Multiple bursts of fireworks dyed the night sky red. Watching this, Jaseong and Gu Janghu clenched their fists inwardly.
[Branch chief. That's Lee Rin's signal...!]
[... Thank goodness, she made it in ti.]
While Jaseong sighed in relief, unlike Gu Janghu, the Association Leader and the Tianxia Association's executives wore ominous expressions.
And in the next mont, their sense of foreboding beca a reality.
Shuuuuuuak!
Four shadows erged, cutting through the darkness. Won, clad in white martial robes and wearing white masks.
The guardians of the North Sea Ice Palace had arrived.
Their movents were as elegant as snowflakes fluttering in the wind and, at the sa ti, radiated deadly murderous intent.
'Frost Jade Palm!'
At the front, the vanguard guardian Han Soweol extended her hand, and an icy cold swept across the battlefield.
Overwheld by this intense chill, five or six Tianxia Association executives suffered internal injuries and coughed up blood.
'Frozen Heavens One Sword!'
From another guardian's sword, translucent sword aura, like ice, surged forth.
Beautiful yet terrifyingly lethal, this sword aura cut down Tianxia Association executives in a single stroke.
"Wh-what is this...!"
The Tianxia Association executives retreated, flustered. Faced with these mysterious experts who had suddenly appeared, their morale was completely crushed.
And reinforcents did not stop there.
"Assist the leader!"
Dozens of ard forces from the Hao Sect Ansun branch burst out from behind the bushes. All wore black masks with horns, creating the impression of fiends from hell springing forth.
Just like that, the situation was instantaneously reversed. The Tianxia Association warriors, who had just monts earlier surrounded Jaseong and Gu Janghu, now found themselves besieged by enemies coming from all directions.
"W-we have to escape!"
"Aaaargh!"
Jaseong and Gu Janghu took a mont to catch their breaths as they watched the scene unfold. The breath that had risen up to their chins finally began to steady.
"Great hero!"
At that mont, soone even more welco appeared. A woman wearing a blue martial robe and a blue-white mask—the Young Palace Mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace, Lee Rin.
"Sorry I'm late. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. And you're not late at all."
"Don't worry anymore. I'll take down all those villains who bullied you."
With a face full of anger, Lee Rin drew the treasured sword of the North Sea. The tip of her sword was directed at the Association Leader of the Tianxia Association, who was holding a massive spear.
'Ice Lord Asura Sword Art, Ninth Form, heavenly Snow Falling Petals!'
Lee Rin charged at the Association Leader, slashing down with her sword. Using the North Sea's secret technique, a chilling cold that could freeze the very air emanated from her.
KAAAAANG!!!!!
The Association Leader blocked Lee Rin's first strike by swinging his spear. Yet at that mont—
'?!'
The mont their weapons connected, a trendous chill traveled up the length of the spear and froze the Association Leader's hands. It was the effect of the Ice Lord Asura Sword Art.
Frightened, the Association Leader hurriedly raised his internal power to drive out the cold. He then unleashed continuous attacks at Lee Rin, hoping to extinguish her cold energy.
But at that point, Jaseong intervened.
KAAAAANG!!!!
When Jaseong struck down with his sword, the Association Leader's body was pushed back with a scraping sound. The situation had been completely reversed from earlier—this ti, it was the Association Leader who was being forced back.
'His power increased...?!'
The reason Jaseong's strength had suddenly increased was simple: he had unleashed his secret technique, the Celestial Gate Opening Art, which he had reserved until now.
Of course, this ti he had only opened up to the Death Gate and Wounds Gate out of the twelve gates. With Lee Rin joining the fight, there was no need to overdo it—their combined strength was more than enough.
Kang! Kaaang! KAAAAANG!!!
As he desperately fended off attacks coming from both Jaseong and Lee Rin simultaneously, the Association Leader's entire body was riddled with wounds. He swung his spear in a desperate counterattack, but—
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, Ultimate Move: Heaven Evading Shadow Annihilation Sword!'
Suddenly, Jaseong's ultimate move rained down upon the Association Leader. At the sa ti, twelve strands of sword aura pierced all over the Association Leader's body.
"Guh-urk!!"
The Association Leader coughed up blood and fell to his knees on the ground. Not missing the opportunity, the guardian of the North Sea Ice Palace sprang into action.
Chwarureuk!
Chains shot out from all directions, binding the Association Leader's arms and waist tightly.
Those chains, imbued with North Sea frost, were so sturdy that even the greatest experts of the world would struggle to break them.
"Th-the Association Leader has been captured...!"
