I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Entering the Murim Alliance without good reason—Chapter 41
A first-rate martial artist alone could have left sword marks of this depth on stone.
But.
The depth of the marks was consistent, and the brushwork lived. Which meant an expert had left them. A considerable one, at that.
Sa Urin felt it.
These marks were left by a martial artist who had ascended to the rank of Absolute Master.
“……Urin.”
Jang Chun was startled too.
Not because of the new words carved into the stone. He had already known of them.
He was astonished that Sa Urin could show such an expression.
“Did you know about this?”
“……Yes. It was three months ago. I tried to find out who it was, but…….”
“There wouldn’t have been any witnesses.”
It was virtually impossible that anyone had seen it.
“……Yes. I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Still…….”
“Truly, it’s fine. So please, don’t burden yourself with it.”
Sa Urin finished speaking and bowed before his father’s name.
The day his father passed came back to him.
The first day he had ever shed tears.
The day when tears that had been dammed up all his life came pouring out without restraint.
The feeling of that day was carved into him once more.
He had not shed tears since that day.
Sa Urin himself knew he would never shed tears again.
Or perhaps, a day might come when they would flow once more.
For tears, like all things, must flow.
As the years flow.
As spring water flows.
As red blood flows when death comes like a song.
Like clouds drifting through wind, Sa Urin stood atop the summit stone.
Then he looked down.
The vast Murim Alliance, cradled in the embrace of the great Dongting Lake.
“Father…….”
There lies your unfinished dream, does it not?
Now my dream too shall unfold in that very place. I cannot know if I shall see it fully realized, nor how much I shall achieve.
But I promise you.
To you, and to myself.
That I shall labor without rest, that I shall advance without ceasing.
If there stands a wall to bar my way, I shall cut it down with the sword you gave me. If there are those who would obstruct me, I shall crush them beneath the martial prowess you bestowed.
So watch over me.
And I shall surely uncover the truth.
Who wielded steel against your name and your will.
I will find them and demand of them the reason.
I will question and press until they kneel before your name, before your legacy.
So hear me.
Hear it thus.
The wind witnessed it.
The clouds heard it.
Etched into time itself.
* * *
Most members of the Patrol Division’s Bi Ryong Division had returned to the Murim Alliance.
Among those dispatched, only a handful had died in accidents or suffered grave wounds. The Martial World had known such a long peace, after all.
One day after returning to the Murim Alliance, Patrol Division Chief Jo In-jun summoned Unit Commander Jang Hye-in of the 11th Unit to his office.
The title of Chief within the Murim Alliance could be said to carry tremendous rank and authority.
The one with the highest rank and power within the Murim Alliance was naturally the Alliance Leader.
And after him came the elders dispatched as representatives from the Nine Sects and One Faction and the Five Great Clans. In terms of influence, one could hardly exaggerate to say their power might even exceed that of the Alliance Leader.
Of course, this assumed the elders were of one mind. And yet, such accord was no simple matter.
The elders were barely restrained from devouring one another.
And next in authority came the institutions directly under the Alliance Leader.
The Murim Alliance Leader’s direct institutions are manifold.
There is the Chief Administrator, the Strategic Advisor, the Patrol Division that constantly watches over the Murim Alliance Leader, the Personal Guard that always stands beside the Murim Alliance Leader, and the Heavenly Army Directive Division that follows only the Murim Alliance Leader’s orders—the true name of the Annihilation Blade Division. And finally, there is the Hidden Selection Division.
Among these, the position holding the greatest power is none other than the Strategic Advisor. This is because the Strategic Advisor, like the Murim Alliance Leader, maintains direct subordinate institutions beneath him.
And second only to that comes the Chief. Thus one can gauge how formidable his power and authority truly are.
As Jang Hye-in made his way to the Chief’s quarters, he was already forming rough suppositions about why the Chief had summoned him.
He’d heard it the day he returned to the Murim Alliance.
