Chapter 177 : The God-Descended
Chapter 177: The God-Descended
The first to speak was Namgung Man-wol.
“We inform you that the Council of Elders of the Namgung Clan has agreed to the proposal of forming a marital alliance. However, since the Clan Head is absent, we must say that a final decision cannot be made.”
No sooner had Namgung Man-wol finished speaking than the Azure Dragon Sword King cut in.
“If the Vice Cult Leader assists in rescuing the Clan Head, I believe it would be impossible for them to refuse.”
It was a remark that revealed the Azure Dragon Sword King’s intentions in their entirety, yet Yul Han did not refuse.
After all, returning to the Main Fortress and telling Namgung Yeon-hee that he had failed to find her father would be rather humiliating.
“Then let’s go look.”
The unexpectedly cooperative response from Yul Han brightened the Azure Dragon Sword King’s expression.
He had been uneasy that Yul Han might grow angry at what could be seen as a clumsy scheme.
With that unease still lingering, the Azure Dragon Sword King cautiously asked,
“Is there somewhere you have in mind?”
At the question, the first place that surfaced in Yul Han’s mind was the Secluded Cultivation Chamber of the Martial Alliance.
However, he had already heard that the place had collapsed for reasons unknown, so he ruled it out.
Next was…
‘The Zhuge Clan.’
There was a high possibility that the Martial Alliance’s Secluded Cultivation Chamber, Zhuge Giyeon, and the Strategist were connected.
The problem was that Zhuge Giyeon had resigned from the Martial Alliance’s Strategist Council and returned to the Zhuge Clan.
Thus, if Yul Han’s speculation was correct and Monk Eightfold Confusion was connected to Zhuge Giyeon, then the injured Monk Eightfold Confusion who had fled was likely heading to the Zhuge Clan where Zhuge Giyeon was staying.
Yul Han brought it up.
“There is one place that might be possible…”
“Where is it? I will go there with the Azure Wind Sword Unit.”
Yul Han stopped the Azure Dragon Sword King, who seemed ready to rush out immediately.
“That will be difficult. If my prediction turns out to be wrong, Namgung may end up bound by an irreversible chain.”
“Just where is this place that makes you speak so gravely?”
“The Zhuge Clan.”
At Yul Han’s answer, the Azure Dragon Sword King’s mouth shut as his eyes widened.
Yul Han was right.
If the Clan Head and the captured elders were actually discovered there, then it would not matter.
The Zhuge Clan would become shameless villains who had colluded with the Four Calamity Emperors and attacked fellow members of the Hundred Paths.
At that point, even if the Zhuge Clan were slaughtered to the last person, there would be no sect of the Hundred Paths that would object.
But what if they searched everywhere and found no one at all?
Then the Namgung Clan would become a faction that had bullied a fellow sect of the Hundred Paths by colluding with the Bright Cult.
If things went wrong, they might even be branded with the stigma of turning to the Demonic Path.
Moreover, if rumors spread that they had even formed a marital alliance with the Bright Cult…
The horrific consequences that would follow were dizzying even to imagine.
In the end, the Azure Dragon Sword King could only quietly sit back down.
To him, Yul Han said,
“I will go alone. In return, the promise…”
He was referring to the approval of the marriage proposal once the Clan Head was rescued.
Understanding this, the Azure Dragon Sword King hurriedly replied,
“I swear on my life that I will uphold it.”
At the firm confirmation, Yul Han nodded.
Then, still seated exactly as he was, he vanished.
At that astonishing sight, even the Profound Demon disappeared from Namgung Man-wol’s widened field of vision.
Once again, Namgung Man-wol felt the terrifying nature of the Manifestation Realm deep in his bones.
“I hope it goes well.”
At the Azure Dragon Sword King’s words beside him, Namgung Man-wol turned his head toward him, and his widely opened eyes returned to normal.
Because only now did he realize something.
They themselves already possessed a master of the same extraordinary Manifestation Realm.
‘Yes. Rather than lament what we lack, we should be grateful for what we possess.’
A certain resolve was forming in Namgung Man-wol’s eyes as he gathered his thoughts.
That decision—still unknown to anyone—would soon bring no small turmoil to the Namgung Clan.
