Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: If This Keeps Up, We'll All Join the Beggars' Sect
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“…The Preceptor.”
The Preceptor was at the heart of this whole affair.
Even during the Nine Dragons Great Battle, he had swayed public opinion against us.
And the moment the civil war broke out, he was the first one we needed to eliminate.
But from my investigations so far, there seemed to be a huge gap between the Preceptor I'd looked into and the one Gong Sonbeom had dealt with.
No one fueled by mere resentment or inferiority toward the Tang Clan could have stirred up this level of chaos.
“I have no idea.”
His tone was flat.
I scowled.
“A so-called triple agent, and you evaluate people this carelessly?”
“It's not careless. If anything, I paid him far more attention than anyone else—that's what led to this conclusion.”
There's something there.
My eyes narrowed.
“Tell me more.”
“He seems like a split-personality case.”
“Split personality?”
Gong Sonbeom nodded emphatically.
“Exactly. Normally, he's drowning in feelings of inferiority. He's dissatisfied with everything, blaming the Tang Clan for why nothing ever goes his way.”
“He thinks the clan is deliberately sabotaging him?”
“Precisely. Persecutory delusion. He believes the clan is wary of him.”
“That's not just delusion—that's straight-up senility.”
“I agree.”
Gong Sonbeom chuckled dryly, then hardened his expression again.
“But every now and then, he shows a different side.”
“How so?”
“Sharp. Like a perfectly honed blade.”
“A blade, huh.”
“When handling tasks, he pinpoints the key issues flawlessly. He's so brilliant in those moments, you wonder how anyone can be that smart. Plus, he has this driving force and an overwhelming presence that cows people.”
That kind of disparity could definitely make you suspect split personality.
“How does such a gap even arise?”
“No clue. Sometimes, when his eyes flash with that sharpness, it feels like he's possessed.”
“Possessed?”
“Just a figure of speech. I even tailed him extensively, half-convinced someone had swapped out the real person. But it was him, alright—the Preceptor himself.”
The martial world was full of all sorts of tricks.
Like killing someone and using disguise arts to impersonate them afterward.
The Slaying Demon Phantom Sect had done that often enough to get wiped out or absorbed into the New Cult.
So Gong Sonbeom, with his ties to phantom sects, had dug around but found nothing.
But that was only true for the orthodox martial world.
In the shadows—the realm of sorcerers—things could be entirely different.
Even with the towers revealing many spells and sorceries to the jianghu lately, the deepest shadows remained unseen.
‘What if some sorcerer using spirit possession is puppeteering the Preceptor?’
I still hadn't recovered my past prowess, so I couldn't possess a healthy person with a spirit.
But conversely, someone of comparable skill could manage it easily.
「Does that mean there's a sorcerer on their side on par with the old Young Cult Leader?」
‘Possible. Not everyone among the Holy Law Masters specialized solely in spirit possession like me.’
Those sword-wielders who reached superhuman thresholds were called pinnacle experts.
Sorcerers had a similar term.
Those who delved so deeply into the unknown and mystical with human flesh that they half-buried themselves in the realm of gods and demons.
Those who awakened their unique Law.
They were called masters of the Holy Law.
Hence, Holy Law Master.
My Ghost King art was one form among many.
King of all wandering ghosts and nightly yokai hordes.
And.
I wasn't the only one who could wield such sorcery.
「Anyone specific come to mind?」
‘Not yet. Need to watch more.’
But if they were using spirit possession on the Preceptor, they weren't some pushover.
「First things first, we need to reach Kongdong Mountain.」
‘Yeah, for now.’
Even now, the carriage raced onward.
* * *
The Half-Black Penalty Squad moved swiftly.
With over a hundred people traveling together, it was impossible to avoid notice.
Suspicious pigeons or hawks flitted by now and then, and beggars lurked at crossroads.
We ignored them all and pressed on.
To reach Kongdong Mountain even a day sooner.
Truth be told, we'd only endured staying put in Tang Clan Branch that long thanks to superhuman patience.
And above all, the Kongdong Sect's situation was changing by the hour.
Suli's influence was vast, but the sparrow was too feeble.
Like its namesake, it could be devoured at any moment—we had to hurry.
Fortunately, the brutal training of the past month had toughened us; no one showed fatigue despite the forced march.
The only issue was our already ragged appearances growing worse by the day...
If this keeps up, aren't we all going to have to join the Beggars' Sect as a group?
“We camp here tonight! Everyone, prepare!”
As the sun dipped west, we stopped pushing and set up camp.
Even night-eyed jianghu folk risked danger moving in the dark.
Especially here near Songban Plain.
With Gansu Province's castle walls closing in, we needed to prepare for ambushes.
When a low flatland appeared, we quickly erected a palisade, set up sentries, and gathered nearby provisions to start dinner.
Tssst—
While the squad bustled about, I wrapped myself in the Western Heaven White Cloak and circulated my qi intermittently.
I'd noticed it before, but the bald elder's gift was incredibly useful.
It boosted qi circulation efficiency and eased bodily fatigue.
