Genius Martial Arts Trainer

At Pai Jinsheng’s shout, Jin Sangseop hurriedly yelled.

“You bastards! How dare you fabricate an imperial edict and try to humiliate me!”

While everyone was bewildered by his abrupt outburst, Jin Sangseop shouted again.

“How could His Majesty the Emperor possibly order back-alley thugs like them to arrest me! This is all their fabrication, so seize them at once and beat them severely!!”

The moment his shout ended, the official who had first announced the imperial command unfolded the edict and shouted.

“You bastard! Do you intend to defy the imperial command! How dare you oppose His Majesty’s will even after seeing this seal!”

The edict the man had unfolded clearly bore the Imperial Seal, the symbol of the emperor.

“Nonsense! That is a fake! Arrest them at once!”

“You bastard!!”

While Jin Sangseop and the official shouted at each other in a battle of wills.

“Crush them!”

Pai Jinsheng, who had been waiting for this very moment, suddenly roared and charged straight at Jin Sangseop.

Once the members of the Nine Dragons Room moved first, those inside the Provincial Administration Commission split broadly into two groups.

Those who resisted under Jin Sangseop’s orders. And those who stood frozen, uncertain what to do.

Every one of those who followed Jin Sangseop’s orders held a relatively high position within the Provincial Administration Commission.

In other words, they were either people who had devoured plenty of bribes alongside Jin Sangseop or the guards protecting them.

Whether that imperial edict was real or fake, they were people who would be in trouble if they were captured.

Conversely, they were precisely the people the martial artists of the Nine Dragons Room had been grinding their teeth over.

“We finally have you today!”

“I’ll kill you! No, I’ll let you experience hell on earth while still alive!”

The martial artists of the Nine Dragons Room, their eyes rolling with rage, began crushing everyone who stood in their way.

Pai Jinsheng also beat down every guard blocking his path and soon arrived directly before Jin Sangseop with a smile like an evil spirit.

“Hehehe. Old man. That face I could never stand looking at has been terribly missed today.”

Jin Sangseop, who had always treated martial artists as his inferiors, turned deathly pale.

“G-guards!”

The moment Jin Sangseop tried to issue some kind of order.

THWACK!!

Pai Jinsheng’s spear shaft, thrust out before anyone noticed, smashed cleanly across Jin Sangseop’s cheek.

“Ghk.......”

Looking down at Jin Sangseop, who had collapsed with blood pouring from his mouth, Pai Jinsheng smiled with a deeply satisfied expression.

He could have killed him in a single blow, but it would be troublesome to let him go so easily.

How much suffering had he and the people of Guangxi Province endured because of this damned corrupt official’s greed?

“Search the entire building and find evidence of every bribe they accepted!! And you lot, go to this old man’s home immediately and seize every piece of property you can find!”

“Yes, Room Master!!”

Watching his subordinates move quickly the moment he gave the order, Pai Jinsheng turned his head and slowly swept his gaze over the surroundings.

'Hehehe. Moving under an imperial command makes everything so convenient.'

There were some who resisted, but they were criminals from the start.

Those who had worked with reasonable diligence were mostly watching the situation and refraining from resistance.

Had the Nine Dragons Room attacked the Provincial Administration Commission on its own, the situation would probably have unfolded very differently.

***

Just as the Nine Dragons Room had attacked the Provincial Administration Commission of Guangxi Province, government officials accompanied by martial artists were simultaneously raiding corrupt officials throughout the land and arresting those who had accepted bribes or embezzled taxes.

However, they were not arresting only ‘such people.’

In truth, arresting corrupt officials was merely a way to secure justification and, more importantly, draw the Southern Heavenly Society into the operation.

The actual objective was to defeat the followers of the previous emperor, Emperor Taiping, individually before they could gather and launch uprisings.

Using bribery and tax embezzlement as justification, they intended to frame those who had followed the previous emperor for the crime of deceiving the ruler and defying their superiors.

