Chapter 607: If There’s a Transcendent Realm Expert, Isn’t There One More in the Central Plains?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 607: If There’s a Transcendent Realm Expert, Isn’t There One More in the Central Plains?
"Aaaaaaaargh!!!"
Crash!
Lee Jae-won began smashing the furniture once again.
An unbearable, monumental rage surged within him.
He had been mocked.
He had steeled himself, swallowed his pride, and gone to offer an apology, only to be met with ridicule.
And by a mere brat, a snot-nosed kid.
A maddening fury boiled over.
"Shit! Dammit! Fuck!"
Lee Jae-won spat out curses.
He trashed the room, but the massive rage swelling from deep within his chest refused to subside.
Tang Jin-seol watched him with a dry, hollow expression. She waited in silence until his outburst finally ran its course.
After an eternity of destruction...
"Tang Jin-seol!"
Lee Jae-won finally called out to her, pointing a finger at where she stood calmly in a corner.
"This is your fault!"
He began to shift the blame.
"You’re the one who made me apologize! That’s why everything turned out like this!"
Lee Jae-won glared at her with eyes full of resentment.
In his mind, the humiliation he suffered was entirely her doing. If she hadn't urged him to apologize, none of this would have happened.
"Take responsibility! I said, take responsibility!"
He began to throw a tantrum, his eyes fixed on her.
"How would you like me to take responsibility?"
Tang Jin-seol spoke slowly, her gaze fixed on him.
"What!?"
"Tell me. How should I take responsibility? Should I bash my head against the floor right now? Or perhaps I should strip off my clothes and dance for you?"
She continued, her gaze steady and composed.
"Tell me whatever it is you desire. If it will restore the Alliance Leader’s wounded pride, I am willing to do anything."
"............"
Lee Jae-won fell silent.
He was overwhelmed by her sheer, unshakeable confidence. She wasn't intimidated by his rage in the slightest. Instead, she boldly admitted fault and offered to appease him.
Faced with such an attitude, he found himself at a loss for words. Usually, when someone you're trying to scold refuses to be intimidated, there's nowhere left for the argument to go. The lack of the expected reaction made him feel awkward.
"Fine, enough!"
Feeling embarrassed, Lee Jae-won cut her off with a final huff of irritation. He realized that nitpicking further would yield nothing.
"Never again! Don't you ever urge me to apologize again!"
He spoke with a look of absolute resolve. Lee Jae-won had no intention of apologizing ever again. His pride had been dragged through the mud; he refused to bend any further. He was drawing a line in the sand.
"I understand, Alliance Leader."
Tang Jin-seol nodded calmly. She, too, felt that further apologies were meaningless.
Jang Sun-woo was already bristling with venom, ready to bite at any moment. To such a man, an apology was a waste of breath. Why apologize to someone who had already become an enemy?
"It seems we must devise another way."
Tang Jin-seol’s expression turned profoundly serious.
"Another way?"
Lee Jae-won asked, looking confused.
"Jang Sun-woo has completely turned into an enemy. It’s clear he won’t act according to our wishes."
"Then what do you intend to do?"
"First, I plan to shake him."
At his question, Tang Jin-seol’s eyes glittered with a wicked, snake-like light.
"Shake him? How?"
Lee Jae-won frowned. He was growing irritated by her habit of talking in circles instead of getting straight to the point.
"We must spread rumors."
"What kind of rumors...?"
"I intend to leak everything that happened today."
Tang Jin-seol spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone.
"Everything?"
"Yes. With a little bit of... embellishment, of course."
A devious smile played on her lips.
"Will that even work?"
Lee Jae-won asked, his curiosity piqued.
"No man is an island, Alliance Leader."
Tang Jin-seol’s voice was soft.
"......What is that supposed to mean?"
Lee Jae-won asked again, still failing to grasp her point.
"No matter how steel-hard a person’s exterior may be, they are still human. Their insides are bound to be fragile."
She looked as if she were enjoying herself.
"I intend to target that fragile interior."
".......By using rumors?"
