NOVEL NEXT Chapter 533
00533 암천향(暗天鄕) ————————————————————————=
Ten Great Masters.
In my first life, that name referred to the top experts positioned at the pinnacle of the Central Plains Martial Chain. Of course, the humans of this era can hardly be expected to know, as those were the predecessors, but having experienced fifty years later, I was well aware of their legendary renown.
Old Sage of Mount Tai,
Geol-seon,
Master of Zen,
Poison King,
Bow King,
Divine Spear,
Phantom,
Fist Saint,
Heavenly Demon,
Sword King.
Among these, the current Three Great Masters would still be recognized as the Ten Great Masters of the world fifty years from now. And the Divine Spear refers to Jin So-cheong, renowned as the undefeated master and the number one spear among the Central Plains.
“Hmm… And that friend tied up over there will later be known as the Bow King, Yeon Jong-hwi, who will become one of the Ten Great Masters and is infamous for killing a hundred with a single arrow.”
As I explained, the Sword Demon stroked his beard in admiration. Not just him, but all the companions gathered seemed quite fascinated by my tale. The Extreme Tiger chuckled.
“Hey Baek Woong. Am I perhaps the Phantom of the Ten Great Masters?”
It seemed possible. But I shook my head.
“I don’t know either. The Phantom roams freely, and aside from his alias, not much is known about him.”
“How peculiar. You seem to have no attachment to your first life. The memories muddled by the Obsidian are so faint that you’re realizing them only now.”
“……”
“The memories from that time are incredibly blurry. Did you try to deliberately hide them?”
Though the Extreme Tiger teased, I could only smile bitterly.
There was nothing pleasant about the life of a mere escort who ultimately met a pitiful end after all the hardships.
At that moment, Jin So-cheong, who had been listening, spoke up.
“Something feels off, Baek Woong.”
“What’s off?”
“Other folks might not notice, but the Sword Demon here is still in his prime. Even if it’s fifty years later, a master’s body doesn’t age easily, so he should still be at his peak performance then. Yet why isn’t the Sword Demon listed among the Ten Great Masters?”
“Oh, now that you mention it…”
I realized I hadn’t given it much thought before. But after hearing Jin So-cheong’s words, I began to find it strange. Even now, the Sword Demon was one of the top masters in the realm, so naturally, he should be among the Ten Great Masters fifty years from now. After a moment of contemplation, I spoke.
“There will still be the Shadowless Sect fifty years later. However, it’s such a lofty sect that as a mere escort, I wouldn’t have known this news well. Moreover, the Shadowless Sect will indeed be the number one sect fifty years later.”
“Haha! That sounds promising.”
The Sword Demon said with a pleased smile.
“Hmm… I think something must have prompted a change in the Jianghu. Perhaps I— or Hyea— was hiding my power. If not, then maybe I would have been killed by someone before the fifty years were up.”
“……”
Many ominous thoughts flooded my mind.
I hadn’t pondered deeply about what could have happened in my first life over the span of fifty years.
Then Miho spoke with interest.
“Baek Woong. Then who was the strongest among the Ten Great Masters?”
I flinched.
When such a sensitive question was thrown at me, I thought for a moment before replying.
“I don’t really know. I genuinely have no idea.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Well… among those ten, this guy was undoubtedly the Sword King.”
“Ha! Unbelievable. Are we really living in an era where such a small fry makes it to the Ten Great Masters?”
“I’m not sure about that. The current Three Great Masters will transform into the Ten Great Masters, so their strength is undeniably solid. At this point, they’re already on the cusp of peak expertise. Plus, Jin So-cheong is among them. It’s hard to make a judgment.”
Hearing my words, the Sword Demon said,
“It seems the Ten Great Masters had a significant disparity in their powers.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“Then… who were the ‘a couple’ you saw from Baek Woong?”
“What?”
The Sword Demon gazed at me intently as he spoke.
