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“Looks like the Master of the White Lotus Sect has already caught wind of what techniques we have up our sleeves.”

There’s no way he knows the specific names, but he probably figured out our martial arts based on the Seven Great Techniques and Eight Immortals Divine Art we shared in our conversations. It’s a given he’d put together some clues considering the level of sincerity we presented.

But submitting to the Master of the White Lotus Sect? No way, that’s not an option! He’ll surely try to overpower all of us first, and there’s a huge chance we’ll lose all our treasured artifacts and demon tools again, just like before.

If I hand over all my martial arts to him, it would only lead to another tragedy. I just had that confirmed a moment ago.

‘Nothing’s gonna happen unless the Master of the White Lotus Sect changes his ways,’ I thought.

I’d often debated whether to send him something like the obsidian or memories, but in the end, it always stopped me. He’s so wrapped up in the notion that only he can save the world that he’d risk anything to make it happen. Until he shifts his perspective, he can never be one of us.

Just then, as I was about to shoot down the Master’s proposal, the Sword Demon piped up.

“Master! Could you grant us just a little time to think?”

[Time to think? Well, that’s tough. If experts like you escape this place, I won’t be able to rein you in later.]

Sounding a bit spoiled, but he made it clear he wouldn’t let us go. The Sword Demon, however, responded coolly.

“We don’t need a lot of time. Just give us half a moment to gather our thoughts.”

[No can do.]

“Are you really pushing us to the edge? If we put our backs into it, you won’t come out of this unscathed either.”

[It seems you all know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you. You want me to give you ample time to have a discussion in this situation? That’s incredibly shameless.]

Just then, the Master slowly raised his hand, a sign that he was calling in the Dharma Protectors. The Sword Demon quickly shouted out.

“Wait…”

It was too late.

I bit my lip. ‘At this point… I might just have to throw this life away!’

If the Master and the Dharma Protectors join forces, there’s no way we could survive. I never anticipated it would come to this, but there’s still a way out. I could sacrifice myself and use Great Destruction to land a critical blow on the Master. I’d definitely die, but he’d likely go down too.

And then it happened.

Whoooosh!

A wild gust of wind swept through the hall. From within that storm, hundreds of beams of light poured down like a tempest, clearly targeting the Master. He activated the Heart of Heaven’s Abundance to deflect the surprise attack, but the onslaught didn’t stop; instead, the wind expanded and swept over the Dharma Protectors’ positions too!

[What is this…]

The Master gathered his power to unleash a shockwave, but the storm paused only to surge ahead once more.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

The force of the wind intensified, making the interior nearly invisible from the outside. In that instant, a mysterious white energy surrounded me and whisked me away somewhere.

Swish, whoosh!

When I regained my senses, a familiar scene greeted me.

“Jangryeong Valley?”

“Looks like it.”

Jin So-cheong and the Sword Demon stood next to me. They seemed to have been transported along with me, and around us were Lee Kwang, Master of Zen, the Bright Dragon, and other experts. It appeared the spectators who had been watching the duel didn’t make it here, as no one else was visible in the hall.

Then I heard Zhuge Sa’s voice.

“Well, that was a great call to hang back and watch.”

“Zhuge Sa!”

He descended slowly from the staircase with a frustrated expression. Looking down at us, he remarked,

“Is this where the saying comes from that people may devise tactics, but the outcome lies with heaven?”

“What happened?”

“It’s not about what happened; we simply rescued you as planned, using Zhuge Bu down there.”

Now that I thought about it, Zhuge Bu stood blank-faced in the hall, almost like a mannequin. Realizing the situation, Jin So-cheong spoke up.

“So, you controlled Zhuge Bu to use martial arts.”

“Well, it was more like an automatic command!”

Zhuge Sa replied casually, glancing at Zhuge Bu before ordering, “Subdue Lee Kwang, Master of Zen, and the Bright Dragon.”

What? I didn’t even have time to react before seals marked with spells appeared over the three. Master of Zen quickly channeled his power to break the spell, the Bright Dragon unleashed the Heavenly Cloud Sect technique to escape its range, and Lee Kwang countered by using Thunderclap to strike back at Zhuge Bu.

Crash!

However, as Zhuge Bu swung his sword, Lee Kwang got sent flying instead, and at the next moment, talismans floated in the air, launching simultaneous attacks on all three. They tried to counterattack with swift divine techniques, but the spells layered over the area kept multiplying, trapping them in place.

Flop!

“Cough…”

“What on earth is going on?”

Master of Zen and the Bright Dragon eventually found themselves trembling, unable to move, and Lee Kwang was in the same boat. I was shocked.

‘That was way too easy…’

No matter how drained they were from battling the Master of the White Lotus Sect, those three were the very top tier of the Jianghu world. Even I couldn’t guarantee I could easily take them down. Yet here was Zhuge Bu, effortlessly forcing them to their knees like he was cornering wild animals.

Zhuge Sa grinned widely. “During all that time, I fed him loads of spiritual pills, injected him with martial arts knowledge and experience, and strategically prepared the spells for efficiency. I even tweaked his brain’s potential a bit. Now Zhuge Bu can unleash his full capabilities, making him the ultimate combat puppet! If we push the limits even further, we could take down the Master of the White Lotus Sect.”

“Why did you capture them?”

“Am I supposed to just let them go to figure it out themselves? I don’t mind Master of Zen, but just thinking about the havoc the Bright Dragon and Lee Kwang could cause once they spread rumors is terrifying.”

