novelraw Chapter 162 : One Step Further
Chapter 162 : One Step Further
Chapter 162: One Step Further
Kwaaang!
A fierce blast erupted.
The desk had been shattered into pieces.
Those fragments scattered across the office clearly showed just how furious the one who struck with his fist had been.
“Dang Sewoon……!! That insolent brat dares!!”
Inside the Clan Head’s Chamber of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Myeong was in a state of extreme rage.
Naturally, the target of his wrath was the Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, Tang Sewoon.
As terrifying qi surged throughout Namgung Myeong’s entire body from his fury—
Before him, the Namgung Clan’s Chief Steward and Namgung Myeong’s right hand, the Azure-Heaven Sword Radiance Namgung Cheok, did not know what to do.
“……Please compose yourself, Clan Head. They are merely foolish commoners chattering nonsense in the streets. Once the truth is revealed, it will soon sink below the surface.”
“No! People do not care what the truth actually is!! They will already believe that some Tang Clan brat dealt a heavy blow to the Namgung Clan!”
“……!”
After annihilating the Qingcheng Sect, the Sichuan Tang Clan publicly declared that there had been someone behind that scheme.
But they had not specified who that mastermind was.
However, unless the people of the jianghu were utter fools, there was no way they would fail to deduce the omitted subject.
Since they had withdrawn from the Murim Alliance, naturally the mastermind would be within the Murim Alliance.
And because the Qingcheng Sect and Jeok Seongja had been central figures of the Elder Faction, one of the two major factions within the Alliance—
People were now spreading the claim that the Namgung Clan had orchestrated this unheard-of atrocity of poisoning innocent commoners with a lethal toxin to create a false justification.
“To think those countryside rats from Sichuan dare splash filth upon the great name of Namgung……!!”
Namgung Myeong cared not in the slightest that the Qingcheng Sect had fallen after throwing a tantrum on their own.
Even if every last one of them had died, he would not have shed a single tear, and he had already finished drawing in sects that would replace Qingcheng’s influence.
But for the first time, a blemish had appeared upon the fame of the Namgung Clan under his rule—this enraged him more than anything else.
“How went the deployment of those Hao Sect rats!”
“……Regretfully, it is proving difficult to reverse public sentiment.”
“Damn it!!”
The Namgung Clan was a firmly orthodox faction aligned with the Murim Alliance.
Being entangled in a horrific incident so utterly opposed to the chivalry the Orthodox Path pursued was the single worst thing that could tarnish their public standing.
Thus, they spent an enormous amount of money to hire even the Hao Sect to manipulate public opinion—yet despite the huge sums poured in, there had been no effect whatsoever.
The loss was enormous.
And yet that was not the end.
“And Clan Head, the Murim Alliance is also urging your appearance at the headquarters day after day.”
“The Sword Emperor……! That fox-like old man has found an opportunity and is running wild!!”
Even Yoo Jinhak, the Sword Emperor who had remained silent, had begun to move.
No sooner had the Qingcheng incident erupted than Yoo Jinhak and the Alliance Leader’s faction began applying relentless pressure.
Barely half a day after the news spread, an official statement was released.
Expressing great responsibility for this tragic incident, the Murim Alliance declared they would conduct a thorough investigation, approved the victimized Tang Clan’s withdrawal, and stated they would not hold them accountable in any way for the extinguishing of the Qingcheng Sect.
But on the other hand, they ordered Namgung Myeong and the rest of the Elder Faction to appear before the Alliance immediately.
Naturally, none of the Elder Faction had shown up, but even that was drawing resentment from the common people.
At that moment—
Namgung Myeong ground his teeth and spoke in a low voice.
“Fine then. If you all wish for it so desperately, I shall give you a proper sword dance.”
“Pardon?”
“Namgung Cheok. At this point, we advance the plan.”
“!!”
Knowing exactly what plan Namgung Myeong referred to, Namgung Cheok reacted with alarm.
