Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Dragon-Phoenix Tournament (23)
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Two days had passed since the award ceremony, but Seo Hyeon was still buzzing with excitement, unable to forget the heat of the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
It was inevitable.
The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament had ended, yet it hadn't truly concluded.
After the young masters who would lead the future of the jianghu had all showcased their talents, what followed was the desperate struggles of those who failed to claim those glorious spots.
“Haap!”
“Hup!”
Sparring matches between people who had once been mere spectators erupted all over Seo Hyeon’s streets at any moment.
Their goal was singular.
To display their own skills and catch the eye of one of the prestigious clans here.
And thereby receive an invitation to become a warrior of that clan.
This Dragon-Phoenix Tournament had stirred particularly intense chaos.
Normally, only half or fewer of the prestigious sects remained to recruit warriors, but this time, all of them were staying in Seo Hyeon.
For those causing the uproar now, it meant the golden opportunity to save themselves from their predicaments had doubled compared to usual.
Why the prestigious sects lingered was obvious.
Mok Ri-won, the Silent Dragon.
It was to recruit him.
“The Silent Dragon is saving a lot of people.”
“Did you hear? That island swordsman who faced the Silent Dragon first—he got invited to join the Paeng Clan as a warrior.”
“Who hasn’t? But do you know this? That Wang fellow we shared drinks with two days ago? He got invited to the Jo Clan as a warrior.”
“Ah, damn it. I’m so jealous. I need to find a place soon too.”
“What can we do? All we can hope is that the Silent Dragon stays here one more day. Who knows? Maybe while he’s still around, we’ll get our chance too.”
The warriors who hadn’t yet found a sect hoped.
They hoped the Silent Dragon would stay in Seo Hyeon even one more day.
And thereby keep the prestigious sects rooted here.
But such hopes were turning pale, as the rumors now spreading were utterly despairing.
“…I hear the Silent Dragon is joining the Murim Alliance.”
“It’s not confirmed yet. It’s just a rumor.”
“But it’s not an entirely unreliable one. I have a trustworthy source who said the Silent Dragon plans to head to the Murim Alliance with the Poison Phoenix and establish a new unit there.”
“Who the hell spreads info like that? If you know, you keep your mouth shut!”
“Th-that’s not something you tell me….”
The Silent Dragon hoped to join the Murim Alliance.
This rumor had the prestigious clans of Seo Hyeon in constant turmoil.
It was only natural.
The Murim Alliance was an untouchable sacred ground in the righteous faction of the jianghu.
If the rumor proved true, the positions of the clans remaining here would become awkward.
A sect reaching out to someone who would become a talent of the Murim Alliance.
This could be seen as a challenge to the Murim Alliance’s authority, which had soared since the Blood Purge.
The situation left both prestigious sects and warriors in ambiguous positions.
Meanwhile, the culprits behind the uproar were leisurely ascending Mount Huang, enjoying the scenery.
“Little Sister! Look over there! Two pine trees twisted together!”
Mok Ri-won pointed in one direction with a bright smile.
Dang Hwa-seo chuckled at his words and replied.
“Yes, they seem like very close trees.”
“Look there too! A pine tree especially large compared to the others around it! Standing straight at the waist—it must be the boss of this place!”
“It certainly is a fine tree. Maybe because it’s in a remote spot, no one’s discovered it? If such a pretty tree were known, people would have uprooted it by now.”
They shared impressions while admiring the pines blanketing Mount Huang, pausing to rest on the occasional flat rock.
Mok Ri-won, Dang Hwa-seo, and Jegal San continued their outing, paying no mind to the events unfolding outside.
After some time, the three had reached the summit of Mount Huang.
“Ooh…!”
Mok Ri-won shivered at the revealed vista.
Pines sprouting dramatically between rocks.
The clouds visible below his feet and the expansive view of Anhui stretching far in the distance displayed the vastness of nature, stirring his heartstrings.
Was this what the immortals’ world looked like?
Mok Ri-won thought he’d done well to come here, his body trembling faintly.
“What a breathtaking sight….”
“A view among views.”
After Dang Hwa-seo’s reply, a brief silence fell.
Overwhelmed by Mount Huang’s scenery like a wave crashing in, the three couldn’t continue speaking.
Jegal San broke the silence.
After enjoying the view with a smile for a long while, he subtly said to Dang Hwa-seo.
