That night.

“Heh.”

Mo Yonggun was well and truly drunk.

It was the first time he’d gotten this drunk since his drinking bout with Yeon Hojeong. No, he hadn’t even drunk this much when he was with Yeon Hojeong.

“It’s an age of peace, but behind it, blood and death are always flicking their tongues. That’s why the martial world is always an age of warlords carving up the land.”

Mo Yonggun let out a cheerful laugh.

“This is why the world is interesting. Just when a thread of the era’s flow is about to snap, fate brings it back again.”

At that moment, a heavy voice spoke.

“Will this be all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Mo Yong-woo.”

“Heh, you don’t know that kid.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes shone.

For all that he was drunk, his gaze was clear. As time went on, his Thunder Qi only grew more vigorous.

“There’s a reason I insisted on keeping the youngest alive even in that brutal struggle for power. The youngest is pure. He’s so pure he doesn’t know how to betray.”

“People can change at any time.”

“A man’s temperament can change, but his innermost nature does not. I saw the youngest’s roots. Then and now, those roots haven’t changed.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes grew deep.

“But...”

ZZZZZT.

A menacing blue flash of lightning wrapped his entire body.

PSSSSSH.

In an instant, the room was filled with the smell of alcohol. He had expelled the liquor from his system in one go.

“At the same time, I also know my own roots.”

“......”

“A venomous heart that cannot trust even my own blood. No—precisely because they are blood, I suspect them all the more. Because I know betrayal from someone close hurts far worse.”

“You mean you don’t trust Mo Yong-woo? If you don’t trust him, why accept him?”

“You have no idea how grateful I am to the youngest. I trust the youngest.”

“......”

“But I do not trust the youngest’s environment. I have no idea what he’s seen all this time, or what sort of people he’s formed ties with. I’m not so easy a man that I’d just appoint a fellow like that on a whim.”

“Then why?”

“Because I know his capability.”

Mo Yonggun smiled.

“People you gain easily tend to disappear easily. Meng Yi, whom I sent a couple of months ago, is the prime example.”

“......”

“Surprisingly, people you win with great difficulty can also disappear easily.

“I got my youngest back for the first time in over twenty years. How could I afford to lose such a precious piece so easily?”

“What do you intend to do?”

“He’s weak to affection. In that case, the only answer is to bind him with another thread of affection.”

A chilly shadow passed over Mo Yonggun’s face.

‘No matter how harsh the task you give me, I will obey without complaint.’

Remembering the steely light in Mo Yong-woo’s eyes, Mo Yonggun clicked his tongue.

“This is a bit lacking in affection to be called a ‘task,’ but...”

“...?”

“Did you say the eldest daughter of the Master of the Central Plains Money House is still unmarried?”

The man’s eyes flew wide.

The Central Plains Money House was one of the three greatest money houses in the martial world.

Among money houses, it had the longest history, and its network of connections defied imagination. They had even hired countless experts to guard their wealth, so in sheer force alone they could be considered on par with a major sect.

And the Master of the Central Plains Money House was quite a close friend of Mo Yonggun’s.

“The youngest is already thirty. No matter that he’s set his roots in the martial world—getting that old without marrying is a serious problem.”

“But... the Master’s eldest daughter is only eighteen.”

“Come now, what does age have to do with a marriage? Woo is one of the finest geniuses among the talents I know. He’s the man who will someday become Clan Lord of the Mo Yong Clan. They should be delighted on that side.”

Mo Yonggun wore a mischievous smile.

“Send word to the Master of the Central Plains Money House. Tell him to pay a visit to the Alliance of the Martial World.”

****

“We’ve arrived.”

“Yes.”

The Alliance of the Martial World had four gigantic gates. People called those gates the Four-Beast Great Gates.

Yeon Hojeong’s expression turned strange.

“Four Beasts, Four Spirits...”

The gate they were about to pass through was the Blue Dragon Great Gate, one of the Four Spirits’ gates.

