A Private Audience with the Martial Alliance Leader
I forced my trembling legs to hold me upright and slowly pushed myself to my feet. My whole body felt as heavy as if it had been packed with lead, but the fight still wasn’t over.
Grrr...
There were still beasts left around me. With the profound-class beast gone, they seemed to have lost their command structure, but they were dangerous all the same.
I need to move.
I tightened my grip on my sword. The power of the Dragon Pearl was nearly exhausted, but I still had the internal energy of a Transcendence Realm martial artist left.
“Dasa-hyung! Are you all right?”
Duseong hurried over as if to support me, but I raised a hand to stop him.
“I’m fine. I can still fight. Let’s deal with the remaining beasts first.”
Whoosh—!
I swung my sword and cut down a charging Human Class beast. Under normal circumstances it would have been no trouble at all, but right now even that much felt taxing.
“Protect Deputy Commander Hyeonseong!”
As Gwangcheol shouted, the extermination squad formed up around me. Awe burned in their eyes.
“He took down that monstrous beast by himself...”
“Unbelievable...”
I could hear the whispers, but I didn’t have the luxury of paying attention. I had to focus on clearing out the remaining beasts.
Boom! Crash!
The extermination squad moved with perfect coordination and swept the beasts away. Duseong and Hwaung were especially overwhelming. Both were equipped for fighting beasts and had enough experience to handle them with ease. With the extreme-class beast gone, their morale was high, and the rest of the beasts were cleaned up in short order.
“Haa...”
When the last beast fell, I sank to the ground. I didn’t have the strength to keep standing.
“Dasa-hyung!”
Hwaung rushed over in a panic. Concern was written all over his face.
“Are you really all right? You’re pale.”
“I’ll be fine after a little rest.”
Jinu came over carrying a medicine pouch.
“Please take this. It should help you recover.”
I accepted the medicine he handed me and swallowed it. Warmth spread through my body, and I could feel my strength slowly returning.
“Keep watch over me for a moment.”
I closed my eyes and took a brief seated breathing exercise. Jinu’s medicine was remarkably effective. With just that short recovery, I was able to return almost completely to form. Once I finished, I opened my eyes.
“Phew...”
Just then, I heard someone gasp.
“This... this is illusion stone from a transcendence-level beast?”
Turning my head, I saw one of the squad members standing before a massive illusion stone. The stone left behind by the extreme-class beast was as large as a grown man’s head, and its purity was almost absurdly high.
“At that size... converted into silver, it must be worth more than ten thousand nyang.”
“Ten thousand? Are you joking? A transcendence-level illusion stone would be worth even more than that.”
“No, seriously, is this even the first time something like this has appeared?”
I walked over to the corpse of the profound-class beast and casually lifted the illusion stone. Gwangcheol looked as if he wanted to say something, then closed his mouth again. I asked him,
“I can take this, right?”
“Of course. Deputy Commander Hyeonseong was the one who killed it single-handedly.”
I nodded and handed the stone to Jinu.
“Jinu, keep this safe.”
“Yes, Dasa-hyung.”
The profound-class illusion stone was worth a fortune, but there was something else that had my attention now.
Swish.
My gaze drifted to one side. To the place where the Illusion Gate had stood. It had completely closed by now, but I could still feel something lingering there.
Wuuuum—
The Dragon Pearl trembled faintly. I couldn’t tell whether it was a warning or some kind of resonance.
A heaven-class... no, something beyond that.
The entity that had spoken to me beyond the gate. The voice that had called itself the chosen one of the Fire Dragon—who had it belonged to?
“Deputy Commander Hyeonseong. What are you thinking so hard about?”
I came to my senses at Gwangcheol’s voice.
“Nothing.”
“The wounded are done being treated. We should head back now.”
I stood and looked around. The extermination squad was busily cleaning up the battlefield, gathering the bodies of the dead, tending to the injured, and collecting the byproducts of the beasts.
“How many casualties?”
“Twelve dead, twenty-three seriously wounded. Considering we were up against such a powerful transcendence-level beast, it’s practically a miracle.”
Relief colored Gwangcheol’s voice.
“I suppose we should call it fortunate, then.”
“It’s all thanks to Deputy Commander Hyeonseong. If you hadn’t stopped that extreme-class beast...”
As if imagining the terrible outcome, Gwangcheol shuddered.
“We might have been wiped out.”
