#164: The Annihilation Of A Clan (4) — The Patriarch of Sichuan

“Phew.”

Sitting on the stairs, Jin-hyeon stood the Indestructible Sword upright.

For some reason, the sword body seemed to have grown a shade darker. Though he maintained it well, it felt as if its color had faded.

It wasn’t because the steel was poor. If anything, since a craftsman had personally hammered Hundred-Forged Silver Steel into shape, it could truly be called a well-made sword.

Its blade was thick and broad, making it closer to destruction than cutting, but if a swordsman infused it with true qi and insight of the sword, it was a weapon capable of cutting even stone.

‘Did I cut too many people with it?’

The Indestructible Sword was slowly beginning to smell of blood.

It was a blood-scent filled with killing intent, one that could not be removed with medicines such as Scentless Liquid. A sword that remained intact after cutting down countless people naturally became steeped in such a blood-scent.

And once that blood-scent grew endlessly thick, it would become a demonic sword.

‘I am using it under the excuse of training, but still.’

Once this matter was over, he intended to invite Yeo Bang.

It would be fine to make a separate sword together with Ok Jin, but he couldn’t ignore Yeo Bang’s sincerity. Furthermore, Yeo Bang was also a highly skilled craftsman. Just looking at the Indestructible Sword and the Soul-Killing Blade, he was not greatly lacking compared to Divine Iron’s craftsmen.

‘It’s time I had my own sword.’

He quietly drew up Heavenly Wolf True Qi.

Wooooong!

The Indestructible Sword let out a strange cry.

It was an excellent sword, but as expected, it was not a sword that suited him. Even its cry said as much.

‘The sword is grieving.’

It was said that a weapon made by a skilled craftsman with their soul poured into it had a purpose from the moment it was born.

The Indestructible Sword was the same. Like its name, this sword had been made with the desire that it would never break, and that the heart of the craftsman who made it would not collapse.

With Jin-hyeon’s level of skill, he could ignore that and swing it anyway, but he wanted to let the Indestructible Sword rest soon. That was how he felt.

‘Is this what soul is?’

Yeo Bang had known Jin-hyeon was a swordsman just by looking at his appearance.

He had not seen it with the eyes of a peak master, but with the eyes of a master craftsman, the partner of outstanding warriors. In terms of hammering skill alone, Jin-hyeon in the days when he was Gyeong Se-hwi might have been better, but when it came to an eye refined by the soul of a craftsman, he could not match Yeo Bang.

And only now.

Only now did Jin-hyeon understand where Yeo Bang’s eye had come from.

‘My body, my heart, my posture, my thoughts, my senses are seeing the world differently.’

The first time Jin-hyeon realized that change was when he created the draft of North Wind Sword Art.

He had resolved to escape the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader’s shadow and carve out his own martial path, but it had not been long since he had truly begun walking that path in earnest.

The alignment of desire and action.

As Jin-hyeon changed, Heavenly Wolf True Qi changed, and Soul-Refining Qi was dyeing his mind another color for the world he would newly face.

And then, new eyes opened.

‘This is different from Soul-Refining Color Eye. I have begun to see the essence.’

It was truly different from when he was the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader.

By now, he could hardly remember the senses he had shared with him. But he did remember that when he became one with him and saw the world, everything had been visible without any need to try.

Now, one by one, new senses were activating as Jin-hyeon.

“Patriarch.”

“Hm.”

Thud.

Jin-hyeon planted the Indestructible Sword into the ground and rose, then looked at the training grounds.

There, nearly one hundred warriors were kneeling, covered in blood. Among them were some gravely wounded.

They were the Cheongyang Association’s Guard Unit, including the gate guards. Of the warriors who guarded the inner and outer halls, half were dead and half remained.

Jin-hyeon looked at them with cold eyes.

Once a fight had begun, it was meaningless to consider each individual’s circumstances. That was why a leader must not start a war carelessly.

“Those who want to die, slam your heads into the ground and die right now.”

Jin-hyeon’s voice was so calm it was dry.

It was not filled with anger, nor dyed with sharp madness, but it touched human instinct. The warriors flinched and lowered their heads.

Jin-hyeon silently watched them, then soon sat with a faint, hollow laugh.

