novelraw Chapter 217 : The Fivefold Division of the Martial World
Chapter 217 : The Fivefold Division of the Martial World
Chapter 217: The Fivefold Division of the Martial World
Unlike the Kunlun Sect and the Moyong Clan, which had suffered tremendous losses from the very beginning due to the surprise assault by the Beyond-the-Frontier forces, the Mount Hainan Sect entered into city defense as if fully prepared, without sustaining major damage.
In response, the Sun Palace showed clear signs of panic, and due to the protracted and indecisive state of the war, it was unable to provide substantial assistance even when the Heaven-Piercing Sect requested aid.
However, this was by no means because the Mount Hainan Sect possessed overwhelming latent strength worthy of having the title “Sword Gate” attached to its name.
Though no one knew it, Nam Mujin—Mount Hainan Sect’s great disciple and a member of the Jecheon Unit—had received advance notice from Sewoon regarding the movements of the Sun Palace. Acting on that warning, he had his close senior and junior brothers continuously monitor their activities.
“Tsk. As an orthodox sect member, does he have no pride at all? They say Sea Sword Demon Wi Tae-do showed off such advanced Martial Attainment, yet he couldn’t even try holding out on his own.”
“Hey now, you can’t talk like that. Even if that’s the case, without bringing in another faction like the Tang Clan, how many innocent commoners would have suffered at the hands of the Sun Palace’s demonic practitioners?”
“Ahem… that may be so, but…”
“Besides, the Murim Alliance couldn’t even send a single ship. It’s only right to be grateful that the Tang Clan exerted itself.”
“No, but you’re an orthodox sect member—why do you keep taking the Tang Clan’s side?”
“Hah! I’m not taking sides, I’m simply stating the facts—!!”
Among martial artists of the Jianghu who were unaware of the detailed circumstances, heated arguments went back and forth.
But they would never come to know.
That Mount Hainan Sect had merely blocked the initial surprise assault—and that across Hainan Island, the sect had been pushed to the brink of collapse by the Sun Palace’s demonic practitioners wielding bizarre and uncanny martial arts.
Yet such hardship was inevitable.
Hainan Island, where the Mount Hainan Sect was located, was an island surrounded by the sea on all sides, just as its name implied.
Thus, for the Murim Alliance to provide reinforcements, approach by ship was the only option.
However, the regions south of the Yangtze River were under the control of the Demonic Alliance.
The only viable sea route began by traveling from Sichuan to Yunnan, but that took far too long.
And as the Murim Alliance delayed its decision, the Mount Hainan Sect had been left completely on its own.
In the end, as the blood-soaked battle dragged on, Blood-Thread Tyrant Tang Sewoon joined as reinforcement.
Displaying utterly unfathomable divine might, the Blood-Thread Tyrant single-handedly swept away the Sun Palace’s Palace Lord and all of his subordinates in one fell stroke, unleashing overwhelming dominance.
“But did the Blood-Thread Tyrant really defeat the Sun Palace Lord and all his men by himself?”
“Does that even make sense? The Sun Palace itself was nothing but a bunch of insignificant rabble compared to Gale Sands or the Ice Palace. The Mount Hainan Sect must have already been holding them off.”
“That’s what I think too. Didn’t Sea Sword Demon already season everything nicely, and he just came in and devoured it all?”
“Ah! So the Blood-Thread Tyrant simply appeared at the right moment and stole the credit?”
“Exactly. That’s why he was able to return from Hainan to Sichuan so quickly.”
Among orthodox sect members—regardless of whether they belonged to the White Path Union or the Murim Alliance—opinions regarding Tang Sewoon split sharply into extremes.
Some claimed that Sewoon’s feats were impossibly exaggerated and utterly unbelievable.
“And yet, isn’t it a bit much to only belittle him, considering how much the Blood-Thread Tyrant accomplished this time?”
“Indeed. He conquered Guizhou and even slaughtered the Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader so miserably. If anything, we shouldn’t underestimate him.”
“Exactly. To be honest, I now fear the Blood-Thread Tyrant more than the Lord of the Sleepless Fortress, ‘Moonlit Night.’”
Rather than dismissing him, many began to directly acknowledge that the greatest victors of the war were the Blood-Thread Tyrant and the Sichuan Tang Clan, and they evaluated Tang Sewoon’s mental schemes and Martial Attainment as downright terrifying.
