Chapter 35

“The Martial Alliance has sent a summons.”

Dan Woo-sung took the letter Lee Hwa-eon handed him and read it. It had been over ten days since the dissolution of the Red Eagle Alliance.

The letter’s content was simple.

The Imperial Council demanded that Dan Woo-sung, who was at the center of the situation, personally attend the Martial Arts Alliance meeting because they needed direct witnesses regarding Gu Yang-saeng.

Li Hua Yan asked with a worried expression.

“Hmm, I suppose I must go?”

Dan Woo-sung replied.

“It’s right for me to go. They must be having trouble reaching a verdict. Being a tripartite organization, the Imperial Council would face even greater difficulty. But I won’t go now.”

“But it’s the Martial Arts Alliance. Is that acceptable?”

“Send a reply first. Say that a threatening incident has occurred at the caravan and you cannot leave your post. Especially if the Gu family comes in force, the caravan’s forces will struggle to counter them. If they insist I must attend, tell them to send the top-tier martial artists of the Martial Alliance here. Then convey that I can attend while the top-tier martial artists guard the caravan.”

Only then did Yi Hwa-eon’s expression brighten.

Having a First-Class Martial Artist present wouldn’t block every master in the martial world. But a First-Class Martial Artist held symbolic meaning. Touching a guild member would mean declaring hostility against the Martial Alliance.

“I will prepare and send a letter.”

Dan Woo-sung nodded.

Even as the letter was relayed back to the Martial Alliance and the top-tier martial artist made his way to the Galaxy Trading Company, Dan Woo-sung intended to focus solely on his training.

After consuming the Gongqing Oil, he had alternated between practical combat and training, but more time was needed.

It was time to gradually prepare for the next stage. Dan Woo-sung didn’t rely solely on the Ten Thousand Battles Ten Thousand Breaks Technique.

To face the absolute elite martial artists, he had to delve back into the Ascension martial arts he had been obsessed with in his previous life. While upgrading the Hundred Battles Ten-Tier Art to the Nine-Tier and Ten-Tier levels, he first planned to retrain the Mind-Splitting Art.

This was to enable him to wield different martial arts with each hand.

The reason for mastering the Mind-Splitting Technique was the technique known as the Flower-Transfer Divine Skill.

The core of combat involved alternating between the Hundred Battles Ten-Segment Technique and the Flower Transfer Divine Art, or deploying them simultaneously.

The Flower Transfer Technique, derived from the art of grafting, possessed few moves yet contained profound principles of supreme mastery. It required deep internal energy, and its effects were amplified when used alongside the Hundred Battles Ten Breaks Technique.

Grafting flowers…

It means grafting a flowering branch onto another tree.

The martial arts of the Flower Transfer Technique included countering an opponent’s techniques, striking back, and returning their own methods against them.

However, techniques of this caliber are often found in other sects and clans as well.

Danwooseong sought to master the Ihwa Divine Art once more because its ultimate subtlety lay in capturing objects from the void.

This is expressed in the Ihwa Divine Art as the subtlety of ‘grasping flowers’.

The interpretation ‘to grasp a flower from afar’ is somewhat peaceful.

However, it is an ascending martial art demanding an extremely high level of internal energy.

Moreover, it was a crucial technique that must be mastered when facing high-level masters wielding weapons.

Thus, the Mind-Splitting Technique becomes crucial once more.

With the right hand, one must unleash attacks using the Hundred Battles Ten-Step Technique; with the left hand, one must be able to twist the trajectory of the opponent’s weapon using the Flower-Grasping Technique, or even seize the weapon entirely.

For Danwooseong, this training was far more important than going to the Martial Alliance right away.

Even though he knew martial arts from his past life…

Dan Wooseong valued the physical body itself, repeatedly and skillfully unfolding its capabilities. Martial arts mastery gained without feeling pain carried a high risk of error in the blink of an eye.

Cheol Myeong-ho was busy, and Chief Administrator Yi Hwa-eon was busy too, but Dan Woo-seong wasn’t wasting a single moment either.

