No, what the hell is this nonsense now?

The Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk appeared only once every 60 years, and its owner had already been decided?

Wondering what absurd excuse he was using to pick another fight, I looked at Cheol Sunjik, but his expression was very different from his usual smug look.

To be exact, he looked as if he knew perfectly well that what he was saying made no sense.

It seemed there was another meaning behind it, so I asked again.

"What do you mean by that?"

Cheol Sunjik did not answer for a while.

Then, long after, he asked me in return.

"Do you perhaps have the map to Cheondong Cave?"

"..."

I took the map out from inside my robes and showed it to him.

He looked back and forth between the map and me.

"... You bought this?"

His unpleasant gaze was like he was looking at someone who had been tricked by a medicine peddler into buying an immortality herb.

"I did not know Representative Jin was such a naive person."

Ha, look at this bastard dodging the question.

"I heard the map costs twenty taels of gold... Did you truly buy it?"

As if that could be true.

I briefly told him what had happened as soon as I arrived in Xi'an.

Cheol Sunjik, who had been listening silently, nodded.

"... That is a relief, at least."

What was a relief?

Anyway, that was enough of that.

"Are you going to keep dodging the question?"

At my ice-cold gaze, Cheol Sunjik soon nodded and continued speaking.

"Zhongnan has already reached an agreement with Mount Hua. Zhongnan is to take the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk."

What was that supposed to mean?

Who decided that?

"Have they already found the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk?"

"Not yet. No one knows where in Cheondong Cave the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk will appear. Instead, Zhongnan, having obtained Mount Hua's permission, is making plans to exclude everyone else."

"..."

The Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk was a spiritual elixir that burst forth in an instant once a certain amount of the earth's energy gathered.

One could know when it would appear, but not where.

In other words, the very act of searching for the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk inside Cheondong Cave would inevitably lead to competition.

And yet, if they were saying they could exclude everyone else...

"Does that mean Zhongnan is stepping in in earnest?"

In the end, it was no different from saying they would stop others from joining the competition from the very beginning.

And as if my guess was correct, Cheol Sunjik nodded.

"Zhongnan will mobilize the disciples of its main mountain and its lay branches to prevent others from approaching Cheondong Cave."

I tilted my head.

"But the Beggars' Sect is selling the map?"

"That too is something the Beggars' Sect and Zhongnan agreed upon. The Beggars' Sect handed over a detailed map of Cheondong Cave to Zhongnan, and in exchange, they are profiting by selling incomplete maps to people."

"..."

So it had been a rigged game from the start?

Then...

"It was no coincidence that Representative Jin got into a dispute with the Beggars' Sect. In case Zhongnan fails to secure the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk, the Beggars' Sect is compiling a registry of unfamiliar people. That is why the dispute occurred."

Now the pieces fit together.

The Xi'an Branch report and the Jianghu Spiritual Elixir Record only stated that Zhongnan secured the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk.

When I first saw those records in my past life, even though there had been many competitors, including Mount Hua, I had simply thought, "As expected of the strength of the Nine Sects."

'But that wasn't it. From the start, they blocked the competition and colluded among themselves?'

On top of that, the Beggars' Sect had even been toying with people's desires.

Twenty taels of gold was not some small sum; it was enough money for an ordinary person to save up over a lifetime.

This was outright fraud.

"They're playing with people to this extent...?"

At my murmur, bitterness also flickered across Cheol Sunjik's face.

"The Jukhyeon Gang is also already guarding the area around Cheondong Cave. Representative Jin, you will not be able to enter Cheondong Cave either. If you try to force your way in..."

"Zhongnan and its lay branches won't stand by quietly."

Cheol Sunjik gave a short nod.

What he said next was even more hopeless.

"Zhongnan has even mobilized the Big Dipper swordsmen."

"That is insane..."

The Big Dipper swordsmen were Zhongnan's final assault force.

Unless Zhongnan's very roots were shaken, they never came forward, and once they did, they did not stop until they annihilated the enemy.

To think they had even mobilized the Big Dipper swordsmen.

It showed just how serious Zhongnan was about the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk.

"According to what is being said among the lay branches, their Profound Clarity Pills have nearly been exhausted, so they must secure the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk this time. That means Zhongnan is prepared to be criticized."

Even those who touted justice would shamelessly turn their backs on it when the fire reached their own feet.

