The Path of Radiant Ascension
The Ipmaso recruits followed their instructors westward.
It was one long march. They crossed open fields, climbed mountains, and built rafts to ford rivers. Whenever they ran into wild beasts or monsters, they stood their ground and fought.
For three weeks they covered what felt like two hundred kilometers a day. Anyone who wasn't a trained martial artist would have collapsed within a few days. The one mercy was that they got to pitch individual tents and sleep at night — though every night I slipped into Yeon Ye-ha's tent and took her.
At any rate, we reached our destination in three weeks: a city called Baeksan Fortress. The great mountain rising behind it was Baeksan itself — White Mountain — its peak permanently capped in snow.
I looked up at Baeksan and thought, The place names have changed, but a white mountain is still here. So things are still running according to the original story.
Before they entered the city, Bae Taek-ju, the director of Ipmaso, addressed them.
"This is the second trial. For the next fifteen days you will remain in Baeksan Fortress and assist the Heavenly Demon Cult's Baeksan Fortress branch. Any method is acceptable. Work for the branch. Accumulate merit. The merit you earn will become your grade."
Jegal Mo-sun raised his hand.
"I have a question."
"Number 366. Speak."
"To accumulate merit, are we free to do anything?"
"I don't care. But you will answer for whatever you do."
"…You ordered us to form squads of six. Why form squads at all?"
"Each squad will be assigned a mission. That is separate from merit. You will complete your mission no matter what."
"What kind of mission?"
"It differs by squad. Any further questions?"
"…None."
Jegal Mo-sun lowered his hand.
Bae Taek-ju glanced toward Baeksan, then continued.
"Three powers currently exist in Baeksan Fortress. The Baeksan Jin Clan, the city's longstanding masters, has more than eight hundred years of history. They are a martial house that also runs a merchant guild."
He had an instructor unfurl a large map in front of them — a rough sketch of the city's interior. The Baeksan Jin Clan occupied the northern district.
"The Heavenly Demon Cult's Baeksan Fortress branch is in the east. Here. The Cult has no intention of fully dominating Baeksan Fortress. …Number 336. You've raised your hand. Ask."
"What do you mean by no intention of dominating the city?"
"There is little to gain by seizing it outright. Reckless conquest only invites the Emperor's wrath. Even if we could take Baeksan Fortress, the Cult currently lacks the manpower. If we had spare hands, we would send them somewhere more important."
This continent was ruled by an emperor. Even the Heavenly Demon Cult ultimately governed land only in the Emperor's name. No one on this continent could defy him.
"…So we are not hostile to the Baeksan Jin Clan. What the Cult wants is influence?"
"Sharp. Correct. The Cult wants to become the second most influential power after the Baeksan Jin Clan."
"Which means the Cult has not yet secured that influence in Baeksan Fortress… so the third power is the problem."
"Correct. The third power is the Cheonui Alliance's Baeksan Fortress branch."
The Cheonui Alliance.
The recruits tensed at the name.
The Cheonui Alliance was a coalition of mid- and small-sized sects. Thinking a bunch of minor sects, how strong could they be? would be a mistake. Over a thousand of them had banded together. Their history was short, but they were expanding at a frightening pace. In sheer bulk alone, they already outstripped the Heavenly Demon Cult.
They were the Cult's enemies. Relations were so poisonous that open war would not have been surprising.
"I will say this once. Do not pick a fight with the Cheonui Alliance. The Cult has no intention of fighting them yet."
"And if they ambush us? Are we supposed to run instead of fighting?"
Bae Taek-ju snapped his head toward the speaker. Fury burned in his eyes.
"Number 195. You call that a question? The Cult does not run from the likes of the Cheonui Alliance. If it comes to running, die fighting instead. But the justification must be ours. Do not forget that."
He went on to explain the three-way balance of power in Baeksan Fortress.
The key to the city lay with the neutral Baeksan Jin Clan. Five years earlier, the clan had publicly declared that it would ally with whichever faction — the Heavenly Demon Cult or the Cheonui Alliance — proved more beneficial to Baeksan Fortress.
That was why the two sides competed here. Not with blades and fists, but by developing the city and courting the citizens' support.
In other words, the Baeksan Jin Clan and the people of Baeksan Fortress were skillfully using both the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Cheonui Alliance for their own gain.
"…I don't understand. Do we absolutely have to take Baeksan Fortress?"
Jegal Mo-sun asked, brow furrowed.
"Even if the city itself is not critical, we cannot withdraw. We cannot hand Baeksan Fortress to the Cheonui Alliance."
"…If we cannot have it, destroying it is also an option."
"The Baeksan Jin Clan has ties to the imperial bloodline."
"……"
Jegal Mo-sun shut his mouth at once.
The imperial bloodline meant those who shared the Emperor's blood. Through them, the Baeksan Jin Clan could appeal directly to the Emperor for aid. Whether the Emperor would actually move was secondary — simply making an enemy of the imperial house was already more trouble than it was worth.
Hah…
I let out a dry laugh.
In the novel, the Heavenly Demon Cult was the greatest power in the martial world… and in this world they're fretting over the Emperor's mood.
At this point I was starting to wonder what kind of monster the Emperor actually was.
