Chapter 358
Chapter 358
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 358
Chapter Title: A Hand to Remake the Martial World
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"What? Hands? I don't particularly have a hobby of holding hands."
Cheonhwi spoke curtly, even though he knew the intent behind the words.
It was because he truly didn't like it.
'We're in the heat of the spar, and now he wants to hold hands? Holding hands, my ass.'
Cheonhwi snorted and added,
"Save that useless talk for later. For now, let's get back to our spar."
As Cheonhwi spoke while holding Hwamwol,
"No, it's not useless talk."
Jucheon-geuk let out a low voice.
"It's a very important matter."
Hiss, we're totally screwed now.
Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes and vented his frustration inwardly.
Judging by Jucheon-geuk's attitude and tone, he wouldn't resume the spar until this conversation was over.
'No wonder he accepted the spar so readily. It was all to pull this stunt.'
Cheonhwi let out a small sigh.
He still couldn't grasp the exact intent.
But from his actions and words, it was clear enough that he'd accepted the spar to create this very situation.
Soon, Cheonhwi clicked his tongue with a 'tsk' and slung Hwamwol over his shoulder before parting his lips.
"What do you mean by holding hands?"
He was still speaking curtly.
His dissatisfaction was great, but he was the one who would regret not continuing the spar.
Jucheon-geuk's lips thinned.
Immediately after, his beard twitched beside the softly upturned corner of his mouth, and his lips parted again, letting out a heavy, thick voice.
"Won't you join hands with me to remake the martial world?"
"Pardon?"
When Cheonhwi asked back as if he'd misheard, Jucheon-geuk tilted his head upward.
Gazing at the night sky filled with an exceptional number of stars, Jucheon-geuk quietly parted his lips.
"The martial world is inherently a place of perilous blades and the supremacy of the strong. A realm where those who pursue martial prowess divide the true from the false, isn't it? Yet ever since the era of the Nine Provinces Hegemons dawned, words like 'perilous blades' and 'supremacy of the strong' have all but vanished from the martial world."
His voice spread low like mist, quickly enveloping the garden.
"Count the warriors who now shake the land with their fame. How many among them are of the younger generation?"
Pausing to catch his breath, Jucheon-geuk half-closed his eyes and continued.
"Most are those who rose to fame before the Nine Provinces Hegemons' era. The few younger ones who've gained recent renown are the so-called Three Great Younger Experts of the World: the Jade Qilin, the Heavenly Dragon, the Black Night Fork, and..."
Suddenly, Jucheon-geuk lowered his head.
His eyes, serene as the night sky, took in Cheonhwi as he added,
"...you, I suppose. Isn't it laughable? Out of countless younger experts, only four have made a name across the land..."
Their gazes intertwined.
But unlike Jucheon-geuk, who stared with earnest seriousness, Cheonhwi grew annoyed at the increasingly lengthy explanation, digging at his ear with a bored look in his eyes.
"You talk a lot."
Speaking languidly, Cheonhwi half-opened his eyes and added,
"Cut the useless chatter?"
"Haha, so impatient."
Jucheon-geuk smiled faintly.
As if he'd half-expected it.
"Very well. Straight to the point."
Pausing briefly, Jucheon-geuk's eyes gleamed with a fierce light.
"Remove the old and establish the new."
"Remove the old and establish the new...?"
This time, Cheonhwi echoed back with genuine interest.
It was a rather meaningful phrase.
'Discard the rotten old and usher in the fresh new?'
As Cheonhwi reacted, Jucheon-geuk opened his mouth as if he'd been waiting.
"What do you think turned the martial world into such a romance-less place? The dawn of the Nine Provinces Hegemons' era? Of course, that's part of it. But the greatest reason is..."
Pouring out words like a waterfall, Jucheon-geuk suddenly lit up his eyes and thrust the Simryeon sword he'd been gripping into the ground with a thud.
His voice flowed out through the Six Harmonies Sword Art infused with subtle inner energy.
