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“Yes, sir. No discernible external movements whatsoever. And they don\'t seem interested in stopping our spies from entering the country, either. They have not intensified the monitoring of all ports of entry. And they certainly have not started scrutinizing everyone entering the country.”

“None at all?”

“Yes, according to what we have observed so far.”

“Are you sure about this?” Cai Kechang frowned slightly.

“Every single one of our eighty agents entered South Korea without any issues, sir. Excluding those whom we used other means to slip past the borders just in case, around forty entered the country through airports.”

“...Well, now. That\'s a bit unexpected,” Cai Kechang muttered while scratching his head.

‘Those bastards… It’s hard to get a read on them.’

Neither Lee Hyeon-Su nor Kang Jin-Ho were idiots. They should be aware that this situation was a different form of warfare. Trusting the other party completely just because they had signed a ceasefire was… naive. Humans simply couldn\'t live without suspecting everything around them, after all!

The war between the two factions entered the second phase as soon as their ceasefire agreement came into effect. Rather than fighting through punches and swords, they were now waging war with information and underhanded schemes. But now…!

“Those bastards have no response ready for us?”

What kind of nonsensical report was this?

‘No, no. Get a grip, Cai Kechang! Those people are not idiots. Definitely not!’

Cai Kechang sensed his stress level rapidly shooting up.

Objectively speaking, the Korean Martial Assembly was still not a worrisome enemy to the Crimson King\'s faction. Yes, the Korean organization possessed great potential and a bright future. However, in terms of combat strength, the Crimson King\'s faction was well, well ahead of the Assembly.

So, the real enemy Cai Kechang and Co. should worry about was the Azure King\'s faction.

The Azure King was a menacing opponent whose schemes proved tricky to deal with. As such, the Crimson King\'s faction should be completely focused on the enemy within its borders. Didn\'t it agree to a ceasefire with the Koreans precisely because of this reason?

‘Yes, I obviously know all that!’

Cai Kechang could be unequivocal about this one thing. While the Azure King’s faction presented the most dangers to the Crimson King’s faction, the Korean Martial Assembly was the most annoying enemy.

The Azure King\'s faction might boast far greater military strength than the Koreans, but it still didn\'t stress Cai Kechang out as much as the Martial Assembly did. As proof… Just look at how tormented Cai Kechang was even though the Koreans weren\'t doing anything!

“Just what is Kang Jin-Ho even doing?” Cai Kechang growled loudly.

“Sir! According to the reports…”

“Mm…?”

“After recovering from his injuries, Kang Jin-Ho stayed mostly at home or hung out with his friends, and…”

“…”

“And then, he stayed in an orphanage under his control for a few days before taking the orphans to an aquarium for a day o…”

“Wait, what? An aquarium?”

“...Yes, sir.”

“Why the hell are you including that in the report, you sh*thead?!”

“Sir! There was an incident in that aquarium. The central fish tank ruptured its side, which could have caused a major catastrophe. However, Kang Jin-Ho has prevented the disaster.”

Cai Kechang clamped his mouth shut and faltered. The subordinate seized this opportunity to continue with his report.

“And now, he has stayed largely within the Assembly grounds, sir! He’s commuting there every morning.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, sir.”

Cai Kechang gave up. He just couldn\'t figure out what Kang Jin-Ho or the Korean Martial Assembly was cooking up.

‘Hang on a minute… What if those bastards really think we are allies?’

There was no way. It couldn’t. No matter how stupid a person was, they would never be this naive or lackadaisical. Besides, Cai Kechang had seen the truth himself, didn’t he? Those bastards were definitely not idiots.

Just a moment’s carelessness, and those bastards would thrust a sharp dagger right under Cai Kechang’s throat.

“...So, is this the case of there being more than one way to skin a cat?”

Cai Kechang loudly tutted away. He could roughly guess what the Koreans were thinking.

In the end, what the Koreans needed to do was shoring up their forces. And they just acquired a useful workforce for that very purpose, didn\'t they?

They didn\'t need to care about what happened on the outside. What they should focus on was tightening their internal security as well as improving their combat capabilities.

‘How complacent!’

Cai Kechang shot up to his feet. “Fine. I got it.”

“Sir!”

Without looking back once, Cai Kechang stormed out of the office.

‘You think I wouldn’t realize that?’

Strengthening one\'s forces wasn\'t as easy as it sounded. And the story still didn\'t change much even if you possessed some incredible capabilities. When improving people\'s combat strength, one factor always, always played a crucial role.

