Chapter 236 : Seolyoung, Understands
Chapter 236: Seolyoung, Understands
It was a vast, empty space.
In that dimly lit area, devoid of light, a single person stood.
An old man who exuded a massive presence just by standing there, he was none other than the Cult Leader of the Asura Demon Sect, Yao Hong.
This was Yao Hong's martial arts training ground. He usually enjoyed practicing here, but he hadn't visited at all recently, standing here now for the first time in a long while.
Yao Hong stood with his eyes closed.
Not a single trace of energy radiated from him. He simply stood there.
To an outsider, he'd look like he was merely lost in thought, but he was currently practicing his martial arts while consuming an enormous amount of spirit energy.
Beneath his closed eyelids, his pupils moved from side to side.
He was fighting an imaginary enemy.
His current opponents were thousands of martial artists. He was fighting against enemies surging in like waves from all directions.
With a single palm strike, over a hundred opponents were swept away. A massive storm raged, blowing everything into oblivion.
It was a situation like a godlike being trampling ants to death.
Enemies were crushed, turning into powder and vanishing.
The slaughter continued endlessly.
Extermination.
Everything in the surroundings disappeared.
At the very moment he was about to end the battle within his mind, Yao Hong flinched in surprise.
In the distance, someone was walking toward him, treading upon the mountain of piled corpses.
The figure was covered in black shadows, making it impossible to tell who it was.
The moment the gaze of the battling Yao Hong grew intense,
The real world Yao Hong opened his eyes.
As soon as he opened his eyes, a single name flowed from his lips.
“Lee Jaseung.”
He could instinctively tell that the man who appeared in his mind was Lee Jaseung.
In all his years of practicing the discipline of facing enemies in his mind, this was a first. It wasn't that the opponent had used some trick to enter his mind. His own mind had summoned him.
‘Have I recognized that bastard as my arch nemesis?’
It was a strange feeling. It felt unpleasant to be conscious of such a green bastard, yet at the same time, it felt good that a proper opponent had finally appeared.
Of course, arch nemesis was an absurd term.
No matter how exceptionally skilled the bastard might be, he couldn't be his match.
The only enemy who could be his match was the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Just then, a voice was heard.
“It is me.”
“Speak.”
“There were thirteen organizations whose betrayal was uncovered. We eliminated the heads and high ranking officials of seven of those organizations. The remaining six, whom we failed to eliminate in time, fled the main cult leading their subordinates.”
Many of them were organizations belonging to the Thirteen Great Asuras. Yeo Su-in had secured a truly formidable force.
It was truly surprising that such a thing was happening right under his nose. No, the ability to maintain secrecy while drawing in so many organizations was even more astonishing.
‘He is quite a remarkable bastard indeed.’
The voice reported again.
“If those who escaped join Young Master Yeo, they'll become a fairly threatening power. We already sent out the Execution Squad to pursue them.”
“Leave them be.”
“Understood. I'll halt all pursuits immediately.”
The voice didn't ask for the reason. To him, the Cult Leader’s command was the supreme task.
“Have all those who sided with that child been identified now?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The voice was certain.
If he said it was so, then it was so.
“What about the Great Demon?”
“He is currently pursuing Young Master Yeo after losing the Four Great Sons and his Demon Army.”
At that report, Yao Hong clicked his tongue once as if it were pathetic.
“Tsk!”
“If left as is, the damage to both sides will grow. Should I intervene personally and stop them?”
“Just leave them be.”
“Yes.”
“You go and find out exactly what happened regarding this matter. Especially how Lee Jaseung played those two.”
“I accept your command.”
Despite the internal strife within the cult, the emotion Yao Hong displayed wasn't annoyance or anger.
It was a certain strange excitement, like brushing off old dust and finally getting ready to move.
Yao Hong threw the windows wide open and stretched his arms out for a long yawn.
* * *
News of Yeo Su-in and the Great Demon continued to flow into the Three Eyed Pavilion.
Thanks to the Trailing Incense Lee Jaseung had applied to Yeo Su-in, the Three Eyed Pavilion didn't lose track of his movements.
The news that arrived today was also very joyful for Lee Jaseung.
“The Spider Group and the Night Sky Squad have clashed.”
At Dan Woobin’s report, Lee Jaseung asked.
“Is the Night Sky Squad on Yeo Su-in’s side?”
“Yes, that is correct. How did you know?”
“The Spider Group is quite large, isn't it? Yeo Su-in would've recruited organizations that can move quickly first. Conversely, the Great Demon, who is doing the pursuing, would be in a situation where he needs numbers.”
“You've seen it exactly.”
“And the result?”
“An overwhelming victory for the Night Sky Squad. The damage to the Spider Group is very heavy.”
Lee Jaseung nodded.
With the Four Great Sons, the Demon Army, and the masters of the Elders' Council nearly annihilated, the Great Demon essentially had his arms and legs cut off.
Although a few demonic organizations in the Jianghu sided with the Great Demon, it didn't stem from true loyalty.
