Chapter 522
The Peak Realm Unit is an Information Warfare Unit.
The most critical tasks of an Information Warfare Unit are intelligence acquisition and the disruption of hostile forces.
Moreover, agitation and disruption are the most arduous and challenging missions for intelligence operatives.
However, under Bu Eun-seol's guidance and training,
the Peak Realm Members had deeply mastered not only exceptional martial arts but also concealment and infiltration techniques like the Art of Rooster Calls and Dog Thieves.
—Begin!
Had it been any other intelligence operatives, they might have struggled to know where to even start.
But as if it were nothing, they scattered and immediately began agitating and manipulating the commoners throughout Danyong County.
In the minds of the unit members,
Bu Eun-seol's concise instructions for mission success played on an endless loop.
—The Heavenly Human Cult manipulated the commoners by exploiting their emotions of rage and hatred.
Now, you must turn those very tactics back against them.
The lives of commoners are always exhausting and weary.
Because of this, they constantly need an outlet for their anger.
The masses are always drawn to provocative material.
And the more clearly defined and massive the target, the more effective it becomes.
The Heavenly Human Cult had taken advantage of this, branding the martial artists of the Martial Alliance as a wicked faction that would destroy their homes.
Especially since commoners already harbored some resentment toward martial artists—who would scorch entire regions whenever battles broke out.
With the right circumstances and groundwork laid, they had acted willingly.
—But the agitation method employed by the Heavenly Human Cult has a critical weakness.
Bu Eun-seol explained to the unit members:
—Spread the rumor that the Heavenly Human Cult had planned from the start to sacrifice Danyong County as a scapegoat to block the Martial Alliance's forces.
Then, he added one more instruction:
—And when spreading the rumor, never do it for free. Instead, make them feel just pleased enough—without realizing they've been influenced.
Persuading commoners isn't something achieved overnight.
But with financial leverage, you can quickly win their favor and accelerate the spread of rumors.
However, you must not spend extravagantly.
If they feel bought or manipulated, they'll become reluctant to spread the rumors themselves.
—Most of those blocking the path were commoners, with only a handful being actual members of the Heavenly Human Cult. From now on, we simply return the scheme they deployed back at them.
Bu Eun-seol imparted his stratagem to the unit members.
Creating Something from Nothing.
It meant weaving truth and lies together to manufacture a new reality—a strategy of blending deception with fact.
The highest form of strategy, as described in all military texts, is to discern the enemy's core tactics and then skillfully invert them for your own use.
Bu Eun-seol had begun doing exactly that—turning the Heavenly Human Cult's own methods against them.
—Goddamn sons of bitches!
The Peak Realm Unit infiltrated every corner of the villages, launching their campaign of agitation and fabrication.
Armed with ample funds, the operatives gathered people and stoked their fury by mixing truth with lies.
And the arrow of that rage was now aimed squarely at the Heavenly Human Cult.
In a short time, public opinion in the villages had completely reversed.
Of course, the members of the Heavenly Human Cult were no fools.
They had informants stationed throughout the villages, observing the commoners' sentiments.
When the Peak Realm operatives began manipulating public opinion, they immediately tried to report it to their superiors.
But that was their fatal mistake.
Bu Eun-seol had already mobilized the Death Soul Squad to seize control of the entire intelligence network along the Yellow River.
The moment the cult's spies moved, they were swiftly identified and publicly humiliated—igniting another wave of rage and condemnation from the villagers.
—I heard they were impersonating villagers!
—Turns out they were actually cultists!
The hidden cultists were driven to madness.
Even the villagers hadn't been able to distinguish them while they were blending in—so how could these outsiders pinpoint them so flawlessly?
—The cultists who deceived the commoners by hiding their identities couldn't bear the guilt and ended up taking their own lives!
Not only that, but their deaths were staged as suicides, further fueling the agitation with even more provocative rumors.
It was an even more cunning reversal of the cult's own vicious propaganda tactics.
