Show us more?

What more is there to show here.

It’s enough.

“Ah, n-no! I—I believe you!”

How many in the martial world could suppress everyone gathered here with aura alone?

No one—save a single person.

And that one person was the very man flooding the hall with his presence.

Confirming the room’s reaction, Yeon Cheon Baek smiled at the corners of his mouth, withdrew his aura, and spoke.

“And if I meant to sabotage things, I wouldn’t have done it like this. Still, what must be made certain must be made certain, yes?”

What was he going to “make certain”?

Yeon Cheon Baek snapped his fingers.

From a spot where no one had been, someone appeared.

As if he had been there from the start.

The near-miraculous stealth made everyone gasp.

“You heard?”

“Yes.”

“Go fetch the gate masters.”

“By your command!”

It wasn’t hard to guess whom he meant.

Most likely the masters of the so-called Heaven-and-Earth One Origin Gate, Dao Forest Gate, and Golden Immortal Gate he had just mentioned.

Would they not, of course, deny it?

...One might imagine that—but no.

When the Lord of Martial Deity Heaven himself asks, and you lie?

Your sect is wiped out that very day.

And Yeon Cheon Baek’s logic rang true.

If he’d wanted to sabotage the tournament, he would have sent a horde of sects under Martial Deity Heaven into the Divine Dragon Tournament.

There was no reason to go about it like this.

Which meant some other force had staged this to drive a wedge between the Central Plains and Martial Deity Heaven.

Who?

Just as the question formed, Zhuge Mun-yeok carefully offered his view.

“There is a group attempting to sow discord between the Central Plains and Martial Deity Heaven. That group is a force with no connection to the Central Plains.”

“A force with no connection to the Central Plains, you say. Do you mean the Frontier powers?”

“Not the Frontier, either. I mean a wholly different force.”

“A wholly different force? Do you mean Tianzhu?”

“No. The Demonic Cult.”

At Zhuge Mun-yeok’s words, Huashan Sect Leader, Sect Leader Jin Cheon, and Head Abbot Hyeon Go jolted and shouted.

“Impossible!”

They weren’t the only ones shocked.

The Twelve Zodiac Gates leaders cried out as well.

“W-what do you mean, the Demonic Cult all of a sudden?”

“Why would that accursed lot crawl out here?”

Zhuge Mun-yeok answered the stunned voices.

“The Demonic Cult has already begun to stir. We simply haven’t found where they’ve established their base.”

“You haven’t even confirmed a base—how can you be sure they’re stirring?”

“Venerable Cheon Gi read the heavens and told us.”

“V—Venerable Cheon Gi?”

“His readings have never been wrong...”

Once they heard it was Cheon Gi Jinin who said so, the room began to believe.

Yeon Cheon Baek drove in the wedge.

“His words are true. The Demonic Cult has indeed begun to move. Perhaps to avoid repeating their old mistakes, they’re willing to stoop to sordid tricks like this.”

A chorus of gasps met Yeon Cheon Baek’s statement.

“T-then shouldn’t we first search where the Demonic Cult stirred last time?”

“Are they fools? Stir in the same place again?”

“Still—you never know.”

“That place is clear.”

“D-did you see it yourself?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Martial Deity Heaven is precisely that place.”

“Pardon?”

“The grounds where Martial Deity Heaven was founded are exactly where the rift appeared when the Demonic Cult first emerged.”

No one had known this; everyone present reeled in shock and awe.

“Then the reason you founded Martial Deity Heaven was...?”

“Exactly. To watch the rift to the Demon Realm. But the rift within Martial Deity Heaven hasn’t changed. There’s no sign of anything slipping into the world there. Which means another rift has opened somewhere else.”

“Huh...”

“Amitabha.”

“Immeasurable Life.”

“Good heavens!”

Murmurs of amazement.

It was a truly grave problem.

