Chapter 37
It happened in an instant. The moment Namgung Cheon’s sword aura swept across the hall of the Alliance Lord, the martial artists reflexively reached for their weapons.
But where were they, and what day was this?
The Murim Alliance’s hall. The Alliance Lord’s anniversary celebration.
Of course, every martial artist present had entered after surrendering their weapons.
“Alliance Lord! What is the meaning of this!”
“Have you gone mad!”
The first to move, naturally, were the elder figures from the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. But Namgung Cheon merely glanced at them and spoke.
“Those who consider themselves innocent, do not move. I, as the Alliance Lord, will guarantee your safety.”
“Namgung Cheon, history will remember you as the Alliance Lord who lost his mind!”
“Then let it.”
With those words, Namgung Cheon began to pour out a fierce wave of internal force. As crackling thunder qi burst forth around his body, the martial artists at the exits of the hall started to run.
But then.
“Azure Dragon Guard.”
They appeared from above. The Alliance Lord’s direct unit. The Azure Dragon Guard.
The Azure Dragon Guard, the Murim Alliance’s strongest force, sealed off the exits of the hall.
“Anyone who tries to leave now may be cut down as a traitor.”
“As you command.”
At Namgung Cheon’s permission, the Azure Dragon Guard drew their swords. The killing intent they released was real. Anyone who truly tried to flee this hall would be cut down without hesitation.
They were swords for the Alliance Lord alone.
...I didn’t see this coming either.
Baek Mugeuk stared at Namgung Cheon in disbelief. Normally, the old man would have worn a playful expression whenever he looked at him, but today there was nothing on his face except the authority of an absolute ruler.
That old bastard. When I met him in the back garden, he acted like he was about to turn the righteous faction upside down at any moment. I figured it was strange how quiet he’d been.
Namgung Cheon, the Murim Alliance Lord. Baek Mugeuk had thought he would eventually make a move. But even he had not expected it to happen this quickly, or this violently.
Once the Azure Dragon Guard entered the picture, the elder figures’ attitudes changed.
“Alliance Lord. Why on earth are you doing this? Calm yourself and explain.”
“That’s right. Let us make this public and solve it one step at a time. This is not the proper way.”
“Not the proper way, you say.”
Namgung Cheon drew the human skin mask from inside his robes.
When everyone saw it, doubt seemed to spread across their faces.
“Do you know what this is?”
“A human skin mask, isn’t it? You caused all this over that?”
Namgung Cheon gave no answer. He simply walked over to the martial artist who had been struck by his sword aura.
“Cheongsong, Lee Dowon.”
Then he lowered himself, brought his hand to the man’s face, and tore the skin away before throwing it to the elders.
“Hyeongsan, Sa Seobyeon. Mount Hwa, Hae Wonsuk. Jeomchang, Chae Wonnyeong...”
He went on like that for a long while, naming them as he moved from one face to the next, ripping off human skin masks one by one. The more masks piled up, the wider the elders’ mouths fell open.
“Wudang, Cheongun.”
Unable to accept what was happening, they spat and shouted back.
“W-what is all this supposed to mean? Answer us, Alliance Lord! Where have our people gone, and who are these men?”
“Haa... and you still don’t understand the situation even after seeing human skin masks?”
Namgung Cheon’s voice was filled with anger.
“Recently, we confirmed that a number of spies wearing human skin masks had infiltrated the Murim Alliance, including the Xuanwu Guard. Naturally, after identifying them, we eliminated them all.”
“And so you decided to do something like this, Alliance Lord!”
“That’s right.”
“Even if spies had slipped in, carrying out an act like this is against the proper path. You should proceed according to order!”
“The proper path?”
Namgung Cheon’s brow furrowed. He began walking slowly toward the elder who had spoken of proper conduct.
“What exactly is the proper path you speak of? Your incompetence that allowed things to reach this point? Or is it the polished excuses and laziness you wear so well?”
“Are you condemning the entire righteous faction now?”
“I am. If the proper path you speak of is this current, helpless righteous faction, then I will condemn it endlessly.”
Namgung Cheon’s bearing was razor-sharp. He was the image of a martial man who had not retreated even one step.
