439: Guardian of Changbai Mountain (1)

The base of the Forces of Justice.

The main conference venue where all major matters of the Forces of Justice and the Yulin were decided.

Due to keeping the other major powers in check and the other major roles they played as one of the three major factions, the leaders couldn’t gather for quite some time.

Moreover, especially since the leaders were scrambling to uncover the Blade God Six Martial clans plan, it took even more time.

However, despite waiting such a long time, the leaders of the Forces of Justice had gathered.

The number of leaders gathered couldn’t be compared to when they were discussing the non-aggression treaty.

At the top was the seat of the Great Leader.

On either side of him were foreign affairs Gam Woon-seo and internal affairs Ha Ji-jin.

At the first seat on the right side of the table, people were seated in sequential order by military rank.

1st leader, Shanxi Sword Master, Mu Gu-cheon

2nd leader, Shaolin Temple’s head, Saint Gak-yeon.

4th leader, Hangsan clan, under the Shaolin Temple, Monk Sathi.

5th leader, Wudang clan, Hyun Jinja.

6th leader, Mount Hua clan, Poong Chungwun.

8th leader, Head of the Four Skies clan, Dang Pil-yeon.

10th leader, Elder of the Jeom Jang clan, Ho Hyeon-ja

11th leader, Beggars association head, Hong Palwoo

12th leader, Elder of the Kong Tong clan, Elder Cheong-su.

13th leader, Jegal clan head, Jegal Young.

14th leader, Jongnam clan, Elder Jeokyang.

16th leader, Jinju family head, Yeon Young-in.

17th leader, Habuk clan’s head, Peng-gyu

In addition to the leaders and heads of each clan, each combat group that held power stood in the room.

The only ones who couldn’t attend were four leaders and two commanders.

Of course, they had reasons for not being able to attend.

They were 7th leader Moyong Kang, who hadn’t returned from the North, Hwang Bo-neung, who died in the North Sea, the head of the Nam Gung clan who died in the Jin Castle, and the 9th leader who was killed in a surprise attack by the Blade God Six Martial clan in his province.

And the two commanders who didn’t attend were Yeon Buso, who was depressed, and Kang Soah, who went to the North and lost his life.

‘The atmosphere isn’t that serious.’

Poong Chungwun of the Mount Hua clan thought while looking at the room.

The heads of each clan had gathered.

With such strong people gathered, the atmosphere should’ve been intense.

‘Why were we summoned so urgently? What happened?’

For the ones who didn’t know, it was suspenseful, so they wondered why.

The Great Leader looked at all the leaders with a hardened expression.

1st leader Mu Gu-cheon, who was the closest to Yi Mok, was the one who opened his mouth.

“Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the leaders and commanders who responded to the emergency order. We don’t have much time, so I’ll get right to the point.”

Woong!

Everyone knew that something had happened.

What was the reason for such an emergency meeting that one of the five strongest warriors, Yi Mok, had to call for them right away?

“Come in.”

As the order from Yi Mok fell, a man in a black uniform entered the room.

The man, with half white hair and drooping eyes, was Mak Wijong, the temporary captain of the Black Shadow group.

‘Why is it that person?’

‘Lieutenant Mak? Wasn’t he part of the north’s contingent?’

A few people who knew him were puzzled.

No one was allowed to attend the meetings of the leaders unless they were a commander or above.

‘Didn’t he leave for the North Sea with Commander Kang?’

In their last meeting, there were a few leaders who knew that Kang Soah, the second son of Yi Mok, was sent to the North Sea as the leader of the contingent.

But the contingent hadn’t returned, so why was this man back?

Thud!

“The new commander of the Black Shadow group, Mak Wijong, greets the leaders.”

“Commander?”

Everyone was shocked, unable to understand what happened.

The commander of the Black Shadow group is Kang Soah, and he was the one who created the group, there was no way he would give up the title.

Unless he died.

“Great Leader, what does this mean?”

2nd leader, Gak-yeon, was asking the question when Yi Mok cut off his words.

“First, we will listen to his report.”

“Amitabha.”

It was embarrassing that he was asked to be quiet, so Gak-yeon kept mumbling sutras.

Unless something happened, there was no way that their Great Leader would act as such.

At that, Mak Wijong spoke.

“I will get to the main point. We have found the base of the Blade God Six Martial clan!”

