Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 44

“Did you become this gaunt in just ten days? Are you not eating?”

“……”

“Well, I guess that’s all I need to see? No response either?”

“……”

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t have anything to say.”

Gang-Yoon, locked in the iron cage, looked quite pathetic.

He was wearing a prisoner’s uniform, and his arms were shackled with iron chains. His disheveled hair looked lifeless.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been silently observing Gang-Yoon, spoke to the head of the Law Enforcement Hall.

“Please open this door.”

The head of the Law Enforcement Hall looked troubled.

“That is…”

“Don’t worry. I was the one who ordered him locked up, so would I really let him go? Ah!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong took out a small letter from his pocket.

“I already received permission from the family head. Please take this.”

The head of the Law Enforcement Hall nodded after receiving the letter. The writing and seal on the letter were clearly the family head’s.

“Understood. However, please be careful as the prisoner might cause a disturbance.”

“I wouldn’t care even if there were ten more like him.”

Clang.

As the iron cage opened, Yeon Ho-Jeong stepped inside.

Even though the iron cage was wide open, Gang-Yoon showed no reaction.

Yeon Ho-Jeong sat down next to Gang-Yoon without hesitation.

Gang-Yoon’s body flinched. Yeon Ho-Jeong was sitting too close.

“Your inner energy is sealed. Aren’t you cold?”

“……”

“That was a pointless question, wasn’t it? Are you getting enough to eat?”

“…Why did you come?”

“Do I need your permission to come? I come if I want to.”

It was a way of speaking that left him speechless.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, leaning his head against the wall, spoke in a casual tone.

“Yoo Ji-Ha, that guy also received a disciplinary action.”

“……”

“No matter how stupidly you acted, he was still a squad leader. There’s room for leniency, but the crime of disobeying orders doesn’t disappear. So, he got a six-month pay cut and is solely responsible for the entire squad reorganization for three months.”

Reorganizing a squad alone was no easy task. It was such a grueling job that it was questionable whether it could be finished even with a full day’s investment.

“But that guy, he finished the reorganization with gritted teeth and even completed his personal training before sleeping? It seems like he barely gets two hours of sleep a day.”

“……”

“I don’t know how long that effort will last, but at least he seems happy now. A strong bone is a strong bone. His desire to become stronger was that great.”

Gang-Yoon asked.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“So you know.”

“……”

“I don’t know all the laws of the main family. But I know that even for the same crime, the sentence varies depending on the motive and purpose. The fact that you received a harsher sentence than Yoo Ji-Ha means there’s a reason for it.”

Gang-Yoon looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

His eyes were not clearly visible, hidden by his hair.

“Strictness in the law is essential. But if it goes too far, problems arise.”

“So, did you reduce my sentence?”

“As if? That was just my mood. You committed insubordination, but looking back, I’m not that angry. I thought it was too harsh to completely abolish your inner energy.”

“……”

“It’s not my place to say, but you were lucky.”

Gang-Yoon’s hair shook. It was a laugh, whether a sneer or a bitter one, it was hard to tell.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes deepened.

“Besides, even though you’re a moron and an idiot, at least you seem to have pride in the organization called the Flying Eagles of the Byuksan Yeon Family.”

“……!”

“Isn’t the reason you hated me because you didn’t want to admit that the eldest son of the Yeon Family was a good-for-nothing?”

Gang-Yoon’s eyes wavered.

It was embarrassing to hear such words directly.

Yeon Ho-Jeong chuckled.

“You’re twisted, but you still have affection for the main family.”

“How does the eldest son know that?”

“Do I need to touch it to know if it’s poop or mud?”

Wasn’t that metaphor a bit dirty?

Yeon Ho-Jeong stood up.

“Think about what truly serves the main family.”

“…I have a question.”

“What is it?”

Gang-Yoon raised his head.

“Besides me, did you reduce the sentences of others involved in this incident?”

He meant whether those who committed crimes in each organization were treated the same way.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes turned cold.

“I killed all but two.”

“……!!”

“Their crimes were clear. Whether they were drunk or not, killing people unjustly is a capital offense. They even tried to bury it without anyone knowing. There was no room for leniency.”

Gang-Yoon felt a chill.

He could have lost his life if he had gone further astray. The thought made his spine tingle.

Looking down at the trembling Gang-Yoon, Yeon Ho-Jeong continued.

“Perhaps, a great crisis may soon befall the main family.”

Gang-Yoon was startled and looked up at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

In that instant, Gang-Yoon felt his vision darken. A ruthless killing intent emanated from Yeon Ho-Jeong, who was looking at him with indifferent eyes.

“I hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, then you should lend your strength. Prove that your affection for the main family was genuine.”

“……”

“Even if your inner energy is sealed, you can still train. Don’t waste time. At least you should be better than the guy who was once your subordinate.”

* * *

“Brother.”

“Oh? Were you waiting?”

Yeon Ji-Pyeong smiled awkwardly.

“You said you were going to see Father today, right?”

“Huh?! Did I?”

“Seriously, you forgot about that?”

“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately.”

“You’re really careless.”

“You rascal.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong ruffled Yeon Ji-Pyeong’s hair. Yeon Ji-Pyeong yelled in protest.

“Alright, let’s go get scolded.”

Four days had passed.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s daily routine had become even more grueling. He had surpassed his limits several times over the past four months, and he wanted to push his limits once again.

He reduced his sleep time by another hour and doubled his food intake. Naturally, the intensity of his training also increased significantly.

Even with the martial arts and enlightenment from his past life, he couldn’t become stronger without relentless effort. Yeon Ho-Jeong had trained harder than anyone else for the past half year.

