Chapter 79
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Martial Alliance Invitation
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The next day.
While Seol Hwa-un and his group were having a slightly late breakfast at the Noble Guest Pavilion restaurant, a warrior from the Martial Alliance arrived.
He waited outside until they finished eating. Then, as Eom Mu-hwi emerged after the meal, he politely delivered the message.
Seol Hwa-un, who had been sipping tea after breakfast, asked Eom Mu-hwi as he entered.
“What is it?”
“Yes, a martial master from the Martial Alliance wishes to urgently meet the Young Palace Lord.”
“Hmm.”
The North Wind Brigade Leader spoke up.
“It’s about time they revealed their intentions.”
“What kind of proposal do you think they’ll make?”
At Seol Hwa-un’s question, the North Wind Brigade Leader pondered for a moment before continuing.
“They’ll basically want to establish good relations with our palace. They might even make an unexpected offer.”
“I think the same.”
“What do you plan to do, Young Palace Lord?”
“I won’t quibble over details. I’ll steer it in a direction that benefits our palace as much as possible. However.”
“……?”
“We must also safeguard our palace’s pride alongside any gains.”
The North Wind Brigade Leader smiled in satisfaction.
“I don’t need to offer any advice then. That should be more than enough.”
“We shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer.”
Seol Hwa-un rose from his seat and said to Eom Mu-hwi and Dong Ho-won.
“I’ll be back, so practice the Spear Union Formation. I’ll test it when I return.”
The Spear Union Formation was a combined formation performed by Eom Mu-hwi and Dong Ho-won. It had naturally developed over quite some time of sparring with Seol Hwa-un.
Recently, it had achieved some progress, leading them to name it and refine it into a systematic formation. It was now just one step away from completion.
Once perfected, it would greatly enhance the North Sea Ice Palace’s overall strength.
“Yes, Young Palace Lord.”
Leaving their response behind, Seol Hwa-un stepped out of the Noble Guest Pavilion. The warrior who had arrived earlier was still waiting for him.
“……!”
Spotting Seol Hwa-un, he immediately cupped his fists and said.
“I’ll guide you, Young Palace Lord.”
“Please do.”
The warrior walked ahead at a neither fast nor slow pace. From behind, his steps were steady, and his posture remarkably stable.
‘He looks to be in his early thirties... Impressive. High level.’
In fact, he wasn’t significantly inferior even compared to the North Wind Brigade members.
Curiosity piqued, Seol Hwa-un asked.
“May I know your name?”
“Ah, yes. Jeong Ji-hwang.”
“May I ask your affiliation?”
“I belong to the Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard.”
“The Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard. Are you perhaps the squad leader?”
Jeong Ji-hwang flinched slightly and shook his head.
“How could I... No. I’m a member of the Twelfth Squad.”
“A squad member, huh. The Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard seems higher caliber than I thought.”
Though the name Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard sounded grandiose, they were essentially no different from regular guard warriors.
In truth, the actual protection of the Alliance Lord was handled separately, and the Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard typically managed security, maintenance, and ceremonial duties for the hall.
As such, they were generally considered lower in skill than the Martial Alliance’s regular warriors.
Yet Jeong Ji-hwang far surpassed the levels of the Martial Alliance warriors Seol Hwa-un had seen so far, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think that way.
Jeong Ji-hwang looked somewhat embarrassed.
“Not particularly...”
‘Could it be?’
Seol Hwa-un’s gaze deepened.
“If it’s not rude, may I ask your sect?”
“Yes, it’s the Cloud Rock Sect in Hebei Province.”
The Cloud Rock Sect, affiliated with the orthodox faction, was small but possessed solid strength.
“......I see.”
Unfortunately, it matched his expectations.
‘No, I can’t be certain yet.’
With that thought, Seol Hwa-un asked no further questions. In that awkward silence, they arrived at the Alliance Lord’s Hall.
Seol Hwa-un’s eyes lit up with interest.
‘I doubted it when he mentioned the Alliance Lord’s Hall Guard... but they’re really waiting inside the Alliance Lord’s Hall?’
Jeong Ji-hwang said.
“My guidance ends here. Follow the long corridor straight ahead, and you’ll reach the grand hall.”
Seol Hwa-un nodded.
“Understood.”
He looked up at the Alliance Lord’s Hall.
‘Unnecessarily large.’
This was the place that had changed the most since two hundred years ago.
It had been expanded to at least five times its size from when the Heavenly Collapse Fist Emperor was Alliance Lord.
‘It doesn’t sit well with me.’
To be more precise, the Heavenly Collapse Fist Emperor had built it too modestly. He had only wanted a minimal office and one room.
In contrast, the current Alliance Lord’s Hall included a grand meeting chamber, private dining areas, and more.
As Seol Hwa-un approached, the gate guards opened the doors. It seemed they had been informed in advance.
“......”
Passing by the warriors, he unconsciously frowned. His suspicions had been confirmed.
‘Hmm.’
Pushing aside his uneasy feeling, Seol Hwa-un followed the corridor to the grand hall.
A middle-aged man with a scholarly air was waiting there.
“......”
With clear eyes, he had been staring intently at Seol Hwa-un from the moment he appeared.
“Welcome.”
As Seol Hwa-un drew near, the man bowed politely and opened the doors to the grand hall.
Creak.
“Please enter.”
As he stepped inside, Seol Hwa-un turned to the middle-aged man and asked.
“......Who might you be?”
“Ah, I am Sima Shin-young, a strategist from the Military Affairs Department.”
Sima Shin-young was the cousin of Sima Won, the Minister of Rites.
‘A man from the Sima family.’
