CLS-Chapter 460

Chapter 460:

Zhuge Yeom looked at the man sitting across from him with somewhat uncomfortable eyes.

Disheveled hair.

And roughly grown beard.

The eyes revealed between the hair covering his face were quietly closed. Every time those eyes opened, a chilling gaze that made people shudder would leak out.

It was an impression that could never be forgotten after just one careless glance. However, the most striking part about this man wasn’t his face or hair.

The hands that emerged from beneath the sleeves of his rough hemp robe.

Anyone who saw this person for the first time would inevitably stare at those hands.

His hands were densely packed with scars without a single unmarked spot. His hands were so filled with large and small scars that one might suspect he had deliberately inflicted wounds on himself.

Others might not know, but Zhuge Yeom knew. Those scars on his hands weren’t deliberately made.

They were simply scars created from being injured again and again through countless real battles. Of those wounds, two-thirds were inflicted by enemies. The remaining third would have been self-inflicted due to his clumsy swordsmanship.

That’s why he deserved respect.

With swordsmanship so clumsy that he would wound his own hands while swinging his sword, he had survived that terrible war against the Demonic Cult.

He had never avoided a fight.

When enemies came, he killed enemies, and when there were no enemies, he sought out enemies himself to fight. Fight and fight and fight again.

That was his way of becoming stronger.

The results were astonishing.

He who had been nothing more than a common third-rate warrior when the war began had proudly entered the ranks of the world’s strongest by the time the war ended. It was around that time in the middle of the war that he, who had been called the War Sword, came to be known by the name War King.

War King Cheok Su-gwang.

The man who was the Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Alliance and renowned as Sichuan’s Greatest Expert was precisely this person.

“We’ve almost arrived.”

At Zhuge Yeom’s words, Cheok Su-gwang’s closed eyes slowly opened.

‘Hmm.’

Zhuge Yeom let out a low groan at the gaze that seemed to pierce right through him. Those eyes never became familiar no matter how many times he saw them. Eyes like a hunting dog searching for prey.

Though Cheok Su-gwang was said to have become much more docile with age and the passage of time, he still hadn’t abandoned that gaze.

‘No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t suit him.’

Cheok Su-gwang was like a wolf. Wildness suited him. Cheok Su-gwang sitting in the position of Heavenly Alliance Leader felt like a wolf sitting on a throne.

It was clothing that didn’t fit him.

But Cheok Su-gwang hadn’t cast off that ill-fitting clothing. As if mocking Zhuge Yeom’s prediction that he would eventually cast off the clothing and leave during the chaotic period.

Cheok Su-gwang had proven it.

That what was important for survivors, whether in war or the wild, wasn’t strength.

Those who survive are strong. And what survivors need more than anything else is adaptability.

“You’ll have many things to do once you arrive, Alliance Leader.”

Cheok Su-gwang quietly looked at Zhuge Yeom before opening his mouth.

“Did you say I have many things to do?”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

“Me?”

A subtle sneer formed at the corner of Cheok Su-gwang’s mouth.

“What could an ignorant fool who can’t even read properly understand by going there?”

“Knowledge and wisdom aren’t the same thing. Right now, the Heavenly Alliance needs the Alliance Leader’s wisdom.”

“Do you really think so?”

Crooked.

This man’s attitude was always like that.

Even when first offered the position of Heavenly Alliance Leader, he grumbled about what an ignorant fool like him could accomplish in such a position. It was only through Zhuge Yeom’s persuasion that what mattered wasn’t what one did in that position, but who sat in that position, that Cheok Su-gwang finally took the seat.

No one in the world would have thought that Cheok Su-gwang would sit in the Heavenly Alliance Leader’s position for so long afterward, maintaining such a long-term rule.

‘It’ll probably be the same now.’

He was someone whose words and actions differed.

Though he complained outwardly, he was probably thinking about various things in his head right now. Ways to further strengthen his rule.

Power lust was something most people couldn’t avoid.

“I truly think so.”

“You’re skilled at flattery. That’s good.”

Cheok Su-gwang formed a subtle smile.

‘My stomach hurts.’

Conversing with Cheok Su-gwang was quite a difficult task for Zhuge Yeom as well. It couldn’t help but be difficult to calmly converse with someone who harbored dozens of serpents in their belly.

Most strong people were like this.

Even martial artists who seemed to have no thoughts often had twisted insides. But among them, Cheok Su-gwang was particularly different between his exterior and interior.

“More than that… you must have many worries.”

“Worries, you say?”

“The Tang Family, which could be called the core of the Heavenly Alliance, has suffered great damage, so won’t their influence diminish going forward? Who knows. Why did such a thing have to happen in Sichuan of all places?”

Though his words contained the meaning of great concern, his tone was rather gloating.

Zhuge Yeom bit his lips tightly.

Cheok Su-gwang was of wanderer origin.

Like all those of humble birth, he had suffered much humiliation from powerful families and sects while roaming the martial world. The only difference was that while ordinary people endured that humiliation until the day they died, Cheok Su-gwang had risen above their heads through his own power.

“It’s my worry, but it’s also the Alliance Leader’s worry.”

“What would change if I worried?”

“Isn’t it the Alliance Leader’s Heavenly Alliance?”

“Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way.”

“You should think of it that way now.”

“If I should, then I will.”

Cheok Su-gwang reached out and swept his fallen bangs backward.

His eyes were asking.

Did it seem like he would continue to remain in the position of Heavenly Alliance Leader going forward?

