Chapter 58 : The Beginning of the Blood History

Chapter 58: The Beginning of the Blood History

The Jade Clear Pavilion Lord looked over the faces of those lined up around him.

Including the Deputy Pavilion Lord of the Taiqing Pavilion, thirty of Kunlun’s most formidable masters had gathered.

Of course, it was regrettable that the Taiqing Pavilion Lord—known as Kunlun’s greatest master—was absent, but his vacancy had been filled by the hidden dagger Kunlun had concealed with obsessive care: the Two Roaming Dragon Swords.

If those two joined forces, their combined strength would surpass even that of the Taiqing Pavilion Lord.

With their participation, there were four among them—including the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord himself—who had reached the supreme peak, more than ten at the master level, and all the rest were at least first-rate.

Judging from past precedents, there was a high probability that one of the Five Demons was leading the Bright Cult’s escort unit.

Although it had not yet been confirmed who had appeared this time, the likelihood pointed strongly toward Demon Flower.

Cheolma and the Profound Demon had already passed through, and the Ghost Demon as well, while the Poison Demon was widely rumored to be practicing medicine in the Cheonghae Region.

Demon Flower had already stepped into the Transformation Realm, so she would not be an easy opponent—but she was only at the initial stage. With the Two Roaming Dragon Swords, who stood at the very pinnacle of the supreme peak, and with the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord himself lending strength, it was not impossible to capture her.

Therefore—

“Let’s go. Let us engrave into the bones of the Hundred Paths rabble what fear truly is, and what kind of resolve Kunlun possesses!”

With those words, the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord launched himself forward, and Kunlun’s martial artists scattered into the air after him.

Immediately after the death squad departed, the Sangho Pavilion Lord—left alone—began to move in haste.

If the Bright Cult’s escort unit suffered damage from the death squad’s action, retaliation from the Bright Cult would be inevitable.

At that point, it would be necessary to draw the support of the many sects of the Hundred Paths to restrain a full-scale invasion by the Bright Cult.

Even as such movements bustled within the sect, Shin Jijinren, the Kunlun Sect Master, remained completely unaware.

That was because the Sangho Pavilion Lord had seized control of all Kunlun’s information and blocked it off.

Thus, after deceiving the venerable master, Kunlun’s drawn blade was aimed at the Bright Cult martial artists staying at Golden Flower Manor.

Early that morning, as the Taiqing Pavilion Lord prepared to begin his duties, he sensed something amiss—many of the Taiqing Pavilion’s masters, including the Deputy Pavilion Lord, were nowhere to be seen.

Ordinarily, he might have dismissed it as them being busy with individual training, but an uneasy feeling gnawed at him. The Taiqing Pavilion Lord set out to find the missing figures.

Before long, he confirmed that they could not be found anywhere within Kunlun’s grounds.

The abnormality of the situation filled him with anxiety, and he immediately sought out the Sect Master, Shin Jijinren.

After hearing the explanation, Shin Jijinren summoned the Sangho Pavilion Lord at once.

Seeing the determination filling the summoned Sangho Pavilion Lord’s expression, Shin Jijinren instinctively realized that something serious had occurred.

“Junior brother.”

The Sangho Pavilion Lord looked at the Sect Master, who addressed him not as Pavilion Lord, but as junior brother.

“Yes, senior brother.”

“Whatever you have done, it must have been for Kunlun’s sake. I understand that.”

“Senior brother……”

“However. The fact that you concealed it from me means you intended to take a path different from the one Kunlun now walks. That is something this senior brother cannot permit. I ask for your understanding.”

At those words, Shin Jijinren gave a signal with his eyes, and the Taiqing Pavilion Lord, who had been in attendance, shouted toward the outside.

“Taiqing Five Swords, are you there?”

“Yes, Pavilion Lord.”

“This is the Sect Master’s command. Immediately bind and imprison the Sangho Pavilion Lord, and seize control of the Sangho Pavilion!”

“We obey the order.”

The acknowledgment rang out, and the door opened as five swordmasters with sharp features stormed in.

They were the Taiqing Five Swords—among the elite even within the Taiqing Pavilion, which had gathered all of Kunlun’s strongest swordsmen.

Above them stood only the Two Roaming Dragon Swords, Kunlun’s hidden dagger, making their prowess easy to imagine.

Even as he was dragged away by them, the Sangho Pavilion Lord’s expression did not waver. It meant he had already resolved himself.

Watching him with a heavy gaze, Shin Jijinren turned to the Taiqing Pavilion Lord.