When Zhuge Giyeon returned to the Zhuge Clan, he was filled with terrifying rage at how the situation had unfolded completely differently from his plans.
He raged at Zhuge Hoon for betraying him and siding with his own elder brother, the Clan Head.
He also mourned bitterly the death of his younger brother Zhuge Wuliang, who had been killed while protecting the whereabouts of the White Enemy Pellet.
Before he could even vent that anger and grief, Zhuge Giyeon was imprisoned deep within the clan.
It was only because he had not learned martial arts that no further measures were taken.
Had he been a martial artist, his limbs and meridians would already have been severed.
The Clan Head of the Zhuge Clan was that resolute.
While Zhuge Giyeon remained imprisoned, the clan’s cultivation plan was producing results completely different from its original intent.
Fifty God-Descended had been created.
What was astonishing was that the Clan Head had released the martial arts he had carefully selected from the Martial Alliance to those fifty God-Descended.
Techniques considered the ultimate arts even among the Hundred Paths had fallen into the hands of the God-Descended—most of whom were demonic beings.
Among them were even former members of the Hundred Paths who had defected or fallen into slaughter karma.
With their help, the God-Descended were able to assimilate the martial arts of the Hundred Paths as their own without much difficulty.
After all, the overwhelming majority of the God-Descended had already surpassed the Supreme Peak.
Some had even surpassed the Transcendent Realm and reached beyond the Manifestation Realm.
One was the Monk Demon, a former Shaolin monk who had been stained by slaughter karma and massacred hundreds of innocent lives—he was at the Transcendent Realm.
Another was Garuk, the Left-Hand Killing King, a man bearing a deep sword scar beneath his eye—he was in the Manifestation Realm.
Garuk had lived six hundred years ago, and the title attached to him was none other than the Greatest Assassin of All Time.
During his active years, two emperors and three Number Ones of the Hundred Paths had died by his hand.
There were even unconfirmed rumors that the sudden death of the Bright Cult’s Cult Leader at the time had also been the work of Garuk.
Garuk’s descent as a God-Descended was like rain during a drought for the Zhuge Clan Head.
In an instant, the Zhuge Clan gained a Manifestation Realm master under its command.
But that was not all.
The Mad Crushing Blade, an unparalleled master who had conquered the northern steppes and been called the Grass Conqueror Divine King, was also at the Transcendent Realm nearing the Manifestation Realm.
He had been killed just before reaching it.
He too had become one of the God-Descended.
There was another—Gil Saju, the Water Bandit King, also at the Transcendent Realm.
The man who had unified the Yangtze River Waterway Alliance and the Yellow Sea Waterway Alliance for the first time in history and was hailed as the king of all water bandits had also been summoned to the Zhuge Clan through the White Enemy Pellet.
In that sense, the Zhuge Clan had effectively become a sect possessing three Transcendent Realm masters and one Manifestation Realm master.
The Clan Head intended to begin official operations the day they fully mastered the ultimate techniques of the Hundred Paths.
His objective was clear.
He intended to crush the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold, which had recently been rising like the morning sun in the southern regions.
Beginning with the destruction of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold, he dreamed of completely subjugating the Unorthodox Factions beneath his feet and elevating the Zhuge Clan beyond the Six Great Clans to become the number one power of the Hundred Paths.
Lost in that dream, the Clan Head failed to notice the nightmare seeping into the Zhuge Clan.
“How ridiculous.”
Zhuge Giyeon easily recognized the owner of the voice that suddenly spoke from the darkness of the corner.
“I asked you to cause a bloodshed, yet after swallowing the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold you come here. Why?”
“I came because I thought perhaps our deal could still continue.”
Before Zhuge Giyeon could even properly grasp the meaning of those words, Monk Eightfold Confusion stepped out from the shadows.
But when Zhuge Giyeon noticed that one of Monk Eightfold Confusion’s arms was missing, his eyes widened.
However, only for a moment.
Returning to his usual expression, Zhuge Giyeon spoke calmly.
“It seems I’m not the only one who has ended up in a ridiculous state.”
“I happened to run into someone I was supposed to face later—earlier than expected.”
Zhuge Giyeon quickly understood what he meant.
