Chapter 350

Chapter 350: Chaos (4)

Looking at it from Il-mok’s viewpoint, the entire situation brought back a peculiar feeling of having been here before.

Even when they had first crossed paths, the Alliance Leader had initiated an assault on him that was practically a surprise raid.

During that past conflict, merely blocking a single strike from the man had caused blood to well up from deep within his chest.

But what about the present?

Clang!

The present was a different story.

Il-mok unsheathed the Ascension Sword in a flash, parrying Cheok Pae-myeong’s opening blow with minimal effort. The act of drawing and countering blended into a seamless execution, and unlike their previous bout, he refused to give up even an inch of terrain. This feat was accomplished despite the fact that Cheok Pae-myeong’s saber was brimming with an energy far more bloodthirsty than before.

During that initial skirmish, Cheok Pae-myeong hadn’t actually intended to take his life. Because the surrounding area was packed with ordinary citizens, the strike had functioned merely as a brief test to measure his capabilities. Yet that minor effort had been sufficient to leave Il-mok reeling backward without any control.

‘It seems I have grown considerably stronger since our last meeting.’

While that fleeting reflection surfaced in his mind, Cheok Pae-myeong’s blade was already slicing a multitude of curves through the open air.

Clang! Clang!

While Il-mok kept the relentless pressure at bay, his features turned grim.

‘If this confrontation persists, the situation will become exceptionally perilous.’

His concern did not stem from an inability to handle Cheok Pae-myeong, but rather from the reality that while he was restricted by this lone adversary, close to a hundred combatants from the Martial Alliance were rushing toward his allies.

—Miss Jin, take our companions and retreat immediately. I will secure us some breathing room here before making my own getaway.

Certain members of their company had already sustained minor scratches during the clash with Emei, and the opposing forces were more numerous than before. On that previous occasion, Il-mok had held off dozens by himself, but currently, he was anchored in place by a lone antagonist—none other than the Alliance Leader himself.

While Il-mok was occupied sending this message via sound transmission to Jin Hayeon—

“How dare you divert your gaze from me!!”

Taking advantage of that brief lapse in concentration, Cheok Pae-myeong condensed a layer of Saber Force and drove it straight toward Il-mok’s fatal points.

There was insufficient time to manifest a corresponding Sword Force, so Il-mok chose instead to direct pure Force Qi into his blade, utilizing the concept of deflection to alter the trajectory of the descending strike.

The Ascension let out a sharp cry under the immense pressure of the impact, and the leftover force that he failed to entirely divert caused his frame to ache fiercely.

“Tch.”

Recognizing that this was not the sort of engagement where he could manage to divide his attention across the wider area, Il-mok entrusted the remaining matters to Jin Hayeon and fixed his entire concentration onto Cheok Pae-myeong.

Cheok Pae-myeong was arriving at a comparable realization.

‘Incredible. Within the span of just a few seasons, he has managed to pull even with me.’

When the report first arrived that Emei had been demolished by the Maitreya Luminous Cult, his initial reaction had been to wonder, ‘Just how incredibly foolish were those priestesses to be eliminated so effortlessly?’

It had never occurred to him that this youth could have erased the distance between their strengths in under five years.

Clang!

Back when they had engaged in Lanzhou, this brat was so fragile that he wouldn’t have lasted past three exchanges of blows.

Now he stood as a hazardous adversary whose final defeat could not be easily predicted.

Clang!

As the two masters turned into streaks across the terrain using their advanced movement techniques, thunderous detonations repeatedly filled the air each time the Ascension Sword and the massive blade slammed together.

Despite the taxing physical strain, Cheok Pae-myeong was secretly letting out a breath of relief.

‘It is unfortunate that Emei fell so quickly, but this turns out to be a stroke of luck. I can employ this ideal justification to entirely eradicate his cult before it grows any further.’

