novelraw Chapter 420 : Sangmu Fortress (1)
Chapter 420 : Sangmu Fortress (1)
Chapter 420: Sangmu Fortress (1)
Hyang Byeok cautiously watched the reactions of Yi Taegong, Gwan Changgi, before he finally opened his mouth.
“The first matter is that Third Young Master has had relations with my daughter.”
Yi Taegong, Gwan Changgi’s face immediately hardened. He knew exactly what those words meant.
The Yin Cold Freezing Art that Eum Sajuk practiced was a martial art he himself had passed down, so he was well aware of its traits.
That technique had already seeped into Eum Sajuk’s very marrow.
If someone like him, who wielded yin-based internal energy, had intercourse with a woman who lacked yin energy, the Yin Cold Freezing Art would undoubtedly collapse.
Given that, if Eum Sajuk still took Hyang Uun, then only a few possibilities remained.
First, he had perfected the Yin Cold Freezing Art to the point where sleeping with any woman posed no risk. Second, he had simply abandoned the Yin Cold Freezing Art.
However, to overcome the limitations of that technique, one's martial attainment had to reach the Realm of Composition, and their cultivation had to be at the Transcendent Realm.
Until his departure, Eum Sajuk's internal energy had barely reached the level of One Jiazi and a Half.
But when he encountered the third disciple recently, the latter’s energy had increased by a full One Jiazi.
He recalled how surprised and impressed he had been back then.
After all, to elevate one’s energy by a whole Jiazi, it took not only great fortune but also relentless effort.
Masa, at that time, had concealed the full extent of his cultivation when facing Yi Taegong.
Masa had already reached the level of Four Jiazi, and had attained Perfect Return to the Spirit, enabling him to suppress or reveal his energy at will.
Moreover, being a master who had already attained over Three Jiazi of internal energy in his past life, his control over true energy was second to none.
And Yama True Qi, when hidden intentionally, could not be sensed by any master.
He had deliberately revealed only about One and a Half Jiazi’s worth of energy to avoid suspicion from Yi Taegong.
“I suppose a thorough investigation is necessary.”
Yi Taegong, Gwan Changgi, muttered under his breath.
“I’ll handle this matter personally. In the meantime, I ask that you ensure it doesn’t leak to the outside.”
Hyang Byeok respectfully clasped his hands in salute and stepped back, thinking inwardly.
‘If Yi Taegong investigates and finds nothing wrong, then Third Young Master’s cultivation must be so extraordinary it defies belief. If that's the case, then even if he takes my daughter, it’s not a loss. Someone like that could even surpass the First Young Master.’
Hyang Byeok had more than one motive.
‘And if there is something wrong with Third Young Master, I’ll gain credit for uncovering it. Either way, the future looks promising. I’ll explain everything to my daughter and have her stay away from him for a while.’
No matter the outcome, things worked in Hyang Byeok’s favor—so an involuntary smile crept onto his lips.
Hyang Uun had listened to her father’s words and understood, but by now, none of that mattered to her.
Hyang Uun, a woman with a strong lust who couldn’t sleep a night without a man, had no chance of resisting someone like Masa, who had mastered the art of handling women.
On top of that, she fell under Masa’s specialty—Soul Seduction Technique—and ended up pouring out everything she knew between moans and whispers.
“Is that really true?”
At Masa’s question, Hyang Uun nodded.
Her eyes were glazed over, staring blankly into space.
“Yes, my father suspected Third Young Master’s identity and went to see Yi Taegong.”
“Hmm. What did he say?”
As he gently coaxed her, Hyang Uun recounted the conversation her father had with Yi Taegong.
“So, it’s because I, who trained in Yin Cold Freezing Art, had intercourse with someone like you, who possesses no yin energy, that suspicion arose.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Masa wasn’t particularly surprised by that.
He had anticipated that someone might begin to question his identity eventually.
He just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
Still, it was fortunate Hyang Uun had told him—now he had time to prepare.
“Very well. Now I’ll make sure to give you even more pleasure. Consider it your reward for the information.”
“Heung~ Then I’ll give you one more piece of information, so please make this girl even happier.”
“Is that so? Then speak.”
Hyang Uun giggled with a dazed smile.
“My spy within the Daebyeol Sect’s coalition sent word that the alliance is planning to attack Martial Fort soon.”
“Martial Fort?”
Masa had never heard of such a sect before. But for some reason, the name felt oddly familiar.
He turned to Hyang Uun and asked,
“Is Martial Fort important? I’ve never heard of it.”
“The lord of Martial Fort is Gi Cheongju.”
Hyang Uun chuckled as she spoke.
But Masa still couldn’t place it.
“Gi Cheongju of Martial Fort has three daughters. One of them is Gi Yuyeon.”
“So?”
The name Gi Yuyeon stirred something in his memory, but he couldn’t quite place it. So he asked again. And then, with Hyang Uun’s next words, Masa’s expression hardened.
“Gi Yuyeon is the wife of the Sect Leader of Cheonjung Sect.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Masa fully understand what she was trying to say.
“So what you’re saying is… the Daebyeol Sect alliance plans to attack the in-laws of the Cheonjung Sect Leader?”
“That’s right.”
“They’re attacking Martial Fort to scatter Cheonjung Sect’s forces. While the sect’s power is off aiding Martial Fort, they’ll strike Cheonjung Sect itself.”
"That's exactly it."
