Chapter 30
In Henan, Qinghai, there was the Black Contemplation Fortress, the sky of the evil path that made the entire martial world tremble in fear.
The Martial Arts Alliance of the white path and the Black Contemplation Fortress of the evil path.
The Black Contemplation Fortress was the group with the most powerful force among the evil sects of the current martial world.
Not only were numerous masters stationed there, including the prestige of the Black Contemplation Fortress Lord, Mo Guangdi, but they also had the financial power to control most of the merchants in Qinghai. Their power was enough to rise as a contemporary mountain range of the martial world, beyond Qinghai.
Thump... Thump...
The sound of something tapping on a desk.
The tip of a thick, sturdy, wrinkled finger.
A sound that made one's nerves stand on end was disturbing the arena, coming from between the smoothly trimmed fingernails.
Thump... Thump...
"I can't understand it."
The one word that broke the silence was a little irritable, but it was full of bewilderment.
The inner court, located in the deepest part of the Black Contemplation Fortress.
Shiyue, who could be said to be the de facto ruler there, was quite surprised and bewildered by the rare result that had deviated from his expectations.
"There was an intruder there. So..."
"Are you saying the intruder was skilled enough to subdue the leader of the Red Moon Squad?"
Shiyue stopped tapping the desk as if it were unexpected.
Qihao, the only survivor among the members of the Red Moon Squad who had been with the leader of the Red Moon Squad, Wu Qian, bowed his prostrated forehead even deeper.
Now that the Black Qilin was returning, there should be no obstacle to Prince Jixin's great cause.
But an unexpected pus had burst from the Qingcheng Sect, which he had considered a small scar.
The Xi Xichang and Liu Yezhi he knew were not people with the martial prowess to defeat the Red Moon Squad and shake off their pursuit.
Shiyue could not hide his displeasure at the fact that his prediction of deploying personnel in the right place at the right time had been wrong.
"Have you identified the identity of those helpers?"
"Their identities could not be identified, but they were two masters. One of them defeated the leader."
The Red Moon Squad of the Black Contemplation Fortress was not such an easy group.
But the entire Red Moon Squad had been deployed, yet they had not been able to stop just four people, and even the leader of the Red Moon Squad had been killed. If this fact reached the ears of the young master or the supreme one, it would surely incur a great wrath.
But the future was the future, and now it was important to gather information.
"Is there any other information?"
"The one who defeated the leader was using a large crescent moon blade."
"A crescent moon blade?"
There were not many masters who could defeat the leader of the Red Moon Squad while using a crescent moon blade.
"Don't tell me it's the Lion Escort King?"
"He was wearing a mask, so his identity could not be identified."
Seeing Qihao, who was prostrated and could not raise his head, Shiyue quietly closed his eyes.
"The Seo Won Escort Agency wouldn't have interfered with the affairs of our fortress unless they were crazy..."
A master of the level of the Lion Escort King, the king of head escorts, would have been enough to defeat the leader of the Red Moon Squad.
But he could not understand the intention of interfering in the affairs of the Black Contemplation Fortress.
The Seo Won Escort Agency was a simple escort agency, but the Seo Won Merchant Guild behind it was a large merchant guild, and its power extended to this Qinghai Fortress. Moreover, due to the nature of the merchant guild, it had a close relationship with the Black Contemplation Fortress.
"I'll have to look into this matter more."
If the Seo Won Merchant Guild had dared to systematically interfere with the affairs of the Black Contemplation Fortress, he would not be able to save face if he let it go.
It was a pity that he had not been able to eliminate Xi Xichang and Liu Yezhi this time, but there were many other ways to bring down the already collapsing Qingcheng Sect.
'But why on earth did they move so secretly?'
Even though he had used his information network and spies, Shiyue could not understand the reason why Xi Xichang, a snake-like young girl, had chosen such a secret and dangerous path.
And at this very moment, when the pressure from the Black Contemplation Fortress was at its peak.
"Where did they seem to be heading?"
"Judging by the direction... it is expected that they will be moving along the Kunlun Mountains."
"The Kunlun Mountains?"
