Chapter 213

Dong Bongsu perched upon the roof of the newly finalized [Alchemy Workshop], surveying the terrain beneath him while maintaining an active [Whisper].

[You recall the entirety of my previous instructions, correct?]

The spectacle of the grand grand-opening ceremony for the sect unfolded vividly before his eyes.

[Based on those facts, your objective is singularly defined.]

A massive crowd drawn from every corner of the River Capital packed the inner grounds of the Hero’s Sect.

This was the inaugural celebration for a rising power that had single-handedly broken the iron grip of the Iron God Gang, fractured the Seven Star Immortal Society, and shattered the Bandit Alliance.

While the physical setup lacked excessive opulence, the expressions of those present were intensely focused.

Not a single soul in attendance failed to recognize that the balance of power across the River Capital had fundamentally shifted.

[Elevate the worth of the Hero’s Sect.]

Positioned at the head of the training square, the sect’s youths stood arranged in a straight line, clad in pristine vestments.

Hoae held the leading position, her posture perfectly erect.

Beside her, Jeon Rahwa was meticulously reviewing the order of proceedings in her mind.

Over in the section reserved for dignitaries, Yan Bilyeong and Myo Jinheo were seated shoulder to shoulder, while across from them, Yo Han-myeong from the Government Office and Bae Dal-pae representing the All-Knowing House sipped their tea while keeping their eyes fixed on the courtyard.

The mere presence of two esteemed Trigram Masters from the Formation Tower acting as honored guests at a rookie sect’s debut was enough to trigger endless speculation and quiet murmurs among the visiting River Capital martial artists.

[Bear this in mind. If you hope to secure the answers you pursue, this plan must unfold without a hitch.]

With that, the [Whisper] cut off.

Exiting the communication panel and minimizing his overhead map tracker, Dong Bongsu smoothly dropped down from the rooftop.

The sect’s official opening ceremony.

The precise date to hoist the banner of the Hero’s Sect high for all the world to witness.

Yet, this marked nothing more than the opening move.

The external preparations were set.

The structural alterations were fully realized.

Though it drifted slightly from the path he had initially mapped out, the end product had been refined into an upgraded version that was 120% more effective.

‘Now, it is time to generate the demand.’

Forcing an immense entity like the Formation Tower to approach the Hero’s Sect of their own volition.

Manipulating the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect into viewing the Hero’s Sect as an absolutely indispensable ally.

To accomplish that sequence, the Formation Tower had to lean toward the Vast Heaven Sect first.

Naturally, the Hero’s Sect had to serve as the pivotal fulcrum causing that tilt.

The savior who successfully brought the Formation Tower to the table.

In the eyes of the Vast Heaven Sect, the Hero’s Sect would be cemented as their primary benefactor.

‘And if I strategically deploy the intelligence regarding the Patrol Sword Corps’ absolute destruction alongside Sang Gwanhwi’s usage of Demonic Arts?’

The brewing feud between the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect and the Dark Rakshasa Way would serve as the ideal grand stage for ‘Kim Rae-won’ to make his heroic entrance into the Central Plains, framing the Hero’s Sect as the ultimate shield of morality and righteousness.

Dongmun Mutoe.

He was the ideal chess piece to lay the groundwork for this grand design.

The perfect actor to meticulously arrange the scenery.

Even without the binding force of the pledge, that man would construct this stage flawlessly just to chase his personal ‘questions’.

As for the definitive final blow…….

‘I shall administer it myself.’

Dong Bongsu ran both palms down his face.

To an outside observer, it might have seemed like a simple gesture to relieve stress, but beneath the cover of his hands, a carefully calculated expression was being sculpted onto his features.

A warm, gentle grin laced with just a hint of youthful nervousness—exactly the kind of look a green sect leader would project on the morning of his organization’s debut.

Dropping his hands, Dong Bongsu wore a flawless, amiable smile as he stepped forward to greet his arriving visitors.

From this moment onward, the stage belonged entirely to Dongmun Mutoe.