“B-But if we act so rashly now, it may disrupt the preparations for the plan we have—!”
“Then are you saying that I should actually appear before the Murim Alliance!!”
“……Kh! M-My apologies!”
The internal qi contained in Namgung Myeong’s rebuke shook Namgung Cheok to his core, and he quickly bowed his head deeply.
Namgung Myeong paid it no mind and continued speaking.
“Send word to the Elders immediately! As of today, we shall all withdraw from the Murim Alliance, and within three days, we will establish the new White Path Union!”
“……As you command!”
After giving his formal salute, Namgung Cheok left the Clan Head’s Chamber.
Alone in the room, Namgung Myeong radiated killing intent.
‘That whelp, that blood-soaked brat dares toy with me!’
But there was still one thing Namgung Myeong could not understand.
The condition of the boy he had seen had clearly been on the verge of death.
Yet according to the Namgung Clan’s intelligence unit, Jeok Seongja had indeed been killed in battle against Tang Sewoon.
If he had exerted enough power to fight Jeok Seongja—whose Manifestation Realm mastery, though incomplete, had been well-refined—then he should by all rights be a corpse by now.
‘Did he undergo Body Reformation? No, even if he had, defeating Jeok Seongja should have been impossible.’
Namgung Myeong pondered deeply, but no matter how much he thought, he could not reach a conclusion.
In the end, Namgung Myeong abandoned his speculation.
‘Whether that bastard had been hiding his strength or had overcome death itself, it didn’t matter. I already extracted everything I needed from him anyway.’
The contract with the bastard had been severed.
However, the mass-produced treasure weapons he had received from him had already piled up sufficiently.
By coincidence, the shipments scheduled for this month had all been delivered as well.
With just the items he had accumulated so far, it was more than enough to strengthen the Namgung Clan’s forces.
……It was at that exact moment that Namgung Myeong reached that conclusion.
Tududududud!
Suddenly, loud footsteps erupted from outside the door.
Just as Namgung Myeong furrowed his brows, someone hurriedly threw open the door and rushed into the Clan Head’s Chamber.
“Huff! Huff! C-Clan Head!”
“What is it!!”
The subordinate, who had clearly sprinted with frantic speed, wheezed heavily as he struggled to speak.
“T-the treasure weapons! The treasure weapons we received from the Tang Clan……!”
“!!”
The one who barged in was the warehouse keeper of the Namgung Clan.
And the warehouse keeper reported one thing.
The power of the mass-produced treasure weapons stored in the warehouse had suddenly and completely vanished.
The ‘limited-duration’ treasure weapons Sewoon had sent to the Namgung Clan had finally begun to malfunction in sequence.
All of the treasure weapons sent by the Tang Clan had turned into worthless scrap overnight.
And moments later—
Uaaaah! Tang Sewoon!
Kwakwaang! Bang! Bang!
Inside the Namgung Clan’s office, Namgung Myeong’s furious roar and the sound of office furniture being smashed rang endlessly without pause.
Three days later.
A quiet night upon which darkness had settled.
Cool moonlight slipped through the gap of a slightly open window and illuminated the Clan Head’s Chamber of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
“Haa, only now can I finally catch a bit of breath.”
Sewoon leaned back in the Clan Head’s chair, taking a moment of rest for the first time in a very long while.
After annihilating the Qingcheng Sect, Sewoon had not had even a moment to rest over the past few days.
The situation had been far too grave, and there were countless matters he personally had to handle.
Originally, in Sichuan’s murim, the Qingcheng Sect managed most of the northern region centered around Chengdu, while the Mount Emei Sect oversaw the south.
But with the Qingcheng Sect annihilated and a power vacuum forming, sects from the north—orthodox or unorthodox alike—pounced to seize the influence the Qingcheng Sect once held.
However, Sewoon had already anticipated that as well, and had moved swiftly.
Under Sewoon’s direct command, the Sichuan Tang Clan had seized control of the entire northern region.
