The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 114

Chapter 114
“Crazy fool……”

As one might expect from a legendary master of the Black Path, Cha Seok-du was never without an oath on his lips.

Yet, if I imagined that a nearly identical curse had just been hissed by Seong Mo-ran right behind me, it was likely because my physical state was utterly wretched.

No matter how optimistically I analyzed it, my current health was simply too poor to continue enduring the grueling Regular Exam.

If I pushed my limits to the absolute brink, I might somehow claw my way to the finish line. Doing so, however, would inflict catastrophic, permanent ruin upon my Dantian, leaving me a hollow shell just like the Green Forest Fighting King—incapable of ever leading a normal life again.

When it came down to it, the only viable strategy left on the table was to manipulate the immense power of Four Emperors Peak.

“……What did you say?……”

Cha Seok-du, who had maintained an aura of unshakeable majesty until this very second, completely forgot that his own subordinates were watching him from every corner of the room. His jaw dropped slightly, his entire body freezing into a flawless stone monument.

In truth, he couldn’t be blamed for losing his composure.

It was highly improbable that he had ever anticipated hearing the very dream he coveted most spoken aloud by someone like me.

For generations, the factions of the Black Path Murim had harbored a desperate longing to form a unified coalition that could rival the Orthodox Murim Alliance.

Yet, whenever they tried, the relative strength of the major syndicates proved far too balanced for any single leader to step forward as the undisputed central pillar.

Worse still, these short-sighted scoundrels despised the mere thought of taking a loss; they focused so entirely on the immediate privileges they would have to surrender that the massive long-term advantages of a unified front were completely ignored. To their primitive minds, a coalition looked like nothing more than a losing bargain.

As a historical consequence, the Black Path Murim failed to organize their coalition until the grand invasion of the Demonic Cult was already raging across the land, by which time over half of their territory and strength had been ground to dust. And because that fractured alliance survived for an even shorter duration than the Murim Alliance itself, it failed to serve even as a decent stall tactic to buy them time.

“Without a single figure possessing absolute, terrifying might to force obedience, the only way to forge a true coalition is through shared public narrative and moral justification. It becomes perfectly clear if you look at the Murim Alliance. For the past five centuries, they have sustained their grand system on a single, powerful narrative: the absolute duty to eradicate the Demonic Cult, which was the universal threat when their foundations were first laid.”

Cha Seok-du, after a prolonged and unblinking stare, finally twitched his lips and spoke.

“Are you suggesting we drag the tragedy of the Demon Spirit Plateau into the light of public discourse?”

“Precisely. Countless factions within the Black Path Murim are already drowning in exhaustion from the iron-fisted hegemony the Murim Alliance exercises over the Jianghu. Is that not blindingly obvious from the way the majority of your sects go into a complete operational freeze, hiding away whenever the Murim Regular Exam is underway?”

“But the slaughter at the Demon Spirit Plateau is old news; it took place over six months ago.”

“A public narrative and a grand justification are merely frameworks onto which people fasten whatever grievances are available. Tell me, is the Murim Alliance’s daily operations today genuinely driven by a pure desire to hunt down the Demonic Cult?”

“……Do not take me for a fool; such thoughts have crossed my mind as well. But the true obstacle lies in the aftermath of such a move. Even if we succeed in erecting a Black Path Alliance, there is zero assurance that the masses will flock to it the way they do to the Orthodox path, or that genuine, institutional power will solidify.”

This was the exact structural flaw that had doomed the previous Black Path Alliance to an early grave.

The Orthodox Murim Alliance enjoyed a natural influx of martial artists who arrived voluntarily, tested their mettle against one another within the hierarchy, and then dispersed across the realm to spread the alliance’s influence.

The deeply rooted system itself acted as a perpetual motion machine, constantly generating more power for the Murim Alliance.

The Black Path Alliance possessed no such functional machinery.

Worse yet, the foundational philosophy burned into the soul of every single dark martial artist was the brutal doctrine of ‘the apex predator devours the defenseless.’

So long as that law of the jungle ruled their minds, these lawless men would never respect or uphold an artificial system of laws and ranks that someone else had meticulously designed.

Without a doubt, this was the exact riddle tormenting the mind of Four Emperors Peak Lord Cha Seok-du.