On the road back to the Martial Alliance’s Hubei branch, I focused on recovering inside the specially provided carriage. The backlash from overusing the Dragon Pearl’s power still lingered in my body. While I was recovering, the extermination squad arrived at the Hubei branch.
Clatter—
The carriage stopped, and a voice called out from outside.
“Young Master Hyeonseong, I’m Zhuge Hyeonggeon. May I see you for a moment?”
I stepped down from the carriage. Zhuge Hyeonggeon approached with a smile.
“You single-handedly subjugated a profound-class beast? Truly impressive.”
“I just got lucky.”
“And modest as well... Ah, more importantly, I have something to tell you about Cheongongbang.”
Zhuge Hyeonggeon’s eyes gleamed.
“The Zhuge Clan has officially approved it. We can now operate Cheongongbang in earnest.”
That was excellent news. Cheongongbang would become a crucial foothold for everything I planned to build in the future.
“And that profound-class illusion stone you obtained this time... would it be possible to study it at Cheongongbang?”
“Of course. But on one condition.”
“Please, tell me.”
“Share the research results with me, and I’ll be the one to use the stone personally.”
“Naturally. It was yours from the beginning, Young Master.”
We were still talking when the sound of frantic hoofbeats rang out.
“Urgent message!”
A Martial Alliance courier leaped down from his horse. Gwangcheol turned to him and asked,
“What is it?”
“Commander Gwangcheol! The Martial Alliance Leader is personally on his way to the Hubei branch!”
Gwangcheol’s face went white.
“What? The Alliance Leader himself is coming to Hubei?”
“Yes! He immediately departed after hearing of the solo subjugation of a transcendence-level beast! He is expected to arrive tomorrow morning!”
This was unprecedented. For the Martial Alliance Leader to visit a local branch in person was nothing short of a major event.
Gwangcheol’s voice shook.
“The Alliance Leader is moving personally... So soloing a transcendence-level beast is that significant...”
“Yes, and he also ordered that Deputy Commander Hyeonseong be told he wishes to meet you personally.”
Zhuge Hyeonggeon couldn’t hide his astonishment either.
“The Martial Alliance Leader himself is coming, and he wants to meet Young Master Hyeonseong as well... This is beyond anything I could have imagined.”
At dawn the next day, the Martial Alliance’s Hubei branch was in an uproar. Every available person had been mobilized to prepare for the Alliance Leader’s visit.
“Move faster! The Alliance Leader will be here soon!”
“Has the garden been cleaned?”
“What about the banquet hall?”
Gwangcheol was running around everywhere with a tense expression. Word kept coming in that the Martial Alliance Leader, having departed from Hebei, was moving rapidly south and drawing near to the Hubei branch.
“Deputy Commander Hyeonseong, are your preparations complete?”
“Yes, they are.”
I stood by in a neatly pressed martial robe. Duseong, Hwaung, and Jinu were also at my side, each wearing a strained expression.
“Dasa-hyung, I still can’t believe the Martial Alliance Leader is coming here himself...”
Duseong’s voice was tinged with excitement.
“And all the way here just to meet you...”
Hwaung also looked rigid with nerves.
“The Martial Alliance Leader...”
Not long ago, I had still been a nobody from the tiny Jigeom Sect. It was hard to believe. To any martial artist, the position of Martial Alliance Leader was the pinnacle of aspiration.
Then, a horn sounded in the distance.
“The Alliance Leader has arrived!”
The main gate of the Hubei branch swung open wide, and beyond it appeared a grand procession.
At the front were a hundred elite guards.
Behind them came a splendid palanquin.
The palanquin stopped, and one man stepped out.
The Martial Alliance Leader, Cheon Mujin.
He looked to be a man in middle age, and he walked with a dignity that seemed to press down on the air itself. With every step he took, the atmosphere around him trembled.
Profound Realm.
He was a master standing at one of the highest peaks of martial achievement.
“I am Gwangcheol, commander of the Martial Alliance Hubei branch. Greetings, Alliance Leader!”
Gwangcheol bowed deeply. The entire branch followed suit at once.
“Rise.”
Cheon Mujin’s gaze settled on me.
“You are Hyeonseong?”
“I am Hyeonseong of Cheongongbang. It is an honor to meet you, Alliance Leader.”
I returned a formal martial salute.
“Cheongongbang? That’s a name I haven’t heard before. I was told you originally belonged to the Jigeom Sect?”
“I’ve since left the sect and am operating independently.”
“I see. Ah... Cheongongbang—is that the place the Zhuge Clan established?”
