The Pleasure Boat (3)
Through the Six Harmony Sensory Path, his sharpened senses swept every direction at once.
The blade trajectories of the Blood Wind Blade came through with crystalline clarity.
If I know the direction, I can answer it.
His body moved along the arc of the incoming blade wind. Perhaps it was the Green Forest King's earlier treatment of his internal injuries, the careful work upon flesh and meridians, but his frame felt sturdier than before, and the circulation of his inner energy had grown swifter, making each response come easier.
It's possible.
Cheonhwa fixed that certainty in his heart and leveled the tip of his sword at the blade wind. The instant steel met the gust, a shimmering wave of force along the blade seemed to drink the wind in. The blade wind coiled around the sword.
"What—?!"
The crooked smile vanished from the Blood Wind Blade's face, replaced by raw shock. He had never imagined the boy would absorb the wind rather than merely turn it aside.
Cheonhwa guided the sword now wreathed in that borrowed force and drove it toward the Blood Wind Blade. The surging waves followed their new master and hurtled back upon their original owner. Compressed from line into point, their destructive power had only grown fiercer.
The Blood Wind Blade hastily raised his great saber and blocked the force, yet he could not fully absorb the impact. He was driven skidding backward through the doorway.
The sensation of the jin force riding the energy wave delivering itself completely… There's no mistake. This is the blade wind of the Gale Blade Art, steeped in the secret principle of Flight.
The Blood Wind Blade was certain the returned force was his own unique martial art. In other words, his opponent had used no trickery; he had truly absorbed the blade wind and sent it back.
What kind of monster can reverse an energy wave like that without altering it?!
The youth still looked short of even twenty, yet his martial prowess made age meaningless—true to the old saying of the martial world that one should beware of passing elders, children, and women.
The Blood Wind Blade glared at the young man who stepped slowly out into the corridor and drew his inner energy to its absolute peak.
Let's see if you can stay so composed after this!
Six successive blade winds, each carrying the secret principle of Flight, shot forth. The six currents of wind merged in midair into a single colossal storm.
It was the ultimate form of the Gale Blade Art—One Gust of Mad Wind.
The raging gale tore sharp scars along the walls as it rushed straight toward him. Yet Cheonhwa remained utterly unmoved. He simply extended the tip of his sword, which gleamed the color of yellow earth.
The moment the savage storm touched the point of the blade, the fierce wind was sucked into the sword itself—like an immortal performing the art of calling wind and summoning rain.
"What… am I even looking at?"
Forgetting that he was in the middle of a fight, the Blood Wind Blade muttered the words without realizing it, staring at the sword in Cheonhwa's hand. Around the blade, the layered energy waves of One Gust of Mad Wind whirled in a furious vortex. Condensed into a single point, the force flashed again and again, emitting a vicious sound as though it would grind anything it touched to dust.
At last Cheonhwa returned the storm, compressed to its limit, straight at the Blood Wind Blade.
Twenty-Second Form
Heavenly Lightning Flash
Like a bolt of lightning flashing through a storm, the energy wave crossed empty air and crashed down upon the Blood Wind Blade. The overwhelming force, concentrated into a single point, shattered the great saber and left a gaping hole in the man's chest. The wandering warrior with a hole torn through his body collapsed bonelessly, staining the floor with blood.
"Hah…"
Cheonhwa let out a long breath and looked at his sword. The blade, having taken in energy waves beyond its limit, was already fracturing into pieces. That was the price of forcibly receiving the Blood Wind Blade's ultimate technique. Had he not reinforced the form through intent, he would have been the one lying on the floor.
I sense no other presence inside the ship. It seems they have no leisure to check below.
In that case, no further reinforcements would come until the fighting above was finished.
Still, better to be careful. I'll clear the bodies and recover the weapons.
After tidying the corridor, Cheonhwa stood watch by the door, alert for anyone approaching. Before long the entire ship shuddered with a heavy jolt. Jang Sam, who had been tending the people inside the cabin, poked his head out.
"Looks like the operation succeeded without a hitch."
"So it does."
Cheonhwa and Jang Sam's infiltration, the fireworks that marked the pleasure boat's position, and then the Zhongnan Sect martial artists and the Beggar Sect disciples who had stormed across using grappling ropes as stepping stones—all of it had been little more than preparation for another design entirely.
Who would have guessed the grappling ropes used for the boarding were the real objective?
