Sword God Reborn

Chapter 240 : Because That's the Easiest Way

The news that Cheon Mubaeck had arrived at the Righteous Alliance spread to everyone in the alliance before long.

"It can't be helped. Because Dad suddenly shot out his vital energy!"

"Umm..."

At Zhuge Seol-ah's sharp glare, Zhuge Yeogang diligently avoided her gaze.

He didn't like that his cute daughter wasn't taking his side.

But what could he do? He was clearly in the wrong.

'Wait, was I in the wrong?'

Come to think of it, not necessarily.

The atmosphere had been just that strange.

Honestly, not just Zhuge Yeogang, but any father with a daughter would have misunderstood.

A young man and woman in a room, a strange atmosphere amidst a quiet silence.

Who wouldn't grab the back of their neck upon seeing that?

Zhuge Yeogang felt wronged inside, but seeing Zhuge Seol-ah with her hands on her hips, he quickly lowered his gaze. In any case, a commotion had broken out, so it was natural for rumors to spread like wildfire throughout the Righteous Alliance.

"Do you think I shot out my vital energy with the intention of attacking the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero?"

"Then why did you do it?"

Faced with a glare that suggested she would commit patricide if the reason wasn't convincing, Zhuge Yeogang received a serious shock.

'They say raising a daughter is all for naught...'

Anew, a sense of hostility towards Cheon Mubaeck welled up, but what could he do?

He might not even be allowed in her room again at this rate.

Feeling a sense of crisis that he wouldn't be able to speak to her for a while unless he came up with a plausible reason, Zhuge Yeogang desperately racked his brain.

The head of the Zhuge Clan and the foremost brain of the Righteous Alliance did his best not to be disliked by his daughter.

As fiercely as he racked his brain, an answer came.

"Of course, it was to help Young Master Cheon!"

"You shot out your vital energy to help him? Really?"

"O-of course."

Zhuge Seol-ah's face turned skeptical.

What kind of sense did that make? Attacking to help?

The only reason Zhuge Seol-ah didn't immediately refute him was that she knew of her father's brilliance.

Perhaps he had seen something wider and farther than she had thought.

At her skeptical gaze, Zhuge Yeogang desperately elaborated.

"Seol-ah, think about it. What kind of existence am I among the young martial artists right now?"

"The Chief Strategist of the Righteous Alliance... Ah!"

In that moment, Zhuge Seol-ah's eyes flashed open.

"A nagging old man!"

...It's not wrong, but it feels strange.

"Ahem... Well, that's right. The young ones insist on striking the Blood Demon Valley right away, but I'm the one who has rejected all those claims."

The Righteous Alliance is a coalition formed by the gathering of individual martial artists.

If individuals gather and push for a single will, it is difficult for even the leadership to refuse.

Moreover, the opinion was plausible.

Since the war had already begun, insisting on a preemptive strike against the Blood Demon Valley was perfectly reasonable from a tactical and strategic perspective.

The person who logically refuted that was Zhuge Yeogang.

No matter how high the young martial artists' hot blood and righteousness were, how could they refute the logic of Zhuge Yeogang, the foremost brain of the Righteous Alliance?

So they had no choice but to swallow their frustration, calling him a nagging old man.

At that point, Zhuge Seol-ah felt as if the fog was lifting.

"Such a person as I had a major conflict with the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero. To the extent that a part of the reception hall was destroyed. How would that appear in the eyes of the young martial artists?"

"Aha. Since you showed a public conflict with the current leadership of the Righteous Alliance... he'll become a focal point in an instant."

"That's right. Of course, even without doing this, the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero's fame and deeds receive the fervent support of the young martial artists, but if he is even seen clashing with the leadership of the Righteous Alliance, won't they surely rally around Young Master Cheon?"

Zhuge Seol-ah let out a short exclamation of admiration.

He was right.

Of course, even without a conflict, the martial artists would gather around Cheon Mubaeck.

His deeds stimulated something that made the blood boil.

But wasn't the current situation a bit strange?

With factions starting to form even among the young martial artists, no matter how much fervent support Cheon Mubaeck received, it would not be an easy task to encompass all of them.

