The Immortal Descends with Thunder
Following the recovery of the Green Jade Buddha Staff and the incident involving the head of the Zhuge Clan, Seong-jin’s name was being whispered across the entirety of Hubei. Yet, even with the region currently teeming with hot-blooded martial artists gathered for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, no one dared to rashly confront him. The reason was simple.
Yeong-myeong, the Mount Hua Sword Dragon, had officially confirmed one of the many mysteries surrounding Seong-jin. In such a climate, acting rudely toward Seong-jin was tantamount to declaring war on the entire Mount Hua Sect. Furthermore, this came right after the Beggar Sect Leader had declared in front of the Zhuge Clan head, "He's our boy. He's not a beggar, but he's definitely one of ours."
Rumors began to circulate that two of the Nine Sects and One Clan were collaborating to create some sort of human weapon. As the situation escalated, some even attempted to formally request the disclosure of information regarding the guest warrior Joo Seong-jin from the Murim Alliance General Affairs Office. The Alliance’s response was simple:
"The matter you inquired about has been classified as confidential by the Grand Alliance Leader’s order; therefore, we cannot provide an answer."
With the Murim Alliance joining the two sects, even the most reckless martial artists found it difficult to touch Seong-jin. Amidst this, Baek Mu-gyeol, having returned to the Murim Alliance, sought to resolve several trivial issues unrelated to swordsmanship all at once.
"The conclusion of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and the inauguration of the new Division Leader. It’s a hassle, so why not do it all at once?"
Appearing in the conference hall, he summarized the entire situation in one sentence:
"Tell them to fight amongst themselves."
The pretext for the Division Leader interview was simple:
"One cannot be considered a Division Leader of the active combat force if they are defeated by a mere rising star; therefore, prove yourself by defeating the rising stars of the Heavenly Martial Academy."
The reasoning for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was similar:
"We did not mobilize all the resources of the Righteous Faction to support the Heavenly Martial Academy just to train Division Leader-level martial artists; prove yourself by defeating the Division Leader candidate of the Arangdae."
It was a death match where one side was destined to become the loser. When a man with invincible power speaks, that logic becomes the law. Unexpectedly, the Law Enforcement Department and the sects behind it were favorable to this plan.
"Proceed as the Alliance Leader wishes."
These were sects that wanted to verify if the effort of creating the Heavenly Martial Academy to train rising stars had truly been effective. Furthermore, it was an opportunity to confirm the skills of a new, mysterious expert they had been curious about. With no reason to object, the plan proceeded rapidly. This meant that because of a single word from the Murim Alliance Leader, those below him would suffer. Geum Ye-hwa was one of them.
"And so, it seems you will have to face the participants of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, Warrior Joo..."
Geum Ye-hwa, who had visited the Dokjakdang to convey the situation, wore the expression of a condemned sinner. As a member of a family of Yokai, she knew all too well how terrifying the price of leaking heavenly secrets could be. Yet, in her attempt to help Seong-jin from the shadows by giving him the external title of a Murim Alliance Division Leader, she had inadvertently pushed him onto the main stage. From her perspective, it was a grave mistake.
"I originally intended to reorganize the Arangdae directly under the General Affairs Office and quietly turn it into a Yokai response unit. I am sorry."
"It is fine. Did you not simply perform the task you were assigned, Lady Geum? It is an order that came down in the name of the Grand Alliance Leader; if there is a fault, it is the fault of the Grand Alliance Leader for not anticipating that things would turn out this way."
"Ah, well, that is..."
"It seems I have spoken out of turn. I did not mean to insult Lady Geum's superior. Please forget it."
Geum Ye-hwa, who had not yet been able to confess to Seong-jin that she was the Grand Alliance Leader, had no choice but to keep her mouth shut. It was a secret identity she kept because prestigious families and sects would not communicate properly if they knew a young woman without a powerful background was sitting in the seat of the Grand Alliance Leader. Moreover, to convince them of her position, she would have to reveal her divine ability to distinguish truth from lies, which carried the risk of leaking heavenly secrets.
She didn't need to hide her identity from Seong-jin, who had come from Mount Bongnae, but unfortunately, she had missed the timing to explain. 'Let's not make this already headache-inducing situation more complicated; I'll reveal the truth later.' Unable to say, "The person you just insulted is me," Geum Ye-hwa simply nodded and changed the subject.
"Anyway, will you be alright sparring with the participants of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? You cannot use Taoist arts in front of everyone, so you must rely only on martial arts."
