Chapter 249: Ninth Heavenly Lord (1)

Shenyang, Henan Province.

Here, at the headquarters of the Murim Alliance, debates were erupting daily due to the incident in the South.

“I knew the Demonic Cult bastards would eventually cause trouble! We need to mobilize our full forces and strike them immediately!”

“What nonsense is this?! We don’t even know the full details yet!”

“Inviting those cultists into the Alliance in the first place was the problem! No matter who started it, things wouldn’t have exploded like this otherwise!”

“What?! And that’s something a supposed Righteous Faction member would say?!”

These days, shouting matches echoed frequently not only in the now-empty Lord’s Residence but also among the gathered Elders and Council Members.

Meanwhile, compared to those noisy places, a certain conference room was relatively quiet.

“Ugh, hmm…”

Around a round table sat six or seven middle-aged men, all wearing similarly grim expressions.

In that suffocating silence, one finally could not hold back and opened his mouth.

“Um, Lord of the Fifth Army.”

“What is it, Sect Leader?”

At the gentle reply, Lee Woon-gak, Sect Leader of the Mount Heng Sect, carefully spoke up.

“Shouldn’t we be taking action as well? If we ignore the Fourth Army’s summons…”

“Are you under the Fourth Army’s command?”

At the blunt question, Lee Woon-gak quickly lowered his head.

“N-no, of course not!”

At that, the one called the Fifth Heavenly Lord let out a hearty chuckle.

“Since when did we start helping our competitors? Don’t you all agree?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“H-hahaha…”

As everyone gave forced laughs, the Fifth Heavenly Lord dropped a bomb.

“Unless we decide to hinder them instead.”

“…!”

“S-Sect Leader?!”

One man shouted in shock, but the Fifth Heavenly Lord stared him down.

“What’s the matter? Is there any reason for Wudang and your sects to help the Fourth Army, who failed against the Demonic Cult? If anything, we should be stopping that reckless fool.”

“B-but if we blatantly withdraw from this Alliance matter…”

“There will be no consequences. That much, I personally guarantee.”

The man known as Gwan Hyun, the Wudang Sect Leader and Fifth Heavenly Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society, stood from his seat.

“Unless it’s something the Grand Heavenly Lord is leading, our Society does not enforce involvement in the Alliance’s internal affairs. Of course, there’s a risk of being dragged into things later through intimidation or being accused of defiance, but…”

Gwan Hyun waved his finger left and right.

“What does that matter to you? Wudang and I will protect you.”

“Ooh!”

“Truly reassuring, Sect Lea—no, Lord!”

Rumors that the current Alliance Leader, the Southern Celestial Sword King, would soon retire had spread subtly but widely within the Alliance.

Naturally, many sought to align themselves with Gwan Hyun, the most likely candidate for the next leader.

And those gathered here were the very first to grab that opportunity.

“Those targeting the Demonic Cult now are mostly your rivals—clans and sects competing with you. Also, the Alliance’s long-time enemy, the Evil Path Sect. If they suffer a major defeat or incur heavy losses…”

Gulp.

“Well, in the worst-case scenario, the spots of the Orthodox Sects or the Five Great Clans might just end up changing hands, don’t you think?”

“…!!”

In an instant, the eyes of those gathered twisted with greed.

Especially for sects like Mount Heng, which had long strived to enter the Orthodox fold, the idea made their eyes blaze with desire.

One after another, those seated began to change their tune.

“Hmm, indeed. I don’t think the Demonic Cult has done anything particularly wrong.”

“According to intelligence, the Namcheon Baek Clan has remained inactive. Considering that, perhaps the Cult has more legitimacy in this situation…”

As the tide of opinion began to shift, a genuine smile spread across Gwan Hyun’s lips.

“It’s decided then.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We will follow the Lord’s command.”

***

Baek Sang-ah couldn’t believe what had just happened.

A pitch-black veil had suddenly enveloped them.

