Chapter 168 : The Sacrifice of the Small for the Greater
Chapter 168: The Sacrifice of the Small for the Greater
An emergency had broken out in the Martial Alliance.
This was because thunderous impacts of unknown origin were echoing throughout the compound.
At first, the guard warriors moved, and soon the masters who had woken from sleep joined them.
The place they pointed toward was Mount South, the area where the secluded cultivation chambers had been established.
While the masters were rushing there, Zhuge Qiyan also woke from sleep.
He had been unable to continue sleeping because of the commotion around him.
At that moment, a subordinate rushed over to him.
“Something terrible has happened, my lord.”
“What is it?”
“Unknown impact sounds are occurring consecutively from the Mount South side. The guard warriors and several elders have already rushed over to determine the situation.”
Zhuge Qiyan’s eyes widened at the subordinate’s report.
“Could it be!”
“We still do not know. Our people have also been sent, so news should arrive shortly.”
Zhuge Qiyan, who had been pondering something after hearing the report, shook his head.
“No. Do not wait and execute the emergency measures!”
“However, if we execute the emergency measures, the entire Mount South area will collapse. Not only them, but the others currently in secluded cultivation and even those who went in to investigate will not be able to come out alive.”
To the worried subordinate, Zhuge Qiyan spoke firmly.
“The sacrifice of the small for the greater cannot be helped. Execute it immediately!”
Judging that Zhuge Qiyan’s resolve was firm, the subordinate bowed his head without another word.
“By your command!”
Soon the subordinate ran out, and Zhuge Qiyan, left alone, began pacing the room with an anxious expression.
If the commotion had grown to this extent, it meant something had happened to the Blood Corpse.
If that Blood Corpse were to be released into the Martial Alliance?
Just imagining it would lead to something horrific.
In order to complete his plan, he did want turmoil to arise in the Jianghu, but he did not want it to start within the Martial Alliance.
If that happened, there was a high possibility that his plan would fall apart.
Therefore, it might be better to eliminate it before it became a problem.
Another issue—this must not be discovered by the Martial Alliance.
The secluded cultivation chamber containing the Blood Corpse was a place Zhuge Qiyan had received permission to use through his authority as the strategist.
Therefore, it had to be resolved before the elders who had rushed over discovered it.
While Zhuge Qiyan was fidgeting anxiously because of that, an explosive sound reached his ears.
Boom! Kwaaang.
Soon after, rough vibrations spread through the ground.
The ten thousand geun of Thunder Bombs that had been buried across Mount South as part of the emergency measures had exploded all at once.
According to the expert who installed the Thunder Bombs, if they exploded simultaneously, the entirety of Mount South would collapse.
Naturally, every secluded cultivation chamber prepared there would be buried beneath piles of earth.
No one could survive.
Not even the grandfather of a Blood Corpse!
At that thought, a smile formed on the corner of Zhuge Qiyan’s lips as he looked toward Mount South.
It was a pity that he could no longer use the Blood Corpse, but it was far better than being discovered.
Feeling relieved by that, Zhuge Qiyan turned around—and his eyes widened.
At some point, a man in ragged clothing was standing right in front of him.
The door had never opened, yet the man had entered.
Knowing what that implied, Zhuge Qiyan’s voice sank with tension.
“W-who are you?”
At Zhuge Qiyan’s question, the man answered in a hazy voice.
“I am you, and also your parents, your friend, and once your enemy but also your benefactor.”
Just as Zhuge Qiyan felt the man’s figure becoming wrapped in a crimson aura at the end of that incomprehensible statement—
“Gasp!”
In an instant, the man’s face, physique, and even the clothes he wore changed…
“Ten Thousand Tribulation Emperor!”
At Zhuge Qiyan’s shocked voice, the man spoke in a tone devoid of any emotion.
“If that is what you call me, then I am also the Ten Thousand Tribulation Emperor.”
To the Ten Thousand Tribulation Emperor who was spouting incomprehensible words, Zhuge Qiyan asked,
“W-what happened? What about the commotion? And why are you here?”
