Rebirth of the Thunder God

-Knock, knock, knock.

"Are you in there? The military strategist is looking for Miss I Jayeon."

"Yes. I'll be right out."

Namgung Hui tidied his disheveled clothes and said to Beak Seolhwa.

"It seems they're only looking for me, so I'll go alone."

"Alright. I also have something to say, so go ahead. I'll be waiting."

"Something to say? Why don't you say it now?"

"It might get a little long. Just hurry up and go."

"Alright. I'll be right back."

Namgung Hui nodded and immediately kicked open the door and headed to Bukgung Jinwu's office.

Namgung Hui's steps, as he walked down the corridor, gradually quickened.

It would be advantageous to hurry his steps to hear Beak Seolhwa's story quickly.

In fact, Namgung Hui was more curious about Beak Seolhwa's inner thoughts than Bukgung Jinwu's.

Had she decided on her future course of action?

What on earth was she going to talk about that would take so long?

He was very curious if she was going to bring up a very shocking story.

And so, Namgung Hui, who had arrived at Bukgung Jinwu's office in an instant, immediately opened the door and entered.

He had boldly thrown open the door because he knew that Bukgung Jinwu's hand was stopped.

"Welcome. Lord Namgung Hui."

"It hasn't been long since we last met, but it feels like it's been a long time. You've been well, I hope?"

"Thanks to you. You've been more active than I thought."

"Really? I don't think I've done much."

Bukgung Jinwu clasped his hands and smiled faintly.

"Why do you say you haven't done anything? First of all, didn't you readily accept the deal with the Pungun Merchant Guild for our Divine Cult?"

"That's not something I did. The Young Guild Leader just asked me to deliver it. And what else?"

"You've scored quite well with the Great Elder. So it was easier to proceed with the work. Now the radical faction is trying to root out the spies they don't even know are inside."

"And why is that something I did?"

"As much as the Great Elder thought well of you, he wouldn't think that Lord Namgung Hui had done it. And you also eliminated a master of the Extreme Demonic at the Blood Heaven Peak."

"Hmm... That would be a loss of military power from the Blood Cult's perspective, wouldn't it? Is it really okay?"

"Of course, that's true, but the current military power of the radical faction is somewhat excessive. It means it's not necessary to live a comfortable life."

If someone else had said that, he would have understood to some extent, but since the military strategist of the Blood Cult was talking like a pacifist, he couldn't quite sympathize.

"Still, I don't understand. Anyway. Your enemies will be the orthodox faction or the Hoicheon Association, won't they? Whether you like it or not, you might have to fight them, but you're glad about the reduction in military power? Why don't you just form a strike team with the radical faction and let them rush in like moths to a flame?"

Bukgung Jinwu chuckled at Namgung Hui's words.

"Do you think peace will really be maintained if that happens? I'm very disappointed. That you don't understand the people of the orthodox faction at all. They might use that as an excuse to annihilate us."

"Annihilation is something you say when you have overwhelming military power. Is that even possible with the current military power of the orthodox faction? Unless the Hoicheon Association helps."

"I'm saying that because there's a high probability that 'unless' will actually happen. There are quite a few people in the leadership of the Martial Alliance who have been recruited by the Hoicheon Association. Then if they incite them, there's nothing they can't do. It's not like the Hoicheon Association is just sitting still while Lord Namgung Hui is away from the Central Plains. By now, quite a few matters must have progressed. That's also the reason why the Dugu family head went out."

"So instead of making a fuss, you'd rather break a finger?"

"That's right. Even if they are members of the radical faction, they are also my sore fingers."

Now he understood Bukgung Jinwu's inner thoughts to some extent.

He wasn't just dreaming of a self-sufficient and comfortable life in words.

He was truly longing for a peaceful life.

To the point where the name 'moderate faction' was by no means in vain.

'I can't even tell who is an orthodox faction member and who is a Blood Cult member. This must be the difference between those who are used to peace and don't know its value, and those who have never enjoyed proper peace and long for it.'

"Still, there are some parts that I don't understand and are a bit strange. It seems like a problem that could have been solved without using me."

Since Namgung Hui was not a strategist, he didn't know exactly how to plan things, but still, if he was a military strategist, shouldn't he have established a plausible plan that everyone could accept?

Even Namgung Hui, who was no different from an enemy, had doubts, so he wondered how the Blood Cult members on the same side must feel.

Or maybe he still hadn't revealed all his inner thoughts.

There was no way for the current Namgung Hui to find that out.

Well, since Namgung Hui had also achieved some results, there was no reason to pursue it further.

Namgung Hui's true purpose was for Beak Seolhwa to sort out her feelings about the Blood Cult and decide on her future course of action.

The Pungun Merchant Guild, the radical faction, the Gwangcheon Peak.

They were all low priorities for Namgung Hui.

"Ah, military strategist. Can I ask you just one thing?"

"Yes. I have some time now, so please ask."

"It's about the Gwangcheon Peak. I haven't seen the Young Cult Leader and the Great Prince, have I? Can I know how strong they are and what martial arts they have learned?"

"Haha. Are you asking me, a military strategist, to leak information about our leader?"

"Well, if it's difficult, you don't have to tell me. I just asked because I thought that ordinary cult members would also know about the Young Cult Leader or the Great Prince. You don't think this is an information leak, do you?"

"I was just saying. The reason why the Young Cult Leader's martial arts are not widely known is not for any particular reason."

"Because he doesn't know the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?"

Bukgung Jinwu unfolded his fan and continued.

"As expected of the Hidden Dragon. That's right. Since the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the symbol of the Cult Leader, was lost, the Young Cult Leader does not want his martial arts to be known."