“The Demonic Cult is steadily working to set the Central Plains and Martial Deity Heaven at each other’s throats. Not long ago they even brainwashed this man and nearly marched sects under us to attack Central Plains sects, didn’t they?”

At “this man,” heads turned that way.

Receiving every gaze, the man cupped his fist and introduced himself.

“I am Ma Ryang.”

“Hell Darkness Emperor!”

“Good heavens! The Hell Darkness Emperor!”

“The Hell Darkness Emperor fell to the Demonic Cult?”

“Brainwashed and made to dance like a puppet?”

“If the Hell Darkness Emperor could be reduced to that, just how strong are they?”

There is nothing more terrifying than an enemy you can’t see.

Yeon Cheon Baek grinned at the uneasy faces.

“What are you so afraid of? You have Martial Deity Heaven.”

“Y-you’ve made preparations in Martial Deity Heaven?”

“Of course.”

Yeon Woo Jin has been preparing diligently, so it wasn’t a lie.

No—if anything, it was the truth.

Yeon Woo Jin would soon be Martial Deity Heaven itself.

“We’ve already finished preparations to track them down.”

By using the Demonic Tiger Relic.

“Though to do that, we’ll have to go to the Northern Sea.”

“Why the Northern Sea?”

“Because the thing we need to find them is at the Ice Palace. We’ll go, talk nicely, and borrow it.”

Will “talk nicely” really be enough?

“Will they listen to us?”

“That’s why we’ll ta~alk nicely and borrow it.”

“Ah...”

“And if words don’t work, we’ll show a little strength.”

A little?

It felt like we’d soon hear that the Northern Sea Ice Palace had been annihilated.

While everyone was still reeling, someone entered.

A young man whose age did not fit this place.

Had he come to deliver a message for someone?

That was the thought in the moment—

People sprang to their feet, bowed in unison, and boomed out:

“We greet our lord!”

What now?

Huashan Sect Leader, Sect Leader Jin Cheon, Head Abbot Hyeon Go, and the Twelve Zodiac Gates chiefs stared, dumbfounded, at the heads of the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans offering their bows.

Was this a dream?

Or a prank?

The problem was, it didn’t look like a prank at all.

“So everyone’s gathered. Oh? I see some faces I’m meeting for the first time.”

They accepted the salutations as if it were the most natural thing.

What could that mean?

It meant that young man truly regarded them as his subordinates.

“An honor to meet you. I’m Yeon Woo Jin.”

“Keh keh keh. My only grandson, and the one who will sit as the next Lord of Martial Deity Heaven. He’s also the only one who can save the Central Plains in its hour of peril.”

Only one?

At the looks, Yeon Cheon Baek added:

“I hate to admit it, but the brat is stronger than me.”

Another wave of shock surged through the hall.

Were they truly expected to believe that?

He looked barely past twenty, yet stronger than Yeon Cheon Baek—hailed as One Martial God and the greatest under heaven?

Believe that?

As disbelief thickened, Yeon Cheon Baek asked those who had already come under Yeon Woo Jin:

“Am I wrong?”

They exchanged glances, then answered carefully.

“It’s the truth.”

The truth?

How far were they supposed to take this?

To the bewildered crowd, Yeon Woo Jin spoke.

“First, I know this is all very confusing.”

“Y-yes.”

“I had things to give you and things to tell you, and since you’re all gathered, it’s easier to say it at once.”

At Yeon Woo Jin’s words, Yeon Cheon Baek spoke from his side.

“I’ve already talked about the Demonic Cult.”

“Ah, you have?”

“Right. The bunch who made a scene today. I hear they impersonated Martial Deity Heaven and ran amok.”

“Sir?”

Yeon Cheon Baek explained in detail to the startled Yeon Woo Jin.

When he finished, Yeon Woo Jin nodded.

“It’s clear they mean to keep pitting the Central Plains and Martial Deity Heaven against each other.”