It was strange for a coincidence.
The words that Xi Xichang had headed towards the Kunlun Mountains with only two people were extremely ominous.
'If it's a method that the cornered Xi Xichang can choose... is the rumor true?'
Once, the Qingcheng Sect boasted a considerable power, unlike its current appearance.
The Ten Thousand Sword Master.
The peerless swordsman born of Qingcheng.
The number one person in the world who had traveled the martial world a hundred years ago.
The legend that if the one who possessed his sword manual found the Ten Thousand Sword Master, he would rule the world, inheriting the will of the Ten Thousand Sword Master.
After he disappeared, the world was in an uproar at the rumor that his sword manual was in the Qingcheng Sect, and that was the beginning of the Qingcheng Sect's misfortune.
Numerous forces and masters who were after the sword manual attacked the Qingcheng Sect.
The Qingcheng Sect, plagued by foreign forces, collapsed to the point where it was difficult to find its past prestige.
Numerous masters had searched the Qingcheng Sect as if with a fine-toothed comb, but they could not find the sword manual in the end, and soon, the sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master was considered a rumor of the martial world and was forgotten from people's memories.
But Shiyue, who could not overlook even a small threat that could block his great cause, had not let go of his attention to the sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master.
So Shiyue, who had released numerous spies, could not help but be half-convinced even after obtaining the information that the sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master actually existed in the Qingcheng Sect.
Moreover, hadn't the Ten Thousand Sword Master disappeared while roaming the skies of the Kunlun Mountains before he went into seclusion?
"Not good. Not good."
Something didn't feel right.
"You may withdraw for now and await orders."
"As you command!"
Shiyue was already in a state where he was not even paying attention to Qihao, who was leaving the room.
If their destination was the place he was thinking of...
"Hmm."
Rumors are bound to be exaggerated and inflated.
The Ten Thousand Sword Master was a person who had existed more than a hundred years ago.
Even if he had made a name for himself in the past, martial arts are bound to develop further as time passes.
How great could the martial prowess of a person who had abandoned everything and disappeared a hundred years ago be?
Even if there really was a sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master, it would not be of immediate help, as the practice of a supreme martial art required many years, and considering the past, revealing the sword manual to the outside could be an act that would bring another disaster.
"Do they really believe that the Ten Thousand Sword Master is still alive?"
How could a person born as a human defy the lifespan set by the heavens?
Although there were often cases where superhumans with powerful martial arts lived past a hundred, there was a clear limit.
Although it was not the picture that Shiyue wanted, he was worried that Xi Xichang might avoid even the second arrangement.
"Tu Xingsun... he won't disappoint me, will he?"
A frivolous guy who seemed to be crazy about women.
But he was a guy who displayed a snake-like persistence for the sake of a mission.
"The Black Qilin will know something about the Ten Thousand Sword Master."
If Wenzhong returned and did not kill him in one go, he would probably be able to hear the stories within the Hermit's Valley.
If so, Shiyue's worries would also pass as a groundless fear.
Moreover, there was a more important matter at hand now.
If the Black Qilin returned, the power structure of the Black Contemplation Fortress would be greatly shaken.
Although there was a possibility that the supreme one would not be greatly involved in the hegemony of the Black Contemplation Fortress due to his personality, he always had to keep the worst-case scenario in mind.
The Space Sword, the Black Qilin.
The Black Contemplation Fortress Lord, Mo Guangdi.
The martial prowess of the Twelve Honored Ones of the World was always on the lips of the public, but the number of times they had actually fought each other could be counted on one hand.
The Fireless Flame and the Flame Heavenly Emperor.
The Sword Immortal and the Heavenly Demon.
Like their duels, which were only full of rumors, an unfortunate situation could occur in the Black Contemplation Fortress.
From a martial artist's point of view, he wanted to see the martial prowess of the two supreme masters with his own eyes before he died, but as a person of the Black Contemplation Fortress, such a thing was no different from a great misfortune.
"But everything is for Prince Jixin."
The Palm that Grasps the Blue Sky.
