Time passed.

It was nearly noon. Yet not one of the people gathered in the room opened their mouth.

“.......”

The silence was heavy.

Even the tea, which had given off a fairly respectable fragrance, had gone cold.

Yeon Hojeong glanced around and asked as if tossing the words out.

“I went to the trouble of brewing it. Why is no one drinking?”

Tang Gwan said in a cold voice.

“Tea brewed by a man who does not even know the basics of the way of tea would only make my tongue suffer.”

“I still went to the trouble of brewing it.”

“Quiet.”

Yeon Hojeong smacked his lips. He had expected Tang Gwan’s personality to make him react like this, but the response was far sharper than he had imagined.

Then again, considering that pride of his, it was fortunate he had not poisoned the people gathered here. At least after meeting Yeon Wi and improving his relationship with his daughter, that murderous temperament seemed to have dulled a little.

“Since the subject has come up, I will ask one thing.”

“Please ask.”

Was he about to pour out a whole bucket of insults?

“Those bastards. Where, exactly, were they operating from the shadows?”

The eyes of everyone in the room turned toward Yeon Hojeong.

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“I don’t know much beyond the fact that they are from beyond the frontier. I do think they originated somewhere far off to the northwest, but even that is not certain.”

“By northwest, do you mean Qinghai or Xinjiang?”

“Tibet would likely be included as well. Of course, even that is uncertain. If there had been even one thing I could be certain of regarding them in the first place, I would not have moved this cautiously.”

“Hmph! Fine words.”

Tang Gwan’s eyes gave off a vicious Killing Intent.

“So they are trash from beyond the frontier.”

Although he was a man who kept himself far removed from any sense of “collective consciousness” unless it involved his clan, he was also someone who had more than enough pride as a man of the Central Plains.

To begin with, Sichuan Province was a region like the first gateway against invasions from the martial world beyond the frontier. Some said Qinghai Province was the first gateway in a war against forces beyond the frontier, but if one spoke of war in the Central Plains, Sichuan was the true stage.

In other words, to Tang Gwan, an invasion from the martial world beyond the frontier was by no means a matter to be taken lightly. His clan’s history was stained throughout with the blood-reek of conflicts against those beyond the frontier. That meant he had no choice but to burn with hatred more fiercely than anyone else here.

“If it is Tibet, then the Potala Palace and Thunder-Sound Temple should be there as well. Surely those bastards are not part of the same group?”

“I do not know that much. But the Three Creeds and they are religious organizations pursuing entirely different paths. I could see them being at odds, but I do not think they would have joined forces.”

“What movements have there been from the Potala Palace or Thunder-Sound Temple?”

“According to Hu Gae, they were excessively quiet. Of course, that information was from last year, so I do not know what the situation is now. In the case of Thunder-Sound Temple, he said it seemed to be slowly stretching awake, but the exact details are still unclear.”

“Quiet.......”

Tang Gwan frowned.

“I know enough about those mad bald donkeys. Their ideology is far too heretical and bizarre. The Potala Palace is passable, at least, but those bastards from Thunder-Sound Temple are no different from the trash of the heretical factions.”

In truth, if one examined the history of Thunder-Sound Temple, they too had begun as a group of cultivators who followed advanced Buddhist doctrine.

But as time passed, they accepted the yogic qi arts of the Heavenly Bamboo Kingdom, and Thunder-Sound Temple, which began to develop an obsession with power rather than cultivation, obtained strange arts and martial arts from the Western Regions and the East, then developed into an independent martial force.

The faction that broke away separately in an effort not to forget their roots was the Great Thunder-Sound Temple, while the faction that developed into heresy was the Lesser Thunder-Sound Temple. That was how the present martial world divided them.

The Thunder-Sound Temple Tang Gwan spoke of meant none other than the Lesser Thunder-Sound Temple.

“They will not be wholly unrelated. I do not know about other places, but Tibet is a region they ruled for hundreds of years. If, as you say, these people called the Three Creeds built such overwhelming power, then whether it is the Potala Palace or Thunder-Sound Temple, they cannot be unaware of the Three Creeds.”

“That is likely.”

At that moment, Yeon Wi cut in.

“Before dealing with them, it would be right to resolve the issue before us first.”

“I agree.”

Tang Gwan smacked his lips.