"It must be because it's difficult to claim legitimacy. Although the position of Vice Cult Leader is not decided by the martial arts learned, the Cult Leader and the Young Cult Leader must learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to secure their legitimacy and justification."

"Oho. Lord Namgung Hui. You seem to know quite a lot about our cult. It seems you've only been doing intelligence activities within the cult."

In fact, nine out of ten of all this information was learned through Beak Seolhwa's mouth.

On the other hand, Beak Seolhwa also learned about who the old-fashioned people of the orthodox faction were.

The weakness of the Heretic Alliance Lord and what kind of person he was.

From such trivial information to rather important information, she had heard it through Namgung Hui's mouth.

Anyway. Such information was not very useful now.

Because there were almost no living members.

"So what are the martial arts that the Young Cult Leader and the Great Prince have learned?"

"We haven't fully grasped the Young Cult Leader's. Because he's a person who practices closed-door training as if he were eating. For now, the family's martial arts, the Asura Sword Art and the Gwangseong Divine Art, are representative. After that, since it's a martial art he created himself, we don't know the exact name."

Since Namgung Hui and Beak Seolhwa were also in the ranks of masters who created martial arts, there was no law that said the Young Cult Leader, who represented the cult, couldn't do so.

And in this situation where he was being chased due to the absence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he would want to create any martial art.

There was no law that said the Young Cult Leader himself couldn't create a martial art comparable to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, like the first Heavenly Demon.

"Then what about his son, the Great Prince?"

"Ah. The Great Prince is easy to explain. Because he has learned the famous Star-Sucking Great Art."

"The Star-Sucking Great Art!"

The Great Prince of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in his past life had also learned the Star-Sucking Great Art.

The reason he was called the Sucking Demon and was notorious was because he had extorted internal energy through the Star-Sucking Great Art.

For a martial artist, internal energy was sometimes more precious than life.

Even in the current generation, if one's dantian was broken or their internal energy was completely lost, they would commit suicide or waste their lives as a cripple.

That was why a more cruel act than taking a life was to destroy the dantian.

Because falling.

The higher you fell from, the greater the wound.

In that context, since the internal energy extorted by the Star-Sucking Great Art did not return, if the internal energy one had built up over a lifetime flowed into the enemy, it would be indescribably frustrating.

Namgung Hui suddenly recalled the fact that the Great Prince had not come out of the Gwangcheon Peak for ten years.

'If so, the reason he hasn't shown himself for ten years is to digest the internal energy absorbed by the Star-Sucking Great Art!'

Since the Star-Sucking Great Art extorted another's internal energy, it seemed that the achievement would be fast, but it was not without side effects.

Rather, it should be seen as huge.

Depending on the nature of the absorbed internal energy, refining it and turning it into one's own was much more arduous and even dangerous than the act of absorbing it.

If the pure internal energy of a Shaolin monk flowed into someone who had learned a demonic art, it could act as a poison.

Just as yin ki and yang ki were opposites.

Because demonic ki and pure Buddhist ki were incompatible.

'Hmm... If it's the Star-Sucking Great Art, the Great Prince is also a person to be careful of. I thought he had been groaning for ten years, but he's not a guy to be taken lightly.'

Even if it was not pure internal energy.

There was no business in quantity. If he pushed with the total amount, there was nothing more troublesome than that.

Even an absolute master would eventually run out of internal energy.

But what if it was someone who had learned the Star-Sucking Great Art?

He could use the surrounding martial artists as scapegoats to recover his internal energy and fire all sorts of martial arts.

Because in his past life, the Great Prince had even sacrificed his allies to annihilate the orthodox faction members.

But that guy had met his end at the hands of the Plum Blossom Sword God, Wi Jinmyeong.

It was the price of being careless because he had trusted his huge internal energy too much.

Well, although Wi Jinmyeong's Plum Blossom Sword Art was also outstanding, if he hadn't been careless, it was a clear fact that Wi Jinmyeong would have had a very hard time.

"And since the Great Prince has not been seen for ten years, we also don't know what other martial arts he has learned."

Namgung Hui also nodded.

Since it was a very natural thing to say, he had no choice but to understand.

"Then it means that the martial arts that the Young Cult Leader and the Great Prince have learned may be quite different from before."

"That's right. Well, if you're really curious, you can ask for a duel. I'll also watch."

"Ha. Why don't you just tell me to die? I'm not unaware of the meaning of challenging the Young Cult Leader."

Challenging the Young Cult Leader was not just a duel between martial artists.

The Cult Leader was a symbol of invincibility.

The spiritual pillar of the cult.

The source of faith.

The act of challenging a position comparable to a god might be an act comparable to betrayal.

Or it could be seen as a sign of doubting the current Young Cult Leader's authority.

Since there was no Cult Leader, the act of challenging the Young Cult Leader was no different from the act of challenging the Cult Leader.

In that sense, the next Young Cult Leader competition also drew Namgung Hui's attention.

"Why are they holding a Young Cult Leader competition? It doesn't seem like the Young Cult Leader has any health problems."

In the first place, if he had such health problems, the radical faction would have brought the Little Saintess, who was outstanding in medical arts.

Even if he had some doubts about her medical skills at first, the actions she had shown so far were medical skills comparable to the Demonic Physician.

In some parts, she had an aspect that was even more outstanding than the Demonic Physician.

The fact that they had left such a Seong Sohui alone meant that the Young Cult Leader had no health problems.

Bukgung Jinwu narrowed his eyes at Namgung Hui's question and set the mood.

"That's because. The Young Cult Leader is trying to give up the position of Young Cult Leader."

(End of Chapter)