Chapter 189 – Coronation Ceremony (2)

I am genuinely thrilled.

The First Elder, Dan Wei-kang.

He, the strongest person in the Blood Sect, had sworn an oath of allegiance to me at the risk of his life.

Not to the Blood Demon, but to me, Jin Wonwhi.

I had been worried about how I would convince him to be one of my people, but he had fortunately done it on his own.

“Is it alright if I ask why?”

He answered my question with a bitter face.

“After the previous sect leader passed away, I also pondered the sect’s fate for a long time. If we could not escape a nest of these teachings, the past will simply repeat itself.”

Dan Wei-kang was looking at the reality of it.

If even he, the de facto second in command of the sect, could feel like this, then the other leaders might have similar concerns.

Hopefully, they, too, could easily understand my vision.

-You think this is it?

The Blood Demon Sword is good at quipping like this.

Anyways, he said he would follow me, so was there any reason to refuse?

I clasped my hands together.

“I feel like I have gained a thousand troops and ten thousand horses with you on my side.”

“If you allow it, I can prove my worth.”

“Please stand up now. Tomorrow is the coronation ceremony. We cannot have you missing on such a day.”

I didn’t particularly enjoy drinking, but I feel like doing it now. He looked at me and smiled.

“What would I even do during the coming sacred ceremony? Instead, how about we discuss future work?”

“The future?”

“Even if it hadn’t been for this, I intended to ask something of the Blood Demon.”

“Sit comfortably and speak.”

I showed him to a chair, and he sat down as he brought up the main topic of conversation.

“It is early, but since the Murim Alliance has moved, I would like to go and unite us with Evil Faction right after the ceremony.”

He was someone I admired the more I came to know him.

Someone who thought similarly to me.

I also planned on gathering the Evil Faction after the ceremony. This was a chance that had gotten after using the captives to buy a little time.

As soon as they were all completely cured and the public opinion had calmed, the Murim Alliance would come to us for an all-out war.

Before that, we will need to come to an arrangement with the Dual Martial Troops.

-You can ask for your father’s help. Is there anything he cannot do?

Short Sword was right, but it was too early to pull them in. They will be our trump card.

Besides, even if my father was head of one of the orders, he could not make them all move that easily.

Father was trying to get complete control from the inside. Until he could, we would need to increase the size of the sect to the point where we could fight the Murim Alliance on our own.

I smiled and told the Elder.

“I am of one mind. I also think we should hasten our approach to the Evil Faction. However, I wanted to discuss where to begin after the ceremony. Still, I would like to hear your opinion since the First Elder has spoken of it.”

At my answer, he raised three fingers.

“Due to the impact of the war 20 years ago, the current number of Evil Faction sects have decreased significantly, but there remain three of significant size.”

I think I knew of them.

Currently, two were making a name for themselves as part of the Evil Faction.

“You mean the Green Forest.”

Green Forest.

The name simply refers to a Green Forest, but they are bandits working in the mountains. They were made up of various bandit groups that operated in the foothills of mountains across the land. Their origin was unknown, but it was said that they have been there since the warring eras of the past.

“They have the most manpower. Tens of thousands of them, but…”

“Half of them don’t know martial arts.”

So in truth, their real power was only half their number. Yet the strength of five thousand people wasn’t something to be ignored.

“The Green Forest King, who rules the forest, is said to have skills on part with Eight Great Warriors.”

I have also heard of this.

Alongside my teacher, he was one of the three strongest warriors in terms of physical strength.

“Bringing him under us would be key to obtaining the power of the Green Forest.”

That would not be easy.

After the passing of over 20 years, the Green Forest had also secured its own power base.

However, they also dislike this current era that revolves around the Justice Faction, so it was worth a try.

Dan Wei-kang then folded one of his fingers and continued speaking.

“Then there are the 18 River Families of the Yangtze.”

“They are outnumbered.”

“That’s right.”

The 18 River families of Yangtze.

It was a large group with a number of active people that used the Yangtze River as their base. As the name implied, it was a set of 18 groups.

There were actually 60 houses in total, with a number that was close to 4,000.

“Ga Young, their leader, is said to be inferior in martial arts compared to the Green Forest King. However, he is feared when he moves along with his sahyungs and sajaes.”

