Chapter 277: Leader of the Black Lotus Union (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 277: Leader of the Black Lotus Union (2)
The alpha and omega of the strategy to lure out the Black Lotus Union’s Transcendent Realm masters was simple: copy their martial arts.
No matter how little the Evil Sect’s Transcendent masters cared for one another, they were still martial artists at their core. This was a spectacle they couldn't possibly ignore.
Normally, the fatal flaw in such a plan would be the fundamental impossibility of flawlessly copying an opponent's martial arts.
But since Seo-jun could actually do it? Well, problem solved!
That left the next problem: whose martial arts would he copy, and how?
Seo-jun offered a characteristically simple solution.
“Can’t we just raid the Great Black Mountain Sect and the Black Dragon Sect?”
The Heaven-Breaking Je Clan was excluded for now, as it was the original family of the Leader of the Black Lotus Union. The Sa-ma Clan was also off the table due to its proximity to the Union’s headquarters.
That left only those two sects.
“We raid them, stir up some trouble, and they’ll come crawling out on their own, won’t they?”
All paths lead to the same destination.
The meticulous strategy Jegal Tong had racked his brain to devise perfectly aligned with the one Seo-jun had just casually tossed out.
Ultimately, the consensus was to strike the Black Dragon Sect first. As the resident expert who had single-handedly destroyed the most factions among the Seven Evil Black Sects, the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord was naturally chosen to take the lead.
To be precise, Seo-jun would head out alone to draw the Union’s Transcendent masters out. Once he gave the signal, the Righteous Faction’s Transcendent masters, who would be masking their presence nearby, would spring an ambush.
“Isn’t that too dangerous?”
Hwangbo Ryung raised a sensible objection, but—
“It’s fine. I probably won’t die,” the man in question, Lee Seo-jun, replied nonchalantly.
“Haha! Right! As long as you don’t die, it’s fine!”
“Exactly.”
“The kid won’t die anyway.”
With Peng Geuk-jin, Ju Won-jang, and Pae Jin-gwang agreeing in rapid succession, the plan was finalized by majority rule.
“Sigh… I give up. Do whatever you want.”
Once again, Hwangbo Ryung’s worries only deepened.
* * *
“To think the Leader would actually give us an answer…”
Chief Military Counselor Sama Hyeon watched the frantic activity bustling within the Black Lotus Union.
The Union’s current situation was dire. Roughly half of the Seven Evil Black Sects had suffered irreparable damage, and their roster of Transcendent masters had dwindled significantly.
Fundamentally outnumbered by the Murim Alliance’s Transcendent masters, there seemed to be no clear path out of this crisis.
The main headquarters of the Black Lotus Union would remain secure as long as the Leader was present, but the surviving Seven Evil Black Sects stationed outside were the real problem.
He never thought the day would come when he’d have to worry about the survival of the Seven Evil Black Sects, yet here they were.
“Even so, I doubt the Righteous Faction’s Transcendent masters would invade in a large group,” a subordinate counselor advised.
Sama Hyeon shook his head. “Even if they don't, the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord is the problem.”
“Ah…”
“As long as we can’t match his lightness skills, we’re forced to just sit here and take a beating.”
Tap, tap. Sama Hyeon drummed his fingertips against the table.
The subordinate counselors watched him, their gazes far from kind. Sama Hyeon was the one who had lost four Transcendent masters due to a single strategic blunder.
It was hard to trust him to devise a strategy now. Frankly, they wondered how his head was still attached to his shoulders.
“If the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord seeks advice from Jegal Tong… no. Even if he doesn’t, there are only two options.”
Sama Hyeon didn't care about their piercing stares. At one point, a surging sense of helplessness had made him want to let go of everything, but he had since regained his resolve. He would simply forge ahead.
“Since the Leader has permitted the Union’s Transcendent masters to mobilize, we will station them at the Black Dragon Sect and the Great Black Mountain Sect.”
There were currently six Transcendent masters directly affiliated with the Black Lotus Union. Of those, four could be deployed immediately.
He would split them up and station them at the two sects. If the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord attacked alone, they would take his head in an instant.
One of the counselors raised a hand to speak. “What if the Righteous Faction’s Transcendent masters attack as a group?”
The possibility was slim, but it couldn't be ruled out entirely. From a position of numerical inferiority, defending against such a concentrated offensive would be incredibly difficult.
However—
“Even so, there’s a limit to how many they can send. They can’t just leave their own sects defenseless, can they? At most, they’ll dispatch six.”
Six Transcendent masters were undoubtedly a catastrophic force, but there was no other choice.
If he asked the leaders of the Great Black Mountain Sect or the Black Dragon Sect to abandon their foundations and cower inside the Black Lotus Union, would they even listen? He’d be lucky if they didn't crush his skull for spouting such nonsense.
If the enemy attacked in force, they would just have to create a variable—whether by picking them off one by one or through other means.
Sama Hyeon’s eyes darted busily across the map.
* * *
The Black Dragon Sect was a major power located in Heilongjiang Province, in the northeast of the Central Plains.
As their name suggested, they were the undisputed rulers of Heilongjiang. As a pillar of the Seven Evil Black Sects, they had reigned over countless martial artists for generations.
Though they primarily used swords, they were not bound to a single weapon, boasting versatile martial arts based on numerous weapon techniques.
