novelraw Chapter 136 : One Step
Chapter 136 : One Step
Chapter 136: One Step
It had already been a night since the flames of battle that swept through the Beast Palace had subsided.
The Blood Cult’s assassination attempt on the Palace Lord, along with Meng Yung’s direct involvement in instigating rebellion with the Wolf Tribe, had left every warrior of the Beast Palace deeply shaken and scarred.
Yet, fortunately, not a single one of them succumbed to despair.
Part of it was due to the unwavering conviction of the Beast Palace—to never fall before any adversity and to face every trial with indomitable resolve.
But more than that, there was one person who inspired them to dream of a new future and rekindled their hope—
The one who inherited the power of the founding ancestor, Battle God Chuk Yeoun, and the hero who had single-handedly protected the Beast Palace from its greatest calamity—
Tang Sewoon.
Inside the main hall of the Beast Palace.
“Yes, just like that. Let it settle slowly—let it flow as naturally as breathing.”
“Ugh…”
Sewoon had both hands on Umun Tak’s back, guiding his qi with gentle precision.
Even so, it didn’t seem easy. Umun Tak repeatedly groaned, sweat dripping down his back.
It was no surprise.
After all, he was pacifying the Divine Relic whose flow had once been severed within the Beast Palace—the Wildfire (野火).
The power of the Wildfire, which had controlled the Jiangshi during the battle against the Demon of Prayers, had brought tremendous backlash once the fight was over.
The moment that Demon perished, Umun Tak collapsed, his face drained of all color. Sewoon had been tending to him throughout the entire night since then.
Behind them stood Umun Geol and four tribal chiefs, their faces filled with both concern and awe.
“...To think the successor of the Wildfire, which we believed lost forever, would be the Hall Leader of the Wild Medicine Hall.”
“Ha! I never would’ve imagined it.”
“I heard that harboring an unbloomed Wildfire within one’s body brings unbearable agony. To think we never realized it sooner…”
“Sigh… I can only feel ashamed.”
Watching their reactions, Umun Geol felt a wave of relief.
If even the tribal chiefs thought so, then perhaps his younger brother—long treated as a half-wit within the Beast Palace—would now finally be acknowledged as a proud warrior.
No, more than that, he would be revered.
Aside from Sewoon, it was Umun Tak who had played the greatest role in repelling the Demons and Jiangshi.
And at that moment, Umun Tak finally calmed the Wildfire.
“I… I think it’s done.”
“Good. Well done. It’s completely stabilized. But do not grow careless—now you must diligently train your external arts to maintain this balance.”
“Yes, sir! I understand!”
Umun Tak nodded eagerly, his flushed face full of respect and awe for Sewoon.
Once his treatment concluded, the meeting began immediately.
Umun Geol and the four tribal chiefs respectfully knelt before Sewoon.
Even Umun Geol, the Palace Lord of the Beast Palace himself, knelt without hesitation.
Sewoon received their gesture in silence, standing tall as he surveyed their faces.
‘Hmm… Five of them, in total.’
With Meng Yung and the Wolf Tribe annihilated, the Beast Palace now had four tribes remaining.
At their head was Umun Geol, followed by the new Bear Tribe Chief Ta Sadon, and the Tiger and Boar Tribe Chiefs. And lastly—
‘...Pa Tamun.’
Even he, who had once hidden his identity and briefly posed as Sewoon’s elder, was among them.
Then Sewoon spoke calmly.
“Bear Tribe Chief.”
“...Yes, Battle God.”
Since the Blood Rebellion, everyone in the Beast Palace had come to address Sewoon as the Battle God (鬪神)—
The Reincarnated Battle God, the return of Chuk Yeoun, whom they revered deeply.
“I must apologize. I had no choice but to deceive you to fool the Demons infiltrating the palace. However, in doing so, I committed great discourtesy to you.”
“It’s fine. I was startled, yes—but because of that deception, we avoided even greater loss. Please, Battle God, think nothing of it.”
“I appreciate your understanding. Still, there’s something important I must tell you.”
“Yes?”
At his confused look, Sewoon replied firmly.
“Pa Taho is alive.”
“...!!”
Pa Tamun’s pupils trembled violently, as though struck by an earthquake.
His son—whom he had believed dead—was alive.
The other chiefs were equally shocked.
“What I told you before regarding Pa Taho was true. But now, he is imprisoned within the main base of the Demons.”
“Ah… ahh…”
“But I give you my word—I will rescue him.”
At those words, tears welled in the old man’s eyes.
Voice trembling, Pa Tamun bowed deeply.
“I… I can only thank you.”
“It’s merely what must be done.”
Though Sewoon spoke lightly, the eyes of Umun Geol and the chiefs gleamed with reverence.
Then—
Rustle!
Umun Geol finally stepped forward and spoke for all of them.
“Battle God! Please, ascend to the seat of the new Palace Lord!”
“!!”
“Ascend—!!”
Following Umun Geol’s lead, the other chiefs bowed their heads and echoed his plea.
Their intent was singular—
To beg Sewoon to become the next Lord of the Beast Palace.
Even though Sewoon was a man of the Central Plains and already the Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, none of that mattered to the Beast Palace warriors.
