The Anti-Dragon King Faction
Yet what left Okwon Jinin’s lips was not the answer Yongwang had been hoping for.
“I understand your intentions well enough, Yongwang. But cooperation will be difficult.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, as you yourself know, this is not a matter for the Zhongnan Sect alone.”
Suppressing the Anti-Dragon King Faction that was running wild along the waterways of Shaanxi Province was something the Zhongnan Sect—and every other righteous sect in the province—would welcome. They had already launched a large-scale campaign precisely to secure the safety of southern Shaanxi. Help from the Yangtze Waterway Sect would have made the suppression far easier.
“But the Yangtze Waterway Sect’s foul reputation makes it hard to place trust so readily.”
Even if one could believe their claim of reform, whether cooperation could begin at once was another question entirely. Who could say they would not simply turn around and stab everyone in the back?
“If you had seized control of the Green Forest the way the Green Forest King did, it might be different. As things stand, the Yangtze Waterway Sect is split in two. There will be those who doubt the Grand Chief’s capacity. Zhongnan’s guarantee alone will not be enough to seal an alliance.”
“So offering my own neck as pledge is still insufficient.”
“That pledge is fulfilled only after the campaign ends. As collateral for trust, it falls short.”
Yongwang fell silent, weighing the Sect Leader’s words. He had already made the bold move of staking his own person—and even that was not enough. He needed one more piece of real security.
“…Then what if I become a hostage myself?”
“A hostage?”
“Yes. To be precise, I will have my points sealed so that my internal energy is locked, and I will remain under watch. That way, even if my subordinates betray you, you can still preserve face by punishing me.”
“That much is true, yet…”
The proposal was solid enough to buy genuine trust. For a martial artist who had cultivated a great internal art to voluntarily seal his own energy carried real weight. Such a drastic step would convince other sects of the Yangtze Waterway Sect’s sincerity.
“With a measure that bold, yes, trust could be won. But two points still trouble me.”
“What are they?”
“First: if you become a hostage, who commands the Yangtze Waterway Sect?”
“My Right-hand and Left-hand will handle it. They have always run the organization.”
The reason Yongwang’s faction followed him was not overwhelming power or sheer presence. It was cold calculation—the conviction that following this man would at least keep them from starving—and the quiet thought that if they did not believe in him, who would? Within the Yangtze Waterway Sect, Yongwang was a clear symbol and a frontline commander. Actual administration of the sect had long been the work of his Right-hand and Left-hand. Even without him, the machinery would keep turning.
Okwon Jinin could not help the bitter smile that touched his lips.
“So that slapdash way of running things is how you ended up in this mess.”
“That same slapdash way let us grow large enough to join the Six Tyrant Coalition. Everything has its advantages and drawbacks, doesn’t it? So what is the second point?”
“Second: I wonder what gives you the confidence to make so bold a move. The moment your energy is sealed, someone might seize the opening and take your head.”
Until now Okwon Jinin had spoken from the righteous sects’ side of the difficulty of trusting the unorthodox. But the reverse was just as true: for the unorthodox to trust the righteous was no easier. He could not understand what made Yongwang choose such a reckless course without hesitation.
Yongwang answered as though it were nothing at all.
“If I had been seeking cooperation from another unorthodox faction, I could never have made this choice. But the Zhongnan Sect and the other righteous sects are different, are they not?”
The righteous, put kindly, valued the codes of the jianghu; put unkindly, they lived and died by face. Among them, the great sects—especially those of the Daoist and Buddhist traditions—felt that tendency most strongly.
“I believed the Nine Great Sects would keep their word.”
“Ha… to show such trust to those who are all but enemies.”
“Is there not a kind of trust one can only gain precisely because the other party is an enemy rather than an ally?”
“True enough. There are things one feels more keenly because the other is a rival. I seem to have lost a point here.”
Okwon Jinin was impressed by the trust Yongwang had placed in the Nine Great Sects. Some might call the choice foolish. Yet the reasoning behind it cut straight to the heart of what those sects truly were. More than that, his spiritual awareness confirmed it was no empty flattery.
“Very well. I will contact Huashan and the Hao Clan as well, and we will discuss the matter.”
“I am grateful.”
Yongwang bowed his head. From that moment the agreement he had proposed began to move with surprising speed.
The agreement with the Yangtze Waterway Sect proceeded more smoothly than expected. There might have been resistance to cooperating with a member of the Six Tyrant Coalition, but Yongwang’s decision to offer himself as hostage settled that objection. When the leader of a major unorthodox power not only became a hostage for the sake of the pact but also sealed his own martial arts, no better proof of sincerity could be demanded short of taking his life.
Even Cheonhwa, who had traveled with Yongwang, was privately astonished at how quickly the negotiations advanced.
“I understood that an agreement would be reached, but I never expected it to happen this fast.”
“Yongwang’s bold gamble certainly helped, but to fully stabilize southern Shaanxi we need control of the waterways,” Jeokhwa answered thoughtfully. On land, unorthodox bands could be tracked and suppressed with the Hao Clan’s cooperation. But if they fled by water, as the Red Dragon Hall had done, there was no easy way to catch them.
“Pirates know the ways of pirates. With the Yangtze Waterway Sect’s help, the river bandits can be dealt with as well.”
