novelraw Chapter 121 : Infiltration (2)
Chapter 121 : Infiltration (2)
Chapter 121: Infiltration (2)
‘Hmph, this is nothing like the rumors.’
Sewoon genuinely let out an exclamation at the sight before him.
It was the moment he took his first step into the main palace of the Beast Palace under the guidance of Ta Sadon.
The Beast Palace was decorated in overwhelming splendor.
From its ornamentation and embellishments radiated a vibrant foreign grandeur and luxury.
Just as Sewoon was momentarily immersed in admiration—
"Sniff, this one is to be sent to the underground prison."
"Yes, sir!"
At Ta Sadon’s command, a subordinate carried away Moomyeong slung over one shoulder.
[You damn bastard! You damn disciple!]
A torrent of telepathic curses from Moomyeong pierced Sewoon’s ears.
Not like it actually hurt him much—he was just making a fuss.
[I’ll escape on my own and meet you later.]
[!?!?!?]
Even though sharp vulgarities were ringing in his ears, Sewoon lightly ignored them.
Soon after, they arrived at the grand assembly hall. Gatekeepers with physiques and muscles rivaling Ta Sadon stood guard at the entrance.
From inside, an uproar echoed loud enough to sound like a brawl was taking place.
"Brother Pa Taeyun."
‘Hmm?’
Then, Ta Sadon suddenly called Sewoon.
When Sewoon turned his head, he saw a somewhat serious expression on the man's face.
"Hmm, the king and the tribal chiefs inside may treat you roughly. That’s only because they don’t know you. I hope you understand that it doesn’t represent the will of the entire Beast Palace."
“......!”
Sewoon could sense the sincerity in Ta Sadon’s words.
To trust someone you’ve just met so easily could be seen as naïve, or as someone easy to manipulate.
But Sewoon judged him favorably.
‘He was born with a grand and unshakable spirit. He pushes forward with conviction and doesn’t waver easily.’
Sewoon opened his mouth.
"But Brother Ta Sadon."
"Yes?"
"Do you trust me?"
At Sewoon’s words, the man scratched the bridge of his nose as if embarrassed and replied,
"Sniff, there’s no reason not to trust a brother who’s fought with me back-to-back on the battlefield."
The sight was strangely at odds with his enormous build, and Sewoon couldn’t help but chuckle.
What a charming fellow.
Sewoon patted him on the shoulder and spoke.
"Thanks. As a reward, I’ll make you my first younger brother."
"Uh, just by looking, I’m obviously older than—"
"Open the gates!!"
Creak!
With the thunderous shout of the gatekeeper, the doors of the grand assembly hall swung open.
Inside the grand assembly hall, which had no chairs and was arranged in floor seating, sat the Beast Palace Lord and five tribal chiefs.
Along with them were the central figures of the Beast Palace, all gathered in one place.
Swoosh!
Swish!
As if the biting northern wind had swept in, countless waves of presence crashed down on Sewoon as he entered through the open door.
‘Quite impressive.’
So intense were the stares upon him that Sewoon’s skin tingled.
None of them had learned inner arts.
However, when one's mastery of outer arts reached a high level and they fully refined their physical body, they could obtain a power beyond that.
That was the domain of the soul.
As the soul’s level increased, even without inner qi, one could surpass the limits of the body once more.
Eventually, by projecting their presence outward, they could manifest something akin to inner qi—or in some aspects, something even more effective.
Thus, the path of martial arts was like a river branching into countless streams, all flowing into the vast sea.
Sssss!
At that moment, Sewoon’s senses captured a particularly cold gaze from one of the tribal chiefs.
Tiger, Bear, Wolf, Boar, and Ape.
Among the five tribes ruling the Beast Palace, it was the chieftain of the Wolf Tribe.
‘Meng Yung. I figured you’d be here.’
Seeing him, a murderous intent welled up inside Sewoon’s chest.
