𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑𝟎
Four Sovereign Sect members responded coldly.
Wei Zihong, who was leading the group, narrowed his eyes and warned sharply,
“You dare to make such a dangerous statement. Are you prepared to take responsibility for your words?”
“. . . . . . .”
If it had been anyone else who didn’t know the circumstances, they would have backed down and retreated at this point.
However, at least Hwang Jin-chul and I were certain that this was all their doing.
“Shouldn’t you be the ones taking responsibility? I’m sorry, but I don’t see how we’re at fault in this conversation.”
“How dare you. . . . . . !”
Wei Zihong was furious, but Hwang Jin-chul ignored him and motioned for me to step forward.
And now it was my turn to step up.
“What do you want me to do?”
“I heard that there is absolutely no video footage or evidence left of the conflict that took place at the time.”
Perhaps the Four Sovereign Sect had taken steps beforehand to manipulate the situation.
In other words, the only evidence was the condition of the victims as claimed by their side.
In fact, since there were even fatalities, the members of the Hwang family were reluctant to argue, but I was different.
This was where we needed to dig in.
“Tell us what you saw.”
At Hwang Jin-chul’s words, all eyes were focused on me, and I opened my mouth confidently in the midst of it all.
“It’s quite a coincidence, but I witnessed the clash between the two groups at the scene when it happened.”
There was a stir at my words, and some of the Four Sovereign Sect executives frowned.
Since they knew the truth, they couldn’t help but react sensitively to my statement.
“. . .What are you talking about?”
“I mean I was there that day by chance due to personal reasons.”
It was hard to believe, but if it was true, it would be a big variable for the Four Sovereign Sect.
Perhaps because of that, their expressions changed dramatically.
“Go on.”
“As I said, I witnessed the moment of the conflict, and of course, I checked the aftermath. And in my opinion, neither group used excessive force.”
“Nonsense!”
As expected, there was a vehement denial from the Four Sovereign Sect.
“Do you think that makes sense when there were even fatalities?”
“Don’t go too far!”
“Aren’t you all family? We can’t trust the words of such a person.”
At that point, Hwang Jin-chul began to provide backup.
“This child is not a member of the main family. He’s just a guest who came to visit because of a personal connection. And by the way, he’s not on good terms with Hwang Se-jin over there. There’s no reason for him to take his side.”
This time, there was a stir from the Hwang family. This was because the fact that Hwang Se-jin and I had a duel had gradually spread within the family.
Of course, from the standpoint of the Four Sovereign Sect, an outside force, it didn’t matter who was who, but the fact that doubt had been properly instilled in the Hwang family was a great achievement.
Seizing the opportunity, I began to follow the flow.
“Of course, as you said earlier, the Four Sovereign Sect members were clearly the ones who suffered the damage, and Hwang Se-jin and his colleagues were the ones who emerged victorious from the conflict. However, it was nothing more than a minor scuffle.”
“What does that mean. . . . . . .”
“Yes. In fact, the Four Sovereign Sect members also walked away on their own two feet after the conflict.”
At my words, Hwang Se-jin, who had been watching for an opportunity, quickly jumped in.
“Y-Yes. It’s all as he says. We didn’t do anything so viciously that it would cause problems like this!”
The Hwang family, which had been struggling all along, regained some momentum.
Seeing this, Wei Zihong and Wang Long exchanged glances and decided to counterattack.
“Even if you’re not from the same affiliation, you’re still acquaintances, aren’t you? It’s worthless to us. . . . . . .”
“But there’s something strange.”
Wei Zihong frowned and glared at me as I snatched the moment when he should have turned the atmosphere around.
But I knew, too, that I had to push my opponent right now to shake things up properly.
And ironically, the people in this room who were most captivated by my words were the executives of the Four Sovereign Sect.
「𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝, 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝.」
And from now on, I was going to exploit that very point.
“Strangely enough, in my opinion, the Four Sovereign Sect members were the ones with the higher level of skill. The difference was so great that I thought they would have won overwhelmingly if they had really fought.”
“. . . . . . .”
The implication of those words was simple.
I was suggesting that they had deliberately provoked Hwang Se-jin and his party and sowed the seeds of discord.
The Four Sovereign Sect, who had been trying to hide the truth, hurriedly rolled their eyes, and the elders of the Hwang family began to look at them with suspicion.
In the end, what erupted was Wei Zihong’s rather desperate anger.
BAM!
“Enough! There’s a limit to our patience! And you, are you really confident that you can take responsibility for what you’ve said so far?”
Wei Zihong glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
He seemed to think that if he put on such a fierce face, I would hesitate, but of course, that was nonsense.
