Chapter 99
After the discussion with the two patriarchs, Baek Mu-Gun sent a letter detailing the event that transpired with Lulin to the Shaolin Temple and the Great Namgung Family. He also called for Baek Cheon-Gi and checked the damages the Baek Sword Corps had suffered. The Baek Sword Corps deployed six hundred and six people, including the Six White Wolves, to battle. Among them, seven were seriously injured and four were killed, but their losses were small compared to the other two clans since they had increased their internal energy and improved their abilities by consuming Hundred Herb Pills and learning new martial arts.
Mu-Gun made sure to retrieve the bodies of their slain members and attend to the injured’s treatment. In recognition of their performance in this battle, Mu-Gun also gave the Baek Sword Corps’ martial artists a bonus out of his own pockets. They were greatly touched upon learning of that, but not because they valued money. Rather, they were grateful that Mu-Gun appreciated their willingness to fight with their lives on the line out of sheer loyalty.
Afterward, Mu-Gun summoned the Six White Wolves. They suffered minor injuries, but they were all safe.
“How are your injuries?”
“It’s just a slight scratch.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
“What are your thoughts on today’s battle?” Mu-Gun asked.
“I thought the efforts we have put in so far proved useful.”
“That’s right. Considering we didn’t get pushed back too much despite fighting the elite members of Lulin, I can’t help but think that our martial arts effectively served their purpose.”
“This is all thanks to you, Young Patriarch.”
“It’s good to have confidence, and you are all currently doing better than I expected, but don’t forget that you still have a long way to go, so don’t be satisfied with who you currently are. The Lulin bandits we fought today are nothing compared to the true enemies of murim. ”
“You have nothing to worry about, Young Patriarch. We are well aware that our abilities are still far from being capable of supporting you. To repay your kindness, we will not neglect our training.”
“I believe in you. Everyone worked hard today, so go somewhere nice and have a drink or something.”
Mu-Gun gave each of the Six White Wolves money.
“Thank you.”
They couldn’t help but feel great since Mu-Gun took amazing care of them. That same night, Mu-Gun headed to the West Lake House with the Four Peerless Wanderers, who couldn’t decide the winner of their bet since they all insisted that they had defeated more enemies. Mu-Gun was supposed to be the referee, but he was also busy fighting, so he couldn’t observe them properly.
In the end, Mu-Gun decided to take responsibility for all their entertainment expenses during their stay in Hangzhou. He didn’t think spending money on the Four Peerless Wanderers was a waste anyway.
An astronomical amount of funds would’ve normally been required to recruit martial arts masters like them, yet the Four Peerless Wanderers joined the Baek Sword Sect without asking to be paid for their services. Hence, bearing the cost of even a lifetime of entertainment for them wouldn’t be a waste. They earned quite a sizeable profit in this battle anyway because of the Twin Spectrum Axes and the Bloodthirsty Black Wind Axe Art.
During Mu-Gun’s head-to-head confrontation against Lee Ja-Gyung, Mu-Gun noticed his opponent was using a great artifact. Hence, he immediately took the axes as his spoils of war as soon as the battle was over. He also obtained the Bloodthirsty Black Wind Axe Art since its scriptures were engraved on the Twin Spectrum Axes’ blades.
Obtaining the Bloodthirsty Black Wind Axe Art, an Upper Ascension Realm martial art, and the Twin Spectrum Axes, which were a great artifact, would’ve been difficult under normal circumstances. It was as if he got a huge windfall, considering he got them for free. Compared to that, the entertainment expenses for the Four Peerless Wanderers were insignificant.
Mu-Gun generously paid for everything, allowing the Four Peerless Wanderers to drink and play to their heart’s content in the West Lake House. Meanwhile, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance members who had left Hangzhou turned back and returned to Hangzhou, and the three clans who stayed marshaled their forces and finished preparations to attack the Fury Tiger Stronghold.
They could wipe out the Fury Tiger Stronghold of Mount Tianmu and the Blood Wolf Stronghold of Mount Mogan by themselves, but they opted not to since the other Zhejiang Martial Alliance clans had to gain a sense of belonging and pride in their organization. To do so, they would have to participate in the fight against Lulin in the name of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance. They reached Hangzhou in three days, increasing the number of their forces to seven hundred people.