"Stagnant, rotten water."
Cheonhwi's eyes narrowed for a moment.
The implications in his words were quite radical.
'Well, well.'
Cheonhwi half-closed his eyes.
The "stagnant, rotten water" Jucheon-geuk spoke of surely referred to the veteran masters who'd held their positions in the Nine Provinces Hegemons for so long.
In other words, Jucheon-geuk was saying the martial world's state was their fault.
'So he's been thinking like this all along?'
Jucheon-geuk was a figure who'd made his name as a wanderer swordsman long ago.
Over forty years, at least.
That's why he'd ascended to Alliance Leader without much interference from the Nine Great Sects, or so the rumors went. Yet deep in his heart, he'd harbored thoughts that would make the Nine Great Sects gasp in horror if they knew.
As Cheonhwi stared at Jucheon-geuk, his calm voice resumed.
"Thus, this time, I plan to drain the stagnant rotten water from the Murim Alliance and fill it with fresh, clear waters."
At Jucheon-geuk's following words, Cheonhwi tossed out casually,
"From the way you talk, it sounds like you're planning a full reorganization of the Alliance."
"Not only strong in martial arts, but sharp-minded too."
Jucheon-geuk was pleased at Cheonhwi grasping his intent so quickly.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi half-closed his eyes.
'Remove the old and establish the new fits perfectly.'
It matched his words exactly.
Jucheon-geuk intended to completely replace the generation leading the Murim Alliance.
But.
"It won't be as easy as you make it sound."
Cheonhwi muttered flatly.
His tone carried near certainty.
The Murim Alliance's structure, composition—everything had been maintained for decades.
Sudden changes wouldn't just cause chaos; those currently in power would obviously resist fiercely.
"In the peaceful old days, it wouldn't have been easy, but now is different."
Jucheon-geuk straightened his back.
"The Alliance took heavy losses in this war with the Evil-Black Alliance. The Iron Blood Unit, Divine Dragon Squad, Justice Guard, and Demonic Destruction Squad lost all five branch leaders, and several others returned to their sects for recovery due to severe injuries. Who would object to a reorganization now?"
"Who else? That stagnant, rotten water, right?"
"You understand the situation well."
"Anyone who knows the post-war state could figure that out."
"Hahaha! Yet the world is full of those blind to the obvious."
Jucheon-geuk burst into hearty laughter.
Then he nodded.
"As you say, they would reject the reorganization. But what of the others, especially the young warriors who've endured through the Nine Provinces Hegemons' era?"
Pausing, a thicker smile formed on his lips.
"They're all trembling in anxiety, realizing through this war with the Evil-Black Alliance that the peace wrought by the Nine Provinces Hegemons isn't eternal. There's no law saying what happened once won't happen twice."
"So, you'll use the support of those awakened to the danger for the reorganization."
Jucheon-geuk nodded.
"Exactly."
"I get the gist, but..."
Cheonhwi scratched his head and said,
"What does that have to do with joining hands with you?"
He understood Jucheon-geuk's words.
But what reason was there to join hands with him for reorganizing the Murim Alliance?
"In this reorganization, I plan to merge the Annihilation Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad into one new elite unit."
Jucheon-geuk's statement was quite radical.
Originally, the Annihilation Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad were provisional detachments hastily formed for the war against the Evil-Black Alliance.
Thus, they should disband now that the war was over.
Yet according to him, he'd formalize those detachments into a regular unit. Young warriors would be heavily promoted, as per his vision.
But despite such radical words,
"So?"
Cheonhwi responded indifferently, showing no interest.
Whether the Annihilation Squad and Heavenly Justice Squad merged,
or formed a new unit,
it was all the same. The Annihilation Squad had only been a temporary affiliation during the war against the Evil-Black Alliance.
Jucheon-geuk narrowed his eyes slightly at Cheonhwi's reaction, then shook his head faintly.