In merely three days, the Sichuan Tang Clan had risen into a formidable hegemon whose sphere of influence now met those of the sects in Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Guizhou.
In awe of this astonishing advance, the martial world had once again given Sewoon a new title.
Since he had slain Gongsun Beon, who had been one of the Five Supreme Swords, and had become the undisputed overlord of Sichuan—
With a mixture of respect and fear—
Blood-Silk Overlord (血絲覇君).
Tang Sewoon had taken not the seat of a blacksmith, but the throne of a king.
To seize a true lordly title before even reaching thirty.
In the entirety of murim history, such a thing had never existed.
Anyone else might have been intoxicated by such sweet, unprecedented achievement.
“Namgung Myeong. It seems even your impatience must be burning.”
But Sewoon never allowed himself to fall into arrogance over a mere glorious epithet.
While resting for only a brief moment, Sewoon soon found himself once again spreading out the full map of the martial world across the desk.
Just days ago, the map had been divided into only two powers: the Murim Alliance and the Demonic Alliance.
But now the balance of power had completely shifted.
Centered around Anhui, a new force was marked on the map.
The White Path Union (白道聯).
Namgung Myeong and the Elder Faction had finally withdrawn from the Murim Alliance in full.
And immediately afterward, they founded a power of their own.
The Namgung Clan, Shaolin Temple, Jinju Eon Clan, Moyong Clan, Shandong Ak Clan, Kunlun Sect, and Kongtong Sect—
With the Qingcheng Sect erased by Sewoon’s hand, seven Elder-aligned forces remained, and they then recruited two additional factions.
The fierce Mengho, the Shin Chang Yang Clan rooted in Shanxi.
And the Lee Trading Company (李家商團) in Gansu, led by Lee Jamyeong, the father of Lee Hoseong.
A total of nine forces gathered, and the White Path Union opened its gates.
Every storyteller in the Central Plains was shouting until their throats cracked about this massive event—the Murim Alliance being split in half.
Sewoon’s brows tightened as he glared at one particular faction’s name.
‘The Lee family bastards truly are a cursed fate.’
They were simply suffering the price of their own sins, yet Lee Jamyeong still sharpened his knife, claiming his son had been turned into a cripple.
After all, he was the one who had commissioned the Gate of Assassins and sent Moomyeong.
“Kongtong Sect must be considered fully aligned with them as well.”
Information had reached him that the Kongtong Sect, rooted in Gansu, had recently fallen entirely under the control of the Lee Trading Company.
After Baek Yacha Heo So-chang’s disciple died, the Kongtong Sect Leader had succumbed to inner demons, and the entire sect had trembled to the point where it could no longer function.
Lee Jamyeong had exploited that opening, using his immense financial power to seize the sect.
‘If it’s Lee Jamyeong, even without Namgung Myeong’s help, he would strike the moment we reveal even the slightest gap.’
That man would not care for public criticism.
To begin with, the Tang Clan had withdrawn from the Murim Alliance and become a neutral force between orthodox and unorthodox.
However, the White Path Union had already fallen into turmoil as soon as it was founded, because Shaolin’s Great Master Gakgong had immediately declared war on Waterway Alliance, one of the Five Evils aligned with the Demonic Alliance.
Namgung Myeong likely wished to stop him, but he had no choice.
Great Master Gakgong had joined the Elder Faction in the first place to avenge his disciple.
Clicking his tongue at the names of the Lee Trading Company and the Kongtong Sect, Sewoon looked down at the map with contempt.
‘Fools. They’ve never once considered that Blood Incidents (血事) will soon descend upon them.’
From the memories before his return, Sewoon knew.
Very soon, the Blood Cult would end its long hibernation and reveal its full existence on the surface.
With a dark expression, Sewoon muttered quietly to himself.
Without doubt, it would happen soon.
“……The first beginning of the Blood Cult’s great plan—the ‘Rebellion of the Outer Regions.’”