Chapter 112
Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: The Missing Fusion Realm Master
I'd uncovered the Shadow Gate Sect members hiding in Blood Cult territory.
How the hell had they managed that?
Spy hunts might work, but the Shadow Gate Sect's compartmentalized structure made it tough.
Even recalling the Brothel Hall leader in Taiyuan—she knew her own branch's location but not the others'.
But if every Shadow Gate branch in Zhejiang had gone dark, even a single hall leader wouldn't cut it.
Unless the Shadow Gate Sect Leader himself was a Blood Cult spy...
'That's jumping to too many conclusions.'
Sure, it wasn't impossible... but if we went that far, every assumption fell apart.
Then the Five Great Families could've been compromised, the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, the Four Black Alliance, the Murim Alliance—all of it.
'At that point, the Blood Cult is the world itself.'
In other words, no need to speculate that far.
Better yet, if they'd targeted only Zhejiang's Shadow Gate branches, one method jumped out immediately.
'Fusion Realm masters moved in person.'
That was the fastest, most reliable way.
No matter how well the Shadow Gate hid their internal energy, they couldn't fool Fusion Realm experts.
So then...
If it was that simple, how had the Shadow Gate survived this long?
That was simple too.
'Once you hit Fusion Realm, you get lazy.'
You might mistake it because I or Moyong Hui reached it in our twenties, but most martial artists didn't ascend until after fifty.
And they usually held key positions in their clans or sects.
'Even Chu Munrak was an elder in the Four Black Alliance.'
Plus, those elder spots were in massive coalitions like the Murim Alliance or Four Black Alliance. In the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families, surviving Fusion Realm masters were mostly retired old fogeys devoting themselves to cultivation.
'Or they'd be leaders like Moyong Hwan.'
Why would such people bother hunting Shadow Gate members on foot?
That was how the Shadow Gate endured.
So how had the Blood Cult mobilized Fusion Realm masters?
'Either their hierarchy was ironclad enough for such menial orders, or they had so many that they could deploy them freely.'
And my guess? Both.
Zhejiang wasn't some tiny province— even with Fusion Realm experts on the move, it'd take more than one or two.
As I gauged the Blood Cult's scale in my head, the Shadow Gate Leader's persuasion rolled on.
"Not only that. To investigate why Zhejiang's branches had gone silent, I sent one of my own."
The Shadow Gate Leader drained the cup beside him like his throat was on fire.
I thought it was water from the gulping, but the sharp booze scent hit right after.
Strong stuff, apparently.
He slammed the empty cup down hard.
The clash was so loud I worried the porcelain would shatter.
Then, with a gloomy sigh, he spoke.
"For the record, that man was a Fusion Realm master."
I could guess the rest without hearing it.
'Contact lost. Or dead.'
"One who'd reached Fusion Realm over ten years ago... our sect's top expert besides me."
Way too much buildup.
But now I got why he was putting on this show.
He was testing my reaction, sizing me up.
'Shadow Gate Leader, huh? Gauging others a hobby?'
I could fake a reaction easily enough, but it was a hassle.
Not some pretty lady—why bother impressing a guy?
"Ah, whatever. So, did he die? Or just go dark?"
His face stiffened at my words.
Second time already.
But it vanished in a flash, and he composed himself to reply.
"It's been half a year since we lost contact with him."
'That's dead.'
I nodded casually, and he furrowed his brow.
"Doesn't this surprise you?"
"What's to be surprised about? Martial artists die when they run into someone stronger."
A Fusion Realm master got taken down?
'The Blood Demon was one of the Ten Strongest Under Heaven.'
Top ten strongest in the world.
That was the Blood Cult's leader, the Blood Demon.
I wasn't around back then, so I didn't know his exact power, but he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Heavenly Demon as one of the Two Demons.
The Blood Cult had been on par with the Demonic Cult.
'Gotta assume the Blood Demon's reached Transcendent Realm.'
Even if not, he was at Fusion Realm's peak.
Transcendent Realm was probably within sight.
Charge into Blood Cult territory banking on Fusion Realm alone?
Surviving unscathed half a year later would be the real shock.
'Dude had no sense of his place.'
My goal wasn't to clash with the Blood Cult anyway.
Just gather intel.
'At least figure out their doctrine or aims, right?'
They'd committed countless atrocities in my past life—what were they, and why?
Knowing that much would help prepare for the future.
'Gotta protect my women.'
Oh! And the Mok Family Clan too.
In my past life, they never tangled with the Blood Cult, but who knew this time around.
Things were already diverging from what I knew.
'Take the Eun Merchant Group—shouldn't exist in original history, but it's growing.'
Chu Munrak, who should've been a Four Black Alliance elder, was dead. The Martial Emperor was secluded refining his Heavenly Apex Swordsmanship instead of wandering.
The future where the Martial Emperor slays the Blood Demon? Uncertain now.
So I needed Blood Cult intel.
'They started gaining infamy around five years from now, right?'
Plenty of time to oppose them later.
For now, just intel.
'Who knows? Might end up allying with them.'
I was no fanatic.
If their goals aligned with mine, I'd team up in a heartbeat.
"Don't you get what I'm saying? You could be in danger too!"
No real reaction from me, so the Shadow Gate Leader amped up the dramatics.
I waved him off as he raised his voice.
"Think you're misunderstanding something, Leader. I'm not planning to fight the Blood Cult."
"...What do you mean? Then why investigate them?"
"Just curious. What's it to you? You trying to pick a fight with me over it?"
His face hardened like I'd hit a nerve.
But he soon let out a hollow laugh.
"Sharp one. I get your point."
Finally over?
Now I could eat.
'Hope it's not cold.'
As I stood to grab the food the server had left on the next table, the Shadow Gate Leader grabbed me again.
"But... what if you dig and find they're truly evil? Then what?"
I realized what worried him.
Still, baffling question.
"Do I look like someone who cares about that?"
Evil or not, whatever—as long as it didn't harm me directly.
"...Can't say."
Can't say?
Why wouldn't he know?
If he knew my track record, even the Shenyang ploy with Cheon Woojin to seduce Moyong Hui should've made it obvious...
'Huh? Kinda ambiguous?'
Looking back, post-reincarnation, Mok Jimyeong hadn't strayed far from righteous paths.
Chu Munrak was an undeniable bastard. The Shenyang scheme ended with the Flesh Trade Gate wiped out.
Same with toppling the Red Serpent Sect in Shengde.
The only iffy bit for a righteous sect? Teaming with the Shadow Gate.
'Everyone does that, though.'
Righteous sects weren't auto-hostile to unorthodox ones.
Moyong Family and Flesh Trade Gate, Hebei Peng Family and Red Serpent Sect—plenty faked distance while staying close, some even colluded secretly.
Righteous and unorthodox were symbiotic.
Righteous stayed righteous because unorthodox existed; unorthodox banded together against righteous.
'That's why the Great War of Righteousness and Evil was unexpected.'
Which was why I suspected the Blood Cult's involvement there too.
"Look, as long as there's no direct harm to me, no plans to fight the Blood Cult."
"Hm, 'direct harm' meaning?"
"Me, my women, Mok Family Clan stay safe. That's it."
My honest feelings.
But the Shadow Gate Leader frowned at the truth.
"Shadow Gate doesn't make the cut?"
One minute don't antagonize, next this? Which tune to dance to?
I gave another straight answer.
"What're you on about? Somwol's taking your seat anyway."
So hurry up and hand over that intelligence unit.