Wei Zihong continued, even more indignant.
“It doesn’t make sense in the first place. You’re still young, but you’re saying that you have the ability to grasp such a fact just by looking at it once? Do you think anyone here believes that?”
Indeed, that was a valid point, and the momentum of the Hwang family members, who had been exchanging glances, subsided for a moment.
Seeing their reaction, Wei Zihong thought it was the right time and finally made his move.
“If you really want to make such a claim, you’ll have to prove it first.”
Hwang Jin-chul stroked his beard and looked at me with a worried expression, but my expression was indifferent.
No, to be honest, I felt like this was a stroke of luck.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙.」
I thought I would have to argue a little longer, but Wei Zihong had created the flow for me.
So I decided to follow his lead without hesitation.
“In that case, how do you want me to prove it?”
“Oh, is that difficult? We’ll select a few people from our side, and you can show us your skills.”
Wang Long, sensing that something was going wrong, grabbed Wei Zihong by the collar, but Wei Zihong, who was already excited, didn’t listen to such restraint.
“Liu Chi-min, go teach that rude little boy his place.”
“Look here, Wei Zihong. To do such a thing in the territory of our Hwang family. . . . . . .”
“This is a matter of honor for the Four Sovereign Sect! The Hwang family should show us the minimum respect!”
When he said that, the elders of the Hwang family decided to watch the situation quietly for the time being.
However, 11th Elder Hwang Cheol-ho was glaring as if he would step in at any moment.
“Wait a minute, are you really okay with this?”
Hwang Hye-yeon, who had come up behind me at some point, spoke to me with a worried expression.
In contrast, Hwang Ji-hak, who was next to her, nodded without any hesitation.
“Liu Chi-min holds a spear, but he’s a warlock who specializes in binding techniques. In particular, I’ve heard that the three short spears he carries are each inscribed with a different unique technique.”
Perhaps because he had some connection with the Four Sovereign Sect, Hwang Ji-hak’s information was quite useful.
I nodded and stepped forward to bow my head to Wei Zihong.
“I will follow your suggestion.”
“. . . . . . .”
And so, Liu Chi-min and I moved to the training ground prepared within the Hwang family, and only the main members of both sides followed us.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
CLANG!
【Liu Chi-min】
▶Level 57
He looked to be in his late 20s, but he was quite a powerful man.
He was probably one of the top talents being trained as a future executive or Branch Leader within the Four Sovereign Sect.
He was simply too powerful a force to be used in such a situation.
“. . . . . . .”
“My master ordered me to do this, so don’t blame me.”
Liu Chi-min looked down at me with a truly noble attitude and said so.
Certainly, such a reaction might be natural for a person of that level of strength.
However, unfortunately for Liu Chi-min, I was already confident.
Now that I had passed the trial of the Blue-White Soul Mirror, I was confident that I could easily defeat even two people of Liu Chi-min’s level.
And that was soon revealed to be true.
“Whew.”
“W-What the.”
As soon as the match began, Liu Chi-min unleashed his techniques with a fierce momentum, but so far, not a single one of them had reached me.
I could see the trajectory of the techniques with the flow of spiritual power, and even the binding techniques he was so confident in were clearly visible to me.
To be honest, I was surprised at how easy it was to deal with him.
「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨. . . . . . .」
At first, I thought that Liu Chi-min’s skills were simply not up to par, but on closer inspection, that was not the case.
By passing the trial of the Blue-White Soul Mirror, my abilities had increased by leaps and bounds.
「𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡.」
It was as if I had gained a new perspective, like an awakening.
In the midst of it all, I simply floated among the flying techniques.
Liu Chi-min’s expression gradually became impatient, and Wei Zihong, unable to bear it any longer, shouted.
“What are you doing! Can’t you do it properly!”
In the end, Liu Chi-min, rolling his eyes, pulled out one of the short spears that had been hanging at his waist.
That was probably the ultimate weapon that Hwang Ji-hak had mentioned.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.」
I remained lost in such thoughts until Liu Chi-min sent the short spear flying and formed a hand sign with his hand while chanting an incantation.
And the moment the technique embedded in it exerted its power, I finally moved my still body.
“The Order of the Clear Void.”
WHOOSH.
CRASH─!
In an instant, the short spear was trapped by the barrier that covered the surroundings, and I immediately moved behind Liu Chi-min with a light movement.
That was the end of the match.
Liu Chi-min didn’t even dare to look back at the talisman that was pointed sharply at his neck.
The members of the Four Sovereign Sect and the members of the Hwang family were all looking at the outcome of the match with surprised expressions.
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