Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 128 - Orthodox Path Murim Alliance (3)
Chapter 128 – Orthodox Path Murim Alliance (3)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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That night.
“Hoho.”
Murong Jun was completely drunk.
It was his first time getting this drunk since his drinking session with Yeon Ho-jeong. No, he hadn’t even drank this much during his drinking session with Yeon Ho-jeong.
“It is an era of peace, but behind it, blood and death are flickering their tongues. That is why the Murim is always an era of rival warlords carving out territories.”
Murong Jun burst into pleasant laughter.
“This is why the world is interesting. It even makes ties from right before the flow of the era was cut off return.”
At that time, a heavy voice was heard.
“Will it be okay?”
“What is?”
“I mean Murong Yu.”
“Hoho, you do not know that child.”
Murong Jun’s eyes shone.
Even after getting that drunk, his eyes were clear. As time passed, the Thunder and Lightning Qi was actively increasing its power.
“There is a reason why I deliberately spared the youngest even in that rough power struggle. The youngest is pure. Because he is pure, he cannot commit betrayal.”
“A person can always change.”
“Even if personality changes, one’s innate nature does not change. I saw the roots of the youngest. Past or present, those roots have not changed.”
Murong Jun’s eyes deepened.
“However…”
Zzzzt.
A threatening blue electric light completely covered his body.
Psssssh.
Instantly, the room was filled with the smell of alcohol. He had discharged the alcohol qi at once.
“At the same time, I also know my own roots.”
“…”
“A poisonous heart that cannot even trust flesh and blood. No, rather, I suspect more because it is flesh and blood. The reason is because I know a betrayal from someone close hurts much more.”
“Are you saying you do not trust Murong Yu? If you do not trust him, why did you accept him?”
“You don’t know how grateful I am to the youngest. I trust the youngest.”
“…”
“However, I do not trust the youngest’s environment. In a situation where I don’t even know what the youngest has seen or what kind of people he has interacted with all this time, I am not an easy enough person to suddenly appoint him.”
“Then what?”
“It’s because I know the guy’s abilities.”
Murong Jun smiled.
“A person gained lightly is bound to disappear lightly. Representative of that is Mong Ui, who I sent off a couple of months ago.”
“…”
“Surprisingly, a person gained with difficulty can also disappear lightly. I gained the youngest after twenty years. How could I easily lose such a precious card that I gained with such difficulty.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“The guy is weak to affection. If so, there is no choice but to tie him up with another affection.”
A cool shadow arose on Murong Jun’s face.
‘No matter what harsh tasks you entrust me with, I will follow without complaint.’
Recalling Murong Yu’s confident eyes, Murong Jun smacked his lips.
“Calling this an affair makes it a bit lacking in affection, but…”
“…?”
“Did you say the eldest daughter of the Central Plains Bank’s leader hasn’t married yet?”
The man’s eyes widened.
The Central Plains Bank was a massive bank counted among the top three in the Jianghu Murim.
Because it had the deepest history among banks, its personal connections were beyond imagination. It had even bought countless masters to protect its money, so just its pure martial power could be seen as beyond a considerable great sect.
And the leader of the Central Plains Bank was quite close friends with Murong Jun.
“The guy’s age is already thirty. No matter how much he has placed his registry in the Murim, not being able to marry at that age, isn’t this a big problem?”
“But… the leader’s eldest daughter is only eighteen now.”
“Uh-huh, what does age matter in marriage? Yu is one of the top geniuses I know. He is someone who will become the clan head of the Murong Clan in the future, so they should rather be the ones to like it.”
Murong Jun smiled like a mischievous boy.
“Send a message to the Central Plains Bank Leader. Tell him to come on an outing to the Murim Alliance.”
* * *
“We have arrived.”
“Yes.”
There are four massive gates in the Murim Alliance. People called those gates the Four Beasts Great Gates.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s expression became strange.
“Four beasts, Four Gods…”
The gate they were trying to enter was the Azure Dragon Great Gate among the gates of the Four Gods.
The pattern of the Azure Dragon was vividly embossed on an enormously massive gate. And the castle walls surrounding the gate were four times higher than the gate.