It was false loyalty born from coercion, enticement, or the ambition for power, thinking the Great Demon might become the Cult Leader. This fight clearly revealed those limits.
“Continue to keep a close eye on their movements.”
“Yes, understood.”
Those two weren't fighting because they were fools. Rationally, they'd know very well how foolish this was.
However, people of Jianghu were creatures of emotion above all else.
If they weren't, they wouldn't have chosen a life of holding a sword in the first place.
Even Yim Sayeon, who'd lived for a hundred years, had to suffer from deep agony and conflict because of a single child. Though she was a woman who seemed capable of splitting the heavens and soaring, she was letting out sighs that seemed to sink the earth.
People talk easily about other people’s business.
They say to just shake it off. They say an adult should endure that much. They say you aren't the only one like that. They say that is just how life is.
But when that matter becomes their own, they can never speak like that.
It is one's own life where asking a simple favor of the person next to them is difficult, and it is one's own life where they can't sleep at night because of a single insult.
Dan Woobin spoke cautiously.
“What do you think about leaking this conflict to the Jianghu?”
“The reason we should do that?”
“Around the time their fight ends, the Demonic Cult Leader will step forward in some way. It seems the time has finally come.”
It was truly a meaningful statement.
Lee Jaseung knew what that time signified.
The Conquest of the Demonic Cult.
The moment to finally begin the most difficult battle had arrived. It'd be a struggle incomparably harder than taking over the corruption ridden Murim Alliance.
“How do you plan to unfold it?”
“I plan to use Yeo Su-in’s proposal.”
“The matter where he suggested joining hands with the Murim Alliance to strike the main Alliance?”
“Yes. I plan to frame it so that the conflict between Yeo Su-in and the Great Demon arose because of that matter.”
Lee Jaseung wore a satisfied smile, thinking that the stage had been set properly.
Dan Woobin continued speaking.
“Many people of Jianghu harbor doubts. Can the Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult truly cooperate? Many predict it could never happen. Ultimately, they'll accept the fight between the Great Demon and Yeo Su-in as natural, and the battle between those two will become the starting point of the Great War between Orthodox and Demons.”
There was always a cause and a reason for any fight. This was even more true for a Great War between Orthodox and Demons.
This war must not become a war that happened due to someone’s scheme.
It had to be a fateful confrontation between good and evil.
Dan Woobin said quietly.
“We must strike first. In the beginning, we'll pour in the Orthodox Faction first. Afterward, our forces are scheduled to wrap things up.”
If a person of the Orthodox Faction had seen it, it was a cold blooded operation beyond compare, but as the Chief Strategist of the Black Way Alliance, it was also a natural operation.
Yes. If they had to fight anyway, then?
“Make thorough preparations.”
“Yes, understood.”
Dan Woobin left the room.
In the mind of the solitary Lee Jaseung, the most important phrase for the upcoming fight surfaced.
Victory through a preemptive strike.
* * *
“You'll have to prepare yourself mentally.”
When he explained the conversation with Dan Woobin, Baek Seolyoung swallowed hard.
“What is it that I must do?”
“Fighting with me.”
At the mention that a war would now break out, her body tensed up naturally, but she didn't agonize or feel fear over the matter.
“Okay, I understand.”
It was something she'd contemplated deeply. The event she'd vaguely pushed aside, hoping it would never come, had simply appeared as reality.
Lee Jaseung spoke with some difficulty.
“The Murim Alliance will move first.”
How would she take these words?
It was something Lee Jaseung had worried about for a very long time.
Would he not appear as an egoist trying to satisfy his own greed by sacrificing the Orthodox Faction?
No, he surely would. Because his intentions certainly included utilizing the Orthodox Faction to the very end.
However, her answer was unexpected.
“I understand.”
Lee Jaseung’s eyes widened for a moment. He could tell she was speaking sincerely.
Baek Seolyoung spoke again.
“If you had asked me to set a strategy right now, I would've set it that way too.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, it is. Do you want to know why?”
Baek Seolyoung looked silently at Lee Jaseung’s face. When she first chose him, she was a woman who'd already given up being a person of the Orthodox Faction.
She was a woman who gave up all of herself, having lived as a righteous person until then, and chose Lee Jaseung.
“Because now, I am also a person of the Black Way Alliance.”
She uttered these words for the first time.
At those words, Lee Jaseung, whose heart was surging with emotion, hugged her tightly.
He was so grateful to her for saying this.
“That day, you said it, right? To become a pretty decent member of the Unorthodox Faction.”
“Yes.”
“I'll definitely keep that promise.”
Instead of saying thank you, Baek Seolyoung also hugged him tightly.
Yes, I believe you.
Baek Seolyoung could feel it.
That her heart and Lee Jaseung’s heart were beating violently. At least for now, it wasn't because they were holding each other. It was likely because they felt a massive destiny approaching.
Until now, in the history of the Jianghu, no one had ever unified the realm.
Could he and she truly pull it off?
Could we truly survive and finish this story safely?
Could we….