Chapter 100: The Central Plains in Turmoil
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 100: The Central Plains in Turmoil
"The Demonic Cult has resurfaced!"
Those who first heard the news usually dismissed it with a curse, calling it utter nonsense.
The Demonic Cult? How long had it been since anyone had even mentioned that name?
Weren't they the ones who had suffered a catastrophic defeat twenty years ago at the hands of the Cheonmu Alliance Leader and the man hailed as the World's Greatest Martial Artist, the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won?
Countless martial artists had witnessed the Heavenly Demon Emperor being reduced to a puddle of blood and the bodies of numerous demons being torn asunder on that very spot.
Because of that, they could say with absolute certainty: it was nothing more than a baseless rumor.
However, the rumors that followed were impossible to ignore.
They claimed that the starting point of the Demonic Cult’s resurgence was none other than the Sichuan Tang Clan.
The rumors added that the Tang Clan had suffered devastating losses in the cult's surprise attack, with many lives hanging in the balance.
The public was struck with disbelief.
This was the Sichuan Tang Clan they were talking about.
Were they not a prestigious family among prestigious families, called the greatest power in Sichuan—no, the greatest in the entire Central Plains?
Among the Six Great Clans of the Central Plains, the Sichuan Tang Clan was currently enjoying an unprecedented golden age, thanks to having the most robust influence and a powerful Clan Head.
And yet, that very Tang Clan had been decimated by a Demonic Cult raid?
It was unthinkable.
The Clan Head, Poison King Tang Jin-cheol, was a master who had reached the Transcendent Realm, and he had over thirty Super-Peak masters under his command. The number of Peak masters was even greater.
Excluding the Cheonmu Alliance itself, the idea that a power boasting the title of the strongest independent faction could be crushed in an instant was truly absurd.
However, as detailed accounts of the situation began to surface, coinciding with the Tang Clan’s move to scale back its business operations, the majority of people realized the rumors were true.
According to the reports, the clan's masters had all been slaughtered, and the Tang Clan Head himself was on the brink of death.
Upon hearing this, the eyes of many began to gleam.
There was no one left to protect the Tang Clan—a family that possessed countless elixirs, peerless secret manuals, and immense wealth.
Numerous martial artists began heading toward the Tang Clan, hoping to scavenge for scraps.
They moved with the thought that, if they were lucky, they might get their hands on the Tang Clan’s treasures.
Storm clouds were gathering once again over the Tang Clan, which had already been devastated by the Demonic Cult.
*
Upon hearing the news of the Tang Clan’s misfortune, Jeok Song-ja, the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, wore a deeply satisfied smile.
The Tang Clan had been a thorn in his side for a long time.
To hear that they had suffered near-total destruction at the hands of the Demonic Cult made him feel like dancing for joy.
Of course, such thoughts were unbecoming of the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, one of the great orthodox powers belonging to the Nine Sects and One Gang.
But Jeok Song-ja didn't care.
While the existence of the Demonic Cult was a concern, he wasn't particularly worried.
According to the rumors, the Tang Clan had been caught off guard while their main forces were away.
It was a staggeringly foolish mistake.
To leave the family defenseless by having the warriors responsible for its protection absent...
Their blunder had led to the worst possible outcome: annihilation.
If it had been his own sect, they would never have made such a mistake.
The Tang Clan was simply incompetent.
Jeok Song-ja’s interest lay not with the Demonic Cult, but elsewhere.
Specifically, it was on the Tang Clan’s devastating losses.
How much had they suffered because of the Tang Clan’s presence until now?
The Qingcheng Sect was located on Mount Qingcheng, northwest of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
Fundamentally, a sect’s operating expenses were covered by taking on commissions, accepting secular disciples and receiving regular donations from them, or running their own businesses.
In particular, the quality and quantity of donations varied depending on the number of secular disciples. Since many businesses were operated in partnership with these disciples, sects often preferred increasing the number of secular disciples over main sect disciples, who brought in no revenue.
In a narrow sense, entering a sect as a secular disciple meant learning its martial arts, but in a broader sense, it was synonymous with paying to come under the sect’s protection.
They were paying for the prestige of the sect's name.
A martial arts hall run by a secular disciple of a major sect would be more popular than a generic one, and a merchant guild under the protection of a major sect could gain trust more easily.
Therefore, when sending a disciple to a secular branch, merchant families usually chose the sect that acted as the local powerhouse in the region where their primary business was located.
However, in the case of the Qingcheng Sect in Sichuan, the number of secular disciples was barely a fraction of what it should have been.
The reason for this was the other giant powers in Sichuan.
The Qingcheng Sect wasn't the only power in the province.
Not far away on Mount Emei was the Emei Sect, another member of the Nine Sects and One Gang, and in Chengdu itself was the Sichuan Tang Clan, one of the Six Great Clans of the Murim.
Geographically, the Qingcheng Sect was in a most disadvantageous position.
Ultimately, running a sect was a numbers game involving secular disciples.
The more secular disciples a sect had, the wealthier and more powerful it became; the fewer it had, the more it withered into poverty and weakness.
