Chapter 136 – The Decisive Battle (8)

“Huff… huff… huff….”

Having wrung out every last ounce of his strength, Namgung Jin no longer had the power to float in the air and was being supported by Great Master Gak-won.

“You have done well, Benefactor Namgung! Truly, you have done well!”

Even to Great Master Gak-won, the final strike Namgung Jin had unleashed was tremendous. To think he would use the Great Dharma Master’s own power. He knew well that such a feat was impossible unless one was prepared to die.

“Keuk… I… can’t… do… that… again….”

Namgung Jin said, coughing up blood. It was a gamble he never wanted to take again.

“L-Look over there!”

Just then, Hwa Un-wol shouted with a flustered expression. At her cry, Namgung Jin and Great Master Gak-won turned their heads in confusion, only to freeze solid.

The Great Dharma Master of Shaking Heaven had taken that attack and not only survived but was still standing.

“How can a human be like that!”

Hyeon Cheon-ja exclaimed, gripping his sword.

Of course, the Great Dharma Master’s condition was not good. No, it was a mess, to the point of being the worst imaginable.

Namgung Jin’s strike had carved away almost the entirety of the Great Dharma Master’s body, drastically shortening his remaining lifespan.

But despite suffering such a grievous injury, the Great Dharma Master looked at the supreme masters of the Central Plains with an unconcerned expression before fixing his gaze on Namgung Jin and speaking.

“A magnificent strike. To wound my body… I cannot recall how many decades it has been since I last saw my own blood.”

The sight of the Great Dharma Master speaking so calmly, despite being wounded to the brink of death, was nothing short of terrifying. Even as he spoke, his body was being drenched in blood.

“However, no matter what attacks you unleash, you cannot break my will.”

As soon as the Great Dharma Master finished speaking, the heavens and the earth shook, and an immense amount of energy began to gather in his body.

“Is he… planning to die!”

Namgung Jin said this because it was incomprehensible that a dying body could gather such a tremendous amount of energy.

Kang Yu-hyeon also watched the Great Dharma Master with a displeased look.

“Cease this battle!”

The Great Dharma Master and the other supreme masters of the Central Plains showed different expressions at the appearance of another supreme master.

The Great Dharma Master frowned faintly, while the supreme masters of the Central Plains smiled brightly in welcome. This was because the newly arrived supreme master was the Phantom Emperor, known as the Emperor’s shadow.

“Great Dharma Master of Shaking Heaven, Rushen, heed the command of His Majesty the Emperor, ruler of the Empire!”

“I have no need to listen to your Emperor.”

With those words, the Great Dharma Master resumed gathering the energy he had momentarily stopped.

However, the attempt did not last long. The Phantom Emperor had taken out a new letter and shown it to the Great Dharma Master.

At that, the Great Dharma Master had no choice but to listen to the Phantom Emperor.

Because the letter the Phantom Emperor produced bore the royal seal of Xizang.

“Then heed the command of the Royal Family of Xizang!”

The Phantom Emperor’s shout echoed loudly once more, and the Great Dharma Master stared at him with a blank face.

***

This was when the Great Dharma Master’s army was still passing through Sichuan.

A massive army of two hundred thousand soldiers, having departed from the Central Plains, was crossing a grueling desert.

Intense heat during the day, and at night, a biting cold so severe it made the daytime heat feel like a lie. On top of that, an intense thirst tormented the soldiers.

But no one complained. In fact, their morale was sky-high. It was a wondrous thing, even for an army composed solely of elite troops. The reason for this marvel was a single man.

“We are almost there.”

A general approached the man leading the two-hundred-thousand-strong army, speaking with eyes full of respect, and the man nodded.

“Indeed. It is not far now. I know the soldiers’ fatigue is great, but tell them to hold on just a little longer.”

“They won’t feel any fatigue at all, sir. The soldiers’ morale is soaring.”

At the general’s report, the man smiled.

The man who received the report was Mun Won-sang. The Commander-in-Chief, who led the million-strong Imperial Army, had personally moved to conquer Xizang.

And he proved exactly why he commanded the million-strong Imperial Army.

