Ripples of the Earthquake
An earthquake begins at its epicenter, sending shockwaves in every direction.
The incident of Jeok-un crashing the initiation ceremony of Sadocheon carried enough force to trigger just such an earthquake.
First, it completely upended the land of Changsha, the epicenter itself. Then, naturally, the aftershocks rippled across the entire Jianghu.
"Ha! It's shocking enough that he had the audacity to distribute drugs right under the Lion Blade Emperor's nose. But to think the leader of the Geum-wol Squad was actually a spy for Heukpaeseong?"
"Exactly. Just think of how long and meticulously they must have planned this."
"What did Heukpaeseong say about it?"
"They played dumb, of course. Claimed they're completely innocent and that it's all a conspiracy cooked up by Sadocheon."
"Those bastards! How dare they!"
"Sigh. Still, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. To think one of the Ten Squad Leaders, the very face of Sadocheon, was a spy."
"Hmm. If you look at it that way, didn't that Jegal kid, Jeok-un, actually do Sadocheon a massive favor...?"
"Hey! Watch your mouth! What kind of nonsense is that?"
The unorthodox martial artists of Sadocheon buzzed with talk of Heukpaeseong's misdeeds.
They had always been bitter enemies, but now their feud had escalated past the point of no return.
It was clear this incident would impact their ongoing conflict in more ways than one.
Amidst the chaos, some even whispered that Jeok-un had achieved something remarkable by exposing the conspiracy.
Of course, those voices were in the absolute minority.
"Even the Lord decided that the kid's crime of tarnishing Sadocheon's honor outweighed his achievements. That's why he just tossed him the position of an Outer Squad Leader."
"Right? And of all things, the Baekya Squad. The Lord has a keen eye; it was basically a pity handout."
"Ugh, damn it. To think we have to share our meals with a pathetic Orthodox bastard."
Meanwhile, the reaction of the Orthodox faction, who received the news late, was entirely uniform.
"What a piece of trash! If it was information from the Jegal Family, it must have belonged to the Murim Alliance! And he blabbed it all just to save his own skin?!"
"There's a reason they call him the Ruined Dragon of the Jegal Family. He's a piece of trash beyond imagination. This time, his victim wasn't just the Jegal Family, but the entire Orthodox Murim."
Jegal Jeok-un was no longer just a family disgrace; he was now branded as an outright traitor to the Orthodox faction.
Some even compared him to Qin Hui, the most infamous traitor in history, suggesting he should be called the "Qin Hui of the Jegal Family," a sentiment that found plenty of agreement.
The reason was self-evident: the source of the information Jeok-un had blurted out when he crashed the initiation ceremony.
Jeok-un had openly declared that he stole the information from the Jegal Family Manor.
Because his claims were highly detailed, and the gambling dens, drug warehouses, and poppy fields were destroyed one by one exactly as he described, his testimony gained absolute credibility.
As the situation spiraled out of control, the Jegal Family drew a firm line, denying any involvement, but their denials fell on deaf ears.
It was only logical. How else could a mere second young master of the Jegal Family obtain such highly classified information? It had to have come from the Jegal Family's archives.
The pristine reputation of the Jegal Family, which had stood proud like a crane among chickens, was thoroughly dragged through the mud.
Of course, because the family head's reputation and achievements as the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance and the Divine Strategist were so immense, the uproar eventually subsided over time.
But Jeok-un became a marked man, universally loathed by the Orthodox faction. He had completely dragged their face and prestige through the dirt.
"How on earth did that bastard uncover our plans?"
"Damn it, that's not what's important right now. Because of him, all the intelligence networks we spent years planting inside Sadocheon are being dismantled."
"Jeok-un...! How dare that worthless insect!"
With Heukpaeseong also harboring deep animosity toward him for exposing the spies they had spent years infiltrating, it was safe to say that Jeok-un had become the most endangered man in the Jianghu.
Without a doubt, he was walking on a tightrope over an abyss.
Somewhere in Changsha.
Inside a secretive manor.
If anyone from Changsha were to peek inside this room, they would have rubbed their eyes, convinced they were seeing things.
Every single person filling the room held a key position within Sadocheon.
In fact, three of the Ten Squad Leaders were present in this very room.
"Hey, Kwak. Do you know why we were summoned so urgently today?"
Jang Bo-heum, the Gwi-mong Squad Leader known as the Poison-Winged Wasp, asked, his large nostrils flaring as he spoke to the man sitting across from him.
"Are you blind? It's obviously because of those damn No brothers."
Kwak Dae-mo, the Taesan Squad Leader known as the Great Cleaving Saber, replied with a look of pity. With his rugged features, he looked more like a bandit chief than a martial artist.
Yet, for some reason, Jang Bo-heum tilted his head in confusion.
"Come on, what more trouble could they cause? We laundered and pocketed all the dirty money ages ago. Not to brag, but even when the Disciplinary Group tried to dig into it, I cut off all the tails—"
"Gwi-mong Squad Leader."
