Episode 346
The first declaration made by Seol Poong, the new leader of the Four Kings Alliance, before his warriors was clear: vengeance for the death of the previous leader, Gwe Gal-hyeon.
With fierce determination, he proclaimed:
“According to the testimony of Pyo Yeong-do-gun Maeng Hwi-yeom, who witnessed the duel up close, our late leader was never defeated in a one-on-one fight! When the Martial Arts Alliance’s leader Moyong Geom and the Heavenly Saint Hae Cheong-yeon were both bested by him, those cowards resorted to attacking him together—four against one! And yet, they shamelessly twisted the truth, pretending it was a fair duel and sullying his honor! I will never forgive them! The Four Kings Alliance will use every ounce of our strength to exact revenge!”
Seol Poong’s words ignited a blazing fire in the hearts of all the Four Kings warriors.
Already mourning the loss of their leader, the revelation that he was killed not in honorable combat but through a cowardly ambush united them in furious resolve.
The warriors rose as one.
“Of course! There’s no way our leader was defeated by a mere woman in her twenties!”
“Those despicable cowards! Not only did they gang up on him, but they also hid the truth and pretended to have won fairly! We will never forgive this!”
“Revenge for our leader!”
“For his honor!”
Like a wildfire swept by the wind, the Four Kings warriors surged forward.
If Seol Poong gave the order, they were ready to storm the Martial Arts Alliance headquarters immediately.
It was around this time that Jegal Ji-gang mentioned the possibility of a formal war.
And it seemed that such a war was becoming inevitable.
The Martial Arts Alliance warriors, too, scoffed at Seol Poong’s declaration, their fighting spirit burning brighter than ever.
“Our leader was killed by a gang attack? Ridiculous! Who would believe that? How pitiful they must be to cling to such delusions! Let them come if they dare!”
“Bring it on! What can a ragtag group without a leader possibly do?”
The tension between the Martial Arts Alliance and the Four Kings Alliance was reaching a breaking point.
At this rate, no one could stop the outbreak of a formal war.
But Seol Poong did not want this war.
He knew well that a fight between the Martial Arts Alliance, now without the Blood Sect, and the Four Kings Alliance would be nothing but destructive.
So he turned to Myo A-ran, who had orchestrated this situation, and asked:
“Myo Sojeo, if this continues, a formal war seems unavoidable. Wouldn’t that be a serious problem?”
Myo A-ran smiled gently and replied:
“Don’t worry. Since Seonwoo Gongja has returned to the Hyungsan Sect, he will take care of everything.”
“…You mean him?”
“Yes. I’m sure Seonwoo Gongja has already thought of what I have.”
Seol Poong blinked in stunned silence.
It took less than two days for him to realize she was right.
Someone came to the Four Kings Alliance.
Seol Poong greeted him with surprise.
“Sir!”
The Sword Saint Hae Un-baek smiled playfully and clasped his hands together in greeting.
“I, Hae Un-baek of the Martial Arts Alliance, humbly pay respects to the supreme leader of the Four Kings.”
Seol Poong forced a wry smile and pleaded:
“Sir, please don’t do that. If you keep this up, I might become the first leader to die of embarrassment.”
Hae Un-baek laughed brightly, clearly amused.
“Oh! You’ve grown a lot! No longer the weakling you once were. I suppose the position really does shape the person.”
Seol Poong returned the wry smile.
“I’m not sure why I don’t feel good about being acknowledged as having grown by my master.”
Back when Seol Poong was part of the Flying Dragon Thirteen, he had undergone intense training under the Sword Saint and had grown explosively.
Though the Sword Saint never formally taught him martial arts, Seol Poong considered him a true mentor.
Now, wearing a more welcoming expression, Seol Poong asked:
“Thank you for coming, sir. Did my younger brother leave any message for me?”
Hae Un-baek grinned and answered:
“Of course. He told me to help you.”
Seol Poong’s expression shifted to one of subtle complexity.
“To help me… do you mean regarding the formal war?”
He thought that couldn’t be right.
The Sword Saint was an idol among the righteous factions.
It would be strange for him to side with the Four Kings Alliance, a group of outlaws, against the righteous.
But Hae Un-baek shook his head.
“No, he told me to help prevent the formal war.”
Seol Poong’s eyes widened with joy and surprise.
