Murim Login - Chapter 547

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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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Chapter 547
A chill silence descended upon the Grand Conference Hall.
In truth, I had anticipated this reaction long before uttering a single word.
And among the dozens of people gathered here, I had already foreseen who would be the first to hurl sharp words in my direction.
“You call that… speaking?”
There was no escaping my own predictions.
I watched the salt-and-pepper haired middle-aged man open his mouth as though on cue, and inwardly clicked my tongue.
I already knew his name and station from prior knowledge. At the last gathering, he had stared daggers so persistently that I wondered who this man was—only to discover he bore an indirect connection to me.
‘They say a Jang cannot be deceived.’
Indeed, father and son bore a striking resemblance. The same sharp, piercing gaze, the same arrogant gleam in the eye and contemptuous tone.
“It seems my words aren’t reaching your ears.”
To the question posed by Hwang Bo-gun—the salt-and-pepper haired middle-aged man, father of Hwangbo Ak the Shandong Fist Dragon, and patriarch of the Hwangbo Family—I blinked slowly.
“Of course I heard you. How could I not?”
“Then why no response?”
“Because the question itself is absurd. I spoke with my own mouth, so naturally I considered it speech. Did I perhaps growl like some beast?”
Chung Poong, seated beside me, perked up his ears.
“Benefactor, you can make sounds like that?”
“Cheong So-hyup, keep your mouth shut. Unless you want to vomit up the dumplings in your belly.”
“Thank you…”
Hwang Bo-gun’s expression crumpled as he witnessed this exchange.
“Do you not understand what kind of gathering this is!”
“Is there anyone here who came without understanding that?”
“Yet before these esteemed seniors of great renown, you dare spout such vulgar drivel!”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to speak in the first place. But we should hear the seniors’ perspective too. What do you think, honored elders?”
At my sudden question, Mae Jong-hak nodded.
“The Pavilion Master Jin is right. I don’t much care. The words may be harsh, but we must face reality.”
“Mae, Alliance Leader!”
I swiftly cut off Hwang Bo-gun’s bewildered cry.
“Yes. I’ve heard well the wise counsel of our Martial Alliance Leader. And what of our Five Kings Hall Master?”
Jeok Cheon-gang regarded Hwang Bo-gun with the gaze one might cast upon an insect.
“What are you babbling about? It’s all fucked. Don’t mind his nonsense—continue.”
“Thank you for the candid response.”
I turned to face Hwang Bo-gun and gave a slight shrug.
“As you see, these esteemed seniors have spoken.”
“…!”
While this gathering overflowed with those deserving the title of senior, none could compare to Jeok Cheon-gang and Mae Jong-hak.
If the leaders of the Nine Major Sects and One Alliance and the Five Great Families were squad leaders among the rank-and-file soldiers, then Mae Jong-hak as Martial Alliance Leader was a battalion commander, and Jeok Cheon-gang was a master sergeant major.
‘If you lack seniority, you must hold your tongue.’
Seniority aside—even stripped of rank, a single Fire King-branded fiery fist would send one flying.
This was why even Feng Yun Sword Lord, the Zhongnan Sect Master and chief representative among those who viewed Chung Poong and me unfavorably, kept his mouth firmly sealed.
And that meant nothing less than Hwang Bo-gun had become isolated.
‘One must measure the bed before stretching their legs. Why does he insist on acting alone like that?’
I’d heard that Hwang Bo-gun had made some noise during the Great Tournament of Zhengma, but whether his political instincts were naturally dull or he’d become a runaway locomotive over matters concerning his only son—the sole heir of three generations—I couldn’t say.
I hummed a mournful melody tinged with sympathy.
“I am a dung beetle. I have no friends.”
“You, you impudent brat!”
I couldn’t end it there. I drove home the combo I’d carefully prepared.
“Wah wah. Baby Hwang Bo-gun.”
“Noooo—!”
Boom-crash!
As he sprang to his feet, veins bulged prominently across his clenched fists.
It was at that moment, with Hwang Bo-gun glaring at me through eyes blazing with fury, having gained nothing and lost everything.
“You… If I may be so bold, I have but one question for the Hwangbo Family Head.”
The words came suddenly.
Beneath the gentle tone lay an unyielding core.
Jin Wi-kyung’s gaze, now fixed upon Hwang Bo-gun, had grown cold and settled.
“I ask: what is your official position within the Martial Alliance, Hwangbo Family Head?”
“…!”
“No matter how young the Fire Dragon Pavilion Master may be in years, he is the successor to the great legacy of Fire King Red Sky River and serves as a Pavilion Master of the Martial Alliance. By the standards of the martial world’s hierarchy, he stands no lower than you, Hwangbo Family Head.”
A direct hit. Hwang Bo-gun’s face hardened rigidly as the wound was struck.
Though he was the Family Head of the Hwangbo Family, the hegemon of Shandong, he was merely an Outer Hall Director overseeing the defenses of a single region.
Thus, in the official hierarchy of the Martial Alliance, he ranked below me as an Inner Hall Pavilion Master.
“That is….”
Unable to continue, Hwang Bo-gun bit his lips firmly and looked around, searching for support.
But contrary to his hopes, the reactions from those around him toward Hwang Bo-gun were lukewarm at best.
“Amitabha Buddha. Perhaps it would be wise to restrain yourself, Hwangbo Patron.”
“Hmph, such commotion in this sacred Alliance Master Hall.”
“Yeolhwa Shinryong—no, we are not taking sides with the Fire Dragon Pavilion Master. Both of you should cease now and return to your seats.”
I answered with perfect composure.
“I have been seated from the beginning.”
“Then only one person remains standing.”
It was clear whom I meant.
And toward Hwang Bo-gun, torn between the rational judgment that he must stop now and the last shred of pride held by the hegemon of Shandong and head of his clan, came the words that could resolve his indecision.
“Did you stuff cotton in your ears?”
Fire King Red Sky River. With his terse words, the air in the Grand Conference Hall grew scorching hot.
In those two eyes, suffused with crimson light, the frozen figure of Hwang Bo-gun was reflected.
“Sit. Right now.”
“…!”
Whoooosh!
As the overwhelming force swept through the air, Hwang Bo-gun’s eyes widened in shock. In fact, everyone in the Grand Conference Hall did the same.
“Hmm.”
Eon Hwa-pyung, the Authority King who had been silently observing the situation, let out a low groan.
“You… the Red Sky lineage. How dare you…!”
Byuk Ryuk Do-wang Paeng Chul-hu’s gaze trembled with fury.
The momentum of Red Sky River was formidable, overwhelming like a second sun.
Those still at the peak of their cultivation and those who had already transcended it could all feel his power.
‘Returning youth to the aged.’
The mountain range called martial arts is treacherous and vast. Sometimes one must traverse steep gorges, and sometimes climb cliffs as if carved by divine hands.
And Red Sky River… he stood like a great warrior upon the summit at its end.
He had become something that transcended the title of Fire King. Together with one other person in this place.
“Red Sky Master.”
The moment Sword Saint Mae Jong-hak’s quiet voice rang out, the scorching wind that had swept through the Grand Conference Hall vanished.
Red Sky River, who had instantly reined in his momentum, replied curtly.
“What is it?”
“Hmm.”
“I understand. I understand. That fool was making too much noise, so I merely gave him a fright.”
No jest—frighten him twice more and he would soil himself.
The ‘fool’ Red Sky River spoke of was already sitting in his seat with a deathly pale complexion.
“Finally, some peace and quiet.”
Mae Jong-hak, regarding Red Sky River’s soft murmur with a gently reproachful gaze, parted his lips.
His eyes had already turned to fix upon me.
“Master of the Fire Dragon Pavilion.”
“Yes.”
“You have confronted the Dark Heaven’s schemes in Shanxi and Hanan, as well as in Sichuan and Hubei.”
To be precise, I had been caught up in them, but I nodded quietly.
This was the Grand Conference Hall of the Martial Alliance. Facing Hwang Bo-gun was incomparable to discussing grave matters that lay ahead.
“That is correct.”
“I suspect few in this world know Dark Heaven as well as you do. Therefore, this Alliance Leader wishes to hear your insight.”
“I was merely present at those scenes. The Shadow Pavilion would have far better knowledge of the precise circumstances and what unfolds across the martial world. I have already shared everything with them.”
“I seek what you yourself have witnessed and experienced. The thoughts you harbor within, having endured all those circumstances.”
Yes. This is how it should be.
The words I cast before were merely groundwork for what I must say next.
One or two acts of deference and refusal are virtues, and when Sword Saint Mae Jong-hak, bearing the authority of the Martial Alliance Leader, asks for my opinion in such earnest, it carries that much more weight.
‘Good.’
I took a quiet, deep breath.
If my position until now had been the back seat of a car, from this moment forward it was the passenger seat.
On a dawn shrouded in thick fog, I cannot tell a driver embarking on an unfamiliar road everything I know without a navigation system.
But I can tell him where the speed bumps lie, and what awaits ahead on this very road we now travel.
‘Even that ominous thought that has not left my mind these past days.’
