Chapter 253: Daoist Yin-Yang Manual[R-18] (83)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 253: Daoist Yin-Yang Manual[R-18] (83)
Dokgo Cheon's gaze turned toward the entrance of the meeting hall.
Every eye in the room followed his.
And then, the doors opened.
A young man in a neatly fastened black daoist robe. Following him was a woman of great dignity—the Sword Empress, Seo Ryeo-hwa.
The moment they appeared, a quiet stir went through the great hall.
"The Sword Empress...?"
"I heard she vanished without a trace some time ago..."
"Who is that young man?"
The hem of the robe swept silently across the floor as the two walked slowly toward the center of the hall.
With every step Seo Ryeo-hwa took, a heavy presence followed—an aura that no martial artist, regardless of their sect, could easily dismiss.
She was the first to stop.
"I see many familiar faces."
It was a brief greeting, but by no means a subservient one.
A moment later, Jin Seo-yun, standing a step behind her, also bowed his head.
"I am Jin Seo-yun of the Jin Clan of Jilin."
Few reacted to his name.
"The Jin Clan...?"
"Isn't Jilin in the middle of nowhere...?"
"Why did he come with her?"
Whispers passed back and forth like thoughts spoken aloud. His name was not yet known throughout the Murim. But the mere fact that the Sword Empress had personally accompanied him meant no one could ignore him.
"The Sword Empress and her disciple, Young Master Jin, have something to tell you all."
As soon as Dokgo Cheon finished speaking, all noise in the hall died down.
The gazes of the elders, the sect leaders, and the heads of the Five Great Clans all turned to the pair.
Seo Ryeo-hwa's eyes swept slowly across the hall as she began to speak.
"Regarding the recent annihilation of the Kunlun Sect, there is something I must tell you."
Silence.
Bearing its weight, Seo Ryeo-hwa continued quietly.
"A faction known as the Celestial Sphere assembly. There is an organization currently hidden in the Central Plains, operating in secret."
A subtle ripple went through the hall. A few elders furrowed their brows and whispered, and murmurs could be seen passing among the Five Great Clans.
"We clashed with them twice, once in Liaoning and again in northern Hebei. They massacred the powerless for no reason, leaving behind bizarre traces, as if the souls had been torn from the bodies."
Seo Ryeo-hwa's gaze grew even calmer.
"And crucially, their martial strength... was far from ordinary. They were led by a master of the Transformation Realm, on par with myself, and there was another Transformation Realm master among his subordinates. To call them a simple organization would be a mistake; their scale, structure, and the nature of their internal energy were all too foreign."
At Seo Ryeo-hwa's words, the leaders of the various sects and clans looked at each other without a word.
Eyes exchanged glances filled with suspicion, hesitation, and suppressed wariness.
No one dared to speak. Though they were gathered under the banner of the Orthodox Faction, each had their own agenda and interests.
There wasn't enough information to determine if the Sword Empress's words were a mere conspiracy theory or a baseless warning.
Then, an elder from the Mount Hua Sect cautiously raised his hand and spoke.
"The Celestial Sphere assembly... I have never heard that name. If such a power truly exists in the Central Plains, why has there never been a single trace of them until now?"
The leader of the Wudang Sect nodded and added, "To speak of a new, unsubstantiated threat at a time like this could throw the Murim into even greater chaos."
At his words, a few others began to mutter, and the atmosphere grew noisy again. But Seo Ryeo-hwa spoke without a hint of wavering.
"The Celestial Sphere assembly is by no means a new faction. They have simply... been hiding their name until now, wearing the masks of others."
Her eyes turned cold.
"Do you have proof?"
"Unfortunately... I have no physical evidence."
At Seo Ryeo-hwa's frank admission, the hall stirred once more. A variety of reactions erupted from all corners.
"To make such a grave accusation without any proof!"
"Even for the Sword Empress, such a claim is..."
"We already have traces of the Demonic Cult. To suggest another faction is involved is incomprehensible."
Seo Ryeo-hwa calmly watched their reactions before lifting her head.
"There is no evidence. However—"
She glanced quietly at me, then looked around the hall again and continued in a clear voice.
"My disciple knows of a traitor in this very room."
The hall erupted. Tension spread in an instant, followed by a heavy silence.
Seizing the moment, I stepped forward. Facing everyone's stares, I opened my mouth.
"If I may, I will speak directly."
The hall fell quiet once more.
Slowly, but with a resolute gaze, I scanned the faces of the elders one by one. Then, my eyes locked onto one spot.
"The Celestial Sphere assembly has already infiltrated deep within the Murim Alliance."
My words spread like wildfire.
"Right now, there is a member of the Celestial Sphere assembly in this very hall."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
The elders broke into a commotion. Some were shocked, while others raised their eyes in displeasure. Amidst it all, I pointed forward without a hint of hesitation.
"Jin Baek-su, the leader of the Ohyeon Mun of Qinghai."
At the far end of the meeting table where my finger pointed, the expression of a white-haired old man with a beard instantly stiffened. He stared at me, his eyes twitching as if his soul had left his body.
"And, Jo Deok-gi of the Hoeyang Sect."
This time, a middle-aged man seated near the middle flinched. His gaze wavered sharply as the eyes of those around him turned his way.
"What is the meaning of this!"