.

.

.

Dan Woo-seong set out for the Martial Arts Alliance only after two months had passed.

He had only one companion.

He was a man named Baek Han-gyeong, affiliated with the Martial Alliance. The man had only revealed his name to Dan Woo-seong, keeping his organization and position undisclosed.

Of course, as Dan Woosung had requested, the Wulin Alliance masters were staying at the Galaxy Trading Company as if on a dispatched mission. They too had willingly accepted Dan Woosung’s request, judging that an attack by the Gu Yang Clan might occur at any moment.

Dan Woosung was a man of few words, and Baek Han-kyung was also extremely taciturn, so the two continued their journey through the martial world in silence.

The conversation they shared was…

“Let’s eat and go.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Let’s depart.”

Only three words were repeated. In a way, one could say Baek Han-gyeong was quite peculiar. After all, he didn’t seem particularly curious about the young master of the merchant guild defeating Gu Yang-saeng, the head of the Gu family. That fact also implied that Baek Han-gyeong didn’t hold Gu Yang-saeng in very high regard.

He was simply a man devoted to his mission.

Though they didn’t use horses because they had to take a boat, there was no urging to hurry by using lightness skills.

Despite this, neither man asked the other anything about their respective backgrounds.

However, Baek Han-kyung was a man who constantly kept watch over his surroundings. As if he had been frequently ambushed.

Dan Woo-seong quietly observed even Baek Han-kyung’s vigilant behavior.

The mostly silent journey of the two men through the martial arts world met with change on the third day, in broad daylight.

Baek Han-kyung, walking down an ordinary street, suddenly stopped in his tracks. The moment he spotted something, he halted and muttered to himself.

“A lecher?”

He was staring intently at a man walking with an ordinary gait.

Baek Han-gyeong, who had memorized the appearance and distinguishing features of all public figures as a matter of necessity.

Then Danwooseong turned around to follow Baek Hankyung’s gaze. Suddenly, Baek Hankyung’s back came into view.

The character for “Alliance” was written in bold, confident strokes. Revealing his identity and walking around like this was also a declaration to those hostile to the Martial Alliance that they were always welcome to attack.

Baek Han-gyeong, who had been watching a man, spoke at length to Dan Woo-seong for the first time.

“Stay nearby. I believe I’ve spotted a wanted individual on the official list. Either kill him or bring him in.”

Dan Woosung asked.

“Sima Oedo?”

“That’s right, but it’s just a guess. If he starts running when we follow him, he’s definitely the target. I saw his face look troubled as he passed by. He’s the target with the nickname ‘The Ghostly Guest’.”

“I’ll pursue him.”

At these words, Baek Han-gyeong stared intently at Dan Woo-seong.

“Do as you wish. I cannot guarantee your safety. The mission comes first.”

Dan Woo-seong nodded.

Baek Han-gyeong suddenly leapt into the air, stepping off the building’s wall and streaking forward in an instant. The man walking some distance away turned his head once, then fled immediately.

Both the fleeing man and the pursuer were remarkably swift.

The list of martial arts fugitives was not solely compiled by the Martial Arts Alliance; sects or other organizations could also submit requests for registration by sending in the fugitive’s crimes and physical description. Once investigators went out to verify the information and it was registered as an Alliance fugitive, the individual could be summarily executed on the spot anywhere.

However, considering that the opponent wasn’t wearing a face mask and deliberately made an uncomfortable expression, Baek Han-gyeong didn’t rule out the possibility of a trap. The more ruthlessly the Martial Alliance handled matters, the more brutal the opposition’s retaliation became. Many Samma heretics took pride in capturing and killing Alliance members.

Nevertheless, Baek Han-gyeong did not slow down.

If the fugitive was the Yin Guest, he had no intention of giving up. Recently, several of Baek Han-kyung’s junior martial arts brothers had also fallen victim. In an instant, Baek Han-kyung escaped the crowded intersection and stopped his light-footed pursuit.