“Blade God Six Martial clan!!!”

Mumble

Whispering and mumbling rose at the unexpected news.

After a portion of their province was taken away, the leaders tried their best to find their base.

Despite creating several troops, everyone went missing, and no one managed to get any information.

At that moment, one leader raised his hand while speaking.

“Hold your horses. Now, the new commander, Commander Mak, found something that no leader has been able to find until now?”

At that, Mak Wijong spoke with a light smile.

“Yes. Leader.”

“Where the hell is this so-called place?”

Peng-gyu, the head of the Peng family, who lost his arm after meeting Chun Yeowun in the Imperial Palace, asked.

The other leaders focused on Mak Wijong, wondering what his answer would be.

As everyone looked at him, waiting for an answer, he pointed to Zhejiang province, which was under the Yulin’s territory.

“It’s right here.”

“Isn’t that Mount Huang?”

The place where Mak Wijong pointed to was Mount Huang of Zhejiang province.

A scenic spot, but the mountains around it were rough and surrounded by steep peaks.

If it was there, then it was the best place to hide their base.

‘Ah! This is why the emergency meeting was issued?’

All the leaders now understood the reason.

If what they found was indeed true, it made sense to call in all the leaders.

If the base could be identified for sure, which no one knew until now, Yulin could wage war.

“Commander Mak! That’s great. This achievement deserves great praise!”

Jegal Young, the head of the Jegal clan, spoke in an excited voice.

But not everyone believed that.

Hong Palwoo spoke.

“How did Commander Mak find their base? Up until now, even the beggars association members over there always ended up dying.”

After striking the forts of Yulin, the defense against the Blade God Six Martial clan had become firm.

Even the beggars, who were known to be information gatherers, were killed or disappeared after entering the Zhejiang province, which was why he felt suspicious about it.

“I understand why you think that way. But please see this first, leader.”

At the request of Mak Wijong, the Great Leader nodded his head.

As the room doors opened, two men came in with something much larger than an average cart.

“Th-this?”

“Goodness!”

Everyone was shocked by what they saw.

What was in the cart was the head of the dragon with his eyes turned over.

Hyun Jin-ja, a leader, shouted in shock.

“The Dragon Turtle!”

It was the head of the dead dragon.

The head’s size itself resembled the legends of the dragon.

“Amitabha!”

Gak-yeon closed his eyes at the sight.

Most of the other leaders who saw it got up from their seats to get a better look at the severed head of the dragon.

Drrr!

It wasn’t the end of the meeting.

Another cart came in, loaded with something hidden in woven straw cloth, decomposing corpses were inside it.

However, each body was unique.

“H-head is?”

Their heads exploded.

“Euk!”

Everyone covered their noses at the same time.

Hong Palwoo burst out at the sight of dead corpses.

“What the hell are these corpses?”

“They’re members, masters of the Blade God Six Martial clan.”

‘!?’

Hong Palwoo, who was shocked, approached the corpses at the word ‘master’.

There was a simple way to know if one was from the Blade God Six Martial clan.

Those belonging to the clan, the ones who were masters, had restrictions placed on them, making sure that no information would leak even when captured.

Tak!

Hong Palwoo’s eyes trembled as one hand covered his nose, and the other looked for the pulse.

The same symptoms that the other corpses of the Blade God Six martial clan in the past had.

“… true. He is right.”

When the verification was done, the room became noisy.

At that, Yi Mok spoke in a loud voice.

“I hope everyone quiets down and goes back to their seats!”

At the loud order from Yi Mok, everyone went back to their seats, and the room became silent.

When it became silent, Yi Mok brought up the main topic.

“As we have all seen, there is the head of the dragon and then corpses of the Blade God Six Martial clan. Commander Mak of the Black Shadow group has successfully tracked those who were fleeing from the North Sea and found the base of that beastly clan and captured the dragon’s head.”

At the brief praise from the Great Leader, Mak Wijong nodded his head.

It wasn’t something to be happy about.

Certainly, according to the words of the Great Leader, it was indeed a great achievement for the Forces of Justice.

It was something that no one else has ever accompanied.

“The evidence is solid, but I have a question.”

Someone raised the hand with doubt.

It was elder Cheong-su.

He had resigned from the position of leader, but when he managed to win the bet he placed against Peng-gyu, he was given his position back.