—Maybe we misunderstood them...
—Right. Even after all the chaos we caused, the Martial Alliance left without a word of retaliation.
—Not only that, but their martial artists have been stationed here lately, helping the villagers.
—They've been working tirelessly—even fixing houses.
By the fourth and sixth day, public opinion toward the Martial Alliance had completely shifted to one of goodwill.
"A remarkable individual."
Thanks to the Peak Realm Unit's efforts, the Heavenly Martial Division, led by Muk In-hyeok, passed through Danyong County welcomed by the commoners' hospitality.
Reversing public opinion once it has turned against you requires immense time and resources.
Yet Bu Eun-seol had flipped it in just six days.
He had done so by turning the Heavenly Human Cult's own schemes against them—planting the spark of doubt.
He had blurred their vision by mixing lies with truth, then clearly presented them with a target to direct their rage toward.
It was like setting fire to a pile of straw—once ignited, it burned fiercely on its own.
"Seon-u Jin... So he truly isn't an ordinary man."
Muk In-hyeok had initially assumed he was just some power-hungry opportunist clinging to Chief Strategist Gongson.
But in reality, he was a man of unimaginable intellect.
"How could someone like him have remained unnoticed until now...?"
The Pinnacle Squad had been treated as outcasts since their days as a third-grade unit, with no proper affiliation to call their own.
But after relentlessly achieving merit after merit—culminating in the successful peace agreement with the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace—the name of their Peak Leader began circulating throughout the Martial Alliance.
Even then, Muk In-hyeok hadn't paid much attention.
In fact, he only learned of Seon-u Jin's name after rumors spread about him and Chief Strategist Gongson Dan-gyeong.
Who would've guessed he was this exceptional?
"I thought he was just another parasite clinging to power."
But now, it seemed Chief Strategist Gongson had recognized his extraordinary talent early on.
By keeping him close to her side, she had inadvertently given rise to unfavorable rumors.
"In the end, she intends to elevate him another rank."
Muk In-hyeok, too, had clawed his way up to deputy commander of the Heavenly Martial Division through relentless effort.
He could sense that Bu Eun-seol's temporary appointment as acting strategist for this campaign was no coincidence.
"But unfortunately, becoming a first-grade commander isn't something achieved by intellect alone."
After the Heavenly Sword incident, attaining the rank of first-grade commander within the Martial Alliance had become exceedingly difficult.
Especially for the young—it was nearly impossible.
Because now, the appointment required approval from over half of the alliance's Hall Master-ranked officials.
Which meant that not only the high command,
but the entire Martial Alliance had to acknowledge a feat so significant that it warranted unanimous recognition.
Relying solely on exceptional intellect to rise to first-grade commander?
That bordered on fantasy.
"Well, not my concern anyway."
Muk In-hyeok briskly directed the martial artists under his command.
And finally, in the distance, the main temple of the Heavenly Human Cult came into view.
The massive structures sprawled across roughly 33,000 square meters of land looked like relics left behind by the legendary Giantfolk.
"Money sure is something. They've splashed it around so extravagantly you can practically see it dripping from the walls."
And surrounding the cult's stronghold was a solid defensive line.
They were prepared to face the Martial Alliance's forces head-on.
"All unit members—listen up!"
Muk In-hyeok barked a short, sharp command.
"Wipe them out!"
Whoosh—!
With the Iron Star Unit at the forefront, the battle against the Heavenly Human Cult finally began.
Rumble...
At that moment, the sky darkened, and a faint mist began rising from the ground.
Simultaneously, the movements of the Iron Star Unit members at the front slowed abruptly, as if they had been submerged in water.
The cult had unleashed another bizarre occult technique.
"I was wondering when they'd pull this out."
Muk In-hyeok smirked as he observed the battlefield.
"If it were a battle formation, that'd be one thing—but sorcery is easy to break."
