Since the Grand Council meeting was being held publicly in the Martial Alliance’s Grand Training Grounds, with countless crowds watching with wide-open eyes, any scheme he might attempt would either be exposed immediately or prove utterly useless.
Moreover, Bu Eunseol was currently imprisoned and suppressed in the Thunder Prison.
Even after such a decision had been announced, he could not even protest and had no choice but to await his disposition.
Murmur murmur.
Around noon, a vast number of martial artists had gathered in the Martial Alliance’s Grand Training Grounds.
They had come precisely to witness the discussion regarding Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord Seon Woojin.
A large platform had been erected above the Grand Training Grounds, furnished with tables and chairs. It had been arranged almost identically to how a formal Grand Council would be conducted.
Rumble rumble.
One by one, numerous high-ranking elders began to appear on the platform and take their seats.
They were the heads of the various divisions as well as the elders of the Martial Alliance and other supreme leaders.
Thud thud.
At that moment, a tall, dignified middle-aged man dressed in white robes appeared on the platform.
The Heavenly Emperor, Shin Domubi.
The current Alliance Leader had made his appearance.
Swoosh.
As the Alliance Leader stepped forward, all the elders rose from their seats and offered respectful salutes.
“Everyone, be seated.”
His voice, aura, demeanor, and gaze—even if the real Heavenly Emperor had returned alive, no one could have distinguished the difference.
“We will now begin the discussion regarding the disposition of Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord Seon Woojin.”
At last, the Grand Council meeting to decide Seon Woojin’s punishment had commenced.
“Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord Seon Woojin, step forward.”
At Buk Ri-seong’s shout, from below the Grand Training Grounds, Seon Woojin—bound and restrained by experts of the Punishment Hall—slowly ascended to the platform.
Because his acupoints had been sealed by the Martial Venerable, his steps were unsteady.
Thud.
As Seon Woojin walked forward and stood tall before the assembled elders, the Heavenly Emperor—no, the Martial Venerable—spoke in a solemn voice.
“Seon Woojin. Do you admit that you are a spy of the demonic path?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Do you intend to deny it?”
Seon Woojin silently glared at the Martial Venerable.
‘I think it is the Alliance Leader who is the spy.’
If he shouted that right now, what would happen?
‘Just examine whether the Alliance Leader is using disguise or not. If you do, I will say no more.’
It would be pointless.
The Martial Venerable had already declared that he had prepared countermeasures.
Otherwise, he would never have held a Grand Council meeting in front of so many people.
Right now, the Martial Venerable had made every possible preparation to expose the true identity of the being known as Seon Woojin before the entire world.
“It is not denial—I am asking.”
In the end, having given up on exposing the Martial Venerable’s identity, Bu Eunseol asked, “I do not understand why I am being called a spy. Do you have evidence?”
Instead of answering, the Martial Venerable nodded toward a masked man standing far below the platform.
He was the Lord of the Blue Dragon Hall, a secret elite unit directly under the Alliance Leader’s command.
Since members of the secret unit could not reveal themselves publicly, he had appeared wearing a mask for the moment.
Thud thud.
The Blue Dragon Hall Lord escorted a masked man up onto the platform.
The Martial Venerable looked back and forth between the two, then nodded.
“Remove that man’s mask.”
When the Blue Dragon Hall Lord took off the mask,
“Eh-?!”
Gasps of astonishment erupted from all directions.
The face of the masked man was identical to that of Seon Woojin standing on the platform.
“The Blue Dragon Hall Lord states that this man is Seon Woojin.”
The Martial Venerable spoke solemnly while looking at Seon Woojin—no, at Bu Eunseol.
“The true successor of the Sunflower Merchant Guild—the real Seon Woojin.”
The masked man was precisely the one the Martial Venerable had spent years carefully cultivating and kept hidden in secret to maintain a perfect dual identity… the genuine Seon Woojin.
Murmur murmur.
The clamor among the martial artists below the training grounds grew uncontrollably louder.
They had always harbored doubts, wondering “could it be?”
Yet the Alliance Leader had kept the real Seon Woojin in custody all along?
Merely by bringing him here before their eyes, the Seon Woojin currently imprisoned by the Punishment Hall could no longer produce any evidence to prove he was not Seon Woojin—no matter what method he used.
“Now, speak honestly.”
The Martial Venerable spoke in a low voice.
“Tell us who you really are, and what exactly you wanted by infiltrating this Alliance.”
