At the Luoyang Sword Clan’s Wongakjeong.
“Look, we just want to see the Grand Young Master! Is that really so difficult?!”
The leaders from the Third Young Master’s faction, the New Martial Righteous Alliance, were raising their voices at a handmaiden.
“Is the Grand Young Master not the host of this banquet?!”
“As the host, it’s his duty to at least receive his guests’ greetings!”
However,
“My apologies, Elders,” Yi-ryeong, one of the triplet handmaidens, replied with a face devoid of any apology. “My master is currently presiding over an urgent meeting involving internal personnel.” She firmly shook her head at their demands. “He has sincerely apologized for being unable to greet his guests personally.”
“What!”
The leaders of the New Martial Righteous Alliance slapped their chests in pure frustration.
“Then what about the men from the War Department and the Sword Forest?!”
“Why are they attending this meeting with the Grand Young Master?!”
Yi-ryeong simply shrugged. “That was my master’s decision. Saying such things to me will not change anything.”
“Aish!”
They practically stomped their feet.
“If that’s the case!”
“If that’s the case, then at least let us see Elder Peng! The one the Grand Young Master supposedly pushed over the Wall!”
“Let us meet with him!”
“Pardon me?” Yi-ryeong feigned a look of pure shock. “Elder Peng is currently in a quiet place, consolidating his enlightenment. Alone.” She covered her mouth with her sleeve, her expression one of utter disbelief. “Are you truly suggesting you intend to barge in on such a critical moment?”
“Ah, no.”
“That’s not what we meant…”
“Then the Grand Young Master…”
They were desperate to confirm the rumor’s truth, but Yi-ryeong remained a perfect barrier. “As I have stated several times, my master is busy with an internal meeting.”
Was this his intention? To draw out the crowd’s anticipation to its absolute peak, like perfectly steaming rice from the first harvest until it glistens? The Grand Young Master had already sealed off every avenue of approach.
“Ugh…!”
They made no effort to hide their displeasure, but—Keheum!—getting worked up at a pleasantly smiling handmaiden was obviously useless.
“…Let’s just wait for now.”
“Hah. Unbelievable.”
In the end, they had no choice but to turn and shuffle obediently back to the grand banquet hall.
‘Kehehehe!’
Yi-ryeong watched their retreating backs, her chin held high.
Even if they’re Elders of the Main Clan, my master is not someone they can meet just because they want to. Not anymore.
The sense of how much things had changed was palpable. Just a few months ago, Wongakjeong rarely saw any guests of note. Now, men who had attained the rank of Elder were practically begging for an audience.
And with this, we triplet handmaidens will become true idols to all the subordinates of the Main Clan!
Tilting her already high chin even higher.
‘Kuahahahaha!’
And just as she was laughing to herself, her shoulders shaking with glee, a thunderbolt of a telepathic message struck her.
[Yi-ryeong!]
“Hiiik?!”
Yi-ryeong nearly jumped out of her skin.
[What do you think you are doing?!]
It was the voice she feared most: Head Handmaiden Jeong-ah.
[If your task is finished, return to the conference hall immediately!]
For Jeong-ah, who monitored the entirety of Wongakjeong with the power of her Golden Eyes, there was no such thing as a blind spot.
“Yes, y-yes! I’m coming right now, Head Handmaiden!”
“If the Grand Young Master, as the rumors suggest, can genuinely push a martial artist who has reached a Wall…” The leaders of the Third Young Master’s New Martial Righteous Alliance huddled in a corner of the grand banquet hall, their voices hushed in contemplation. “…and compel them to transcend into the realm of a master… If he truly possesses such divine talent…”
“It’s world-changing. Utterly world-changing.”
Given that this was a celebration for the Grand Young Master’s faction, no one was paying any attention to them, known followers of the Third Young Master. And even if someone were curious, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to strike up a conversation here.
“In that case.”
