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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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After taking a few steps forward, sound began to be heard from a certain point.
“Why? You said I could come find you anytime…”
“That’s true, but right now, the Alliance Lord has a scheduled guest, so it’s difficult.”
“I’m not asking to see the Alliance Lord. The Sangpyeondang Hall Master would be fine…”
The previous guest stomped her feet and pleaded pitifully with the guard.
Her voice, speaking as if begging, still had a strong, tender quality.
It seemed she wasn’t just randomly asking to meet the Alliance Lord, but had business with the Sangpyeondang, which served as the Murim Alliance’s general affairs office.
The guard also looked sympathetic, but since there were instructions handed down from above, there was nothing he could do.
‘The Alliance Lord’s guest is probably me.’
Namgung-Woo committed the conversation he heard while ascending the stairs to memory.
The Central Heaven Pavilion, befitting the Murim Alliance’s largest building, was built on a platform almost two stories high.
The sensation felt while treading the stairs was quite different from solid ground.
It meant there was space beneath this.
A five-story pavilion rising upwards, and a two-story high platform built below it.
Adding the basement installed beneath the platform, the Central Heaven Pavilion was, in fact, an eight-story structure.
However, even that fact didn’t particularly draw Namgung-Woo’s interest at the moment.
Namgung-Woo quickly, but without rushing, ascended the stairs and stood before the Central Heaven Pavilion.
Only then did the guard, noticing Namgung-Woo, widen his eyes and hastily assume a guarded stance.
However, it was Namgung-Woo who spoke first.
“Hearing the story, it seems you’re blocking entry because of me. There’s no need for that, so please let her in.”
At Namgung-Woo’s words, the previous guest turned around.
A strong curiosity about who exactly was the cause of her being blocked from entering manifested in a swift movement.
However, a gaze is a two-way street.
If one sees something, that something also sees oneself.
It was the face of someone on the boundary between a girl and a woman.
If estimated young, she would be in her late teens, and even if estimated older, she wouldn’t exceed her early twenties.
Still, judging by her rather resolute eyes, she seemed to be around twenty.
The two guards protecting the main entrance of the Central Heaven Pavilion looked at each other as if unsure what to do.
Their lips twitched slightly, as if sending voice transmissions.
“Ah~ ah~ It’s fine. No need to go inside. He’s the guest the Alliance Lord asked to be brought. Just open the gate. I’ll accompany them.”
“Ah! Shaking Thunder Division Leader.”
The guard, as if having found a lifeline, called out to Deng Zongyou with a brightened expression.
Meanwhile, the guard who had been talking to the woman who had come as a previous guest asked cautiously.
“But is it really… alright to let them in together? The Sangpyeondang Hall Master said not to let anyone else into the Central Heaven Pavilion while the guest is here…”
“Hmm, since the guest has permitted it, it should be fine. I’ll handle it, so you all don’t worry and go about your duties.”
“Yes, Shaking Thunder Division Leader.”
With Deng Zongyou stepping in, things proceeded smoothly.
The guards, with relieved faces as if a burden had been lifted, opened the main entrance of the Central Heaven Pavilion.
As Deng Zongyou, as the guarantor, entered first, and Namgung-Woo also stepped into the Central Heaven Pavilion, the woman quickly followed behind, not wanting to be left out.
Whether she was insensitive or too flustered to notice, the woman, oblivious to the gaze Peng Ha-ryeong was sending, approached Namgung-Woo and offered her greetings.
“Th-thank you… Y-Young Hero? Great Hero?”
“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with. More importantly, what is your name?”
“Ah, I am…”
The moment the woman was about to say her name, Deng Zongyou, who was in front, rushed over, stood between them, and urged Namgung-Woo.
“Now, now~ Let’s not dally here, let’s hurry a bit more. The Alliance Lord is waiting.”
However, Namgung-Woo ignored Deng Zongyou’s urging and steadfastly continued what he was saying.
“You said you had business with the Sangpyeondang, but it would be more convenient to meet the Alliance Lord directly. I also have business with the Alliance Lord, so since it has come to this, let’s go together.”