If even ordinary people were like that, then if a massive sect like Zhongnan felt a crisis, it was obvious they would stop at nothing.

"This matter is different from the Demonic Spirit Plateau. Zhongnan will try to secure the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk no matter what price they must pay."

"... Are you saying they will not even shrink from murder?"

Cheol Sunjik stopped speaking for a moment.

His gaze lingered briefly in empty air before returning to me.

"They must be blocking the entrance to prevent such a situation in advance."

At a glance, it did not sound like such a great problem.

"Of course, no one would know what happens inside Cheondong Cave."

But Cheol Sunjik's following words were ominous beyond measure.

As he said, no one would know what happened inside, so it would become something that had never happened in the first place.

"Representative Jin, return to your hometown. Enjoy your break."

This time, sincerity was in his eyes.

"There is no need to waste your strength on something impossible."

Something impossible... It certainly looked that way.

But after making it this far, how could I retreat even if I wanted to?

"Will the Jukhyeon Gang go inside Cheondong Cave?"

Cheol Sunjik looked at my expression and sighed.

"You have no intention of giving up."

"Just tell me whether they are going in or not."

He looked at me with an exceedingly complicated gaze.

"... The lay branches cannot enter Cheondong Cave. They will merely protect Zhongnan."

"That's good."

"What on earth is... Hah, never mind."

Cheol Sunjik, who had been about to ask why, soon shook his head.

After being done in by me a few times, it seemed his sense had sharpened even more.

"Do you truly intend to go in?"

His question was wrong from the beginning.

Was I going in? Of course.

That was not even worth discussing.

Because I could not give up on the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk either.

"What does it look like to you?"

"..."

Rather, the only choices before me, unlike them, were whether to face them fair and square or to face them properly(?) by cheating, just like them.

So Zhongnan was coming out like this...

#

As soon as morning broke, I bought brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, then climbed Mount Judang with my junior disciples.

I had heard Cheol Sunjik's story, but I needed to know exactly how Zhongnan would exclude the others.

From the foot of the mountain, it was already packed with countless people carrying weapons, and wordless standoffs were taking place everywhere.

And by the time we reached the middle of the mountain...

The crowd began to bottleneck.

"Eldest Senior Brother, there are more and more people."

The people could hardly move forward.

A few with outstanding movement techniques climbed trees or scaled cliffs to break away from the crowd, but most remained unable to leave the mountain path.

After forcing our way through the crowd and going upward, we were able to see why things had come to a halt.

"What are you talking about! We cannot enter?"

"Too many people have gathered, and casualties may occur, so this unavoidable measure was taken. Please understand."

"What bullshit! Then does Zhongnan mean to monopolize the spiritual elixir?!"

"Bullshit?"

The Zhongnan Sect warrior, seizing upon the protester's words, drew his sword.

"Say that again."

"Urgh!"

With the Zhongnan warrior at the lead, Zhongnan's disciples and the warriors of its lay branches also stepped forward, and the protester tightly shut his mouth.

Everyone's dissatisfaction had built up at this situation that made no sense, but with sword blades glinting before their eyes, no one could open their mouth recklessly.

"Is this not because Zhongnan unilaterally blocked the entrance and stopped people from entering, causing the entrance to become congested? I do not think this is proper! Moreover, for Zhongnan to use such petty means...!"

When someone offered a logical rebuttal, expectation began to appear on people's faces.

After all, the Orthodox faction was supposed to move according to justification.

"Even the Murim Alliance has decided that the rights to a spiritual elixir may belong to the one who obtains it. I believe it is a problem for Zhongnan to act so unilaterally."

Once even the Murim Alliance was brought up, everyone looked at Zhongnan's warrior.

No matter how absolute Zhongnan's authority was in this place, surely they could not defy even the Murim Alliance.

As the commotion passing through the crowd briefly stopped...

The warrior who had been looking at the protester opened his mouth.

"Do you all remember, during the last incident at the Demonic Spirit Plateau, when countless people entered the Demonic Spirit Plateau and met with disaster?"

"..."

"At that time, did everyone not speak with one voice and place responsibility for it on Wudang?"

The more the Zhongnan Sect warrior spoke, the more the protester's shoulders shrank.

"Those who entered that place were not pushed in by force. They went in on their own two feet for their own benefit, yet simply because the Wudang Sect had been there with them, everyone joined together and raised the issue of responsibility. Is that not so?"