‘It’s staggering.’
Yeon Ho-jeong inwardly clicked his tongue.
He had also seen the Murim Alliance in the past. But the outer walls of the Murim Alliance back then were half-crumbled due to the war with the Evil Lust Cult.
‘Crazy bastards. To have smashed down such walls.’
It was difficult to even make a proper scratch without pouring in a massive amount of resources. He realized once again just how nonsensical the level of the Evil Lust Cult’s madness-filled power was.
“Let’s enter.”
The martial artists of the Yeon Clan headed towards the front of the Azure Dragon Great Gate.
“Please state your identity.”
“It is the Green Mountain Yeon Clan from Jiangsu Province.”
After going through simple verification procedures, the Azure Dragon Great Gate opened.
Rumble!
The majesty of the Azure Dragon Great Gate slowly opening to the left and right was a masterpiece.
Yeon Ho-jeong smacked his lips.
‘The Dark Emperor Castle didn’t have this kind of flavor.’
The Dark Emperor Castle was much smaller than this. Instead, thousands of gold were poured into the internal construction to increase troop rallying power.
“Wow…”
“Huh?”
Muk Bi looked at the gate as if possessed.
“I-I’m seeing something like that for the first time.”
“…It’s my first time seeing it too.”
Yeah, it’s the first time.
But for some reason, he felt annoyed.
‘You were the one who suggested reducing the scale of the castle building, you damn bastard.’
At that time, Muk Bi argued that the scale of the Dark Emperor Castle should absolutely not be increased. Funds were overflowing sufficiently, but the reason was that considering future battles, there was a need to gather military funds.
So the Dark Emperor Castle was built pursuing minimum cost and maximum efficiency. Of course, Yeon Ho-jeong had also agreed with those words.
Still, with the person involved acting like this, his feelings were a bit like that.
Yeon Ho-jeong roughly messed up Muk Bi’s hair.
“Aargh! Why are you doing this!”
“I don’t know, punk.”
“Ah, really. You’ve only grown more bad-tempered lately.”
“What did you say?”
“You could have just stayed still earlier, but you deliberately created a reason to pick a fight.”
“When did I!”
“With the Namgung Clan.”
“Hey, then do I hold that in? Anyone could see it was a forced apology!”
“Then you could have just ignored it, why provoke him further.”
“You’re saying scary things. Being ignored hurts one’s pride more than being cursed at.”
“Anyway, you didn’t have to be like that. Seriously, you have a knack for causing accidents.”
“This guy’s snout, I’ll just…”
At that time, Yeon Wi said.
“Bi-ah’s words also have a point.”
“…Ugh.”
“It must be like this anywhere in the Jianghu, but as we have come to a place where important matters are discussed, you must pay special attention to your behavior.”
“Do not worry.”
Muk Bi looked at Yeon Ho-jeong with eyes full of distrust.
Yeon Ho-jeong glared at him roughly. Muk Bi turned her head with an expression of ‘Oops, it’s hot’.
Boom!
Finally, the Azure Dragon Great Gate was fully opened.
Yeon Wi’s eyes flashed.
“It is finally the Murim Alliance.”
Accordingly, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes also changed.
He knew that Murong Yu had already come here. Considering the distance or movement speed, he would have arrived at least a day ago at the latest.
‘I trust he bit properly.’
Clip clop.
The Yeon Clan’s group entered inside the Murim Alliance.
The inside of the Murim Alliance was no different from another Central Plains. There were winding roads, and many flat roads.
‘Hmm.’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes swept his surroundings in an instant.
‘They definitely built it properly.’
Even though the territory was enormously wide, the arrangement of buildings and battlements was exceedingly well-structured.
‘An extremely specialized structure for siege defense battles. Just looking at the outside of the outer castle alone, to be at this level…’
Yeon Ho-jeong inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘It’s no joke. It looks like the Dark Emperor Castle was expanded several times over.’
The Murim Alliance in perfect condition was like that. It was showing the majesty of an impregnable fortress that could never be brought down.
Yeon Wi asked.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“It is.”
