Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Black Cherry Baek Ri-hyang
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Black Cherry Baek Ri-hyang.
There is much controversy surrounding her.
Leader of the Black Death Alliance, supreme figure of the unorthodox paths. The sole blood kin of the Black Demon King Baek Ri-mu-won.
But the Black Demon King never married. In other words, Baek Ri-hyang is his illegitimate daughter.
Fifteen years ago. A six-year-old girl came alone to the Black Death Alliance. She was in a wretched state no different from a beggar, but the girl boldly knocked on the main gate of the Black Death Alliance. When asked who she was, the girl answered without hesitation.
She said she was the daughter of the Black Demon King.
It was no laughing matter to dismiss as a joke. The reason a girl wrapped in rags could stand before the leader of the Black Death Alliance was that the name Black Demon King held absolute dominion there.
Even without confirmation of the truth, the warriors of the Black Death Alliance could not chase away the girl who claimed to be the Black Demon King's daughter.
Moreover, the girl exuded a strange demonic aura. Though wrapped in rags, with disheveled hair and a face smeared with grime. There was something about that filthy girl that made one hesitate to treat her roughly.
In the end, the girl met the Black Demon King, and he acknowledged her as his daughter.
When asked her name, the girl replied it was Hyang. And so, the girl's name became Baek Ri-hyang.
Many took interest in the Black Demon King's illegitimate daughter. They dug into her origins and learned she came from the slums of Guangdong, where the Black Death Alliance was located.
There, Baek Ri-hyang was raised by her elderly mother. The slum dwellers gossiped that the mother was a cheap whore who had fallen ill and could no longer work.
Once such things became known, many naturally chose to shut their mouths.
It was incomprehensible. For the Black Demon King, master of the Black Death Alliance, to have bedded a cheap whore—neither exceptionally beautiful, of high status, nor deeply learned, the kind found anywhere—and fathered an illegitimate child. Doubts abounded, but since the Black Demon King had acknowledged Baek Ri-hyang as his daughter, mocking his peculiar tastes could mean vanishing without a trace.
Thus, Baek Ri-hyang grew up as the Black Demon King's daughter amid various suspicions. When he acknowledged her as his illegitimate child, the world watched her every move closely, but that interest waned after just a few years.
Because Baek Ri-hyang's talent was not extraordinary. Not mediocre by any means, but far from sufficient for her noble position as the Black Demon King's sole blood kin.
Fifteen years had passed since Baek Ri-hyang was recognized as the Black Demon King's daughter. The demonic power she had exuded even in her beggar-like state had blossomed beautifully, earning her the moniker Black Cherry.
She became one of the Four Flowers of the martial world.
But she could not become a Black Overlord. Black Cherry Baek Ri-hyang.
That was her limit. People said the Four Flowers grouping prioritized appearance over martial prowess, unlike Dragon-Phoenix or Black Overlords. But that was not the truth.
It was simply discrimination against those not from prestigious sects. Disciples of the righteous faction not from the Nine Great Righteous Sects or Three Great Clans could not become Dragon-Phoenix.
Thus, Flame Flower Jeong Mi-ju of the Golden Name Escort Agency and White Orchid Cheong Wu-bin of Blue Forest remained as Four Flowers rather than Dragon-Phoenix.
Such prejudice was no different in the unorthodox paths. Snow Flower Ha Ji-eun. Though her sect, the North Sea Ice Palace, was listed among the six great unorthodox sects, the North Sea Ice Palace clung to tradition and avoided worldly affairs.
Ha Ji-eun's skills were more than enough for Black Overlord status, but unfavorable views toward the North Sea Ice Palace kept her among the Four Flowers.
Then what of Baek Ri-hyang?
There was no reason for her to be discriminated against. The reason she was listed among the Four Flowers rather than Black Overlords was that her martial arts simply did not measure up.
While other Four Flowers were denied fair evaluation for not being from prestigious sects, Baek Ri-hyang was the opposite. As the Black Demon King's daughter, she faced stricter scrutiny than anyone.
