After establishing the general plan, we spent days bickering over whether I would enter as an adopted son or not.
Today, Seomun Hwa-rin, who had been diligently tempting me with the benefits of becoming her adopted son, suddenly calmed down.
"You're faster than I expected."
"Didn't you visit the outhouse before we departed?"
"Ugh! That's not what I'm talking about! I'm talking about the pursuit!"
"Ah. If that's what you mean, then yes, we are faster than expected."
Seomun Hwa-rin, unable to pinch me, could only press down on the back of my hand again and again.
I couldn't feel anything yet, but Seomun Hwa-rin, whose Qi Sense was far superior to mine, seemed to sense something.
A little early, but perhaps it was time to head back.
Just as I was nodding to myself, Seomun Hwa-rin's composed expression suddenly hardened.
"How…?"
"And what is it this time?"
"…Leave this place at once. No, it's already too late for that. Come behind me, quickly."
The words came out of nowhere. Yet Seomun Hwa-rin was no longer showing the somewhat careless demeanor she usually displayed—she was radiating the sharp aura befitting a Harmony Realm Martial Artist.
I didn't know what was happening, but the moment I realized this was no time for jokes, a familiar yet never-welcoming Aura from afar made my skin prickle.
"Ah."
My Qi Sense may be precise, but its range is not particularly vast. Even so, the reason I can sense this from so far away is simple.
Because the one approaching has stretched their Aura all the way to the edge of my Qi Sense's reach.
Even a skilled Martial Artist usually keeps their Aura concealed, or at the very least, well-controlled.
This is both to hide their true strength and to show consideration for those weaker than themselves.
However, the owner of this energy is different. Far from hiding it, they were scattering that violent and oppressive Aura in every direction.
There is only one Martial Artist I know who is so desperate to make their presence known.
Sangwan Geuk, Lord of the Black Alliance.
He was also known by the alias Twin-Blade Spear King, and as that name suggested, he was a remarkable tyrant who had conquered the unorthodox martial world with his pair of long and short spears, and had created the Black Alliance—the first unorthodox organization in the history of the martial world.
…However, it was precisely because I knew this that I was even more astonished.
What in the world was this man doing here? Even if it was a remote corner, this was still Anhui Province, territory of the Namgung Clan.
While I was dumbfounded, perhaps he sensed that we had noticed him. The presence that had been far away was rapidly approaching.
And so, the small dot that had been visible at the edge of the road had, before I knew it, become a middle-aged man of large build.
Seeing him up close, he looked exactly as I remembered him… no, he seemed a bit younger and more ferocious than that.
Well, of course. This was over a decade before the last time I had seen him.
I hadn't expected to cross paths with him so soon, so I swallowed a sigh and carefully examined this uninvited guest.
He stood well over seven feet tall, his entire body packed with thick, bulging muscles. The long and short spears crossed over his back radiated sharpness even before being drawn.
His sheer size alone pressed down on everything around him with an overwhelming presence, but that wasn't the real threat.
His hair was wild and unkempt like a beast's mane, and his thick, pointed beard bristled. And between them burned those eyes.
Ambition.
That gaze, filled with the naked desire to devour everything in the world by any means necessary, was the true essence of the man called Sangwan Geuk.
Just having him in my field of vision brought a murderous sensation, as if I had stuck my head into a beast's maw.
It's been a while since I felt this, so it's almost nostalgic.
But Seomun Hwa-rin, apparently taking my stillness as being overwhelmed, frowned and stepped in front of me to block his path.
It looked as if she was trying to shield me from Sangwan Geuk.
His eyes flickered with interest at that, but before he could react, I gently pushed Seomun Hwa-rin aside and stepped forward.
Meeting the violent pressure that demanded I kneel head-on, I offered a polite fist-and-palm salute.
"The young junior of the Tang Clan greets the Lord of the Black Alliance. My name is Cheon Hwi."
"Oh? You know this Alliance Lord?"
"I've never seen your face, but how could I fail to recognize you after feeling this Aura?"