Even if he was currently stationed several hundred li away.

● ● ●

“Tell me, has anyone in this room caught wind of an emerging organization known as the Hero’s Sect?”

Dongmun Mutoe pulled his hand away from his chin, crossing his index and middle fingers to march them across the tabletop like a pair of walking legs.

Clack, clack.

The rhythmic, soft clicking of his alternating fingertips was the only sound in the room.

Aside from that minor noise, a heavy, unsettling quiet settled over the interior of the Eight Trigrams Hall.

The Hero’s Sect.

Not a single person gathered in the chamber recognized that title.

“……What name did you just utter?”

Baek Jang-gyeong squeezed his eyes tight.

“The Hero’s Sect? Such a title has never once crossed my ears.”

“An entirely expected reaction, considering it is a brand-new sect,” Dongmun Mutoe offered smoothly.

“Some nameless rabble…… hmph. The Hero…… whatever it was. Regardless, to which faction does this group answer? Are they aligned with the Orthodox path or the Unorthodox path?”

“Neither. They claim absolute neutrality.”

“Neutrality?”

Baek Jang-gyeong’s eyebrows knit tightly together.

“They operate out of the River Capital.”

“The River Capital? Where on earth is that?”

The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division, who had remained silent throughout the debate, couldn’t contain his skepticism and chimed in.

“The River Capital? Isn’t that merely a stagnant swamp where petty, insignificant groups spill blood daily over worthless scraps of profit?”

“It used to be exactly that,” Dongmun Mutoe conceded with a nod.

Regrettably, the Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division failed to catch the past-tense inflection of his words.

In truth, nearly everyone seated at the table glossed over it.

The general reputation of the River Capital within the broader Murim was simply too insignificant to warrant closer thought.

Click, click, click.

Ga Myo-ryeon’s abacus clicked precisely three times.

Her narrow, hooded eyes, which rarely opened past the halfway mark, shifted directly toward Dongmun Mutoe at that exact moment.

“Trigram Master Dongmun. There must be an underlying motive for you to introduce an obscure, newly formed sect the moment you step back into a council that has been completely gridlocked for the last two days, yes?”

“A motive?”

“Surely you didn’t bring this up merely to alter the topic of conversation?”

Ga Myo-ryeon.

As always, her mind cut straight to the core of the matter.

[Bear this in mind. If you hope to secure the answers you pursue, this plan must unfold without a hitch.]

That specific mandate had been conveyed to him earlier by Kim Rae-won.

It hadn’t arrived via spoken words or written script, but as an intent that felt as sharp and unyielding as a forged blade.

It was a restrictive, one-sided transmission that permitted no reply, but if he wished to remain in a position to demand further clarity from Kim Rae-won down the line…… this particular gathering was of monumental importance.

While he detested trivial inconveniences like physical pain or mortal peril, existing in a state of ignorance was something he absolutely, utterly, under no circumstances could tolerate.

“My motive is entirely straightforward.”

Dongmun Mutoe froze his fingers in place, planting both elbows firmly on the wooden surface and interlocking his fingers.

“If we isolate the exact root cause behind why this argument has remained paralyzed for forty-eight hours.”

He cast his gaze across the assembled faces.

“Siding with the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect preserves our historical honor but leaves us entirely devoid of Formation Stones. Conversely, throwing our weight behind the Dark Rakshasa Way guarantees an abundance of Formation Stones at the cost of our institutional integrity. Both factions are presenting entirely rational perspectives.”

Baek Jang-gyeong’s tense posture softened slightly.

His core position had just been validated.

Ga Myo-ryeon’s active abacus also stilled for a brief second.

Her stance had been validated as well.

“And yet, the true peril of our current dilemma is being overlooked.”

He extended a solitary finger.

“The fundamental crisis isn’t choosing between the Vast Heaven Sect or the Dark Rakshasa Way; it is the inescapable reality that whichever path we tread, the Formation Tower inherently brands the opposing force as a mortal foe.”

As Dongmun Mutoe paused to let his words sink in, a momentary hush blanketed the Eight Trigrams Hall.

