Chapter 148 : Heaven-Shaking, Heaven-Crushing Defeat
Chapter 148: Heaven-Shaking, Heaven-Crushing Defeat
Though suspicion arose, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword had no time to uncover secrets as he sensed presences rapidly closing in around him.
Swoong!
Sword Force clearly shimmered along the blade of the Twin Might of the Moon Sword as he swung it once more.
This time, his opponent was startled and failed to block properly. The Twin Might of the Moon Sword’s blade cleanly sliced through the man’s neck.
As the man collapsed meaninglessly, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword hastily stanched the bleeding, preventing blood from spreading across the area.
Then he briefly touched the man’s face before taking out a jade vial from his bosom.
“I never thought I’d use this here.”
Muttering quietly, he opened the vial and poured its contents over the corpse.
Fssss—
At a terrifying speed, the corpse burned away, soon dispersing into nothing more than a handful of viscous residue.
After storing away the jade vial that had reduced a six-foot man into a mere handful of sludge, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword turned around.
But the one who turned now bore the very face of the man who had just melted into that handful of residue.
He wrapped his twin swords and secured them, then picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.
Though the explanation was long, all of it happened within the span of a few breaths.
And then—
Thud thud thud!
Amid urgent footsteps, several people revealed themselves.
“Hm! Isn’t that No. 23? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Na Cheol-yong?”
At the question, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword—now wearing a completely different face—silently shook his head.
“…….”
“Then why did you come here and touch the boundary marker?”
In response to the rushing men, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword threw the twin swords he had been carrying on his back.
The men caught them reflexively, and he answered in a split voice,
“Find their owner. I trailed someone loitering nearby and only managed to seize the weapons.”
“Do you judge him to be dangerous?”
“…….”
At the silent nod of the Twin Might of the Moon Sword, the others nodded as well.
“Return and wait. We’ll investigate and send word.”
At their words, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword left without another word.
As they watched him depart, one of them asked,
“Isn’t his voice strange?”
“Is it? I’ve never spoken to him before, so I’m not sure. Is it that odd?”
“Well… it’s not like I’ve spoken to him many times either, so I can’t say for certain….”
“For now, let’s look into these swords and verify further.”
Leaving those words behind, the men who had rushed over concealed themselves once more.
This had all taken place in a dark alley near the Martial Alliance.
Late at night, as Yul Han practiced Energy Circulation and Recuperation in his quarters, his eyes opened.
He had sensed a presence approaching.
The problem was that it felt entirely different from the auras of those he had been training with.
Yet it was not an intruder.
The first place he sensed this presence had been inside the Bright Cult’s Main Fortress.
The location was an area where laborers stayed while repairing the buildings of the Main Fortress.
The approaching presence stopped outside his quarters.
Thud!
Leaving behind a brief sound, the presence hurriedly retreated.
He could have caught the person even now if he moved, but for some reason, Yul Han rose leisurely and stepped outside.
His gaze fell upon a single arrow embedded deeply into the wall, a small letter tied to it.
Indifferently, he pulled out the arrow and untied the letter.
< A group of masters who defied the Martial Alliance’s command are on their way. Manifestation Realm and Transcendent Realm included. – Jegal Giyeon >
Upon confirming the name at the end of the letter, Yul Han recalled the face of the strategist he had met at the Martial Alliance.
What first came to mind were the countless desires and residues of emotion filling the man’s eyes.
Yul Han could not easily guess the intention behind such a man sending this letter.
“What do you want? Greedy one.”
Muttering quietly, Yul Han soon stepped outside.
It was not that he intended to greet those who were coming. The Bright Cult would not crumble just because a few in the Manifestation Realm or Transcendent Realm rushed in.
Even so, he moved because he intended to meet the strategist himself.
He was confident it would not be too late to decide after that.
That confidence proved not to be excessive just two shijin later.
For Yul Han was walking the dimly brightening streets of Luoyang.
