Chapter 207

The Wudang Sect’s Secret Depot was located beneath the Grand Harmony Palace.

It had existed since the construction of the Grand Harmony Palace and had been forgotten for hundreds of years.

The Secret Depot was rediscovered during a major renovation of the pavilions ahead of Cheongjin Jin-in’s birthday banquet.

The accidentally discovered Secret Depot had an environment well-suited for storing books. Thus, Cheongjin Jin-in decided to move all the major books from the Scripture Depository here, at least until his birthday banquet was over.

It was to prevent any potential accidents in advance.

Although smaller in scale than the Shaolin Temple’s, the Wudang Sect’s Scripture Depository also housed numerous Martial Arts Manuals.

Most were of the Wudang Sect’s martial arts, but among them were also many martial arts that had been acquired from the outside.

The Wudang Sect had weathered many storms over the years.

They had punished the unorthodox and demonic paths, and they had fought against forces that tried to trample the Wudang Sect.

While fighting countless enemies, they felt the need to study their opponents’ martial arts. So, the Wudang Sect took and analyzed the Martial Arts Manuals of the martial artists who had fallen to them.

The number of Martial Arts Manuals collected in this way exceeded several hundred.

The Wudang Sect divided the Secret Depot into two main sections.

The Inner Treasury and the Outer Treasury.

The Wudang Sect’s Martial Arts Manuals were stored in the Inner Treasury, while the external Martial Arts Manuals were placed in the Outer Treasury.

One had to pass through the Outer Treasury to enter the Inner Treasury, and the security of the Inner Treasury was much stricter and harder to enter than the Outer Treasury.

That wasn’t to say the security of the Outer Treasury was lax.

One could only enter the Outer Treasury after passing through a large iron gate guarded by four Daoists.

The Grand Harmony Palace was one of the central locations in the Wudang Sect.

It was always guarded by dozens of martial artists and was riddled with various Mechanisms.

And the Secret Depot was in the basement of such a Grand Harmony Palace.

It was nearly impossible for an outsider to infiltrate the Secret Depot. But such a thing had happened.

“What is this?”

Woo Seong Dojang stared blankly at the wide-open door of the Outer Treasury.

The Wudang Sect martial artists who had been standing guard in front of the Outer Treasury were all collapsed and bleeding.

On each of their necks was a thread-like wound.

At a glance, it looked as if they had been scratched by a tree branch.

An ordinary person would not die from such a wound. Yet all the Daoists were dead.

It meant that although it looked trivial on the surface, the wound was deep enough to sever their windpipes.

“Taeseon, Taehang!”

Woo Seong Dojang called out the names of the dead Daoists.

Those who had been guarding the Outer Treasury were all second-generation disciples of the Wudang Sect. Although not his direct disciples, they were promising talents whom Woo Seong Dojang had taught before.

Someone had secretly infiltrated the Grand Harmony Palace and killed the disciples guarding the Secret Depot. It meant they had invaded with the intention of raiding the Secret Depot.

“You, go and inform the Sect Master of this immediately.”

“Yes!”

After giving the order to his disciple, Woo Seong Dojang hurriedly entered the Outer Treasury.

Inside the Outer Treasury were over several hundred Secret Manuals.

It was impossible for an ordinary person to memorize the names of all those Secret Manuals. But Woo Seong Dojang had been the one in charge of managing the Scripture Depository for a long time.

Although he didn’t know the contents of the Secret Manuals, he remembered the number of books and all their titles.

Woo Seong Dojang hurriedly scanned the bookshelves, checking if any books were missing.

His heart was racing.

Not a single Secret Manual stored in the Outer Treasury was anything less than a Special Technique.

If even one of them were to be leaked, it would be a martial art that would cause an uproar in the world.

After a long search, Woo Seong Dojang found out which Secret Manual was missing.

The Devil Subduing Energy Art.

It was a Secret Manual that had found its way to the Wudang Sect during the Great Blood War.

The demonic art known to have been mastered by Cheok Gye-yeong, the Demon-Grinding Ghost King, one of the top experts of the Divine Demon Association, was none other than the Devil Subduing Energy Art.

It was unknown how the Devil Subduing Energy Art had come into the Wudang Sect’s possession. But one thing was certain: among the many demonic arts in All Under Heaven, the Devil Subduing Energy Art possessed power of the highest tier.

If the fact that the Devil Subduing Energy Art had been leaked became known, it could cause great chaos in All Under Heaven.

“Good heavens!”

Woo Seong Dojang’s face turned deathly pale.

Just then, Cheongjin Jin-in and the Elders of the Wudang Sect entered the Outer Treasury.