Still with vacant eyes, Hyang Uun let out a faint chuckle.
‘This is urgent. I must get this information out. But since Hyang Byeok told Yi Taegong that my identity is suspicious, he’ll likely be monitoring me.’
After mulling it over for a moment, Masa eventually wrote a letter and summoned the Azure Messenger Rat.
The Azure Messenger Rat swallowed the letter, climbed onto the roof, and shot off into the distance like a streak of light.
Masa’s eyes glinted as he watched it vanish.
Just as the Azure Messenger Rat was about to leave the Heavenly Demon Sect Branch, a pitch-black hand seized its neck.
“Screeee! Kreeek!”
As the hand squeezed the creature’s belly, the wax-sealed letter came rising up from the rat’s throat.
The dark hand grabbed the letter, dropped the rat to the ground, and firmly pressed its head down with a foot.
“Kreeegh!”
The rat writhed, but couldn’t move and only scratched helplessly at the floor.
“Here it is.”
The owner of the dark hand bowed and held out the letter with both hands toward a figure who stood calmly on the rooftop with his hands behind his back.
Yi Taegong, Gwan Changgi, peeled off the wax seal and unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was unmistakably that of the Third Disciple, Eum Sajuk.
Yi Taegong read through the letter.
Now is the time.
First Brother, the Daebyeol Sect coalition is planning to attack Yong Hwarin’s maternal family.
I believe Cheonjung Sect will be able to repel the attack, but not without taking severe losses.
That means this could be our opportunity. We must participate in the battle and earn merit.
If possible, killing Yong Hwarin would be even better.
Of course, the Yong Clan’s strength is beyond what we can currently face, so it would be best to wait until they’re exhausted from fighting the Daebyeol Sect alliance.
If you and I petition the Masters, they will dispatch the forces of the Heavenly Demon Sect Branch to us.
So we must mobilize toward Cheonjung Sect at once.
You should speak with the First Master.
I will speak to the Second Master.
We won’t get another chance to surpass the First Young Master.
But we must not reveal our true strength yet, to keep the First Young Master in check. I too am hiding the fact that I’ve achieved complete mastery of the Yin Cold Freezing Art from the Second Master.
So please be cautious when meeting the First Master.
Remember: we must achieve merit before the First Young Master becomes wary of us.
After finishing the letter, Yi Taegong smirked.
“Truly, this is just like the Third Disciple.”
He had always been the type to exploit weaknesses and strike from the shadows.
Even the suspicions Hyang Byeok had raised were neatly explained within.
“As sly as ever.”
This was exactly why he favored the Third Disciple.
To stand at the peak of the demonic path, one had to excel in the shadows as well.
He believed that if one’s strength was insufficient to become number one, then strategy must make up the difference.
The dark figure asked,
“What shall we do?”
Yi Taegong handed back the letter and said,
“Leave him be. Let’s see what the Third Disciple does.”
“Understood.”
“If he can deceive even the Head of Unmil Pavilion, then he must be plotting something deeper.”
He fed the letter back to the Azure Messenger Rat and released it.
Once it leapt over the Heavenly Demon Sect Branch’s wall and disappeared, the two figures vanished like phantoms.
However, the Azure Messenger Rat circled once around the Heavenly Demon Sect Branch and returned to Eum Sajuk’s residence.
Seeing the rat return in such a state, Eum Sajuk muttered,
“As expected… I was being watched.”
Masa knew well from Eum Sajuk’s memories that Yi Taegong was meticulous and calculating beyond compare.
He wouldn’t have taken Hyang Byeok’s suspicions lightly. Surely, he tried to uncover Masa’s true identity.
That was why Masa had summoned the Azure Messenger Rat to send a fake letter.
The goal was to lull Yi Taegong’s suspicions—for now.
Sure enough, Yi Taegong intercepted and read the message the moment the rat left.
‘That should buy me some time.’
Eum Sajuk wrote a new letter and fed it to the Azure Messenger Rat.
“Go now.”
The rat swallowed the letter and scurried up the beam.
Masa’s eyes gleamed.
“My identity will be revealed someday. Before that happens, I must clean up those who suspect me.”
He began devising a plot to deal with Hyang Byeok and Yi Taegong.
Yong Hwarin infused Realm of Self-Existence energy into the wounded Deung Hwaun and Jong Seok-ok before standing up.
“Please devote your full attention to caring for them for now.”
He instructed the physicians, then looked at the injured with concern.
“Hyung-nim, I’m sorry.”
Jong Seok-ok apologized, his face full of regret, but Yong Hwarin placed a hand on his shoulder and said,
“What are you talking about?”
“I ended up in this state and couldn’t protect Lady Deung.”
Yong Hwarin replied,
“What nonsense is that? If you hadn’t risked your life, Lady Deung would not have survived. The rest of us might have perished too. So stop thinking that way. I’m just glad you made it back alive.”
At Yong Hwarin’s reassurance, Jong Seok-ok felt his guilt over failing to protect the others begin to ease.
“They were already masters who had reached the Realm of Martial Emptiness. The fact that any of you returned alive is a miracle in itself.”
To that, Jong Seok-ok responded,
“If it weren’t for those masked men, we’d all be dead.”
Yong Hwarin listened once more to the account of what happened at the medical quarters, and doubts began to grow in his mind.
‘Who are they, to be wielding the Flying Dragons Twin Swords?’