Chapter 154 : Tide, Turns

Chapter 154: Tide, Turns

Baek Seolyoung trembled all over with joy that Lee Jaseung had returned to life, but she could finally look around with composure.

Jang Wonso lay dead in a wretched state.

When she confirmed again that he was dead, Baek Seolyoung’s heart pounded. He deserved to die, but he was the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance. Besides, not many knew he had been such a villain. In short, there would be a great upheaval in the Orthodox martial world.

How could they clean this up?

A voice came from outside.

“Are you all right?”

It was the voice of the Fist King, one of the Three Kings who guarded the door. Even from outside, he must have sensed that something inside was amiss. He had not barged in at once because he had considered that Jang Wonso and Baek Seolyoung might be quarreling.

When there was no answer from within, the door opened carefully.

“I will come in for a moment.”

Soon the door swung wide and the Three Kings appeared. They froze for an instant at the spectacle that filled the chamber.

“What on earth?”

The Fist King grasped the situation and shouted, his face shocked and inflamed.

“You bastard dared to assassinate the Alliance Leader!”

Lee Jaseung slid his gaze over them, then looked back at Baek Seolyoung and asked,

“I do not recognize those faces. Are they dogs Jang Wonso raised apart from the Alliance?”

Lee Jaseung had been unconscious, so he could not know what had happened until now.

Baek Seolyoung nodded and said,

“The Fist King, the Blade King, the Sword King. They are the ones called the Three Kings.”

Lee Jaseung’s lips curled, cold and thin.

“The word king is not something you stick anywhere.”

At that, the Three Kings’ expressions grew even more vicious.

Lee Jaseung strode toward them. His steps said he would tear off a title that did not suit them.

The Sword King and the Blade King drew their weapons, and the Fist King clenched his fists. Their momentum was no ordinary thing.

“I will pound you into a bloody paste!”

At the Fist King’s cry, the three launched themselves at Lee Jaseung at the same time. The Sword King’s blade aimed for Lee Jaseung’s left arm, the Blade King’s saber for his right. The Fist King’s punch drove in for Lee Jaseung’s face.

Their master was dead, and their attacks were fast, lethal, and savage.

But in the instant the assault ended, the three thought the same words.

‘Damn it, we missed him!’

Lee Jaseung had evaded all three strikes they were certain he could never avoid.

And the common ground among the three did not end with a shared thought.

Lee Jaseung’s figure flashed as he tore through the space among them.

Each time, blood sprayed.

Split! Slice!

Swish!

They lashed back in a frenzy.

But Lee Jaseung was still faster.

The Fist King’s final punch, the Sword King’s life’s supreme slash, the Blade King’s strike that vowed to sweep away everything, all of it amounted to nothing more than the thrashing of men about to die.

Swish! Slash! Shhk!

The sound of flesh being cut went on and on.

Baek Seolyoung’s mouth fell open as she watched.

Lee Jaseung’s movement had gone beyond martial skill and reached the realm of art.

It was so fast and precise that it showed why martial skill was called martial skill. There was not a single stray motion. Only the most optimized movements for killing an opponent unfolded.

When every one of those movements ended, Lee Jaseung was already at Baek Seolyoung’s side.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Three Kings gushed blood from all over and collapsed at once. Sword and saber and fist had no power, no distinction. They had all simply died in an instant.

Baek Seolyoung looked at Lee Jaseung with eyes full of shock and admiration.

“You got stronger, didn’t you?”

Lee Jaseung only gave a smile that revealed nothing.

Even if he wanted to tell her, he could not. What he had gone through was not something one could describe in a day or two.

Seven trials.

The last trial in particular had been staggering.

In that last trial, Lee Jaseung had spent no less than forty-seven years. Outside, barely half a day had passed, but inside forty-seven years had flowed by.

It was time spent to save her.

Only to save her.

By the time he cleared the last trial, Lee Jaseung had grown stronger.

After living another forty-seven years, how could he not have grown stronger?

Over those forty-seven years, Lee Jaseung ceaselessly trained and honed himself. In the process, his martial arts advanced without stopping, he gained many realizations, and he grew greatly in spirit.

Even then, Lee Jaseung did not lose hope. He would pass the trial for certain and return to reality.

If Lee Jaseung had not been the most tireless man under heaven, if he had not been stronger than anyone in patience, he could not have endured it. It was not a trial as easy as words.