The break in conversation was fleeting.

“Align with the Vast Heaven Sect, and the Dark Rakshasa Way becomes our blood enemy. Align with the Dark Rakshasa Way, and we risk total alienation from the entirety of the Orthodox Faction, naturally.”

“But have we not navigated such political tides before? Our Formation Tower has always—.”

“No. This situation is entirely unprecedented. Has everyone here completely wiped the memory of the Great Blood Heaven Turmoil from their minds?”

The mere mention of the Great Blood Heaven Turmoil caused every face in the room to turn incredibly pale.

That catastrophic tempest of slaughter had ravaged the length and breadth of the Central Plains over a century prior.

Ignoring the visible shock around him, Dongmun Mutoe pressed onward.

“Ah, so you are under the impression that this is a minor squabble that lacks the potential to ignite a total war on the scale of the historic Orthodox-Unorthodox Great War?”

[Pay close attention.]

“I am confident that this piece of news has yet to reach any of your ears.”

[The Patrol Sword Corps dispatched to the River Capital has been entirely wiped out.]

“The Patrol Sword Corps, which was actively traveling to secure alliances on behalf of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, has been utterly eradicated. We are seeing casualties of this magnitude before the primary conflict has even officially commenced. Who among you can predict the ultimate boundaries of this conflict?”

As Dongmun Mutoe callously dropped the explosive intelligence he had gathered while ascending the outer steps moments ago, a massive wave of panic and disbelief rippled through the council chamber.

“Absurd! How could such a thing be possible?”

“Trigram Master Dongmun! Are you implying that even Sang Gwanhwi has fallen?”

“Preposterous. If an event of that scale occurred, how could the Formation Tower remain completely blind to it?”

The entire hall erupted into chaotic shouting.

Baek Jang-gyeong brought his fist crashing down onto the table.

“The Patrol Sword Corps wiped out? Sang Gwanhwi killed? The youngest prodigy among the Three Swords of Vast Heaven? If an event that massive were true, the entire Central Plains would be turned completely upside down by now!”

His roaring voice bounced off the walls of the Eight Trigrams Hall.

The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division shook his head in flat denial.

“Trigram Master Dongmun, if the Patrol Sword Corps had actually been destroyed, the leadership at the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect’s primary stronghold would have launched a counter-offensive immediately. How have you acquired intelligence that our own tracking webs failed to intercept?”

The intelligence network maintained by the Formation Tower was widely recognized as the most sophisticated web in the Central Plains, surpassed only by the Great Beggars’ Sect.

How could a lone Trigram Master possess data that hadn’t even registered on their primary sensors?

It was a perfectly justified critique.

Even so, Dongmun Mutoe’s relaxed smirk never wavered.

Clack, clack.

His index and middle fingers resumed their casual stroll across the table.

Had he failed to anticipate this exact line of questioning?

Quite the contrary; this specific skepticism was the engine driving his entire play.

“You speak the truth. Our Formation Tower was entirely oblivious.”

An outright concession.

With that single admission, a profound quiet returned to the Eight Trigrams Hall.

“However, the Hero’s Sect was fully aware.”

Dongmun Mutoe stopped his finger movements entirely, flattening both palms against the table.

“The details I have just shared with you are the exact facts provided to me by Kim Rae-won, the ruling Sect Leader of the Hero’s Sect. The reality that the Patrol Sword Corps was entirely eliminated on the outskirts of the River Capital, and the reality that their commander, Sang Gwanhwi, is deceased. This is information the Formation Tower does not possess, and information that has almost certainly not been formally verified by the high command of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect itself.”

“……What are you saying?”

Baek Jang-gyeong’s features twisted in shock.

“The overseer of a nameless, rookie sect possesses knowledge regarding the destruction of an elite Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect division before our own operatives do?”

“Precisely,” Dongmun Mutoe confirmed with a firm nod.

“And that is the exact reason I have entered the name of the Hero’s Sect into this debate.”

Click.

