Chapter 221
Chapter 221
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 221
Chapter Title: A Calculated Confrontation
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“Indeed, the young upstart from that day.”
Recognizing Bu Eun-seol at a glance, Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes flashed.
“Where is the Nok-ho-ro?”
Bu Eun-seol calmly pointed to his own waist.
A single, blue-tinged gourd was tied there. It was the sacred artifact of the Beggars’ Sect, the Nok-ho-ro.
“Why have you summoned this elder here?”
“I believe you know the answer to that better than anyone.”
Gu Hong-cheong looked up at the sky and laughed as if he’d heard the most absurd thing.
“Hahahaha! What astounding confidence!”
His laughter ceased abruptly, and he spoke with a grim expression.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen someone as audacious as you.”
“…”
“They say you’re a candidate to be the heir of the Demonic Sanctum, so you must have some respectable skill. No… perhaps you even possess the ability to cross hands with this elder.”
Muttering to himself, he looked directly at Bu Eun-seol and smirked.
“But you clearly don’t know my character at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“What would I possibly gain from defeating a small fry like you?”
Gu Hong-cheong let out a sigh, a sneer playing on his lips.
“I would only earn the stigma of having killed a foolish brat.”
Bu Eun-seol, however, offered a slight smile.
“Is that why you brought your disciples trailing behind you?”
“Heheheh. So you already knew.”
As Gu Hong-cheong raised his hand, members of the Beggars’ Sect in worn-out clothes slowly emerged around the U-hwa-dae.
Gu Hong-cheong had used Mu-hong to deliver the Geol-wang-ryeong to Jin Yak-mun, an elder of the Eight Routes who secretly followed him.
He had then covertly ordered him to mobilize all the disciples under his command and completely surround the U-hwa-dae.
“If you had challenged this elder to a proper duel… perhaps you would have had the chance to fight one-on-one.”
A fire like the sun blazed in Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes.
“But you stole our sect’s sacred artifact.”
“…”
“Did you truly think you could commit such an act and still face me in a one-on-one duel?”
Taking a deep breath, Gu Hong-cheong spoke again in a low voice.
“The Nok-ho-ro, once held by the Flying Ancestor, is our sect’s greatest treasure. And anyone who steals our sacred artifact can be attacked by all our members.”
The Beggars’ Sect had a rule that allowed them to mobilize a multitude of members against an enemy who stole their sacred artifact.
Since Bu Eun-seol had stolen it, they had the justification to mobilize the sect’s disciples to strike him down.
“With such a rule in our sect… no one could point a finger at this elder, even if I mobilized not a thousand, but ten thousand members.”
Gu Hong-cheong bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.
“Unfortunate for you, but you’ve miscalculated.”
“Are you saying you’re avoiding a one-on-one duel because you’re afraid of me?”
“Heheheh. It’s useless to try and provoke me.”
Gu Hong-cheong sneered.
“You are merely a candidate for the heir of the Demonic Sanctum, but I am destined to become the Sect Leader, responsible for all our members. How could I possibly stoop to a one-on-one duel with a young follower of the demonic path?”
Bu Eun-seol, a candidate for the heir of the Demonic Sanctum.
His skills were certainly not ordinary. Like the cunning old fox he was, Gu Hong-cheong was eliminating even the slightest risk.
‘Now that I’ve found the sacred artifact that will make me Sect Leader, there’s no need to get my hands dirty and take unnecessary risks.’
Once he obtained the Nok-ho-ro, Gu Hong-cheong would become the leader of the Beggars’ Sect, responsible for countless members.
From his perspective, there was no need to engage in a risky fight with a mere demonic soldier like Bu Eun-seol.
“Disciples of our sect, listen well!”
Gu Hong-cheong shouted in a solemn voice.
“Subdue that man at once.”
*Thud!*
The members of the Beggars’ Sect filling the U-hwa-dae struck the ground once with their staves and began to slowly advance toward Bu Eun-seol.
*Step, step.*
The disciples merely walked forward slowly.
But with a thousand men marching in formation, their advance alone projected an oppressive aura, like the weight of a great mountain.
“Are you truly going to avoid this fight?”
“Think whatever you like.”
“It seems you’re afraid of losing.”
A cold smile on his face, Bu Eun-seol gazed at the distant sky and sighed deeply.
“Then again, at your age, chasing power and consumed by greed, when would you have had the time to cultivate the ultimate martial arts?”
In that instant, a glint flashed in Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes.
Bu Eun-seol’s sharp words had struck a nerve.
“Do you think I’m just an old man drunk on the desire for power?”
Gu Hong-cheong’s expression turned solemn.
“In the past, our sect flourished to the point it was called the greatest in the world. But as time passed, our influence waned, and even our structure became chaotic.”
He then spoke as if venting his frustrations.
“My junior brother, Yeon Wi-seong, was inferior to me in both martial arts and strategy. But he became the Sect Leader simply because he was chosen by the previous leader! As a result, our sect has been in constant decline!”