“Joint formations?”

“Their movements together could combine air and water.”

“You know it well?”

“I had a chance to try my skills against them more than a decade ago.”

So he knew them well. I was curious about the result, though.

“Would you perhaps tell me what happened?”

This was something I didn’t know about in my first life. It meant that their clash did not result in an information leak.

In response, Dan Wei-kang took on a strange expression and said,

“We exchanged around 200 techniques, but I couldn’t destroy their joint formation, resulting in a tie.”

“Tie?”

The same number of attacks?

Surprisingly, the Dan Wei-kang, who had yet to cross the wall, could get such a result. It seems that the Murim of the Central Plains is vast and still contains many hidden things.

A fight at that level would have been something that should be widely known, but was it kept silent because it wasn’t a prestigious fight among sects? Or was it because it wasn’t a battle between individuals but rather a collaborative action.

“The outcome will be different now.”

Dan Wei-kang smiled at my words and said,

“We will only know if we compete again. Just as I have been given 10 years of time, they must have also developed even more because they were given the same.”

There was a point in those words. Wouldn’t 10 years bring change to everyone?

He would understand it if they competed now.

“Are you directly going to the 18 River Families of the Yangtze?”

“That’s right. I had a brief friendship with their sahyung. I will take this chance to compete against them and bring the river families under our control.”

From the outside, this man looked nothing more than an old man. To think that he still had the fighting spirit of someone much younger.

“I respect the First Elder’s fighting spirit.”

“That is an exaggeration. Leaving that aside, the subjugation of the Yangtze River will be the most urgent.”

“I understand what you mean.”

The current Murim was in an era of the Justice Faction. It was no exaggeration to say that there was nowhere under their influence.

However, if one looked under the surface, it was clear that the main force of the Justice Faction was concentrated to the north of the river.

The Dian Cang Sect, the Sichuan Tang, the Ami Sect, and even more.

The Wudang Sect, the Zhuge Family, and the Murim Alliance are all concentrated around Hubei. There was also the Anhui fortress city that was guarded by the Namgung family.

In Southern Shaanxi were Mount Hua and the Southern Edge sects. There was also Shaolin, a place that could be considered the origin of Murim.

In addition, there were also the Five Great Families and the Beggars Union in Hubei. Of the Nine Great Sects, most of the main sects were located north of the Yangtze.

-Why so?

‘That’s simple. Before the great war, everything south of the Yangtze was under the Evil Faction.’

But the Justice Faction couldn’t abandon that land. Some small and medium families and clans chose to move south of the river, but their power was still weaker than the north.

“If we can block the Yangtze’s waterways, the enemy’s main force could be stopped.”

Indeed, this was the insight of experience. He was closer to the solutions.

If we could recover the lands south of the river, we could match the Murim Alliance. To do that, the 18 River Families must be tasked with cutting away the path.

-Ah. He was already planning.

Of course.

What do you think we would do when the entire land was left open?

Of course, that didn’t cover my entire thinking. Before my regression, the Blood Sect had fought numerous battles in an attempt to recover the Yangtze River boundaries for over 8 years.

That was why I knew.

-That’s right. No matter how smart you are, too many variables can come out in a short time.

Things changed quickly, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything.

-What is that, then?

If we could recover the Yangtze River quickly, things would turn out differently. Behind the Murim Alliance in Shaanxi in the north, we will prepare an ambush using the Dual Martial Forces.

-Ah! Then you will be able to attack from the back and front!

That’s right.

That was my aim.

That was why the Murim Alliance was still in the dark about the Dual Martial Forces.

-Ehe. You are painting a big picture.

It was literally the only picture I had. There was no guarantee that things would work as planned.

The Murim Alliance would do everything in its power to prevent this from happening. In that respect, the most grandiose way to achieve this was through the 18 Families.

“And the final one?”

In response to my question, Dan Wei-kang folded his last finger and said,

“The Low Down Sect.”

“…. Information.”

“That’s right. While our sect also has its own sources of information, the Low Down Sect has a network comparable to the Beggars Union.”

The Low Down Sect comprised people in the lower reaches of society. Taverns, guest houses, gambling dens, brothels.

Compared to the Green Forest or the 18 River Families, their strength could be considered lesser. Still, their information network could change things for us.

