The next person to step inside was none other than the Martial Alliance Leader, Eon Ho Baek.“M-Martial Alliance Leader!”Right after him came the Four Evils Alliance Leader.“Four Evils Alliance Leader!”And then even the Blazing Fire Shrine Lord and the Master of Bukcheon Gate.Eight-tenths of the Central Plains’ power was gathered here.If the people present here joined forces and formed a single bloc?The Central Plains would become that bloc’s domain.Why had everyone gathered here?They even looked close.The Martial Alliance Leader had never been on friendly terms with the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans, yet here he looked closer to them than anyone.Anyone seeing this would think he was thick as thieves with the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans.They were supposed to keep each other in check—so how could they look that friendly?More than that—why was the Four Evils Alliance Leader here?The sight of the Martial Alliance Leader and the Four Evils Alliance Leader sharing a casual chat in the same place felt unreal.Had the martial world unified while he wasn’t looking?Or had his brain gone funny from getting slapped so much that he was seeing things?Just as the confusion peaked—The door opened and a young man came in.What—barely of age?He had a handsome face and a pure, open impression.Had he come to relay a message?But then everyone gathered here turned to the young man in unison—and bowed low.“We pay respects to our lord!”Lord?Who?No—does Wudang have a lord? Kunlun? The Beggars’ Sect—and even the Five Great Clans—have a lord?Why were the Martial Alliance Leader and the Four Evils Alliance Leader bowing?He felt like he might lose his mind.He wished someone would just explain the situation cleanly.“I see everyone’s here.”“Forgive your unworthy subjects for offering our greetings so late.”“No. I told you not to come. You followed my order, so I should be praising you instead.”“Thank you, my lord!”Yeon Woo Jin sent his gaze toward the three—among them the Sect Leader of Mount Heng.“And those three?”Yeon Cheon Baek answered.“They lost today and came to demand answers from you.”“To demand answers?”At Yeon Cheon Baek’s words, the three frantically waved their hands.“N-No!”“W-We merely thought a powerful new force had emerged and wished to build friendly ties!”“I—I invited you with the same thought. Revenge never crossed my mind.”At their words, Yeon Cheon Baek asked Yeon Woo Jin,“Were these the only three who invited you?”“No. There was one more. Where was it again?”“Could it be the Lion Iron-Fist Gate?”“Ah! That’s right.”“Then that one will arrive soon. I’ll step out and greet him.”“Grandfather will?”“Heh heh heh. Yes. This is secretly quite fun.”At the sight of Yeon Cheon Baek walking out with a wicked smile, the Sect Leader of Mount Heng shuddered.Yeon Woo Jin walked up to the Sect Leader of Mount Heng, the Sect Leader of Mount Tai, and the Master of Heavenly Strength Gate.“Good timing. I had business with the three of you as well.”“W-With us?”“Yes. And something to give you.”“To us?”“Yes. For now, mingle and exchange greetings with the people here. I have to make preparations.”Preparations?For what?They didn’t know, but they answered for the moment.“Ah, under…stood.”Seeing his youthful face, the three almost spoke down to him out of habit—then hastily corrected themselves.When Yeon Woo Jin went back inside, the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans all turned to the three at once.“Sect Leader Baek, Former Sect Leader Jeon, Master Song. You truly didn’t come to demand answers of our lord, did you?”The question came with frightening expressions.“N-No.”“Count yourselves lucky. If that had been true, we would not have let it pass.”Not let it pass?“W-Was what I just heard true?”“What do you mean?”“T-That you called the Master of Shincheon Manor ‘lord’…”“That’s right. He is our lord.”“H-How…?”“How? We met the one who will lead us—of course we serve him.”“Aren’t you the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans?”“What does that matter? Is there a law that the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans must not serve a lord?”“On the contrary, we’re grateful our lord took us under his wing.”“Indeed. I can’t tell you how anxious I was that he might not accept us.”“Ha ha ha! I felt the same.”“More to the point—congratulations to you three.”“Congratulations.”When people suddenly offered congratulations, the three looked blank.“What do you mean? Congratulations—out of the blue?”“Heh heh heh. What did Mount Heng offer to Martial Deity Heaven?”“We offered the Immortal Crane Sword Art.”“And Mount Tai?”“The Big Dipper Overlord Fist.”“Heavenly Strength Gate?”“The Heavenly Strength White Tiger Art.”“You’ll receive those arts back today.”“W-What are you saying?”“As stated. What our lord intends to give you are precisely those arts. He’s probably fetching them now.”The three stared at the speakers in disbelief.Then, as if something occurred to him, the Sect Leader of Mount Heng asked,“No way—has everyone here already had their manuals returned?”Everyone nodded.“Then in exchange for returning the manuals, you agreed to serve the Master of Shincheon Manor?”“No!”“We serve our lord from the heart.”“When our lord returned the manuals, he felt sorry to us. He apologized for returning them only now!”“That’s right! And he didn’t stop there—he resolved the difficulties our sects faced and further made our sects even stronger.”“And he never once flaunted it. We were smitten with a man whose vessel is as vast as the universe—and of our own accord we chose to serve him.”“A hundred explanations aren’t needed. You’ll soon understand yourselves—our lord’s boundless allure.”“Welcome in advance—to the family.”“Ha ha ha! Indeed. Once you experience our lord, you won’t be able to keep from serving him.”“Isn’t it strange? Just seeing our lord makes you want to do anything for him.”