No one here knew it yet, but Sewoon remembered the man’s true identity.
From his memories before the regression—
When the Beast Palace fell into the hands of the Blood Cult, the one who rose as the new Beast Palace Lord was none other than the Ferocious Beast King, Meng Yung.
A filthy traitor who sold out his brothers and tribe.
And for Sewoon, he was the enemy who had brutally killed someone dear to him.
Breathe. Calm down. Now isn’t the time.
As his killing intent flared and even the Reverse Heaven Qi began to stir, Sewoon calmed himself and suppressed it.
"Hmm, shame about the muscles."
Just then, Ta Sadon’s father, Ta Saguk, chieftain of the Bear Tribe, muttered regretfully as he looked at Sewoon.
The other tribal chiefs nodded in agreement.
‘Do these guys ever talk about anything besides muscles?’
Sewoon couldn’t help but be dumbfounded that their first impression of him was based on his musculature.
"Silence."
At that moment, from the highest seat in the hall—
A middle-aged man reclining on a massive leopard hide released a wave of intense energy.
Swoosh.
With just that one word, the previously noisy hall fell into complete silence.
It was a testament to the man’s overwhelming authority and presence within the Beast Palace.
His hair resembled a lion’s mane, and his fierce tiger-like eyes bore down on him like a predator.
His entire body was covered in sun-darkened bronze muscles, and he was so massive that even Ta Sadon seemed small beside him.
Sewoon instantly recognized who he was.
The sovereign ruling over the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
‘Beast Emperor, Umun Geol!’
Swoosh!
Astonishingly, Umun Geol’s entire body was radiating a presence on par with the early stage of the Manifestation Realm.
The Beast Emperor wasn’t counted among the Ten Great Experts of the world.
But that was only because the martial world of the Central Plains tended to overrate its own people.
Those who had seen the Beast Palace Lord all said the same thing—
Umun Geol’s skill and innate potential were in no way inferior to the Ten Great Experts.
Indeed, such an assessment was well deserved.
And now, Sewoon also acknowledged Umun Geol’s martial prowess.
"Chief of the Bear Tribe, first son of Ta Saguk, Ta Sadon! I report to His Majesty that I have returned after fierce battle against the Central Plains!"
Ta Sadon knelt on one knee and paid his respects.
However, Umun Geol did not respond.
He simply stared at Sewoon with eyes like raging flames.
Sewoon met his gaze with composure.
Sssk!
"Warrior of the Beast Palace, only son of Pa Taho, Pa Taeyun! I come to greet the King!"
Just like Ta Sadon, Sewoon bowed his head in courtesy.
At that moment, the surrounding uproar burst forth once again.
"Did he say Pa Taho?!"
"No way, that guy had a grown son like that?!"
"Well, I suppose it makes sense! It’s been over twenty years since he ran off from here!"
"Then that kid must be the former chieftain’s grandson…!"
The grand hall rang with shouting and chatter about Sewoon.
But the man in question was too busy focusing on something else.
Wooong!
Wooooong!
‘What a racket—this is pure chaos.’
He was trying to calm the Thousand-Poison Jar that was vibrating wildly inside his sleeve.
Recovered from the Soundwave Lute Demon and kept in his bosom, the Thousand-Poison Jar had shown signs of agitation the moment it encountered Umun Geol.
There was only one reason for that.
‘It must be reacting to the gu poison inside Umun Geol’s body.’
The Thousand-Poison Jar was the superior existence above all gu poisons.
It could detect any gu poison in its vicinity.
The poison in Umun Geol’s body was not the Male and Female Gu Poison that the Demon of Prayers had taken from the Soundwave Lute Demon.
Unnoticed by anyone, a glint of insight flickered in Sewoon’s eyes.
‘The plan to take control of the Palace Lord has failed. That means they’ve moved on to the next phase.’
Through his memories before the regression, Sewoon grasped the full extent of the Blood Cult's infiltration of the Beast Palace.