Yet as stated earlier, neither side accepted the other’s view, and relentless arguments continued to rage.
“On top of that, wasn’t it said that the Abbot of Shaolin—Heavenly Fist Tathagata himself—who had reached the Extreme of the Manifestation Realm, acknowledged him and withdrew on the Sichuan battlefield?”
“Are you joking? Martial Attainment on par with Great Master Gakgong, who stands at the same level as the Sword Emperor? No matter how outstanding the Blood-Thread Tyrant is, that’s impossible.”
“Where there’s no fire, no smoke rises. And weren’t there countless witnesses present at the scene?”
“If all those rumors were true, then why would the Ice Palace and Gale Sands have joined hands afterward?”
Thus, the Jianghu was being reorganized into a form completely different from before.
The martial world, once a three-way struggle between the White Path Union, the Murim Alliance, and the Demonic Alliance, had now been divided into five factions.
The Murim Alliance, still led by the Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak, the undisputed number one under heaven.
The White Path Union, which had suffered catastrophic losses—truly the worst—along with the Moyong Clan, the Divine Spear Yang Clan, and even the Lee Trading Company.
The Demonic Alliance, which had lost its limbs with the destruction of the Heaven-Piercing Sect and the Eastern Eighteen Raids among the Five Evils.
Gale Sands and the Ice Palace, which now advanced into the Central Plains rather than remaining in the Beyond-the-Frontier Regions, unleashing ferocious and overwhelming martial force.
And finally, the Sichuan Tang Clan led by the Blood-Thread Tyrant—no, now feared under the dread-filled alias, the “Dark Heaven Evil Sovereign”—Tang Sewoon.
Among them all, people feared the Tang Clan’s movements the most.
So much so that verses praising Sewoon were spreading throughout the Central Plains.
“Heaven darkened in ink, stars sinking into the night,
Where the Evil Sovereign walks, ten thousand ghosts bow.”
The reason people feared the Tang Clan’s advance more than the Beyond-the-Frontier forces that had devastated Kunlun and the Moyong Clan was simple.
While Qinghai and Shanxi had each been seized by a single faction, the Tang Clan had taken control of more than three cities at once.
First, they seized Guizhou, exterminated the Heaven-Piercing Sect, and dominated Guangxi.
“…Did you hear? They say the fortress-like estate of the Lee Trading Company’s main base was completely burned to the ground.”
“They always said never to earn the Tang Clan’s enmity. This must be what that warning meant.”
“They half-killed Lee Hoseong, dragged him through the marketplace, and let the people beat him to death.”
“Hoo… even Gansu has become Tang Clan territory now!”
Finally, Sewoon took control of Gansu as well.
Yet no one was able to put a stop to the advance of the Dark Heaven Evil Sovereign and the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Taking advantage of the absence of its Clan Head, the Lee Trading Company—led by Lee Jamyeong—launched a surprise assault, and—
When they were driven into a defensive corner, they attempted to use the horrific forbidden artifact known as the Thunder Pellet.
No one had any pretext whatsoever to interfere with the Tang Clan’s actions.
Moreover, was it not the Dark Heaven Evil Sovereign who had slain the infamously fearsome Golden Wave Dignitary in only a handful of exchanges?
Thus, all martial artists of both the orthodox and unorthodox paths kept their senses sharpened, watching intently for Tang Sewoon’s next move.
……However.
No one could have known.
That in the Jianghu, which seemed to have regained a brief moment of calm, the point of an even greater and more shocking upheaval was fast approaching.
Deep within the mountains, not far from the Murim Alliance’s main base.
In a space cut off from the outside world by layers of ominous Qimen Formations, there stood a single cave whose entrance was sealed shut by an enormous boulder.
Before this place—whose very existence was known only to a handful of individuals even within the Murim Alliance—
An elderly bhikkhuni clad in neat gray monastic robes stood silently.
“Step aside, I told you.”
A veteran supreme expert who had gained even greater renown by standing against the Heavenly Fist Tathagata during the recent Sichuan incident, and the individual who shared the longest-standing bond in the Jianghu with the person sealed within the cave.
She was Boyeon Divine Nun, the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician of the Mount Emei Sect.