I answered respectfully.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“A young man who single-handedly subjugated a transcendence-level beast... Seeing you in person makes the rumors feel even more unbelievable.”
Cheon Mujin took a step closer. In that instant, a suffocating pressure flooded the room.
“I’d like to speak with you privately for a moment. Everyone else, leave us.”
Gwangcheol looked flustered, but he couldn’t disobey the Alliance Leader.
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
Once everyone had withdrawn, only Cheon Mujin and I remained in the reception room of the Hubei branch. Cheon Mujin stared out the window in silence for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“How did you deal with a transcendence-level beast?”
It was a direct question. When I get back to Cheongongbang, I need to organize and publish the beast classifications as soon as possible. While I was briefly silent, the Martial Alliance Leader asked again.
“It couldn’t have been done by ordinary means.”
“I was fortunate. I found its weakness...”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Cheon Mujin turned and looked directly at me. His eyes seemed to pierce straight through anything he saw.
“According to the extermination squad’s testimony, crimson flames rose from your sword. Not ordinary fire, either, but a power so fierce even the beast feared it.”
I remained silent. There was no denying it.
“And they said the extreme-class beast spoke. It said, ‘Humans can’t possess power like this.’”
Cheon Mujin lifted his teacup and took a sip.
“Did you learn some special martial art? Or...”
The Martial Alliance Leader paused for a moment, then fixed me with a sharp gaze.
“Do you have some other secret?”
It was a dangerous question. Did he know about the Dragon Pearl? Or was he simply probing?
“I gained an insight by chance in the midst of an extreme situation.”
“Hmm.”
Cheon Mujin nodded. He didn’t seem fully convinced, but he didn’t press further.
“Then what do you think about the Illusion Gates? I hear you’ve fought near them several times.”
“They’re... unpredictable. No one can know when or where they’ll open, or what will come out of them.”
“True enough. But it seems you’ve found something.”
Sharp as ever. For a man who stood at the top of the Martial Alliance, his information network was formidable.
“Not completely, no. But there are a few signs I’ve identified before a gate appears.”
“What kind of signs?”
“Before a gate opens, nearby animals behave strangely. And the air carries a peculiar scent. Something like metal, but not quite.”
Cheon Mujin looked interested.
“Go on.”
“Also, the size and duration of a gate tend to correlate with the rank of the beasts that emerge. A gate large enough to produce a profound-class beast like this one...”
When I mentioned profound class, the Martial Alliance Leader tilted his head.
“Profound class?”
“Ah, that’s the beast ranking I came up with. It refers to beasts on the level of a transcendence-class threat.”
I explained the beast classifications in detail. As he listened, surprise flickered across Cheon Mujin’s face.
“Oh? That’s a very useful way to separate them. In truth, classifying beasts by the existing martial ranks wasn’t very practical.”
I continued.
“Gates strong enough to produce a profound-class beast are usually enormous and last a long time.”
Cheon Mujin sat down and gestured for me to do the same.
“How much do you know about beast ecology?”
“Only in limited terms. But a few things are certain. They become stronger at night, their power concentrates around illusion stones, and the higher their rank, the greater their intelligence.”
“Did this profound-class beast have intelligence as well?”
“Yes. It spoke. And it fought strategically. Its attacks weren’t driven by instinct alone; they were calculated.”
Cheon Mujin’s expression grew grave.
“That is the part that concerns me most. Beasts with intelligence... The situation will only become more dangerous from here.”
The Martial Alliance Leader fell into thought for a moment before asking again.
“We’ve been receiving reports that gates are opening more and more often. And stronger beasts are appearing with them.”
“I’ve noticed that as well.”
“At first it was only livestock class. Then human class became common, earth class began appearing as well, and now even profound class and extreme class...”
Cheon Mujin rose and began pacing slowly.
“At this rate, heaven class won’t be far behind.”
“If a heaven-class beast appears, it would be a calamity itself. One of those could devastate an entire fortress.”
Heavy silence filled the room.
“That’s why the Martial Alliance is preparing countermeasures. We’re organizing stronger extermination squads, training beast specialists, and developing new weapons and tactics.”
“But even that...”
“I know it isn’t enough.”
Cheon Mujin looked at me.
“That’s why we need exceptional talent like you. Ordinary methods have their limits.”
He stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Do you think you can close a gate?”
I nodded.
“Yes. With enough preparation, it’s possible.”
Cheon Mujin smiled faintly.
“I see. Then I’ll look forward to it.”