"Yes, by using rumors."
Tang Jin-seol nodded.
"What exactly are you planning?"
"I will use the rumors to isolate him. I’ll make it so he can’t set foot not only in the Cheonmu Alliance but in the entire Central Plains Murim."
"Do you think that will work? He’s a Half-Immortal who has reached the Transcendent Realm."
Lee Jae-won remained skeptical. Jang Sun-woo was an absolute master of the Transcendent Realm. He didn't think such a man would suffer much psychological damage just from being isolated.
"He may be an absolute master of the Transcendent Realm, a so-called Half-Immortal, but half of him is still human. If his emotions are provoked, there will surely be a change in his state of mind."
Tang Jin-seol’s eyes shone with conviction.
"......I don't know. He seems pretty indifferent to me..."
Lee Jae-won maintained his skepticism. He couldn't imagine the man bursting into tears just because he was being bullied.
"It doesn't matter if he remains indifferent. If the end result is his isolation, it’s a welcome outcome for us."
Tang Jin-seol continued calmly.
"Currently, there are groups within the Cheonmu Alliance that support and advocate for Jang Sun-woo. Most of them are people dissatisfied with your leadership, Alliance Leader. They are quiet for now, but given the chance, they will use Jang Sun-woo to drag you down at any moment."
Her eyes flashed coldly.
"However, if we make Jang Sun-woo’s remarks public, they won’t be able to carry out such political maneuvers so easily. The man they viewed as a trump card to oust you will have become an enemy of the Cheonmu Alliance."
"........Ho."
Lee Jae-won let out a small exclamation of admiration. He hadn't thought that far ahead.
'...She’s not stupid after all.'
Lee Jae-won reflected on his previous assessment of her. When she first suggested isolating Jang Sun-woo with rumors, he had inwardly scoffed, thinking, 'A woman is just a woman.' He didn't believe a Transcendent Realm master like Jang Sun-woo would be swayed by petty gossip.
But hearing the rest of her logic, he couldn't help but be impressed. He hadn't expected her to use rumors as a way to block the political machinations of the opposition.
'What a wicked woman.'
He thought to himself. Truly, a devious woman.
"I have one question."
"Please, ask."
"What if Jang Sun-woo isn't shaken by the rumors? What then?"
Lee Jae-won asked curiously. Blocking political maneuvers and isolating him was all well and good, but that alone wouldn't kill Jang Sun-woo. He was the World's Greatest Martial Artist, strong enough to boast that he wouldn't lose even if he fought the entire Cheonmu Alliance alone.
"Then we have no choice but to ask for a favor."
"From whom?"
Lee Jae-won looked puzzled.
"From an expert capable of killing him."
Tang Jin-seol spoke with a calm tone.
"Who on earth could possibly kill him!?"
Lee Jae-won asked back, looking flabbergasted. It made no sense to him. Even he, the supposed World's Greatest, had suffered a miserable defeat and lost an arm. Who else could possibly kill that monster? Was she planning to summon the Yin-Yang Demon?
"If it's a Transcendent Realm expert, isn't there one more in the Central Plains?"
Tang Jin-seol offered a soft smile.
"In... the Central Plains...?"
Lee Jae-won’s expression turned puzzled as his mind began to race. He was trying to deduce who this other Transcendent Realm expert could be.
"Ah!"
A moment later, he let out a gasp. The identity of the other Transcendent Realm master—besides himself—flashed through his mind.
"The Poison King!"
Lee Jae-won shouted as the realization hit him.
"Correct."
Tang Jin-seol replied with an alluring smile.
"But hasn't he remained unverified?"
Lee Jae-won asked, his expression clouded with doubt.
The Poison King, Tang Jin-cheol.
The man who, twenty years ago, had single-handedly annihilated the Ironclad Cavalry—the Demonic Cult’s strongest martial unit—and earned the title of Poison King.
The man who killed the Poison Demon when he invaded the Tang Clan and claimed the title of the World's Greatest Poison Master.
