Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Demon Fight God Tournament
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Near the summit of Baekyang Mountain.
A massive, flat boulder stood out amid the riot of blooming wildflowers.
Atop it sat an elderly man in thin white robes, seated in a dignified lotus position.
He looked as if he had merged with the mountain itself.
Susususu—
Fallen leaves drifted through the air on the gentle southeastern breeze, his long white beard and flowing silver hair fluttering in the wind.
Yet he remained utterly still, eyes closed in deep contemplation.
He was the brain of the Murim Alliance, the righteous faction's central pillar—the alliance's veteran strategist and head of the Zhuge Clan, the Heavenly Public Immortal Zhuge Hak.
“……”
He wasn't simply circulating his qi or meditating.
Absorbing the mountain's pure energy, he was immersed in a clear state of mind, mapping out the state of the martial world in his head.
As he scanned the world like this, he slowly opened his eyes, and the entire mountain and its flora fell silent.
Mystical energy swirled in his gaze—a transcendent poise forged from decades weathering the storms of the jianghu.
“Hoo……”
Having swept through the world in his mind, he took in the vast blue sky and nature around him, letting out a sigh.
He could feel it more clearly now.
The precarious peace, so fragile it might shatter at the slightest touch.
“Sending Hyeon to Sichuan a while back was the right call.”
The Murim Alliance had independently obtained intelligence that massive forces were secretly gathering in Sichuan.
Thus, Zhuge Hak decided to dispatch his son, the Zhuge Clan's young master, Zhuge Hyeon, to the region.
Under his father's orders, Zhuge Hyeon headed to Chengdu, tracked the scattered troops' movements, monitored the situation, and reported back.
In the process, they preemptively thwarted the rise of the Black Head Gang, a rising evil faction force.
And that wasn't all.
Recently, suspicious activities by evil faction members had spread across the Central Plains.
Only the Four Black Alliance could manipulate forces on that scale.
‘What on earth are they scheming?’
It couldn't be an immediate push for a righteous-evil war.
Escalating to that extreme would benefit neither side.
But their sly maneuvers were undeniably cause for concern.
So it was likely preparatory work to wear down the Murim Alliance's stamina……
What was the ultimate goal they envisioned at the end of it?
And where would their next target be?
“……Hmm.”
Zhuge Hak let out a low hum, considering dozens of possibilities before narrowing them down to a handful based on evidence.
His final conclusion?
“Their next target will be Jiangsu Province or Henan Province.”
According to his predictions, those two regions were where the Four Black Alliance would strike next.
And until one was confirmed, he'd have to split his attention between both.
Zhuge Hak resolved to instruct the Beggar Clan's branches to monitor them meticulously.
‘For now, that's the best response to the Four Black Alliance—speculating on their moves.’
But his contemplations didn't end there.
The plan to divide the world into three.
He couldn't ignore the demon path entrenched far beyond the Central Plains in Xinjiang.
Thinking of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Zhuge Hak's lips curved into a subtle smile.
In truth, things hadn't been so bad with the cult lately.
Their relations were at rock bottom, yes, but with the previous cult leader's disappearance, decades of peace had followed.
Moreover, the Seven Great Demon Clans—the cult's pillars—had been too busy internally coveting the former leader's authority and profits to look outward.
‘And the new cult leader ascending a few years ago wasn't bad either.’
Normally, a new Heavenly Demon's enthronement would put the righteous and evil factions on high alert for years.
But not this time.
He had risen to cult leader through a political marriage, gaining neither power nor authority—an unprecedented weak Heavenly Demon.
However, things had veered off script.
The Heavenly Demon had immediately tried to break free from his cage.
Backing himself with the mighty Cheon Clan as his in-laws, he began standing on his own.
From the Murim Alliance's perspective, this was positive.
With the cult leader and Seven Great Demon Clans clashing instead of uniting, the cult had no spare attention for the Central Plains.
Zhuge Hak had quietly observed from one step back.
“At first, I thought the cult leader had lost his mind, but surprisingly, he's holding his own.”
The leader scouted new talents, won them to his side, and gradually converted the Seven Great Demon Clans to his faction.
Of course, the top clans among them still firmly opposed him, but for a Heavenly Demon who started with nothing, these achievements were nothing short of miraculous.
‘Hyeok Mulin… You're a hard one to figure out.’
The Hyeok Clan's patriarch, who became Heavenly Demon at a young age.
Among all in the world, predicting the current Heavenly Demon's moves was the hardest for Zhuge Hak.
He repeatedly overturned expectations, dragging situations into new paradigms—his actions nearly impossible to gauge.
And since his chosen paths were mostly correct, his radical moves couldn't be dismissed as mere luck.
