CCTnovel Chapter 467
Chapter 467
Murim AllianceAlliance Leader's Hall
It was a spacious room.
There was nothing lavish about it.
If anything, it was austere.
A single wooden table.
A brush and an inkstone.
A handful of letters.
A cup of tea.
It would not have been strange to call it the room of a gentleman.
The room's owner stood by the window.
A middle-aged man.
Gun Mugeol.
The Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance.
A man who had reached the pinnacle, standing among the strongest martial artists in the world.
If not for the towering mountain known as the Heavenly Wayfarer, he would have been one of the very few monsters capable of contending for the title of Martial Supreme.
Gun Mugeol gazed at the moon.
Or rather, he merely pretended to.
His thoughts were occupied by matters that had nothing whatsoever to do with the moon.
Tap.
A sound came from behind him.
"Alliance Leader."
"Enter."
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
The head of the Murim Alliance's Intelligence Bureau.
His name hardly mattered.
To Gun Mugeol, the man was nothing more than a pair of eyes and ears.
"I have a report."
"Go on."
"News has arrived from Yellow Sand Pass."
Gun Mugeol did not turn around.
He continued looking at the moon.
"Seok Junseo is dead."
"..."
"By Seol Unhwi."
Silence filled the room.
The intelligence chief continued.
"Jin Muhang, head of the Jin family, knelt before Seol Unhwi. He withdrew from Yellow Sand Pass and pledged never again to approach the surrounding area."
"..."
"Seol Unhwi himself suffered grievous injuries. He was badly wounded in his battle with Seok Junseo, though his life is reportedly no longer in danger..."
"Enough."
Gun Mugeol cut him off.
"You may leave."
"Yes, sir."
The intelligence chief withdrew.
The door closed.
Gun Mugeol turned away from the window.
He sat before the table.
He took a sip of tea.
It had already gone lukewarm.
"...So Seok Junseo is dead."
He muttered to himself.
It wasn't surprising.
No... if he was being honest, it surprised him a little.
He had expected Seok Junseo to die.
About fifty percent likely.
The other fifty percent had been Seol Unhwi's death.
To Gun Mugeol, either outcome would have sufficed.
As long as one of them died.
If Seok Junseo fell, Seol Unhwi would inevitably be left gravely wounded.
No one walked away unscathed after fighting a late-stage Harmony realm master.
If Seol Unhwi died instead, Seok Junseo would remain alive.
Having fulfilled his revenge, Seok Junseo would begin rebuilding the Tyrant Blade Sect.
That outcome could be exploited as well.
Either way...
Gun Mugeol lost nothing.
"...However."
He picked up the letter lying on the table.
"Jin Muhang... knelt?"
That had been completely unexpected.
Jin Muhang was not a man who surrendered so easily.
The head of one of the Five Great Families...
Now one of the Four Great Families.
A Harmony realm master.
A man whose pride towered into the heavens.
Yet someone like him had knelt before a youth barely twenty years old.
"...What exactly did you say to him, Seol Unhwi?"
He set the letter back down.
Then sank into thought.
Seol Unhwi.
Every time that name crossed his mind, his thoughts became tangled.
He was his benefactor.
There was no denying it.
Gun Mugeol had reached the pinnacle because of Seol Unhwi.
Unhwi had opened the path before him.
He had handed him the key to enlightenment.
And in return...
Seol Unhwi had asked for nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
That was what made him so terrifying.
If he had demanded something, the debt could simply be repaid.
A favor could be weighed against its price.
But a kindness that asked for nothing...
Had no measurable weight.
A debt without weight.
It was like a shackle.
Gun Mugeol hated shackles.
...I have to remove it.
There were several ways to break such a chain.
First, repay the debt.
But how did one repay a man who had never asked for anything?
Second, let the benefactor die.
The dead were owed nothing.
Once the benefactor disappeared, so did the chain.
Third...
Save the benefactor's life.
If Seol Unhwi ever faced death, Gun Mugeol himself would rescue him.
The debt would then be balanced.