Since the operation was being carried out swiftly throughout the Central Plains, not only the Zhengmu League and Southern Heavenly Society but also experts from the Demon Cult who had secretly entered the Central Plains were participating.

Surprisingly, the one who had laid the foundation for this plan was not Zhuge Muhuan, but Mujin.

And the greatest reason Mujin had been able to devise such a plan was Shincheon and the Divine Lord.

Several years ago, Shincheon had sought to overthrow the imperial family and establish a new empire.

For Mujin, who had suffered all manner of hardships because of them, they were enemies he could never forget even if he tried.

Furthermore, the Divine Lord, the leader of Shincheon and the man who dreamed of becoming emperor, had been an expert of astonishing ability. Even the current Mujin could not guarantee victory if he fought him alone.

Conversely, that meant the Divine Lord, like Mujin, possessed enough strength to devastate the imperial city and kill the emperor single-handedly.

Despite that, the Divine Lord and Shincheon had not launched a rebellion. Instead, they operated secretly in the underworld and gradually expanded their influence.

The reason was simple.

There was the possibility that the imperial family and the martial world might join forces, as well as the danger that a particular martial faction might exploit the conflict for its own gain.

But fundamentally, even if the Divine Lord proclaimed himself emperor, he still needed officials who would govern the vast Central Plains according to his will.

In other words, he had tried to absorb the martial world so that he could use its members as pieces to govern the empire after seizing the imperial family.

The problem was that martial artists were fools divided among the righteous, evil, and demonic factions, and even within those same factions, they constantly formed and dissolved alliances while remaining busy fighting one another.

Shincheon had exploited that weakness by sowing discord, provoking them into fighting one another, and absorbing those who seemed useful in the process. Mujin, however, chose a somewhat different method.

A method called a ‘temporary alliance.’

This was possible because of the decisive difference between the Divine Lord and Mujin.

It had nothing to do with their character or popularity.

The difference came from the fact that Mujin had no intention of becoming emperor, while the Divine Lord wanted to become emperor.

From the Divine Lord’s perspective, as someone who intended to monopolize power entirely, he needed subjects who swore loyalty. An ‘alliance’ was out of the question.

Mujin, on the other hand, had no interest in the emperor’s seat and boldly chose an alliance.

The Zhengmu League and the righteous factions would deal with the armies of the north and center, and immediately after Mujin and Mukyeong eliminated Emperor Taiping and the imperial family.

The Southern Heavenly Society and Demon Cult would use the emperor’s edicts to wipe out the corrupt officials and pro-Taiping forces in a single sweep.

This was the plan Mujin had proposed during the previous meeting of the righteous, evil, and demonic leaders.

He had promised the Southern Heavenly Society that they would be allowed to sweep away the damned corrupt officials of the south without being branded as rebels.

And the Demon Cult had also accepted the alliance under Mujin’s condition that Yunnan Province would be ceded to them.

***

While corrupt officials were being raided throughout the Central Plains.

Dao Yuechen and the martial artists of the Southern Heavenly Society were also attacking somewhere.

A place called the Central Army Governor’s Office.

It was one of the five Governor’s Offices established to govern the vast territory of the Central Plains and oversee the empire’s million-man army. Commonly known together as the Five Army Governor’s Offices, this particular institution was established in the central region and commanded all armies there.

Even in peacetime, more than ten thousand soldiers were assigned to it, and during wartime, it could gather troops scattered throughout the central provinces and command forces numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Furthermore, the Governor who headed the Central Army Governor’s Office was an old man loyal not to the emperor, but specifically to Emperor Taiping.

In the first place, the old man had risen in a single leap from Provincial Military Commander, a senior second-grade position, to Governor, a senior first-grade position, precisely because he had sided with Emperor Taiping.

And inside the Central Army Governor’s Office, a situation similar to those occurring throughout the Central Plains was unfolding.

“Arrest the criminal who dared insult His Majesty the Emperor!”

Government officials carrying the emperor’s edict and martial artists of the Southern Heavenly Society began sweeping through the Central Army Governor’s Office.