She was the Murim Alliance’s de facto second-in-command.
Under normal circumstances, no one would have dared to block her path.
And yet—
Chak!
More than a dozen martial artists clad in jet-black martial uniforms had formed a semicircle, surrounding her in unison.
They were the shadow-like personal guard who swore loyalty to none but the Murim Alliance Leader alone—the Celestial Dragon Guard.
“Divine Nun. Please return. The Alliance Leader cannot meet anyone at this time.”
The Commander of the Celestial Dragon Guard, Jaegal Seoa, spoke to Boyeon Divine Nun.
She had not drawn her sword, yet her gaze was sharper than any blade.
Nevertheless, Boyeon Divine Nun did not even blink.
Her eyes—reminiscent of a Mountain Lord—remained fixed on the tightly sealed cave.
“An unseen demon is approaching. This is no time for that Yoo Clan man to be leisurely cultivating martial arts. Step aside at once!”
Indeed.
The one undergoing closed-door cultivation here was none other than Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak.
Boyeon Divine Nun had come all this way to warn him of the danger facing the Jianghu—danger that Sewoon had made her realize.
Sewoon’s warning regarding the attack on the Mount Hainan Sect had proven to be true.
Before the incident occurred, she had attempted to send a voice transmission to the Alliance Leader in order to dispatch reinforcements in advance.
‘Why would he choose this moment for closed-door cultivation?’
Because Yoo Jinhak had suddenly entered seclusion, no support could be sent beforehand.
Aside from Yoo Jinhak—who already knew about Sewoon—no one else among the Alliance’s leadership could be persuaded, as the attack on the Mount Hainan Sect had not yet occurred at that time.
Frustrated beyond endurance and angered to the brink, Boyeon Divine Nun had rushed here in one breath, intending to reprimand Yoo Jinhak and discuss what must be done next.
Chak!
Shing!
When she stepped forward, Jaegal Seoa and the entire Celestial Dragon Guard leveled their swords at her.
“……We cannot defy the Alliance Leader’s will.”
“I have tolerated this so far, but it seems words alone will not suffice.”
Boyeon Divine Nun’s voice was low, yet it resounded with heavy authority.
Jaegal Seoa and every member of the Celestial Dragon Guard knew they could not stop her.
Even so, they carried in their hearts a vow to uphold the Alliance Leader’s command—even at the cost of their lives.
Swaaaa!!
Chwaaah!
Boyeon Divine Nun drew up her Qi.
‘It seems I will have to knock them all unconscious.’
Just as she reached out her hand, on the brink of immediate conflict—
Kuuurrrrung!
Kuurrr!
“!!”
“……!!”
A deep, crushing roar echoed from deep within the cave, shaking the earth itself.
Every member of the Celestial Dragon Guard instinctively turned their heads.
A strange light rose in Boyeon Divine Nun’s eyes.
Kuurrr!
The massive boulder sealing the cave entrance began to slide aside amid violent tremors.
And from within the slowly revealed darkness of the cave—
Step.
An old swordsman walked out.
A single sword hung at the waist of his plain white martial uniform.
Yet with each step Yoo Jinhak took—
Kuurrrrr! Kwa-ga-ga-ga!!
The land trembled more violently than the shaking stone, and even the air itself heated as though scorched.
“…….”
“A, ah…….”
Thud. Thud.
The moment they beheld him, the martial artists of the Celestial Dragon Guard—including Jaegal Seoa—collapsed one by one, losing consciousness.
Unable to withstand the naturally emanating aura that no one could approach, both body and mind gave way as their eyes shut.
‘Th-that aura…!’
As a result, even Boyeon Divine Nun—now the only one still conscious—could not hide her shock.
She recognized it at a glance.
This was not merely a dramatic rise in inner arts, nor simply the attainment of a higher enlightenment.
Within Yoo Jinhak’s aura coexisted—
A destructive power that felt as though even death itself could be governed with ease.
And a gentle, tranquil stillness that contemplated life.
Boyeon Divine Nun swallowed her breath.
She realized that Yoo Jinhak had finally stepped into a mysterious realm he had been unable to reach for countless years.
‘……The Life and Death Realm!’
As her body trembled—
“Heh heh, controlling my strength isn’t easy at all.”
Yoo Jinhak spoke with a hearty laugh.