Saving her in the trial demanded more than ironclad martial skill. As countless circumstances arose, she kept falling into danger.

He had to wait, endure, and fight. At times he had to withdraw, and at times he had to yield. He had to sacrifice, and he had to let his passion erupt.

Only after he passed through every one of those steps could Lee Jaseung save her.

In the process of removing the Myriad Yin Orb, Lee Jaseung had risen to the third sublevel of the Transcendent Peak Realm.

And now Lee Jaseung had leapt in one bound beyond that long, long third stage, and he now stood at the second stage of the Transcendent Peak Realm.

Given that each ascent made the next stage harder, Lee Jaseung’s realization this time was truly immense.

If he had lived in reality, it was an achievement he should have reached forty-seven years from now, and he had attained it within the Seven-Color Hidden Land.

“My Lady!”

Two people rushed in, calling Baek Seolyoung in anguish.

The ones who came charging like maddened bulls were Mujin and Mook Young.

The instant they saw Lee Jaseung, the two reacted differently.

Of the two who stood there blankly, the first to move was Mujin. He dropped to the floor, then flopped onto his back. Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung did not know it, but Mook Young beside him did.

Mujin lay down to hide his tears. He covered his face with his arm as if tired, but in truth he was wiping his eyes.

Mook Young’s heart surged too, but he forced it down, bowed his head to Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung, and held it there with respect. It was a greeting that said he was grateful they were safe.

Lee Jaseung was the one who had awakened again, but he felt that the meaning of resurrection should be attached to himself as well. He truly felt born anew.

“I will go out and put things in order.”

Mook Young went out.

They had run to this place, practically breaking through the subordinates of Mad Serpent. Mujin did not follow. Those who remained outside were more than enough for Mook Young to eliminate alone.

After he got his feelings under control, Mujin sprang up and shouted,

“What on earth did you do?”

Lee Jaseung laughed and answered,

“I slept soundly for the first time in a while. Thanks to that, all the fatigue I had piled up is gone.”

“What about the fatigue we piled up?”

“That is no concern of mine.”

“My word! You got even more brazen.”

Mujin wore an expression of disbelief.

Standing beside them, Baek Seolyoung let out a small laugh. Hearing the two trade banter, she finally felt in her bones that Lee Jaseung had come back.

Before half a quarter hour passed, Mook Young returned.

“It is all settled outside.”

Now came the important part. The Alliance Leader was dead, and his death would send a great shock through the Orthodox martial world.

Lee Jaseung spoke to Mook Young.

“Make it look as if these men killed the Alliance Leader.”

“It will be hard to make it perfect, but I will do my utmost.”

Forging a cause of death was Mook Young’s specialty.

Mook Young began his work. He cut new wounds and blurred out the unnecessary ones.

Watching this, Lee Jaseung looked at Baek Seolyoung and Mujin and said,

“We leave quietly.”

* * *

“Ah, this was truly a relief.”

In the end, Dan Woobin shed tears.

When even Baek Seolyoung did not return, Dan Woobin had despaired.

He had sensed that the instant he gave the order to attack, the Black Way Alliance would destroy itself.

War with the Orthodox side without Lee Jaseung, Mujin, and Mook Young.

He could not be confident of victory.

But it was not as if he could refrain from giving the order to attack.

Given all that, how happy must he have been that they all returned safely?

He truly felt like singing and even dancing.

But this was not the time.

There was a mountain of work to do.

“Now is when it matters!”

Shaking off sentiment, Dan Woobin’s eyes began to shine again, bright with intelligence.
* * *

The next morning, a warrior of the Guard Hall discovered Jang Wonso’s corpse.

Of course the entire Murim Alliance went on emergency footing.

The first to reach the Alliance Leader’s Hall was Lee Jaseung. He brought the men of the Virtuous Heroes and seized control of the inner compound.

“Guard it like iron, and do not let anyone in without my order.”

“Yes, understood.”

Because he represented the Virtuous Heroes, even the Guard Hall and the other bodies yielded a step.

It was, of course, Dan Woobin’s will. With the Alliance Leader dead, he judged that the most important thing was to seize the inner compound, beginning with the Alliance Leader’s Hall.

The next to arrive was Baek Seolyoung.

She entered the Alliance with the Four Dragons of Northern Sky and the Raging Dragons. The Northern Sky Clan was the Alliance’s vassal clan. Their duty was to step forward when the Alliance fell into crisis, so it was justifiable for her to step forward.

