The main temple, part of the Jangmugye, is the Lord of Black Mist.
Lord Jooam arrived early at the place where the meeting would take place and smiled ominously.
Finally, the long-awaited day had come.
Though plans got a bit messed up when the opponent Jeokho fell to a rookie girl, it wasn’t a major issue.
What mattered was not who the opponent was, but that the one sitting in that seat was ‘Lord Jeokmuhyang’.
The weaker the Archlord was, the better it was for him.
Of course, since he had killed Jeokho and taken that position, he had his own tricks up his sleeve.
“They said Cheongjinryeong had the reins, but… Who knows?”
One should never let their guard down when facing that sly, bear-like guy.
One wrong move could mean missing out on the desired shares and ending up empty-handed.
According to the rules of Jangmugye, if no significant results were achieved in this meeting, access would effectively become impossible.
Kuwung!
One corner of the meeting room distorted as someone fell.
“You’re always the first to arrive.”
“Nok Woo-rim.”
Someone took a seat next to Jooam, taking a green form.
It was Lord of Green Mist, Nok Woo-rim, one of the five Archlords of Jangmugye.
“Aren’t you bored of coming early every time? There are little ones who leisurely arrive late.”
“Well, it’s a fact that the older you get, the harder it is to sleep at night.”
“Indeed.”
“I intend to make those who arrive late pay dearly. Cheongjinryeong may have had his issues with that rookie, but why isn’t Unbaek here?”
“Who knows? That child likes to arrive last.”
Lord Baekmuhyang was always like that.
Though it led to negative reactions from other Archlords, she always maintained her attitude.
Jooam looked back at the three empty seats and spoke.
“…I’ll have to split this rookie thing with you.”
“Are you serious? What about Cheongjinryeong?”
“That sly bear probably took care of it himself. I could see him boasting.”
“Well… if that’s the case.”
Nok Woo-rim nodded.
After all, four spoons for one bowl was too much.
“But what if it’s reduced to two?”
He could secure a far greater share than initially considered.
Forming a temporary alliance was easier than dealing with that old serpent.
“Are you telling me you won’t stab me in the back this time?”
“Haha. That’s funny. If anyone got stabbed in the back, it would have been me…”
“What nonsense is that… sigh, fine. Are we sure about forming an alliance?”
“Trust me.”
As Jooam chuckled, Nok Woo-rim looked at him with discontented eyes.
Saw it.
They couldn’t trust each other.
But because of that, they trusted each other even more.
‘That old man, like a serpent. Just give him something sweet to eat, and he’s satisfied…’
‘That child is really thinking hard. If I just take care of him a bit, he’ll shut up.’
Though they couldn’t trust the person, they trusted the person’s wicked ‘intent.’
Thus began the uncomfortable cohabitation of two archlords, solidified by a temporary alliance of black (黑) and green (綠).
Buuuu…!
“Hello?”
A new archlord Jeokmu-hyang appeared alongside Cheongjinryeong.
■
I returned home with coffee and cheesecake.
Yena was sprawled out on the sofa, and as soon as I woke her up, she looked at me with blank eyes.
She then shot up from the sofa as if in a fit.
“We’re doomed!”
“Why?”
“I had a meeting!”
Having passed out yesterday and waking up at 3 PM, she completely forgot about a previously scheduled appointment.
Yena hurried back to her place, apologizing, and I piled the coffee and cake into her hands.
She insisted it was fine, but since I had bought enough for both of us, it was no big deal.
Come to think of it, I should probably head in soon too.
Today is finally the day of the long-awaited archlord meeting.
There’s still some time before we start, but it wouldn’t hurt to prepare in advance.
I logged into the connection device and soon felt my soul being sucked into Deoen.
“Hoo-ah.”
I take a step into the world of Deoen.
As always, I feel like I’m trapped underwater in reality.
Of course, my state in Deoen isn’t exactly normal, but reality is so much worse.
If I had to describe it, it feels like being buried in the deep sea with a giant weight hanging on me.
Though it doesn’t feel like ‘suffocation,’ the lack of strength is palpable.
Currently, I’m at Lord Jeokmu-hyang’s palace.
In front of me stand the Ascetic Lord Won-gyeom and Hayoung.
“You’ve arrived. We’ve been waiting.”
“Welcome.”
“Did you wait long?”
“It didn’t take too long.”
Won-gyeom said this while bowing his head.
Ascetic Lord Won-gyeom.
A practitioner of the Record Phase, hailing from the dragon tribe, he was a top-tier authority within Jeokmu-hyang.
With deep loyalty to Jeokmu-hyang and an acute understanding of relationships among the archlords, I was considering him as the next archlord Jeokmu-hyang if possible.
‘If he reaches the display case.’
Even I was struggling quite a bit to reach the display case currently.
No matter how long Won-gyeom had been a practitioner, it would still take longer than expected for him to reach the display case.
