Chapter 36: To the Alliance (1)
Grand Strategist Jegal Hyeon was, as always, analysing the reports pouring into the Strategic Command Centre by the hour.
Most of them concerned the movements of the Black Heaven Alliance, and with each passing day, the reports became increasingly unsettling.
‘It’s just like back then.’
The various signs that had appeared before the war broke out.
As troops were deployed across the board, the number of martial artists recruited by the Black Heaven Alliance had increased. The intensity of training for their strike forces had risen dramatically, while the amount of weapons and stored provisions produced in the territories under their control continued to grow. They were unmistakable signs that war was approaching.
Of course, the Martial Alliance had not remained idle either. They had likewise intensified their training, reinforced their forces, and increased weapons production.
At that moment, Strategist Sima Iljung hurried in.
“A written message has arrived from Zhejiang Province.”
There was a reason for the urgency that was unusual for him.
“Baek Socheon sent it from the Po River Branch.”
“Pavilion Master Baek, no… Martial Artist Baek?”
Whenever Jegal Hyeon referred to Baek Socheon, the title Pavilion Master still came naturally to him, so he occasionally made mistakes like this even now.
Jegal Hyeon quickly accepted the message and read it.
It described the recent events concerning the Divine Transformation Gang. It detailed how the Black Heaven Alliance was backing the gang and even recounted how Baek Socheon had gone to meet the Gang Leader of the Divine Transformation Gang, only to encounter the Black Heaven Alliance Leader instead. Naturally, everything related to Cheon Geuk had been omitted.
Jegal Hyeon’s eyes widened in shock upon learning that the Black Heaven Alliance Leader had personally appeared.
“Good heavens!”
Hyuncheon Pavilion had also been investigating the Divine Transformation Gang.
Since Baek Socheon had become someone they were paying close attention to, the Divine Transformation Gang had naturally become one of their investigation targets as well. However, they had not yet uncovered any connection to the Black Heaven Alliance.
Hyuncheon Pavilion oversaw far more than just one or two sects. From the major sects of the Central Plains to those affiliated with the Black Heaven Alliance.
They managed well over several hundred sects, so an in-depth investigation into the Divine Transformation Gang had not yet been carried out.
Even if they had investigated it, they probably would not have discovered its ties to the Black Heaven Alliance. No one could have imagined that the Black Heaven Alliance was pushing forward plans to build a fortress in Wencheng, tucked away in Zhejiang Province, one of the furthest rear areas imaginable.
Had Baek Socheon been assigned anywhere else, this matter would never have come to light.
“This won’t do.”
Jegal Hyeon sprang to his feet.
“I’m going to the Alliance Leader’s Hall.”
“Yes.”
With long strides, Jegal Hyeon left the Strategic Command Centre.
Sima Iljung could tell.
Jegal Hyeon intended to confront the Alliance Leader over something.
‘I don’t know what he’s planning, but please see it through, Pavilion Master.’
Baek Socheon and the Martial Alliance martial artists returned to the Wencheng Branch.
Throughout the journey back, Baek Socheon remained lost in thought.
Feeling the nearness of war with his own skin left him deeply unsettled. Having personally experienced the horrors of war on its very front lines, there was one thing he sincerely hoped would never happen again.
That the word “again” would never be attached to war.
As soon as he returned to the branch, Baek Socheon immediately met with Jeong Pung.
“Even if no one else knows, I thought Commander Jeong should.”
Jeong Pung drew a deep breath.
He had expected the conversation to be serious.
But not this serious.
“The Black Heaven Alliance was backing the Divine Transformation Gang.”
“……!”
Not even a short gasp escaped Jeong Pung’s lips.
He had never imagined such a thing.
Only now did he finally understand Baek Socheon’s actions back at the Divine Transformation Gang’s headquarters.
“Then the enemy martial artist who was there…?”
“I think it’s better if you don’t know. Though if you insist, I’ll tell you.”
“No. That’s enough.”
There was no reason for that broad back, burning as red as fire, to ever turn towards him.
“Shouldn’t the Main Division be informed?”
“I sent a written message to Hyuncheon Pavilion on the way back.”
“What should we do now?”
“The Divine Transformation Gang is gone now. We return to normal.”
Everything that had happened here felt like a dream to Jeong Pung.
Would there ever be another time in his life when he would summon such courage?
At the very least, he was grateful to Baek Socheon for giving him the chance to experience it.
“I’ll return to the branch now.”
“Take care.”
Jeong Pung, who had turned to leave, looked back at Baek Socheon.
There had been so many things he wanted to say, yet when the moment came, none of them came to mind.