The assassin, who had been fleeing for some time, turned back as if he had been waiting.

The assassin’s face was so distinctive, with eyes unnervingly large, that it was harder not to recognize him.

Confirming the assassin’s expression remained calm, Baek Han-gyeong silently drew his sword while surveying the surroundings. The Great Prince of the Eunha Trading Guild was nowhere to be seen, but one-armed middle-aged swordsmen were approaching from both the right and left.

Baek Han-gyeong understood the situation clearly the moment he saw the one-armed men.

The current leader of the martial arts world had an eccentricity from his youth: he preferred cutting off opponents’ arms rather than killing them outright. There was no point in explaining this peculiarity in detail.

Judging by the advanced age of these middle-aged warriors, it must be an old grudge. It wasn’t something to be surprised about.

Baek Han-gyeong raised his sword vertically and spoke.

“Seniors, how have you been? If you still have breath in your bodies, you should be challenging the leader again. What a pathetic sight you make, picking on juniors. And to top it off, resorting to such despicable tactics as using martial arts achievements as bait… It’s hardly surprising I’ve never heard of your reputations.”

It was a sneer implying that living that way was precisely why their names weren’t widely known.

A one-armed bandit smiled and retorted.

“Cutting off arms is the leader’s hobby, and sending the severed heads of his followers to him is ours.”

At that moment, a little way off from where the four people were facing off, these words drifted over.

“Nice hobby.”

Baek Han-kyung looked at Dan Woo-sung with slightly widened eyes.

‘Hm?’

He could understand them chasing after them, but it was hard to fathom why someone was walking toward them from the opposite direction. In an instant, Baek Han-kyung and Dan Woo-sung found themselves positioned to surround the three people.

The intruder asked.

“Who are you? You don’t seem to be a member of the Myeongwon.”

Dan Woo-sung smiled.

In the old days, martial arts masters would have recognized the Kwonwang first and either kneel before him or flee immediately. But now, there was no way they would recognize some young heir of the Eunhwa Trading Company first.

Truly, the world had become simpler.

Dan Woo-sung replied in a calm tone.

“You’re the type who enjoys beating people up.”

Um Gyeok covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Hmph… Ah, my apologies. In front of our seniors…”

The Musician bowed slightly to the two Martial Artists.

It seemed the musician, having accepted the thieves’ request, had lured the martial arts alliance members here. Yet, the musician subtly conveyed an air of not fearing anyone present.

The guest chuckled softly, goading the others.

“What difference would one more make? I know your skills, seniors. Well then, you four settle your superiority among yourselves. I’ve urgent business to attend to, so I’ll be off.”

As the Musician attempted to flee, displaying the lightness skills he always boasted about, Dan Woo-sung suddenly asked out of the blue.

“Um-gaek, you going to jerk off?”

Eum-gaek’s expression instantly twisted.

“What?”

Masturbation meant physical self-gratification. The nickname “Eum-gaek” was a notorious label earned through his involvement with women, so the question about going to masturbate was an unusually unpleasant thing to hear.

Dan Wooseong said.

“Why are you so worked up? Never mind. A healthy man might react that way.”

Danwooseong was exceptionally skilled at handling Sammaeodo.

The guest forced a smile and said.

“One-Handed Double-Blade seniors, leave this one to me. He doesn’t seem to be a member of the Martial Alliance anyway.”

The guest retorted.

“Do as you please. And our alias isn’t ‘One-Handed Twin-Blade’.”

To this remark, the Yin Guest retorted with utter insolence.

“Ah, yes. I couldn’t care less about that.”

“You insolent brat.”

“Is that important right now?”

The intruder and the One-Two Duo moved as if setting up their positions, forming a one-on-one, one-on-one standoff.

Baek Han-kyung, who was on high alert trying to catch Samaeodo, suddenly noticed Dan Woo-sung’s expression.

His expression was usually stony, but now the corners of his mouth were turned up in a smile. It was the first smile he’d seen in three days.

ⓒ Yoo Jin-seong

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