“You saw a future through Baek Woong. In that vision, Jin So-cheong claimed that only a couple of the Ten Great Masters could rival the Bishop of the Nine Lotus Sect.”
“Ah.”
“Baek Woong is entirely reliant on the knowledge and experience he has collected to predict the future. Thus, Jin So-cheong’s assessment must have reflected your vague standards for the ‘Ten Great Masters.'”
“I see. I understand.”
In other words, the highest-ranking masters that Jin So-cheong recognized were the undefeated beings commanding great respect fifty years from now. After taking a breath, I continued.
“The Heavenly Demon, the Divine Spear, and the Fist Saint were all regarded as supreme masters for their era.”
“What kind of individuals were the Heavenly Demon and Fist Saint?”
“The Heavenly Demon was a master of the demonic path, achieving the great success of the still mysterious techniques without a single defeat, being the best in that field at the time. And the Fist Saint was touted as the greatest fist-master from Goryeo, also undefeated.”
“Was the same true for the Divine Spear?”
“Yes.”
The Sword Demon nodded in understanding.
“So, the Heavenly Demon, Divine Spear, and Fist Saint all boasted their undefeated reputation, huh? It seems in the Jianghu, no judgments could be made until they had clashed.”
“That’s correct.”
“If we knew the strengths of absolute beings, we might gauge them, but such individuals wouldn’t go out of their way to satisfy the desires of Jianghu’s enthusiasts.”
The Sword Demon’s insight was remarkable. With just my one remark, he inferred the entire backstory.
At that moment, Yeon Jong-hwi, who had been listening, muttered.
“Are you all collectively insane? What sort of mad talk is this…?”
“Yeon Jong-hwi.”
“Make up your mind quickly; whether to kill or let live.”
“Can you not believe that you’re going to become the Bow King?”
When I asked, Yeon Jong-hwi replied, incredulous.
“Why would I adopt such a ridiculous alias? I never intended to gain any great fame in the Jianghu; all I sought was a place to train for perfection in my martial arts. Unfortunately, I crossed paths with you all…”
“……”
But I knew there was no mistake. The Yeon Jong-hwi before me would surely become one of the Ten Great Masters.
I sent a secret transmission to the Sword Demon.
[Did that guy use the Fish-Rise Technique?]
[Yes, though weakly; he knows the Mind Control Technique. That’s why I mentioned he would become a big shot.]
[Without a doubt.]
[Are you thinking of taking him with you?]
[Yes.]
[That could be amusing.]
The Extreme Tiger said.
“Then let’s wrap this up and head back.”
“Understood.”
Following the Extreme Tiger’s words, I placed the corpses of the Namgung Clan masters into the wooden armor. Leaving them behind would only allow various Jianghu factions to investigate the matter, so it was best to put them in the wooden armor and make them ‘disappear.’ The remaining humans from the Namgung Clan were caught in Naseng Gate and dazzled into manipulated memories by Miho.
Once everything was settled, I led my group to Jinrang Valley and then headed straight to Zhuge Sa.
*Pa-at!*
Zhuge Sa gazed at me with widened eyes upon my uninvited arrival. When I saw him, I immediately got to the point.
“Zhuge Sa. How much time do we have left on the contract with Fengshen War? We should soon set out to find her and gain recognition as the Heretical Sect leader so we can establish the Demon King’s shrine. Can we afford to be idle like this?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m the Heretical Sect leader.”
I lightly tossed the Obsidian to him. Instead of catching it directly, Zhuge Sa summoned an arm, like that of a spirit from the void, to grasp the Obsidian, clearly wary of it. I then said to Zhuge Sa,
“I know you inserted the Heavenly Secret Technique into Zhuge Bu.”
“……”
“The Obsidian transmits memories. You’ll understand how I came to know this once you read it.”
“How intriguing…”
Zhuge Sa accepted the Obsidian. After the memory transmission concluded, he showed an utterly bewildered expression. He then remarked,
“You’re starting to act out from the very beginning, aren’t you? Heh. Did you actually want to flaunt your strength?”