Shiyue, recalling the hand that Jixin had displayed and the sky he had tried to contain, trembled slightly.
If only he could contain the world and place it at his master's feet.
For the dream of his young master, what would be too precious?
Thump... Thump, thump...
His finger, which had broken the silence, began to tap the desk regularly again.
It was a habit he had when he was thinking deeply about something.
"Call the leader of the Book Burning Squad immediately."
"As you command."
No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed that the only suitable person for this job was the leader of the Book Burning Squad.
Among the four groups of the Red Annihilation of the Black Contemplation Fortress that served as his hands and feet, the Slender Moon Squad had not yet returned from their mission, and the Red Moon Squad had suffered the tragedy of their leader's death.
The Transformation Squad was not suitable for the mission, as the first prince's hand had reached it.
The leader of the Book Burning Squad was not very outstanding in martial prowess among the four leaders, but he was a man with a brilliant mind and a formidable lightness skill.
If it weren't for one drawback, he was a man who could be used greatly, but...
About half a quarter of an hour had passed since Shiyue had looked for the leader of the Book Burning Squad. He frowned at the presence he soon felt.
"How rude..."
"Haha, you were looking for me?"
At Shiyue's one word, a man who had sprung up from the ground like a ghost in front of him revealed himself, grinning.
The man, who was short, had dark skin, and unusually long arms, had a carefree attitude even in front of Shiyue.
"Couldn't you have at least tidied up your appearance before you came?"
"Ah! This..."
The man, as if flustered by his half-undone clothes, hurriedly tidied them up.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Tu Xingsun.
The man who was the current leader of the Book Burning Squad. The 'Book Burning' of the Book Burning Squad was named after his nickname.
His marvelous lightness skill, which moved as if disappearing into the ground, was so great that it was hard to find a rival even in the Black Contemplation Fortress, and it was no less than that of the now-elusive Divine Thief.
His ability to handle information and his skill in tracking it were also extraordinary, but there was just one thing...
'Lechery...'
His problem was that he coveted women too much.
Perhaps as a reaction to his unattractive appearance, he was a lecher who couldn't help himself when it came to women.
Although he possessed an unknown martial art, he was a man who could be easily handled because his desires were clear, and he was also a reliable man, as the Black Contemplation Fortress certainly provided what he wanted.
"Ahem, ahem. So what's the matter?"
"The leader of the Red Moon Squad died during a mission."
"You mean Wu Qian?"
Since he was the leader of the Book Burning Squad, which handled information, Tu Xingsun also knew that the Red Moon Squad had moved on Shiyue's orders.
But he had never expected that the leader of the Red Moon Squad, Wu Qian, had been deployed on a mission so dangerous that he had to give up his life.
This was because Wu Qian was a man who boasted a superior martial prowess compared to the other leaders.
"The vacant position of the leader of the Red Moon Squad will have to be filled and the Red Moon Squad will have to be reorganized. Until then, you will have to take over the mission of the Red Moon Squad."
"Wu Qian also lost his life. How can I handle it?"
"You just need to find out for what reason Xi Xichang and Liu Yezhi of the Qingcheng Sect headed to the Kunlun Mountains, and the identity of the item they possess."
"You mean the Qingcheng Sect?"
The Qingcheng Sect was a sect that barely remained in name only.
Although he knew that Shiyue had planted spies in all the minor sects of Sichuan, the fact that he was so interested in the Qingcheng Sect was rather surprising.
'It seems Liu Yezhi's martial prowess was great enough to kill Wu Qian...'
Even if he were a genius of the world, considering Xi Xichang's age, it was difficult to think of a martial prowess that could subdue Wu Qian.
If so, it meant that Liu Yezhi had killed Wu Qian, and since he was one of the named masters of the Qingcheng Sect, it was not an impossible story.
'The young acting sect leader of the Qingcheng Sect is said to have a promising beauty in the future. Should I go and see her for myself...'
"The sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master."
"What?"
"If Xi Xichang is heading to the Kunlun Mountains, relying on a faded legend, shouldn't we give her a suitable sense of despair?"
(End of Chapter)