Whooooong.

A cold wind blew.

He had thought snow would soon fall, but it seemed not yet. Only the damp wind stirred here and there, screaming as it pleased.

Jin-hyeon looked up at the sky.

Dawn had not yet broken. But the sun would soon rise.

How long did that strange silence continue?

“Ugh, so you brought me here to look into something like this.”

Oh Gyeong sat on the stairs below Jin-hyeon’s right side.

“I searched everywhere, but there was nothing. There were a few secret passages that only assassins would make, but they all led only to small safe houses or treasure vaults.”

“You worked hard.”

“What will you do now? You don’t know where the leadership went, so you can’t just sit here forever, can you?”

Han Cheol-sang nodded in agreement.

“After we’ve done this much, they’ll come to our house on their own.”

“That is why we are here.”

“Huh?”

Jin-hyeon’s face, his chin resting on his clasped hands, was only cold.

“If they come to Ziyang County, people who have nothing to do with this will die.”

“That is true, but…”

“It’s not just true. That is the most important thing. Later, if our clan grows and commands countless warriors, I would rather tell them to come to us on their own. But right now, there is a marketplace in front of our house.”

“…”

“Cheongyang’s leadership will run wild in madness. The common people will suffer all the damage.”

Han Cheol-sang thought silently, then nodded.

“I was too shortsighted.”

“But it isn’t only because of that.”

“Huh?”

“They will come soon.”

Do Il-gang asked cautiously.

“How are you certain?”

The corner of Jin-hyeon’s mouth rose.

“The Cheongyang Association is a group dreaming of unifying Sichuan. Right now, the leadership is preparing somewhere. Whether it is martial arts, money, gunpowder weapons, or anything else, the very fact that they sent people to the Divine Iron Merchant House means their preparations are complete to some degree.”

“I-Is that so?”

“It might be different if they only intended to absorb Murim sects and factions. But after swallowing the sects, they intend to quietly press down even the Sichuan Branch.”

Jin-hyeon stroked his chin.

“And it is an ambition they have prepared for over twenty years. Thinking back to my conversation with Ha Suk-heon, the foundation of that ambition can only be force and money.”

“…”

“When the time for them to step into the world was close, there is no way they would not leave someone connected to the outside. The one originally playing that role was Ha Suk-heon, and when Ha Suk-heon disappeared, another elder popped out.”

“Ah!”

“They will come soon.”

Jin-hyeon’s eyes narrowed.

“From their perspective, two of the brothers have gone missing. They cannot help but jump out of their den. Much faster than they did with Ha Suk-heon, too.”

Han Cheol-sang tilted his head.

“By the way, where did that bastard Ha Jun or whatever go? I thought he’d be here if we came here.”

“He must be with the leadership.”

“Patriarch.”

Han Cheol-sang scratched his head, then let out a deep sigh.

“To be honest, I wasn’t going to say this, but… if those sorts of people come out, it will be very dangerous.”

The ‘those sorts of people’ Han Cheol-sang spoke of most likely meant none other than the Ghost Gate.

The Ghost Gate villains who had attacked Divine Iron were said to be second-class. He did not know whether third-class existed, but the First-Class Ghost Gate villains who had not yet revealed themselves certainly existed.

And there was an extremely high chance that their martial force was stronger than the Second-Class Ghost Gate villains.

“That is why we brought Old Master Oh too.”

Han Cheol-sang and Do Il-gang looked at Oh Gyeong.

Oh Gyeong frowned.

“Do you think my sleeves are some kind of magic pouch? I have no poison or hidden weapons left now.”

“But you do have one dagger.”

“What do you expect me to do with one dagger?”

“What Old Master Oh does best.”

Oh Gyeong smacked his lips.

“Look here, Patriarch. Of course, since I came this far, I do intend to lend a hand, but I am not a member of your clan.”

“Then what would it take for you to enter our clan?”

It was a sudden recruitment offer. Oh Gyeong let out a strange laugh, “Puh-heol!”

“Did you think I’d just slip into your clan because I helped a little?”

“You will have quite a bit of fun in your old age.”

“With just something like this?”

“That is why I said we are taking on the Heavenly Will Alliance.”

Oh Gyeong turned his body and adjusted his posture.

