Chapter 219
Recently, the martial world, which had been unable to find a moment's peace amid one shocking development after another, was struck by yet another bombshell.
It was the news that the Five Great Families had formed the Taechon Alliance.
When the Righteous Alliance was formed not long ago, many people assumed that the Five Great Families would naturally join it.
After all, throughout the long history of the martial world, whenever a major crisis arose, the orthodox martial world had always banded together around the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families to overcome it. By now, it seemed almost inevitable.
Yet no one had expected the Five Great Families to form an entirely separate alliance.
People's reactions varied as well.
Some speculated that an incident must have occurred to drive a wedge between the two powers, while others said it had been done by mutual agreement, like the example of the Martial Alliance, which had rotted because it had no opposing force to keep it in check.
But viewed broadly, it was true that more people regarded the situation negatively than positively.
“Is this really okay? Are we really?”
“I know. I'm just worried about what will happen if the Heavenly Demon descends on us in the middle of all this.”
At an inn, men belonging to a small orthodox sect had just finished their meal and were discussing the matter.
One of them chuckled and casually joined the conversation.
“Come on, aren't you worrying a bit too much?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, isn't that obvious? The current martial world still has those absolute powerhouses known as the Twelve Supremes of the World, doesn't it?”
“So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so’? With the Twelve Supremes of the World standing tall, what could the Heavenly Demon possibly do alone, no matter how strong the Heavenly Demon is? Besides, the Righteous Alliance has Kwon Hwang Muhyeo, who is said to be the closest to the number one under heaven alongside the Evil Path's Black Martial Emperor, serving as its Alliance Leader. So there's no need to worry that much, is what I'm saying.”
“Heh heh. You really ought to stop talking about things you don't understand.”
Another man clicked his tongue impatiently and continued.
“Do you know how Pacheon Demon Emperor Gwak Cheon-hu, who was one of the Twelve Supremes of the World, died? They say the Heavenly Demon killed him with a single stroke. He couldn't even properly fight back—he was completely overwhelmed from start to finish. In the end, that proved that even the Twelve Supremes of the World are no match for the Heavenly Demon. What difference would Kwon Hwang make?”
“The Heavenly Demon is that strong?”
“Otherwise, would the Nine Great Sects, which had merely sat back and watched the affairs of the orthodox martial world until now, have been so startled by the news of the Heavenly Demon's appearance that they formed the Righteous Alliance?”
“According to some stories, the Heavenly Demon alone is capable of mowing down thousands, even tens of thousands, of enemies. They say the only person in history who could face the Heavenly Demon one-on-one was the Martial God.”
“The Martial God.”
“If another Martial God like the Heavenly Demon were to appear, things would be different. But that has never happened even once.”
“You mean…”
“Exactly. Do you finally understand what I'm saying? The martial world is facing an unprecedented crisis.”
The man who had claimed that everything would be fine because the Twelve Supremes of the World existed had finally realized the seriousness of the situation and unconsciously swallowed hard.
“Are we really going to be okay?”
“Good grief… Why are you just repeating exactly what I said?”
“Heh heh.”
The man awkwardly scratched his head.
But he really was worried.
Would the Central Plains martial world truly be all right if things continued like this?
What kind of future awaited them?
Would orthodox martial artists somehow unite once again and stop the Heavenly Demon, even if it meant paying a terrible price?
Or would that terrifying Demonic Cult come to rule the world?
And how would the Evil Path Alliance move?
Everything was uncertain.
All they could hope for was that, when the time came, nothing too terrible would happen to them or their families.
The men continued discussing the matter, but before they knew it, they were all staring out the window at the distant sky with troubled faces.
***
At the same time.
Unlike the adults who were troubled and anxious over the unstable state of the martial world, there was one adorable little girl gazing up at the sky with bright, innocent eyes.
Beneath the sky over the Hebei Peng Clan, the child simply beamed as she gazed at the sparkling heavens.
“Yul-i? What are you doing over there?”
Peng Mugang, who had come to the private training ground to teach his granddaughter martial arts, raised his head and asked with a puzzled expression when he saw Yul-i looking up.
Yul-i smiled bashfully and looked at Peng Mugang.
