Chapter 178: Career Path (3)

About a year ago.

Yueyang in the Central Plains.

A massive estate stood at the heart of this beautiful scenic spot overlooking Dongting Lake—a place that countless poets had praised since ancient times.

[Murim Alliance]

Written in bold, dragon-like calligraphy, the plaque hung above the estate.

In one section of this compound, a man dressed entirely in black entered the Flying Dragon Pavilion.

The black-clad figure quickly made his way to the deepest part of the Flying Dragon Pavilion. As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, he clasped his hands and bowed respectfully.

"I greet the Pavilion Lord."

The man addressed as Pavilion Lord nodded coldly and asked, "Any special intelligence on those zealots?"

The Murim Alliance was founded by the various sects of the Central Plains joining hands.

They had gathered under the noble cause of protecting the peace of the Central Plains, and naturally, there were various forces that harbored hostility toward them.

But since the powers that held considerable influence throughout the Central Plains had united their strength, there weren't many forces that could actually threaten them.

The Flying Dragon Pavilion's main mission was to monitor such threatening forces and prevent the emergence of new enemies in advance.

And the man who had just come to see the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord was a highly capable subordinate who oversaw surveillance of the most dangerous among those few remaining forces.

In truth, while the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord maintained his usual cold expression, his mind was far from at ease.

'What the hell are those fanatics plotting? I can't figure it out.'

All this chaos had started because of the intelligence that very capable subordinate brought. More precisely, it was because of information that had come in about a year ago.

Word had come that the Demonic Cult's branch offices in various villages throughout Xinjiang had suddenly started teaching children the Thousand Character Classic.

That was enough news to bring the Murim Alliance into complete uproar.

—Those lunatics must be trying to teach Demonic Arts to the children of Xinjiang!

—We need to strike first right now! They've extended their evil influence even to young children; how can we turn a blind eye to such a horrific act!

—Exactly! We need to wipe out those vile bastards immediately!

A meeting was held with the heads of major Murim Alliance institutions and elders from renowned sects and noble families of the Central Plains as the attendants.

The majority of elders concluded that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was extending its evil influence to children to train warriors.

It was an accurate assessment.

However.

—So then, which sect will take the lead in this Demon-Exterminating Campaign?

When the Alliance Leader posed this question, all those who had been making such a racket suddenly shut their mouths at the same time.

Those zealots were all crazy bastards who didn't give a damn about their own lives.

It was obvious that fighting them would result in casualties, and among them, the being they worshipped as their god was on a completely different level.

The sheer weight of the Heavenly Demon’s name was on a level comparable to that of an entire great sect.

Of course, they were confident that if the entire Central Plains united, they could easily wipe away those bastards at any time.

The problem was just one thing.

The sects taking the vanguard would suffer damage close to complete annihilation.

Even if they were to wipe out the Demonic Cult, there would be nothing left to gain.

The Tianshan Mountain Range where the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was located was incredibly far from the Central Plains.

You had to pass through Qinghai and then traverse the wastelands of Xinjiang to go much further west.

Unlike this prosperous Central Plains where there were plenty of poor souls to extort money under the pretext of "protection fees," taking over that place would gain them nothing.

—Ahem. Our Hwangbo Family is located in the far east. It’s better for those near Xinjiang to clear the path first. We’ll join as quickly as possible once that’s done.

—Heh. Speaking of distance, wouldn’t the Yunnan Diancan Sect. Sichuan Emei Sect, Qingcheng, and Sichuan Tang Family be more suitable to take the lead?

—Are you out of your mind?

And so began the routine of pushing and pulling each other to the front lines. The justice of the Murim Alliance couldn't be sustained by honor alone.

To them, justice wasn't an ideal but a reality.

They needed money to raise their sect's disciples. They had to expand their sect's territory and business to show off their prestige; how else could they face the founding masters who had passed on if they couldn’t even do that?

Of course, they did practice justice.

In the areas near where their own sects were located, that is.