Dozens of hooked ropes snagged along the railings of the pleasure boat had never been meant merely as bridges or as a means of stopping the vessel. Those holding the ropes were first-class outer-force masters of the Green Forest, and the true purpose had been to haul the pleasure boat close against the cliff face.
Green Forest and Hao Clan martial artists are waiting on the cliff side.
Now the Muksang Sect would have to contend not only with the Zhongnan Sect and the Beggar Sect, but with the Green Forest and the Hao Clan as well.
Unless a Super Expert or Peerless Expert appears, overturning this board will be impossible.
Soon the uproar on deck quieted, and new presences entered the ship—martial artists of the Hao Clan.
"You have worked hard, both infiltrating and holding this place, Daoist Cheonhwa."
"I only did what needed doing. Has everything above been settled?"
"Yes. Subdued and secured. We will transfer the captives. Daoist Cheonhwa, please go up first."
"My thanks for the consideration."
Cheonhwa bowed to the Hao Clan men and left the hold for the open deck. Above, the cleanup was already well under way—battle debris being cleared, Muksang remnants and auction guests being marched ashore.
Cheonhwa approached Inwol, who still remained on deck, and asked for a report.
"Martial Uncle Inwol, how did the operation go?"
"As you can see, it ended cleanly. We even managed to seize Seo Mun-il, the ringleader. Through interrogation we should soon learn what purpose drove him to all this."
"That is fortunate."
Seo Mun-il's movements had always carried a strange dissonance. Why would a man so obsessively careful of his own safety deliberately provoke the major righteous sects? With him in custody, that question would soon be answered.
Just as Cheonhwa was allowing himself to believe the matter of the Muksang Sect was finished, he felt something racing toward them at tremendous speed. His gaze snapped upward.
Something is closing in on us at a furious pace!
He was not the only one who felt it. Martial artists and ordinary people alike sensed that overwhelming presence and turned their faces to the sky. Moments later the source of the presence entered their sight.
Cutting through the moonlight that silvered the night sky, an elderly man in a black long robe appeared. He glided through the air as though he possessed wings and came to a halt above the pleasure boat.
Cheonhwa could not suppress his shock.
Soaring Void Path?!
The peerless movement art that allowed free flight through empty air. A presence so vivid it needed no release of energy to be felt. Those two facts alone made the old man's identity unmistakable.
A Peerless Expert.
The appearance of a monster capable of shaking the entire martial world by himself left every person present overwhelmed into silence. The old man looked down upon them with the moonlight at his back, and presently his gaze stopped upon a single point—Seo Mun-il of the Muksang Sect, who was being led away under guard.
The moment Seo Mun-il's eyes met the old man's, he stammered in a trembling voice,
"B-Branch Master…!"
There was only one man Seo Mun-il would address as Branch Master. That meant the old man floating above them was none other than the head of the Muksang Sect—the Muksang Sect Master himself.
Has he come to rescue Seo Mun-il?
If that were truly the case, there would be no way to stop him. Even with martial artists from the great sects gathered here, a Peerless Expert who meant business could scatter them like leaves in an autumn wind. Everyone present knew it, and so they could only watch the Muksang Sect Master's next move in tense silence.
"W-what?!"
Seo Mun-il's body began to rise into the air. Some invisible force seized him and lifted him aloft. Those whose energy sense was open saw something different: true energy extending from the Muksang Sect Master's body wrapped around Seo Mun-il and drew him smoothly upward into the sky.
Void Object Grasp.
The art of freely moving distant objects through true energy. Even a Peak Expert could manage it, yet to use it so naturally was proof of exceptional control over one's inner energy.
The Muksang Sect Master brought Seo Mun-il before him and finally opened his tightly sealed lips.
"Well. You must have some idea why This Seat has come all this way."
"Th-that is… Aagh!"
When Seo Mun-il hesitated to speak, one of his fingers suddenly snapped backward.
"To hesitate to open your mouth even after reaching this point—your guts must have spilled clean out of your belly."
The Muksang Sect Master's calm voice sent a chill through everyone who heard it. That utterly emotionless, level tone carried the ominous quiet of the moment before a storm.
"Human trafficking? That much can be forgiven. It is a trade the Muksang Sect has long conducted. But…"
His gaze swept downward again, taking in the faces of the countless martial artists from the pleasure boat all the way up the cliff.
"To provoke four major sects of completely different natures—the Zhongnan Sect, the Beggar Sect, the Green Forest, and the Hao Clan—over a single trafficking operation. What in the world were you thinking?"