“You said you killed a man holding the post of Pacification Officer in the imperial Defense Command?”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“That is correct.”

“He is a common soldier, then. No need to worry.”

It was a statement that revealed terrifying confidence.

Though it could not compare to Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command, Pacification Officer was still a position with a certain degree of authority. No, in the first place, the very act of a martial artist killing an official was itself shocking.

Yeon Hojeong let out a sigh.

“Well, putting that side aside, the man coming now is different.”

“You said he was an Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command?”

“More precisely, we should assume he is at least on the level of an Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command or above. In the worst case, he could be the Provincial Defense Commissioner, but no matter how I think about it, that much seems unlikely.”

A Provincial Defense Commissioner was a terrifying official who controlled the military administration of an entire province. No matter how carelessly he handled politics, he was not someone who would have time to get involved in something like this.

Tang Gwan spoke in a hard voice.

“The Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command, who oversees the troops of a province, is responsible not only for war preparations but also departments related to military training. If he is at least an Assistant Commissioner, the majority of Henan Province’s military strength may already have passed to that side.”

“......That is possible.”

“This has become suffocating.”

Tang Gwan stroked his chin and muttered.

“Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command...... If he were junior second rank or above, that would be another matter, but if he is merely an Assistant Commissioner below that, I feel we could secretly kill him and somehow clean it up.”

The atmosphere in the room turned frighteningly cold.

Yeon Wi cleared his throat.

“Clan Lord. That is an excessively dangerous statement.”

“If these people called the Three Creeds truly have seized control of the imperial palace and the authorities, then danger is already right in front of us. No matter how we respond, it will be dangerous, so there is nothing new about it.”

It was not wrong. But as Yeon Wi said, it was also an excessively dangerous and extreme statement.

“In any case.”

Tang Gwan glanced toward the window.

“It is nearly noon now. Why is that damned bastard not coming?”

“He will be here soon, will he not?”

Yeon Wi’s words proved true.

A quarter-hour later.

Hup!

A single presence crept close and wrapped around the entire Warbreaker Pavilion.

Mookbi’s and Yeon Jipyeong’s faces stiffened with tension. They instinctively realized just how tremendous a master the owner of that presence was, a presence that felt sinister yet carried tremendous explosive force.

Tang Gwan gave a sneer.

“Ridiculous.”

Whether his state of mind truly was complicated or whether it was simply an act, was this not far too childish?

At least Tang Gwan thought so. And the reason he could think that way was because he was one of the two people here capable of facing Mo Yonggun head-on.

Yeon Wi smiled bitterly.

“He must have had his pride wounded in his own way as well.”

“Hmph! I am sure he has.”

“It is probably because of Hojeong, not anything else.”

“What does that mean?”

Yeon Wi looked at Yeon Hojeong and said,

“Many things have happened until now, but whatever the case, the person who stood on the foremost line in the fight against Mo Yonggun was Hojeong. And Mo Yonggun acknowledged Hojeong as his opponent.”

“.......”

“But the enemy he considered his worthy rival was, in fact, seeing far more than he was, and his final objective was not even Mo Yonggun himself. Mo Yonggun’s pride must have been greatly wounded.”

Yeon Hojeong scratched his head. He had never thought about it that way.

Tang Gwan silently glared at Yeon Hojeong, then said,

“At any rate, you have become tangled in one filthy mess.”

“I do not mind.”

“You insolent bastard.”

A short while later.

Rrrk.

The door opened, and Mo Yonggun and Je Gal Munho entered.

“.......”

The air in the room had now sunk so heavily it was difficult to breathe.

Mo Yonggun looked around.

Yeon Wi gazed at him with indifferent eyes. Tang Gwan’s eyes gleamed, soaked thickly in Killing Intent. Mookbi and Yeon Jipyeong wore tense expressions. And......

‘.......’

Yeon Hojeong’s deep eyes, too transparent to read what lay within them, were turned toward him.

Je Gal Munho stepped forward.

“Please sit.”

Mo Yonggun silently sat in a chair.

Je Gal Munho closed the door behind him, entered, and opened his mouth.

“There is no need for lengthy words. Everyone here must be busy, and I know that discussing useless matters of the past will only make everyone uncomfortable.”

Je Gal Munho’s voice was exceedingly clear.

It was the voice of a deeply cultivated scholar. Though it was intentional, thanks to his voice, the air that had been endlessly heavy seemed to lighten a little.

