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The new Alliance Leader was that Ma Bonggi. That old lecher I knew.

After saying I would enter a brief period of training, I immediately mounted a horse and rode towards Wuhan in Hubei Province, where the Martial Righteous Alliance headquarters was located.

I knew well that I couldn’t stop this by recklessly going to the Martial Righteous Alliance headquarters. My martial arts hadn’t grown enough yet to change the major affairs of the Martial Righteous Alliance.

Also, since I was reborn as Byeok Ri-dan anyway, I felt like it didn’t matter who became the Alliance Leader. I could just quietly live my new life.

Nevertheless, the reason I was rushing to Wuhan was because I was worried something might have happened to Gal Saryang.

Otherwise, how could Ma Bonggi become the Alliance Leader?

The fact that the new Alliance Leader had already been announced meant that his fate had likely already been decided. But I couldn’t just sit and wait for other news to arrive.

After arriving in Wuhan, the first place I went was the Martial Righteous Alliance headquarters.

I could see the majestic buildings of the Martial Righteous Alliance in the distance. This place, boasting an enormous scale, had so many permanent residents that it could be called an independent city.

Guard martial artists were standing watch on every high wall, and the number of martial artists guarding the main gate alone reached thirty.

I stood far away, gazing at that majestic building for a long time. Now that I was actually here looking at the Martial Righteous Alliance building, the heart that had been boiling all the way here calmed down.

My crisis instinct, which had overcome countless crises, was whispering.

That now was the time to be calm.

I wondered how long it had been since I had looked at the Martial Righteous Alliance building from the outside like this.

Suddenly, I recalled the day I first entered this place after becoming the Alliance Leader.

Even though I had risen to the position of the world’s greatest martial artist, becoming the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader was something that required a big decision.

Although I didn’t show it outwardly, I was very worried about whether I could do well. For the first month or two, I couldn’t even sleep properly.

It feels like just yesterday, but decades have passed.

Thanks to that, I knew the Martial Righteous Alliance like my own body. The roads, the buildings, who was where, and who was guarding where. I wanted to leap up right away and rush to Gal Saryang’s office in the inner court in one breath.

But I couldn’t do that.

My skills weren’t yet at a level where I could freely enter and exit the inner courts of the Martial Righteous Alliance. I might be able to infiltrate the outer courts somehow, but the inner courts were impossible. I knew well how strict the security there was. Infiltration was out of the question.

First, I got a room at an inn close to the headquarters.

The innkeeper made a fuss, saying it was the last room and I was lucky. He said that after the new Alliance Leader was announced, countless martial artists were gathering here in Wuhan. It seemed people were gathering early to attend the inauguration ceremony early next month.

Rumors were already circulating that the inauguration ceremony would be held on the largest scale ever. Wuhan was swept up in a frenzy related to the new Alliance Leader’s inauguration.

I went down to the first floor, ordered a bottle of alcohol, and listened to people’s conversations.

What I felt after being there for about an hour was that many people didn’t feel any particular sense of crisis about Ma Bonggi becoming the Alliance Leader.

They were accepting it as a natural result since he was one of the masters of the Five Great Sects of the Central Plains. People surprisingly didn’t know much about Ma Bonggi.

Or rather, unfounded rumors were floating around.

“Have you heard that Alliance Leader Ma killed the Shadow Palace Lord, one of the leaders of the Thirteen Dark Sects?”

“I heard that too. They say the previous Alliance Leader took credit for what Alliance Leader Ma killed.”

“Goodness! So Cheon Hajin didn’t eliminate them all.”

As I listened, I truly wanted to smash the table to pieces but forcibly restrained myself. I remembered how much of a fierce struggle I had to go through to kill the Shadow Palace Lord.

I still remember.

That day I killed the Shadow Palace Lord. The appearance of Ma Bonggi, who showed up late after dealing with a few remaining minions. That annoying appearance of him who always avoided dangerous fights.

In the war against the Demonic Path, the Five Great Sects of the Central Plains reluctantly helped the Martial Righteous Alliance. They tried their best to minimize damage to their own sects.

Of course, I understood. I would have tried to protect my sect too if I were in the same situation.