The common folk living and working hard there were their precious meal ticket—no, since they were such pitiful people, was it not true that only by protecting them could their sects enjoy glory for a long time to come?

Ah. There were occasional cases where they would get involved in the misfortunes of other regions.

When other forces weakened, they could obtain justification to "save" the people there and expand their territory.

This was one of the biggest reasons why the Murim Alliance hadn't launched a preemptive strike against the Demonic Cult.

The Murim Alliance was a massive force formed by countless sects from the Central Plains joining together, but conversely, it wasn't a single unified power.

Since there was no absolute leader, they moved according to the interests of their respective sects and noble families.

The Murim Alliance mostly just acted as a mediator when conflicts arose between member sects and families.

They only united in one case: when a common, massive enemy emerged, like an invasion from the Demonic Cult.

They'd join forces to block invaders trying to steal what was theirs, but when those enemies were holed up far away in the useless wastelands of Xinjiang, they didn't bother attacking.

True to form as expired elders, they ended up repeating what they'd always done.

They hurled criticisms at each other wrapped in polite language, and time passed without any progress.

—That's enough. Since the Demonic Cult hasn't made any overt moves yet, how about we settle on increasing surveillance of them for now?

The Alliance Leader could only step in to mediate with a weary expression on his face and offered his standard solution such as “let’s wait and see.”

Following this decision, the Flying Dragon Pavilion had no choice but to stay busy for a while.

They had to dispatch new spies to Xinjiang and Qinghai.

Thanks to the news over the past year or so, the Murim Alliance held meetings about once a month.

They had thought the cult was planning to teach Demonic Arts to the children, but when news arrived that they were not teaching Demonic Arts and instead genuinely taught them the Thousand Character Classic, their doctrine, and some strange games, another fierce debate erupted.

—These crazy bastards must be preparing some kind of weird sorcery! We need to attack immediately!

—They're just lunatics doing crazy shit.

When the fanatics suddenly started building new estates in several villages and later news came that they were gathering children from nearby villages to educate them there, arguments broke out again.

—Those crazy bastards are definitely trying to lock up children and teach them demonic arts!

—See! I told you! Didn't I say we should attack immediately!

—If you're so eager to attack, why don't your sect go first!

Even when news came that they were sending children back to their villages at regular intervals then bringing them back again, and that those vicious Heavenly Demon Divine Cult martial artists were personally pulling the carriages like livestock, they still quarreled like dogs.

—They're definitely crazy bastards.

—They seem to have collectively fallen into Qi Deviation, so how about we just keep watching for now?

—Is that thing on your shoulders just for decoration? How can you allow yourselves to be so easily played by the schemes of those vicious bastards?

The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, who attended every one of those meetings, even had this thought, 'Those vicious Demonic Cult bastards must be trying to cause internal strife within our Murim Alliance!'

Of course, being someone who had risen to the position of Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, he didn't make the mistake of actually believing thoughts that came from anger.

That's why the intelligence his subordinate brought today was important.

To understand why those lunatics in the Xinjiang wastelands were suddenly doing such bizarre things. Most importantly, to prevent internal strife within the Murim Alliance.

Hiding these desperate inner thoughts, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord looked at his subordinate.

"After consolidating information from our spies, the Demonic Cult fanatics are currently trying to educate children."

A scowl creased the Pavilion Lord's face.

"Do you think we're making all this fuss because we don't know that?"

The subordinate swallowed a dry gulp at his ever-composed superior's frigid voice. Though the tone itself was no different than usual, he knew from experience that this was a crisis.

“There was no sorcery being used, nor was there some kind of hidden objective. It is undoubtedly for the simple purpose of teaching the children to raise them as future zealots of the Demonic Cult.”

"Then why aren't they teaching them Demonic Arts and instead doing exactly what we orthodox sects do? Those fanatics who are obsessed with Demonic Arts."

"That... that's because of the Eighth Disciple."