Realizing that Zhuge Sa had fully comprehended my memories, I grumbled.
“Damn it! It’s quite tiresome to repeat the same lines in every reincarnation. Don’t you have some magical words to let me pass the Obsidian to you easily?”
Zhuge Sa’s suspicion was so great that ordinary bait wouldn’t ensnare him. I was left relying on whatever small traces of madness existed within him. It was certainly challenging to pass the Obsidian to him. Zhuge Sa shrugged.
“Fat chance. If you’re angry, just beat me until I’m missing, then send in the memory. With your strength now, that shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Don’t lie to me. If I corner you with my martial arts, you’ll just retaliate with forbidden law or curses, leading us both to destruction.”
“What a valid point.”
“And what’s with your reply… Do you want to witness my ruin caused by you?”
When I retorted in exasperation, Zhuge Sa grinned.
“It’s quite amusing.”
“……”
Zhuge Sa stood up from his chair and said.
“Regardless, thanks to that Extreme Tiger, you’ve regained some confidence, haven’t you? Feels good to crush those poor fools, right?”
“Was there really a need to say it like that? I simply subdued the Namgung Clan because they were up to no good.”
“But to them, it must’ve felt like a lightning strike out of a clear blue sky.”
“It doesn’t matter what they think; it’s of no concern to me.”
My firm response elicited a peculiar smile from Zhuge Sa.
“Is that so?”
“……?”
“Well, regardless, you handled the aftermath cleaner than I expected. Now, let’s gather the remaining fortuitous encounters and strategize to maximize your training period.”
“Zhuge Sa. We mustn’t leave the Imperial Palace alone.”
“Heh. The White Lotus Sect, Imperial Palace, Twelve Joules… finding the right balance between them will be quite the challenge.”
That was indeed the problem.
If I left the Imperial Palace alone, it would only grow tremendously in power with the support of the Evil God as time passed. Of course, there were ways to crush such strongholds, but they would require tremendous divine might.
However, should we dismantle the Imperial Palace, the White Lotus Sect would storm into the Central Plains and run amok. If the leader sought to gather the teachings of the Non-Birth Mother by any means necessary, it would reignite the war with the Old Ruler and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
The Twelve Joules might seem like a third-party faction, but they could also exploit the chaos of the Central Plains or even take up assassination when needed. And their motives remained shrouded in the unknown.
Zhuge Sa declared,
“I think it’s best to proceed the way we did last time, but this time, we should refrain from performing any Offering Ceremonies at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“The major factor that turned the tide last time was you becoming Jeon Wook’s apostle. Until then, you were proceeding smoothly and without drawing immense attention, but after that, the Evil God’s extermination and the White Lotus Sect got entangled, leading to the disaster. Also, anything tied to an Offering Ceremony is sure to have a huge backlash.”
Zhuge Sa crossed his arms.
“Becoming a divine apostle or conducting an Offering Ceremony is like lighting a fuse on a bomb. Instead, gather up as many Luminaries as you can and focus on enhancing your personal prowess with the gathered fortune. Be ready to train for at least twenty years.”
“Understood.”
“Man-ryang probably won’t think too differently. The only thing you must ascertain is…”
“What is it?”
“One thing needs thorough investigation.”
Zhuge Sa hesitated for a moment before adding,
“The strongest Overlay Technique in the Celestial Realm, why does the Celestial Sage oppose gathering the Luminaries?”
“……?”
“He does not heed the Celestial Realm’s command and opposes the release of the Luminaries out of his own will. I suspect that the reason lies with the Three Treasures when he accompanied the Celestial Contractions.”
Upon hearing his words, a sudden inspiration struck me.
“We can find that entity known as the Three Treasures and call his spirit with the Heavenly Secret Technique. Or perhaps we should ask King Mi-hu directly.”
“Exactly.”
The light in Zhuge Sa’s eyes sparked.
“I have a feeling something is off. The existence of this Three Treasures might become a key to unraveling many mysteries.”