NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 313. Link (1)
“You were planning to head to Sacheon… …?”
Geomhwa Okyeon nodded briefly at Geomjong Hakyu while asking a question. It is as Zhuge Liangjun said.
They led the disciples of the Zhongnan faction and moved first to catch up with Xue Yun, who had moved south toward Hubei Zhushan, while they exchanged news with the Zhengtian Alliance soldiers Zhuge Changxin had deployed to investigate the situation in Shaanxi. After accidentally meeting them once near Xi’an and learning their secret language and symbols, they were able to easily distinguish Zhengtian Alliance members who were operating incognito here and there in Shaanxi.
It would take as long as it took to contact the Jeongcheon Alliance to catch up with Hakwoon, but it was also important to quickly grasp the rapidly changing martial arts situation after the fall of Shaolin. Above all, with Jongnam and Hwasan retreating from Shaanxi, he was worried that the Hwasise, including Geumryeong, who had been deceived, might advance to Hubei. It was natural to want to check the safety of the Jeongcheon Alliance main force and the movement of large-scale troops from time to time. Since Hakwoon and Okyang had moved to Shaanxi, there were no more outstanding masters available in Juksan. Although the shaman sword master Song Cheong was nearby, he could not rely on him alone. Song Cheong would also have a hard time dealing with Geumryeong.
Above all, from the perspective of Hwasan and Jongnam, the fact that the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance was damaged was problematic in itself. In order to recover the land of Seomseo that had fallen into the hands of the Demon Path, they judged that there would be a small possibility if the right path joined forces centered around the Jeongcheon Alliance.
So, with the consent of Jongnam Jangmun Hakyu, he visited the Jeongcheon Alliance members once during his trip south and received news of Juksan. When he made contact in Seoan, he had already told Jegal Changsin that he intended to move that way, so there was no significant delay. Those he made contact with, as if they had been waiting, delivered letters containing the current situation and Jegal Changsin’s intentions.
Of course, the reason Okyeon and Hakyu were able to do so was because at that time, the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance, which numbered over two thousand, was stationed in Juksan, and because they guessed that the disciples of Jongnampa, including Hakwoon, would not be able to move quickly due to their internal injuries and other minor and major wounds.
Compared to Hak-un and his party, they were composed of people who walked extremely fast. Not to mention the peerless masters Jongnam Geomjong Hak-yu, Hwasan Geomhwa Ok-yeon, Hwasan Jamryong Cheong-myeong, and the rest of the Hwasan faction members who followed behind were all at the level of Elder Ok-ja Bae. They calculated that they would catch up with them in time or at least arrive at Juk-san at a similar time. It was by no means a complacent judgment.
however.
In Ankang, the last stop before entering Hubei Province while moving south, Okyeon and Hakyu heard the shocking news left behind by Zhuge Changxin.
━As feared, a thousand-strong cavalry force was dispatched from Guizhou Guojia. Judging from the fact that they were heading straight north, it is not difficult to guess that they intend to attack Sacheon… … .
They had no choice but to acknowledge the insight of the military leader of the Zhengtian Alliance, Zhuge Changxin. Indeed, everything was going according to his words.
At one time, the imperial declaration of non-aggression in official affairs, Ma Guangtian’s advance on Songshan, and the Hua family’s dispatch of troops from Shaanxi all seemed to be occurring in a chain reaction, and if the Hua family split their forces and dispatched them to Shaanxi to attack, there was a high chance that this would be exactly what they wanted. His opinion was dismissed as an excessive leap of logic.
However, Zhuge Changxin’s family was by no means a leap forward.
While the troops dispatched by Hwasisega were slowly advancing toward the volcano, wasn’t it true that Geumryeong, the ultimate horse master whose identity had not been revealed until now, was attempting to destroy Jongnam’s clan? Hwasisega’s plan to attack was centered on cooperation with Jongnam. So it could be said that the plan was flawed from the start.
If Zhuge Changxin had given troops to Hakun and Okyang and sent them to Shaanxi, there was a high probability that Zhongnan would have been destroyed, even if Huashan was not. The reason why Hakun and Okyang were able to reach their respective temples quickly was clear. It was because they had no followers. That was why they could almost use all their might to launch a light attack, and thanks to that, Hakun was able to arrive at Zhongnan Mountain just before Jinling’s surprise attack.
If Geomjong Hakyu had faced the ban alone, Jongnam would have collapsed much faster. He would not have even dared to ask Hwasan for help. Since Okyang’s arrival at Hwasan would have been significantly delayed, Okyeon would not have moved to help Jongnam.
Furthermore, even if the Hwagyeong masters Hak-un and Ok-yang had led the troops, the Hwasisega’s conquest would likely not have gone smoothly. Not only was cooperation with Jong-nam impossible due to Geum-ryeong’s surprise attack, but if the main force of Jeongcheonmaeng had moved, the Hwasisega’s troops would certainly have withdrawn. It is questionable whether Hak-un and Ok-yang could have gained the upper hand against the two extreme horse masters – Yeomwangmado and Talmyeongkwonma – but if they had not, Hak-un and Ok-yang would not have been able to avoid death by Geum-ryeong, who returned after destroying Jong-nam. The Jeongcheonmaeng troops that went with them would also have suffered damage close to annihilation.
In other words, in the land of Shaanxi, there was a trap that could kill at least three of the best martial artists.
That’s not all. If the decision to retreat had been delayed, Hwasan would not have been able to avoid destruction. It would have been difficult to deal with Geumryeong, Yeomwangmado, and Talmyeongkwonma, but there was also the possibility that the Magwangcheonju, who had destroyed Shaolin in Hanam, would come straight to Hwasan in Shaanxi.
