Chapter 65

Chapter 65
**Yeom Hwa-sin (1)**

A span of forty-five days had passed before Baek So-cheon finally stepped out of the Cheon-ryong Secret Chamber.

His original intention had been to remain in solitary cultivation until mastering the Seven Stars Thus Come Sword Art, yet the pressing circumstances of the world outside denied him that luxury.

Even so, his brief period of seclusion had borne significant fruit.

To begin with, the Immovable Wisdom King Heart Method had broken through to its fourth level, marking his initial milestone within the chamber.

Beyond that, he was now capable of fluidly unleashing the opening three movements of the Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword. It went beyond merely performing them; he executed the third stance with such astonishing velocity that the lingering trails of the first two sword forms still hung suspended in the surrounding air.

Naturally, the instant he attained that breakthrough, Baek So-cheon had adamantly told himself, “No more!” Yet he remembered feeling that exact same sentiment when he had initially conquered the second stance.

Truthfully, a faint, lingering thought of “Could it be possible?” now teased his thoughts, though his instincts warned him that further progression would prove immensely challenging.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Thunder Nine Fists advanced smoothly through its fifth strike. He had consciously curbed his pace, prioritizing the absolute refinement of the opening four techniques above all else.

The peerless sword style, the ultimate fist method, and the supreme mental cultivation of an era. He found himself absorbing three of the most magnificent martial legacies in recorded history.

Having already taken up three such arts, a sudden realization sparked in his mind: why stop short of claiming the fourth and final one? That remaining discipline was a footwork art.

The Wind God Movement Technique.

It stood renowned across the realm as the swiftest lightness art beneath the heavens.

Yet laying his hands upon it would prove exceptionally arduous.

Its secrets were held solely by the leader of the Black Heaven Alliance, Yeom Hwa-sin.

A quiet chuckle escaped Baek So-cheon.

There had been a time when he believed wrenching the Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword from Ak So-gun’s grasp was the far more daunting prospect. That memory alone illustrated how thoroughly fractured his ties with Ak So-gun had once been.

Regardless, if he could somehow secure the Wind God Movement Technique as well, he would accomplish the unprecedented feat of commanding all four legendary martial arts celebrated across past and present.

Leaving the Cheon-ryong Secret Chamber behind, Baek So-cheon lifted his chin to observe the sky above. A crisp, elevated expanse of autumn hung overhead, heralding the imminent arrival of winter. A biting gust swept across his face, a clear warning of the encroaching cold.

Without lingering, he walked toward Yun-ryong Hall, the seat where the Alliance Lord managed his responsibilities.

Ak So-gun greeted Baek So-cheon with evident warmth.

“So-cheon.”

“Alliance Lord.”

“How fared your time inside? Did your training progress?”

“Thanks to your consideration, I achieved meaningful results.”

“Splendid. That is wonderful news.”

Ak So-gun radiated genuine delight, celebrating the young man’s success as though it were his own.

“You still hold the precise location of the life gate within the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation clearly in mind, correct?”

“I do.”

“Then commit this to memory as well.”

Ak So-gun proceeded to instruct Baek So-cheon in the internal qi pathway necessary to unseal the massive stone entrance of the Cheon-ryong Secret Chamber.

“Have you grasped it fully?”

“Yes.”

“Recite the flow back to me.”

Without hesitation, Baek So-cheon relayed the exact internal circulation pathway precisely as instructed.

“From this point on, you may enter and cultivate there whenever you wish.”

“Is it truly acceptable for me to possess this knowledge?”

“It is entirely fine.”

This secret was traditionally restricted to the reigning Alliance Lord alone, yet Ak So-gun delivered his permission with absolute certainty.

*Could it be…?*

The startling implication almost slipped past Baek So-cheon’s lips, but he caught himself, realizing the timing was ill-suited for such an inquiry.

Instead, he bent forward in a deep, reverent bow.

“I offer you my deepest gratitude.”

“You have been cooped up for weeks—go out and take in the open air. We can converse at length later.”

“Understood, Alliance Lord.”

Taking his leave of Ak So-gun, Baek So-cheon walked away from the grand hall with light, unburdened steps.

His destination was Daroo Tea House, situated close to the gates of the headquarters and currently managed by Cheon-geuk.