“It is completely different from the main clan’s architectural structure. The main clan is arranged to be convenient for the assembly and counterattack of martial artists.”
“On the other hand, the Murim Alliance is made to be extremely convenient for siege defense battles.”
“You saw well.”
“It’s probably because of the symbolism called the Murim Alliance. Even if everything else is safe, if the Murim Alliance falls, the Orthodox Path loses its strength. A rare impregnable fortress that no one can capture. Just looking at the Murim Alliance, one can know the history of the Orthodox Path Murim.”
Yeon Wi looked at Yeon Ho-jeong.
Yeon Ho-jeong blinked. It was a very innocent expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
He had been surprised a lot by his eldest son all this time.
He thought there wouldn’t be anything more to be surprised about now, but he was surprised again like this.
‘It’s truly terrifying.’
His son’s words were piercing the core.
The Orthodox Path is different from the Unorthodox Path. The Unorthodox Path uses all sorts of despicable tricks to survive, but the Orthodox Path burns with righteous spirit even to the point of death.
That is why the Unorthodox Path cannot exert proper strength while being scattered hither and thither. If they joined forces, they would at least not have shown weakness like now.
On the other hand, the strength of the Orthodox Path is thoroughly united.
In each region of the Central Plains, the sects in the places where the Nine Sects One Gang and the Six Great Clans have taken root mostly hold hands with them. And all of them fight against foreign forces taking the Murim Alliance as their focal point.
The Orthodox Path has gone right to the brink of destruction, but it has never completely collapsed until now.
The power held by the name, the existence, and this castle called the Murim Alliance was that great.
“There is truly nothing you cannot do. Where did you learn such things?”
Yeon Ho-jeong scratched his head.
“Books. I have a lot of interest in this area…”
Yeon Wi trusted his son. But he did not believe these words right now.
Such things were not something one could know by looking at books. One couldn’t know even by looking at pictures.
One had to see it directly, observe it, and live in such a place to know.
Whether it was martial arts or academics, there were geniuses, but in cases like tactical fortification or strategic layout diagrams, it was thoroughly experience-oriented study.
“You mean to say…”
It was then.
“Heeeeeey!!”
It was truly a resounding voice.
It was a vocal volume that would make anyone turn around. An overwhelming sense of liberation could be felt.
“Fuuuuuck! Young Master Yeooooon!”
The corners of Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes trembled faintly.
He glanced at Yeon Wi.
Naturally, Yeon Wi’s expression was not good. Looking only at his expression, clicking his tongue while wondering where he made such a vulgar friend would not be enough.
But Yeon Wi knew the identity of the other person. That was why he didn’t say anything.
“It’s been a looooong…”
“Ah, be quiet, you crazy beggar bastard!”
Ga Deuk-sang, who had been running at an incredible speed, stopped right there.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was about to ruthlessly spit out a curse word one more time, paused for a moment. Because he saw Ga Deuk-sang’s two eyes turning red.
Trickle.
As if a single line of tear rolled down, he collapsed just like that and wailed loudly.
“Uwaaah! Keuuhhh!”
It was a sight to see.
That wasn’t acting, it was real. He cried so sorrowfully that it would even wet the eyes of the people watching. Muk Bi was sniffling even without knowing who the other person was.
“Uwaaah! Freedoooom!!”
At this point, even Yeon Wi had no choice but to open his mouth.
“It seems… something bad happened to the Successor.”
He spoke calmly with effort. Yeon Wi was also flustered.
Yeon Ho-jeong grumbled.
“What bad thing could have happened to that beggar bastard. Either way, he probably ran away because he didn’t want to train in martial arts or something.”
“Choose your words carefully.”
“It’s okay to do that to him.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smirked.
Still, it was nice to see him after a long time.
“Stop crying and get up.”
“Sniffle.”
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“I haven’t been.”
Ga Deuk-sang approached with an expression as if his heart was collapsing and grabbed Yeon Ho-jeong’s hands.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s face contorted. Both of Ga Deuk-sang’s hands holding his hands were covered in tears and snot.
“Have a drink with me today!”