There was no place without them. The Low Down Sect was the shadow of any light.

“The key thing to do would be to bring all three under our fold within a month so that the time the Blood Demon secured for us was not wasted.”

I agreed to that.

This was a short period without a chance of war. As was the case with the Murim Alliance, we, too, need to recover our land quickly.

“The first image of the new world has been drawn.”

I thanked the First Elder.

“I thank you for your thoughts.”

“Anyone can think of this, so how can this be taken that highly?”

Perhaps the great revival of the Blood Sect in my previous life had come from this man. I know the future, so I will keep the trump card of the Dual Martial Forces aside.

“It is a respected opinion because you thought of it.”

The First Elder smiled at my words.

I was about to stand up to see him out, but he paused and then said,

“I may be pushing my luck, but there is one thing I would like to ask.”

“Ask me anything.”

“I want to ask you what your plan is for Lady Baek Hye-hyang, no, for both ladies.”

Ah…

I cannot believe that even he, the First Elder, was asking me about this. Are all things related to the sect important to everyone, after all?

Looking at my troubled face, he smiled.

“Looks like nothing has been decided yet.”

“To be honest, not yet.”

“Then, would it be right if I gave some advice?”

“What advice do you have?”

In response to my question, the First Elder sat back down and said.

“It can be said that while you are now the Blood Demon, most of the sect members are still supporting the two ladies.”

“… I know that.”

“Perhaps you are afraid of that.”

“Afraid?”

What does that mean?

“Since ancient times, when a leader was selected, the sect tends to be pushed to remove all rivals who fought for the role as well as anyone of influence which followed them.”

A mistake…

I thought that because I, a third party, had the Blood Demon, such concerns wouldn’t be as prevalent. Not to mention this was a turbulent time that was key to the revival of the Blood Sect, so we all needed to unite.

“Unfortunately, such is the dynamics of power. Even if only three people are together, one of them would inevitably lead.”

Well, that was right.

I never thought opinions would be so divided simply because I wanted Baek Hye-hyang in my court. She had her own abilities, and her skills were superior to Baek Ryeon-ha. Those who served under Baek Ryeon-ha must think I value Baek Hye-hyang more.

The dynamics of power were ridiculous.

I had to make a careful decision because of the hostile feelings between the two factions.

-I don’t think so.

What was that now?

-Everyone seems to be worried that the fox girl will be your wife.

What?

-If not, why would they ask you to make Baek Ryeon-ha your wife?

Could it be because of that?

If that were the case, my head would only hurt more.

“It is troublesome.”

“Thinking of the future, we need to be sure.”

There was a clear point in that.

“What do you think, First Elder?”

Since he said that he would be giving me advice, he must have something in mind. Considering he had sworn his allegiance, he would give me his opinion if I requested it, right?

“There is no need to think so hard.”

“Please tell me.”

“Embrace both.”

“…I am trying to do that, but I need you to be more specific about what you mean.”

“Just raise both of the ladies to a proper position.”

‘…?!’

…I couldn’t say anything to that now. If I did that, both factions would fall in under me.

The First Elder smiled as if he had given me good advice, not knowing my thoughts.

“If you take both of them under you, both factions will no longer distrust you. Besides, it could make the blood of the heir even thicker, so I think that is the most ideal way.”

“First Elder, it seems like the two people…”

“If it is the position I am referring to, then no one will say anything because the intentions for both ladies will be in the right place. You don’t have to worry.”

Hmm.

I guess this was something I needed to talk about.

But that was why it was impossible.

“First Elder… I think I would have to be hated.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have a woman I promised to spend my future with.”

He frowned at my words and then asked seriously.

“Is it…”

“Yes, Sima Young.”

As soon as I said her name, his face became stiff. Everyone knew who Sima Young’s father was.

I will need to inform the sect during the coronation ceremony by informing everyone of this fact, but I had to tell him now.

“… you are in trouble.”

He was now fully aware of the situation. So he sighed and said.

“If that is the case, it doesn’t matter.”

“Thank you for understanding….”

“I don’t know how Lady Baek Hye-hyang will react, but you can also take Sima Chak’s daughter as your wife and have all three of them as your wives.”

‘….’

Was this man trying to send me to hell?