Chapter 269: Profound Realm (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 269: Profound Realm (1)
To get straight to the point—it was a failure.
Once the distance between Seo-jun’s true body and the puppet exceeded a certain limit, the puppet simply stopped moving.
Or, more accurately, the Mental Imagery infused within the puppet couldn't reach any further. It was proof that he hadn't yet achieved perfect synchronization with it.
Ultimately, if he wanted the puppet to attend the Murim Alliance meeting, Seo-jun himself had to travel to the vicinity.
"Since it’s come to this, should we do some sightseeing along the way?"
The Murim Alliance was situated near the borders of Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei.
No matter how vast Seo-jun’s Domain was, encompassing the entirety of Henan Province was still impossible. However, it was an undeniable fact that his range already defied all common sense.
It wouldn't be difficult to visit the Yellow River near the Murim Alliance, or head a bit further east to see the Hwangbo Clan.
"Hmm... should we pack some lunch boxes then?" Namgung Su-ah suggested.
Chun-bong shook her head. "We can just find a good local restaurant nearby. Let’s take this chance to show this kid the world a bit."
Pat, pat. Chun-bong lightly tapped Bi-yeon's shoulder.
Bi-yeon, who always froze up like a deer in headlights whenever she saw Seo-jun, simply nodded at her master’s touch.
"Y-Yes, Master...!"
And so, it was decided.
* * *
Currently, the war between the Righteous Faction and the Evil Sect had entered a lull.
The Evil Sect had suffered devastating losses: the Giryeon Sect and the Sword Sect—two of the seven pillars known as the Seven Evil Black Sect—had been annihilated. The Heaven-Breaking Je Clan had lost its leader, the Ice Palace had sealed its gates, and the Great Black Mountain Sect had taken heavy damage.
Common sense dictated that the Righteous Faction should have pushed forward by now to completely uproot the Evil Sect, but two major factors made that impossible.
First and foremost was the Leader of the Black Lotus Union—a martial artist of the Profound Realm. Second was the existence of hidden masters whose exact numbers remained unknown.
Furthermore, the Transcendent Realm masters of the Righteous Faction lacked any real incentive to completely conquer the Black Lotus Union's territory.
What would they gain by slightly expanding the Righteous Faction’s borders? The Evil Sect would inevitably rise again over time, and an expert at the Transcendent Realm stood to gain absolutely nothing from a bit more land.
Thus, they wanted to end this meaningless war as quickly as possible... however, the Emperor had a slightly different idea.
'It’s been a while since something this fun happened. Why should I stop it?'
Of course, even the Emperor possessed a modicum of common sense. He wasn't such an idiot as to seek a life-and-death duel with the Profound Realm Leader of the Black Lotus Union.
He simply wanted entertainment—like watching a spectacular clash between the Transcendent masters of the Righteous and Evil factions.
Consequently, the Transcendents attending this meeting were divided into two main camps.
The Hawks argued, "We must wipe out those Black Lotus Union bastards once and for all!"
The Doves countered, "We must at least stop the Emperor from doing something insane!"
The former included the Hebei Peng Clan, who had taken severe hits due to their position on the front lines. The latter included the Hwangbo Clan, who were acutely aware of the Emperor’s erratic mental state.
So, which faction did the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord Lee Seo-jun belong to?
If one had to choose, he leaned toward the Hawks, but more accurately, he simply didn't care.
After seeing what kind of person the North Sea Ice Palace Master was, he had begun to wonder if it was truly necessary to slaughter everyone in the Black Lotus Union.
As he sat there blankly with his chin resting on his hand, observing the faces in the meeting room, the Emperor spoke up.
"Oho, there are quite a few more people here than I expected, don'tcha think?"
It seemed he had picked up yet another new dialect.
Hwangbo Ryung, the leader of the Hwangbo Clan, let out a heavy sigh. "Haa... Surely everyone here didn't gather just to provoke the Black Lotus Union for no reason. Why don't you all stop this foolishness and go home?"