All eyes in the martial world were now fixed on the Martial Arts Alliance and the Four Kings Alliance.
If these two of the three great powers went to war, the scale would dwarf even the Blood War of the past.
It might be the largest conflict in martial history.
And at the moment, there seemed to be no way to stop it.
The Four Kings warriors were all calling for revenge, while the Martial Arts Alliance prepared for battle under Moyong Geom and Hae Cheong-yeon.
Then, unexpectedly, someone appeared.
Hae Cheong-yeon’s father, the Heavenly Sword Saint Hae Un-baek.
Standing with the Four Kings Alliance, he declared:
“My daughter Cheong-yeon is currently being controlled by the Blood Sect! Moyong Geom as well. I myself was once nearly killed by Moyong Geom, who was under the Blood Sect’s control, and Jegal Ji-gang! Those plotting this formal war are actually the Blood Sect’s demon heads hiding behind them!”
After revealing this truth, the Sword Saint passionately appealed to the Martial Arts Alliance warriors:
“Think back to the Four Kings Alliance not long ago! Though they are outlaws, they have been our closest allies since the era of the Thunder God and Sword God! They never bullied the weak or committed injustice! Thanks to that, we have always maintained good relations! Don’t listen to words that sow discord between us and those who have been our partners! History has never seen pure motives behind those who incite hatred and conflict among allies! You must not fall for their schemes!”
The Martial Arts Alliance’s faith in Hae Cheong-yeon was almost religious.
No matter who spoke ill of her, they dismissed it as mere slander.
But when the one speaking was the Sword Saint Hae Un-baek—her own father and the idol of all righteous factions—the situation was different.
His words could not be so easily dismissed.
Confusion spread among the Martial Arts Alliance warriors.
“Hae Sojeo… is being controlled by the Blood Sect?”
“Ridiculous! That can’t be true!”
“But it was the Sword Saint who said it. Come to think of it, it was strange that he died at the hands of that strange sword master Seo Il. The Martial Arts Alliance’s response back then was odd, too. And he is Hae Sojeo’s father. Would the great hero really lie about his own daughter?”
“W-well, maybe…”
“Honestly, I was uneasy about a woman in her twenties defeating our leader one-on-one. If what they say is true…”
“Hmm.”
Still, the Martial Arts Alliance warriors hadn’t fully accepted the Sword Saint’s words.
But the mood to prepare for war had definitely cooled.
No one could fight a massive war while harboring doubts.
In this atmosphere, Hae Cheong-yeon was furious.
When they nearly met in Yunnan Province, she had held back from confronting the Sword Saint, fearing it would stir her soul.
Now, that restraint had backfired.
Grinding her teeth, she ordered Jegal Ji-gang:
“Put an end to this immediately!”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
Jegal Ji-gang quickly issued a statement in response to the Sword Saint:
“We are not under the control of demon heads! Warriors of the Martial Arts Alliance, do not be swayed by these evil provocations! How could the Sword Saint, whose death was confirmed, suddenly reappear? He must be an impostor! If not, why would the paragon of the righteous side with the demon heads of the outlaws? We must never forgive those who use even the late Sword Saint to deceive us!”
Rather than refuting the Sword Saint’s claims, this statement attacked his very existence.
It was a classic tactic: to discredit the messenger rather than the message.
And it worked.
The Martial Arts Alliance’s public opinion swung back.
“That’s right! Why would the Sword Saint side with the outlaws? He must be a fake!”
“Is that so?”
“Definitely! The outlaws’ tricks are obvious!”
“How dare they imitate him to deceive us! We will never forgive this!”
“Revenge for the honor of the Sword Saint!”
But then, the Sword Saint issued another statement…
At this declaration, the eyes of the martial world shifted back toward the Murim Alliance.
Everyone wanted to verify the truth of this claim.
But upon hearing this, Hae Cheong-yeon scoffed.
Altering someone’s appearance was hardly a difficult feat.
“Reveal their identities? Hah! Fine, I’ll show you.”
The Murim Alliance immediately began preparations to alter the two’s appearances before presenting them publicly.
Their plan was to dismiss the accusation as a lie and discredit all other claims as fabrications.
What they didn’t realize was that Sunwoo Jin’s true target wasn’t those two at all…
Just as the Murim Alliance was about to unveil the faces of the two warriors to the world, another group suddenly interrupted the heated debate between the Sword Saint faction and the Murim Alliance.
