Chapter 70: Opening Ceremony
“...The Righteous Alliance?”
Yu Gwangcheol repeated the words, clearly not understanding.
I felt the same.
The Righteous Alliance as our lodging?
What was that supposed to mean?
Jin Gwangung, who had been listening from the side, suddenly cut in.
“What are you talking about?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Are you saying you've actually arranged lodging inside the Righteous Alliance?”
Tang Soyeon nodded without showing any hesitation.
“Recently, exchanges between the Sichuan Tang Clan and the Righteous Alliance have become much more frequent.”
She explained calmly.
“At the Righteous Alliance's request, our clan has been sending members here quite often.”
“Request?”
Jin Gwangung tilted his head slightly.
Tang Soyeon continued.
“Yes.”
“As a convenience for those sent here, the Righteous Alliance prepared a separate annex within the Alliance grounds for Tang Clan personnel to stay in.”
She smiled lightly.
“Fortunately, no one from the Tang Clan has been dispatched during the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament...”
“so the annex is currently empty.”
Jin Gwangung's eyes brightened.
“Oh?”
He smacked his lips.
“A private annex, huh?”
“Sounds pretty impressive already.”
He looked genuinely interested.
Yu Gwangcheol's expression tightened slightly.
“It's a place used by the Tang Clan.”
He looked at Tang Soyeon.
“Would it truly be all right for us to stay there?”
“It could be considered rude, or perhaps invite unnecessary talk.”
Tang Soyeon shook her head.
“I've already confirmed with the Righteous Alliance that it would be fine.”
She continued,
“And the Tang Clan has no plans to send anyone during the tournament, so there shouldn't be any problem.”
Even after hearing that...
Yu Gwangcheol still looked conflicted.
Apparently finding his hesitation frustrating, Jin Gwangung immediately jumped in.
“Why are you overthinking this?”
He waved one hand.
“The Tang Clan says it's fine.”
“The Righteous Alliance says it's fine.”
“Then let's just go see the place.”
Yu Gwangcheol frowned.
“Elder Gwangung, but—”
“If we go there and don't like it, we can find somewhere else.”
Jin Gwangung shrugged.
“Why make things complicated?”
Faced with Jin Gwangung's blunt attitude...
Yu Gwangcheol finally nodded.
“Hmph... fine.”
Then he looked back at Tang Soyeon.
“In that case, please guide us there.”
“Of course.”
We followed Tang Soyeon.
Fortunately, the annex wasn't far away.
We reached it quickly.
Several Righteous Alliance martial artists were already waiting at the entrance.
One of them stepped forward and gave a martial salute.
“Are you the guests from the Kunlun Sect?”
Yu Gwangcheol nodded.
The martial artist immediately became even more respectful.
“Please come this way.”
He guided us inside without asking any further questions.
Tang Soyeon had clearly informed them in advance.
When the doors opened...
a neat courtyard appeared before us.
There was even a spacious open area large enough for martial training.
And there were more than enough rooms.
Yu Gwangcheol let out a breath.
Then finally nodded.
“...Not bad.”
Everyone's expressions brightened at once.
It seemed they had all been worried Yu Gwangcheol might reject Tang Soyeon's offer.
I quietly looked at her.
So that's why.
This must have been the reason she'd gone off alone earlier.
She had gone to check the lodging in advance for us.
I felt grateful for the consideration.
Yu Gwangcheol seemed to feel the same way.
He turned toward Tang Soyeon.
“Thank you.”
“You've saved us quite a lot of trouble.”
Tang Soyeon smiled.
“It's nothing.”
Then she glanced at me.
“Taoist Mujin helped me escape a dangerous situation as well.”
Her tone was modest.
“Please think of this as a small repayment.”
Yu Gwangcheol stared at her.
Then...
his gaze suddenly sharpened.
“...The more I see of you, the more curious I become about your identity.”
Tang Soyeon's eyes flickered.
Yu Gwangcheol continued.
“Even for someone from the Tang Clan...”
“I doubt a branch family member would normally have access to this much authority.”
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense.
Then...