The man who killed the Heavenly King Divine Fist, a master of the Upper Stage of the Superlative Realm, and forced the Hwangbo Clan into Sect Seclusion.
Based on his record alone, it wouldn't be strange to call him a Transcendent Realm master, but since no one had witnessed his power directly in years, he couldn't be considered "verified."
Thus, the doubt remained. Was he truly a Half-Immortal who had reached the Transcendent Realm?
"Alliance Leader, who was the master who raised Jang Sun-woo?"
"..........It was the Poison King."
Lee Jae-won spoke with a look of displeasure. Just hearing Jang Sun-woo’s name made his blood boil.
"Do you really think my brother, the master, would be weaker than his disciple, Jang Sun-woo?"
"........Isn't there a saying that the student often surpasses the master?"
Lee Jae-won looked at Tang Jin-seol with a hint of anxiety. While it was rare for a master to be weaker than their disciple, nothing was absolute. There were plenty of disciples who surpassed their masters. Like himself, for instance.
"Well, that’s not entirely wrong. Given it's Jang Sun-woo, he might have surpassed my brother. He is a genius, after all."
Tang Jin-seol nodded in agreement. It was a fair point.
"But even taking that into account, I believe my brother has reached the Transcendent Realm at the very least."
"Why are you so certain?"
Lee Jae-won asked, not following her logic.
"Do you remember the incident where my brother forced the Hwangbo Clan into Sect Seclusion?"
"..........I remember."
Lee Jae-won nodded. He had been pestered quite a bit by Hwangbo Yu-yeon and Tang Jin-seol because of that incident. He couldn't forget it even if he wanted to.
"If my brother hadn't reached the Transcendent Realm, he would have been the one defeated."
She spoke calmly.
"Why do you think so?"
"The Hwangbo Clan’s Ten Thousand Strength Heavenly Thunder Divine Art and our clan's Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art are natural counters."
"Counters?!"
Lee Jae-won looked surprised. What did she mean by "counters"?
"Yes. The Ten Thousand Strength Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, which manipulates lightning qi, can incinerate all the poisonous qi produced by the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art. Therefore, if the masters are of equal level, it is practically impossible for a Tang Clan martial artist to defeat one from the Hwangbo Clan."
She explained matter-of-factly.
"Is that true!?"
Lee Jae-won looked shocked. This was the first time he had heard such a thing. To think there was a hierarchy of superiority between two techniques known as Divine Arts.
"Yes, it is a fact. Therefore, my brother must be a Transcendent Realm expert. To annihilate not only the Heavenly King Divine Fist, Hwangbo Gang, but the entire Heavenly King Unit as well, he would have had to transcend the Superlative Realm."
She looked at Lee Jae-won with eyes full of certainty.
".........I see."
Lee Jae-won nodded, finally convinced. Her words made sense. To overcome such a disadvantage in techniques and force the Hwangbo Clan into seclusion, one would need the power of the Transcendent Realm at the very least. It was logical.
"If my brother, who has reached the Transcendent Realm, and you, Alliance Leader, launch a pincer attack, you will surely be able to kill Jang Sun-woo."
Tang Jin-seol spoke with absolute confidence.
Nod.
Lee Jae-won slowly nodded his head. It was a persuasive argument. A battle between Transcendent Realm experts was a battle of wills. The difference was determined by the magnitude of one's resolve. Therefore, if two Transcendent Realm masters attacked together, the opponent would inevitably be pushed back. No matter how much he had trained, his will wouldn't be strong enough to withstand two such masters at once.
"But... will he cooperate with us?"
Lee Jae-won looked at her with a questioning gaze. He accepted that the man was a Transcendent Realm master. But whether he would cooperate was another matter. Though they were related by marriage, they hadn't been in contact for a long time. Furthermore, he doubted the man would agree to kill his top disciple, even if he had been expelled.
"Of course he will."
Tang Jin-seol answered immediately, without a moment's hesitation.
"My brother is a man who will do anything for the glory of the family. If he can gain glory for the clan by killing an expelled disciple, he would kill him a million times over."
She spoke with absolute certainty.