“Let me ask you in return. Suppose the ones you trusted your whole life as friends, as sworn brothers, had been replaced by other people at some point. Yet no one noticed until now. You’d call that anything other than incompetence?”
“However...!”
“Be quiet and listen. If, as you say, this were officially announced and the spies were hunted down openly, do you think they would simply surrender themselves?”
“That...”
“I, Namgung Cheon, the Murim Alliance Lord, declare here and now that I will root out and kill every last one of the vermin who have thrown the righteous order into chaos.”
As Namgung Cheon said, if rumors spread that spies were hidden within the righteous factions, they would vanish without a trace. That was why all information related to the spies had been sealed away.
Namgung Cheon’s judgment was swift and absolute. And beyond that, he did not fear the aftershocks to come.
“Azure Dragon Guard. Confirm the faces of everyone in this hall. Anyone who refuses the inspection may be cut down without question.”
“As you command.”
At Namgung Cheon’s order, the rest of the Azure Dragon Guard, aside from those blocking the doors, began circling the hall, touching and inspecting people’s faces.
No one there dared refuse.
After some time passed, one of the Azure Dragon Guard drew his sword and killed a man.
“Hwangbo, Lee Jin-eon.”
At those words, the human skin mask peeled from Lee Jin-eon’s face flew toward Namgung Cheon.
“So there were some among the Five Great Families as well, after the Nine Great Sects. Azure Dragon Guard, continue.”
As the search went on, Baek Mugeuk scanned his surroundings. At the same time, his brow twitched faintly.
Too smooth. Not even much resistance. Strange.
Baek Mugeuk was puzzled. He began thinking about what he would have done in their place. If he were one of the men wearing human skin masks, would he have simply waited for his identity to be exposed here and accepted death?
No way.
Several ways to break this situation flickered through Baek Mugeuk’s mind. But the fastest solution that came to him was only one.
The head.
That was the moment.
Without warning, ten martial artists in the hall simultaneously hurled themselves at Namgung Cheon.
Ten swords of unknown origin poured down at once.
Yet the Murim Alliance Lord did not move. He only watched.
Clang, clang, clang!
One man single-handedly blocked all ten swords.
“Bright Destroying Sword?!”
No one could tell whose voice it was. But from that cry onward, the ten blades began raining down on Baek Mugeuk instead.
It was the sort of situation where anyone looking would think Baek Mugeuk would be overwhelmed in an instant.
And yet Baek Mugeuk dodged and deflected every sword by the narrowest margin. Everyone watching gaped at him.
His movements were beautiful, as though he were dancing a single sword dance.
“Gyeom! What are you doing!”
The first to move was Sword Dragon Namgung Mu. The instant he called out to Namgung Gyeom, who had been staring dumbly at Baek Mugeuk, he leapt into the center of the sword dance.
“Damn it.”
Seeing Namgung Mu rush in, Namgung Gyeom realized he was too late and let out a short curse before throwing himself forward as well.
Even if Baek Mugeuk was handling their swords well, the situation had looked precarious.
But with the Namgung brothers joining in, the dangerous balance gradually began returning to normal.
“Protect the Alliance Lord!”
The elders’ voices finally burst out belatedly. But no one moved recklessly.
“Do not move. Anyone who moves now will also be considered a traitor.”
Namgung Cheon’s voice rang through the entire hall of the Alliance Lord.
From the beginning, Namgung Cheon had known. He had known the bastards would target him. And he had waited.
He had waited for the moment those bastards came charging toward him.
Baek Mugeuk had already reached the same conclusion. More than that, his movements were even earlier than theirs, striking before the enemy could act.
Namgung Cheon’s gaze naturally settled on Baek Mugeuk, whose sword was flashing through the air.
His martial arts are one thing, but how does someone that young also possess this kind of ability to read the flow of battle?
At first glance, Namgung Cheon had thought he was just an arrogant punk.
In this vast Central Plains, how many young martial artists with impressive talent were there? But the image Baek Mugeuk showed was on a different level entirely.
It was hard to describe. He seemed like an old man who had already lived through everything the world had to offer.
