Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: I Was Dead, Yes
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The man’s aura was considerable.
If this man were to fight Hong Yeo-ik, whom Byeok Taesan had recently deemed quite skilled, it would likely be a rather interesting match. Of course, that conclusion was based on the fact that he possessed spiritual energy.
That was the extent of the man's level.
However, the man did not believe he could defeat Byeok Taesan.
He couldn't even pinpoint Byeok Taesan's exact location; how could he possibly fight and win?
He was merely demonstrating his will and resolve.
Byeok Taesan watched the man quietly.
The man asked again.
"I will ask again. Who are you? What gives you the right to stride through the Hwangbo estate as if it were your own home?"
Byeok Taesan let out a smirk.
"And if you knew, what could you do about it?"
"Do not underestimate the Hwangbo family. I may not be able to defeat you now, but if our family unites with one heart and one mind, can you guarantee the outcome?"
For the family to unite with one heart and one mind meant they would not shy away from using any and all means at their disposal.
It didn't just mean gathering their strength to fight Byeok Taesan.
It meant they could investigate Byeok Taesan's surroundings and attack everything associated with him.
With all that will, the man stared straight at Byeok Taesan.
Before he knew it, the man had begun to look precisely where Byeok Taesan was.
Byeok Taesan clearly witnessed the growth of the man's spiritual energy.
This, too, was intriguing and interesting.
There was still much that even Byeok Taesan did not know about spiritual energy.
Therefore, watching the process of spiritual energy growing in real-time was incredibly significant.
Byeok Taesan carefully observed the process of the spiritual energy within the man's body as it grew.
The fuel for the man's spiritual energy growth was his upright will and resolve. There was no doubt about that.
However, not everyone could grow their spiritual energy just by establishing their will and resolve.
There had to be some other factor involved.
Byeok Taesan's eyes gleamed as he watched the man's transformation, searching for that factor.
Eventually, the growth of his spiritual energy ceased.
The man could now see Byeok Taesan more clearly and possessed a deeper power.
But Byeok Taesan couldn't clearly identify the cause of the spiritual energy's growth.
He had only grasped a vague, strange feeling, as if he was on the verge of understanding something.
But he was neither regretful nor disappointed.
That was the nature of training, and of enlightenment.
The process of gathering and accumulating such vague notions was the very essence of training and enlightenment.
It might seem insignificant now, but it would eventually play a very large role later on.
Just as it always had.
"Can you see me properly now?"
At Byeok Taesan's question, the man nodded.
"I can only sense your location. Your face and physique are still unclear."
Byeok Taesan nodded.
"Still, that's quite impressive. Your handling of your power is quite frugal."
The man's expression turned strange. Frugal? Was that a compliment or an insult?
"So, who in the world are you?"
Byeok Taesan smirked.
"Can you handle it?"
The man nodded firmly.
"Of course. Our Hwangbo family can handle anything. Do not underestimate the power of our family."
Byeok Taesan's eyes shone.
"Quite impressive."
He was a man who was quite to his liking. His will, so upright and firm that it could grow his spiritual energy, was commendable, and his courage to speak so boldly before an opponent he absolutely could not match was also good.
And so, his mood improved slightly.
"I am the Heavenly Demon."
The man's expression hardened instantly.
"Do not joke with me."
"Why would I joke? I rarely even make jests."
He was about to say he never joked, but then he recalled making a few jokes recently and slightly altered his words.
The man asked again with a bewildered expression.
"Then... is it true? You're really the Heavenly Demon?"
"Yes. I am the Heavenly Demon."
"I heard the Heavenly Demon was dead..."
Byeok Taesan nodded.
"I was dead, yes."
Saying that, Byeok Taesan spread his arms slightly.
"And now, I have returned."
The man couldn't hide his astonishment.
"That's... impossible!"
The Heavenly Demon. Of all people, the Heavenly Demon. How could they possibly handle that? Who in the world could handle the Heavenly Demon?
He wanted to scream that it was a lie.
But the strangest thing was that he actually believed those words.
This person was the real Heavenly Demon.
"Why, why have you come here?"
The man's voice trembled uncontrollably. He wasn't even fully aware that he was shaking.
The shock carried by the name 'Heavenly Demon' had that much power.
"Do I need permission to come here?"
"That's...! No, sir."
The man wanted to say that of course he did, but he couldn't.
Byeok Taesan was right. Who in the world could stop the steps of the Heavenly Demon?
The man's demeanor sank.
"Have you come to erase the Hwangbo family?"
Even before the Heavenly Demon, the man still held onto his will and resolve.
That was why Byeok Taesan had taken a liking to him.
"I'll tell you in advance, it won't be easy. Especially if you've come alone..."
Byeok Taesan smirked.
"It seems the Heavenly Demonic Cult is scarier than I am."
The man shut his mouth.
No. The Heavenly Demon was far scarier than the Heavenly Demonic Cult.
Honestly, he believed they could fight against the Heavenly Demonic Cult. If the Martial Alliance, the Black Alliance, and the Five Great Families acted as a core to unite the entire martial world, they could surely defeat the cult.
But not the Heavenly Demon.
To the martial artists who had experienced the Heavenly Demon in the past, he was that kind of existence.
"Did you ask why I came here?"
The man quickly raised his head and looked at Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan continued calmly.
"I hear you've created a secret method to deal with me."
The man's entire body trembled like an aspen leaf. The fact that the Heavenly Demon knew about it momentarily shattered his reason.
"Th-that is...!"
Byeok Taesan raised a hand to stop the man from speaking.
"Enough. I don't care if you made such a method or not. In any case, some fools challenged me, so I came to take it."
After saying that, Byeok Taesan looked at the man.
"Consider yourself lucky I'm telling you this because I'm in a good mood."