"Wh-what is...!"
"Then what about us now...?!"
Once the restraints were firmly in place, only the rough sound of breathing filled the air.
Every Tianxia Association executive wore a face devoid of fighting spirit.
Only then did Jaseong finally sheathe his sword and look down at the Association Leader.
"From now on, your fate is in my hands."
Jaseong's voice was icy as a slab of frozen steel.
In front of him, the surrounding air turned so quiet it seed as if everyone was holding their breath.
* * *
Thus, the joint operation between the Hao Sect upper managent and Ansun branch—"The Abduction of the Tianxia Association Leader"—ca to an end.
The aftereffects of that ferocious battle were etched into the bodies of Jaseong and Gu Janghu.
Jaseong's right shoulder had been deeply cut, and although Gu Janghu had avoided fatal wounds, dozens of sword wounds marked his entire body.
Because of this, both of their robes were soaked in blood—the price for surviving a fight against more than twenty opponents at once.
"Haaa. Taking on over a hundred Tianxia Association executives and the Association Leader with just the two of you... When are you ever going to fix that reckless attitude?"
Lee Rin knelt in front of the two as she spoke.
She took a small white porcelain dicine bottle from her clothing and applied it to Jaseong's shoulder wound and Gu Janghu's sword cuts.
Whenever her delicate hands touched their wounds, a chilly sensation spread out, and the throbbing pain seed to gradually subside.
"What kind of dicine is this?"
"It's a golden wound salve we use in the North Sea. It's especially effective for reckless fools like you, Great Hero."
"There was no other way. This was our only chance. If we missed this, we might have lost track of the real Association Leader..."
At Jaseong's answer, Lee Rin furrowed her brows.
Tying the bandage, she suddenly pulled tight with a burst of strength and raised her voice, upset.
"Can't you think just once about how worried I get about you, Great Hero! Stop doing reckless things!"
"Ugh! Go easy..."
"No. I'm going to tie it tighter."
"Why are you suddenly so mad...?"
Jaseong had a bewildered look on his face. Watching them while pretending to sleep nearby, Gu Janghu clicked his tongue inwardly.
'The branch leader is even more clueless about won's feelings than a killer like . Even a stone Buddha would cry at this...'
Truth be told, Gu Janghu had been awake for a while, but he couldn't bring himself to move because of the strange tension between the two.
He could only lie like a corpse, suppressing his pain.
Eventually, Lee Rin sighed and took out a piece of candied fruit she had treasured in her clothing.
"Eat this. I was saving it for later, but I'll give it to you, Great Hero."
Jaseong looked at the candy, dumbfounded.
"... How much of that do you have tucked away? Do you have an endless supply or sothing?"
"Just eat it. The pain will ease."
... As if candy were a painkiller.
Unable to resist Lee Rin's universal-cure-candy theory, Jaseong accepted the gift.
As the sweet taste spread in his mouth, perhaps not the pain, but at least his mood lightened a bit.
"By the way, are our Dark Path allies from Guangxi Province not here yet?"
"Right as we're talking, I just got a carrier pigeon from Hyang big sis. Five hundred Dark Path mbers from Guangxi Province are currently passing through Bamboo Forest Island. By tomorrow night, they'll be in Sichuan Province."
"Good. But..."
"?"
"Why didn't the guardian general and the three hall lords co with you? They said they'd co when I gave the signal..."
At that, Lee Rin's expression turned serious.
"Ah, I forgot to ntion."
"?"
"The guardian general and the three hall lords ran into elders from the Black Star Sect and the Twin Dragon Clan along the way."
"Elders from the Black Star Sect and Twin Dragon Clan?"
"They're extrely formidable experts, so it must've taken quite a bit out of them to defeat them. That's why they're currently being treated at a safehouse on the outskirts of Sichuan Province."
"Even the elders of the Evil Path Association's great sects intervened...? But wasn't it just the Black Star Sect, Poison Valley, and the Blood Cult targeting the Tianxia Association until now? When did the Twin Dragon Clan join in as well?"
"I think the intel is true about the Evil Path Association Leader's seal being in the Tianxia Association. Otherwise, why would everyone be so desperate to seize the Tianxia Association?"
For hundreds of years, the Evil Path Association Leader's seal had been handed down within the unorthodox sects.
An absolute expert who possessed the Evil Path Leader's seal could beco the new master of the Evil Path Association.
Moreover, the Evil Path Association Leader's seal is one of the Eight Great Treasures, imbued with mysterious energy.
No wonder the major evil sects and prominent families were so fiercely after it.