He then proposed softly to Cheonhwi,
"Won't you become the captain of that unit and lead the Murim Alliance's vanguard in forging a new martial world?"
"I refuse."
Cheonhwi rejected Jucheon-geuk's offer without a moment's breath.
But Jucheon-geuk, as if expecting it, immediately spoke again.
"If you become captain, I'll value that unit's power above the current Three Great Squads and accommodate your wishes as much as possible."
Offering much, Jucheon-geuk proposed,
but
"No, I'm good."
Cheonhwi didn't change his mind.
Jucheon-geuk's eyebrows twitched.
"...Is there a reason for refusal?"
"It's a hassle. Leading the Annihilation Squad during the war was annoying enough—what's this about leading a unit?"
"......"
Perhaps unprepared for such an answer, Jucheon-geuk fell silent for a moment.
Then, furrowing his brow, he asked,
"Accepting could elevate Mount Hua Sect's prestige above Wudang, perhaps even Shaolin. Would you still refuse?"
"It's going to happen soon anyway."
Cheonhwi shrugged and replied,
"I'll make it so."
"Haha, is that so?"
At Cheonhwi's confident declaration, Jucheon-geuk let out a hollow laugh.
"What a pity."
As Jucheon-geuk smacked his lips and stepped back,
"That ends the talk, right?"
Cheonhwi lifted Hwamwol from his shoulder and lowered it.
"Then let's spar again."
The moment Cheonhwi tried to gather his inner energy with those words,
"I concede."
Jucheon-geuk suddenly declared defeat.
"Pardon?"
Cheonhwi stared in disbelief before glaring sharply at him.
"What did you say?"
"Just as you heard."
Even at the sharp attitude, Jucheon-geuk smiled softly.
"Continuing the spar like this, I don't think I'd win against you."
With those words, he pulled the Simryeon sword from the ground and sheathed it quietly.
Cheonhwi's eyebrows twitched.
"What kind of nonsense is this? We haven't even properly exchanged sword techniques yet."
"A few exchanges are enough. Even fully deploying my sword arts, it'd be my defeat."
"This is because I refused your offer..."
As Cheonhwi muttered with a scowl, Jucheon-geuk smiled faintly.
"Haha, do I seem that petty?"
"You do right now."
Jucheon-geuk shrugged.
"Stating facts, and you think that way—truly saddening."
Not looking sad at all with his smiling face, the Murim Alliance Leader gestured toward the west and continued,
"Besides, sparring more now would be unwise, wouldn't it?"
Cheonhwi's head tilted sideways.
Was it from the recent spar?
Presences of people rapidly approached from the west.
'I knew the spar would get out eventually, but right as the talk ends?'
Cheonhwi's eyes deepened.
The approaching group swarmed in as if timed for this exact moment.
Too perfect to be coincidence.
"Your words don't match your actions. You claim to want perilous blades and supremacy of the strong, yet you pull sneaky stunts like this."
"Haha, I have no idea what you mean."
"......"
Cheonhwi stared at Jucheon-geuk for a moment before swiftly sheathing Hwamwol.
No point talking more if he was playing innocent.
Whether it was intentional or coincidence,
impossible to prove.
'Definitely intentional.'
Cheonhwi glared at Jucheon-geuk briefly before turning away indifferently with a flick.
At that moment.
"Haha, it ends like this today, but there'll be another chance to spar, no?"
Jucheon-geuk's voice came, determined to summon Cheonhwi again using spars like today.
Without turning back, Cheonhwi let out a low voice.
"Next time, we'll settle it for good."
Before the words fully ended, Cheonhwi's form vanished into the darkness.
Leaving only the Six Harmonies Sword Art echoing in the air.
"Until one of us dies."
Jucheon-geuk's smile faded at the lingering Six Harmonies Sword Art as he looked to the sky.
"A spar to the death..."
Muttering, he closed and opened his eyes.
Then his lips parted, and a profound voice flowed out chillingly.
"It just might come to that."