The Hao Faction leader, Guk Jihum, was a middle-aged man who was now over fifty.

When one thought of a martial artist, one would think that they would not age and would live a long life due to their internal energy.

But that was a wrong statement.

Rather, were there any people who were as easy to die young as martial artists?

Among the later generation experts who went out into the martial world in their early twenties, six out of ten would die, and two would be seriously injured and would not even be able to move. The number of people who survived was about two. And even then, one of them would be so scared that they would never be able to go out into the martial world again.

So for a martial artist to be over fifty and almost sixty.

It meant that he had survived for a long time in the bloody martial world.

What did this mean?

“I am strong!”

“Yes, yes, I know. Of course, I know.”

“Branch Leader Im Hong, if you also train hard, you will be able to become as strong as me.”

“Yes, I respect you. Faction Leader.”

“Hahahaha!”

Without even knowing that Im Hong was looking at him with a pathetic gaze, Guk Jihum laughed so.

Looking at him like this, he seemed like an old man who couldn’t act his age, but in fact, Guk Jihum was strong enough to feel proud.

His limbs were as thick as logs, his shoulders were as wide as the sea, his temples were bulging, and his pupils were flowing with a bright light.

An appearance that was not just healthy, but strong, making it hard to believe he was sixty.

Guk Jihum, who had survived for a long time in the martial world, was strong.

A master who could enter the realm of entering the divine right away if just one more bit of enlightenment could be added.

Im Hong looked at Guk Jihum with a new gaze.

‘A martial artist who reveres martial arts, unlike the Hao Faction. Although he doesn’t fit in with the Hao Faction, it must have been his nature and skill that have raised the current Hao Faction to this extent.’

After the previous Hao Faction leader had died while carrying out the Azure Sky Sword God’s request, the Hao Faction had been greatly shaken.

‘If things had gone wrong, they would have been eaten up by the Black Heart Gang.’

The Hao Faction and the Black Heart Gang had a close relationship. Didn’t their area of activity and the power that served as their foundation basically come from the weak and the back alleys?

After the Righteous-Demonic War, the Black Heart Gang had wielded its power, and the Hao Faction had been shaken after losing its leader.

But the one who had firmly protected the Hao Faction was Guk Jihum.

A martial artist with a natural belligerence that was unlike the Hao Faction. Rather than a low-life, he was a typical good person who could win the favor of many martial artists.

“How was he? Was that man strong?”

“…Faction Leader. Don’t tell me, by any chance…?”

“By any chance, what? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I’ll eat up that Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero? He’s still a young friend.”

“…”

Im Hong closed his mouth firmly.

‘It’s not that I’m worried that you’ll eat him up, but that you’ll be beaten to a pulp and be eaten up.’

Of course, Im Hong did not think that Guk Jihum would be beaten as miserably as he had been.

But it was also natural for anxiety to sprout at the news he had been hearing recently.

“Nearly five hundred warriors in Hubei Province have disappeared at once.”

“I have heard that information.”

Guk Jihum’s playful expression became serious.

The reason Guk Jihum was following Im Hong to Hubei Province was partly because he was looking forward to meeting Cheon Mubaeck, but the more important reason was because of the news.

Martial world sects, escort agencies, and medical halls had all disappeared.

And that number was five hundred.

This was not something that could be easily overlooked. It was a major incident.

Guk Jihum had personally come out to confirm the truth of the information.

“There’s a rumor that the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero did it. There’s also a story that all five hundred warriors were the secret forces of the Blood Demon Valley. What do you think of the inference that the reason Wudang and the Zhuge Clan are quietly acquiescing is because of that?”

Guk Jihum’s voice became sharp.

Im Hong answered with a tense face, as if he had ever looked at him with a pathetic gaze.

Although a good person, he was the leader of the information group, the Hao Faction.

“Even though the incident happened in their front yard, Hubei Province, Wudang and the Zhuge Clan are quiet. It seems that Wudang cannot pay attention to the outside because of some incident that happened inside, but the Zhuge Clan is not like that. Recently, there have been rumors that the relationship between the daughter of the Zhuge Clan and the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero is close…”

“So the Zhuge Clan acquiesced? If the person who caused the incident was the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero?”

