Number one.
Wherever one goes, those who reach the summit are met with treatment befitting their station.
The Unorthodox Sects' Number One was no exception. Guests who came seeking him like madmen, and letters that flew in without pause—such was the reality.
He refused or ignored them all, but that didn't make them any less of a nuisance.
While he grumbled inwardly, Tang So-wol approached, clutching the letters that had piled up over the past few days.
"Young hero Cheon, please take a look at these. I've lost count of how many days this has been going on."
"…Again?"
Tang So-wol was walking over carefully, carrying a stack of papers nearly as tall as her upper body.
The poison pouch was clearly larger than usual, and the tall pile of papers kept bumping into things, making it hard for her to keep her balance.
Without thinking, I watched with a pounding heart to see if they would fall, but then I came to my senses and used Void Grasp to steady them slightly.
"Eep!"
She caught the wobbling stack of papers, but Tang So-wol herself stumbled back hastily and tilted off balance.
Flailing her arms, she barely regained her footing, then put on a sulky expression before breaking into a soft smile.
"Young hero Cheon… isn't your method a bit too sneaky?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You pretend to help, but you sneak a touch before leaving. Wouldn't it be better to just act openly?"
Saying this, Tang So-wol straightened her back and stretched her shoulders. In simpler terms, she thrust her chest out.
It was a truly confident posture.
"…I really have no idea what you're talking about all of a sudden."
"Hmm. Even when I come out like this, you pretend not to know? Well, fine. I already know that young hero Cheon is utterly hopeless in everything except his martial arts and his face."
Tang So-wol, who had been glancing at the wad of paper floating alone in the air, caught by the Void Grasp, opened her mouth.
"So? How was your impression?"
"I'm wronged."
I understand what you're trying to say. But there's one thing Tang So-wol doesn't know.
"Void Grasp isn't that delicate a technique by nature. It can lift a brush, but it can't write with the brush it lifts."
"Yes, yes. I suppose so."
"Above all, Void Grasp is an art unfolded purely through Intent and internal energy. Naturally, it carries no sensation whatsoever."
"Then would you care to verify that right now?"
"…"
I casually glanced around. The room the Lord of the Black Alliance had set aside for me wasn't the sort of place where people passed by freely, but… it wasn't completely devoid of people either.
That was only natural. There had to be at least a servant nearby in case something came up.
They were likely either moving about quietly so as not to draw attention, or resting in some corner while waiting.
For a moment, I barely managed to stop myself from nodding along and let out a sigh instead.
"There are too many eyes here."
"But you performed meridian cleansing right in Shaolin Temple without a care…"
"Back then, there really was no one around but us."
I shrugged and set the bundle of letters down beside me.
Tang So-wol, who had been pouting, crept closer and asked.
"By the way, young hero Cheon. Have you read the letters yet?"
"How could I possibly read all of this? And I'm sure they're full of nonsense anyway. I just pretended to read them and threw them away."
"Mmm. Well done. Actually, I took a quick peek myself…"
"Why would you read letters addressed to me, Tang So-wol…?"
"Well, it's not like young hero Cheon seemed interested, and I was curious about what they said. It couldn't be helped."
Tang So-wol, shameless as ever, tapped the bundle of letters and spoke.
"So? What do you think they said?"
"Who knows. Asking me to take them as disciples, asking me to make them my first subordinates if I ever founded a sect, offering money in exchange for borrowing my reputation… Something like that, I'd imagine. No, wait. Occasionally there are also requests to kill someone. Quite a few of those, actually."
"Of course, there were letters like that too. About thirty percent of them, all told?"
"Huh?"
Thirty percent seemed far too little.
There aren't that many things one would request of a martial artist. Teach me martial arts, lend me your strength, let me borrow your reputation.
At most, it never strayed beyond those three. In fact, countless sects and clans used exactly that to earn money and build up their power.
Back before my regression, when I started drawing the attention of the Lord of the Black Alliance, most of those who came flocking to me had approached with precisely these kinds of motives.
And yet, all of that combined was only thirty percent? I hadn't been particularly interested before, but now I was starting to get a little curious.
"Then what in the world was in the remaining seventy percent?"
"Surprisingly, surprisingly!"
Tang So-wol raised both arms, making a drumming sound with her mouth.
"Most of it was love letters addressed to young hero Cheon, or marriage proposals!"
"What."
Her tone was as if she were telling an amusing story, but I flinched at the sight of her eyes, which had sunk dark and dull.
I see. So that's why she'd suddenly shown off the poison pouch…
Lately, I'd say she'd been losing herself a bit, or perhaps growing anxious.
At any rate, Tang So-wol occasionally showed a side of her that wanted to have the affection directed at her confirmed.
If all of that was love letters, then I could roughly understand.
I nodded inwardly, but shook my head outwardly as I spoke.
"It doesn't matter. They're love letters and marriage talks, but how many of them truly have feelings for me? They're all people with their own schemes and calculations."
"That's what I thought, right? Well, some of them were even sent by men."
"…Let's go burn them right now."
I knew that the rumors stemming from when I subdued the Lust Demon were the root cause, but still, I couldn't just laugh this off.
I lifted the letters I had set down with Void Grasp and stepped out of the room.
Burning them indoors didn't seem right. I planned to handle it in the corner of the training ground.
As I left the room, Tang So-wol followed with a beaming smile. As the two of us headed to the training ground, the Illusion Witch was there, lying flat on the ground, soaking up the sunlight with her entire body.
I thought she was a corpse.
Looking more closely, I could see her chest rising and falling, so she was clearly alive, at least.
I walked over to the Illusion Witch, who was lying spread-eagled with her eyes closed.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you hot?"
