Chapter 119 - The Opening (1)

21. The Opening

The best way to make money is to invest when blood is running in the streets.

- John Davison Rockefeller, American businessman

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"Flying Cloud."

"Yes, Mubon."

"Is today the Awakening of Insects?"

"Indeed it is, my lord."

"Then today is the day."

"Indeed it is, my lord."

The same repeated answer confirmed once again that “the day” had arrived.

Mubon's presence seeped through the red curtain hanging over the dais, spreading a chill through the secret grotto.

This was a private conversation between Mubon and Flying Cloud in Mubon's Secret Grotto. The world knew nothing of it, yet the world itself was at stake.

"What of Mad Cloud and Shifting Shadow?"

"They are proceeding as planned, my lord."

"Mad Cloud is one thing, but Shifting Shadow is a treacherous bastard. Keep a close watch on him."

"Yes, my lord. I understand."

Kneeling on one knee below the dais, Flying Cloud bowed his head again as he answered. Scarcely had he raised it when Mubon's bizarre voice once more reverberated through the entire grotto.

"How many Core Shadows went to Zhengzhou?"

"Three, my lord."

"Including Mad Cloud, that makes four entrants in all."

"Indeed, my lord."

"Four... That will do."

One mad Cloud and three Shadows.

Flying Cloud could clearly feel the faith in Mad Cloud behind Mubon's words, “That will do.”

Mubon continued his questions.

"What are the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Four Great Noble Clans, the Heavenly Demon Castle, and the Hall of Gathered Evil doing?"

"Setting aside Do Heo-ok and Namgung Hye, the two identities Shifting Shadow assumed, all of the Three Stars, Five Phoenixes, and Nine Dragons have entered. In addition, each of the major sects has entered one or two of its finest rising young talents. From the Heavenly Demon Castle, it appears that the eldest young master and the third and fourth disciples have registered."

"It appears? You mean you are not certain?"

"... My apologies, my lord. The Heavenly Demon Castle recently sensed something amiss and weeded out a considerable number of Outer Shadows. Our organization has lost many of its eyes."

"So our organization is on the verge of exposure in Xinjiang."

"... Yes, Mubon."

"It makes no difference. Once the Second Stratagem began, it was only a matter of time before Mubon's veil was lifted. That has merely come a little sooner. It should pose no problem."

"Indeed, my lord."

From behind the blood-red curtain, Mubon's flat voice, neither male nor female, continued without pause.

"The Heavenly Demon Castle's first, third, and fourth disciples have entered. It seems the Divine Demon of the Tianshan Mountains intends to settle the succession through this tournament. The second must already have been eliminated."

"So it would seem, my lord."

"What of Gong Nachu of the Hall of Gathered Evil?"

"That... is most peculiar, my lord. Only the Killing Shadow Corps has made a move. Moreover, we have lost contact with every Shadow planted in the Hall of Gathered Evil."

"You mean every eye we planted there has been cut off?"

"I regret to say... that is so, my lord."

With all their eyes plucked out, it was only natural that they could see nothing.

"The mere Hall of Gathered Evil rooted out every Shadow, when even the Heavenly Demon Castle could not?"

After a brief silence, the heavy veil of qi suffusing Mubon's Secret Grotto quietly stirred. It was like the ripples made by a single pebble entering a lake.

"The Extreme Yin Cursed Killing Star. I wondered where it was, and there it was in Yunnan. This has become interesting."

"..."

"I do not know how the Hall of Gathered Evil encountered it or came to be acting with it, but there is no question... That monster is the Hall's representative."

Flying Cloud said nothing, merely bowing his head at Mubon's words. That was his duty, his appointed role. He had only to serve as Mubon's arms and legs, carrying the organization's will out into the world.

"More major players than I expected have gathered on the stage the Murim Alliance Leader has set. Whether they are fools or have some particular designs of their own, I cannot say."

Mubon's voice fell silent for a time. Along with it, his immense presence and veil of qi settled gently toward the grotto floor. Yet their faint stirrings remained, circling throughout the cavern.

Then, at a certain moment:

"Flying Cloud."

"Yes, Mubon."

"I shall need you to take Water Shadow and Ash Shadow out again."

"What would you have us do, my lord?"

"It is simple. Just go and take a look."

"..."

With neither context nor explanation, the words were difficult to understand.

Rather than ask, Flying Cloud simply waited for Mubon to continue.

"The monster."

"..."

"The monster chosen by the Extreme Yin Cursed Killing Star."

"Yes, my lord. Your command shall be obeyed."

"Flying Cloud."

Just before Flying Cloud left the grotto, Mubon called him back.

"Yes, Mubon. Please speak."

"If Mad Cloud loses to that thing, withdraw without fighting, no matter what."

"... Yes, Mubon. Your command shall be obeyed."

The same answer, with a different meaning.

Flying Cloud slipped out of Mubon's Secret Grotto as though dissolving into the air.

With him gone, the grotto became an empty cavern once more. Not entirely empty, since Mubon remained, his presence as elusive as his absence...

"Could the one who interfered with our undertaking during the Great Anhui Massacre have been that monster...?"

Was it “Dong Mu”?

Something did not quite fit that explanation.

If not...

"Has another inhuman monstrosity like the Heavenly Demon descended upon the Central Plains?"

Mubon's voice wandered through the cavern and faded, with no way to tell whom he was addressing.