“If it wasn’t him, there’s no way the Zhuge Clan would be quiet.”

Guk Jihum stroked his chin.

“Hmm. So the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero is such a great person.”

“He is a person worthy of that. Unlike his original nature, the rumors have spread strangely…”

“Original nature?”

“The rumor that he is a great hero who protects the martial world is spreading, but that’s really…”

From Im Hong’s perspective, it was an absurd thing.

Even now, when he thought of the time he had been beaten and had his Jangbodo stolen, he trembled all over.

“Anyway, the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero. If I meet him, all my goals will be solved. I’ve wanted to meet him for a long time, but where on earth has he been wandering around?”

“…Faction Leader. Although it is overstepping my bounds, may I give you a piece of advice?”

“What is it?”

“Never, ever look down on him.”

From Im Hong’s perspective, it was the best effort he could make as a subordinate.

* * *

“I am Guk Jihum. I am called by the moniker of the Gentleman on the Beam.”

A gentleman on the beam.

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Cheon Mubaeck said firmly.

The Gentleman on the Beam originally referred to a petty thief on the beam, or a rat.

“Hahaha. Although I am not a petty thief or a rat, people call me that because I am in this position. I have never stolen anything.”

Guk Jihum’s appearance was far from that of a petty thief. To the point where one could take the word gentleman literally, he had a good-natured face.

In fact, what Cheon Mubaeck had felt was the same.

A martial artist.

A typical martial artist, unlike the Hao Faction.

Although he wondered why such a person had come out of the Hao Faction.

Cheon Mubaeck nodded his head as he caught a glimpse of the old appearance on that face.

“Are you from the Cheonsu Guk Clan?”

“…!”

Guk Jihum’s hearty laughing face hardened in an instant.

A complicated light appeared in his pupils.

‘How did he know?’

The now-disappeared Cheonsu Guk Clan of Gansu Province.

Guk Jihum was at a loss for words at the fact that he knew his family home.

Wasn’t it a fact that even Im Hong, who was right next to him, didn’t know, and that only the seniors of the previous generation who had all returned to the earth knew?

Guk Jihum narrowed his eyes and twitched his nose.

Looking at him, Cheon Mubaeck laughed inwardly.

‘The bald-headed kid who was making a fuss in the skirts of those courtesans, telling them not to touch him, has grown up.’

The Cheonsu Guk Clan was a victim of the Righteous-Demonic War.

It was a martial family that wielded considerable power in Gansu Province, and it had a high reputation as an upright and magnanimous martial family.

In the early days of the Righteous-Demonic War, they were immediately attacked by the Demonic Cult. Of course, the Cheonsu Guk Clan did not surrender and fought with everything they had.

‘The only surviving bloodline of the Guk Clan.’

The small child that Cheon Mubaeck, who had arrived late after hearing the news, had saved was Guk Jihum.

The situation was urgent, and since Cheon Mubaeck could not take care of him, he had entrusted him to a courtesan house belonging to the nearby Hao Faction.

Since then, he had only seen him grow up among the courtesans from afar, but he had never thought that that child would grow up to become the Hao Faction leader.

It was natural for a feeling of welcome to suddenly arise.

But even so, Cheon Mubaeck was not a person who thought of the connections of his past lives in relation to his present life.

“I think I know why the Hao Faction leader has come to find me.”

“…You think you know?”

“The guys who suddenly died in Hubei Province are all the underlings of the Blood Demon Valley.”

“…”

Guk Jihum’s pupils shook violently.

Although he did not show it on his face, he could not hide the surprise in his eyes.

‘It’s as if he’s looking right through me.’

There were two reasons for his surprise.

One was the intuition that he had immediately grasped the reason he had come.

The second was the fact that Cheon Mubaeck was the one who had caused that incident.

“It’s disappointing. If it’s the Hao Faction, they should have known at least one or two of them were the secret forces of the Blood Demon Valley, even if not all of them.”

“…What is that?”

“If this is the case, I think we’ll have to reconsider our cooperative relationship from the beginning.”

At Cheon Mubaeck’s words, Im Hong’s eyes, who was next to him, widened.

“What do you mean by that, Great Hero?”

“Branch Leader Im. The one who proposed the cooperation was you.”

“Yes. That’s right. We’ve been doing well together so far, haven’t we?”