Just as the resonance of the Thousand-Poison Jar subsided, Umun Geol addressed the former chieftain of the Ape Tribe—
In other words, Sewoon’s claimed father, Pa Taho.
"What do you think, Pa Taho?"
“…I do see traces of my son in his face.”
Pa Taho spoke as his deeply wrinkled face twitched with emotion.
In the old man’s gaze toward Sewoon, a complex mixture of feelings could be seen.
"Hmm. A grandfather’s eye wouldn't be wrong, then."
However, Umun Geol’s gaze remained as cold as ice.
"But the martial arts engraved in that brat’s body are not of the Beast Palace."
"……!!"
Sssk.
Umun Geol rose from the throne.
Swaaa!
A torrent of fierce aura erupted from his body, far more intense than before.
"If you cannot prove yourself, then I’ll have no choice but to beat you bloody and throw you out of this palace."
Step. Step.
As Umun Geol slowly walked toward Sewoon, his eyes now held clear hostility.
Ta Sadon looked flustered beside Sewoon, but Sewoon thought it was only natural.
He had deceived Ta Sadon and the others using the makeshift external techniques derived from the Flawless Heavenly Garment, but it was impossible to deceive the Beast Emperor, who had mastered all the martial arts of the Beast Palace.
But even this situation had already been anticipated by Sewoon.
"My father said he fled the Beast Palace to marry my mother, who was from the Central Plains."
“…!”
Umun Geol stopped in his tracks at the story coming from Sewoon's mouth.
Everyone in the hall turned to listen.
"He said he built a new home in the West, where he had me. Those days, when the three of us lived peacefully, were the happiest moments of his life. But that was where it ended."
"……."
"My earliest memory is of dragging shackles around my ankles while eating pig slop."
"!!"
Pa Taho’s pupils trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
"The year I turned three, the Gale Sands raiders attacked. They killed my mother and enslaved both me and my father. He resisted to the end, but for my sake, he gave up everything and became their slave."
Ahhh.
Sighs of pity echoed throughout the hall.
"After living as slaves for over ten years, three months ago, when those bandits went out to plunder, my father and I desperately attempted to escape. He wanted to return to his homeland—the Beast Palace—and start anew…"
Everyone was speechless.
But only one person had arrived at the Beast Palace.
"Pa Taho has returned to the land of warriors?"
Nod.
Sewoon nodded at Umun Geol’s words.
"The Gale Sands bandits were constantly watching us, so the only thing my father could pass on to me was smithing."
"……!"
Everyone gasped at Sewoon’s words.
Each of the five tribes of the Beast Palace possessed one unique hereditary craft.
Among them, the pride of the Ape Tribe was their distinctive smithing art.
Sewoon slowly stood up and stretched out his hands before Umun Geol.
What made the Ape Tribe’s smithing so special was a single unique power.
As Sewoon slowly closed his eyes, the image of a certain man rose in his mind.
—Vice-Blacksmith, may I ask you something?
—You can ask anything, Great Smith.
—You’re from the Beast Palace, so I assume you only learned external martial arts. How do you handle that power?
—Heh. This is a power known only to my homeland—or rather, to my tribe.
Before his regression, when Sewoon was held captive by the Blood Cult—
There was a blacksmith from the Beast Palace who, like him, lived as a slave in the Cult's forge.
He rose to the position of Vice-Blacksmith due to his exceptional skill, but was tormented by guilt for working for the Blood Cult.
Yet he continued to live—for the sake of his son, who was held hostage.
‘In this life, I’ll change everything for you, Pa Taho.’
Sewoon had falsely claimed to be the son of Pa Taho.
That man possessed a mysterious flame only the Ape Tribe could draw out.
Fwoosh!
—…Cough. I hope the Great Smith will succeed in his revenge…
At the memory of the man’s final moment—
Brilliant green flames erupted from both of Sewoon’s hands.