Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Subduing Demons Hall
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Returning to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall, Triple Excellence Lee Gwang took one look at the Zhongnan Sect's plaque and said bluntly,
"Put that in the Crouching Dragon Hall. I'll take care of it."
Take care of it how? Whether it was Lee Gwang or Jin So-cheong, their way of thinking was beyond me.
As I grumbled inwardly, Triple Excellence Lee Gwang set a bottle of liquor on the table.
"Let's have a drink. I want to hear how it went."
"Yes."
Jin So-cheong and I sat at the table with the liquor and recounted what had happened. Senior Brother Jin So-cheong did most of the talking, with me chiming in occasionally to fill in the details. Once the explanation wrapped up, Triple Excellence Lee Gwang nodded in satisfaction.
"As expected of my disciples."
"Thank you."
"Good. Let's raise a glass. The liquor should taste especially fine tonight."
The drinking session continued until around the hour of the Dog, then broke up. Senior Brother Jin So-cheong had to resume his duties as Chief Instructor at dawn the next day, so he left right away. As I busily cleared the table of empty dishes, Lee Gwang said to me,
"You've got something you want to ask, don't you?"
He had drunk plenty, yet showed no signs of intoxication—just the pleasant buzz of it. A master of his caliber could down a whole jar without getting drunk. Knowing this, I cautiously broached the subject.
"When we visited the Zhongnan Sect, they referred to you not as Triple Excellence, but as Azure Dragon. When I asked Sect Leader Yeon Jeong-hong about it, he said you'd have to explain it yourself."
"Why didn't you ask during the drinking session earlier?"
"It was a joyous occasion celebrating our success. This is just a quiet moment in between..."
"No harm in asking?"
"......"
Lee Gwang chuckled softly.
"You're a fascinating kid. Inner strength that's terrifying for your age, talent that doesn't suit it at all, and worldly savvy like you've been rolling around among people for decades... I thought I was a good judge of character, but I can't read you."
"If I've been rude, I'll withdraw."
"No. As Yeon Jeong-hong said, I suppose I should tell you why I'm called Azure Dragon. Sit there."
"Yes."
I sat across from him at the now-empty table, facing him directly. He gulped down a bowl of cold water and spoke.
"Do you know that I wasn't active in the martial world from a young age? That I was the Chief Instructor and martial officer of the Imperial Guard Army?"
"Yes. You told me that when I first joined the hall."
"Now I suppose I should tell you why I left the imperial court and entered the martial world."
I felt a surge of anticipation inwardly.
*Finally, I'm going to hear it.*
The Chief Instructor of the Imperial Guard Army meant the one who taught martial arts to the hundred thousand soldiers, officers, and generals stationed in the imperial capital, Luoyang. Often, they also served as the emperor's personal martial tutor. It was the highest position, carrying honor beyond even the Embroidered Uniform Guard—a mark of recognition as the pinnacle of martial prowess! To abandon that for running a martial hall in a backwater like Guanzhong was hard to fathom.
In my previous lives up to now, Lee Gwang had never spoken much about it. Whenever I'd pried, he'd openly scowled and called me insolent. The 'me' from past lives hadn't been close enough to hear his history.
Lee Gwang said,
"What do you think protects the imperial palace?"
"The Imperial Guard Army, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot—those three, right?"
"Correct. Though the Imperial Guard Army is a standing force, it's effectively under the direct command of the Grand General, so the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot are the true palace guards."
Lee Gwang paused there and sighed.
"But in truth, ever since their founding, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot had engaged in fierce rivalry. Both were the emperor's hunting dogs, created out of distrust for the court ministers to protect his power—it was inevitable. As a result, they grew corrupt, flaunting authority without the skill to properly guard against threats like the White Lotus Cult. Nepotistic nobles bribed their way in for their sons.
The previous emperor, concerned by this, sought to remake them into true elite forces. He selected the finest experts, regardless of affiliation, based on skill and loyalty.
The one who stepped forward was the four greatest masters in the palace at the time. They were called the Four Divine Guardians."
"......!!"