But now that he was seen openly clashing with Zhuge Yeogang, who stood on the opposite side of the young martial artists, and rumors had spread like wildfire, the force gathering around Cheon Mubaeck would become even stronger.

Zhuge Seol-ah's face brightened.

As if she had never glared at him like that, Zhuge Yeogang felt greatly relieved at the pretty eyes of his usual daughter.

"I knew it. So that's what it was! That's why you controlled the intensity of your vital energy."

"Huh?"

"Young Master Cheon let the vital energy flow past him as if it were nothing. If you really intended to do something to Young Master Cheon, Dad, you would have poured out all your strength."

That was right. Cheon Mubaeck had not been flustered at all by the sudden burst of vital energy and had nullified it by waving his hand a few times.

Although Zhuge Yeogang was famous for his intellect, he was strictly the head of a sect.

As the head of the Zhuge Clan, his martial prowess was also outstanding.

It was certainly strange that he had let his vital energy flow past so casually.

His daughter, Zhuge Seol-ah, knew her father's martial arts well.

"Ahem. Th-that's right."

But Zhuge Yeogang's face was strange.

'I really did pour out all my strength...'

Really, I did it with gritted teeth...

Honestly, he had seen red.

He thought that crazy bastard was trying to do something to his daughter.

But to have it brushed off so lightly.

In that moment, Zhuge Yeogang's body trembled.

'Just how much stronger has he gotten?'

Usually, geniuses are arrogant.

That's why the weakness of a genius is clear.

What they believed, what they thought, what they thought was within their plan.

When something among those things becomes impossibly difficult to gauge.

That's when they feel the strongest shock and fear.

When they see a vessel so wide and deep that it cannot be grasped even with a genius brain.

When they look up at a mountain so high it's impossible to see the top.

And now, Zhuge Yeogang broke out in a cold sweat from a faint fear.

* * *

"Let's have a bout."

"Is the Righteous Alliance some kind of demonic cult?"

"What?"

"Both the Chief Strategist and the Alliance Leader, greeting me with a fight. Has a new trend emerged while I was away?"

"Hohoho..."

Gwak Yong let out a hollow laugh at Cheon Mubaeck's blunt words.

Could a person who says "let's have a bout" as a first greeting be normal?

Gwak Yong knew that fact well.

But like his title, the God of Combat, he felt an intense fighting spirit.

It was Cheon Mubaeck he was facing after several years, but his body had grown hot from the presence and atmosphere that were on a different level from the past.

"My apologies. The moment you opened the door and came in, my dantian grew hot without me realizing it."

"That's a disease."

"Huh?"

"It means the vessel of your dantian has weakened, so take some spiritual medicine and take care of your body."

"Uh, is that so?"

Although he said it like a joke, Gwak Yong was quite flustered by Cheon Mubaeck's serious expression.

"Internal energy is not necessarily good for the body. It's about containing the powerful energy of nature that a person cannot originally hold. It doesn't matter when you're young, but as the body ages, there is a limit to the internal energy the body can withstand."

"That means...?"

"Slowly empty your internal energy and focus more on your external arts."

"..."

Gwak Yong firmly closed his lips.

He had suddenly opened his ears wide and was concentrating on Cheon Mubaeck's advice.

'Come to think of it...'

Wasn't this advice he had heard somewhere before?

'The esteemed Azure Sky Sword God said something like that too.'

It was certain.

In the distant past of his memory, it was definitely the advice the Azure Sky Sword God had given him.

'To think I only remember this now...'

Well, the Gwak Yong of that time was in the prime of his youth.

He was the owner of a body like steel who couldn't even imagine the aging of the body.

So he had forgotten.

Hearing it from Cheon Mubaeck's mouth, Gwak Yong accepted it with a happy heart.

Cheok.

Gwak Yong, who had shot up, bowed his waist and showed his respect with a fist-and-palm salute.

"Thank you. Your, no, your golden advice, I will engrave it on my bones."

"There's no need to engrave it on your bones..."

"So, when will we have a sparring match?"

"Let's grasp the situation first."

"Yes, good. You already know the basic situation, don't you?"

"Yes. But the alliance leadership must have a plan, right?"

Gwak Yong nodded.

"I'm thinking of organizing the Demon Repelling Squad."

"A strike force made up of young martial artists."

