The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 186

Chapter 186
## Chapter 186. Rewriting the Sichuan Blood Calamity (6)

Everything was ruined.

I had given him so many desperate signals to keep his mouth shut……

Was he completely oblivious, or did he just genuinely not give a damn about reading the room……?

‘But when did I ever swear an oath to pass away on the exact same afternoon and hour?’

That was definitely a detail missing from my flawless recollection.

Regardless, it wasn’t as if I had entirely failed to foresee that this sort of complication might pop up.

Still, as I made my way toward Sichuan, the sole person I could turn to for assistance in a dire crisis was this very guy.

In the absolute worst-case scenario, I might be forced to clash with the entirety of the Blood Cult. I had zero desire to repeat the madness of my previous life, holding the line indefinitely until the Murim Alliance finally bothered to show up.

Given that ridiculous tales about me being a rising star of the Black Path or the Joint Successor of the Black Path were already circulating anyway, what real harm would one more rumor do about being sworn brothers with the Green Forest?

Putting that matter aside, Bang Du-chil had turned into an absolute monster during the brief period we were apart.

Was this level of growth not a total cheat code, even considering the Heavenly Dipper Limitless Body?

Thanks to the nourishment of the Nine-Spirit Divine Herb and the cultivation from the Holy Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand, I had managed to accumulate just under Four Cycles of deep internal reserves myself.

Yet what on earth had Bang Du-chil been consuming in the meantime? The pressure he was radiating didn’t lag behind my own in the slightest.

“Little brother! It looks like you haven’t been slacking off in your training either, bwahahahaha!”

Each time he slammed his heavy hand against my shoulder with a resounding thud, it felt as though my feet were being driven straight into the dirt.

Hold on a second, he only trained?

And he reached this level of strength……?

“Did you seriously do nothing but train?”

Bang Du-chil shifted his gaze away, looking incredibly guilty.

Just as I thought. He must have swallowed something incredible.

Perhaps he mistook Azure Stone Milk for ordinary liquor and guzzled down an entire container, or mistook Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Ginseng for a simple snack to go with his drinks and shoved it down his throat……

“If I am being completely honest, I couldn’t focus entirely on my cultivation because I was tied up bringing the Green Forest strongholds of Zhejiang Province into line. Seeing how much you’ve advanced, little brother, I feel genuinely embarrassed all over again.”

“……”

Wait, he didn’t even train that much?

To hell with this. I’m done.

Right at that moment.

“You son of a bitch!”

A furious shout that perfectly mirrored my own internal state erupted from the gathered Deputy Stronghold Masters.

As the friendly mood evaporated instantly, Bang Du-chil swept his eyes over the Deputy Stronghold Masters, looking highly irritated.

“Which piece of trash said that? Which bastard dared to cut in on our conversation?”

Technically speaking, it was Bang Du-chil who had abruptly interrupted the standoff between us and the Green Forest strongholds, but Bang Du-chil, who behaved as though he were the center of the universe, clearly didn’t see it that way.

“We are the Deputy Stronghold Masters representing Flower Garland Stronghold, Red Flower Stronghold, and Black Peak Stronghold!”

“And?”

“Arrgh!”

Was this what happened when you tried to talk to someone who completely lacked basic logic?

To be fair, if Bang Du-chil had directed that kind of attitude and tone toward me, I probably would have felt my Five Viscera and Six Bowels twisting in pure rage.

It was the demeanor of a man who genuinely had no clue what he had done wrong.

From the perspective of those Deputy Stronghold Masters, if Bang Du-chil had looked like an easy target, they would have split his skull open with a weapon on the spot while telling him to think before he spoke. But there was no way they could miss the crushing pressure that I was currently feeling from him.

“My dear, it appears they are unhappy that we interrupted their business.”

At Baek So-ryeong’s refined voice, Bang Du-chil cocked an eyebrow.

“If that’s the case, they should have just spoken up. As expected of uneducated mountain bandits.”

The faces of the Deputy Stronghold Masters turned a deep, furious crimson.

They looked as though they were about to explode from sheer indignation.

“If you want to keep your lives, clear out this instant!”

Even in the face of the Deputy Stronghold Master’s aggressive warning, Bang Du-chil calmly turned back to me and inquired,

“Little brother, what was the reason you summoned me all this way?”

Though things had veered wildly off from my initial plan, the fact that he had actually shown up was no different from a divine lifeline appearing right before my eyes.

For a guy like me, who lacked a single place in the world to call a safe haven, having an older brother like this was actually worth something.

I gave a firm nod and answered,

“Please challenge them to a Mountain King Contest.”

“Oh?”

Bang Du-chil raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He clearly hadn’t anticipated the phrase Mountain King Contest coming out of my mouth.

“The work you accomplished back in Zhejiang Province was also done via Mountain King Contests, wasn’t it? Please bring Sichuan under your control as well.”

The Sichuan Blood Calamity from my previous timeline had been an absolute nightmare involving the Blood Cult, the Murim Alliance, Qingcheng Sect, Emei Sect, and the Tang Clan, who ruled over Sichuan, alongside dozens of minor factions aligned with them.

To make matters worse, even the Green Forest strongholds had thrown themselves into the fray.

There was a specific reason an ordeal immense enough to be remembered as a history written in blood had taken place.

If the Green Forest strongholds could be forced to remain passive at the very least, the rulers of Sichuan wouldn’t disregard the Murim Alliance and act independently.

“Haha. As expected, little brother, you already understood that. However, I’ve only just secured Zhejiang Province. Is it truly necessary to leap straight into Sichuan?”

Even the unstoppable Bang Du-chil seemed to realize that bringing the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds to heel required a calculated, step-by-step approach to expanding territory.

“I will be entirely frank with you. Just as you mentioned, Big Brother, it does sound rather reckless.”

But I understood Bang Du-chil’s mind better than he did himself.

I possessed the ultimate keyword that could manipulate his actions precisely as I desired, as if he were under a spell of Witchcraft.

“But would the true ‘king’ of the Green Forest ever be deterred by something so minor?”

“Hmm?”

Right on cue, he bit the hook.

I subtly poked at his deep-seated pride.

“Since the entire ‘world’ is destined to belong to the ‘king’ of the Green Forest eventually, what does it truly matter which region you choose to conquer first?”

A brief moment of quiet washed over us.

Then Bang Du-chil, whose eyebrows both shot upward, let out a sharp gasp and began to shudder with excitement.

Even in my past life, Bang Du-chil had always been utterly helpless against emotional hype triggered by a single grand title.

That had always been his flaw, but……

“Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!”

His booming laughter violently assaulted my eardrums.

‘Isn’t this reaction a bit too extreme, though?’

It didn’t even seem like he was actively channeling his internal arts, yet my internal organs felt like they were being violently rattled.

Furthermore, he was clearly so ecstatic that he showed absolutely no restraint with the hand slamming against my shoulder.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

After barely withstanding the agonizing force that felt like it would splinter my skeletal frame and lowering my gaze, I noticed that my boots had actually sunk slightly into the dirt.

Did this guy completely lack the concept of holding back?

“You’re absolutely right! A true ‘king’ of this generation doesn’t move while overthinking things like a pathetic coward!!”

……His excitement was far more volatile than it had been in my previous life.

Had his temperament been slightly milder back then because his dantian had been shattered?

Bang Du-chil pulled back the hand that had been hammering my shoulder like a mallet and whipped his head upward.

“Pay attention!”

He glared directly at each of the Deputy Stronghold Masters and bellowed,

“I, Bang Du-chil, the Master of Green Dragon Stronghold and the ruler of Zhejiang Province, hereby declare to the bandits of the Green Forest……”

The moment Zhejiang Province and the name Bang Du-chil were spoken, the Deputy Stronghold Masters collectively gulped.

“I challenge the various Green Forest strongholds of Sichuan to a formal Mountain King Contest!”

“Green Dragon Stronghold, wait……”

“The Second Coming of Xiang Yu?”

“Why on earth is that monster here……?”