And when it lifted, what entered her sight was somewhere deep in the back alleys of Nanchang.

“H-how can this be?!”

They had crossed space itself—was that even possible with martial arts?

“Ah, I feel like I’m dying…”

Even while facing her astonished gaze, So Cheon plopped down and groaned.

“The Founder told me not to use the Sun and Moon, Ten Thousand Demons because of the heavy recoil… but oh well, it’s probably fine, right?”

Baek Sang-ah asked him,

“Young Master So Cheon, what was that technique just now?”

So Cheon answered honestly.

“Oh, that was something the Heavenly Demon Founder modified from Master’s Ten Thousand Forms Tai Chi without permission. I don’t know the details myself.”

She had heard before how So Cheon had ended up under the Heavenly Demon Founder’s wing—not as an experiment… well, maybe, but to learn martial arts.

“…You seriously don’t even know what martial art you’re using?”

To that, So Cheon shrugged.

“Even if you say that… the Ten Thousand Forms Tai Chi is something I learned purely by feel, so there’s not much else I can say.”

It was so absurd that she even momentarily forgot her own situation.

Having recovered some strength, So Cheon stood up.

“Then, shall we go meet up with Yeomyung?”

“…Wait a moment.”

Baek Sang-ah raised her hand with a serious expression to stop him.

“I’d prefer if we delayed meeting with Young Master Jin.”

“Eh? Why?”

So Cheon tilted his head, looking confused.

“I mean, I understand the feeling of not wanting to see a man you just emotionally let go of…”

“That’s not it at aaaaaall!”

Whack!

Baek Sang-ah screamed and slammed her fist squarely into So Cheon’s jaw.

Though she hadn’t infused it with internal energy, it landed so cleanly that So Cheon’s body tumbled several times before crashing into a corner.

“Ugh, gah!”

“Huff, huff!”

While So Cheon lay curled up in pain, Baek Sang-ah covered her reddening cheek.

“Young Master, you’ve improved your intuition… but also not at all.”

“W-what do you mean by that…”

So Cheon barely managed to raise his head and ask in confusion.

“The reason I don’t want to meet Young Master Jin right now… is rational, logical, and perfectly reasonable.”

“……”

So Cheon inwardly grumbled at her unnecessarily long-winded explanation… but he didn’t dare voice his dissatisfaction.

He didn’t want to take another one of those clean, heavy hits again.

“For now, the two of us joining the fight would make for a decent fighting force, but we’d still be unable to significantly affect the overall situation.”

“So what’s your point?”

Though So Cheon expressed displeasure, she completely ignored it.

“We need to move an organization, not just individuals. We’re heading straight to Luoyang.”

Even though the truth had been exposed and the Black Lotus Union would soon be disbanded, they should still be able to mobilize a force one last time for this.

Baek Sang-ah didn’t know that the Black Lotus Union’s secrets hadn’t leaked yet—but either way.

“They’ve still preserved their forces under Euni’s command. The structure is beginning to stabilize, so we should be able to mobilize at least a thousand warriors.”

At the very least, they needed to balance the numbers to some degree.

When dealing with an army, the most effective counter wasn’t a few elites—it was another army.

“Hmm… makes sense.”

Surprisingly, her reasoning was quite valid.

“So please, don’t say anything about me being reluctant to see Young Master Jin, or how I’ll die of embarrassment if I do, okay?”

‘I… never went that far, though.’

Still, So Cheon, ever the agreeable one, nodded obediently.

“Yep.”

Satisfied with his response, she laid out their next steps.

“Good. If the Lotus Leader suddenly returns alone, it’ll look suspicious. So please act as her escort, Young Master So Cheon.”

“Sure, why not.”

It wouldn’t hurt to delay meeting up a bit anyway.

More importantly…

‘Didn’t Master say Yeomyung is with the others now?’

His instincts warned him.