“And the advantages of bringing them in don’t stop there,” Myeonghwa added. “The Yangtze Waterway Sect has always been famous for vanishing along the waterways. What happens if we turn that talent for escape into a means of transport?”
“Wherever the waterways reach, rapid movement becomes possible.”
“Exactly. Compared with traveling overland by lightness skill, the drain on internal energy and stamina drops sharply. Missions will become far easier.”
Speed was the lifeblood of the southern Shaanxi suppression campaign, and the Yangtze Waterway Sect could give that speed a decisive edge. From a practical standpoint alone, accepting their proposal made sense.
“If they are truly sincere about turning over a new leaf, they will work all the harder to prove it.”
“Helping suppress the unorthodox will go a long way toward washing away their old notoriety.”
Having publicly renounced the unorthodox path, the Yangtze Waterway Sect was now little better than a public enemy among the unorthodox martial world. Among the righteous, many would still view them as traitors who had once belonged to the Six Tyrant Coalition. To secure a place as a gray force, they needed to earn substantial merit.
“The one thing that bothers me,” Cheonhwa said, “is that it all feels a little too hurried.”
“I felt the same,” Jeokhwa agreed. “They keep making bold moves as if this chance will never come again.”
Cheonhwa nodded. The Yangtze Waterway Sect’s offer of cooperation and reform had been shockingly abrupt—like the desperate thrashing of prey that sensed a predator closing in. It reminded him of animals that react to omens humans cannot yet feel.
“Perhaps Yongwang has read some vast shift in the board that we cannot see.”
Just as unorthodox martial artists steeped in demonic arts were gathering in northern Shaanxi while the Zhongnan Sect and other righteous powers worked to stabilize the south, Yongwang must have been playing his own hand to survive within that larger current. The third-generation disciples simply lacked the experience, insight, and information to sense it fully.
“For now, all we can do is give our best on the board that has already been set. Still, it is frustrating to be dragged along by events.”
Cheonhwa exhaled a quiet sigh, keenly aware of his own shortcomings. He held the rank of senior disciple and had reached the realm of a Peak Expert, yet he was still far from being able to influence the greater game.
Jeokhwa and Myeonghwa spoke up, trying to keep him from dwelling on it.
“Don’t take it so hard. To affect the board itself you would need to become at least a Super Expert, or rise to lead an entire force.”
“She’s right, Junior Brother Cheonhwa. Reaching Peak Expert at your age is already incredible. For now, let’s just do what we can.”
Cheonhwa gave them a small, grateful smile. Reaching Peak Expert before even passing the age of twenty was an astonishing achievement, yet becoming a Super Expert was an entirely different realm.
A Super Expert is not merely someone who has grown stronger through training; it is the stage where essence, energy, and spirit achieve true unity.
And that unity required body, internal energy, and will all to have crossed a certain threshold. For someone who had only just stepped into the Peak realm, it remained a distant story.
For now I’ll focus on the suppression missions and quietly do what I can.
He had just finished fully refining the century-old fleeceflower root elixir that had been the prize for winning the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. As a result his Blue Heaven Qi Art had advanced considerably; if he also took the Yin-Yang Spirit Pill gifted by the Wudang Sect, he should be able to reach the stage of Minor Accomplishment.
I need to train the later forms of the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven while also polishing my soft sword work until I can layer techniques as thickly as I wish.
There was no leisure for long, settled training, so he would have to refine the sword arts through actual combat—but that, too, would be valuable experience. In times of approaching chaos, such days would only become more common.
“If things go as expected, we’ll be boarding Yangtze Waterway Sect ships more often. I should start thinking about how to train on deck as well.”
“You’re planning to train even on the way to a suppression operation?” Myeonghwa looked aghast. Training time had been scarce lately because of the missions, but the idea of practicing while traveling still seemed excessive.
Jeokhwa, who had been listening quietly, asked with a sudden suspicion, “Junior Brother Cheonhwa… have you been training while we travel this whole time?”
“Yes. Alongside light-footwork practice, I’ve been trying to deepen my moving-meditation breathing.”
“Those moments when your speed would suddenly drop while you were using lightness skill…?”
“Yes. When I was coordinating several different internal-energy applications at once, I occasionally made mistakes. I slowed down while correcting them.”
“….”
Jeokhwa found herself speechless. She had half-suspected it, but she had never imagined her guess would prove entirely true.
“Why push yourself that far?”
“Because my talent is ordinary. If I cannot weave training into daily life, I believe I will eventually fall behind.”
A slow horse may take ten days to cover the distance a fine steed covers in one. But to catch up in those ten days, the slow horse must never stop moving. That was why Cheonhwa always searched for ways to train even when training seemed impossible. Even if each day’s gain was as slight as dust, he believed those grains would one day pile into a great achievement. Misguided effort could reverse progress, of course—but with contemplation and spiritual awareness he could observe every change, so such mistakes never took root.
Myeonghwa and Jeokhwa could only stare. Reaching Peak Expert at his age was already more than enough. Yet this monster of diligence still refused to rest, still sought to fill every remaining gap even after attaining that realm. Suddenly they understood all too well how he had climbed so high so young.
“Junior Brother Cheonhwa, you’ve been the same ever since the day you entered the sect. Even as a new disciple you were already combining basic conditioning with reading. Nothing has changed.”
“Thank you for the praise.”