How to draw the outlaws together.

And how to make them bow to an ordered hierarchy.

“That part of the problem, ironically, is the simplest to solve.”

“……Simple, you say?”

Cha Seok-du’s eyes widened slightly, his posture instinctively shifting a fraction of an inch closer to me.

“You build the entire structure on absolute, unadulterated meritocracy.”

“……And how does that avoid descending into lawless anarchy?”

“The two concepts are light-years apart. In this system, you promise every individual a transparent, guaranteed trajectory for advancement. It will not matter who their master was or what minor gang they hail from—if they possess genuine talent, you provide them an unhindered avenue to ascend as high as their ambition can carry them, completely untethered by tradition.”

“……”

“Consider the rot eating away at the core of the Murim Alliance. Is it not a fact that a warrior’s prestige and rewards are dictated strictly by whether they belong to the prestigious Nine Sects and One Gang, the influential Five Great Clans, or the One Hundred Eight Peaks? The Black Path Alliance must position itself as the antithesis of that nepotism. By plunging these men into a crucible of endless competition and unlimited personal growth, the structural bones of the Black Path Alliance will naturally forge themselves into iron.”

“……”

It wasn’t just Cha Seok-du; even the seasoned captains of Four Emperors Peak were staring into space, their eyes alive with frantic, complex calculations.

A heavy silence filled the hall before Cha Seok-du finally broke it.

“And this demonstration you mentioned… is it designed to trigger this shift?”

“It is.”

“But the concept of a nonviolent demonstration is entirely foreign to me.”

“Every single participating martial artist will surrender their weapons, clothe themselves solely in plain black training robes, and hoist dark banners. At the vanguard of the column, they will shoulder a ceremonial funeral bier, marching in unison all the way to Wuhan. This procession will be framed as a grand, somber pilgrimage to honor the spirits of those who fell during the tragedy of the Demon Spirit Plateau.”

“……It will look bizarre to the world.”

“Which is precisely why every eye in the land will be locked onto it.”

“……And you intend to march shoulder-to-shoulder with us in this procession?”

“I, too, find myself overwhelmed by a righteous need to pay my respects to the souls left behind on the Demon Spirit Plateau.”

“……”

Standing at his flank, Hwang Bu-sik finally chimed in.

“Peak Lord. Regardless of the long-term outcome, if we set this march in motion, we will finally have the pleasure of witnessing those arrogant Orthodox Path hyenas completely lose their composure.”

Following Hwang Bu-sik’s lead, the elite guards stationed along both walls began offering their consensus one after another.

“As an open indictment of their absolute cowardice when they refused to move during that crisis, I cannot conceive of a more devastating political weapon.”

“When my mind wanders back to how those hypocrites actively sabotaged our efforts instead of offering reinforcements during the bloodbath, even now my blood boils……”

“He speaks the truth. This venture is well worth the gamble.”

As wave after wave of enthusiastic approval filled the chamber, the suffocating tension hanging over my companions finally began to dissolve, replaced by visible relief.

Cha Seok-du nodded slowly for several moments before lifting a single hand, instantly silencing the room.

“The strategy is brilliant. It is precisely the kind of cunning genius I would expect from the rising prodigy of our dark path, the Black Flame Dragon. Yet, a question remains—why must we execute this immediately? Won’t the purity of our political justification be compromised if individuals from your group are seen marching alongside us?”

“……”

“From a tactical standpoint, wouldn’t it yield far better results if we delayed the event until the conclusion of the Murim Regular Exam, aligning it perfectly with the disaster’s first anniversary?”

True to his reputation as a ruthless overlord of the criminal underworld, his mind instantly calculated how to wring the maximum personal advantage out of the concept.

However, had I been foolish enough to let him simply plunder my intellect and discard me, I never would have set foot in this mountain fortress to begin with.

“Do you honestly believe you can afford to wait until then?”

“Would a delayed execution not be infinitely more stable than rushing into it this very second?”

“No, what I am asking you, Peak Lord, is whether you possess the sheer charisma and patience required to drill this grand vision into the thick skulls of the uneducated brutes ruling the rest of the Black Path?”