But among them, the Heavenly Blade Sect was especially cautious.

Since then, they had been living without being able to breathe freely after catching my eye. And now he’s the Alliance Leader?

But suddenly, I thought it was strange.

As soon as the news of the new Alliance Leader came out, words praising him were circulating.

I carefully watched the people spreading rumors and followed them when they left the inn.

As I suspected, my guess was right. They were spreading rumors at another inn.

Someone was systematically spreading rumors.

Looking further, it wasn’t just them. Others were also systematically spreading rumors.

Most were hidden heroic tales or good deeds of the Heavenly Blade Sect Leader, which were exaggerated or completely fabricated stories.

These bastards, really!

They must be people from the Heavenly Blade Sect.

Suddenly, I recalled what Gal Saryang once told me.

“Just because you’ve become the world’s greatest martial artist doesn’t mean you can rule the Central Plains.”

What rules the martial world is power. It’s because I had tens of thousands of subordinates following my orders as Alliance Leader that I could govern this vast Central Plains.

The world’s greatest martial artist is just the person who fights best in the world. Of course, being the world’s greatest martial artist, they could kill the Alliance Leader. But that doesn’t mean they can rule this martial world.

Even this situation is like that. I can’t stop what’s happening all over the Central Plains. It’s not a problem that can be solved by beating up that guy spreading rumors over there. Moreover, I’m not even in the state of being the world’s greatest martial artist now.

A while later, I entered a tavern located close to the Martial Righteous Alliance headquarters.

This was a place where mainly Martial Righteous Alliance martial artists drank. Of course, it wasn’t a place where ordinary people couldn’t enter, just that it was mainly frequented by Martial Righteous Alliance martial artists.

As I entered, it was full of customers. Indeed, more than half were people in Martial Righteous Alliance uniforms.

I took a seat on one side. Since I had to stay for quite a while, I ordered plenty of food and alcohol and listened to the conversations around me.

With my hearing ability having improved dramatically after breaking through the Ren and Du meridians, if I concentrated, I could hear conversations from every corner of the tavern.

The topic was all about the new Alliance Leader.

Negative stories about him, stories about his women issues, unexpected stories about how great he was, fabricated stories, all sorts of unverified stories were going around.

I waited patiently and steadily.

Around midnight, I finally heard the information I wanted to hear.

A conversation coming from one side was exactly what I had been waiting for. They were wearing uniforms belonging to the Righteous Thought Pavilion.

“Did you see Commander Gal today? He looked in really bad shape.”

“He has reason to be.”

“What’s going to happen to Commander Gal now?”

“Well. Won’t he be demoted?”

“You think so?”

“There’s a rumor that when a new Alliance Leader comes in, the first thing they do is replace the head of the Righteous Thought Pavilion, right?”

“We’ll be okay, right?”

“Who knows.”

They then moved on to talk about other topics.

I was relieved that Gal Saryang was alive. My tensed and stiff body and mind relaxed all at once.

Yes, it was enough that he was alive.

I didn’t worry about Baek Pyo.

One of the safest places in a political storm is the Alliance Protection Group. As their main duty was to protect the Alliance Leader, they were treated as an independent organization, so they were less likely to become sacrificial lambs of power. Especially Baek Pyo, who was a martial artist who silently carried out his duties without any interest in politics.

After confirming Gal Saryang’s survival, now my real doubts surged.

Why couldn’t he stop it? Even after delaying the announcement this much?

As long as my direct three groups were intact, there should be no reason Gal Saryang couldn’t carry out his will.

Could it be that they turned their backs?

I wouldn’t be able to find out about that even if I sat here for a hundred days.

I immediately left the tavern.

***

Early the next morning, I left the inn.

The best thing would be to hear the full story of the incident through Gal Saryang, but that was realistically impossible. Not only is it difficult to meet the Commander-in-Chief of the Martial Righteous Alliance, but even if I did meet him, I wasn’t Cheon Hajin but Byeok Ri-dan.

Finding out the inside story can be done through information brokers. Of course, I can’t buy it now.

Information of this level would cost over ten thousand nyang. Moreover, I don’t even know if this information has been obtained yet.