They didn’t need that many people to destroy the Fury Tiger Stronghold, which had already lost most of its forces. Hence, after discussing it with the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang, Mu-Gun decided to split the number of troops into two and lay a simultaneous siege on the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold so as to not waste time. Mu-Gun also split the Four Peerless Wanderers into two groups.
Considering the power of the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold, they didn’t really have to participate, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Moreover, the Nine Celestial Demons Sect was behind Lulin. Without any information on how they would react, preparing some form of insurance was necessary—that was where the Four Peerless Wanderers came in. The Zhejiang Martial Alliance, which was divided into two teams of three hundred and fifty members, left Hangzhou and headed to Mount Tianmu and Mount Mogan. As soon as they arrived, they immediately raided the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold.
However, the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold were empty. Knowing full well that they could not defend against the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s attack even if they gave it all their might, they abandoned their strongholds and ran away. Though it could have been dispiriting for the Zhejiang Martial Alliance, what was important was that they had driven out the bandits of the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold without suffering any damage.
However, if their areas were left alone, there was no way of knowing when the bandits would return. Hence, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance had to make sure that the bandits of the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold could no longer call this place home. They burned the bandits’ bases down to ashes, making it difficult for them to settle down here even if they came back. Afterward, they returned to Hangzhou with light steps.
However, they weren’t done yet. They still had to destroy the Ghost Tiger Stronghold in Mount Dayang. Upon returning to Hangzhou and after having a meeting about it, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance decided to attack the Ghost Tiger Stronghold with three hundred warriors, each of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang dispatching thirty members. Mu-Gun decided to take the lead in the siege. During the Battle of West Lake, the leaders of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang witnessed Mu-Gun’s tremendous capabilities, and they acknowledged his commanding abilities. That was why they left him in charge again this time.
Along with the Four Peerless Wanderers, Mu-Gun led the three hundred warriors of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance to Mount Dayang. Those left at Hangzhou returned to Wenzhou by ship first. The other clans also returned to their respective homes.
Meanwhile, the news that the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s martial artists were heading to Mount Dayang reached the Ghost Tiger Stronghold of Mount Dayang. The Ghost Tiger Stronghold Chief, Ghost Tiger Sickle Na Jeong-Yong, had already been informed that the three hundred Lulin bandits the four Commanders of Lulin and Lulin Battle King Lee Ja-Gyung led had been wiped out.
Going up against the forces that even the four Commanders of Lulin and the Lulin Battle King were helpless against would be absurd. It would be best to escape for now and devise a plan first, just as the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold did. However, running away quietly would hurt his pride as one of the great warriors of Lulin. If he had to flee anyway, he at least wanted to inflict some damage on the Zhejiang Martial Alliance in the process.
At that moment, a good idea crossed his mind. There would be nothing more delightful than attacking and defeating one of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang before running awat. Hence, before he fled, Jeong-Yong decided to attack the Flying Lance Sect first, which was close to Mount Dayang. Since the Flying Lance Sect’s patriarch and its elite members were currently away, the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s power would be more than enough to eliminate the people who were still at the Flying Lance Sect.
Jeong-Yong led the Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits, which numbered just a little more than two hundred, down Mount Dayang. Considering the major strongholds of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin usually had over three hundred people, the size of the Ghost Tiger Stronghold was certainly on the smaller side. On the other hand, there were only a little over a hundred and fifty martial artists in the Flying Lance Sect right now. The Flying Lance Sect had over two hundred members in total, but their patriarch Jo Jin-Myeong and fifty of their elite members were not around.
If the Ghost Tiger Stronghold attacked the Flying Lance Sect now, the latter was bound to suffer considerable damage. However, the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s plan was well within Mu-Gun’s expectations. Mu-Gun thought that the Ghost Tiger Stronghold would likely run away from Mount Dayang before the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s warriors arrived, much like the Fury Tiger Stronghold and the Blood Wolf Stronghold did.