Peng Geuk-jin, the leader of the Hebei Peng Clan, growled in response. "I’ve taken too many hits to just sit still."
"Are you planning to commit the folly of beating the grass just to startle the snake?"
"I’m the snake that jumped out, you bastard! Those lunatics should have just hit the grass, but they whacked the head of the Peng Clan instead!"
"Even knowing that the Peng Clan will be the first to suffer if things go south because you poked them for no reason?"
"Who cares! Are you telling me to just sit back and take it? Me, a man of the Peng Clan? That won't happen even if the heavens and earth flip upside down!"
As Hwangbo Ryung and Peng Geuk-jin's shouting match grew louder, the Emperor chuckled and turned to Seo-jun, who had been sitting quietly.
"What does our Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord think?"
"Where’s Jegal Tong?"
"That fellow? He wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise even if he were here. I already sent him away."
"Oh dear, I had something to ask him."
"So, where do you think would be the best place to strike first?"
If one were to summarize the scene in this meeting room full of four Transcendents, it could only be described as a "collective monologue."
Seo-jun, having thoroughly grasped the room's atmosphere, sank into his own thoughts.
'If it’s just left to these guys, things will definitely go wrong.'
It might seem like Jegal Tong had completely lost the battle of wits against Sama Hyeon, but in reality, the incident with Namgung Jin-cheon shouldn't be viewed so two-dimensionally.
Looking back, Sama Hyeon’s strategy took the basic form of "making a feint to the east while attacking the west."
He had caused widespread disturbances across the Righteous Faction’s territories to mask his true objective: Namgung Jin-cheon.
However, Sama Hyeon never intended to hide the fact that those disturbances were bait. He simply wanted to overwhelm Jegal Tong with a sheer flood of information.
Jegal Tong had easily seen through that much. The problem was figuring out what Sama Hyeon was truly aiming for...
And it was only natural that Jegal Tong had excluded Namgung Jin-cheon from that list of potential targets.
After all, he was the strongest man in the world.
Furthermore, the Central Plains lacked the modern conveniences of civilization, such as magical crystal balls. Since they were still relying on carrier pigeons, Jegal Tong’s reception of news was bound to be delayed, leaving him severely pressed for time.
In his haste, Jegal Tong must have made a judgment based on simple common sense.
'Targeting Namgung Jin-cheon? No one would do that unless they were a complete moron.'
Being the strongest in the world wasn't just an empty title; he was essentially the Righteous Faction’s ultimate weapon.
In a situation where they couldn't even track the movements of the Evil Sect’s Transcendents due to the Giryeon Sect Leader’s sorcery, Jegal Tong could never have imagined Sama Hyeon would commit such an act of absolute madness.
Hunting the undisputed strongest man in the world, someone who required neither supplies nor a warm-up to fight at peak condition?
It was far too reckless.
In the end, Sama Hyeon’s strategy was proven to be exactly that—a moronic move.
Though they managed to take down Namgung Jin-cheon, the Black Lotus Union lost four Transcendents in the process. In terms of sheer exchange ratio, it could actually be considered a victory for Jegal Tong.
Of course, no one else saw it that way, and it was true that Jegal Tong’s subsequent response had been lacking. But Seo-jun knew the tactician was still miles better than the four Transcendents currently gathered in this room.
I mean, just look at the faces in this room.
The Emperor? He was just a dopamine addict.
Peng Geuk-jin? This was Seo-jun's first time meeting him, but the man seemed more like a rabid beast than a human.
Hwangbo Ryung? He was... maybe the only normal one?
And then there was the great Lee Seo-jun himself.
'Derp?'
Assessment complete.
Amidst the noisy bickering of the other three Transcendents, Seo-jun let out a short laugh and spoke up.
"Hey, this is clearly going nowhere. Why don't we just call Jegal Tong back?"
* * *
'Why am I even here...?'
Jegal Tong tried to moisten his parched mouth with what little saliva he had left.