“But the Hao Faction leader coming here to find me, it wouldn’t have been your will, would it?”

“Well…”

“Tell me. Faction Leader. The reason you came to find me is not just to confirm this incident. It’s probably… because of the Dark Truth Wisdom Sword, right?”

The Dark Truth Wisdom Sword.

The strongest secret art of the Hao Faction, which was now lost.

Cheon Mubaeck had presented this Dark Truth Wisdom Sword as the price for obtaining the Hao Faction’s cooperation.

Every time sufficient information came in, Cheon Mubaeck had told him a little bit of the verses of the Dark Truth Wisdom Sword.

This must have been the problem.

‘The acquisition of the complete Dark Truth Wisdom Sword, or the intention to receive the verses directly without going through Im Hong.’

Cheon Mubaeck snorted.

Why would he only tell the verses to Im Hong?

In any case, the verses would go straight into the ears of the Hao Faction leader, Guk Jihum.

But for the one who knew the verses to teach them directly and for them to come through one person in the middle was completely different.

Cheon Mubaeck taught Im Hong in a state where he perfectly understood all the verses.

The problem was that Im Hong, who received it, had a different level of understanding.

In the end, the Dark Truth Wisdom Sword that Guk Jihum heard from Im Hong was certainly the correct verses, but he could not obtain the profound meaning contained within them.

There were two reasons why Cheon Mubaeck had gone through Im Hong, knowing that.

The expectation that the Hao Faction leader would not be a person he could easily handle with his own hands.

And if he could not easily handle the Hao Faction leader, then the intention to rather push Im Hong as the next faction leader.

It was a natural thing.

The Dark Truth Wisdom Sword was the strongest secret art of the Hao Faction, and only the faction leader could learn it.

But Im Hong would receive the verses directly from Cheon Mubaeck and would come to know all the verses.

The branch leader who was in charge of the Shaanxi branch, and at the same time, the person in charge of expanding his influence in Henan.

The successor of the Dark Truth Wisdom Sword, and on top of that, his connection with Cheon Mubaeck.

A strong candidate for the next faction leader.

“My contract is only to pass on the verses through Branch Leader Im Hong. Don’t ask for more.”

“Can’t a contract be changed at any time? Young Master.”

When he pulled out a chair to sit at the table, Cheon Mubaeck tripped it with his foot and prevented the chair from being pulled out from the table.

“…!”

Guk Jihum’s eyes flashed sharply. At the same time, he immediately raised his momentum.

Cheon Mubaeck let out a laugh.

The internal energy transmitted through the chair.

The high-level study of transmitting one’s will and internal qi through a mere wooden chair.

‘Is he trying to have a qi fight?’

Cheon Mubaeck, who saw the face of the young child who had been crying in the arms of the courtesans overlap, could not hold back a hollow laugh.

‘He’s laughing?’

It was a leisurely laugh.

Guk Jihum’s gaze, who had thought he had given him a good blow, hardened.

At Cheon Mubaeck’s following words, goosebumps rose on his whole body.

“You’re pretty good?”

“…”

“Then I’m pretty good too?”

Good.

Why was that word so eerie?

The reason was soon known. If he had transmitted his internal qi to the chair with his hand to convey his will.

Cheon Mubaeck had transmitted his internal qi through the foot he had placed on the chair.

And what was contained in that internal qi was…

‘Internal Heavy Hand Art?’

It was literal. Through the Internal Heavy Hand Art, he had directly ‘hit’ Guk Jihum’s insides.

“Keuk!”

The moment that dizzying pain was transmitted, Guk Jihum felt a surge of nausea.

‘Is this pretty good? It’s hitting enough to kill a person!’

Guk Jihum’s face contorted.

This was not something that could be dismissed as a qi fight.

Moreover, wasn’t he much older in terms of seniority?

‘Damn it. He’s going to try to fight me.’

Im Hong, who was next to him, let out a sigh inwardly as he saw Guk Jihum’s face. At that time.

“Stop! Stop it!”

A voice that did not fit the situation.

Was it like the sound of a chick chirping? Everyone’s gaze turned to the voice that drew their attention.

There, a little kid was standing with his arms crossed and his cheeks puffed out, glaring at them.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep