Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 61

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 61.
“I shall send you the list you desire, Faction Leader, within the shortest time possible to the Black Dragon Gang.”
“I look forward to it. Do take care on your way.”
Sa Do Myeong bowed deeply as though entranced, then vanished like a fleeing shadow into the darkness beyond the window through which he had entered.
Silence descended upon the room once more.
Yun Cheon smiled faintly as he toyed with the now-cold teacup.
‘The bait has been taken. I’ve cast my line into the Inspection Bureau’s waters… now comes the next move.’
* * *
The following morning, in the Faction Leader’s Office.
Thud—!
A massive map fashioned from rough leather unfurled across the table.
It was a detailed rendering of the terrain surrounding Qinghai Province and the territorial divisions of the Martial World’s powers.
“Faction Leader, as you commanded, I have compiled a summary of the forces competing with the Black Dragon Gang in the vicinity of Qinghai Province.”
So Ryong began his report, pointing to various locations on the map with his finger.
His voice carried a subtle undercurrent of tension.
“Currently, with our Black Dragon Gang at the center, to the east lies the Iron Shark Gang controlling the waterways, to the west stands the Blood Axe Fortress assembled from bandit hordes, and to the north at the mountain passes the Seven Star Sect has entrenched themselves. All three are far removed from common ronin—they are formidable forces with substantial backing.”
Yun Cheon gazed silently down at the map.
“Moreover, as ronin have flocked to our Black Dragon Gang like clouds of late, these rivals have grown wary and begun deploying spies to monitor our movements. Should we hold a grand inauguration ceremony under such circumstances…”
So Ryong swallowed hard.
“They will surely not remain idle. Those jackals, ever eager to devour us, will seize the inauguration as a pretext, disguising themselves as well-wishers to provoke conflict.”
Crushing emerging powers to break their spirit was a common principle of the Martial World.
So Ryong’s concerns were entirely justified for one serving as the gang’s chief administrator.
“Is that so? Then fortune smiles upon us.”
Yet Yun Cheon’s expression remained composed.
“Sir?”
“To take root firmly in Qinghai Province, these weeds must be cleared eventually. It would be troublesome to seek them out and uproot them one by one.”
Such audacity—treating long-standing rival forces as mere weeds.
And a chilling declaration that he would eliminate them all at once.
“Send invitations to all the forces I mentioned, without exception. On the day of the inauguration, I shall open the Black Dragon Gang’s gates wide. Let them come if they dare.”
Yun Cheon issued the command in a low voice, his chin resting on his hand as though bored.
‘Excellent… truly worthy of our Faction Leader! Such composure—these rabble of Qinghai Province are not even worth a single fist!’
So Ryong’s shoulders tensed with excitement at the composed demeanor Yun Cheon displayed.
“Understood! I shall immediately dispatch invitations to all nearby gangs and mountain strongholds!”
So Ryong turned to leave with great momentum.
“Ah, and to these places as well.”
Scratch, scratch.
Yun Cheon picked up his brush and wrote several names across the blank paper without hesitation.
As the ink-scented paper was slid forward, So Ryong accepted it respectfully with both hands.
And the moment he examined the list.
“…?!”
So Ryong’s breath caught in his throat.
His eyes widened as if they might burst from their sockets, and the hand holding the paper began to tremble like an aspen leaf.
“F-Faction Leader! What… what is this? Surely you’re not saying we should send invitations to all these places?!”
At So Ryong’s cry of astonishment, the other instructors drew near.
“What name could possibly warrant such a fuss?”
Jin So Wol snatched the list from So Ryong’s hands.
Yet Jin So Wol’s face, too, turned rigid in an instant.
“…These… these places!”
“Heh, Faction Leader. Isn’t this stage becoming far too grand?”
Even Chui Geom Yi Mok seemed to have sobered, his tongue clicking against his teeth.
The names written on the paper were no mere local ruffians or minor sects of Qinghai Province.
[Demonic Way Hall]
[Ilwol Trading Company]
[Shadowless Kill Sect]
[Guang Feng Yalü Family]
The Ilwol Trading Company, with whom we’d arranged commerce, and the Demonic Way Hall, Yun Cheon’s original sect, were at least comprehensible.
But the Shadowless Kill Sect and the Guang Feng Yalü Family…
They were all core powers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, belonging to the Ten Demon Sects and the Twelve Orthodox Families respectively.
“Faction Leader… these are not in the same league as the jackals of Qinghai Province! They are the colossal forces that crush the righteous sects and rule the western Central Plains!”