Above everything else, he wished to see her face.

Naturally, given that forty-five days had slipped by, the likelihood of finding her there was slim. Her subordinates would surely be overseeing the establishment, so he simply aimed to leave a message requesting her presence.

As he neared Daroo with an easy spirit, a voice called out behind him.

“So-cheon.”

Hardly anyone ever addressed him with such informal familiarity.

Instinctively whirling around, Baek So-cheon froze in sheer disbelief.

Positioned across the street was a mountainous figure easily twice the size of a normal man, waving toward him casually.

It was none other than the master of the Black Heaven Alliance, Yeom Hwa-sin.

“What in the world…!”

The expletive tumbled from Baek So-cheon’s mouth before he could stop it.

“What are you staring at like a fool? It’s really me.”

The colossal man spoke with the effortless casualness of an old companion, leaving Baek So-cheon doubting his own senses. For the sovereign of the Black Heaven Alliance to amble brazenly up to the doorstep of the Murim Alliance headquarters was an act of unfathomable daring.

Baek So-cheon closed the distance between them.

“Have you lost your sanity?”

“My faculties are functioning in top shape.”

“Are you aware of just how many fighters are garrisoned within this stronghold?”

“I keep track far better than you do. A detailed report lands before me every dawn detailing which detachments are departing or arriving. Your side carries out the very same routine, don’t they?”

Yeom Hwa-sin grinned, his words dripping with confident provocation.

“Why not raise your voice and summon them all? Go ahead, let us see it. What do you imagine would occur?”

“You would perish.”

“Nonsense! Hundreds of your comrades would drop dead before I took my leisurely exit. What is more, that spineless Alliance Lord of yours lacks the courage to confront me in person anyway.”

A wave of conflict washed over Baek So-cheon. Should he draw his weapon and engage the man right here on the pavement?

What if he managed to land a decisive opening strike?

Despite his internal energy being comparatively wanting, he was fully capable of putting up a fierce struggle.

Even so, guaranteeing a definitive kill was far from certain. Moreover, an explosive clash in this street would bring utter ruin to nearby citizens and shopkeepers.

Unconcerned by the younger man’s silent calculation, Yeom Hwa-sin gestured toward a tavern resting further down the lane.

“Come, let us share a drink over there.”

“Very well.”

To think the day would come where he sat across from the leader of the Black Heaven Alliance, sharing liquor right under the watchful shadow of the Murim Alliance stronghold.

Because of the early hour, the establishment stood deserted.

The tavern attendant practically recoiled at the sheer, overwhelming stature of Yeom Hwa-sin.

Had the poor boy recognized the terrifying identity of the patron before him, he never would have offered that innocent, beaming compliment: “My word, what a magnificent physique you possess, good sir.”

Yeom Hwa-sin ordered an array of the tavern’s finest dishes alongside their premier alcohol, acting for all the world like a weary wanderer passing through from distant lands.

Both men emptied their opening cups in a crisp, fluid gulp.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to meet with you. Word reached me that you reconciled your grievances with your Alliance Lord.”

“We did.”

The reconciliation had rippled through the Alliance ranks like wildfire, making it entirely natural for Yeom Hwa-sin to learn of it.

“That leader of yours is an utter fraud. Pay no heed to his pleasant facade.”

“Why do you harbor such immense hatred for our Alliance Lord?”

“He stands as my sworn adversary. Why wouldn’t I loathe him?”

Though accompanied by a broad, easy smile, the sentiment defined their eternal feud down to its marrow.

“The world is awash with falsehoods and genuine truths. Which path have you decided to walk?”

“I know beyond doubt that you sit nowhere near the truth.”

“Hahaha! An unorthodox alliance lord dedicated to purity and truth? Would that not be an absurd contradiction?”

As his booming amusement subsided, an astonishing inquiry rolled off Yeom Hwa-sin’s tongue.

“Tell me, how did you purge the gu parasite?”

Baek So-cheon’s entire body went rigid.

“How… how could you possibly know about that?”

Not just that, but the precise nature of the affliction. That knowledge pointed directly toward two grim realities. The first being—

“Were your hands behind it as well?”