"The more I show my prowess there, the less noise will follow the future activities of the Arangdae."
Seong-jin had already suffered enough in his childhood from those who coveted his talent, seeing all sorts of ugly sights. Although he had been isolated in the mountains with immortals and distanced from human affairs, he was well-acquainted with the nature of people.
"It seems my worries were unnecessary. I will inform you of the sparring date later. For now, the major sects are blinded by the treasures discovered in the Heavenly Demon's tomb, so it is difficult to proceed."
"Understood. Then I shall refine my martial arts study as much as possible until that day."
After sending Geum Ye-hwa away, Seong-jin devoted himself to training for the remaining time. There were only a few days left until the public sparring session prepared by the General Affairs Office. Seong-jin dismantled and recombined every martial arts technique he had seen and learned to fit his reborn body. It was not a difficult task. He simply needed to adjust his body and mind to the correct flow of Qi. However, it was a task that required time, as he had to test every single technique to confirm the changed results. As a result, Seong-jin wrestled with his techniques until the very moment he was on the verge of being late on the day of the sparring.
"The time has already..."
It was a situation where it was uncertain if he could arrive on time even if he left now.
"It cannot be helped."
He had pulled an all-nighter, but there was no fatigue in his body. The boundless Internal Energy residing in his Three Dantian, which had achieved unity, remained bottomless despite the significant amount consumed for researching techniques. Now, he could sufficiently reproduce "that" which his master had shown him.
"Come."
At Seong-jin's call, his sword flew to him.
The Murim Alliance's Grand Banquet Hall. Transformed into a public sparring arena for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, it was packed with tens of thousands of spectators, ranging from absolute experts like the Murim Alliance Leader, the Zhuge Clan head, and the Wudang Sect Leader, to the common people of Hubei. In this situation, the rising stars were exchanging ceremonial greetings with their peers, waiting for Seong-jin, who had yet to appear.
"So? There are more than ten people left in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering; which one of us will face that guest warrior?"
The one who brought up the topic was Tang Yeong-yeong, born of the Sichuan Tang Clan, who had secured a spot in the top 8 of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. Because the original gathering had been halted during the round of 16, more than ten people remained, excluding those who had clearly been eliminated.
"Honestly, even if the opponent is a Peak Expert, can they defeat everyone gathered here without Unity of Body and Sword?"
The biggest difference between a First-rate Expert and a Peak Expert lay in the Shin-geom-hap-il (Unity of Body and Sword). The power of this state was akin to mysterious Taoist arts—it possessed terrifying effects, such as arrows that automatically pursued their target or sword energy generated at will in mid-air. If one side possessed this unity while the other did not, victory was nearly impossible. Conversely, without it, the gap between a First-rate and a Peak Expert was not that large. The reason Dan Mok-cheong had been able to pierce the Green Forest Palace Ghost was that, excluding the attack-specialized unity, there was no skill gap that would allow a swordsman to survive after giving up distance.
However, the unity of the Green Forest Palace Ghost was terrifying in that if one were determined to kill a person and set the stage by gathering arrows, few in the world could withstand it. If tens of thousands of arrows from a Peak Expert suddenly rained down on your head while you were sitting on a latrine, you would likely cross to the afterlife before you could even pull up your pants.
"True, once the unity is determined, it's over, so depending on the compatibility, an absolute hierarchy can form even between Peak Experts. The guy who is the Murim Alliance's secret weapon surely won't use his unity in front of everyone."
Nangong Hwi-ji, the Young Master of the Nangong Clan, responded to Tang Yeong-yeong's words. Everyone remaining in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was a First-rate expert or someone close to that level. Moreover, they were all considered the greatest talents in the history of their respective Nine Sects and One Clan or Five Great Clans. They were the golden generation raised by the Righteous Faction, which had been thoroughly devastated by the Heavenly Demon.
"So, we should decide the order of who will step up first in this sparring, but that guy has been silently refining his sword energy since earlier."
Nangong Hwi-ji pointed to Yeong-myeong, who was meditating among the gathered rising stars. Nangong Hwi-ji, who had been tapped as the Young Master early on and had received all the resources meant for the succession competition, had not been able to gain the upper hand against the Mount Hua Sword Dragon.
"Well, it's not just the Mount Hua Sword Dragon who has been silent since earlier."
Tang Yeong-yeong pointed to the Jianchang Sword, who had been praying to somewhere since earlier.