The former Bi Ryong Division Commander had stepped down, and Byeok In-su, who had been Deputy Commander, had ascended to the new position of Bi Ryong Division Commander.
This meant, naturally, that one Deputy Commander post had fallen vacant. If that were the case, they would need to fill the vacant Deputy Commander position.
Jang Hye-in was certain—he would have bet his life on it—that the Chief had summoned him for promotion to Deputy Commander, and he proceeded toward the Chief’s quarters with that conviction.
It was rare for a Chief to summon a mere Unit Commander to his quarters, which only reinforced his certainty.
Yet honestly, when he’d crossed over from Sichuan Province to the Murim Alliance, he’d harbored doubts about whether the Sichuan Tang Clan would truly back him.
Given how things stood.
But it seemed they would. Without the clan’s influence behind him, a promotion to Deputy Commander would have been like plucking stars from the sky.
Jang Hye-in finally arrived at the door to the Chief’s quarters. A martial artist assigned to guard the Chief stood watch outside.
“Unit Commander Jang Hye-in of Unit Eleven, reporting.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Understood.”
The guard announced Jang Hye-in to the Chief.
“Chief, the Unit Commander of Unit Eleven has arrived.”
The Chief’s voice sounded from within his quarters.
“Show him in.”
“Yes, Chief. You may enter.”
“Thank you.”
Jang Hye-in carefully opened the door to the Chief’s quarters and stepped inside.
Jo In-jun, the Patrol Division Chief, sat with an air of gravity about him. Jang Hye-in, masking his true feelings, offered a respectful bow to the chief before him.
“You summoned me, Chief?”
“Do you know why I’ve called you here?”
How could Jang Hye-in simply admit that he knew?
Best to feign ignorance even if he did know.
“How could I presume to know your intentions, Chief?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that is the case.”
“Then I shall tell you directly. Whether you know it or not, the Bi Ryong Division is short one Deputy Commander. Have you heard?”
In such moments, pretending not to have heard was the wisest course.
“Is that so? I was entirely unaware.”
“Ah, so the news reached you late.”
“I apologize.”
“No apology is necessary. Still, in this recent assignment to Sichuan Province, your Unit Eleven accomplished a considerable feat, did it not?”
Not considerable.
More than considerable—an outright significant one.
“We were fortunate.”
“Fortune is a form of ability. So it seems the clan came to me directly and asked that I promote you in this opportunity.”
Done.
Finally.
The promotion he’d so long desired was within reach.
‘Thank you, youngest.’
This was all thanks to Sa Urin rolling in wholesale, wasn’t it? Of course, Jang Hye-in’s own discernment in recognizing Sa Urin’s ability and drawing him in deserved credit, but he’d never dreamed Sa Urin would accomplish feats of such magnitude.
Truly, a gift sent down from heaven.
“But here’s the thing.”
‘…What else?’
There was more to it then?
“As it happens, I’ve also received word from the Namgoong Clan, asking me to promote that wretch Doo Jun-chul of Unit Forty-seven in this same opportunity.”
‘Damn it.’
He’d thought the rice was already cooked.
“So your promotions have come to rest in my hands. And I pride myself on being quite fair-minded.”
‘Where’s this nonsense coming from…’
“Of course, Chief.”
What choice did he have? He had to play along.
“So I’ve been thinking: how can I give you both an equal opportunity? When I thought on it that way, the answer became obvious. Do you know what it is?”
Too obvious to even speak aloud. But before a superior, one must know when to lower oneself—that was the cardinal virtue. So what could he do?
“How could I presume to fathom the Chief’s deeper thoughts?”
“Hah. Is that so? Then let me spell it out for you. All of us serving in the Murim Alliance are martial artists. For a martial artist, there’s only one competition: who is stronger? The conclusion is simple. Do you understand now?”
‘Thank heavens.’
