Chapter 263: Hainan Island (1)
The Five Great Trading Companys of the World.
As the name suggested, they referred to the five largest merchant guilds across the continent.
Among them, the Baekga Trading Company, which had expanded its influence centered around Guangdong Province, had practically monopolized southern continental logistics, earning the de facto title of the top merchant guild under the heavens.
The stronghold of the Baekga Trading Company was in Guangzhou.
And even in Guangzhou, the grandest building of all was the Ten Thousand Gold Pavilion, where, today again, someone’s screams echoed loudly.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Th-the Head Merchant is having another seizure!”
“Call for a physician!”
At the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Gold Pavilion lay the secret residence of the Head Merchant.
Hundreds of warriors stood guard, and dozens of attendants bustled in and out urgently.
“Huff! Huff!”
A young woman, her eyes covered with a blindfold, trembled violently, cold sweat pouring down her face.
“A-are you alright, Head Merchant?”
More than ten attendants watched her with worried expressions.
“There’s no need for a physician. Get rid of them.”
“Y-yes, understood!”
In this place, a second command was never needed.
If the Head Merchant had to say something twice, the one who made her repeat it would lose their place here.
“Huuuuh…”
Clutching the corners of her eyes as she spasmed, she finally seemed to calm after some time, letting out a long breath.
“Ilho.”
“Yes, Head Merchant.”
One of the warriors who had been standing by stepped forward.
His outfit wasn’t visibly different from the others.
But he was one of the few within this vast merchant guild who knew the “truth.”
She asked him,
“What happened with the orders I gave?”
“We’ve completed the follow-up procedures for those who died during the operation, and the cover-up has also been handled perfectly.”
Due to a recent operation, the Baekga Trading Company had suffered immense losses.
Over a hundred warriors, all raised as future elite forces—above First-rate—had vanished without even leaving behind corpses.
Naturally, the damage was so severe that even Baekga, the so-called greatest trading Company under the heavens, couldn’t recover quickly.
But the Head Merchant glared sharply at Ilho.
“Are you joking? That’s not what I’m asking.”
“……”
“That woman Ninth Heavenly Lord handed over—where is she now?”
“As per your instruction to hide her somewhere even the Cult couldn’t find, I sent her to ‘that place.’”
“That place…”
“She is where Sixth Heavenly Lord resides.”
At those words, her expression brightened a little.
“Is that so? Well done.”
“No matter how formidable the Cult is, I doubt they’ll cross the sea to look for her.”
At Ilho’s words, she nodded in agreement.
“Right. Even if Sixth Heavenly Lord is a recluse on that island, uninterested in meetings, he wouldn’t refuse a request like this.”
Clench.
The Head Merchant of the Baekga Trading Company and Seventh Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society.
Baek Ryeo, also known as Mang Geumhee, tightly clenched the blanket draped over her thigh.
“I’ll carry on the will of Fourth Heavenly Lord and Ninth Heavenly Lord… I’ll make the sealing ritual succeed no matter what…”
It was a backup plan, but the Sealing Ritual was clearly one of the core objectives of the main assembly.
“If I can just do that, then one day, together with him…”
Her words trailed off.
“Ah, you mustn’t! The Head Merchant’s condition has not yet recovered…!”
“Step aside. Now.”
Crash!
With the sound of multiple bodies being flung aside, an unmistakable intruder approached her room.
“Ah, aah!”
At the sound of a voice that was all too familiar—and longed for—Baek Ryeo’s face lit up with joy.
However.
Bang!
At the sight of the intruder—radiating uncontrollable fury—the pounding in Baek Ryeo’s heart instantly turned cold.
The intruder who burst into her room spoke.
“I heard rumors that you were gravely injured. Sorry for visiting like this.”
“N-no, Yu Rang…”
Her tone was clearly affectionate, but the intruder sighed deeply.
“…Didn’t I tell you not to call me that? Well, no point trying to correct it now.”
Baek Ryeo bowed her head.
“Thank you for your understanding… gege.”
“…You really do go too far once someone gives you a little slack.”
The intruder, Second Heavenly Lord Old Han, felt a headache coming on from her attitude.
He had saved her life as a child and supported her until she was self-reliant—and this was the result.
But now wasn’t the time to scold her.
He demanded,
“Where is that bastard, the Grand Heavenly Lord?”
“Ah, th-that…”
Baek Ryeo’s words stuck in her throat.
A cold murderous aura began seeping from Old Han’s entire body.