Furthermore, Mu-Gun also predicted that the Ghost Tiger Stronghold would try to raid the Flying Lance Sect since it was close to Mount Dayang. From the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s perspective, it would hurt their pride greatly if they were to run away from the Zhejiang Martial Alliance, and to make up for that, they would try to deal some harm to the Zhejiang Martial Alliance somehow. The best way to do so was to attack the Flying Lance Sect, whose elite members were currently away.
He could be wrong, but on the off chance the Ghost Tiger Stronghold really intended to do something like that, the Flying Lance Sect could fall into danger. Hence, he prepared countermeasures. Mu-Gun immediately sent a carrier pigeon to the Justice Martial Sect and the Baek Sword Sect, which were both located close to the Flying Lance Sect. The message explained the possibility of the Ghost Tiger Stronghold attacking the Flying Lance Sect and included an order for them to send supporting forces to the Flying Lance Sect. As soon as they received Mu-Gun’s message, the Justice Martial Sect and the Baek Sword Sect immediately sent their forces to the Flying Lance Sect.
If the Ghost Tiger Stronghold had known about it, they would never have thought of attacking the Flying Lance Sect. Unfortunately, their information network did not reach that far ahead. The fact that the Justice Martial Sect and the Baek Sword Sect sent support to the Flying Lance Sect was out of their wildest dreams, and they were also oblivious to it.
Already expecting the attack from the Ghost Tiger Stronghold, the Flying Lance Sect closely monitored the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s movements already thoroughly prepared for their raid. When the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s siege began, the Flying Lance Sect first pretended to be flustered and retreated to lure the bandits inside their manor.
In high spirits, the Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits chased them recklessly deep into the manor, thinking they were scared out of their wits. However, after crossing a certain point, the warriors of the Justice Martial Sect and the Baek Sword Sect, who had been hiding their presence, pincered the Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits. The ambush greatly surprised Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits, and they realized that they had fallen into a trap too late. The warriors of the Justice Martial Sect and the Baek Sword Sect completely blocked the Ghost Tiger Stronghold’s retreat path as the Flying Lance Sect martial artists, who had been retreating, assumed an offensive formation and began to attack the bandits.
Surrounded by the warriors of the three clans, the bandits were forced to defend themselves. They struggled and tried their best to escape the encirclement from the three clans, but escaping was almost impossible. After all, their opponents had twice their numbers and excellent skills. The Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits eventually lost their will to fight and dropped their weapons in order to survive. Ghost Tiger Stronghold Chief Na Jeong-Yong regretted his mistake, but it was already a done deed.
The Flying Lance Sect informed the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s detachment that they had defeated and subdued the Ghost Tiger Stronghold bandits, and upon receiving the news, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s detachment immediately disbanded and returned to their respective homes.
The battle with Lulin held great significance for the Zhejiang Martial Alliance. Not only was it the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s first battle, but it also made the members aware that they were all under one banner. Moreover, their overwhelming victory over Lulin’s forces, which included the Lulin Battle King and four of the Twelve Commanders of Lulin, gave them confidence and made them take great pride in their martial arts. This would serve as the foundation for the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s unity and growth into a single murim force in the future.
This battle also had great significance for the Baek Sword Sect. The Baek Sword Sect’s overwhelming performance made the Ten Clans of Zhejiang acknowledge that they didn’t lack anything as the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader. Hence, they decided to faithfully follow the Baek Sword Sect’s leadership.
While the Zhejiang Martial Alliance wiped out Lulin’s forces in Zhejiang Province, their letter reached the Shaolin Temple and the Great Namgung Family. Believing the letter sent by the Zhejiang Martial Alliance, the two clans decided to hold an emergency meeting to discuss their plan for handling the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin, which was connected to the Nine Celestial Demons Sect.
The venue for the emergency meeting was set in Wuchang, Hubei Province, and representatives from the Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families were called to attend. The Zhejiang Martial Alliance was also invited to participate as they were the ones who discovered that the Nine Celestial Demons Sect was controlling the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin.
Having paid great attention to the capabilities that the Zhejiang Martial Alliance showed in the battle against Lulin, the Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families paid decided to use the power of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance to dispose of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin.
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