“Exactly. You can feel it—they plan to bleed both our strengths dry, then invade. But what will they do now? The Central Plains is already in your grip. Cheap tricks like that won’t work.”

Yeon Cheon Baek chuckled, amused.

“Isn’t it funny? They must have thought it was a masterstroke. If you weren’t here, the Central Plains and we might truly have clashed to their tune.”

At the prospect of having fought Martial Deity Heaven, the Central Plains leaders felt their skin crawl.

Had it come to that, the martial world would have descended into utter hell. If the Demonic Cult had then struck the gap—

They would have been routed without an answer.

Even Martial Deity Heaven might have fallen.

But their entire stratagem had been reduced to nothing by a single existence named Yeon Woo Jin.

Who could have guessed he had already taken most of the Central Plains into his hand.

Even Yeon Cheon Baek, who watched over and cherished Yeon Woo Jin from closest by, hadn’t known; the Demonic Cult certainly wouldn’t have.

Huashan Sect Leader turned to the other sect heads.

“More to the point... what is going on with all of you? ‘Lord,’ you say?”

It was beyond anything they could have imagined.

Even when they had yielded manuals to Martial Deity Heaven in the past, they had never joined under it.

They handed over manuals to quench the fire at their throats and bide their time for the future.

How hard they had worked to return to the days when they ruled the Central Plains.

Not just Mount Hua.

The other sects and clans had labored no less.

And because they had to do it out of Martial Deity Heaven’s sight, it had been twice as hard.

After all those years, they had only just recovered their former flourishing—yet now they stood under Martial Deity Heaven.

Not merely under, but calling a youth barely past twenty their lord.

They had sworn they would die before serving a master—so what had happened?

What had transpired all this time?

They needed to know.

“We’ll tell you later.”

“Once you experience our lord yourself, you’ll naturally understand our hearts.”

Experience the lord?

Would that ever happen?

“What reason would we have to... experience that young man?”

“You must. Our lord will return to you the secret manuals you gave Martial Deity Heaven.”

“W-what are you saying? S-secret manuals?”

Huashan Sect Leader shot a quick look at Yeon Cheon Baek.

As if to ask if this was true.

“It’s true. I told my grandson to return your manuals.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. Take them back and train quickly, so you’re ready for the decisive battle with the Demonic Cult.”

“Th-thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Returning your manuals was my grandson’s idea. If not for his request, I’d never have given them back.”

“You’re returning the manuals because your grandson asked you to?”

“That’s right. I’ll do whatever my grandson wants. Returning manuals is nothing.”

Huashan Sect Leader’s face went a little blank.

Return secret manuals—just because the grandson asked?

Could something like this be decided so simply?

“Don’t look at me like that. If Woo Jin asked me for Martial Deity Heaven itself, I’d hand it over on the spot. And didn’t I say it already? He’s stronger than me.”

He had said it—but who in the world could accept that at once?

Huashan Sect Leader looked to Yeon Woo Jin.

He seemed to be thinking something through.

What was he thinking?

Would he hold the manuals hostage and demand their allegiance?

If so, he would refuse.

In truth, the restoration of the Twenty-Four Forms Plum-Blossom Sword Art was almost complete.

They didn’t need the manuals.

Huashan Sect Leader had no intention of following Martial Deity Heaven like the others.

Then Yeon Woo Jin seemed to conclude his thoughts. He lifted his head and spoke.

“I’ll return all the manuals on the day the tournament ends.”

“I—is that true?”

“Yes.”

At Yeon Woo Jin’s words, eyes turned to Huashan Sect Leader.

“What have you decided about the tournament?”

“Well...”

He had come here to discuss exactly that, but the shock upon /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ shock had pushed it from mind.

“Is there any point in proceeding further?”

“Still, we should at least decide a champion, should we not?”

“In this atmosphere, what meaning would a champion have? Better to end it quickly, receive the manuals, and devote ourselves to training, no?”