The Youngest Member of the Martial Alliance Chapter 172

Seven chis rang at the Martial Alliance headquarters.

Soon, figures of the Hall Master level and above would gather.

In the eting room where people had not yet arrived, only Alliance Leader Beili Tian and Chief Strategist Sima Hui were present.

"Strategist, the Righteous-Demonic War is really breaking out."

"Yes."

"The best outco would have been for the war not to happen, but since it has co to this, I must uproot the Demonic Cult in my generation."

Annihilation of the Demonic Path.

It was the long-cherished wish of all past Alliance Leaders.

Conversely, it was also sothing no one had achieved so far.

Despite Beili Tian's resolve, the Chief Strategist half-listened and roughly nodded.

"……Yes."

Beili Tian stared intently at the Chief Strategist. Whenever he fell into deep thought, a deep furrow ford between his brows.

It was the sa now. He had placed a few chess pieces on the table and was pondering sothing very deeply.

It was best not to disturb him at tis like this.

"Haa, I really can't figure it out."

The Chief Strategist sighed several tis and moved the chess pieces. He placed one at the very top and kept adjusting the order of the others.

Beili Tian could guess the Chief Strategist's dilemma by looking at the number of chess pieces.

'The martial artists of Heaven Beyond Heaven.'

As a strategist, he was divining their martial prowess.

Accurately grasping combat power was a basic requirent for a strategist. However, for martial artists around the level of Heaven Beyond Heaven, it was not easy to co up with an answer until they actually clashed.

Especially.

"I can't even get a feel for this guy."

Unlike the other chess pieces that only moved up and down one or two steps in the order, one particular chess piece had a large range of movent. That showed how deep the Chief Strategist's dilemma was.

Unable to find an answer in the end, the Chief Strategist asked Beili Tian.

"Alliance Leader, just how strong is the Hidden Dragon Unit Commander?"

After all, the Alliance Leader had directly sparred with Cheon Woojin, and as a fellow martial artist of Heaven Beyond Heaven, he thought he might know sothing he couldn't see.

As the Chief Strategist hoped, the Alliance Leader, who was looking at the chess pieces arranged in order, smoothly moved the piece symbolizing Cheon Woojin.

"At least here."

The Chief Strategist was startled.

The place where the chess piece with the character for 'Heaven' was placed was right next to the 'Kings'. Here, the Kings symbolized the Sword King, the Poison King, and Alliance Leader Beili Tian.

The Chief Strategist considered the three to be masters of the sa level. Since they were also called the Three Great Masters of the Righteous Path, it was a reasonable judgnt.

"Are you serious?"

There was a hint of disbelief.

He knew Cheon Woojin was strong, but to think he stood on the sa line as the absolute best of the Righteous Path.

At that question, Alliance Leader Beili Tian smiled instead.

"Maybe not."

"I thought so, right?"

Soon, Beili Tian moved the chess piece again.

It passed the Kings and went up a long way. Even then, it didn't stop and reached the very edge of the table.

The Chief Strategist's jaw dropped wider and wider the whole ti the chess piece was moving.

"Maybe here."

It was Beili Tian's honest assessnt.

When he first saw Cheon Woojin, he thought it was truly amazing that he had reached the Transcendent Peak at that age.

The second ti he saw him, he realized he had reached the Profound Realm, and when they sparred together, he thought he might have reached the Life and Death Realm like himself.

However, after escaping the Inescapable Net and seeing his actions since then, he ca to this thought.

He might be in a distant place that even I cannot look up to.

"What's certain is that while our Righteous Path might lose the war, that child Cheon Woojin will never lose."

Who could kill him?

Beili Tian truly thought so.

The Chief Strategist, who had been dazed for a mont, soon managed to nod.

"I have been living in the greatest era as a strategist."

"It's been quite a good ti for as an Alliance Leader too."

Around that ti, people began to gather in the eting room, and the chess pieces went into the Chief Strategist's embrace.

---

All figures of the Hall Master level and above had gathered.

However, naturally, the actual right to speak belonged to the masters representing the era, including the Alliance Leader and the Chief Strategist.

For example, like the Poison King who was fiercely indignant.

"Did they really declare war just because I killed so of the Blood Tiger Army! Those Demonic Cult bastards are out of their minds. Fine, good. Since it's co to this, we must eradicate their entire seed."

The Sword King, who was watching the Poison King, said in a low voice.

"So, you're saying this war is because of you, Poison King?"

"……."

The Poison King hesitated for a mont and then got angry instead. If he admitted it here, the Tang family might really have to take all the responsibility for the war.

In fact, the Sword King had also said it with that intention. Even if he had a hearty personality, the cunning temperant of the Namgung family didn't go anywhere.