Even while contesting a high-stakes rival where a solitary blunder could settle the entire outcome, the notion of failing never crossed Cheok Pae-myeong’s mind. Just as Il-mok had instructed his subordinates to retreat, Cheok Pae-myeong perceived the situation clearly as well.

Provided he kept this warrior pinned down, the ultimate triumph would belong to them.

With Cheok Pae-myeong exuding an air of assurance, Il-mok found himself filled with anxiety.

The pair traded blows with absolute ferocity, all while the warriors of the Maitreya Luminous Cult and Hwangbo Yeon desperately sought a path of retreat.

All of a sudden, a roaring voice cut through the air from across the distant space.

“Cease your fighting!!”

Though delivered from a significant distance, the declaration was infused with such an immense quantity of internal Qi that it vibrated clearly within the hearing of every individual present on the field.

“Alliance Leader!! Lower your weapon!!”

The demands sounded out in turn from opposite directions. When Il-mok recognized one of the voices calling out amidst the noise, he executed a rapid strike and leveraged the impact to push himself away from the Alliance Leader.

Clang!!

“Tch.”

Cheok Pae-myeong likewise appeared to identify the speakers, as he clicked his tongue with displeasure and brought his movements to a halt.

Given a brief window to collect his thoughts, Il-mok shifted his gaze to observe a gathering of individuals clad in worn straw coverings advancing from one side, while practitioners sporting classical Taoist headpieces glided in from the other.

The Beggars’ Gang and the Qingcheng Sect.

Cheok Pae-myeong drew his eyebrows together and focused his remarks toward the members of the Beggars’ Gang.

“I can comprehend the presence of the Qingcheng Sect given that Sichuan is their native domain, but what urgent matter brings the respected King of Beggars so far from his usual haunts?”

His inquiry was directed at the elderly master positioned at the center of the poorly attired gathering.

The Father of Beggars, the Beggar King.

“Hahaha. Since when has a vagrant required a specific place to reside? Drifting wherever the breeze blows, is that not the true existence of a beggar?”

“And yet the individual claiming to follow the breeze is attempting to block the lawful discipline of a lawbreaker?”

“It is due to the tidings that traveled along that very breeze. Information reached my ears that guiltless blood was on the verge of being shed here in Sichuan. Hahaha.”

“Guiltless blood. You must be referring to Emei.”

The Beggar King inclined his head negatively upon hearing that name.

“No. I am referring to the Maitreya Luminous Cult.”

“Ha. Are you shielding our collective adversary now?”

“They have broken no laws, so on what grounds are they considered lawbreakers, Alliance Leader? Irrespective of your status, by what right do you designate blameless individuals as enemies of the public?”

Prior to Cheok Pae-myeong offering a reply to the Beggar King’s statements, an acute shriek sliced through from another spot.

“Beggar King!! What nonsense are you spouting?! Are you implying that our Emei is the party to blame in this affair!!”

The frantic shout came from the captured elder of Emei, who was being marched along by the Maitreya Luminous Cult with her internal energies completely suppressed.

Her perfectly timed outburst provided Cheok Pae-myeong with an opportunity, and he immediately capitalized on it.

“Over a hundred blameless followers of the Emei Sect were massacred by that wicked Maitreya Luminous Cult! While the noble combatants of the Orthodox Faction were offering up their existences combating the Blood Cult, these individuals were lurking in the darkness, exploiting ordinary citizens and amassing their power, and now they have employed that power to jeopardize Emei!!”

Il-mok emitted a scornful laugh. “What absolute garbage. When have we ever deceived ordinary folk to assemble a force? Our only action was providing them with assistance.”

As if supporting his assertion, Qingcheng’s Taoist Master Cheongmok spoke up, and the Beggar King immediately followed to reinforce the point.

“The Incarnation of Maitreya speaks accurately. Qingcheng originally entertained the same misgivings as the Emei Sect regarding their rapid expansion, but following a detailed examination of the territory, we ascertained that instead of taking from the villagers, they were actually distributing funds to the impoverished and providing them with instruction.”

