Chapter 40 : Negotiation

Chapter 40: Negotiation

Jang Woo-hyun didn’t know the way, nor the exact location of the Asura Sword Sect. At Hwang An’s shout, he had no choice but to return, and eventually agreed to move together.

“Are you alright?”

“It’s not bad enough to worry about. I’ll be fine by the time we get there.”

Though he had suffered internal injuries, they weren’t severe. With his level of skill, Jang Woo-hyun could easily recover and return to full strength during the journey.

“How about you, Ha-un? Are your wounds okay?”

“I’m fine too. It’s just a light scratch.”

At a glance, Jin Ha-un seemed to be the most injured among them, but he wasn’t seriously hurt either.

“You two can stay here if you want. I can go alone.”

“You even know the way?”

“See? Why’d you suddenly run off like that! It’s not like we weren’t going with you anyway.”

“I just got a bit impatient.”

It was understandable—he felt like someone else might take the final blow. That kind of feeling wasn’t unique to him; anyone would’ve reacted the same way.

“I don’t quite get what you’re saying, but this war won’t be over that quickly, so don’t worry too much. It’s a fight among the Ten Demonic Paths, after all. It won’t end easily. And it’s not like there are that many claiming to be from the Conquering King Sect.”

“There aren’t many Asura Sword Sect members either, right?”

“What do you mean? The Asura Sword Sect is a major sect. Their number alone is…”

“No, not their members. The top experts. I’ve taken down three—wait, five today.”

Jang Woo-hyun first pointed to himself, then gestured to Jin Ha-un.

“Ha-un makes six?”

“What are you suddenly… huh? Oh! Ah…”

Hwang An, mid-sentence, suddenly realized what he meant.

Right now, the Asura Sword Sect had no more top experts.

Today alone, Jang Woo-hyun had taken down three peak Master Level experts and two Master Level ones. Along with himself and Jin Ha-un, that made six Master Level experts in total.

That wasn’t a small number. Even for a major sect, losing that many would shake them to their core.

“This… looks like we’ll have to speed things up.”

The war might end sooner than expected.

With that, the group dashed forward at full speed. Their target was the Conquering King Sect, which was attacking the Asura Sword Sect.

Jang Woo-hyun, One Sword, One Kill.

Until not long ago, he was the hottest name in the Martial World.

But no longer.

People no longer spoke his name.

His bold declaration of war against the Asura Sword Sect alone, his unmatched martial prowess that killed foes in a single stroke—those stories no longer circulated. Bigger forces had moved.

The Conquering King Sect.

Formed by two of the Ten Demonic Paths who had left the Heaven-Dominating Sect.

Even Go Jin, once considered the second-in-command of the Heaven-Dominating Sect, was now with them.

The Heaven-Dominating Sect is moving!

This news captivated the entire Martial World. No matter how impressive Jang Woo-hyun was, he couldn’t compare to the weight of the Heaven-Dominating Sect’s name.

All eyes turned to them, and the Conquering King Sect immediately destroyed the Tiger Sword Escort Agency, which could be considered a branch of the Asura Sword Sect.

Then they boldly proclaimed:

—“Guangxi Province now belongs to the Conquering King Sect!”

There was no justification, no pretext, typically required for war between sects.

And if one were needed, it could have been fabricated. But the Conquering King Sect didn’t even bother. They would simply crush others with raw power.

Besides, with the destruction of the Tiger Sword Escort Agency, it was already too late to talk about justification.

There was only war.

With all eyes on them, the Conquering King Sect had now arrived within half a day’s distance from Nanning, where the Asura Sword Sect was based.

“Absolutely no fighting, got it?”

“I told you, I won’t. What do you take me for?”

Jang Woo-hyun’s group was approaching the Conquering King Sect.

“What do I take you for? Someone who loves fighting and martial arts.”

“That sounds about right, honestly, big brother.”

Faced with the duo’s combined jab, Jang Woo-hyun had no comeback.

When he asked with a look that said, *“Am I really like that?”* both of them nodded vigorously.

“No matter what, don’t attack first.”

“I won’t.”

Despite Hwang An’s worries, Jang Woo-hyun was willing to hold back even if they acted arrogant or rubbed him the wrong way.

‘I got a rare martial art manual from Heaven-Dominating Sect Master, so I should give way once or twice.’

Unaware of his inner thoughts, Hwang An continued speaking.