A solitary counter on Ga Myo-ryeon’s abacus slid across its wire.

Her half-closed eyes widened significantly.

The variable this woman was calculating in her mind was no longer measured in raw Formation Stones.

It was information.

An independent entity possessing intelligence assets capable of bypassing the defensive nets of the Formation Tower’s network.

What was the true market value of such an asset?

“Trigram Master Dongmun.”

Ga Myo-ryeon cleared her abacus with a single, smooth swipe.

“The validity of this source remains completely unproven. Is it not highly probable that this obscure new group is fabricating dramatic rumors purely to artificially inflate their own political standing?”

“The possibility exists,” Dongmun Mutoe conceded.

“But tell me, Trigram Master Ga. What is the recorded coordinates of the Patrol Sword Corps at this exact moment?”

“……?”

“The Patrol Sword Corps that departed from the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect’s main gates was tracking directly toward the River Capital, and their estimated window of arrival has long since expired. Yet, there hasn’t been a single whisper confirming their arrival within the River Capital borders, correct?”

Total silence met his question.

“A total lack of communication indicates one of two scenarios. They have arrived but find no purpose in reporting their status, or they have been rendered fundamentally incapable of filing a report.”

Dongmun Mutoe struck a single finger against the wood.

“Zero correspondence from the Patrol Sword Corps for a span exceeding forty-eight hours. Individuals who should have checked in days ago. What is your logical deduction of those facts?”

Baek Jang-gyeong’s fingers dug tightly into his own knee.

Ga Myo-ryeon’s abacus went entirely motionless.

It had transitioned from a matter of speculation into an inevitable conclusion.

Strictly on a logical level.

The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division raised an inquiry, his voice laced with a subtle tremor.

“Then, Trigram Master Dongmun, that entity known as the Hero’s Sect…… by what means did they secure this intelligence? Does this imply their direct presence at the coordinate of the Patrol Sword Corps’ slaughter?”

It was an excellent point to raise.

Dongmun Mutoe paused to evaluate his response to this query for a fleeting second, exercising extreme caution.

The truth was, he lacked absolute certainty regarding whether Kim Rae-won had personally orchestrated the demise of the Patrol Sword Corps.

But his hesitation lasted only a fraction of a moment.

Even if he possessed absolute proof, he was fully aware that such information fell into the category of things he was barred from revealing.

Dongmun Mutoe’s sole responsibility was to drop the essential facts, in the essential location, at the essential juncture.

The identity of the party responsible for wiping out the Patrol Sword Corps failed to meet any of those three specific requirements, leading to its immediate exclusion.

Though, he could still leverage the ambiguity to his advantage.

Right now.

“As for that query,” Dongmun Mutoe smiled broadly.

“It is a matter that is entirely inappropriate for me to speak on. You retain the option to pose that question to the Hero’s Sect Leader firsthand, do you not? Ha ha.”

He never explicitly claimed ignorance.

Instead, his delivery suggested that he might hold the key to the mystery but was bound by secrecy.

Even to his own critical mind, the execution felt flawless.

“Firsthand?”

Confronting the piercing stare of Baek Jang-gyeong, who fired back while twitching his thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows, Dongmun Mutoe’s amused expression grew even more pronounced.

“Indeed, firsthand.”

“Do you genuinely believe that makes an ounce of sense given our current circumstances? Our Formation Tower?! For what purpose?! Under what justification?! For an issue of this magnitude?! Are you suggesting that we lower ourselves to negotiate with the supervisor of some nameless, lowborn rabble faction?!”

“Ah, quite so. I anticipated that exact line of resistance from you, which is why I have arrived with additional context. Kindly listen.”

Dongmun Mutoe shifted his physical positioning.

Lifting his elbows off the table, he allowed his spine to rest fully against the backrest of his seat.

A calculated retreat from his aggressive, forward-leaning stance, adopting an aura of absolute transparency.

“I evaluated him in person. That Sect Leader.”

The interior of the Eight Trigrams Hall plummeted into silence once more.