As men who had once been part of the old Martial Righteous Alliance, their political instincts were exceptionally sharp.
“…Mmm.”
Among them was the new Sect Leader of the Zhongnan Sect, which had chosen absorption by the Luoyang Sword Clan after accruing massive debts from failed business expansions. And beside him, “…Hoh,” was the Grand Master of the Kongtong Sect, a sect that had practically disintegrated from internal conflict after the Martial Righteous Alliance’s dissolution and now sought to rebuild under the Sword Clan’s shadow.
“So, the thing is…”
“…Tch.”
It wasn’t just them. Every leader from the New Martial Righteous Alliance who had come running at the news of the Grand Young Master was here, just sizing each other up, sipping at wine they couldn’t taste, and picking at their food. No one was willing to be the first to speak the words hanging in the air.
“Heh.”
A single, derisive snort shattered their tense silence.
“You all crawled your way here, and now you’re suddenly terrified of the Left and Right Grand Strategists and the Namgung Clan?”
It was the former Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect, joining them late.
“That’s a bit much, Sect Leader…!”
“Perhaps you’ve had too much to drink…?!”
Insults flew from the men, their eyes burning with indignation.
But the former Diancang Sect Leader was the one who had already recognized the Grand Young Master’s true terror during the Bloody History. When Yeon Ha-eung of the Walking Rumors had come as Yeon So-hyeon’s proxy, saying, “I’d like to frame this not as a demand to betray your family, but as a proposal to find a path to live on, together with us,” the former Diancang Sect Leader had replied,
[…Tell the Grand Young Master… that I am in his care.]
And so, this man, who had long since secretly sided with the Grand Young Master, now began to flick his snake’s tongue at the Third Young Master’s faction.
“Listen closely, all of you. I’ll lay it all out for you, nice and clear.”
Though he was thoroughly drunk, the former Diancang Sect Leader’s eyes, while swimming with intoxication, were alarmingly steady.
“After the old Martial Righteous Alliance fell,” his tongue was as sharp as any blade, “the pillar of the Murim, Shaolin, sealed its gates. The sword of Huashan, which dreamed of a brilliant resurgence, was shattered by Elder Yeom of Sword Pinnacle Crushes the Mountain. The Wudang Sect fractured into its Outer and Inner factions. The revered Nine Sects are a distant memory. And you…”
His eyes scanned the faces gathered before him.
“All of you here… you are the leaders of sects that failed to adapt to the age of capital, the ones who finally bent the knee to the Sword Clan.”
Angry roars erupted. He was casually speaking of matters that were, among them, utterly taboo.
“Sect Leader…!”
“Watch your mouth…!”
Given the men present, the sheer pressure from their combined anger was staggering, even without internal energy. But the former Diancang Sect Leader just scoffed.
“Sect Leader? Don’t make me laugh.”
His expression was one of pity, as if gazing upon beasts that were not only dismembered but also bound in heavy chains.
“‘Sect Leader,’ ‘Sect Head,’ ‘Grand Master,’ ‘New Martial Righteous Alliance’… it’s all bullshit.”
He lifted his bottle and drank deeply.
“Keok! Now that’s good liquor!”
Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he snarled at the group. “We can huddle in a corner and lick each other’s wounds all day long. It’s nothing but a pathetic child’s game.”
Tsk, tsk. He clicked his tongue, as if scolding them. “You can’t possibly be stupid enough to not know that this era belongs to the Imperial Families who have monopolized all capital and power. And you can’t possibly be ignorant of the fact that your fancy ‘Sect Leader’ titles are just hollow shells, that your entire existence hinges on clinging to the single Elder seat the Sword Clan tossed you like scraps.”
As his words burrowed deeper, the faces of the New Martial Righteous Alliance leaders flushed purple and red.
“And that’s why,” he continued, his words hammering down like coffin nails, “every last one of you came running here on a desperate prayer, the second you heard the rumors about the Grand Young Master. Am I wrong?”