“There he goes again.”
Jin Gwangung shattered the tension without hesitation.
Yu Gwangcheol frowned.
“Elder Jin—”
“Oh, enough already.”
Jin Gwangung waved him off.
“You really question every little thing.”
Then he grinned at Tang Soyeon.
“That old man gets stuck on one thing and never lets it go.”
“He's the kind of petty bastard who still holds onto something that happened forty years ago.”
Yu Gwangcheol's face immediately reddened.
“Who are you calling petty?!”
Jin Gwangung laughed.
“Am I wrong?”
“You still grind your teeth every time you see Taoist Wonho.”
“T-That's because I'm warning everyone about his deceptive tactics—!”
“Sure, sure.”
Jin Gwangung nodded exaggeratedly.
“Everything Taoist Wonho does is a deception tactic.”
“Kekeke.”
The tension vanished instantly.
Everyone started chuckling.
Yu Seola, perhaps because the embarrassing story involved her own grandfather, simply lowered her head in silence.
With that brief commotion...
the matter more or less came to an end.
Everyone looked relieved now that our lodging problem had been solved.
But I couldn't laugh quite as freely.
Tang Soyeon's earlier words kept lingering in my mind.
Why is the Tang Clan sending people to the Righteous Alliance?
For some reason...
a vague sense of discomfort remained in one corner of my heart.
With that uneasy feeling still lingering...
I quietly headed toward my room in the annex.
Despite my unease...
the next few days passed without incident.
No.
They were actually extremely comfortable.
Both the lodging and the meals were stable.
My tangled thoughts gradually began settling down.
And eventually...
that day arrived.
The day the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament would begin.
“All right!”
Jin Gwangung's voice echoed through the courtyard early in the morning.
“Is everyone ready?”
The four of us...
Hyeongwon, Yu Seola, Myeongjeon, and me...
all nodded.
In truth, we'd been prepared since dawn.
Everyone had checked their weapons and finished making every preparation for the tournament.
Tang Soyeon, who wasn't participating, had also woken early and was waiting to leave with us.
Jin Gwangung looked over our faces and chuckled.
“Every one of you looks tense.”
Then he grinned.
“No... maybe that's excitement.”
“Either way, it's been a while since I've seen such decent expressions on your faces.”
He jerked his chin toward the gate.
“Good.”
“Let's go.”
“Go enjoy yourselves properly today.”
He headed out first.
The Kunlun group and Tang Soyeon quickly followed.
The road leading toward the Grand Training Ground was already packed with people.
I'd never seen crowds like this inside the Righteous Alliance before.
People had gathered from all across the Central Plains to watch the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.
The entire Alliance grounds were overflowing.
Drums echoed rhythmically in the distance.
Rows of Righteous Alliance banners lining the road fluttered in the wind.
People wearing the robes of countless sects filled the streets like waves.
The closer we got to the training ground...
the louder the noise became.
Cheers.
Shouts.
Roars.
The heat of the crowd felt strong enough to touch my skin.
Then...
we arrived.
The Grand Training Ground.
And it truly deserved the word Grand.
It was so enormous that I couldn't take in the entire area at a glance.
With more than a thousand participants...
multiple preliminary matches needed to take place at once.
Because of that, several fighting platforms had been installed across the grounds.
The spectator stands surrounding the arena on all sides were already overflowing with people.
The faces of the crowd were flushed with excitement...
as though they could barely wait for the tournament to begin.
But in contrast...
there were people sitting calmly near the front.
The VIP seats.
Major figures from the Righteous Alliance.
And powerful names from across the martial world.
Cheers exploded toward the VIP section.
“The Namgung Family Head! That's Namgung Changmin!”
“Look over there! Taoist Wonho of Mount Hua! Plum Blossom Sword!”
“Master Baekheo of Shaolin is here too!”
As I moved my gaze...
I spotted a familiar face sitting proudly among them.
Yu Gwangcheol.
He was seated there representing Kunlun.
His confident expression carried the dignity of Kunlun's First Elder...
and of a master who held a place of his own in the martial world.