Another day passed like that.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t summon the White Tiger, but his mastery of the Byukra Jin Gyeol [a martial arts technique] had reached six levels. Considering the time he had started learning the Byukra Jin Gyeol, it was an unimaginable speed of mastery.

He was now a body that was more than qualified to be called a master. He had grown enough to use powerful martial arts without having to force his muscles to overwork.

On the afternoon of the day Yeon Ho-Jeong realized the sixth level of the Byukra Jin Gyeol.

Finally, Ga Deuk-Sang came to visit.

“Hey, thief! Is the meal ready?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong grinned.

“If you leave even a single grain of rice, you’ll get nothing.”

* * *

“How is the work progressing?”

“It’s almost finished. The workers are putting in their final push.”

“What’s the timeline?”

“Judging by the hot wind blowing through the passage, it should be done in about five days.”

“Good.”

An elderly man in flamboyant clothes trimmed a flower branch with pruning shears.

“Once the work is done, bury the workers.”

“Understood.”

The elderly man who spoke of killing people without hesitation, and the middle-aged man who nodded as if his command was natural, were equally chilling.

A faint excitement appeared on the elderly man’s face.

“Finally, I can obtain it. The opportunity that our ancestors arranged. It has taken a long time, hasn’t it?”

“It’s been twelve years by the calendar.”

“If we obtain that confirmed opportunity, my next generation will be able to surpass even Shaolin [a famous Buddhist monastery known for its martial arts].”

“Next generation? If what our ancestors left behind is true, it won’t take a few years.”

“Haha, how wonderful that would be.”

The elderly man straightened his back.

“By the way, has there been any separate contact from Moyong?”

“Yes. Not yet. It seems Moyong is also having a lot of headaches.”

The elderly man clicked his tongue.

“They are very frustrating people. I don’t know what’s holding them back that they’ve been delaying their answer.”

“They must be anxious. The Byuksan Yeon Family has a short history, so their foundation is weak. They must be worried that the Moyong Family might be plotting something.”

“That’s why they’re only at that level. They’re like ignorant fools who can’t properly use the gold they hold. It’s like a butcher holding the world’s best sword.”

“That’s right.”

The elderly man, Myeong Cheon, shook his head.

“Contact Moyong. If the Yeon Family refuses again this time, just give up.”

“Are you really going to do that?”

“What else can I do? I have to use the stick on a disobedient child. I wanted to let them maintain their lineage, but if they keep acting so stubborn, we have no choice.”

A faint unease appeared on the middle-aged man’s face.

“If you really intend to bury the Yeon Family, we must prepare thoroughly.”

“Of course, we must. They have no ability, but they have quite a bit of popularity.”

“The current head of the Yeon Family is said to be very skilled in martial arts. It is said that the Judge’s Sword technique can even split waves. It is said that he might even ascend to the Thirteen Seats of the Holy Heaven in ten years.”

Myeong Cheon’s eyes immediately turned cold.

The Thirteen Seats of the Holy Heaven.

It was a term referring to the superhumans who represented the current martial world.

People say that the greatest golden age of the long martial arts history was during the Blood Cult Rebellion three hundred years ago.

Three hundred years ago, the martial world was a time when a large number of invincible masters who could compete for the title of the strongest in the world emerged. It was an era when there were as many as ten people who could undoubtedly be called the strongest in the world, no matter which era they were born in.

However, as time passed, masters who were infinitely close to absolute power began to emerge in the current martial world. People called those masters the Thirteen Seats of the Holy Heaven.

The shining names that refer to the ten Immortal Emperors and the three Monarchs.

Unfortunately, the Nine Great Families, known as the strongest in the world, did not yet have a master who had made it to the Thirteen Seats.

‘If Father were alive…’

The bloodline of the Myeong Family had short lifespans.

It wasn’t that they had any particular disease, nor did they fall into a demonic state. People called the short lifespans of the Myeong Family a family curse.

‘That’s not a curse. It’s because of the martial arts.’

The martial arts of the Myeong Family are incomplete.

They are worthy of being called the best in the world, but to unleash that power, they had to sacrifice their life force. That’s why the Myeong Family even brought in martial arts from outside to fix the problem.

Of course, the problem was not easily fixed. The martial arts became stronger, but the lifespan was still short.

‘But now it’s okay. If we can just regain the origin of the main family’s martial arts…!’

Three hundred years ago, a single absolute invincible master appeared, far surpassing the superhumans who each boasted invincibility.

The Four Directions Martial Emperor.

Also known as the Yellow Dragon Emperor, that master was the owner of martial arts that could be called the best of all time, surpassing even the strongest in the world.

Since it was an era that had already passed, it was difficult to gauge the true strength of the Four Directions Martial Emperor. However, enthusiasts did not hesitate to place the name of the Four Directions Martial Emperor above even Daruma [founder of Zen Buddhism] or the Heavenly Demon [a powerful figure in martial arts lore].

Myeong Cheon knew. That the words of the enthusiasts were not mere empty words.

The reason was that the ancestors of the Myeong Family were the ones who drove out the Blood Cult along with the Four Directions Martial Emperor. And it was the Four Directions Martial Emperor who passed on some martial arts to those ancestors.

With just that small amount of martial arts, the Nine Great Families had grown this big. Myeong Cheon was convinced that the Four Directions Martial Emperor was the strongest martial artist in the history of martial arts.

And thirteen years ago, he discovered the will left by the first ancestor.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to test it?”

“Yes?”

A sinister killing intent arose on Myeong Cheon’s face.

“After regaining our martial arts, I think it would be okay to test how powerful those martial arts are against the Yeon Family.”