One side of his mouth twisted into a vicious sneer.
“Thinking that maybe, just maybe, if you side with the Grand Young Master now…” His voice was pure mockery. “…you could somehow recapture the glorious days of the old Martial Righteous Alliance. That’s the pathetic little hope you’re clinging to, isn’t it?”
When he had been shouting, they had all tried to silence him. But now that he was finished, a heavy silence fell. Not a single one of them opened their mouth.
On the contrary, the whispers of the other guests in the banquet hall, who had been enjoying the spectacle, grew louder.
“…He’s right.”
“The former Diancang Sect Leader hit the nail on the head.”
“Just trying to avoid the truth doesn’t make it any less true.”
“The sects that became vassals of the Sword Clan are powerful, but…”
“But it’s nothing compared to the days when they were the hegemons of their own regions.”
As the whispers grew, the faces of the New Martial Righteous Alliance leaders grew darker.
“Did I strike a little too close to home?” The former Diancang Sect Leader cackled, looking around at them. “No one has anything to say?”
“…The Third Young Master.” One of the sect leaders finally spoke, his voice strained. All eyes turned to him. “When the Third Young Master becomes the Young Patriarch of this family, and one day stands as the Patriarch…!” He balled his fists, forcing synthetic power into his voice. “We, too, will become part of the mainstream in this family—!”
“—Keep dreaming.”
The Diancang Sect Leader’s voice simply steamrolled the man’s desperate hope. “You think our situation will be a single bit different from what it is now, just because the Third Young Master becomes the Patriarch? Then or now, we’ll still be nothing but men clinging to the title of Elder. We’ll still be in the same position, scrambling to pick up the crumbs that fall from their table. How the hell will we be any better off than those old men from the War Department are right now?”
If they hadn’t already known this, none of them would have dared to attend this banquet. And so, they had nothing to do but avoid the murmuring whispers around them, their gazes flitting away.
“Ahem!” The Zhongnan Sect Leader, unable to stand it, cut in, his voice subtly laced with internal energy. “Sect Leader. There are many eyes watching. Perhaps this is enough?”
“Zhongnan Sect Leader.” The Diancang Sect Leader clicked his tongue, as if in pity. “Don’t tell me you still haven’t figured it out?”
“…Figured what out?”
“The Bloody History.”
At that single phrase, the New Martial Righteous Alliance leaders fell dead silent. A new shockwave rippled through the entire banquet hall.
“Come to think of it…!”
“In the past, I just laughed off the rumors that the Grand Young Master was behind the Bloody History, but…”
“…seeing the power he’s shown now, maybe it wasn’t just a rumor after all.”
Amidst the murmuring, the Diancang Sect Leader’s voice rang out, sharp and clear. “The previous Zhongnan Sect Leader was dragged away during the Bloody History and vanished without a trace. Not just him, but all of your senior brothers were taken…”
His finger pointed directly at the current Zhongnan Sect Leader.
“…and you, the only one of your martial brothers left, became the Sect Leader. But do you know what’s funny?” He chuckled, a dry, windy sound. “It was a relief you became the leader. All of your senior brothers were talentless trash.”
“…Sect Leader.” The Zhongnan Sect Leader’s voice dropped, becoming chillingly quiet. “What, exactly, are you trying to say?”
The Diancang Sect Leader’s smile vanished. “What I’m trying to say is—”
But.
“What he is trying to say…”
His words were cut off by a new voice, echoing from the entrance. The former Diancang Sect Leader, recognizing the speaker, immediately bowed his head and stepped back.
“…is that in order to be of some small help to the future of the Main Clan…”
Flanked by his handmaiden, the one who had appeared was none other than Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.
“…while I was investigating the treason at the time, I also took care of all of your senior brothers personally.” Yeon So-hyeon finished the thought. “Is that not the point he was making?”
“………!”
The entire, vast banquet hall was plunged into a state of breathless, screaming silence.