It was not an uneventful journey. While passing through the mountain, the carriage was attacked several times by bandits.
They were traveling in a luxurious-looking carriage with nothing but a driver. How could bandits not take a poke at it?
Of course, they were immediately taken down by Ye-Hwa without a hitch.
There had been numerous minor problems like that. However, from some point on, they didn’t encounter bandits even if they passed through the mountainous paths. While walking down the streets as well, there were no disputes.
Instead, the number of beggars increased. They repeatedly stood in front of the carriage and demanded money or food.
In accordance with Sima Ryunju’s orders, Ye-Hwa passed by the beggars peacefully and with a smile, rather than shaming them or forcefully kicking them out.
“Did you notice anything?”
Sima Ryunju asked Lee Sungmin.
“I don’t think so.”
“The form of the carriage has changed over and over again and again. In the past, we tried many different things, but we decided to change the appearance with magic instead.”
Lee Sungmin didn’t know, but the carriage didn’t start recklessly from the Sama Order and head straight to Cron. It was said that there were none of the Beggar Sect members in Hadras to pry information out, but that could not be the same everywhere else. The Beggar’s Sect and other information guilds were itching to catch wind of the Ghost Spear’s whereabouts or his subsequent plans.
Not only that, but this was not the only carriage that had departed from the Sama Order. They had departed with several different appearance changing carriages, and sent them to different locations.
Thanks to this, the information was distorted and was nigh impossible to trace.
Lee Sungmin was also prying for information of his own about their destination by going through Neville to find out about any rumors or happenings in the City of Cron.
It had been known, apparently, that The Demonic Emperor and his disciple, The Ghost Spear, had left Hadras suddenly. But, nobody knew of their location or where they were headed.
‘Well, nobody would even consider that we would be reckless enough to show up at the front doorstep to the Murim Alliance.’
Anybody would have thought that they were insane by traveling with such a small group of people and going straight to the Murim Alliance.
More than that, they would never believe that they were going to detain the Lord of Martial Alliance and question him.
“I can see the gates of Cron from here.”
Ye-Hwa spoke to the back of the carriage with a calm voice, reporting her findings. They would have no choice but to be checked by the gate guards of Cron once they arrived.
They could have a method of going around such a tedious situation, but such behavior only attracted more attention.
On the way here, they had avoided the eyes and ears of information guilds and the Beggar Sect, but there was nothing they could truly do about getting through the inspection without a hitch. Lee Sungmin turned to Sima Ryunju and spoke.
“What are you going to do?”
“Let’s get out.”
Sima Ryunju replied, lifting himself up. Lee Sungmin’s eyes widened at the words.
“What?”
“Let’s get out. I’ll leave the carriage here.”
“How come?”
“It’s annoying to have to store the carriage somewhere safe.”
Sima Ryunju spoke with an annoyed tone, and then turned to Ye-hwa to speak of his plans.
“It won’t be long before I come back. Before sunset most likely. It won’t happen, but if this old man doesn’t come back after sunset, take the Red Tower Master to safety immediately.”
“Yes Lord.”
“If the Red Tower Master runs into danger while escaping, give your life to protect her.”
“I shall respect your orders, Lord.”
Ye-Hwa answered without hesitation. Lee Sungmin noticed what the conversation was like and dropped his jaw.
“No way….”
“You and I alone. We are going to go through the gates.”
“But we spent so much time and effort to arrive here safely……?”
“It was only to arrive here in secret. Only so that Jehu didn’t catch wind of what was happening and try to run away. Well, it doesn’t matter if he runs away from the disturbance at the gate. If that happens, he’ll be criticized for not being qualified as the Lord of the Murim Alliance, and the group will be on the verge of disbandment.”
Sima Ryunju opened the door of the carriage in a relaxed voice.
“Cron is a big city.”
“I know.”
“It’s a place where there’s several smaller and medium-sized Sects and Clans, as well as a few of the 5 Great Families’ branches.”
“I guess so.”
Sima Ryuju nodded his head. He wore a mask of a smiling goblin on his face.
“What’s wrong with that look of yours?”
Sima Ryunju looked back at Lee Sungmin and asked. Lee Sungmin was feeling quite nervous.
He too, was a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist and now had the ability to call himself one of the top 10 strongest in the world right now. But Lee Sungmin has never experienced a true collective war. He had never experienced thousands of enemies coming at him with clear intentions to kill.