“For a mere inaugural ceremony of an upstart branch faction… they are indeed forces of considerable weight.”
So Ryong and Jin So Wol fell silent in consternation, attempting to dissuade him.
But Yun Cheon set down his brush and swept them with eyes gone cold as ice.
“Why stop here? This is far from finished.”
Soon, the ‘Ledger of Slaughter’ will arrive, transmitted through Sa Do Myeong from the Inspection Bureau.
“Does the Black Dragon Gang wish to remain a provincial backwater faction forever?”
“…!”
“If we bear such a grandiose name as Black Dragon, we must play upon a stage worthy of it.”
As all fell silent beneath that overwhelming momentum, it was Yalü Hee who broke the quiet.
Crack.
Her fist clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“…Yun Cheon. Even so, don’t send one to my family.”
Her voice had lost its usual sharpness, replaced by something bitter and parched.
Yun Cheon’s gaze turned toward Yalü Hee.
“Why not? Isn’t it your ancestral home?”
“Yes. Besides, no one will come anyway…”
Yalü Hee kept her head bowed, a self-mocking smile crossing her lips.
“It’s obvious. They’ll treat me as a child they’ve abandoned. Father and my brothers would never grace a provincial faction’s ceremony with their presence. It would be wasted effort.”
Her lips trembled slightly.
“If they learned I’d entered the Black Dragon Gang as a guest… they’d see it as shameful. They’d be fortunate not to tear the invitation to shreds.”
The pride of the Twelve Orthodox Families.
Beneath that hollow veneer, the contempt and alienation she had endured seeped through with palpable weight.
Jin So Wol and So Ryong dared not open their mouths about her wounds.
But Yun Cheon, rather than sympathizing with her pain, drove an icy lance directly into it.
“Is the Black Dragon Gang something to be ashamed of? Or do you lack confidence in yourself?”
“…What?”
“Sending invitations is not about borrowing your name to ride on their prestige. It is the opposite.”
Yun Cheon met Yalü Hee’s gaze directly as he continued.
“It is a declaration that you will walk your own path without relying on the Guang Feng Yalü Family. You are not the daughter of the Guang Feng Yalü Family—you are Yalü Hee, the instructor of the Black Dragon Gang.”
Yalü Hee’s pupils trembled violently.
“I am certain that before long, your name will spread across the martial world on the winds.”
It was boundless faith in her, and a declaration of war against the entrenched powers of the Demonic Cult.
“….”
Yalü Hee stared blankly at Yun Cheon, then slowly unclenched her fists.
The sorrow that had gathered at her eyes evaporated, replaced by fierce determination that blazed like wildfire.
“…You’re right. I’ll show my family exactly what my worth is through this opportunity.”
Yun Cheon nodded and gestured toward So Ryong.
“If they do not come, so be it. There is no need to concern ourselves further. Time is limited. Send invitations at once to all those whose names are on the list. The inauguration ceremony will be exactly fifteen days from now.”
Yun Cheon’s cold lips curled upward with a bloodthirsty smile.
“On that day, the power structure of Qinghai Province will be reorganized.”
* * *
Days later, invitations from the Black Dragon Gang were delivered throughout Qinghai Province.
The reactions of the various factions that received them were starkly divided.
Blood Axe Fortress, situated in the treacherous rocky cliffs to the west of Qinghai Province.
From the deepest recesses of the blood-reeking bandit den, a boisterous laugh erupted alongside the harsh clang of metal.
“Kahahaha! The Black Dragon Gang? That cowardly money-grubbing faction of So Ryong?”
Maeng Ung, the fortress master of Blood Axe Fortress, tore into a beast’s leg with a bloodthirsty laugh.
Glistening grease smeared across his beard.
Beneath his feet, the crimson invitation from the Black Dragon Gang lay carelessly trampled.
“I don’t know where this upstart crawled from, but the new faction leader certainly has guts. Sending invitations to Blood Axe Fortress.”
“Fortress Master. Word has it that he’s been scraping together ronin and raising dust in the Training Ground every day. It seems he intends to build considerable strength….”
At the deputy fortress master’s words, Maeng Ung slammed the massive black iron axe he was holding onto the ground.
Boom—!
The rocky floor cracked like a spider’s web, dust billowing upward.
“Strength? Gathering mere scraps of ronin and speaking of power? A hundred rabble couldn’t match a single swing of my axe!”
Maeng Ung’s eyes gleamed with savage greed.
