Chapter 460

Chapter 460 – Everyone Has a Reason They Cannot Retreat (1)

"Are you alright?"

"I'm alright."

Despite Geom Yul-cheon's calm answer, Eum Yu-kyung couldn't easily relax her expression. Because Geom Yul-cheon's wounds were not light.

No color existed in his face, and on white cloth wound tightly around his chest, bright red blood was vivid. Hidden by white cloth but invisible, Geom Yul-cheon had a long diagonal slash from his right shoulder to left abdomen. A deep wound where had it been slightly deeper, all his organs would have spilled out.

That he could still be alive despite such wounds was thanks to his extremely trained body, but above all, Heavenly Demon Divine Art's influence was great.

The Divine Art left by the first generation founder, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, was an unprecedented supreme skill. It protected Geom Yul-cheon's heart meridian in near-death state while growing its own power eventually reviving him.

Geom Yul-cheon had dramatically revived from death's boundary like that. But his body's condition wasn't yet perfect. Though Heavenly Demon Divine Art was rapidly healing his wounds, much time was still needed for perfection.

Geom Yul-cheon raised his hand touching his chest wound. The wound with vivid bloodstains hadn't perfectly healed yet. Touching it hurt and made him recall that day's memories.

Geom Yul-cheon bit his lips firmly.

Blood Elder was strong.

Not simply strong in martial arts alone. He possessed something beyond martial arts. That something pressured Geom Yul-cheon, preventing him from displaying his full capability. The result was Geom Yul-cheon's current state.

If Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Mu-wol hadn't intervened in time to save him, Geom Yul-cheon would have long ceased to be a person of this world.

After learning Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Geom Yul-cheon had thought he'd have no rival. Such pride crumbled like a sand castle after clashing with Blood Elder, but he never despaired.

Living in the world, one could lose and collapse anytime. What mattered was rising again without despair. Fortunately Geom Yul-cheon possessed mental strength stronger than others and courage that wouldn't yield.

His alias wasn't Unyielding for nothing.

He rose again and reviewing that day's clash, sharpened his mind's edge anew.

Geom Yul-cheon's gaze went toward Eum Yu-kyung.

"He?"

"Disappeared."

Eum Yu-kyung answered shaking her head.

After clashing with Geom Yul-cheon, Blood Elder completely disappeared from the world. Without any trace.

Myeong-cheon was tracking Blood Elder's traces, but had yet found no clues whatsoever.

"Myeong-cheon is doing his best, so wait a little."

At Eum Yu-kyung's words, Geom Yul-cheon quietly nodded. But he thought Myeong-cheon wouldn't find Blood Elder. If he could be found that easily, they'd have found him already.

Blood Elder had lived thoroughly hiding his true form for decades. Most people in the world didn't even know of his existence. Even Geom Yul-cheon who'd persistently tracked him had only faced him for the first time in years. He didn't think at all that such a person would now easily have his tail caught by Myeong-cheon.

Eum Yu-kyung quietly watched Geom Yul-cheon's face.

Nowhere on Geom Yul-cheon's face existed a loser's bitterness. Seeing firm eyes that seemed they'd never waver even if heaven collapsed, her heart eased somewhat.

Eum Yu-kyung felt curiosity she'd barely suppressed these past days raising its head. She could no longer endure.

She asked without realizing.

"Who is Blood Elder? Is he truly the Heavenly Evil Cult Leader?"

Geom Yul-cheon turned his head looking at Eum Yu-kyung.

Eum Yu-kyung's eyes craved truth.

She wanted to know the identity of the fruit hanging at the end of truth she'd tracked for long.

She was certain that if Geom Yul-cheon who'd clashed directly with Blood Elder knew. And Geom Yul-cheon had a duty to answer her question. Because she had the right to know the truth.

Geom Yul-cheon answered.

"He is Ho Cheon-san."

"Ho Cheon-san? Bloodlight Death God."

"That's right. The sword technique I received was definitely Bloodlight Death God Ho Cheon-san's supreme killing technique, Sword Falls Heaven Perishes."

"How can that be…"

Eum Yu-kyung's pupils shook.

***

"He must be Lee Gwan. No, definitely Iron Blood Martial God Lee Gwan."

Dam Ho wasn't surprised by Gi San-wol's bombshell words. Because he'd thought it might be so.

Dam Ho had clashed directly with the stranger fighting him.

Masters who'd reached the same level could gauge the opponent's caliber by exchanging just one move.

A master who could give Dam Ho chills, moreover an absolute master of the previous generation whose identity was unknown. Given various circumstances, he'd thought it might be one of the Four Divine Emperors.