“We must hurry. Investigate what has been set in motion, and establish countermeasures to carry out.”

“Yes, Sect Master.”

After bowing his head, the Taiqing Pavilion Lord left. Shin Jijinren also rose from his seat and departed his residence.

Considering the gravity of the incident within the sect, he judged it necessary to explain matters to the senior masters residing in the Upper Pure Pavilion.

It was to prevent any misunderstanding that the disciples of those senior masters were being persecuted by the Sect Master.

While Kunlun was thus in turmoil, a group of martial artists was departing from the Kongtong Sect.

Those remaining behind were the Seven Wounds True Man—one of the few who could still be called a master—and roughly fifty Kongtong martial artists.

With swords drawn and scabbards discarded, they left Kongtong.

Their destination lay to the south—toward Xining, where Golden Flower Manor was located.

“Move quickly! If we are to make it in time, we must employ our utmost lightness skill!”

“Yes!”

Hearing his disciples’ thunderous reply, the Seven Wounds True Man increased his speed.

Sichuan had no single figure known as an overlord, due to its complex balance of power.

Qingcheng, Mount Emei, and the Tang Clan were locked in a constant tug-of-war.

Even so, when matters of Sichuan were discussed, the first name most often mentioned was the Tang Clan.

Qingcheng rarely involved itself in worldly affairs, and Mount Emei—despite being composed of nuns—was sharp and uncompromising in all matters.

The Tang Clan was by no means gentle either, but they were at least regarded as people one could reason with.

Dozens of Tang Clan martial artists launched themselves forward.

Leading them was Tang Yul, the Tang Clan’s eldest, who not long ago had blocked Yul Han’s carriage together with Sichuan’s martial artists.

He led elite masters armed with the Tang Clan’s secret concealed weapons and raced northeast toward Gansu at a terrifying speed.

After sending out his subordinates, the Tang Clan Head held in his hand a letter containing the Kunlun Sect Master’s pledge to lend strength to the Tang Clan’s affairs in the future.

The Tang Clan was not the only place to receive a letter bearing the Kunlun Sect Master’s promise—unknown even to Shin Jijinren himself.

The same was true for Mount Zhongnan of Shaanxi, located east of Gansu.

Though they belonged to the same Nine Sects, Mount Zhongnan had always had limited room to maneuver due to the overwhelmingly strong Mount Hua right next door, and thus it too received a letter containing the Kunlun Sect Master’s pledge.

Pretending not to know was tempting but difficult to resist, while charging in headlong meant facing the ferocity of the Bright Cult.

Caught in that dilemma, the Sect Master sought out the Taiyi Pavilion Lord, known as the pillar of Mount Zhongnan.

“You did not summon me.”

The Taiyi Pavilion Lord hurriedly received the Sect Master as he entered his residence. Seeing him, the Sect Master of Mount Zhongnan smiled faintly.

“There is something I wish to discuss with you, senior brother.”

“Please, sit here.”

As the Taiyi Pavilion Lord moved to step down from the seat of honor, the Sect Master stopped him.

“No. Today I have come as your junior brother before coming as Sect Master, so please treat me accordingly.”

Reluctantly settling back into his seat, the Taiyi Pavilion Lord asked,

“What troubles you?”

“Would you first take a look at this?”

Receiving and reading the written dispatch handed over with those words, the Taiyi Pavilion Lord asked in a heavy tone,

“Do you intend to accept?”

“If possible, I wish to. With Kunlun as our wings, I want to try crossing Mount Hua once.”

To be honest, when the Taiyi Pavilion Lord broke past the wall of the Transformation Realm and became one of the Seven Great Masters of the Martial World, the Sect Master had thought Mount Zhongnan had gained a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mount Hua.

It meant they had acquired a counter to the Heavenly Flower Sword King, Mount Hua’s Transformation Realm master.

Yet the eyes of the world still placed Mount Hua above Mount Zhongnan.

He thought it prejudice. He believed that with even a small trigger—such as Kunlun, a fellow Nine Sects member, recognizing Mount Zhongnan as Shaanxi’s overlord—the situation could be overturned.

The Taiyi Pavilion Lord, who understood that thinking better than anyone, spoke in a calm voice.

“If the Sect Master wishes it, I will do my utmost.”

“I knew you would. Senior brother, you have always labored for this lacking junior brother. But now, rather than what I intend to do, I wish to hear your thoughts.”

