Chapter 209
"The Righteous Martial Alliance bastards have arrived?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Hmm."
Dang Myeong, an elder of the Sichuan Dang Family who was in charge of leading the later generation disciples of the Heavenly Alliance, finally brightened at the news of the Righteous Martial Alliance's arrival.
"They took their sweet time. Weren't you worried they might not participate?"
His nephew Dang Jong-ui lightly laughed and picked up his words.
"How could that happen? As long as Heavenly Strategist Master is there, they have no choice but to participate in the martial competition."
"Hmm, that's right."
"If they show weakness in this competition, they know very well that the world's attention will immediately focus on us. There's no way Heavenly Strategist Master could stand to see such a sight."
Dang Myeong smiled with satisfaction.
"Right. This is what you call an inescapable trap, isn't it?"
"Heavenly Strategist Master is someone who values justification very highly. From his perspective, he would think it's better to fight and lose than to not fight because he fears the enemy."
Dang Jong-ui's thinking was almost exactly right. The problem was that this thinking was formed within limited information. Not knowing of Wei Yan-ho's existence, they could only think this way.
"Heh heh heh, yes, have you confirmed all the members?"
"The only ones we can properly call main forces are Jang-il and Shangguan Hong, Peng Daoji and Wei San-ho."
Upon hearing the name Wei San-ho, Dang Myeong's face slightly contorted.
"Wei San-ho, Wei San-ho… So the Demon-Slaying Sword Wei San-ho has finally come."
Dang Myeong let out a low sigh.
The Demon-Slaying Sword Wei San-ho was a later generation disciple representing the Righteous Martial Alliance. Moreover, unlike other ordinary later generation disciples, Wei San-ho had already proven his own strength.
Looking at the roster of demon lords he had killed, they were not opponents that later generation disciples could dare to challenge. They were demon lords with skills that even moderately strong veterans of major sects couldn't carelessly challenge.
Especially among the demon lords, killing the one called the Tailless Phantom Demon of the Blue Sea was an achievement that people still talk about today.
The thrill he felt when he heard that the Tailless Phantom Demon, who had destroyed several sects and killed countless people, spreading his infamy throughout the world, had his head severed by the hands of a young man, was still not forgotten.
"I expected as much."
While the Righteous Martial Alliance would naturally want to send Wei San-ho, the Demon-Slaying Sword Wei San-ho was someone who frequently traveled abroad.
Sometimes he would even refuse classes he should naturally attend, preferring to wander outside, earning him the reputation of having wanderlust.
So he had harbored some hope that perhaps…
"It's unfortunate, but…"
"Isn't this something we already expected?"
"That's right."
If they hadn't had a countermeasure for Wei San-ho, they wouldn't have started this affair in the first place.
It wasn't that one winner would take all the glory. But the martial world was a place that didn't recognize second place. While there were words for "Number One Under Heaven," there was no "Number Two Under Heaven."
"We can't be satisfied with just being called the best of our generation."
"That's obvious."
"So, are you confident you can face Wei San-ho?"
Dang Jong-ui showed a gentle smile.
"When this competition ends, the Dang Family will reclaim the position of the Number One Family Under Heaven. And the Heavenly Alliance will solidify the position of the Number One Generation of the future."
"Ha ha ha ha, I trust you."
Dang Myeong's expression, which had shown a pleasant laugh, suddenly changed.
"But you must be careful. There are variables in every affair in the world. Weren't there any unusual faces?"
"Not all participants from the Righteous Martial Alliance have arrived yet. The Five Dragons of the previous generation should all arrive soon. But… excluding Wei San-ho, there's no one particularly worth worrying about."
"The Nine Sects also cannot be ignored."
"They are already losing their luster. Unlike the Righteous Martial Alliance, which grows stronger through mutual exchange, those isolated ones stuck in the mountains probably don't even know they're falling behind."
"Mm, certainly the system created by the Righteous Martial Alliance is respectable."
"Humans develop through competition. Just gathering people from different sects naturally provides stimulation. Certainly, the Heavenly Strategist Master's ability is worth respecting."
"But we'll be the ones to pluck those fruits."
"Of course."
Watching the pleased Dang Myeong, Dang Jong-ui cleared his throat.
"There is one thing that's a bit concerning…"
"Mm, you said something was concerning?"
"Yes."
"Tell me."
Dang Jong-ui pondered how to explain this matter. What he had heard was also too absurd, so he couldn't help but fall into contemplation about how to convey the information.
"There's… someone whose identity is completely unknown mixed in."
"Someone whose identity is unknown? Among the later generation disciples?"
"Yes. That…"
Dang Jong-ui spoke as if troubled.
"He's someone completely unknown until now. But other people's attitudes toward him are a bit strange."
"…Attitudes?"
"Yes. Attitudes. According to what I heard, while others were carrying luggage, he just lay on top of a carriage, or he went in to rest first even though the adults hadn't entered their rooms yet—such rude behavior, but apparently there was no particular restraint."
"No restraint?"
This was incomprehensible.
Though not as much as the Nine Sects, the hierarchy of the Righteous Martial Alliance, where prestigious families gathered, was very strict. Yet they left a later generation disciple showing such arrogant behavior alone?
"It's inexplicably strange. Did you find out about that person's identity?"
"Yes. When I inquired, that person is apparently the second son of the Guangdong Wei Family. Wei Jeong-han's son, and Wei San-ho's younger brother."
"Guangdong Wei Family?"
This was even more incomprehensible.
Wei Jeong-han was known as someone upright enough to be called the Righteous Hero Sword, and Wei San-ho was known as someone straight enough to be called a model warrior.
