Chapter 520

The door opened.

He stepped outside.

It was night.

The moon hung in the sky.

As he walked toward the Blood Spirit Hall, he thought.

Won Yu Cheong.

Won Geukcheon’s descendant.

The reason he wanted to rebuild the Thousand-Year Demonic Cult.

To learn what his ancestor had been trying to do.

To learn whether it had been a crime or a purpose.

......Complicated.

Unhwi looked up at the sky.

The moon was bright.

The Heavenly Wayfarer’s great cause.

Yu Cheong’s purpose.

The truth of the Thousand-Year Chaos.

Won Geukcheon’s intent.

Everything was intertwined.

And at the center of it all were the Blood Stones and Peach Blossom Garden.

And the Heavenly Wayfarer.

......There is still too much I do not know.

Unhwi lowered his head.

He walked on.

The lights of the Blood Spirit Hall came into view.

Chief Seong stood before the door.

Waiting.

“Young master. How was it?”

Unhwi answered.

“I lost.”

“......At Go......? You?”

Unhwi shook his head.

“I won.”

“......What? You said you lost.”

“I won, but it feels like I lost.”

Chief Seong tilted his head in confusion.

Unhwi entered.

The door closed.

***

The news came from an unexpected place.

Viper Valley.

Yang Uiji herself had sent a letter after the antidote and wound medicine had been sent there some time ago.

Unhwi unfolded the letter.

Yang Uiji’s handwriting was neat. It contained only facts, without emotion. It carried the characteristic information-gathering ability of Viper Valley.

He read downward.

His eyes stopped.

The Sichuan Alliance.

The latter half of the letter.

Recently, an unusual current has begun flowing between the Murim Alliance and the Sichuan Alliance. The major Central Plains sects, including the Four Great Families under the Murim Alliance, have begun applying unified pressure against the Sichuan Alliance, and three small-scale armed clashes have already occurred. Sichuan Alliance Leader Kang Cheonwoo has not yet responded directly, but if the situation continues for much longer, there is a high possibility that it will develop into a full-scale war.

Unhwi folded the letter.

He looked at Chief Seong.

He handed the letter to Chief Seong, whose expression was filled with confusion.

After reading it, Chief Seong’s expression became strange. ℯℯ𝘭.

“......Young master, this......?”

“It says exactly what it says.”

“.......”

“It seems Gun Mugeol’s true target was the Sichuan Alliance.”

Unhwi rose from his seat.

He walked to the window.

He looked outside.

Gun Mugeol.

Leader of the Murim Alliance.

A man who had reached the pinnacle.

A man who had made contact with Heaven Beyond Heaven.

A man who held the ambition of unifying the martial world.

Unhwi knew Gun Mugeol.

He had encountered him in his previous life, and in this life he had continued watching his movements.

A tiger wearing a fox’s mask.

A man who outwardly called for peace in the martial world, but inwardly sought to swallow everything.

While Unhwi had been in Viper Valley, while he had been crushing the Heaven-Law Platform, while he had been unconscious in the Blood Spirit Hall.

Did Gun Mugeol truly do nothing during that time?

Impossible.

That cunning fox had already been preparing from before.

This is the board he arranged.

The three major powers of the martial world.

The Murim Alliance, the Sichuan Alliance, and Heaven’s Will Alliance.

The Blood Heaven Sect was an external martial-world power. A force outside the Central Plains.

Strictly speaking, it did not directly participate in the balance of the Central Plains martial world.

In other words, from Gun Mugeol’s perspective, unifying the martial world meant combining the three Central Plains powers into one.

The Murim Alliance was already his.

That left two.

The Sichuan Alliance and Heaven’s Will Alliance.

He had begun with the Sichuan Alliance.

Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.

The fact that Gun Mugeol had moved while Unhwi’s attention was tied up with the Heaven-Law Platform meant there was a high possibility he had used Unhwi’s actions.

