Chapter 138

Chapter 138: The Wind Relentlessly Shakes the Branches of the Great Tree (1)

Ailaoshan in Yunnan Province was a treacherous mountain.

Its terrain was deep and perilous, making it difficult for human feet to tread, and its peaks were shrouded year-round in mist and clouds, making it hard to discern its true form.

The Celestial Flower Palace was a mysterious sect that had established itself upon the summit of Ailaoshan. Though it seldom involved itself in the affairs of the Murim, it possessed considerable strength, and none treated it lightly.

As one of the Nine Great Sects, the Celestial Flower Palace had maintained a steady exchange with the Jumchang Sect, which also called Yunnan Province home, and was thus recognized as an orthodox sect.

Traditionally, the Celestial Flower Palace had far more female disciples than male. Consequently, the Palace Master had almost always been a woman.

The current Palace Master was Jang Hwa-gyeong.

Despite being over sixty years of age, Jang Hwa-gyeong appeared no older than her early forties, a testament to her profound internal energy.

The Cloud-Built Pavilion, situated at the deepest reaches of the Celestial Flower Palace, was her private residence.

Whether in times of joy or sorrow, Jang Hwa-gyeong would retire to the Cloud-Built Pavilion to gather her thoughts. It was a place of deep familiarity to her.

On this day, she was walking through the garden before the Cloud-Built Pavilion.

The magnificent garden was one she had cultivated throughout her lifetime. It was filled with rare and wondrous flowers and herbs seldom seen even in Yunnan Province, displaying a splendor fit for the heavens.

Jang Hwa-gyeong bent down to examine a tiny orchid growing alone in a crevice among the rocks.

"In a short while, the Celestial Bloom will flower."

This small orchid was a rare specimen known as the Celestial Bloom, a flower said to descend from the heavens. She had obtained it with great difficulty from the remote and treacherous mountains of the Tianshan range.

The Celestial Bloom, which had only ever grown in cold climates, had been extremely difficult to root in Yunnan Province, where the weather was warm year-round.

Jang Hwa-gyeong had tended the flower with the utmost devotion. After years of effort, it had finally borne fruit, and her pride was beyond measure.

The Celestial Bloom was said to be a flower bestowed by the heavens. There was a legend that when it bloomed, it would bring great fortune.

"What fortune will it bring?"

Jang Hwa-gyeong smiled and caressed the Celestial Bloom. The leaves of the flower trembled gently, as though bashful.

She was admiring the leaves for some time when—

Boom!

A sudden, intense wave of energy struck.

It came from the direction of the Celestial Flower Palace's main gate.

"What?"

Jang Hwa-gyeong's expression changed in an instant.

The killing aura was so overwhelming it constricted her heart, and every hair on her body stood on end.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The alarm bell began to sound—a bell that was rung only when an enemy attacked.

"Who dares to invade the Celestial Flower Palace?"

She rushed toward the main gate.

"Palace Master!"

The disciples of the Celestial Flower Palace streamed to her side.

What began as a handful soon swelled to dozens, and ultimately to hundreds.

From their entire beings emanated a truly murderous aura. They arrived at the main gate in an instant.

The moment she beheld the gate, Jang Hwa-gyeong's eyes flew wide.

The martial artists who should have been standing guard lay fallen across the ground. Blood pooled around them, and the massive main gate had been reduced to fragments, its original form unrecognizable.

Where the guards should have stood, men in crimson cloaks now stood instead.

Their numbers were barely a hundred. Yet the presence that radiated from them was powerful enough to take one's breath away.

At their center stood a man whose eyes blazed with a crimson light.

In his hands he held a spear emblazoned with the design of a coiling dragon. From it flowed a truly terrifying killing intent.

Its presence was so overwhelming that merely looking at it felt as though one's heart might be pierced. It was a weapon worthy of being called divine. Its wielder could not be ordinary.

Suppressing her rising fury, Jang Hwa-gyeong spoke.

"Who are you, to dare cause a disturbance in the Celestial Flower Palace?"

"My name is Woon Du-gwang."

"Woon Du-gwang."

"That is correct. You have likely never heard of me. This is my first appearance in the world."

