CHAPTER 137: FACE-CHANGING ART (1)

0% A situation on the verge of explosion.

Seojun lifted Ju Yangil like a soccer ball and tossed him toward his guards.

“This crazy bastard...!”

Two guards dove forward to catch Ju Yangil gently.

The remaining personnel surrounded Seojun with swords pointed.

Staring at them, Seojun frowned.

“You fuckers are worthless. Can’t even manage your master properly?”

Rather than answering, the guards’ veins bulged in their necks.

“Apprehend that man immediately...!!”

“Apprehend my ass.”

He had no intention of fleeing, so what apprehension were they talking about?

Seojun stepped forward boldly, wrapping inner power around both hands.

A slender-built man stepped up to face him. Presumably from the Eunuch Bureau. Behind him, the Imperial Guards and Eunuch Bureau agents formed ranks to pressure Seojun.

“Hey, hey!”

Alarmed by Seojun’s apparent willingness to fight, Chunbong shouted.

“What are you doing! Lost your mind again!?”

“I’m perfectly sane.”

His mind was fine, but his mood wasn’t.

That prince bastard, Ju Yangil or whatever.

The way he was talking to Chunbong was absolutely intolerable.

Seojun had been watching from the sky to avoid rushing in if he came down, but he never dreamed the prince would continue his offensive even after the duel ended.

To let this slide? Impossible.

A severe warning was needed to prevent others from behaving this way in the future.

“Stop this!”

Shaolin’s Ji-am shouted, but Seojun ignored him and advanced.

The Transcendent Realm master from the Eunuch Bureau at the front frowned and made his move.

SWOOSH-!

Extreme yin energy wrapped around his hand. It looked like the famous Flower Protection Technique—a eunuch-exclusive martial art that could only be learned by becoming a eunuch.

Seojun reached out and grasped the man’s hand.

“Huhu, foolish one.”

The eunuch laughed. Seojun, having joined hands with a third gender, wasn’t amused.

CRACK-!

Cold energy from the man’s hand traveled up Seojun’s arm.

Seojun’s arm froze, and frost even formed on one cheek.

Haah... Seojun exhaled a white, frozen breath.

“Eunuch cut.”

Ten-fold Yin-Yang Reversal.

BABABABAK-!

In an instant, yin and yang crossed dozens of times.

“GUPH...!”

Blood poured from the mouth of the man who had suffered internal injuries.

If Seojun hadn’t controlled the power, the man’s arm would have exploded.

Looking down at the pale-faced man, Seojun tossed him aside.

CRASH-!

Several imperial guards who barely caught him tumbled backward.

In an instant, one of the imperial court’s Transcendent Realm masters had been subdued.

As shocked gazes converged on him, Seojun deliberately released his aura.

KUUUUUNG──────────!!!

An aura steeped in arrogance pressed down on the martial artists.

Whether they deflected it, endured it, or were overwhelmed by it, all looked at Seojun with tense gazes.

Seojun met their stares with cold eyes.

His lips slowly parted.

“The crime of insulting the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword is too grave to express in words.”

Insulting someone’s family.

In the martial world, it was enough reason to draw swords immediately.

If one silently endured such insults, they would be ridiculed as unworthy of being called a martial artist.

While Seojun himself didn’t have much attachment to the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword, Chunbong was different.

He knew her affection for her clan. Her pride, the longing she tried to hide, the awkward gestures as she suffered from not being able to return—he knew it all.

Insulting the Geum Clan was insulting Chunbong.

Startled by Seojun’s cold gaze, Ju Yangil spoke.

“...What relationship do you have with the Geum Clan that you would cause such an incident, senior?”

“Furthermore, you insulted my master by calling him lowborn—a crime that cannot be atoned for even with your life.”

Golden energy from the Yellow Cloud Divine Art swirled around Seojun’s body.

Those who recognized the golden energy swallowed hard.

Not just family insults, but master insults too?

As Seojun said, executing him on the spot would be justified, and none could criticize it.

Even Ji-am, who had intended to mediate, had to close his mouth.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“That’s...”

Ju Yangil’s eyes wandered, lost.

Was he saying a master of this caliber remained in the Geum Clan? That wasn’t possible.