Yong Hwa-seol was a woman, and Pung Wol-je had died long ago.

Then only two choices remained.

Bloodlight Death God Ho Cheon-san and Iron Blood Martial God Lee Gwan.

Though unexpected that the opponent was Lee Gwan not Ho Cheon-san, still he was one of the Four Divine Emperors.

The problem was why Lee Gwan had lost his reason becoming a monstrous stranger.

Dam Ho had thought until now the Four Divine Emperors' traitor was Iron Blood Martial God Lee Gwan. Because given circumstances, thinking Lee Gwan betrayed everyone creating the Heavenly Evil Cult was reasonable. But if the stranger was truly Lee Gwan, the traitor became Ho Cheon-san.

"Ho Cheon-san's real name is Ho Cheon-myeong. I heard it said like that. Probably Ho Cheon-san was a false name he used when active publicly. So I didn't think he was one of the Four Divine Emperors. I was very young then."

Gi San-wol had seen the two when much younger than now. At that time Lee Gwan presided over everything. Therefore everyone's attention focused on Lee Gwan.

At that time Ho Cheon-san, or rather Ho Cheon-myeong, was outside everyone's attention. He merely occasionally stopped by the Heavenly Evil Cult meeting Lee Gwan, rarely showing his face. Therefore almost no one knew he was one of the Four Divine Emperors.

At least as far as Gi San-wol knew. Gi San-wol too only after spending long years in Avici Hell thought the mysterious martial artist he'd occasionally seen might be one of the Four Divine Emperors, Ho Cheon-san.

Having heard all of Gi San-wol's story, Dam Ho's eyes sank even deeper.

This confirmed the Heavenly Evil Cult Leader was Ho Cheon-san, or rather Ho Cheon-myeong. But why Lee Gwan who'd been Cult Leader before lost his reason becoming mad, and why Ho Cheon-myeong became Cult Leader instead, many facts remained unrevealed.

Above all, he still didn't know what Ho Cheon-myeong's true purpose was. What benefit he could gain by making the Martial Alliance and Demon Cult collide remained unknown.

Gi San-wol said.

"What I know truly goes only this far. Because until clashing with my lord, I was doubtful whether he was truly Iron Blood Martial God Lee Gwan."

"Why did Lee Gwan become that way?"

"Probably some sorcery consumed his reason."

"What sorcery?"

"I'm sorry. My meager knowledge cannot know that far."

Gi San-wol spoke truth.

Though called a soul sorcerer, his period at the Heavenly Evil Cult wasn't very long. Therefore the sorcery he'd learned also wasn't much.

The Heavenly Evil Cult's sorcery was uniformly either extremely wicked or beyond common sense. That among sorcery Gi San-wol hadn't learned existed one that seized people's reason making puppets wouldn't be surprising at all.

Dam Ho closed his eyes.

"I… still… must not awaken."

Those were the last words Lee Gwan said looking at him. Though broken into fragments with unclear pronunciation, Lee Gwan had said that.

"Must not awaken?"

"Pardon? What does that?"

Gi San-wol beside asked but Dam Ho didn't answer. Noticing Dam Ho was talking to himself, Gi San-wol didn't ask more. Because he felt Dam Ho also needed time to organize his thoughts.

"Hyu!"

Gi San-wol sighed.

Though Dam Ho's thoughts must be complex, the person most shocked was precisely Gi San-wol himself.

He'd thought until now Lee Gwan was the culprit who'd put him in Avici Hell. So he'd burned vengeance toward Lee Gwan. But seeing Lee Gwan's reason-lost state, it seemed the target of vengeance was wrong.

"Ho Cheon-myeong, what on earth are you thinking? Could it be Avici Hell? No, it can't be."

Gi San-wol shook his head denying the thought suddenly arising in his mind. But once arising in his mind, the thought didn't disappear, continuously taking root in his heart.

***

Cho Yeon-woon stood at Taesil Peak summit looking down at Songshan.

He could see Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance at mid-slope of Sosil Peak across. Though unable to see their full form hidden by forest, the atmosphere transmitted vividly.

Right now Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance's situation could be expressed in one word: chaos.

Like it or not, Alliance Leader Nam Cheon-san was the Martial Alliance's central axis. His absence immediately brought command system confusion and dropped overall morale to rock bottom.

Currently Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance's atmosphere was truly the worst. Though somehow repelling the Demon Cult's attack, they couldn't guarantee repelling it again if they attacked with full force once more.

"Like this they'll definitely face annihilation."

The martial artists gathered at Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance already numbered over thousands. They could all be called the current martial world's elite. If they were annihilated, probably the martial world's spirit couldn't recover for at least hundreds of years.

