Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Roots of the Bloodwood
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Cult Leader.
The leader of the Bloodwood Cult, who sought to overthrow the Central Plains and the Great Ming Empire, was surprisingly a woman of bewitching allure.
"Come in, Il-gan."
Welcoming Il-gan with a bewitching smile, the Cult Leader teased him playfully.
"You rarely ever come up to the surface, yet here you are seeking me out personally. What wind has blown you here?"
"I have urgent news to report."
"Hmm? Urgent news? Speak."
At the Cult Leader's words, Il-gan replied without hesitation.
"The Zhuge Clan's scheme has failed."
"...Tell me the details."
Her smile faded slightly at the unwelcome tidings.
Il-gan then recounted the circumstances he had heard from Yuk-gan.
He skipped all of Yuk-gan's excuses and gave a concise explanation of only the essential details, finally mentioning the sword that emitted light.
The Cult Leader furrowed her brow delicately upon hearing this.
"The sword's glow... Could it be Sword Aura Incarnate?"
"It's said to have shattered the Blood Formation in a single strike. As far as we know, the only thing capable of that level of power is Sword Aura Incarnate."
"...Unbelievable. Ever since the 'Eradication of the Old Murim,' even the concept became a mere legend in stories. And now, after hundreds of years, Sword Aura Incarnate suddenly appears?"
Shaking her head, the Cult Leader immediately probed for more details about the wielder of the sword aura.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"His name is Goon Ja-seong. His origins are unknown, but he's traveling with the daughter of the previous lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress."
The Cult Leader's eyes widened in surprise at Il-gan's words.
"The daughter of the previous Tyrant Heaven Fortress lord? She's still alive?"
"We only just pinpointed her location this time."
Yuk-gan, who had spent long years in the Zhuge Clan, already had eyes and ears scattered throughout the clan.
Thanks to that, Hwa-ryeon's identity had leaked and reached the Cult Leader's ears.
"Hmm..."
After hearing about Hwa-ryeon, the Cult Leader pondered for a moment before speaking.
"If it's the daughter of the Tyrant Heaven Fortress lord, we don't need to get involved ourselves."
"Yes, there's someone in this world who desires her death more than anyone."
The Cult Leader and Il-gan simultaneously thought of the same person.
A man burning with ambitions beyond his station.
The current lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress.
"I'll leak the woman's location to him through Il-ji."
"Do it. No matter how much of a Sword Aura Incarnate user he is, he's just one man. He can't help but kneel before a multitude of hands."
Having thus decided on their policy toward Goon Ja-seong and his group,
They felt wary of the sword aura that had appeared after transcending hundreds of years, but for now, that was all.
They believed this was more than enough to handle it.
Whether things would go as they thought remained to be seen, but for the moment, there was a more pressing issue.
"...So, have you found out? Who the culprit is that dared to burn a branch of the Divine Tree?"
Given the gravity of the matter, Il-gan responded in an unwavering voice even to the Cult Leader's lowered, icy tone.
"I'm sorry. I-gan went to Lake Pa-yang personally to investigate, but he's hitting a wall. He says there's an unnaturally complete lack of traces."
"Even with I-gan personally on the case?"
Surprise colored the Cult Leader's voice.
I-gan.
The second root of the Bloodwood Cult, he was a master tracker who hunted down the cult's traitors and sinners.
Yet even he had gone directly to the Lake Pa-yang outpost to examine the traces, only to come up empty-handed.
He would continue the investigation, but he judged there would be no yields.
'I-gan found not a single trace. That means someone deliberately erased every last one meticulously.'
Il-gan's failure had heightened Il-gan's vigilance several times over.
Someone was interfering with their grand undertaking.
And that foe was thorough enough to evade even I-gan's pursuit.
This wouldn't end here.
The other branches were likely targeted as well.
Feeling the conviction wedge firmly into his mind, Il-gan conveyed these thoughts, and the Cult Leader nodded.
"I see. That's a sound judgment. How are you responding?"
"I've assigned Yuk-gan, who withdrew from the Zhuge Clan, along with Chil-gan and Sa-gan to guard each branch."
"The enemy is the one who killed O-gan and Sam-gan. That won't be enough."
Tapping her fingers on the armrest as she sat in thought, the Cult Leader spoke again.
"I'll give you nine Wood Spirits."
"...! Wood Spirits, you say?"
Il-gan, uncharacteristically, widened his eyes in agitation.
Wood Spirits.
These were the cult's secret trump cards, secretly cultivated within. It was believed three of them could match a Ten Supremes in combat.
In other words, giving nine Wood Spirits meant deploying Ten Supremes-level forces additionally at each branch site where the Divine Tree's offshoots were planted.