On the enormous gate, the relief of a blue dragon stood out vividly. And the fortress wall encircling the gate was four times taller than the gate itself.

That’s outrageous.

Yeon Hojeong clicked his tongue inwardly.

He, too, had seen the Alliance of the Martial World in the past. But back then, the outer walls of the Alliance had been half-collapsed from the war with the God-Slaying Cult.

Those lunatics actually smashed this wall.

Without pouring in an insane volume of force, you couldn’t even put a proper scratch on it. Once again he grasped just how absurdly mad the power of the Four Yin Cult had been.

“Let’s go in.”

The warriors of the Yeon Clan headed toward the Blue Dragon Great Gate.

“Please state your identities.”

“We are the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain in Jiangsu Province.”

After a brief verification procedure, the Blue Dragon Great Gate opened.

KUGUGUGUNG!

The sight of the Blue Dragon Great Gate slowly splitting open from left and right was overwhelming.

Yeon Hojeong smacked his lips.

The Black Emperor’s Citadel never had this kind of flavor.

The Black Emperor’s Citadel had been far smaller than this. Instead, they had poured their gold into the interior to maximize troop concentration and deployment.

“Wow...”

“Huh?”

Mookbi stared at the gate as if bewitched.

“T-this is the first time I’ve seen something like that.”

“...Me too.”

Yeah, it’s your first time.

But for some reason, that just grated on him.

You were the one who insisted on scaling down the fortifications, you damned brat.

Back then, Mookbi had argued that the Black Emperor’s Citadel must never be made too large. They had more than enough funds, but considering future battles, she said they needed to stockpile war funds.

So the Black Emperor’s Citadel had been built for minimal cost and maximal efficiency. Of course, Yeon Hojeong had agreed with that view as well.

Still, seeing the person who’d said all that gawking like this put him in a mood.

Yeon Hojeong roughly mussed up Mookbi’s hair. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“Uwaah! What was that for?!”

“Don’t know, man.”

“Ah, seriously. All you’ve done lately is get more mean.”

“What was that?”

“You could’ve just left it alone earlier, but you just had to stir up trouble.”

“When did I ever!”

“With the Namgung Clan.”

“Hey, and I was supposed to let that slide? Anyone could see that apology was being forced.”

“Then just ignore it. Why bother provoking him more?”

“That’s a scary thing to say. Getting cursed at hurts less than getting ignored.”

“Anyway, you could have not done it. You really do have a talent for causing trouble.”

“I should just rip that mouth of yours right off...”

Just then, Yeon Wi spoke.

“Bi-ah’s words have a point.”

“...Nng.”

“As it is anywhere in the martial world, but all the more so when you’ve come to a place where grave matters will be debated, you must be especially mindful of your conduct.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Mookbi looked at Yeon Hojeong with openly distrustful eyes.

Yeon Hojeong glared fiercely. Mookbi hurriedly turned her head away with a yikes, hot expression.

THUD!

At last, the Blue Dragon Great Gate fully opened.

Yeon Wi’s eyes gleamed.

“At last, the Alliance of the Martial World.”

Yeon Hojeong’s gaze changed as well.

He knew Mo Yong-woo had already arrived here. Considering the distance and their travel speeds, he would have arrived at least a day earlier.

I’ll trust that he asked properly.

TAP-TAP-TAP.

The Yeon party entered the Alliance of the Martial World.

The inside of the Alliance was no different from another Central Plains. There were winding roads and plenty of straight, flat streets as well.

Hmm.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes swept over the surroundings in an instant.

They really built it properly.

Even though the territory was tremendously broad, the placement of buildings and ramparts was extremely well-knit.

A structure specialized to the extreme for defensive warfare. If even the outer fortress is like this...

Yeon Hojeong clicked his tongue inwardly.

They’re not playing around. It’s like they took the Black Emperor’s Citadel and expanded it several times over.

That was what the intact Alliance of the Martial World was like. It displayed the presence of an iron fortress that could never be toppled.

Yeon Wi asked,

“Isn’t it magnificent?”

