Chapter 16

Chapter 16

At the end of the steep stone stairs, a massive black door had its mouth firmly shut.

The White Fang Corps member guiding Dokgo Jin stopped before the door and opened his mouth.

“Go in. The Flag Master is waiting.”

Dokgo Jin felt the gaze beyond the white mask sweep over him with eyes mixed with awe and wariness.

‘He is staying alert in case I try to do something.’

Even without sensing it through qi perception, it was clear that the inside of Tiger-Watching Tower would be a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den.

Even though it was a situation where Dokgo Jin could not do anything to the White Tiger Flag Master alone, no matter how extraordinary a master he was, the man still suspected him until the end.

‘Should I call that thorough?’

In a way, it meant his loyalty toward the White Tiger Flag Master was that great.

‘To receive the absolute loyalty of a master of that level.’

That was not something one could achieve simply by being strong in martial arts.

Dokgo Jin placed his hand on the black door.

Creeeak.

Compared to its massive thickness, the door opened as lightly as a feather. No, it felt as though the energy pouring out from inside was pulling the door open.

The interior of Tiger-Watching Tower was unexpectedly simple.

There were no ornate decorations or expensive objects to be seen. Instead, what filled the entire space was suffocating “silence” and the fishy “smell of iron.”

It was different in level from the scent of sweat he had smelled in the training ground of the White Tiger Camp. It was like the cold scent of blood that only came from a very old treasured sword.

“…….”

There was no one to guide him in particular, but Dokgo Jin knew where he had to go.

It was because, beyond the darkness of the long corridor before him, he could feel someone’s distinct presence.

After passing through the corridor, Dokgo Jin arrived before the room at the end.

‘Is it here?’

As soon as he arrived, the door opened as if it had been waiting for him.

Creeeak.

Dokgo Jin stepped inside, and his gaze turned toward the deepest part of the room.

There, with his back to the moonlight seeping through the papered windows, sat a man.

“You have come.”

His voice was low, yet it rang heavily against Dokgo Jin’s eardrums like thunder.

The man slowly raised his head and stared at Dokgo Jin.

He was none other than the “White Tiger Flag Master.”

His enormous body was so overwhelming that the high ceiling seemed low.

His muscles, swollen as if they might burst, covered his entire body to the point that the chair draped with tiger skin looked cramped.

Until now, the largest man Dokgo Jin had seen had been Black Bear of Sword-Selling Street, but this man seemed at least a head taller than him.

A thick neck and shoulders, and above them, dark red hair tangled wildly as it pleased.

On the forearms visible beneath his clothes, countless sword scars were intertwined like medals, allowing one to guess how many battlefields he had cut through.

Over the white long robe the White Tiger Flag Master wore, a white tiger embroidered in silver thread seemed to growl as if it might leap out at any moment. Above all, his eyes were strange.

Golden eyes with pupils split vertically.

Rather than human eyes, they were the eyes of a supreme predator.

‘So this man is the White Tiger Flag Master, Wi Ji-ung……!’

His appearance and pressure befitted his epithet, the “Golden-Eyed Hegemon King.”

“……!”

The moment he met the White Tiger Flag Master’s golden eyes, Dokgo Jin felt a chill, as if his entire body had been stripped bare.

“Captain Yeom spared no praise for you. Dragon-Tiger Tablet Holder…… Indeed, your aura does not shame that title.”

The White Tiger Flag Master lightly crooked a finger.

“Come closer. I want to look more closely at the deep abyss you carry.”

Dokgo Jin’s eyes narrowed.

‘Did he see through the energy I possess at once?’

The White Tiger Flag Master was certainly different from the Northern Heaven Alliance masters he had seen so far.

‘I suppose I should…… be a little tense.’

Dokgo Jin moved while pretending to be calm. However, with each step he took, the pressure crushing the space increased geometrically.

It was as if enormous invisible chains were wrapping around his entire body.

It was a pressure that would have made an ordinary master kneel on the spot or collapse while gasping for breath.

This was not a simple difference in martial arts level or inner arts, but the weight of the absolute “class” possessed by the White Tiger Flag Master.

Dokgo Jin realized it instinctively.

‘A master of the Heavenly Martial Realm……!’

The stage beyond peak, the supreme peak, was called the Martial Soul Realm. The White Tiger Flag Master had surpassed even the pinnacle of the Martial Soul Realm and reached the Heavenly Martial Realm.

Even among the Four Hegemons of the Central Plains, which possessed countless masters, Heavenly Martial Realm masters were rare enough to be counted on one hand.