As I gathered my thoughts and lifted my head, every person in the Grand Conference Hall was looking at me alone.
Dozens of pairs of eyes.
In a war already underway, these were individuals who could save or condemn hundreds, thousands of lives.
Whether they would truly take to heart the words of a mere youth barely past his coming of age remained uncertain—yet that was irrelevant.
‘It doesn’t matter. If we can achieve victory in this war. If we can reduce even the slightest danger and sacrifice.’
Right now. I must do what I can.
Perhaps it was because of such resolve that my voice, when it emerged from my lips in the next moment, carried a power unlike my usual tone.
“Dark Heaven is….”
* * *
Two hours later. Only three people remained in the Grand Conference Hall after everyone else had departed.
The chairs that had held dozens of people mere moments before now sat empty, yet a heavy silence had settled and refused to lift.
Cheon Myeon Ho-ri Song Ho thought that those who had left the Alliance Master Hall were likely experiencing the same sensation now.
‘And with good reason.’
The words that had flowed from Jin Tae-kyung’s lips were nothing short of shocking.
No one was ignorant of Dark Heaven’s existence and danger, yet no one had ever warned of the crisis with such intensity as that young man.
‘Not even I.’
The Shadow Pavilion drew together information from across the realm and poured forth countless predictions.
Hundreds of carrier pigeons arrived daily with intelligence tied to their slender legs, only to depart again shortly after.
Therefore, Cheon Myeon Ho-ri, master of the Shadow Pavilion, was well aware of just how dangerous Dark Heaven truly was.
‘But….’
Yeolhwa Shinryong. The thoughts of that young master of the Fire Dragon Pavilion, who stirred up disturbances one after another, far exceeded all expectations.
When others spoke of danger, he had prophesied catastrophe, and when someone cited the precedent of the past Great Demon War to argue for the Martial Alliance’s victory, he had responded with cutting precision.
‘Are we fighting the Demon Cult right now? Our opponent is Dark Heaven, Dark Heaven.’
‘What Dark Heaven has demonstrated is not mere demonic cultivation. So how should I describe this? Ah, it’s maddening. Fine. Let’s call it demonic cultivation for now.’
‘For whatever reason, we must launch a counterattack immediately while Dark Heaven remains quiet. If we continue like this, it’s the end. We all die.’
‘Who said that’s excessive? You there, Alliance Lord. Have you perhaps fought something that regenerates even with its limbs crushed, or battled a water dragon? An hour ago when you saw that monster, were you only thinking about what to eat for dinner tonight?’
‘Our opponent is not an ordinary person. Dark Heaven is one massive monster, and soon we may truly have to fight creatures like that.’
‘I was perhaps too harsh in my words. But I must speak what needs to be said. We must take every possible measure immediately. Especially if there are divine treasures enshrined in your homes like precious heirlooms.’
Cheon Myeon Ho-ri Song Ho suddenly furrowed his brow.
From the moment Jin Tae-kyung began speaking, the area where his prosthetic leg connected had begun to throb, and now a burning pain was rising.
‘Just a year ago, this wasn’t happening.’
The pain that had resumed at some point began to torment him, now an old man.
As if warning him that this was not the time for such weakness.
And today, he was with that young man.
‘It was as if he knew. As if he had already experienced and predicted some truth that I, the Shadow Pavilion, and everyone else did not know.’
Prediction? No. Cheon Myeon Ho-ri Song Ho corrected his own thought from moments before.
‘Prophecy. It was like prophecy itself.’
The question was whether it truly was prophecy.
Could the words of that young man, who stood closer to Dark Heaven than anyone else in the realm, truly be trusted?
Where did truth end and exaggeration begin?
It was at that very moment when Cheon Myeon Ho-ri fell into deep contemplation.
“Trust him.”
“Pardon?”
Jeok Cheon-gang, who remained in the Grand Conference Hall, continued speaking as Cheon Myeon Ho-ri’s head snapped up.
“I said to trust him.”
“Fire King.”
“I know what you’re about to say. But….”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s tone suddenly softened.
“That man—the one I know—has never been wrong. Not once.”
“…!”
In the moment Cheon Myeon Ho-ri faltered at those words brimming with absolute conviction, Mae Jong-hak—the last of the three remaining in the Grand Conference Hall—suddenly spoke.
“There exists in this world a certainty that no amount of information can fathom.”
“Alliance Leader, do you mean…?”
“Indeed.”
Mae Jong-hak rose from his seat and continued slowly.
“Summon him. We must entrust the Fire Dragon Pavilion with its first assignment.”

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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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