Alarmed by the ominous energy, Ilho quickly stepped in front of him.
“S-Second Heavenly Lord! The Seventh Heavenly Lord is gravely wounded and needs absolute rest—!”
Crack!
“Grrgh!”
Ilho, subdued at the nape of his neck in an instant, began foaming at the mouth.
A cold blue glow shimmered in Old Han’s eyes.
“Sorry, but I’m really in a foul mood right now. I don’t have time to be considerate.”
Bang!
Old Han hurled Ilho aside and glared once again at the Seventh Heavenly Lord.
“Seventh Heavenly Lord. Since you work directly under the Grand Heavenly Lord, you should have at least a rough idea where that bastard is. Last time I met him, it was also through you.”
“……”
“Like I said—I’m really not in a good mood. I went all out to carry out the Grand Heavenly Lord’s request, and now what? He’s throwing a tantrum saying he must kill my disciple?”
“……”
“In the past ten years, I’ve never had my back stabbed this badly. This time, I’m putting an end to that son of a bitch, once and for all.”
“Th-that is…”
After trembling in her voice for a while, she suddenly opened her mouth as if she had made a Company decision.
“I… I cannot tell you.”
“What did you say?”
“No matter who you are, even if you’re Second Heavenly Lord, the Grand Heavenly Lord’s location is one of the most critical secrets of the Society. I cannot recklessly divulge his trail.”
“Hah, are you joking with me right now?”
Ssssshh!
The intangible energy emitted by a master who had reached beyond Qi Deviation made her whole body start to tremble uncontrollably.
“Uuugh!”
Blood began to seep from the corners of her eyes, which had barely managed to calm down.
“S-Second Heavenly Lord…”
“P-please… restrain your…”
The guards nearby rushed in to stop Old Han.
But before they could take even two steps, they all dropped to their knees and slammed their foreheads into the floor.
As Baek Ryeo's qi technique ran wild and her internal injuries nearly relapsed—
Old Han sighed and withdrew his energy.
“…Forget it. What am I doing threatening a girl…”
She barely managed to stay conscious before vomiting blood.
“Cough! Cough!”
Seeing Baek Ryeo continuously cough up blood, Old Han’s anger began to fade.
“Damn it, are you alright?”
Old Han urgently pressed his palm against her back and poured internal energy into her.
Baek Ryeo, her face pale, smiled weakly.
“You’re as kind as ever.”
“What nonsense? Why are you saying that to the person who just hurt you?”
Despite Old Han’s grumbling, she only gave a faint smile.
After checking on her internal injuries for a while, Old Han pulled his hand away from her back.
“Tch. That’s enough. I’ll look into the Grand Heavenly Lord myself, so don’t concern yourself with it. I ended up just twisting a child’s wrist.”
“…Thank you for your understanding.”
Her polite demeanor until the very end made Old Han feel even more uncomfortable.
“Take good care of yourself. Don’t even think of getting involved in Society matters for a while.”
“Of course.”
Baek Ryeo nodded calmly.
Just like that, Old Han appeared like a storm—and disappeared just as quickly.
She blankly stared at the empty space he left behind for a while, then slowly lowered her head.
“…Forgive me, Yu Rang. Please do not forgive someone like me, who disobeys everything you say…”
Right now, Old Han absolutely must not meet the Grand Heavenly Lord.
Already, nearly half of the Ten Heavenly Lords’ seats were vacant.
And most of the causes of those vacancies stemmed from one person—Jin Yeomyung, the disciple publicly acknowledged by Old Han.
Even though substitutes were being prepared to fill those vacant positions.
That was beside the point.
The Grand Heavenly Lord would never willingly let go of the man who currently possessed the Society’s greatest power.
Even if it meant using extreme measures.
She didn’t want the one she admired to become the Grand Heavenly Lord’s puppet.
***
It had already been half a year since Cheon Yura returned to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And in that half year, the cult’s internal atmosphere had been utter chaos.
The purge of the Heavenly Reverence Illusion Clan, one of the Six Great Demonic Clans that had lasted for over a thousand years.
And before the shockwaves of that purge even had time to settle, the incident involving the attack on the Young Cult Leader by the righteous-sect alliance occurred.
The six months it took to fully contain the aftermath of those incidents were, in fact, surprisingly short given the magnitude of the chaos.
Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
Normally, the major and minor affairs of the cult were decided in the Elders’ Hall, but this time was different.