“What in the world happened here?”

“Sect Master!”

“I asked what happened.”

“The truth is…”

At Cheongjin Jin-in’s roar, Woo Seong Dojang quickly recounted what had happened.

After hearing the whole story, the expressions of Cheongjin Jin-in and the Elders hardened abruptly.

“So you’re saying that while our sect’s attention was drawn to the commotion at the Clear Stream Palace, an assassin infiltrated the Secret Depot.”

“Th-that’s right.”

Woo Seong Dojang answered weakly.

Gongjin Jin-in, who was nearby, also turned deathly pale.

At the time the Secret Depot was being raided, the Wudang Sect’s attention was entirely focused on the disturbance at the Clear Stream Palace. Even a significant number of those guarding the Grand Harmony Palace had left their posts to watch.

It was Woo Seong Dojang and Gongjin Jin-in who had failed to grasp the situation calmly and had escalated the matter. Because of them, the Wudang Sect’s attention was concentrated on the Clear Stream Palace, and the security of major facilities like the Grand Harmony Palace had become lax.

They had fallen for a Feint Attack, plain and simple.

Gongjin Jin-in staggered as if he would collapse at any moment.

He had prided himself on being the Wisdom Strategist of the Wudang Sect.

He was ashamed that he himself had been deceived by the enemy’s trickery and had made the incident worse.

Cheongjin Jin-in summed up the situation.

“So, the man named Hong Mugwang was merely a sacrificial lamb to draw all of our sect’s attention. The real culprit, in the meantime, killed our sect’s disciples and stole the Devil Subduing Energy Art?”

“That is correct.”

“Did you say that the first person to intimidate Soma was Young Master Zhang of the Righteous Sword Manor?”

“That is correct.”

“And after that, Woo-sung and Junior Martial Brother Gongjin stepped in?”

“Yes!”

The two answered weakly.

Gongjin Jin-in and Woo Seong Dojang couldn’t bear to look at Cheongjin Jin-in and just bowed their heads.

Cheongjin Jin-in’s gaze turned to Woo Pyeong Dojang.

“Before this incident, that person, Pyo Wol, told you to be wary of the singing songstress, did he not?”

“Yes! That’s why I was in the middle of investigating the entertainers who entered our sect.”

“He warned me to be careful of the Hundred Wraith Union.”

Cheongjin Jin-in’s eyes turned sharp.

Putting Pyo Wol’s words together, the songstress invited to his birthday banquet, Hong Ye-seol, was clearly an assassin from the Hundred Wraith Union.

“Sangjin!”

“Yes! Senior Martial Brother Sect Leader.”

Sangjin Jin-in, the Wudang Sect’s number one sword, stepped forward as he answered.

“Take the Seven Swords of Wudang, track down Hong Ye-seol, and capture her. From the circumstances, it seems she is the assassin from the Hundred Wraith Union.”

“I’m sorry, Senior Martial Brother, but can we trust that… person?”

“Sangjin!”

“Yes!”

“No matter what anyone says, you are undoubtedly the Wudang Sect’s number one sword. But that doesn’t mean you can disregard me so much.”

“What? When did I ever?”

Sangjin Jin-in looked at Cheongjin Jin-in in surprise.

Cheongjin Jin-in continued with his characteristic benevolent smile.

“Your competitive spirit has been the driving force of your growth and has earned you the fame of being the Wudang Sect’s number one sword, but because of it, your vision has narrowed, and you have forgotten how to see the bigger picture. Think broadly. And learn to see through to a person’s essence. What you see on the surface is not everything.”

“…”

Sangjin Jin-in couldn’t say a word.

It was the first time since he had come of age that Cheongjin Jin-in had spoken to him like this. That’s why it felt all the more heartbreaking.

“Go now. We will talk in detail after you have captured her.”

“I understand. I will be sure to capture that assassin.”

“I trust you.”

“Yes!”

Sangjin Jin-in replied and went outside.

The Seven Swords of Wudang followed behind him.

Cheongjin Jin-in’s gaze now turned to Gongjin Jin-in.

“Gongjin!”

“Yes! Senior Martial Brother Sect Leader.”

“Did you say the first person to intimidate Soma was Young Master Zhang of the Righteous Sword Manor?”

“That is correct.”

“If the assassin is the feint to the west, then he must be the clamor in the east.”

“That’s too much of a conjecture…”

“Gongjin!”

“Yes!”

“I am very disappointed in you. It was good of you to take care of this Senior Martial Brother’s birthday banquet, but it has caused too many problems. And yet, you still don’t know what went wrong.”