Despite being isolated deep within the wilderness and having detached themselves from society, they clearly maintained a keen interest in rumors regarding their own kind, as the Deputy Stronghold Masters instantly recognized Bang Du-chil’s identity.

The individuals who had looked ready to charge at him like rabid beasts just moments ago were now shifting their eyes and muttering under their breath before anyone realized it.

Then, after a brief huddle to iron out their stance, the Deputy Stronghold Master representing Flower Garland Stronghold spoke up.

“Bang Du-chil, Master of Green Dragon Stronghold. We are well aware that we are bound to accept a Mountain King Contest, but the timing is completely wrong.”

“Are you planning to disregard the primary regulation of the Green Forest Alliance?”

“That’s not what we mean! We marched out here to deal with an adversary who endangered the very existence of our mountain bases. If you are a Stronghold Master yourself, you ought to understand that this isn’t the appropriate moment for a Mountain King Contest.”

Bang Du-chil’s brow gave a subtle twitch.

“Endangered your existence?”

“Y-yes! The brat you call your little brother caused devastating losses to our three mountain bases. Before we can engage in a Mountain King Contest, we have to settle that score first.”

I had anticipated to a certain degree that they would attempt this angle.

Naturally, if they put forward that justification, the Mountain King Contest wouldn’t be able to proceed.

What I wanted was for Bang Du-chil to simply charge forward blindly like he normally did.

If he behaved like his usual self, he would argue that none of that mattered, and that once he triumphed in the Mountain King Contest, any prior grievances would become irrelevant anyway.

However, completely flipping my expectations upside down.

“Is that the case? If that’s the trouble, then there’s an easy fix.”

Bang Du-chil extended his finger toward me and declared.

Wait, what? As a strange sense of dread washed over me and I failed to move quickly enough to block Bang Du-chil’s mouth.

“My little brother can just take part in the Mountain King Contest as well.”

Hold on? Come again?

Aren’t Mountain King Contests strictly meant for actual mountain bandits?

It wasn’t just me; even the Deputy Stronghold Masters looked entirely struck dumb.

“Stronghold Master Bang Du-chil! Are you openly declaring that you will break the foundational laws of the Green Forest Alliance! If you do that, you bastard, you have no right to count yourself among the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds.”

Exactly, exactly.

It would be far better to just bully them into a brawl. Obviously, that was the superior choice.

If I reached out to Murong Jae-hwa and had him bombard them with a round of Thunderbolt Arrows, while Bang Du-chil and I stirred up a bit of chaos, wouldn’t they eventually be forced to accept the Mountain King Contest with Bang Du-chil, even if they had to swallow their pride?

The idea of me entering a Mountain King Contest was utterly ridiculous.

Yet, Bang Du-chil’s deep, authoritative voice carried on.

“I’m not breaking any rules.”

“Th-then! Are you claiming that this individual is also the leader of one of the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds?”

“Precisely!”

What? What did he just utter?

Did my ears deceive me?

I wasn’t nearly old enough to be experiencing hearing failure……

“My little brother is Jin So-un, the Stronghold Master of Black Dragon Stronghold!”

What?

Damn it, what absolute garbage is this lunatic spouting……!

—

“So, to recap everything……”

I desperately forced myself to maintain composure, feeling as though my consciousness was about to drift away, and kept talking.

“On the exact plot of land where Twin Curtain Stronghold used to stand, you went ahead and established factions called Green Dragon Stronghold and Black Dragon Stronghold……”

Despite reciting the literal facts I had just heard with my own ears, I prayed with every fiber of my being that this was all a nightmare.

“……And I am supposedly the Stronghold Master of that place?”

“That’s exactly right!!!”

Has this man completely lost his mind?

The absolute confidence with which he spoke made it even more infuriating.

“Just to be absolutely sure, I’m asking…… does this place called Black Dragon Stronghold even physically exist?”

“Of course! It’s a mountain base boasting two hundred men, comprised of my old crew and some freshly signed-up recruits.”

“……Then who exactly is managing that Black Dragon Stronghold right now?”