All top one hundred ranked masters within the cult were densely gathered inside the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
Seated within the curtain in the Grand Advisor’s seat, the Cult Leader pointed to someone and asked,
“Sword Demon, how’s your arm?”
The Sword Demon, seated at the highest seat aside from the Cult Leader, gave a bitter smile.
“I’m slowly adapting to the change in balance. At least it was a blessing that I lost my left and not my dominant arm.”
As he said, a red, empty sleeve fluttered where his left arm should have been.
The Cult Leader spoke with a hint of pity.
“He really wasn’t an easy opponent. Wasn’t it that Second Heavenly Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society?”
The Sword Demon nodded.
“Yes. He was clearly two levels above me. I thought I wasn’t being careless, but it turns out that thought itself was careless.”
The Sword Demon, who had set out to support the Young Cult Leader, returned with one arm lost—delivering another blow to the already reeling Heavenly Demon Cult.
A master beyond Qi Deviation. The Demonic Path’s Greatest Sword.
Who could have imagined that someone with the title of "Heaven’s Sword Beyond Heaven" would lose an arm not even in a duel, but during a joint battle?
“Damn it. I don’t know who the bastard is, but I want to see his face. Bringing down my rival without my permission—how dare he.”
Across from him, Blade Demon Pa Uryang muttered curses with visible displeasure.
Even he had found the Sword Demon’s defeat hard to accept at the time.
He had even stormed out of Ten Thousand Mountain Range seeking revenge, and only the Heavenly Demon Command from the Cult Leader barely stopped him.
Clicking his tongue, Blade Demon changed the subject.
“By the way, Jin Clan bastard. Still no word from your eldest son?”
Jin Gun-ak, head of the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan, answered with a heavy voice.
“…Still nothing.”
Flinch.
At those words, someone standing next to the Grand Advisor’s seat inside the curtain reacted visibly.
“All the subordinates sent near Akyang say the same thing. He disappeared too cleanly—they can’t investigate anything.”
If at least a body had been left behind, they might’ve had a clue to follow.
But the clash between Cheon Haseong and the Grand Heavenly Lord had vaporized every possible trace.
“Hmmm…”
“If there’s one thing we gained, it’s that we recovered the body of the ‘Venerable Buddha’ who supposedly helped the Young Cult Leader escape. It was found a short distance away.”
“What do you plan to do with the body?”
The answer came from the Cult Leader.
“We’re using the Great Elder’s Minor Demon Art to preserve its condition as it was when discovered. At the very least, he deserves to retain his honor as one of the Three Supremes. I plan to hand it over to Shaolin at an appropriate time.”
“Hmm, I see.”
That was the end of Blade Demon’s interest in the Venerable Buddha.
From behind the curtain, the Cult Leader continued.
“Well, that’s not what’s important right now.”
“……”
“……”
This kind of issue could have easily been decided in the Elders’ Hall.
But the reason why a gathering of renowned masters—such as Cheon Jumun of the Demonic Ghost Execution Squad, who usually didn’t even attend Elder meetings—had all assembled in the Heavenly Demon Pavilion was for one reason only.
“We sent multiple requests for clarification, not just to the Murim Alliance, but to the Evil Path Castle as well. All of them were ignored.”
Sa Myeongnin of the Thunder Lord Division shrugged.
“The Murim Alliance seems busy fighting among themselves over their share of the spoils…”
Other clan heads and elders added their voices.
“Ridiculous fools.”
“One of the main suspects, Namcheon Baek Clan, turned their back completely and sealed off their gates.”
“They really are thick-skinned bastards.”
Just as the pavilion began to stir with noise, the Cult Leader raised his hand to calm the room.
“According to the Young Cult Leader’s testimony, the Namcheon Baek Clan might have some grounds for consideration. But as for the Evil Path Castle and several orthodox sects, there is no room for excuses.”
“Then that means…”
Everyone turned their attention to the Cult Leader’s next words.
The Cult Leader called out to someone.
“Heavenly Thunder Corps Commander.”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
Cheon Jumyeong, who had remained silent until now, responded.
“Prepare for war.”
Unlike all the rumors and speculation until now—
This was a true declaration of war, spilling directly from the Cult Leader’s mouth.
“Coordinate the expedition schedule with the Golden Demon Division. And begin drafting the declaration of war to be sent to the Murim Alliance and the Evil Path Castle.”
Cheon Jumyeong responded with a faint smile.
“How far shall we go?”
The answer came swiftly and plainly.
“Of course—across the entire Central Plains.”