Chapter 219: Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 219: Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord (1)
Rumors regarding the death of the world’s greatest martial artist didn't spread as quickly as one might expect.
It wasn’t that the Namgung Clan was trying to hide it. There was no reason for them to feel anything but immense pride in the way Namgung Jin-cheon had passed.
He had fought for his family to his last breath, ultimately leaving this world with four masters of the Transcendent Realm dragged down as his companions to the afterlife.
While his death would undoubtedly draw out the jackals coveting the Namgung Clan’s position, no one in the family cared about such trivialities. In fact, hiding Namgung Jin-cheon’s death would have been an insult to his memory.
So why hadn't the news spread? The reason was simple: few actually believed it, and even those who did were exceedingly careful with their words.
The atmosphere in Hefei, the home of the Namgung Clan, was as cold and sharp as a drawn blade. There weren't many fools willing to risk their heads just to wag their tongues.
However, once the rumors finally crossed the borders of Anhui, word of mouth swept through the Central Plains with terrifying speed. The fall of the world’s greatest martial artist was revealed to all under heaven.
Naturally, the elders gathered at the Murim Alliance were discussing the matter. Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the room wasn't entirely somber.
"The head of the Heaven-Breaking Je Clan, the Giryeon Sect Leader, the Sword Sect Leader, and even the Martial Great Lord of the Black Lotus Union... Namgung Jin-cheon has achieved something truly monumental."
"What is the current state of the war?"
"It seems we’ll be able to completely push back the Giryeon Sect soon. However, driving out the other sects in a single stroke will prove difficult."
"What do you intend to do regarding the Namgung Clan?"
"We must provide compensation, of course."
Suddenly, the meeting hall fell silent. Someone cleared their throat before speaking up.
"It seems like too great a burden for the Murim Alliance to compensate them alone..."
"Are you suggesting we just wash our hands of it? Have you lost your mind?"
"That’s not what I mean. Shouldn't each of the Sixteen Major Sects and Clans bear a portion of the burden, rather than placing it solely on the Alliance?"
A man who had been listening quietly chimed in.
"Speaking of the Sixteen Major Sects... there are no Transcendent Realm masters left in the Namgung Clan now, are there?"
"Excluding the retired elders of the previous generation, that would be correct."
"Then they will eventually be pushed out of the Sixteen Major Sects. I thought the next generation of Namgung would claim the title of the world's greatest clan, but alas."
Someone let out a mocking chuckle.
"A crane that carries itself with such loftiness is bound to die young."
"Watch yourself. That is going too far."
"Why are you all pretending to be so noble? Your heads are spinning faster than anyone's, calculating how the landscape will shift now that Namgung is out of the picture."
"Silence...! That is enough!"
The meeting hall fell back into a tense silence. The elders' minds were a whirlwind of complex calculations.
Some genuinely mourned Namgung Jin-cheon, some calculated the shifting power dynamics, and others prepared for the aftermath of the war. With four Transcendent Realm masters from the Black Lotus Union dead, most predicted a decisive victory for the Murim Alliance.
If the Black Lotus Union were driven into a corner, a few hidden masters from the previous generation might emerge. But if that happened, the Righteous Faction had their own hidden masters ready to step forward. Above all, unless someone was planning to completely uproot the Black Lotus Union, it was rare for reclusive experts to interfere.
Since most of these ancient masters had severed their ties to the secular world, the elders believed they could reap massive benefits as long as they didn't push the enemy too far.
Jegal Tong, who had been keeping his mouth shut, bit his lip.
‘The war isn't over yet. And yet, for things to already turn out like this...’
Though he was the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance, most of the elders held far higher seniority than him. The gap in status wasn't small. This made it difficult for Jegal Tong to speak out of turn.
"It is my failure. Even though I knew Sa-ma was a madman, I made a judgment based too much on common sense. For now, since we are at war—"
Bang—!
Suddenly, the heavy doors to the meeting hall swung open without warning. The elders furrowed their brows in displeasure.
"What is the meaning of this insolence?"
The intruder's face was obscured by the backlighting, but these were the elders of the Murim Alliance. A bit of glare was no obstacle to their trained eyes. Someone who recognized the man shouted.
"Jin Gi-jae-cheon!"
"Jin Gi-jae-cheon? You mean that boy from the Namgung Clan?"
"The young fellow lacks manners."
As someone clicked their tongue in disapproval, Seo-jun strode into the hall without a word. His glowing red eyes swept over the faces of the elders.
He spoke in a low, chilling voice.
"Who is the Chief Strategist?"
Jegal Tong closed his eyes tightly before opening them.
"...It is I."
"You know why I’ve come, don't you?"