His eyes blankly scanned the meeting room. The lineup was so illustrious it made him want to bite his tongue and end it all.
The Emperor, the Hwangbo Clan Leader, the Hebei Peng Clan Leader, and even the Grand Master of the Namgung Clan.
And suddenly, the Chief Tactician of the Murim Alliance was squeezed in between them?
This was a bit much...
To be completely honest, a Chief Tactician didn't have the standing to be here. While being the Chief Tactician of the great Murim Alliance sounded impressive (and it was), such empty titles (they weren't) held absolutely no meaning in front of these people.
What could a mere mortal like the Chief Tactician possibly say to these superhumans who roamed the heavens?
'I think it would be best to do it this way.'
'Ah, that sounds like a hassle, so I don't want to.'
'Yes, sir! Then how about this...?'
'Do I really have to go that far? My joints have been aching lately.'
'My deepest apologies!'
'How about we hit this place? It looks fun.'
'But tactically speaking, that would be...'
'Do I look like I care about that?'
'I will devise a tactic to match your plan immediately!'
At this point, one could say his role as the "well-respected Chief Tactician" was a complete joke.
The title carried some weight up to the Super Peak Realm, but to those at the Transcendent Realm, the Chief Tactician of the Murim Alliance was no different from a stray dog on the street.
One wrong word here could lead to a true disaster.
Trying not to show how suffocated he felt, Jegal Tong carefully asked, "Um... may I ask what agenda you called me back for?"
The moment he spoke, the heavy gazes of the four Transcendents converged on him. Jegal Tong’s face turned pale. As he desperately struggled to maintain his composure, the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord Lee Seo-jun spoke.
"The four of us here."
"Yes."
"Are clearly hopeless."
"Pardon?"
"You see him? Ju Won-jang."
"Yes..."
"We were talking about the Transcendents gathering to strike the Black Lotus Union, but I figured if we planned it on our own, we’d definitely just cause a massive accident."
"I see..."
Jegal Tong cautiously gauged the atmosphere among the four Transcendents.
The Emperor was smiling as always, his true intentions completely unreadable, while the Hwangbo Clan Leader kept a wary eye on him.
The Hebei Peng Clan Leader was rapidly shaking his leg as if frustrated by the current situation; knowing his famously impatient personality, Jegal Tong’s heart hammered every time the man made even the slightest movement.
And above all... the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord Lee Seo-jun.
Jegal Tong couldn't even begin to guess his intentions.
As long as one was human, there was usually a certain logical framework to their thoughts, but the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord’s framework shifted far too abruptly. This was true based on the rumors he’d heard, and even more apparent based on what he was seeing in person.
Jegal Tong remembered the sight of the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord from before—a man radiating an aura so sharp that one couldn't even breathe properly in his presence.
Yet, there was no trace of that terrifying figure in the man sitting casually before him now.
Was it simply because he had moved past the death of the Namgung Clan Leader to some extent? Jegal Tong didn't think so.
'The ones to watch out for the most are the Peng Clan Leader and the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord.'
Keeping that fact firmly in mind, Jegal Tong cautiously voiced his opinion.
"I also agree that we must bring this war to an end. To do that, we first need to remove the pieces we can definitely capture..."
Jegal Tong pointed to the map spread wide across the table.
"In the current situation, we need to deal with the North Sea Ice Palace first. Although the Ice Palace Master is in a state of Qi Deviation and the palace is effectively closed, the time it takes to overcome Qi Deviation varies from person to person. If we are careless, the forces we send in might instead be—"
"Ah, wait."
It was the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord Lee Seo-jun. Jegal Tong immediately clamped his mouth shut and looked at him.
'Did I say something wrong...?'
Jegal Tong’s eyes trembled. Caught in a suffocating tension that gripped his heart, he waited for the Heavenly Lord to speak.
"The North Sea Ice Palace Master is a friend of mine, so let’s leave the Ice Palace alone, shall we?"
The words hit like a bolt from the blue.
"Huh...?"