“Look here, Patriarch.”

“Go on.”

“I let it pass before, but now that we have time, let me ask. Is it true that you said you would get rid of the Heavenly Will Alliance?”

“It is.”

“You do know, don’t you? Taking on the Heavenly Will Alliance is the same as saying you will fight the entire world.”

“That is wrong.”

“What?”

“To destroy a country, there is no need to eliminate every person in that country. Of course, there have been histories like that too.”

“…I cannot even imagine how you intend to deal with the Heavenly Will Alliance.”

Oh Gyeong shook his head, then struck the stairs with his pipe.

“Fine. Let’s say you have a method of your own. Let’s also ignore for now the fact that though your martial arts have formed their own school, they are still lacking compared to the true masters of the Central Plains.”

“…”

“Why exactly are you saying you will get rid of the Heavenly Will Alliance? Is it because those damned bastards from Shaanxi are targeting this place?”

Jin-hyeon did not ask Oh Gyeong how he knew that. Whether through the Black Society or through an assassin organization, he thought Oh Gyeong was in a position to know well enough.

“That much is certain. That fact was the final raindrop falling into a full cup.”

“So why, exactly?!”

It was then.

The true form of Jin-hyeon, which Oh Gyeong would later recall had begun to emerge at this very moment, slowly revealed itself little by little.

“I cannot stand by and watch thieves enter an ownerless house and act as its masters.”

Whoosh!

The damp winter wind scattered as if startled.

The dignity carried in that low voice settled over the ground again and again with a weight that could not be defied.

Was that why? Oh Gyeong’s reaction came one beat late.

“…What?”

“That place is my house.”

Oh Gyeong flinched without meaning to.

Behind Jin-hyeon, who was smiling at him through half-lidded eyes, the wind of the wilderness was blowing.

“Look here, Patriarch.”

“It is my house, and Old Master Oh’s house. It is Steward Han’s house, and Il-gang’s house.”

“?!”

“If thieves called themselves the owners but managed the house well, would there be any need to drive them out? But those bastards are even incompetent.”

“…”

“Is there any reason to endure it?”

“I have no idea what you are saying, Patriarch…”

“What if those bastards from Shaanxi cannot play their land-grabbing game because of us? How do you think they will come out? Some rather thrilling things will happen then.”

“…”

“As for me.”

Jin-hyeon slowly rose from his seat.

Han Cheol-sang’s eyes trembled faintly.

When Jin-hyeon rose, his shadow rose with him. But that shadow was strangely large and long.

He was different from the Patriarch they usually knew. As if finally about to reveal its true form, someone behind him was slowly stretching awake.

“Now that I have cast my shadow over Sichuan, I may intend to make this place my home, but I have no intention whatsoever of considering only this much to be my world. Then again, it was that way from the beginning.”

The Cheongyang Association, the strongest sect in Sichuan.

If he crushed them, whether anyone liked it or not, whether his force was large or small, Jin-hyeon’s clan would cast the foremost reputation in Sichuan.

That foremost reputation, that value of the name called the greatest.

The responsibility of a Patriarch who had begun to bear the weight of the first name anyone would look to when they looked at Sichuan revived as ambition and grand spirit, and began to cover Cheongyang’s inner hall.

Peong! Bang!

From far away in the outer hall, the sound of the main gate breaking came.

“A seat where even doing well only lets you break even, that is the seat of the master of the world. Yet those bastards have shoved aside the work they should be doing and are running wild in madness. Worse still, they are trying to touch Sichuan, the place I have made my home.”

“Patriarch.”

“Since no one steps forward like a master, I have no choice but to show them what a true master should be.”

Jin-hyeon laughed loudly.

“Devour before being devoured. Especially when the sword has already been drawn, how could I start by thinking of bowing my head?”

“!!”

“Are you curious what a true man of all under heaven looks like?”

“…”

“Then follow behind me with them.”

Jin-hyeon descended the stairs.

Oh Gyeong, Han Cheol-sang, and Do Il-gang looked at his back with wavering eyes.

“And Old Master Oh, what you said was wrong.”

Holding the Indestructible Sword in both hands and drawing it back behind him, Jin-hyeon lowered his upper body like a beast.