In the end, it was thanks to the careful decision of the military leader of the Zhengtian Alliance, Zhuge Changxin, that Zhongnan and Huashan were able to survive in Shaanxi, which could have easily become a death zone. Okyeon and Hakyu were not stupid. After reading several of Zhuge Changxin’s writings, they quickly realized that the decisions he made after his insight had allowed their sect to survive.
And in the last letter, we can see once again that Zhuge Changxin’s prediction was correct.
The Expedition of the Guizhou Guo Family – This was somewhat unexpected. With the main force of the Zhengtian Alliance still stationed in Hubei Jushan, they were trying to attack Sichuan?
Zhuge Changxin commented on the sudden change as follows:
━Even though there are over two thousand troops stationed here, I can’t definitively infer why they made that decision. I think it might be due to discord among the demonic forces that we haven’t figured out yet. Since the Guizhou Guo family moved after the Shaanxi Hua family, I wonder if there might be a conflict of interest regarding the succession of the Magwang Heavenly Lord. The next Magwang Heavenly Lord might be chosen based on his achievements in the Battle of Jeongma… … .
That made sense.
Demon Archduke Hwamu Ryong
Magical Duke Gwak Yeon
The Three Princes of the Magic Sword, Yoo Jeong-tak
Magwangcheonju Yeon Junghyeok did not allow any of his three sons to use his surname Yeon. This means that he had not decided on a successor. If there was talk of handing over the position of the next Magwangcheonju based on his achievements in the Battle of Jeongma, it would be understandable that Guiju Guoga would act in a reckless manner. Didn’t Shaolin, the greatest enemy of the Demonic Way, fall? In a situation where the Demonic Way’s chances of winning had greatly increased, it could have been that he wanted to establish achievements that could be boasted before the Battle of Jeongma ended.
━Or maybe this is also part of the diversionary plan that the Demonic faction has mainly been carrying out so far… … I think it could be part of it. In any case, there is no way that Guo Jia could not have predicted that if they moved their troops towards Sacheon, the main alliance would return. The fact that they went out anyway is probably because the fact that the main alliance returned was counted as their achievement, or because they thought that even if the main alliance returned, they would still have a chance of winning.
In the text, it was clear that Zhuge Changxin had been struggling. He presented two highly probable cases.
1. If the withdrawal of the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance itself becomes an enemy of the Guoju Guo family – if the purpose is to easily incorporate Shaanxi and Hubei into the territory of the Mago clan after Henan, then it is possible that such a decision was made.
2. If the Sacheondangga’s power is judged to be able to handle even if the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance retreats – In fact, this was not very likely. The Mado side would not know that the Jeongcheon Alliance leader, Liu Yanming, was absent. They would never have imagined that he would go to Qinghai to rescue the retreating Kunlun right before the Jeongma Battle broke out. Likewise, it was impossible to predict the odds of victory unless they were confident that they could deal with at least three peerless masters, including the absent Geumgang Daeseung Jaun and the Dangga leader, Dang Zhihui.
But Zhuge Changxin did not let his guard down. After all, a military is a being that must be able to calculate the worst case scenario.
━Common sense would suggest that the first case was more likely to be an attempt at a retreat, but the second case is not entirely impossible. In Shaanxi, a being called Jinling already appeared, and in Henan, another being wearing a mask similar to Jinling is said to have cut off the life of a Shaolin abbot. Upon closer inspection, the only difference was the color of the mask covering half of the face, gold and silver, but the two looked so similar that at first I thought they were the same being, but considering that the times they each appeared in Songshan and Jongnamsan were not that different, it seems reasonable to assume that they are separate beings. I don’t know how many more extreme demon masters like this exist, but if such beings had joined the Guizhou Guojia, I think it would be worth revealing themselves.
It was the worst possible situation. Even if the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance withdrew, the Guizhou Guo family had enough power to attack Sacheon. However, if that were true, it would explain why the Guizhou Guo family was only now moving, and why they were still deploying troops while the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance was still stationed in Juksan.
━So, instead of returning to Sacheon, Bonmyeong decided to head south. The two true men, Hakun and Okyang, have not returned, and the leader is still absent. There are no peerless masters available, so even if Bonmyeong returns, it will be difficult for them to be of any significant help to the Tang family. Especially in the second case mentioned above, there is a high chance that we will be defeated in vain. On the other hand, if we head south to Guizhou, it could be quite a threat. They will probably assume that there are peerless masters like the leader or Master Jaun. It is a decision made in the expectation that the enemies will also return if Guo Hwayoung, the great lady of the Guizhou Guo family, is in danger. Of course, if the army led by Taechangma Guncheonak does not return, we will not just end it with threats, but will attack Guizhou Guo family.
Zhuge Changxin said that although there might be some support from the Fujian Confucian clan, the main force of the Jeongcheon Alliance itself was a large force of over two thousand, and since Wudang and Geomjon Song Qing had decided to move together, they would be able to destroy the Guozhou Guojia as long as Taechang Ma Guncheonak did not withdraw.
He also added one more thing, which was actually the reason why Okyeon and Hakyu came down in a hurry to chase after Hakwoon and his group.
━The reasons I decided to go south are as above, but there is now one more reason why I must leave Juksan immediately. I heard that an entity that causes weather changes with absurd magic waves is coming straight down from the volcano. I guess it is Yeon Jung-hyuk, the Demon Lord of Heaven.