"…This is amusing."
Sangwan Geuk stroked his chin and curled his lips into a grin. His expression, like he'd found a new toy, was playfully at odds with his murderous Aura.
Seomun Hwa-rin jabbed my back in fright, but… against someone like Sangwan Geuk, this was the right approach.
A Martial Artist who walked the path of tyranny. Among them, he stood closest to the peak, and even among fellow Harmony Realm experts, he was exceptionally strong—a man who adhered thoroughly to the logic of the Unorthodox Sects.
He despised the weak and respected the strong.
However, while it was natural for the powerless to bow before him, if one groveled to the very bone, he would disdain them for lacking spirit—a twisted sort of man.
That was why, after the deaths of Seomun Hwa-rin and Seol Ri-hyang, Sangwan Geuk took a considerable liking to me, who was running wild and mad, called the Sword Demon.
Back then, I had no regard for anything, and I often bared my blade even at the Lord of the Black Alliance.
Regardless of the past, what mattered when facing the Lord of the Black Alliance was to respect him, yet not be crushed by his strength and authority.
At all times, even while sleeping, he radiated this oppressive Aura, and he liked those who did not fear him.
No matter how I thought about it, he seemed out of his mind, but then again, Unorthodox Sect martial artists were mostly out of their minds to begin with.
If that was the case, then it was only natural that Sangwan Geuk, standing at the very peak of the Unorthodox Sects, would be the most out of his mind of them all.
And sure enough, there he was, bursting into hearty laughter, clearly delighted.
"Hahaha! When I heard that Baekbal Nachal had kidnapped some bloody brat, I wondered what the fuss was about… Indeed. At this age, to have reached the edge of the Peak Realm. And with such spirit, I can understand why you'd want to devour him!"
"W-What nonsense are you spouting! Devour him, you say!"
Seomun Hwa-rin's face flushed red as she spat out her anger, but Sangwan Geuk merely waved his hand, utterly unperturbed.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. There's no need to be embarrassed. This Alliance Lord is not so narrow-minded a man as to disparage another's tastes."
"I told you, that's not it!"
"So you intend to raise it a bit more before devouring it?"
"You bastard…!"
Seomun Hwa-rin drew up her internal energy and once again blocked my path. The auras of the two clashed against each other.
Before the regression, Tang So-wol had said that the Harmony Realm was a state of self-completion. That was why each master exuded their own unique presence.
And now. The energies mixing and bursting between the two were utterly bloodcurdling.
The Karmic Sin of Killing that Seomun Hwa-rin had accumulated collided with Sangwan Geuk's domineering might—if that weren't bloodcurdling, that would be the stranger thing.
However, their standoff did not last long. Surprisingly, Sangwan Geuk took a step back, ending the war of nerves.
"Let's stop here. This Alliance Lord did not come here to fight."
"Ha! Then why on earth did you bother coming all the way here? And more importantly, how did you even know where I was?"
"Slow as ever—this Alliance Lord arrived first. But the one who told me your location was someone else. And as for why I came… it's to hear your answer to my earlier proposal."
"You mean joining the Black Alliance? As I recall, I already refused."
"Isn't the situation different now than it was then? Do you still not realize that your petty dream as Baekbal Nachal is as good as shattered?"
"…"
Seomun Hwa-rin kept her mouth tightly shut. I asked her.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. Were you acquainted with the Lord of the Black Alliance?"
"Don't misunderstand. We met once before, and that was all."
"By 'met once before' you mean…"
Just as Seomun Hwa-rin's mouth twitched, Sangwan Geuk answered a beat faster in her place.
"I was just pondering whether to slowly extend my reach from Zhejiang Province into Gangseo Province when the rumors of Baekbal Nachal suddenly came to mind, so I had the Haomun go and find her. But by then she had already undergone Rejuvenation. So I couldn't force her—I could only offer the suggestion. I asked whether she would join the Black Alliance."
So that was the reason Seomun Hwa-rin, before the regression, had joined the Black Alliance the moment her identity was exposed at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
And in the end, it was also true that the Black Alliance had established a branch in Gangseo Province.