A furrow formed between Jang Hwa-gyeong's brows.

"Do we have some enmity?"

"None whatsoever."

"Then why?"

"A declaration of war requires a suitable sacrifice."

"A declaration of war?"

"That is what the Cult Leader instructed me to do."

"Cult Leader?"

In that instant, Jang Hwa-gyeong's pupils dilated.

Though countless sects existed in the world, there were virtually none that referred to their leader as Cult Leader.

There was only one organization that used the term.

The Demonic Cult.

"You—you are from the Demonic Cult?"

"So you are not entirely without perception."

"Why has the Demonic Cult come?"

"Did I not say? A declaration of war requires a sacrifice."

Woon Du-gwang's lips curled upward. From him seeped a thick killing intent that consumed the surroundings.

"Gah!"

"Mmn!"

The martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace, exposed to the killing intent without defense, shuddered.

"So the Demonic Cult has finally revealed its greed."

"It was you who struck first."

"What do you mean?"

"Had it not been for you, we would have continued living in peace as we always have."

Woon Du-gwang gripped his spear tightly. The veins on the back of his hand, thick as worms, bulged outward.

"Hmph! You resort to cowardly excuses. I do not know why the Demonic Cult has targeted my palace as its sacrifice, but you will learn that the Celestial Flower Palace is no easy prey."

Jang Hwa-gyeong raised her hand. At the gesture, the martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace drew their weapons and leveled them at Woon Du-gwang and his forces.

Woon Du-gwang held his spear and clasped his fist in a salute.

"I am Woon Du-gwang, the Hidden Dragon Hall Master of the Holy Cult. In the name of the Cult Leader, I shall annihilate the Celestial Flower Palace from this world."

"Foolishness! Do not underestimate our strength. All disciples, destroy the demon cultists!"

Jang Hwa-gyeong gave the order with a snort.

"Yaaah!"

"Smite the demon cultists!"

The martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace surged forward with a battle cry. Up to that point, the demon cultists standing behind Woon Du-gwang had remained motionless.

They moved the instant Woon Du-gwang gave his command.

"In the name of the Holy Cult, we destroy the Celestial Flower Palace. Begin the holy war!"

"By your command!"

Shing! Shing!

The men, who had not so much as breathed a sound until now, charged forward, their crimson cloaks billowing behind them.

Swish!

Their hands emerged from beneath their cloaks. In their grasp were Soul-Chasing Claws—secret weapons with three blade-like prongs extending from the base like claws.

They were devastating in close combat, but difficult to master and even harder to employ in actual battle, making them a rare sight in the Murim.

The demon cultists wielded the Soul-Chasing Claws with practiced skill.

Swish-rip!

"Gack!"

"Aargh!"

With each sweep of the Soul-Chasing Claws, martial artists of the Celestial Flower Palace fell, spewing blood. It was the disciples of the palace who died one after another, while the demon cultists sustained virtually no injuries.

They were like a pack of wolves that had thrown themselves into a flock of sheep, demonstrating overwhelming power.

"Impudent!"

Jang Hwa-gyeong bit her lip until it bled.

Before her very eyes, her disciples were dying. At this unbelievable reality, she let out a roar of fury.

"I will not forgive you, you servants of the Demonic Cult!"

Her snow-white hand cleaved through the air.

Demon-Subduing Mysterious Hand—the ultimate technique that only the Palace Master of the Celestial Flower Palace could master.

Swish!

Her hand影 blanketed the air.

The Demon-Subduing Mysterious Hand, at its peak, possessed the power to reduce a house-sized boulder to powder.

In that instant, Woon Du-gwang thrust his spear into the void.

A mass of crimson light raced along the spear's shaft and extended through its tip.

Spear energy had been unleashed.

The Extinguishing Fire Spear, Fifth Form: Blood Flower Rain—Woon Du-gwang's ultimate technique.

Kraaaash!

The two immense forces collided in midair.

Blinding light erupted, and a shockwave blasted outward in all directions.

Some were swept off their feet by the blast and tumbled across the ground. The wall, which had barely maintained its form, collapsed entirely.

Thud!

Moments later, someone crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Nngh!"