“You crazy bastards. Do you even know where you are? You think your swords can touch Grandfather?”
“Gyeom. Calm down a little. They’re all masters who’ve surpassed the peak realm.”
“As if!”
“Haa... Gyeom. Just hold out a little longer.”
As the fighters mingled and clashed, they gradually spread apart of their own accord and began exchanging swords more fluidly.
Then Namgung Cheon, who had been parrying the blades of the opponents facing him, realized something and gritted his teeth.
“These bastards dare!”
The martial artists exchanging blades were using the martial arts of the sects they were impersonating.
And they weren’t merely imitating them.
It was skill on a level where one could mistake them for the actual disciples of those sects.
Just how far did they intend to mock everyone?
He glared at the bastards through eyes thick with anger, then forced himself to calm down and surveyed the surroundings with lowered eyes.
That was when Namgung Gyeom, engaged with three enemies, came into view.
Gyeom won’t have it easy.
Namgung Gyeom was unfolding the Namgung clan’s pride, the Boundless Sky Sword Technique, blocking the enemies’ attacks and even seeming to land counterblows from time to time.
But to Namgung Cheon, it did not look that way.
The Boundless Sky Sword Technique he displayed was light, and shallow cuts were steadily accumulating across his body.
If this continued, he would gradually be driven onto the defensive and into danger. Yet Namgung Cheon did not step in to help him.
This was Namgung Gyeom, his grandson. His fight.
Namgung Cheon’s gaze moved on from Namgung Gyeom to Namgung Mu.
Mu will win without too much trouble.
Namgung Mu had already cut down two of the three enemies. The Boundless Sky Sword Technique he displayed was different from Namgung Gyeom’s.
His sword had not wavered even once and was crushing his opponents with complete thoroughness.
It was like looking at his younger self. No, Namgung Mu was even better than he had been in his youth.
The talent of his grandson, Namgung Mu, was the real thing. And before he knew it, a sigh escaped him.
A talent worthy of being called the best under heaven...
Starting with Namgung Gyeom, Namgung Cheon’s gaze shifted to Namgung Mu, and finally to Baek Mugeuk.
Baek Mugeuk, too, had already subdued one of his opponents.
What was strange was that the other three did not approach him easily, but kept their distance.
They must have felt it too. That Baek Mugeuk was a dangerous man.
That was likely why four of them had been assigned to him from the start.
The four exchanged glances for a moment, then took up the stance of their respective sects.
“The Cheongseong Sect’s Blue Wind Sword Technique, the Hwangbo Family’s Thunderquake Sword Technique, the Jinju Eon Family’s Eon Family Sword Technique?”
Baek Mugeuk stared at their postures with the flat expression of a man who felt nothing at all.
“Looks like you all prepared pretty hard.”
He finished speaking and, at the same time, sent sword aura flying toward the Eon Family man.
Whoosh.
The Eon Family man immediately assumed a defensive stance and blocked it. He lifted his head with a mocking look on his face. But the real attack came after that.
Another burst of sword aura followed right behind the first.
Bang!
The Eon Family man failed to react and toppled backward. But the moment the sword aura and the man’s body collided, instead of the sound of flesh being cut, there came the metallic clash of iron against iron. Then, as if nothing had happened, he rose to his feet.
“I’d be fooled even if he were the real Eon Family man.”
As Baek Mugeuk said, the bastard had perfectly mastered the Eon Family’s external art, the Diamond Body. At the same time, the Hwangbo and Cheongseong men thrust their swords toward him.
The Hwangbo sword burst with a sound like thunder in a storm, while the Cheongseong sword emitted a sharp cry as it sliced through the wind.
“You two seem like the real Hwangbo and Cheongseong too.”
Even with the blades of two powerful sects aimed at him, Baek Mugeuk’s lips curved faintly.
“This is fun, but...”
He stepped forward and drew a circle with the tip of his sword. As if a taiji pattern were unfolding, the gentle arc enveloped both swords and sent them sliding away.
But the taiji traced by his sword did not stop at deflecting them. The blade that had drawn it soon turned into a straight line, piercing both of their chests in succession.
“You’re not the real thing.”
The sword needed to kill the two men took only one exchange.
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