“So, Sister. The rumor spread nicely.”
“Hm?”
“The one about going to the Murim Alliance. You’re the one who started it.”
Mok Ri-won, who had been dazed until then, widened his eyes at the words.
“L-Little Sister? What does that mean?”
Mok Ri-won was shocked.
Dang Hwa-seo was moving while avoiding her clan, so the question arose why she would reveal his destination first.
A doubt born of Mok Ri-won’s ignorance of the jianghu’s ways.
Dang Hwa-seo answered in a calm tone.
“That’s why I spread the rumor. I told you—no matter how prestigious the sect, they can’t handle a Murim Alliance warrior lightly.”
“Even if that sect is your home clan.”
Jegal San grinned.
Having learned a bit of their circumstances while traveling together, he added gladly.
“Sister, Brother Mok. Mind if I join you on that path too?”
“You?”
Dang Hwa-seo showed a surprised expression, as if it were unexpected.
Mok Ri-won felt the same.
Given his wandering nature, they hadn’t expected him to want to be tied down somewhere.
Jegal San, as if anticipating the reaction, said playfully.
“It’s fun hanging with you two. And I should probably quit the vagabond life soon anyway.”
“Great idea!”
Mok Ri-won said joyfully.
He had been regretting the impending farewell from Jegal San, to whom he’d grown truly attached.
“Then the three of us head to the Murim Alliance together! Burning our bodies for justice and chivalry!”
Mok Ri-won’s eyes sparkled like stars.
His heart swelled imagining himself making a name as a Murim Alliance hero.
But Dang Hwa-seo’s expression wasn’t good.
‘…Unnecessary interference.’
Such a thought had unconsciously arisen.
The journey to the Murim Alliance wouldn’t be short.
For her, who had subtly anticipated alone time with Mok Ri-won during it, Jegal San was unwelcome.
Dang Hwa-seo wouldn’t know.
That her own sly intentions had influenced Jegal San’s decision to join.
‘Still, he’s my sworn brother—I should look out for him.’
It was a sworn brotherhood formed by chance, yet one that brought only joy.
Jegal San didn’t want to see his innocent sworn younger brother utterly corrupted by Dang Hwa-seo’s slyness.
“Well then, looking forward to it!”
As Jegal San laughed, Mok Ri-won laughed heartily too.
Dang Hwa-seo clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, then soon nodded.
She couldn’t deny that more allies were always better.
Thus, the three atop Mount Huang’s summit promised to journey together, creating a warm atmosphere.
The moment of departure was approaching.
*
Namgung Clan’s grand manor.
In the center of the training ground sat a man in lotus position, meditating.
He was a handsome man with sharp features.
Around him swirled a chilling blue aura, and everywhere it touched was heavily suppressed.
Namgung Jincheon—it was he.
Since the finals day, he had been ruminating on the doubt lodged in his heart.
‘What was the problem?’
Where had it gone wrong?
Namgung Jincheon continued his thoughts.
Recalling that day’s match, his life, and Mok Ri-won.
‘If….’
He considered hypotheticals.
‘…In that match, if I’d gone all out from the first move. Crushed the Silent Dragon before he could even resist.’
The outcome would have been different.
No matter his talent as a swordsman, his physique was clearly superior.
‘If I hadn’t fallen for the Silent Dragon’s provocations.’
If he hadn’t responded to the battered Silent Dragon’s taunts and just kept suppressing him.
Even then, the result would have differed.
No—everything before that would have been different.
Namgung Jincheon turned to thoughts of himself.
‘I thought it was the blueprint.’
He had believed the path presented by this Emperor Star was the most perfect.
No matter the speed, following it would lead to the supreme realm.
But what was reality?
‘It was wrong.’
The path led by the star was wrong.
There was no perfection.
No supremacy.
The star had given only one thing.
‘Arrogance.’
Arrogance.
Foolishness.
Recklessness.
In the end, it was one.
‘I was a frog in a well.’
He decided to acknowledge that fact.
Namgung Jincheon faced the defeat strangling his neck.
He reached out and gripped it.
Then twisted it.
‘The jianghu is vast.’
Recalling his grandfather the Sword King’s words, his aura rippled once.
‘Rivals are strong.’
Thinking of Mok Ri-won’s sword, the aura settled calmly.