“Did you not call me? The threads of fate were tied to you.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? The Blood Corpse? What happened to the Blood Corpse? And why are you alone—”
Zhuge Qiyan’s voice scattered.
The moment he mentioned the Blood Corpse, the Ten Thousand Tribulation Emperor vanished, and the disheveled Blood Corpse stood before him, reeking strongly of rotting flesh and blood.
“Gasp!”
The Blood Corpse, staring at Zhuge Qiyan who was backing away repeatedly with a terrified face, shook its head.
“It seems you do not want this appearance.”
And the appearance changed again.
“P-Palmi Venerable?”
His head was cleanly shaved, he wore a neat red kasaya robe, and even held prayer beads in his hand.
“Palmi. Yes, that was the name of this body. A child of the World-Honored One who threw away his life to save another and withered away in vain. Heh heh heh.”
The Palmi Venerable erased his suppressed laughter and stared directly at Zhuge Qiyan.
And then.
“The one who summoned me was devoured, and the only one who aided him is you. Child who will release the bondage of the debt placed upon me. What do you desire from me?”
At that voice—completely different from before, as though it were echoing from deep beneath the earth—Zhuge Qiyan’s spine turned cold.
If there truly was a grim reaper of the underworld, it would likely have exactly that kind of voice.
To him, Palmi Venerable asked again in a chilling voice.
“Speak your desire.”
“Y-you will grant anything I want?”
“If it is something that occurs upon this earth, it shall all be done.”
Although he bore the appearance of Palmi Venerable, he was absolutely not him. Zhuge Qiyan calmed his mind with effort and spoke.
“A blood calamity. Please cause a blood calamity that will shock all of the Central Plains!”
“Where and how?”
“As long as it is not the Orthodox Faction, it does not matter where. It only needs to be a great blood calamity that will make the entire world uproar.”
“Heh heh heh. A proposal that fills my heart to the brim. Your wish shall be fulfilled.”
After leaving those words, the figure of Palmi Venerable was instantly wrapped in a blood-red mist, which soon dispersed and vanished.
At the astonishing sight, Zhuge Qiyan could not close his gaping mouth for quite some time when the voice of a subordinate was heard from outside the door.
“The emergency measures have been executed without issue.”
“And Mount South?”
“It has completely collapsed. No one has come out alive.”
At the subordinate’s reply, Zhuge Qiyan shook his head.
Because just moments ago, he had personally witnessed someone come out alive.
No… that was not right. Since that thing could not be called a human, perhaps the subordinate’s words that no one came out alive were correct.
As that thought reached him, Zhuge Qiyan’s expression hardened.
Because he began to worry that by releasing something that was not human, a problem might arise in his plans.
However, Zhuge Qiyan knew very well that worrying alone accomplished nothing, so he decided to move in search of a way to overcome it.
“I will return to my clan today. I will write my letter of resignation and call you, so deliver it to the Alliance Leader as soon as dawn breaks.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After the subordinate answered and withdrew, Zhuge Qiyan spread out the Four Treasures of the Study and began writing his letter of resignation.
And on his face, the fear had already receded, replaced by burning ambition.
The Divine Monk of Shaolin stared blankly at the resignation letter placed before him.
He understood why the strategist had requested resignation.
After the Elder Council’s impeachment, his actual authority had effectively been suspended.
Although the Alliance Leader had rejected the impeachment through his authority, the Elder Council did not accept it.
Because the Orthodox Faction had confronted the Demonic Cult and been defeated, it was necessary to clearly determine responsibility for the outcome.
Otherwise, each of the elders themselves could never be safe from investigations into the responsibility of their own sects.
In the end, they would only be safe if all responsibility was placed upon the strategist.
Therefore, they could not retreat.
Because of that, even though the impeachment had been rejected at the Alliance Leader’s level, no one followed the strategist’s orders.
Not only the elders, but even those dispatched from the Nine Sects, the Six Great Clans, and the small and medium sects all refused the strategist’s commands.
With the situation like that, he was a strategist in name only and, unlike before, could properly carry out nothing.
It was not hard to understand why he could no longer endure it and decided to leave.