Thus, Baek Ri-hyang was the Black Cherry, one of the Four Flowers. Born with a beauty like demonic allure, but that was all. Lacking talent in martial arts, she could not inherit the Black Demon King's true technique, the Divine Demon Annihilation Method, nor become his disciple—a worthless daughter.
"That's me."
Baek Ri-hyang said with a faint smile. The red sunset deepened, staining the sea. Left alone on the deserted shore, Baek Ri-hyang silently gazed at Wi Seong-cheon.
"It's inevitable. It's true that I failed to meet the expectations of the Alliance Leader... my father."
Baek Ri-hyang fully acknowledged that. She had never run away from it. Effort? She had poured out blood and vomit. The more she did, the clearer her realization became.
"But I'm desperate."
The smile vanished from Baek Ri-hyang's face. Her beauty was so profound it seemed demonic aura flowed from it, but her eyes swirled with murky venom.
"Because of who I am, I'm more desperate than anyone. Because I'm the Black Demon King's, my father's, daughter. So I don't want to lose it to anyone."
When she first heard of the Black Heaven Young Lord. Baek Ri-hyang destroyed everything in her room.
She clawed the walls and smashed furniture with her fists. She screamed until the taste of blood filled her throat and wept until her eyes felt like they would fall out.
"But no one stayed by my side."
It was inevitable.
Baek Ri-hyang was ostracized even within the Black Forest. Though killing among elites was not forbidden in the Black Forest, the elites yielded to her appropriately because she was the Black Demon King's daughter. At the same time, they mocked her.
Even the students of the Heavenly Academy knew of Baek Ri-hyang's position. Hadn't Jeong Mi-ju told Wi Seong-cheon as much?
Don't join hands with the Black Cherry.
If capturing the Black Heaven Young Lord means becoming the Black Demon King's disciple, the Black Cherry would cling blindly to this more than anyone.
While the Jeogal Young Lord judges and acts rationally, the Black Cherry would act too emotionally.
For the Black Cherry, it was a matter she had no choice but to be desperate about.
Jeong Mi-ju was right. Baek Ri-hyang was openly and intensely pushing her desires.
But was that wrong? The desires Snow Flower Ha Ji-eun spouted were far more overt, intense, and absurd.
In the end, this was it. Overt and desperate desires. Actions swayed more by emotion than reason. The reason the students did not want to join hands with Baek Ri-hyang was not just those.
A simple reason.
Baek Ri-hyang offered no advantage over other elites. Though given special treatment in the Black Forest, it was voluntary from the upper elites.
Not killing the Black Cherry.
They treated her that way because they did not see her as a rival to the Black Overlords or upper elites.
But in this exchange event. Baek Ri-hyang had become someone who 'might' compete with the upper elites. If her skills were lacking, she could just ally with a superior student.
"So I waited."
Baek Ri-hyang no longer smiled. She knew she was pathetic. She had held a sliver of hope, but in the end, she could not join hands with the Heavenly Academy students.
The outstanding students she wanted, like the Dragon-Phoenix, already had their chosen partners, and Baek Ri-hyang could not offer better terms.
All she had were harsh conditions. If Baek Ri-hyang allied with a student, the upper elites would end the consideration they had shown—since they never saw her as a rival—and turn it into outright contempt.
Baek Ri-hyang was under too much scrutiny, and allying with her meant gaining far more enemies than necessary. Moreover, her skills were not exceptional.
"Everyone left, and you still haven't returned. Since you're the Black Heaven Young Lord's brother, those eyeing you have no choice but to back off."
"That makes sense."
Jeogal Yi-hyeon and Ha Ji-eun did not wait for Wi Seong-cheon. He could guess why. Ultimately, what the Black Overlords aimed for was to defeat the Black Heaven Young Lord and become the Black Demon King's disciple.
But now that the Black Heaven Young Lord was revealed to be from the Heavenly Flower Sect. Wi Seong-cheon could not be a threat to the Black Heaven Young Lord. He could not rely on the acknowledgment of once being brothers. The Black Overlord elites had experienced who the Black Heaven Young Lord was for months.
