Chapter 398 : Propaganda (6)

A few days before the letter ever reached Lanzhou, the main force of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had established a massive perimeter around Mount Zhongnan.

Standing at the center of that formation, Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak raised his head and gazed for a moment at the peak of Mount Zhongnan. He then gave a single nod and laced his voice with internal energy as he roared.

"The time has come for us to bring divine justice upon these false Taoists who have oppressed innocent commoners and coveted their wealth!!"

His Qi-infused voice boomed like rolling thunder across the entire mountain range, and the Cultists answered the order at once.

"The Heavenly Demon Descends!!"

"Ten Thousand Demons Obeys!!!"

The roar of thousands of warriors shouting in unison echoed all the way up to the Taoist nestled on the mountainside.

Up at the mountain gates of the Zhongnan Sect—one of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang—about seven hundred defenders peered down at the terrifying sea of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult troops blanketing the foothills.

Most of them wore expressions taut with tension or faces drowning in regret.

'I must be out of my damn mind to walk into my own grave on my own two feet.'

These people were mostly secular disciples or folks with some loose ties to the sect. 

Just as Wudang and the Zhuge Family in Hubei, the Zhongnan Sect too could boast a backing of a solid two thousand or more, if you counted all of its secular branches, escort agencies, and everyone else connected to it directly or indirectly.

That was the kind of power one would expect of those who had reigned as a great and prestigious sect for hundreds of years.

But today, the number of those who had now answered the call to Zhongnan was only a little over four hundred at best.

Some just hadn't made it to the mountain in time and got cut off by the Divine Cult’s rapid advance, while others were simply ungrateful cowards who had blatantly ignored the sect's call for help.

In the end, the Zhongnan Sect was now in a position where it had to face the main force of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with only some three hundred of its own Taoists and the four hundred or so warriors who had managed to join them.

"Silence!!!"

"The Zhongnan Sect will not fall to mere Demonic Cultists!"

Seeing the secular disciples already shaking in their boots, the Taoist started hollering at the top of their lungs to keep morale from completely flatlining.

Among them, the Sect Leader of Zhongnan, Taoist Master Am Gak, twisted his face with displeasure. He’d been lucky enough to survive the first bloody conflict in Qinghai and make it back alive from there, but he now has to face the army of Demonic Cultists all alone.

'Damn those Mount Hua bastards.'

Am Gak had actually gone to the Mount Hua Sect not too long ago to pitch an alliance.

He told them they should pool their forces at Mount Zhongnan and hold the line against the Demonic Cult together.

To Am Gak's mind, it had been a perfectly reasonable proposal.

If the Demonic Cult was pushing from Gansu into Shaanxi, Mount Zhongnan was the very first obstacle in their path.

But the Mount Hua Sect had refused.

—If we stay there and hold Zhongnan, what’s to stop them from slipping a separate force past us and burning Mount Hua to the ground? We’d be better off joining forces to defend Mount Hua. Either way, our goal is to stall until reinforcements arrive, so wouldn't it be better to hold out a little farther back?

That was the kind of deranged proposal they had thrown back in his face.

—If we do that, my sect will burn to ashes!

—If we don’t join forces, both of us are going to burn regardless! We need to survive first; only then can we rebuild.

—If you don't join us, then your home will burn just the same!

—Isn't that what I've been saying? We need to stall for time so our own secular disciples can gather! That's why we should make our stand at Mount Hua since it's further from the frontline!

In the end, they just talked in circles until the alliance completely fell apart, leaving the Zhongnan Sect stranded to fend off the Demonic Cult by themselves.

As Am Gak was grinding his teeth over the memory of that spectacular failure, the Cult Leader's earth-shaking roar snapped him back to reality.

"Before the sun sets, we will finish off Zhongnan and march on Mount Hua!"

To everyone's astonishment, the Cult Leader who had bellowed those words then unleashed his lightness skill on the spot and came charging in at the very front of the assault.

To make things even crazier, he didn't try to sneak around; he sprinted straight into the mountain path that visitors used to come and go.

A handful of warriors followed after the Cult Leader to charge up that mountain path, but the vast majority simply kept on chanting and continued to surround Mount Zhongnan.

But far from laughing at this suicidal charge, the Zhongnan Taoists found their faces twisting in dismay.