“The findings of our Beggars’ Gang pointed to an identical outcome. They exacted nothing from the populace.”

“This is absurd!! Are you claiming that our Emei was the entity mistreating blameless people!!”

The Emei Elder cried out in response, and Cheok Pae-myeong interrupted with a forceful declaration.

“You are all being misled at this very moment!!! Consider the actions of these untrustworthy individuals! While we were risking our very lives to contain the Blood Cult, these people were occupied remaining hidden in the rear?!”

The Beggar King merely offered a soft laugh. “In that case, if they eventually discard their virtuous fronts and expose a massive, malicious plot, you may formally label them enemies of the public and punish them at that time, Alliance Leader. Liquidating people who have committed no actual offense merely because you harbor a suspicion that they might turn malicious in the future is simply preposterous.”

“They launched an assault on Emei, which holds membership in the Alliance, meaning they are not free from blame, Beggar King.”

“Hah. From the accounts I gathered, it was Emei that initiated hostilities against the Maitreya Luminous Cult first. Furthermore, has the Maitreya Luminous Cult not displayed clemency by keeping them company in that manner to oversee the closure of their gates, rather than utterly wiping out the Emei Sect which had been stripped of its strength?”

“…”

That assertion seemed to strike a sensitive chord, as Cheok Pae-myeong became momentarily quiet.

Observing the Beggar King and Taoist Master Cheongmok dispute on his account against the Alliance Leader, Il-mok felt a peculiar combination of sentiments wash over him.

‘…A hidden benefit, it seems.’

Had he disregarded the counsel of Hwangbo Yeon and proceeded to wipe out Emei entirely, the Beggars’ Gang and Qingcheng likely would not be aligning themselves with him at this moment.

While he lingered on that reflection, Cheok Pae-myeong returned his weapon to its scabbard and cast a firm gaze upon the Beggar King.

“When their deception eventually comes to light, I anticipate the Beggars’ Gang will align with our Alliance.”

“Hahaha. Naturally.”

With the Beggar King’s confirmation delivered, Cheok Pae-myeong threw a parting glare toward Il-mok and turned away.

“All divisions, fall back to headquarters!”

“Understood!”

Once Cheok Pae-myeong and the accompanying Martial Alliance fighters had departed, Il-mok seated himself to converse with the Leader of the Beggars’ Gang, the Little Tiger Beggar who had journeyed alongside him, and Qingcheng’s Taoist Master Cheongmok.

“My gratitude for placing your trust in us and offering your support.”

Il-mok offered a respectful hand-and-fist gesture to express his appreciation, and the remaining masters acknowledged it with simple gestures.

“Hahaha. Do not misinterpret our actions; we did not expose ourselves to danger out of any particular fondness for the Maitreya Luminous Cult. As I pointed out to the Alliance Leader, we stepped in solely because your organization has not actually performed any acts deserving of punishment up to this point.”

“Qingcheng maintains an identical stance. We pledged to remain uninvolved in your conflict with Emei, but that was strictly because we regarded it as a regional rivalry between two autonomous organizations. However, once the Alliance chose to intervene, the nature of the situation altered completely.”

Confronted with the declarations of the Beggar King and Taoist Master Cheongmok, Il-mok offered a subtle grin.

For a brief period following that, the three individuals proceeded to enjoy a pleasant exchange.

Likely due to the presence of his demanding mentor, the Little Tiger Beggar remained uncharacteristically reserved, only initiating a dialogue with him after a considerable interval had passed.

“On another note, your martial prowess has truly advanced by leaps and bounds since our previous encounter. I genuinely did not anticipate you contending on equal ground against the Alliance Leader, who is celebrated as the Greatest Saber in the Central Plains.”

“And you appear to have made progress as well. It seems the conflict with the Blood Cult provided you with significant insights.”

“Hahaha. It is entirely due to the instruction of my mentor.”