"And one more thing. On the day the Evil Path Association Leader died, the Tianxia Association Leader was there as well."
"What?"
"It's possible that the Association Leader had a hand in the Evil Path Leader's death."
At this unexpected news from Lee Rin, Jaseong's gaze deepened.
"We need to make the Association Leader talk. That should get us information about the Evil Path Leader's death and the seal."
* * *
After finishing his wound treatnt, Jaseong slowly got to his feet and moved to another area.
A secret annex of the Tianxia Association on the midslope of a wild mountain.
All the Tianxia Association's executives were there, subdued, bound, and prostrate.
"Keep your head down!"
"If you lift your head, I'll bust your legs!"
The Hao Sect Ansun branch martial artists spoke threateningly.
Most of them were also originally from the Dark Path and were no less rough than the Tianxia Association's own Dark Path mbers.
Jaseong passed by the scene without a glance, heading to the deepest room of the secret annex.
Inside, the Tianxia Association Leader, Gun Hanmaek, was imprisoned.
Clank—
Gun Hanmaek's body was chained with four thick chains, fixed to the wall so that he could not move.
In front of him sat a food bowl, but he had not touched it.
"Not hungry? I suppose it's not quite the delicacies you're used to."
Jaseong's voice was cold. At those words, Gun Hanmaek slowly lifted his head.
His face showed exhaustion and pain, but his eyes glimred resolutely.
"How does it feel? Falling from the peak, where you enjoyed every luxury and pleasure as the Tianxia Association Leader, down to the bottom?"
Jaseong deliberately provoked Gun Hanmaek. When interrogating, one needed to shake the other's emotions—an art taught in the Hao Sect.
Yet, contrary to Jaseong's intentions, Gun Hanmaek rely chuckled.
"Heh. That I, as the Tianxia Association Leader, enjoyed every luxury and pleasure... Whose nonsense is that?"
"?"
"The strategists who served at my side would all know. Even after becoming Tianxia Association Leader, I got by on three bowls of noodles a day."
What the Association Leader ate was of no concern to Jaseong, but he found it perplexing.
That the Tianxia Association Leader—who controlled the pleasure district of the Central Plains and had imnse financial power—lived only on noodles? Why?
"Do you want to hear an old story... I was an orphan from the pleasure district. When I was on the verge of starving to death, I even fought dogs over dog bowls. My greatest dream back then was to have a single bowl of noodles, even just once in my life."
"......."
"To keep from forgetting those days, even after becoming the Tianxia Association Leader, I stuck to noodles for my main als... Only then could I not forget the past and remain fit to lead the countless Dark Path mbers of the Tianxia Association."
Gun Hanmaek's past—sothing even the Hao Sect upper managent had not fully understood.
Hearing that he was an orphan from the pleasure district made Jaseong's eyes flicker, as it was strangely similar to his own origins in the Red Light District.
So Jaseong decided to listen a while longer.
"You probably think of as an exceedingly greedy and cruel villain. That's how the world sees . But..."
"?"
"The world is a chain of take and be taken.
Steal a bushel of rice, and you're a thief.
Steal a blade, and you're a bandit.
Take over an alley, and you're a Dark Path thug.
Seize the world, and you beco emperor.
I only wanted to get to the top in that endless struggle. Though my origins were humble, I wanted my end to be grand..."
Gun Hanmaek's eyes were filled with lancholy.
Hearing this, Jaseong was reminded of his own past—scraping by in the alleys of the Red Light District, striving to break free from poverty.
As a child, he'd beco a junior guard at an escort agency, hauling wagons bigger than his own body and facing off against bandits with a cheap cleaver.
He worked himself to the bone for a life where his family wouldn't have to go hungry.
Even if it all felt aningless now.
Shaking off the mories, Jaseong looked back at Gun Hanmaek.
"A world of take and be taken... Fitting words for a Dark Path leader. Is that why you killed the Evil Path Association Leader and stole the seal?"
Jaseong questioned, his voice ice-cold.
At that mont, Gun Hanmaek's eyes—so calm until now—twisted.
"... That I killed the Association Leader? Who the hell is saying that nonsense?"
Suddenly, murderous intent surged from Gun Hanmaek's body.
Within his eyes burned a furious fla unlike anything Jaseong had seen so far.
'Why is he so agitated?'
Jaseong looked at Gun Hanmaek, puzzled.
And then, in the next mont, a secret about the Evil Path Association Leader's death—one unknown to anyone in the Central Plains—began to flow from Gun Hanmaek's mouth.
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