The Sword Saint and Namgung Ma Hyuk silently nodded their heads after hearing Cale say that he was going to head to the Martial Arts Alliance.
"We understand your will very well, young master Kim-nim."
Cale hesitated after seeing the patriarch's gaze.
'It looks like he's about to hit something?'
His gaze was so hot that it was burning up.
Namgung Ma Hyuk commented in a calm voice as Cale wondered what was going on.
"I'm sure you mean that you cannot relax until everything is finished."
Cale nodded his head.
"That is correct."
He wanted to quickly take care of the enemies, return to the Roan Kingdom, and get a good rest in Raon's house in the Forest of Darkness.
'Now that I think about it, I need to contact his highness once too.'
Cale had not contacted Alberu until now.
By now, Alberu was probably using the mines Cale had received as rewards from Xiaolen to smack a bunch of kingdoms on the back of their heads.
Based on his not-so-great personality, he was not the type to let them get off easy.
"…We will respect your wishes."
Namgung Ma Hyuk made eye contact with Cale.
"And we will follow your will, young master-nim."
'What will?'
As Cale was confused…
"Our Namgung Clan has firmed our resolve to use everything we have to massacre the Blood Cult."
The Sword Saint stepped forward and commented once the patriarch was finished.
"I will be standing in the Vanguard. The Second Elder will be with me as we lead the entire force of our clan."
"…The Second Elder?"
"Tae Wi's grandfather. He is also my younger brother."
Cale heard Chief Eunuch Wi's sound transmission.
– The Sword Saint is the top martial arts expert in the Namgung Clan and the Second Elder is the second strongest.
Those two people were going to lead the Namgung Clan's core troops to massacre the Blood Cult.
A smile automatically formed on Cale's face.
"Thank you very much."
For them to step up like this to take down the Blood Cult, the Blue Bloods household… Cale was truly thankful that he would have to do less.
'I knew that they would do something, but I never expected them to put their full efforts into it.'
Either way, this was great.
"…Young master Kim-nim, you truly-"
Namgung Ma Hyuk could not finish his sentence as he watched Cale thank them.
'How could someone be so humble and righteous?'
It was at that moment.
Knock knock knock.
They heard someone knocking on the door.
Cale was currently with Chief Eunuch Wi, Choi Han, and the invisible Raon in the patriarch's residence in order to meet with Namgung Ma Hyuk and the Sword Saint.
"What is it?"
The guard outside the door responded to the patriarch's question.
"That-"
However, someone interjected before the guard could continue.
"Patriarch-nim, this is Namgung Yoo Hak!"
The trash of the Namgung Clan had appeared.
"Yoo Hak!"
They then heard someone scolding him.
Clunk. Clunk.
There was a bit of a ruckus before the door opened.
"Father! Grandfather!"
Namgung Yoo Hak shoved his head inside.
"I want to go too!"
He then threw a tantrum.
"You little twerp!"
Someone grabbed Namgung Yoo Hak's head and smashed it down.
Cale had exchanged greetings with this person before.
Namgung Yoo Seon.
This was the Namgung Clan's young clan leader, the one who would lead the next generation of the Namgung Clan.
"I'm sorry, sir."
He pushed Namgung Yoo Hak's head down and bowed multiple times toward Cale and the patriarch.
"Because this punk is so clueless-"
"Clueless?!"
Namgung Yoo Hak moved to try to avoid Namgung Yoo Seon's hand.
Namgung Yoo Seon's hand moved like a ghost to grab Namgung Yoo Hak by the hair once again.
"Hoooo."
Chief Eunuch Wi gasped in admiration.
He could see the level of Namgung Yoo Seon's martial arts through that short movement.
"He truly has the talent to be called the future Sword Saint of the Orthodox faction."
Normally, the patriarch would have smiled proudly and talked it up, but…
"You little punk!"
He jumped up angrily and walked over to Namgung Yoo Hak.
Pow!
He then smacked him in the back.
'Aigoo.'
Cale was shocked and…
– Human! That trash named Namgung Yoo Hak must be in quite a lot of pain right now!
He was hit so hard that Raon was pitying him.
"Ugh!"
However, Namgung Yoo Hak was a persistent trash.
He quickly forgot the pain and raised his head.
'Hmm?'
Cale and Namgung Yoo Hak made eye contact.
Cale could see Namgung Yoo Hak looking at him with an extremely sparkling gaze.
"Young master-nim!"
Namgung Yoo Hak then quickly kneeled.
"Please take me with you, sir!"
Boom!
He even slammed his head down on the ground as he shouted.