If so, why had the Geum Clan disappeared without a trace?

If such a master had remained, they wouldn’t have gone years without hearing the Geum Clan’s name.

He needed to find the logical gap. Otherwise, losing his head wouldn’t be surprising.

Ju Yangil’s mind raced.

“I admit I insulted the daughter of the Geum Clan. But a master? Who exactly is your master...?”

“Geum Hui of the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword is my master and benefactor, and the daughter of the Geum Clan you insulted is precisely that.”

“...That’s impossible. The Geum Clan heir should not even be twenty years old...”

Instead of continuing, Seojun took a step forward.

As he approached Ju Yangil, the imperial guards tensely blocked his path.

Simultaneously, Seojun drew his sword.

WHOOSH-!

Golden sword energy surged. A divine technique that maintained a consistent form while flickering like fire.

Those who recognized the profound skill were so impressed they momentarily forgot the gravity of the situation.

But this couldn’t be overlooked.

With the war against the Black Serpent in full swing, friction between the imperial court and the Geum Clan—or more precisely, between the imperial court and the Namgung Clan—could shake the entire orthodox faction.

[Jibaek, I understand you have a relationship with this young hero...]

At Ji-am’s transmitted sound, Jibaek snapped back to attention and hastily stepped forward.

“Young hero, would you listen to my words for a moment?”

Seojun looked at Jibaek.

Jibaek’s body trembled at the emotionless eyes, so different from usual.

He seems like a completely different person...

Gathering himself, Jibaek made a prayer gesture.

“Amitabha... Young hero, could you not show mercy, considering the orthodox faction’s situation?”

At those words, Seojun inwardly nodded.

This level of intervention is just right.

If no one had stepped in to stop him, he might have had to pretend to calm down by himself, which would have been awkward.

His heart wanted to carve that prince’s head into a star shape, but that would make things too complicated.

It might lead to the Namgung Clan being destroyed alongside the orthodox faction at the hands of the Black Serpent.

If that bastard had even slapped Chunbong’s cheek, Seojun would have severed his head without considering the consequences... but now the situation was awkward.

Even Chunbong, stomping her feet behind him, didn’t want this to escalate.

But immediately accepting would look too submissive.

This was a moment that called for some WWE (staged performance).

“My clan and master have been insulted... and you ask me to simply endure it?”

“Isn’t there a better way than beheading him?”

“I fear that once he leaves this place, the imperial court will wipe their mouths clean, which concerns me.”

“That will certainly not happen. Everyone here is a witness, and the imperial court understands the weight of honor. They won’t pretend nothing happened.”

After an appropriate exchange, Seojun let out a heavy sigh.

“If Master Jibaek says so, I have no choice.”

With those words, he approached Ju Yangil. The guards tried to block him, but withdrew at Jibaek’s glance.

Standing before Ju Yangil, Seojun stared at him.

“You should be more careful with your words in the future.”

“...Yes.”

In that instant, Seojun’s hand moved like a flash of light.

THWACK-!

A flick to Ju Yangil’s crown buried his head in the ground.

“Kuhek...!”

With his head half-buried, Ju Yangil’s body trembled.

“Whew.”

Satisfyingly dusting off his hands, Seojun smiled brightly.

“Well then, please continue.”

The Dragon Phoenix Tournament should go on, after all.

*The Dragon Phoenix Tournament continued in an awkward atmosphere.

Dragged away by Chunbong to be scolded in a corner, Seojun scratched his head.

“Um... has it always been like this?”

Was he suggesting there was some generational WWE between the imperial court and the Geum Clan?

“No, he was definitely being rude. But it’s fine since I smacked him.”

Chunbong grinned.

“Since he couldn’t do anything but get hit, he had to run his mouth. I can allow that much.”

“Strange... my Chunbong isn’t usually so generous...”

“What was that?”

With twitching eyebrows, Chunbong sighed deeply.

“Still, it’s not bad. Thanks to you, the revival of the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword is definitely etched in their minds, and I won comfortably, so if I just win the championship...”

She could widely announce the glorious revival of the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword throughout the martial world.

Chunbong giggled cheerfully.

“Anyway. Did you finish your business well?”

