Invitation to the Chatroom of the Gods - Chapter 59



Only Krnovel

Episode 59 – Yongbongjihoe (2)

The match against Cheongwoon was not as easy as expected.

Maemulyeong was somewhat embarrassed.

To be honest, I thought the winner would be decided in a couple of rounds.

The victory is, of course, Maemulyeong himself.

But even if it is a remote snake, is it still a snake?

Chaeng! Chaeng!

Cheongun was quite good at blocking Maemulyeong’s sword.

But it was only a matter of ‘accepting’ it well.

Except for the first time when he gave up the lead, Maemulyeong had the upper hand throughout, and Cheongun had no intention of counterattacking and simply accepted Maemulyeong’s sword.

And now that limit was approaching.

Maemulyeong swung his sword diagonally with all his internal energy.

Kwaang-!

There was a loud noise and Cheongun’s posture was disturbed.

The gap that is revealed through it.

Maemulyeong took advantage of Cheongun’s opening and stabbed him with his sword. And Cheongun was unable to react to Maemulyeong’s sword.

‘It’s the end.’

It was the moment when Maemulyeong was confident of victory.

Suddenly.

Cheongun’s momentum has changed.

Suddenly, Cheongun’s figure seemed to disappear, but before he knew it, Cheongun was right in front of Maemulyeong’s eyes.

Chae-ae-aeng!

A perfect blow, like a painting.

Maemulyeong, who had received the Sword of Cheongun, opened his mouth slightly without realizing it.

His eyes were wide open, but he couldn’t understand anything about what he saw.

······Somewhere, the scent of plum blossoms brushes my nose.

‘It’s a hallucination.’

Maemulyeong was able to immediately realize that this was an illusion and a homecoming.

Cheongun unleashed his illusionary sword.

At first glance, this looked like the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique, but it was different. It was nothing more than a ‘copycat’ imitation of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

‘That’s stupid.’

So Maemulyeong couldn’t shake the thought that Cheongun was foolish.

I couldn’t help but think that he was beyond stupid.

‘It seems like I’ve learned quite a bit of illusions…’

If it was enough to burn incense, it could be said to be of a considerable level.

However, the illusion originally belongs to a volcano.

Before the illusion of the volcano, all illusions are just pitiful illusions.

So, Cheongun, who risks his life with illusions, is just foolish and stupid.

A farmer who plays with an axe.

It’s like shaking your wits in front of a real Taoist priest.

It seemed necessary to teach him clearly.

‘I’ll show you what real illusion is.’

What is the secret and true illusion of the volcano?

Maemulyeong adjusted his grip on his sword.

That was when.

The sword of Cheongun moved slowly.

A speed that is neither slow nor fast.

It suddenly dazzles Maemulyeong’s vision.

and······.

The tip of Cheongun’s sword shakes. Soon, the sword bends as if dancing, and its tip and beginning meet, splitting into tens of thousands of branches.

“······!”

Maemulyeong’s two eyes opened wide on their own.

And once again.

Somewhere······ I have the illusion that the wind is blowing.

A cold wind in early spring.

The wind that announces the end of winter and the beginning of spring flutters and swirls around the tips of the blue clouds that have branched out into tens of thousands of branches.

And so, the plum blossoms bloom and fall in all directions.

Beautiful plum blossoms blooming like embroidery across the sky.

Numerous plum blossom petals whisper as they gently brush past Maemulyeong’s entire body.

The fragrance of plum blossoms makes the cold bitter.

The fragrance of plum blossoms blooms stubbornly in the cold wind.

A plum blossom that lives in the cold and never sells its fragrance.

Would you rather live your whole life alone than sell that fragrance to find comfort?

visor-!

A sudden metallic sound is heard.

A cold sensation felt at the tip of the nape of the neck.

As Mae Mu-ryeong’s gaze slowly turns downwards, Cheong-un’s sword is suddenly touching Mae Mu-ryeong’s neck.

“·········!!!!”

Maemulyeong’s wide-open eyes finally turned to shock.

Not even for a single moment······was visible.

I didn’t even feel it.

From the moment the Cheongun Sword first shook until the very end, Maemulyeong was unaware of anything.

The sight was dazzling, the senses were dazzling, and it was impossible to······reach.

It was something I couldn’t even see.

The illusion that Cheongun presented, the realm that Cheongun reached, the······ rank of the existence called Cheongun.

It was something I could neither see nor touch.