Even Won-gyeom, who has spent eons as a Record Phase, will take longer than expected to make it to the Display Case.
Dragons have long lifespans, so stacking the axis of life is easy, but it requires a lot of enlightenment too.
“How is the cultivation going?”
“I’m doing my best. However, it seems it will take some time to reach the Display Case you mentioned.”
“If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll help where I can.”
“It’s an honor.”
Won-gyeom bowed his head deeply.
Then he straightened up and continued speaking.
“I have prepared the information on each Archlord you mentioned. Of course, you may have only vaguely heard about Lord Cheongmuhyang, but relying too much on him isn’t a wise choice.”
“Hmm. That’s true.”
Cheongjinryeong may have bowed his head, but ultimately he’s the one who took my lifespan away.
Naturally, he’s plotting something on the side.
Of course, he boasted that he definitely wasn’t, but he didn’t have the most trustworthy face.
Won-gyeom gestured to Hayoung, who pulled out a small jade from her pocket.
The jade contained the records of the meetings that Lord Jeokmu-hyang had experienced and mentioned.
Though it wasn’t entirely accurate since I wasn’t directly involved and it came from Lord Jeokmu-hyang’s mouth, I could grasp the general atmosphere.
“Now, let’s get into the explanations…”
“Wait a moment.”
“? Yes. Understood.”
I touched the floating system window in the air.
Gotta turn on the broadcast first.
If I hear the explanation now, I’ll have to hear it again later after starting the broadcast.
[Oh]
[Lilhari rahirahirahirah]
[What’s with the broadcast two days in a row? I’m really gonna die.]
[Is today that day?]
[Lilha]
[Today is the day Lily goes to the Display Case, lol.]
[Are you participating in the Siege War?]
[Starting off with Jeokmu-hyang, huh?]
[Ahhhhhh]
[No Yena today?]
[Yena where?]
[Lily turned on early today.]
“Lilha~ Miss Yena will be here at the main time slot. Yes, yes. What am I doing right now?”
“…Lord Hyangju?”
“I need to hear an explanation before the meeting, right?”
Alright, applause!
As I clapped, the chat window also started clapping.
A somewhat flustered Won-gyeom and Hayoung, who seemed used to it now, were clapping.
I’ve talked to the air more than once; I should get used to it.
Unlike Hayoung, who was quite close to Yena and me, Won-gyeom didn’t have much experience with this kind of thing since he spent a lot of time in the Ascension Gate.
Though he had heard about it, I doubt he had ever mentioned it so openly.
There wouldn’t have been a case like that.
[Hey, isn’t that the guy who’s supposed to be in that casket?]
[Hi, Hayoung!]
[What?]
[Haha~ (Hayoung means “Hi”~)]
[That old man should pay attention too.]
[Seriously lol]
[How come no one remembers the names?]
[Let’s leave it at that…]
“…Yes. Then I will start the explanation.”
Won-gyeom’s explanation about the Archlords began.
■
“…So, Jangmugye is based on five huge ‘chaotic flow’ regions that have risen up.”
“……”
“The Archlords are Cheongmuhyang (青霧鄕主) Cheongjinryeong, Heukmuhyang (黑霧鄕主) Jooam, Nokmuhyang (綠霧鄕主) Nok Woo-rim, Baekmuhyang (白霧鄕主) Unbaek. There are four, plus Jeokmuhyang (黑霧鄕主) Lady Lily. A total of five.”
“……”
“Baekmuhyang ascended to their position fairly recently compared to the other Archlords. They’re significantly younger than the Display Case Practitioner. In contrast, Heukmuhyang and Nokmuhyang have held their seats for a long time.”
“What about Cheongmuhyang?”
“That one is in the middle—not too long, but also not too short in tenure.”
“Hmm…”
[So there are two oldies.]
[One full-life, one half-life, and two daughter-lives?]
[MZ Archlords lol]
[I’m quite fond of Baekmuhyang.]
[So is she a woman?]
[Let’s just kill them all.]
[There won’t be much to steal from daughter-life anyway.]
I guess there’s a certain balance to it?
Seems like those four might form an alliance, but it turns out it’s not necessarily that simple.
“What about their relationships?”
“I’m not sure, but I heard Baekmuhyang is not very close to the other three. Heuk and Nok are said to be on good terms. And Cheongmuhyang seems to maintain a decent relationship.”
“Similar to their ages?”
“Yes. It seems they’re coordinating in the middle to gain benefits.”
Had it been a normal meeting, this would have been the trickiest individual.
But since Cheongjinryeong had already lost to me, I wasn’t too worried.
I planned to go to the meeting with Cheongjinryeong later, so I could just wait until then.
Suddenly, as I listened to the explanation, my gaze drifted down to the board filled with notes that Won-gyeom had laid out.
Something small that looked like a map of Jangmugye.
“But… that’s a bit unusual.”
“Yes?”
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