Childhood Friend of the Zenith

So Yeomra Gu Yangcheon.

The eldest son of the Gu family from Shanxi Province, an orthodox clan located in a remote part of the region.

He is the child of Gu Cheolwoon, a mid-ranked master among the Hundred Great Masters of Zhongyuan, also known as the "Tiger Knight.

" In his youth, Gu Yangcheon was known as the troublemaker of Shanxi, earning the nickname "Like Father, Like Son" for his misdeeds.

However, whether it was simply a phase or not, his talent began to emerge as time passed.

Before the infamous massacre at the Divine Dragon Pavilion, he showcased overwhelming martial prowess at the Yongbong Gathering, earning the nickname True Dragon.

Soon after, during the massacre at the Divine Dragon Pavilion, he slaughtered countless demonic sect members and prevented the tragedy from escalating, gaining the nickname So Yeomra (Little Lord of the Underworld).

For a brief period, his reputation spread across Zhongyuan due to the Martial Alliance’s internal maneuvers.

However...

Not long after, his whereabouts became increasingly unclear.

The Martial Alliance, in cooperation with Shaolin, launched the Divine Dragon Project, which managed to suppress the stories about him and minimize his reputation.

In just a few years, rumors about So Yeomra disappeared entirely.

‘What is this?

’ Looking at the scroll in his hand, Bumdong tilted his head in confusion.

It had taken Bumdong four days to gather this information.

Though not particularly difficult to obtain, it was something that could have been completed in two days.

Still, Bumdong couldn’t shake the strange sense of unease that lingered.

‘Something’s off.

’ While reading about So Yeomra, he noticed numerous gaps in the information—deliberate omissions that suggested someone had intentionally erased them.

‘Who could it be?

’ Only a handful of people could manipulate the Martial Alliance’s records.

Perhaps the commander of the Azure Dragon Unit, a top-ten master and personal guard to the current Martial Alliance Leader.

Or maybe the Beggar’s Union leader, or even the abbot of Shaolin.

Even then, the number of individuals capable of this wouldn’t exceed ten.

So why were such crucial gaps left in this information?

And that wasn’t the only strange thing.

‘Did he intervene in the Sichuan Tang Clan incident?

’ This was a case that had shaken Zhongyuan a few years ago.

The Tang Clan, one of the Four Great Clans, had been secretly conducting human experiments, which were later exposed.

As a result, the Tang Clan was stripped of its status as one of the Four Great Clans, and even orthodox sects began to avoid openly associating with them.

The problem was...

‘That’s classified information.

’ The Martial Alliance had deemed the incident top secret, classifying it by color-coded tiers akin to demonic beast rankings.

Among these, the Sichuan Tang Clan’s case was classified as White Level—a level so restricted that even a division commander like Bumdong couldn’t access it.

And yet...

‘There’s evidence that So Yeomra was involved.

’ According to the official records, the Tang Clan leader exposed the experiments and gathered evidence to present to the Martial Alliance, personally killing the elders involved in the atrocities.

The fact that traces of So Yeomra were interwoven with this incident could only mean...

‘There was another side to the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) story.

’ What kind of event could have been so significant that even a division commander couldn’t know the full details?

Bumdong, his brows furrowed, continued reading through the report.

‘He’s surrounded by women.

His fiancée, the Sword Dancer...

and the Tang Clan...

Tang Clan?

’ As he read further, Bumdong’s eyes widened.

Among the women mentioned were the Poison Queen of the declining Tang Clan, the Snow Phoenix of the Moyong family, and...

‘Even the descendant of the Sword Master?

’ So the rumors of him being a womanizer seemed to hold some truth.

But what puzzled Bumdong was...

‘If he’s so fond of women, why didn’t he fall for Bihyeonhwa?

’ Bihyeonhwa, known as the most beautiful woman in Henan Province, was renowned for using her looks to extract information.

And yet, she had failed.

Not only had she failed to approach him, but she had also returned in a completely broken state.

“P-please...

spare me.

S-spare me, spare me, spare me...

please...

spare me.

” Her heavily powdered makeup was smeared, and she kept scratching her face with her long nails.

With eyes like those of a dead fish, Bihyeonhwa had been found collapsed in an alley near the Martial Alliance’s headquarters, utterly ruined.

“I have to run...

so scary...

please spare me...

spare me...

” Her trembling and disheveled state struck fear into those who saw her.

Although she had been sent to a doctor for treatment afterward, her mental state never recovered.

Even now, she refused to leave the clinic, paralyzed by fear.