Perhaps later, he would suddenly think, Ah, I should have said that back then.
That was simply how it was now that he had grown older.
“I thought you said I could come when I was about to die?”
“Come.”
Without waiting for a reply, Jeong Pung turned and left.
Watching his retreating figure grow more distant, Baek Socheon quietly said,
“Let’s do that.”
Once Jeong Pung and the branch martial artists departed, the branch returned to its usual routine.
Ordinarily, the Taejeong Sect would have revived by now, but with the Divine Transformation Gang gone, Lim Chung uprooted the Taejeong Sect completely.
Overjoyed, Elder Go and the merchants from the marketplace brought food to the branch.
“Thank you so much. You’ve all done something truly great.”
“It was only our duty.”
Lim Chung and Beon Saeng felt an immense sense of fulfilment.
Yes.
This was exactly why they existed.
As Baek Socheon had once said, if they intended to turn away from the lives of these people, then they should have chosen a life other than that of a Martial Alliance martial artist.
After finishing their duties, they spent an enjoyable evening eating, drinking, and celebrating with the marketplace merchants.
Baek Socheon devoted himself to martial arts training.
Lately, his routine consisted of repeatedly practising the First Technique through the Third Technique of the Overturning Heaven Nine Fists.
Repeating them.
Again and again.
He had decided that this would be his method of mastering the Overturning Heaven Nine Fists until every movement became second nature.
Baek Socheon knew.
Enlightenment came in many forms.
Sometimes it arrived suddenly like a gift from the heavens.
Sometimes it came through a particular experience.
And sometimes, as with his current training, it emerged through repetition.
If one repeated something enough times, one day they would simply realise it.
They had already attained enlightenment.
There were even moments of enlightenment where the moment itself was skipped entirely.
This was the enlightenment born of repeated practice.
It was something he had personally experienced long ago while training in swordsmanship.
Fortunately, he thoroughly understood the first three techniques of the Overturning Heaven Nine Fists, so there were no difficulties in his training.
While he was deeply immersed in practice, Lim Chung and Beon Saeng arrived.
Seeing him training in a manner unlike before, Lim Chung quickly spoke.
“We’ll come back later.”
“No, it’s fine. You can watch. I’m almost finished.”
“Yes.”
Lim Chung and Beon Saeng stood respectfully behind the wooden platform and observed Baek Socheon’s training with reverence.
Like an instructor demonstrating techniques to students at a martial arts hall, Baek Socheon slowly repeated each movement.
He raised the angle, then lowered it slightly.
He narrowed the distance between his feet, then widened it again.
Until now, the two of them had only ever learned fixed martial techniques.
Watching Baek Socheon train like this moved them deeply.
Martial arts were meant to be performed exactly as written in the manual or taught by one’s master.
Neither of them had ever questioned that principle even once.
Yet watching Baek Socheon now, it felt as though he was adapting the martial art to suit himself.
It was as if a manual originally instructed one to kick an opponent’s jaw, yet he was transforming it into a kick aimed at the chest or stomach instead.
Of course, they both understood.
If they carelessly attempted something like that themselves, they would only ruin everything.
When the training session ended, Beon Saeng finally asked the question he had been holding back.
“Are you learning a fist art?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard that the sword is the King of All Weapons. That’s why I learned swordsmanship as well. Then why are you learning a fist art instead of swordsmanship?”
“I learned swordsmanship too.”
“I knew it!”
When Beon Saeng had first met Baek Socheon, he had naturally assumed he was a swordsman and had even mistakenly thought he carried a sword.
There seemed to be an indescribable aura that only a master swordsman possessed.
“Right now, this is my swordsmanship. It’s a fist art meant to return me to my swordsmanship.”
To Baek Socheon, whether it was fist arts, spear arts, or movement techniques, every form of training was merely a process of returning to the person he once was.
He sought to comprehend the ultimate essence of martial arts and recover his Internal Energy.
Naturally, Lim Chung and Beon Saeng did not understand him at all.
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“You don’t need to.”
As they continued talking about martial arts, a certain desire slowly took root in Beon Saeng’s heart.
“This may be presumptuous, but… perhaps… you don’t have any intention of teaching me martial arts, do you?”
“I don’t.”
Compared to how cautiously Beon Saeng had asked, the refusal came far too quickly and decisively.
“I figured as much.”
Even so, lingering regret naturally followed.
“Still… if your little brother were stronger, you’d have less to worry about.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about us getting hurt or killed.”
“So what? What’s wrong with dying?”
Beon Saeng pouted.