‘For some reason… I feel like I must not let Master find out that I’ve turned the Ten Thousand Forms Tai Chi into demonic martial arts. Which means I should avoid meeting him if I can…’

Unexpectedly, So Cheon had quite a sharp intuition.

The problem was that he rarely followed it through.

***

‘Dongting Lake, huh…’

I rode in a straight line alongside Baek Cheon-ho.

‘They’ll probably board a ship near Akyang, where the water routes converge.’

From Nanchang to Akyang was about 700 li.

If we went straight, we could get there in two days, but factoring in various variables, I estimated about five days.

‘If they can board a boat from Akyang…’

From there, it would be relatively smooth sailing to Zhongqing, which lay along the border between Sichuan and Henan.

Zhongqing was essentially the dividing line between East and West of the Central Plains.

From Zhongqing, heading north would take us directly into the natural stronghold of the Jinryeong mountain range.

If they made it there, it would mean the escape had essentially succeeded.

The problem, however…

‘The Evil Path Sect, of course.’

About 300 li south of Akyang lay the headquarters of the number one demonic force in Hunan Province—the Evil Path Castle.

With their involvement now confirmed, the most likely point of confrontation was going to be somewhere near Akyang.

I clenched my teeth as I thought of Cheon Yura, who was probably leading the group right now.

‘Yura… please be safe!’

And so,

Baek Cheon-ho and I rode nonstop for two days in a straight line.

Eventually, we reached Junsujin, a town near Akyang.

At this point, I thought we might finally catch up.

“Heh heh, truly remarkable.”

But instead, we were greeted by a swarm of hundreds of beggars, waiting for us as if they had anticipated our arrival.

Baek Cheon-ho ground his teeth the moment he saw them.

“Damn it, we’re in trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“Looks like Ninth Heavenly Lord was waiting for us here.”

“…!”

Ninth Heavenly Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society.

Until now, we hadn’t even been able to guess at his true identity—and now he had shown himself here.

‘Was Ninth Heavenly Lord from the Beggars’ Sect?’

More importantly—

I had suspected it, but I didn’t expect the Heaven-Defying Society to have infiltrated the Beggars’ Sect.

Seeing my expression, Baek Cheon-ho clapped his hands as if suddenly remembering something.

“Oh right, I forgot to mention. Ninth Heavenly Lord’s real identity is Human Division, the Elder Council Head of the Beggars’ Sect.”

“…Hey, you!”

You should’ve told me that earlier!

“Kehehe, looks like you didn’t know who I was.”

Ninth Heavenly Lord, Human Division, was an elderly man whose age was hard to guess.

Then again, as the Elder Council Head of the Beggars’ Sect, he had to be at least in his seventies.

Ninth Heavenly Lord stood up from the middle of the beggars, where he had been sipping alcohol from a gourd.

Hic! “Cheon-ho, have you really decided to betray the Society?”

He let out a light belch and asked Baek Cheon-ho.

Baek Cheon-ho, tense and gripping his spear tightly, replied.

“My backer’s dead. I’m not going back to being a beggar, old man.”

Unhappy with that answer, Ninth Heavenly Lord clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, I heard the Fourth Order got ahead of himself and killed your foster father. Still, betraying the Society is a bit much.”

Crack!

Ninth Heavenly Lord stretched and cracked his neck.

In that moment, both Baek Cheon-ho and I felt utterly overwhelmed.

‘What the hell kind of frame…’

No joke—he looked well over eight feet tall.

I prided myself on being tall, but…

Even standing face-to-face, I probably wouldn’t even reach his chest.

“With your talent, you could’ve easily become the next Head of Dragon Head Gang. Such a shame.”

“I’m joining the Demonic Cult. I’m building a clan of my own. Don’t get in my way.”

Surely, living as a cultist was a hundred times better than living as a beggar.

“Sorry, but…”

As soon as Ninth Heavenly Lord shifted into stance—

“That’s not going to happen.”

Boom!

Baek Cheon-ho’s body went flying.

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