The Muksang Sect Master clicked his tongue and rebuked Seo Mun-il in that same quiet voice. What Seo Mun-il had done was the sort of reckless folly no man in his right mind would ever attempt.
"What angers This Seat most is that even after the matter grew this large, no proper report reached me until I was forced to come myself."
Though the Muksang Sect was counted among the great unorthodox factions, its foundation was that of a merchant guild. A merchant guild kept ledgers and shared records as a matter of course. Even a falsified set of books would have been better than nothing. Yet Seo Mun-il had submitted none, as if he had forgotten something so elementary.
"That is where This Seat sensed something amiss. Unless your mind had been damaged, you could not possibly have forgotten so obvious a duty."
The Peerless Expert's gaze returned to Seo Mun-il. He peered into his subordinate's eyes as though looking straight through them—the Muksang Sect Master's unique art, the Myriad Phenomena Appraisal Eyes. That gaze, which weighed the value of all things, saw the flaw in the merchandise and clicked its tongue once more.
"Tch. Soul Capture Art—and a particularly vicious one at that. No wonder you lost your senses and caused such a mess."
Soul Capture Art. A representative evil technique that beguiled and controlled a person's mind. Not a martial art but a form of sorcery, difficult to resist unless one possessed exceptional will or had tempered mind and body through martial training. Given the Muksang Sect Master's guarantee, it must have been a formidable casting indeed.
"This Seat does not know how you came to fall under a Soul Capture Art, but at least what must be done is now clear."
Using Six Harmony Voice Transmission so that every ear present could hear him, the Muksang Sect Master spoke.
"This Seat came here today to make an example of Seo Mun-il, who violated the rules of the Muksang Sect, and to settle the dispute with the Green Forest."
The righteous sects had always been bitter enemies, so worsening relations with them was of no concern. Conflict with the Green Forest, however, was not something the Muksang Sect desired. He had intended to hand over Seo Mun-il—the origin of the entire affair—and offer a formal apology to the Green Forest.
"But it has become difficult to end matters so simply."
This had not been Seo Mun-il's private folly; someone had directed him through a Soul Capture Art. Without identifying the hand behind it, the affair could not be closed.
"Therefore This Seat proposes this to the Zhongnan Sect, the Beggar Sect, the Green Forest, and the Hao Clan. With the aid of a sect well-versed in such evil arts, This Seat will deliver the results of the investigation. Shall we consider this matter finished here?"
The Muksang Sect Master laid before the four great factions an offer they could not easily refuse.
An ancient palace.
A young man clad in a black robe embroidered with golden thread sat upon the throne. Below the throne an old man knelt with his head bowed, delivering a report.
"Urgent news has arrived from the Avian Demon Sect."
"If it is urgent, it is unlikely to be good news."
"Yes. The offerings that were to be obtained through Seo Mun-il of the Muksang Sect have been cut off."
"The one we brought into cooperation with the Illusion Demon Sect's Soul Capture Art. A long tail will always be stepped on, it seems—exactly the case here."
"It appears the death of Daoist Jinhyun of the Zhongnan Sect has twisted the prophecy."
"To think that the death of a single man could unravel a grand design we had kept perfectly hidden until now. Even now it strikes This Seat as absurd."
The young man tapped a fingertip against the armrest of the throne, making no effort to hide his displeasure.
"We cannot keep clinging to past mistakes. From the War Demon Sect's perspective, what course seems best from here?"
"In all likelihood they will seek out the Maoshan Sect to break the Soul Capture Art and uncover the true culprit."
"The Maoshan Sect—one of the few remaining Taoist sects that still preserve traces of sorcery, though they have fallen far. This Seat had intended to leave them alone if possible, given how little they involve themselves in worldly affairs."
The tone almost sounded pitying, yet the young man's expression did not so much as flicker.
"It seems they will have to be dealt with after all."
"I shall move the agent we planted within the Maoshan Sect beforehand."
"The method is yours to decide. And the preparations for stirring the martial world—how do they progress?"
"We are gradually spreading demonic arts, yet we have not reached the level of founding a new great sect."
"More time is needed, then. Since our tail has been exposed against our will, we shall make the uproar as large as possible and draw every eye away."
"As you command."
The old man bowed once more to the young man and cried out,
"All Demons Bow in Submission! The Heavenly Demon Reigns Supreme!"