After the Divine Guard Unit's ordeal in the Majestic Mountain Gorge, he had suspected that the cultists included masters of formations and spellcraft.
And the Heavenly Human Cult wasn't the only one—the martial world was teeming with numerous cult organizations.
To counter such esoteric arts, the Martial Alliance had a specialized unit dedicated to researching and dismantling sorcery and ritual arts—
The Demon-Banishing War Unit.
Also known as the Moon Shadow Unit.
And Muk In-hyeok was a former member—a master of such arts.
"Guess it's time to break out the Exorcism Sword Case."
He retrieved the large wooden box strapped behind his saddle.
Clatter—!
As he channeled his Internal Power into it, dozens of swords spilled out, embedding themselves in the ground in precise formation across a wide radius.
"Begone!"
When Muk In-hyeok activated the Demon-Banishing Formation Technique, a brilliant white light erupted from the swords—
The darkened sky cleared instantly, and the Iron Star Unit's movements returned to normal.
"Hahp!"
The Heavenly Martial Division's warriors immediately charged, blades flashing toward the cultists.
The cultists unleashed a barrage of battle formations, thaumaturgy, hidden weapons, and poison—but it wasn't enough to match the martial prowess of the alliance's forces.
Eventually, the cult's defensive line, unable to withstand their superior might, began to crumble.
Just as the Heavenly Martial Division members surged forward to breach the inner defenses—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted.
In an instant, the bodies of several warriors were torn apart like scattered fragments.
"What the—?!"
Muk In-hyeok's eyes widened in shock.
One of the cultists had detonated like a human bomb, their body not just exploding—but dispersing in all directions.
"Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast...!"
A self-destructive technique where the user detonates their body using a surge of True Qi, sacrificing themselves to take the enemy down with them.
The fragments released in the explosion were laced with an extreme venom, while bone shards and chunks of flesh scattered like concealed projectiles.
A forbidden technique outlawed in the martial world for its sheer brutality—
Yet here it was.
"The Heavenly Human Cult has no connection to Poison Arts, yet they've mass-produced Poison People...
And mastered this forbidden technique?"
Boom! Crash!
Every time the Heavenly Martial Division warriors charged to break through the defensive line—
An explosion erupted without fail.
The number of Heavenly Human Cult followers outnumbered the Heavenly Martial Division by at least ten to one.
Moreover, with the threat of cultists detonating themselves at any moment using the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast, the warriors couldn't advance deep into enemy lines.
Occasionally, when it seemed like the defensive line had collapsed and the Heavenly Martial Division surged forward—
Another Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast would be unleashed, inflicting massive casualties.
"This is..."
Muk In-hyeok, observing the battle, widened his eyes in shock.
If the Heavenly Human Cult had been raising Poison People trained in Poison Arts, the Martial Alliance's intelligence network would have detected it.
Raising Poison People required vast financial resources and time.
Yet not only had the Heavenly Human Cult secretly nurtured Poison Arts masters—
They were also sacrificing these meticulously trained experts in suicide attacks without hesitation?
Among the countless cultists, it was impossible to distinguish who among them was a Poison Person capable of unleashing the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast.
By this point, even when the defensive line was breached, the Heavenly Martial Division found themselves unable to push forward—an absurd phenomenon.
Whoosh—!
The moment they advanced even slightly inward, explosions would rain down, scattering deadly poison and bone fragments like hidden weapons in all directions.
And in the chaos of battle, where allies and enemies were entangled, they couldn't just unleash sword qi or hidden weapons to slaughter indiscriminately.
"Tch."
Muk In-hyeok bit his lip.
As long as the Heavenly Human Cult followers resisted like this, breaking through their defenses and entering the cult's stronghold was impossible.
"Damn it all!"
The same was true for Seong Jo-yeong's Divine Guard Unit, attempting to breach the Heavenly Human Cult through Jangsan Gorge.
No—in fact, their situation was worse. The vast open plains allowed the numerically superior cultists to encircle the Divine Guard Unit completely.
