Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 292
Chapter Title: Flames
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Hyun-gong had vanished, claiming he would try to persuade the fainted Guiwang, but he returned sooner than expected.
Hong Geolgae asked with a sour expression.
"What happened? Why are you back so soon?"
"It's done."
Hong Geolgae paused for a moment, then grinned slyly, misreading the situation.
"Figured it wouldn't work, huh?"
"No. I said it's done. I've won him over."
"···?"
This time, not only Hong Geolgae, but Dang Mujin and Namgung Myeong's expressions turned subtle as well.
From the moment Hyun-gong had dragged Guiwang away until now, not even enough time had passed to finish a cup of tea.
'He succeeded in that short time?'
Of course, everyone knew Hyun-gong's silver tongue was far from ordinary.
But this was on a level that defied common sense, no matter how you sliced it. This wasn't about reeling in some bland fellow—it was about sweet-talking someone who'd been fighting tooth and nail for their life.
Namgung Myeong asked in a serious tone.
"Did you use some kind of sorcery?"
"Sorcery? Nah, just a few words."
"If a few words can turn a mortal enemy into an ally, that counts as sorcery."
As the group launched into a heated debate over whether Hyun-gong's tongue dipped into sorcery territory or not, Manryeokseung and Hwaihwa Nogae returned.
Their hands and sleeves were caked in dirt. They'd just come back from burying Divine Monk.
Manryeokseung was a bit downcast after sending off his deceased master, while Hwaihwa Nogae stood beside him, doing his best to look solemn.
That said, the resolve from earlier was gone from Hwaihwa Nogae's face. Once the heat of battle fades, reason returns.
'It's a shame Divine Monk passed, but good thing it wasn't me who had to draw out my innate essence.'
It wasn't selfishness so much as realism. Even if Hwaihwa Nogae had drawn out his innate essence, he wouldn't have matched Divine Monk's feats.
Sure, success might've let him sacrifice himself to cover everyone's escape if luck was on his side. Valuable, no doubt—but still a bit too steep a price for his own life.
Manryeokseung dusted off his hands and asked Hyun-gong.
"Junior brother. The morning sun's already up. When are you heading out to persuade Guiwang?"
Evidently, Manryeokseung hadn't realized Hyun-gong had already been and gone.
"It's already done. I've finished persuading him, so he'll be here soon."
"···Already? Did you torture him? Or use sorcery?"
People really did think alike.
Just as Namgung Myeong was about to chime in and slander Hyun-gong, Guiwang appeared right on cue.
Guiwang approached the group, careful not to let his broken arms swing about.
His movements looked extremely awkward, but there were no signs of torture, and his eyes were clear. Didn't seem like sorcery either.
Manryeokseung lowered his voice and asked Hyun-gong.
"How'd you pull it off?"
"Showing true sincerity doesn't take much time."
"···I see."
It wasn't the most convincing explanation, but pressing further would be awkward. Manryeokseung turned and stared hard at Guiwang.
His feelings toward Guiwang were complicated. He definitely saw him as an enemy, but not enough to lose control with killing intent. Just someone to crush if the chance arose.
Truth be told, the one who truly boiled Manryeokseung's rage was Gwangyeomra. That coward's sneak attack had taken down Divine Monk, after all.
That was why he'd approved Hyun-gong's proposal to persuade Guiwang.
If delaying Guiwang's death by a bit meant getting Gwangyeomra's head, he'd welcome it with open arms.
Hyun-gong gazed at Guiwang alongside Manryeokseung. And he pondered Guiwang's future.
'It doesn't look good.'
Other sects might let it slide, but three would never forgive Guiwang: Qingcheng Sect, Zhongnan Sect, and Kunlun Sect.
Wudang or Shaolin wouldn't shield him either, not if it meant clashing with the other righteous warriors.
Even the Tang family stronghold, swarming with all sorts, would be the same. They wouldn't want bad blood with their neighbors in Qingcheng.
'Nine times out of ten, he'll die. If he's really lucky, maybe thrown in a prison.'
But Hyun-gong decided not to tell Guiwang that. Crushing his hope might ruin everything.
For a moment, he recalled a certain eccentric who'd escaped an ironclad prison. Something about 'hope being the best thing,' right?
Hyun-gong gathered his thoughts and began.
"Guiwang. Any information we absolutely need to know?"
The words were polite, but the intent was clear: spill the core details first.
It was also a test from Hyun-gong.
Dragging out trivialities to dodge would be failure. Coughing up the key info smoothly would be a pass.
Guiwang didn't realize it was a test, but luckily, he dove straight into the heart of it.
And given his position, his tone was exceedingly humble.
"You've probably guessed already··· but the Demonic Cult is behind this Righteous-Evil War."
"Really!"
Dang Mujin, Namgung Myeong, and Hong Geolgae all feigned startled reactions.
These little responses were what made a story flow.
"Yes. They incited the unorthodox warriors in their own ways, stirring strife between the righteous and unorthodox worlds. Each used different methods. I won over unorthodox fighters by passing on my martial arts and insights."
Dang Mujin recalled their arrival at Kunlun Sect.
Back then, Guiwang had clouded people's minds with a strange incense, then taught his arts from the platform.
Hwaihwa Nogae asked.
"Why stir strife between the righteous and unorthodox worlds?"