He always thought the same thing, but how could she be so pretty and adorable? Simply looking at his granddaughter put Peng Mugang in a good mood.
Come to think of it, Yul-i's smile seemed especially bright today.
“Something good must have happened.”
“Yes!”
“Tell your grandpa what it was.”
Yul-i nodded brightly, then pointed at the sky with her tiny finger.
“I flew through the sky in a flower carriage with Daddy and Mommy!”
“Huh? You flew in a flower carriage? What on earth are you talking about?”
“Heehee. You see, what happened was…”
Yul-i excitedly answered Peng Mugang's question.
But Peng Mugang's expression kept changing as he listened to her story.
“Huh, hahaha… Really? Is that so?”
When Yul-i finished explaining, Peng Mugang let out a hollow laugh.
That old Black Martial Emperor had already made him feel left behind by playing with Yul-i in such a strange way, and now what? He had floated a flower carriage high into the sky? With three people aboard?
Could that possibly make sense?
It was a feat of wonder on an entirely different level from what the Black Martial Emperor had shown.
It was so astonishing that he was practically rendered speechless.
So this was what it meant to be the Martial God and the Heavenly Demon.
To think that even things like that, things that belonged in dreams, were possible.
And so Yul-i had been grinning all day as she kept recalling how much fun she had had.
Peng Mugang felt a sense of crisis.
This wouldn't do.
If things continued like this, Yul-i might one day say, ‘Playing with Grandpa is so boring. I want to play with Daddy and Grandpa Black Martial Emperor instead.’
Peng Mugang was already so miserable that tears welled in his eyes simply from imagining something that had not even happened yet.
‘I suppose I'll have to enter closed-door training, if only out of sheer spite. Hmph.’
The problem was that he was in no position to enter closed-door training, and no matter how much he trained, he had no confidence that he could beat his son-in-law, at least.
By now, he wanted only one thing.
To become just a tiny bit stronger than his son-in-law. No more, no less.
The problem was that this had perhaps become the most difficult thing in the world.
Because the moment he accomplished it, Peng Mugang might even be called the greatest person of all time, surpassing the number one under heaven.
Thus, the roaring tiger of Hebei, feared by everyone, felt especially miserable today.
To the point that he almost shed a few tears.
‘Ha. I want to become stronger than that brat. I want to become stronger…’
***
And here.
Ueeeeeek!
Kueeeeeek!
Beneath the Peng Clan's sky were five men who wanted to become stronger—and were busy vomiting their guts out.
It had been several days of basic training, yet they still had not adapted and were vomiting like mad.
The difficulty of the basic physical training, which forbade the use of inner power entirely, was truly beyond imagination.
They had never experienced training this grueling and arduous since the day they were born.
And that was true of Peng Seo-jin as well.
He had known from the beginning that the training was difficult enough to deserve the name ‘hell training,’ but actually going through it himself made every moment feel like he wanted to run away.
But then,
‘They've been doing this every day?’
Watching the White Wolf Unit train to the point of death without a care, vomit, collapse, and then get back up to resume training as though it were only natural, Peng Seo-jin and all the other heirs of the Five Great Families could only marvel.
Those people, whom they had unconsciously considered beneath them, seemed truly extraordinary.
And so, after today's basic physical training finally ended safely(?), the spar between the entire White Wolf Unit and Yeo Un-hwi began.
It was the moment they anticipated and dreaded most among their daily training.
The interesting thing was that, judging solely by the number of people present, the White Wolf Unit surrounding Yeo Un-hwi greatly outnumbered him, yet it looked as though Yeo Un-hwi's side completely dominated them.
Even though he was not releasing the slightest trace of energy.
His presence alone was enough to create that impression.
“Begin.”
With those words,
Kuuuuung.
Yeo Un-hwi released his energy first.
Then,
“Urgh.”
The heirs of the Five Great Families watching from the side also felt the pressure hit them, making their breath catch all at once.
It was truly tremendous.
They could not even imagine how hopeless it would be to face such energy.
The spar ended in an instant.
The White Wolf Unit had only just begun managing to draw their swords while trembling from head to toe, and Yeo Un-hwi had subdued them again today without showing them the slightest mercy, treating it exactly like a real battle.
Of course, if he truly had not held back at all, there was no way they would still be alive.