‘Wow, that’s nonsense… that’s impossible…’

The elders of the volcano and the sword of the long-sworded man, even if it was an illusion, it wasn’t to this extent.

It wasn’t like I couldn’t see anything at all.

A reality that is utterly unbelievable.

But it is a reality that is right before our eyes.

Cheongun quietly stepped back, sharpening his sword.

Maemulyeong’s grip suddenly loosened.

Ring ring.

All that could be heard was the hollow sound of Maemulyeong’s sword hitting the floor.

“The winner is the Missionary’s Blue Cloud···!”

A couple of beats late, the winner was declared on the practice field.

But no one cheered.

All the people watching the fight were looking at Cheongun with their mouths wide open.

People could only cry out in silent shock at the unbelievable result and the overwhelming victory that made no sense.

* * *

The shaman’s later index, Yang Jong-cheon, was astonished as he watched the secret dance between Cheong-un and Mae-mu-ryeong.

······wasn’t visible at all.

From the moment the tip of Cheongun’s sword began to shake until the last moment when Cheongun’s sword tip touched Maemulyeong’s neck, Yang Jongcheon could not see anything.

Even if it was a sword unleashed by the great master of the volcano, it would never be possible for it to be like this.

It was impossible to not see anything like this.

···That made no sense.

This didn’t even make sense.

Yang Jong-cheon’s eyes, wide open in shock, grew increasingly more intense.

It was just then.

“Yay!!!”

Suddenly, a lively voice was heard through the silent shock.

It was not Cheongun’s voice.

Everyone’s gaze immediately focused in the direction where the sound came from.

There, a silver-haired woman, seemingly bathed in moonlight, was jumping around in place.

“Then that’s right!! How dare you bring down our lucky prince!”

She was rejoicing like a girl in Cheongun’s victory as if it were her own.

Not only was she the only one who was happy when everyone was shocked, but her beauty was also extraordinary, so it was hard to take my eyes off her…

‘Why Namgung Yerin···.’

Namgung Yerin of the Namgung Se family.

Yang Jong-cheon could tell right away that the woman was Namgung Ye-rin.

How could you not know?

I’m talking about a woman who I’ve had feelings for for a long time.

Namgung Yerin, who had been jumping around in place, was celebrating Cheongwoon’s victory while showing off her drunken fist pose.

A completely different look and atmosphere from her usual self, who was always as cold as snow.

If it weren’t for her silver hair that reflected the moonlight and her stunning beauty that you couldn’t take your eyes off of, one would have doubts as to whether she was really the cold-as-snow swordsman known as Okmyeonseolgeom (玉面雪劍).

Namgung Yerin showed off her fist by throwing it into the air with a proud fist, saying, “Pasha-! Pasha-!”

And then soon you feel that the surroundings are quiet.

“···to?”

Namgung Yerin seemed to have only just realized that everyone was focused on her.

Namgung Yerin started to panic and panic as if she didn’t know what to do under the gaze of so many people.

Soon, his complexion turned crimson like an orange, and in an instant, he turned bright red like a ripe apple.

Because my skin was already as white as snow, the degree to which it got hotter was unusual······.

“Ah, no···!!”

Namgung Yerin buried her face in her hands like a shy young woman and ran away as if she was running away.

Long silver hair fluttering behind the back of Namgung Yerin running away.

Yang Jong-cheon’s head naturally turned to the center of the martial arts field, and Cheong-un was slowly coming down the martial arts field while sharpening his sword.

And Cheongun passes by Yang Jongcheon.

Crunch!!

Yang Jong-cheon’s two fists were clenched tightly in anger.

* * *

When the results of the Yongbongjihoe selection process were announced, the entire Taewon was turned upside down.

“Following Hwasan, Jongnam, Ami, Jeomchang, and Gongdong, even Haenam was eliminated in the preliminary round···?”

“What, what?!”

“Oh my god, six of the nine factions were eliminated from the Gupaebang···!”

Something that has never happened before in the history of Yongbong Branch.

There have been cases where one or two sects were eliminated in the preliminary round, but there has never been a case of such a large number of eliminations.

In this truly unprecedented situation, people’s attention was naturally focused on one place.

“The missionary’s······ Cheongun?”

The missionary’s blue cloud.

Muin advanced to the main event by crushing the review indices of the old file room.

“According to those who watched the match, the later indexes of the Gupailbang were defeated by an overwhelming margin.”