"The unorthodox world has little to do with the Demonic Cult, really. Unorthodox warriors are like grains of sand—they don't band together without rain, and even then, they clash with the righteous, not scheme for the Cult. The problem is the righteous world."
Righteous warriors occasionally stormed up to Heavenly Mountain for a show of force. The so-called Righteous-Demonic Wars. From the Cult's view, enough to make anyone sick of them.
Hwaihwa Nogae pieced together rumors he'd heard here and there.
"Right. That new Cult Leader. Ambitious type, huh? Wants to weaken the righteous world first, then invade for revenge on past defeats?"
There was a subtle thrill in Hwaihwa Nogae's voice. A Demonic Cult transcendent groveling before him felt oddly satisfying.
Guiwang replied.
"Close. But not quite."
"How so?"
"Fighting between the Cult and righteous world might happen eventually. But even if the Leader strikes the righteous, it won't be his current goal—merely a result. The Leader stirred strife between righteous and unorthodox purely to buy time."
"Time for what?"
"Time to cultivate the new martial art he's acquired."
Inciting a bloodbath just to buy cultivation time.
Absurd on its face, but it implied something: the art must be that valuable.
Guiwang knew what they'd wonder next and pressed on without pause.
"The Leader acquired many arts, but the core one is the Qiankun Great Shift, rooted in the Pasha region of the Western Regions. He obtained the full manual and surpassed his prior realm in just three years."
"···Hmm?"
Dang Mujin knew the early part well, but the end was a total shock. Surpassed his prior realm?
Not just Dang Mujin—everyone struggled to grasp it.
The Demonic Cult had few members, but their average skill was sky-high. Dang Mujin knew of six transcendents: the Grand Protector, Left and Right Protectors, Guiwang, Gwangyeomra, and Three-Eyed Buddha.
Though Three-Eyed Buddha had left for Tang stronghold, and Right Protector was dead.
At any rate, everyone in the Central Plains knew the Cult's three Protectors were transcendents.
Yet Guiwang had just said the Grand Protector, now Leader, had surpassed that realm.
"Hold on. You're saying the current Leader wasn't a transcendent?"
Manryeokseung's voice shook. Considering he'd kept calm mid-battle, his shock was obvious.
"That's right."
Manryeokseung unwittingly closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them.
This flew in the face of martial commonsense. The pinnacle of human achievement was transcendent realm—that was the orthodoxy.
Some masters speculated realms beyond, and Manryeokseung was one.
But that was just positing existence—not that humans could reach them.
Realms for those who'd transcended humanity, like Zhang Sanfeng, Sword Immortal Ye Dongbin, or Bodhidharma. Realms requiring shedding the mortal coil.
That was the view of post-transcendent realms.
Dang Mujin was just as rattled.
He'd known the Cult Leader got some insane art, but figured it was within transcendent bounds.
Top transcendent, undisputed strongest under heaven, expand Cult power on that base—that's what he'd imagined.
Manryeokseung asked.
"You sure about that?"
"Divine Monk's final three flower buds. Not the first time I'd seen it. The Leader's prowess matches or exceeds what Divine Monk showed at the end."
A realm reached only in accepting death. And a living man had attained it.
A human stepping into immortal territory. A new era dawning in the martial world.
Or no need for such abstraction.
It was simple and brutally real.
They'd face someone with Divine Monk's final prowess—or beyond.
Hyun-gong sighed soundlessly as he listened.
'My judgment was off. Smarter to snag a spot in the Cult than guard Wudang's head seat.'
'Could I persuade Guiwang to head back now and tag along discreetly?'
'Or maybe find a way to contact Gwangyeomra? Which way did he flee again?'
Worse, Guiwang's tale didn't end there.
"The Leader vowed ten years of cultivation. He reached the next realm in three, and two more have passed since. What he'll hit after five more years? Even I don't know. Probably not him either."
Hong Geolgae shook his head. Breathless just listening.
"Worse, he's not strengthening alone. His seclusion ended one or two years ago. Now he's sharing his achievements, cultivation, and insights with Cult warriors. Several broke through peak realm from his teachings, some even transcendent. I made decent gains myself."
"Wait—new transcendents in the Cult?"
"You've met one already. Baekya Hyo. Dead now, though."
Dang Mujin recalled Baekya Hyo, the one impersonating Kunlun's head.
Made sense now why no righteous warrior at Wudang Mountain recognized the name.
Of course. He wasn't unorthodox—he'd been a peak Cult expert from distant Heavenly Mountain not long ago.
He also remembered chasing Guiwang with Three-Eyed Buddha long ago. Guiwang hadn't flung palm winds like now. Must be gains from the Leader's teachings.
Hwaihwa Nogae's face grew grave.
"We've got a breather now. Must unite the righteous world and strike the Cult, no matter what."
But Guiwang shook his head.
"No."
"What now?"
"You won't have leisure for a while."
"Why not? The Cult's plot's exposed, Gwangyeomra's fled in defeat."
Guiwang spoke in a low, sinking voice.
"The orders the Leader gave Gwangyeomra and me didn't include 'in secret.'"
"···What does that mean?"
"It means buy time even if discovered. And Gwangyeomra fled north—to unorthodox territory."
All eyes turned north.
Guiwang steadied his breath and wrapped up.
"Gwangyeomra will gather every force he can and strike the righteous world soon."