Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 850

“Hmm?”

The old man looked down at the wooden sword he was holding.

“Hah, hah! What’s wrong?”

“…….”

“Master?”

“……It’s nothing.”

The old man clicked his tongue.

“Did I make it too carelessly? It seems like there’s a crack in the inner core.”

“You’re amazing! You can even feel that?”

“Isn’t it strange not to know? Because your senses are so dull, you can’t even follow the footsteps of this great master.”

“There’s no one at my age who can compare to you, Master…”

“Quiet! That guy, I’ve been teaching him for over ten years, and he still hasn’t graduated from the basics.”

The man was dumbfounded.

Before, he thought the ‘basics’ his master spoke of were the basic skills that others talked about, and he lamented his own lack of talent.

However, when his master went on a short trip, he happened to get into a fight with some martial artists. When they tried to kill a family passing by, he drew his wooden sword, ready to die.

The fight ended in nine exchanges. The martial artists’ skills were too low.

Later, he heard that those martial artists were the notorious ‘Three Evils of Shandong,’ who were quite famous in Shandong. Each of them was a master approaching the peak level, and they were devils who had committed all sorts of evil deeds in Shandong for years.

In other words, his skills were already at a level that was quite recognized in the martial world.

And now, four years later.

His master was still beating him, saying he hadn’t mastered the basics.

“How about we stop here for today?”

“Look at this guy? The one receiving the teachings is arbitrarily stopping the lesson?”

“Is it a lesson? Or just simple assault?”

“Are we going to stay up all night today?”

“Ugh, aren’t you going to the Martial Alliance?! How can we still be in Henan after running for two months! I’m going to die at this rate!”

“You won’t die, you idiot! Does this master’s martial arts look so easy that you’d die from just two months of training!”

“You can’t do things moderately, you just can’t!”

“Whether it’s moderate or not is for me to decide, you brat!”

Whack!

Even though he was so large, the old man’s movements were like lightning.

“Eek!”

The man gritted his teeth and swung his wooden sword.

Whack, whack, whack, whack!

With a resounding sound, someone’s scream echoed through the mountain.

After a while.

“Rest for a bit and then start your energy circulation. I’ll let you off here for today.”

“Cough, cough!”

“Tsk, you’re such a weakling.”

The old man, grumbling, put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.

“Oh, the sky is clear. It’s a good day to beat someone up…”

“Uweeek!”

“Shut up!”

“Cough! D, damn it.”

The old man chuckled at his disciple’s disrespectful words. Seeing the word ‘damn it’ come out of the mouth of a guy who hated being hit, it seemed like it was really hard for him.

The old man looked up at the sky again.

“The Martial Alliance… Well, the Martial Alliance should be able to make a place for that foolish disciple of mine.”

He said he hadn’t mastered the basics, but in fact, he had taught him everything. What was left was countless practical experiences and personal effort.

‘But still.’

The old man tilted his head.

‘There’s something interesting in the Martial Alliance? Is that really so?’

He was a very boastful person, but he never lied when he spoke seriously. If what that loudmouth said was true, there would definitely be something interesting to add some fun to this dull life.

“Ahem, ahem. Looking at it again, the day is nice. You brat, start your energy circulation quickly. You need to recover quickly to do the laundry again.”

“Just kill me.”

“No.”

“Why? You like hitting me but not killing me?”

“I’d have to find another disciple. And if you die, what will become of my life, having taught only you for over ten years?”

“Ughhh.”

* * *

“Please wait here for a moment.”

“Understood.”

The guard entered the Martial Alliance Hall.

After a while.

“They will see you.”

Cheon Hyo-Rak, taking a light breath, entered the Martial Alliance Hall.

Thud.

The Martial Alliance Hall was a huge main hall.

However, it was only large and had no grandeur. There were no decorations, and no chairs, tables, carpets, or grand chairs were prepared.

‘Is it because there’s no Alliance Leader?’