“Huh? I-is that really okay? You’ve already helped me…”
Leaving the woman hesitating, wondering if it was truly alright, Namgung-Woo finally spoke to Deng Zongyou.
“Isn’t it fine?”
“Since this Alliance brought you as a guest, if the person involved wishes it, there’s nothing to be done. Let’s do that.”
Shrugging his shoulders as if giving up, Deng Zongyou faithfully resumed his role of guiding the way.
Ascending to the upper floors, Namgung-Woo surveyed the interior of the Central Heaven Pavilion.
There were more presences felt than he had expected.
He had heard that the Central Heaven Pavilion also shared the building with the Sangpyeondang the woman was looking for; they were probably personnel handling administrative affairs.
The traces of having learned martial arts were faint.
There were also some who showed considerable Qi, but they fell far short of Deng Zongyou’s level.
When they reached about the fourth floor, a man in middle-aged scholar’s robes greeted Namgung-Woo’s party with a fist-and-palm salute.
Unlike the people of the Zhuge Family, there was no distinct Qi wave that martial artists possessed.
The air of a scholar who had purely cultivated academics flowed from him.
The moment the man in scholar’s robes was about to say something, his eyes widened as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“No, Young La— no, why are you here… Shaking Thunder Division Leader, what is the meaning of this?”
“Our guest suggested accompanying them. Isn’t that alright?”
“Alright, you say… Haa, I shouldn’t have sent you. I should have sent the Taetaek Division Leader.”
“Haha, don’t say such harsh things. More importantly, where is the Alliance Lord? Can I send them straight up?”
“That’s true, but… It can’t be helped. Guest, please wait a moment. I’ll send word to the Alliance Lord and…”
[There’s no need for that.]
A voice emanating from the ceiling resonated like the gentle sound of wind chimes.
Qi Transmitted Voice.
It was a more profound voice transmission technique than simple voice transmission.
The skill in twisting it to be conveyed naturally by removing secrecy was extraordinary.
“So he says. Let’s go up then.”
Deng Zongyou lightly bowed to the Sangpyeondang Hall Master and then led the party up the stairs to the final fifth floor.
The number of people following Deng Zongyou increased from three to four.
Namgung-Woo, Peng Ha-ryeong, the woman whose name he hadn’t heard yet, and the Sangpyeondang Hall Master.
For reference, the remaining four members of the Azure Sky Group had been sent off separately with the role of finding lodging after finishing the initiation ceremony.
Finally, on the fifth floor they reached, there was only one person.
A monk wearing a yellow long robe, with a red kasaya draped over it.
A shaved head and nine precept marks on his forehead.
Undefeated despite having been in the Jianghu Murim for decades.
Never killing, as he had never broken the precept against killing despite being from Shaolin.
The Murim Alliance Lord, Great Master Gakwon, was blended into the space like an ancient tree that had stood in one place for hundreds of years.
“Alliance Lord. I have brought the guest.”
“Amitabha. Welcome, everyone.”
Only when he spoke did Gakwon seem like a living, breathing human.
Guo Duan, who lived more at the center of the secular world than anyone; Peng Houshang, who devoted his entire body to his family, the foundation of the secular world; and the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, who trampled his surroundings even more narrowly, solely for himself.
Unlike them, this was the Qi of one who had reached the Peerless Realm by following the teachings of religion.
It was surprising that he was from Shaolin Temple, which frequently broke the precept against killing and stained its hands with blood, but even so, it was natural that he was more detached from the secular world than the previous three people.
Everyone returned the Alliance Lord’s greeting with their own.
Only Namgung-Woo and Peng Ha-ryeong added self-introductions.
The other three were already acquainted with Great Master Gakwon.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Deng Zongyou, having completed his role, descended from the fifth floor.
Gakwon invited Namgung-Woo to take a seat.
“Please sit here. If you prefer to sit on the floor, let me know.”
“It’s fine. A chair is comfortable.”
Gakwon had been brewing tea to match the number of people since he sent the Qi Transmitted Voice from the fourth floor.
Gakwon personally poured tea water into the five cups placed on the table.