'Damn it.'

As a sect with centuries of history, they had rigged the entire mountain with deadly Formations designed to obliterate unwanted guests who tried to sneak through the woods.

But if their enemies were going to advance in a single line straight up the mountain path like that, then those Formations were as good as useless. And if one looked closely, those intruders weren’t just blindly marching up the path.

Among the demonic cultists encircling Mount Zhongnan, a few sorcerers stepped forward and began chanting incantations.

They were obviously hunting down the sect's defensive Formations and systematically breaking them. 

When they shifted their gazes away from the sorcerers and back to the Cult Leader, the Taoists nearly jumped out of their skin. In the blink of an eye, the Demonic Cult Leader had already cleared half the mountain.

"What are you all doing?!"

"Form ranks! They're bottlenecking themselves on a single path!"

"All we have to do is stop them at the entrance!!"

The disciples of the Zhongnan Sect snapped out of their fright and hurriedly took up their positions. The secular disciples too forced down their ominous thoughts and braced themselves for battle.

And the moment the Demonic Cult Leader at last closed within a hundred meters of the Zhongnan Sect's gate—

"Strike!!"

Those waiting at the entrance swung their weapons all at once.

Every last one of them must have reached the Peak Realm or beyond, judging by how powerful their Sword Qi and Saber Qi are.

Watching dozens of Qi blades screaming right at his face, Wi Jin-hak just let out an amused smirk.

"Pathetic!"

Without breaking stride, he drew the Heavenly Demon Sword from his waist, and along the blade an ominous black flame blossomed to life.

Whoooosh.

With a single swing of the Heavenly Demon Sword, Wi Jin-hak sent the condensed black flame roaring directly into the oncoming barrage. 

And what came next made the warriors of the Zhongnan Sect who had unleashed their attacks half-dazed.

The moment their Qi touched the black flame, it just evaporated into thin air like a mirage.

Whoooosh.

And those black flames slammed into the main gate of the Zhongnan Sect, detonating in an apocalyptic explosion.

BOOM!!

It only took one strike for Wi Jin-hak to blow the main gate of the Zhongnan Sect and sweep the warriors who’d been waiting at the entrance. Most of the fighters there ended up dead or bearing near-fatal injuries.

"Hahahaha!"

Cutting right through the resulting cloud of dust and debris, the Demonic Cult Leader made his grand entrance. 

With Sky Walk beneath his feet, he ascended into the Zhongnan Sect’s inner grounds as if it were his own courtyard.

"I will grant mercy to anyone who drops their weapons and surrenders right now! Don't throw your lives away for nothing!"

Hovering high above the ground using the Sky Walk, his figure struck awe into the hearts of allies and enemies alike.

"Aaargh! Shut your mouth!!"

One of the Zhongnan Taoists snapped out of his daze and launched himself at the suspended Wi Jin-hak. This reckless charge consumed not only all of his Qi, but also all of his Innate Life Force that he channeled into a sword strike.

Slash!

Unfortunately, that Taoist ended up being cleaved in two along with his weapon by the Heavenly Demon Sword.

At some point, the black flames were once again burning along the length of Wi Jin-hak's Heavenly Demon Sword.

While the remaining Zhongnan defenders were still paralyzed, staring up at Wi Jin-hak's god-like martial arts—

"Strike!"

The masters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had followed Wi Jin-hak up the mountain path began pouring through the shattered gate one after another.

"Do not spare a single one of those wicked Zhongnan Taoists! If you're just some innocent dragged into this mess, drop your weapons right now and we'll spare you!"

Even as Wi Jin-hak shouted out yet again from his place in midair, screams kept ringing out from every direction.

Honestly, the massive army slowly breaking down the traps at the bottom of the mountain was basically just a net to catch runners.

From the start, Wi Jin-hak had decided to break the main gate on a head-on assault with just a small number of elite. This was to minimize the bloodshed and to keep the casualties from friendly fire to zero.

Just look at the roster here.

Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak, the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord, the Left and Right Guardians, the Head of the Hyeokryeon Family, the Head of the Ouyang Family, the Hall Master of the Demonic Way, and even Seo Wan-pyeong, the new Pavilion Lord of the Dark Shadow Pavilion.

