Chapter 348: The Number One of the Unorthodox Faction (1)
The longer of the two spears belonging to the Black Lotus Sect Lord was cut clean off.
The severed spearhead spun high into the air before soon dropping and embedding itself deep into the ground.
The Black Lotus Sect Lord stared blankly, like someone possessed by a ghost, alternating his gaze between his broken spear and the sword pressed against the back of his neck.
I understood. Of course he would find it strange.
Just a moment ago, he had been completely cornering me.
But at some point, all of his attacks began to be blocked, and by the time he came to his senses, it was already too late.
Every possible path he could extend had been cut off, and that was how things ended up like this.
I grinned at the still-dazed Black Lotus Sect Lord.
“I’ve learned a move from you.”
“Learned, my foot. It ended before I even understood what happened.”
Letting out a long sigh, the Black Lotus Sect Lord lowered the shoulder that had become somewhat awkward after the spear tip broke.
Then he looked at the audience, who were frozen and unsure what to do, and suddenly shouted.
“What are you all standing around for! The duel is over! At least applaud the winner!”
Perhaps he was the type to uphold his own words first.
In the suffocating silence, the Black Lotus Sect Lord began clapping by himself.
Following him, the surrounding spectators started clapping one by one, and soon thunderous cheers joined in.
“Waaah!”
“Even if I want to cheer, I’ve no idea what just happened.”
“I don’t know either. Fights between masters are always like that. For now, we should at least applaud.”
“No, but our Lord lost, so why is everyone happy?”
“Well, the owner of that Lord’s seat might change, you know.”
“…”
With my senses sharpened from the duel, I could hear their conversations.
Similar discussions were happening all over the place.
Well, that was only natural.
These were warriors of the Unorthodox faction, whose bodies were practically engraved with the principle that the victor takes everything.
Of course they would assume that I would take the Black Lotus Sect Lord’s position.
Their vision must be as narrow as a buttonhole if they thought that someone like me—who had only been wandering around having duels for fun—was an ambitious man aiming to unify the Murim.
So, since everyone’s attention was already gathered here, I decided to drive the final nail into the matter.
I withdrew the sword that had been pressed against the Black Lotus Sect Lord’s neck and respectfully cupped my fists.
Not with the arrogance of a victor, but like a polite and upright young warrior of the Orthodox faction—someone who had absolutely no interest in a position like the Black Lotus Sect Lord.
But the Black Lotus Sect Lord was one step faster.
Just as I was about to say something like I merely got lucky or as expected of the Black Lotus Sect Lord—
he shamelessly used even his internal energy to amplify his voice and burst into booming laughter.
“Huahahaha! I’ve been defeated quite refreshingly! Until halfway through, I thought I had the advantage… so you were deceiving me from the very beginning! When I was younger, I wouldn’t have been tricked so easily. I suppose this is what they mean when they say the waves behind push away the waves ahead.”
“Black Lotus Sect Lord. What are you doing?”
“It’s already been over twenty years—almost thirty—since I founded the Black Lotus Sect. It’s about time I retired. I don’t know who will succeed me, but if it’s someone like you, White Moon Sword Lord, that would be excellent!”
“That’s not what we agreed on.”
I whispered through clenched teeth, but the Black Lotus Sect Lord didn’t care in the slightest and raised his voice even louder.
“Ah, right! You’re from the Tang Clan. In that case, inheriting the Black Lotus Sect would be impossible in many ways.”
“Ah. So this was the setup. I almost ended up with Black Lotus Sect Lord shamelessly losing and then brazenly—”
“But! Even if you cannot become the Black Lotus Sect Lord! There is one fact that everyone here knows—and even I cannot deny!”
“…?”
Sensing danger, I hurriedly tried to cover the Black Lotus Sect Lord’s mouth.
But he naturally applied strength and pushed my hand away from his lips.
Although I had won the duel, I was the one who was more exhausted in the end, so I lacked the strength and was pushed back.
I should have held on somehow.
“From now on, I cannot go around calling myself the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction! What right does a loser have to say such things! Huahaha!”
Even though he called himself the loser, his laughter sounded completely refreshed.
The cheers that had briefly quieted down grew loud again.
“Indeed! Lord is right! He defeated three Flowering Stage warriors, killed one of them, and in the end even won a duel against Lord himself!”
“Hm. I can see he’s impressive, but isn’t the White Moon Sword Lord a member of the Orthodox faction? Yet you’re handing him the title of Number One of the Unorthodox Faction.”
“If you don’t like it, go reclaim the title yourself. I’ll cheer for you from behind.”
“Waaah! The birth of the new Number One of the Unorthodox Faction!”
