Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Jongnam Confrontation
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Hyeondo walked straight through the tense standoff between the Jongnam Sect and Mount Hua Sect.
"Junior brother. What is the meaning of this?"
"Senior brother!"
This time, Hyeonjin's chest swelled with pride.
In this situation, Hyeondo's appearance was like a heavenly army or demonic horde.
"Our sect has earned a tiny bit of fame this time and received permission from the Vice Alliance Leader to move back to our old lodgings. But Jongnam Sect refused outright, and that's how this mess happened."
Hyeonjin emphasized 'tiny bit' while glaring at the rigid Cheongwoo.
"Move back to our old lodgings?"
Hyeondo's eyes widened.
"When did our lodgings change?"
At the completely unexpected question, Hyeonjin smiled awkwardly.
He had forgotten that his senior brother had been traveling the jianghu lately, but it suddenly came back to him that he himself had been holed up in Mount Hua without stepping out.
"Jongnam Sect has been using our old hall as their lodgings."
"Why would Jongnam Sect be using our hall...?"
Hyeondo's voice lowered.
The idea of no other sect but Jongnam using Mount Hua Sect's hall made his heart deeply uncomfortable.
Soon, he cupped his fists toward Cheongwoo.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Hyeondo."
"......I am Cheongwoo."
"Haha. So you are the Wind Cloud Sword."
Hyeondo nodded.
The Wind Cloud Sword was an elder of Jongnam Sect with considerable skill.
"I never imagined we'd meet here at the Alliance."
"I too never expected to encounter you like this."
A strange tension flowed between them.
After a moment, Hyeondo spoke.
"May I ask why you refuse to let us move into the hall?"
"They suddenly demanded to move in yesterday. How could I agree to that?"
Cheongwoo spoke calmly.
It was clearly different from his arrogant attitude just moments ago.
And for good reason—the man before him was an absolute master who had shaken the current jianghu.
The Mount Hua Divine Sword who had slain the White Lion God.
"Hm. That's a fair point."
Hyeondo nodded.
He himself would refuse if suddenly told such a thing.
"Senior brother!"
As Hyeonjin bristled at that.
"But I heard the hall where Jongnam is staying was originally ours."
It was a dry voice.
Yet the power within it was enough to shake Cheongwoo's soul.
"Wouldn't yielding be possible then?"
"That's ancient history. If we go by the past, then this entire world belongs not to us but to nature, doesn't it?"
"The present is what matters."
"Indeed."
"Hm."
Hyeondo stroked his chin and turned his head.
"Junior brother. I have one thing I'm curious about."
Hyeonjin looked at Hyeondo curiously as he suddenly addressed him, then his eyes lit up at the follow-up question.
"When you moved halls before, did you get separate permission?"
"No."
Hyeonjin stated firmly.
At that, the faces of Jongnam Sect's Taoists twisted sharply.
They had forgotten, but it had been the same when they themselves had moved into Mount Hua Sect's hall in the past.
No, even worse than now.
"What do you think?"
"......"
Cheongwoo bit his lip.
"......That too is ancient history."
"Is it? Then may I ask one thing I'm curious about?"
Though a chilling aura swept up Cheongwoo's spine, he cautiously asked.
"......What is it?"
"Why did you specifically move into our hall for your lodgings?"
"Th-that was decided by the Alliance."
"By the Alliance?"
"Yes."
"Taoist."
Hyeondo called Cheongwoo in a low voice, his eyes narrowing.
"My eyes are not clogged."
Hyeondo's voice sank.
It was a whisper like something pulled from the depths of the deep sea.
"How long do you think Mount Hua Sect will pretend not to notice Jongnam Sect's actions?"
"Gasp!"
Overwhelmed, Cheongwoo swallowed hard.
The momentum crashing down on him in an instant gripped his body completely.
"Martial uncle?"
"What's wrong?"
He was shocked to see his martial nephew and senior brother looking at him puzzled from behind.
'This pressure... only on me...!'
Directing such intense momentum at just one person required masterful internal energy control that could not be shown without exceptional skill.
"I heard you just asked my junior brother if Mount Hua would make an enemy of Jongnam Sect."
"Senior brother?"
Hyeonjin's eyes widened.
"May I answer that question on his behalf?"
Hyeondo slowly stroked his chin.
Then, as if looking down on all of Jongnam Sect's Taoists at once, he spoke.
"We don't mind making an enemy of Jongnam Sect."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Murim Alliance began to buzz greatly.
Mount Hua Sect and Jongnam Sect had clashed!
The Mount Hua Divine Sword had personally declared he would settle things with Jongnam Sect!
Even just the clash between Mount Hua Sect and Jongnam Sect, two of the Nine Great Sects, was enough to be the talk of the gossips.
But with the absolute master who had recently shaken the jianghu, the Mount Hua Divine Sword, involved, it was natural for the rumors to spread through the Murim Alliance like wildfire.
And at the center of those rumors, Mount Hua Divine Sword Hyeondo was smiling brightly.
"Cheonhwi, it's been a while."
"Yes, it has."