Afterward, I felt refreshed, like I'd slept deeply.
So I planned to use this cloak to max out my Heavenly Demon Profound Heart Art progress.
The threshold to Fourfold Achievement was near.
Maybe I could even hit Fivefold before reaching Kongdong...
The black dragon descending from the upper dantian tangled with the red dragon rising from the lower in the middle dantian.
They spun, each biting the other's tail.
Yin and yang intertwined.
The Two Forms.
Like the taiji.
But to advance further, one more was needed.
What for three?
I recalled: the Three Powers.
Of heaven, earth, and man—heaven and earth were already mine, weren't they?
Yin as black dragon, yang as red. So a dragon for man would fit.
The answer came swiftly.
—Yellow Dragon.
The being coiled at the boundary, belonging to neither yin nor yang.
And man's place in the Three Powers stood between heaven and earth, so linking them could forge a fine technique.
Among the five viscera and six bowels, the yellow dragon corresponded to spleen, stomach, and triple heater.
The spleen handled immunity, the stomach digested incoming food.
Just as the yellow dragon stood at yin's boundary harmonizing all, these organs balanced the body against internal and external changes.
Even repelling harmful incoming energies when needed...
In that instant, something slammed into my mind.
Filling Heaven Art.
The Great Peng Soaring Ten Thousand Li Filling Heaven Art—that was it.
‘The great current births the massive peng's flight... the great current born from exquisite balance of earth's yin and heaven's yang, the peng traversing that precarious boundary freely... only when that freedom completes can one attempt Filling Heaven...’
I recalled the iron feathers composing the great peng.
Each orderly motion, a geometric beauty.
All possible through perfect neutrality, unswayed.
Neutrality was Filling Heaven itself. One could glimpse the yellow dragon's shadow in the Filling Heaven Art.
From then, ideas flooded like a burst dam.
If black dragon supplemented sorcery and red dragon inner power, yellow dragon would support the techniques using them.
The yellow dragon would lay the foundation for my personal Filling Heaven in place of the great peng.
—Yellow Dragon Filling Heaven.
Click!
Something snapped in my mind.
Paaah—
My inner power deepened. My senses stabilized further.
Especially the Wind Summoning Art—it transformed dramatically.
Winds and rain clouds were dragon symbols, after all.
Thus, Yellow Dragon Filling Heaven and Wind Summoning Art merged anew, birthing a fresh technique.
Yellow Dragon Wind Summoning Filling Heaven Art.
Shortened to Yellow Dragon Wind Summoning.
My unique supreme art, reinterpreting Filling Heaven and Wild Wind Dance in my style.
I was dying to see how it'd blend with Heavenly Demon Solo Sword.
Just then, I reached Fourfold Achievement in Heavenly Demon Profound Heart Art, as desired.
Flash!
I opened my eyes.
Majestic power writhed, ready to burst forth.
Red, black, and bright yellow—the triple taiji forces whirled wildly in my dantian.
“You've just been sitting there eyes closed, not touching a bite, so I came to tell you—and damn, you're meditating again—”
Tang Gyujin plunked down opposite me with a tray of steaming meat midway, then let out a hollow laugh.
“The clan head taught me some things, and after swinging my blade like mad with the squad nonstop, I've gained a lot.”
No lie. It was real.
Many in the Half-Black Penalty Squad were geniuses in their own sects.
Not on par with the Bloodkill Three Valleys, but I absorbed their essences like a sponge in water.
Yellow Dragon Wind Summoning's birth was thanks to them.
“Still, shouldn't you rest when we rest? The second you get a breather, you're back at training without pause...”
Tang Gyujin eyed me worriedly as he set the tray down.
Same concern as Dark Lord.
I just smiled silently again.
How to explain?
I was rushing, sure—but beyond that, I relished this time.
I'd been dantian-less, sucking my thumb, watching warriors from afar. Even during sorcery training, I'd twitched my fingers daily, yearning for Master's sword.
I wouldn't squander this hard-won chance. If I could hone my sword longer, my martial arts deeper—anything was fine.
Tang Gyujin knew nagging wouldn't change me, so he kept it short.
But warned me not to burn out from overhurrying.
I nodded, tearing into a piece of meat.
Shame we couldn't crack cheap baijiu on nights like this.
Wartime uncertainty made it bittersweet.
Then Tang Gyujin asked, as if remembering something.
“By the way, before we deployed, they said they'd assign an evaluator to observe and advise on this mission, right?”
“Yeah.”
“No word yet?”
“Nope. They said it'd be soon, but nothing so far.”
“Huh. Wonder who this evaluator is.”
“No idea. Doesn't ring any bells.”
I'd been hoping to avoid some ankle-biter nuisance.
Thud!
Suddenly, Gong Sonbeom landed soundlessly before us.
What now?
His face was grim.
Something's happened.
My gut screamed it.
Tang Gyujin, still harboring grudge against Gong Sonbeom, quietly stepped aside.
Gong Sonbeom spoke.
“Looks like the South Palace Clan has caught our movements and mobilized to intercept.”
My eyes blazed.