Chapter 572:
“Is it really okay?”
Yuk-ui looked at the main headquarters of the Righteous Martial Alliance with somewhat anxious eyes.
The toxic mist that had been rolling as if it would devour them at any moment had cleanly disappeared. However, he didn’t feel like going back to the main headquarters.
‘It was terrifying.’
The toxic smoke was eerie enough to send chills down one’s spine just by looking at it. If he had been touched by that toxic smoke, Yuk-ui would have become nothing but a handful of blood by now.
“Fortunately, there seems to be no damage.”
Yuk-ui hurriedly bowed his head at the voice coming from behind.
“Your Excellency!”
“I need to assess the situation.”
“But the Divine Strategist said…”
“Right. The Divine Strategist told me to go to Hefei. But that was an order given with the assumption that the main headquarters would fall. If the situation has changed, the interpretation of the order should also change. Blind obedience to orders isn’t always right”
Yeong-jon looked around here and there and clicked his tongue.
“Look.”
“Yes?”
“Can’t you see over there?”
“Where…”
Yuk-ui’s eyes swept over the place Yeong-jon was pointing to.
‘A doghouse?’
There was a doghouse that people from a private house kept for their dog.
“Is there something strange about that place?”
“Perhaps until a little while ago, wasn’t there a dog tied up there?”
“Ah…”
Yuk-ui looked at the doghouse that Yeong-jon had pointed to again with fresh eyes. It was cleanly empty as if there had been nothing there from the beginning. He only felt that the ground was somehow damp and wet.
‘So that moisture is…’
It had touched the toxic smoke and melted away without leaving even a bone fragment. Yuk-ui clicked his tongue. What terrifying poison. If he had touched that poison, he too wouldn’t have escaped that fate. No matter how much martial artists had more resistance to poison than ordinary people, there were limits to that. Before such extreme poison, everyone was equal.
“If there were people who couldn’t escape, they would have met the same fate.”
“…”
It was something he didn’t want to imagine.
“Let’s go.”
“Pardon?”
Yeong-jon slightly narrowed his brow.
“Don’t we need to confirm with our own eyes what happened? Since it seems to have been resolved, we should go see.”
“But Your Excellency…”
What Yuk-ui wanted to say was one thing.
‘Can we be certain that the situation inside has been sorted out?’
Two of the bishops had come. Moreover, hadn’t they almost all died just a moment ago because of the poison that the Poison Demon had surely released? In this situation, Yeong-jon’s words sounded too reckless.
But Yuk-ui knew better than anyone that Yeong-jon wasn’t that kind of person. There might be people in the world smarter than Yeong-jon, but there weren’t many more cautious than him. That’s why the Divine Strategy Master had entrusted his role to Yeong-jon, hadn’t he?
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Yeong-jon spoke calmly.
“But the main headquarters collapsed…”
Yuk-ui had clearly seen the main headquarters building fall over. Wouldn’t that be impossible unless something had happened inside?
“It’s an old building, so it probably fell over from the shock.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“The reason is simple. If the bishops were still safe, it wouldn’t be this quiet. Wouldn’t they have already cleaned up the inside and come running out? The fact that Luoyang is safe is the first evidence.”
It made sense.
“And the second reason is even simpler. Didn’t you also see the warrior wrapped in light?”
“Ah!”
Yuk-ui nodded repeatedly.
He had definitely seen it too. The mass of light that pushed back the spreading toxic smoke.
“Currently in the martial world, there’s only one person who can show such an appearance. Wei Yan-ho, Light Sword Wei Yan-ho has come.”
“Light Sword…”
Yuk-ui looked at the Righteous Martial Alliance with trembling eyes.
‘Wei Yan-ho.’
He had heard the rumors well too. Anyone in the Righteous Martial Alliance would have heard the name Wei Yan-ho until their ears were sick of it.
The son of Righteous Hero Sword Wei Jeong-han and younger brother of Demon-Slaying Sword Wei San-ho. The youngest of the Guangdong Wei Family, whose name resounded throughout the world with just Wei San-ho and Wei Jeong-han alone.
‘And the greatest talent of the later generation.’
This was Wei Yan-ho who had made Wei San-ho, called the greatest talent in a hundred years, look shabby. Those who classified information in the martial world no longer dared to place Wei Yan-ho in the ranks of the later generation’s talents. How could someone who had defeated the Poison King and cut down the Heavenly Flow Sword be called a talent of the later generation?
He was already a legitimate powerhouse of the world.
Even the renowned masters of the martial world couldn’t dare guarantee they were stronger than Wei Yan-ho. Wei Yan-ho was evaluated as being closest to the world’s greatest, surpassing even being the greatest talent of the later generation.
‘Wei Yan-ho has come?’
Yuk-ui’s eyes swept over the main headquarters. If Wei Yan-ho had come, he would definitely be of great help. The current main headquarters was like an undefended mountain. When facing absolute masters like bishops of the Demonic Cult, numbers meant nothing. Numbers only had meaning when there were masters of similar caliber who could withstand their attacks from the front.
“But even if Wei Yan-ho came, didn’t two bishops come? Even if he could subdue them, this quickly…”
“That’s something we can’t understand with our minds.”
Yeong-jon said definitively.
“People don’t know how dragons live. And there’s no need to know. How would we know how many years a snake must spend to become an imugi, or how many years an imugi must spend to become a dragon? We just need to look at the phenomena. If Wei Yan-ho hadn’t subdued the bishops now, would he have remained here?”
That made sense.
“Let’s go. Anyway, if the bishops had won, the result wouldn’t be much different.”