Every single one of them was a renowned master, so what unfolded was something like wolves let loose among a flock of sheep.

Actually, comparing them to wolves was an insult; it was like unleashing starved tigers on a flock of fat sheep.

For a while, the mountain was filled with blood and screams.

After over a hundred defenders were butchered in less than fifteen minutes, the secular allies who came to help Zhongnan collectively dropped their weapons in fear.

"P-please, spare me!"

"Please, just let me live..."

Watching his so-called allies drop to their knees and grovel for their lives, Taoist Master Am Gak's face twisted into an ugly mask of fury.

"You ungrateful curs! You dare forget the grace Zhongnan has shown you?!"

But Taoist Master Am Gak's rant was abruptly cut short.

"So you're the Sect Leader of Zhongnan!"

Like a hawk spotting its prey, Wi Jin-hak kicked off the air with Sky Walk and launched himself straight at Taoist Master Am Gak.

"S-stop him!"

"Protect the Sect Leader!!"

The loyalists of the Zhongnan Sect frantically threw themselves into Wi Jin-hak’s path to act as a human shield.

Slash!

But not a single one of them succeeded in blocking even a single stroke of Wi Jin-hak's blade.

As his disciples were cut down one after another, Taoist Master Am Gak's face went sheet-white and he hurriedly spun on his heel to flee.

"You'd throw your own disciples away to save your skin?! What kind of Sect Leader are you?!"

Unfortunately, the sight of him fleeing enraged Wi Jin-hak and he hurled the Heavenly Demon Sword at Am Gak.

Taoist Master Am Gak threw all dignity aside and rolled across the ground to narrowly dodge the Heavenly Demon Sword.

But his sigh of relief was short-lived.

Once it flew past him, the Heavenly Demon Sword changed direction in midair and came hurtling back at him once again.

And by then, the Heavenly Demon Sword came barrelling at him with black flame blazing across its blade.

Taoist Master Am Gak swung his sword to fend off the Heavenly Demon Sword, but the Heavenly Demon Sword pierced clean through the old Taoist's blade and on through his heart.

As the Sect Leader of the Zhongnan Sect met his unglorious end, a cold silence settled briefly over the inner grounds of the Zhongnan Sect.

"K-kill him!"

"W-we have to avenge the Sect Leader!"

A handful of diehard Taoists rushed at Wi Jin-hak with faces twisted in pure malice, but the overwhelming majority of the surviving fighters threw down their swords and surrendered.

Slash.

In the span of a single breath, the few who attempted that final suicide charge were carved into bloody bits.

***

Il-mok carefully read down the contents of the missive.

To summarize, the letter stated that they had completely wiped out both the Zhongnan and Mount Hua sects in a single day.

They had apparently crushed Zhongnan by lunchtime, marched straight to Mount Hua, and finished mopping them up before the sun rose again.

Considering that both sects were severely weakened after losing their elites in previous wars, the victory was so easy it almost felt anticlimactic.

But Il-mok wasn't particularly surprised.

'We built our forces to go to war against the entire Central Plains. Two measly sects are nothing but a speed bump.'

If anything, the way Mount Hua and Zhongnan handled the invasion was just pathetic.

History had taught them that it took the combined might of multiple great sects just to hold the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to a stalemate before the Martial Alliance succeeded in repelling the Divine Cult.

And yet, they foolishly held their ground and thought they could survive as long as some reinforcement arrived.

'The real problem is what comes after this.'

If they were only fighting the martial world, wiping out two sects in a day was a massive win. But with the Imperial Family in the picture, the real war hadn't even started yet.

They needed to put Shaanxi Province in a complete stranglehold before the Emperor's orders ever reached the local bureaucrats. 

To do that, they need to pull off the same political coup Il-mok had just managed in Gansu by buying off the Left Commissioner and the Provincial Military Commander. 

If diplomacy failed, they would have to start assassinating people fast. If they didn't, they ran the risk of getting caught in a nasty pincer attack between imperial troops on the inside and martial artists on the outside.

And snuffing out those internal threats before they could even spark was exactly why Il-mok had stayed behind to hold the rear. 

"Bring me the Left Commissioner and the Provincial Military Commander."

For this very purpose, Il-mok already had a few tricks up his sleeve.