“The reviewers of the old file room were defeated without even being able to exert any effort?”

“What the…? No, are you saying that the missionary is in the same old file room?”

“Looking at it, it seems like it’s not a sect but a military sect···.”

“Where is the officer in charge?”

The name of the missionary, Cheongun, spread throughout Taewon, and it was only a matter of time before rumors about Cheongun began to spread.

“People say that it is the rumored snake.”

“Is that the rumored snake?”

“That’s the snake from Gangseo Province.”

“If you’re talking about the Imugi of Gangseo Province… Are you talking about the one who defeated Gwangmaumgui?”

A snake crouching in the outskirts.

“This is it, it looks like the Imoogi of Gangseo-seong has come to find the Yeouiju!”

“Is this snake ascending to heaven as a dragon in the Yongbongjihoe?”

As a plausible story was created, the number of people hoping for Cheongun’s victory increased one by one.

As a result, the Yongbongjihoe story could not continue without the name ‘Cheongun’. However, not all stories focused on Cheongun.

“But who is this guy called Akjihak?”

A drone named Akjihak.

He, like Cheongun, was a warrior who eliminated Ami, Jeomchang, and Haenam from the preliminary round.

“Well, not much is known about him···.”

But there were no particular rumors.

There were no rumors about him, not even the Imugi of Gangseo Province like Cheongun.

“I wonder if it might be a one-man sect.”

“Well, there have been many cases where a young master who had never been heard of before showed up at the Yongbongjihoe and won the championship.”

People’s interest in geomancy did not spread easily.

“By the way, what happened to the Odaese family?”

At this point, it was impossible to leave out the story of the Five Great Families that stood shoulder to shoulder with the Gupaebang.

“Sichuan Tangmun did not participate this time, and since Zhuge Liang was not particularly outstanding in military power, it is not surprising, but I heard that Murong Liang was eliminated.”

“Then the only ones left are Namgung Se-ga and Habuk Peng-ga?”

“Huh···! Are you saying that only two families survived in the Five Great Dynasties?”

The situation where the six sects of the Gupailbang and the three families of the Five Great Clans were eliminated.

Is that a snake from Gangseo Province?

Are you an unknown expert?

Or is it the old and new Gupaebang and the Five Great Powers that never change?

“Hey, when did the main event start?”

“They said it starts in three days.”

People’s interest in the Yongbong branch was concentrated to a degree that was difficult to find in history.

* * *

The Wulin Alliance, located in the center of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.

The military officer of the Murim Alliance, Jegal Yangbaek, calmly looked at the report in his hand.

It was none other than a report on the results of the preliminary examination for this Yongbong branch meeting and the list of candidates who advanced to the finals······.

“A large number of the review indices of the old file room were eliminated?”

It was a truly absurd report.

Of course, looking at the history of the Yongbong branch, there were cases where the later index members of the Gupailbang were eliminated from the preliminary round.

But it was only one or two people.

“From Hwasan, Jongnam, Ami, Jeomchang, Gongdong, and now Haenam···?”

There was no case where 6 out of 10 reviewers fell.

Even if you look at all the records of the Yongbongjihoe over hundreds of years, there has never been a single case like this.

And it is an unprecedented situation that will never happen again in the future.

“Cheongun···.”

The missionary’s blue cloud.

The one whom Kwae Cheong Cheon praised as the Imugi of Gangseo Province.

But to be honest···.

“Ugh···!”

I didn’t know it would be this bad.

I really couldn’t have imagined that the review indices of the old file room would fall like autumn leaves.

The report went into great detail about the bombing.

And if everything written in the report is true, then there is no one like him. It was like a dragon barging into a place where loaches were playing.

But is it even possible for a loach to do that?

How can you call the review index of Gupaebang ‘a loach’?

Most of these people were the reviewers of Gupaebang, who were looking at the peak.

Some of them have reached their peak and are on the verge of reaching their climax, so they are not called the next generation of long-form writers for nothing.

They were ‘masters’ who were not inferior at all to the current martial arts practitioners, even though they were only a few years old.

Let alone that he had achieved that level of accomplishment at an age not even reaching his thirties, who knew what kind of monster he would become in just ten years or so.

“But you still weren’t a match?”

······It was something that made absolutely no sense.

However, there was no way the report could have been false, and there were thousands of people who had seen the bomb with their own eyes, so it was impossible not to believe it.

“Ugh···!”

So, I can only express this kind of admiration.

