Chapter 160


    <em>Hes here!</em>


    The Specter yer King opened his eyes, having detected an enormous amount of energying from outside the room. Only an Absolute-Realm master could possess such an aura. There were only two Absolute-Realm masters in Qingdao, namely Ha Hu-Myeong and Ha Hu-Seong. Among them, only Hu-Seong visited the Qingdao House.


    After waiting for three days, Hu-Seong finally appeared. The bell rang to announce the time of <em>sulshi </em>not too long ago, so the Specter yer King had<em></em>plenty of time. He waited until Hu-Seongpletely lowered his guard. The perfect opportunity to assassinate him would be when he was about to bed a woman after drinking quite a bit of alcohol.


    Two hourster, the Specter yer King rose from his seat, exited through the Plum Rooms window, and skilfully climbed onto the roof. Afterward, he stealthily headed toward the Chrysanthemum Room, where Hu-Seong was. Having activated the Dark Specter Stealth Art, the Specter yer King left no traces and made no sound as he moved. He had also memorized the structure of the Four Gentlemen Rooms beforehand, allowing him to reach the roof of the Chrysanthemum Room without difficulty.


    Every step the Specter yer King would take from here on out was crucial. He carefully removed some of the roof tiles and put them aside, revealing the wooden pirs supporting the roof and the ceiling of the Chrysanthemum Room right below it. Afterward, he skilfully slid right through the wooden pirs and lowered himself onto the ceiling, then leaned closer to a very small hole in the ceiling. It overlooked the bedroom of the Chrysanthemum Room.


    The Specter yer King had created the hole before the operation. Through it, he observed the situation inside the Chrysanthemum Room. He could see a naked man and woman intertwined on the bed, pleasuring each other. The Specter yer King unsheathed his sword and aimed its tip at the hole. He then immediately executed Specter sh, sending an intangible and silent vajra qi through the ceiling.


    Hu-Seong, who was having sex with a gisaeng on the bed, tried to get away when he heard the sound. However, he could not move as he wanted because he was tangled with a gisaeng. Unable to evade the Specter shs vajra qi, it went through Hu-Seongs back and even prated the chest of the gisaeng lying under him.


    <em>Argh</em>!


    Hu-Seong and the gisaeng, whose heart the Specter shs vajra qi prated, screamed as they died on top of each other. However, Hu-Seongs escorts, who were standing guard outside the Chrysanthemum Room, could not hear them due to the special device installed in each of the Four Gentlemen Rooms. It prevented anyone outside from hearing any soundsing from within the rooms.


    The Specter yer King climbed down to the Chrysanthemum Room through the broken ceiling and confirmed Hu-Seongs death. Although he killed an innocent gisaeng to assassinate Hu-Seong, he did not care at all. All that mattered to him waspleting his objective.


    The Specter yer King escaped through the ceiling and headed to the Qingdao Sect, taking a little over thirty minutes to reach his destination. As soon as he arrived, he activated the Dark Specter Stealth Art and went to Hu-Myeongs residence. Just likest time, none of the Qingdao Sects members detected him.


    Dozens of martial artists stood guard around Hu-Myeongs residence, but that didnt give the Specter yer King any problems. He easily slipped into Hu-Myeongs residence and, after making his way to the bedroom,pletely suppressed his aura. Now, all he had to do was wait for Hu-Myeong to return from his martial arts training.


    After a little over thirty minutes of waiting, the Specter yer King detected a presence from the corridor leading to the bedroom. He was certain that the Absolute-Realm aura belonged to Hu-Myeong.


    The Specter yer King unsheathed and pointed his sword at the door, then conjured internal energy, causing qi to swirl around his sword. When the door opened, he immediately fired the Specter shs vajra qi.


    With a deafening roar, the half-opened door was destroyed, and Hu-Myeong, the man who was about to enter the bedroom, was pushed back. The attack prated Hu-Myeongs upper right chest and mercilessly mmed him into the wall of the hallway.


    Were under attack!


    Its an assassin!