The Demon Cult would dominate the world, and under their rule, recovering the martial world's former spirit would be nearly impossible.

Cho Yeon-woon bit his lips hard.

He'd agonized countless times these past days and stayed up all night sleepless. The conclusion reached was that defending here alone had no possibility.

The Demon Cult had already concentrated most forces at Songshan. They'd built a thorough encirclement and even now were steadily proceeding with preparations for Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance's fall. Repelling such Demon Cult with only divided Shaolin Temple and Martial Alliance forces was impossible.

"Staying like this, everyone will only die like dogs."

That was the conclusion Cho Yeon-woon reached agonizing these past days.

Kkuuk!

Cho Yeon-woon clenched his fist hard.

He descended Taesil Peak heading for Shaolin Temple at Sosil Peak. Precisely, it was Shaolin Temple Abbot Gwang-cheon's quarters.

Just then all of Shaolin Temple's leadership had gathered at Gwang-cheon's quarters. They too had fire at their feet. Their judgment was they could no longer lean on the Martial Alliance after Nam Cheon-san's death. Therefore they were concentrating on preparing countermeasures separate from the Martial Alliance.

"May I enter briefly?"

"Please come in. Who could dare stop Azure Dragon Divine Hero's steps? Haha!"

Gwang-cheon gladly welcomed Cho Yeon-woon. His tone addressing Cho Yeon-woon had already changed.

Cho Yeon-woon was no longer the martial world's rising talent.

The alias Azure Dragon Divine Hero carried weight even Gwang-cheon couldn't easily treat.

"So, what brings Azure Dragon Divine Hero here?"

"There's something I must tell you, so I came despite the rudeness."

"Just hearing what you'll say makes me afraid. Go ahead and speak."

Shaolin Temple leadership's attention focused on Cho Yeon-woon.

They were all life seniors who'd lived far longer than Cho Yeon-woon, and their positions in the martial world were also tremendous.

The previous Cho Yeon-woon might have been intimidated by their gazes. But to the current Cho Yeon-woon, their gazes weren't frightening at all.

What was truly frightening wasn't their gazes but the martial artists gathered at Mount Song facing annihilation.

After briefly catching his breath looking at the leadership, Cho Yeon-woon finally opened his mouth.

"I dare suggest retreat to the Abbot. I know how presumptuous and absurd my words will feel. But nevertheless I want to say it. Staying at Mount Song like this, not only the Martial Alliance but even Shaolin Temple will face annihilation by the Demon Cult."

"…"

Perhaps too shocking words, silence filled the hall. But only briefly, soon Shaolin Temple leadership began denouncing Cho Yeon-woon all at once.

"You call that speaking?"

"Amitabha! Gaining a little fame, you say anything."

"Telling us to abandon our base and retreat, are you saying that sanely?"

Countless condemnations poured but Cho Yeon-woon didn't blink once. Because he'd already resolved to accept any condemnation.

Gwang-cheon looked at such Cho Yeon-woon with deep eyes.

"Does Hero Cho now think we'll be annihilated?"

"That's right. No, it will definitely be so."

"Amitabha!"

Gwang-cheon firmly closed his eyes.

Currently Cho Yeon-woon's position in the Martial Alliance wasn't at all low. Having repelled the Demon Cult's invasion even gaining the alias Azure Dragon Divine Hero, they couldn't just ignore him.

Gwang-cheon's mind was complex.

If he were simply one martial artist of the martial world, he'd definitely have agreed with Cho Yeon-woon's opinion. Because objectively, Cho Yeon-woon's opinion was clearly right. But he wasn't merely one martial artist of the martial world.

He was the abbot of the thousand-year Great Shaolin Temple.

"Impossible!"

Cho Yeon-woon's pupils shook.

An already expected answer. But his heart aching couldn't be helped.

Gwang-cheon said looking at Cho Yeon-woon.

"I fully understand from what heart Hero Cho proposed such opinion. That this battle is that absolutely disadvantageous. In my heart I want to follow Hero Cho's intent. But for a thousand years Shaolin Temple has never once abandoned its base and left fearing foreign enemies. Not even once."

"But…"

"Those words mean precisely we've overcome any adversity. For a whole thousand years. In my generation I cannot break that tradition. The legend of thousand-year Shaolin undefeated must continue."

"…"

"We will definitely make it so. Never underestimate thousand-year Shaolin's capability. Shaolin possesses capability you don't know."

Cho Yeon-woon closed his eyes.

Though Gwang-cheon said more after that, it didn't reach Cho Yeon-woon's ears.