The oppressive pressure vanished from the aura.
The arrogance faded from the aura that loved to flaunt and crush.
The recklessness faded.
Something filled the void.
‘I haven’t shown anything yet.’
Those words Mok Ri-won had said on the arena stage, the emotion and spirit within them.
Competitive spirit was added.
Namgung Jincheon opened his eyes.
His icy blue eyes gleamed with a light never seen before.
“The time has come.”
Namgung Jincheon rose.
He left the training ground and headed to the inner quarters of the manor.
Those he passed on the way flinched at his changed demeanor and bowed their heads.
Receiving all their awe, he arrived at the inner quarters and faced Sword King Namgung Hyeok.
“What is it.”
Namgung Jincheon knelt.
“I wish to learn.”
For the first time in his life, he uttered those words.
Namgung Hyeok raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and asked back.
“What?”
“The sword.”
Namgung Jincheon looked at his grandfather.
There sat the absolute being once deemed the pinnacle of swordsmanship in this jianghu.
“I wish to learn the Emperor Sword Form.”
Sword Dragon Namgung Jincheon sought instruction.
To kneel serpents.
To become the greatest frog.
To ascend to the position rightfully his to seize.
“Teach me the Emperor Sword Form.”
Only then did he step out of the well called arrogance.
*
Who dominated the Central Plains’ wealth?
Ask any Central Plains man, and the answer was unanimous.
Heavenly Trade Company.
For nearly 15 years, it had never once stepped down from the top—the undisputed number one merchant group of the Central Plains.
The Heavenly Trade Company had no business it hadn’t touched.
Nor any place its hands hadn’t reached.
Even this Dragon-Phoenix Tournament in Anhui was no exception.
Amid the warriors’ splendid festival, their influence was surely present.
A massive Heavenly Trade Company branch lay a two-day ride from Seo Hyeon.
A Taoist entered the manor that had sponsored this tournament.
He was a man with an air of elegance and a frail appearance—Immortal Dragon Hyeon-gong.
The branch guards bowed their heads the moment they spotted him.
Hyeon-gong accepted it as his due and headed to the inner quarters.
The door swung open.
A foul, cloying scent wafted from within.
So thick it made his head spin on inhalation, and for some reason, it heated his insides.
Hyeon-gong’s brow furrowed briefly.
He already knew the scent filling the room came from narcotics.
But the irritation lasted only a moment.
Hyeon-gong composed his expression and wrapped his body in aura.
Then proceeded deeper into the inner quarters.
“…You’ve come.”
A voice like a beast’s growl echoed through the space.
Hyeon-gong immediately knelt and bowed his head.
A man sat there.
Disheveled hair in total disarray.
Naked, with no semblance of clothing.
And eyes glazed over in a stupor.
The man, surrounded by naked women, looked down at Hyeon-gong and spoke.
“Found him?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“Mok Ri-won. He earned the moniker Silent Dragon at this tournament.”
Mok Ri-won.
Muttering the name, the man stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Good fate.”
Hyeon-gong merely kept his head bowed.
He asked nothing.
That was the basic etiquette he had learned since infancy.
The man continued mumbling, lips moving ceaselessly.
Lost in thought, he carried on for a long while.
Only at the end did he speak.
“…Time to move.”
The man raised a hand and placed it on the head of the woman embracing his waist.
Splatter!
The woman’s head exploded.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, chunks of flesh splattering the room, yet no one present paid it any mind.
It was only natural.
Aside from the man and Hyeon-gong, the women were all courtesans from somewhere.
Ignorant of martial arts, they were already steeped in the narcotics filling the room, their reason long gone.
“Prepare.”
The man swept back his hair, wiping away the blood.
Then his eyes, hidden beneath the locks, were revealed.
Pupils dark red and murky, resembling dried blood.
“Time to reclaim the stolen star.”
At the man’s murmur, Hyeon-gong slammed his forehead to the floor.
Then he shouted in a thunderous voice never before heard in the Central Plains.
“Heavenly Demon Supremacy, Ten Thousand Demons Roar!”
His voice carried reverence.
“I heed the Little Cult Leader’s command.”
Hyeon-gong felt his long wait had finally ended.
Now everything would change.
Those dulled by peace since the Blood Purge would once more realize what this jianghu truly was.
The jianghu would return to its roots.
Peace was over.