Hearing the clearly forced praise coming from somewhere far away, I tightly shut my eyes.
***
“What exactly are you planning?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Just what did you do to display such a bizarre sword?”
After the duel, the moment we went up to the Black Lotus Sect Lord’s office, I immediately questioned him.
Of course, the Black Lotus Sect Lord calmly sat down and changed the subject.
“If I recall correctly, you agreed to follow the victor’s words.”
“What of it? I merely respected your intentions and tried to make them happen.”
As I sat across from the shrugging Black Lotus Sect Lord, Sama Yuryeon brought out tea and snacks she had prepared beforehand, as if she had been waiting.
Tang Sowol helped as well, cutting one of the snacks into a bite-sized piece and bringing it to my mouth.
“Come now. Brother Cheon, don’t be so upset and calm down with something delicious first. I’m sure the Black Lotus Sect Lord had his reasons.”
“Hah! Do you think something like this will make me feel better?”
Munch munch.
“But since you say so, Tang Sowol, I suppose listening to the explanation wouldn’t hurt.”
As the sweetness entered my exhausted body, energy began to return.
As expected, anything eaten when you’re hungry and tired tastes the best.
For some reason, Tang Sowol was smiling brightly while breaking another snack, and Sama Yuryeon wore an expression somewhere between disbelief and admiration.
But the Black Lotus Sect Lord alone continued speaking with a serious expression.
“You may think differently, but you are already no different from a rising star of the Unorthodox faction.”
“That’s rather unfair.”
“You’re more like someone of the Unorthodox faction than you think. Ah, that was a compliment.”
“Just adding the word ‘compliment’ doesn’t make everything acceptable.”
“Ahem. Anyway, in such a situation, you even defeated me in a duel. Though it was somewhat intentional on my part, even if I hadn’t stepped forward, everyone would have thought you would become the next Black Lotus Sect Lord. Now, what do you think would happen if you suddenly said you had no intention of becoming the Black Lotus Sect Lord?”
“Wouldn’t they accept it? Anyone who doesn’t can simply become my next duel opponent.”
“That aspect of you is truly Unorthodox-like… but well, you’re not wrong. At least in front of you, they would act that way. But in their hearts, they’d think this.”
At that point, the Black Lotus Sect Lord pointed at the floor—more precisely, the land of Zhejiang Province.
“Hm? He’s not trying to become the Black Lotus Sect Lord, nor is he aiming to unify Murim, yet he came to Zhejiang Province, defeated the absolute masters of the Black Lotus Sect—even the Black Lotus Sect Lord—and then left? Is this some kind of declaration of war from the Orthodox faction?”
“Ah.”
He was right.
Perhaps because of my memories from before my regression, the Black Lotus Sect felt almost like home to me, so I had only realized it now—but originally, I was nothing more than an outsider.
From the perspective of the Orthodox faction, it would be like a promising Unorthodox warrior suddenly barging in, making a tour of the Namgung Clan, the Hebei Peng Clan, and the Wudang Sect, knocking down their clan heads and sect leaders—
And finally even defeating the Murim Alliance Leader.
In other words, it was exactly the kind of action that could easily make someone the public enemy of Murim if things went wrong.
Of course, since the Unorthodox faction clearly follows the rule of the strong dominating the weak, I wouldn’t actually become a public enemy of Murim—but they would certainly harbor some resentment.
However, during this entire incident, not a single Unorthodox warrior had shown resentment toward me.
They only displayed fear or awe.
The reason was simple.
My actions were far too Unorthodox-like.
And every step of this martial journey had happened under agreement with the Black Lotus Sect Lord.
Naturally, they assumed I was a high-ranking figure of the Black Lotus Sect—or at least someone deeply connected to the Black Lotus Sect Lord.
Someone who would eventually hold an important position.
So they didn’t harbor strong resentment.
After all, we would eventually be eating from the same pot.
In the Unorthodox faction, the stronger the person above you is, the better.
“However, you probably wouldn’t care even if someone in the Black Lotus Sect were dissatisfied. You have the strength to not worry about such things. But didn’t you say you were preparing for a war, not a life-or-death duel?”
“…Yes.”
“War is not fought alone. Since you know that well, you’re trying to create the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance, aren’t you? In that case, there’s no need to create internal enemies and weaken unity.”
He was right.
Before my regression—during the early days of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance—the Orthodox faction had not yet fully put down their pride and still looked down on Unorthodox warriors as mere ruffians.
Meanwhile, the Unorthodox warriors snarled that the Orthodox warriors who despised them were half-destroyed sects that still ran their mouths.
Naturally, the alliance was unstable in the beginning and many problems arose.
There were even several battles we lost that we should have won.