"Of course. First, let us talk—"
One of the elders cut him off.
"Chief Strategist, you must know when to draw the line. Jin Gi-jae-cheon, was it? You should first follow the proper procedures—"
Kwooooom—!!
The elder’s head was violently slammed into the ground by an invisible force. And it wasn't just him.
"Guh...!"
"You... brat...! What are you doing...!"
The heads of everyone except Jegal Tong were forced into the floor tiles. Seo-jun’s Domain manifested faintly, making it feel as if the very heavens were pressing down on the room.
‘Useless fools who are never there when they’re actually needed.’
A surge of murderous intent rose within him, only to bitterly subside. He was no different. In the end, he hadn't been of any help either.
If he had arrived at Namgung Jin-cheon’s side just a little sooner, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
Tsk. Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
A blue energy surged within the meeting hall. Seo-jun walked forward, cutting through the heavy azure aura.
Something on a table caught his eye. A tobacco pipe. He usually had no interest in such things, but he felt it might help alleviate the suffocating tightness in his chest.
He picked up the pipe of unknown ownership and stood before the Chief Strategist.
Crackle— sparks flew in the air, and thick smoke rose.
"Phew..."
A bitter taste and aroma lingered in his mouth.
‘Helpful, my foot.’
Exhaling the smoke, he tightened his grip. Crunch. The crushed pipe fell to the floor in splinters.
Seo-jun’s red eyes looked down at the Chief Strategist.
"You’d better explain yourself thoroughly."
"...Yes."
*
The account of the incident provided by Jegal Tong, the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance, wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
Why had they failed to detect the movement of four Transcendent Realm masters?
Because the Giryeon Sect Leader had hidden them thoroughly. When a sorcerer who had reached a Great Realm set their mind to concealing a location, tracking them was nearly impossible.
Why hadn't they sent reinforcements immediately after sensing the battle?
They couldn't rashly deploy forces to a location without first grasping the situation.
Judging by the shockwaves that had rippled through the Central Plains, the clash was between Transcendent Realm masters. Furthermore, it had occurred deep within the territory of the Black Lotus Union. Since they didn't know how many masters the Black Lotus Union might have lying in ambush, they had to be cautious. For that reason, even dispatching a simple investigation team wasn't easy.
It wasn't that they hadn't sent one at all. A team had already been dispatched; they simply hadn't arrived yet. The distance was too great.
Moreover, it was wartime. The strategic burden of a Transcendent Realm martial artist rashly leaving their post was too heavy. They rarely moved from their positions, and the Murim Alliance lacked the authority to compel them.
If anything, Namgung Jin-cheon’s case—moving without a moment's hesitation to save Namgung Yeon—was the anomaly.
Why had they failed to see through the Black Lotus Union’s scheme?
Jegal Tong bowed his head in deep apology. He explained the variables that led to his failure to predict it. Logically, Jegal Tong was right.
Seo-jun let out a long sigh and withdrew the pressure weighing down the meeting hall. The bitter taste of that single puff of tobacco still lingered on his tongue. He felt like spitting.
One elder, his face flushed bright red with indignation, shouted.
"...What is the meaning of this outrageous behavior? Using force against the elders of the Alliance?"
Seo-jun ignored him. His insides were boiling. He knew that if he stayed in this room any longer, blood would be spilled.
‘I’ll leave them be for now.’
He lacked sufficient justification to slaughter them right this moment. He had to think of the Namgung Clan's standing. At the very least, Lee Seo-jun couldn't be the one to kill these people.
They would undoubtedly provide him with a justification on their own eventually.
Of course, this bastard was an exception.
Crunch—!
The elder’s head was crushed beneath his boot like a ripe melon. Schlick— as Seo-jun lifted his foot, an unidentifiable fluid mixed with blood stretched out in a grisly string.
It was the elder who had babbled about a crane dying young.
"Insignificant trash."
As he spat on the man’s mangled corpse, the remaining elders fell deathly silent.
‘This one is at least better.’
Seo-jun looked at Jegal Tong with narrowed eyes.
Though he had been outmaneuvered by the Black Lotus Union’s strategist, he was still the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance. He was better than nothing. Seo-jun would borrow the man’s brain for a while, and if he proved to be rotten to the core, he would simply break him too.
"I will take care of the Giryeon Sect myself."
"...Pardon?"
"Next is the Sword Sect. Then the Heaven-Breaking Je Clan. After that, the Black Lotus Union."
"W-wait, let’s talk for a moment—!"
Ignoring the pleas, Seo-jun delivered his ultimatum and immediately left the Murim Alliance. As he tore through space and soared across the sky, his suffocating heart seemed to ease slightly.
‘My father-in-law was on the verge of the Profound Realm.’