The Martial Venerable, bearing the title of Divine Mountain Sage, was not only extremely intelligent but also possessed a meticulous personality.
To ensure that Bu Eunseol could not make any excuses or tricks here, he had brought the real Seon Woojin—whom he had nurtured for so long—directly to this place.
“If you confess everything truthfully even now, I will accept it as voluntary admission of guilt and reduce your punishment accordingly.”
“…”
A deathlike silence blanketed the Grand Training Grounds.
The man who had been acting as Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord all this time—just who was he, really?
How could a demonic spy have risen all the way to the position of Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord without anyone noticing?
“I am-”
At that moment, Seon Woojin spoke.
“Seon Woojin.”
Murmur murmur.
Once again, the Grand Training Grounds began to stir.
This place was filled with the Martial Alliance’s high-ranking elders and all its forces. Yet even now, he was still acting so brazenly and making such claims?
“Because…”
He pointed at the Seon Woojin standing opposite him.
“That man is the fake.”
The Martial Venerable let out a low, incredulous laugh.
“I gave you a chance, yet you still cannot help yourself.”
Then he spoke to Buk Ri-seong.
“Vice-Alliance Leader. Immediately undo his disguise.”
Buk Ri-seong nodded.
He possessed inner energy second only to the Buddha Venerable among the righteous path, and when it came to acupoint techniques, he was the most knowledgeable person in the entire martial world.
If he truly intended to verify a disguise, it would be impossible to hide.
“How truly disappointing.”
Approaching the center of the Grand Training Grounds, Buk Ri-seong spoke with a grave expression.
“I always believed in you. Despite the constant accusations of espionage, you perfectly cleared your name every time.”
He let out a deep sigh.
“But it was all in vain.”
Buk Ri-seong raised his inner energy.
Then, with an utterly devastated expression, he extended his hand.
“Do you have any last words?”
“I also believed that the Vice-Alliance Leader was a fair man. That is why I only ask that you clarify the truth plainly and clearly.”
“Very well.”
Tap.
Buk Ri-seong extended his index finger and pressed the Fengfu acupoint—the concave point exactly where the skull and cervical vertebrae met, at the center of the back of Seon Woojin’s neck.
All yang energy in the body rises through this acupoint to the crown of the head.
Thus, sealing Fengfu blocks inner energy from reaching the face.
But if inner energy is mistakenly poured into this point? It is a lethal acupoint that causes instant death.
Therefore, no one would ever press this point merely to check for disguise.
Yet Buk Ri-seong was one of the foremost masters of acupoint techniques in the world.
With delicate control of force, he instantly sealed only the inner energy flowing toward the face.
“…”
But something strange happened.
Despite accurately sealing Fengfu, the face did not change, nor did any disguise come undone.
“Alliance Leader.”
Buk Ri-seong spoke to the Martial Venerable with an expression of incomprehension.
“Investigations Chief Seon is not using disguise.”
“What?”
The Martial Venerable tilted his head, then spoke in a low voice.
“Perhaps he is using a human-skin mask or some other method of facial alteration—please examine carefully for any traces.”
“Understood.”
Turning back, Buk Ri-seong once again inspected Seon Woojin’s face.
After a long while of touching and pressing acupoints, he shook his head.
“There are no traces of alteration. It is completely clean.”
“No way.”
As though thinking of something, the Martial Venerable spoke again.
“Check whether the face has been surgically altered as well.”
“None whatsoever.”
Buk Ri-seong stated firmly.
“There are no signs of a blade having touched the face.”
“That cannot be.”
With an expression of disbelief, the Martial Venerable immediately extended his hand and raised his inner energy.
A wave of transparent true qi spread out and enveloped the body of the fake Seon Woojin standing on the Grand Training Grounds.
‘Nothing.’
There truly was nothing.
Not only was there no disguise—there was not even a trace of inner energy being deliberately circulated.
Nor had the face been intentionally cut and reshaped with a blade.
He genuinely possessed Seon Woojin’s face.
‘Could it be…’
White light spread from the Martial Venerable’s eyes.
At the same time, a transparent hand formed of inner energy began to sweep over Bu Eunseol’s body.
He was employing the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra to analyze the flow of Bu Eunseol’s inner energy.
‘This bastard!’
After withdrawing the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra, the corners of his eyes trembled violently.
The current Seon Woojin was not suppressed by the Heart-Seizing Acupoint Strike that he himself had applied.