The Martial Alliance Hall was where the Martial Alliance Leader resided. And when the council members had meetings, they had to go to the meeting room through the corridor behind the Martial Alliance Hall.

Cheon Hyo-Rak, clearing his throat, entered the corridor.

‘…….’

With each step he took, he felt a strange pressure.

‘This is…….’

It wasn’t the energy of a master. It wasn’t like someone was intentionally emitting their energy to apply pressure.

Yet, Cheon Hyo-Rak felt his stomach churning.

And he knew the reason very well.

‘Incompatibility.’

Owners of incredibly intense power.

They couldn’t be compared to the martial gods who had fought in the outer walls of the Martial Alliance yesterday, but there were great masters in that meeting room. Masters who could subdue Hwa Hyang in about twenty exchanges.

And the power of one of them was so great and heavy that even Hwa Hyang wouldn’t last three exchanges.

“You’ve arrived.”

There were five people in the meeting room.

Great Master Gong Gong of Shaolin, True Master Seung Hyun of Wudang, and the strategist, Jeagal Mun-Ho.

The other two were Jang In-Ryung, the newly appointed head of the Mount Emei Sect, and Tang Gwan.

Cheon Hyo-Rak clasped his hands in greeting.

“Cheon Hyo-Rak of the Divine Demonic Forest greets the seniors leading the Martial Alliance.”

Great Master Gong Gong smiled and pointed to the opposite side with his hand.

“Welcome. Please sit there.”

“Thank you.”

Cheon Hyo-Rak, sitting down, looked at Great Master Gong Gong.

‘It’s definitely this person.’

Woo-oong.

It was as if he could hear a ringing in his ears.

He wasn’t revealing his energy, and he was even suppressing his original presence. Yet, the sealed demonic energy was writhing wildly.

The demonic energy, writhing uncontrollably, couldn’t be controlled by will. Because of that, his stomach was churning.

‘It’s because of this person’s inner energy.’

Demonic arts and divine arts are incompatible.

Among them, the divine arts of the Buddhist school contained the power of subduing demons, so it was fatal to those who had cultivated demonic arts.

Conversely, if Cheon Hyo-Rak’s demonic arts were much more advanced, Great Master Gong Gong’s body would have been affected.

A relationship of eating and being eaten. That’s what incompatibility is.

“You’ve worked hard to come from so far away.”

“You’re too kind. I’m just grateful that you haven’t chased me away.”

Cheon Hyo-Rak humbled himself and spoke honestly.

Great Master Gong Gong let out a hearty laugh.

“You are calm and composed, so I’m really looking forward to today’s conversation. Isn’t that right, Strategist?”

“Indeed.”

Jeagal Mun-Ho said with a smile.

“Did you hear anything from Vice Leader Yeon?”

“Yes. He said he sent me to test the waters first.”

“That man, he didn’t have to say it like that.”

Jeagal Mun-Ho, smiling awkwardly, nodded.

“That’s right. The Demonic Martial World has been incompatible with the Righteous Path for generations. That history is stained with blood, and even the Black Path fears the Demonic Path.”

“That’s how it was.”

It was in the past tense.

It was a simple answer, but the meaning behind it was extraordinary. Jeagal Mun-Ho immediately realized it.

“Anyway, you are a guest who has come from afar, so we should treat you well, but the history of the past does not allow for a warm welcome. I hope you understand this.”

“Of course. On the contrary, it has been very comfortable.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

It was then.

“You don’t have it.”

Everyone looked at Tang Gwan at his sudden words.

Tang Gwan spoke with a slightly crooked posture.

“You don’t have hidden weapons or explosives, and you don’t seem to have cultivated poison arts.”

“Ahem! Clan Leader Tang.”

“Why? Wasn’t I called here to find that out?”

Jeagal Mun-Ho smiled wryly and said to Cheon Hyo-Rak.

“Please understand.”

“Of course, I understand.”