At Chunbong’s question, Seojun grinned.

“Of course. Finished it well. The Black Serpent guys will probably be thrilled.”

Though he didn’t know for sure, they would definitely have headaches.

*Overnight, the Blood Crow Sect was annihilated.

The Black Serpent dispatched an investigator to uncover the truth behind the incident.

The person assigned was Ma Deungwon.

He was a talent recognized by the Black Serpent despite having no particular backing, especially skilled at analyzing traces of martial arts.

Upon arriving at the Blood Crow Sect with his subordinates, Ma Deungwon gaped.

“...This is unbelievable.”

Despite the passage of time, the buildings remained frozen solid in pristine white. The flawless freezing demonstrated the level of whoever had caused this catastrophe.

CRACK-!

Breaking through the frozen main gate, Ma Deungwon quickly surveyed the inside of the Blood Crow Sect.

As he moved through the sect without hesitation, his expression grew increasingly serious.

Why would the North Sea Ice Palace...?

No matter how he looked at it, these were traces of the Ice White Divine Power.

This distinctive cold yin qi, the killing intent within it, the traces left when releasing the power, and the smoothly frozen white ice.

As the Ice White Divine Power was clearly an orthodox martial art, its characteristics were distinct—and they were blatantly evident throughout the Blood Crow Sect.

However, there was one strange point.

“I sense demonic energy.”

“It seems there were at least two perpetrators, sir.”

Ma Deungwon shook his head at his subordinate’s words.

“Wrong. This was all done by one person.”

Unfortunately, with almost no intact corpses, it was difficult to determine the exact method, but he could tell the perpetrator was a single person.

“...Are you saying someone single-handedly annihilated a sect on the level of the Blood Crow Sect?”

“Yes.”

Even for the Ice Palace, masters of this caliber were rare.

But as far as Ma Deungwon knew, none of them had learned demonic arts. It didn’t make sense for a Black Serpent martial artist to learn demonic arts in the first place.

This suggested a third party might be involved, but the Ice White Divine Power made it difficult to be certain.

Ma Deungwon chewed his lips as he wandered aimlessly through the Blood Crow Sect.

This is problematic.

In the end, all evidence pointed to the North Sea Ice Palace.

Furthermore, the evidence suggested that the North Sea Ice Palace might have joined hands with the Demonic Cult.

With the war against the orthodox faction in full swing, this was certainly not good news.

It didn’t matter what small sects babbled about, but if the Seven Evil Black Sects tried to reduce the North Sea Ice Palace’s interests based on this evidence, things could spiral out of control.

The worst possibility was if this truly was the North Sea Ice Palace’s doing.

If they had joined hands with the Demonic Cult, creating a three-way war between the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions... the entire power structure of the Central Plains could be overturned.

“Damn it... what kind of bastard would do this...”

Ma Deungwon clutched his head.

It felt like it was about to split.

*“Why are my ears so itchy?”

As Seojun scratched his ears, Chunbong mocked him.

“You think there’s only one or two people talking behind your back?”

“Miss Geum! Unfairly using facts?”

“Facts? What are you saying?”

Chunbong grumbled.

Despite her complaints, she was a good sister who would deliver a drop kick to anyone who spoke ill of Seojun himself.

As he thoroughly mussed her hair, Seojun pondered.

Come to think of it, am I perfectly optimized for creating chaos?

What did martial sects guard against most fiercely?

Among various concerns, one was being framed for acts they hadn’t committed if their martial arts were leaked.

And Seojun had exceptional talent for copying martial arts. With his elevated realm, his ability had further improved, making it possible to use most martial arts nearly identical to the originals.

This meant he could leave traces and flee, gifting a complete set of false accusations to specific sects.

That’s not bad.

What if I learned the Face-Changing Art and really stirred up some chaos?

Baek Seojun of the North Sea Ice Palace, something-Seojun of the Demonic Cult, Lee Seojun of the orthodox faction.

Though the naming was too obvious, no one would suspect such a thing.

Who would suspect when the martial arts used were completely different?

Anyone who did would likely be buried as an idiot.

“Oho...”

This definitely sounds fun.

Adopted.

The prospect of living three separate lives sharpened into focus.