When he drank water, he drank the same amount as his soldiers. When he ate, he ate the same food alongside them. He even slept in the soldiers’ barracks, so it was only natural for their morale to rise.

Furthermore, with the Grand Marshal acting this way, the generals under him dared not use their authority to oppress the soldiers. They couldn’t seek personal gain.

As a result, the soldiers’ morale soared, and they were able to conserve a great deal of provisions and water. Mun Won-sang was truly deserving of the title of a great commander among great commanders.

“Our mission is not to burn Xizang to the ground. We only need to make the royal family of Xizang surrender. Once that is achieved, our mission is complete.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Mun Won-sang’s words, the other generals’ eyes gleamed as they shouted. And when Kang Yu-jin’s Heavenly Dragon Brigade defeated all of Xizang’s special forces, the Empire’s two-hundred-thousand-strong army attacked and captured the capital of Xizang.

Xizang, which had trusted in the natural barrier of the desert, could only fall.

***

The Phantom Emperor smiled faintly as he looked at the Great Dharma Master, who was staring back at him with a dazed expression. The letter from the Xizang royal family he now held was the ultimate trump card to make the Great Dharma Master retreat.

No matter how much the Great Dharma Master was called a god in Xizang, he was still in the position of State Preceptor, bound to obey the commands of the Xizang royal family. Moreover, his advance into the Central Plains had only been possible with the tacit approval of the Xizang martial world.

The presence of martial artists was crucial for a nation’s security, yet the Great Dharma Master had led a staggering ten thousand of them to invade the Central Plains.

The Emperor had focused on this very point: the massive power vacuum created in Xizang after its martial forces had left.

‘Great Dharma Master, you have greatly underestimated the strength of the Central Plains. Our power is not built on martial artists alone, unlike in Xizang.’

The Central Plains had a much larger territory than Xizang, and its population was incomparably greater.

Based on that population, the Empire possessed a massive army of one million soldiers. Excluding the troops needed to maintain security, it had dispatched a total of two hundred thousand soldiers to march on Xizang.

Although Han Won-ha, a former general, had committed treason, the Empire had an abundance of other generals eager to achieve glory.

‘But the most fearsome of all was the Grand Marshal.’

Originally, Grand Marshal Mun Won-sang had no intention of leading the troops himself. However, when Han Won-ha, known as the successor to the Military Faction, committed treason and was executed, his own position was greatly shaken.

The Scholar Faction, led by the Prime Minister, used Han Won-ha’s case to fiercely attack the Military Faction, forcing Mun Won-sang to act to restore his faction’s standing.

The Emperor, not wishing for the Scholar Faction to dominate alone, subtly offered him his support.

Thus, led by Grand Marshal Mun Won-sang, numerous young generals and an army of two hundred thousand marched on Xizang. And this became a terror for Xizang.

In particular, the Xizang army had no soldiers who could stop Mun Won-sang, a master of the Transformation Realm. In the end, they suffered consecutive defeats and the humiliation of having their capital besieged.

Not long after, the Xizang royal family surrendered to Mun Won-sang. It happened a mere month after the invasion by the Imperial army.

‘The Brigade Leader’s contribution was immense.’

The Phantom Emperor thought, looking down at Kang Yu-jin, who was smiling up at him.

Kang Yu-jin’s Heavenly Dragon Brigade had crushed the Xizang martial world’s special forces, completely severing the connection between the Great Dharma Master’s army and the Xizang royal family. The result was the very letter the Phantom Emperor now held.

“Accept the retreat, Great Dharma Master. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee the lives of the Xizang royal family!”

The Phantom Emperor shouted once more at the hesitating Great Dharma Master.

Hearing his words, the Great Dharma Master quietly closed his eyes.

Even as he stood there, his lifespan was shortening. At most, he had ten days. After those ten days, he would no longer breathe the air of this world.

‘I wanted to protect my homeland.’

As history proved, whenever the Central Plains grew powerful, it always attacked neighboring nations. The number of nations that had fallen that way was already countless.