The Black Dragon Sect’s unique deep blue internal energy—resembling murky river water—was the terror of many martial artists, while their consummate weapon skills were an object of distant longing.
So, when the martial artists and commoners of southern Heilongjiang looked up at the sky and saw a presence radiating like the sun, it wasn't strange for them to assume it was a warrior from the Black Dragon Sect.
[I ask you.]
A tiny fraction of those countless people—every martial artist who had reached the Peak Realm or higher—saw a faint shape materialize before their eyes.
A bluish sphere.
It flickered with a hazy form, burning like a ghostly flame.
[What reason is there for me to leave you alive?]
Those quick on the uptake immediately prostrated themselves. How many martial artists in the Central Plains were capable of such a feat? If this was the whim of an untouchable being, they had no choice but to play along.
However, not everyone was so perceptive.
The Peak Realm.
In a small-to-medium sect, a martial artist at this level could be the leader, and even in a major sect, Peak experts were treated as vital assets.
What then of a martial artist at the Super Peak Realm?
Possessed of sky-high pride and a burning competitive spirit, such martial artists puffed out their chests and shouted back.
“Who are you to question my sins?!”
Seo Pyeong, a Super Peak martial artist of the Black Dragon Sect, roared at the figure looking down on them from the sky.
He shouted at the strange man running wild in Heilongjiang. Standing by the window of a brothel, Seo Pyeong looked up, mocking the terrified courtesans kneeling behind him.
“I see you aren't even a member of the Black Dragon Sect! Do you think you can cause such a commotion in Heilongjiang and get away with it?”
Other martial artists joined in Seo Pyeong’s spirited shout.
“No matter how great a master you are, you won't survive committing such outrages in Heilongjiang!”
“Exactly! The Black Dragon Sect will strictly punish your transgressions!”
“Did you think you could achieve anything with such petty sorcery?!”
They had nothing to fear. There were five Peak masters here, and above all, there was the Super Peak master, Seo Pyeong.
When the blue sphere remained silent for a moment, they grew even more triumphant.
“You must have crawled out of some mountain after hiding away, but the warriors of the Black Dragon Sect aren't as easy as the mountain beasts you grew up with! If you know what's good for you, get lost!”
Just as someone shouted those words—
[I suppose this should be enough.]
Simultaneously with those cryptic words—
Thwack—!
The heads of the five Peak masters exploded.
“What…?”
Seo Pyeong’s eyes widened. He hadn't even sensed the attack. His intuition rang alarm bells loudly.
“Could it be…!”
There were countless martial arts, spells, and forbidden arts in the Murim. But what if the power this person was wielding wasn't some trick of the eye?
“The Transcendent Realm…!”
Those words became Seo Pyeong’s last.
Thwack—!
His head shattered into pieces, crimson fragments splattering in all directions.
“Eek…!”
The courtesans didn't even dare to lift their heads. They knew how powerful the martial artists here were. Yet those very men had died without even being able to resist, their heads bursting like melons.
The women’s bodies trembled violently. When fear exceeded a certain point, they couldn't even scream. Some were so terrified they didn't even realize they had wet themselves, warm urine soaking their limbs.
“P-Please…”
The room filled with the sounds of ragged breathing, stifled sobbing, and chattering teeth. Just as even those small noises began to fade—the courtesans fainting one by one—a single woman who had managed to keep her wits bravely lifted her head.
The sun that had been high in the sky had set, and even the twilight had receded, staining the horizon with the dusky colors of night. Clutching her pounding chest, the woman leaned out the window.
“Ah…”
People had fainted in the streets, lying next to corpses with exploded heads. There weren't many dead, but those gruesome traces stood out like crimson flowers blooming here and there along the thoroughfare.
“The Heavens are angry…”
The woman’s legs gave out, and she collapsed. She stared blankly at the night sky.
“The Heavens…”
* * *
‘Well, I’ve definitely drawn enough aggro.’
Seo-jun glided leisurely through the sky.
His vast domain etched everything within its range into his mind.
5,371,032 people, and 113 experts.
Of those, he had killed 101.
The criteria was simple. If they felt "off" at first glance, they were out.
It was a judgment that bordered on random tyranny, but the senses of the Transcendent Realm were beyond imagination. Seo-jun had killed every martial artist at the Peak Realm or higher whom he instinctively judged to be an "enemy."
‘Still, this is an improvement.’
Normally, he would have killed them all, but hadn't he spared twelve of the experts? He hadn't even touched anyone below the Peak Realm.
Since he had already achieved so much, he could afford this much leeway. After meeting Baek Seol-hyang, Seo-jun was quite satisfied with the new moral standards he had established through his conversations with other Transcendent masters.
“Now then, it’s about time… There we go.”
Just then, he sensed the presence of a Transcendent master.
First, he would copy the Black Dragon Sect Leader’s martial arts, and then the Great Black Mountain Sect’s…
“Huh?”
Seo-jun tilted his head.
He definitely felt the presence of Transcendent masters, but there were three of them.
Even if the Black Dragon Sect Leader and the Great Black Mountain Sect Leader came together, that would only be two. Then who was the third?
“Hmm…”
He didn't know the details, but he could tell the plan had gone awry.
‘But somehow… this looks doable.’