“Oho? Observe this young scoundrel. You typically treat my lessons as though they are rubbish, yet you adopt a completely different attitude when speaking before your companion.”

In contrast to his demeanor when interacting with the Alliance Leader or Il-mok, the Beggar King affectionately chided the Little Tiger Beggar with a face full of amusement.

“Mentor, what are you implying? How could I ever regard your instructions as rubbish?”

Taoist Master Cheongmok and Il-mok both chuckled softly at the Little Tiger Beggar’s embarrassed display.

Following that, Taoist Master Cheongmok smoothly shifted the conversation toward how the Incarnation of Maitreya had remarkably overcome his advancement barrier while traveling through the Western Regions.

“Our Beggars’ Gang was already informed that the Maitreya Luminous Cult had been undertaking journeys to the Western Regions to secure funds for assisting the populace, but I never suspected you had endured all of those events. Hahaha.”

Hearing the Beggar King nonchalantly disclose that piece of intelligence, Il-mok secretly expressed a reluctant sense of admiration.

‘As anticipated from the primary information gathering network in the Central Plains.’

Even during the height of a conflict against the Blood Cult, they had somehow succeeded in acquiring the knowledge that the Maitreya Luminous Cult had been journeying to the Western Regions.

Fortunately, they had not investigated deeply enough to uncover the association with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

“Haha. Enduring such harrowing travels for the purpose of aiding ordinary folk is truly commendable. It causes those of us who overlooked the common people to combat the Blood Cult to feel profoundly embarrassed by our own deficiencies.”

Realizing that permitting the Beggar King to delve any further into his commercial paths in the West would prove perilous, Il-mok deftly directed the dialogue to a separate matter.

“Please, how could my modest difficulties ever compare to the offerings made by the Beggars’ Gang? You did not merely contend with those savage Blood Cult fiends; you additionally managed that terrifying Jiangshi.”

“We did battle the Blood Cult, but that Jiangshi was not our responsibility. It was the Alliance Leader and the Buddha Venerable who took care of it.”

That statement caused Il-mok to hesitate.

‘They eliminated that Jiangshi utilizing only two individuals?’

The aura that the Jiangshi had emitted back in Sichuan had been of a magnitude that was genuinely terrifying. He had just evaluated his own strength against Cheok Pae-myeong moments earlier, and in terms of raw internal energy capacity alone, Cheok Pae-myeong did not even come close to matching it.

Leaving aside the deceased Heavenly Demon, that entity possessed the most colossal reservoir of power out of all the individuals Il-mok had ever encountered.

And that condition applied when the Jiangshi was still unfinished.

Yet it required only two of the Twelve Heavenly Pillars to bring down an entity of that nature?

Unless the Buddha Venerable operated on a completely different plane of power than what was commonly believed, his recognized abilities were not significantly distant from those of Cheok Pae-myeong.

‘I had taken for granted that the corrupted entity had been defeated through the combined efforts of all Twelve Heavenly Pillars.’

To banish his growing unease, Il-mok inquired deliberately.

“By any chance, do you recall the appearance of the Jiangshi’s face?”

“Its face?”

The Beggar King cast a glance at him that clearly signaled his confusion at such an unexpected question, but Il-mok continued to press the matter.

“As you are aware, I personally witnessed that Jiangshi during the events in Sichuan. I am merely inquiring on the slight possibility.”

Abruptly comprehending the underlying meaning beneath Il-mok’s query, the expressions of the three martial artists quickly shifted into a combination of bewilderment and astonishment.

All three had participated in the ultimate engagement against the Blood Cult, so they combined their recollections and labored to reconstruct the details of the jiangshi’s facial structure.

They spent a significant amount of time drawing and erasing on the ground using branches, slowly reconstructing a representation of the Jiangshi’s appearance.

“Provided the recollections of all three of us are completely consistent, the entity we fought possessed these features.”

Il-mok gazed down at the completed illustration, and his face grew dark.