“It’s Maojian tea. It was cultivated in Xinyang, and it’s a renowned tea in Henan.”
“Thank you.”
Namgung-Woo, who received the teacup, glanced to the side before drinking it and said.
“Then, while we drink the tea given by the Alliance Lord, how about resolving this person’s matter first?”
Even at Namgung-Woo’s words, Gakwon showed no bewilderment and calmly maintained his composure.
He was a warrior monk who was a peerless expert.
His mental cultivation was not so shallow as to be shaken by mere words like that.
“That would be good.”
“Alliance Lord…”
The Sangpyeondang Hall Master tried to say something, but Gakwon stopped him by holding out his palm.
“Yes, Sol-ah. Did you come to say the same thing as last time?”
The woman called Sol-ah, perhaps finding this atmosphere hard to bear, hunched her shoulders slightly as if intimidated, but her nodding head moved vigorously.
“Yes. I know the Alliance is trying to protect me, but nothing will change if I stay like this.”
“You know it could be a dangerous decision, right?”
“It’s okay. Rather, what I’m more afraid of are those who try to use me.”
“Amitabha… The karma of the White Path Murim is deep.”
Was there something Peng Ha-ryeong had noticed from the conversation?
Peng Ha-ryeong urgently sent a voice transmission to Namgung-Woo.
[Oppa… by any chance.]
[Not now. Let’s talk later.]
Namgung-Woo sharply cut off Peng Ha-ryeong’s voice transmission.
His gaze was fixed on Gakwon.
Gakwon was looking at the woman named Sol-ah sitting next to him, but Namgung-Woo intuitively sensed that what he was seeing with his naked eye was not all.
“However, my answer can only be the same as before.”
“Anyway… the Dugu Family…!”
“Sol-ah.”
At the Sangpyeondang Hall Master’s call, Sol-ah lowered her head.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Let’s talk about that matter again in a moment. Sangpyeondang Hall Master, would you take Sol-ah and leave us for a moment?”
“Yes, Alliance Lord.”
As the Sangpyeondang Hall Master disappeared from the fifth floor with Sol-ah, Gakwon finally opened his mouth towards Namgung-Woo.
“It is as the Zhuge Family Head conveyed in his letter.”
“What did the Zhuge Family Head say about me?”
Zhuge Chong was one of the few people who knew Namgung-Woo’s real name.
However, Namgung-Woo judged that Zhuge Chong would not have mentioned his name.
He had trust in Zhuge Chong, and he also believed that if Gakwon had known his real name, he would not have shown the same reaction as just now.
Namgung-Woo’s prediction was correct.
Zhuge Chong did not tell Gakwon every little detail about Namgung-Woo.
Instead, he had merely said this:
Perhaps the Alliance Lord might see him three times and think of denial, but he is all true.
“The first denial, I knew as soon as I saw you, benefactor. That realm at that age. My cultivation is still shallow, so for a moment, I thought, can this be? However, the Black Martial Alliance Lord also gained fame as a peerless expert at the same age, so how could I only deny it?”
The first denial was Namgung-Woo’s realm.
Gakwon had not participated in the Righteous-Unorthodox Great War.
At that time, Shaolin Temple was in a situation where it hadn’t even properly recovered from the aftermath of the Blood Cult calamity, which had brought it to the brink of near-annihilation.
It was because Shaolin Temple was in its 30-year seclusion.
“As for the other two, I still don’t know well, but I suppose I’ll find out gradually.”
Namgung-Woo felt he knew at least one more.
Peng Ha-ryeong did too.
However, Namgung-Woo, instead of deliberately mentioning it, asked again.
“May I ask why you sought me out?”
“Yes. An old man cannot steal a young man’s time. You must know that the league meeting is being held, benefactor.”
“Yes.”
“Separate from the summit meeting where the leaders of the Righteous Path Murim gather, a martial arts tournament is also scheduled to be held.”
Yes.
A martial arts tournament couldn’t be missing from such an occasion.
The factions coming to participate in the league meeting were also bringing their rising talents with the intention of having them participate in the tournament to gain fame.
“I wish for you, benefactor, not to participate in that tournament.”
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