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[All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament!]

It was the day!

The day had come!

At last, today was the day!

Not much time had passed since the tournament announcement and the Murim Tablets had been sent out.

Yet their impact had spread throughout the world. It had even reached the distant lands beyond the frontier, drawing considerable numbers of people from outside the Central Plains to Henan, to Zhengzhou, to enter the tournament.

Dreams of soaring ambition.

A mood had swept through all Murim: any young person of the orthodox factions ought to aspire to victory in this tournament.

And so young martial artists had gathered here in Zhengzhou, their hearts brimming with dreams. At last, opening day had arrived.

From the early hours before dawn had fully broken, martial artists dressed in clean clothes flocked to Mount Clear Dawn, to the Murim Alliance.

And there, every one of them witnessed an astonishing sight.

A sparring platform.

Was something like this really to be described with such a simple term? Could it be?

There had probably never been a sparring platform so vast and imposing in the history of Murim.

It measured a full fifteen jang from east to west, and the same fifteen jang from north to south. Its height was comparatively modest, at only half a jang, but considering that the platform was made of bluestone, it was an extraordinary construction.

More importantly, there were three of them!

One stood in the open space outside Martial Harmony Gate, the entrance to the Murim Alliance.

Another stood between the Guest Pavilion and Demon-Subduing Hall, on opposite sides of Central Avenue, which cut through the middle of the Alliance grounds.

The third stood directly before the entrance to the inner compound, which led to the heart of the Alliance.

These structures sat squarely across every key passage into the Murim Alliance.

They were the sparring platforms prepared for the All-Under-Heaven Youth Sparring Tournament.

"...!"

"What the—!? That's enormous!"

"Woooow!!!"

The sight of the immense sparring platforms left everyone gaping.

The open space outside Martial Harmony Gate and Central Avenue were so broad that words could scarcely convey their size. Yet with the sparring platforms in place, they looked almost full.

"But why did they put up three platforms?"

"Oh, come on. Isn't it obvious? So many people entered that holding the preliminaries on one platform would take too long."

It was merely a conversation between two nameless spectators, but the answer was correct.

True to the tournament's “All-Under-Heaven” name, an astounding number of people had put their names on the registration list. That was why three such enormous platforms had been built.

Even so, it seemed unlikely that all the matches could be completed within the scheduled seven days and nights. To ensure that the tournament ran smoothly, its host, the Murim Alliance, had drawn up additional rules for the preliminaries.

They were as follows:

1. Entrants from the major sects and martial clans designated by the Murim Alliance shall automatically advance to the finals.

1. Anyone may be the first to mount a sparring platform. That person shall be granted the right to fight first.

1. Anyone who defeats five challengers in succession shall advance to the finals.

1. If no challenger appears within the time it takes to eat a meal, the observer shall ring the bell, and the person remaining on the platform shall immediately advance to the finals.

1. Anyone who kills an opponent shall be disqualified immediately. All contestants must show restraint.

1. The preliminaries shall last only five days. Anyone who fails to mount a platform during those five days shall automatically be disqualified.

Those were the six rules.

The first seemed quite unfair, but the entrants voiced little dissatisfaction. If someone belonged to a major sect and had made it to the tournament after fierce competition within it, that alone suggested they were qualified for the finals.

Time passed quietly, and more and more people poured into the Murim Alliance.

This must have been why the phrase “mountains and seas of people” had been coined. The Alliance now presented precisely that sight: people piled like mountains, surging like seawater.

Dong Bongsu was one of them.

Yesterday, he had returned to the Guest Pavilion for the first time in a while, reflected on the changes of the past several days, and made much of his newfound understanding his own.

But...

Was this another result of those insights—or rather, a side effect?

He wanted to fight.

He wanted to fight very, very, very badly.

It was not a desire to hunt.

He wanted to fight, and fight, and fight again, to test these things called martial arts that he had newly learned.

He was not disconcerted. He simply observed the change within himself as a matter of course. Soon, he accepted even this strange, unfamiliar change as part of himself.

People often glibly tell others to live and work hard today as though there were no tomorrow, yet rarely put it into practice.

Today is tomorrow. Tomorrow is today.

Abstract words.

But to Dong Bongsu, today was today, tomorrow was tomorrow, and effort was effort. And wanting to fight was simply wanting to fight.

Effort and action.

They were simply... accepting everything as it was, whatever changes might come.

Dong Bongsu was a being who lived that way.

A nonhuman who evolved ever further by doing so.

Even now, in the middle of the crowd, he was advancing. Not physically, but in his martial arts.

Despite standing amid the throng, he was neither jostled nor brushed against. In a way, those passing him almost seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.

Butterfly Swarm Phantom Steps.

Bewildering Tread, Illusory Passage.

Heavenward Ladder Across the Void.

...

...

...

...

.

A new Movement Art, appropriately blending the exclusive footwork of Tang Wu and the others who had died on Seonjung Mountain, was naturally becoming part of his body.

Though no one noticed, Dong Bongsu was thus honing his martial arts without a moment's rest. Beneath his clothes, he was also practicing his Inventory Divine Art at the same time, just as before.

All of it came as naturally as breathing did to an ordinary person.

Then, at a certain moment, he stopped moving.

"There you are!"

============================ Author's Afterword========================================================================================================================================================================================================