Chapter 241 – Drowning (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The Martial Uncles of the Cheong generation returned one by one. Since the formal match with the Heaven’s Will Gate was drawing near, everyone seemed to have hurried their return.

“You have guarded the sect well.”

“Not at all. I only focused on training.”

“Indeed. Did the disciples follow your training well?”

“They followed much better than I expected, for which I am only grateful.”

“That must be because the children trust you that much.”

Although everyone had made progress through my one-on-one instruction, there was an even greater achievement: I had come to understand the senior brothers much better.

“Your aura also seems to have changed somewhat.”

Cheong-ui quickly scanned me. The peak masters were truly like ghosts. Although he couldn’t dream that I had purchased the Unity of Body and Sword talent, he intuitively felt that something about me had changed.

“I suppose it’s because my state changed while training together with them.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Of course. What else could it be?”

Cheong-ui nodded, accepting my explanation. Now, it was time to move on from greetings to the main topic.

“By the way, did the discussions go well?”

“Yes. Everyone confirmed their consensus.”

“A consensus?”

“That we cannot continue like this.”

It was a rather broad statement. It was also difficult for me to fully comprehend. Although I had heard roughly what had happened over the past six months, I hadn’t experienced it directly myself. Therefore, it was difficult to ask for details.

“I see.”

“At some point, I began to think that the orthodox sects had forgotten their own values. Perhaps it was because of too long a period of peace.”

“Was that so?”

It was a sudden self-reflection. Still, among the martial artists I had seen, the Wudang Sect was one that strove quite hard to uphold the values of the orthodox path.

“Indeed. The orthodox sects have their own duty to perform.”

“It seems you have reached a practical agreement.”

“Yes. You will find out soon enough.”

“Can you not tell me in advance?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it is an agreement that the sect leaders decided to keep quiet about until the time is right. If I tell you, I would be violating that trust.”

I nodded. Then there was nothing to be done. If it was something I would find out later anyway, there was no need to force the issue now.

“Hui-yeong, have you ever thought about drowning?”

This was another out-of-the-blue question.

“Why would you think about something so ominous?”

“For my part, I sometimes think about it. I feel there could be no death more miserable and lonely than drowning. Swept away in a vast, watery void, slowly losing one’s breath… thinking of it always makes my chest feel heavy.”

“You have some strange thoughts, Sect Leader. Though, I suppose everyone has one or two such thoughts.”

“Think about it. What if the water slowly rises in the place where you are trapped? Just watching the water level rise would make you feel suffocated, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so. But I’d rather not think about such things.”

“But do you know what is truly terrifying? It is when you cannot see the rising water. Until it reaches our heads, we will not know. Only when water begins to pool in our lungs will we realize we are drowning.”

Cheong-ui was not joking. His gaze was more serious than ever.

“That is how the world suffocates us. So, what must we do to avoid being suffocated?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“We simply have to shatter the world. Then the water will leak out through the cracks, will it not?”

Cheong-ui smiled after saying those words. It was a warm smile, despite the ominous nature of his words.

In truth, that conversation did not leave a deep impression on me at the time. Because the most important thing back then was the formal match with the Heaven’s Will Gate.

And it wasn’t just any match. It was said to be a battle premised on a fight to the death.

Therefore, even if it was called a match, it could not be compared to the one we had with the Zhuge Clan. Compared to a life-and-death struggle, a mere sparring match was child’s play.

The disciples of the Myeong generation, including myself, as well as the members of the Cheong generation, including my master and the Sect Leader, all prepared for the match.

And so, the day of the match with the Heaven’s Will Gate quickly approached.

Standing on the mountainside where we had a clear view of the foot of the mountain, we watched the members of the Heaven’s Will Gate ascending. They climbed with a sinister and overwhelming aura surrounding them.

As if the disciples that Senior Brother Myeong-il or Senior Brother Myeong-seong had faced were merely a taste, the strength felt from their elders and guardians was no joke.

On the other hand, the Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate, whom I had seen before, seemed to struggle just to climb up to the Wudang Sect. His physical stamina seemed even weaker than last time. It was proof that he did not practice martial arts regularly.

“They’re here.”

We were lined up in front of the mountain gate with Sect Leader Cheong-ui at our head. Finally, the members of the Heaven’s Will Gate climbed up to the point where our eyes met.

“It has been a long time, Taiji Sword Emperor.”

Another guardian, rather than the Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate, spoke first. Cheong-ui furrowed his brows upon seeing him.

“Ghost Spear.”

“I am honored that you remember my face.”