    Protect the Patriarch!


    Hu-Myeongs guards shouted and ran over when they heard the st. Instead of panicking, the Specter yer King fired another Specter sh toward Hu-Myeong. Although the first one fatally wounded Hu-Myeong, the Specter yer King had to make sure his target would not survive. Hence, he fired another vajra qi from his sword and smashed Hu-Myeongs head, which was stuck on the wall. Not even martial arts masters could live without a head.


    Having confirmed Hu-Myeongs death, the Specter yer King flew toward the bedroom window and quickly hid himself in the dark. Not long after, he escaped from the Qingdao Sect and told the Heavenly Secret Halls informants stationed in Qingdao about his sess.


    The Heavenly Secret Halls informants immediately delivered the news to Shaoxing and the three families forces waiting at Gaomi. In response, the three families immediately advanced toward Qingdao.


    Meanwhile, losing both their Patriarch and Vice Patriarch overnight put the Qingdao Sect in chaos. Qingdao Sect Young Patriarch Ha Hu-Gon was experiencing especially indescribable shock, having suddenly lost both his father and uncle. To make matters worse, he received news that the forces of the three great families were advancing toward them. He was convinced that they were involved in the assassination of Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seong.


    Hu-Gon encouraged the members of the Qingdao Sect to stay despite losing their Absolute-Realm masters and even though they had fallen into disarray. At the same time, he delivered the news to the Death Shadow Demonic Monarch, who was stationed at the ck Spirit Ind, about the three families movements. He also requested reinforcement. However, Hu-Gon deliberately excluded Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seongs deaths. He knew that if the Death Shadow Demonic Monarch found out about it, they would give up on the Qingdao Sect.


    In response, the Death Shadow Demonic Monarch immediately led the seven hundred martial artists of the three ouw groups at ck Spirit Ind to Qingdao. Including the Qingdao Sects four hundred members, they would have more than a thousand warriors.


    The Death Shadow Demonic Monarch only managed to learn about Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seongs deaths when he arrived at the Qingdao Sect. He wanted to kill Hu-Gon for deceiving him, but without him, it would be difficult to order the Qingdao Sects members around. After all, the Nine Celestial Demons Sect only had control over its executives, not all of its members. The Death Shadow Demonic Monarch had to prioritize keeping theirbat force.


    Nevertheless, although they outnumbered the opponent, they only had a total of four Absolute-Realm masters and twenty-three Upper-Peak-Realm masters. Five of the Upper-Peak-Realm masters were from the Qingdao Sect, six from the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin, and four from the Changjiang Waterway Alliance. The remaining four were the Higher Demons that the Death Shadow Demonic Monarch brought with him.


    Meanwhile, the three families had eight Absolute-Realm masters and fifteen Upper-Peak-Realm masters. In terms of martial arts masters alone, the forces gathered at the Qingdao Sect were inferior. However, they had the Soul-Burning Invincibility Pills to change the oue of the battle. If the ouw groups fourteen Upper-Peak-Realm masters consumed those pills, they would be able to exert Absolute-Realm-level martial prowess. Considering theycked the enlightenment to support it, true Absolute-Realm capabilities should not be expected from them.


    However, that didnt matter all that much. They would still have a total of eighteen Absolute-Realm masters if they made the Upper-Peak-Realm masters consume Soul-Burning Invincibility Pills. Moreover, they could also make the Peak-Realm masters consume the pills to instantly get dozens more Upper-Peak-Realm masters.


    It would have been easier if Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seong were around, but even without them, the Nine Celestial Demons Sect still had more than enough forces in the Qingdao Sect to overpower the three families.


    * * *


    The Specter yer King thought that the Qingdao Sect would retreat to ck Spirit Ind because they were now inferior to the three families iing forces due to Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seongs deaths. Contrary to his expectations, however, the forces on the ck Spirit Ind headed over to the Qingdao Sect instead. That meant they still nned to fight.


    Theyre standing their ground even though they have lost two Absolute-Realm masters? The Specter yer King found it odd.