‘Are the other Five Pillars of Northern Heaven similar to the White Tiger Flag Master?’

If so, it meant the Northern Heaven Alliance possessed at least five masters of the Heavenly Martial Realm.

Even among the famed Nine Sects and One Gang or the Eight Great Martial Families, it was extremely rare for a place to possess two or more Heavenly Martial Realm masters.

‘……Incredible.’

He felt anew on his skin just how formidable the Northern Heaven Alliance was.

Despite the tremendous pressure, Dokgo Jin did not stop.

Wooooong.

Deep within his qi center, the Nine Nether Dark Heaven Scripture reacted.

Pitch-black Black Flame Qi silently rose and smoothly let the golden hegemonic qi emitted by the White Tiger Flag Master flow past him.

Step. Step.

When Dokgo Jin approached right before the White Tiger Flag Master’s nose and stopped, a strange light appeared in the White Tiger Flag Master’s golden eyes for the first time.

“Hoo.”

The corners of the White Tiger Flag Master’s mouth slowly curled upward. It was pure curiosity, and at the same time, the cold smile of a beast that had discovered prey.

“I have occasionally seen men who endured my force, but it has truly been a long time since I saw someone accept it this calmly.”

His eyes flashed.

“On top of that, you don't seem particularly tense. No one in the Northern Heaven Alliance, not even Yeom Baek, can avoid growing tense before me.”

“If this was a test, it was rather excessive.”

When Dokgo Jin answered calmly, the White Tiger Flag Master burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

After he stopped laughing and rose from his seat, the pressure filling the room vanished as if it had been a lie.

“You have the qualification. The qualification to meet my eyes directly.”

The White Tiger Flag Master slowly approached Dokgo Jin. His large hand tapped Dokgo Jin on the shoulder.

“You have come well, Dokgo Jin. You certainly have the ability that would make the old men of the Blue Dragon and Black Tortoise covet you.”

His voice was gentle, but the meaning within it was as sharp as a dagger.

“I will watch to see whether you become a well-thrown spear of our White Tiger Flag, or whether you break and disappear.”

Dokgo Jin looked up into those cold golden eyes and asked.

“Did you summon me to confirm that?”

“I heard so much talk, you see. I wanted to confirm it directly with my own eyes.”

The White Tiger Flag Master rested his chin on his hand and looked Dokgo Jin over with interest.

“But now that I have faced you, the rumors are actually insufficient. Well, there are few fellows with eyes keen enough to recognize your true worth.”

He stepped back with a faint smile. In the darkness, the White Tiger Flag Master’s pupils split vertically and emitted a strange glow.

“You may go now. I look forward to your performance.”

“Then.”

Dokgo Jin gave a brief bow of respect and turned away without hesitation.

Until the door closed and Dokgo Jin’s presence completely disappeared, the White Tiger Flag Master continued staring at that place.

Before long, he opened his mouth quietly.

“How did you see him?”

No sooner had the words fallen than a figure emerged from the shadow of a pillar in the pavilion.

It was a figure wearing a white mask edged in gold, the Head of the White Fang Corps.

“He certainly…… seems useful.”

“As expected, does he not?”

“However, it is somewhat coincidental that such an out-of-standard talent suddenly appeared at this time. What is certain is that he is not an object that could be fished up from some place like Sword-Selling Street.”

“Does coincidence not exist in the martial world?”

“My apologies. This subordinate does not believe in things like coincidence…….”

At the dry answer of the Head of the White Fang Corps, the White Tiger Flag Master nodded as if he understood. However, the smile on his lips deepened even further.

“It does not matter. Whatever his true identity may be, whatever scheme he may have.”

A chilling cold light flashed in his golden eyes.

“So long as he can play the role I desire, that is enough.”

***

As he left Tiger-Watching Tower and descended the steep cliff stairs, Dokgo Jin suddenly looked up at the night sky.

A streak of cold sweat was running down his back.

‘The White Tiger Flag Master…… is even more dangerous than I expected.’

Beyond simply being strong in martial arts, he had the beastlike intuition to see through the essence hidden inside the shell.

The pressure had almost caused the Nine Nether Dark Heaven Scripture to burst out.

‘But.’

The night wind roughly shook the hem of Dokgo Jin’s clothes. A faint smile spread across his lips.

‘That is better. The more ferocious the beast, the broader the world seen by the one who rides upon its back.’

Dokgo Jin’s steps headed toward the darkened White Tiger Camp.

***

BANG!

