Boundless Sea
Near Chengdu, where the Sichuan Dang Family made its home, a temporary encampment of tents had been raised.
A man sprawled languidly across an antique jade throne, his face steeped in boredom.
His name was Beom Rang.
Only recently had he become the new Palace Master of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
Beom Rang cast a vacant gaze around him. The attendants serving him kept their heads bowed, careful never to meet his eyes. A few trembled uncontrollably from sheer terror.
The sight seemed to please him; a loose smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Those who once mocked this body now bow their heads and shake with fear. How truly ridiculous.
The seat of Palace Master in the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace was decided through a succession battle. And in that battle, Beom Rang had stood at the very bottom of the ranks.
His mother had been nothing more than a maid of no background who happened to receive the previous Palace Lord’s favor and conceive him. Beom Rang himself was an ordinary man who had inherited no exceptional talent.
His half-brothers and half-sisters either tormented the bastard or treated him as if he did not exist. Only his youngest half-sister, Sohang, had ever treated him like a human being.
With his family treating him thus, the servants soon learned to despise him as well. Even for a bastard, such treatment of direct blood was a grave discourtesy. It had been permitted because of the previous Palace Lord’s wives. They regarded Beom Rang as a thorn in their eyes and had sought to kill him under the pretext of the succession battle.
Had they not approached me, I would never have reached this seat.
Beom Rang recalled the meeting that had rewritten his fate. He had been sleeping in his usual shabby room when an assassin appeared to kill him. At that moment an unknown figure materialized out of nowhere, saved him, and offered a proposal.
“Shall we change our fates together?”
As if bewitched, Beom Rang seized that hand. Remaining as he was would have meant certain death in the succession battle; he had grasped at the offer like a drowning man clutching at straws. Who could have known that what he caught was not a straw but a golden rope?
Thanks to that, I could become Palace Master against every expectation.
Of course, what comes must also go. Having received open aid throughout the succession battle to claim the throne, Beom Rang fully intended to repay that grace with all his strength.
The Heavenly Demon Cult. No matter how often I think of it, the name is arrogant beyond measure.
The absolute master of the demonic path who places even Heaven itself beneath his feet—that is the Heavenly Demon. The mysterious force that serves him is the Heavenly Demon Cult.
I had heard talk of a mysterious force stirring the Central Plains into uproar of late, but never imagined it was the very organization cooperating with me.
He had been startled by the Heavenly Demon Cult’s unexpected notoriety, yet to Beom Rang it was nothing more than that. What did it matter how the world judged them? If they had stretched out a hand to him in his darkest hour, he would repay the debt even if they were true demons.
What jolted Beom Rang from his recollections was the hurried sound of approaching footsteps. The newcomer was a messenger bearing intelligence.
“Urgent report. The raid has failed. Nearly seven-tenths of the unit that took part are dead; the remaining three-tenths are currently in retreat.”
The messenger prostrated himself at Beom Rang’s feet and relayed the information he had received. Though the camp lay near Chengdu, home of the Sichuan Dang Family, the surrounding mountains made travel far from easy. But when one borrowed the power of a spiritual bird that soared the skies, the story changed. With such a beast, messages could fly between the Sichuan Dang Family and the camp in a single breath.
“To think we would suffer so crushing a defeat. Tell them to fall back according to plan. If necessary, I authorize withdrawal all the way to the main palace in Yunnan.”
Beom Rang spoke with a grave face about the casualties among the raiding party. Yet his outward expression and his true thoughts were diametrically opposed.
He had known in advance that the raiding party would suffer near-total annihilation. That was why he had carefully selected disposable pieces and sent them as the assault force.
Most of those assigned to the raid were the ones with ties to the maternal families.
The previous Palace Lord’s wives had already lost the bulk of their retainers in the fierce succession struggle. Now that those remaining forces had been crushed as well, the tenuous influence of the maternal houses had been strangled outright. All that remained for Beom Rang was to slip into the resulting power vacuum and steadily expand his own reach.
Seizing the authority of those who had tormented him was a delightful prospect, yet Beom Rang gave no sign of it.
“With the raiding party destroyed, there is no reason for us, the reserve force, to remain here. We return to the main palace as well.”
At Beom Rang’s command, sighs of relief rose from every corner of the tent. From their perspective, the very first act of the newly installed Palace Master had been to attack the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering. Having squandered his greatest prestige on such folly, they clearly hoped he would keep quiet for a while.
Very well. I shall remain quiet for a time, just as you hope. But what of the orthodox side?
The assault on the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering had been no mere poke at a beehive. It was the equivalent of yanking the whiskers of a peacefully sleeping tiger and then cruelly slaughtering its cubs. Even the orthodox path could never escape the whirlpool of grudges. They would surely come storming toward the Beast Palace for vengeance and investigation. By now they would already be on the heels of the retreating raiders.
When that happens, whether we wish it or not, the Beast Palace will have no choice but to fight a full-scale war.