Gu Hong-cheong took a deep breath and bit his lip.
“And the next in line, No Bong, has no ambition either. He barely maintains our influence by selling information to other clans.”
As if recalling the resentful years gone by, his breathing grew heavy.
“If this elder had become the Sect Leader long ago and managed the sect’s affairs… our sect would have surpassed Shaolin to become the greatest in the world.”
In truth, Gu Hong-cheong loved the Beggars’ Sect more than anyone. That was why he wanted it to become a powerful faction.
However, despite possessing the largest force among both the orthodox and unorthodox factions, he had grown to resent their practice of simply selling information in the martial world.
“To not understand the way of a sect, even at your age.”
“What did you say?”
“To not know why the Beggars’ Sect has remained intact all this time, despite having an innumerable number of members.”
Bu Eun-seol snorted softly.
“Any place where many people gather is inevitably bound to rot.”
He then looked at Gu Hong-cheong with cold eyes.
“Instead of accumulating power, the Beggars’ Sect chose a survival strategy of coexisting with the lower echelons of society and exchanging information.”
For a moment, Gu Hong-cheong’s expression stiffened slightly.
Bu Eun-seol’s words were identical to what he used to hear constantly from the Sect Leader of that time, Sang-gwan Un, in his youth.
“Hmph, what do you know about our sect to be spouting such nonsense?”
He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and said.
“There’s no need for further conversation.”
*Thud, thud.*
The disciples of the Beggars’ Sect had now reached a distance of about a hundred feet from Bu Eun-seol.
Gu Hong-cheong once again shouted to his members in a loud voice.
“Finish him at once and retrieve our sect’s Nok-ho-ro!”
No matter how great Bu Eun-seol’s martial arts were, he couldn’t possibly defeat a thousand sect members.
And what if Gu Hong-cheong were to secretly join the fray? Only death would await Bu Eun-seol.
*Rumble.*
Just then, something strange happened.
The disciples at the rear of the thousand-strong group rushed forward.
But instead of attacking Bu Eun-seol, they turned around and stopped, forming a protective line around him.
“What?”
Seeing this, Gu Hong-cheong rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Why would the disciples of the Beggars’ Sect side with a demonic figure like Bu Eun-seol?
*Thwack.*
At that moment, the ranks of the aligned disciples parted, and a beggar with a worn cloth over his head walked out, staff in hand.
*Swoosh.*
As he removed the cloth covering his face, the clear features of a middle-aged man were revealed in the sunlight.
It was the current Vice Sect Leader of the Beggars’ Sect, Hae-pung.
“Hae-pung, you…”
Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes widened in shock as he spoke.
“How did you get here?”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you intend to side with that demonic follower!”
“Grand Elder.”
Hae-pung sighed deeply and said.
“That man holds the Nok-ho-ro, the sacred artifact our sect has been searching for for so long.”
“So? I’ve already issued the Geol-wang-ryeong and have him surrounded.”
“He said he would destroy the Nok-ho-ro immediately if we used force.”
Gu Hong-cheong flinched.
Only then did he realize that Bu Eun-seol had secretly contacted Hae-pung before coming to the U-hwa-dae.
“You colluded with that fiend?”
“It wasn’t collusion. He came to our sect himself a while ago. He said he would give us the Nok-ho-ro intact if we arranged for him to face the Grand Elder alone.”
“And so? You believed his words and decided to betray this elder?”
“There is no chance that the Grand Elder would lose to him, is there? Why do you fear a duel with him?”
Gu Hong-cheong suppressed the rage boiling inside him and chuckled.
“Afraid? Hahahaha!”
He now saw that Bu Eun-seol had already negotiated with Hae-pung using the Nok-ho-ro he had found.
And keeping it a secret, Hae-pung’s faction had mingled with the disciples he had mobilized and moved covertly to the U-hwa-dae.
“If you try to overwhelm him with numbers, he will immediately destroy the Nok-ho-ro and escape.”
“…”
“But if the Grand Elder faces that demonic man in a one-on-one duel, we can safely retrieve the sacred artifact we have sought for so long, can we not?”
“Hae-pung!”
Gu Hong-cheong roared in a voice filled with fury.
“You are using the Nok-ho-ro as an excuse to defend a demonic follower and betray our sect!”
“Grand Elder.”
Hae-pung said with a regretful expression.
“The position of Grand Elder is not to move the sect’s forces, but to enlighten us when we are heading down the wrong path.”
After a deep sigh, he spoke again.
“So why have you created a non-existent token like the Geol-wang-ryeong, directly intervened in the sect’s affairs, and desired to lead our sect?”
“Because you people won’t listen!”
Gu Hong-cheong bellowed.
“Our sect must grow stronger! But you all live in complacency, using the excuse of upholding the duties of beggars!”
“Our sect has always mingled with the common people and delivered various news of the martial world.”
Hae-pung spoke with an earnest expression.
