Chapter 97. Wave
It was an extremely arrogant statement. Especially at a place where the current leader of the Martial Alliance himself was lifting the Sealing of the Sect, it was even more not something that should be said. The eyebrows of True Immortal Hyeon-cheon twitched lightly once again. But soon, that trembling disappeared.
True Immortal Hyeon-cheon raised his hand, lowered it to his chest, gently stroked his white beard, and spoke.
"Then there would have been no reason for you to deliberately come to the Martial Alliance, would there?"
"Because of the last instruction ... it was. My master's ..."
He had come to the Martial Alliance to follow the last instruction of the Zhongnan Lone Sword.
And he was that Zhongnan Lone Sword's disciple ....
In truth, even when True Immortal Hyeon-cheon had sent an invitation to the Zhongnan Lone Sword, he had not expected much. He was someone who had already forgotten the sword, someone long forgotten by the martial world. And someone whose all grudges and ties had been sealed away.
True Immortal Hyeon-cheon put his lips to the teacup that now showed its bottom and had nothing left to drink, then continued speaking.
"What do you intend to do from now on?"
He was asking what the will of the Zhongnan Lone Sword was. If it were the Zhongnan Lone Sword he knew, he was not someone who would simply send his disciple to the Martial Alliance and be done with it.
Since, given his status as Alliance Leader, he could not ask directly, he was asking in this roundabout way.
"......"
For a very brief moment, a light flashed in Zhong Zhihang's transparent eyes.
Had he been waiting for this question? True Immortal Hyeon-cheon felt that perhaps this very question of his was included in the Zhongnan Lone Sword's last instruction.
"......I will go again ... the path that my master ... walked ...…"
"....!"
Tak.
So that was it ...? The Zhongnan Lone Sword's last instruction?
He had not failed to think about it when lifting the sealing of Zhongnan. Even so, the reason he had made that decision as the Martial Alliance Leader was because he judged that the martial world needed the appearance of one more supreme expert.
True Immortal Hyeon-cheon set the teacup down on the table with a sound and quietly looked into Zhong Zhihang's eyes. The light in those eyes had already disappeared. They were only extremely deep and clear.
True Immortal Hyeon-cheon soon gave up on reading what lay within, and let out a deep sigh.
"Huh ... many grudges will pile up. Just like your master."
Zhong Zhihang stroked the Great Heavenly Steel Sword once and spoke.
"My master ... said ... this ..."
"......"
"He said he ... drew the sword ... recklessly…. said he could not even wield it ... properly…... And yet...."
The words were a mess, but True Immortal Hyeon-cheon could fully understand their meaning. And he recalled something he had once heard from the Zhongnan Lone Sword.
[If you are not going to swing it, why bother learning the sword with such hardship? If you learned it, you should swing it properly. Hahahaha!]
True Immortal Hyeon-cheon, who had fallen into a brief recollection, continued to hear Zhong Zhihang's heavy voice.
"So... he became the Lone Sword...."
"If you walk the same path, you too will only become a second Lone Sword."
"I will not ... do that ... not so ..."
"......."
"I will not ... draw the sword ... recklessly, and... if I draw it …... I will ... swing it properly…. And if I do so…. the mountains and rivers and grasses and trees will ... tremble, and the martial artists ... will wet their pants ..."
"..... Is that the Zhongnan Lone Sword's last instruction?"
At True Immortal Hyeon-cheon's heavy question, Zhong Zhihang shook his head. The real last instruction was something else. Probably, that was why he had sent his disciple to the Martial Alliance even after his own death. That was what True Immortal Hyeon-cheon thought.
Zhong Zhihang stood up from his seat. The Great Heavenly Steel Sword in his left hand was shaking roughly. Just like the old Zhongnan Lone Sword had done. No, even more crudely than that.
"He said I should become ... a Divine Sword..."
" ...! "
Did it mean to rewrite the history of the martial world anew with a sword that had reached divine skill? It was probably so. If it were the Zhongnan Lone Sword he knew, he was more than capable of leaving such a last instruction.
And.
He was a person who never spoke nonsense.
'Does that mean this young man has the talent for it?'
With those words, Zhong Zhihang turned his body and walked toward the door.
Having said everything he needed to say, he was about to leave.
At that moment, True Immortal Hyeon-cheon's voice caught Zhong Zhihang's feet.
"Is the pact with the Alliance still valid?"
He stopped abruptly.
Zhong Zhihang stopped and lowered his head, thinking for a moment. From that demeanor, True Immortal Hyeon-cheon could be certain that he knew about the pact. Now that the Zhongnan Lone Sword was dead, whether to keep it or not was purely up to him.
"That is ... so ..."
A faint smile spread across True Immortal Hyeon-cheon's face.
He had not obtained the Zhongnan Lone Sword, but he had obtained a Divine Sword. He had not yet seen how sharp it was, and it might become a double-edged sword in the future, but that was a problem that depended on the one who used it, was it not.
Tak.
Zhong Zhihang left, and the room became empty again. Now, only True Immortal Hyeon-cheon, stroking an empty teacup, remained in the room.
***
Tadak-.
The next ship arrived at Zhengzhou.
Dong Bong-su and Eulji Tae waited until everyone else had gotten off the ship, and only then did they finally set foot on the land of Zhengzhou.