Every time the Divine Guard Unit broke through the enemy's defenses with their formidable martial prowess—
Poison and bone fragments would scatter like hidden weapons, scorching the earth for dozens of feet around.
Though more cultists died, not a trace of fear could be seen in their eyes.
If they recklessly pushed forward now, the entire army risked annihilation.
—Fall back!
In the end, Seong Jo-yeong had no choice but to order a retreat.
Haseo Plains - Martial Alliance Barracks
Muk In-hyeok and Seong Jo-yeong sat side by side in the barracks, their expressions grim.
They had suffered heavy losses from the Heavenly Human Cult's unexpected tactics and were forced to retreat.
Even if they had stubbornly fought on and somehow conquered the cult, the Divine Guard Unit and Heavenly Martial Division would have suffered devastating casualties.
"This makes no sense."
Muk In-hyeok shook his head.
"No matter how wealthy they are, how could a mere heretical sect restore the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast technique? And mass-produce Poison People capable of executing it?"
"Exactly."
Seong Jo-yeong let out a frustrated sigh.
"To refine one's entire bloodstream into lethal poison—enough to unleash that technique—takes at least three, if not five years. And yet, they're sacrificing these Poison People without hesitation? It's madness."
Muk In-hyeok nodded.
"Unless we have long-range siege weapons or reinforcements, we can't possibly defeat them with our current forces."
Seong Jo-yeong exhaled heavily.
"Right. Even if we somehow won, the losses would be catastrophic."
"So... we have no choice but to request reinforcements?"
"Hah."
Seong Jo-yeong let out a hollow laugh, his expression bitter.
"To think we'd need to call for backup just to deal with a heretical sect."
The Heavenly Human Cult's unanticipated combat methods and defensive tactics had forced them to acknowledge a harsh truth—
Without reinforcements, even victory would come at an irreversible cost.
Thud. Thud.
Just then, Bu Eun-seol entered the barracks.
His deep, piercing gaze and commanding presence made both men instinctively rise from their seats.
"I've heard the reports."
Bu Eun-seol cut straight to the point.
"Reinforcements are not an option."
"What do you mean, 'not an option'?"
Seong Jo-yeong's eyes flared, but Bu Eun-seol remained impassive.
"As you said, two of the Martial Alliance's divisions were mobilized just to deal with a mere heretical sect."
"So?"
"If we fail to crush them and instead request reinforcements, it would be no different from announcing to the entire murim that the Alliance has been defeated."
"So what if they know we lost? We'll just tear the Heavenly Human Cult apart in the end."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head gravely.
"If word spreads that the Alliance requested reinforcements, sects that have stayed neutral so far will openly side with the Heavenly Human Cult."
The Heavenly Human Cult had formed considerable ties with the unorthodox factions along the Yellow River.
And when rumors spread that the Martial Alliance was mobilizing a large force, the cult immediately sought their aid.
Yet not a single sect readily answered the call. Because they knew they stood no chance against the Martial Alliance in battle.
But what if word got out that the Heavenly Human Cult had effortlessly repelled two of the Alliance's battle groups in this fight?
They would start believing that fighting the Martial Alliance was no great challenge—and it was certain they would immediately rally to the cult's side.
"Even if we don't secure victory, dragging this into a prolonged war would eventually force the Alliance to seek a compromise. We absolutely must not request reinforcements."
At Bu Eun-seol's explanation, the two deputy commanders silently nodded.
Stationing the Alliance's battle groups in the Yellow River region for an extended period would ultimately mean staggering financial losses.
"Hmm..."
A low hum escaped the lips of Muk In-hyeok and Seong Jo-yeong.
Only now did they realize that exterminating the Heavenly Human Cult was no simple matter.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Seong Jo-yeong blurted out the words before immediately regretting them.
Such a question was tantamount to acknowledging Bu Eun-seol as their strategist.
