Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Crumbling Demonic Alliance
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The carriage set off once more.
Days like that repeated, and before they knew it, the carriage had left Henan and entered Anhui.
"You seem awfully interested in the man riding on top of the carriage."
Hearing Geum Yu-hwa's words, the Sword King flashed a faint smile. Seeing his smile, Geum Yu-hwa let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly. Staying cooped up silently all day in the cramped carriage was no small hardship.
"How could I not be interested? He's quite the unusual fellow."
Geum Yu-hwa gave him a puzzled look at the Sword King's words.
"Unusual?"
Now that she thought about it, he was unusual in some ways. But not to the point of drawing so much attention. And certainly not enough to catch the Sword King's eye.
"Indeed, very unusual. Exceptionally so."
As the Sword King nodded emphatically, Geum Yu-hwa's expression grew even more perplexed. To her, Dan Hyeong-u seemed perfectly ordinary aside from standing atop the carriage and not talking much.
His martial arts didn't seem particularly impressive, his looks nothing special. Nor did he hold any high status. The Henan Escort Bureau might have had its glory days, but now it was a fallen outfit. That was precisely why they'd been selected for this escort job.
"Standing atop a jostling carriage for an entire day requires exceptional lightness skill, and cleaving a Demonic Alliance elite in two in a single stroke demands a sword of extraordinary sharpness—yet I sense not even a trace of internal energy from him. How could that not be unusual? Exceptionally so."
Geum Yu-hwa's eyes widened in shock at the Sword King's explanation.
"He was the one who split a Demonic Alliance elite in two?"
Geum Yu-hwa had some training herself, basic self-defense arts. And her father, Geum Ja-hang, was a renowned master. Thanks to that, she had a fair eye and knowledge for martial prowess.
Which was why she knew better than most just how difficult it was to bisect a person like that. Especially a Demonic Alliance elite, not some bystander. It meant he was truly extraordinary.
But that assumed internal energy backing it up. Internal energy was the mystical force that made such feats possible. Yet Dan Hyeong-u had accomplished it without any internal energy. That implied a level of mastery beyond imagination.
"See what I mean now? Why I'd take an interest."
Geum Yu-hwa had no choice but to nod. Now even she was starting to feel a spark of curiosity about Dan Hyeong-u.
"But... he really has no internal energy?"
"Who do you think I am?"
She nodded again. This was the Sword King Yeom Cheol-gun. A man who could discern someone's internal energy in an instant.
"Even if his were deeper than mine, it wouldn't escape my eyes. I can see the very qi of heaven and earth scattered through nature itself. There's not a shred of gathered qi in his dantian. Meaning he's never cultivated internal energy."
Geum Yu-hwa nodded at his words. It was beyond her comprehension, but if the Sword King said it, she believed it.
"How could someone without internal energy..."
Truth be told, she still couldn't quite grasp it. How could a man with no internal energy stand atop a galloping carriage all day? How could he cleave a master in two?
"He must have undergone training beyond imagination. And that sword of his... it looks like quite the fine blade."
So it boiled down to a superior sword and grueling training. Yet Geum Yu-hwa still couldn't wrap her head around it. Rigorous training could make one strong, but there were limits. Humans all had their boundaries.
And training alone had its ceilings too. Internal energy was what shattered those limits, what made cultivation far more efficient.
'And he looks barely twenty. How much grueling training could he have possibly done?'
She couldn't voice her doubts aloud. It might come off as directly contradicting the Sword King. In the end, she stewed in silence, her curiosity only growing.
Anhui was home to the Namgung Family, one of the Five Great Families, fingers on the same hand as the top dogs. A storied house of the sword, their influence in Anhui rivaled that of gods.
The escort route did pass through Anhui Province, but they wouldn't linger long. Just a night or two in some village.
Still, they couldn't escape the Namgung Family's watchful eyes. Their spies and informants blanketed every corner of the province.
As Jong Chil entered Xiao County in Anhui, he glanced up at the sky to gauge the time. The sun had barely dipped from midday. If he pushed hard, they could reach the next village before nightfall, but the timing was tricky.
In the end, Jong Chil decided to stay in Xiao County for the night.
He pulled the carriage up to the largest inn in town and, as usual, rented out an entire rear courtyard. It cost a fortune given the inn's size, but he didn't bat an eye. Spending money so freely gave Jong Chil a thrill he'd never known before.
Arriving early left plenty of time before dinner.
He desperately wanted to hit a tavern for drinks, but he held back. Escorts on duty kept themselves on a tight leash. The porters did too, though not as strictly.
Jong Chil still carried the looser mindset of his porter days, making restraint tough. At least splashing cash on a whole courtyard offered some consolation.
Shaking off idle thoughts, he grabbed his sword and stood. He began practicing his swordsmanship in the spacious courtyard behind the inn.
Soon, the sharp whistles of slicing air filled the space.
Dan Hyeong-u watched Jong Chil's practice in silence. Then he shook his head.
"How long are you going to keep swinging like that?"
Jong Chil flinched and halted at Dan Hyeong-u's words. He looked at him with uneasy eyes. Now that he thought about it, he'd been awfully rude to Dan Hyeong-u.
Thanks to the Sword King's teachings, he'd had to discard most of what Dan Hyeong-u had painstakingly taught him.
"Wh-why? You don't like this form?"
Dan Hyeong-u shook his head as Jong Chil stammered.
