Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Unification (1)
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Rustle.
At the sound of rustling dry bushes, the man’s eyes shot open.
Though the unresolved fatigue was agonizing, continuing to sleep like this was a sure way to die.
‘First, I have to block his vision.’
Swoosh!
With lightning speed, the man’s hand stripped off his outer garment and threw it.
The outer layer was made of tiger skin, a rather expensive item, but it wasn’t more valuable than his life.
It was merely a shame.
‘I’m being forced to abandon the things my brother gave me, one by one.’
The man, Bai Dong-il, couldn’t hide his bitter expression.
The powerfully thrown garment flew toward the bushes.
A mere instant.
That was all the time it would take for the warrior in the bushes to counterattack.
Rip, sssshred!
The dry blades of grass, heralding the approach of autumn, screamed.
At the same time, it was the sound of leather being torn by a blade.
The moment he heard the sound, Bai Dong-il rolled his body away.
Unexpectedly, the pursuer's blade was fierce.
‘To think it could pierce an outer garment reinforced with tiger skin!’
Bai Dong-il grit his teeth. A mere graze from that sword would tear flesh and shatter bone.
However, his expression was feigned to look somewhat relaxed.
"Hey, beggar. Did you finish taking a shit?"
"What a load of crap."
He perked his ears at the blunt reply. The gruff Guangdong accent sounded peculiar.
From that, Bai Dong-il could identify which branch the beggar belonged to.
‘He’s close to the Branch Leader. Just when is the man Father mentioned supposed to arrive?’
Bai Dong-il felt a sense of frustration.
And for good reason. It had been three days.
Three days since he barely escaped from Ouyang Jue, only to have the Black Dragon Gang’s secret branch exposed, forcing him to wander from place to place.
Until today, he had trusted the promise that his father, Black Dragon Gang Leader Bai Wun-hwan, would send subordinates.
But now, it was time to change his mind.
‘They’re closing in. How can I possibly believe that now?’
This meant that not a single measure had been taken by the Black Dragon Gang, and the only thing waiting for him was the Beggars’ Sect’s tightening encirclement.
‘He said Gyeon Ju-gae, the current master of the Shaanxi branch, was on our side. Was that a lie?’
In truth, Gyeon Ju-gae’s orders had not yet been handed down.
Neither the beggar nor Bai Dong-il had any way of knowing that.
They were simply throwing themselves into a fight for their own survival!
In an instant, Bai Dong-il’s eyes, tinged with red, drew a long arc.
Clang!
As the blades clashed, a searing heat spread through the dry autumn sky. Sweat he had been holding back to avoid leaving a scent now flowed, making his palms slick.
Simultaneously, Bai Dong-il’s eyes cut through the heat.
It was time to see what the beggar had used to slice through the leather.
Bai Dong-il’s eyes widened as he saw the beggar’s hands.
‘Claw Arts!’
Realizing the danger, Bai Dong-il pulled his sword back sharply.
Claw Arts was a martial art that utilized weapons with blades attached to basic gauntlets.
It combined the freedom of fist techniques with the lethality of blades.
Sure enough.
Seizing the opening Bai Dong-il had shown, the beggar’s eyes curved sinisterly, as if aiming to tear out his heart.
This was bad. He had to block it.
Driven by this single thought, Bai Dong-il forced his knees to bend. The sudden movement twisted his cartilage.
"Kuh…!"
A pained groan escaped Bai Dong-il’s lips. But the hand gripping his sword was still full of strength.
‘Red Dragon Emerges from the Sea.’
Bai Dong-il’s sword coiled and rode the waves.
Even movements that seemed useless a moment ago now undulated like a tide.
Because of this, even the beggar, who had been charging in with great momentum, couldn’t hide his dismayed expression.
Then, the bent knees straightened once more.
‘Red Dragon Pushes the Mountain.’
Craaack!
The blade, fully infused with internal energy, shattered the beggar’s tiger claw gauntlets. It even sent his body flying back.
"Damn it… you bastard!"
As if he hadn't expected Bai Dong-il to possess such skill, the beggar hastily retreated and executed the Jade Wall Palm.