Until the remaining absolute masters of both factions joined forces to attack the Heavenly Demon—only to be wiped out instead.
If I had drawn a clear line with the Black Lotus Sect without any preparation, it would surely have come back to haunt me later.
Seeing me lost in thought, the Black Lotus Sect Lord chuckled and continued.
“What you need right now is not belonging to either the Orthodox faction or the Unorthodox faction.”
“You need to make both sides believe that you are on their side.”
“…I hadn’t thought that far.”
Although the Black Lotus Sect Lord said he couldn’t pass the position of the next Sect Lord to me due to various circumstances—
instead, he handed me one of his own symbols.
The title of Number One of the Unorthodox Faction.
So that the Unorthodox warriors would see me as one of their own.
Instead of fearing the strength of someone barely past youth defeating the Black Lotus Sect Lord, they would feel pride and a sense of belonging.
“If you become the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction, the situation afterward will look much better. Even if I am the master of the Black Lotus Sect, if I say that ignoring the words of the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction is difficult, wouldn’t everyone agree? It’s the path for you to naturally grasp the power without responsibility that you requested.”
“Calling it power without responsibility makes me sound like trash, but… it certainly seems like a good method.”
The Black Lotus Sect Lord nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Seeking power without responsibility is indeed fitting for the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction. That was a joke. A joke, so don’t look at me with such crooked eyes.”
Under my gaze, the Black Lotus Sect Lord chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.
Exactly where my sword had been pointed earlier.
“Ahem. Anyway, that’s why I said those unplanned words in front of everyone. Do you now understand that it was all to properly fulfill our promise?”
“Yes. It’s a perspective I never deeply considered before. It helped a lot.”
Both before my regression and now, I was little more than a mere martial artist when it came to matters of leading groups.
“I’m glad it helped. Then will you answer my question now?”
“What question?”
“As I said earlier. Just what kind of trick did your sword use to break my spear… no, to break my martial art itself?”
The Black Lotus Sect Lord spoke in a serious tone.
His gaze carried nothing but sincerity.
It seemed he was quite frustrated that he couldn’t understand why he lost.
I suppose telling him this much would be fine.
After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I slowly spoke.
“First, I observed how you wield your spear.”
“You haven’t fought me many times.”
“No. I mean during this duel. I observed how you respond to attacks stronger than yourself, and how you dig in when your opponent weakens and reveals an opening.”
“Ho? So you weren’t simply targeting a moment of carelessness?”
“You’re not the type of person who becomes careless.”
“That’s true.”
The Black Lotus Sect Lord nodded confidently.
Yes. I knew well that once he drew his spear, he was someone who never held back.
“After watching and experiencing your martial arts, I roughly understood what you pursue and what logic you follow when chaining your moves.”
“That already sounds impossible, but let’s assume it’s possible. Continue.”
What I had essentially done was steal the foundation of his martial arts.
If I didn’t have the Heavenly Insight Eye, if my perception of qi were less sensitive, or if my talent were even slightly lacking, it would have been impossible.
Yet the Black Lotus Sect Lord simply accepted it as something that could happen.
Feeling the oddly heavy trust in that reaction, I gave a wry smile and continued.
“Lastly, I completely trusted you, Black Lotus Sect Lord. I trusted that you take pride in your martial arts and that you’re someone who never makes mistakes.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“Yes. I simply drew the same trajectory one step ahead of you. In the end, it merely looked like your martial art had been broken and your willpower technique had been evaded.”
The Black Lotus Sect Lord stared at me with a serious expression devoid of laughter.
Then he slowly spoke.
“So… you took my martial art exactly as it was and swung it with your sword.”
“I can’t perform it alone. I can only imitate it when there’s a demonstration right in front of me, so don’t worry too much.”
“No. I’m not going to accuse you of stealing martial arts. If your own ability is good enough to learn by watching, who can complain about that? But…”
After pondering for a long while again, the Black Lotus Sect Lord carefully spoke.
“My spear is based on willpower. To strike before it, you must inevitably understand my heartscape and accept part of it. Do you know what people in the world call that?”
“I don’t.”
“Master and disciple.”
“...”
“…Have you perhaps considered learning the spear instead of the sword—”
“Why would I learn martial arts from someone weaker than me?”
“…”
“I don’t listen to the words of those weaker than me.”
“Y-you crazy bastard…!?”
“In that case, how about the Black Lotus Sect Lord learning the sword from me?”
The Black Lotus Sect Lord glared at me with an expression like he was dying from injustice.
“…And you still say you don’t like being called the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction?”
“Yes, well.”
I held back the words that if he was dissatisfied, he should have won the duel.