From one side of the hall, Yu Chang-geom shot to his feet and raised his voice.
"Sect Leader Jin Baek-su and Warrior Jo Deok-gi are among the most respected elders who have been with us for a long time. To point fingers without any proof is beyond disrespectful!"
I looked at Yu Chang-geom in silence before slowly opening my mouth.
"The proof that they are members of the Celestial Sphere assembly—"
After a brief pause, I took a sealed bundle from my robes. It contained important letters and secret ledgers, all stamped with the Murim Alliance's crest.
"—is this."
The hall became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
I carefully unfolded the papers and continued.
"These are documents I confirmed with the Alliance Lord just a short while ago."
I continued speaking quietly, my gaze unwavering.
"Before coming to this hall, I met with the Alliance Lord in person and reported the facts. At that time, I received authorization to search both of their residences."
I pulled a sealed bundle of documents from my robes. The stack of papers landed with a heavy thud on the table in the center of the hall. It was a critical set of documents, stamped with the crest and seal of the Murim Alliance.
"Inside are secret letters exchanged with the Celestial Sphere assembly, records of secretly gathered internal information, a list of names, and... documents detailing internal Murim Alliance intelligence. All of it was found in the residences of Jin Baek-su and Jo Deok-gi."
"Impossible...!"
Jin Baek-su, who had been sitting at the end of the table, shot to his feet. His voice trembled, his face pale.
"This is a fabrication! A scheme by those who wish to frame me! Alliance Lord, are you going to believe this?!"
But before he could move, two Murim Alliance martial artists approached from either side and seized his arms. Jin Baek-su's body shook as if convulsing.
"Let go! This can't be happening! This is... a trap!!"
His shouts echoed emptily off the ceiling of the hall.
I watched him for a moment before speaking again, my voice calm.
"It's right here."
I held up one of the documents.
"A sealed letter stamped with a black lotus, the emblem of the Celestial Sphere assembly. This is their symbol."
I slowly unfolded the document on the table. A chilling tension fell over the hall. And finally, I declared clearly,
"This is only the beginning."
"......"
The elders and clan heads in the hall were speechless.
Seo Ryeo-hwa quietly added, "The Celestial Sphere assembly is not merely an external enemy. Even now, at this very moment, they are hiding among us, using the name of the Orthodox Faction."
At her words, someone muttered under their breath.
"...Just how far have they infiltrated?"
The weight of the air in the room changed.
"You'll probably find spies if you search within your own clans."
"...But there's still no proof that this Celestial Sphere assembly was the one to annihilate the Kunlun Sect, is there?"
He had a point. In the end, all we had done was prove the existence of the Celestial Sphere assembly; we still had no direct evidence that they, and not the Demonic Cult, were the ones who destroyed the Kunlun Sect.
'Besides, the ones we've caught aren't high-ranking members of the Celestial Sphere assembly, so they don't know much.'
They were just traitors who had betrayed the Orthodox Faction for money and power.
"I will go to Kunlun myself and find the evidence."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
"Hmm, the Alliance has already sent the Vermilion Bird Unit to investigate. What more do you intend to look for?"
"There must be something they missed."
At my answer, a few people narrowed their eyes.
"Frankly... you may be the Sword Empress's disciple... but I don't believe you're more capable than the Vermilion Bird Unit. Discovering the Celestial Sphere assembly was impressive, but..."
Do Gwang-heon, the one who had just spoken, watched me with a wary eye.
"I'm not questioning the capabilities of the Vermilion Bird Unit. However, we have faced the Celestial Sphere assembly directly and know the unique traces they leave behind. No matter how skilled the Vermilion Bird Unit is, they cannot find what they do not know to look for."
My reason for going to Kunlun Mountain was singular. It was one of the Celestial Sphere assembly's bases that appeared in the original story. I had business there. Beneath Mount Ahallabdaltaek, in a deep underground cave, lay one of their many strongholds. In the original story, it was discovered during the height of the War between the Orthodox and Demonic Factions, but by then, it was already abandoned. At this point in time, however, it should still be there.
'If I tell them the truth, the information will just leak.'
There could be other spies for the Celestial Sphere assembly in this room that I don't know about. If I mention the existence of the underground base at the Kunlun Sect now, they will destroy all traces of it before I arrive.
As if reading my mind, Seo Ryeo-hwa took a step forward.
"It is not that we doubt the Vermilion Bird Unit's abilities. It's just that my disciple knows of a special clue. He is going to confirm it."
Dokgo Cheon nodded.
"The Sword Empress has a point. The Vermilion Bird Unit would have known nothing about the Celestial Sphere assembly, so it's possible they failed to properly identify their traces."
Do Gwang-heon still looked displeased, but he didn't argue further against the Alliance Lord's words.
"In that case, I will accompany you. If this is true, the Qingsheng Sect has a duty to confirm it as well."
Do Gwang-heon rose from his seat.
"The Mount Hua Sect will join as well."
Dokgo Cheon thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"That will not be possible. If there is a faction operating in the shadows, they could be plotting something else. We need to secure our own ranks first."
Dokgo Cheon stood up and slowly surveyed the hall.
"For now, all clans and sects of the Murim Alliance must first see to their own security. Return to your homes and conduct a thorough inspection for any spies from the Celestial Sphere assembly."
And with that, the meeting was over.