“…”

“Especially that guy. It’d be better to just finish him off.”

Zhuge Sa’s gaze was packed with killing intent as he eyed Lee Kwang. This was because this slip-up was entirely due to Lee Kwang’s interference. Jin So-cheong, feeling discouraged by Lee Kwang’s humiliation, decided to push back, leading to all of us, including me, caught up in a battle against the Master of the White Lotus Sect.

Jin So-cheong stepped in front of Lee Kwang and sighed.

“Please, back off.”

Zhuge Sa coldly shot back, “Jin So-cheong, you shouldn’t have any words to said to me, right? You’ve essentially betrayed all of us. What was your plan if Baek Woong was captured and tortured because of your pathetic excuse of a life? Just throw it all away and use Great Destruction to kill yourself?”

“……”

“Jin So-cheong… you should be willing to offer your neck peacefully if I decide to end both you and your master.”

I quickly intervened. “Calm down. There’s no point in what’s happened. Let’s just cool our heads and figure out what to do.”

“Heh… not calming down anytime soon! It would have been simple and efficient to send you to Dark Heaven Village to gain those past experiences, yet because of Jin So-cheong’s suggestion, we dragged it out painfully. And now, thanks to those pesky Thunder God lineages, we’ve lost our window, and the Master’s focusing in on us!”

Zhuge Sa exclaimed furiously for the first time ever, “Get out of the way! I’m going to end the Thunder God lineage today!”

“…”

In the end, the Sword Demon blocked Zhuge Sa’s path and said, “Calm down now. This isn’t like you.”

“What does being like me mean in this case? What do you know about me?”

“At least I know you aren’t someone who gets genuinely excited and loses your cool over something like this.”

The Sword Demon’s transparent gaze locked onto Zhuge Sa.

“Even right now, this is just part of a scheme, isn’t it? You’re pretending to be all riled up and cornering Jin So-cheong and Lee Kwang, and trying to make them take on unreasonable roles… or perhaps you’re just playing the villain here to prevent Baek Woong from holding unnecessary grudges or trusting his comrades.”

A moment of silence passed.

After a long pause, Zhuge Sa burst out laughing. “Haha, you really are someone I once aspired to serve. Let’s call this a draw on the games.”

His attitude turned so relaxed it almost felt deflating.

‘So he was never genuinely angry, just going on according to a plan from the get-go.’

But then again, it was only the Sword Demon, deeply versed in human psychology, who could read Zhuge Sa’s intentions like that. His acting skills were indeed impressive.

Zhuge Sa then said, “Jin So-cheong, directly imprison those three in the Underground Brain Prison. Use your internal energy to put the bloodline seal on them, and starting now, you’ll keep an eye on them the whole day.”

“Understood.”

“Be the one to administer torture as well. Even if it’s your master you’re interrogating.”

“… Understood.”

Jin So-cheong followed Zhuge Sa’s orders without a word. He had no choice but to comply after being held responsible for his failure. Leading the three to the Underground Brain Prison, Zhuge Sa commented.

“Baek Woong, you shouldn’t expect anything from Jin So-cheong anymore. Your only option is to head to Dark Heaven Village.”

“Hmm… but if this continues, the Master of the White Lotus Sect will annihilate the Jianghu. Especially your Shadowless Sect’s…”

The White Lotus Sect didn’t fail to unify the Jianghu because they couldn’t; they simply chose not to. But now that the Master had confirmed the power of Jin So-cheong, the successor of the Thunder God lineage, and the potential of the Seven Great Techniques, he might be eager to dominate the world at any moment. And since the Master had seen the Sword Demon in action, he’d be the first target in the Master’s raid.

Zhuge Sa nonchalantly replied, “You fool. Why take it all so seriously? Just because you made one wrong move in a grand game doesn’t mean you lose immediately. It’s a bit ridiculous how things went south, but this isn’t the right phase to get all dramatic.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

“There’s a plan A, B, and C. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“Plan C.”

Zhuge Sa sat at a nearby table and said, “Plan C is to hand the Master of the White Lotus Sect either the obsidian or the silver phoenix, give him our memories, and gamble on accepting him as an ally. It’s risky and if it works, it’d be much better than Plan A.”

“That… that’s…”

He was outright teasing me now.

“Even you think this is a bit reckless, right? The odds of the Master overpowering you and brainwashing you are sky-high. You might get lucky like last time, but if I were him, I’d resort to anything to steal your rebirth ability.”

“…”

“I won’t stop you if you want to attempt it later, but just don’t drag us down with you. I really don’t want this to end in disaster.”

“What’s Plan B?”

“Conceal the whole Shadowless Sect within your wooden armor and relocate the main bases of Jangryeong Valley and Jinrang Valley to the southern continent or South Barbarians. Completely disengage from the Jianghu and challenge the Master of the White Lotus Sect in Dark Heaven Village. Focus on the essence of this current rebirth.”

“…?”

Wait, did he just say that Plan B sounded like Plan A to me?

Raising an eyebrow, I questioned Zhuge Sa, “There’s something better than Plan B?”

“Just one thing, Plan A.”

“And what is it?”

When Zhuge Sa explained, my expression tightened.

“Within three days, you and Zhuge Bu are to infiltrate the White Lotus Sect and assassinate the Master. I estimate the success rate is over 80%, so give it a shot. If the Master goes down, most of the hassle on the land will be resolved.”

 

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