousand-Faced Fox could not bring himself to say them, so he swallowed them instead.

He couldn’t believe it.

No—he didn’t want to believe it.

Mae Jonghak watched the Thousand-Faced Fox’s agitation with clear eyes.

“Pavilion Master Song. May I say one thing to you as your superior and the Alliance Leader?”

“Please.”

“Admit that you’re afraid. Accept it.”

“…!”

“Be more afraid than anyone else. Always be on guard against our enemies and distrust them. You and I have no choice. We’re in positions where we have to.”

The Thousand-Faced Fox understood the meaning behind Mae Jonghak’s words at once.

“I’ll take your words to heart, Alliance Leader.”

“Thank you. You’re a coolheaded, intelligent man. One of the most… no, not the most, but certainly among the ten most intelligent people I’ve known.”

The Thousand-Faced Fox let out a dry chuckle.

“So there are quite a few ahead of me.”

“I have to get the numbers right. Try not to be offended.”

“I won’t take that part to heart.”

“Good news. You already have more than enough pressing matters on your mind.”

“Of course. Then I’ll take my leave.”

Mae Jonghak smiled faintly but did not stop the Thousand-Faced Fox as he hurried away, moving as briskly as he had when he arrived.

Once he was alone, Mae Jonghak slowly read the red missive left behind. Then he murmured under his breath.

“So I’m saying goodbye to someone again.”

Beyond their friendship, the Thunderbolt Saber King’s death was a tremendous loss to the orthodox Murim as a whole.

Half of the Ten Kings had fallen over the long years. Of the five who remained, another was gone.

Perhaps the trace left by that giant’s final step could ease the grief of his passing, if only a little.

“The Blazing Flame Divine Dragon, Jin Taekyung.”

Mae Jonghak quietly spoke the name that had lingered in his mind.

A great star, the Thunderbolt Saber King, had fallen, and a new star had risen to fill the void.

No—he had already been shining brightly before this.

As if to prove his title, Divine Dragon.

Before long, two dragons will finally ascend to the heavens.

Mae Jonghak did not doubt it for a moment.

Jin Taekyung, now a giant of Murim, and the last successor Mae Jonghak had raised like his own grandson would stand at the center of this strange age.

Thinking of Cheongpung, who must by now have finally heard the news from Shanxi Province even where he was so far away, Mae Jonghak poured internal energy into the missive in his hand.

Fwoosh. Crackle.

The flames of Samadhi True Fire tinted Mae Jonghak’s clear eyes red.