And their resilience was so great that no matter how much they were killed and trampled, the Central Plains always managed to push back their oppressors in the end.

Hadn’t even the once-mighty empire of the steppes lasted barely a hundred years in the Central Plains?

‘That is why I attacked the Central Plains.’

He attacked the Central Plains first, so that everything he loved in Xizang would not be burned by their hands.

But the result, paradoxically, was that his beloved homeland was the one that burned.

‘In the end, what did I wish for and try to achieve?’

After thinking endlessly, the Great Dharma Master finally let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“We are returning.”

The Great Dharma Master, the Potala Palace, and the martial artists of Xizang turned to leave.

The damage on both sides was so great that it couldn’t be called anyone’s victory, but the moment they saw the people of Xizang retreat, the martial artists of the Central Plains began to roar as if they had won.

“Waaaaaah!”

The cheers made the steps of the Xizang people even heavier.

But the Xizang martial artists did not know. That one person who had not yet revealed his full strength had begun to move.

And that the women who had never once shown themselves in the war had also begun to move.

‘Now, the real fight begins!’

Kang Yu-jin thought as he began to run with Bukri Eun, Han So-un, and Eun Seol-rin. The Sword Empress Hwa Un-wol and the Moon Empress Na Ye-jin were not with them, but they didn’t need to be.

After all, Kang Yu-jin would be the one to face the Great Dharma Master, while the other three women would only prevent his disciples from interfering. However, Ran was not yet skilled enough to join the pursuit.

Thus, the target of the three supreme masters and one Transformation Realm master was, of course, the Great Dharma Master of Shaking Heaven.

***

Four days after the Great Dharma Master declared their retreat, the martial artists of Xizang, including those from the Potala Palace, arrived near Sichuan Province.

Many had died, but thousands of Xizang martial artists still remained. Though they were retreating, their spirit was as dignified as ever.

The confidence of never having been defeated by the martial artists of the Central Plains was etched on their faces. But Ra-wang, who led them from the front, still couldn’t contain his anger.

“Let us rest for a moment.”

Just then, the Great Dharma Master’s voice reached Ra-wang’s ears, and Ra-wang raised his arm to halt the march. After confirming the march had stopped, Ra-wang approached the Great Dharma Master.

“Master, is something wrong?”

“I am a little tired.”

The appearance of the Great Dharma Master as he spoke calmly had changed drastically.

The handsome young man from just four days ago was completely gone, replaced by the figure of an old man who struggled even to stand. It meant his lifespan was continuously dwindling.

And hearing the Great Dharma Master’s words, Ra-wang felt a surge of emotion. He knew well that his master, whom he had always thought of as invincible, was dying.

But he never expected to hear such weak words from the mouth of the Great Dharma Master, the god of Xizang.

In truth, the reason they were marching so quickly was to allow the Great Dharma Master to find his final rest in Xizang, not in the lands of the Central Plains.

“Those despicable Central Plains bastards!”

Ra-wang shouted, looking at the bandages wrapped all over the Great Dharma Master’s body.

In reality, Namgung Jin was the one who had gravely injured the Great Dharma Master, but the truth did not matter to him now.

“This, too, is my karma. There is no need to blame anyone.”

The Great Dharma Master said, even as he himself felt that his life was nearing its end.

“And you know this as well, do you not? That nothing in this world is eternal. It is natural for a person to be born and to return to dust in the end. So do not be too sad.”

At the Great Dharma Master’s continuing words, Ra-wang and the other disciples clenched their fists tightly to stop their tears from flowing. Blood began to drip from their hands. It was a choice they made to suppress their sorrow with pain.

“However, my heart for my disciples, the people, and the nation still remains. I hope you will all help the royal family and protect our country well.”

Ra-wang wanted to cry out for the Great Dharma Master to lead them longer, but he could not bring himself to say the words. But the Great Dharma Master was not finished speaking.

“You may show yourself now, Benefactor.”

“Yes? Master? What are you talking about…?”

As Ra-wang and the other disciples were wondering, four figures suddenly appeared before them. It was Kang Yu-jin, Han So-un, Bukri Eun, and Eun Seol-rin.