SHHK.

Je Gal Munho placed documents on the table.

“Clan Lord Mo Yong, please read them first.”

Mo Yonggun silently read the documents.

Unlike his ferocious presence, his eyes were cautious. Deep concentration could be seen in the fingertips with which he turned over each sheet.

A short while later, he set the documents down.

“I have read them.”

There must have been quite a few shocking contents, yet he showed no sign of surprise.

Je Gal Munho continued.

“Clan Lord Tang, please look them over as well.”

Tang Gwan snatched up the stack of documents with a sound like a whip.

Flutter!

Tang Gwan was different from Mo Yonggun. Nervous emotion was plainly visible in the fingertips with which he roughly flipped through the papers.

But he, too, was the head of one of the Six Great Clans and a giant of the martial world. He was irritated and angry, but his gaze was filled with a caution no less than Mo Yonggun’s.

A short while later, Tang Gwan had also read every document.

“Pavilion Lord of the Medical Immortal Pavilion Gi Uhui, that wench, is the daughter of that damned Divine Flame Cult Leader?”

“That is correct.”

“What a laughable woman.”

Je Gal Munho added,

“You need not suspect Physician Gi, if nothing else. Regarding her, Clan Lord Yeon, Commander Yeon, Vice Commander Mook, and I all......”

“I do not suspect her.”

“Yes?”

Tang Gwan scowled.

“I do not know about anyone else, but do you think this insolent bastard would have brought a string of the enemy into the Martial Alliance without confirming something like that?”

Yeon Hojeong gave a faint laugh.

“I am deeply grateful for your trust in my abilities.”

“Did you take being called a sly old serpent as a compliment?”

“Yes.”

Tang Gwan jerked his head away.

Yeon Wi opened his mouth.

“For now, everyone here has shared the information concerning the enemy. At least, up to the matters investigated so far.”

Je Gal Munho nodded.

“As everyone knows, we only dug deeper and in more detail into limited information. In practical terms, there was no true information about them.”

That was the problem.

The Divine Flame Cult had infiltrated the imperial palace and the authorities and was already exerting considerable influence.

The Perverse Lust Cult had given enormous help in establishing Ink Dragon Manor and still coveted Ink Dragon Manor as a bridgehead for advancing into the Central Plains.

In the end, that was everything. They knew nothing about where the enemies were, what organizations they had seized and to what extent if they had infiltrated them, how strong their forces were, and so on.

“In other words.”

Tang Gwan’s voice, which had been irritable, turned as cold as the north wind.

“We must handle this Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command, who is said to be coming here, very carefully.”

Je Gal Munho nodded.

“Furthermore, if he truly is a member of the Divine Flame Cult, we absolutely cannot allow him to set foot in the Martial Alliance. If he uses the empire’s public authority, we will have no choice but to suffer it helplessly.”

At that moment, Mo Yonggun spoke.

“He is the first one, then.”

“What do you mean?”

“We simply have to capture him first, do we not?”

“Of course that is true, but...... you must be aware that it is dangerous.”

Mo Yonggun did not answer Je Gal Munho’s words. He merely looked at Yeon Hojeong with profound eyes.

Their gazes collided, creating a strange air between them.

Yeon Hojeong asked,

“Do you have connections?”

Mo Yonggun answered,

“Barely.”

“I will trust that it can be done.”

“Will you clash with him head-on?”

“Whoever steps forward, that would be best.”

“It would be best for you to stay out of this one.”

“I think so as well.”

“Then the answer is out. You and I will support from behind. We only need to choose the one who will clash with him head-on.”

It was a continuous exchange of incomprehensible words. Even Je Gal Munho, of all people, tilted his head.

Mo Yonggun looked at Tang Gwan.

“Clan Lord Tang.”

Tang Gwan did not even answer. Mo Yonggun paid no attention to his attitude.

“The Assistant Commissioner of the Provincial Defense Command suspected to be a master on the Divine Flame Cult’s side. Will you capture him?”

“......What?”

Yeon Hojeong scratched his head.

“Your hands must be itching anyway...... I think it would not be bad.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am asking you to fight him.”

“......?!”

“Ah, those bastards specialize in heat-yang arts. I recommend you do not use poison......”

Tang Gwan finally erupted in anger.

“Explain exactly what you are talking about first!”