Black and White Martial Emperor

“What? Is that true?”

“Un—unbelievably, it is. They say the fighting that started last evening continued into this morning, and no one has managed to beat Young Master Yeon.”

Ga Deoksang’s mouth worked soundlessly.

“No, how does that make sense? The Ming Clan Lord isn’t an idiot—he wouldn’t have sent pushovers.”

The Flying Tiger Beggar swallowed.

“Just yesterday alone, they say he dispatched three experts: Ming Hak, Ming Hwi, and Ming Heon.”

“Huh?! Who are those? Sounds familiar, but....”

“I only learned it while investigating this time. They’re collateral-line experts of the Ming, and when the three brothers combine, they’re said to be able to subdue even the highest elder tier of the Nine Sects and One Union.”

“E—experts on that level?”

“At minimum, that level. It’s an analysis published by the Foul Ear Pavilion, so it can’t be wrong.”

“Huh....”

Ga Deoksang shook his head.

“This feels like a dream.”

He knew Yeon Hojeong’s martial arts.

Of course, there might be martial arts the boy hadn’t shown him. But those were exactly that—martial arts, a separate matter from actual ability.

Yeon Hojeong was a strong man. At nineteen, not even at the threshold of adulthood, he was a talent who could easily drive even decent peak masters into a corner.

With talent on that order, he could well stand on par with the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes. No—judging purely by talent, he might exceed them.

But that was all. He lacked nothing to be called a genius, but he was still an uncompleted great vessel. Across the Central Plains, there would be countless warriors stronger than Yeon Hojeong.

And yet he was holding his ground. Against the Ming Clan’s experts.

‘Man, what in the world is going on?’

Originally, Yeon Hojeong’s role was bait.

Literally, to buy time. With that dazzling tongue of his, the first plan was to stand his ground where all could see, proclaim the Ming Clan’s lawlessness and his own innocence, and hold the spot.

The second plan was himself. If the Ming tried to haul Yeon Hojeong off by force, then he, the Rear Beggar of the Beggars’ Union, would step out and plead Yeon Hojeong’s wrongful accusation.

Hadn’t he stayed up nights to gather information for that? Not information to defend Yeon Hojeong, but information cataloging the illegal acts the Ming had committed.

Of course, that much wouldn’t truly damage the Ming. But at the very least, it would buy time.

Until when? Until the Grand Assembly convened.

And in the time when everyone’s eyes were fixed on the Ming, he planned to rally the Henan sects connected to the Beggars’ Union and press the Ming.

‘The core of this plan isn’t to corner the Ming. It’s to make them stumble and, after that, buy the time to trace the source of the rumors.’

It sounded complicated, but it wasn’t at all. With ★ ★ Yeon Hojeong’s capability and the Beggars’ Union’s intelligence web, it was a picture entirely within reach.

But Yeon Hojeong ruined it.

“Crazy bastard. I told him over and over, absolutely do not fight.”

“Uh... Rear Beggar.”

“What!”

“Should I tell you something worse?”

Ga Deoksang’s face went ashen.

“There’s something worse than this?!”

The Flying Tiger Beggar mumbled.

“...He’s doing it.”

“Speak clearly! So everyone hears!”

“Y—Young Master Yeon is, well, brazenly demanding they bring the Clan Lord.”

“What?”

“He’s pressing them not to waste precious subordinates and to show himself in person.”

“...!”

“I don’t know what foolhardiness this is. No matter what, when it’s gone this far, it seems better to step back.... And the way he’s splitting the experts the Ming sends like he’s chopping firewood, one after another....”

“That’s not it.”

“Sir?”

Light flashed in Ga Deoksang’s eyes.

“In the midst of it, he’s doing well.”

“D—doing well? You call telling the Clan Lord of the world’s foremost great clan to come in person ‘doing well’?”

“He is. He’s focusing all of Henan’s attention.”

Even without a single exchanged letter.

Ga Deoksang grasped in an instant what Yeon Hojeong intended.

“‘Dig up as much of the Ming’s corruption as possible before the Grand Assembly bursts open.’ That’s what he means.”

All of Henan’s attention fixed? Among those eyes are the Ming of the Nine Provinces themselves.

After seizing the signboard of “the world’s foremost,” the Ming were being tested, for the first time, by a single person. And not by a venerable old grandmaster, but by a fresh youth not yet twenty.

They would be livid.

With all Henan’s eyes on them, they couldn’t send assassins, and since it would obviously prove his innocence, they couldn’t simply kill him.

No—killing the eldest son of one of the Seven Great Clans was out of the question to begin with. The death of a subordinate or collateral blood is on an entirely different plane from the death of a direct scion.

“Just in case—should we loose the Shadow-Death Division now?”

“Are you insane?! That would give the Ming the pretext to kill Young Master Yeon!”

“Ah....”

“You release the Shadow-Death after the Grand Assembly opens. What we do now is dig up the corruption the Ming has committed.”

In any case, the decisive thunderclap would be struck by the Mo Yong Clan. Until then, he would pop the Ming’s abuses one by one so they couldn’t lay a hand on Yeon Hojeong.

“Ah, and there’s one more thing I didn’t mention!”

“Report it in one go, will you! What is it?!”

“Lee Cheolgyung has shown up.”

Ga Deoksang’s eyes went wide.