“The weather’s turning cold anyway, and our stores are running low. The inauguration ceremony will have the Black Dragon Gang’s gates wide open, yes?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Perfect! No need to disguise ourselves as well-wishers. On that day, I’ll lead all of Blood Axe Fortress’s forces to assault them, stain their banquet table with blood, and devour their faction whole!”
* * *
At the same moment.
The main residence of the Guang Feng Yalü Family, one of the Twelve Orthodox Families positioned near the Demonic Cult’s headquarters.
Within the grand hall where a chill wind swept through, an icy silence enveloped everything.
Skreeeee—!
A sharp blade aura tore through the air, cleaving the crimson invitation in two.
The severed scraps of paper fluttered down to the floor.
“…How dare a third-rate faction from some backwater village present an inauguration invitation to the main family?”
Yalü Jin, the patriarch of the Guang Feng Yalü Family.
“The bloodline of Guang Feng consorting with provincial rabble… a disgrace to the clan.”
Yalü Jin clicked his tongue, his voice dripping with contempt.
The patriarch’s face twisted hideously with indignation.
“Father… please, compose yourself.”
Yalü Cheok, the eldest son and prodigy of the family who had risen to the 37th position on the Fengyun Ranking, spoke in a low, measured tone to restrain his father.
[Black Dragon Gang Martial Instructor, Yalü Hee]
His gaze fixed upon a single line written on the torn invitation.
“I thought she had resolved to enter the Demonic Way Hall with such determination….”
“Yet she merely remains as a guest instructor at some minor faction. How pathetic.”
“Tsk… Patriarch. It would have been wiser to arrange her marriage to a suitable family much sooner.”
The retainers mocked Yalü Hee, their words dripping with scorn.
She was already being treated as a cast-off child of the family.
‘Hee! What were you thinking… when hiding would have sufficed, why send an invitation and provoke Father’s wrath?’
Yalü Cheok’s heart burned with worry for his younger sister’s safety.
Even amid the family’s harsh atmosphere, she had never abandoned her path.
Seeing his sister reduced to merely an instructor at some provincial faction stirred both regret and affection within him, yet before the family’s strict codes, he had to suppress those feelings entirely.
“Sending an invitation as if proud of becoming an instructor at some third-rate faction… it seems I raised my daughter far too indulgently.”
Killing intent seeped between Patriarch Yalü Jin’s teeth.
“Summon the Wind Demon Squad! Go and sever the head of this so-called Black Dragon Gang leader, and drag Yalü Hee back here even if you must break her legs!”
The patriarch’s command froze the air in the grand hall.
Yalü Cheok was about to open his mouth urgently to protect his sister.
“Father! Please, wait! I shall go myself!”
A youthful yet resolute voice.
It was Yalü Hyeon, Yalü Hee’s younger brother and the youngest attendee at the family council.
“Hyeon, this is not your burden to bear.”
Though Yalü Cheok tried to dissuade him, Yalü Hyeon clenched his fists and knelt before the patriarch.
“Dispatching the Wind Demon Squad or my brother to punish a mere third-rate faction from the provinces would only elevate their standing! We must show them that I alone, who has not yet ventured into the martial world, am more than sufficient!”
On the surface, he invoked the family’s pride, yet hidden within Yalü Hyeon’s eyes lay a different emotion.
‘Sister… what are you doing out there? I wish to see you.’
His sister, who had left home claiming to enter the Demonic Way Hall, had left him without even a word of news.
He could not allow the Wind Demon Squad to descend upon her mercilessly.
He had stepped forward with a plausible pretext, driven by the desire to go himself and bring his sister back safely.
“Hmm….”
Faction Leader Yalü Jin observed the bold gleam in his youngest son’s spirited eyes, then exhaled sharply through his nose and set aside his irritation.
“…Hyeon, your words hold merit. Very well—go fetch Hee yourself.”
“I shall obey your command, Father!”
As Yalü Hyeon responded with vigor, Yalü Cheok standing beside him released a quiet sigh of relief.
‘Hmm… Hyeon holds deep affection for Hee. If he goes, at least she won’t come to harm.’
The Yalü Family brothers each worried for their sister in their own way.
None of them considered how Yalü Hee might have changed after entering the Demonic Way Hall, passing through Qian Mo Cave and the Inner Library, and then the Black Dragon Gang.
* * *
The Faction Leader’s Office of the Black Dragon Gang.
A letter that Sa Do Myeong had secretly sent through a messenger bird lay upon Yun Cheon’s desk.
“…It has arrived.”
A list of those whom the Inspection Bureau wished to dispose of in secret.
The Register of Slaughter.
A cold smile traced the corners of Yun Cheon’s mouth as he scanned through the names.

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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