“It is.”

“The construction layout is completely different from our main house. Our estate is arranged to make it easy to gather warriors and counterattack.”

“Whereas the Alliance of the Martial World has been built to make defensive warfare as easy as possible.”

“Well seen.”

“It must be because of the Alliance’s symbolic weight. Even if everything else remains safe, if the Alliance of the Martial World falls, the White Path loses its strength.

“A once-in-an-age iron fortress that no one can conquer. Just by looking at the Alliance, you can read the history of the White Path martial world.”

Yeon Wi looked at Yeon Hojeong.

Yeon Hojeong blinked. His expression was terribly guileless.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He’d been shocked by his eldest son many times already.

He’d thought there was nothing left that could surprise him now, and yet here he was, once again surprised.

He really is frightening.

His son’s words hit the heart of the matter.

The White Path was different from the Black Path. The Black Path would use any despicable trick to survive, but the White Path burned its sense of righteousness even unto death.

That was why the Black Path, scattered in all directions, could not fully exert its strength. If they ever united their power, they would not be as weak as they were now.

By contrast, the strength of the White Path was bound together with ruthless thoroughness.

Across all the regions of the Central Plains, the sects where the Nine Sects and One Union and the Six Great Clans had put down roots were mostly allied with them. And all of those forces fought foreign enemies with the Alliance of the Martial World as their pivot.

The White Path had come to the brink of annihilation, but not once in history had it been completely destroyed.

The name, the existence, and this fortress of the Alliance of the Martial World had that much power.

“There really is nothing you can’t do. Where did you learn such things?”

Yeon Hojeong scratched his head.

“Books. I’m just very interested in this sort of thing...”

Yeon Wi believed in his son. But he did not believe this statement.

This wasn’t something you could understand just by reading about it in a book. Not even from pictures.

You had to see it with your own eyes, observe it, and live in such a place to know.

Whether martial arts or scholarship, there might be geniuses—but things like tactical fortification or strategic deployment were studies that depended thoroughly on experience.

“What you mean is...”

Just then—

“Heeeyyyy!”

It was a truly booming voice. A volume no one could help but turn toward. An overwhelming sense of liberation burst from it.

“Fuuuuuuck! Young Master Yeoooon!”

The corners of Yeon Hojeong’s eyes twitched.

He snuck a glance at Yeon Wi.

Naturally, Yeon Wi’s expression was not good. Just from his face, he looked one click away from clicking his tongue and asking where his son had picked up such a vulgar friend.

But Yeon Wi knew who the man was. That was the only reason he said nothing.

“Long time no seeeeee—!!”

“God, shut up already, you crazy beggar!”

Ga Deoksang, who had been sprinting toward them at incredible speed, came to a dead stop.

Yeon Hojeong had been about to let fly another choice string of curses, but he faltered.

Because he saw Ga Deoksang’s eyes turning red.

Drip.

A single tear rolled down, then he collapsed right there and burst into wailing.

“Uwaaaah! Uuwooooh!”

It was a sight.

That wasn’t acting. It was real. He was crying so miserably that even the onlookers’ eyes grew wet. Mookbi, who didn’t even know who he was, was sniffling.

“Uaaaah! Freeeedom!!”

At this point, even Yeon Wi couldn’t help but open his mouth.

“It seems something... unpleasant has happened to Hu Gae.”

He forced # Nоvеlight # himself to speak calmly. Yeon Wi was flustered as well.

Yeon Hojeong grumbled,

“What bad thing could possibly happen to that beggar bastard. I’ll bet he just ran away because he didn’t want to train.”

“Watch your tongue.”

“With him, it’s fine.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a faint chuckle.

Still, seeing him after so long was good.

“Enough blubbering. Get up.”

Sniff.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“I haven’t.”

With a look like his heart was collapsing, Ga Deoksang stepped up and took Yeon Hojeong’s hand.

Yeon Hojeong’s face twisted.

The hands grabbing his were smeared with tears and snot.

“Drink a cup with me tonight!”