“One of my trusted men is currently filling the role of Deputy Stronghold Master.”

That literally just means you are running a monopoly on two separate mountain bases!

“Were you…… the leader of that mysterious Black Dragon Stronghold hidden in the fog?”

Gu Jeong-ryong, who had been quietly listening beside me, turned to me with a completely blindsided expression.

For the love of God, I kept telling them it wasn’t like that.

“I knew from the start you were someone out of the ordinary.”

For some bizarre reason, Deputy Hall Master Gam Cheon-ak was staring at me with eyes full of admiration.

“It’s not what you think.”

I desperately averted my eyes from them and snapped my gaze toward Bang Du-chil.

Hurry up and set the record straight!

However, Bang Du-chil merely gave a proud nod.

In the end, Baek So-ryeong glided forward to intervene, saying,

Thank goodness there was at least one individual here who possessed basic sanity……

“I must apologize, Young Master Jin. My husband can be incredibly pigheaded, you see. I simply let him have his way, treating it mostly as a bit of fun.”

A bit of fun? A jooooke?

Where on earth does anyone pull a prank as messed up as this?

“But hasn’t it turned out wonderfully? Thanks to his antics, you are now fully qualified to join the Mountain King Contest. Teehee.”

“……”

I completely take back my thought about her being sane.

They really were a perfectly matched couple.

No, when I caught a glimpse of the sheer madness lurking behind that gorgeous smile, she actually seemed far more unhinged than Bang Du-chil.

“Sister-in-law……”

I genuinely didn’t know whether I should burst into tears or start laughing.

The Deputy Stronghold Masters stated that this wasn’t a choice they could make on their own, and escorted our entire group up toward their mountain fortress.

We attempted to leave the injured companions behind under the care of guards, but there was zero chance the Green Forest Bandits would permit that, and we ultimately had no choice but to trek toward Flower Garland Stronghold accompanied by nearly a thousand bandits.

“““Waaaaaaaah!”””

The massive roar of cheering felt powerful enough to shake both sky and earth.

‘This is completely nuts……’

The dreadful memories of my previous visit to Twin Curtain Stronghold came rushing back.

On that occasion, only Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe had been lounging there like local kings, but currently, a total of three proper Stronghold Masters and an immense sea of people blanketing an entire mountain peak were assembled in a single location.

The Academy Students and instructors who had been swept along to Flower Garland Stronghold by sheer bad luck also wore thoroughly stunned expressions.

“You came all this way to demand a Mountain King Contest?”

At the declaration from Jo Sang-bin, the Master of Flower Garland Stronghold, the roaring cheers that had been echoing across the mountain peak vanished instantly.

Bang Du-chil stepped out to the front without a shred of doubt.

“I, Bang Du-chil, Master of Green Dragon Stronghold, alongside Jin So-un, Master of Black Dragon Stronghold, hereby issue a challenge for a Mountain King Contest.”

“……From what I gather, Jin So-un is nothing more than an Academy Student.”

Bang Du-chil gave a firm nod.

“He is merely attending classes there for the time being. In truth, his real identity is the Stronghold Master of Black Dragon Stronghold!!”

This absolute lunatic, I swear……!

No! I am not! I explicitly said I am not!

It wasn’t just the members of the Green Forest strongholds; even the Academy Students started whispering furiously among themselves.

“Black Dragon Stronghold? Wasn’t he supposed to be just a rising star of the Black Path?”

“The rumors claimed he was the Joint Successor of the Black Path, so maybe he has deep ties to the Green Forest as well?”

“……What kind of monster is he, really?”

I knew this exact scenario would play out.

My already treacherous future career path had just been set completely ablaze.

Ah…… I really shouldn’t have contacted him. Genuinely.

Regardless of whether my face was twisted in pure misery, the negotiation between the leaders pressed onward.

“Be that as it may, we cannot simply overlook the destruction brought upon the Green Forest strongholds before you even bothered to request a Mountain King Contest.”

In response to Jo Sang-bin’s point, Bang Du-chil scoffed loudly.

“So?”

“……What did you say?”

