Chapter 336
Chapter 336
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 336
Chapter Title: Gathering of the Evil-Black Lords
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The warriors of the Nangong Family dragged away the captured unorthodox fighters and retraced their steps along the path they had come.
Dust billowed up as the group receded into the distance.
Once they vanished beyond the distant horizon, the lingering tension rapidly dissipated.
Then came voices of relief.
"Phew, that was a close one. I was on edge thinking they might start a fight."
"We nearly got ourselves in real trouble."
A few muttered while wiping cold sweat from their brows.
Their current condition was the worst imaginable.
They had just fought a brutal battle against the unorthodox horde, leaving everyone in shambles.
The Heavenly Justice Squad had taken heavy losses from the sudden ambush, unable to mount a proper defense. The Extermination Squad had displayed overwhelming might but was now reeling from the aftermath of their hasty pursuit after subduing the enemy.
Not only had nearly half their number become casualties, but even those still standing had depleted their qi reserves and were far from full strength.
Had they been forced into battle with the Nangong Family, their chances of victory would have been slim indeed.
With the thread of tension snapping, the Extermination Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad collapsed to the ground, their strength utterly spent.
"Well, that's the Nangong Family for you. Every single one of them radiated an incredible presence."
"Just like the rumors said."
The Extermination Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad reminisced about the aura emanating from the Nangong warriors.
Since most had never crossed paths with them before, this was their first encounter.
It was a bit shocking, too.
Even if they were one of the Eight Great Families, they had subconsciously assumed the Nine Great Sects held a slight edge.
Yet contrary to their expectations, the qi flowing from the Nangong Family was anything but ordinary.
It rivaled the Nine Great Sects.
As they recalled the imposing presence of the Nangong warriors...
"Do you have ties to the Nangong Family?"
The Jade Qilin asked Cheonhwi, his voice laced with surprise.
What was the Nangong Family?
They boasted the longest history among the Eight Great Families and were a prestigious house whose prestige and pride pierced the heavens.
Yet such a faction had engaged in a brief exchange and then withdrawn without fuss.
Cheonhwi had no idea how that had come about, and seeing the complicated expression on the Jade Qilin's face, he spoke up.
"A little."
It was a curt reply.
A full explanation would take too long.
So he had trimmed it to the essentials.
"More importantly, let's head back to Bloodless Town for now."
Cheonhwi swiftly changed the subject.
"Returning straight to the Murim Alliance doesn't seem wise."
With those words, he scanned the surroundings.
The Jade Qilin bit his lower lip as he followed suit.
It was a gruesome sight.
The once-clear stream was dyed entirely red with blood, and the metallic stench of slaughter hung thick in the air.
Amid the sprawl of corpses, a few survivors clung to life, emitting faint groans here and there.
The Jade Qilin's expression darkened.
Half of those fallen were from the Heavenly Justice Squad.
"......"
The Jade Qilin nodded silently.
Moments later, the Extermination Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad began gathering their wounded and dead, preparing to move out.
Toward a place of respite—Bloodless Town.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Four days passed.
Bloodless Town was in an uproar.
The top floor of the half-destroyed Blazing Heaven Tower.
Even five days after the earth-shattering battle that had unfolded there, the scene remained vividly etched in the minds of those present.
It was the most intense moment any of them had ever witnessed.
But interest in it didn't last long.
The very next day, over a hundred warriors arrived in Bloodless Town.
And they were famous ones at that.
"Heard the Jade Qilin and Heavenly Justice Squad showed up?"
"But half of them are injured."
"Scary stuff. Why would the Murim Alliance's rising star detachment come all the way here...?"
"They couldn't be planning a fight between the Murim Alliance and Evil-Black Alliance here, right?"
"Could be. Better slip out quick if so."
The incident at Blazing Heaven Tower had become old news, replaced by whispers about the detachment everywhere in town.
The murim world was currently in turmoil from the war between the Murim Alliance and the Evil-Black Alliance.
The arrival of the newly formed Heavenly Justice Squad only amplified their unease.
As a result, most residents of Bloodless Town fled like the ebbing tide.
"......It's so quiet."
Ju Wolhyang murmured as she gazed outside.
The bustling streets of Bloodless Town were now devoid of any sign of life.
She let out a deep sigh.
It was an unprecedented situation.
After staring at the empty streets for a long while, she parted her ruby-red lips.
"Jeokyang."