Anyway, later I’ll find a way to uncover all these inside stories.

For now, I just wanted to see Gal Saryang’s face even once.

Then one person came to mind.

With a glimmer of hope, I arrived at a teahouse called Bulu[1]. Bulu meant “not leaking.”

“Welcome.”

A middle-aged woman with a calm atmosphere greeted me with a smile.

This moment is a moment of facing a secret known only to a few people in this martial world.

This woman was the leader of the Heaven’s Net Association.

That very Heaven’s Net Association, one of the three major information organizations in the martial world.

The name of this place being Bulu was also related to the name of the Heaven’s Net Association.

“Heaven’s net is vast and its meshes are wide, but it lets nothing through.”

It’s a saying meaning that if you commit a crime, you will surely be punished, with the implication that the net of heaven is wide and loose but misses nothing.

The name Heaven’s Net Association was ironic.

How could a wide and loose net hold all information?

But like the net of heaven, it implied that they too would not miss any information.

“Is there a tea you’re looking for?”

“I’ll have what you recommend.”

“Please wait a moment.”

I sat down at a window seat on one side.

I can see an old woman with white hair in the kitchen. The leader is a master, but the real master is that old woman in the kitchen. The guardian protecting the leader.

She once came to greet me with Gal Saryang.

I remember being surprised that the leader of the Heaven’s Net Association was a woman, and again surprised that she was a beautiful woman who looked remarkably young for her age in her thirties.

As I recall, Gal Saryang seemed to have a liking for her. Gal Saryang too had never married, having spent his whole life on military affairs.

It was the first time I saw Gal Saryang take a liking to a woman, so I hoped things would go well. When I casually asked about her later, Gal Saryang just laughed it off.

I had forgotten about her after that, but when I thought about needing to buy information, she suddenly came to mind.

Could Gal Saryang possibly stop by here?

“This is my favorite tea. Please try it.”

Smelling it, it had a calming scent. The taste wasn’t bad either.

“It’s good.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

When I greeted her, it was over ten years ago, so the woman would now be in her forties. But she still looked like she was in her early thirties.

“Is this your first time at our place?”

“Yes, it’s my first time in Wuhan.”

Byeok Ri-dan would really be visiting for the first time.

“Are you here for the inauguration ceremony?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“I came to burn some incense for the previous Alliance Leader.”

“It’s a sad affair, isn’t it?”

A glimpse of genuine sadness crossed her face.

“Do you know about the new Alliance Leader?”

“You mean Master Ma?”

She’s probably one of the people in this martial world with the most information about Ma Bonggi, but she answered with a faint smile.

“I don’t know much. I just know he’s the leader of the Heavenly Blade Sect, one of the Five Great Sects of the Central Plains.”

“I see.”

I wanted to ask. How is Gal Saryang now? Why did Ma Bonggi become the Alliance Leader? She could probably answer everything.

But I couldn’t.

I ordered tea a couple more times and waited until late afternoon, but Gal Saryang didn’t appear.

“Then I’ll be going.”

The woman smiled and greeted me.

“Come again.”

After greeting her, I left the teahouse.

***

I was walking on a small path on the outskirts of Wuhan.

Before returning to the inn, there was one more place I wanted to visit.

I could see a small tavern up ahead.

The fluttering flag had the word “Wind” written on it.

Was it because I liked the name Wind? Or was it the quiet atmosphere of this secluded place on the outskirts? When I would sometimes go out for night walks during my time as Alliance Leader, I would stop by here to drink.

It was quite far from the headquarters, and it was such a small tavern that it would be full with just three or four people, so it always had only one or two customers.

Personally, I didn’t enjoy drinking, but I really liked the feeling of this place.

On days like this, only Baek Pyo would accompany me, and Baek Pyo would persistently refuse the drinks I offered him.

Even when I said it was okay to have just one drink, he absolutely wouldn’t drink. He was truly a person who never broke principles when it came to his duty of protecting me. That’s how loyal he was, and that’s how much I missed him.

“Welcome!”

At the innkeeper’s greeting, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I was so surprised that I almost let out a short scream of “Ah!”

The innkeeper who greeted me was Baek Pyo.