“There {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} is no possibility the emperor gave such an order! Kill every one of them!!”

Those directly connected to the Governor actively resisted, but many others hesitated, unable to act one way or the other because of the emperor’s edict.

Meanwhile, some of the troops under the Central Army had departed to attack Shaolin and the Tianliu Merchant Association, leaving fewer forces than usual inside the Central Army Governor’s Office.

Moreover, because the attackers had entered together with government officials, the defenders had been unable to bombard them from a distance with cannons and similar weapons. A chaotic close-quarters battle broke out, creating a situation in which the martial artists could run rampant.

Among those martial artists, the one accomplishing the most conspicuous feats was unquestionably Dao Yuechen.

SLASH!

At first, he had not looked particularly noticeable.

Dressed in dark black clothing, he merely advanced quietly across the battlefield engulfed in confusion.

However.

SLASH!

At some point, everyone present could no longer keep their eyes away from Dao Yuechen.

Before they knew it, Dao Yuechen was advancing alone at the very forefront of all the martial artists.

To kill Dao Yuechen, who had moved ahead by himself, generals belonging to the Central Army Governor’s Office stepped forward and swung spears, sabers, and other weapons at him.

Step.

Dao Yuechen simply continued walking as though he could not see them.

SLASH.

And only after Dao Yuechen had passed them did the belated sound of cutting ring out. The heads of the generals and soldiers who had swung their weapons at him were severed and fell to the ground.

Once that sight repeated several times, those consumed by fear no longer dared approach Dao Yuechen carelessly.

“Th-this is impossible.......”

“T-the Grim Reaper. He must be the Grim Reaper!”

Faced with a phenomenon far beyond their ability to comprehend, those present let their imaginations run absurdly wild.

Whether people called him the Grim Reaper or not, Dao Yuechen continued advancing.

SLASH!

He repeatedly performed a swift saber art too fast for the eye to follow, cutting down anyone who approached with a single stroke.

After repeating that process several more times, he soon came close enough to face his target directly.

“Kill that bastard!!”

At the Governor’s order, the men serving as his guards charged at Dao Yuechen all at once.

As men entrusted with guarding a Governor, five of them had reached realms that even martial artists would readily call those of ‘experts.’

However.

SLASH!

Those guards were no different from the generals and soldiers who had attacked before them.

At some point, they suddenly slumped to the floor like puppets whose strings had been cut. Blood poured from their already severed necks as their heads separated from their bodies.

Staring at the Grim Reaper who had finally reached directly before him, the Governor asked with an expression filled with regret.

“Did His Majesty truly abandon me?”

He thought.

Perhaps the order to attack the martial artists had been a trap meant to eliminate the foremost contributors who had placed Emperor Taiping upon the throne.

Humans had always desired to monopolize power.

Long ago, just as Emperor Gaozu of Han had discarded founding contributors such as Han Xin once they were no longer useful, perhaps Emperor Taiping had also abandoned him.

After sending the generals and soldiers of the Governor’s Office away under the pretext of attacking the martial artists, perhaps the emperor had sent the Grim Reaper to kill him.

Because the operation had been carried out with such speed, he had not yet learned of Emperor Taiping’s death, leading him to such thoughts.

And Dao Yuechen, who had been given the absurd mission of entering the Central Army Governor’s Office and killing its Governor, had no particular intention of telling him the truth.

“Ask the King of the Underworld.”

After answering the Governor’s question, Dao Yuechen turned his back as though his business there was finished.

Thud.

A moment later.

The Governor’s headless body collapsed and began forming a pool of blood.

For the end of a close confidant who had helped create the emperor of a vast empire, it was absurdly hollow.

Step. Step.

He had killed a senior first-grade official of the empire who possessed command authority over hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and was now walking away.

Amusingly, not a single person tried to stop Dao Yuechen.

They merely watched his retreating back with expressions filled with fear and awe.

From that day onward, rumors of the Black-Clad Grim Reaper began spreading throughout the Central Plains.