It was utterly absurd.

The conclusion Cheonyeong had reached after much deliberation was 'the Blue Green Sect is already aware of the assassins' existence'.

That's why they were closely observing their martial arts while the participants were in the preliminaries.

But what?

The Blue Green Sect has already made a winner?

What kind of nonsense is that?

What kind of reasoning process leads to such a conclusion?

"Yes. That's right, that's right. There was a part that was very suspicious anyway. But now that you've had that thought too, I finally understand."

Cheonyeong looked at him with an incredulous expression as he even smiled with a sly face.

"Actually, while investigating the participants' backgrounds, I found a rather peculiar punk."

"A peculiar punk?"

"Yeah, his name is Yu Seongyeon."

"Yu Seongyeon? What about him?"

"He's from the Yu family, a secular family of the Blue Green Sect. But this punk is a bit strange."

"Strange?"

"Yeah. The Yu family doesn't have anything particularly noteworthy."

"What do you mean, nothing noteworthy?"

"Think about it. To participate in the Assembly of Elders, you need to have a certain level of skill."

"That's true."

As Cheonyeong nodded, Baekta continued.

"But this punk has nothing. Although they're a secular family, the lineage of their martial arts has been cut off for a long time. The current family head doesn't even know martial arts. He never even learned it. The Blue Green Sect hasn't treated them as a secular family for a long time either."

"Huh?"

"And they're not rich enough to have a separate master."

"..."

"The strange thing is, he came alone without even an entourage and passed the preliminaries without any trouble."

"So?"

"Isn't that absurd? For him, whose name has never even been known until now. But there's something even more absurd."

"What is it?"

Baekta clenched his fist and lightly extended it.

"A punch, 'thwack'."

"Thwack?"

"Yeah, in both matches. He moved once, 'thwack', and the opponent was out. That's it."

"..."

"It was so natural that even the Wild Cats were dumbfounded. Ah, and Gwak Gyeong-eop was among his opponents."

"Who's Gwak Gyeong-eop?"

"One of the Twelve Dragons of Sicheon."

"What?"

"Although he's considered the weakest... still, one punch. He used the opponent's attack against them. Isn't that surprising?"

"Should it be surprising? I also met one of the Twelve Dragons. He wasn't that great."

As Cheonyeong tilted his head, recalling Hwang Deokchang whom he had met in the preliminaries, Baekta frowned in annoyance.

"Don't compare yourself to him. You monster-like bastard."

"..."

"Anyway, Yu Seongyeon waited for his opponent to attack. That's not easy."

"It was easy for me..."

"Hey!"

"Ah, sorry. Go on."

"You bastard, you're breaking the flow. Anyway, to win like Yu Seongyeon, your level has to be at least one grade higher than your opponent's. Can you believe that?"

"I guess so."

Unlike his inner thoughts, Cheonyeong agreed perfunctorily.

In case Baekta got annoyed again.

"It's strange. To suddenly become strong without the help of his family or a master."

"Then what about me?"

"Huh?"

"Am I not strange?"

"What is?"

What do you mean, what is?

The strange points you mentioned yourself all apply to me too.

In fact, if we're talking about being strange, he was the strangest.

He was born in the Mandeok Estate, which was not a martial family, lived among vagrants without a proper master, and suddenly became strong.

"Hey, you're a genius."

"What?"

How is that an answer?

That punk named Yu Seongyeon could be a genius too.

"And, didn't you say your family had a hidden secret technique passed down for generations?"

That was a lie.

Because he couldn't say that he remembered his past life because he had died and come back to life.

But since Yu Seongyeon was born in a secular family of the Blue Green Sect, isn't it possible that he really learned a hidden secret technique from his own family?

"Hah, Myeongseon, that's enough. If what you're saying is true, then the Blue Green Sect must have secretly raised Yu Seongyeon."

"That's exactly what I think. Maybe the Changlim Sword Saint secretly raised a successor behind the scenes."

"What?"

It was getting more and more ridiculous.

What was a great martial artist, who was respected not only by martial artists but also by the common people, lacking to use such a trick?

This punk is writing a novel.

"I'm telling you, it's not something to laugh about."

"Stop it, you conspiracy theorist."

"There was no one in the Blue Green Sect after the Changlim Sword Saint. They needed a successor to carry on the next generation. And then this punk named Yu Seongyeon just appeared."

"I said stop it."

Although Cheonyeong tried to stop him again, Baekta's thoughts were already on a roll.

"Yes! Ten paths, participants split into ten places. Wasn't it the Blue Green Sect that divided and placed the participants in the first place?"