No...
It would tip the other way.
Seol Unhwi would become indebted to him instead.
The third option was the ideal one.
Gun Mugeol smiled.
It was the smile of a gentleman.
But what lay behind it was anything but.
Sending Seok Junseo had been part of that plan.
It had been Gun Mugeol who interrupted Seok Junseo's closed-door training.
He had gone personally.
Ordinarily, disturbing someone in closed-door training was one of the greatest taboos in the martial world.
Gun Mugeol had not hesitated in the slightest.
He had told Seok Junseo everything.
That the Tyrant Blade Sect had been annihilated.
That his son and grandson were dead.
That Seol Unhwi was responsible.
Blinded by vengeance, Seok Junseo had become the perfect tool.
...And yet.
Gun Mugeol took another sip of tea.
He won alone.
Seol Unhwi had killed Seok Junseo.
A late-stage Harmony realm master.
While still only in the Unity of Heaven and Man.
...I truly can't measure this man's limits.
His eyes narrowed.
He had become utterly impossible to predict.
Gun Mugeol had anticipated that he would enter the Blood Heaven Sect.
Everything after that, however...
Defied reason.
Just what kind of monster is this...?
The very thought had become absurd.
A man who ignored the gap between realms.
There was nothing more dangerous in the martial world.
To put it bluntly...
Gun Mugeol considered Unhwi even more dangerous than the Heavenly Wayfarer.
He rested his chin on one hand.
His plan had gone awry.
That was acceptable.
He wasn't flustered.
Plans always went awry.
What mattered was how one responded afterward.
When that happened...
One simply played the next move.
Gun Mugeol picked up his brush.
Dipped it into ink.
And began writing across a fresh sheet of paper.
He organized his thoughts.
Current situation.
First.
Seol Unhwi had killed Seok Junseo.
Someone in the Unity of Heaven and Man had defeated a late-stage Harmony realm master.
Second.
The Jin family had knelt.
They had withdrawn from Yellow Sand Pass.
Third.
Seol Unhwi was gravely wounded.
Recovery would take time.
Fourth.
The Tyrant Blade Sect had been completely exterminated.
With Seok Junseo dead, not a single survivor remained.
How could these facts be used?
The corners of Gun Mugeol's mouth slowly lifted.
Rumors.
There was nothing in the martial world more frightening than rumors.
"Blood Heaven Arbiter Seol Unhwi exterminated the Tyrant Blade Sect."
That was the rumor he would spread.
It was true.
Not a single lie.
But truth changed its meaning once it was given the proper color.
Only one or two months had passed since Seol Unhwi killed Seok Cheonung and Seok Cheonhan.
Then the Tyrant Blade Sect was destroyed.
The only survivor had been its retired master, Seok Junseo.
Now...
Even Seok Junseo was dead.
At Seol Unhwi's hands.
The bloodline of the Tyrant Blade Sect had been completely erased.
One of the Five Great Families had vanished.
The key lay in how the story was presented.
"The Blood Heaven Arbiter of the Blood Heaven Sect has completely annihilated one of the Five Great Families."
That was enough.
The rumor would never mention Seol Unhwi by name.
Only his title.
How would the martial world react?
Fear.
Not fear of Seol Unhwi.
Fear of the Blood Heaven Sect.
The Blood Heaven Sect has begun to move.
Even the Five Great Families are {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} no longer safe.
Who's next?
Us?
Fear created unity.
And that unity would gather around Gun Mugeol.
Around the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance.
"We must unite under the Murim Alliance if we are to oppose the Blood Heaven Sect."
Those voices would arise from every direction.
Gun Mugeol would simply wait.
Then...
He would reluctantly accept their pleas.
Like the perfect gentleman.
...Excellent.
He laid the brush aside.
His gaze settled on the letter.
But that alone would not be enough.
Rumors were merely sparks.
A spark required wind to become a blaze.
The Great Families must be moved.
There were now only four.
The Jin family.
They had already knelt.
They would remain quiet for the time being.