He constantly confirmed. Though he seemed to have no interest in power whatsoever, he was someone who coveted power more than anyone else.

‘But he has ability.’

And there was no alternative.

After all, the Heavenly Alliance was a confederation of sects. When sects with equal power joined forces, a ridiculous paradox occurred. No one wanted the Alliance Leader to come from another sect. Having equal power, they feared that if another sect’s member rose to the Alliance Leader position and wielded power, that balance would be broken.

That’s why Cheok Su-gwang was chosen. He had no faction and no family. He had no comrades who would sacrifice their lives for him, nor subordinates who were loyal to him.

A strong person who could rise to the Alliance Leader position and wield only the power that an Alliance Leader could wield. For the Heavenly Alliance sects who didn’t want each other to become Alliance Leader, there was no better candidate.

‘Though he wielded more power than expected.’

Even so, the Heavenly Alliance sects still wouldn’t tolerate anyone other than Cheok Su-gwang rising to the Alliance Leader position.

If judged by character alone, Tang Cheon-gun was better than Cheok Su-gwang. Zhuge Yeom also acknowledged that fact. However, Zhuge Yeom also didn’t want Tang Cheon-gun to rise to the Heavenly Alliance Leader position.

Zhuge Yeom of the Heavenly Alliance wanted Tang Cheon-gun, but Zhuge Yeom, head of the Zhuge Family, wouldn’t acknowledge Tang Cheon-gun becoming Heavenly Alliance Leader. This ridiculous contradiction was strengthening Cheok Su-gwang’s position.

“I don’t know what help I’ll be by going. Actually, I’m more interested in that fellow than this incident.”

“That fellow, you mean?”

“Don’t you know?”

“…You mean Wei Yan-ho.”

Zhuge Yeom’s eyes lit up.

‘I’m curious how it will turn out.’

Wei Yan-ho had changed many things for the Zhuge Family. More than anything else, the biggest change was that Zhuge Yeom, who had thought that increasing their influence through the Heavenly Alliance was the only way, had found another path.

‘In the end, the Heavenly Alliance cannot surpass the Righteous Alliance.’

This was unrelated to Zhuge Yeom’s abilities. It was a matter of structure. Unlike the Righteous Alliance, which had a clear hierarchical relationship centered on Kwon Geuk, the Heavenly Alliance’s unity was loose. Because everyone prioritized their own sect over the Heavenly Alliance.

It was the difference between the Righteous Alliance, created in response to the crisis, and the Heavenly Alliance, created in pursuit of profit.

Until recently when the Old Sects confronted the Righteous Alliance, the Heavenly Alliance could exploit that gap, but now that Wei Yan-ho had settled the Old Sects, an unbridgeable gap had formed.

If they were to wage war against the Demonic Cult like this, the Heavenly Alliance would fall apart. Because no one would sacrifice themselves for other sects.

There was no hobby in riding a sinking ship.

To such a Zhuge Yeom, Wei Yan-ho was a very appetizing ship.

‘Under the command of the world’s greatest expert, it’s always warm.’

A strong person and the world’s greatest expert are different. The moment someone called strong begins to be called the world’s greatest expert, countless honors and tangible and intangible power attach to them.

With that power, Zhuge Yeom could instantly multiply the position of the Zhuge Family and Guangdong Wei Family several times over. Guangdong Wei Family might multiply dozens of times over.

“You’re thinking a lot.”

“Ah…”

Zhuge Yeom slightly bowed his head.

“I was rude.”

“Your job is thinking, so thinking can’t be called rude. However, are those thoughts about that boy Wei Yan-ho?”

Zhuge Yeom obediently nodded.

There was no need to lie. Habitual lies become obstacles when you really need to lie.

“Is he an interesting boy?”

“He’s a very interesting boy.”

“If you say so, it’s trustworthy. You’re famous for harsh evaluations.”

Zhuge Yeom smiled bitterly.

“If you had asked whether that boy was a good boy or a trustworthy boy, the answer would have been different. But if you ask whether he’s an interesting boy, the answer would be the same even if you asked a hundred times.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The corner of Cheok Su-gwang’s mouth curled up.

‘A boy who can compete with Kwon Geuk at barely twenty years of age.’

Moreover, hadn’t he already captured Tang Cheon-gun?

Tang Cheon-gun was called the Dark King and Cheok Su-gwang was called the War King. It meant they were of the same rank. However, Cheok Su-gwang had never once considered Tang Cheon-gun his equal. Without the backing of the Tang Family, he wouldn’t have dared stand alongside him.

Even so, the Dark King was still the Dark King. He wasn’t someone who should fall to a young boy. But to have captured the Dark King…

‘I’m looking forward to it, looking forward to it.’

Boring days had been continuing, and it felt like an unexpected source of vitality had appeared. And if handled well, this meeting might change the current stagnant situation.

The carriage carrying them with their respective thoughts stopped at the main gate of the Tang Family.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Mm.”

Cheok Su-gwang nodded and got out of the carriage.

“Hmm?”

Having gotten out of the carriage and quietly looking at the main gate of the Tang Family, a strange smile formed on Cheok Su-gwang’s lips.

“It’s nostalgic.”

“Pardon?”

“…Nostalgic, very nostalgic. I can smell that era when blood and death never ceased. The situation seems more terrible than I thought.”

Zhuge Yeom turned his head away at the sight of Cheok Su-gwang laughing like a ghost.

While imagining what would happen when this killing demon met Wei Yan-ho.