“…… It’s nothing much.”
“Maybe it’s too much for you.”
Sima Ryunju laughed.
“No matter how good a martial artist you are, with hundreds and thousands of people coming at you, you will get fatigued. Even if they don’t have much to see one-on-one, it’s tricky to fend off entire mobs of groups. In fact, it’s the same for this old man.”
The carriage stopped as they prepared. The carriage then started to turn around and face the direction of the Gates where the other carriages were.
“But they’re not ready as a group. It’s not a random intrusion; a surprise attack. They’re not ready to organize themselves so suddenly.”
“But…….”
“And….”
Sima Ryunju grabbed the mask he was wearing on his face and slowly removed it.
“I’ve never really shown you how strong this old man is.”
“What?”
“You lack respect for your teacher. It’s a great opportunity for me to ingrain this into your mind. When we strike Jehu, you will realize just how strong your master truly is…”
Click .
The mask on Sima Ryunju’s face had detached itself completely from his face. Lee Sungmin looked on surprisedly as Sima Ryunju shook his hair to the side.
Scarlett and Ye-Hwa, who were watching their way as they were still in the carriage, also appeared surprised as the mask came off Sima Ryunju and Lee Sungmin.
“What are you staring at? It’s embarrassing to take it off.”
Beyond the mask, the face of Sina Ryunju was a handsome and cold-eyed young man. Scarlett murmured as she looked through at the face of Sima Ryunju, who took the mask off and put it into his robes sleeves.
“……quiet a cold-blooded and handsome man.”
“I agree.”
Lee Sungmin nodded and agreed. At the response, Sima Ryunju frowned.
“What did you expect?”
“Well if you took off your mask, and… what if you were actually a woman…….”
“Or ugly enough that looking at it could cause someone to vomit.”
“Or a weak face that looks timid, unable to match the attitude or speaking that you emit.”
“It would have been fun if it was a wrinkled old man’s face too.”
Listening to what Lee Sungmin and Scarlett said, Sima Ryunju clenched his fists.
“You two must have a death wish.”
“What a great and fine man.”
“He’s a great master indeed.”
“He must have really made a lot of women cry, hoho.”
Lee Sungmin and Scarlett spoke as if they were teasing Sima Ryunju when he coldly threatened them with death. Pushing his flowing, jet-black bangs to the side, Sima Ryunju spoke to Ye-Hwa.
“…… Anyway, Ye-Hwa, you should keep in mind what you say to the guards. This dumb disciple will follow me.”
“I shall heed your commands, m’lord.”
“Good.”
What did it actually mean when Sima Ryunju was to take off his mask? Lee Sungmin already knew since he used weaker versions of his master’s mask.
The mask that Sima Ryunju normally wore was to suppress his power greatly. Despite wearing such a mask, Sima Ryunju was strong enough to completely overwhelm Wijihoeyon in the Forest of Fairies, within 10 seconds.
Sima Ryunju was now prepared to unleash his full power while in Cron.
Although he had become Sima Ryunju’s disciple, Lee Sungmin had never glimpsed his true face until now, nor had he ever seen his full power at all.
Sima Ryunju coldly looked at the gates of Cron. Lee Sungmin couldn’t feel anything from his master, although he had taken off his mask.
‘Is it because he just hasn’t started to circulate his internal energy for so long?’
[No… it’s just that the difference is too massive to feel.]
Heoju replied to Lee Sungmin’s thoughts.
[Like how many people have not been able to properly measure your skills when they are vastly weaker than you. It’s the same with your master and you right now.]
‘That’s how big the difference is……?’
[Yes, even this old man is impressed with him. Could a human really become so strong like this?]
‘What if I compare his power to yours?’
[Pft. He would just be a rag-doll for me to play with.]
At least Heoju was still leagues above everybody Lee Sungmin had come across. If someone was at Heoju’s level or even higher, he would be truly concerned. Even so, Lee Sungmin couldn’t help but swallow his saliva down in nervousness.
At that moment, Sima Ryunju began to move. It was a relaxing speed. Lee Sungmin, who was still balancing his energies around, was able to keep up diligently.
Arriving in front of the gate and slowing down, Sima Ryunju passed by them without even paying attention to the people standing in line for inspection.
“Keep your order in the line.”