“……”

The very captains who had been singing praises for my plan a moment ago instantly shifted their postures, directing freezing, lethal glares right at my chest.

“How many of those lawless chieftains possess the intellect to grasp the subtle art of public narrative and political justification? Furthermore, do you truly believe the rival factions will sit idly by while you, Peak Lord, monopolize the moral high ground of the entire underworld?”

Did Cha Seok-du remain isolated all these years without a coalition because he lacked a proper excuse?

The harsh reality was that past attempts failed because the surrounding warlords were either too dim-witted to comprehend his grand architectural vision, or far too consumed by their own petty avarice to yield the spotlight to him.

“If you possess the means to sway them alone, then I bid you good fortune. It appears my utility here has run its course regardless; I shall take my leave, present myself to the examiners, and officially withdraw from the competition.”

“……”

“My deepest thanks for your hospitality over the past few days. May our paths cross again under better skies.”

I spun on my heel without a shred of hesitation, taking three firm strides toward the exit while leading my utterly dumbfounded companions, when a voice shattered the silence.

“H-Hold your steps!”

“……”

The otherwise unflappable Cha Seok-du had physically lunged forward an entire pace from his throne.

“Are you implying that you hold the key to making them fall in line?”

“I have no intention of wasting my breath explaining complex political narratives to those syndicates, nor will I waste time persuading them. However, I hold the absolute means to force their hands.”

“By what leverage?”

I calmly reached down and unfastened the heavy cloth bundle gripping my hand.

*Clink, clatter, clink.*

These were the ironclad tokens of the Eminent Masters of the Black Path Murim—the very warlords who had surrendered their personal nameplates to me on the bloody soils of the Demon Spirit Plateau, matching the one Cha Seok-du had given me.

The priceless tokens of the underworld’s greatest powers scattered across the polished floorboards of the Four Emperors Peak grand hall like worthless pebbles.

—

“Heheh, the young master of the Jin family needs to open his eyes soon.”

As Kang Seo-pyo muttered the words, his lips twitched uncontrollably as he fought a losing battle against a massive grin.

Watching this display from the corner of the room, Cho Mu-bin found the man’s blatant amusement highly grating.

Following his intense negotiation with Cha Seok-du, Jin So-un’s frail body had given out entirely the very moment his boots cleared the threshold of the grand hall.

And without a moment’s hesitation, Namgung Seon-hwa had volunteered herself to manage his recovery.

Even though the grand estate was practically crawling with professional maidservants, attendants, and an elite resident Physician—making her hands-on approach highly unorthodox and potentially scandalous—Namgung Seon-hwa seemed utterly oblivious to social decorum now. She remained permanently stationed at Jin So-un’s bedside, fiercely refusing to leave his side for even a minute.

While it was undeniable that Cho Mu-bin was deeply anxious regarding Jin So-un’s physical survival, he couldn’t stop the wave of irritation that washed over him every time Kang Seo-pyo let out another gleeful chuckle.

“Is this scenario truly cause for such unbridled celebration?”

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

“I am pointing out that if Young Master Jin manages to survive this exam solely through the armed intervention of Four Emperors Peak, that reality will inevitably spark a political nightmare down the road, will it not?”

Baek Won-gak, who had been quietly monitoring the conversation from the side, offered a sober nod of agreement.

“The integrity of the final examination scores themselves will be thrown into massive dispute by the conservative factions. When all is said and done, the Black Path remains the mortal, irreconcilable foe of the Orthodox path. Is Four Emperors Peak not recognized as the undisputed apex of the dark underworld? Furthermore, if this madness actually serves as the catalyst that births a unified Black Path Alliance……”

“Your points are entirely valid.”

Kang Seo-pyo, looking between the two grim-faced men, let his smile morph into something deeply enigmatic.

“However, both of you are focusing entirely on the immediate wave while failing to see the shifting tide.”

“Explain yourself.”

“I am saying that while this exam appears to be the center of the universe today, if you cast your eyes toward the historical horizon, its importance pales in comparison.”

“What sort of riddles are you spinning now?”

Kang Seo-pyo let out a heavy sigh, clicking his tongue as if looking at two hopelessly slow children.

“With that kind of narrow vision, how do you two ever expect to rise above the rank of a low-level Captain before you grow old and grey?”

