So, our group decided to head northwest for now.
Normally, It would take us a few weeks at the very least before we arrive at ‘Xinjiang’, where the Cheonma Sect was located. But because everyone in our group could move fast—Noonim with her excellent footwork, and Taylor who exploded light energy from her feet to move freely on air as well as ground—we could arrive faster.
But in my opinion, we shouldn’t do it because we weren’t in a hurry. Thankfully, Noonim and Taylor fully respected my opinion and followed me without asking the reason. I’m not completely certain either, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest a little time like this in order to get to a ‘good ending’.
“I wonder what the situation on Earth is like?” As she was walking down the path, Taylor asked as she plucked a leaf from a nearby bush and bit it with her mouth.
“Well. Perhaps, it was easier to draw emotions on Earth than in Murim, that was why the demon could easily gain power as it pleased.”
But I was sure that right now, Yekaterina should be still looking for the ‘host’ of the demon, so no matter how strong the demon currently was, it was impossible for it to roam as free as before.
“Is it that easy to find a bastard called the ‘host’?”
“It’s not, but It should be possible.” I replied. It would certainly be difficult if it were me or Taylor who went to search for the host, Afterall, how did you know who was the host amongst 7 billion people? However, if it was Yekaterina who was fluent in various fields, it would be more than doable.
“It seems like you trust that kid so much, huh?”
“Of course. After all, we are connected by soul.”
Perhaps the words I uttered were very uncomfortable for them because Taylor and Seol Jungyeon noonim expressed their discomfort by coughing loudly. … Just what should I say when I’m with these women, I feel like I have to be careful about every word I choose.
“By the way, why are you biting the grass in your mouth?”
“Huh? I just want to create a martial art atmosphere.”
“Isn’t that a Japanese genre?”
“Huh, really? I didn’t know.”
“Actually, I’m not sure either. It could be the Taiwanese genre.”
“I don’t think that’s a thing?”
As we bickered back and forth in a playful manner, we continued our journey. Come to think of it, lately, when I’m with them, I think I have always only talked about ‘important things’ such as talking about my concerns and listening to their advice. However, as we joked around like this, and even Noonim made light jokes—most of them were dad jokes—somehow this leisurely time was very enjoyable.
And after we moved for about three days, we finally arrived at the outskirts of Xinjiang. However, the moment we set foot on the highest peak of a huge mountain range called Sindubong Peak, we were suddenly surrounded by warriors in all directions.
As Taylor and I looked at Noonim, she shook her head.
“It seems like they are not from Cheonma Sect.”
They appeared as if they didn’t have any hostility towards us. The five figures on the front, who were a mixture of European, African, and Asian people, each had different auras. In addition, close to fifty people were hiding in all directions, but they seemed to have no intention of revealing themselves.
“Are you from Murim League?”
As I spoke softly, the European man nodded his head.
“It is so. Seol Jungyeon, former lord of the Cheonma Sect, my name is Alex Pung from Kunlun Sect.”
Others also introduced themselves, but they only said their title and affiliation without telling their names.
From the moment Murim League appeared around us, Noonim had only been looking at Alex.
When Noonim was still maintaining her silence, I asked Alex. “What purpose do you have by coming to us?”
“It was to confirm whether the Supreme Cheonma had really returned or not.”
“Huh?”
I was stunned by his words. I was aware to some extent that the Murim Alliance would be coming to visit us. However, I could not have imagined that someone from the Kunlun Sect would also come.
No matter how shaky the genre was, this place was still Murim; a place where the strong gain respect and rule above all. It was unthinkable for someone who hadn’t reached the same realm as Supreme Cheonma to be able to frivolously talk to her. Even more when they hail from the opposing faction of the Cheonma Sect.
“Confirmation, huh?”
Suddenly, Seol Jungyeon noonim’s smile become cold. Her voice sank several octaves lowered and swept everyone present into state of fear. Everyone’s expression hardened as the colour of their face become whiter. I was also included in those group for it was a ‘killing intent’ I had never seen before.
“Wait! We didn’t come to fight- huh?!”
Woong!!!
The concentration of gravity suddenly increased. The clouds dispersed, the fluttering leaves disappeared into dust, and the ground gradually sank.
“You not only dare to raise your head in front of me, Supreme Cheonma, but also doubt my existence… You guys really want to die, huh?”
“Keuk!”
The Murim warriors who had been hiding in all directions, such as on the top of a tree or under a pile of dirt, suddenly grabbed their necks as if they were choking and began to fall. However, the five warriors on the forefront seemed to be quite competent, as they were still standing albeit their faces were dyed red.
Noonim then glanced at me as if she was asking me for something, and I nodded my head.
Right now, there was no need for the Kunlun Sect. The Murim Alliance probably wants to have a conversation with the Supreme Cheonma. But the Kunlun Sect didn’t want that, and they sent Alex with the rest of them in order to interfere.
“Keuk, wait…! We are only here to talk!”
“Do I have any reason to talk to worms?”
When Noonim drew out her sword, Alex shouted as if he didn’t want to do it anymore.
“Damn it! I knew it. Didn’t I tell you that talking with Cheonma is useless? Now that this has happened, there is nothing we can do! All we have to do is work together to stop her!”
Unfortunately for him, the other four warriors just took a step back and did not draw their weapons. At that, Alex shouted in great panic.
“Hey, hey guys! What the hell is this…!”
Alex’s complexion grew paler as Noonim took one step closer towards him.
“Damn it! As it turned out, you guys were on the same side!!! Disappointing!”
In the end, Alex Pung, who gave up on persuading the Murim League, grinds his teeth and clenches his fists.
