Conflict (4)
Heuk Yang had come to meet the new head of intelligence, Jeong, to gauge his personality through his reactions.
The newly appointed intelligence chief and successor to the Mujong Sect was a dangerous figure.
Raiding the merchant caravan of the Guiju Merchant Association and seizing goods en route to the Martial Alliance? An impressive feat, but seen another way, it was something anyone with enough reckless guts could pull off.
'Killing the caravan escorts to claim credit wasn't proving his ability—it was just creating a pretext.'
The true measure of Intelligence Chief Jeong's prowess lay not in such bravado or drive.
'This bastard captured Yang Cheon's favor in an instant.'
How he'd done it remained unknown. What mattered was that in just one meeting, he'd piqued Yang Cheon's interest, and by the second, he'd earned his trust.
Despite bringing vast wealth, women, and treasures, Heuk Yang himself still faced Yang Cheon's suspicions.
In a sense, that was only natural. Yang Cheon saw him not as Heuk Yang, but as a warrior from the Saneumgyo.
'What makes you different?'
Yet by the same logic, there was no solid reason to trust Jeong outright. If anything, he was even more suspect.
The long-destroyed Mujong Sect was shrouded in mystery, with no way to verify one's lineage from the start.
Yet Yang Cheon not only refrained from doubting this man but favored him greatly.
Clearly, he'd accomplished something Heuk Yang never could.
'This guy's dangerous. Whatever his goal, I need to know everything about him.'
That was his intent in coming here.
If Jeong's temperament and abilities proved gravely threatening, he needed to compile every scrap of intel and send it straight to the Church.
'But to admit it so readily?'
He hadn't expected Jeong to confess so easily from the outset.
And rightly so—acknowledging this incident meant openly defying the Muk Ryong Bu.
"Amusing expression you've got there."
Yeon Hojeong's smile was like the biting wind over a barren winter wasteland, where not a single blade of grass grew.
"What, thought it wasn't me?"
"……."
"Come on, no way. Does it make sense for one of the Twelve Branches Gods to come raiding the intelligence chief without proof?"
"……."
"Hm? What's with that face? Smile. I personally cleared up your curiosity, so why so tense?"
Heuk Yang, who had been glaring at Yeon Hojeong with a rigid expression, finally spoke.
"You truly killed Heuk Yang Corps and their leader?"
"If you're talking about those brainless fools specialized in ganging up with their tiresome, petty attrition tactics far removed from any honest brawl—yeah. I swept them away."
"……!"
"That sheep mask, though. Why not switch it up? Looks like it was meant to intimidate, but it's just too crude up close."
Tsutsutsu.
Killing intent rose from Heuk Yang's body.
"You bastard……."
"What?"
"……?"
"There, you've confirmed what you came to check, right? What more do you want?"
"Are you insane?"
"Of course I'm sane. You think a raving lunatic could earn Tu Wang Yang Cheon's trust?"
Heuk Yang's eyes flashed.
'Tu Wang Yang Cheon?'
Not Vice Leader Yang or Lord Vice Leader—just Tu Wang Yang Cheon.
The new wind in the Muk Ryong Bu, who had sworn absolute loyalty to Yang Cheon after earning his full trust, referred to him so naturally as Tu Wang Yang Cheon.
Heuk Yang was thrown into great confusion by the astonishing words.
"If you didn't come just to confirm that……."
Hwaruruk!
Flames flickered in Yeon Hojeong's eyes.
The suppressed blaze of killing intent finally boiled over.
His eyes, red-hot like embedded crimson jade, radiated such scorching heat that merely meeting his gaze felt like one's body would burn away.
"Then you came to confess you're still a lackey of the Saneumgyo?"
"……!!"
He was already flustered. The expression rising on his paling face might have been one he'd never shown anyone else.
A look the usual Heuk Yang would never reveal.
And that made the truth all the clearer.
"You lot underestimated Yang Cheon badly. If you planned to deceive him deliberately, you should've sent someone sharper than you—instead of a brute with brawn but a stiff brain to spy on him."
"……!"
"That's why you're still dancing to his tune. Or with your wits, you probably don't even realize it."
Heuk Yang's face visibly twisted.
The man reputed for his cool composure was utterly outmatched before Yeon Hojeong.
"What the hell are you?"
"Heir of the Mujong Sect."
"How do you know the name Saneum?"
"Yang Cheon told me."
"……!"
"Of course, I knew before he mentioned it."
"What?"
In that instant, Yeon Hojeong's eyes gleamed.
Kwang!
The table hurtled toward Heuk Yang's face.
From less than half a jang away, he'd smashed it flying.
For the already rattled Heuk Yang, it was a startling ambush.
But Heuk Yang was no ordinary master.
A transcendent expert who had pierced Mujongjibyeok— no matter the surprise, he wouldn't take it lying down.
Kwajik!
Like cleaving with a sword, he drove his elbow upward, splitting the table's center.
The Saneumgyo signature technique: Bujeolbak.
That was when it happened.
Hwook!
'……!!'
Urgency flashed across Heuk Yang's face.
A massive hand shot through the split table, targeting his flank as if anticipated.
Perfectly timed.
As if he'd already foreseen the elbow strike.
'Hup!'
Buwook!
Twisting his body with all his might, he evaded the incoming blow to his side.
His waist sash tore long under Yeon Hojeong's grasp.
'This mad…….'
Suddenly, Heuk Yang's body froze.
"Guhk!"
His robes, hardened like iron plating, clamped his abdomen fiercely.