“…… tastes”

“……”

“Reflect on what we witnessed yesterday; surely your senses picked up on it as well? The grand ambitions harbored by the Lord of Four Emperors Peak run parallel to the exact path Young Master Jin is carving.”

Given that the concept of a unified dark world had been a terrifying talking point among strategist circles for decades, the two captains conceded the point with simultaneous nods.

“If an official Black Path Alliance actually materializes from the ashes of this incident, what do you think the immediate geopolitical fallout will be?”

“The Orthodox Murim Alliance will be plunged into an absolute state of strategic panic.”

“Precisely. We might very well find ourselves standing on the precipice of a total factional war. Yet, regardless of the chaos, that alliance *will* solidify. The geopolitical landscape of the Jianghu has already warped to a critical breaking point. The outlaws of the Black Path Murim, who have spent generations suffocating under the tyrannical boot of the Murim Alliance, are merely praying for a spark to ignite the powder keg.”

“……You sound dangerously enthusiastic about the prospect of a dark empire rising.”

“Allow me to finish. It takes no genius to realize that when this Black Path Alliance forms, Four Emperors Peak will sit firmly upon the imperial throne. Now, answer me this: when the Orthodox Murim Alliance inevitably realizes they must establish a diplomatic channel with this new dark empire, what path will they take?”

“……!”

“……!”

Kang Seo-pyo drove the point home.

“Given the centuries of brutal blood feuds and state-sanctioned slaughter the Murim Alliance has visited upon the underworld, building a bridge of trust from absolute zero will be an impossible feat. They will desperately require an intermediary—a figure who holds deep, unshakeable leverage within both the Black Path Alliance and the highest echelons of the Murim Alliance……”

“That intermediary would be the Taeul Sect.”

“And more specifically, Young Master Jin himself.”

“Exactly.”

As Kang Seo-pyo’s long-term calculus settled into their minds, the internal anxieties of Cho Mu-bin and Baek Won-gak grew infinitely more convoluted.

In retrospect, the idea that their detour into the heart of Four Emperors Peak during the sacred Regular Exam was a mere accident of fate began to feel completely absurd.

“The ultimate gamble rests entirely on whether Four Emperors Peak decides to risk making a move or not……”

For an outlaw empire like Four Emperors Peak to mobilize their forces right in the middle of a premier Murim Alliance event was a daredevil stunt fraught with lethal risk.

Worse still, a political march requiring their warriors to completely strip themselves of their prized weapons and armor could, if the Orthodox factions sensed an opening, easily turn into a perfect trap for the total annihilation of the dark path.

“Which explains why the high council of Four Emperors Peak remains locked away in intense deliberation even as we speak.”

The calendar had already turned to the fourth day of their stay.

The grand fortress of Four Emperors Peak remained completely silent, offering no word of their intent.

“The hour is fast approaching where we must draft our own contingencies and decide our immediate course of action.”

The remaining sands in the hourglass for the Regular Exam were dangerously low.

If they squandered any more precious time waiting in these guest quarters, they would find themselves empty-handed—failing to secure either their martial honor or their political objectives.

*Step. Step. Step.*

The three martial artists, who had spent the morning crouching in the dust of the courtyard, tracing tactical maps into the earth with sticks, straightened their backs in unison and locked their gaze on the courtyard archway.

A mountain of a man, possessing a frame so gargantuan he had to physically double over just to clear the wooden doorframe, stepped out into the light.

The Giant Shield, Hwang Bu-sik.

He fixed his massive, protruding eyes upon the trio.

“Where is the Black Flame Dragon?”

“He has not yet……”

Before the sentence could finish, the heavy wooden doors of the inner residence swung wide, and Namgung Seon-hwa stepped out onto the veranda.

“Young Master Jin requests your presence.”

“His consciousness has returned?”

“Yes.”

“A massive relief.”

With hearts hammering against their ribs, the three companions watched in anxious silence as the Giant Shield, Hwang Bu-sik, disappeared into the shadows of the inner hall.

—

Thousands of young martial artists, deployed across the rugged terrain surrounding the Dabie Mountains in Henan Province, kept their lethal gazes anchored directly upon the peaks of Four Emperors Peak.