“I’ll do the talking first. You stay out of it. All you want is to take down their Sword Sect Master directly, right?”

“Yeah, that’s enough. What else is there?”

Wanting to take down the leader of one of the Ten Demonic Paths no longer sounded strange. Hwang An had gotten used to it.

“Good, then. This is the perfect opportunity. Let’s step in and wipe them out entirely.”

They already had issues with the Asura Sword Sect, and now that a chance to eliminate them had arisen, they were going to seize it.

Who knew how the Conquering King Sect’s leaders would respond, but they had to try talking first. Given what they had done, things might turn out surprisingly well. After all, the Conquering King Sect had benefited from their actions too.

“Who goes there!”

As the three approached, warriors from the Conquering King Sect guarding the area stepped up. Hwang An immediately stopped and signaled that he had no intention of fighting.

“We wish to meet with the leaders of the Conquering King Sect. We have a proposal.”

“Who are you people to—”

“We are One Sword, One Kill Jang Woo-hyun and his companions.”

The unexpected name left the warrior speechless.

He had heard of that name. He even knew of Jang Woo-hyun’s feats.

This was not something he could decide on.

The Conquering King Sect’s warrior told them to wait and disappeared inside.

Moments later…

He returned and guided Jang Woo-hyun’s group to the leadership.

As they entered the manor, Jang Woo-hyun was surprised by the overwhelming aura.

‘There are this many?’

There were over ten Master Level experts in sight. Including the ones in hiding, the number was likely much higher.

And this wasn’t even the power of the original Heaven-Dominating Sect—it was what two of the Ten Demonic Paths had brought with them.

Number One of the Demonic Path.

This force truly lived up to that name.

“Hmph…”

Tensed, Jin Ha-un let out a small grunt as he gripped the hilt of his sword.

After gaining some insight during the previous fight, he had broken through a wall on their way here and stepped into the threshold of peak Master Level.

Jang Woo-hyun, who had been hiding his true skills with the Secret Flowing Body Technique and the Dispersing Mist Skill, was mistaken for “One Sword, One Kill” by most people, causing the attention and pressure in the room to be focused entirely on him.

“This way, please.”

The warrior guiding them stopped in front of the largest building within the manor and opened the door for the group.

Hwang An entered first, followed by Jang Woo-hyun and Jin Ha-un.

“He’s younger than I expected.”

As soon as they entered, a rough-looking man seated in a chair opened his mouth. Behind him stood a large man with an axe at his waist, and next to him sat an old man with a slender build.

“How old are you?”

At the question, Jin Ha-un shook his head.

“That’s not me.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You’re talking about ‘One Sword, One Kill,’ right? That’s not me. I’m Jin Ha-un of the Blue Star Sect.”

There was no need to hide anymore, so Jin Ha-un openly stated his affiliation and name.

“Blue Star? You mean the Blue Star Sect from Sichuan? Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“Great Hero Kang, allow me to explain…”

“You must be the one.”

The old man spoke up and looked at Jang Woo-hyun. Then, an overwhelming pressure emanated from him and filled the space.

“Ugh.”

Startled by the pressure, Hwang An groaned, and Jin Ha-un instinctively reached for his sword but stopped himself.

But Jang Woo-hyun was different.

He simply met the old man’s eyes and smiled.

‘This old man is the strongest.’

Even if the levels of the three were similar, if a real fight broke out, this old man would be the most dangerous. Jang Woo-hyun didn’t think defeating him would be easy.

Suppressing the urge to draw his sword, Jang Woo-hyun introduced himself.

“I am Jang Woo-hyun.”

“I’m Go Jin of the Conquering King Sect, formerly of the Heaven-Dominating Sect member.”

As he spoke, Go Jin retracted the pressure he had been releasing.

“So you’re the One Sword, One Kill, not that kid? Hiding your power to this extent...”

The seated man expressed his admiration at Jang Woo-hyun’s abilities and then introduced himself as Kang Pyo-seong. The man standing behind him also spoke up, introducing himself as Jeon An-chu.

“I am Hwang An.”

After Hwang An finished introducing himself, the conversation resumed.

“I have a mountain of questions to ask, but I’ll start with the most important. Why have you come to see us?”

“We’ve come with a request.”

“A request? For us?”

“Yes.”