"Squad leaders, step forward. You will receive your missions."
Bae Taek-ju handed each squad leader a scroll with their assignment written on it.
The leader of Squad One — my squad — was Cheon Yu-un. He brought the scroll back and gathered us.
Myself, Cheon Yu-un, Jegal Mo-sun, Yeon Ye-ha, Seomun So-ryeo, and Jeong So-mok.
Number 290, Seomun So-ryeo, was a woman. Her primary weapon was the spear. She was attractive enough in her own right, but standing next to Yeon Ye-ha she looked ordinary. I had no immediate designs on her — but if the chance came, I would take her.
Number 151, Jeong So-mok, was a man who practiced fist and kick arts. He was also a spy for the Cheonui Alliance. Cheon Yu-un already knew that, of course. In the original story, Cheon Yu-un tried to turn Jeong So-mok into a double agent. He failed. Jeong So-mok died fighting him.
We unrolled the scroll somewhere away from the others and checked the mission.
I skimmed it. This, too, matched the original. Even if I did nothing, Cheon Yu-un and Jegal Mo-sun would handle it fine.
What I have to do is… damn it, there is something. Yeom Gu-seok is supposed to cause an incident here.
I clicked my tongue in irritation.
Jegal Mo-sun shot me a look that made it clear he didn't care for the sound, then addressed the mission.
"As written here, we will conceal our affiliation with the Cult and enter Baeksan Fortress as newly arrived martial artists of the jianghu. Our mission as Squad One is to gather information capable of destabilizing the Cheonui Alliance's Baeksan Fortress branch."
"An intelligence mission… troublesome. I hear the other squads got assignments like delivering goods to a neighboring city or clearing out bandits."
"…You saw the other squads' missions?"
"If you keep your ears open, you hear things."
"My hearing is not that good. As Number 88 says, this mission is a nuisance. Information that could shake the Cheonui Alliance branch? There may be no such thing. Even if there is, digging it up in fifteen days will be difficult. We should plan for the possibility of mission failure."
"So you mean to focus on merit rather than the mission."
"Yes. That is the more rational approach. Anyone who disagrees, raise your hand."
No one did.
"Then I will take that as unanimous agreement."
"Number 366."
"Yes, Number 88. Do you have a different opinion?"
"No, not that. I agree with you. What I want to know is how we accumulate merit. The other squads can earn it by assisting the Heavenly Demon Cult's Baeksan Fortress branch. We cannot."
Squad One had to hide its Cult affiliation. That meant we could not openly help the branch.
"What matters in Baeksan Fortress right now is neither the Heavenly Demon Cult nor the Cheonui Alliance. It is the Baeksan Jin Clan. But we currently have almost no information about the city — far too little. So for today and tomorrow, I propose we scatter and gather intelligence on Baeksan Fortress."
"And after that?"
"We will form a plan based on what we learn."
"I approve."
Cheon Yu-un grinned as he said it.
Jegal Mo-sun looked around at the rest of us.
"What do the rest of you think?"
Everyone agreed.
We confirmed the false identities written on the scroll and entered the city. We took rooms at an inn on the outskirts, then split up to gather information.
Cheon Yu-un will watch Jeong So-mok the spy, just like in the original. As for me…
I only needed to move the way Yeom Gu-seok did in the original story.
I walked through the city's commercial district. It bustled with life, as a marketplace should. I headed for the places where people weren't.
Even in a commercial district, there were spots that stayed empty in broad daylight.
The entertainment quarter. Come nightfall, this place would throng with bodies. And entertainment quarters always connected to the underworld.
In murim they call it the Black Path.
A fine name for what was really just street trash. The modern equivalent would be the mafia — prostitution, gambling, the usual. And behind most Black Path operations sat some unorthodox martial faction. The Black Path gangs of Baeksan Fortress almost certainly had the Heavenly Demon Cult behind them.
I avoided the gaudy pleasure houses five stories and taller. Touching one of those big establishments carelessly would only make a mess. I slipped into the alleyways of the entertainment quarter instead. The deeper I went, the more sinister the atmosphere grew. Looking down, I could see bloodstains on the ground with casual frequency.
As I reached the end of an alley, a small door in the wall slammed open and a man stepped out. His bare torso was covered in vicious tattoos, and he brandished a short saber in one hand with open menace.
"Face I don't know. You're not from around here, are you? Who do you run with?"
He swaggered as he asked.
I clenched my fist. No need to draw a blade.
"Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing. Who do you run with?"
"Ha. Look at this one. Real confident, aren't y—!"
He suddenly flung the short saber at me. I snagged it out of the air with my left hand. He ran up the wall, launched himself from above, and dropped toward me — an attack that used his full body weight. His speed was sharp. The unhesitating punches told me he had real martial training.
That did not make him a threat.
I moved later than he did. I drove an uppercut straight up. I had started later, but my fist was faster than his.
"Ghk—!"
I caught his head as he crumpled, snatching it the way you snatch a falling object.
Before I could even call up a lightning bolt, Noecheonryu answered my will first.
Lightning answered first — current erupted from the palm and raked through the man's body.
Crackle—snap—sizzle!
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh—!"