"...The Eighth Disciple?"

It wasn't just because it was an unfamiliar title. He knew that a "disciple" in the Demonic Cult meant a student of the Heavenly Demon.

It's just that...

"Wasn't the Seventh Disciple the last one? And didn't that Seventh Disciple die?"

"The Heavenly Demon has taken on a new disciple. And all of the Demonic Cult's current movements are said to be proposed by this Eighth Disciple."

"Why the hell would he do that?"

“A-As I stated before, they say it is for the purpose of educating the children to raise them as zealots of the Demonic Cult.”

“And so I ask you, why isn't he teaching those damn Demonic Arts and instead starting with weird stuff?!"

The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord finally couldn't contain his anger at the conversation that kept going in circles.

Of course, the subordinate who had come to report was also having a hellish time.

'It's not like we can make contact with the Eighth Disciple. How the hell are we supposed to figure out his intentions?!'

It was a scream he couldn't voice aloud.

This was the Murim Alliance, not the Demonic Cult. It was a peaceful place where you wouldn't get your head chopped off for yelling at your superior a bit.

You'd just get kicked out of the Murim Alliance peacefully.

On the surface, at least.

Well, there was the risk that while wandering the streets after being kicked out, or climbing mountains, or resting at home, some black-clad figure might suddenly appear and sever your limbs and meridians, destroy your dantian, or "accidentally" pierce your neck or heart, but those were just minor incidents.

"This subordinate is inadequate and has not yet been able to grasp the Eighth Disciple's intentions."

The subordinate swallowed his grievances and immediately dropped to his knees to beg forgiveness.

Such was the sorrow of middle management.

The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord glared coldly at his kneeling subordinate, let out a deep sigh, then spoke.

"I'll give you one last chance. Investigate everything you can about this Eighth Disciple and report back."

***

"This disciple wishes to go to the Central Plains to see the wider world."

“See the wider world, you say…”

At the somewhat lukewarm response from the Heavenly Demon, Il-mok's tongue began to dance.

"Thanks to the various reform measures Master is implementing, Xinjiang is currently facing a period of great transformation. However, strengthening internal affairs while neglecting surveillance of the outside world could potentially invite a crisis."

"So you're saying you'll become the spearhead to observe the flow of the Central Plains?"

"That is correct."

The Heavenly Demon stroked his beard with a thoughtful expression.

When the Heavenly Demon's reaction was more lukewarm than expected, Il-mok realized he needed to implement his second plan.

Thud.

"!?"

When Il-mok suddenly prostrated himself again, the Heavenly Demon looked bewildered.

Regardless of the Heavenly Demon's reaction, Il-mok shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Please punish this disciple's sins!"

"!?"

"This disciple dared to dream of going to the Central Plains for selfish purposes!"

As the old saying goes, it’s better to say sorry than beg for forgiveness.

Il-mok's prepared second strategy was voluntary confession followed by self-flagellation.

Bang! Bang!

Il-mok boldly struck his forehead against the floor and cried out.

"While it's true I want to monitor the Central Plains' movements, it wasn't purely for the safety of our Divine Cult!"

And just before Il-mok's forehead hit the floor for the third time...

A powerful aura grabbed hold of Il-mok's body.

"When you say selfish purposes, you mean the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, don't you?"

At his Master's question, Il-mok naturally felt his lips curve upward.

However, by the time he raised his head, he had already returned to a sorrowful expression.

"That is correct. As a man, and as a warrior of the Divine Cult, how could I live forgetting the enemy of someone who was like a parent to me?"

To avenge the one who was like a parent.

What more splendid justification could there possibly be?

Of course, Il-mok wasn't just planning to use this as a mere justification.

That bastard really was Uncle Tae-hyeon's enemy, so he fully intended to personally cut off his head someday.

It's just that...

'Well, just because I'm going to the Central Plains doesn't mean I have to meet that bastard right away.'

He was simply considering revenge to be a matter for the distant future.