The Tyrant Blade Sect.
Gone.
No longer existed.
That left three.
He only needed to draw one of them in.
How?
Simple.
The Tyrant Blade Sect may be followed by yours.
Plant that fear.
The Great Families were bound together by the weight of their shared name.
When one collapsed...
The others would begin to wonder.
Will we be next?
Gun Mugeol would nurture that fear.
Then extend his hand.
"The Murim Alliance will protect you."
And what would he demand in return?
Loyalty.
Gun Mugeol smiled.
...One step at a time.
One step.
Slowly.
He would bind the martial world together.
Around the Murim Alliance.
Around himself.
That was the unification of the martial world.
Not through the sword.
Through fear...
And gratitude.
Seol Unhwi... surely you understand that.
Gun Mugeol looked back out the window.
The moon shone brightly.
Seol Unhwi.
Founder of the Heaven's Will Alliance.
Blood Heaven Arbiter of the Blood Heaven Sect.
Polar Heir of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.
What...
Did this man truly want?
Gun Mugeol could predict many things.
He had foreseen Unhwi leaving the Heaven's Will Alliance.
He had foreseen him joining the Blood Heaven Sect.
He had foreseen him rising to one of its highest positions.
But beyond that...
He saw nothing.
What was Seol Unhwi trying to accomplish inside the Blood Heaven Sect?
Did he seek to unify the martial world?
No.
That wasn't the sort of man Seol Unhwi was.
He had no interest in something as trivial as ruling the martial world.
Then why was he there?
Why had he accepted the position of Blood Heaven Arbiter?
...I don't know.
Gun Mugeol hated not knowing.
What could not be understood...
Could not be controlled.
And what could not be controlled...
Was dangerous.
He finished his tea.
Set down the cup.
If something cannot be controlled... then it must be eliminated.
There was only one problem.
The debt remained.
If he killed Seol Unhwi before repaying his kindness...
Then Gun Mugeol would become a man who had betrayed his benefactor.
As a martial artist...
That alone was unacceptable.
He was cunning.
His public face and private face were different.
But he was still a martial artist.
That much, at least, he would never abandon.
A debt had to be repaid.
His method simply differed from everyone else's.
If I am to kill him... I must save him first.
Gun Mugeol folded the letter.
He drew out another.
Raised his brush.
And wrote.
Only a single short sentence.
It would be sent to three places.
One of the remaining Great Families.
The Beggars' Sect.
And one of his own trusted subordinates.
Three letters.
Three separate threads.
When those threads intertwined...
They would become a single net.
And the one caught inside it...
Would be Seol Unhwi.
Forgive me, Seol Unhwi.
He spoke silently to himself.
Though he apologized...
There wasn't a trace of remorse on his face.
I'll place you in mortal danger.
Then I'll save you.
He sealed the letters.
That will repay the debt.
And afterward...
Gun Mugeol rose.
He walked back to the window.
And looked up at the moon.
I'll set you free.
He never said...
Free from what.
The moon shone brightly.
Gun Mugeol smiled.
The smile of a gentleman.
***
Three days later.
A small village near Yellow Sand Pass.
Second floor of an inn.
Unhwi lay in bed.
His face was pale.
Nothing like his usual self.
His lips were dry, dark shadows pooled beneath his eyes, and a splint had been fastened around the left arm protruding from beneath the blanket.
Chief Seong sat beside him.
Watching over his condition.
It wasn't good.
No...
To be honest, it was dangerous.
The injuries he had suffered in his battle against Seok Junseo had run far deeper than expected.
His external wounds were the least of it.
The internal damage was severe.
His organs had been injured, and cracks had spread throughout his meridians.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.
The ancient cold that existed within Unhwi's body.
Ordinarily...
Injuries like these would have healed within a day or two.
The crystal's frigid power would have frozen the damaged meridians, cooled his organs, and restored the proper flow of his blood.
But this time...
It was different.
"...Has the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal... disappeared completely?"
At Chief Seong's question, Unhwi slowly nodded.