“That’s how overwhelming his charisma is!”At their words, the Sect Leader of Mount Heng recalled the thought he’d had a moment ago.If the people here became one force, the Central Plains would unify.That was becoming reality.Everyone here was a power in their own right—and there was a leader who guided them.Yeon Woo Jin, was it… From the way things are moving, the Central Plains is already falling into his hand.Even so, he had no intention of serving Yeon Woo Jin the way they did.Once the manuals were returned, he would cooperate—but not serve. The Sect Leader of Mount Heng made that vow.The Sect Leader of Mount Tai and the Master of Heavenly Strength Gate were of the same mind.Seeing their expressions, the Head of the Zhuge Clan let out a faint chuckle.Will that really go the way you think?He laughed because their thoughts were obvious to him.Most likely, before the Divine Dragon Tournament ended, they would have become loyal subjects serving Yeon Woo Jin.He was thinking that when—A ragged figure was hurled into the midst of the gathering.His face was a wreck, but everyone recognized him at a glance.The Lion Iron-Fist Gate Master.Once they saw who it was, people casually returned to their conversations as if it were nothing. ****The /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Sect Leader of Mount Heng stared at the Immortal Crane Sword Art in his hands, trembling.With a taut face, he unfolded the manual.After reading for a long while, he clutched the manual to his chest.Tears streamed from his eyes.It was truly the authentic Immortal Crane Sword Art.The fervent wish he’d longed for had been fulfilled.And it wasn’t just him.The Sect Leader of Mount Tai clutched the Big Dipper Overlord Fist, and the Master of Heavenly Strength Gate hugged the Heavenly Strength White Tiger Art, both in tears.“Have you confirmed them all?”At the sound of Yeon Woo Jin’s voice, the three nodded and offered their thanks.“It’s true. On behalf of Mount Heng, I thank you, Young Master Yeon!”“Mine is authentic as well. On behalf of Mount Tai, I thank you, Young Master Yeon.”“The Heavenly Strength White Tiger Art is certain. Heavenly Strength Gate likewise offers deep thanks to you, Young Master.”“No, I’m sorry for returning them so late.”“N-No. We cannot tell you how grateful we are to have them back even now.”“Then please offer your thanks to my grandfather, not me. Without his permission, I couldn’t have returned these manuals to you.”Grandfather—meaning the Lord of Martial Deity Heaven.The three grew tense.“U-Understood.”“We will offer our thanks to him in person.”Yeon Woo Jin smiled and nodded at their pledge to thank Yeon Cheon Baek directly.Then he said,“Then—you’ll need to learn them.”“Ha ha ha. In moments like this, I truly feel it’s a blessing we were eliminated. The thought of hurrying back to learn this—I can’t afford to linger even a moment.”“I’m the same. Who knew getting knocked out early could be this delightful. All I want is to hurry back and learn it.”“I share the feeling. Ha ha ha!”They laughed like they were genuinely happy.They had lost in the Divine Dragon Tournament—but they were walking away with an even greater gift.Yeon Woo Jin spoke to the three who were rejoicing.“Alright then—let’s move so you can learn.”At his words, the three wore bewildered faces.Go… to learn?Where?Now?In the middle of the night?Where?They looked at Yeon Woo Jin as if asking whether he meant it.“What are you doing? Not coming?”“You mean we’re going to learn this right now?”“Yes.”“Ha ha ha. We appreciate the thought, but this isn’t a martial art you can learn so easily. We’ll return home, settle our minds and bodies, and learn it properly.”“No. If you learn it that way, it’s too slow. When will you finish at that pace? If you grasp the essentials, you can learn much faster.”“Who doesn’t know that? But we don’t have the time right now.”“I know the essentials.”“What are you saying? You know these arts?”“Yes. While determining whether they were authentic, I ended up learning them.”“You learned them—in the course of examining them? The essentials?”“Yes. I skimmed them once and, before I knew it, I’d learned them.”At Yeon Woo Jin’s words, the three stared at him in stupefaction.They couldn’t tell whether to believe him.Could that be true?Should they believe this now?That he’d skimmed these abstruse manuals once and grasped the essentials?How many people could believe that?“I can’t believe it.”“You can verify it directly. We’re short on time, so let’s move first.”“No—where are we supposed to go in the middle of the night to learn this? Dawn isn’t far off.”“I’ve prepared a place. You can learn it there.”They had no idea what he was talking about, but they decided to follow for now. ****At dawn that day—The three who had gone with Yeon Woo Jin walked out slowly with faces as if they were under a spell.“Good heavens… Truly, hardly any time passed outside.”“You expect me to believe that? Inside, four full days definitely passed.”“Maybe we were possessed by spirits?”“Maybe.”“More shocking than that—he actually knew the entire marrow of the manuals.”“Knew them? He executed them perfectly.”“Did he really learn them just by skimming once?”“Who knows. But one thing’s certain. Young Master Yeon is… a monster beyond imagination.”“That much is true. Haa… The Martial Deity Heaven era will continue.”“The Martial Deity Heaven era? To be precise, it’ll be Young Master Yeon’s era. The world is already in his hands. Didn’t you see it today? Not only the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Clans, but the Martial Alliance Leader, the Four Evils Alliance Leader, and even the famed heretical sects.”“And that’s not all. He’s called the next Lord of Martial Deity Heaven—so Martial Deity Heaven is also in Young Master Yeon’s grasp.”“Eight-tenths of the world is already as good as in Young Master Yeon’s hands.”The three looked at one another.“He told us to come back again this evening, right?”“He said to come early today.”“Starting early… means we’ll have even more time in there, won’t we?”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.