“I possess a natural, deep-seated disgust for creeping parasites.”

If his denial held true…

Did that mean a hidden traitor lurked within their midst?

Hardly anyone had been permitted in the room during the Alliance Lord’s recovery. Even the shadow guards under Pung-geuk-an had been commanded to withdraw, leaving merely Baek So-cheon, Cheon-geuk, Na-sa-rin, the governing pavilion masters, and Divine Physician Ban Wol-ryang present.

Could one of those trusted few be a secret pawn of Black Heaven?

A knowing smirk tugged at Yeom Hwa-sin’s lips.

“Wracking your brain trying to identify the turncoat, aren’t you? Only the highest echelon attended the treatment, after all. Use your head, So-cheon. If one of those figures were truly my planted spy, why on earth would I compromise them to you? Do you realize how much blood and patience it takes to position an agent into such a lofty post?”

The reasoning struck home. With Baek So-cheon having patched his differences with Ak So-gun, Yeom Hwa-sin had zero incentive to burn a vital informant now.

If not that… then what?

Baek So-cheon held Yeom Hwa-sin’s gaze in unbroken silence.

Several tense moments drifted past.

Suddenly, an astounding realization flashed across Baek So-cheon’s thoughts!

“It cannot be… You fell victim as well!”

“Precisely as I expected from you. Your wits are sharp.”

A chilling revelation spilled casually from Yeom Hwa-sin’s mouth.

“I ended up infected by that foul pest as well. However, those schemers overlooked one crucial detail. My Dark Spirit Control Technique possesses the innate ability to detect foreign parasites entering my flesh and forcefully subdue their movement.”

Baek So-cheon recalled the words spoken by the captive demoness in the subterranean vaults, who had confirmed Yeom Hwa-sin’s mastery over that very discipline. In fact, Baek So-cheon had initially feared that same method had been utilized to dominate Ak So-gun’s spirit.

“They implanted the female parasite into your body?”

“They did.”

“Then who received the male counterpart?”

“They fed it to my own son.”

His blood offspring, the recognized successor to the Black Heaven Alliance. The Blood Cult had clearly orchestrated a dual plot to bring both the Murim Alliance and the Black Heaven Alliance crashing to ruin in one fell swoop.

“Were you able to purge the parasite?”

“If I had successfully extracted it, I wouldn’t have bothered marching all the way to your doorstep. I have merely clamped down on the organism inside me using the Dark Spirit Control Technique—I have yet to actually destroy it.”

The medicinal components required for the remedy were simple enough to acquire. The needle placements and meridian sealing techniques were similarly straightforward. The sole hurdle was that practically no living practitioner preserved the forgotten knowledge.

“Curse it all! The methodology is so thoroughly buried in antiquity that not a single soul among my forces had the faintest clue on how to neutralize it.”

“Then how did you handle the matter?”

“I feigned that the parasite’s influence had taken hold, while simultaneously keeping my distance from my boy.”

“You are aware of who orchestrated this.”

“It takes no genius to see it. When your faction and mine tear each other to pieces, only a single party reaps the spoils.”

Indeed, he had pieced together the broader scheme.

“While we were locked in bloody conflict, those mongrels from the Blood Cult were busy engineering the demise of us both.”

“If you know that much, why haven’t you struck against the Blood Cult Lord? Knowing your aggressive nature, you should have leveled their stronghold by now.”

“What would you deduce?”

Baek So-cheon needed only a moment to uncover the underlying motive.

“Because severing your pact with the Blood Cult would strip away your leverage to launch a joint offensive against us.”

“That is precisely why I hold you in high regard. You possess the sharpest intellect of any swordsman I have encountered.”

In short, the titan had calculated to wring every drop of utility out of the Blood Cult before turning around and annihilating them entirely.

Yet now that Baek So-cheon and Ak So-gun were free of the affliction, the battlefield landscape had completely shifted—compelling him to seek a definitive purge of his own infestation.

“You knew of the plot from the very beginning. You knew the parasite had infected both the Alliance Lord and myself.”

“Naturally. I sensed its foul presence the second it anchored itself in me. It left me wondering: could the Blood Cult truly be foolish enough to restrict their ambush solely to our ranks?”