The woman groaning and twitching intermittently on the ground was none other than Jang Hwa-gyeong, Palace Master of the Celestial Flower Palace.

Her right arm had been severed from the shoulder and was nowhere to be seen. Her entire body was drenched in blood, making it difficult to discern her original appearance.

"Aah!"

Tears streamed from her eyes.

Her disciples were dying.

The Celestial Flower Palace, with its centuries of history, was falling.

Woon Du-gwang looked down at her and remarked coldly.

"There is no need to feel so aggrieved. Many sects will fall just as the Celestial Flower Palace has."

"You—demons!"

"We lost everything and hid at the edges of the world. That was the last sanctuary we had left. But you pursued us there, and stole even that from us. All that remains to us is our final shred of pride and our venom. Anyone in such a position would have no choice but to become a demon."

"Kugh!"

"Call us demons if you wish. Accuse us of plunging the Murim into a bloodbath if you like. We too have a desperate reason to fight."

It was a battle for survival.

Countless would shed their blood upon this earth.

And even if the Holy Cult was forever branded with the infamy of the Demonic Cult, so be it.

"Leave no one alive. Show all who oppose the Holy Cult that this is what awaits them."

Woon Du-gwang's command descended, and that day the Celestial Flower Palace was annihilated without a single survivor.

***

At the summit of Lotus Peak, shrouded in mist, the high-ranking members of the Mount Hua Sect had gathered in the Upper Palace.

Though many were assembled, not one among them drew a breath louder than a whisper.

The annihilation of the Celestial Flower Palace had sent a shockwave through the world.

Though it had been classified as a mysterious sect due to its tendency to remain aloof from worldly affairs, its military strength surpassed that of most sects in the Central Plains.

Such a sect had been destroyed in a single night. Not a single survivor remained, and not a single pillar had been left standing.

For that reason, sects throughout the world were on high alert. The Mount Hua Sect was no exception.

Decades ago, they had suffered the greatest losses in the war against the Demonic Cult, and so the fear and fury they felt were all the more profound.

After a long silence, Sage Hyeon-cheon spoke.

"At last, the Demonic Cult's invasion has become reality. Today it is the Celestial Flower Palace. Tomorrow, who will be their prey? None can say. It could even be our Mount Hua Sect."

"Mmn!"

The elders could not bring themselves to speak.

Though they said nothing, they felt the gravity of the situation more keenly than anyone.

Sage Hyeon-cheon surveyed the elders and issued his orders.

"Recall all disciples to Mount Hua, excluding those dispatched to the Martial Alliance."

"Understood."

"And inform Sage Hyeon-geom as well. The time has come to end his closed-door training."

"Yes!"

Sage Hyeon-geom was the finest swordsman of Mount Hua. To defend the sect from the Demonic Cult's invasion, his strength was essential.

At that moment, someone spoke cautiously.

"But…"

"What is it?"

"What of Cheong-gyeong?"

The one who spoke was Hyun-gyeong Sage, the master of the Peace Palace, the lowest-ranked of the Mount Hua Sect's halls.

All eyes turned to Hyun-gyeong Sage. The Cheong-gyeong he mentioned was none other than Dam Ho.

Fist Demon Dam Ho.

It was the name that burned hottest in the Murim at present, and at the same time, a burden too heavy to bear.

Moreover, Myeong-gyeong, who had recently ventured into the Murim with great confidence, had returned. He had announced his defeat at the hands of Dam Ho and entered closed-door training.

The shock of the series of events upon the Mount Hua Sect was truly immense. For that reason, whenever two or more gathered, fierce debate ensued.

Some argued that Dam Ho should be recognized as a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, while others contended that they could not afford to shelter a man who had been designated a public enemy of the Murim.

All of their arguments held merit, and the leadership of the Mount Hua Sect could not easily reach a decision.

Too hot to bear, yet sorely missed in his absence.

Such was Dam Ho's position within Mount Hua at present.

The leadership of the Mount Hua Sect debated his fate without regard for his own wishes. But by the time the meeting concluded, no resolution had been reached.

The gaze of Sage Hyeon-cheon, who presided over the meeting, grew deep.

'Un-gyeong must find Sage Hyeon-so.'