For within that fortress lay the vast treasure trove of Entry Tokens—the literal keys to securing immortal glory and political dominance for their respective home sects.

The venerable elders of their factions had issued explicit mandates to maintain a fragile truce with rival schools until the tokens were retrieved, yet those same masters had poisoned the well by demanding they suffer no humiliation in the process, resulting in a suffocating, passive-war of nerves across the camps.

However, human endurance had its limits, and that fragile status quo only held for the first forty-eight hours.

Now that the standoff was bleeding into its fifth consecutive day, the mercenary forces scattered along the base of the Dabie Mountains were rapidly deteriorating from sheer physical and mental exhaustion.

Having marched out without a shred of long-term logistical preparation for camping exposed to the elements, they had descended upon the local hamlets like a swarm of locusts, cramming themselves into the meager local inns until the rooms were suffocatingly packed. As local food and medical supplies hit absolute zero, opportunistic merchants skyrocketed their prices; yet, lacking the tactical freedom to abandon their posts and forage in distant territories, the desperate martial artists had no card left to play but to empty their coin purses.

But the true phantom strangling their morale was the relentless tick of the clock—the absolute deadline for the Murim Regular Exam was closing in like a tightening noose.

“How much longer are we expected to rot in this wilderness?”

“If this stalemate drags on for another night, our entire generation will fail the examination by default.”

“Could those dark path bastards be intentionally freezing us out for that exact purpose?”

What business did a direct descendant of an Orthodox sect have playing diplomat inside the den of the Four Emperors Peak Lord?

“Why don’t we simply rally our numbers and launch a total assault on Four Emperors Peak?”

“Have you lost your absolute mind?”

“Is it truly madness? Four Emperors Peak has overtly disrupted a sacred function of the Murim Alliance; is this not a flagrant, treasonous violation of the ancient non-aggression treaties?”

Trapped in a political vice where any choice spelt disaster, the mounting fury of the crowd naturally redirected itself toward the core lineage of the Taeul Sect, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Namgung Clan.

“A nameless, low-born cur dared to turn the Regular Exam into his personal circus, and now the sacred lineage of the entire evaluation is being dragged through the mud.”

“The disgrace runs deeper than that. The real catastrophe is that noble houses like the Namgung Clan and the Murong Clan are willingly acting as his shield.”

“What an absolute mockery of the Five Great Clans’ legacy, a name that once stood proud and equal alongside the Nine Sects and One Gang.”

Then came the dawn of the sixth day.

The elite representatives governing the interests of the Nine Sects and One Gang convened a closed-door council to forge a definitive consensus on their next tactical maneuver.

“Seeing as Jin So-un’s entire coalition will be structurally disqualified the moment the sun sets on this day regardless, let us maintain our perimeter for just a few more hours.”

“Four Emperors Peak is mobilizing!”

“Has the Lord of the Peak finally dragged Jin So-un out to face his execution?”

Every single warrior encamped across the base of the Dabie Mountains, primed for a bloodbath, unsheathed their weapons in a singular, deafening chorus of steel.

The naked blades, glinting under the sun across all eight cardinal directions of the Dabie Mountains, transformed the mountainside into an iron forest.

It was the exact doomsday scenario they had rehearsed—the total martial mobilization required should Four Emperors Peak attempt to shatter the Regular Exam by force.

“Form the vanguard! Prepare for immediate combat!”

At the explosive command, thousands of martial elites instantly circulated their foundational inner arts to the absolute peak, projecting a tidal wave of suffocating killing intent directly toward the fortress gates.

*Creeeak. Thud.*

Beneath the heavy battlements of Four Emperors Peak, the massive iron-reinforced gates parted, and hundreds of figures slowly emerged in perfect, synchronized cadence.

“……Wh-What in the name of the heavens is that……”

“No… what madness are they executing now……”

The very vanguard who had been poised to plunge into a sea of blood instantly lowered their weapons, the tips thudding into the dirt as they stared blankly at the approaching column.

“……A funeral bier?”

Wrapped in identical, unadorned black training robes, hundreds of dark martial artists bore a massive, stark funeral bier at the heart of their formation, initiating a silent, agonizingly slow march down the mountain.