"It's not about that. Why are you swinging the sword like that?"
"W-well, because the Sword King..."
Jong Chil trailed off, unable to continue. How could he say the Sword King's forms were superior? Especially to Dan Hyeong-u's face.
Dan Hyeong-u merely nodded impassively. He wasn't dim-witted—quite the opposite. He'd simply lacked experience until recently. He knew exactly what Jong Chil meant.
"You should do what you want."
Jong Chil's face lit up as Dan Hyeong-u nodded and spoke. He bowed repeatedly toward him.
"Th-thank you. Thank you."
Dan Hyeong-u gazed indifferently at him for a moment before walking off to the side.
Jong Chil resumed his practice soon after, and Dan Hyeong-u watched intently. He stayed until the end, knowing his presence was what kept Jong Chil making any progress.
Gal Cheon-ak was on the verge of madness. How much manpower had he thrown at this, only to fail?
"Urgh. What the hell? Is there a Top Ten Expert mixed in or something? Even if there was, that bastard Chae Ho-ryeong shouldn't have gone down so easily..."
Gal Cheon-ak sprang from his chair in irritation and slammed the table.
Bang!
The table shattered, debris flying everywhere. He couldn't contain his surging rage.
"Fine. Let's see who comes out on top."
Gal Cheon-ak hardened his resolve.
"I'll mobilize every force at my disposal and capture that wench, no matter what. And slaughter everyone with her. Gnash."
He ground his teeth to the breaking point, then penned a letter. Another missive to pull in the Greenwoods Bandits. Failure here meant neither the Demonic Alliance nor the bandits could show their faces again.
Until now, he'd underestimated them. But the real fight started now.
A carrier pigeon with the letter tied to its leg took to the skies.
While the Demonic Alliance and Greenwoods Bandits scrambled in urgency, far away in Sichuan, some among a certain group were also moving hastily.
The Tang Family head and elders.
"The Hua Family Manor reduced to ashes and gone... what in the world happened?"
A murmur turned to a sigh. The effort the Tang Family had poured into the Hua Family Manor was immense. It had allowed them to revive the Thunderclap Bombs for the world, with a stockpile now proudly housed in the Tang Family vaults.
But that was it. The Hua Family Manor, holders of the Thunderclap Bomb crafting secrets, had collapsed. No—been utterly massacred. Every building burned to the ground, no survivors.
The Tang Family had a decent stash of Thunderclap Bombs, but compared to the time and gold invested, it was laughably insufficient.
Family Head Tang Cheon-sang pondered gravely before speaking heavily.
"With things as they are, we should abandon any lingering attachment to the Hua Family Manor. It's a shame to lose that investment, but it's unavoidable. Still, thanks to them, we've mastered various explosives and adapted them into hidden weapons. We must be content with that."
The elders groaned in response.
"Urgh."
"Still, what a waste..."
Tang Cheon-sang scanned the elders before speaking.
"No helping it. More importantly, we should focus on the new branch we're establishing in Hechang."
The elders nodded. Better to forget bad news quickly. Of course, Tang Cheon-sang wouldn't let it go. He'd track down whoever toppled the Hua Family Manor and collect payment in full later.
"It looks like the setup's mostly in place. With Uncle there anyway, we just need to select some lads and send them over."
The elders hesitated briefly before piping up one by one.
"Ahem, about that... our Ming-gon is dead set on going."
No reason to object to an elder's recommendation. Tang Ming-gon was talented, having recently excelled at escorting Thunderclap Bombs to the Tang Family.
"Ahem, since it came up..."
The elders each recommended their own, all volunteers—mostly veterans of the prior Thunderclap Bomb escort.
At this point, Tang Cheon-sang caught on.
"Something going on, I take it."
One elder cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. Well, it seems one of our boys has taken a shine to a girl over there."
Tang Cheon-sang nodded in understanding. He'd been briefed on Umun Hye, who had come to Sichuan with them and was now in Hechang. Daughter of the Umun Family, no less.
"Ah, so that's it."
He nodded readily.
"Send them all."
The elders' faces brightened. They'd worried about too much competition sidelining their picks. Failing to make it happen would shame them.
For Tang Cheon-sang, it was a win-win. A Tang Family member tying knots with the Umun Family could only benefit them.
The Umuns were among the richest in the martial world, after all.
"It's settled, then. Hurry and dispatch them to Hechang. I'll handle the Hua Family Manor matter myself."
The elders nodded. No objections. Yet a vague unease crept into their hearts—a premonition that the martial world's peace would soon shatter.
The Namgung Family might dominate Anhui, but that didn't mean they were the only sect or family around. And the others weren't pushovers either.
Anhui boasted several sects and families with notable reputations and influence.
In Xiao County, where Dan Hyeong-u's group was staying, two formidable sects punched above the village's weight.
The Profound Heaven Sect and the Hundred Swords Society.
The two shared much in common. Both excelled in swordsmanship, well-known in Anhui. Both had risen dramatically over the past decade from third-rate nobodies. Both had lost their leader's son back then.
So many similarities, yet bad blood between them. Inevitably, sharing a village bred friction and rivalry as they grew.
Now, those two foes faced crisis side by side.
"Hasn't the Hyun family arrived yet? What's taking that bastard so long?!"
The bellow shook the tavern. It came from Hundred Swords Society Leader Jeon Cheol-ryang. He was waiting for Profound Heaven Sect Leader Hyun Je-yeong.