From the moment he inherited the Ink Blood of their founding ancestor Chuk Yeoun, he had already become one of them—a rightful heir to the throne of the Beast Palace.
He had slain Demons in the depths of the dark realm and crushed hordes of ghastly Jiangshi before all their eyes.
In a place where only the Law of the Strong (强者尊) held sway, no further proof was needed.
They already recognized him as their true Lord.
“Hm.”
Sewoon stroked his chin thoughtfully, a faint hum escaping his lips.
Umun Geol and the chiefs waited with bated breath, anxious that he might reject them and return to the Tang Clan of Sichuan instead.
“Every warrior of the Beast Palace will serve you with absolute loyalty!”
“We shall follow wherever the Battle God leads!”
Sewoon, who had listened to Umun Geol and the chiefs’ shouts, soon made his decision and his eyes brightened.
Footsteps — steady, measured.
Then he strode past them and walked briskly toward a single place.
‘With this, the first move was complete.’
No one knew, but a small smile had appeared on Sewoon’s turned face.
But it lasted only a moment.
Rustle.
At last, Sewoon perched upon the Beast Palace’s throne.
“Oooh!!”
“Palace Lord!!”
The moved chiefs let out a great roar.
Thus, Tang Sewoon—head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, one pillar of the Seven Great Clans—formally ascended as the new Palace Lord of the Beast Palace, succeeding the Beast King Umun Geol.
Two days later.
“Heh heh, the priest really ate up the Beast Palace.”
Nameless spoke to Sewoon with a hollow laugh.
Sewoon sat at an angle in the swaying carriage, looking listlessly out the window.
Stars shone brilliantly across the jet-black night sky.
After his ascension, Sewoon had spent two days completely securing the interior of the Beast Palace, then departed straightaway for the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Nameless shook his head and continued.
“A Central Plains man becoming the head of the Beast Palace—whoever you tell that to won’t believe it, I swear.”
“Lower your voice, you’ll wake someone.”
Sewoon turned his head and, glancing at Umun Tak who was sound asleep at the back of the carriage, said.
“If he wakes up, it won’t be because of me but because of their clamor, I think.”
Nameless pointed with a finger at the coachman’s seat and teased.
Outside, the continuous growls of beasts echoed.
In truth, the vehicle they rode could hardly be called a carriage.
“Tiger carriage” would be more fitting.
The vehicle was driven not by horses but by two white tigers.
The two white tigers—spirit beasts of the Beast Palace—pulled the tiger carriage along the mountain path at tremendous speed.
They were likely to shorten the travel time far more than when they had departed the Tang household.
Leaving Nameless’s grumbling behind, Sewoon returned his gaze to the window.
Contrary to the dazzling night sky, Sewoon’s heart calmed more quietly than ever.
‘The war with the Blood Cult was not far off now.’
He was thinking through the strategies to oppose the Blood Cult once they fully revealed their hand.
Though he had gained the immense power of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, he did not let himself be carried away with vain excitement.
This was only the first step to overthrow the Blood Cult; the road ahead was still long.
‘I must build even more strength and reserves.’
Having seen him through the Demon of Prayers’ eyes, the Blood Cult would now target him even more blatantly.
But Sewoon had already moved quickly and had laid multiple plans in place—now only the harvest remained.
The first of those was this.
‘Now that I have obtained the Wildfire, I can complete the Celestial Flame Furnace within the clan.’
It was the Celestial Flame Furnace he would begin constructing as soon as he returned home.
At the current travel speed, he would comfortably arrive before the date promised to the Shrine Maiden Sect Leader.
With the Celestial Flame Furnace, he could arm the Sichuan Tang Clan’s retainers and the Beast Palace warriors, and prove his capability to the Shrine Maiden Sect Leader.
‘And once I had the Celestial Flame Furnace in my hands, I could seize the position currently held by the Baekya Steel Workshop within three months.’
The Baekya Steel Workshop was unquestionably the foremost ironworks in the jianghu.
If Sewoon declared it his, that position would soon mean supremacy in the martial world.
With the Celestial Flame Furnace and a Divine Craftsman united, the monetary and smithing power to wage war against the Blood Cult would fall into Sewoon’s hands.
After three months passed, none among the elder faction—including Namgung Myeong—would foresee the outcome that would unfold.
“Ugh, can’t you move that coffin? It’s making me feel itchy.”
At that, Nameless kicked the wooden coffin placed in the middle of the tiger carriage and slid it aside.
What that coffin contained was the key to accomplishing Sewoon’s second plan.
It would cement the relationship between the Emei Sect led by the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician and the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Then Nameless, his expression suddenly serious, looked at Sewoon and asked.
“So, will you start preparing as soon as we reach Sichuan?”
Sewoon pulled his gaze from the night sky and looked at Nameless.
A cold chill had poured from Sewoon’s eyes.
“Yes.”
“Heh heh, good. Those guys I already didn’t like—this will suit them fine.”
Nameless said with a relish.
What they intended to do was the final, third plan.
Sichuan Tang Clan would officially declare its righteous intent to the jianghu and seize unorthodox sects—this was the first step.
That plan was—
‘Strike the Qingcheng Sect.’
An elder faction’s branch.
To completely erase the Qingcheng Sect, led by Jeok Seongja, from the map of Sichuan.