Kang Pyo-seong’s face was filled with confusion. It was their first time meeting, so he couldn’t understand what kind of request they might have.

“Showing up out of nowhere and asking a favor... I don’t get what’s going on, but go ahead and say it.”

“The one who was actually fighting the Asura Sword Sect was Brother Jang here. But then suddenly, the Great Hero Kang of the Conquering King Sect…”

“Ah, I see. So you’re here to claim your share? To assert your rights?”

Kang Pyo-seong was both baffled and annoyed by the boldness of these young men. Were they seriously approaching him right before a war just for that reason?

As his expression began to harden, Hwang An continued.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Not that?”

“No, we’re not here for anything like that.”

“Then what?”

“Since Brother Jang has been the one fighting the Asura Sword Sect, we’d like for him to finish it too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Please allow him to fight the Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”

Kang Pyo-seong was at a loss for words at the sudden request.

‘That’s the real reason they came?’

A glance at Hwang An and Jang Woo-hyun made it clear that they weren’t lying.

‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

They were asking to personally take the enemy sect leader’s head in a war between factions. It didn’t make any sense, and he couldn’t understand what they stood to gain.

“Uh… I don’t think I’m getting this. Could you say it again?”

“What we want is the Asura Sword Sect’s leader. We don’t need any merit, and we don’t need their martial arts or treasures. Just that one thing.”

“So… what’s left for you? What’s so important about that?”

“We gain experience from fighting.”

Jang Woo-hyun cut in, and Kang Pyo-seong turned to him.

“Experience?”

“Yes, the experience of having fought the Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”

“Well… yeah, that’s true, but…”

“Keuhuhu.”

Go Jin suddenly let out a laugh. His chuckles grew louder until he was practically roaring.

“Yes, it’s experience. A good one.”

Go Jin kept laughing as he spoke.

“Leader Kang.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Do you remember what I told you when you first came to me?”

“Which part do you mean…?”

“When I said I would help you, but you would have to grant me a favor later.”

“Ah, yes. I remember.”

“I’m calling in that favor now. Let this Young Master Jang face the Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”

Kang Pyo-seong was troubled. He was trying to build a new sect by taking down the existing one, and now he was being asked to hand the final blow to an outsider.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I owe him from the past. Now’s the time to repay that debt.”

Kang Pyo-seong was shocked, but Jang Woo-hyun was even more surprised. Hwang An and Jin Ha-un stared at Go Jin in astonishment.

“Excuse me? You owe me?”

“Yes. You likely don’t remember, but I once owed you a great deal.”

“From before…?”

Muttering “That doesn’t make sense,” Jang Woo-hyun looked confused, and Go Jin chuckled.

‘Of course the Sect Master liked someone like him.’

He didn’t desire fame or riches—he only sought strength.

Just like Go Jin’s former sect master.

—“If you ever go out into the Martial World, you’ll find a boy called One Sword, One Kill. I owe that boy a favor, so if you meet him, treat him well.”

Those were the words Iron Sect Master Cheol Geuk-jin had said before going into seclusion.

Go Jin had agreed without asking for a reason.

Even before they had exchanged a few words, Go Jin—who had served his sect master for a lifetime—had known this would be the last request.

The Tyrant King, Cheol Geuk-jin, didn’t have much time left.

That was why Go Jin didn’t resent him for not caring about the Heaven-Dominating Sect anymore, nor did he stop him from leaving.

The sect master’s final request.

Go Jin wanted to fulfill it.

“What will you do? If you can’t keep your promise, then I can’t keep mine either.”

That meant he would leave the sect if the request wasn’t honored. And since Kang Pyo-seong absolutely needed Go Jin, he had only one option.

“Understood. We’ll do it.”

As he spoke, Kang Pyo-seong turned to Jang Woo-hyun.

“If you fail, we’ll step in. No objections?”

“None.”

“We’ll need to coordinate our story too. Say that One Sword, One Kill and our sect acted together. Might even have to say we took the Sect Leader’s head ourselves.”

“You can handle it however you want. I just want to fight. I don’t need recognition or fame.”

At that, Kang Pyo-seong thought Jang Woo-hyun was a strange man, while Go Jin looked at him with a smile.

After Hwang An and Kang Pyo-seong finished negotiating the details, the deal was sealed.

The next morning.

The Conquering King Sect and Jang Woo-hyun’s group moved out to attack the Asura Sword Sect.