There was only one person in this place who could diate between the two Kings. When Chief Strategist Sima Hui nervously unfolded his folding fan, the two closed their mouths.

Now that the war had started, the Chief Strategist's words were absolute.

"The incident where Senior Poison King killed the Blood Tiger Army might have ignited the fire, but in any case, the oil had already been spilled long before. In the end, it would have caught fire one way or another."

"Indeed, that is a very reasonable statent."

The Poison King was satisfied. The Chief Strategist, who glared at the Poison King for a mont, continued calmly.

"The prolonged battle for the position of the Minor Cult Leader among the Young Leaders must also be one of the reasons. The Young Leader who establishes the greatest rit through this war will gain the support of the demonic practitioners and beco the Minor Cult Leader."

"Then if we kill all the Young Leaders, will the war stop?"

"……."

Everyone's gaze gathered at Cheon Woojin's innocent question.

It was a gathering where only those of the Hall Master level and above could attend, but no one raised an objection.

"If all the Young Leaders die, the war will actually drag on longer. The Vice Cult Leader, who would covet that position, would prolong the war to prevent the other six families from keeping him in check."

"It's not an easy matter."

"Because it's the Righteous-Demonic War."

There was bitterness in the Chief Strategist's voice. In any case, preventing the war was the best option, but since it had ended up like this, he couldn't help but feel a bitter taste in his mouth as a strategist.

"As you know, the Demonic Cult's forces are surging in. The front lines we anticipate are here, here, and here—these three places. We will clash fifteen days from now."

It was the result of grasping the number and realm of the Demonic Cult's forces. Everyone nodded. Fifteen days was a short ti if you considered it short, and a long ti if you considered it long.

"First, for rational troop managent, we have reorganized all the units. We will designate five ard units of 3,000 n each as the First Alliance Unit to the Fifth Alliance Unit. Also, there will be elite ard units of the Eight Sects One Union and the Four Great Families, such as Namgung's Azure Sky Unit and Shaolin's One Hundred and Eight Arhats, and finally……."

The Chief Strategist looked at Cheon Woojin. It was a part he had agonized over right up until the eting started.

Should he have him lead the First Alliance Unit? Or entrust him with the White Sword Party, the Alliance Leader's escort? It might not be bad to have him train the troops gathered from all over the country instead. The Commander's training thods had already been proven several tis.

After much deliberation, the Chief Strategist ca to a conclusion.

"The Hidden Dragon Unit will exist as a Special Operations Unit. They will not belong anywhere and I plan to assign them unique missions depending on the situation. Would that be alright?"

He asked towards the Sword King, the Mount Hua Sect Leader, and the Poison King.

Three of the Hidden Dragon Unit mbers were their successors.

The answer that ca back was all too natural.

"I would have been disappointed if you said you were disbanding the Hidden Dragon Unit."

The Dragon and Phoenix Gathering had now completely disappeared.

The Hidden Dragon Unit was taking its place.

An ard unit made up of the youngest generation. However, they boasted higher achievents than any other ard unit, group, or hall.

It was an open secret that the next generation of the Martial Alliance would naturally be centered around the Hidden Dragon Unit.

Having explained the newly organized units, the Chief Strategist spread the map wide.

"There are three fierce battlegrounds. I plan to dispatch the First to Third Alliance Units to each. In particular, this basin in Qinghai called Sidalmok is an area we must absolutely secure."

The Sidalmok Basin, the center of Qinghai's waterways and mountain ranges.

Whoever secures that place will have an easier ti unraveling the war in the future.

Since the Demonic Cult also had a strategist, they would dispatch trendous masters to the Sidalmok Basin.

"However, it would be aningless if we focus here and lose everywhere else. Our first goal is total victory."

To achieve victory in all three fierce battlegrounds.

It ant they would start by firmly suppressing the enemy's spirit.

"Do you have a strategy?"

"I do. I will explain it from now on."

The Chief Strategist fluttered his folding fan. Originally, a strategist had to fan himself to look the part.

---

Massive forces began to move.

The most important battleground in the first battle was the Sidalmok Basin in Qinghai.

The masters deployed there were Alliance Leader Beili Tian and Cheon Woojin. The Chief Strategist strongly stated that regardless of other places, those two had to go there.

It was a matter of symbolism. The Alliance Leader leading the General Alliance of the Righteous Path Martial, and Cheon Woojin, the most recently joined youngest mber and a martial artist of Heaven Beyond Heaven.

The eldest and the youngest stepping forward at the sa ti ant that they represented the entire Righteous Path of the era.