The guard, who was checking in front of the gate, frowned and spoke to Sima Ryunju. But, Sima Ryunju did not listen at all.
He walked past the guard with his hands behind his back per usual, and the guard’s face distorted.
“KEEP THE ORD-……!”
The words of the guard did not even get to finish. It was the moment when Sima Ryunju took his very next step.
Cooooooooong!
The pressure that spread around him turned the guard’s eyes white as his pupils rolled to the back of his head. The other guards were no exception, as they started foaming at the mouth and dropping on the floor like flies.The people behind them just looked at Lee Sungmin and especially, his master, in wide eyes of disbelief and shock at what had just happened.
“So annoying.”
Sima Ryunju passed the gate as he spoke, and the guard whistle sounded out.
Guards from all of the walls gathered to catch this ignorant intruder. But….the results were no different. The number of people who collapsed and were foaming at the mouth increased. These were only the guards of Cron’s city walls. Not the faction warriors of the Great Families, or smaller sects under the Murim Alliance.
But after passing the gates, the story changed. The several warriors who had happened to be nearby started to gather and blocked Sima Ryunju’s way. Several of them started to come in from behind, as well as the numbers only started to increase.
Many of them were ragged-looking Beggars from the Beggar Sect. They spat and screamed.
“Who the hell are you to do this?!”
“This is a place of justice and peace, protected by the Murim Alliance!”
“Reveal your identity.….”
“The Demonic Emperor.”
Sima Ryunju, who was listening to the beggars shouting, answered. The low voice was full of an unwavering attitude, and even though it wasn’t loud, it was clearly heard throughout the entirety of the area.
“Don’t you know who that is?”
Sima Ryunju then took a step closer and repeated himself.
“Do you not know the Lord of the Sama Order?”
“… Oh my God….”
One of the beggars gasped in astonishment and horror. They then looked at Lee Sungmin, who was still wearing his iconic ghost mask behind Sima Ryunju in the same dark, black and red robes, along with a spear tied to his back.
“Was the introduction that much more unbelievable because it was I?”
Sima Ryunju spoke and raised his hand. The frightened beggars responded immediately. They chose to turn their backs and run away rather than stand up to the two men in front of them.
In fact, either way, the outcome would not have changed. Fighting back or running away would have resulted in the same ending for these men.
Pzaaaak!
Sima Ryunju’s hands were lightly waved in the air, as several black bolts of lightning shot out and struck the fleeing beggars.
“Argh!”
With each scream, the beggars dropped and rolled around. No, not all beggars were on the floor screaming.
There was one beggar, who was left alone, and sank to the spot as he trembled when Sima Ryunju pointed at him and spoke.
“Go to the Black Dragon Association within the Headquarters and tell them to bring the Black Dragon, himself, out.”
“Yes…… Yes……?”
“Wasn’t that the nickname the Lord of the Murim Alliance has been using?”
“That’s… that’s the nickname of the Lord.”
“Really, is this man deaf?”Sima Ryunju complained to himself because of the beggar who was trembling in fear.
“Yes- I mean no…….”
“Well, I’ve never been able to talk to the Murim Alliance anyways. Go tell them to bring him out already.”
Sima Ryunju spoke and passed by the beggar as he continued.
“If you want to save your life, you will bring him to me now. But if you don’t, the others will all die instead.”
Lee Sungmin gulped and looked at the fallen beggars. In fact, it was also easy for Lee Sungmin to overwhelm people of this caliber with his Dragon Fear alone.
However, Lee Sungmin had no choice but to be nervous when Sima Ryunju had mentioned Jehu,
“You’re leaving too soon, aren’t you?”
“At this rate, the Lord of the Alliance will crawl out.”
There were not merely large or mid-sized clans or sects within Cron. There were also many upstart clans that were coming along and hoping to make a name for themselves these days in hopes to get connected into the Murim Alliance.
But that didn’t mean these smaller groups were weak. If they were fighting alongside each other in Cron, home to the many aspiring martial artists, they definitely had some skill.
“Hmm.”
The streets were crowded with martial artists. Sima Ryunju frowned as he looked at them.
“I came forward to instill external respect in my disciples. This is why catching worms…… doesn’t mean I can give you a proper demonstration of strength.”
Worms.
That was Sima Ryunju’s assessment of the plethora of martial artists farther in front of them with hostile gazes.