The first assembly of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance was truly a historic moment.
The Murim Alliance Leader, the Lord of the Black Alliance, the Imperial Princess, the clan heads of the Five Great Families, the sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, and the Lord of the Northern Ice Palace and the Beast Palace Lord—who were practically the representatives of Outer Murim.
Had figures of this caliber ever gathered in one place before?
And it didn't end there. Beyond them, the masters of numerous renowned and prestigious martial houses, along with celebrated experts who, despite having no clear affiliation, were recognized throughout the martial world, had all gathered in one place.
Looking now, it seemed the Demonic Physician, who was treating the Lord of the Black Alliance, had attended alongside him.
After confirming the faces of those present and gauging the Aura they each carried, I opened my mouth.
"Then let's have all of you come at me at once."
"…"
"…"
"…"
What came back wasn't even an answer—just stares of utter disbelief.
Why?
As I tilted my head in puzzlement, a middle-aged man shot up from his seat and shouted.
"Have you ever seen such a thunderstruck fool!"
"Oh."
Who is this?
I had never seen him before my regression, nor in this life. But his martial level was that of an absolute master at the Harmony Realm.
He probably didn't involve himself much in the affairs of the martial world in ordinary times, and lost his life in the early days of the Demonic Cult's invasion.
The feeling was a bit different from what I had expected, but that sharp hostility was exactly what I had hoped for. With a willing heart, I waited for what he would say next.
"White Moon Sword Lord! Reaching your current level at that age and achieving all you have is certainly impressive, but among those gathered here, there is no one with a lower standing than you!"
"Hmph. Indeed, everyone here is rather advanced in years. Though not all of them."
Beside the Beast Palace Lord, Maeng Yubaek was putting on a show of composure, and Heo Soye, the successor of the Diancang Sect, was still keeping the Heavenly Killing Star well under control.
And then there was the Martial Arts Princess, who had nothing to show for herself besides her bloodline and a pretty face.
As I gave a brief nod to the three familiar faces, the aura of the middle-aged man who had been angry at me for some reason grew even fiercer.
"You brat! Are you saying you called all these people here just to play word games with me?!"
"No, I'm just stating the facts."
I genuinely couldn't understand what he was so angry about this time, so I asked again—but the only response was the sound of a sword being drawn.
Shring!
"Fine then! If you want it that badly, let's see you receive my sword!"
"I'm not sure what's going on, but you're doing great. Just so you know, you should go all out."
At any rate, I'd succeeded in making him draw his sword, so I was grinning from ear to ear as I moved to draw my own.
"Stop!!"
A lion's roar filled with internal energy. It was a technique that seemed to shout directly at the soul rather than the ears, swallowing the room whole for a moment before vanishing.
Even an absolute master in a frenzy couldn't ignore that. The middle-aged man, who had looked ready to lunge at any moment, lowered his sword and turned toward the source of the sound.
There stood the Murim Alliance Leader, pinching his temples as if nursing a headache.
"Clan Head Dokgo. I know you've been out of touch with the world lately, and I know you're sensitive about such matters, but drawing your sword so recklessly in a place like this is hardly proper. Calm yourself."
"…Alliance Leader. It's true that I've been out of touch, but that doesn't give me any reason to tolerate that brat running wild without knowing his place."
"Surprisingly enough, he said what he did precisely because he knows his place perfectly well."
"Surely you don't mean to say that the White Moon Sword Lord is some previous-generation master who underwent Rejuvenation?"
"One could say they're similar, but… no, they're not. And the real previous-generation master who underwent Rejuvenation is over there."
Seomun Hwa-rin pouted her lips under the Murim Alliance Leader's gaze.
"Call me a master, not a previous-generation master."
Of course, the Murim Alliance Leader merely shrugged in response, but the Dokgo Clan Head offered Seomun Hwa-rin a polite fist-and-palm salute.
"I, Dokgo Sang, greet the senior. If I have committed any discourtesy, I apologize in advance."
"Uh, uh-huh? There's nothing like that, so don't worry."
Seomun Hwa-rin, who hadn't expected to receive such earnest senior treatment, blinked her eyes and began to fluster.
Indeed. He was just someone sensitive to things like age and hierarchy.