Muk In-hyeok might not care, but Seong Jo-yeong had absolutely no intention of recognizing a second-grade commander as acting chief strategist.
Yet after witnessing everything Bu Eun-seol had handled so far, he instinctively understood—this man was a tactician no less capable than Gongson Dan-gyeong.
"What I mean is—if you have something to say, say it quickly."
Seong Jo-yeong scoffed as he spoke, and Bu Eun-seol opened his mouth.
"The Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast is a secret technique only the most exceptional Poison People can master."
"That much is obvious."
"If the Heavenly Human Cult had truly cultivated so many Poison People, they wouldn't have dragged out a tedious siege—they would have immediately marched on Haseo and clashed directly with our battle groups."
Seong Jo-yeong and Muk In-hyeok nodded simultaneously.
This was something they, too, had found inexplicable.
A Poison Person capable of unleashing the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast would have refined their Poison Art to a level renowned throughout the martial world.
Yet they were using such masters of Poison Art merely as suicide bombers for Mutual Destruction? The cost-benefit made no sense.
"Then that means..."
As Muk In-hyeok muttered, Bu Eun-seol answered.
"They aren't true Poison People who formally mastered Poison Art—they're likely individuals forcibly saturated with poison in a short period. After all, if the goal was simply to unleash the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast, all they needed was to transform their blood into poison, one way or another."
"So you're saying the Heavenly Human Cult has been researching such methods?"
"They wouldn't even need to research. They could simply recruit those who already know such techniques."
"Recruit?"
"Correct. While gathering intelligence across the martial world recently, the most shocking discovery was... the covert circulation of Human Blossoms. That alone proves there are many in the martial world who modify or experiment on human bodies."
This time, Muk In-hyeok asked,
"Then are you saying they're Soulless Ones, saturated with Human Blossoms?"
"Unlikely. Soulless Ones are distinctly different from ordinary people. The cult probably used a secret method like the Poison-Infusion Transformation Method—something that rapidly enhances strength and accelerates poison adaptation in a short time."
Muk In-hyeok tilted his head after hearing Bu Eun-seol's explanation.
"Even if that's true, what use is it if we can't distinguish them?"
"We can. If they were forcibly saturated with poison in a short time, they'd undoubtedly be suffering side effects—and obvious ones at that."
"Obvious ones?"
"Infusing the human body with poison inevitably causes side effects, doesn't it?"
At this, Seong Jo-yeong, who had been listening silently, spoke coldly.
"No matter how chaotic the battle was, if there were such glaring signs, this deputy commander wouldn't have failed to notice."
They were deputy commanders of the Seven Great Battle Groups.
Though they hadn't been extensively active in the martial world, they were in no way inferior to those hailed as the next generation of grandmasters.
If there had been anything visibly distinct about those who used the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast, they would have undoubtedly noticed.
"They've been preparing for battle against the Martial Alliance for a long time. From the moment they devised a plan to create Poison People in a short time, they would have naturally concealed such symptoms."
"Preposterous. Anyone could make such a claim."
As Seong Jo-yeong sneered, Bu Eun-seol sidestepped the question.
"But there's one thing they absolutely cannot hide."
"Cannot hide?"
"What happens when martial artists are exposed to poison over a long period?"
"That depends on the type of poison, doesn't it?"
"When creating Poison People, the toxicity is naturally weakened using the principle of Using Poison to Counter Poison to avoid life-threatening effects. There's no particular poison to speak of."
Perhaps stung in his pride, Seong Jo-yeong racked his brain with all his might.
"Chronic poisoning causes the skin to peel... or blood to seep outside the vessels."
"Those aren't mild symptoms. If that were the case, Deputy Commander Seong wouldn't have failed to notice."
As Bu Eun-seol kept evading a direct answer, Seong Jo-yeong's face flushed red.
—Such words could be said by anyone.
The very words he had just sneered.
He realized—it was he himself who was now making such claims.