“What do you mean? Elder Cheong-su?”

“Of course, the head and corpses seem very credible, and I will acknowledge them, but how did you find their base, which no one else managed to find?”

Mak Wijong tried to avoid that question previously too.

Moreover, if they tried to bring out a theory that he could have stolen the dragon’s head and returned, they wouldn’t trust him at all.

To that, Mak Wijong answered without hesitation.

“What elder Cheong-su asks is right. If they had their full strength, I wouldn’t have come back alive.”

“Hmm? Now, do you mean to say that they weren’t their usual selves?”

“Yes. When I secretly pursued them and found their base in Mount Huang, almost all their forces seemed tired. If we all head there right away, we will be able to subdue them.”

“Ah!”

At those words from Mak Wijong, everyone looked at each other.

They could guess how important this meeting was.

‘Are we finally going to move?’

Yi Mok must have decided to wage an all-out war against the Blade God Six Martial clan.

All the leaders who ran the Yulin met at one place, the Forces of Justice’s base.

‘If what he says is true…’

If they gathered all their power and went to their base, they would wipe out the entire clan.

Of course, only if it was clear that the Yulin had the upper hand would a war do any good.

“Military leader.”

“Yes.”

At the call from Yi Mok, the military leader, Yoo Beom-ryeo, seated to the right, got up.

He took out three chess pieces from his pocket and placed one knight on the so-called base of the Blade God Six Martial clan.

Tak!

Then, two more knights were placed on the left and upper sides of the mountain.

Two rooks were placed on the north and left sides.

“King?”

When everyone was puzzled, Yoo Beom-ryeo opened his mouth.

“This is information that the Great Leader recently got from the Forces of Evil. Recently, the head of the Blade God Six Martial clan, the Blade Lord, led his army to Lhasa.”

“Ugh!”

“That means?”

The leaders couldn’t help but be shocked at the unexpected news.

If so, their main base was indeed empty.

Yi Mok spoke while pointing to the two knights on the north.

“Perhaps some might already know this, but the clan seems to have aimed all their power into getting the core of the dragon in the North Sea.”

Woong!

When Yi Mok said that, those who didn’t understand began to mumble at the sudden realization.

The fact that the contingent went north was made public, but the reason wasn’t disclosed.

Who knew that the dragon, a spirit beast, was what the Blade God Six Martial clan was aiming for.

Yoo Beom-ryeo spoke.

“From the information gathered so far, we found out that their goal is to conquer the entire Jianghu.”

Yoo Beom-ryeo.

He had the official position of military leader, which meant he was the Military Commander of the Yulin.

Ever since the Blade God Six Martial clan turned into a pain for Yulin, he asked numerous people as well as Jegal Sohi with numerous commissions and analyzed them.

At that time, Mak Wijong brought in his information, making him realize what the Blade God Six Martial clan was aiming for.

“They targeted the Imperial Palace, the North Sea, and the spirit beast in Lhasa.”

Their purpose became clear.

Their reason for constantly cornering the other factions while avoiding any counterattacks, everything came clear.

“Amitabha! The spirit beasts? Which means they are aiming to covet the cores just like they did with the Flame Qilin in the palace?”

Yoo Beom-ryeo nodded in response to Gak-yeon’s question and pulled something out of his sleeve.

A book,

“Moral Sutras of Heaven?”

It was one of the Three Great Books.

A book that talked about myths and legends, which the scholars didn’t acknowledge.

“What about that book?”

At that, he turned to a page and spoke.

“As Saint Gak-yeon said, the Blade God Six Martial clan are targeting the spirit beasts. To be precise, they are aiming for the cores of the spirit beasts.”

“The cores? For the sake of power?”

“Well, honestly, it’s just another legend in this book but seeing how they are aiming for the cores of the five spirit beasts, I’m certain.”

“What the hell is that? Just answer already.”

Hong Palwoo urged him as he was running out of patience.

“They seem to believe that immortality is possible.”

“Immortality?”

“It’s said here that the one who attains the five cores of the beasts will attain eternal immortality.”

All the leaders and commanders who were listening thought that it had to be a mistake.

Everyone knew that the core of any spirit beast would give immense power and even prolong a person’s life.

However, the term ‘eternal immortality’ meant real immortality.