Yeon Woo Jin’s tale went on without end.
Each ti, the Martial Deity Heaven Lord, Yeon Cheon Baek, responded with awe.
When the Sword Pavilion was ntioned, Yeo Hwarin chid in from the side.
And when the story reached the part about all the Five Great Clans coming under Woo Jin’s banner, Yeon Cheon Baek clapped his hands in delight.
“Hahaha! Those arrogant bastards beca your subordinates? Astounding! Truly astounding! You’ve accomplished what even this old man could not! Splendid! Splendid indeed! Hahaha!”
His laughter resounded like thunder.
“The Five Guardian Clans will have to watch themselves now. Hehehe. They shouldn’t be focusing all their attention on the Little Heavenly Lord contest. If they pour everything into that, their very seats as Guardian Clans might beco unstable.”
Now they were under Woo Jin’s command.
How much would they have to watch themselves?
Not only had he received the secret manuals of the Five Great Clans, he even personally taught them, guiding them to grasp the true essence of their martial arts.
On top of that, he had given them elixirs of his own making.
With all this, the Five Great Clans would only grow stronger with each passing day.
And since they had entered Woo Jin’s fold, they would inevitably begin to aim for the Guardian seats.
They would pour all their resources into seizing them.
anwhile, the Five Guardian Clans were exhausting themselves over the Little Heavenly Lord contest.
Naturally, they would neglect other matters.
Yeon Cheon Baek gazed at Woo Jin with an expression of sheer amusent.
In his later years, truly entertaining things were unfolding before his eyes.
Martial Deity Heaven, long stagnant, was now being swept by colossal waves.
“Interesting, truly interesting. Woo Jin, you are a dutiful grandson indeed. How greatly you are delighting this old man.”
Yeon Cheon Baek found him utterly lovable.
Not that he hadn’t already—but now even more so.
The story continued, now moving on to the Nine Great Sects. Of those, all but four had already either joined Woo Jin’s side or beco his powerful allies.
Those allies, too, would eventually, naturally, co under his command.
Yeon Cheon Baek was certain of it.
And it wasn’t enough—Woo Jin was also subjugating the unorthodox world.
He had taken the Green Forest, brought the Blazing Fire Shrine and Bukcheon Gate under his authority.
One by one, he was accomplishing feats even Yeon Cheon Baek himself had never managed.
And all this at the re age of twenty.
“Our Woo Jin will achieve what I could not—he will unify the Central Plains. No—he already is! Hahaha! It won’t be long before every sect in the Central Plains kneels before you!”
Yeon Cheon Baek spoke with booming laughter, truly overjoyed.
Once Woo Jin beca Martial Deity Heaven Lord, all those Central Plains sects under his banner would automatically beco part of Martial Deity Heaven.
Unbelievable.
That the proudest and most stubborn of Central Plains sects had entered Woo Jin’s fold.
The Little Heavenly Lord contest was a foregone conclusion.
For its very purpose was to gather as many sects of the Central Plains under one’s banner.
But here, the outco was already decided.
Yeon Cheon Baek’s smile deepened all the more.
And then, as Woo Jin’s tale neared its end, the subject of the Demonic Cult ca up.
Even the story of Ma Ryang being captured and brainwashed.
Yeon Cheon Baek turned to him.
“Is what Woo Jin says true?”
“Y-yes.”
“Click, tsk. Pathetic fool. To think a man of the Eight Thousand of Martial Deity Heaven could be captured and brainwashed by re Demonic Cult vermin?”
“I—I am sorry.”
“Who was it?”
“T-that... I can recall nothing but his face.”
Seeing Yeon Cheon Baek’s expression, Ma Ryang bowed his head deeply.
He had no face to show him.
He wanted to return imdiately to Martial Deity Heaven, but he did not.
Ma Ryang was now Woo Jin’s subordinate.
Noticing Yeon Cheon Baek’s dissatisfied look, Woo Jin stepped forward.
“Don’t worry. I’ll personally instruct Uncle Ma Ryang.”
At this, Yeon Cheon Baek’s frown turned into a smile.
“If you are the one teaching him, then I can trust it. But in truth, I should be worried for him—whether he can endure it or not.”
“You know I can always bring soone back, even if they stop breathing.”
“Hahaha! Quite right. I forgot for a mont that my Woo Jin’s dical skills touch the heavens themselves.”
As the two spoke, Ma Ryang’s face grew darker and darker.
“Shouldn’t the others also be strengthened? To face the Demonic Cult.”
“I intend to have Uncle Ma Ryang train together with them.”
At those words, three faces suddenly turned ashen, as if struck by lightning.
Ma Ryang, unwilling to suffer alone, quickly added:
“N-not just —there are also Cheon Ho Seong and Jeok Seong.”
“I know. Once they arrive, they’ll begin together.”
At that, Ma Ryang’s face finally relaxed a little.
...anwhile, on the road to Mount Hua, Cheon Ho Seong and Jeok Seong suddenly shivered.
“What’s this? A sudden chill.”
“Strange. The weather isn’t cold. Have I grown weak?”
“Every ti I’ve felt this way before, it’s been followed by a spar with the Young Master.”
“Surely... not at Mount Hua?”
“Right? But why does this feeling seem so ominous?”
As the two worried uneasily, Woo Jin was discussing the Divine Dragon Tournant.
“So, the disciples you trained are participating in the tournant?”
“Yes. They will compete under the na of the Shincheon Chamber of Comrce.”
“Hehehe. One of them will surely win, eh?”
“Yes.”
“And if not?”
“Before they compete, I’ll test them myself—see how diligently they’ve trained. If I find any sign of laziness... I can only hope it won’t co to that.”
Woo Jin’s face darkened nacingly.