Bang Du-chil casually cleaned his ear with his pinky finger and repeated himself,

“So what exactly do you plan to do about it?”

Provoked by that dismissive behavior, Jo Sang-bin ground his teeth together in fury.

“……We have the power to slaughter every single one of you right where you stand.”

Hearing those words, it wasn’t just the Academy Students; even the senior Elders became intensely guarded.

To put it bluntly, when faced with such an overwhelming disparity in head count, individual martial arts prowess lost a lot of its practical value.

Yet, ignoring the reality that even if he combined his own detachment with our group, our numbers didn’t even crack three hundred, Bang Du-chil spoke without an ounce of fear.

“Give it a shot if you think you’re up for it!”

“……”

Bang Du-chil shifted forward by two paces.

That simple movement was all it took for Bang Du-chil’s men to instantly circulate their Internal Qi and drop into low stances.

‘What is about to happen?’

The moment I tried to follow that train of thought, a staggering wave of Qi Wave erupted violently from Bang Du-chil’s frame.

CRACK-CRACK-BOOM.

The dirt directly surrounding Bang Du-chil caved inward slightly, chunks of earth were blasted outward, and small rocks went skittering in every direction.

‘He achieved that just by unleashing his Internal Qi?’

It was an incredibly difficult feat for an ordinary martial artist to cause their clothing to balloon out as if it were about to rip apart, yet Bang Du-chil was showcasing this terrifying display of raw power as though it required no effort at all.

When Bang Du-chil stomped his boot down in tandem with the release, it felt as though the entire mountain experienced a tremor.

“If you refuse to accept the Mountain King Contest, I will personally beat every single one of you to death!”

……He was roaring like a complete psychopath, but I couldn’t simply shrug it off as the hollow threats of a crazy person.

“……Gulp.”

Because it genuinely felt like he was capable of pulling it off.

Even my own skin was prickling from the tension.

“K-killing is strictly prohibited during a Mountain King Contest.”

Jo Sang-bin shifted his gaze downward, looking visibly shaken by the display.

My good sir, what do you expect to accomplish if you’re already showing fear like this?

Bang Du-chil leveled his finger directly at him and barked once more,

“Which is precisely why you need to agree to the Mountain King Contest. That way, I’ll at least leave you with your lives!”

Gadgets

“……”

Wasn’t he supposed to be the one robbing them……? Demanding they agree to a duel if they wanted to survive……

Well, considering he was a bandit, I suppose extortion was his literal job description.

Thank the gods this man never actually set foot inside the Murim Academy.

If he had somehow integrated into the Murim Alliance, he would have sparked a massive incident immediately, been branded as a Public Enemy of the Murim, and spent the remainder of his days fleeing from justice.

At the very least, he had picked a career path that suited him flawlessly.

Buckling under the weight of Bang Du-chil’s overwhelming presence, Jo Sang-bin eventually closed his eyes tight.

“F-fine. We will agree to the terms. However, should you suffer defeat in the Mountain King Contest, Jin So-un—who caused severe harm to our Green Forest strongholds—will be held fully accountable and executed on the spot!”

If my head gets chopped off the moment we lose, doesn’t that completely ruin the entire purpose of hiding behind the Mountain King Contest structure?

I immediately attempted to vocalize my protest.

“Hold on a minute……Terminal”

But Bang Du-chil cut me off by a fraction of a second.

“Deal!”

……My dear big brother, didn’t you loudly declare just a moment ago that you would perish on the exact same afternoon and hour as me?

How can you agree to that condition so damn casually?

“Who intends to step into the ring first?”

To Jo Sang-bin’s inquiry, Bang Du-chil replied,

“To start, two of you can come at me together. I’ll take on both of you simultaneously.”

“What?”

Staring back at the Stronghold Masters whose brows furrowed in pure irritation, Bang Du-chil casually dropped the remark as if it were an absolute afterthought.

“This grand body needs to do some sightseeing while I’m visiting Sichuan. I don’t have hours to squander on a tedious Mountain King Contest.”