Goooooooooooooonngg!!
His inner energy swirled. It may seem insignificant compared to Noonim’s strength, but nevertheless it still had a considerable amount of destructive power.
Dragon Fist.
Ultimate Special move.
Anger Punch.
His skill was very unique. Even though it was still in the scope of martial arts, but ‘movement of emotion’ was contained within it. It was a power which raised one’s own anger and made the other person afraid. It was the first time I saw it since Saekma Bang Ho-Win. The anger, mixed with the demon’s magic, unfolded in Alex-style fist.
Kwakwakwaquaquaw…!!
The wind blowing from his fist knocked down rows of trees, smashed rocks, smashed the ground, and reached towards Noonim.
Immediately after, emotional fluctuations would begin. The movement of pure emotions that no other Murim warriors could stop would help Alex Pung to face an enemy stronger than him without much difficulty.
However,
“Only the surface is shiny, the martial arts are mixed with dirty and obscene ‘magic’.”
“…!”
Noonim swung her sword in slow motion. Then, the wind pressure that blew violently around her was cut apart and disappeared.
“Ah..?”
In an instant, silence fell to the battle ground and Alex made a stupid sound before trying to took a step back.
But it was already too late.
Whoosh!
With one simple step, Seol Jungyeon noonim approached Alex and buried her sword on his left chest.
Alex opened his eyes and looked at his chest. He was stabbed in the heart, but there was no pain nor bleeding. It was a magical swordsmanship that digs precisely between the blood vessels.
He would have realized later that Seol Jungyeon noonim did not pierce his heart with her sword, but she punctured the blood in his heart. It was an elaborate stab that even I couldn’t have imagined.
“Heok…” Then, as if an immense pain had come upon him, Alex’s eyes rolled backwards and he collapsed.
Noonim on the other hand, lightly pulled out her sword and looked at the tip of her sword. There really wasn’t a single drop of blood on it. As if she deliberately did it that way because she did not want the blood of a garbage like him smearing her precious sword.
All warriors of Murim present trembled. Alex, who was a fist fighter, used a staggeringly sharp movement, but the Supreme Cheonma had effortlessly cut it with a light attack and instantly killed an Expert who had reached the peak with a simple stab. That fact alone had made all of them understand the extent of her strength and the fact that she was truly a supreme being.
When Noonim looked around her audience while still holding her sword, the Murim people who were touched by her gaze gulped their saliva. But in fact, they didn’t have to be afraid because her role had ended here.
From now on, it was my turn.
“Now then, all of the Murim League. You said you wanted to talk to us?”
Someone stiffly nodded at my inquiry. I was satisfied with him and smiled.
“Actually, we also had something we wanted to tell you.”
“May I ask what it is?”
This time the correct answer came back. I said to him with a soft smile.
“Did you know that the Kunlun Sect mixed martial arts with ‘magic’?”
Magic. It was a very sensitive word in the martial arts genre, and it was a technique that should never be used by a swordsman. It was proven by the fact that Murim people—who were defeated by the unusual technique used by the main character of the martial arts novels—often say, ‘Damn! You are using magic!’.
“And do you also know that the magic they have was started from a certain ‘divine object’?”
In other words, the story I am going to tell them from now on would be a very secret, yet coveted story by everyone in the Murim Alliance.
* * *
After the conversation with the Murim Alliance ended, Taylor asked as we came out of the peak.
“Hey. Have you been deliberately going slowly just to meet them?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“Let me ask you this, why did the Murim Alliance come to us? Do you know that the Kunlun Sect holds too much power in the Murim Alliance right now?”
“Hm….”
“And the truth is, Cheonma Sect is also a thorn in the eyes of the Murim Alliance.”
“Uh… Okaay?”
“Kunlun, the strongest Sect of the Murim Alliance, or Cheonma Sect, the single most powerful force. Both were a problem for the Murim Alliance, so they were trying to cut their power by somehow letting them fight.”
“Makes sense.”
Although the Murim Alliance looked united at first glance, it was not. The internal strife between sects never ends. In order to raise their ranks, to get a little more breath, to spread their shoulders a little more, they were ready to stab each other within the same Murim Alliance.
I used the fact that the Kunlun Sect could use anger to instigate fear as an example to provide evidence that they were using magic. Murim Alliance might not trust my words right now, but the existence of ‘Magic Orb’ was already proven since Shadow Group was aware of it.
Sooner or later, the Murim Alliance would question the Kunlun Sect about their magical power, and if Kunlun refuses to answer, that would only serve as a proof to my words.
Except for the Kunlun sect, the sects in Murim Alliance somehow got along well and harbored the same thought of sending both Kunlun and Cheonma sect away. However, I wasn’t certain about that, so I took a different approach of accelerating the division within the Murim Alliance, starting with the fall of Kunlun Sect from the Murim Alliance.
Until now, the Murim Alliance had no means or method to directly attack the Kunlun Sect, but if the relationship between them and magic was revealed, the Murim Alliance would be able to damage the Kunlun Sect as much as they want through political means. They will slowly scratch the Kunlun Sect from the inside, and they would probably move with the pretext of ‘recovering the evil Divine Object as soon as possible’.
But do they really only want to recover the Magic Orb? No way. It had been proven that using the Magic Orb would strengthen martial arts, so there’s no way they would sit still. Probably most of the sects would try to take it and use it secretly for themselves. And once they neutralize the threat known as Kunlun Sect, they would eventually gnaw at each other.
In the meantime, we just have to wait.
“Uh…. Somehow, It sounds like a good plan, but you were so wicked.”
Taylor’s praise (?) made me very happy.