They intended to show them. Just how strong the current Righteous Path was, and what would happen if the re grunts of the Demonic Cult dared to bare their fangs.

Thus, the Alliance Leader and Cheon Woojin moved side by side, leading the 3,000-strong First Alliance Unit.

- Should I just show them everything and co back?

It was Cheon Woojin's question.

The Chief Strategist, who had pondered for a long ti, shook his head.

- Honestly, even I cannot properly fathom your martial prowess. In other words, it ans you can beco an unimaginable disaster for the Demonic Cult. Hide at least thirty percent until then.

The Chief Strategist was certain that the hidden thirty percent of his martial power would play a decisive role at a truly important mont.

.

.

.

The troops arrived at Sidalmok in exactly ten days.

A basin, literally a massive plain surrounded by high mountains. It was so vast that it seed there would be no shortage of space even for tens of thousands of martial artists to wage a battle.

The Chief Strategist sent a force of 3,000 n here, anticipating that the Demonic Cult would send at least 5,000 n.

The Righteous-Demonic War was originally like that. They could not gain an advantage in numbers. The number of martial artists above the third-rate level trained by the Demonic Cult was estimated to be 100,000.

It was due to the characteristic of demonic arts, which had a very fast speed of reaching the first-rate level. However, for masters above that level, the Righteous Path had the upper hand. In the end, to win the Righteous-Demonic War, overwhelming martial power was needed, not a numbers ga.

Just like right now.

A clear sign of tension was evident among the 3,000 Martial Alliance mbers. From far away, a pitch-black wave filling the horizon was surging in. At first, they thought it was an earthquake, but looking closely, every single one of them was a martial artist of the Demonic Cult.

Alliance Leader Beili Tian stepped forward.

An appropriate amount of tension heightens the senses to the extre, but if it becos excessive, one cannot move properly.

The Alliance Leader hoped that as many alliance mbers as possible would return alive. So, to relieve everyone's tension, he infused his voice with internal energy and let it burst out.

"Hah! You demonic practitioners of Xinjiang! Do you truly have the confidence to face the thousands of elites led personally by ...the White Egret Sword Saint, Beili Tian!"

The Alliance Leader's Lion's Roar grabbed and shook this massive basin entirely. It contained such trendous spirit that even the alliance mbers were surprised.

His usual benevolent and playful deanor was nowhere to be seen.

There was only the majesty of the Alliance Leader, pointing his sword at the enemy on the front lines as the pinnacle of the Righteous Path.

The heavily stiffened atmosphere among the alliance mbers seed to loosen sowhat. The fact that the person with them was the White Egret Sword Saint, Beili Tian, was in itself a great comfort and encouragent.

In the Righteous Path martial world, the Alliance Leader was such an existence.

The Alliance Leader, having unleashed his Lion's Roar to the fullest, sent a glance to Cheon Woojin.

"It's your turn."

"Do I really have to?"

Cheon Woojin felt sowhat embarrassed.

However, Beili Tian was firm.

"If even one more person can return alive thanks to the morale you boost, wouldn't it be a worthwhile thing to do?"

It was a statent that touched his heart.

Cheon Woojin, who nodded, stepped forward.

The Demonic Cult's forces were already filling the opposite side of the basin. Contrary to the Chief Strategist's expectation, it seed not 5,000, but a good 10,000 n had sward in.

Cheon Woojin drew his Crescent Moon Staff. With just that simple movent, a uniquely thick and ominous energy hovered around him.

Cheon Woojin, who had been looking at the dog-like swarm of the Demonic Cult's forces for a mont, suddenly swung the Crescent Moon Staff in a long horizontal arc.

The Dark Heavenly Ki beca a black dragon and surged toward the basin. Soon, the black dragon drew a massive line at the entrance of the basin where the Demonic Cult's forces stood. It was a line so thick and clear that everyone could see it.

"Only those prepared for death may cross."

Even though he didn't unleash a Lion's Roar like the Alliance Leader, it struck clearly into the ears of the 13,000 or so martial artists gathered in the area.

Soon, Cheon Woojin properly emitted his Dark Heavenly Ki. It was a presence that crushed this massive basin entirely. Even compared to the presence the Alliance Leader had shown earlier, its level was by no ans lower.

The fierce temperant possessed by the Dark Heavenly Ki made the skin tingle not only for the alliance mbers but even for the demonic practitioners who had learned demonic arts.

The Alliance Leader also felt that formidable montum right next to him and sent a telepathic ssage.

- Didn't the Chief Strategist tell you to hide thirty percent?

- I did hide it.

- Ahem, actually, so did I.

The Alliance Leader suddenly pretended that he had hidden his power too.

(End of Chapter)