Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Wind Erosion Court
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The lingering spirits bustled busily around the Wind Erosion Court.
"It's even recording the situation in the Divine Cult!"
"If this information is being compiled and updated in real time... that's truly terrifying."
"There's even a report on the Tower, which hardly anyone in the Central Plains even knows about. They've clearly been keeping a close eye on it for a long time—"
"How can a single clan like the Sichuan Tang Clan gather intelligence on this scale?"
Amid a flood of information overwhelming even these spirits who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and traversed the world.
He approached in scholarly robes, wearing a bizarre mask.
With pearl earrings dangling from his ears and all sorts of gold jewelry clinking around his neck and hands, he clasped his hands in greeting.
"It's a first, greeting you here outside of a family meeting. Welcome to the Wind Erosion Court, Young Master Yunhwi."
"W-What? What's this?"
"Is this a guy or a girl!?"
"Looks like a young man? Or... no? It's confusing as hell! Why the hell is he wearing that mask? Got some hideous scar or something?"
The Eminent Strategist Dang Geon.
The man known as the head of the Tang Mountain Division and the Nine Dragons Branch Family.
He seemed to be the mastermind behind every scheme and plot unfolding in this Wind Erosion Court.
Somehow, watching this masked face beaming with a grin reminded me of Uncle Demon Brain.
Of course, that old man didn't have a hobby of prancing around in freakish masks like this.
But the face brimming with laughter, always flashing inscrutable schemes—that was exactly the same as this guy's.
Sure enough.
Tang Gon shook his head with a look that said, "Ugh, that snake's at it again."
The silver lining was that while these types usually saw ordinary people as mere chess pieces to exploit, their gaze toward me was filled with genuine goodwill.
"Truth be told, even Lady Guijin and Young Master Yuchang have no idea this place exists. You're the very first visitor, Young Master. What are your impressions after looking around?"
Well, well, what's this?
Sizing up my caliber, are you?
Seems like he's trying to stir a young man's hot blood, but I'm not some pushover who'd fall for that.
"It's good. Makes you realize places like this exist too."
"Is that so?"
Dang Geon looked inwardly disappointed that I didn't elaborate.
That's when I smirked and poured fuel on the fire.
"I can see the Tang Clan's gaze upon the world."
For a split second, a glint flashed in Dang Geon's eyes.
"Gaze, you say?"
"Over there."
I pointed with my index finger at the world map.
Precisely, a point not far northwest from the Tang Clan's territory.
Tian Shan.
The stronghold of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, where ten thousand demons and unorthodox warriors gathered.
"And there too."
The next spot was a mysterious otherworldly realm at the edge of vast deserts and snowcapped mountains, thousands of li further west beyond the Tian Shan range.
The new paradise of ancient absolutes and demigods.
The Tower.
Beside it, a tiny symbol and just two words:
—Unconfirmed.
"Seeing just these two makes the Nine Dragons Branch Family's—no, the Sichuan Tang Clan's—path crystal clear, doesn't it?"
Dang Geon's eyes widened slightly.
"Breaking free from the framework of Western Hegemon to seize the entire world. Right?"
In an instant, ecstasy flooded Dang Geon's face.
Then he whipped around toward Tang Hosan and shouted.
"My lord!"
"What?"
"Give me Young Master Yunhwi!!"
"...Hm?"
"!?"
Anyone would think he was a suitor begging a future father-in-law for his daughter's hand.
Tang Hosan, hands clasped behind his back, stared flatly at Dang Geon.
I, too, ended up with a dumbfounded look.
But Dang Geon's face was drooling like a ginseng hunter who'd struck a thousand-year root.
Slurp!
"Young Master Yunhwi was born with the mind of a divine machine! That insight, that boldness, that vision, and the character he's shown so far!"
Hey, what's wrong with my character?
"If it's the Young Cult Leader's character, well!"
"We approve. We approve wholeheartedly."
What the hell, you guys?
"Everything's perfect! A raw gem, pure and simple! Entrust him to me, and I'll turn the Sichuan Tang Clan into the world's foremost clan—no, the supreme power—in twenty years, no, ten!"
Madness poured from his eyes; he was utterly fixated on claiming me no matter what.
"This lunatic's crossing the line?"
"Why steal the Divine Cult's treasure?!"
"You're just going to let him get away with this, Young Cult Leader?"
The spirits hopped mad in their own spots.
I just stared at Dang Geon, curious how long his nonsense would drag on.
"Have you lost your mind! I slicked him with my spit—why the hell are you reaching for him!?"
Then Tang Gon barged in with his own absurd rant, and the Wind Erosion Court turned into a marketplace brawl in seconds.
"Because Young Master Yunhwi was born for our Wind Erosion Court!"
"What nonsense is that! Anyone can see the Young Master's moves have been pure dominance! Not for a desk-jockey like you!"
"You only know half the story, you fool?"
"What?"
"For a Tang clansman, dominance isn't the priority. It's the Poison Heart—the resolve to accomplish any goal, be it through martial arts or schemes! Those are mere tools to achieve the objective!"
"So you're going to turn him into a musty old scholar holed up in a room? When he has such brilliant martial talent?"
"A scholar! It's the quality of a sovereign! Martial training can happen anywhere in the clan, but sovereign qualities are forged only from a vantage overlooking the world!"
Dang Geon clenched his fist, spouting fervently.
"That's what I'm offering to nurture in him!!"
"You're all fancy words, but you just want to mold him to your taste? The Tang Clan is a martial house first! You think I'll stand by while a warrior turns into some bookworm?!"