As soon as the name Ghost Spear was heard, a slight commotion arose on our side.

Ghost Spear Jo Il-mun was an unorthodox master particularly famous in the Shaanxi region. When he severed the arm of Flower Moon Sword, one of the elders of the Mount Hua Sect in Shaanxi, everyone had been shocked. Although Flower Moon Sword was on the younger side among the Mount Hua elders, he was the most promising swordsman of his generation.

The presence of such a renowned figure as Ghost Spear on the opposing side was enough to cause unease among the disciples.

“The Blood King Sword is here too. It’s almost comical how you call yourselves an orthodox sect when you’ve gathered nothing but unorthodox martial artists.”

Cheong-ui scoffed. The Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate shrugged and smiled.

“Is one who is once unorthodox always unorthodox? One can always convert.”

“It doesn’t look to me like they’ve converted. You must have bought them off with money or something else.”

“That is a secret of our sect, so I cannot tell you.”

“You don’t have to. It’s obvious anyway.”

Even before their swords clashed, the war of words seemed to spark.

“I heard that the Sect Leader of Wudang is a Daoist of deep cultivation, but your tongue is quite sharp.”

“Failing to be sharp when one ought to be is not the Golden Mean.”

“It would be quicker to just draw our swords. How about we skip the chatter and begin?”

“Just what I was hoping for.”

Cheong-ui nodded. The Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate spoke slowly.

“Naturally, I have brought a notary to ensure the transparency of this match’s process and outcome.”

“Brought them along? Are you planning to conspire?”

“We merely met at the foot of the mountain.”

In truth, the Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate seemed more at ease in this war of words.

It was only natural. A life-and-death match. Wudang’s members were all Cheong-ui’s children or brothers. But to the Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate, they were merely hired hands under contract. Their level of investment and immersion was bound to be different.

“Please step forward.”

The Sect Leader of the Heaven’s Will Gate turned his head and looked back.

Someone with a distinct presence emerged from among the crowd.

“……Martial Alliance Leader.”

Cheong-hwa, who was standing beside me, gnashed his teeth. The one who revealed himself through the ranks of the Heaven’s Will Gate was none other than Martial Alliance Leader Su Je-heon.

Cheong-hwa could not help but harbor ill feelings toward him, as he had witnessed with his own two eyes that the Alliance Leader was the mastermind behind the Guiyou incident.

“Sect Leader, please do not misunderstand. We truly just met at the foot of the mountain and came up together.”

Su Je-heon smiled genially. Regardless of whether that was true or not, the Alliance Leader, who was supposed to view the situation impartially, arriving together with them was highly inappropriate.

Well, if he were the type of person to care about such propriety, he wouldn’t have orchestrated the Guiyou incident in the first place. For a moment, Su Je-heon’s cold gaze swept over all the Wudang Sect members. Although our eyes met as well, his gaze quickly passed over me. Naturally, it was because I was in disguise.

“And I didn’t come alone. For fairness, another esteemed guest has accompanied me.”

Everyone was puzzled by Su Je-heon’s words. Given Su Je-heon’s generation, there weren’t many people in the martial world whom he would address with such respect.

“Please come out.”

“Ahem, ahem.”

A middle-aged man stepped forward, stroking his goatee. The moment I saw him, an absurd chuckle escaped me.

“Who is that?”

The senior brothers, as well as the Martial Uncles, didn’t seem to recognize him. I recognized him, but it was natural that they didn’t. Because he was not a man of the martial world.

“This is Lord Gang Se-min, the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Hubei.”

It had been a long time. I had seen him a few times back when I took down the Hubei Vice Minister of Revenue. Back then, he was allied with us because of his connection with Right Vice Censor-in-Chief Wang Song of the Censorate, but now he seemed to be an enemy.

Then again, it was understandable. Gang Se-min, as I recalled, was a self-preserving bureaucrat who prioritized his own safety above all else. Since the Imperial Court was currently exerting pressure on the martial world, he had been summoned like this.

“……What business does the Provincial Administration Commissioner have watching a match between martial artists?”

Cheong-ui’s question was one we all shared.

As far as I knew, Gang Se-min had never practiced a single martial arts move in his life. Even if he watched the match, he wouldn’t know if something was foul or not, so we couldn’t understand why they had brought him.

“It seems Wudang was unaware. From the beginning of this year, it has been decided that all matches must be recorded in the presence of a government official. That is the imperial law.”

“Law, you say.”

Cheong-ui chewed on each word. The Imperial Court’s ambitions toward the martial world were now completely blatant.