Yet regardless of how long or short the spar was, the important thing was that it was giving the White Wolf Unit valuable experience.
There might be no experience more precious than meeting an absolute master and suffering defeat against him again and again.
One of the five heirs, gazing enviously at the White Wolf Unit sprawled on the ground and gasping for breath, let out a sigh and spoke.
“Is training our bodies to the point of exhaustion really meaningful?”
It was the youngest, Jegal Ujin.
He absolutely did not regret coming to seek out Yeo Un-hwi.
But things were so different from what he had expected that he found it puzzling.
For several days, they had done nothing but train without using inner power, repeatedly exhausting their physical stamina to the limit.
He did not object to that, but Jegal Ujin was the sort of person who could not be satisfied unless he understood something intellectually as well as put it into practice.
That was not unique to Jegal Ujin; it was a characteristic of the Jegal Clan's temperament.
And though the other four heirs were not as much like him, they were equally puzzled by the training.
What could such basic training possibly mean?
But then,
“Why does it seem like a pointless exercise?”
Yeo Un-hwi had appeared behind them before anyone noticed.
Jegal Ujin was startled and lowered his head, unsure what to do.
“I'm sorry.”
Yeo Un-hwi grinned and shook his head.
“No. From your perspective, it would be perfectly understandable to find this puzzling and unsatisfying.”
“…Haha. I wouldn't go so far as to call it frustrating.”
“You all said that you wanted to become stronger and help the Taechon Alliance in the future, didn't you?”
“Yes, we did.”
“Then above all, you need to increase your chances of surviving whatever battles or battlefields you face in the future. Isn't that right? You have to survive before you can become stronger or do anything else.”
“Huh? That's true, but… What exactly do you mean?”
The strong survive, and those who survive are recorded in history for their strength.
They all knew that very well.
But what did that have to do with basic physical training?
“The state of the martial world is changing. The battlefields you will face in the future will be very different from those of the past. They will not be places where you step forward honorably, cleanly cut down one or two opponents, and call it a day. You will fight like dogs tangled together in the mud, and blades will fly at you from the shadows behind you at any moment. That is where we are headed.”
By then, Yeo Un-hwi's gaze had become utterly serious.
Tension settled over the faces of the heirs as they listened to his quiet explanation.
“Even if you have only a little stamina left—or even if the moment comes when your entire body refuses to move—the thing you need most in order to survive and win is ultimately mental strength and experience. Above all, the experience of exhausting your stamina to the limit. Someone with that experience will be able to take one more step than others at the worst and final moment.”
Those were not merely platitudes he was reciting.
They were things Yeo Un-hwi had experienced time and again during his days as the Blood Demon.
What had kept him alive in his past battles against villains was that one extra step he had taken beyond his opponent in order to survive and win, even when he was gasping for breath, his vision was growing hazy, and he felt as though he might lose consciousness.
That experience, which had once decided life and death, was carried in Yeo Un-hwi's words and carved into the hearts of the five men.
“That one step will help you survive and allow you to win your battles. That is what this training is for. Well? Do you understand now?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, yes! I understand perfectly now.”
Jegal Ujin answered loudly and emphatically.
The other heirs standing behind him also smiled and nodded.
Soon, they began training again, their determination burning brighter than ever.
“How kind of you.”
Jin So-baek had approached with a smile before anyone noticed.
“You came.”
“Yes. I finally finished dealing with my busywork and came to see you. By the way, you all seem quite close. Your subordinates, and those heirs over there, too.”
“Oh? Are you jealous? I'm more than willing to become friends with you this way, too. How about we start by climbing that mountain peak five times? Naturally, you can't use inner power—”
“Ahem! Goodness, look at the time. I just remembered that I still have a few important things left to take care of, and I ended up coming here. Well, I'd better be going!”
At Yeo Un-hwi's words, Jin So-baek fled the training ground in terror, almost as though he were running for his life.
Yeo Un-hwi merely chuckled at the sight of Jin So-baek fleeing in such a panic.
“Kind, huh? It's been a long time since anyone called me that.”
Yeo Un-hwi suddenly turned to look at the sky and smiled faintly.
A few days later, an invitation arrived at the Hebei Peng Clan.
It was an invitation sent by the Righteous Alliance.