"..."

"Come to think of it, the Wild Cat who was monitoring that side said something strange."

"What's that now?"

"Yes. He said the drawing of lots was strange."

"What?"

"The participants didn't seem to notice, but the Wild Cat's eyes saw it."

"..."

"The Taoist's eye signal that seemed to subtly recommend the bye to Yu Seongyeon. Ah, damn it... I should have told them to check the sticks used for the drawing."

"Does that make sense?"

"It does. That punk drew a bye consecutively."

"He must have been lucky."

"When luck overlaps, it's fate. A fate created by someone."

"Hah, Myeongseon-ah... let's stop."

"It's not something to stop. This is a serious problem! All of Sicheon's eyes are on this, and the Blue Green Sect used a petty trick. Well, there's nothing like winning the Assembly of Elders to make Yu Seongyeon's name known at once. Of course!"

At Baekta's convinced appearance, Cheonyeong shook his head.

He shouldn't listen anymore.

He felt like he would be floundering in a conspiracy theory himself.

"If this goes well, I might be able to get a good hold of the Blue Green Sect's weakness."

"Hey, weakness?"

"Of course. It was strange from the start. Does it make sense to give the Seventy-Two Faction Swords as a reward? It's absolutely impossible without the approval of the higher-ups."

"..."

"It's match-fixing. Match-fixing. The Blue Green Sect is systematically fixing the matches right now. It's clear that the Sect Leader, the Changlim Sword Saint, moved directly. The weakness of the Changlim Sword Saint, no less. How shameful would it be if this was revealed? He'll be criticized by the entire martial world. Hehehehe. This can be used to our advantage..."

Ppa-ak!

"Keok!"

Cheonyeong couldn't hold it in anymore and slapped the back of Baekta's head.

"Hey! Why did you hit me!"

"I hit you because you deserved it!"

"What?"

"How can a member of the prestigious Beggars' Sect, a so-called Orthodox Faction, act like that every time?"

"What did I do?"

"You were like that at the Dongting Lake's Junshan Fortress too. Just trying to find someone's weakness."

"No, that punk..."

"Tsk!"

As Cheonyeong raised his hand, Baekta flinched.

"What is the Blue Green Sect lacking to use such a trick? And it's the Changlim Sword Saint, the Changlim Sword Saint. His reputation pierces the heavens. A person who has only cultivated the Tao his entire life would never use such a petty trick. It doesn't make sense, common sense-wise."

"No, circumstantially..."

"Are you the Changlim Sword Saint?"

"You son of a bitch! Why am I coming out of there?"

"That's enough. Stop wasting time writing a ridiculous novel and just diligently look for traces of the assassins."

"Tch."

"In my opinion, the Blue Green Sect is also somewhat aware of the assassins."

"..."

"Otherwise, why would they have created such a complicated procedure?"

"That's not it, this is match-fixing."

"Again!"

As Cheonyeong raised his hand, Baekta flinched again.

It was almost reflexive now.

Damn punk, he raises his hand at the slightest thing...

Aww, the fate of a promising candidate for the next leader is truly a beggar's... well, it is, but.

Baekta kept shrinking in front of Cheonyeong.

"The ones left are eight, excluding you, me, and Lee Cheongik."

"..."

"The three of us will observe the participants. You take care of the assassins. Even if you have to release all the Wild Cats."

"Hah, alright. I'll do that."

"Now go and rest. The real main tournament starts tomorrow."

"Huh? Not having a drink?"

"What drink? It's the main tournament, so we have to maintain our best condition. And our heads need to be clear to find the assassin punks who might have infiltrated."

"Huh? I get the assassins... but why do you have to maintain your best condition?"

"It's the main tournament."

"So what does that have to do with you?"

"What do you mean, what does it have to do with me? Of course, I have to win."

"Whaat? Wiin?"

"Yeah."

At Cheonyeong's words, Baekta squints one eye and looks at him.

"Were you... really that kind of person?"

"What?"

"No, you weren't even interested in the Assembly of Elders in the first place."

"I got interested recently."

"You did? Why? It's not like you're going to become a Taoist. Did you get greedy for the Seventy-Two Faction Swords?"

"The Seventy-Two Faction Swords? Heh, what good would that kind of sword style do me?"

"Then?"

"Just because."

"Just because?"

Baekta looks at him with an incredulous expression.

But Cheonyeong just smiled.

Winning?

He wasn't interested at first.

But not anymore.

Although the clothes were very impractical, the cloth store owner had worked hard for three months to prepare them.