'What is up with him?'
Cale found this to be odd.
"I, Namgung Yoo Hak! I am willing to give myself up for justice and cooperation, sir!"
"You little punk!"
Namgung Ma Hyuk scolded his second son in disbelief.
"How dare you say something like that without thinking! You will only be a hindrance at your level of strength!"
"Yes, father is right! And I will be going, so you stay in the clan."
Cale looked at the Sword Saint after hearing Namgung Yoo Seon's comment.
"Will the young clan leader be going as well?"
The young clan leader was one of the most important people in a clan.
It would be bad if someone like that got seriously injured or killed in the battle against the Blood Cult.
"Of course, he is going. This is to get revenge for our clan and to steer the world back into a path of justice. The future of the clan being with us for such a task is a necessary thing."
Cale could feel that the Namgung Clan truly meant what they were saying based on the Sword Saint's calm tone.
"Grandfather!"
Namgung Yoo Hak desperately pleaded with the Sword Saint.
"I want to go as well!"
Cale could see the corners of the Sword Saint's lips slightly curl up.
– Young master Kim.
He addressed Cale through sound transmission.
– I will take good care of him and make sure that this child does not get in your way. Can he go with us?
Cale had no reason to reject it if the Sword Saint was going to take care of him.
Cale started speaking since he didn't know how to use sound transmission.
"If it is okay with the Namgung Clan, I am fine with you going with us."
"Oh!"
Namgung Yoo Hak's face lit up.
"Haaaaa."
The patriarch let out a deep sigh before giving his two sons an order to get out.
"The two of you get out of here for now."
"…Yes, sir."
"Yes, sir!"
Yoo Seon responded as if he was frustrated, and Yoo Hak responded with excitement before they left the room.
The door closed again and the patriarch looked as if he had a headache before making eye contact with Cale, realizing what he was doing, and immediately started to speak.
"Young master-nim, I am not acting like this because I am worried about my son getting injured. It is just that my younger son can be a damn fool at times, so he might act rashly-"
"Don't worry about that, patriarch."
The Sword Saint had an odd smile on his face.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could fix his trashy attitude through this?"
"…Hoooo?"
The patriarch sounded interested.
"Even if he is such a trash, rolling on the ground over and over and getting pummeled a few times would make him have no choice but to snap to his senses. Don't you agree?"
Cale subconsciously gulped after hearing the term, 'Trash.'
"I guess so, it is because that damn trash has grown up so spoiled. He does need to get beat up a bit."
Cale gulped again after hearing the patriarch agree.
'…But I'm trash.'
Thinking about the future where Namgung Yoo Hak, the trash of the Namgung Clan, was going to roll and roll and then get pummeled… He got the chills for some reason.
He made eye contact with the Sword Saint, who looked a bit shocked before letting out a chuckle.
"I guess our young master Kim must be concerned for him. Don't worry. He has learned some External Martial Arts as well, so even if he is pummeled, he'll be fine after a day as long as a vein isn't hit."
Cale was so focused on ignoring the Sword Saint's vicious words that he did not recognize the usage of, 'our young master Kim.'
"...."
Chief Eunuch Wi did look at the Sword Saint with an odd gaze when he said, 'our young master Kim,' but the Sword Saint slyly avoided Chief Eunuch Wi's gaze.
"Ahem."
Cale thought that he should change the topic for now.
"Then I will head to the Martial Arts Alliance first with Elder Ho-nim. I will contact you when we put a rough schedule together, so it should be fine for you to come at that time."
"I understand. We will have the preparations completed to head over as soon as you call."
The Sword Saint thought about something for a moment before asking.
"…What do you plan to do about the living jiangshi in the Martial Arts Alliance?"
"I do know that it is someone in the Zhuge Clan, so we will need to find them and purify them."
"Ho-"
The Sword Saint let out a gasp before nodding his head with a serious look on his face.
"Yes, that is indeed the right answer to do as young master Kim wishes."
'Although it would be much easier to just kill them.'
The Sword Saint could not say that out loud.
Cale shrugged his shoulders.
"I plan on leaving quietly, so there is no need for a greeting like before."
"How can we not when our benefactor is leaving-"
Cale sternly responded to the patriarch.
"I wish to leave as quietly as possible."
Just thinking about a grand affair like last time was dreadful.
"…I understand. However, I believe some people will notice you leaving."
"There is nothing we can do about that."
Cale answered without much thought before immediately finishing the preparations to head toward the Martial Arts Alliance.