The office door opened violently, and Yu Seol-ah rushed inside. Without even having time to catch her breath, she shouted.

“Captain! They say Dokgo Jin just returned!”

Yeom Baek, who was reviewing documents, answered indifferently without even raising his gaze.

“And?”

“Pardon?”

“If he returned, tell him to rest. So what do you want me to do?”

At Yeom Baek’s blunt response, Yu Seol-ah looked dumbfounded. She strode up before the desk and leaned forward.

“No, Captain! That is not the issue right now. Of course you should call Dokgo Jin and…… No, are you not even curious? About what the Flag Master discussed with Dokgo Jin after summoning him?”

Only then did Yeom Baek raise his head as if annoyed and set down his brush.

“Not particularly. The birth of the Dragon-Tiger Tablet Holder stirred up the entire alliance, did it not? Even the Flag Master must have become curious and wanted to see his face once.”

“What if that is not it? What if he saw him personally, took a liking to him, and tried to transfer him outright to the White Fang Corps or another direct unit?”

“Then a conscription order would have already flown to me.”

“You never know. They may have had some kind of secret conversation we don't know about.”

Yeom Baek let out a hollow chuckle.

“Our Vice-Captain has a rich imagination. What kind of secret conversation would the White Tiger Flag Master under heaven have with a new unit member?”

“That is……”

“If that truly happened, and it was a matter I needed to know, Dokgo Jin would have come and reported it.”

“What if Dokgo Jin keeps it secret from you, Captain?”

“Then that would be the Flag Master’s strict order. It is not a matter for a mere Captain like me to pry into.”

At the answer that was far too principled and calm, Yu Seol-ah was left speechless. She bit her lip and glared at Yeom Baek.

‘Tch, he really is such a stubborn wall at times like this. Even if it was not about something like that, could he not at least ask to gauge the atmosphere?’

Watching her pout, Yeom Baek clicked his tongue in feigned annoyance.

“If you are that curious, why not go ask him yourself? Why are you bothering the wrong person?”

“Ah?”

Yu Seol-ah’s eyes widened roundly, then sparkled.

“There was that method! I will go and confirm it myself!”

Yu Seol-ah sprang up from her seat, turned like the wind, and left the office.

BANG.

After the door closed and the sound of her footsteps completely faded, Yeom Baek gave a bitter smile.

“…….”

From the moment he heard that Dokgo Jin had been summoned to Tiger-Watching Tower, the most anxious person had been none other than Yeom Baek himself.

The White Tiger Flag Master’s temperament was unpredictable.

He could not rule out the possibility that the Blue Dragon Flag Master or the Black Tortoise Flag Master had requested that Dokgo Jin be handed over through a transaction between Flag Masters.

There was no reason for the White Tiger Flag Master to accept such a request, but if they had proposed a political transaction related to the balance of power within the alliance, the story would be different.

On top of that, there was no way they would not covet an out-of-standard talent like Dokgo Jin.

“Phew.”

Yeom Baek blankly stared at the closed door and let out a relieved sigh.

‘No news is good news. Seeing as there has been no separate messenger or order, they must intend to keep him in our unit, right?’

The next dawn.

With a much lighter heart, Yeom Baek leisurely drank tea in the office for the first time in a while.

‘Yes. It is not bad to relax like this once in a while instead of training all the time.’

It was then.

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound broke the quiet stillness.

“Captain, it is the messenger Mo Un-geon.”

Yeom Baek’s brow narrowed slightly.

That was because someone visiting the office this early at dawn was usually not good news.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Mo Un-geon entered with a stiff expression. In his hand was a thin letter.

“It is an urgent message from the Council of Elders.”

“From the Council of Elders?”

With a puzzled expression, Yeom Baek received the letter. After checking the envelope, his gaze soon sharpened.

It was a blank envelope with neither the sender’s name nor the recipient’s official position written on it. It was a thoroughly secret document.

“……Leave. don't let anyone in.”

“As you command.”

After Mo Un-geon withdrew and the door closed, Yeom Baek carefully tore off the seal.

The instant he unfolded the letter, Yeom Baek’s hand flinched at the signature that entered his eyes first.

Yong Mu-seong.

‘Grand Elder Yong?’

The Grand Elder of the Council of Elders had sent a letter directly to him without going through official channels.

Feeling that something was unusual, Yeom Baek quickly scanned the contents.

Captain Yeom, I would like to ask you a personal favor. Please don't refuse.

︙

Can you quietly save my granddaughter?

“……!”

As Yeom Baek read down the sentences, his eyes sank deeply.