...And just then, on the road to Mount Hua, Jang Woon and Seon Woo Baek also shivered with inexplicable chills.
****
A few days later.
The annex of the inn grew noisy.
People from the Shincheon Chamber of Comrce had arrived.
Seeing Woo Jin, they all dropped to their knees with beaming faces.
“We greet our Lord!”
“You’ve worked hard to co all this way.”
“No, it is our Lord who has endured much more than we.”
Cheon Ho Seong and Jeok Seong soon spotted Ma Ryang.
They exchanged quick glances of greeting, then turned back to Woo Jin.
But their eyes kept straying to an old man seated nearby.
Who is that?
Why does he draw my gaze so strongly?
Why do I feel as if I must greet him as well?
Their unease made Woo Jin chuckle.
“What is it?”
“W-who is that gentleman?”
“Curious, are you?”
“Y-yes. I feel... as though I must pay him my respects.”
“That’s right. It feels wrong not to.”
Woo Jin laughed.
“Your instincts are sharp indeed.”
“...Sir?”
“He is my grandfather.”
“Your... grandfather?”
Their faces went blank for a mont.
Not just theirs—the entire Shincheon Chamber entourage stared, dumbfounded.
Woo Jin had only one grandfather.
And that grandfather was the Martial Deity Heaven Lord.
Which ant /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the old man’s identity was—
“Guh!”
“Ah!”
In unison, they all prostrated themselves.
“We... we greet the Martial Deity Heaven Lord!”
At their cries, Yeon Cheon Baek chuckled.
“You’re quicker on the uptake than I expected. I was wondering when you’d notice .”
His tone suggested sothing grave would have happened had they realized any later.
Yeon Cheon Baek swept his gaze across them and asked:
“Which of you are entering the Divine Dragon Tournant?”
At that, Jang Woon and Seon Woo Baek stepped forward.
“It is we.”
No sooner had they moved than Yeon Cheon Baek, with a faint smile, flicked a formless strike of invisible finger-force at them, laced with killing intent.
Just to test their reaction.
“Ugh!”
“Wha—!”
Their response was swift.
Sensing the formless strike, they twisted aside with lightning reflexes.
“Hehehe. Not bad.”
Yeon Cheon Baek smiled, clearly pleased.
“That attack cannot be evaded unless one’s cultivation is at least the Ninth Level of the Transformation Realm. Yet you dodged it.”
Which ant both their cultivation had already surpassed that realm.
Turning to Woo Jin, he asked:
“I’m bored. May I test their skills more thoroughly?”
At the prospect of Yeon Cheon Baek himself testing them, Jang Woon and Seon Woo Baek paled and shook their heads furiously.
Woo Jin, however, only smirked.
“I’ll leave them in your care, Grandfather.”
“Hehehe, very well. I’ll give them a most thorough evaluation.”
He fixed the two disciples with his gaze.
“Let’s have so fun today. Follow .”
How could they refuse?
Looking like calves being led to slaughter, they trudged after him, faces stricken.
Watching, two others laughed with delight.
“I wish I could go and watch.”
“Those brats are blessed. How many in all the world can say the Heaven Lord himself tested their skills?”
“Blessed, you say?”
Cheon Ho Seong chuckled grimly, shaking his head.
Just then, a bolt from the blue struck their ears.
“You two haven’t been neglecting your training, have you? I’ll be testing you myself.”
“Eh? W-what? Why us?”
“We’re not even participating in the Divine Dragon Tournant!”
Woo Jin grinned.
“And does that an you may neglect your training? Hardly. Co with .”
With drooping faces, the two followed behind.
The others remained still, sighing in relief.
It wasn’t them.
But then—
“What are you doing? You all, too—co along.”
“Eh? U-us as well?”
“Yes. Since we’re here, let’s begin today.”
“Begin... what?”
“Training.”
At that single word, everyone turned pale.
They wanted to flee, but there was nowhere to run.
Soone once said: if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.
After a round of training under Woo Jin, that man would surely revise his words.
If you can avoid it—run.
****
A rumor spread through the inn.
They said only corpse-eaters lived in the annex.
Though there were said to be no more than twenty people there, the amount of food consud was enough for nearly a hundred.
And that was just one al.
The kitchen was in chaos.
Most of the staff were devoting themselves entirely to preparing als for the annex.
Fortunately, the orders weren’t complicated—simple dishes, quick to prepare. But with a hundred servings needed for each al, it was exhausting.
And they didn’t eat only three tis a day.
They devoured five als daily.
Where on earth was all that food going?
And yet, the strangest thing—every dish ca back empty.
Was it being thrown away sowhere?
Doubts arose.
One servant, newly assigned to the annex at an imnse wage, knew the truth.
All that food went into people’s mouths.
The mont the als were laid out, a horde of gaunt figures would pour out and devour everything like starving beasts.
As if they hadn’t eaten in days.
The food vanished in monts. And afterward, those sa people would collapse on the spot, falling asleep as if they hadn’t rested in weeks.
What on earth was happening inside to leave them in such a state?
The servant couldn’t understand.
They always erged into the annex garden—a broad courtyard, suitable enough for training.
But could that space truly account for leaving so many in such a ruined condition?
And stranger still, for all their exertion, there was never a sound of training, nor a single mark left behind.
Curious as he was, the servant simply swallowed his questions and gathered up the dishes.
He had heard that martial artists used mysterious formations to train. So he could only assu such thods were at work.
If such a formation existed, he dearly wished to see it.
On the third day of serving als, he overheard a conversation.
Words he could not make sense of.
“Haah... How long will this training continue?”
“It’s already been three months.”
“He can’t an to keep it up for an entire year, can he?”
“The Divine Dragon Tournant is in about two weeks... so it’s entirely possible.”
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