The Qingcheng Sect had been trending toward poverty and weakness.
And it was all because of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Fundamentally, secular disciples joined a sect less to learn martial arts and more to build business networks.
Thus, they joined the most powerful sect in the region.
But what if businesses couldn't even operate properly in that region?
There would be no need to join as a secular disciple.
That was exactly the situation Qingcheng faced.
The Sichuan Tang Clan was currently so powerful that it looked beyond being the best in Sichuan to being the best in the Central Plains, and they operated a vast number of businesses accordingly.
As a result, no one dared to even think about starting a business in Sichuan.
Sichuan was the Tang Clan’s primary domain.
This naturally led to Qingcheng’s poverty. No matter how much they recruited, people simply didn't come.
There were plenty of disciples who wanted to run martial arts halls, but they didn't bring in any money.
The Emei Sect, being the only sect composed entirely of women, was actually in better shape than Qingcheng.
Daughters from many prestigious families knocked on Emei’s doors.
But Qingcheng was different.
Squeezed between the Tang Clan and the Emei Sect, they were destined to be poor.
But now, the Tang Clan was ruined.
And to a level near total annihilation, no less.
How could he not be in a good mood?
"Hahahahahaha!"
Jeok Song-ja abandoned all decorum and let out a boisterous laugh.
It was exhilarating.
A sense of boundless happiness began to wash over him.
How much had his heart ached seeing his disciples wearing patched-up Taoist robes?
How much had it pained him to feed them fasting pills instead of meat, which they needed to build muscle, all because of a lack of funds?
How long had it been since he’d left the old pavilions leaking rain because there was no money for repairs?
The days of sorrow and suffering due to poverty were finally over.
"Hehehehe. They say power doesn't last ten years, and exactly ten years later, they've come crashing down."
Jeok Song-ja began to chuckle sinisterly.
His mind was entirely consumed with thoughts of swallowing up the Tang Clan’s businesses.
"Is anyone there?!"
Sitting in his office, Jeok Song-ja shouted toward the outside.
"Summon a sect meeting immediately!"
A wide smile was plastered across Jeok Song-ja’s face as he shouted.
That night, through the sect meeting, Jeok Song-ja assembled a team to visit the Tang Clan and take over their businesses. First-generation and second-generation disciples, including Elders, were sent down to the Tang Clan.
Their faces were filled with a strange, feverish excitement.
*
In Sichuan Province, there is a rugged mountain called Mount Emei. On its main peak, the Golden Summit, sat a temple called Bokho Temple, the home of the prestigious Emei Sect, a pillar of the Nine Sects and One Gang.
The Emei Sect was a Buddhist-affiliated sect with the unique custom of only accepting women as members.
In short, it was a zone forbidden to men.
Because of this, many martial families wishing to form a connection with them preferred to send their daughters as secular disciples, a practice the Emei Sect welcomed without hesitation.
Thanks to this, the Emei Sect possessed an unrivaled number of female secular disciples among the Nine Sects and One Gang, and the annual donations they sent were enough to fund the sect's operations.
However, in the case of female disciples, it was rare for them to open martial arts halls or establish merchant guilds. This meant the sect had the disadvantage of relying solely on donations for its operating costs.
Usually, when families or merchant groups sent their daughters, it was for health management or networking, rarely for business purposes.
Thus, while the Emei Sect wasn't as impoverished as the Qingcheng Sect, they lacked a platform for significant growth.
Of course, they could have operated their own businesses, but since the Sichuan Tang Clan already monopolized so many industries in the region, the Emei Sect hadn't even dared to consider it.
Guwol Shin-ni, the Sect Leader of the Emei Sect, had always been dissatisfied and worried about this.
Though they were better off than the Qingcheng Sect, they were missing out on opportunities to grow.
All because of the giant tiger known as the Tang Clan that occupied Sichuan.
But then, rumors reached her that the Tang Clan had suffered near-total destruction.
At first, she denied it, thinking it impossible, but once the rumors were confirmed as fact, Guwol Shin-ni felt a surge of pleasure.
Twenty years ago, the power balance between the Tang Clan, Qingcheng, and Emei had been roughly equal.
But then, a woman from the Tang Clan became the wife of the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won, and the situation took a completely different turn.
Before long, they seized hegemony over Sichuan, and by the tenth year, they had emerged as the greatest power in the Central Plains.
As a result, the Qingcheng and Emei Sects, which shared the same region, suffered significant blows.
The hardest hit was the Qingcheng Sect, whose businesses overlapped with the Tangs', but the Emei Sect also suffered no small amount of damage.
The number of incoming secular disciples began to dwindle, and most of the businesses they did operate were taken over by the Tang Clan.
Unlike the Buddhist Emei and the Taoist Qingcheng, the Tang Clan was adept at blatant money-making and didn't shy away from cruelty for the sake of profit. As a result, they grew to the point of eyeing the title of the best in the Central Plains.
The Qingcheng and Emei Sects could only watch from the sidelines, left to wither away.
So, to hear that the Tang Clan had been nearly wiped out... how could she not be happy?