Could he not have known that a conflict was taking place between the Heaven-Law Platform and the Blood Heaven Arbiter within the Blood Heaven Sect?

Impossible.

Because he was that kind of person.

To put it bluntly, from Gun Mugeol’s perspective, whether it was the Heaven-Law Platform or Heaven Gate—

They were both organizations that would inevitably obstruct him.

Unhwi knew him well.

Gun Mugeol hated what he could not control.

There were countless organizations in the martial world that Gun Mugeol himself did not know about.

But most of those organizations were ones he did not need to know.

The sects belonging to Heaven Beyond Heaven were different.

Each one possessed experts at the Supreme Void Realm, and even beyond the pinnacle.

To not know about them?

That changed everything.

They were organizations that could become threats to Gun Mugeol at any time, and if the opportunity arose, he would surely want to eliminate them one by one.

Gun Mugeol had not interfered in the conflict between Unhwi and the Heaven-Law Platform.

He had simply watched.

The reason was obvious.

No matter which side collapsed, it would have benefited Gun Mugeol.

While Unhwi had been occupied with dealing with the internal situation and had no room to look outward, Gun Mugeol had moved.

It was a method that suited Gun Mugeol perfectly.

But there was one thing he had overlooked.

That Unhwi had won against the Heaven-Law Platform.

And that the victorious Unhwi had recovered in an instant.

“Chief Seong.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know anything about the situation involving the Sichuan Alliance?”

Chief Seong immediately fell silent.

He did not know.

No matter how well-informed Chief Seong was, there were things even he did not know.

The letter only stated that Kang Cheonwoo had not responded directly. It did not state the reason.

A martial artist who had reached the pinnacle being pushed back by pressure from smaller sects made no sense.

If Kang Cheonwoo personally stepped forward, he should have been able to break through most pressure with a single strike.

Which meant there was a reason he could not act.

Unhwi closed his eyes.

He thought.

If I were Gun Mugeol, what would I do?

He would not simply pressure them with force.

Gun Mugeol was not that kind of person.

He always created justification first.

Only after the justification was complete did he draw his blade.

The justification to pressure the Sichuan Alliance.

The justification that prevents Kang Cheonwoo from retaliating.

The Demonic Path’s involvement.

Unhwi opened his eyes.

That was it.

The method Gun Mugeol liked most.

Connecting an opponent with the Demonic Path.

Spread rumors that the Sichuan Alliance had secretly allied with demonic forces.

Fabricate evidence.

Control public opinion throughout the Central Plains.

The reason Kang Cheonwoo found it difficult to respond was obvious.

The Sichuan Alliance had always stood on the boundary between righteous sects and unorthodox factions.

It was neither purely righteous nor purely unorthodox, but a force controlling the independent territory of Sichuan.

Because of that, the accusation of “colluding with the Demonic Path” carried a strange degree of credibility.

If Kang Cheonwoo personally broke the pressure through force, what would happen?

“As expected, the Sichuan Alliance is violent. It rejects the order of the righteous sects. It is no different from the Demonic Path.”

The image Gun Mugeol wanted would be completed.

Kang Cheonwoo knew this.

That was why he could not move.

Raise his hand and he loses.

Lower his hand and he is trampled.

That was likely the board Gun Mugeol had arranged.

Of course, there was no proof.

But cunning Gun Mugeol preferred such methods.

If it were him, he would definitely move this way.

First, they had to confirm.

“Could you contact Seo Hyo?”

“......Understood. I will send a top-grade messenger pigeon immediately.”

Exactly one day passed.

A reply came from Seo Hyo of Heaven’s Will Alliance, and its contents confirmed Unhwi’s prediction.

—Your Excellency’s prediction was correct. Gun Mugeol’s side has begun pressuring the Sichuan Alliance, and they have brought out the accusation of collusion with the Demonic Path as their move. With the Sichuan Alliance’s position already weakened due to the recent matter involving Mo Yong Namcheon, Gun Mugeol’s strategy is steadily forcing Kang Cheonwoo into a corner.