Instead, someone had sealed his dantian using an extremely ordinary technique.
Which meant…
‘A switch?’
The Martial Venerable shook his head.
To prepare for any such possibility, he had personally gone to the Thunder Prison to confirm the Bu Eunseol disguised as Seon Woojin.
Afterward, he had ordered the prison guarded around the clock—twelve hours a day—to prevent any switch from taking place.
So how could a switch possibly have occurred?
“Will you believe my words now?”
Seon Woojin smiled.
Seeing that smile, the scattered pieces in the Martial Venerable’s mind began to fall into place.
‘Then…!’
The Martial Venerable raised his inner energy and created a gentle breeze.
Whoosh.
Seon Woojin’s disheveled hair lifted into the air, revealing his earlobe.
And there, clearly embedded, was a tiny blood-red point.
‘I see.’
The Martial Venerable wore a hollow expression.
The man he had thought was Bu Eunseol was actually the one he himself had personally raised—the young master of the Sunflower Merchant Guild, the real Seon Woojin.
[How did you-]
When the Martial Venerable sent a voice transmission,
The real Seon Woojin—who had been mistaken for Bu Eunseol—replied via transmission.
[Didn’t you treat me like a dog, Your Lordship, and keep me locked in darkness forever?]
Seon Woojin stared straight at the Martial Venerable and said, [But he promised me freedom. That I would no longer have to live in hiding and could act in the open.]
The Martial Venerable felt as though smoke were rising from his ears.
‘I raised a thief.’
Gazing at the hatred burning in Seon Woojin’s eyes, the Martial Venerable clenched his fist tightly.
Only now did he finally understand… why the real Seon Woojin—whom he had brought into the Martial Alliance to use against Bu Eunseol—was standing before him and how Bu Eunseol had been able to escape the Thunder Prison.
Because… the person who had secretly brought the real Seon Woojin into the Martial Alliance.
The person who had ordered the Thunder Prison guarded around the clock.
It had all been the same man.
“Vice-Alliance Leader.”
At that moment, the real Seon Woojin looked at Buk Ri-seong and spoke clearly.
“Shouldn’t we now confirm the identity of the one who has been impersonating me?”
Buk Ri-seong nodded and addressed the Alliance Leader.
“It seems we must now verify the identity of the person the Alliance Leader brought.”
The Martial Venerable could say nothing.
He knew all too well who the Seon Woojin he had brought really was.
‘Mu Gyeol.’
Unable to suppress the surging rage, the Martial Venerable clenched his fist.
‘Why would that bastard…?’
“There is no need to verify.”
At that moment, the fake Seon Woojin walked step by step to the center of the Grand Training Grounds and immediately undid his disguise.
Crack crack.
His facial features twisted, revealing the jade-like face of a man.
It was none other than Mu Gyeol—known as the disciple of the Alliance Leader.
‘Dan Mok-gi. Did you not foresee that it would come to this?’
He stared straight at the Martial Venerable and curled his lip.
Then he recalled the moment he had met privately with Bu Eunseol in the past.
***
The moment he received the torn paper from Bu Eunseol, flames sparked in Mu Gyeol’s eyes.
It was a fragment of the Spring and Autumn Annals left behind by his master, the Heavenly Emperor.
When he peeled away one layer, another small piece of paper emerged from within.
And written there in the Heavenly Emperor’s own hand were the words:
[Formerly omitted… In the end, my sworn brother had to wander the martial world in my place to complete the grand scheme.
I entrusted everything to him and relied upon him, even transmitting all the martial arts I had mastered in the Golden Immortal Secret Vault so that he could accomplish what I could not.
…[Middle omitted].
Then he returned from the western regions with a fatal injury.
To save my sworn brother, I even sacrificed my own energy, but it turned out to be a scheme to obtain my Golden Immortal True Qi.
I realized the truth too late… but I did not show it.
After all, time cannot be turned back. A burning tree returning to ash is the natural order.
In the end, because of my sworn brother’s deception and betrayal, the entire plan fell into ruin.
Yet I buried the failure in past memories and once again placed hope in the future to come… [Latter omitted]]
As Mu Gyeol read the letter, his eyes trembled violently.
His master, the Heavenly Emperor—the foremost of the righteous path, a grand master of martial arts whom no one could defeat—had, for some unknown reason, suffered a drastic decline in inner energy and been tormented by a mysterious illness.
