CLS-Chapter 699

Chapter 699:

“Now that everyone has gathered, let us begin.”

Divine Strategist looked around the hall with a stern expression.

The leaders of the Righteous Martial Alliance, Hundred Sword Castle, and the now virtually defunct Heavenly Alliance were all assembled here.

The veterans currently leading the martial world had gathered without exception in one place.

‘What a spectacle.’

It felt like a scene he had never witnessed in his entire lifetime.

Conversely, it meant that the martial world was currently facing a crisis serious enough to bring together all these heavy-bottomed veterans.

“First.”

Divine Strategist turned his head slightly to look at Blue Sword.

Since Huashan Sect’s sect leader was severely injured, he had participated in the capacity of acting sect leader.

“I offer my sincere condolences for Huashan’s losses.”

“Please don’t concern yourself with it.”

Blue Sword firmly shook his head.

“Although Huashan suffered great damage, it’s not as if other sects escaped unharmed. Buildings are external possessions anyway. We can simply rebuild them. Rather, let’s focus on what lies ahead.”

Divine Strategist nodded.

‘Thank you.’

The sects that suffered the greatest damage in the bloodbath at Huashan could be said to be Huashan and Hundred Sword Castle. If Huashan stepped forward like this, other sects would find it difficult to voice complaints.

Divine Strategist gave Blue Sword a meaningful look. Blue Sword nodded slightly without saying anything.

There hadn’t been any prior agreement, but if Huashan helped Divine Strategist, then Divine Strategist should help Huashan in return.

“And I also express my gratitude for Hundred Sword Castle’s sacrifice.”

“Strategist.”

“Yes, Castle Lord.”

“There’s nothing we’ve done that deserves particular gratitude. We simply did what we had to do. I don’t think this settles all the wrongs Hundred Sword Castle has committed against the martial world. We’ll need to accomplish much more in the future. So let’s conclude the discussion of merits here and move to the main topic.”

“I’m grateful for your consideration.”

This was exactly how he expected the Hundred Sword Castle Lord to respond.

If Huashan lost the most property, Hundred Sword Castle lost the most people.

With these two sects not holding Divine Strategist responsible, there was no way others could open their mouths.

“What’s the situation with the Demonic Cult?”

“They’ve retreated to Qinghai.”

“Qinghai? That wasteland?”

Divine Strategist wore a bitter smile.

Those living in the eastern parts of the Central Plains like Hebei or Henan only had vague impressions of the west. When they heard names like Qinghai or Xinjiang, the first things that came to mind were desolate images like deserts or wastelands.

“Even if it’s a wasteland, people live there. Aren’t there government offices established in Qinghai as well?”

“That’s true.”

“Right now, it seems the Demonic Cult is occupying the government offices.”

“The government offices?”

A sharp voice rang out.

Great General Lu Yi contorted his face and shouted.

“How dare they occupy government offices! These lawless fiends have crossed the line! Even exterminating their nine generations wouldn’t be enough!”

Divine Strategist sighed.

From his position leading the Imperial Army, hearing that they occupied government offices would sound like nothing short of rebellion.

But it also sounded like stating the obvious. Hadn’t the Demonic Cult already committed acts tantamount to rebellion? The reason Great General Lu Yi joined the Righteous Martial Alliance with his elite troops was because he knew the Demonic Cult’s reach would never stop at just the martial world.

“Any movements?”

“None visible.”

Divine Strategist sighed.

“Even if there were movements, they’d only be localized issues. They won’t move for a while.”

“Because they failed?”

“Hardly.”

Divine Strategist wore a bitter smile at the word ‘failure.’

Of course, on the surface it appeared so.

The Demonic Cult failed to occupy Huashan and retreated. Considering their primary objective was to completely sweep away all the Shaanxi martial artists gathered at Huashan, it could be called a failure.

But the inside story was different.

‘They didn’t retreat because they couldn’t push through.’

The damage both sides suffered was similar.

No, the Demonic Cult might have suffered even greater losses. Even if they lost the same number of troops, since their numbers were far more limited than the Central Plains martial artists, their damage should be considered much greater.

The problem was that this damage was created by Heavenly Demon’s own hand.

In reality, the losses the Demonic Cult suffered were entirely from those who withered and died like mummies while having their demonic energy extracted by Heavenly Demon. The Central Plains martial artists at Huashan couldn’t inflict significant damage on them.

‘In other times, capturing a sect leader might have given us hope.’

It was negligible.

Thanks to the existence called Heavenly Demon, their true strength couldn’t be gauged. Just how much damage would need to be inflicted before it could be called severe damage?

“Why aren’t we sweeping them away immediately instead of doing nothing?”

“Please calm yourself, Great General.”

“Did you just tell me to calm down?”

Great General Lu Yi looked at Divine Strategist with sharp eyes.

“You underestimate His Majesty’s army too much. I am being cold-blooded right now. Setting up camp at Qinghai’s government offices means they’re stationed on flat ground.”

“…That’s correct.”

“Field battles fought on flat terrain are the battlefields where numerical superiority can be best utilized. We should press the attack before they change their base.”

Divine Strategist nodded.

He was indeed someone who had risen to the position of Great General. Even in his anger, he was accurately grasping the key points.

But…

“Great General, please leave the strategy for dealing with them to me.”

“However…”

“I ask this of you.”

“Hmm.”

Lu Yi sighed as if displeased. From his position, having to follow the command of someone with no military background would be unsettling.

But this was unavoidable.

Military combat and martial world combat were different. And the current situation was even more different.