A man who had been sitting silently with his eyes closed during their conversation spoke up.
It was Ham Mu-hyul, the Cheonho Squad Leader known as the Demon-Suppressing Tiger, whose sharp features resembled a finely honed blade.
"...Yes?"
"Mind your tongue. Consider where we are."
"?!"
"Pfft!"
Though delivered with utmost politeness, it was a clear command to shut up.
Jang Bo-heum's face flushed red with embarrassment.
Anger flared within him, but he couldn't utter a single word of protest.
After all, not all of the Ten Squads were created equal.
While he led the ninth-ranked combat squad, barely a step above the now-disbanded Geum-wol Squad...
Ham Mu-hyul was the leader of the Cheonho Squad, ranked second only to the Evil Dragon Squad, the strongest combat force in Sadocheon.
Furthermore, even putting rank aside, Ham Mu-hyul's backing was incomparable to his own.
"Ahem. The wait was getting long, so I was just making conversation. You didn't have to be so harsh, Squad Leader Ham..."
Just as Jang Bo-heum shrank back like a whipped dog, muttering under his breath—
Creak—!
"!!"
"...!"
Finally, the door slid open, revealing a middle-aged man accompanied by two attendants.
The Chief of the Intelligence Division, the Ghost Shadow Flying Killer, Ham Baek.
The Chief of the Reception Division, the Salt White Ghost, Hwang Jin-rang.
Surprisingly, two of the leaders of the Five Divisions were acting as escorts for a single man.
Rustle! Rustle!
The moment he entered the room, everyone present stood up in unison to greet their master.
"We greet the Lord!"
"Greetings, Lord!"
The second sky of Sadocheon, overshadowed only by the Lion Blade Emperor.
The Mad Soul Fist, Do Ye-cheon.
"..."
Exuding an overwhelming aura, Do Ye-cheon walked toward the seat of honor with an expressionless face and sat down.
He swept his characteristically cold, emotionless gaze over his subordinates before speaking.
"Sit."
"Yes, Lord!"
The division chiefs and squad leaders bowed deeply, clasped their hands, and sat down in silence.
Before anyone could speak, Do Ye-cheon opened his mouth.
"There are vacancies."
"..."
No one dared to speak easily.
There were currently two vacant seats.
One belonged to the deceased Geum-wol Squad Leader, No Hwang-mun, and the other belonged to Do Ye-cheon's own son, the Gwang-hon Squad Leader, Do Ju-man.
Do Ju-man had yet to recover from the injuries inflicted by Jeok-un.
Yet, Do Ye-cheon did not seem to care in the slightest about his son's condition.
His gaze was fixed solely on No Hwang-mun's empty seat.
"A pity. He was quite useful."
Do Ye-cheon's tone was flat.
He didn't seem to care at all that No Hwang-mun was a spy for Heukpaeseong or that he had distributed drugs banned by Sadocheon.
In fact, he was so calm it seemed as if he had expected it all along.
Indeed, distributing drugs within Sadocheon would have been impossible without Do Ye-cheon's tacit approval.
"Have you found a successor for the Geum-wol Squad?"
"P-pardon?"
Do Ye-cheon's gaze shifted to Jang Bo-heum.
This was the task assigned to him before today's meeting was called.
"W-well, I am looking, but it is a bit difficult to recommend one of our own people again under the current circumstances..."
No Hwang-mun had been Do Ye-cheon's loyal subordinate. Appointing another of Do Ye-cheon's faction to succeed him right away would invite unwanted scrutiny.
However, that was not the answer Do Ye-cheon wanted to hear.
"..."
"-!!"
Do Ye-cheon simply stared at Jang Bo-heum in silence.
Whoosh!
It was merely a look, but—
"Urgh, cough?!"
Under that gaze, Jang Bo-heum began to gasp in pain, as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart.
"I-I will find someone!! By any means necessary, no matter what...!!"
His face turned from pale to a bruised purple as he squeezed out the promise.
Fwip.
Only then did the suffocating pressure lift.
Looking at Jang Bo-heum as if he were an insect, Do Ye-cheon turned his attention to Hwang Jin-rang, the Chief of the Reception Division.
"How is the Disciplinary Group reacting?"
"They are running wild like colts with their tails on fire."
"Naturally. They must think they finally have a righteous cause."
"If you give the word, the Reception Division will put a stop to them."
"No, there is no need for that. It is not yet time to show our fangs."
"Understood."
Do Ye-cheon's system of rewards and punishments was absolute.
He rewarded merit with jaw-dropping generosity, but punished failure with ruthless cruelty.
More than a few had met an early grave after falling out of his favor.
Yet, it was precisely this ruthless leadership that allowed him to gather such a massive following to rival the Lion Blade Emperor, Dok-go Cheon.
"Continue."
With those words, Do Ye-cheon leaned back in his seat.
It was a signal for them to proceed to the next agenda item on their own.
Naturally, the topic that dominated the meeting was the disbandment of the Geum-wol Squad and the subsequent ban on gambling dens and drug sales.