That factor was… Time.

Kang Jin-Ho had earned himself the \'grace period\' of two years. But that was still too short to improve the Assembly\'s combat force to anywhere near the level they would\'ve liked.

‘Besides, I\'m not going to patiently wait for you while you have your way!\'

Those bastards underestimated Cai Kechang a little too much. Did they think he\'d back off since he managed to squeeze out as many benefits from the deal?

‘Fat chance!’

Cai Kechang wasn’t going to stay still. No, he’d keep making one move after another to utterly obliterate the Korean Martial Assembly!

Regardless of what anyone did, one only needed to focus on oneself. Yes, that concept was as textbook as it could get. Unfortunately for the believers of doing things by the book… The world didn’t operate according to textbooks.

Those with inflated opinions of themselves believed the rest of the world were thoughtless, mindless beasts just trudging through their lives. The truth was, though? The world was created through individual thoughts and disparate experiences of the people populating it.

‘The results will prove who’s right.’

Only after tasting a complete and utter defeat would those bastards understand the truth… That they had made a terrible choice!

For that to happen, though…

Cai Kechang entered a lengthy, spacious corridor, then studiously inspected his attire. After straightening every part to make himself more presentable, Cai Kechang sucked in a deep breath before cautiously walking in the corridor. He eventually stopped before a gigantic doorway, then went down on his knees.

“My liege… This is Cai Kechang.”

The doorway silently opened even though there hadn\'t been any verbal reply. Cai Kechang crawled on his knees to enter the spacious audience chamber.

The Crimson King perched on a lofty throne sighed loudly at this sight. “Cai Kechang…”

“Yes, my liege! This lowly servant pays his respect to you!”

“Haven’t I already told you to walk, not crawl?”

“...I wouldn’t dare, my liege.”

“Stop with all these useless formalities. The era has changed already.”

“I shall engrave your command to my heart, my liege!” Cai Kechang carefully pressed his forehead to the floor.

It didn\'t matter what he was told, Cai Kechang\'s reverence toward the Crimson King would never wane. Such reverence must be expressed physically, as humans were incapable of reading other people\'s minds. Only by expressing the reverence in some physical manner could the others guess the truth to some degree.

…And being courteous was precisely that physical way.

‘Still, my liege had changed.’

Without a doubt, the Crimson King had changed.

The old Crimson King wouldn\'t have urged Cai Kechang to do away with formal etiquette regardless of how much he trusted his subordinate. But now? He was attempting to get rid of useless formalities. Didn\'t that mean he had become a little more… pragmatic?

Although Cai Kechang couldn\'t be sure this was a positive change, one thing was for certain: the Crimson King was no longer the same person.

“What brings you here, Cai Kechang?”

“My liege! I bring you news from Korea.”

Cai Kechang reported what he heard to the Crimson King. Although he interspersed the report with bits of his thoughts and opinions and omitted some unimportant details, he tried his best to remain faithful to what he heard.

One of the things a tactician like him must never do was thinking that he could make judgment calls for his superior. Things would definitely go awry if he only reported what he thought was pertinent and believed he could convince his boss through his sophistry.

Cai Kechang was merely an assistant, not the leader who held the power to decide.

“That sounds like him,” said the Crimson King with a bright grin.

“My liege, I believe we need to provide more support to the foreigners.”

“Foreigners… You mean the Japanese?”

“Yes. Just like how the Koreans are like a dagger to our backs, the Japanese will act as an even sharper dagger pointed at their backs. Please grant me your permission.”

“My permission, is it… Quite uncharacteristic of you, Cai Kechang,” the Crimson King muttered, his grin waning a little. All the aura of a tyrant naturally leaking out of his body began suppressing Cai Kechang. “Very well. Do what you want.”

“This servant bows his head in sincere gratitude at the Crimson King and his infinite benevolence!”

The permission was granted without a fuss! Cai Kechang clenched his fists slightly. He had been confident of getting the Crimson King\'s permission… But even he didn\'t expect it to be this easy.

“Cai Kechang…”

“Yes, my liege!” Cai Kechang hurriedly raised his head.

“You can do what you think is the best. You have the qualifications for it.”

“You’re overestimating me, my liege.”

“However, you must never forget this one thing.”

“…” Cai Kechang silently waited for the Crimson King to continue. It didn’t matter what his boss said, he was prepared to uphold it as the teachings from the Heavens and adhere to it even if doing so cost his life!