He chose defense over offense, intending to withdraw and report his findings.
However, Bai Dong-il’s figure instantly moved in front of the beggar.
"Red Dragon Spews Flames!"
Bai Dong-il’s right hand moved swiftly, creating countless sword shadows.
Beautiful.
The beggar’s entire vision filled with sword shadows drawn in red internal energy.
Seeing this, the beggar smiled bitterly.
"…Damn it all. My apologies, Branch Leader."
Splurt!
A long line of blood was drawn from the beggar’s left shoulder down to his right thigh.
* * *
Meanwhile, after concluding a week-long funeral, the Mount Hua Sect made a grand announcement across Shaanxi.
*In Gungseo font // All Taoist sects located in Shaanxi, gather. //*
There was no need to read the content.
Anyone who knew what had transpired in Shaanxi so far understood its meaning as clear as day.
The unification of the Taoist sects of Shaanxi.
It was an event so rare in the history of the martial world that you could count the occurrences on one hand.
It was also threatening.
Thus, some voiced their concerns.
‘At this rate, small and medium-sized Taoist sects could be swallowed up without a trace.’
‘No… could this lead to the absorption of Taoist sects in other provinces?’
A distortion of balance.
The subtle rivalry between the Southern and Northern schools, between the Zhongnan and Mount Hua Sects, was now on the verge of complete collapse.
Some might recall the temporary alliances formed during the era of the Old Demonic Cult, but the difference was far greater.
While the Old Demonic Cult was an enemy of the entire martial world, the Black Dragon Gang was merely one of the many unorthodox factions that had existed until now.
Naturally, many other unorthodox factions were associated with them.
Given that they had provoked both the Mount Hua Sect and the Beggars' Sect, it was widely accepted as fact, not just a popular theory, that someone was backing them.
Therefore, striking the Black Dragon Gang could potentially shatter the balance of the unorthodox martial world.
At the same time, Taoist sects with weaker Taoist leanings and stronger martial sect characteristics harbored resentment.
The Northern school, which Mount Hua followed, taught cultivating the mind first, then the body.
How could such people possibly harass even the smaller sects?
‘We’ll have to watch for an opportunity and slowly test the waters.’
With the intention of using time as a weapon to create room for compromise, a movement to form an assembly gradually spread, reaching even the smallest of places.
Like the Zhongwan Sect, which had just arrived.
Ouyang Jue, who had stopped in front of the main gate, raised his voice.
"I am here to see the Sect Leader of the Zhongwan Sect!"
As he spoke, Ouyang Jue thought to himself.
Mount Hua and Zhongnan had their own weapons.
Zhongnan was the spark of Taoism ignited by Lü Dongbin, and Mount Hua was the orthodoxy of the Northern school, established by the Quanzhen Seven Master Qiu Chuji.
To become their enemy was to lose one's identity as a Taoist sect.
For that reason, most Taoist sects accepted the change. Of course, quite a few sects had joined of their own accord.
"The Black Dragon Gang has crossed the line!"
"How dare they target the direct lineage of the orthodox Mount Hua Sect!"
They shared in the outrage and the sorrow.
Personal feelings aside, this incident had wounded the pride of all Taoists.
But there were always a few exceptions.
"Who dares to brazenly seek the Sect Leader of another sect!"
When Sang Won-gyeol, the Sect Leader of the Zhongwan Sect, rebuked him sternly, the person standing outside the gate stepped inside.
Though he appeared young, the confidence on his face and the imposing aura from his upright posture were truly remarkable.
"Hoh."
A sound of satisfaction escaped Sang Won-gyeol’s lips.
Ouyang Jue’s attitude, on the other hand, was slightly different.
‘The Iron Bamboo Master, Sang Won-gyeol.’
Ouyang Jue slowly narrowed his eyes.
Iron Bamboo, a prefix given for his unbending nature.
Master, a suffix added for his love of lecturing.
However, his martial arts were exceptional, so he was recognized as a formidable figure among the small and medium-sized sects.
‘Hmph.’
To Ouyang Jue, it was all just laughable.
‘He probably surrounds himself with petty men who praise him for reciting a single line from the Tao Te Ching. It’s so obvious.’