The undergarment he wore inside was made of high-quality leather that Guhwang had searched for far and wide.

Is that all?

Cheonyeong glanced at the wall.

A sword wrapped in cloth.

It was an item that Danya had forged until his arms were about to fall off.

Cheonyeong had received their support. From the Tang Family's estate, and from all the people of Ganyang.

Hadn't he come here, leaving behind the sight of them coming out to the roadside to wish him victory and send him off?

So of course, he had to repay their hearts with a victory.

Because he was their family head.

As a prize for winning, sweeping up the participants' martial arts and the Jinkagu punks who might have infiltrated would be enough.

"Go now."

"..."

"For tomorrow, I'm going to sharpen my body like a sword."

At Cheonyeong's words of dismissal and his appearance of turning away and closing his eyes, Baekta let out a deep sigh and retreated.

Damn it, was I really wrong?

No matter how I think about it... it seems like the Changlim Sword Saint plotted to make Yu Seongyeon the winner.

But if he said one more word, it felt like the back of his head would be on fire.

Damn punk.

Just you wait, I'll train hard and definitely hit the back of your head.

***

To climb to the Blue Green Sect's Taoist temple, one had to pass through a total of three gates, starting with the Iljumun.

The Cheonsadong, located on the mountainside, and the main gate, located on the summit.

The Iljumun, being just pillars and a roof, was always open, but the Cheonsadong and the main gate on the summit were always closed.

This was to avoid being disturbed during the cultivation of the Tao.

But for today, the huge gates were wide open, making way for the guests.

Because the main tournament of the Assembly of Elders had finally begun.

Ahead of the Assembly of Elders, which had begun on an unprecedented scale, the Blue Green Sect had sent invitations to famous people from all over.

Of course, the invitation was limited to the person and two servants.

But their numbers filled the mountain path.

Who would be so bold as to ignore an invitation from the Blue Green Sect, which was no different from the roof of the Sicheon martial world? But in truth, they also wanted to see.

The new pillars who would lead the Sicheon martial world.

And they also wanted to form connections in advance.

Because they didn't know what kind of benefits the current relationship would bring them in the distant future.

Although everyone's expectations were different, one thought was the same.

The desire to see the scene of history in person.

Who would be the hero to win this Assembly of Elders?

Amidst such expectations, the personal information of the participants who had already passed the preliminaries had spread widely among the gamblers at the foot of the mountain, and money was pouring into the gambling houses all over Sicheon.

It couldn't be helped.

They weren't bold enough to openly gamble in a sacred Taoist temple.

Anyway, the Blue Green Sect was being filled with people, and the participants were waiting for the main tournament in a state of tension.

Of course.

"What? Gambling?"

"Yeah, a punk from the foot of the mountain sent word. An unprecedented amount of money is being bet on an unprecedented tournament. It seems this Assembly of Elders will be famous both inside and out."

At Baekta's words, Cheonyeong frowns deeply and gets lost in thought.

"You think it's ridiculous too, right? How they see the sacred martial arts competition of martial artists. And their eyes are completely blind. They're rating you as the weakest. Does that make sense? They have no eyes to see. Tsk tsk."

Wasn't it a martial arts competition where the pride of the family and each individual was at stake?

Something that could never be calculated with money...

Look.

Isn't even Cheonyeong trembling with anger?

"M-Myeongseon-ah."

"Huh?"

"Your carrier pigeons, are they connected to the Ganyang branch?"

"Of course."

"Can you lend me one?"

"Of course. Why, do you have something urgent to send?"

"Of course. Yongcheon! Ink, paper, and brush! Quickly! Hurry!"

As Cheonyeong shouted urgently, Yongcheon quickly placed the ink, paper, and brush in front of him.

Seuk-seuk.

Cheonyeong quickly wrote a note to be sent by carrier pigeon.

From: Family Head.

To: Gongson Seung.

And the content was...

Go to all the gambling houses in Sicheon and bet everything on Tang Cheonyeong!

...it was.

"Hey, you punk! What are you doing? You're going to gamble? The pride of a martial artist!"

"Shut up."

Is the pride of a martial artist the problem now?

He never had such a thing in the first place.

This is business.

And a business that could leave a huge profit.

Didn't they say he was the weakest?

Then what on earth are the odds?

"Hehehehe... why didn't I expect this? When a horse comes to the racetrack, there's always gambling."

The laughter that escaped Cheonyeong's mouth was utterly sly, and his two eyes were glistening with greed.

Another reason to win had just appeared.

The Tang Family's Departure from the World