It meant that even if they ran away, they would end up dead anyway. Yuk-ui swallowed dry saliva and followed behind Yeong-jon. Unlike Yuk-ui who was extremely tense, Yeong-jon walked leisurely. As if there was no way his thoughts could be wrong.
Soon the two people who had reached the main headquarters lightly jumped over the fortress wall and descended inside. Following them, warriors poured into the main headquarters.
‘What a mess.’
What he saw from outside and what he saw from inside were quite different. When viewed from outside, it seemed like there was no damage except for the collapsed central hall, but looking from inside, buildings here and there had collapsed and roof tiles had fallen – it was chaos.
“It didn’t even look that fierce.”
“That means such powerful forces collided. We should be thankful it’s only this much.”
“That’s true too.”
Indeed.
If such people had fought for their lives and this was the extent of the damage, they got off cheap. It would be understandable if the entire main headquarters had been blown away.
“If this is the extent of damage from capturing two bishops, we could hold a feast. It wouldn’t be a waste even if the entire main headquarters was blown away.”
Yeong-jon looked around with cold eyes and walked forward leisurely. Everyone followed behind Yeong-jon, holding their breath.
‘Is it over there?’
Yuk-ui, who had passed through the hall and entered the central plaza, narrowed his eyes. Several people were standing in the middle of the plaza.
“Ah!”
Among the standing people, he could see the Divine Strategy Master.
“Divine Strategist!”
Yuk-ui ran toward the Divine Strategy Master.
The Divine Strategy Master, hearing his shout, turned his head toward Yuk-ui.
‘Hm?’
What?
Did the Divine Strategist’s expression look a bit strange just now?
‘That can’t be.’
He must have seen wrong.
Yuk-ui had never once seen the Divine Strategy Master looking angry. He had seen him angry a couple of times, but he had never once seen a face that looked like irritation was about to explode, like the expression he had just witnessed.
The Divine Strategy Master wasn’t that kind of person.
Look.
The expression he had seen just a moment ago must have been something Yuk-ui saw wrong. The Divine Strategy Master’s face was as peaceful as usual.
‘As expected of the Divine Strategist.’
To maintain such composure even after experiencing such events. Respect welled up tremendously.
And one more thing.
‘Who is that?’
Yuk-ui quickly scanned the people around the Divine Strategy Master.
Wei Yan-ho was among them. Considering the description of Wei Yan-ho that Yuk-ui had heard… there was no need to consider it.
He could tell immediately.
While the others had normal complexions, only one person’s appearance was a bit strange.
‘That person must be him.’
His clothes were all torn and tattered. But the clothes weren’t old. Compared with the beggar right next to him, who seemed to be a Small Beggar of the Beggar’s Sect, the difference was clear.
Yuk-ui slightly furrowed his brow.
‘He doesn’t look that strong.’
A master looks like a master even in appearance.
They say you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but after dealing with masters for a long time, you could discover something common in their appearance.
To be precise, rather than appearance, there was an aura they exuded or a weight felt in their atmosphere.
But Wei Yan-ho had no such weight at all. If he had to describe what kind of feeling he got in words…
‘A neighborhood thug?’
Or maybe a jobless person?
It couldn’t be helped.
You can’t accurately pinpoint a person’s nature from their outward appearance. This was something Yuk-ui also acknowledged. But there was one thing about a person’s appearance that gave great help in judging them.
Their eyes.
‘What’s with this guy?’
Young masters of this age usually had a set appearance.
Their eyes should be full of spiritual light, and they should be burning with the will to achieve something.
But Wei Yan-ho was not like that at all.
Looking at those listlessly drooping eyes made Yuk-ui feel drained too.
‘This person is Wei Yan-ho?’
So the young man in front of him now, this human with dead fish eyes who kept yawning widely, was that very Wei Yan-ho who was shaking the current martial world?
‘No, that can’t be right.’
It shouldn’t be.
But regardless of Yuk-ui’s feelings, Yeong-jon opened his mouth.
“Young Hero Wei Yan-ho?”
“Yes?”
The young man with dead fish eyes answered in a listless voice.
Yuk-ui, having received the final confirmation, clutched his chest.
‘This shouldn’t be happening.’
The greatest talent of the later generation, and the world’s greatest, should be objects of admiration. What they’ve achieved is important, but how much their appearance becomes a model for others is also important. But Wei Yan-ho’s current appearance was perfect for being harmful rather than exemplary.
“I’ve heard much about you.”
“About me?”
“Yes. You’re as laid-back as I heard.”
“Hehe, I hear that often.”
There’s no way that’s true, you fool!
Who would say such a thing!
Yuk-ui’s face heated up.
“That person over there looks unwell…”
At Wei Yan-ho’s words, which came cutting in while looking at him, Yuk-ui waved his hands.
“Oh, no.”
“Really?”
Wei Yan-ho looked at Yuk-ui with slightly sulky eyes.
That perceptive youth seemed to notice Yuk-ui’s disapproving gaze.
“So…”
Yeong-jon got definitive confirmation.
“What happened to the bishops?”
“They’re dead.”
“…You killed them, Young Hero?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Wei Yan-ho’s casual answer, a corner of his heart grew cold.
‘He really killed two bishops?’
That innocent-looking young man?
Yeong-jon made eye contact with the Divine Strategy Master. Then the Divine Strategy Master also nodded to confirm.
“If that’s true…”
Yeong-jon looked around at the main headquarters that had become ruins and spoke quietly.
“From this moment on, the balance of the martial world has changed.”
It was a statement like a declaration.