"Are the members of the Nine Sects and One Clan afraid?"
Tang Yeong-yeong mocked the two. As Yeong-myeong was focused on meditation as if facing a great battle, the other rising stars of the Nine Sects and One Clan were just watching. On the other hand, the rising stars of the Five Great Clans were gathered around Nangong Hwi-ji, showing the confidence of descendants of prestigious families.
"The only exception is Lady Shin, perhaps?"
It was Zhuge Lin, who, despite coming from the Five Great Clans, was evaluated as being a notch lower in martial arts compared to the other rising stars. Thanks to this, the person who came up in her place, having been eliminated from the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering early, was Shin Su-ran of the Shin Clan, a rising prestigious family that had not yet entered the Five Great Clans. She was the type who had lived only holding her spear, not mingling with others even while the Heavenly Martial Academy was divided into those from martial sects and those from martial clans. Because of this, even now, while the rising stars of the Nine Sects and One Clan watched Yeong-myeong and those of the Five Great Clans watched Nangong Hwi-ji, she was alone, holding her spear and muttering to herself, not mingling with others.
"Do not take the word 'Lady' lightly. It is said that the Divine Spear personally passed down his spear to her this time, so she should also be considered a Young Master like me."
Nangong Hwi-ji already showed interest in Shin Su-ran, who had been passed the Clan Head's sacred relic. Unlike the rising stars of the Nine Sects and One Clan, for the rising stars of the Five Great Clans, whether the opponent was someone confirmed as a Young Master was very important. Since the Clan Head personally passing down his own weapon was effectively a declaration of a Young Master, it meant she should be treated as the successor to a major power, not a general rising star.
"Hmph, even so, it's a clan that doesn't even possess a single Peak Expert other than the current Clan Head, right? You're in a different league from us."
Tang Yeong-yeong showed jealousy as Nangong Hwi-ji showed interest in Shin Su-ran.
"Even so, it's not something to compare with the Nine Sects and One Clan guys who are just scared."
Nangong Hwi-ji said so and looked at the rising stars of the Nine Sects and One Clan who were still just watching. In his view, the disciples of the Nine Sects and One Clan were "rootless bastards" unlike himself. It wasn't about the history of the sect. Unlike martial clans, which are connected only by clan bloodlines, the sects of the Jianghu accept anyone, whether an orphan or otherwise, if they have talent for martial arts. Naturally, compared to martial clans composed only of those born with the same blood from the beginning, their genealogy was bound to be messy.
"To think they are trembling like scared dogs over a rootless guest warrior."
He was burning with hostility toward Seong-jin. Seong-jin had been dispatched to the tomb as a guest warrior of the Murim Alliance, but in the end, he failed to save Zhuge Hyeok, who became a cripple. Zhuge Hyeok was the most likely candidate to be the Young Master of the Zhuge Clan. Nangong Hwi-ji had been building a relationship with him, expecting him to be the next Zhuge Clan head, but everything had been overturned in an instant.
"Surely, he defeated the Green Forest Palace Ghost by taking advantage of the moments when the Ghost was exhausted from fighting Zhuge Hyeok. In the end, I cannot forgive treating a guy who failed the rescue mission and only finished off a dying enemy as a hero."
Nangong Hwi-ji took pride in being a Young Master of the Five Great Clans more than anyone else. To him, Zhuge Hyeok becoming a cripple was a huge event. A guest warrior who was being hailed as a new hero despite failing the rescue was a shock enough to make Nangong Hwi-ji grind his teeth. To him, warriors with different surnames were merely tools hired with money.
'I cannot forgive a tool that failed to protect its master.'
Yet, the disciples of the Nine Sects and One Clan were all just watching, which was bound to be annoying. His annoyance shifted from the unseen Seong-jin to the visible disciples of the Nine Sects and One Clan.
"Will you act the same way even if the elders of your sect become cripples?"
Even at such provocation, Yeong-myeong remained silent. As Nangong Hwi-ji, unable to hold back, was about to cross the line:
"Clear."
"I saw it!"
The Mount Hua Sword Dragon and the Jianchang Sword suddenly drew their swords and scattered.
"It's coming!"
The Lightning Spear looked up at the sky and shouted. The moment the gazes of the other rising stars followed the tip of Shin Su-ran's spear to look up at the sky—
"Shut your mouth."
A thunderbolt struck the clear sky. The strike of an immortal who had descended riding the lightning exploded upon Nangong Hwi-ji.