“Lee Cheolgyung? That Lee Cheolgyung?”

“Yes.”

Lee Cheolgyung was a master famed as the strongest among Shaolin’s secular-line disciples.

A secular disciple who had nonetheless been taught several of invincible Shaolin’s pinnacle arts—in short, a master born with genius talent. Though of similar age to Ga Deoksang, his martial attainment was already said to have reached the elder tier of the Nine Sects.

People said it wouldn’t be strange if the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes became the Three Dragons and Three Phoenixes because of him. In fact, in a few regions they already included him and called it the Three Dragons and Three Phoenixes.

On top of that, just past thirty, he already led a sect called the Diamond Fist School.

The Diamond Fist School ranked among the top ten of Shaolin’s secular-line schools. Its influence in Henan was formidable.

“Why would that man suddenly move?”

“Suddenly? For the Ming, this is an unprecedented situation, and in the history of Henan’s martial world, it’s rare as well. Of course he’d move.”

“That’s true, but... No, where is he right now?”

“They say he was seen at a wine house not far from Young Master Yeon’s party.”

“That so?”

Ga Deoksang grinned.

“This might go easier than I thought.”

“Sir?”

“You! Right now, spread the word to all the beggars in Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang! If there’s any business or organization tied to the Ming, turn it over, no exceptions!”

“Ah, yes! Then what about you, Rear Beggar?”

“I’m going to that madman!”

While Ga Deoksang was moving so fast the grime on his soles might have peeled off in layers—

The mood in the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain in Jiangsu was nothing but heavy.

“...That’s how matters stand.”

“...”

“What will you do?”

Yeon Wi, looking out the window, did not stir.

The Iron Cudgel Beggar sighed inwardly.

‘Of course.’

Even a man of iron composure—this was the moment when his son’s life and death wavered.

But he couldn’t move at once. He was the Clan Lord. To put it bluntly, if the Ming, feigning madness, shoved into Jiangsu in this climate, the Yeon Clan could be blown to pieces.

Setting that aside, he had already dispatched the Azure Hawk Squad. For the Clan Lord to move again on top of that would lower the family’s prestige.

And yet he couldn’t simply watch his eldest teeter on the brink—he must be going mad.

Just then, Yeon Wi spoke.

“Branch Master.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Clan Lord Mo Yong has sent urgent letters to the heads of the Nine Sects and One Union and the Seven Great Clans. He intends to open the Right of Grand Assembly.”

Light flared in the Iron Cudgel Beggar’s eyes.

“It’s already arrived.”

“This morning.”

“Do you intend to go?”

Yeon Wi tipped his chin slightly, lifting his gaze to the sky beyond the window.

“I do not intend to.”

“...”

“If I move now, Hojeong will waver. At times like this, the best course is simply to hold one’s seat.”

Regret creased the Iron Cudgel Beggar’s face.

He could tell Yeon Wi’s voice trembled ever so slightly. In his heart, he must want to sprint there this instant, Assembly or no Assembly.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“Speak.”

Yeon Wi turned his body. It was the same indifferent expression as always.

“Take this.”

The letter he held out was fairly thick.

Accepting it, the Iron Cudgel Beggar looked at Yeon Wi in puzzlement.

“What is this?”

“I had it investigated separately through my trading firm.”

“Your trading firm?”

“Yes.”

“Mm... May I look?”

“Do.”

The Iron Cudgel Beggar unfolded the letter.

In that instant, his eyes flew wide, as if they would split.

“To tell the truth, I don’t care whether the Ming collapse or not. It’s enough, I think, if this ends with a warning, since they crossed the line and coveted our ground.”

Gulp.

“But the death of my son is an entirely different matter. Before I am a Clan Lord, I am a father; I cannot but avenge my son.”

“...!”

“Blood will form a river. Many unrelated people will die. I want my son safe, and I have no wish to kill the innocent.”

“...”

“So send this to the Ming by express, directly.”

“M—my lord. If you send this to the Ming, their blades will turn toward you.”

“They will.”

“This won’t be enough to topple the Ming. But if this becomes known, the Ming will have to set down the name of ‘the world’s foremost.’”

“That’s why I say send it.”

“R—rather, why not send it to Clan Lord Mo Yong and let it be detonated step by step at the Grand Assembly....”

In that instant, a fearsome radiance burst from Yeon Wi’s eyes.

“More than the Ming vanishing from this world!”

“...?!”

“My son’s life matters more to me.”

“My lord.”

“He is my child, and I never once truly held him. Somehow he grew up in a blink, went out into the world, and now fights alone, shouldering what his father ought to bear.”

“...”

“Address it to the Ming Clan Lord. Express. It must not leak or veer anywhere along the way.”

“...Understood.”

“Forgive me for shouting.”

“Not at all. If anything, I should apologize. I was blinded by the slaying of great evil and failed to weigh your heart. Please forgive me.”

He was not a man to say “sorry” lightly. It meant he was that anxious.

“I leave it in your hands.”

“Don’t worry. It will arrive within three days.”

The Iron Cudgel Beggar hurried out of the Clan Lord’s chamber.

Yeon Wi cast his gaze back out the window.

“...Clear.”

The sky, without a single cloud, was damnably clear. So clear he felt like shredding it to ribbons with the Heavenly Net Sword Method.

“Endure a little longer. Just a little.”