“I am sorry.”

“See the big picture. You can never break the mold by looking only at fragmented aspects. He has already broken the mold and is looking at the big picture. Do not look down on him just because he is an assassin. He is a new breed of martial artist, one who has never before appeared in Jianghu. Acknowledge him for what he is. Only then can you also grow.”

“I understand, Senior Martial Brother!”

Gongjin Jin-in replied, bowing his head.

His face was filled with shame.

For Cheongjin Jin-in, who had never once pointed out his flaws, to speak to this extent, it was clear that there was a problem with him.

Just then, a Wudang Sect disciple ran up and whispered something in Woo Pyeong Dojang’s ear.

Woo Pyeong Dojang quickly spoke to Cheongjin Jin-in.

“Young Master Zhang’s party has left the mountain gate and is descending the mountain.”

“Hmph!”

“Shall I send men to capture them?”

“Leave them be.”

“Pardon?”

“There is no need for the Wudang Sect to go out of its way to clash with the Righteous Sword Manor. Even if it’s not us, there will be someone else to deal with Young Master Zhang.”

“Don’t tell me?”

Cheongjin Jin-in nodded.

“A man like him never forgets a grudge. There is no reason for Wudang to bear a blood debt on his behalf.”

Jang Mu-yeon and the White Tiger Sword Unit ran down the mountainside at a terrifying speed.

They passed the Joseong Gate on the mountainside, then the Samcheon Gate, the Icheon Gate, and finally the Ilcheon Gate.

They had descended Mount Wudang, but it was too early to feel relieved.

The Wudang Sect’s influence was not limited to just Mount Wudang.

Balanced Mystery, and furthermore, the entire Hubei province was under their influence.

“Damn it!”

Jang Mu-yeon gritted his teeth.

That wench was the problem.

The wench who had slipped into his room like a stray cat in the dead of night.

The wench’s name was Hong Ye-seol.

He didn’t know why her ordinary face had looked so beautiful.

As if possessed by something, he had been completely taken in by her whispers.

He would have felt less wronged if they had at least slept together, but that wasn’t the case either. Thinking about it now, it was strange. That a man as experienced as himself had fallen for a mere wench’s whispers and moved according to her will.

Hong Ye-seol had said she wanted revenge for being humiliated by Pyo Wol, and Jang Mu-yeon had willingly stepped up for her.

The woman wanted revenge on Pyo Wol, and Jang Mu-yeon wanted the Gongpo Sword in Soma’s hands.

Their interests aligned, and Jang Mu-yeon had boldly used Hong Mugwang.

That was the problem.

Thinking about it now, he knew nothing about Hong Ye-seol.

All he knew was her three-syllable name.

Even that might not have been her real name.

It was as if he had been possessed by a ghost.

From one to ten, everything was incomprehensible.

Jang Mu-yeon decided to think about Hong Ye-seol later.

The important thing was to get out of the Wudang Sect’s sphere of influence.

By now, the Wudang Sect must have realized his involvement in the series of events.

People talked as if the power of the Righteous Sword Manor was no less than the Wudang Sect’s, but in reality, a considerable gap existed between the two forces.

No matter how rapidly the Righteous Sword Manor had grown in power over the past few decades, it was nearly impossible for it to possess power equal to the Wudang Sect, which had a legacy of hundreds of years.

It was only because their territories did not overlap that they had no reason to clash, but anyone could predict that if they were to clash head-on, the Righteous Sword Manor would suffer greater damage.

Considering the Righteous Sword Manor’s face, they probably wouldn’t pressure him directly, but it was clear that his activities in Hubei would be severely restricted.

If he had achieved his goal, the restrictions on his activities in Hubei wouldn’t be a problem. The problem was that he had not yet obtained the Gongpo Sword.

If he couldn’t return with the Gongpo Sword, his father, Jang Pyeong-san, would be greatly disappointed, and if that happened, he would be completely excluded from the succession race he was already losing.

He had to prevent that worst-case scenario.

Jang Mu-yeon gave an order to Ju Cheon-hak, the Captain of the White Tiger Sword Unit.

“Summon the entire White Tiger Sword Unit at once.”

“Understood.”

Ju Cheon-hak, also aware of the gravity of the situation, answered immediately.

The members of the White Tiger Sword Unit who had not ascended Mount Wudang were waiting in Balanced Mystery. If they joined them, there would be nothing to fear.

“I must get my hands on the Gongpo Sword. That is the only way to overcome this situation.”

Jang Mu-yeon looked at Mount Wudang, shrouded in darkness.

He could feel a cold wind blowing from Mount Wudang.