“…One thing's for sure.”
Until the power struggle between the cult leader and the Seven Great Demon Clans ended, they wouldn't significantly impact the Central Plains.
So he needed to assess the cult's situation and prepare countermeasures in advance.
Between the cult leader and the Seven Great Demon Clans, who would emerge the final victor?
At that moment, a presence approached, snapping Zhuge Hak from his thoughts.
As a martial artist appeared from behind, Zhuge Hak asked,
“What is it?”
“A message arrived from Xinjiang.”
“Xinjiang?”
Tilting his head, Zhuge Hak took the letter.
Once the martial artist left, he unfolded it and read through in one go.
“…The Demon Fight God Tournament.”
His brow furrowed deeply upon confirming the contents.
Holding the tournament at a time like this?
Especially with the Seven Great Demon Clans' participation all but confirmed?
“Really, I have no idea what the cult leader is thinking.”p>
His curiosity burned so fiercely he half-wanted to rip open the man's mind and peer inside.
Shaking his head, he rose from his seat.
Stepping down from the boulder, he began walking slowly and spoke.
“It's been a while since I last saw the Alliance Leader.”
Somewhere in the southern Central Plains.
There was a long underground passage.
At its far end lay a cavern, surprisingly furnished like an ordinary office.
But one thing stood out.
The middle-aged man seated at the desk was anything but ordinary.
One body, two heads.
Possessing two grotesquely massive heads, he scanned documents with huge eyes while scribbling furiously with his hands.
“The Red Mouth is requesting reinforcements? What do we do?”
“Requesting what? Just wipe out all the useless ones!”
“Then what about cleanup?”
“Feed 'em to the dogs or something!”
The right head, tied with a red bandana, ended every sentence with a question.
The left, with a blue bandana, answered emphatically.
One side questioned.
The other answered.
The right head and left head engaged in this bizarre self-Q&A as if they were two people. This was the Four Black Alliance's mastermind, the Twin Brains.
Mocked as a monster in childhood and pelted with stones wherever he went, he had joined the Four Black Alliance after awakening his extraordinary intellect, swiftly rising to a high position.
He continued signing documents without pause, the heads' debate unrelenting.
“The Black Head Gang got tripped up in Sichuan? Zhuge Hak sent his son?”
“That guy's sharp!”
“What now? Isn't this a variable?”
“What do you mean? We didn't pin everything on them! We never expected much from Sichuan anyway!”
“Gotta handle the rest, right?”
“Obviously!”
Gulp.
Meanwhile, a young assistant watching from behind swallowed dryly, eyes trembling.
Recently assigned by the Four Black Alliance as the Twin Brains' errand boy, he still couldn't adapt to the eerie spectacle no matter how much time passed.
The tasks weren't particularly hard, nor were the orders cruel.
But merely observing the Twin Brains drenched his back in cold sweat from sheer tension.
Then, a martial artist emerged from the passage and handed him a letter.
“What's this?”
“From our spy in Xinjiang.”
The martial artist nodded curtly, clearly eager to leave, and vanished back into the passage.
The assistant glanced at the letter and gulped again.
Approaching the Twin Brains cautiously, he spoke up.
“Um… Lord Twin Brains…?”
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Both heads whipped around simultaneously.
“What is it?”
“Speak!”
The assistant swallowed hard, trembling as he proffered the letter.
“A missive just arrived from our spy in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!”
“The cult?”
“The cult suddenly reached out!”
The right and left heads exchanged glances briefly, then turned back, shouting.
“What's it say?”
“Read it!”
“Y-Yes! Yes!”
At the command, the assistant hurriedly unfolded the letter and read aloud.
“The current Heavenly Demon is preparing to hold the Demon Fight God Tournament!”
“What?”
“Is that for real?!”
Four saucer-wide eyes fixed on the assistant.
He rushed to continue.
“Y-Yes! Our spies verified it multiple times!”
“Hoo……?”
“Heh……”
With exclamations, the right and left heads turned forward, then eyed each other to discuss.
“Reviving the Demon Fight God Tournament after centuries?”
“What the hell is he thinking, pulling that stunt?!”
“Is the Heavenly Demon an idiot? With his skills and situation, hosting it gains him nothing!”
“Or maybe he has some scheme we don't know about!”
“You think? Is there even a way?”
“Hell if I know!”
Their conclusion was unanimous.
Even pooling their brains, they couldn't fathom the current Heavenly Demon's intentions.
“The cult leader's from the Hyeok Clan, right?”
“What an interesting guy!”
Smirk.
The right and left heads' lips split into ear-to-ear grins.
Kkekkekke—
Kihihihihi—
Their grotesque laughter filled the underground cavern.