He’d worried this greedy bastard might pull some other trick, but the Chief seemed determined to conduct this fairly, at least.
Though what whim had seized him, Jang Hye-in couldn’t say.
“You’re speaking of Martial Combat.”
“Yes.”
Unit Commander Doo Jun-chul of the 47th Unit was formidable. If Jang Hye-in hadn’t consumed the Millennium Ginseng—or rather, received it from Sa Urin—that he’d obtained from the Sichuan Tang Clan, the match would have been too uncertain to call; but now, he could confidently say Jang Hye-in held the advantage.
After all, his Internal Power had increased by nearly half a decade’s worth in a single leap.
Promotion, then, was as good as already his.
So it made sense that Jang Hye-in’s lips wanted to curve into a smile.
“But here’s the thing.”
‘This bastard really…!’
He wasn’t joking.
He’d declared the competition would be Martial Combat, so why this nonsense now?
This wasn’t a matter of giving something only to snatch it back.
“It won’t be Unit Commander against Unit Commander.”
“…What do you mean by that, sir?”
None of this made sense.
“…Could it be a full-unit Martial Combat?”
He’d rather avoid that entirely, but even so, he could understand the logic. Yet the 11th Unit would clearly be at a disadvantage—a significant one, in fact.
All of the 47th Unit’s members were strong. Within the Bi Ryong Division alone, it would be no exaggeration to call the 47th the strongest unit overall.
Still, the members of the 11th Unit no longer fell far short and could hold their own now.
Every last one of them had consumed the elixir that granted ten years’ worth of Internal Power accumulation.
“No. The Martial Combat will proceed one-on-one.”
This was…well, frankly absurd.
“…You said it wouldn’t be Unit Commander against Unit Commander?”
“That’s right.”
Then what?
What was he trying to accomplish here?
“When either of you rises to Deputy Chief, don’t your unit members advance alongside you?”
“…Yes, they do.”
So then…surely not?
“That’s it. One member from the 11th Unit and one from the 47th will conduct a one-on-one Martial Combat.”
‘Damn it.’
He’d never heard of anything like this before.
Not a full-unit Martial Combat, and not a match between the Unit Commanders who represented their units.
What in the world was going through that man’s head to come up with such a scheme?
‘Wait…in our unit…the youngest…’
Shit.
How had he not seen this sooner?
The strongest in the 11th Unit was the youngest—Sa Urin. Jang Hye-in himself was no match for him.
For a moment, Jang Hye-in felt his lips begin to twitch into a smile; he barely suppressed it. He couldn’t let his thoughts show.
“Then I simply choose one of my unit members to face them, correct?”
Obviously it would be the youngest, Sa Urin. There was no question about it.
And they’d win!
“Not quite.”
“…?”
“The 47th will choose which member of your unit will face a member of the 47th. Do you follow?”
No, he didn’t.
Damn it, would you understand if you were in his place? Huh?
Well, he understood the words, at least.
But the logic? That made no sense. No sense whatsoever.
Why?! For what reason?! Why does the 47th Unit get to decide everything?!
‘Could it be…?’
Yes. That was it.
That bastard had gotten something from the 47th Unit. There was no other reason he’d come up with such an absurd arrangement.
Might as well just promote that scoundrel Doo Jun-chul from the 47th! Huh?!
‘No, wait…’
That wouldn’t work. If he let this opportunity slip away, he might never get another chance like it again.
“Why the silence? If you can’t accept my proposal, there are other ways.”
“……Other ways?”
What other way could there possibly be?
“There is one. Well, I think there could be.”
“What do you——”
What utter nonsense.
“I’d prefer we discuss that method quietly, just the two of us, over a drink at my quarters. How does that sound?”
……In other words…….
‘……He’s asking for it right now?’
At Jo In-jun’s quarters, just him and Jang Hye-in, setting the mood with drink, laying hands on Jang Hye-in’s body — that’s what he meant.
This bastard really…….

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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