As he walked through Luoyang, his eyes caught sight of someone.
The aura of the Twin Might of the Moon Sword—yet with another man’s face.
At first, he thought he was mistaken and observed carefully, but he was certain.
Even if two disciples trained under the same master and learned the exact same martial arts, they could not possess an aura so perfectly identical.
Thus, though wearing another face, it was undoubtedly the Twin Might of the Moon Sword.
For a martial artist of the Hae-nam Sword Sect to be in Luoyang—no different from enemy territory—was certainly not normal.
In the end, Yul Han’s steps shifted.
The moment the Twin Might of the Moon Sword thought a small breeze had blown past, a voice reached his ear.
“What are you doing here?”
Startled by the voice coming from directly behind him—right beside him, without the slightest perceptible aura—the Twin Might of the Moon Sword turned around.
Standing there was Yul Han.
“H-How are you here!”
That alone confirmed it further.
“What about your face?”
“Ah!”
Only then did the Twin Might of the Moon Sword realize he was still in disguise.
Yul Han looked at him meaningfully and asked,
“Are you perhaps infiltrating in disguise?”
“Th-that is….”
The red pupils of Yul Han troubled him. It felt as though speaking a lie would not end well.
“Haah… yes. I am infiltrating.”
At the deep sigh and reply, Yul Han asked,
“A martial artist of the Hae-nam Sword Sect infiltrating the Martial Alliance. Then a spy?”
“No!”
“Then what?”
“The unique energy of the Hae-nam Sword Sect is connected to the Martial Alliance. I only came to investigate.”
“The unique energy of the Hae-nam Sword Sect?”
At that instant, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor came to Yul Han’s mind, and his gaze grew cold.
Meeting that gaze, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword felt his heart drop.
‘Damn it! I shouldn’t have said that!’
But no matter how swift regret comes, it is always too late.
“Then shall we go together?”
The Twin Might of the Moon Sword could not refuse Yul Han’s words.
The gaze Yul Han fixed upon him seemed to gleam with Killing Intent so sharp that the moment he said “no,” it would lunge forward and tear out his throat.
“Haah… very well.”
With another long sigh, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword nodded.
He had felt from the very first button that things were being fastened wrong, and now he had even acquired the lump called Emperor Salyejin.
To be honest, in order to scale the walls of the Martial Alliance, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword had to mobilize all the knowledge and footwork he knew.
The Martial Alliance’s security net was as tight as its reputation.
Frankly, when he had disguised his identity, he had intended to walk proudly through the main gate once daylight came.
But after encountering unexpected people in the alley, he abandoned that thought.
One who holds many secrets also draws many eyes.
If he boldly entered through the main gate and made even the slightest mistake, suspicion would immediately fall upon his identity.
Thus, his plan had been to slip in quietly and use his current appearance only when leaving.
Following that plan, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword infiltrated the Martial Alliance—only to find himself wearing a dumbfounded expression.
For in a situation where even sneaking about was not enough, he discovered Yul Han openly strolling through the interior of the Martial Alliance with his hands clasped behind his back.
Yul Han had told him to move first and that he would follow on his own—he had not expected him to walk about so brazenly.
What was even more astonishing were the Martial Alliance’s security martial artists.
Yul Han walked so openly, yet no one stopped him. Some even bowed respectfully.
He could not understand how such a thing was possible.
Was his curiosity too great? The Twin Might of the Moon Sword took the risk of revealing himself and approached Yul Han.
In that instant—
“Huk!”
A heavy shock struck him so strongly that he swallowed dry air.
It was not that he faced an overwhelming aura and felt fear.
How to describe it—dignity, reverence, awe.
It felt as though he had encountered a being one must never approach carelessly.
Before he knew it, he hastily lowered his head.
Yul Han passed by him.
“If you stand there like that, you’ll draw attention.”
At Yul Han’s passing remark, the Twin Might of the Moon Sword quickly concealed himself again and stared at Yul Han walking in the distance with frightened eyes.