Wi Jeokyang appeared at her call.
"Have you identified them?"
"I've pinpointed a few. The one in scholar's robes was Seryu Do of the Qingcheng Sect. The one receiving treatment from the healers is Ho Gwanggae of the Beggars' Sect, and..."
Wi Jeokyang reported on the figures he had identified over the past four days.
"......Judging by their footwork at the time, the Mount Hua Sect's Plum Blossom Sword Guards."
The moment he mentioned the Plum Blossom Sword Guards...
"......Just as I thought."
Ju Wolhyang closed her eyes.
"It was the Extermination Squad."
She had half-expected it.
The young master had returned to Blazing Heaven Tower with the Jade Qilin, after all.
"Then he's the Plum Blossom Divine Knight?"
Wi Jeokyang nodded without a word.
He had reached the same conclusion.
Ju Wolhyang spoke again.
"Bring him here."
"Him?"
Wi Jeokyang's eyes widened.
The Plum Blossom Divine Knight was an extraordinary master.
And a thorough one at that.
He had even eaten meat and drunk alcohol to hide his identity as a Mount Hua Daoist.
To Wi Jeokyang, meeting such a man alone felt dangerous.
"......Are you sure?"
He asked cautiously.
"Of course not."
Ju Wolhyang gave a wry smile.
"Even now, just thinking back fills me with dread."
Her hand trembled as she recalled the presence that had dominated Blazing Heaven Tower.
"But you know as well as I do. Even if he's dangerous, we have to meet him."
She bit her lip.
As the branch chief of the Hao Gate, it was a frightening necessity.
Soon, with resolve in her eyes, she steadied her trembling and moved her lips.
"So bring him here."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A grand hall filled with the scent of wood.
At a simple round table placed squarely in the otherwise austere interior sat seven men and women.
"It's been ages since we all gathered like this."
A middle-aged man with his feet propped carelessly on the table spoke up.
His posture lacked any decorum.
Yet no one criticized or interfered.
They accepted it as natural.
The flashy earring dangling from his left ear and the heavy rouge on his eyes.
White Cloud of the Escaped Marriage Sect.
He led the Seven Desires Line.
"Even the Five Imperial Gates can't make our alliance lord that scary, can they?"
A few scowled at his mocking tone.
But none could refute it.
It was the truth.
"You're no different."
A woman who had been sitting with her hands neatly folded and eyes closed spoke up.
Her long eyebrows lifted.
Smoothly.
Strikingly blue eyes emerged.
Blue eyes that clashed with her black hair, suggesting mixed heritage with a blue-eyed parent.
And that appearance matched a woman who had once made a huge name in the previous generation's murim.
Blue-Eyed Ghost Beauty Gu Yak.
An elder of the Ghost Origin Divine Palace and inevitably named when discussing the top female unorthodox master.
She kept her hands folded, shifting only her gaze toward White Cloud.
With quiet words.
"Right?"
White Cloud burst into laughter at her piercing gaze.
"Hahaha."
Suddenly, his laughter cut off.
"You hit the nail on the head."
A chill killing intent flowed from him.
As tension like a bucket of ice water spread through the hall...
"That's why I didn't want to come."
An irritated voice rang out.
An elder sat across from White Cloud.
Song Cheonak, protector of Thunderclap Mountain Stronghold, scanned the room with furrowed brows.
His face screamed displeasure.
"You lot talked big about showing results in the war against the Murim Alliance, but all you did was lose."
His gaze pierced White Cloud.
"Oh? You talking to me?"
White Cloud grinned slyly.
But his eyes, fixed on Song Cheonak, brimmed with sharpened killing intent.
"Just you? Hardly."
Song Cheonak shifted his gaze.
The white-haired, white-bearded elder who let his hair grow wild glared back.
Ghost Heaven Lion of the Immortal Heaven Cult's Thirteen Shadows.
"......"
Ghost Heaven Lion's eyebrow twitched.
He knew what Song Cheonak meant without him saying it.
"Do you have words for this lord?"
He spat coldly.
Fierce killing intent radiated from him.
His pitch-black uniform rippled like waves with emotion.
Song Cheonak's brows twitched under the oppressive pressure but soon parted his lips.
"No, nothing."
He backed down.
'It's a sinking ship already. No need to provoke him when he's already on edge.'
Even with the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader dead and headquarters fallen, most of the Shadow Thirteen remained intact.