Snorting once more, Ouyang Jue took a few more steps forward to stand face-to-face with Sang Won-gyeol.
As he drew closer, a single plum blossom embroidered in the center of his Taoist robe became visible.
Seeing it, Sang Won-gyeol retracted the goodwill he had felt.
"A disciple of the Mount Hua Sect."
"That I am."
Ouyang Jue’s lips twitched, as if to ask if there was some problem with that.
The attitude he now displayed was utterly hostile, a departure from the Taoist demeanor he had feigned until now.
But there was a reason for it.
‘If a man like this isn’t put down firmly, he will cause dissent later.’
Countless groups would shake the martial world in the days to come.
The Hundred Thousand Mountains, the Ten Thousand Year Snow, and even beings of myth.
To establish a firm center amidst it all, a certain kind of cohesion was necessary.
A collective consciousness, a will to stay together until the very end.
A person like Sang Won-gyeol was precisely the kind of existence that could shatter it.
He revered power over righteousness and principle, believing that honor followed in its wake.
It was an ideology more befitting an unorthodox faction, yet here was a man who called himself a Taoist master after reading a few lines of the Tao Te Ching.
There was no need to treat such people with courtesy.
"I heard you have been gathering the small and medium Taoist sects to oppose Mount Hua and Zhongnan."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
Sang Won-gyeol raised both his hands high.
It was a gesture meant not to persuade his opponent, but to crush their spirit.
"In the martial world, grudges are as countless as the stars in the sky and cannot be measured. Yet, Mount Hua and Zhongnan are trying to resolve theirs by borrowing the hands of others, are they not?"
"…"
Go on, keep babbling. Ouyang Jue’s hand moved closer to Severing Manifestation.
"Just because you are the orthodox successors of Taoism does not mean we must submit. A grudge is a personal matter; it can never be a great cause."
"You know one thing, but not the other."
"What did you say?"
The moment Ouyang Jue pointed it out, Sang Won-gyeol’s eyes flew open.
He reacted as if he had just heard his parents being insulted, though all Ouyang Jue had done was point out his mistake.
Ouyang Jue looked at him with an expression of pity.
He didn't even feel the need to use honorifics.
"Has it not occurred to you that if Mount Hua falls, you will be next?"
At those words, Sang Won-gyeol pursed his lips.
It seemed the possibility of him being harmed was more concerning than the informal speech.
"My turn? Is that a threat?"
"A threat?"
A look of doubt appeared on Ouyang Jue’s face.
The sneer that followed pricked Sang Won-gyeol like a thorn.
"Isn’t a threat something that’s possible between, well, equals?"
"…?"
"Personally, I believe the Zhongwan Sect is inferior to even the vassal families of Mount Hua, so…"
As Ouyang Jue scratched the back of his head, Sang Won-gyeol let out a furious roar.
"Hah! How dare you insult me!"
"An insult? I merely stated a simple fact."
"This, this bastard, to the very end…!"
Though his words were fierce, he hesitated, seemingly unwilling to stir up more trouble.
In that case, he had to drive the nail in.
Ouyang Jue’s tongue flickered like a snake.
"While even the Beggars’ Sect is being threatened by the Black Dragon Gang, how can we trust someone who complains about not being the tiger in his own territory instead of uniting with us?"
"…"
Perhaps the repeated bursts of anger had paradoxically cooled his head.
Sang Won-gyeol’s entire body stiffened as he glared at Ouyang Jue.
Ouyang Jue deliberately ignored his gaze and turned his body away from Sang Won-gyeol.
"I will speak to the Sect Leader. I’ll tell him there’s no need to embrace all sects, that the Zhongwan Sect will do just fine on its own."
"Hah!"
Letting out a great roar, Sang Won-gyeol lost his reason and lunged at Ouyang Jue’s back.
Feeling his presence, Ouyang Jue smirked.
This was what he wanted.
"The elder of a sect launching a surprise attack. Righteousness and principle have truly fallen to the ground."
Shing!
Drawn from its scabbard, Severing Manifestation cut through the dry autumn wind as it swung back.