Guwol Shin-ni immediately summoned a sect meeting.
Upon entering the hall, she saw numerous Elders and first-generation disciples gathered, chatting amongst themselves.
Their faces were filled with a strange heat.
They knew as well—the destruction of the Tang Clan.
"Silence!"
Guwol Shin-ni raised her voice as she looked at them.
She understood their excitement, but now was the time for a meeting.
"I assume you have all heard the rumors regarding the Tang Clan. They say they suffered a near-fatal blow from a Demonic Cult invasion?"
"That is correct, Sect Leader."
An Elder beside her answered.
"Regarding this matter, the Cheonmu Alliance has promised to dispatch the White Tiger Hall as a support unit. At the very least, we won't be caught defenseless like the Tang Clan."
From the perspective of Lee Jae-won, who loved women, the Emei Sect—which raised strong and alluring women—was an incredibly precious existence.
Thus, he had declared he would send a major force like the White Tiger Hall at their request.
Unaware of his true motives, the Emei Elders were impressed.
"As expected, the Alliance Leader is merciful."
"He truly understands the gravity of the situation."
"I feel much more at ease now. To think he'd send the White Tiger Hall."
As the Elders and disciples spoke, a smile formed on Guwol Shin-ni’s lips.
She felt that all of this was thanks to her own political maneuvering.
"So, putting the issue of the Demonic Cult aside, I wish to discuss something more significant for our sect. Third Elder, how many businesses have we lost to the Tang Clan over the last twenty years?"
"Exactly twenty-two, Sect Leader."
The Third Elder stood and answered.
"I intend to use this opportunity to reclaim all the businesses that were taken from us. What do the Elders think?"
"I agree!"
"I agree as well!"
"I agree!"
At Guwol Shin-ni’s words, numerous Elders voiced their support.
Taking over businesses meant the sect would become more powerful; how could they possibly dislike that?
"The Tang Clan currently lacks the capacity to manage those businesses anyway. Wouldn't it be better to return them to their original owners rather than let them fall into the wrong hands?"
"Exactly!"
"I agree, Sect Leader."
Guwol Shin-ni smiled with great satisfaction at their reactions.
Though they kept it suppressed, they were still martial artists. Their desire to expand their influence and become more powerful was no different from anyone else's.
"Very well. Then I shall immediately assemble a negotiation team to head down to the Tang Clan."
"I will go, Sect Leader."
At that moment, the Fifth Elder, who had a rugged build for a woman, stepped forward.
She was renowned for having particularly strong martial arts even among the Elders.
"The Fifth Elder is trustworthy. I also recommend her."
"With the Fifth Elder, we will be able to bring those businesses back with ease."
Everyone cheered for her enthusiastically.
They called it a negotiation, but in reality, it was a seizure under the guise of a threat.
In that sense, the Fifth Elder, with her formidable martial arts, was the perfect choice.
"Fifth Elder, do you have anyone in mind to take with you?"
Guwol Shin-ni asked. She had already decided on the Fifth Elder as the head of this negotiation. No one was better suited for it than her.
"I plan to take ten first-generation disciples and twenty second-generation disciples."
It was perfect. That would be a sufficient show of force.
"Understood. Then let us discuss the distribution of the businesses."
They began to talk as if the businesses were already theirs.
Laughter filled the meeting hall, and everyone left with flushed, excited expressions.
The next day, the Fifth Elder and a large group of disciples set off for the Tang Clan.
Their faces were filled with a strange, feverish heat.
*
"Hmm, so the Blood Bow Unit and the Evil Ghost Squad were annihilated..."
A man dressed in black spoke while stroking his chin.
"That is correct. However, in the aftermath, the Tang Clan is also said to have suffered damage bordering on total destruction."
A middle-aged man beside him responded.
"So they weren't completely wiped out."
"I will erase them immediately."
The man spoke urgently.
"No, let it be. If they've suffered that much damage, they'll collapse on their own."
"But..."
"The Orthodox sects pretend to be fair and just on the outside, but they are more sinister than anyone on the inside. The Tang Clan will be destroyed by the Orthodox factions."
The man spoke with absolute conviction.
He knew the nature of the Orthodox sects better than anyone.
Even without lifting a finger, the Tang Clan would fall.
"By the way, what of the dogs of the North Sea?"
"We informed them of the Lord's resurrection, but there has been no word."
"Have they switched ships?"
"Nothing has been confirmed yet."
"Interesting."
The man’s lips curled into a smirk at the middle-aged man’s words.
It seemed he had been asleep for too long.
For a dog to fail to recognize its master...
"Try contacting them a few more times. If they still won't listen, send the Sword Demon."
Shudder.
The middle-aged man trembled.
Just hearing the name 'Sword Demon' filled him with terror.
If the Heavenly Demon inspired awe, the Sword Demon was one who inspired pure horror.
"Understood."
The middle-aged man bowed deeply and stood at attention.
'I hope you make the right choice, Ice Palace Master.'
And inwardly, he prayed for the soul of the North Sea Ice Palace.