His disappointment at Dokgo Sang sheathing his sword lasted only a moment. His gaze, which had softened, sharpened once more.
"Then, Alliance Leader, what exactly do you mean by that 'upper and lower'? As I said before, if there's something I'm overlooking because I'm out of touch with the current situation, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me."
The atmosphere suggested he would draw his sword again at any moment if he heard something nonsensical.
I wasn't the only one who sensed it. The Lord of the Black Alliance, who was munching on a snack from a pouch embroidered with a cute design that Sama Yuryeon had clearly prepared for her, grinned and spoke.
"Hey, Murim Alliance Leader. Are you really going to stop him? We might get to see a good show."
"…If someone is about to leap into a pit of fire with kindling on their back, it's only right for a person to stop them."
"He won't kill him, though. What a shame."
The Lord of the Black Alliance, genuinely disappointed, and the Murim Alliance Leader, genuinely pitying him.
At this point, it seemed even he couldn't miss the strangeness. Dokgo Sang began to hesitate.
"What in the world is this…"
"Listen well, Head of the Dokgo Clan."
And the Murim Alliance Leader kindly explained it for Dokgo Sang's sake.
"The White Moon Sword Lord here—whether he traded his talent for it or not—has no sense of shame, no tact, and not even a gift for words, so he often looks like a madman, and in the Black Alliance he's even called the number one of the Unorthodox Sects… but…"
"???"
An abrupt slander. I opened my mouth to refute the injustice, but Tang So-wol, smiling brightly beside me, shook her head, so I closed it again.
"Even so, his martial talent is certain. When I said he perfectly grasps the difference between high and low, I meant that he has the confidence to win against everyone in this very place."
"That's utter nonsense…"
Dokgo Sang was taken aback, but seeing the calm atmosphere around him, he was flustered and raised his voice.
"…Is that true?"
"It is."
"…"
Dokgo Sang turned his head this way and that, checking the reactions of those around him, but seeing that everyone wore expressions similar to the Murim Alliance Leader's, he eventually seemed to accept it and gaped blankly.
"How could a master of that caliber make such an outrageous statement… Ah."
Before long, his expression shifted as if he had realized something.
"You say he's called the best of the Unorthodox Sects? Indeed. If he's a man of the Unorthodox Sects, I can understand such eccentricity."
"Kuhahah! See that, Alliance Leader? He's a man of the Unorthodox Sects. Hohohoho!"
"…Clan Head Dokgo. The White Moon Sword Lord is clearly a man of the Orthodox Sects. He's also the son-in-law of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"Nonsense! The Tang Clan never lost its Orthodox banner even when using poison and hidden weapons! Surely the Sichuan Tang Clan hasn't become allies with the Unorthodox?"
"It's true that they've agreed to an alliance between Orthodox and Unorthodox, but he is still a man of the Orthodox Sects, so don't misunderstand."
"…Just what in the world has happened in these past few years?"
As if he had fallen into another world and just come to his senses, Dokgo Sang's eyes trembled violently.
Regardless, it seemed he had lost any desire to test his skills.
He clicked his tongue and chided the Murim Alliance Leader.
"Could it be that you still hold a grudge over what I said last time? But isn't it true that thanks to me, the Murim Alliance was able to receive the Imperial Court's support?"
"That still doesn't mean you have the right to smash the Alliance's buildings to pieces…!"
Judging by how much trouble the cleanup must have caused him, the Murim Alliance Leader's shout was filled with grievance.
But unlike the lion's roar from a moment ago, what it contained was not sternness but pitifulness.
Oh well.
Being the head of an organization might look good from the outside, but in reality, it was a position this troublesome. As expected, it was a good call to have foisted all the complicated matters onto someone else.
While he was inwardly praising his own excellent judgment.
The Murim Alliance Leader, who had aged visibly in the span of a moment, continued speaking.
"Hoo… Fine. Then at least explain what you meant by telling us to attack you. You have that strange habit of starting with the conclusion, you know. I'd like to hear how you arrived at it."
"If the Murim Alliance Leader insists."
I shrugged and once again swept my gaze over the assembled figures… over their martial levels. My judgment was not mistaken.
"Strictly speaking, what we must face is not the Demonic Cult but the Heavenly Demon. And the Heavenly Demon is stronger than I am. If so, shouldn't you at least be capable of gaining an edge against me?"