Some might question whether a Palace Master could act so recklessly. One wrong move and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace could be erased from history.
And that is exactly what I desire.
Why had Beom Rang joined hands with the Heavenly Demon Cult and climbed to the throne of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace? Precisely so that he might wipe the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace from existence with his own hands. Becoming Palace Master had been nothing more than one step in that plan.
I look forward to the moment they realize it is already far too late.
The thought of the Beast Palace people’s despairing faces made the corners of Beom Rang’s lips quiver. To hide it, he covered his mouth with a hand as though lost in deep thought.
Not yet. I must not laugh yet.
He could save his roaring laughter for the day the Beast Palace was destroyed. Until then, he needed only to play the part of an ambitious yet shortsighted and incompetent Palace Master.
Concealing his true intentions, Beom Rang waited for the moment he desired.
In a poison chamber within the inner compound of the Sichuan Dang Family, Cheonhwa sat alone with Gakhyeon.
The aftermath of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace’s assault had largely been brought under control. What remained were only tasks that required manpower and time—clearing the rubble of shattered buildings, treating the wounded.
Gakhyeon wasted no words and stated the reason he had summoned Cheonhwa.
“I will be away for some time to pursue the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
“Have you discovered their base?”
“We have. But the moment the raid failed, they hastily dismantled their position and began to withdraw.”
The scale had been far too great for the unauthorized action of a single combat unit. With the presence of a main force including reserves confirmed, the assault had to be regarded as the will of the entire Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. In that case, a price in blood would have to be exacted.
“It will not be me alone. The second-generation disciples who came as escorts will join as well. Word has already been sent to the main mountain; the Taeul Swordsmen and other elites should arrive before long.”
Zhongnan was not the only one. From the Nine Great Sects to the Five Great Noble Families, forces from every school that had suffered in the attack were gathering one after another.
Cheonhwa, who had never imagined so many would mobilize, spoke with a startled expression.
“Even for revenge, isn’t the number of people excessive?”
“As you say, under ordinary circumstances we would never go this far. But when a mysterious force is involved, the story changes.”
Had it been the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace alone, the masters already gathered here would have been more than enough. This assault, however, had proven that the mysterious force and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace were working hand in hand. From demonic arts to formations, the depth of that force’s power remained unfathomable. The great orthodox sects that had tasted the threat firsthand had therefore resolved to join forces and settle the matter.
“In effect, the Murim Alliance—once little more than a network of communication among the orthodox—has begun to function properly as a true coalition.”
The Alliance itself had been founded precisely for situations such as this, yet Gakhyeon shook his head as though he had never expected its purpose to be fulfilled in quite this manner.
“With so many people leaving, will the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering effectively be suspended?”
“No. The Gathering will proceed to the finals as scheduled.”
At that answer Cheonhwa tilted his head. Recovery from the assault still required time, and a considerable number of the great sects’ personnel would be departing. Why continue the Gathering?
Gakhyeon explained the necessity.
“We continue the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering to prove that the orthodox path remains unshaken.”
The Gathering was a major orthodox event and a spectacle that drew the attention of the entire jianghu. If word spread that it had been reduced to ruins by the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and the mysterious force and then abandoned, what would follow? Beyond mere loss of face, rumors would circulate that the orthodox had grown weak. The unorthodox and the black paths would seize the momentum, and the common people would suffer for it. To prevent such an outcome, the Gathering had to continue as living proof that the assault had been weathered and overcome.
“The Sichuan Dang Family, in particular, supported the decision with great enthusiasm.”
“Is that related to the matter of face you just mentioned?”
“It is. As hosts of this Gathering, the Sichuan Dang Family suffered the heaviest losses. On top of that, a traitor emerged from among their direct bloodline, leaving their prestige in tatters.”
Left as things stood, the family’s honor would plummet to rock bottom. Naturally they wished to restore their dignity even if it meant overextending themselves. It was fortunate, at least, that the incident had erupted during the second match of the semifinals. With only the final remaining, the burden was relatively lighter.
“The fact that you are the one who advanced to the final is another major reason.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You reached the final by defeating both the previous runner-up and the previous champion, and you performed brilliantly during the assault as well. Attention was bound to focus on you. And the matchup for the final is quite intriguing.”
“The final matchup… Ah!”
Only then did Cheonhwa realize who awaited him. His opponent in the final was Cheong-ha, who had advanced by default.
Zhongnan Sect and Huashan Sect.
The two great schools that represented Shaanxi Province would clash in the final. It was essentially a rematch of the bout from the Shaanxi Sword Gathering. Public interest was certain to soar.
“Can you win?”
“I do not know.”
Cheonhwa shook his head at Gakhyeon’s question. Compared to the Shaanxi Sword Gathering, he had grown beyond recognition. Yet he could not be certain how much Cheong-ha himself had changed in the meantime. He could not declare victory with absolute confidence.
“But I intend to give it everything I have.”
And that was precisely why he could not afford to lose. As he answered, Cheonhwa’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit like a living flame.