Chapter 159
Chapter 159
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Their Respective Plans
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Heavenly Fragrance Owl, a spiritual beast of the Celestial Mountains.
Following my master's command, I pursued the ghost spirit named Hyenang. That ghost spirit, mimicking a child, gives off a disgusting stench. As a spiritual beast with a sensitive nose, it is a creature I have no desire to be near.
However, the feast of fragrances my master provides… is nothing short of ecstatic.
For him, I strive again today!
My task is to gather information on our enemies.
It’s a bit of a nuisance, but I plan to attack Hyenang before she drags that martial artist all the way in.
I, who was born with a dense yin energy, ate Kunlun Snow Ginseng thanks to my master's grace. Since then, I have been able to emit an even greater and stronger yin energy.
Moreover, my master even taught me how to circulate my energy, making me the spiritual beast of all spiritual beasts.
That… Seol Ha-ryeong? I even learned ice arts from that strange woman.
My master has also shared numerous medicinal herbs with me. He even taught me some kind of formation…
He is a magnificent master in many ways.
I’m not particularly fond of humans, but my master is different. I will follow him to the ends of the earth.
I swear it on the name of Cheon-hyang, given to me by my master!
Lately, my master has been speaking frequently with two scummy-looking fellows. And with an old man wearing a gat.
Hmph, those fools. If the master tells them to do this, they should do this, and if he tells them to do that, they should do that. What are they so curious about?
Especially the old humans in this world, they’re so frustrating.
Because my master looks young on the outside, they approach him with a slight sense of disregard. Fools. My master's wisdom has nothing to do with his appearance. Tsk, tsk.
Today, too, I am soaring across the sky, carrying out my master's orders. The only ones I can truly call comrades right now are Un-pyo, Pa-sun, and Hyeok. But Un-pyo and Pa-sun remained in Sichuan, and Hyeok can't talk.
[ Well! It doesn't really matter that we can't talk! ]
While crisscrossing the sky, if I spot a hawk, I chase it down and give it a good scare. Hunting birds is surprisingly fun. If I use my ice arts to shoot ice crystals… I become the ruler of the sky.
Down below, the humans are making a fuss about some Dragon and Phoenix Assembly… Dragons and phoenixes? My master, perhaps, but these fools who don't even know what a real dragon or phoenix is are getting way ahead of themselves.
Those idiots, I’d probably win if I went down there.
[ Cheon-hyang. ]
[ Yes, Master! ]
[ Keep a close watch on Hyeok in the audience, and if anything happens, report to me immediately. ]
[ Sir! ]
I received a new mission. Just let them get caught in the eyes of Cheon-hyang, the ruler of this sky. There will be absolutely no escape!
* * *
The Seventh Melody of the Seven Melodies of Asura, Eum-u-gok, disguised as an elder of the Fierce Sword Sect. Since the start of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, he had been constantly moving around the audience seats.
His method was to sit quietly and watch the tournament for a moment without drawing attention, then leave as if going to the latrine and move to a different seat.
The request came from the members of the Demonic Cult. The death of Baek Mu-heun. To complete the request, he first had to find Baek Mu-heun, but since the man’s movements were so swift, it took time to locate him.
Fortunately, by threatening some waiters who seemed to belong to the Haomun, he confirmed that Baek Mu-heun had recently come to the Hubei region… The problem was that he still hadn't pinpointed his exact location.
According to his elder brother, the First Melody, Pye-hyeol-gok, the man was likely here to watch the Martial Alliance’s Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, the biggest event in Hubei right now.
The fools from the Three Absolutes of the World had said it was unlikely for a member of the Demonic Cult to do such a thing and that they would rather lie in wait for him on the road from Hubei back to Xinjiang.
But I trust my brother. Brother Pye-hyeol-gok is the wisest among us Seven Melodies of Asura.
The duels between the rising stars of the Orthodox Sects were simply dull.
Of course, it was regrettable that most of their own subordinates had been defeated. However, Jo-gok would be different. He was one of the candidates for the Seven Melodies of Asura and a master who had already reached the transcendent stage.
If not for Brother Pye-hyeol-gok’s order to stop at the semi-finals to avoid suspicion should the Fierce Sword Sect win, that man probably would have won the entire Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
He had received a description of Baek Mu-heun from the Demonic Cult members.
However, he had yet to see him.
He wasn't searching for the man based on description alone. There was another clue: the unique demonic energy emitted by those who practice demonic arts.
Having experienced what demonic energy felt like several times from the Demonic Cult members, he knew what to look for. It was clear that no one within the Martial Alliance possessed demonic energy. Therefore, if the man let even a sliver of it leak, there was no way he wouldn't find him.
Eum-u-gok began to grin.
‘I really am brilliant.’
However, it was questionable whether the man would leak demonic energy here, swarming with martial artists of the Orthodox Sects. It was fine. If he was here, he would surely be watching discreetly with his face covered.
He just had to find such a person.
Just then.
He saw a man wearing a gat with a veil attached to cover his face.
He looked suspicious at a glance.
What a dim-witted fool.
To infiltrate, one must blend in subtly so as not to be noticed, just like him. Tsk, tsk.
Eum-u-gok approached the man in the gat.
“Excuse me.”
“…”
The man in the gat remained silent, and Eum-u-gok smirked and spoke.
“Do you know a man named Baek Mu-heun?”
“…!”
He didn't see that coming, did he? He’d heard the man was just approaching his late twenties. The younger they are, the less bold they become. Asking so directly was bound to fluster him.
And that fluster was the answer itself. Those who’ve been hit where it hurts are bound to be flustered. But what if he wasn’t the one? What if he was just startled by the sudden question?