Yet it was hard to accept that such people didn't restrain a later generation disciple who was their son and younger brother from showing such arrogant behavior.
"There's definitely something there."
"It seems so."
"Are you certain that boy is from the Guangdong Wei Family? If he's Wei San-ho's younger brother, I couldn't have not heard his name, but I have no memory of it at all."
"I've heard that the second son of the Guangdong Wei Family went missing. Though his whereabouts were unclear, the information that he recently returned is certain."
"Hmm…"
Dang Myeong let out a contemplative sound.
"A variable, a variable… Perhaps that boy might be the variable the Righteous Martial Alliance prepared. Strengthen surveillance. We must find out everything we can about that boy."
"Understood."
'Wei Yan-ho… '
Jang Myeong felt a stuffy feeling deep inside. Just hearing the name, strangely his chest felt tight.
'No matter what tricks you pull, you won't be able to defeat us this time, Heavenly Strategist Master.'
But Dang Myeong didn't know.
He had no idea what would happen when a human he could never predict possessed terrifying power.
Roll.
Wei Yan-ho was rolling around on top of his bed.
'I'm full.'
Wei Yan-ho realized that his realm of laziness had decreased. Wasn't he the Wei Yan-ho who used to sleep soundly like on an emperor's bed even on hard, cold cave floors or in rattling carts? Yet now Wei Yan-ho was feeling subtle discomfort.
Though it had strong secular tendencies, Mount Hua was still a Taoist temple. No matter how much it was a place for guests to sleep, the bed couldn't be soft and fluffy.
The bed roughly woven from bamboo was mercilessly pressing against his back even with soft blankets laid out.
In the past, even if it had been a bed made of bumpy stones rather than bamboo, it wouldn't have prevented Wei Yan-ho's sleep, but this long rest after a while was preventing Wei Yan-ho from falling asleep.
'Come to think of it, I've been too busy lately.'
When was the last time he had leisurely been lazy?
Wei Yan-ho pitied himself for living busily contrary to his own will. Not only did he solve all sorts of problems, but now he was even forced to participate in a martial competition.
To Wei Yan-ho, who couldn't understand the mindset of warriors who liked fighting so much they would hold competitions and deliberately go out to sweat, such martial competitions were nothing more or less than labor that tormented people.
"Ugh."
Wei Yan-ho, feeling frustrated, raised his body and put on his shoes with slow movements.
"It's just that I can't rest well when I try to rest after a long time. Absolutely."
He made excuses.
That he couldn't sleep well because the place was uncomfortable.
But Wei Yan-ho knew very well why he was getting up.
Wei Yan-ho, who had stood in front of the door, made a pondering face and then turned his body around. If people saw him walking outside, there would be more than one or two who would be shocked.
Hadn't even Wei Jeong-han earnestly entreated him to please just stay holed up in his room, saying he wouldn't even tell him to train?
'It's not like I'm some kind of bomb… '
He couldn't understand at all why they worried like that when there was no one as gentle and trouble-free as himself anywhere else.
If everyone in the world were just like him, disputes would disappear from the world. Everyone would be holed up in rooms rolling around—what would there be to fight about, and what would there be to get angry about?
It was regrettable that the world didn't recognize him, but Wei Yan-ho also lacked the will to raise his voice in persuasion.
Wei Yan-ho, who had turned his body and approached one side of the room, opened the window and jumped outside.
"Whoosh!"
Wei Yan-ho, who had landed on the ground, looked around his surroundings.
There was a training ground prepared for the Righteous Martial Alliance behind the building, but that training ground was no different from a public training ground, which felt a bit awkward.
'Should I go over there?'
Wei Yan-ho, who had spotted mountain ridges rising majestically a little distance away beyond the wall, quietly lifted his body.
Whoosh.
With a light sound of cutting through air, Wei Yan-ho's body gracefully flew up into the void.
Slide.
Wei Yan-ho, who had drawn his sword for the first time in a while, rolled his shoulders and loosened his body. His body, which had been stuck in bed all day, screamed as it made creaking sounds.
He couldn't deny that his body management as a warrior deserved a failing grade.
"Hmm."
Wei Yan-ho quietly closed his eyes and that sword technique came to mind.
An endlessly natural sword technique.
A sword technique that seemed nothing special, appearing to be merely a swing, yet made it impossible to look away.
A sword that seemed full of openings, yet when you tried to attack, you couldn't even sense where you should extend your sword.
What should he do if someone showed such a sword in front of him now?
'I wouldn't be able to do anything.'
He couldn't even attack.
A sword that made it impossible for the opponent to even lift their sword.
That was his master Baek Mu-han's sword.
"My sword is invincible."
"Ughhh."
Wei Yan-ho made a groaning sound.
"Telling me to surpass something like that is cheating."
Telling him to surpass himself while showing such a sword.
It was hard to believe that a human could display such a sword, but asking him to show something beyond that was no different from telling a person to try flying in the sky.
"Like this?"
Swish.
Wei Yan-ho's sword clumsily cut through the void.
"That's not it… Like this?"
Once again Wei Yan-ho's sword cut through the void.
But Wei Yan-ho's sword wasn't as natural and smooth as his master's sword. It was only irregular and clumsy, like a child swinging a blade.
While it wouldn't be difficult to imitate the outer appearance, as he pursued the 'true meaning' hidden within, the outer form was crumbling.
"Ughhh."
Then, from behind him, a voice mixed with laughter was heard.
"A sword is not used like that, junior brother."