Yeom Hwa-sin was undeniably a formidable entity. That colossal, hulking physique concealed a web of ruthless, far-reaching schemes.

Even during their prior confrontation regarding the Shin-hwa-bang incident, the man had possessed full knowledge of the truth—yet he had brazenly bluffed about the Alliance Lord being an empty hypocrite and that a three-year window would suffice.

His design had been to devour the Blood Cult whole the moment the Murim Alliance Lord and Baek So-cheon collapsed into ruin.

It became blindingly clear: the cryptic ‘three years’ he had grandly declared back then carried an entirely distinct, sinister significance!

Baek So-cheon fixed a hard, assessing glare upon Yeom Hwa-sin. The giant was a figure whose boundless intellect and ambition rivaled his towering physical presence.

“My objective for seeking you out today is plain. You will purge the parasites from both myself and my son. You clearly uncovered the remedy, given that your bumbling Alliance Lord never could have deduced it on his own.”

“And if I simply refuse?”

*Crash!*

The wooden table between them exploded into the air, and Yeom Hwa-sin surged forward with terrifying, blinding momentum, his iron grip locking securely around Baek So-cheon’s throat.

“Then I will rip your life away. Why should I allow you to draw breath once your usefulness has run dry?”

A suffocating aura of slaughter emanated from Yeom Hwa-sin’s massive frame. There was not a trace of theatrical bluffing here—it was absolute, unadulterated intent to end Baek So-cheon right where he stood.

The dormant internal qi within Baek So-cheon’s meridians flared to life. An overwhelming impulse surged through him to unleash a ferocious, desperate strike and open the battle.

If he poured every shred of his martial arts into an explosive ambush, could he claim victory?

The fierce urge flared within his chest once more.

Baek So-cheon rapidly weighed the grim mathematical realities. Having healed from past wounds, Yeom Hwa-sin might well have climbed to an even more terrifying peak of power.

A detached, rational calculation told him the truth: his odds of survival in a direct confrontation stood at a meager thirty to forty percent.

He was forced to bide his time. Time itself was an ally that worked in his favor. There was no practical reason to stake his life upon such reckless uncertainty.

At that critical second—

“Unhand him!”

A clear voice resonated from the entrance of the tavern. Cheon-geuk stood framed in the doorway. Despite the passage of forty-five days, she had never abandoned the perimeter of the Alliance.

“I shall fulfill the request of the Black Heaven Alliance Lord.”

Yeom Hwa-sin shifted his gaze toward her presence, a wide, predatory grin spreading across his face.

“So you were the one who aided his recovery, precisely as I suspected.”

Baek So-cheon turned his eyes toward her.

She had deliberately stepped forth from the safety of the shadows, putting herself in direct harm’s way solely to preserve his life. More than anyone present, she grasped the sheer peril of crossing paths with an apex predator like Yeom Hwa-sin.

Their gazes locked in silent communication.

*Why must you go to such dangerous lengths on my behalf?*

The unspoken retort in Cheon-geuk’s eyes answered him with quiet resolve:

*…Why do you continually throw yourself into such reckless danger? Why cannot you simply live a peaceful existence for yourself?*

Steeling her tone, she addressed Yeom Hwa-sin directly.

“Release your grip on his neck.”

“You possess the audacity to issue commands to me?”

Faced with Yeom Hwa-sin’s frigid, menacing query, the emotion within Cheon-geuk’s eyes settled into an unfathomable, tranquil depth.

“Cast your eyes upon the two of us. Do you perceive even the slightest shred of fear regarding death in this room?”

Both Baek So-cheon and Cheon-geuk possessed the chilling, unshakable gaze of those who had made their peace with mortality. Carrying that very same ruthlessness within his own core, Yeom Hwa-sin immediately recognized the unyielding truth of their resolve.

Yeom Hwa-sin let out a rich, dark chuckle.

“Splendid. That makes this far more entertaining.”

Releasing his suffocating hold upon Baek So-cheon’s throat, the towering sovereign stepped back and issued his decree:

“In half a shichen, our party departs from this exact threshold. Gather your necessities and prepare yourselves. Should you orchestrate any foolish scheme to trap me, expect ten times the blood of your comrades to stain the earth before this day concludes.”