Ahead of them, the disciples of Kunlun Sect and Mount Hua Sect, who had been defeated by Zhong Zhihang and were still wearing gloomy expressions, were quietly heading south. Toward where the Martial Alliance was. Not only them, but most of the people who had been on this ship were heading for the Martial Alliance as soon as they disembarked.
People getting off other ships arriving from the opposite direction were also almost all moving in the same direction ... it would not be an exaggeration to say that a human tide was surging into Zhengzhou.
"Why do you think they are gathering here like that?"
Eulji Tae said quietly as he looked at the pushing and being pushed crowd.
Anyone who knew him would find it surprising. Since when was Heaven-Splitting Sticky Blade someone who opened his mouth first like this? And to someone he had known for less than a month, at that.
Originally, he was famous for not opening his mouth unless someone spoke to him first. Dong Bong-su often made him open his mouth first. It was strange, but it did not feel bad.
Like Eulji Tae, Dong Bong-su quietly looked at the line of people and then said as if throwing it out.
"Because it is not an age of great peace."
Unexpected. An answer completely outside of expectations. Right. This was why he ended up opening his mouth first.
Eulji Tae spoke with an expression on his cold face that was hard to tell whether it was a smile or doubt.
"What does that mean?"
"You asked why they are gathering here like this."
"I did."
"They must have gathered here to become heroes or great martial heroes."
That was right. This was the standard answer and the direct answer Eulji Tae had wanted. But what did an age of great peace have to do with this? Isn't that completely irrelevant?
Dong Bong-su continued speaking.
"Heroes do not appear in an age of great peace. In an age of great peace, people do not need heroes or great martial heroes, and they do not even know such things exist."
"....."
"Just like how, in the age of Yao and Shun, the people did not even know who their ruler was."
An age of chaos. And the hero of that chaotic age.
Dong Bong-su was talking about the hero of a chaotic age. He was not talking about the simple martial heroes of the martial world that Eulji Tae had in mind.
Did that mean that there was that much of a gap between a hero and a 'great' martial hero?
At Dong Bong-su's interesting answer, Eulji Tae became even more curious about this man.
"What about you? Are you the same as them?"
"....."
Dong Bong-su paused for a moment at Eulji Tae's question and fell into thought.
A 'special prey' had come to this place. And for the first time in his life, he had also gained something called a 'strange goal'. Both were extremely difficult, as special and strange as they were. Since it was his first time, the word challenge suited it.
Challenge.
It was an unfamiliar yet somehow attractive word. And he had already come to Zhengzhou.
Suddenly, a joke he had often heard in the other world came to mind.
'Go big or go home.'
A gambling term. If translated into the words of this place, a gambling table. It was a phrase that would only suit such a place, but ... it fit perfectly.
That's right. He would go forward. Just like he always had.
"The waves are crashing."
Dong Bong-su said flatly.
When Eulji Tae looked, just as Dong Bong-su said, the heads of the people were pushing and being pushed as they moved forward, and it really did look like waves.
"If you have already thrown your body into the sea, is there any way to avoid the waves?"
"......."
If it had been the original Dong Bong-su, he would not have said such useless words so long and at such length.
But.
If he had already been violently swept up by the waves called a chaotic age, would it not be fine to try wearing the mask called hero once? And the mask that Eulji Tae wanted right now seemed like it would speak in just such a way. And in some sense, it was also what he truly wanted to say.
"If you have already been hit by the waves, is there any choice but to ride the current and dive safely to land?"
Perhaps he liked Dong Bong-su's answer quite a bit, because Eulji Tae tried to hide an unfamiliar smile, coughed, and spoke.
"Hm hm. I see. Then let's go. If we're going to go anyway, it's better to go a little faster."
Dong Bong-su and Eulji Tae. The two of them finished their conversation and jumped into the sea of people and were swept toward the Martial Alliance.
***
Just like Zhong Zhihang and Dong Bong-su had disappeared, the ship they had ridden soon left as well.
After that, another ship flowed in from the opposite direction and filled the place that had just been vacated. On that ship, just like the two before, there was someone who waited until all the other passengers got off and only then set foot on the land of Zhengzhou.
Medium height. Black light armor. Short-cut hair. A sword slung diagonally across his back. And a striking scar cutting across his left cheek.
He was dressed no differently from the other martial artists here. Except for the scar on his cheek.
Like one of the many martial artists, he mixed into the crowd, passed through the bustling main road, and walked south for quite a while. The very path that Dong Bong-su and the others had taken. The direction where the Martial Alliance was located.
Was he also one of the martial artists who had come looking for the Martial Alliance?
After walking for quite a while past the bustling streets of Zhengzhou, a huge estate like an imperial palace appeared. It was the Martial Alliance. As expected, the front was crowded with people.
Those who had brought invitation letters were entering the Martial Alliance through Muhwa Gate, and the rest were looking up at the martial world's leader they were seeing for the first time.
The man mixed into the latter group and stood in one spot for a moment. Then he soon turned his body and left that place.
That was all. The only thing he did after coming right in front of the Martial Alliance was...
But on the spot where he had been standing, there was a very tiny dot. At a glance, it looked no different from a grain of sand rolling around next to it. But if you looked closely, the fact that it did not move meant that it was clearly a certain specific shape, pressed into the ground. As if someone had deliberately stamped that shape there....
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