If Heavenly Demon didn’t exist, Divine Strategist might have handed over full authority to Lu Yi. Although martial world combat had its peculiarities, the larger the army became, the more it resembled military combat.

In that aspect, Lu Yi was clearly superior to Divine Strategist.

But when Heavenly Demon entered the equation, the situation changed.

‘What a pity.’

Since Lu Yi led the army, he couldn’t see Heavenly Demon with his own eyes. When he reached Huashan, Heavenly Demon had already departed. If he had witnessed Heavenly Demon’s power with his own eyes, they could have expected his command.

But command couldn’t be entrusted to someone who hadn’t seen Heavenly Demon. No matter how much they explained and tried to make him understand, those who hadn’t seen directly couldn’t truly grasp Heavenly Demon’s power.

Especially if they were soldiers rather than martial artists.

“Understood.”

Lu Yi nodded heavily.

‘It’s His Majesty’s command, so I must step back.’

The Emperor had told him to coordinate with the martial artists as much as possible. If this were a battlefield, he should dominate, but this wasn’t a battlefield. So for now, he had to focus on his own role.

“Then what do you intend to do now?”

At Hundred Sword Castle Lord’s question, Divine Strategist spoke gravely.

“Heavenly Demon is growing stronger even at this very moment.”

“You mean he’s getting even stronger than that?”

Poison King shouted in shock.

For those who had seen Heavenly Demon, Divine Strategist’s current words couldn’t help but be horrifying. Wasn’t Heavenly Demon already someone who had displayed martial prowess that made the term ‘Martial God’ seem inadequate? And now he was getting even stronger.

Divine Strategist sighed and continued.

“Heavenly Demon… the Heavenly Demon at that time had just recently absorbed demonic energy. No matter how much his martial arts touched the heavens, it’s impossible to instantly make such internal power completely his own.”

“That… would be true.”

“By now, Heavenly Demon is probably slowly digesting the internal power he absorbed, making it completely his own. When we face him again, he will certainly be distinctly stronger than before.”

Despair.

That was the only way to describe the atmosphere that filled the hall.

Not only those who had directly witnessed Heavenly Demon’s martial prowess, but even those who had only heard about it, were left speechless at the fact that Heavenly Demon was growing stronger.

They didn’t even have the courage to ask Divine Strategist about countermeasures.

When a typhoon approaches, there are two ways to deal with it. Either run away, or hide in a safe place until the typhoon passes.

Stand against the approaching typhoon?

Such an option doesn’t exist. There’s no way for human strength to stop a typhoon.

But right now, the Righteous Martial Alliance couldn’t choose either option. They couldn’t run away, nor could they hide. Heavenly Demon was more dangerous than a typhoon, and unlike a typhoon, he wouldn’t pass by just because they hid and endured.

They had no choice but to face him in battle.

How could humans, who couldn’t even handle a mere typhoon, possibly fight against Heavenly Demon?

“…Yan-ho, what is Wei Yan-ho doing right now?”

At Poison King’s words, everyone turned to look at Divine Strategist.

Wei Yan-ho.

Right now, they had no choice but to seek that name. The incomprehensible could only be countered by the incomprehensible.

Wasn’t Wei Yan-ho’s name already like a myth in the martial world?

He was someone who, shortly after emerging into the martial world, instantly covered the world with his reputation.

Even the Three Great Swordsmen Under Heaven—Hundred Sword Castle’s Heaven Severing Sword and Heaven Flowing Sword—couldn’t defeat him.

Wasn’t he someone who had accomplished achievements in such a short time that others couldn’t accumulate in a lifetime?

Moreover, since he had stepped forward to stop Heavenly Demon at Huashan this time, Wei Yan-ho was the only one they could rely on.

“He’s in closed-door training.”

To be precise, he was holed up in his room and wouldn’t come out, but he couldn’t speak that way to those who didn’t know Wei Yan-ho well.

“Forget about Heavenly Demon.”

Divine Strategist spoke firmly.

“But how can we?”

“Heavenly Demon is someone we cannot face. Facing Heavenly Demon is Wei Yan-ho’s task. All we need to do is send that Wei Yan-ho to Heavenly Demon in perfect condition.”

“Hmm…”

A low murmur flowed out.

“Will that be enough?”

“If there’s only one thing we can do, doing that one thing well is our best option. As seniors in the martial world, as adults, it’s heartbreakingly tragic to burden that child with the heavy load called Heavenly Demon, but right now there’s no other way.”

“Understood.”

Divine Strategist glanced around the hall.

‘That’s not everything, though.’

There was no guarantee that Wei Yan-ho would stop Heavenly Demon. And Divine Strategist wasn’t a gambling man. Even if Wei Yan-ho could fight Heavenly Demon on equal terms, he always had to keep defeat in mind.

There was one thing he had to do.

While Wei Yan-ho held off Heavenly Demon, eliminate the Demonic Cult as quickly as possible. Then, with the remaining forces after completely annihilating the Demonic Cult, face Heavenly Demon.

Even if it was like hitting a rock with an egg, even if it was like an ant facing a bull…

‘We absolutely cannot let Heavenly Demon enter the Central Plains.’

Because that wouldn’t be the destruction of the martial world, but the destruction of the entire realm.

Even if a situation arose where Heavenly Demon and the martial world perished together, Divine Strategist wouldn’t hesitate.

Even if everyone here had to die, Heavenly Demon must be stopped.

‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.’

Divine Strategist cleared his throat and spoke.

“Then I’ll explain the strategy.”