“Don’t tell me you clashed with the Vice Cult Leader?”
“Your brain works frighteningly well.”
“So in the end, even you cannot surpass the Vice Cult Leader—”
“Silence! It is because it is not yet complete. Once it is complete, a mere wretch like him could be ground to dust with one hand!”
“Complete? Are you saying it is unfinished?”
Monk Eightfold Confusion did not answer Zhuge Giyeon’s question.
But that silence alone was enough.
Zhuge Giyeon realized that the one before him—no, the one wearing the appearance of Monk Eightfold Confusion—was not yet complete.
Only then did he realize something else.
He did not actually know who the person wearing Monk Eightfold Confusion’s appearance was.
As if trying to resolve that curiosity, Zhuge Giyeon asked,
“Let me ask one thing. Just who are you?”
“I think I already told you the first time we met. I am you. I am also your parents, your friend, your enemy—and even your benefactor.”
“I have no intention of playing word games in a situation like this. So answer properly—”
Zhuge Giyeon’s voice scattered.
The figure of Monk Eightfold Confusion before him transformed.
First into his father, who had died twenty years ago.
Then into his mother.
Then into a childhood friend who had been killed young.
Then into the Unorthodox master who had killed that friend.
And finally into the master who had raised Zhuge Giyeon.
What was strange was that it was not only the face that changed.
The entire body transformed perfectly into each person, as if they themselves stood there.
Zhuge Giyeon stood frozen, mouth open.
Returning to Monk Eightfold Confusion’s appearance, the figure spoke.
“Do you believe me now? That I am you, and your parents, your friend, your enemy, and even your benefactor.”
“T-Then that means I too…”
Zhuge Giyeon’s voice scattered once again.
Because someone who looked exactly like himself now stood before him.
“Your faith is lacking.”
Even the voice was identical—so identical that even Zhuge Giyeon himself could not deny it.
As Zhuge Giyeon stared in shock, Monk Eightfold Confusion reappeared before his eyes.
“Who… are you really?”
His voice trembled as he asked.
Monk Eightfold Confusion smiled faintly.
“Even after being given the answer, you keep asking. Shall I make it easier? Some people call me death.”
“D-Death!”
Zhuge Giyeon was flustered at the unexpectedly dangerous identity.
Monk Eightfold Confusion smiled again.
“It is not exactly that. I am merely called that by some.”
One thing had become certain from his answer.
Zhuge Giyeon still had no idea what his true identity was.
And another thing Zhuge Giyeon decided.
He would never try to uncover it.
Embedding those two thoughts firmly in his heart, Zhuge Giyeon asked,
“You said our deal may still be possible. Does that still hold true after seeing my current situation?”
“Of course.”
“Very well. Then let us proceed with the deal.”
“That is why I came. I agree. But give me a few days. I still require some treatment.”
At the end of those words, Monk Eightfold Confusion glanced at his missing arm.
Zhuge Giyeon nodded.
“That is no problem. No one comes here.”
“Good. There are others who must stay with me.”
No sooner had those words ended than the air spat out several blood-soaked middle-aged men.
Zhuge Giyeon recognized one of them instantly.
“Th-the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan!”
“That’s right. My prisoner. Hahaha!”
Zhuge Giyeon watched Monk Eightfold Confusion burst into thunderous laughter with fearful eyes.
When Yul Han arrived at the hill overlooking the Zhuge Clan, his head tilted slightly.
Watching him, the Profound Demon cautiously asked,
“What is it?”
“You cannot feel it?”
At the question, the Profound Demon replied,
“What do you mean…?”
Yul Han’s eyes sank heavily as he alternated his gaze between the puzzled Profound Demon and the Zhuge Clan below.
Aside from Yul Han, who possessed Ghost Eyes, the one in the Bright Cult most sensitive to Ghostly Aura was the Ghost Demon.
Because he used Ghostly Aura.
After the Ghost Demon came the Profound Demon, who utilized Dark Energy.
The Profound Demon’s ability to sense Ghostly Aura far surpassed Yul Han before he obtained Ghost Eyes.
Yet he was now saying he could not feel the Ghostly Aura that appeared so clearly.
Yul Han immediately understood what that meant.