“If it is only my opinion… Sect Master. Is it truly that important for Mount Zhongnan’s name to stand above Mount Hua?”

“Senior brother……”

“I may be dull, but I do not understand why it matters so much. When people hear the name Mount Zhongnan, they raise their thumbs. That is because we have never stained our hands with filthy deeds, nor blinded ourselves with profit to commit brutal acts. I take greater pride in being praised—together with Qingcheng of Sichuan—as the ‘Pure Martial Azure Sects.’”

“Pure Martial Azure Sects. I too take pride in it. However, senior brother—both Qingcheng and Mount Zhongnan are declining with each passing day. Why cling to reputation? Because worldly evaluation is directly tied to profit.”

“Sect Master……”

“I know what you wish to say. Yet profit matters because it becomes the funds that sustain a sect. We are people as well. We must eat to live and wear clothes. We must give our disciples good swords, and we need operating funds for branch halls. All of that comes from profit. If we turn away from it—if we do—I fear that one day we will vanish without a trace, just like the Jin Dynasty.”

At the Sect Master’s words, the Taiyi Pavilion Lord let out a deep sigh.

“Haa…… I failed to fully grasp your anguish. If this is not mere ambition to place Mount Zhongnan’s name above Mount Hua, but born of such thoughts, then I will stake my life on it. Let us do it.”

“Senior brother……”

“Trust me. Though this senior brother cannot compare to Emperor Salyejin of the Bright Cult, I am more than capable of testing strength against the Five Demons who would lead the Bright Cult’s escort unit.”

At the Taiyi Pavilion Lord’s words, the Sect Master’s face brightened.

“Then please hurry. I delayed too long in deliberation.”

“Then I will select more than ten masters from the Taiyi Pavilion and head out at once.”

“I entrust this to you, senior brother.”

At the Sect Master’s words, the Taiyi Pavilion Lord rose without delay. Shortly after, a group of martial artists departed Mount Zhongnan.

Leading them as he ran ahead was the Taiyi Pavilion Lord, known as the pillar of Mount Zhongnan—Azure Cloud Heavenly Steel.

Of all the movements set in motion, Kunlun was the last to step in.

Aside from those who had departed with the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord, these were capture—or restraint—teams acting under the Sect Master’s official command.

The one leading them was unexpectedly the Cloud Crane Scholar.

Upon hearing Shin Jijinren’s explanation of the situation at the Upper Pure Pavilion, he had stepped forward immediately.

Shin Jijinren opposed it, as the aged body of the Cloud Crane Scholar would suffer greatly from the rapid movement required for this mission.

However, no one could deny his assertion that if not him, there would be no one who could persuade those who had already gone ahead to turn back with words alone.

And the question the Cloud Crane Scholar posed to them became the reason they could not stop his departure.

<Are you intending to let Kunlun’s disciples kill one another in fratricidal strife?>

Even so, concern did not fade. Shin Jijinren therefore sent along the Taiqing Pavilion Lord—strongest among Kunlun’s active masters—together with more than thirty swordsmen.

Because multiple groups departed at different times, those converging on Golden Flower Manor were all arriving at different hours.

The first to arrive were, as expected, the Kunlun martial artists led by the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord, who had departed earliest.

They reached a vantage point from which Golden Flower Manor could be seen in the distance and began to arrange their formation.

“It seems they will depart soon. What do you intend to do? I believe now—when the bustle causes confusion—is a better opportunity than during a heightened-alert escort.”

As he looked down at the increasingly busy Golden Flower Manor, an elder-level master accompanying the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord asked worriedly,

“I understand the Sangho Pavilion Lord requested aid from several places. Would it not be better to wait?”

“Those are aid requests in name only. It means they were not bound by prior pledges, so they may not come at all. Rather than waiting for such uncertain help and losing the opportunity, I believe it is better to act with only our own strength.”

As the elder who had spoken in concern withdrew, the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord’s gaze turned toward the Two Roaming Dragon Swords.

They were the strongest masters among them.

Meeting that gaze, the Two Roaming Dragon Swords looked at one another and nodded.

“We are ready at any time.”

With their decision, the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord’s resolve was set.

“Then let us strike. Let us fight by righteous accord for justice!”

At the Jade Clear Pavilion Lord’s rallying cry, the Kunlun martial artists shouted in unison,

“For justice, by righteous accord!”

After that short, low shout, the Kunlun martial artists launched themselves toward Golden Flower Manor all at once.

Thus began what would be known as the Golden Flower Manor Blood History.