Though they had only managed to secure half of it, held in check by the Namgung Clan of neighboring Anhui Province and the Jegal Clan of Hubei Province.
At any rate, this raised one question. Why, after having summoned her himself, did he then keep Seomun Hwa-rin in check once she actually joined the Black Alliance?
He hadn't been petty even after her death, but while she was alive, hadn't he been extremely stingy in his restraint of her?
Perhaps my expression had betrayed the question I had no intention of revealing outwardly.
Sangwan Geuk let out a small chuckle and opened his mouth.
"You have the face of someone who doesn't quite understand."
"Yes. With my limited insight, I was thinking that if the Black Alliance had another Harmony Realm martial artist, it might make things uncomfortable for the Lord of the Black Alliance."
"Correct. It would be uncomfortable. Even more so because Baekbal Nachal is not the kind of demon I had imagined."
"Then…"
"But even so, the Black Alliance must be able to embrace Baekbal Nachal. Because that is the very reason this Alliance Lord founded the Black Alliance. Even if you actually seat someone in a sinecure, you must show the appearance of accepting them fully on the outside—otherwise, how would the other fools believe and follow?"
"So recruiting Senior Seomun Hwa-rin was for show from the very beginning?"
"Correct. But this isn't a bad deal for Baekbal Nachal either, is it?"
Seomun Hwa-rin let out a light sigh and nodded.
"In the end, since I've been found out, all I need is a quiet place to live. I have no interest in power struggles, so if the Black Alliance is willing to be my shelter, there's nothing wrong with that."
"That's—!"
"Yes. This is actually similar to what you, Cheon Hwi, proposed to me."
"What?"
Sangwan Geuk's face—which, despite his fierce Aura, had carried a certain goodwill in his words—twisted violently.
Then a surge of killing intent, incomparable to anything before, constricted my neck.
"Surely you don't intend to interfere with this Alliance Lord's plans? Do not expect that because this is the territory of the Orthodox Sects, or because you are a man of the Tang Clan, you will be safe here."
"…"
A threat laced with killing intent. An ordinary rising talent would have tucked their tail between their legs here. Not because their will was weak, but because their body refused to obey in the face of such an unfathomable gap in realms.
But I am a man more accustomed to killing intent than anyone. It would be a lie to say it didn't weigh on me, but it was not enough to make me bow my head meekly.
I looked up at Sangwan Geuk and continued in a calm voice.
"Whether Senior Seomun Hwa-rin stays or goes is not a matter for me or the Lord of the Black Alliance to decide. She decides for herself. Is that not so?"
"Well spoken. And—"
Seomun Hwa-rin nodded, then wrapped me in the Aura she had drawn up. And with a faint killing intent, she fixed her gaze on Sangwan Geuk.
"She is my hostage. I would ask that you not lay a hand on her without my permission."
"Hah!"
Sangwan Geuk let out a hollow laugh and withdrew his killing intent aimed at me, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, well. There really must be something there. I only touched her a little, yet you've already shown me your hostility twice. But as I said before, this Alliance Lord did not come to this place to fight."
"Then I shall answer you once more. I will not join the Black Alliance. So be on your way back to Zhejiang Province."
"Heh heh. You seem to be mistaken. I didn't come to fight, but I also didn't come to persuade you again."
Sangwan Geuk pointed behind him with his thumb. I hadn't noticed because his Aura filled the surroundings, but dozens of Martial Artists in black uniforms had gathered there in the meantime.
They were probably the companions he had mentioned earlier—the ones so slow he had left them behind.
Every one of them wore a sword at their waist, and embroidered on their sleeves was the mark of Black Heaven. Each was at least first-rate, and a few among them had even reached the Peak Realm.
But what mattered to me wasn't their martial level.
The moment I recognized those faces—faces I still remembered vividly—a fury boiled up inside me like my blood was running backward.
"Black Heaven Sword Gate…"
Before the regression, these were the ones who had taken the lives of Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin.