Chapter 231: Midnight Visitor (2)

He said… the Venerable Buddha?

Only then did I realize that the masked man in front of me was someone I had briefly encountered before.

One of the masked individuals who had supported the grievously wounded Venerable Buddha.

“Wise Talent Seo Muwon?”

“That is correct.”

He was one of the Ten Talents, renowned even among the pinnacle experts who could shake entire provinces—someone said to be at the very brink of transcendence.

The masked man before me was Seo Muwon, the head of White Heavenly Sect of Beijing, a clan that rivaled the Zhuge Clan in terms of formations.

“With your fame and status in the Murim world, I doubt you’d need to hide like a rat….”

At my subtle jab, Seo Muwon gave a bitter smile.

“As you may know, most of us who follow the Venerable Buddha have shed our pasts and slipped into the shadows of the Murim. To capture the darkness, we had to enter it ourselves.”

I didn’t know the details for everyone, but I’d heard that White Heavenly Sect, his clan, had been bathed in blood just a few years ago.

“You, a Demonic Cult member, might not sympathize much, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Please do.”

“The Venerable Buddha said your life is burdened with grave misfortune.”

“……!”

The Venerable Buddha said that?

“If that misfortune becomes unbearable, he told us to advise you to head as far south as you can.”

I couldn’t hold back and asked bluntly.

“Why would you tell me something like that?”

I was his enemy.

An enemy who had fought him with everything I had and inflicted a critical wound.

“There are two reasons. One, even though we fought due to differing circumstances, we still share a common enemy.”

He smirked slightly and continued.

“And the other is that the Venerable Buddha had quite the liking for you.”

“…….”

“You could call it a form of goodwill.”

Goodwill from the Venerable Buddha.

Strangely, I didn’t think it was a trap.

He was still known throughout the world as one of the Three Sovereigns of the Central Plains.

Even if vengeance had driven him mad, using petty tricks on a post–First-rate Martial Artist like me wasn’t his style. Those kinds of people wouldn’t have followed someone so petty.

‘Then this really means a serious threat lies ahead of me.’

“I’ve said all I came to say. Though I doubt it’ll happen….”

Seo Muwon gave a light chuckle.

“I’d like to work with you someday.”

“Not unless the heavens collapse.”

“Well, fair enough…”

And with that, Seo Muwon disappeared.

He appeared like a ghost, and vanished like one, too.

Misfortune, huh….

After a brief moment of thought, I chuckled and shook my head.

‘Given what I’m about to do, it wouldn’t be strange if some backlash followed.’

Right before my eyes were stacks of confidential documents from the Namcheon Baek Clan that the First Pavilion Master had obtained.

‘The die has already been cast. If I stop now, neither Cheon Yura nor I will survive.’

There might be three Extreme Demonic-level experts on our side, including Wang Cheongeol, but it wasn’t nearly enough to go against the entirety of the Namcheon Baek Clan.

If I backed out at this point, the Sword King might just try to eradicate us completely.

“Once I’ve decided… I’ll see it through to the end.”

***

Baek Mun-jeol, an elder of the Namcheon Baek Clan and a candidate for the next clan head, had not been in a good mood recently.

‘Damn that Black Lotus Leader. I didn’t expect her to respond like that!’

Following his subordinates’ advice, Baek Mun-jeol had encouraged her to participate in the martial competition during the recent banquet.

He’d intended to humiliate her pride by bringing it up.

But unexpectedly, her answer was positive.

“A martial contest for the post–First-rate Martial Artists? Very well. I shall participate.”

“…Are you serious?”

The corners of the Black Lotus Leader’s cheekbones twitched ever so slightly.

Her face was hidden behind a mask, but it was clear she was mocking him.

“You’re the one who suggested it. Why are you so surprised?”

“But the Black Lotus Union doesn’t exactly have strong post–First-rate Martial Artists…”

“We don’t. We’re a newly emerging force that hasn’t even existed for a few months. How could we have any?”

It was Baek Mun-jeol who was caught speechless by her brazen attitude.

Laughter erupted all around them.

“Hah, typical of lowborn cultists.”

“Clicking tongues. Letting people of that caliber join is the real problem.”

“……”

Despite the insults thrown from all directions, Demonic Sword Flower, the leader of the Black Lotus Union, remained completely unfazed.

She appeared so calm it made one wonder if she even cared about the sect itself.

“Of course, our Black Lotus Union has no real history yet.”

Her words silenced the hall.

“But if you think about it, every clan and sect in the Central Plains started out that way.”

“You dare compare yourselves to renowned clans with centuries of history?!”

An elder from a clan shouted, his eyes bloodshot, pointing at her.

But the Black Lotus Leader shrugged her shoulders casually.

“Ah, then I’ll compare us to other demonic sects like the Evil Path Sect or the Evil Overlords of Heaven. In about fifty years… say, when I retire, isn’t there a chance the Black Lotus Union will produce a group like the Four Stars?”

“……”

“If I endure disgrace and work hard to build our power until then, I think we’ll be able to produce some solid post–First-rate Martial Artists in the next generation.”

“You…!”

No matter what was thrown at her, she countered flawlessly. Eventually, people began to lose their words.

“Such a rootless thing dares to—!”

Just as they were about to devolve into crude insults due to a lack of better arguments—

A calm voice rang out from the most honored seat in the hall.

“Indeed… the Black Lotus Leader possesses the qualities of a ruler.”

The crowd reeled in shock.

“L-Lord Clan Head?”

“Alliance Leader! How could you say that?!”

The Sword King, clan head of the Namcheon Baek Clan and leader of the Righteous Alliance, who had quietly returned recently, chuckled softly.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Clan Head.”

“If only you had a strategist at your side, I’d say the Black Lotus Union’s future is secure. Hahaha!”

“I have two strategists assisting this unworthy self. They’re talents far too good for someone like me.”

“I didn’t mean it that way… but I suppose that wouldn’t be too bad either.”

Despite the Clan Head’s—Sword King’s—laugh, the other prominent orthodox masters couldn’t bring themselves to laugh.

Only the Black Lotus Leader and the Sword King exchanged that strange smile, gazing at each other.

But then—

‘…What is this?’

Baek Mun-jeol sensed something strange—an inexplicable tension between the Clan Head and the Black Lotus Leader.

The keen instincts he’d honed after encountering countless people were flashing a warning:

Do not overlook this scene.

‘What’s going on? Weren’t they supposed to have fought each other in Luoyang? That kind of familiarity doesn’t come from just a brief encounter.’

It was almost certain that the so-called Black Lotus Union had connections to the Demonic Cult.

But what was the Sword King’s relationship with them?

‘That so-called Blood Demon who suddenly appeared in Luoyang… he must have been a fabricated figure to gloss over their clash. Then what sort of cause and effect lies between the Clan Head and the Black Lotus Leader to make him look at her like that?’

Baek Mun-jeol’s expression turned grave with deep unease.

Present time.

Baek Mun-jeol asked his subordinate:

“Still no word from the Demonic Cult?”

“No, my apologies… not yet…”

In truth, Baek Mun-jeol had been tracking Baek Sang-ah’s whereabouts for quite some time now.

And with the help of the Heaven-Defying Society, he had confirmed that his niece had infiltrated the Demonic Cult.

“You mean to tell me you can’t find one damned person?!”

His face twisted like a demon’s in rage.

“We must find Baek Sang-ah no matter what. If we can just kill that wench, Namcheon will be mine in all but name!”

Baek Mun-yak, the current successor, was essentially out of the running.

As long as he could eliminate Baek Sang-ah, the second successor candidate—

Then suddenly, a voice not belonging to either of them echoed in the secret chamber where only Baek Mun-jeol and his subordinate were present.

“You won’t find her even if you comb through every corner of the Cult. She’s probably not here to begin with.”

“…?!”

Srrrk—

A young man wearing a mask appeared, as if he had walked straight through the wall.

“Gah?!”

The moment Baek Mun-jeol saw the young man’s face, his entire expression changed.

No—more than that, his limbs began to tremble!

“Th-The Fourth Heavenly Lord?!”

Heaven-Defying Society’s Fourth Heavenly Lord.

No—Clan Head of the Illusion Clan, Illusion Demon Hwan Pyeong.

He had appeared, all the way from the distant south!

Hwan Pyeong opened his mouth in a relaxed tone, as though he were out for a leisurely stroll.

“It’s been a long time, Elder Severing Sword.”

“Y-You were said to have headed north—how are you here?!”

News of the collapse of the Illusion Clan, one of the Six Great Demonic Clans, had long since spread far and wide.

It had been assumed that the survivors, including him, had gone into hiding on the Mongolian plains.

“Oh, the main household is indeed hiding among Yuan remnants to preserve their lives. But I… I came to the Central Plains for some personal business.”

“P-Personal business…?”

The unexpected arrival of such a man filled Baek Mun-jeol with indescribable dread.

“Surely, with things like this… we must go to war, don’t you agree?”

“W-War?!”

“My original plan was to wait peacefully until the Cult Leader passed on, and then inherit the Cult without bloodshed….”

Flinch!

“But that damned First Order’s betrayal ruined everything. So I must take a different route.”

A dark, eerie aura surged in Hwan Pyeong’s eyes.

It wasn’t just a threatening presence or pressure—it was a distinctive phenomenon unique to sorcerers trained in ghostly arts.

“You didn’t really think you could just receive our support, become the clan head, and then pretend none of this happened, did you?”

Hwan Pyeong’s ghostly aura bore down on Baek Mun-jeol, and his eyes began to twitch under the pressure.

“H-Hahaha! O-Of course not!”

In truth, Baek Mun-jeol’s only goal was the clan head position.

He had orchestrated this grand tournament for no reason other than to bolster his own standing.

He had no real loyalty or sense of duty toward the Heaven-Defying Society.

“And how did Elder plan to act during this tournament?”

“Well…”

Terrified, Baek Mun-jeol began to babble.

He confessed his plan: using the Heaven-Destroying Poison he had acquired through the Baek Clan’s merchant network to assassinate Baek Mun-yak at an opportune moment, then rallying the allied forces he had cultivated in secret to suppress any dissenters.

“Not bad. But let’s add one more thing.”

“A-And what would that be?”

“Mobilize those forces… and kill the Young Cult Leader. And that Jin Clan boy supporting her as well…”

“…?!?!”

“I’ve lost the clan I built my entire life. Wouldn’t it be fitting for the Cult Leader to experience something similar?”

“W-What are you saying…?!”

Baek Mun-jeol’s expression was filled with fierce resistance.

If the Fourth Heavenly Lord got involved now, things would spiral out of control.

More precisely, he would lose control of the situation altogether!

But Hwan Pyeong lightly crushed Baek Mun-jeol’s resistance.

“Isn’t this region under Gu Cheon-gun’s jurisdiction? I’ll notify him. Oh, and we should kill the Black Lotus Leader as well. Can’t let ambiguous variables remain, right?”

“Y-Yes… understood.”

“Gather your collaborators. Oh, and the Fourth Order should be here, right? What’s he doing now?”

“If you mean the Fourth Order, he’s… diligently preparing for the martial contest.”

“Preparing? He’s probably wasting his time chasing women, trusting that blessed body of his.”

“……”

Baek Mun-jeol had no retort. Hwan Pyeong had sized up the Fourth Order’s character exactly.

“Once we kill the Young Cult Leader here, and the enraged Cult Leader causes blood to flood the Central Plains… we’ll use that blood as a sacrifice to conduct the Sealing Rite on the prepared vessel.”

The misfortune the Venerable Buddha had warned Jin Yeomyung about—

That misfortune was now right in front of him.

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