“……”

By this point, even the rival Stronghold Masters began radiating intense killing intent, unable to tolerate his disrespect for another second.

In their perspective, Bang Du-chil, who had only recently crossed into his early twenties, was behaving with unbearable arrogance.

“Make sure you don’t regret those words.”

“The true ruler of the Green Forest never goes back on a declaration once it leaves his lips.”

Oh, brilliant.

He had already crowned himself the ruler of the Green Forest in his own mind.

The leaders of Black Peak Stronghold and Red Flower Stronghold stepped into the clearing first.

They perfectly embodied the classic archetype of mountain thugs, one gripping a massive saber and the other wielding a heavy axe.

A staggering wave of Fighting Spirit poured off the two figures as they channeled their Internal Qi to its absolute limit.

“Uaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

The Stronghold Masters unleashed furious battle cries and leaped forward, intending to crush Bang Du-chil into a bloody pulp with a single synchronized strike.

However.

BOOM!

The leader of Black Peak Stronghold collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, spraying shattered white teeth from his mouth.

The moment the expression of the Red Flower Stronghold Master warped in sheer terror and he hesitated, Bang Du-chil executed a flawless Gale Art to violently drag him forward.

CRASH!

Then, utilizing nothing but his naked fist, he smashed the heavy axe into iron splinters and sent the Master of Red Flower Stronghold hurtling back three zhang through the air.

──────.

In an absolute flash, a heavy silence blanketed the entire fortress grounds, as though a sudden storm had instantly quenched all noise.

Everyone’s eyes widened to near bursting, completely paralyzed by this impossible display of divine might.

Only Bang Du-chil remained perfectly composed.

“Next!”

As he barked the word while locking eyes with him, Jo Sang-bin’s face drained of all color.

“Y-you don’t actually intend to duel all three of us back-to-back by yourself, do you?”

“Of course not. The one who will handle your fight is my little brother.”

Jo Sang-bin let out a quiet breath, looking immensely relieved.

Wait, what?

Why am I suddenly viewed as the soft target here?

This feels incredibly insulting.

Jo Sang-bin cast a swift glance at his fellow Stronghold Masters groaning on the ground, then snapped his gaze toward me.

“I will cut you down right here to claim vengeance for our fallen Green Forest brothers and our leaders.”

“The guy who actually flattened your leaders is standing right over there, though?”

Despite my attempt to point out the flawless logic, Jo Sang-bin wasn’t in a frame of mind to listen to reason.

“No more talking!”

Jo Sang-bin coated his massive broadsword in a thick layer of Sword Qi and unleashed it like a raging hurricane.

I bellowed out at the top of my lungs, making no effort to mask my intense frustration.

“Why am I the only one taking the heat for this!”

Simultaneously, I executed the primary form of the White Moon Governing Heaven Three Forms, slicing cleanly through the idiot’s broadsword and right across his belt line.

TONG───

With a bizarre, metallic echo, the heavy blade snapped perfectly in half and clattered against the dirt, while his trousers dropped straight down to his ankles.

Jo Sang-bin stared down in utter disbelief, looking back and forth between his ruined weapon and me.

“Do you honestly wish to keep going?”

Bang Du-chil directed the question at Jo Sang-bin, who was standing frozen in place with his pants pooled around his feet.

Shake, shake.

Having completely lost his fighting spirit, Jo Sang-bin frantically shook his head side to side.

Bang Du-chil grinned with immense pride and bellowed out to the entire gathering.

“From this precise moment onward, Red Flower Stronghold and Black Peak Stronghold shall submit to the absolute authority of Bang Du-chil, Master of Green Dragon Stronghold. Furthermore…… joints”

He shifted his gaze squarely onto me.

“Flower Garland Stronghold shall submit to the absolute authority of Jin So-un, Master of Black Dragon Stronghold!”

His booming voice echoed across the entire mountain peak, drawing every single pair of eyes directly onto me.

Ha, at this rate, why don’t we just print flyers and distribute them to every single town and village declaring that I am the Master of Black Dragon Stronghold?

If my luck holds up, the news might just spread across the entirety of Sichuan.