Moreover, there were currently twenty Wood Spirits in total.
Nine was nearly half that force...
"Are you sure? Once a Wood Spirit is used..."
"They consumed vast resources to create, so it would be a lie to say it's not a waste. However, the Divine Tree's branches are indispensable to our grand undertaking. Don't mistake the priorities."
"...Understood."
Il-gan replied softly to her stern words.
The Cult Leader waved him off.
"Withdraw for now. Report immediately if anything else arises."
"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."
After Il-gan bowed politely and exited the room, an unidentified voice echoed in the Cult Leader's chamber, which had fallen into brief silence.
-Hmph, pathetic. How do they even handle their tasks...!
-To fail even at the simple mission of guarding a sapling and die—disgrace to the clan.
At the voices laced with anger, the Cult Leader straightened her posture.
Soon after, black smoke billowed thickly from the air, forming human shapes.
Two men thus appeared.
Upon seeing them, the Cult Leader rose from her chair and bowed gracefully.
"You've arrived, Left Protector, Right Protector."
It was truly a bizarre sight.
Protectors were those who guarded the leader of a sect, like the head of the faction.
Thus, strictly speaking, the two men who emerged from the smoke were her subordinates.
Yet the Cult Leader treated them with the deference due to superiors.
"Ah, cut it out. I'm not in the mood to receive your greetings."
"No need for excessive courtesy toward us. To the outside world, we're your underlings."
The man called Left Protector, Sam-geun, sat down carelessly without hiding his irritation, while Right Protector, I-geun, helped the Cult Leader straighten up as he spoke.
But even at I-geun's words, the Cult Leader gently shook her head.
"That won't do. The two Protectors are the true apostles sent by the great Divine Tree. How dare I, confined to the realm of mere humanity, treat such exalted beings cavalierly."
"Tch, creepy bitch."
Left Protector spat curses with a blatantly disgusted expression at her words, infused with the unique fanaticism of zealots.
Noticing this, Right Protector changed the subject while giving him a look.
"Difficult to track the culprit who killed O-gan?"
"I am truly ashamed. For an apostle to return to the Divine Tree's embrace in such a manner."
The Cult Leader bowed her head again, even using honorifics toward O-gan.
Right Protector consoled her.
"It's not your fault. I always thought his arrogance and carelessness would ruin things someday. The price was steeper than expected, that's all."
But rendering the consolation pointless, Left Protector bellowed at her from the side.
"Losing one sapling means our grand undertaking will take even longer!"
"Yes, so we will do our utmost to protect the remaining branches."
The Cult Leader nodded and replied to Left Protector's words.
Left Protector snorted derisively at her resolute answer and said no more.
"Good, that's how it should be. For the beautiful, crimson world."
Right Protector responded on his behalf.
And the Cult Leader lifted the corners of her mouth in a radiant smile.
A smile so bright and dazzling it was eerie.
"Yes. For the beautiful, crimson world of the great Divine Tree."
*
Two days had passed since Hyeok Ri-eum's wails echoed through the air that day.
The rebellion, prepared and executed in haste, had ended somewhat differently than we'd anticipated.
Originally, we'd planned to drag out the Zhuge Clan head on charges of embezzlement.
But he ended up as a cold corpse, and most of the elders in the council were dead too.
A few elders who fled into the forest and survived were barely hanging on, wheezing badly from the severe beatings they'd taken.
"Ah, those old geezers. They were tougher than they looked. Couldn't be helped when trying to subdue them properly, you know?"
A dry laugh escaped me involuntarily at Im Chun-il's innocent tone.
Couldn't be helped, my ass—he'd stomped them to a pulp with gusto.
Shaking my head, I turned to Zhuge Geun-yeong.
"So, Branch Head? Or should I say Clan Head now?"
"I'm not the Clan Head yet. I can only officially inherit the position after the clan conference approves it."
We were currently in the Clan Head's office.
Zhuge Geun-yeong sat in the head seat where the Zhuge Clan Head once presided, but he denied it—though his ascension to Clan Head was already half a foregone conclusion.
"Who's gonna object now? The clan's heavyweights all know the situation and have agreed to back you."
Right after the rebellion and cleanup, Zhuge Geun-yeong had gathered the clan's heavyweights and explained the truth of the revolt.
The more people who knew, the worse it was, but they at least needed to know?
At first, they naturally didn't believe Zhuge Geun-yeong easily.
But after showing them the cave where the Blood Explosion Technique practitioners were imprisoned, they had no choice but to accept our words.
Fortunately, true to their Zhuge name, the heavyweights quickly did the math and agreed to cover up the Blood Explosion Technique affair, announcing the Clan Head's death as due to illness.
By that point, the heavyweights were practically following Zhuge Geun-yeong already.