I stared at Lee Gwang in disbelief, and he nodded.
"I served as one of them—the Azure Dragon."
It was astonishing.
If what he said was true, then the man before me, Azure Dragon Martial Hall Master Lee Gwang, had once been a colossal figure. As one of the palace's top four experts and a Divine Guardian, he must have already been a transcendent master back then. And to be entrusted by the emperor with reorganizing the palace's martial organizations meant he had enjoyed the emperor's utmost trust and stood at the heart of power!
I swallowed hard, and Lee Gwang gave a wry smile.
"At that time, I realized there were barely ten usable masters in the entire palace. To conscript stronger ones, I decided to pressure the martial world."
"Pressure the martial world?"
"The Nine Great Sects and others were skeptical about sending their experts to the imperial Embroidered Uniform Guard, unlike today. Even the Twin Gate Houses in Luoyang only started supplying talent relatively recently."
"Why? Nowadays, martial artists are desperate to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard..."
"Because the palace was rife with bloody power struggles back then. It was commonplace for recruits to have their limbs torn off within a day, or for sects to be obliterated in purges on fabricated treason charges without warning. Who would send their prized disciples into that?"
"......"
I wasn't sure exactly when this 'past' Lee Gwang described had occurred. Clearly before my birth, decades ago. It was so different from the current martial world and palace atmosphere that I could only listen in silence.
Gazing at the moon in the sky, he said,
"But I had to do it. I visited each sect leader, persuading them that they'd be safe under my protection. They wouldn't listen. So I resorted to my final measure."
"Your final measure..."
"I roamed Shaanxi's martial world and beyond, smashing through sects. Using sparring as an excuse, I shattered three or four plaques a day. I defeated quite a few masters—killed a lot too, which I still regret a bit."
"......"
"I thought that pressure would force the martial world to yield peak experts to the court."
So *that* was the intent?
The Azure Dragon, one of the palace's four great experts and a Divine Guardian, had rampaged through Shaanxi's martial scene under the pretext of imperial orders for spars—a mad venture that had actually happened in the past. The Zhongnan Sect of the Nine Great Sects had likely been among them. Swallowing hard, I asked,
"Did you challenge the Eight Demonic Sects or Nine Great Sects too?"
"It wasn't a challenge—it was a spar."
"Right, a spar."
"I sparred with Zhongnan, Huashan, and threw in Wudang for good measure. From the Eight Demonic Sects, Black Night Sect, Asura Sect, and Heaven-Earth Sect."
"And the results?"
"No defeats."
The answer was curt. But I grasped the implication and shivered.
Lee Gwang, the Azure Dragon, had flaunted the Four Divine Guardians' power excessively in the martial world! Undefeated against the pinnacle masters of righteous and demonic factions alike! I understood the 'fear' Senior Brother Jin So-cheong had mentioned. Back then, the name Azure Dragon must have been synonymous with the grim reaper of blood and death from the palace.
In disbelief, I asked,
"You made that many enemies, yet you opened a martial hall..."
"I crushed anyone worth a grudge thoroughly. I left just enough room for compromise, so no one left had reason to come at me. I handled that side completely before descending to the martial world."
He truly was a terrifying man. For him to say he'd handled it thoroughly meant he'd ground his foes into nightmares they'd dread even in dreams. Lee Gwang was someone you never wanted to make an enemy of, even in death.
"......"
"But even after pressuring the martial world like that, they shut their doors tighter. Using 'closed sect' as an excuse, they refused to face me. When conscripting the targeted experts hit a wall, I grew furious and frustrated."
Lee Gwang sipped his tea and smiled bitterly.
"...Then, absurdly, it resolved itself. The palace intrigues ended, and everything fell into place. The sects resumed sending experts, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot returned to normal. I was dismissed from the Divine Guardians for 'insufficient ability.'"
"Dismissed... That wasn't your fault, Master."
"I thought so at first. Coming to the martial world, all sorts of thoughts plagued me. After a lifetime of loyalty to the throne, to be cast out like that... rage boiled up."