Dongmun Mutoe.

A recognized member of the elite Eight Trigram Masters of the Formation Tower.

Acknowledging that he had ‘evaluated him in person’.

“The final outcome?” the Trigram Master of the Water Formation Division inquired with immense caution.

Leaning back into his chair, Dongmun Mutoe cast a brief glance toward the rafters above.

Then, he flashed an expression that perfectly mimicked a self-mocking grin, tilting up a single corner of his mouth.

“Defeat.”

A solitary word.

The air inside the Eight Trigrams Hall instantly turned to ice.

Baek Jang-gyeong threw his upper body forward.

“……What did you just confess?”

“I was bested. And it was an unmitigated, absolute disaster of a loss,” Dongmun Mutoe repeated with complete composure.

He deliberately withheld the complicating details, such as his deployment of an untested, volatile, and profoundly lethal array like the Eight Directions Avici Prison.

Keep the data stream to an absolute minimum.

A sitting Trigram Master had been brought down.

A Trigram Master representing the apex of the Formation Tower.

Brought down by the figurehead of a newly surfaced sect.

Baek Jang-gyeong’s eyes widened in fury.

“If this is merely an idle boast—.”

“Trigram Master Baek,” Dongmun Mutoe interjected smoothly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“While I am prone to standard eccentricities on a regular basis, I am hardly a man who manufactures false tales of my own humiliation, am I?”

Baek Jang-gyeong snapped his jaw shut.

The individual within this chamber who possessed the longest history with Dongmun Mutoe, excluding the Yin-Yang Guard, was Baek Jang-gyeong himself.

He understood better than anyone else that though this young Trigram Master was bloated with intellectual arrogance, he was fundamentally incapable of fabricating a personal defeat.

Absorbing the weight of this revelation, Ga Myo-ryeon’s fingers began flying across her tool with extreme velocity.

Click-click-click-click.

She was rapidly translating abstract concepts into hard numerical values.

“Trigram Master Dongmun. If you were forced to quantify the combat proficiency of this Hero’s Sect Leader into a definitive number, where would it land?”

“He defies quantification.”

Ga Myo-ryeon’s furious clicking ceased abruptly, her operational flow shattering for the very first time.

“He could not be computed utilizing my personal metrics. It is for that exact reason I am advising this council to evaluate him firsthand.”

Dongmun Mutoe swept his gaze across the faces at the table one final time.

“Allow me to provide a concise summary.”

Presenting an open palm, he folded his thumb inward first.

“Point one: the conflict brewing between the Vast Heaven Sect and the Dark Rakshasa Way has already escalated far deeper than our current models indicate. The total liquidation of the Patrol Sword Corps stands as irrefutable proof.”

Moving past his thumb, he pulled down his index finger.

“Point two: within the matrix of this war, there is an incredibly high statistical certainty that the Formation Tower will earn the eternal hatred of the opposing faction, regardless of which banner we choose to back. Consequently, we are obligated to throw our weight behind the side that guarantees absolute victory. Surely no one at this table is foolish enough to suggest total withdrawal is an option? Should we attempt to remove ourselves from a crisis of this scale, the institutional credibility and historical prestige of the Formation Tower will sink directly to the level of the Hao Sect at the absolute bedrock of the Jianghu.”

Dongmun Mutoe pulled down his middle finger to join the others.

“Point three: this organization operating under the title of the Hero’s Sect…… despite its lack of lineage, possesses terrifying martial backing. To be entirely precise, its commander is seeking an open channel of negotiation with the Formation Tower regarding this specific crisis. And—.”

In truth, his original plan was to conclude his speech at this exact juncture, but he still held a final piece of leverage that could be deployed.

An incredibly potent piece of supporting evidence—even if it wasn’t a fact explicitly provided by Kim Rae-won.

“Point four.”

Following a brief moment of internal calculation, he folded his ring finger down into his palm.

“Trigram Master Myo Jinheo and Trigram Master Yan Bilyeong are currently physically located inside the walls of the Hero’s Sect as we speak.”