Black and White Martial Emperor

Screeeech!

Ming Cheon ripped the letter apart, twitching.

His face flushed red. He was furious to the extreme.

Ming Usan swallowed.

He’d been a clan lord lately on edge over the lifespan issue. He snapped at small things, but he had never seen him this enraged.

“Yeon Wi—this bastard ought to be ground to dust!”

Not “Yeon Clan Lord” but “Yeon Wi.” That was proof his fury had peaked.

Ming Usan spoke quickly.

“Just catch one.”

“What?!”

“If we take away this single piece of information, the whole thing collapses. The Grand Assembly is today. If Mo Yonggun exposes the Yeon Clan there, they’ll summon the Yeon Clan head within days.”

“Who doesn’t know that!”

“You must dispatch troops.”

“What?!”

“Send the best masters the main house can spare. Sweep out the Jiangsu merchants and seize Yeon Clan Lord—only by holding him can we stop this.”

A murderous light appeared in Ming Cheon’s eyes.

Fwoosh!

Flame-like killing intent flared. Red flames spouted from parts of Ming Cheon’s body.

Ming Usan went pale.

He thought, He has grown stronger.

The Ming Clan Lord from a few days ago and the man now were entirely different.

His qi had exploded. An increase in qi doesn’t automatically equal skill, but when a man unconsciously emits that level of aura, one must accept his martial level had advanced.

“I’m sorry to say this... but you must calm yourself.”

He said it ready to take abuse.

Surprisingly, Ming Cheon, who had been fretting for a long time, inhaled deeply and composed himself.

“Right. You’re right.”

“...!”

“This came from an unexpected quarter, but once we cross this mountain everything falls into our hands. No need to handle it in a flare of excitement.”

Ming Usan bowed his head.

“A wise judgment.”

“Yeon Hojeong is not there yet?”

The question landed like an ambush—at least to Ming Usan.

“He is not.”

Ming Cheon smiled icily.

“Good. The little bastard can bark as much as he likes, then.”

“He is stronger than we imagined. I want to mobilize troops and wipe him, but if we do that—”

“It would be war. I know. No reason to exhaust ourselves for one brat.”

That was fortunate. He was still angry, but his head had cleared.

“After today the Yeon Clan becomes an enemy of the martial world. But Yeon Wi must not sense that. He won’t attend the Assembly, so it will take time for ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ him to receive the letter.”

“That’s correct.”

“So we need one decisive move to divert his attention.”

“A perceptive judgment.”

Ming Cheon rose from his seat.

“Send all the Death Swords of the main house and we could annihilate the Yeon Clan. But we must not do that.”

“That’s true. Besides, the Mo Yong faction’s planted infiltrators in the Yeon Clan have been discovered and pulled out. Sending the Death Swords would wreak terrible collateral damage.”

“Then there’s no need to send Death Swords.”

“Eh?”

Ming Cheon’s smile turned feral.

“He is the head of one of the Seven Great Clans. Even if we send overwhelming force against the clan, we cannot simply eliminate the clan lord. We lack justification.”

“That is so.”

“But if we create justification, we can eliminate Yeon Wi as well.”

“What?!”

“I will go myself.”

Ming Usan’s eyes widened.

Ming Cheon’s eyes burned with a strange pleasure and a terrifying ambition.

“The head of the world’s greatest house will go punish the head of a Seven Great Clan. Negotiations? That’s unimportant. We’ll fabricate any pretext to start a fight, and kill Yeon Wi.”

“C–Clan Lord! That would—”

“I, the sovereign, will be the justification. I will make it so.”

It was at once the most certain method and the most reckless.

Ming Usan hurried to speak.

“That is dangerous! Mo Yonggun will use the Assembly to break the Yeon Clan! There’s no need for you to go—”

“Who else is fit if not me?”

The thunderous shout shut Ming Usan’s mouth.

Ming Cheon exuded killing intent.

“There is a stain upon the main house. If that fact enters the Temporary Alliance, it will devastate not only the Yeon Clan but us as well.”

“T–that may be so, but—”

“I don’t know how they learned of it, but it’s convenient. If we take Jiangsu with this chance, we will truly be the greatest house under heaven.”

Ming Usan bit his lip.

In truth, Ming Cheon going to the Yeon Clan would be fine. It was the most certain plan, as he said.

Still, a chill ran through him.

The strange war-clouds gathering in the Henan martial world seemed to be spreading to Jiangsu. And the clan lord planned to go where that cloud hung.

“And...”

Fwoosh!

Flames leapt from Ming Cheon’s hands with fearsome force.

An ecstasy bloomed on his face.

“Isn’t this a perfect opportunity to test the Supreme Martial Art left by our ancestors?”

“...!”

“You said earlier the Yeon Clan Lord might be the sort of master to reach the Thirteen Seats of Great Heaven in ten years.”

“That was only a rumor—”

“Let us verify.”

Ming Cheon smiled, murderously intent.

“I, owner of the Gu-ju Myeong house, will personally test whether he truly deserves it.”

****

“Watch the south and east gates of the Ming estate at once. Gather every Beggars’ Union member in Henan. Keep your eyes fixed on the Ming house.”

“W–why suddenly?!”

“The Ming Clan Lord is highly likely to go to Jiangsu.”