"Considering their hot blood and righteousness, there will be great opposition if we place them in the rear. I'm thinking of making them a sharp dagger that stabs the fastest, the first, and the most dangerous places."

A picture formed in Cheon Mubaeck's mind.

Indeed, it was obvious that there would be great opposition if he said he would place those martial artists in the rear.

However, the young martial artists were clearly inexperienced. To use such people as a sharp dagger meant accepting the risks that would befall them.

"But that risk, I believe, is worth taking if you take on the role of the squad leader."

Gwak Yong's voice was serious.

In fact, there were a few voices of concern, but he firmly believed that if Cheon Mubaeck took the lead of the Demon Repelling Squad, it would become the most powerful dagger.

In fact, seeing Cheon Mubaeck's presence now, he honestly felt that even if he himself took on the role of the squad leader, there would be no comparison.

"To do that, the young martial artists who will belong to the Demon Repelling Squad must absolutely and thoroughly follow your command."

"That's my part to solve."

"That's right. It's a matter of stealing their hearts."

To carry out a mission fraught with great danger, they must thoroughly follow Cheon Mubaeck.

But that was not something the leadership of the Righteous Alliance could do anything about.

It was something Cheon Mubaeck had to earn with his own power.

"But we can't put all the young martial artists into the Demon Repelling Squad. To be honest, there are more friends whose martial arts skills are not good."

"In the end, we have to gather only the outstanding elites, but they won't follow easily."

"That's right. The ones who have become leaders among those martial artists are born that way. They have power, the backing of their families, authority, and are always at the top. They don't admire you, but rather..."

"They see me as a competitor."

Especially the leaders of the four factions.

"Gyo Mun-cheok, Tang Su-gun, Hwangbo Sung."

"Hah. You've already figured that out?"

"Young Lady Zhuge told me."

"Those three are definitely of a different breed. Except for Hwangbo Sung, Gyo Mun-cheok and Tang Su-gun are from places considered a bit far from the Central Plains, so I didn't know them well, but from what I see, they don't fall short compared to Cheon-hu."

Well, they would have to be at that level to act as faction leaders among them.

"Hwangbo Sung is arrogant, but he has the skills to back it up. They say he's a prodigy raised by the Hwangbo Clan with spiritual medicines and body-refining techniques since he was young, and he's that skilled. But the most important one is the last one."

"The Anhui faction."

"Right. The group made up of martial artists from Anhui Province."

"What does the Namgung Clan plan to do?"

"Well. They haven't broached the subject of joining so far, but..."

The Namgung Clan stands alone as the hegemon of Anhui Province.

After the Sword Venerable disappeared, the head of the Namgung Clan was practically evaluated as the number one in the world.

And even the Great Young Master, the dragon of the rising generation.

They are aloof.

They believe they can fight the Demonic Path standing alone, without bowing their heads and entering the Righteous Alliance.

Of course, they also possessed that much power and influence. This was an undeniable fact.

"It is a headache. It would certainly be a great force if we joined with that much power, but."

"The current distribution of power would be greatly shaken."

"No matter how much it's a coalition gathered for a great cause, it can't be helped since we're human."

"Actually, the three factions are not important. Gyo Mun-cheok, Tang Su-gun, and Hwangbo Sung are not big problems."

In Cheon Mubaeck's view, the abilities of the three were outstanding.

But to Cheon Mubaeck, who had already reached the World-Severing Realm, they were no match.

If he pressed them down appropriately, they would have no choice but to bow their heads.

"The existence of the Anhui faction means that the Namgung Clan will definitely interfere. The Namgung Clan will soon broach the subject of joining."

Gwak Yong looked at Cheon Mubaeck with a skeptical face.

"Will they really..."

They had sent people several times to recommend joining, but they had haughtily refused.

"Because I have come."

At the sight of him replacing all logic with just a single sentence, Gwak Yong smiled bitterly.

And Gwak Yong, before long, had no choice but to admit that there was no logic more powerful than that.

"The Great Young Master of the Namgung Clan has sent word that he will come to the Righteous Alliance in person!"

Cheon Mubaeck smiled lightly.

There was a kind of principle that Cheon Mubaeck had considered most important for a long time.

"You have to strike the head first."

Because that's the easiest way.

(End of Chapter)