Tang Gwan nodded.

“You should understand. I think you want honesty, so I’m being honest. I don’t think the council members need to beat around the bush.”

Even though things had changed from before, Tang Gwan was still Tang Gwan. His remarks, which crossed the line between honesty and rudeness, made Seung Hyun Jin-In clear his throat.

“Clan Leader Tang.”

“Tsk.”

Tang Gwan clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. He didn’t seem to like Cheon Hyo-Rak very much.

Jeagal Mun-Ho said with a smile.

“I’m sorry for constantly asking for your understanding. Please understand.”

Cheon Hyo-Rak smiled faintly.

“I understand. Regardless of my feelings.”

Tang Gwan looked at Cheon Hyo-Rak with a ‘look at this guy?’ expression.

Cheon Hyo-Rak shrugged his shoulders.

“It seems like you wanted honesty…”

The corners of Tang Gwan’s lips slightly curled up.

“It’s better to be annoying. Yes, keep doing that in the future.”

“Understood.”

Great Master Gong Gong raised his hand.

“Let’s stop this.”

“Ahem.”

“Now, Young Master Cheon. We have plenty of time, but it would be good to get straight to the point.”

Cheon Hyo-Rak bowed his head.

“Thank you for allowing me.”

“Yes, why did someone from the Divine Demonic Forest come to the Martial Alliance?”

Cheon Hyo-Rak straightened his back.

His face was so beautiful that the word ‘beautiful’ was more fitting than ‘handsome.’ However, when he straightened his posture, a considerable strictness was revealed.

“To be direct, our Divine Demonic Forest wants to formally establish diplomatic relations with the Righteous Martial Alliance.”

“……!”

Diplomatic relations.

In other words, the Divine Demonic Forest wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the Martial Alliance.

It was quite a shocking statement, but Jeagal Mun-Ho was not flustered.

‘So that’s it.’

There was no other reason for someone from the Divine Demonic Forest to send someone at this time. However, he thought that a traitor from the Divine Demonic Forest might have fled to the Righteous Martial World, or that they might want something else.

But if that were the case, they wouldn’t have sent just one person. Moreover, Cheon Hyo-Rak was showing a very restrained attitude, so if he knew the importance of diplomacy, he could be considered a quite appropriate choice.

“Is that so?”

Cheon Hyo-Rak smiled at Jeagal Mun-Ho’s calm reply.

“You were expecting it.”

“I did expect it. However, what I want to know is, why is the Divine Demonic Forest trying to establish diplomatic relations with our alliance?”

They didn’t know much about the Divine Demonic Forest, but just the fact that they had been living well without revealing themselves to the world for a long time suggested that they possessed considerable power.

In this situation where the risk of war was high, the Divine Demonic Forest sent someone to establish diplomatic relations with the Martial Alliance?

They couldn’t help but be curious about the details.

Cheon Hyo-Rak, straightening his back, took a short breath. He seemed nervous.

Finally, Cheon Hyo-Rak opened his mouth.

“We want diplomatic relations, but it seems that will only happen after our forest’s situation improves.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Our forest is currently facing a rather chaotic situation. It’s a power struggle that other sects and organizations are also experiencing.”

“…….”

“We want to establish diplomatic relations after that problem is resolved.”

Great Master Gong Gong tilted his head.

“I understand what you’re saying… but if that’s the case, you could have come after resolving your internal problems. Why did you come here before even getting rid of the chaos?”

“I came in advance. I thought I should tell you in advance.”

“In advance?”

“Yes. To be a little more precise… it’s also a request for help from the Martial Alliance.”

“……!!”

The council members looked at each other.

Jang In-Ryung, who had been quiet until now, asked.

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

Cheon Hyo-Rak’s eyes shone brightly.

“I came all the way here to ask for your help in rescuing the Divine Demonic Forest Lord, my master, and in suppressing the group of traitors who have become too difficult to handle.”