"How can you interpret it that way? I'm only offering sincere advice for the clan's sake!"
As the rumors said, sworn enemies Tang Gon and Dang Geon refused to yield an inch.
Even though the man in question—I—hadn't said a word yet.
But this confirmed one thing.
Tang Gon, representing martial might in the Nine Dragons Branch Family, and Dang Geon, handling scholarly affairs, both acknowledged me.
I fixed my gaze on Tang Hosan, who had been silently watching the whole time.
It was about time he stepped in.
Sure enough.
Boom!
The entire Wind Erosion Court shook as Tang Hosan stomped.
A thunderous step infused with immense inner power.
The squabble between Tang Gon and Dang Geon ended.
"Enough."
"But—"
"My lord!"
"Wenhui's path is his to choose. You two can vie for his ear later on your own."
"......"
"......"
Crackle!
Their sharp glares clashed in midair.
One wrong move, and it might spark flames.
"Wenhui, you've seen true. This place was created long ago for the Tang Clan to scheme over the world."
Tang Hosan turned his gaze to me and continued.
"Do you know what the jianghu calls the Sichuan Tang Clan?"
"The Supreme Power of Sichuan, isn't it?"
"That's a given."
Tang Hosan's tone brimmed with pride in the Tang Clan.
"Then what?"
"A wall."
"...A wall?"
"The Wall of Lamentations that keeps the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Evil Outside, and various fiend factions from recklessly invading the Central Plains."
"!!"
Tang Hosan snorted at the central map, hands behind his back.
"But I don't see it that way. That's just ignorant fools talking. Neither I, the Clan Head, nor anyone in the Tang Clan has any intention of settling for mere 'wall' status."
It was a sneer.
A sneer at the clueless Central Plains jianghu.
"We aim to become a 'castle.' An impregnable, towering fortress no one can covet. A castle looking down upon the world, with the Central Plains and the Evil Outside beneath our feet."
An eerie fervor burned in Tang Hosan's eyes.
A stark contrast to his usual impassive demeanor.
The air in the Wind Erosion Court seemed to heat up.
"Now he reminds me of that wild swordsman from his youth."
"So he's been hiding his true self all this time. For what reason?"
"But for that castle to stand firm, the Tang Clan must first become an impregnable fortress—even against the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's zealots."
Tang Hosan slapped the large round conference table at the center of the Wind Erosion Court.
Bang!
"Look here."
Beneath his palm lay a topographical map of the Nine Dragons Branch Family.
Red pieces clustered around the main hall, green ones at the front gate, white ones behind the main hall.
I knew at a glance.
The red pieces were North Sea Sect, the green were Green Wind Squad, the white Nine Dragons Branch Family warriors led by Pure Wind Hall.
Arrows crisscrossed below—drawn, curved, clashed, erased.
"We obtained intelligence half a year ago that the Demonic Cult zealots dared attempt to assassinate the Clan Head. More precisely, that the South Palace Clan was wielding the Demonic Cult as a blade in the shadows to strike him down."
Exactly as I'd seen upon entering the Wind Erosion Court.
The Sichuan Tang Clan's intelligence network was unparalleled.
Even the Demonic Cult's shadowy web paled in comparison.
Eyes and ears everywhere in the jianghu.
And Tang Hosan commanded them all.
"At first, we planned to intercept it preemptively. Crush the South Palace Clan, who nitpicked our every event, and blunt the Demonic Cult's rising momentum after ending their civil war."
"Then why change plans?"
That was the question gnawing at me.
—What did Tang Hosan truly think of the Shadow Venerable's death?
But the moment I entered the Wind Erosion Court, I understood.
"It was the Clan Head's order."
As expected.
Tang Hosan's voice held nothing but loyalty to the Shadow Venerable.
Loyalty akin to what I showed my master.
Or perhaps affection.
"He said blocking it early would only cut off tails—better to let them into the inner courtyard to seize the head."
In short, they waited for the North Sea Sect and Black Bone Ghost Valley to attempt the assassination, then planned a counterstrike.
A twisted smirk curled Tang Hosan's lips.
"Doesn't this mean that insane strategy was the Shadow Venerable's will from the start? Hah!"
"No matter how you slice it, using himself as bait to lure the Divine Cult's assassins deep into Sichuan—"
I stared straight at Tang Hosan and spoke.
"You're using this to gain legitimacy too. 'See? Even Sichuan in the Central Plains is so vulnerable to Demonic Cult infiltration. Who else but us can stop them?'"
"......"
"'For security's sake, shouldn't we unite under us? So follow our orders first, even if it's frustrating—' Something like that. Am I wrong?"
Turning the Demonic Cult's assassination attempt against them to seize hegemony over the Central Plains.
No ordinary mind could conceive it.
Tang Hosan asked with quiet intensity.
How did I know?
I shrugged in lieu of an answer.
Using external enemies for internal unity, eliminating rivals to grasp greater power—it was commonplace throughout history.
The Shadow Venerable I'd glimpsed wouldn't settle for mere霸主 of Sichuan martial arts.
He was a tyrant aiming to clutch the entire western martial world's power, transcending Sichuan.
'The real madman seems to be the Shadow Venerable, not Tang Chukryong.'
"Indeed. No madness rivals the thirst for power."
"That bloodline doesn't stray far."
On the other hand, Tang Hosan casually orchestrating this in secret was no small madman himself.
Impressive in that light, perhaps.
"...But far too complacent."
"They know far too little about the Council!!"
The spirits' assessment was negative.
And so was mine.
"This plan will fail."