CLS-Chapter 655

Chapter 655:

“The Number One Under Heaven…”

Sagan said with a somewhat nostalgic expression on his face.

The Number One Under Heaven.

Anyone who has set foot in the martial world would not be able to escape the resonance that these words bring.

Even Sagan, who had no great interest in martial arts, felt his heart pound the moment he heard the words “Number One Under Heaven.”

“So Gwanghwi Mujon received public recognition as the Number One Under Heaven in that battle.”

“That’s right.”

Gwanggu Singae chuckled.

“Actually, Wei Yan-ho’s reputation had some strange aspects to it.”

“Strange, you say?”

“The achievements Wei Yan-ho accomplished were certainly tremendous. Even those living at the time all acknowledged that fact. By that point, his achievements alone were enough to surpass Alliance Leader Gwon Geuk.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“But it was too short-lived. How vast is the Central Plains? It would have taken much longer for all the rumors about Wei Yan-ho to spread. Elder Sin Gi-sua knew of this problem and actively tried to promote Wei Yan-ho’s achievements, but that alone had its limits.”

“That would be the case.”

How vast are the Central Plains?

They say words without feet can travel a thousand li, but a thousand li wouldn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to the Central Plains. No matter how actively rumors are spread, it would take quite some time for those rumors to reach the ends of the Central Plains.

“The position of Number One Under Heaven is not a position obtained through fighting.”

“Pardon?”

“What good does it do if I’m the strongest, if others don’t acknowledge it? In fact, the Number One Under Heaven is a position that can only be attained when the martial world acknowledges it. Those who wish to rise to the position of Number One Under Heaven must prove that they are the strongest in the martial world.”

I seemed to understand what he meant.

The Number One Under Heaven refers to the strongest person in the martial world.

Logically speaking, there is always a Number One Under Heaven in any era. But the position of Number One Under Heaven was not always filled.

This was the case before Wei Yan-ho appeared.

There were those called strong in the martial world, those said to have approached the level of Number One Under Heaven, but no one had proven themselves to be the Number One Under Heaven.

The one closest to the position of Number One Under Heaven was undoubtedly Baekgeom Seongju, but unless he personally stepped forward and defeated the strong warriors of the world with his own hands, no one would readily acknowledge that fact.

For someone to rise to the position of Number One Under Heaven means that the strong warriors of the world acknowledge that there exists someone stronger than themselves in the world.

There are no people who would acknowledge this without even crossing hands once. Strong warriors are people whose pride is as high as their strength.

“Proving that one is the Number One Under Heaven is not an easy task. Don’t they say it takes two hands to clap? Those worthy of aiming for the position of Number One Under Heaven are already those who have built up fame and status. When everything they’ve built up could crumble with a single defeat, would you readily accept a match if you were in their position?”

“It would be difficult.”

“That’s right. So there are two ways to become the Number One Under Heaven. Either objectively show a gap that no one can help but acknowledge, or like Wei Yan-ho, defeat them one by one in an era when no one can hide.”

Gwanggu Singae shrugged his shoulders.

“The latter method is probably the easier way to gain recognition.”

Sagan nodded.

“No one could deny the fact that Wei Yan-ho was the Number One Under Heaven.”

It was an obvious statement.

Who could deny it?

Wei Yan-ho had proven his strength. In the most certain way possible.

“Though the timing wasn’t very good.”

Gwanggu Singae chuckled.

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“Speak.”

“Did Baekgeom Seong obediently follow Gwanghwi Mujon’s orders? Before the match was decided, wasn’t Gwanghwi Mujon Baekgeom Seong’s greatest enemy?”

“That’s right.”

“But no matter how much it was the Sect Leader’s command…”

“It might have been a bit different if it were another sect.”

Gwanggu Singae said decisively.

“If it had been a sect other than Baekgeom Seong, even if the sect leader commanded it, there would have been those who didn’t follow those words directly. But Baekgeom Seong is different. Though Baekgeom Seong takes the form of a sect, it should actually be seen as a single family. Aren’t the authority of a sect leader and the authority of a family head different?”

“That’s right.”

“Besides, Dancheon Geom Baek Gongdo isn’t just any ordinary family head. He’s a legendary hero who revived the dying Mangeom and created Baekgeom Seong. One cannot refuse the words of such a person.”

Sagan nodded.

But an expression that wasn’t entirely satisfied appeared on his face. It was a face that found it difficult to be convinced by those words alone.

“Besides…”

Perhaps noticing Sagan’s expression, Gwanggu Singae elaborated.

“Didn’t they also come to know?”

“Know what?”

“That Wei Yan-ho had also inherited the Mangeom.”

“Ah!”

Sagan looked at Gwanggu Singae with an ‘Oh!’ expression.

“Since they had eyes, they would have seen Wei Yan-ho’s sword, and since they had ears, they would have heard the conversation between Wei Yan-ho and Dancheon Geom. So they had no choice but to know that Wei Yan-ho’s sword came from the Mangeom. Besides, didn’t the Mangeom Baek family, while taking the form of Baekgeom Seong, distinguish between inside and outside the family based not on blood relations but on whether one had learned the Mangeom?”

“That’s right.”

“So Wei Yan-ho also becomes a person of Baekgeom Seong. Since he learned the Mangeom and received the family head’s recognition. From their perspective, Wei Yan-ho was no longer an outsider.”

It made sense.