"It's a bit stuffy, but thanks to the Cold-Heat Immunity, it's not unpleasant enough to bother me."
"Ah. I asked the wrong question. Aren't you embarrassed?"
"…This is my training. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"Training?"
"Yes. From now on, I'll be living with the Tang Clan under the White Moon Sword Lord, countering the sorcery of the Demonic Cult and the Potala Palace, devising formations useful in battle, and also handling personal duties… like serving you at night, right? I can't afford to laze around."
"Everything you said is correct, but the last part isn't. I'm entrusting you with this simply because there's something I personally wish to look into."
"Huh? But I—I mean, I don't usually bother with makeup, but I'm pretty, aren't I? At your age, with blood running hot, can you really hold back?"
"…"
I quietly looked down at the Illusion Witch sprawled on the floor.
Setting aside the dirt and dust clinging here and there, her hair was so disheveled it bordered on eerie, and her lips—generously described as awkward, more honestly as sinister—curved into a faint smile.
Her base features weren't bad, and thanks to having undergone Bone-Exchange Rebirth, she was indeed fairly easy on the eyes, as she'd said herself… but still.
"I don't think it's quite to that extent."
"Eep."
"Even before you've undergone Bone-Exchange Rebirth, I know at least two women far more beautiful than you. And one of them is right here beside me."
"Oh my?"
Realizing she was one of the two, Tang So-wol began poking my side in embarrassment, while the Illusion Witch's expression twisted.
"Youth… I hate it…"
"Your way of speaking has gotten strange. Have you already gone senile or something?"
"At this age, one occasionally mutters nonsense. Ah, of course, I'm not nearly that old. …But by any chance, is there someone around you who has gone senile?"
There is one person who acts cute beyond her years. Though sometimes I do think she lives a little too young.
There was no need to explain in detail, so I glossed over it and changed the subject.
"Even if I'm not that old, I'm probably older than the Lord of the Black Alliance. I heard you're on the younger side among Harmony Realm martial artists."
"…"
I shrugged toward the Illusion Witch, who had finally quieted down.
"So? What kind of training is it, exactly?"
"…I don't know if you're aware, but sorcery is far more demanding than martial arts. Learning it, training it, accumulating energy in it—all of it."
"I see."
"Yes. In my case, I'm confident in drawing in and directly handling qi, blood energy, and yin energy… but I have no talent at all for yang energy or the kind of power that destroys evil."
"Isn't it fitting for a wicked sorcery user?"
"To hear that I suit the title of the Unorthodox Sects' number one—I'm honored."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…You know I'm joking, right?"
The Illusion Witch, wearing a fawning smile, squirmed and edged a little farther away from me.
It was a pitiful sight, like a worm writhing as it dried out under the sun.
The Illusion Witch, who had once again begun to receive full sunlight after escaping my shadow, continued speaking.
"Ahem. Anyway, even someone as versatile-but-not-omnipotent as me has a trick for handling yang energy relatively easily."
"Is that why you're rolling around under this blazing sun?"
"That's right. More precisely, I'm using skin tanned by the sun as a kind of vessel. You've heard the saying that a tree struck by lightning is more spiritual than an ordinary tree, right? It's something like that."
"Hmm… Then would training efficiency go up if you were roasted directly over a fire?"
"Weeeell. People tend to die when you roast them over a fire…"
"What a shame. I thought it was a good opportunity, since I just happened to have firewood on hand."
"Please don't casually start thinking about burning me at the stake…"
I let out a small chuckle at the trembling Illusion Witch and stepped aside. She said she was training, so I shouldn't interfere.
I set the stack of letters down a short distance away and lit them with the Samadhi True Fire.
Tang So-wol sat crouched, staring blankly at the flames, and I idly toyed with her deep green hair for a moment.
Then someone came running up breathlessly, calling out to me in a loud voice.
"Young hero White Moon Sword Lord! Where are you? Something terrible has happened, Great Hero!"
Both the presence and the voice were familiar. It was the Twin Ghost Sword, back at his original duties since returning to the Black Alliance.
I sent a light pulse of internal energy toward the direction of the voice and spoke.
"The training ground."
The Twin Ghost Sword, who had been darting around here and there in the distance, flinched, then immediately began running toward me.
Whatever it was, it must have been urgent—despite possessing a martial level within the Transcendent Peak, the Twin Ghost Sword's breathing was slightly ragged.
"What's the matter? For you to come this hurriedly, it must not be ordinary news."
"I—I just saw it, Great Hero. Did you happen to know? The Black Alliance is trying to join hands with the Murim Alliance! They say it goes beyond simple cooperation—they're forming a single alliance entirely!"
"…Ah, is that so."
So the Twin Ghost Sword hadn't known. Well, that made sense. It was about time for the preparations, which had just finished below the surface, to slowly rise above the water.
"And they say the reason for that alliance is the Demonic Cult!"
"Hmm. Something like that."
Naturally, they would have used the announcement of the alliance as a chance to also warn of the Demonic Cult's danger. I had expected all of this.
"Hmph! Judging by your calm reaction, it seems this was information you already possessed."
"No matter how much it was the Lord of the Black Alliance's request, one of the reasons I, as a member of the Orthodox Sects, got this deeply involved in the Black Alliance's internal affairs is because of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance."
Was he deflated? Upon hearing my words, the Twin Ghost Sword drooped his shoulders and spoke.
"Ah… so that's how it was. Then, you must also already know that the Potala Palace recently attacked the Kunlun Sect and exterminated the clan, took all the survivors hostage, and declared they would kill everyone unless the White Moon Sword Lord, the Great Hero, was brought to them…"
"??? No. I had no idea at all. Tell me more in detail."
What the hell was that about.