After a person dies, their soul heads to the Underworld. And the Profound Realm was speculated to be a stage where a god completely absorbs Essence and Qi.
‘If so...’
Several hypotheses came to mind, but there was no way to verify them right now. Seo-jun stood above the clouds, clinging to a single, fragile thread of hope.
"Push forward!"
"The Giryeon Sect has no proper forces left! Drive them out all at once!"
Mount Giryeon, the home of the Giryeon Sect, was situated in the northern part of Gansu Province. Between the steep peaks and jagged cliffs, martial artists were fiercely clashing with their weapons.
Seo-jun looked down at Mount Giryeon from a vast height. He identified the auras of the people below and slowly reached out his hand.
"Ideal World."
An unnervingly vast Domain overlaid most of Mount Giryeon. The rugged mountain range vanished. In its place, a sprawling, endless meadow appeared.
"W-what is this...?"
"Is this a formation of the Giryeon Sect...?"
Everyone within the Domain, whether from the Righteous Faction or the Evil sects, was thrown into absolute confusion. Seo-jun silently calculated the range, then grafted the heavens and the earth together.
Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Art.
A massive explosion erupted.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!!
A giant, spherical void was carved directly into the center of Mount Giryeon. The highest peak instantly became the lowest pit.
The only reason the rest of Mount Giryeon didn't collapse in a catastrophic landslide was due to Seo-jun’s precise control. Standing above the Giryeon Sect, which had practically vanished without a trace, Seo-jun looked down at the surviving disciples.
"This is impossible..."
"That crazy bastard...!"
Some were completely dazed, while others were enraged to their very core. The enraged disciples quickly formed a formation and fired their sorcery toward the sky.
Rumble—!
Dark clouds gathered violently, and a massive bolt of lightning struck down aimed directly at Seo-jun.
It was meaningless.
Zap—! The lightning, which had been under the control of the Giryeon disciples, instantly succumbed to Seo-jun’s will. Crackling blue lightning swirled around his body.
Seo-jun distinguished every single person within his Domain. It wasn't a difficult task; the difference between the auras of the Righteous Faction and the Evil sects was stark.
"As of today, the Giryeon Sect is extinguished."
Simultaneous with his cold declaration, the blue lightning surged.
Kraroom—!
A thick bolt of lightning pierced the sky, and then, like countless branches growing from a massive tree, hundreds of slender streaks of lightning struck the earth.
Krak-crack—!
The lightning fell exclusively upon everyone harboring Death Qi. They alone screamed in sheer agony at the heavenly punishment.
A martial artist from the Murim Alliance, who had been crossing swords with a Giryeon disciple just moments ago, collapsed to his knees, panting for breath.
‘...This is a punishment from the heavens.’
It made no sense otherwise.
The corpse of the Giryeon disciple before him was charred black. Yet he, who had been standing mere inches away, was completely unharmed. Similar miracles occurred all over Mount Giryeon.
There was no way a mere human could perform such a feat. The man clasped his hands and bowed deeply toward the sky in a gesture of absolute reverence.
Seo-jun looked down from the sky with apathetic red eyes at all those who were dying.
"Aaaaagh...!"
"S-spare me...! Gaaah...!"
Most of the Giryeon disciples were already dead. Only two remained—the sect's hidden elders who had reached the Super Peak Realm.
Zzzzt—
The lightning swirling around Seo-jun condensed, forming into two crackling swords.
It was the Heavenly Thunder Qi Sword of the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Extinguishing Art.
With a casual gesture from Seo-jun, blue lines of electricity connected the heavens and the earth.
Rumble—!
Pierced through the chest by the swords of lightning, the two Super Peak Realm masters couldn't even scream. They died with their mouths agape, exhaling thick black smoke.
In an instant, the battlefield was cleared. The Giryeon Sect was gone, and all of its disciples were dead.
The Giryeon Sect had been completely annihilated.
Seo-jun looked down at the smoldering remains of the sect from the air.
"Tsk."
In a surge of pent-up resentment, he stomped his foot down hard on the empty air.
Kwooooooooom—!!
A massive, invisible footprint severed the very waist of Mount Giryeon. Battered by the Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Art and the Heavenly Demon Ruling Step in rapid succession, the mountain finally split in two.
A jagged canyon, large enough to swallow a decent-sized city, was carved between the sundered halves.
‘Yes. This is right.’
There was no reason to hide his power anymore. The Fire Demon Realm? Why had he tried so hard to conceal it?
If he had just revealed his realm from the beginning and shaken the Black Lotus Union to its core, perhaps his father-in-law wouldn't have died.
After catching his breath for a moment, Seo-jun tore through space once again.
Next was the Sword Sect.