"But you stayed."
"I had no choice. I got no one else."
"Are you satisfied with me?"
"No."
Baek Ri-hyang answered without hesitation.
"But if you come, I'll gratefully accept."
"I have no reason to rush. I don't need to team up with you specifically; if I just stay put, some other desperate elite will come offering an alliance."
"Will they?"
"Of course. I'm worth that much."
"Yeah, you are."
A bitter smile bloomed on Baek Ri-hyang's expressionless face.
"If you don't choose me, there's nothing I can do. I'm not in a position to force it, nor can I offer conditions to sway your heart."
"I don't need any grand conditions."
Wi Seong-cheon shook his head.
"I need to catch the Black Heaven Young Lord."
Baek Ri-hyang's eyes narrowed.
"There are things I want to confirm too."
"......Confirm?"
"Just promise me one thing."
Wi Seong-cheon reached into his bosom and pulled out the elite badge he had received from Baek.
"Don't interfere with what I do in the Black Forest. Don't give me orders. This is an alliance from the start, not subordinating to one side."
"......That's all?"
"Yeah."
The elite badge rose from Wi Seong-cheon's hand. It flew through the air with void grasp and stopped before Baek Ri-hyang's eyes.
"Promise that, and I'll promise too. That I'll do my utmost to catch the Black Heaven Young Lord."
"......You're not saying you'll definitely catch him?"
"You don't say things like that lightly. Instead, I'm saying I'll give it my all."
"Got it."
With her answer, Baek Ri-hyang reached out sharply. She immediately flipped the badge and wrote her name on it.
"If that's all you want, I'll promise as much as you like."
Baek Ri-hyang had no reason to refuse. Latent Dragon Wi Seong-cheon. It was an overly generous card for the mere 'consideration' she offered. Though he used the same Heavenly Flower Sect martial arts as the Black Heaven Young Lord, that also meant Wi Seong-cheon understood the Black Heaven Young Lord's techniques.
'Divine Demon Annihilation Method.'
And Baek Ri-hyang had watched the Black Demon King's Divine Demon Annihilation Method since childhood. Though not taught, she had seen it plenty with her eyes. That was why she had waited for Wi Seong-cheon.
Dreaming that perhaps, they could catch the Black Heaven Young Lord.
Baek Ri-hyang swallowed a smile and turned. Wi Seong-cheon turned from the leading Baek Ri-hyang to gaze at the crashing sea. After watching the sea for a moment, he loosened his numb fist—clenched too tightly—and smiled.
'Human reason.'
Recalling what Ananna had told him, Wi Seong-cheon followed Baek Ri-hyang.
Crossing the dense forest toward the central Black Forest region. Wi Seong-cheon heard from Baek Ri-hyang about what had happened while he was away.
Which students the upper elites who came to the harbor had allied with.
Black Dragon Sanggan Hu. Tae Hui-myeong, Cheong Wu-bin, Jin Wu.
Thunder Lord Jeogal Yi-hyeon. Namgoong Jiu, Paeng Yeon-hwa, Dang Seona.
Fighting Ghost Yang Jeon. U Hira, Hwangbo Seong-u.
Mad Dog Gu Jeok-sa. Yuk Jin-il, Dang Heeran, Young Jin.
Snow Flower Ha Ji-eun. U Ha-yeon.
Black Heaven Young Lord. Mu Yeon-jun, Sang I-rin.
Flash Orchid Ok Gi-rin courted the Dragon-Phoenix but failed to ally with them. Instead, she allied with several other students.
Bang Jun was also included in Ok Gi-rin's alliance.
The other students who failed to ally with Black Overlords joined hands with five-star elites like Baek Ri-hyang.
"Tough lineup."
Walking through the darkening forest, Wi Seong-cheon chuckled.
The Black Heaven Young Lord and Mu Yeon-jun had joined hands.
The worst possible combination.