Then, he would simply eliminate the evidence.
Eum-u-gok summoned energy in his hand. Then, with a hand whose sharpness held the edge of a ferocious beast’s claws, he unleashed a claw technique.
A sharp nail extended from a seated position, noticeable only to the person next to him.
Just then.
*Clang!*
The man in the gat generated a strong rebounding aura, blocking Eum-u-gok’s claw technique. Furthermore, a clear demonic energy flowed from the rebounding aura.
“I knew it!”
The man in the gat shot up from his seat and started to walk away. Seeing the expected reaction, Eum-u-gok smirked again and followed the man in the gat from a distance.
A pleasant tailing.
This was the venue of the Martial Alliance’s Dragon and Phoenix Assembly. No matter how much of a master of the state of transformation the man was, he couldn't cause a disturbance here. That was why he was fleeing instead of trying to subdue him.
‘Heh heh, I really am brilliant.’
Eum-u-gok informed his subordinates via sound transmission that he had found the target and followed the man in the gat.
‘Baek Mu-heun. You cannot escape from us.’
* * *
The fervor of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, hosted by the Martial Alliance, was like a grand festival. For ordinary people, a fight between martial artists was something rarely seen.
A duel within a major sect or a prestigious family?
That was something only members of that sect or family could witness. Even if the current Central Plains was in what could be called the golden age of the martial world, martial arts themselves were precious.
To say nothing of secret martial arts manuals or cultivation methods, even the appearance of a divine weapon or an elixir would stir up a storm of blood.
In such a world, to spectate a fight between the rising stars of prestigious families and major sects? This was as rare as a star falling from the sky and landing in one's own front yard.
The martial arts representing a prestigious family were passed down only to their own bloodline. The same went for their cultivation methods and secret techniques. The martial arts passed down to branch family members were of a lower grade than those passed down to the direct line.
The same was true for the martial arts of major sects like Huashan, Zhongnan, Wudang, and Qingcheng. They, too, taught different martial arts to their main disciples and their secular disciples.
The more advanced the martial art representing a sect, the more strictly it was kept secret. However, on second thought, watching a fight wasn't necessarily a good thing.
A little thought would make it clear.
What if, right before your eyes, blades and swords clashed, axes and spears collided, blood splattered, and bones shattered?
Could that truly be called watching a fight for entertainment?
It was an absurd notion. That was what a martial artist’s fight meant to ordinary people.
It was simply a terrifying event. Fear, despair, disaster.
When martial artists from the Unorthodox Sects appeared, everyone would rush to hide, and there was no exception even when martial artists from the Orthodox Sects came to deal with them.
For ordinary people who had not learned martial arts, the fights of martial artists were far from the word ‘spectacle.’
They could only run and hide, hoping that their blades, swords, axes, and spears would not fly their way.
However.
The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was different. The audience seats were impeccably clean, without a speck of dust. There was a defensive formation set up to prevent any energy emitted by the rising stars from reaching the audience, and even martial artists were deployed for security.
It was truly the optimal place to watch a fight with guaranteed safety.
And was this just any fight?
It was a tournament where the rising stars of the Nine Great Sects, One Union and the Five Great Families, famous for their influence in the Central Plains, participated.
A tournament where only the most skilled among those rising stars came to compete and determine which sect’s martial arts were the most powerful.
Of course, the purpose of the tournament was to build friendships and complement each other's lacking skills through competition. However, for ordinary people, such things didn't matter.
Being able to witness a fight between martial artists, a high-level one at that, which they might see only once in their lifetime, was enough. Of course, even if they watched, they wouldn't understand how they were fighting, but what did it matter?
As long as it was fun, that was all that mattered.
At that moment, there was one person smiling joyfully, thinking only of his own achievements, unrelated to the tournament.
While countless people at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly were chattering loudly and raising their cups, Eum-u-gok was tailing the Heavenly Demonic Corpse, Hyeok.
‘Kukuk, you’re dead now.’
He had informed his subordinates of the target's location via sound transmission, and they were beginning to surround him. If things continued like this, it seemed possible to capture the man in a deserted place.
‘Keuk keuk, there won’t even be a chance for the Three Absolutes of the World to step in. Those fools, they laughed at my brother’s plan, keuk keuk.’
At this rate, the moment that man, Baek Mu-heun, reached a deserted place, they would ambush and capture him.
The man’s martial prowess was at the state of mastery.
If confronted head-on, he himself would surely be helpless. But who was he?
He was Eum-u-gok, the youngest of the Seven Melodies of Asura.
Being the youngest meant he had elder brothers. Besides Brother Pye-hyeol-gok and Brother Neung-gwang-gok, Brother Dok-gal-gok, Brother Nak-il-gok, Brother Sa-ryeong-gok, and Brother Heuk-myeon-gok were all surrounding the man.
Brother Sa-ryeong-gok and Brother Heuk-myeon-gok were at the same divine state as him. However, Brother Dok-gal-gok and Brother Nak-il-gok were masters of the state of mastery.
Brother Nak-il-gok was an expert in formations that blocked sound and sight, and Brother Dok-gal-gok was a master of poison arts to whom even the Sichuan Tang Clan would yield.
No matter how skilled that man was, even if he was the sixth disciple of the Demonic Cult Leader, he would not be able to escape this encirclement.
‘Kekeke, how far are you going to run, you little rat?’
Whether he knew Eum-u-gok’s thoughts or not, the Heavenly Demonic Corpse, Hyeok, was simply heading towards a quiet, deserted alley as ordered by Mu-heun.