Before his words even finished, the pavilion in the center of the pond was ripped out by its roots.
*Kwwaaaaaa!*
The man, startled, stared at the pavilion.
Water cascaded from the pavilion as it floated in the air, and a single iron chest was hanging from its underside.
The rope holding the chest snapped, and the chest flew towards Byeok Taesan.
And then, the pavilion fell back into the pond.
*Splash! Chwaaaaaak!*
The pavilion plunged back into the pond, sending water splashing in all directions.
Right back in its original spot.
The scenery hadn't changed in the slightest.
The man stared blankly at Byeok Taesan with astonished eyes.
Who in the world could accomplish such a feat so casually?
The reality that his opponent was the Heavenly Demon struck him anew.
Byeok Taesan stared quietly at the man.
Before Byeok Taesan could even open his mouth, the man spoke on his own.
"I will not speak of today's events to anyone."
"Well, do as you wish."
With those words, Byeok Taesan left the spot.
Even though he was looking straight at him, the man didn't notice Byeok Taesan disappear at all.
He just vanished from before his eyes.
The faint form, the presence he had been barely grasping.
For a long while, the man stood there blankly, holding his broom.
***
"Let's go back."
Everyone stared blankly at Byeok Taesan, who had suddenly returned to the inn, dropped a large iron chest on the floor with a thud, and made his declaration.
Byeok Taesan looked at Hwaok.
"Is there a problem?"
Hwaok quickly shook her head.
"No, none at all. Are we leaving immediately?"
Byeok Taesan nodded.
"Yes. We're leaving now."
Hwaok bowed her head respectfully.
"Yes. Understood. Do you have any other instructions?"
First, they had to go to Changsha. After finishing their business there, they would head to Wuhan.
They had run all the way from Changsha to Nanchang.
No, to be more precise, they had run to Poyang Lake, where they had found a boat.
So, they expected to run on the way back as well.
But Byeok Taesan's answer was different from what the group expected.
"A carriage."
"A carriage, you say? I will arrange for one immediately."
Hwaok replied quickly and gave a signal with her eyes to the Underworld Sect members nearby.
The Underworld Sect members scurried away.
None of them had expected Byeok Taesan to suggest using a carriage, so their faces showed a mixture of surprise and anticipation.
Everyone began to prepare for their departure.
And Hwaok asked Byeok Taesan about the iron chest on the floor.
"What should we do with this?"
"Give it to Seung Doheung."
"Pardon? Ah, I will do so."
The iron chest was slightly rusted, and its lid was tightly sealed.
Judging by the slight dampness, it seemed to have been stored underwater.
Being told to give it to Seung Doheung, it was clearly an item related to formations.
Two members of the Underworld Sect quickly came over, picked up the iron chest, and carried it away.
They would load it onto the carriage when it arrived.
A short while later, several carriages arrived swiftly in front of the inn.
Byeok Taesan boarded one of them and said.
"Let's take our time."
Everyone was puzzled, but no one disliked the idea of a leisurely journey.
Soon, all the carriages departed.
Following Byeok Taesan's instructions, the carriages traveled at a relaxed pace, soon leaving Nanchang behind and heading slowly towards Changsha.
***
The five houses belonging to the Five Great Families were allies of equal standing, but that didn't mean each family possessed the same level of power.
The strength of the families varied with the times, so their rankings were not constant.
However, the Namgung and Jegal families had generally ranked among the highest, while the other three families had undergone very dynamic changes.
And in the current era, the Hahoe family was the most powerful of the five.
Hahoe Gwancheon, the head of the Hahoe family, wore a serious expression as he read the letter that had just been delivered to him.
"A meeting? At a time like this?"
The Five Great Families had recently detected a force secretly trying to destabilize them.
They had put considerable effort into identifying them, and their identity had now been revealed.
It was an organization called Nameless, and recently, they had been forced into a major conflict with them.
They had sunk their filthy roots within their spheres of influence. Cleaning that up was a matter of course.
Although they had managed to clear out a fair number of their bases, he didn't think that was the end of it.
Nameless was a more tenacious, powerful, secretive, and ancient organization than expected.
To properly clean them out, they needed to concentrate their capabilities.
Nameless was by no means a flimsy organization.
But to call for a meeting when they should be focusing all their efforts on Nameless...
It had been over five years since the last meeting of the Five Great Families. Since then, they had hardly felt the need for one, and the practice had fizzled out.
"The Hwangbo family..."
The one calling for this meeting was the Hwangbo family.
The first step was to find out what had happened to the Hwangbo family.
The Hahoe family also had its own Secret Pavilion.
Befitting the family that stood at the forefront of the Five Great Families, the level of their Secret Pavilion was far superior to the others.
Hahoe Gwancheon contacted the Secret Pavilion and ordered them to acquire the latest information on the Hwangbo family.
As it happened, the Secret Pavilion had already been investigating on its own, sensing that the atmosphere over there was unusual.
And the contents of their findings were extremely serious.
"The Hwangbo family's Secret Pavilion was wiped out?"
Not only that, but Hwangbo Yeop, who had been the most likely candidate to become the family's heir, had also been ruined in various ways.
The Hwangbo family had apparently confirmed that Nameless was behind all of it.
The possibility was high. Nameless had taken a significant blow recently, and the damage had been greatest in Nanchang, where the Hwangbo family was located.
"Retaliation."
He couldn't help but think so.
Hahoe Gwancheon decided to agree to this meeting.
This was not a matter to be taken lightly.
Nor was it a matter for the Five Great Families to handle on their own.
The Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance had to be involved as well.
So thought Hahoe Gwancheon.
And the other members of the Five Great Families went through the same process and reached the same conclusion.
Thus, a meeting of the Five Great Families was decided upon for the first time in five years.
< I Was Dead, Yes > End