A serene expression settled on Lee Gwang's face.
"But that wasn't it. I was wrong."
"Pardon?"
"My job wasn't picking fights with unrelated martial artists and smashing experts. It was ending the palace intrigues swiftly to secure the realm's peace. If I'd done that, no innocents would have died, no needless grudges formed.
I followed orders blindly without thinking for myself, believing it the virtue of a martial officer, enshrining it. That's why I failed—because I didn't think for myself."
"......"
Lee Gwang fixed me with a stern gaze.
"Remember this well. No matter how great your power, you must think with your own head and walk the path you choose with your own will. Otherwise, power is worthless."
*Think for yourself!*
That was the greatest lesson the current Triple Excellence Lee Gwang could give me. Having endured multiple reincarnations, I felt it to my bones. How many times had I died acting impulsively, swept along by circumstances without thinking?
*Life's experiences and wisdom are essential.*
Noticing my enlightened expression, Triple Excellence Lee Gwang looked intrigued.
"You're truly unique. I've told this story to So-cheong several times, but he just took it as future guidance. Yet you empathize deeply, as if you've lived something similar."
"......"
"The liquor loosened my tongue. I'll take a few more questions, then that's it."
Embarrassment flickered on Lee Gwang's face. Even this coldly rational man didn't relish baring his past. I thought deeply, then posed a crucial question.
"Do you know the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Is he also one of the palace Divine Guardians?"
"Of course. He's the White Tiger of the Divine Guardians—and my closest friend."
I groaned inwardly.
*No wonder he was brutally strong.*
If the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Commander was the White Tiger, a straight fight was impossible for me now. As Lee Gwang's friend and one of the four great experts, he stood at the martial world's apex.
"Who are the other two?"
"One is Black Tortoise, Eastern Depot Commander Phantom Night. The other is Vermilion Bird."
"Three of you, including Master, led the palace's martial organizations—does the Vermilion Bird hold no special position?"
"The Vermilion Bird is unique. The true Guardian of the Emperor, he's rarely shown himself even to fellow Guardians. I know him as one who operates in the deepest shadows."
"I see."
As Lee Gwang answered freely, he chided me.
"What's the point of being curious about the Divine Guardians? At your level, none could stand against them."
Even so, the information was a huge haul. I ignored the rebuke, committing it all to memory. Then I said,
"...One last question for you, Master."
"Go ahead."
"If the Embroidered Uniform Guard abandons humanity and commits evil acts, would you stop them?"
"Hmm."
Lee Gwang pondered seriously. He'd likely considered such a scenario himself. Unlike his usual self, he furrowed his brow deeply before finally speaking.
"If it's for His Majesty's sake, I could not."
"You're serious?"
Lee Gwang nodded.
"I've seen and heard much of their inhuman acts, even participated—torture included. But I believed it all served utmost loyalty and sincerity to His Majesty. For a martial officer, sacrificing personal justice for the lord, extinguishing self for public duty—that's the way. So I can understand them."
"That's..."
I gritted my teeth, wanting to retort.
*The Embroidered Uniform Guard isn't the one in your memories anymore! They're driving thousands, tens of thousands mad for human sacrifices!*
But I held back.
I restrained myself because Mangnyang's words came to mind. Telling Lee Gwang the truth now might let me prove the calamity over time and win him as an ally.
But even with him, there's no guarantee of defeating the Embroidered Uniform Guard. From his words, he might ignore or avert his eyes from the truth. Lacking power, I'd end up in the same bind as when I beheaded Mangnyang.
No more relying on others' strength. I joined the Azure Dragon Martial Hall this life to build my own. For that, I'd charge ahead relentlessly, eyes forward.
As I bowed my head, Lee Gwang's voice reached me.
"That's enough for tonight's drinking. From tomorrow, I'll teach you Heaven-Earth Slaughter in earnest. Stay sharp."
Lee Gwang's presence slowly faded into the distance.
Alone at the empty table, I gazed at the moon outside the window. It was full.
"I will."
I reaffirmed my resolve.
The only one I can trust is myself.