They were none other than Si Seo-woo, the Southern Sea Saintess revered as a hero among the chivalrous, and Yong Woo-shin, the head of the Fukken Dragon Clan, famed for their code of honor.
Together, they issued a joint statement:
This declaration struck a devastating blow to the Murim Alliance.
The world’s attention now shifted squarely to the front lines.
The martial world began to boil with outrage.
“Come to think of it, our sect was also ordered by the Murim Alliance not to disclose any information about the front lines. They threatened us with annihilation if we spoke out.”
“Y-You too? We had the same orders!”
“So all these stories must be true…”
And that was just the beginning.
Long-buried rumors started surfacing.
“Did you know? None of the ronin or rogue warriors who went to support the front lines ever returned alive.”
“What?! Why?”
“No one knows for sure. But it’s said that those who returned from the front lines in good health mysteriously disappeared without a trace.”
“W-What?! That’s…!”
“Moreover, the only time such disappearances didn’t happen was when the Sword Saint himself was present on the front lines.”
“Y-You mean the Sword Saint’s sudden, inexplicable defeat against Seo Il and his subsequent death…”
“Good heavens!”
Jegal Ji-gang was utterly unable to control the situation.
So many hidden truths had piled up over time, and now they were all bursting into the open at once, making information control impossible.
“What are you all doing?! Cut off the sources of these leaks immediately! Use any means necessary to silence them all!”
“B-But it’s coming from so many places at once! We can’t handle it!”
“You fools!”
At that moment, Sunwoo Jin unleashed his decisive blow.
Through Sak Mu-heun, former leader of the Shadow Squad and unnamed disciple of the Sword Saint.
Training at the Gwanggeom Tomb, Sak Mu-heun stepped outside at Sunwoo Jin’s request and exposed the existence of the Shadow Squad.
His revelation spread like wildfire through the Hao Gate, engulfing the entire martial world, and Jegal Ji-gang was powerless to stop the fallout.
Following his lead, former Shadow Squad warriors began making conscience declarations, and then Sunwoo Jin’s next bombshell detonated immediately after.
This time, it was the Cheongseong Sect.
All of this was made possible because Hwa Young-bin, Sunwoo Jin’s sworn brother, relayed everything Sunwoo Jin had uncovered to his master, the eccentric Cheong Gwang-jin.
Upon learning the truth of the Great Bloodline War, Cheong Gwang-jin erupted in fury.
No one among the disciples could stand against the wrath of Cheong Gwang-jin, one of the infamous Four Eccentrics of the martial world, especially not Cheong Myeong-jin, who was already losing support.
Then the Sacheon Sect also rose up.
Its current leader, Dang Jeong-hoo, a participant in the Great Bloodline War and directly involved in the Ami faction’s destruction, refused to accept the truth.
Feigning ignorance, they too stood up and began condemning the Murim Alliance.
At this point, the situation became irreversible.
Jegal Ji-gang could only watch in stunned silence as everything spiraled out of control, while Murim Alliance warriors began eyeing their leadership with suspicion.
It was a complete victory in the battle for public opinion.
Watching the scene unfold, Southern Sea Saintess Si Seo-woo admired Sunwoo Jin and said,
“Truly remarkable! As Confucius said, they have now lost their grip on the Murim Alliance! If they fail to quickly convince the Murim Alliance warriors, everything will collapse under their own hands! You are truly extraordinary, Master!”
Sunwoo Jin smiled modestly in response.
“All I did was bring hidden truths to light. It was their own misdeeds that ultimately tripped them up.”
At this, Yong Woo-shin of the Dragon Clan sighed.
“Indeed, the net of heaven is vast and wide, yet nothing escapes it.”
Just then, Yeoryeong Seokma Son Eun-sang suddenly remembered something and asked,
“But brother, I understand you’ve weakened their hold on the Murim Alliance, but you said you’d bring the Reverse Blood Demon out into the open? What’s the plan for that?”
Sunwoo Jin smiled knowingly.
“The Reverse Blood Demon will have no choice but to emerge soon. Someone she fears most is about to appear.”
“Someone she fears most?”
Son Eun-sang asked, puzzled, as Sunwoo Jin gave a meaningful smile and gazed toward the eastern sky.