He understood how extraordinary it was to convey such a feeling to another merely through one’s steps.
Moreover, he was not some low-ranking martial artist—he himself stood on the verge of the Transcendent Realm, yet even to him it had felt that way.
Only now did he understand why the Martial Alliance’s martial artists had hurriedly stepped aside and bowed their heads.
They must have assumed that a high-ranking figure of the Martial Alliance, someone towering beyond reach, had stepped out for a brief dawn stroll.
Otherwise, someone with such presence would never walk so leisurely.
In short, it was the result of Yul Han’s boldness and ability combined.
As he stared at Yul Han in stunned silence, a Mental Voice Transmission of “Why aren’t you coming?” forced him to move hastily.
After all, within the Martial Alliance, he himself was the guide.
Within the Martial Alliance, there were two positions: Civil Minister and Martial Minister.
Of the two, the Civil Minister was concurrently held by the Strategist.
It was a position signifying the one who possessed the greatest intellect and scholarship within the Martial Alliance—thus, it inevitably belonged to the Strategist.
In contrast, the Martial Minister was granted to one who received the respect of all Martial Alliance martial artists.
One might ask whether, like the Strategist holding the Civil Minister position, the Alliance Leader also concurrently held the Martial Minister position—but that was not the case.
The Alliance Leader’s seat was not one attained by respect alone.
Originally, the Martial Minister of the Martial Alliance was a kind of honorary post granted among the instructors who had trained countless Martial Alliance martial artists—bestowed upon one universally acknowledged and respected.
That said, being merely amiable was not enough.
At minimum, one had to enter the Super-Peak Realm.
There was another condition: the Martial Minister could not belong to any sect.
In other words, those from the Nine Sects, the Six Great Clans, or any medium or small sect affiliated with the Martial Alliance were excluded.
The selection was made from martial artists nurtured within the Martial Alliance itself, or those who had wandered alone outside before settling within it.
Thus, the number was not many.
For among such individuals, producing one in the Super-Peak Realm was no easy matter.
As a result, the position of Martial Minister was not infrequently vacant.
Fortunately, at present, the seat of Martial Minister in the Martial Alliance had an occupant.
His title was Heaven-Shaking Earth-Trembling.
As the name suggested—one that startled the heavens and shook the earth—he was a man of exceptional ability.
However, that exceptional ability was not backed by victory or martial prowess.
Another nickname given to Heaven-Shaking Earth-Trembling Choi Dong-pil was Thousand Battles, Thousand Defeats.
A man who fought a thousand times and lost a thousand times.
Some even called him All-Defeats, meaning one who had lost every battle.
In the ruthless Jianghu, one would wonder how a man who had lost so many times could still be alive.
It was precisely there that Heaven-Shaking Earth-Trembling’s ability lay.
Perhaps the ability to fight a thousand times, lose a thousand times—and yet not die?
Or perhaps, though he was defeated, he was never defeated to the point of being killed.
It was not as though he only fought opponents slightly stronger than himself each time.
There were occasions when he lost even to someone who was not worthy of a single exchange compared to the one he had fought previously.
Was that even possible?
For others, it would have been impossible—but for Heaven-Shaking Earth-Trembling Choi Dong-pil, it was possible.
Because the martial art he cultivated was Iron Wall Strategy, an external art.
During the Song Dynasty, this martial art had received praise from the Government Office as the perfect defensive martial art, but it had been lost when the Song Dynasty fell.
Hundreds of years later, that vanished martial art bloomed once more within the body of Choi Dong-pil.
The problem was that he had not cultivated any martial art other than Iron Wall Strategy.
In other words, it was like a soldier going to war carrying only a shield, without a sword or spear.
It was said that if one encountered him on the battlefield, one should ignore him.
For one could not kill him—but neither could he harm you.
And yet, the reason such a man was able to rise to the position of Martial Minister was—