She set up another line outside the Virtuous Heroes and blocked the outside a second time. Before any other organization, the two of them seized the Alliance’s core.

Soon after, a group of masters entered the Alliance.

They were the masters of the Council of Elders. If the Alliance Leader died or was too injured to perform his duties, the representative Elders of the Council would temporarily conduct Alliance affairs until a new Alliance Leader was chosen.

To prevent any possible corruption, the masters of the Council of Elders and their direct lines could not ascend to the post of the next Alliance Leader.

The one who led the Elders was the representative Elder, Yeo Beom. Lee Jaseung had already won him over several times with bribes, so he was very cooperative with Lee Jaseung.

Of course, this situation by itself did not mean they had seized the Alliance.

What mattered was the next Alliance Leader.

The moment the Alliance Leader was elected, all of this would change.

Yeo Beom hurried up to Lee Jaseung and asked,

“What on earth happened here?”

“I was notified only a moment ago. Let us go together.”

“Very well.”

Lee Jaseung and Yeo Beom went at the front, with the Elders and Baek Seolyoung following behind.

They arrived at the underground secret chamber. Except for Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung, the others had never entered it before.

In any case, since the chamber had to be opened to someone other than the Alliance Leader to determine the cause of death, this secret chamber would be decommissioned and a new one would be made for the next Alliance Leader.

Yeo Beom took in the scene in the chamber and set his jaw.

“What misfortune is this supposed to be?”

All shook their heads with wretched faces.

One Elder spoke to Yeo Beom.

“Before the Demonic Cult or the Unorthodox Faction learns of this, we must quickly choose the next Alliance Leader.”

Lee Jaseung asked Yeo Beom, who nodded,

“In such a case, how do we choose the next Alliance Leader?”

“The Elders of the Council and those of unit head rank or higher in the Alliance gather to recommend a leader and then elect him by vote. We invite renowned arbiters of Jianghu to oversee the process so that it proceeds fairly.”

“I see.”

Just then a Virtuous Heroes warrior entered and reported something.

Lee Jaseung nodded, and the warrior went out.

And a moment later, someone entered.

At his appearance, everyone there was startled. The man Lee Jaseung had prepared for this very day, the one known to have died, was the Alliance’s second-in-command, Ban Yeo.

People gathered around him. Until only recently he had stood just under Jang Wonso, holding a station below one man and above ten thousand.

“What has happened here?”

“There were reasons I could not speak of. But when I heard the Alliance Leader had been assassinated, I could not sit idle, so I rushed here.”

“It is good that you returned. In such a situation, your return is truly a blessing for the martial world.”

Those who had tied their political fortunes to Ban Yeo welcomed his entrance, while those who had tied themselves to Jang Wonso cast suspicious looks at this sudden arrival.

Ban Yeo could not control his indignation and raised his voice.

“We will find the one who assassinated the Alliance Leader and punish him with these hands!”

In any case, his appearance was enough to excite everyone.

It had been Dan Woobin’s idea to have him appear here today.

He thought that if Ban Yeo appeared later, when the next Alliance Leader was being chosen, everyone’s suspicions could fall on him. Surely there would be those who thought he was the murderer.

Better to have him appear in this chaos and cry for vengeance.

Ban Yeo obeyed meekly. He had already drunk the poison Lee Jaseung had given him, so resistance was out of the question.

Watching him with a look of displeasure, Yeo Beom spoke softly to Lee Jaseung.

“How about you put yourself forward as a candidate for the next Alliance Leader?”

“That is out of the question.”

Lee Jaseung had not expected Yeo Beom to make such an offer.

“I don’t know, it does not seem completely out of the question.”

Yeo Beom gave a peculiar smile. Lee Jaseung could read his mind. In any case, the masters of the Council of Elders could not become Alliance Leader. That did not mean he wanted to hand the seat to Ban Yeo either.

Rather, he meant to have Lee Jaseung elected Alliance Leader and enjoy power from behind.

In that instant, a good idea came to Lee Jaseung.

A stratagem to use this situation to seize the Alliance Leader’s seat. It was clearly worth attempting.

Lee Jaseung turned a triumphant smile toward Baek Seolyoung.

His gaze to her said this.

Jang Wonso was dead, but the real fight started now.

Baek Seolyoung gave a small, firm nod.

Her gaze answered this.

They would see that fight through to the end, together.