As Ghost Heaven Lion continued glaring at the yielding Song Cheonak...
"But it's truly curious."
A nasal hum came, as if savoring their exchange.
From the woman holding a pipa.
"For Nongjil of the Seven Desires Line and the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader to lose their lives."
She rested her finger on her chin, her voice sultry.
"That Plum Blossom Divine Knight brat must be a far greater master than we thought."
The atmosphere shifted at her words.
"No one knows if that kid did it alone anyway."
Song Cheonak tossed out casually.
"The righteous sects have always been pretty on the outside, rotten within."
"He's barely past twenty, they say. Ridiculous."
Blue-Eyed Ghost Beauty snorted too.
Most gathered here seemed skeptical of the rumors.
Naturally so—they all knew Nongjil and the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader well.
Their internal energy, their martial prowess.
Thus, they dismissed the rumors.
Amid this, Ghost Heaven Lion reacted sharply. His eyes turned bloodshot with killing intent, as if blood would drip any moment.
'The cult leader... defeated?'
Inconceivable.
No one knew the cult leader better than he.
The internal energy built over nearly a century, his abilities...
They were beyond mortal limits.
'If the cult leader unleashed everything he hid, he could take down even the Evil-Black Alliance Lord at the cost of mutual destruction.'
As indescribable rage burned in Ghost Heaven Lion's crimson eyes...
"I don't know if the rumors are true, but I'd like to cross swords with him once."
A raspy voice spoke.
The woman curled her lips at the cold-faced man who had spoken.
"Hmm. Even our Death Shadow Sword Lord is interested?"
"Since when were you and I 'we'?"
The Death Shadow Sword Lord of the Ten Night Gates replied coldly, his gaze icy.
"Since the beginning, no?"
"The beginning?"
The woman grinned at the Death Shadow Sword Lord, who scowled in annoyance.
She seemed to enjoy his reaction.
"We're both in the Evil-Black Alliance, after all. So..."
"Spare me the nonsense."
The Death Shadow Sword Lord cut her off, irritation plain.
"Get rid of that cloying perfume and then talk. Harlot."
"Oh dear, how scary."
The woman, Sound Illusion Goddess, pretended to shudder playfully.
At that moment...
"When will the alliance lord arrive?"
The elder of Sun Moon Gate, Death Blade God Fist, who had stayed silent, spoke up.
His eyes were sharp.
He disliked this situation.
Sun Moon Gate had already suffered massive losses in the war with the Divine Spear Yang Clan.
The additional conflict with the Murim Alliance had shaken their finances to the core.
"That depends on the alliance lord's whim."
White Cloud replied indifferently.
His arms now draped behind his head, he yawned and added,
"Everything is by the alliance lord's will."
Silence fell.
Those gathered were pillars of the Five Imperial Gates, their infamy and prowess enough to dominate the world.
Yet none dared contradict White Cloud. Not even a thought of it.
The weight of the Evil-Black Alliance Lord outweighed them all combined.
As silence descended...
"The alliance lord has arrived."
The young man who had remained silent amid their chatter stood and spoke.
And right then.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed.
Faint and distant.
Yet the expressions of the six in the hall visibly stiffened.
Soon.
Creeeak—
The hall doors opened.
And through the gap emerged a seven-foot-tall figure.
All held their breath, focusing on the entrant.
The man wore a purple robe embroidered with a magnificent golden dragon, his long hair cascading loosely down.
With each step, his hair swayed.
p>Revealing his face between the strands.
A sharp nose and a sneering expression.
At first glance manly, yet somehow feminine too.
As if multiple faces overlapped on one.
The man continued forward.
His flowing robe and hair accentuated his presence.
Silence dominated the hall.
Thud. Thud.
Only his footsteps resounded in the hush.
Finally, he reached the table.
As he naturally took the central seat, the hall was utterly ensnared by his presence.
The supreme unorthodox ruler, lord of the Evil-Black Alliance.
The Evil-Black Alliance Lord had arrived.
His eyes slowly lowered.
Abyss-black pupils swept over them one by one.
Starting with White Cloud, Blue-Eyed Ghost Beauty, Sound Illusion Goddess, Song Cheonak, Death Blade God Fist, Death Shadow Sword Lord.
And finally, the demure youth—the Evil-Black Alliance's military strategist, Demon Brain Subduing Dragon.
With a mocking smile, he spoke.
"You've all finally arrived."