"I cannot understand the Lord. Why on earth did he destroy the drug warehouses and burn the poppy fields? That was all pure gold!"
"What is his problem with drugs anyway? Why does he throw such a fit over it...?"
"With all these regulations, I can't even tell if we're Unorthodox or Orthodox anymore."
"Since it came to this, we should have just killed the No brothers and quietly taken over the business. It would have been a goldmine."
"Tsk, fools. Heukpaeseong spent all that money to build the foundation for us, and we just threw it away."
Jang Bo-heum and Kwak Dae-mo openly vented their frustration at Dok-go Cheon.
They didn't care in the slightest about the people of Changsha dying or becoming ruined by drugs.
The only things that mattered to them were their own safety and profits.
...It's sickening.
The only person in the room who thought differently was the Cheonho Squad Leader, Ham Mu-hyul.
It was then that Do Ye-cheon spoke to Ham Mu-hyul's father, Ham Baek, the Chief of the Intelligence Division.
"Ham Baek."
"Yes, Lord."
"What of the matter I asked you to look into?"
"Yes, I will report on it immediately."
There was only one piece of intelligence Do Ye-cheon had personally tasked Ham Baek to gather.
"The rumors regarding Jegal Jeok-un are all true."
It was about Jeok-un, the catalyst for all this chaos.
From his well-known family betrayal to the subsequent rumors regarding the divine weapons.
As well as his intrusion into the initiation ceremony and his duel with the Lord.
Ham Baek summarized the key events clearly and concisely.
"...Therefore, this division suspects that the twin swords he wields are divine weapons hidden away by the Jegal Family."
"Oh, divine weapons?"
A low murmur rippled through the room as Ham Baek finished speaking.
The eyes of the whispering men gleamed with intense greed.
"Even if the Lord held back, to block his saber... they must truly be divine weapons."
"And there isn't just one, but two?"
"If those items were to fall into our hands..."
Ham Baek waited for the commotion to die down before continuing.
"Based on the accounts of those who witnessed his fight with the Lord, the boy's martial arts level is estimated to be around the Peak Realm."
"Ho. A Peak Realm master before even reaching the age of twenty."
"Yes. His potential is rivaled only by the Ten Evil Heroes of the Unorthodox or the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes of the Orthodox—"
Just as the Orthodox faction had the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes, the Unorthodox faction had the Ten Evil Heroes.
These were the select few chosen from the countless rising stars of the Central Plains as the absolute best of their generation.
This comparison alone showed just how extraordinary Jeok-un's achievements were.
However.
"...And yet, the position the Lord gave him was merely the leader of the Baekya Squad."
"Yes, that is correct."
Dok-go Cheon had simply handed Jeok-un the insignificant post of the Baekya Squad and left it at that.
A strange gleam flashed in Do Ye-cheon's eyes.
In truth, Jeok-un's strategic value was immense.
If he knew about the Heukpaeseong spies hidden within Sadocheon, how much more valuable information must he possess?
Yet, seeing that Dok-go Cheon had brushed him off with the leadership of the Baekya Squad, it meant the Lord had already sized Jeok-un up and made his judgment.
"Which means the Lord concluded that the only useful information the boy had was regarding No Hwang-mun."
That what he knew was limited to just that.
That he was nothing but an empty shell, a worthless insect with no real substance.
"Yes, that is my assessment as well. The boy likely tried to boast of his worth during their private meeting and demanded a high position, but..."
"Heh, there is no way such cheap bluffing would work on that old tiger."
Do Ye-cheon realized that Jeok-un had completely fallen out of the Lord's favor.
Once Dok-go Cheon lost interest in something, he never spared it another glance.
Now that the Lord had deemed Jeok-un a useless piece of trash.
"Then we must make contact with him as soon as possible."
"...Pardon?"
Do Ye-cheon's next words caught everyone completely off guard.
As confusion filled the room, Do Ye-cheon continued.
"His potential as a martial artist is top-tier. Furthermore, if he harbors resentment toward the Lord—"
"Ah, he would make an excellent disposable tool."
"Indeed. And..."
Do Ye-cheon's eyes flashed with a chilling light.
"We must retrieve the pearls cast before swine. To secure those weapons easily, we must shackle his ankles before anyone else takes notice."
"-!!"
He had no intention of taking Jeok-un in. He merely wanted to seize the divine weapons and discard him.
"Right. You said he was assigned to the Baekya Squad. In that case..."
As he searched for the right person for the job, a face came to Do Ye-cheon's mind.
Do Ye-cheon gave his command to Jang Bo-heum, who had only just managed to catch his breath.
"Gwi-mong Squad Leader. At sunrise tomorrow, go meet the 'Lord of the Night.' Use him to win Jeok-un over."
"Y-yes, Lord!"
Repeating the name "Lord of the Night" under his breath, Jang Bo-heum bowed respectfully.
Do Ye-cheon leaned back against the cushions of his chair, satisfied.
Jegal Jeok-un.
He quietly hoped the day would come soon when he could break his new toy with his own hands.