    As far as he knew, even the elite forces of the Four Seas Gang, the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin, and the Changjiang Waterway Alliance at ck Spirit Ind were nothingpared to the elite forces of the three families. The same could be said with the Qingdao Sect. The fact that they still nned to fight head-on meant that they still had something up their sleeves.


    Did the Nine Celestial Demons Sect deploy arge number of Demonic Monarchs?


    That was the only reason the Specter yer King could think of right now. If he was right, then the three families forces could suffer huge losses. Normally, he would not care about that at all, but they had to defeat the Nine Celestial Demons Sect first before he could get the Heavenly Spectral Assassin Sword Art. It would be detrimental to his goal if the three families lost arge part of their forces.


    <em>Hmm</em>, I dont know about the Absolute-Realm masters, but should I at least help reduce the number of the enemys Upper-Peak-Realm masters?


    Baek Mu-Gun did not order him to, but the Specter yer King thought of helping the three families anyway. It would not be that difficult to assassinate Upper-Peak-Realm masters. However, Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seongs deaths would have likely made the Qingdao Sect tighten their security. The Specter yer King pondered about it for a while before finally shaking his head. There was no reason for him to take a risk. He had alreadypleted Mu-Guns orders, after all.


    Above all, unlike when he assassinated Hu-Myeong and Hu-Seong, he had no information on the situation right now. Even identifying the Upper-Peak-Realm masters in the Qingdao Sects manor, which would be heavily guarded, would already be difficult. Moreover, if any of the Nine Celestial Demons Sects Demonic Monarchs discovered him in the process, he could find himself in a dire situation. Defeating the Nine Celestial Demons Sect was important, but he had to prioritize staying alive.


    Hence, the Specter yer King gave up swiftly and left Qingdao.


    Just as the Specter yer King was about to leave Qingdao, Mu-Gun heard about the situation in Qingdao from Dan Seol-Young.


    The forces on ck Spirit Ind went to the Qingdao Sect even though two of its Absolute-Realm masters have been assassinated? Mu-Gun asked in surprise.


    Yes. Curious, isnt it? The Nine Celestial Demons Sect probably sent arge number of masters as reinforcement. Otherwise, they would not even consider shing against the forces of the three families head-on, Seol-Young replied.


    Thats a good theory, but we might be missing something here, Mu-Gun disagreed.


    What could that be?


    I dont know. Its just a hunch right now.


    In any case, they clearly have something up their sleeve that they think will give them a chance of winning.


    <em>Hmm</em>, our fight against the Nine Celestial Demons Sect will suffer severe setbacks if the three families'' forces get wiped out. This worries me.


    Mu-Gun had a grudge against the Seven Saints, the former patriarchs of the Seven Great Families, but that was something personal. He did not have a particr grudge against the families themselves. Above all, the Seven Great Families were an important force in the fight against the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. He did not want them to suffer losses.


    Do not worry too much. I doubt the three families will still hastily attack the Qingdao Sect once they learn that the enemy forces chose to stand their ground, Seol-Young reassured Mu-Gun.


    Still, if the forces gathered at the Qingdao Sect are really superior in numbers, I doubt they will let the three families get away unscathed.


    On the contrary, the Qingdao Sect would likely chase the three families to the very end and try to wipe out their forces. They could even try to destroy the Great Huangfu Family while they were at it. If the three families joint forces were wiped out and the Great Huangfu Family fell, murim would suffer huge losses.


    Even if so, you cannot go there yourself, dear, Seol-Young firmly said.


    That is why this frustrates me. If I was there now, I would have solved the problem myself.


    As I saidst time, you cannot protect everything within the vast Central ins alone. The Seven Great Families are not as weak as you think, my dear husband. Even if their forces are inferior, they will not be defeated one-sidedly.


    It would be fortunate if that is the case, but


    Lets watch the situation for now. We cant do anything about this right now anyway.


    Okay. Mu-Gun nodded. As Seol-Young said, all he could do right now was observe.