The incarnation of Metal Qi, the Western White Tiger Qi, had tempered Heuk Yang's upper garments to steel hardness.
An unforeseen tactic.
p>Hardening an opponent's clothes to restrict movement? Unheard of, not just in the outer regions but even in the Central Plains martial world.
'Urgh!'
Retreating hastily only tightened the noose around his breath.
In panic, Heuk Yang slammed his palm down over the robes.
Aiming to shred the collar and sever Yeon Hojeong's true energy along with it.
That was when it happened.
Peoruk!
The robes billowed, wrapping around the palm strike.
Yeon Hojeong had withdrawn the White Tiger Qi and stepped right into Heuk Yang's face.
'He read it!'
Heuk Yang couldn't believe it.
'What the hell kind of monster is this guy?!'
Not only had he instantly spotted the flaw in Bujeolbak's elbow strike but even anticipated the rhythm of Sugyeolchamdo.
Impossible.
Bujeolbak was an outer regions martial art—unfathomable to Central Plains folk.
Peok!
"Kuhk!"
Heuk Yang's right knee hit the ground.
Yeon Hojeong's kick had smashed the outer thigh muscle.
Paaak!
Heuk Yang's right fist back aimed for Yeon Hojeong's temple.
A swift, lethal strike that could claim life if landed.
Then, Yeon Hojeong's arm coiled like a serpent, entwining the fist and elbow.
Ududuk!
"Keup!"
A joint reversal technique.
Cartilage tore, bones shattered.
'This!'
Agonizing pain numbed his entire right upper body.
Even if healed, that arm would never function again.
Heuk Yang's eyes bulged bloodshot.
Ppakak!
"Guk!"
Caught off-guard, momentum lost.
The upward knee crumpled his torso, and Yeon Hojeong's twin fists hammered down on the exposed back like mallets.
Kwaduk!
He couldn't endure it any longer.
Heuk Yang screamed involuntarily—or thought he did.
'……?!'
Even writhing in excruciating pain, a chill ran down his spine at the opponent's precision.
The moment the fists pulverized bone, pressure points sealed his scream.
'D-Damn it all!'
Desperation crossed Heuk Yang's face.
Collarbone and ribs snapped simultaneously.
Spine intact, but standing would be impossible for a while.
Yet his worries meant nothing.
Yeon Hojeong impassively booted his abdomen.
Peoeok!
Heuk Yang spewed blood.
Pushusus.
True energy, packed to every muscle fiber, vaporized at terrifying speed.
Dantian destruction.
A merciless kick that shattered not just the dantian's defenses but the core itself.
Match over.
"Fun, right?"
Tsutsutsutsu.
Yeon Hojeong's killing intent seeped into Heuk Yang's every pore.
Even now, he controlled it meticulously.
Had the Vermilion Bird Qi erupted, it would have pierced thick stone walls, spreading through the Muk Ryong Bu.
"I've seen your bare-handed arts countless times. That Bujeolbak…… Chamjang Jugyeok into Sugyeolchamdo? Isn't that combo a bit too predictable?"
"……?!"
How deeply he'd analyzed the martial arts of the Mad Three Cults—especially the Saneumgyo—was beyond measure.
And now, no one in the current martial world knew the Saneumgyo's signature techniques better than Yeon Hojeong.
Not even Heuk Yang himself.
"I was already mulling it over. Needed one more sacrifice for my altar, but I didn't expect it'd be you. Was thinking of that foul-tempered bitch Hwa Won."
Yeon Hojeong grinned brightly.
"Thanks for provoking me. Actually, better that it's you—makes creating a pretext a breeze."
He kicked Heuk Yang's jaw.
Ppakak!
Jawbone shattered; Heuk Yang's eyes rolled back.
Out cold.
Yeon Hojeong's eyes narrowed.
"……I'm stopping here because your comrades' lives hang by my hand. Count yourself lucky, you dogshit bastard."
Yeon Hojeong was no longer a master of dignity.
The Black Dark Emperor, who had discarded grace and stepped into the mud.
Setting aside his hard-earned cultivation, he was reverting to his old, ruthless, calculating self.
Half a day later.
As Yeon Hojeong crossed the underground plaza, voices reached his ears.
"Hm? Lady Hwa Won?"
"Dunno, I haven't seen her."
"Probably off on some secret mission again."
"Yeah."
"The Twelve Branches Gods are all like that. Or maybe resting in her quarters—she's been so busy lately."
Exactly.
The Twelve Branches Gods served only Yang Cheon's direct orders.
Until he commanded otherwise, they neither meddled in internal affairs nor had authority to.
'Doesn't matter anyway.'
Yeon Hojeong planned to head straight to Yang Cheon.
Tell him everything about Heuk Yang's true identity.
Of course, not the full truth.
Tucked in his bosom was a neatly folded letter with fabricated intel from the past half-day.
'Yang Cheon won't kill him right away. He'll toss him in the prison and wait for him to wake.'
That's why he'd beaten Heuk Yang to that state.
Unable to regain senses for days at least.
And by the time he did, Yang Cheon would be off to meet Moyong Gun.
'Now it's a race against time.'
That was when it happened.
'What?'
Yeon Hojeong eyed the Muk Ryong Hall entrance curiously.
Its doors stood wide open.
And countless people streamed in and out.
Halting mid-step, he soon spotted Baek Seo.
"Senior Brother."
Baek Seo remained expressionless as ever.
But an undercurrent of urgency seeped through.
"What happened?"
Baek Seo whispered lowly.
"Big trouble."
"……?"
"The Vice Leader has collapsed."
"……!"