“Even the Provincial Administration Commissioner must realize that the government’s current actions heavily violate the principle of official-martial noninterference, do they not?”

“I know nothing of that. I merely follow the imperial command. Official-martial noninterference is closer to an unwritten rule that has not been codified. In a state governed by the rule of law, it is only natural that the law takes precedence.”

“Very well. So that is the government’s stance.”

Cheong-ui nodded. Logically, Gang Se-min was bound to be correct. But the flaw in that logic was that the Imperial Court was the one making the laws. However, pointing that out would practically amount to treason. It would be like shouting that the Imperial Court had created a bad law. It was a complete checkmate.

I thought the conversation would end there. After all, the match was the most important thing.

But the conversation did not end. Cheong-ui spoke once again.

“Then our martial world also has something to say.”

“Our martial world? The Martial Alliance has heard nothing of this.”

Su Je-heon laughed. Cheong-ui gave Su Je-heon a brief glance.

“Your Martial Alliance can no longer be referred to as ‘ours.'”

“What do you mean by that?”

Su Je-heon’s expression stiffened slightly. Cheong-ui continued casually.

“I mean that as of this moment, the Wudang Sect is withdrawing from the Martial Alliance.”

“……What did you say?”

The elders of the Cheong generation looked solemn, suggesting they had known about this to some extent, but the other disciples and the members of the Heaven’s Will Gate were in great commotion. I was among those who were deeply shocked.

“We, the Wudang Sect, reject the Martial Alliance that seeks to hand over the entire martial world to the Imperial Palace. Furthermore, we intend to thoroughly block the Imperial Palace’s current greed toward the martial world.”

It was a succession of bombshell announcements. It was an open declaration of rebellion against the Imperial Court.

“Sect Leader. I think you are making a grave mistake. How do you intend to explain this to the grandmasters who have ascended to the immortal realm, digging your own grave like this?”

Su Je-heon was taken aback for a moment, but soon began to sneer. As a representative of the Imperial Palace, Gang Se-min could not help but stiffen his expression as well.

“No matter how deep the history of the Wudang Sect is, in the eyes of the Imperial Court, you are merely one of many martial groups. Do not forget. The Nine Great Sects is merely a term used by the commoners; the Imperial Palace does not officially recognize such private organizations.”

“You are correct, Provincial Administration Commissioner. Please keep in mind that this is entirely uncoordinated with our Martial Alliance.”

In the midst of this, Su Je-heon flattered the Provincial Administration Commissioner. Seeing a man who was supposed to be one of the Five Great Sword Masters Under Heaven groveling before authority like that was quite an unpleasant sight.

“Wudang is incredibly arrogant. Did you think anything would change just because a single Wudang Sect rebelled against the Imperial Palace?”

Gang Se-min spoke with an even stiffer expression. Then again, it would be strange if he didn’t say such things. If he remained silent here, it would look as though he condoned the rebellion.

Regardless of my distaste for Su Je-heon, I had to admit that the Sect Leader had made a terrible move. Just as Gang Se-min and Su Je-heon said, this was suicide.

“Who said we were alone?”

Just then, a voice echoed from behind the lined-up Wudang disciples. Everyone’s gaze shifted in that direction.

There, figures clad in capes began to reveal their identities one by one.

“……Ah.”

Su Je-heon let out a sigh as he looked at them.

The man standing at the very front saluted.

“I am Cho Seo-gi, the Sect Leader of Zhongnan.”

Led by the Autumn Wind Traveler Cho Seo-gi, the Sect Leader of Zhongnan, the others also saluted and revealed their identities.

“I am Hyein of Emei.”

“I am Dan Eumpyeong of Diancang.”

“I am Taeseong of Qingcheng.”

Those who had arrived were all the Sect Leaders of the Nine Great Sects. And the Nine Great Sects were not the end of it.

“I am Namgung Jin-hyeon.”

Even the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Families, had arrived.

“Red Bamboo Divine Nun, Soaring Flow Sun-Shooting Sword, Blue Moon Sword Exalt, and even Azure Sky Sword Exalt…”

Someone muttered blankly. As they were the leaders of the Nine Great Sects and the Namgung Clan, each name carried immense weight.

“In the presence of these witnesses, we, the fellow members of the martial world gathered here, declare our withdrawal from the Martial Alliance and announce the launch of a new organization called the New Justice Association.”

Cheong-ui’s loud voice boomed over the crowd.

It was a moment that caused even the initially smiling Su Je-heon to completely freeze.