The world was like this.

No matter how much one tried to hide a secret, it could never remain hidden forever.

With so many people connected, even if one mouth was sealed, another would open.

The rumor that Mo Yong Namcheon was the mastermind behind the Hwanmyeong Sect had already spread throughout the entire world.

It could not be stopped.

And in that situation, Gun Mugeol’s move began.

Now the situation was truly different.

Kang Cheonwoo could not move easily.

The fact that Mo Yong Namcheon had been the leader of the Hwanmyeong Sect was true.

And the fact that Mo Yong Namcheon had been the Vice Leader of the Sichuan Alliance was also true.

If the Sichuan Alliance had been merely a sect, this would not have reached this point.

But an alliance was different.

Its methods of conduct had to differ from those of an ordinary sect.

It was an alliance made of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of sects.

If it acted the same way, that would have been stranger.

Truly.

How cunning.

He meant it.

But the more cunning a scheme was, the more fragile its weakness became.

A cunning board collapsed completely when one piece fell.

Justification was weaker the more fabricated it was.

One truth was enough to destroy it.

Unhwi turned around.

“Chief Seong.”

“Yes, young master.”

“I think I will need to leave for a while.”

Chief Seong’s expression hardened.

From the flow of the conversation, where Unhwi intended to go was obvious.

There was no way he could not worry.

“......Young master......”

Unhwi’s expression was resolute.

Chief Seong let out a sigh.

Still, he asked to confirm.

“Where are you going?”

“The Sichuan Alliance.”

At the answer without hesitation, Chief Seong was left speechless.

***

Murim Alliance.

Alliance Leader’s Hall.

Gun Mugeol sat before his desk.

He was reading documents.

Reports arriving from every region of the martial world.

Reports organizing how much pressure had been placed on the Sichuan Alliance.

It was proceeding smoothly.

Three of the Four Great Families had already joined the pressure against the Sichuan Alliance, and thirty new minor and medium-sized sects had already stood beneath the banner of the Murim Alliance.

Ten sects had also withdrawn from the Sichuan Alliance.

That number would only increase as time passed.

The accusation of collusion with the Demonic Path had spread throughout the martial world, and Kang Cheonwoo still had not moved.

The corner of Gun Mugeol’s mouth rose slightly.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

At that moment.

A servant entered.

“Alliance Leader. A guest has arrived.”

“Who?”

“He did not give his name. However......”

The servant hesitated briefly.

“He asked that this be delivered.”

The servant placed a small wooden tablet on the desk.

Gun Mugeol picked it up.

He turned it over.

A symbol was carved into the back of the wooden tablet.

Gun Mugeol’s eyes shifted slightly.

His expression did not change.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes.”

The servant withdrew.

A short while later.

A person entered the Alliance Leader’s Hall.

A Daoist’s clothing.

An old robe covered in dust.

Clearly, he had traveled a long distance.

Yet his steps were steady, and his energy did not waver.

He wore a hood.

Half of his face was hidden.

When only the two of them remained inside the hall, the visitor removed the hood.

A thin face.

Deep-set eyes.

Dark eyes.

Thin lips.

Long eyebrows.

The Primordial Sage.

Gun Mugeol lowered the brush from his desk.

He leaned back in his chair.

He looked at the Primordial Sage.

With a smile.

“Long time no see, Senior Primordial.”

“It has been a long time.”

The Primordial Sage sat across from him.

He sat without being invited.

Gun Mugeol did not mind.

“Would you like some tea?”

“No. I do not intend to stay long.”

“As you wish.”

Gun Mugeol looked at the Primordial Sage.

A relaxed expression.

The Leader of the Murim Alliance.

A man who had reached the pinnacle.

And a man who had joined hands with Heaven Beyond Heaven.

The Primordial Sage spoke.