Early in the morning as they were about to head to the Martial Arts Alliance…
"Young master-nim-"
The territory lord rushed over at such an early time and grabbed both of Cale's hands.
"My heart is breaking to send you off like this, young master-nim."
'What is up with this guy?'
Cale had that thought while looking at the territory lord, but the territory lord earnestly continued to talk.
"Please visit the Anhui Castle next time. I will run out to personally greet you."
'Is there a need to do that?'
Cale didn't want to talk and just pulled his hands out while smiling.
The Second Elder stepped forward at that moment.
'Mm!'
Unlike the Sword Saint, the Second Elder was big and burly.
The term, 'General,' would suit someone like him.
"I will definitely, definitely, come see you."
"…Yes, sir."
Cale responded quietly to the Second Elder's vicious voice and quickly got on the carriage.
The Second Elder was the grandfather of the now purified living jiangshi, Namgung Tae Wi.
He was consistently going around the Namgung Clan looking extremely vicious as if he was ready to destroy something.
"I will be heading out now."
Cale gave that short goodbye before the carriage started moving.
It was a regular carriage this time.
"Young master-nim, I will definitely host you next tiiiiiime-!"
He ignored the territory lord's comment.
Cale's carriage and one other carriage… Two carriages quickly and quietly departed from the Namgung Clan.
The carriages then stopped in a forest without many people.
"…Young master Kim-nim, why are we stopping here?"
Elder Ho asked in confusion.
The martial artists of the Martial Arts Alliance, rising stars, and Elder Ho were all part of the Nine Sects One Gang and not close with the Namgung Clan.
As a result, they were quiet while they stayed in the Namgung Clan.
They just found it even more difficult to be around Cale after seeing how the Anhui territory lord treated Cale.
Cale nonchalantly responded to their question.
"To go to the Martial Arts Alliance."
"Well, that is correct, however-"
'This is not the direction of the Martial Arts Alliance. This is just a forest?'
Elder Ho wanted to say something, but… He didn't dare to speak up toward young master Kim.
It was at that moment.
Cale looked at the mirror screen.
< I will send the coordinates! >
He opened his mouth to speak.
"Raon."
"What is it, human?"
The members of the Martial Arts Alliance and the rising star flinched after the invisible Raon showed himself.
"Ah, you didn't know about him, did you?"
Cale nonchalantly introduced Raon to them.
"Elder Ho-nim should have known about him. He's a Dragon."
Their jaws dropped. Cale didn't care and showed Raon the coordinates.
"Young master Kim."
The Fist King asked in a quiet voice.
"Are you going to do that tel- whatever thing?"
"Yes, sir. It should be doable with this small group. Right?"
Raon puffed up his chubby belly and opened up his shoulders.
"It is! I brought a bunch of magic stones, so I can move everybody here at once if I draw a magic circle and use my magic. Human, Wuhan. Is that where we are going?"
"Yeah."
The Martial Arts Alliance.
Wuhan in Hubei Province…
That was where the Martial Arts Alliance was located.
And Dongting Lake was near Wuhan.
Oooooo-
A black aura soon started rising before a teleportation magic circle was created.
"...."
As the rising stars and the members of the Martial Arts Alliance were blanking out… Cale looked at them and Elder Ho before nonchalantly commenting.
"Okay, okay. Let's hurry. We don't have time."
Shaolin's rising star, Jeong Hye, blankly mumbled.
"A divine beast and miraculous magic-"
Cale completely ignored that nonsense.
They, as well as his people who were used to this, and the members of the Imperial Palace who were fine after having experienced it once before, all headed toward Wuhan.
* * *
This large castle located in the central region of Wuhan…
This was the Martial Arts Alliance headquarters.
"Elder Ho-nim?"
"H, hurry and open the door."
An extremely tense Elder Ho spoke to the guard who was confused as he looked at the people standing behind Elder Ho.
"Who might these guests be?"
Cale nonchalantly commented.
"They should know if you tell them young master Kim."
It was at that moment.
Choi Han, who was standing next to Cale, reported in a quiet voice.
"Hae-il-nim, they are coming."
Cale's gaze moved with Choi Han's gaze.
There was someone whose robe was fluttering in the wind as she jumped over the castle wall despite there clearly being a castle door.
"Chief Advisor...!"
As Elder Ho mentioned, this was the Chief Advisor of the Martial Arts Alliance. This was Zhuge Mi Ryeo, the leader of the advisors and the Alliance leader's right arm.
Cale smiled with satisfaction.
"Based on her showing up immediately, their information network seems to be pretty fast."
She looked as if she would be a great worker.