It was well-known that the Sima family had filled the void left by the Jegal family in the Martial Alliance.
“I see. Pleased to meet you.”
Seol Hwa-un’s eyes flashed as he turned away.
‘Too strong to be just a strategist.’
In fact, Sima Shin-young was stronger than any warrior Seol Hwa-un had seen in the Martial Alliance so far.
‘A hidden blade of the Sima family? Or...’
The grand hall was vast. It could easily accommodate a meeting of forty or fifty people.
Yet, only two people were inside.
“......”
The moment Seol Hwa-un entered, he felt the air grow heavy.
With each step, the pressure directed at him intensified. An immense force bore down on him.
‘Childish.’
Seol Hwa-un immediately circulated his Ice White Divine Art without yielding. As if waiting, the pressure strengthened further.
Crack!
Crack!
The pressure was so intense that footprints were etched into the floor with each step he took.
“......”
Yet Seol Hwa-un didn’t falter. He continued forward at a steady pace.
Dissatisfied with this, the pressure vanished, replaced by a fierce aura surging toward him.
It was an extremely sharp formless sword qi.
“......!”
Seol Hwa-un’s eyes widened slightly.
‘Impressive. This level...’
The aura was in no way inferior to the Sword Demon’s. Perhaps even surpassing it.
‘If I hadn’t neutralized it, the Sword Demon might have clashed with this man had he come here.’
Seol Hwa-un stared straight at the presumed source of the formless sword qi.
“......”
It was Myeong Hyeon-ja, the peerless swordsman of whom the Wudang Sect boasted.
Ranked among the Ten Great Swordsmen of the orthodox faction, considering his age, calling him the future greatest swordsman under heaven wouldn’t be far off.
But even Myeong Hyeon-ja’s formless sword qi couldn’t stop Seol Hwa-un.
‘Formless sword qi is actually more convenient.’
Quietly infusing inner energy into his Ice Heaven Silent Scale Armor, a thin membrane of qi formed, blocking the aura.
Unaware of this, Myeong Hyeon-ja’s gaze shifted.
‘He’s naturally blocking my formless sword qi? They call him the North Heaven Dragon, but the rumors fall short.’
As Seol Hwa-un approached within a zhang, the formless sword qi vanished as if by magic.
Myeong Hyeon-ja smiled and cupped his fists.
“My apologies, Young Palace Lord. With all the rumors of your greatness lately, I took the liberty of testing you briefly.”
“Nothing impressive. It’s fine.”
At Seol Hwa-un’s nonchalant reply, Myeong Hyeon-ja’s eyebrow twitched. But as if nothing had happened, he calmly said.
“Good.”
Sima Won, standing beside him, also greeted.
“Good to see you again, Young Palace Lord.”
“Thanks to you, I rested well.”
“Hahaha, glad to hear it. Please, have a seat for now.”
Myeong Hyeon-ja naturally took the head seat at the long table, with Seol Hwa-un on the left and Sima Won on the right, facing each other.
‘The Sword Saint sits so naturally at the Alliance Lord’s seat?’
This was the grand hall of the Alliance Lord’s Hall. Naturally, the head seat was for the Alliance Lord. Yet Myeong Hyeon-ja sat there without a care.
As if reading Seol Hwa-un’s thoughts, Sima Won spoke up.
“With the Alliance Lord absent, the Sword Saint acts as his proxy. You can consider him in charge of most major and minor affairs.”
“I see.”
Though he said that, Seol Hwa-un didn’t accept it. Even without the Alliance Lord, protocol dictated leaving his seat empty.
‘Not like a Wudang Taoist, with such strong ambitions for power.’
He could see why the Martial Alliance was fracturing.
Seol Hwa-un cut straight to the point.
“What is the purpose of summoning me?”
Though addressed to Myeong Hyeon-ja, Sima Won answered.
“Impatient temperament. Well, no need to drag it out, so I’ll get to it.”
Sima Won smiled subtly.
“Our alliance formally invites the North Sea Ice Palace to join the Martial Alliance.”
“......!”
Seol Hwa-un was slightly surprised.
He had expected some overture for relations, but not an invitation to actually join the Martial Alliance.
Even the Orthodox Heaven Alliance hadn’t dreamed of such a thing.
“Unexpected.”
“Is it?”
“You know our palace is an Outer Realm force.”
“Of course. But let’s be frank. It seems the North Sea Ice Palace plans to advance into the Central Plains soon, doesn’t it?”
From Sima Won’s perspective, it wasn’t a difficult prediction. Seol Hwa-un’s exploits in the Central Plains alone made other motives hard to believe.
Seol Hwa-un didn’t deny it.
“I can’t guarantee the future, but it’s not impossible. Even so, won’t there be significant backlash within your alliance?”
A Outer Realm force like the North Sea Ice Palace joining the Martial Alliance would be beyond unexpected—revolutionary.
Setting aside other issues, opposition within the Martial Alliance was a given.
Then, the hitherto silent Myeong Hyeon-ja spoke.
“That’s for our alliance to bear. If we can embrace the North Sea Ice Palace, it’s a trifle.”
Sima Won continued.
“We’re not rushing. We need to gauge the Palace Lord’s opinion, and formal entry will come after your palace advances into the Central Plains.”
“If you meet just one condition, I’ll take responsibility for bringing our palace into the Martial Alliance.”
Sima Won’s eyes gleamed at Seol Hwa-un’s firm, unwavering declaration.
“What is it?”
Seol Hwa-un’s gaze burned intensely.
“Treat our palace as equal to the Nine Great Sects within the Martial Alliance. In status, authority, and number of key positions.”
“......!”