“Right. Martial artists are probably dying somewhere in the Central Plains even at this very moment. So what if some little brother riding in the hundredth cart dies? Actually… you don’t even think of me as a little brother, do you?”
Unable to listen any longer, Lim Chung stepped in.
“Squad Leader Beon, martial arts are something that even families pass down with great caution.”
“I know that.”
Then Baek Socheon suddenly spoke.
“That’s not the reason.”
“What isn’t?”
“It has nothing to do with how close we are. It’s not as though I’d be passing on my personal martial art. I’d only be teaching you a few things suited to your level. There’s nothing difficult about that, and I’d lose nothing.”
“Then why won’t you teach us?”
Baek Socheon’s answer was completely unexpected.
“Because you’d die sooner.”
Beon Saeng stared blankly for a moment before asking,
“What do you mean?”
“When you see injustice now, you endure it, don’t you? But imagine yourself stronger than you are now. Would you still endure it?”
“…No.”
“All the resentment you’ve bottled up until now would explode at once.”
Beon Saeng could not deny it.
The moment he became stronger, he might very well hang a banner across Wencheng’s marketplace proclaiming, ‘A Master Has Been Born.’
“You’ll step in once, then twice. And once you start, someday you’ll die because of one unlucky day.”
“I can just judge when to step in and when to back off, can’t I? Besides, I’m an orphan who hasn’t even married yet. There isn’t anyone who’d be heartbroken if I died young.”
Beon Saeng was pleading.
He knew he shouldn’t be acting like this, yet he still wanted to beg.
Even if it meant dying young, he wanted to become stronger than he was now.
He felt pathetic for acting this way so late in life.
But even now, he wanted to grow stronger and truly live in the Martial World.
It was Baek Socheon who had infected him with that fever.
“I’m good at using my head. I won’t charge in like an idiot and get myself killed. I promise.”
“Even if you don’t recklessly throw yourself into danger, you’ll still die for another reason.”
“What reason?”
“Grudges. Someone will always emerge seeking revenge.”
“I’ll just train even harder.”
“You think your enemies will try to kill you fairly? What if they bribe an inn waiter to poison your food or wine? What if they sneak into your room while you’re asleep and slit your throat? What if they fire hidden weapons into your back? How would you stop any of that?”
Just hearing the examples made his chest feel heavy.
“Just endure it and live. That’s the way to live a long life.”
After pondering quietly for a while, Beon Saeng finally spoke.
“I was thinking about it the wrong way.”
“You’ve thought it through well.”
“No. I meant my whole way of thinking was wrong. Instead of asking you to teach me martial arts right away, I should have shown you how I was changing through my own training first. So that you’d look at me and think, ‘That guy might actually be worth teaching.’”
He had mountains of training he needed to do himself, yet he had searched for a shortcut first.
‘Yeah… if I were him, I wouldn’t want to teach me either.’
Beon Saeng bowed deeply before running off.
“Thank you for enlightening me, Big Brother.”
The reason life continued giving people opportunities to make new resolutions was not to condemn them for their weak resolve.
It was to let them know that another opportunity had arrived.
That was how Beon Saeng chose to think.
He intended to train with everything he had.
Whether he truly changed or not, he would genuinely strive to transform his life.
‘Instead of being the fool who only buys medicine from the medicine peddler, I’ll become the medicine peddler myself.’
Watching Beon Saeng’s departing back, Lim Chung smiled.
“I’ve already started training.”
“You have?”
“Yes.”
When he had massaged Baek Socheon’s shoulders…
When he had touched that burning-hot body…
He had been filled with the desire to train like that himself.
That day, Baek Socheon had said that at Lim Chung’s age, he had not even been able to stand.
Lim Chung believed him.
At the very least, Baek Socheon was not someone who would lie in a moment like that.
From that day onward, he quietly began his own personal training.
“I won’t be as dedicated as Squad Leader Beon. But I still have to try.”
Unlike Beon Saeng, he did not harbour grand ambitions of changing his entire life.
Lim Chung was already satisfied with the life he had.
His purpose was simply to protect his family.
He never wanted to experience another moment like the time Black Hand had nearly killed them.
“Then I’ll be going too.”
After the two of them left, Baek Socheon remained alone.
Looking towards the back of the building, he spoke.
“You can stop eavesdropping and come out now.”
A moment later, someone stepped out from behind the building.
“Somehow, this place feels even more heated than the Strategic Command Centre.”
The one who had appeared was none other than Grand Strategist Jegal Hyeon.
Sign up to join the discussion...
Already have an account? Log in
No comments yet. Be the first to discuss this chapter.