Cheongun was the unrivaled presence in this Yongbongjihoe.

But surprisingly, there was another person who was as unique as Cheongun.

The three Gupaebang factions that were defeated by Cheongun were Hwasan, Jongnam, and Gongdong.

The one who eliminated Ami, Jeomchang, and Haenam was not Cheongun, but another unmanned entity. Thus, another name written next to Cheongun.

“Evil geography···?”

A later index called Akjihak.

“······Who are you?”

Zhuge Liangbao’s head tilted.

A name I’m hearing for the first time.

“It’s a study of evil···.”

Zhuge Liangbao frowned and pulled out a memory from the back of his mind.

“······I don’t know.”

But no matter how hard I tried to remember, nothing came to mind.

It means that it is the first time that Jegal Yangbaek has heard of the name, but as a soldier of the Murim Alliance, even if he is a rookie in the martial arts world, if he is a famous warrior, Jegal Yangbaek knows him.

Still, not knowing means that he is a complete beginner in martial arts and a beginner. How could a beginner defeat the later ranks of Gupaebang?

Zhuge Liangbao confirmed the sect that Akjihak belonged to.

[Blood Lotus Gate]

“Blood Lotus Gate···?”

Zhuge Liangbao’s head tilted involuntarily.

That would be the case, because in the martial arts world, most of the time when blood enters the body, it is not normal.

It was mainly used to refer to people who were drunk on blood or were mentally ill and obsessed with killing, but it is no different when it comes to sects.

That is, the sects of the black and evil forces use the character blood.

Therefore, it was clear that the Blood Lotus Sect was a sect of the Sapha faction, but there was no particular problem, as sects of the Sapha faction could also participate in the Yongbongjihoe.

And you could definitely tell that it was a Sapha faction just by looking at the records of the non-combat incidents recorded in the report.

It is said that he deliberately injured his opponent and even cleverly mixed in an ‘invitation to kill’, so this was definitely not something a warrior of the righteous faction would do.

Originally, the Yongbongjihoe was a martial arts competition where people competed against each other.

It was never a life-or-death fight, and so any acts of harming each other, as well as killing, were strictly forbidden.

But it was still an ‘unwritten rule’.

It was not established as an official regulation.

Since they were both non-combatants who fought with real swords, there were many cases where they would hurt each other while fighting.

If all of that had been tabooed and disqualified, the Yongbongjihoe could not be held, so it had to be left to the conscience of the Jeongpa people who revere justice and righteousness.

In light of that, Akjihak’s actions were quite excessive.

Perhaps because of this, at the end of the report, he asked what should be done about the disposal of Akjihak.

Zhuge Liangbao was troubled.

However, since no one was seriously injured and it did not go against the Yongbongjihoe’s rules, we decided to leave it alone for now.

I would have liked to have disqualified him, but the Yongbongjihoe was the biggest competition in the martial arts world.

I didn’t want to create a precedent that would tarnish the reputation of Yongbong Branch by discriminating or anything like that.

But, one thing.

“Blood lotus pattern··· Blood lotus pattern···.”

I had a strange feeling… as if I had heard it somewhere before.

But the one that I can’t quite remember seemed to be a not-so-high-ranking sect.

But something unknown kept bothering Zhuge Liangbao in his head.

Intuition······should I say that?

Something ominous and yet chillingly mysterious.

Zhuge Liangbao just couldn’t shake it off.

“Ughh …

Zhuge Liangbao sat for a long time and thought about it.

And then it’s over.

“I guess I should go to the library of the secretariat.”

Zhuge Liangbao slowly got up from his seat.

* * *

The three days passed by in an instant.

With that, the main event of the Yongbong branch meeting has come quickly.

The stadium where the main competition was held was truly enormous.

It was so large that it could accommodate tens of thousands of people, to put it bluntly, but building a structure of this size was by no means an easy task.

Even the Tengwang Pavilion, the best landmark in Jiangxi Province and one of the three greatest pavilions in the world, was not to this extent.

It is a building that you will never find in the Gangnam area.

It was not for nothing that the area north of the Yellow River was called the center of civilization and culture, and this huge and magnificent convention center was packed with people.

So, with tens of thousands of people’s attention and interest focused in one place.

I am the main shaman of the Yongbongjihoe and my opponent, the shaman’s later index, Yang Jong-cheon.

‘What should I do?’

How should I break Yang Jong-cheon’s nose… No, I was preparing for a duel with Yang Jong-cheon.