“What? Personally?!”

“They are certain their main house will be branded an enemy at the Assembly. In other words, only one thing remains to be done.”

“Even so, the Ming Clan Lord would not—”

“Whether it’s the Ming Clan Lord or not! At minimum they’ll send forces that overwhelm the main house! We cannot let them out of Henan!”

“Damn! There are too many possibilities! Are you sure about this?”

“There is not a multitude of possibilities—there is only that one! Once the Temporary Alliance forms, representatives will go to the main houses. The Ming side has no other way to erase their stain!”

“Fine! I’ll trust you again this time... ugh?!”

“What now?”

“You say we must not let them leave Henan?”

“Of course!”

“We alone won’t be enough, right? Did you think we could stall them by ourselves?”

“Whether it works or not, we must collide with them now.”

“No—that won’t do. You’re too hasty. By your reckoning, we alone can never stop the Ming forces.”

“I will go first.”

“Wait half a day.”

“Why the hell should I—?!”

“I ask you, you madman! Wait half a day. There are people who will go with us.”

“What...?!”

“Even if the Ming move, their southbound speed is limited. Don’t worry. Every secret route across the Central Plains is tightly held by the Beggars. We will surely reach ahead of the Ming.”

“......”

“Trust once, trust twice, trust thrice.”

Clatter!

The Ming estate’s south gate opened.

“Go!”

Heehee-hing!

Dozens of sturdy mounts raced out with a spring.

Their coats shimmered with golden fur. Their legs were longer and slimmer than ordinary horses; their burst speed must have been double.

They were sweat-blood horses—the famed thousand-li mounts, priceless breeds.

Dozens of them.

Thud-thud-thud!

Behind the fleet of sweat-blood horses came six slightly shorter but far more robust horses pulling an enormous carriage.

The carriage was fabulously ornate; a passerby might mistake it for an imperial palanquin.

Inside the spacious carriage rode Ming Cheon.

A carriage made solely for the head of the world’s greatest house. It was fitted with a vast silk couch rather than chairs for comfortable travel.

“Huhuh, reassuring.”

Through a small front window one could see the family’s warriors driving the dozens of sweat-blood horses.

Whoooosh.

Even the wind seemed startled and fled.

More than fifty masters rode the sweat-blood horses. Their stances did not waver at all. They were not affected by the horses’ powerful motion.

‘Not bad.’

All of them were top-tier auxiliaries raised under the Death Swords.

Before mastering the Four Spirit Divine Arts, each of them had attained a level surpassing the Ming Chisan brothers. They had since chosen a matching Divine Art to pair with their existing skills.

There were over fifty such experts. Behind the carriage trailed three hundred of the Red Dragon Army.

Like the White Dragon Army, they were inner-retinue troops—among the strongest of the Four Dragon Armies.

And their leader.

The most formidable head in the history of the Gu-ju Myeong house had joined them. With this force they could easily sweep a minor house like the Yeon Clan away.

‘A shame they’re not fully refined.’

The fifty masters in the vanguard had not yet perfected their new divine arts. They should have had at least a year’s tempering; that was regrettable.

But it didn’t matter.

‘All we need is Yeon Wi.’

He intended to force a fight by any means. Yeon Wi could not avoid combat.

If that happened, the Yeon Clan was finished. At the same time, the Ming house’s stain would be obliterated.

It was, he thought, a brilliant stratagem.

A sovereign should appear solemn and not move heedlessly. But overturning that convention with an unexpected strike is strategy.

“Kuhk!”

He felt good. Very good.

His heart pounded—the beat felt stronger than before. It was the Phoenix Qi.

“I hope we arrive soon.”

Some amount of time passed.

On the second day, during daylight.

Heehee-hing!

Ming Cheon frowned.

The lead sweat-blood horses gradually slowed, then all at once reared and wheeled in a group.

‘What the—?’

Then—

‘...?!’

Ming Cheon’s expression hardened.

Whooooosh.

A wind blew from far ahead, carrying a terrifying killing intent.

It was no ordinary killing intent; it made even the head of the Gu-ju Myeong flinch.

Ming Cheon spoke.

“Who is blocking the road ahead?”

“C–Clan Lord!”

Panic laced the voice.

“What is it?”

“Yeon Hojeong.”

“What?”

“The Yeon Clan’s eldest son, Yeon Hojeong, is standing in the way.”

Surprise showed in Ming Cheon’s eyes.

“Yeon Hojeong? How did he know?!”

“I—I don’t know that either....”

Clang!

Ming Cheon opened the carriage door.

Thud—thud.

Before he could strike the ground, Ming Cheon was already atop the carriage roof.

Ming Cheon’s eyes trembled.

“Hey there.”

Far ahead, at the fork where the road split left and right,

a lanky youth stood, the massive axe slung over his shoulder.

The blood-stained white robe and the calm, cold gaze were striking. He radiated a mysterious aura; his presence drew the eye irresistibly.

“You—are you...?!”

“Since you kept calling and I wouldn’t creep out, what choice did you give me? I had to come find you myself.”

Ming Cheon’s face hardened.

His voice, thirty zhang away, sounded as vivid as if spoken beside him. Tremendous inner strength.

Yeon Hojeong offered a meaningful smile.

“Finally caught you, you thief.”