Even so, the Divine Monk of Shaolin felt hollow.
Because the strategist had left without even showing his face to the Alliance Leader who had been the only one to support him.
He had even sent the resignation letter through a subordinate.
That was clearly discourtesy and disregard.
“So now I am being disregarded not only by the elders but even by someone leaving his position…”
The Divine Monk of Shaolin closed his eyes as he spoke in a hollow voice.
It seemed that the one who should leave the Martial Alliance was not only the strategist.
‘Even if the abbot and the others object, I should finally cast off this futile shackle and return to Shaolin.’
He quietly solidified his decision.
That day, along with the strategist’s resignation letter, the Divine Monk of Shaolin’s request for retirement was submitted to the Martial Alliance Elder Council.
In the past, people would have rushed over to stop him, but no one even showed their face at the Alliance Leader’s residence.
The Divine Monk of Shaolin could easily guess why.
Because, unlike before, the number of masters in the Profound Realm had increased.
Even though they had been defeated by Killing Ye Jin Tianhuang, that realm itself had not gone anywhere.
Already Mount Hua and the Namgung Clan had stepped forward, saying they would send their own masters above the Alliance Leader.
Shaolin was the same.
The Shaolin elder representing Shaolin within the Martial Alliance, instead of trying to stop the Divine Monk of Shaolin from resigning as Alliance Leader, was passionately pushing Bulyeon Dharma King as the next Alliance Leader candidate.
In that situation, the Divine Monk of Shaolin only smiled weakly.
While the Martial Alliance was busy selecting a new Alliance Leader and strategist, a problem erupted within the Four Emperors Castle.
In several branches of the Four Emperors Castle that denied Gui Sachu’s position as Castle Lord and supported the Human-Faced Venomous Serpent, the former castle lord’s disciple, an inexplicable blood massacre broke out.
It was a blood massacre that slaughtered not only warriors but every living thing—even dogs and cats that breathed.
Because people who had once been bitten by a snake are startled even by a pot lid, many suspected the Blood Sect Massacre.
Even the Blood Sect, which had shrunk endlessly after the disappearance of the Blood Massacres, stepped forward with excitement.
However, their suspicion and expectation were extinguished in an instant.
Because those who were killed were discovered soaked entirely in blood.
It was completely different from the Blood Sect Massacres, where the victims died with not a single drop of blood left in their bodies.
As the situation turned out like this, people began to place weight on internal strife within the Four Emperors Castle.
Because those who suffered the massacre had all been people who opposed the current Four Emperors Castle Lord, Gui Sachu.
Immediately, the factions under the Four Emperors Castle that had been resisting the castle lord began to gather together. They had been scattered, but feared they themselves would be attacked next.
It was a sign announcing the beginning of a bloody war between the current castle lord faction and the opposition.
Knowing that better than anyone, Four Emperors Castle Lord Gui Sachu gathered his subordinates and held a countermeasure meeting.
“Are you telling me you cannot find out at all who did such a thing?”
At Gui Sachu’s question, the subordinate in charge of the investigation answered with a troubled expression.
“Yes. I apologize, but we could not find traces of any particular martial art anywhere.”
“For a blood massacre of that scale, martial arts must have been used!”
“That is exactly what is driving us mad. There were absolutely no traces of swords or weapons being used at the scene.”
“Then perhaps fist martial artists attacked. Look into that.”
“Of course we examined it carefully. We even mobilized those deeply versed in fist techniques and searched thoroughly.”
“And still you found no traces?”
At Gui Sachu’s dissatisfied question, the subordinate replied.
“It was not fist techniques either. The evaluation was simply that it seemed they were torn apart and killed by pure strength.”
“That’s absurd! Among the dead were even peak masters. Some of them were so strong that even we hesitated, unsure of the outcome if we fought them. Who could possibly kill such people like that?”
“We were also stuck on that point, but there is one possibility…”
“Possibility? What is it?”
To the suddenly attentive Gui Sachu, the subordinate replied.
“There is a specific person who could have done such a thing.”
“Who is it?”