And yet the Martial Venerable had fabricated an injury just to obtain his master’s Golden Immortal True Qi?
Because of his betrayal, the entire plan had collapsed?
In the end, everything that had gone wrong with his master… was all because of the Martial Venerable?
Tremble tremble.
Mu Gyeol could never forgive the Martial Venerable.
“Can you help me now?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, Mu Gyeol set the letter down with trembling hands.
Crunch.
He bit his lip so hard that flesh tore and blood flowed.
“Of course I will help.”
Swallowing the flowing blood, blood-red light fiercer than fresh blood surged in Mu Gyeol’s eyes.
“I will make sure we can bring down the Martial Venerable without fail.”
He seemed to be suppressing the erupting rage, his breathing rough and continuous.
“Hall Leader Mu.”
Noticing Bu Eunseol’s pitying gaze, Mu Gyeol regained his composure and waved his hand.
“I’m fine. I had more or less guessed it already. It’s just…”
Suppressing his grief, he gave a wretched smile.
“The only thing that pains me is knowing that my master suffered for so long because of that wicked man.”
After taking a deep breath, he picked up the letter Bu Eunseol had given him from the table once more.
As he seriously reviewed the contents, a sharp light passed through his eyes.
“There is a better method than what you have planned.”
Setting the letter down, Mu Gyeol spoke confidently.
“A way to bind Dan Mok-gi even more securely.”
The most crucial element in Bu Eunseol’s plan was the whereabouts of the real Seon Woojin, whom the Martial Venerable had kept tightly hidden until now.
The very existence of that man would serve as irrefutable proof that the Intelligence and Secret Affairs Division Lord Seon Woojin of the Martial Alliance was a spy—an inescapable noose.
That was why Bu Eunseol had sought Mu Gyeol’s help to locate him before the Martial Venerable could.
“You intended to find the real Seon Woojin first and hide him before the Martial Venerable could bring him into the Martial Alliance to play his tricks, correct?”
“Yes.”
“There is no need for that.”
Mu Gyeol curled his lip.
“Because the real Seon Woojin hates the Martial Venerable.”
And he made a shocking proposal.
“If we make use of that hatred, we can do more than just hide his whereabouts—we can recruit him to help you… and launch a counterattack against the Martial Venerable.”
“Is that possible?”
“He bitterly regrets having been chosen by the Martial Venerable in his childhood. Because of it, he has had to live his entire life under surveillance in darkness.”
In his youth, the Martial Venerable had taken the Seon Woojin of the Sunflower Merchant Guild as his disciple.
At first, Seon Woojin had rejoiced.
He had become the disciple of a grand master whose name shook the Central Plains martial world.
But not long after, he realized that all of this was merely groundwork for the Martial Venerable to create the perfect dual identity he desired, and that Seon Woojin himself was nothing more than a tool.
And as time passed, when Bu Eunseol finally began using the identity of Seon Woojin, the Martial Venerable had virtually imprisoned the real Seon Woojin in a secret location, forbidding him from any external activity.
As a result, Bu Eunseol had been granted a flawless identity that no one could suspect, but the real Seon Woojin had been forced to live in endless suffering.
“If you promise him freedom… no, if you give him faith that he can escape the Martial Venerable’s grasp, he will certainly cooperate. Can you do it?”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“I will promise him that he will never again be tormented by the Martial Venerable and can live and act in the open.”
Bu Eunseol had long been envisioning a new righteous alliance called the Azure Sky Alliance and was now putting it into action. Moreover, he commanded outstanding subordinates and an enormous intelligence network…
So enabling the real Seon Woojin to live openly was not entirely impossible.
“But there is still one major obstacle.”
Mu Gyeol asked with a grave expression.
“Dan Mok-gi—his other identity is the Divine Mountain Sage.”
The Divine Mountain Sage of the martial world.
That title was not merely because of his exceptional intellect.
He could unravel any difficult problem in an instant and was wise enough to predict future events.
“He will have prepared defenses against every arrow flying toward him. He may even have schemes ready to completely shatter your plan.”
“You’re right.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“But he is not a god.”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter how intelligent a person is, there are things he cannot predict.”
“Then…”
“Such a thing has already happened.”
A strange smile curved at the corner of Bu Eunseol’s mouth.
Mu Gyeol could not understand.
What exactly had occurred that made him so certain even the Divine Mountain Sage—the wisest man under heaven—could never have foreseen it?