They had lost anyway.

If the family head had defeated Wei Yan-ho, the situation might have looked a bit better, but unfortunately, Baek Gongdo had lost to Wei Yan-ho. If they had to accept that situation inevitably, it would be more beneficial for Baekgeom Seong to accept Wei Yan-ho as another descendant of the Mangeom rather than view him as an outsider.

Both emotionally and practically.

“Besides, Baekgeom Seongju also used his head.”

“Pardon?”

“If he had handed over command to Jeongmu Maeng, there certainly would have been resistance. Because Jeongmu Maeng without Wei Yan-ho couldn’t stop Baekgeom Seong. No one wants to bow their heads and submit to those weaker than themselves.”

“That’s right.”

“But Baekgeom Seongju handed over command not to Jeongmu Maeng but to Wei Yan-ho. With that alone, he could gain justification.”

Sagan tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand.

“Is bowing one’s head to Wei Yan-ho alone better than bowing to Jeongmu Maeng?”

“It would be hard for you to understand.”

It’s difficult for someone who isn’t a martial artist to empathize.

From an ordinary person’s perspective, one would think it looks better for Baekgeom Seong to bow to the massive organization called Jeongmu Maeng rather than bow to just one person named Wei Yan-ho.

But that doesn’t apply to martial artists.

“Respecting the strong is the nature of martial artists. Even enemies are respected if they are strong. Bowing one’s head and handing over command to someone who has proven themselves to be unshakably the Number One Under Heaven is not particularly shameful for martial artists.”

“Hmm…”

“For example, Alliance Leader Gwon Geuk would never have wielded such influence if there had been a definite Number One Under Heaven. It may sound ridiculous, but martial artists trust a number one with poor leadership but strong martial prowess more than a number two with perfect leadership skills.”

“It’s a strange world.”

“And an intuitive world.”

Gwanggu Singae chuckled.

“That’s how the martial world is. That’s why everyone desperately tries to become stronger and would even swallow dirt to gain fame.”

“Hmm.”

Sagan nodded.

Though it wasn’t easy to understand, he had no choice but to accept it. Because that’s how things actually unfolded.

“But Gwanghwi Mujon doesn’t seem like someone who would command…”

“What commanding does Wei Yan-ho do? The commanding is done by Elder Sin Gi-sua.”

“So he only holds the nominal position.”

“For once, something not stupid came out of your mouth. That’s exactly right.”

Sagan nodded as if he understood.

“Now it’s the Demon Cult.”

“…That’s right.”

It had been quite long.

In the end, all of this process was nothing more than a process of building up strength to face the Demon Cult.

“What was the Demon Cult’s military strength like?”

“That’s really hard to say…”

Gwanggu Singae frowned.

“The Demon Cult is tremendously strong.”

“That would be the case.”

“But if you ask whether it’s as strong as we thought, that’s not quite right either.”

“What do you mean?”

Gwanggu Singae answered Sagan’s question.

“In the past, the Demon Cult once pushed the martial world single-handedly. For a single sect to gain the upper hand against the Central Plains is truly tremendous. No other sect could have been as strong as the Demon Cult.”

“That’s right.”

“But there was no guarantee that this would be repeated this time. At least I thought so at the time. My master’s opinion was similar.”

“…Why?”

“It’s simple.”

Gwanggu Singae took a swig from his gourd and continued.

“The Central Plains’ military strength at that time was twice as strong as the Central Plains’ strength in the past. The past Central Plains also did their best, but it was nothing more than Jeongmu Maeng rampaging alone. But this time was different. First, Cheonui Ryeon had preserved their full strength, and thanks to Wei Yan-ho, Jeongmu Maeng and Cheonui Ryeon were able to cooperate.”

“Hmm…”

“On top of that, weren’t Baekgeom Seong and even Hwanggung, who didn’t participate in the past, helping Jeongmu Maeng? Objectively, we had secured more than twice the military strength compared to the past. Of course, the beginning was several times more difficult compared to the past, but after solving all those problems, our military strength had increased significantly.”

“I understand what you’re saying. On the other hand, the Demon Cult had no additional military strength to gain compared to the past.”

“That’s right. So I thought, even if the Demon Cult gritted their teeth and secured about twice the military strength compared to the past, we wouldn’t lose. Because our military strength was even greater than that.”

Regret appeared on Gwanggu Singae’s face.

“That was the beginning of all our misconceptions.”

It was a widely known fact that the Demon Cult had pushed the Central Plains around like a massacre in the early stages of the war.

But listening to Gwanggu Singae’s words, things didn’t add up. If Jeongmu Maeng, and the Central Plains, had secured military strength greater than the Demon Cult’s, how could they have been pushed back so helplessly?

Along with the question came the answer.

“…The Heavenly Demon?”

Gwanggu Singae didn’t answer.

He just held the alcohol in his mouth.

Only after quite some time had passed did Gwanggu Singae speak.

“We didn’t know.”

His tone was somewhat bitter.

“Even after seeing Wei Yan-ho and Baek Gongdo, we didn’t know how strong one person’s power could be. Because… no matter how strong Wei Yan-ho and Baek Gongdo were, if everyone there rushed at them, they absolutely couldn’t survive. In the end, we thought all victories were decided by how much powerful military strength each side possessed. But…”

Gwanggu Singae trembled slightly.

“There existed in the world something that transcended that. A superhuman, no, a monster.”