Despite Cheonhwi's indifferent reply, Hyeondo kept sticking close.
"No troubles, I hope?"
"If you mean trouble, there was just now."
"Just now? Ah!"
Hyeondo chuckled lightly.
"It was bound to happen anyway."
"True enough."
Thinking about it, he was right.
A clash with their old rivals from Shaanxi, Jongnam Sect, was an inevitability that could not be avoided.
At that moment, Hyeonjin, who had been watching Hyeondo and Cheonhwi's conversation with a surprised face, spoke up.
"It's been a while, senior brother."
"It's been a while for you too."
"You've become much more refined."
"And you've grown more resolute."
Hyeondo and Hyeonjin smiled at each other.
Their relationship had always been so-so before, but now their gazes held trust after this incident.
"Where have you been all this time?"
Cheonhwi asked Hyeondo.
He had said he was going to see the Alliance Leader on the first day they arrived, then vanished.
"Here and there."
Hyeondo smiled faintly as he answered.
"For a whole month?"
"Haha. Indeed."
As Hyeondo laughed heartily, he gazed into empty space as if recalling that time.
Then he set down his teacup with a clunk.
"The other Nine Great Sects came seeking alliance with our sect."
Hyeonjin's eyes widened.
"The other sects...?"
"Shaolin, Qingcheng, and the Beggars' Gang."
Hyeonjin was aghast.
He could understand Shaolin and Qingcheng.
They were three of the factions in the current righteous vs. evil battles at the Murim Alliance.
They had likely moved quickly to win over Mount Hua Sect, which had produced the Mount Hua Divine Sword and raised its fame.
But.
"The Beggars' Gang?"
"Yes."
"The Beggars' Gang has maintained neutrality for a long time. Why suddenly seek alliance with our sect...?"
"The Gang Leader himself came to me, proposing we join forces to build power."
"Power?!"
Hyeonjin's hips lifted in shock.
The Beggars' Gang had always declared neutrality no matter what happened in the Murim Alliance.
Yet talk of forming a faction.
"The faction battles in the Alliance are getting too intense, showing signs of collapse soon, so they need power to maintain balance."
"But why the Beggars' Gang of all groups...?"
"They probably don't like the current situation and want to keep it from worsening."
Cheonhwi interjected.
Only then did Hyeonjin realize Cheonhwi was there and made a troubled face with an 'oh no'.
"This is still too complicated for Cheonhwi; maybe we should talk later..."
"No, Cheonhwi can handle it."
"Pardon?"
Hyeondo smiled thinly and continued.
"I thought the same as you. The Beggars' Gang doesn't like the current Murim Alliance and shared information with me."
His gaze shifted to Hyeonjin.
"The Gang Leader said small fights are breaking out everywhere due to the faction battles in the current Alliance. Is that true?"
"Yes, it's true."
Hyeonjin answered in a small voice.
"The Murim Alliance is currently divided into four factions. Shaolin and Emei; Wudang and Jongnam; Qingcheng and Kunlun; and finally, the Alliance Leader leading the medium and small sects' coalition. They're not just checking each other—they're starting fights all over."
"Geomgak and Jeomchang are neutral?"
"I heard they're busy with their own sect successor issues."
"Just as the Gang Leader said."
Hyeondo stroked his stubbly grown beard once.
"Whew, as complicated as expected."
Hyeondo let out a deep sigh, downed his tea in one gulp, and smacked his lips.
"Then I'll tell you now why I arrived so late."
Hyeonjin began to look serious as he spoke.
"Excluding Wudang and Jongnam, all the other factions sought to join hands with me."
"As expected!"
Hyeonjin's eyes sparkled.
In the past, Mount Hua Sect had been ignored not just by the Nine Great Sects but even by medium and small sects.
Now, everyone was reaching out to them.
For him, it was thrilling.
"And then?"
In contrast, Cheonhwi was nonchalant.
'Well, nothing surprising.'
He had already somewhat grasped it from the earlier conversation.
"So I met them directly and heard what they wanted."
"What is it?"
Hyeondo answered the excited Hyeonjin in a cold voice.
"The Alliance Leader position."
The room froze instantly.
"The Alliance Leader position...?"
"They want to oust him."
"B-but when the Eight Great Families left the Alliance, the Nine Great Sects agreed not to take the Leader position if possible..."
"That's why they plan to set up proxies to take it."
Cheonhwi inwardly admired.
'Wow, pulling that kind of trick.'
It was exploiting a loophole.
Unable to become Alliance Leader themselves, they planned to put up puppets.
A despicably underhanded method even demonic cults wouldn't consider.
And from the righteous faction's famed Nine Great Sects, no less.
"The balance has already tilted. All Nine Great Sects are trying to pull down the current Leader and build their own factions. And our sect has no choice but to join this fiery war."
Hyeondo closed his eyes gently.
Recalling the Shaolin monk, Qingcheng elder, and Beggars' Gang Leader who had come to him one by one, he shook his head.
"That's why I spent the month traveling, meeting them and hearing their conditions."
Hyeondo's eyes darkened.
"About whom to ally with."