“We are martial artists. In our world, strength will eventually triumph over every scheme imaginable. I\'m not trying to criticize you for your plans. Even so, we must recognize that, as fellow martial artists, the Koreans\' approach is the correct one.”

“But, my liege…” Cai Kechang opened his mouth only to hurriedly clamp it shut.

To think he\'d say \'but\' in this situation! That was one thing he should not have muttered in the Crimson King\'s presence right now!

‘You fool!’

Cai Kechang immediately rebuked himself. Even though he was busy thinking about reverence that and etiquette this, how dare he mouth a word as sacrilegious as that!

The Crimson King spoke leisurely. “Yes, I know it’s difficult for you to understand.”

“N-no, my liege.”

“No need to fret… As I shall help you understand.”

The Crimson King slowly raised his right hand. Naturally, Cai Kechang’s gaze was drawn to this hand.

Wuuuooong…!

An incredibly bright burst of light instantly bathed the spacious audience chamber. However, that was only for a second. The light that seemed poised to blow through the ceiling instantly shrunk down and became \'condensed\' before gathering into the Crimson King\'s palm.

‘Ah…!’

The condensed light transformed into a small marble. It was a Palm Sphere… No, a Qi Sphere!

The Crimson King had created a Qi Sphere! It wasn’t just one, either. Five… No, six Qi Spheres floated up in the air and began to circle dizzily around the Crimson King’s sitting figure.

Cai Kechang was instantly overcome with awe and planted his forehead on the floor. “This servant offers his heartfelt congratulations on your miraculous achievement!”

“It\'s not as miraculous as you say, Cai Kechang. For now, it\'s nothing more than a parlor trick,” the Crimson King chuckled softly before absorbing all the Qi Spheres back into his body. “Still, it’s true I have made some progress in my cultivation. The previous battle has allowed me to experience an epiphany, Cai Kechang.”

“...My liege?”

“We have been biding our time for too long,” said the Crimson King while slowly shaking his head. “Me, other Kings… We Three Kings have wasted too much time acknowledging and staying wary of each other. Even though we could have fought each other a long time ago to put an end to this stalemate, we have been too cautious. Too scared.”

“My liege, I don’t follow…?”

“It\'s the unavoidable truth, isn\'t it? The result of our shrinking back in fear of defeat was that we wasted decades dithering about. We only focused on cultivation in the slim hope of leapfrogging our opponents. And what do we have to show for it? Look at us. Everything has become stagnant!”

Despite baring his faults to his subordinate, the Crimson King\'s voice and expression were filled to the brim with confidence. That was why Cai Kechang became certain of something now.

The Crimson King was not simply reflecting on his past mistakes and failures. No, he was saying all these things since he knew he\'d grow even stronger in the future!

“The Demon King has appeared to break through this stagnation, Cai Kechang. Our battle has left me with deep scars, but it also gave me the opportunity to advance forward. In that case… How can I not be grateful toward him?”

More powerful emotions welled up in Cai Kechang\'s heart. The Crimson King had managed to overcome the wall through his intense battle against Kang Jin-Ho. In other words… The Crimson King would become even stronger now!

A man who already possessed godly strength… growing even more powerful than his current self?

‘...Soon, the other two Kings will no longer stand as my liege’s rivals!’

When that thought entered his head, Cai Kechang felt his mind instantly clear up. And then, all sorts of new schemes and moves he could make filled his brain.

Cai Kechang was forced to admit that indeed, improving one’s strength should take priority above all else.

“Cai Kechang…”

“Yes, my liege.”

“Do what you think is the best. Do not worry about failures. Don’t forget that I am your backer.”

“My liege! I shall never forget!”

As Cai Kechang exited the audience chamber with a look of reverence on his face, the Crimson King smirked softly and leaned back on his throne. How much did Cai Kechang understand from what the Crimson King said just now?

Although, it might be better for Cai Kechang to remain in the dark, at least for now. Knowing the truth would only multiply his worries and stress, after all.

‘Because… It wouldn’t be just me.’

Just like how the Crimson King found a new path forward through that life-or-death battle, Kang Jin-Ho should also be getting stronger.

That man already deserved the moniker of the Demon King. So, imagine what he should be called next after growing even stronger than now!

“However… I’ll be the last one standing, Kang Jin-Ho.”

So, it should be fine for Kang Jin-Ho to enjoy himself for the time being… Before his final moments eventually catches up to him, that is!

The Crimson King’s soft yet meaningful chuckle lazily echoed in the audience chamber.