I looked toward Jin Gwangung beside me.
A VIP seat had also been prepared for him.
But Jin Gwangung had personally refused it...
so Yu Gwangcheol had gone alone.
I asked carefully,
“Master, why did you refuse your seat?”
Jin Gwangung snorted.
“Forget it.”
“Sitting somewhere like that is more exhausting.”
I blinked.
“Exhausting?”
“You have to act important the entire time.”
He grimaced.
“And do you know how annoying it is having to respond to every bastard who comes over and starts talking?”
He shook his head.
“Why would I willingly go sit there?”
As expected.
That was an answer perfectly suited to Jin Gwangung...
a man who valued freedom far more than formality.
Then...
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
A roar far greater than anything before shook the Grand Training Ground.
Tens of thousands of voices erupted at once.
It felt like the very air itself was trembling.
At the same time...
everyone inside the arena turned toward the same place.
The center of the VIP section.
A man in blue-green robes appeared in the previously empty central space.
His steps were dignified.
Neither hurried nor slow.
He moved as naturally as though he were simply walking toward the throne where he had always belonged.
His eyes were the same.
Tens of thousands of gazes were fixed upon him...
yet not even the slightest hesitation showed.
It was the gaze of a ruler who accepted the people's admiration and reverence as something completely natural.
With every step he took...
the heat of the entire arena rose higher.
But at that moment...
my heart and eyes became colder than ever.
I silently watched the absolute figure walking toward the central seat.
A living legend of the orthodox martial world.
Leader of the Righteous Alliance.
The man acknowledged by all as the strongest under heaven.
But to me...
he was something else.
An absolute evil that had to be destroyed.
...Moyong Cheonhwi.
The man who had taken the lives of thousands of innocent Shadow Corps test subjects....
And my life as well.
Moyong Cheonhwi reached the center of the VIP section.
The cheers exploded again.
“WAAAAAAAAAH! It's Lord Moyong Cheonhwi!”
“I-I can't believe I'm seeing Moyong Cheonhwi with my own eyes!”
“The strongest under heaven!”
“No, the greatest under heaven in all history!”
Moyong Cheonhwi didn't react to the cheers.
He seemed to accept them indifferently...
as though they were simply sounds that had always belonged around him.
Then...
he lightly raised one hand.
That single gesture caused the entire arena to gradually fall silent.
Moyong Cheonhwi opened his mouth.
“Fellow martial artists.”
The moment his first words left his lips...
the entire Grand Training Ground became quiet.
It almost felt as though, in this enormous space...
only Moyong Cheonhwi was permitted to speak.
He continued.
“Today is a festival.”
“Here, we will meet the new faces who will lead the orthodox martial world into tomorrow.”
The crowd erupted in cheers again.
Moyong Cheonhwi continued without changing expression.
“And today is also a place of selection.”
“Here, upon this Grand Training Ground...”
“we will determine who possesses the strength to lead the future of the orthodox martial world.”
His gaze slowly swept across the arena.
“The strength of the orthodox path exists to uphold justice.”
“Therefore...”
“those who make their names known in the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament must become righteous strongmen.”
Righteous.
The moment that word entered my ears...
something twisted inside me.
I remembered all the countless acts of "righteousness" he'd carried out in my previous life.
How many filthy lies had been hidden behind that word?
The righteousness Moyong Cheonhwi spoke of...
had always been built atop the blood of countless victims.
I had been one of those victims.
Moyong Cheonhwi continued without so much as changing his expression.
“The young heroes of the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament will become the standard of the martial world.”
“Together with our Righteous Alliance...”
“they will build righteous order and justice.”
He drew a breath.
Then added,
“And I, Moyong Cheonhwi, will stand with them in building that order and justice.”
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
The crowd roared again.
Voices shouted Moyong Cheonhwi's name from every direction.
Moyong Cheonhwi swept his gaze across the crowd one final time.
Then spoke the last words.
“I hereby declare the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament open!”
At that declaration...
the drums thundered.
And the Grand Training Ground exploded once more.
At last...
the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament had begun.