"So that's why you told us to attack?"
"Yes. If you came at me with a proper coordinated assault, even I would be in trouble. However… as you've guessed, that's easier said than done."
"Indeed. There's the matter of pride, and also the fact that we simply don't know much about your martial art."
The Murim Alliance Leader was right. But one couldn't simply brush it off with, "Well, Harmony Realm martial artists are prideful by nature, and since they're all leaders of their own factions, they can't easily join forces while keeping each other in check."
That was especially true because the Murim Alliance had been cut in half in the blink of an eye before the regression precisely because of such complacent thinking.
"But if there's a powerhouse that must be brought down no matter what, and there's no room for pride or pointless infighting… wouldn't a true coordinated assault become possible?"
"…In other words, you're saying that you, White Moon Sword Lord, are such a powerhouse."
"Yes."
Having said that much, I looked around. Everyone wore expressions of reluctant agreement—they conceded the point but didn't want to admit it.
I let out a light chuckle at them and continued.
"But our true enemy is the Heavenly Demon. And the Heavenly Demon is far stronger than I am. No—he is an overwhelmingly stronger force than anyone in this room. Because… he has reached a realm beyond Harmony itself."
"Beyond Harmony…?"
A voice full of disbelief drifted from somewhere.
I understood. Until now, the prevailing belief had been that Harmony was the final realm a martial artist could reach.
In truth, as time passed and martial arts evolved, many Harmony Realm masters had emerged—and at this very moment, over twenty of them were gathered in this very place.
But no one had ever managed to reach a realm beyond Harmony.
They could only vaguely speculate that legendary figures like Bodhidharma or the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin might have attained it.
Those who had heard the story from Seomun Hwa-rin alongside my regression roughly knew the truth, but since there were far more who didn't, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Yet there were those who lent weight to my words.
"So that's why… it makes sense that an opponent whose spear couldn't even land properly wouldn't be an ordinary one."
"So this is the reason the Namgung sword couldn't reach him."
The Lord of the Black Alliance and Namgung Dowi muttered to themselves and nodded.
At the height of the conflict between the Orthodox and Unorthodox sects, the former number one of the Unorthodox Sects had proven his martial level by rampaging like a madman.
And the Sword King of the former greatest family in the world, a title no one could deny, had said the same.
Besides the common point that both had yielded to me the positions of number one of the Unorthodox Sects and the greatest family in the world, they also shared the common point of being acknowledged by all of the Central Plains.
Even those who had been uncertain found it hard to ignore the weight of the Lord of the Black Alliance and the Sword King's names, and their expressions turned serious.
Seizing this opening, I raised my voice. For the sake of sincerity, I did not mix in internal energy but purely increased my volume.
"We have given that realm the name Harmony Realm. Just as a single Harmony Realm martial artist can contend with dozens of Transcendent Peak martial artists, a Heavenly Demon who has reached the Harmony Realm should be able to face dozens—perhaps even more—of Harmony Realm martial artists. Therefore, this junior humbly requests something of everyone gathered here."
I continued, crafting the most sincere and earnest gaze I could manage.
"Now. Now is the time for us to unite our strength."
"…"
"…"
"…"
The same silence as when I had told them all to come at me. But this time, a warm atmosphere hung in the air.
…Is it time now?
"So come at me with everything you've got."
"…"
"…"
"…"
The atmosphere turned icy cold again in an instant.
Hoo. Was this not the right time?
The Murim Alliance Leader, turning his gaze away from me as I tilted my head, spoke in a flat voice.
"Now then, let's ignore what that sword-loving bastard said and move on to the next topic. If you understand how dangerous the situation is, the important thing is how we prepare for it. For starters, I'd like to create something like a border with the help of the Imperial Court…"
"So you've finally gone senile, you beggar. You're saying we should just let the Demonic Cult march right in. If we fight in our own front yard, only our own people will die. We should be the ones to strike first into the Shiwan Dashan Mountains…"
The sight of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects setting aside past grudges and purely joining forces to prepare for the future.
It was the very scene I had longed for ever since my regression. And yet…
Why was it, I wondered. The fact that everyone else was getting along so warmly—except for me—didn't sit well with me at all.
"Tch."
Ah, I want to spar.