“If we suddenly start pursuing a path of supremacy, what difference would there be between our sect and a demonic clan?”
“What did you say, demonic!”
“Grand Elder!”
As the argument intensified, Hae-pung also shouted vehemently.
“The position of Grand Elder is one that should offer advice on the sect’s affairs!”
He took a deep breath and shouted again.
“From the very beginning, directly managing our sect’s information network and a portion of the Eight Routes’ vanguard… was wrong!”
For a while, silence descended upon the U-hwa-dae.
Gu Hong-cheong, having regained his composure, asked in a calm voice.
“So. What do you intend to do?”
“The old Sect Leader has fallen ill of mind, refusing to relinquish the Ta-gu-bong or name a successor, has he not?”
Hae-pung said in a resolute voice.
“But now that we have obtained the Nok-ho-ro, which is equivalent to the Ta-gu-bong, we intend to elect a new Sect Leader.”
“Hahaha, so that was your intention all along.”
Gu Hong-cheong smiled forlornly.
Only now did he realize that this was all Bu Eun-seol’s trap and that he was caught in an irreversible situation.
“So in the end, I can never become the Sect Leader.”
Even if he died and came back to life, Bu Eun-seol would never give the Nok-ho-ro to him.
His plan to obtain the artifact that surpassed the Ta-gu-bong and become the Sect Leader was now completely up in smoke.
“Was it all just a fleeting spring dream?”
He had struggled so hard to create a stronger Beggars’ Sect.
But the times would not accept him.
In the end, Hae-pung, who had obtained the Nok-ho-ro, would become the next Sect Leader.
“We have kept our promise.”
At that moment, Hae-pung spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
“Now, you must keep yours.”
If Gu Hong-cheong and Bu Eun-seol were to fight, the Nok-ho-ro at his waist could be shattered.
At Hae-pung’s words, Bu Eun-seol unhesitatingly took the Nok-ho-ro from his waist and tossed it to him.
*Snatch.*
Catching the Nok-ho-ro, Hae-pung asked with a faint smile.
“Are you not afraid that I won’t keep my promise? I could just take this and attack you.”
“It seems you are not fit to be a Sect Leader either.”
“What do you mean?”
“If the Beggars’ Sect has fallen to such a level, that is cause for celebration.”
Bu Eun-seol spoke with an unwavering gaze.
“If you are at a level where you would unhesitatingly break a promise made over a sacred artifact… the Beggars’ Sect will soon become a second-rate clan, not even worthy of the lowest seat among the Nine Sects One Union.”
Only then did Hae-pung realize his slip of the tongue and blush.
The mere fact that he had said such a thing had damaged the dignity of the Beggars’ Sect, which revered righteousness and upheld faith.
“My apologies. I misspoke.”
Hae-pung clasped his hands and said with a serious expression.
“Even you, a man of the demonic path, trust in our sect’s reputation… It was not something I should have said, even in jest.”
He then stepped back and said.
“As promised, our sect will not interfere in this duel.”
Hae-pung then held up the Nok-ho-ro and shouted.
“Disciples of our sect, listen! Immediately withdraw ten li from here!”
Bu Eun-seol and Gu Hong-cheong were about to begin their duel.
What if they remained and surrounded the area? It would undoubtedly distract Bu Eun-seol and drain his mental energy.
Not only that, but someone could interfere at a crucial moment.
Bu Eun-seol had made this demand of Hae-pung from the start to ensure a fair duel.
“We will return around sunset.”
Bu Eun-seol gave a light nod at Hae-pung’s words.
He then slowly stepped forward to face Gu Hong-cheong.
“Let’s begin, shall we?”
But Gu Hong-cheong’s gaze was not on Bu Eun-seol, but fixed on the Nok-ho-ro in Hae-pung’s hands as he turned away.
As he stared at the jade-like glimmer of the Nok-ho-ro, his eyes swirled with alternating waves of fury and resignation.
A plan he had dreamt of for decades had been shattered right before his eyes.
Because of this, a subtle crack had formed in his spirit.
‘Even handing the Nok-ho-ro to Hae-pung here was part of his plan!’
To have one’s mental energy scattered right before a battle was like fighting with iron balls chained to one’s feet.
Gu Hong-cheong realized that Bu Eun-seol had deliberately shown him the scene of the Nok-ho-ro being handed over to Hae-pung before the duel, inflicting a great sense of defeat and a heavy blow to his spirit.
“Fine. I will face you.”
Gu Hong-cheong swallowed his bursting anger and spoke.
The state of his spirit didn’t matter. He just had to kill him.
As he strode forward, a haze of internal energy soared into the sky.
Even if he had the skills of the lowest-ranked among the Four Gods and Seven Kings, the Geol-wang was still the Geol-wang.
He was exuding a tremendous aura, true to his reputation.
‘So this is his level.’
Watching Gu Hong-cheong’s materialized internal energy, Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
The showdown with the Geol-wang had finally begun.