"... Th-That is a little different..."

"Cheondong Cave is not far from the Zhongnan Sect. If disaster occurs in Cheondong Cave, there will surely be those who demand the Zhongnan Sect take responsibility."

Before anyone knew it, silence had fallen over the crowd.

As if he had seized victory, the Zhongnan Sect warrior smiled faintly and shouted at the top of his voice.

"Zhongnan is striving to prevent this very thing! Mount Hua has already understood this matter and permitted Zhongnan to carry out this undertaking. Therefore, I ask those gathered here to please understand as well."

Once the Mount Hua Sect was mentioned and the Zhongnan warrior even cupped his fist, the protesters all shut their mouths at once.

For them to push forward with such an absurd justification was, in the end, no different from declaring that they would not listen no matter what anyone said.

Everyone was full of dissatisfaction, but no one stepped forward easily.

Zhongnan's martial force was one thing, but the number of lay branches with them was no small matter either.

Moreover, those gathered to enter Cheondong Cave all belonged to different groups, so if someone protested first for no reason, they could end up becoming a fine example.

On one side...

"Let's try another entrance."

"Right. This isn't the only entrance into Cheondong Cave."

"Move aside. I'm going first."

Some people looked for other entrances in order to enter Cheondong Cave, but the situation there was no different.

"Goddamn it...! I shouldn't have bought the map!"

"Did those Beggars' Sect bastards really not know about this?"

"How could that be?! The Beggars' Sect bastards must have scammed us!"

There were even people who could not contain their anger and tore the maps to shreds.

There were plenty of people shouting themselves hoarse and plenty of people glaring resentfully at Zhongnan, but Zhongnan paid them no mind at all.

At their brazen attitude, a hollow laugh escaped me before I knew it.

'Were they always this self-righteous?'

The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans I had seen in my past life were extraordinary beings.

In Jianghu, where competition was overheated and ruthlessly fierce, they were the ones who never lost their power until the very end and preserved their supreme positions.

At one time, I had admired them and chased after them.

As a disciple of the Taiyi Sect, they had climbed to heights I could never reach no matter how hard I worked all my life, so even as I raged at their oppression, I admired them.

But.

What they showed now was nothing more than the crude sight of those who climbed up first and then kicked away the ladder.

'Is this how they maintained their power?'

They casually stole away other people's opportunities.

They deprived them even of the chance to climb, even of the right to compete.

Then they used their own martial might again to continue maintaining the power they had gained so cowardly.

'Damn bastards...'

If they had truly been strong, it would not have mattered even if they used cowardly tricks.

As the strong, they could have become a sufficient shield to protect others.

But what were they like during the Orthodox-Demonic Great War?

Those who monopolized spiritual elixirs stood at the very rear, and those who were deprived of opportunity stood at the very front.

Did we not, who picked up only scraps dropped by those in power, become meat shields at the very front in the name of Jianghu's justice?

'Even the chance to protect justice was something forced upon us.'

Weak sects like the Taiyi Sect.

Had we ever stood at the very front by our own will?

By those who hid behind us and aimed their blades at our backs, not the enemy's.

We were merely driven to the very front.

And so our lives were taken.

"Eldest Senior Brother, there doesn't seem to be any way to get in."

"If Zhongnan is blocking it like that, there will be no way to break through."

"On top of that, if we keep staying here and get caught up in Zhongnan's crackdown..."

I turned my head toward the voices.

I saw the faces of my junior disciples, full of concern.

Yes, they were still alive.

I fixed my gaze on the Zhongnan Sect group once more.

The opportunity they had monopolized was one my junior disciples might have had.

And if these kids had gained that opportunity, they would not have died so absurdly in my past life.

That was why, in this life, I absolutely could not let that opportunity slip by.

"From now on, we climb Mount Judang."

At my words, my junior disciples tilted their heads.

"But this is already Mount Judang."

I looked back at them.

"You all have the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, right?"

"Yes."

"From now on, draw every inch of the area around Cheondong Cave. Do not leave out a single part of the terrain's shape."

"What? What do you mean...?"

"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you scheming this time?"

In my past life, Zhongnan, which had taken the opportunity, ultimately failed to stop the Demonic Cult.

Then this opportunity.

"It is time to show the strength of the Taiyi Sect."

It was our turn to take it.