What exactly had happened to her?

The notes she had left about So Yeomra identified him as Gui Jeol-yeop, the leader of the crumbling Rumor Sect.

But...

‘That was a lie.

’ As Bumdong dug deeper, he realized everything she had written was false.

It was clear that So Yeomra had seen through Bihyeonhwa’s intentions from the start.

This had forced Bumdong to spend far more time than expected gathering information.

And yet...

‘There’s no trace.

’ If Bihyeonhwa was found near the Martial Alliance’s entrance, there should have been some evidence of someone escorting her there.

But no one on watch duty had noticed any traces or presences.

There was no evidence.

And with Bihyeonhwa too broken to answer questions, the situation became even more bizarre.

‘To make things worse, something else happened.

’ While Bumdong was handling this case, the Azure Dragon Unit had dispatched a member to investigate further—only for that individual to disappear.

The issue was...

‘The Baekhwa Trading Company again?

’ The Baekhwa Trading Company, capable of organizing a force equivalent to an entire sect.

Suspicious of their growing power, the Martial Alliance had sent an Azure Dragon Unit member to investigate.

And now, even that person had gone missing.

This was a martial artist from the strongest unit in the Martial Alliance—gone without a trace.

In just a few days, the situation had grown more tangled.

And at the center of it all...

‘So Yeomra?

’ ‘The Demonic Cult?

’ That was the name spreading recently, not just in Henan but across all of Zhongyuan.

Starting from the outskirts of Zhongyuan, the name had begun to spread even into Henan, where the Martial Alliance held its strongest foothold.

Given how much focus the Martial Alliance was placing on investigating them, Bumdong had also been conducting his own inquiries.

Amid all this, the recent movements of the Baekhwa Trading Company couldn’t help but appear suspicious.

‘There doesn’t seem to be a direct connection, but something feels off.

’ The Baekhwa Trading Company was one of the top trading companies in Zhongyuan, and even if they weren’t directly allied with the Martial Alliance, they didn’t seem like the type to pull unnecessary stunts.

And yet...

‘Their recent activities have been oddly unsettling.

’ Their secretive actions, their avoidance of the Martial Alliance’s attention, and most of all, discovering that the young martial artist he had encountered was So Yeomra—all of it made his suspicions grow.

Several years ago, So Yeomra had been a rising star, officially recognized as the youngest to reach Hwagyeong and widely rumored to be the Divine Dragon.

And most importantly...

‘He’s from the Gu family.

’ The Gu family was an orthodox clan located in Shanxi Province.

While not one of the Four Great Clans—or even one of the Three Great Clans—they held a respectable position among the martial arts world.

The family was said to have existed for centuries, but it wasn’t until the current generation, led by Gu Cheolwoon, the "Tiger Knight," that they began to stand out.

Recently, with figures like Gu Heebi, the eldest daughter known as the Sword Phoenix, Gu Yangcheon, and Gu Yeonseo, the youngest daughter, the Gu family had been gaining a reputation as a powerful force.

But...

Even with their growing reputation, Bumdong couldn’t shake a sense of unease about the Gu family.

And the reason was simple.

‘The Black Level information....

’ Among the Martial Alliance’s records, which were classified from Green to White, the Gu family’s information had recently been upgraded to Black Level.

The Black Level was a classification even Bumdong couldn’t access.

It wasn’t just restricted—it was completely locked away, even from those who had clearance to view most secrets.

He had never seen such a classification before, and the fact that it was assigned to the Gu family was deeply troubling.

Even the Four Great Clans were at most classified as Red Level, so where had this Black Level classification come from?

There were far too many strange elements to this.

The unidentified energy that had appeared near the Baekhwa Trading Company, the coincidental encounter with So Yeomra at the trading company’s grounds, the Gu family’s classification as Black Level, and everything that had happened afterward—it was all too suspicious.

‘Given the circumstances....

’ There were two options available to Bumdong based on his experience: One was to...

‘Deploy more personnel to gather detailed information.

’ This would involve tracking every move and carefully observing for any openings.

‘But that’s difficult right now.

’ The Martial Alliance’s current situation made this approach nearly impossible.

The martial arts tournament was approaching, and the Martial Alliance also had to deal with the growing threat of the Demonic Cult.

Moreover, the forces Bumdong could mobilize on his own were already spread thin across the region.

Even bypassing the Baekhwa Trading Company’s defenses to gather intelligence was nearly impossible given their formidable capabilities.

Which left him with...

‘Only the second option.

’ There was only one method remaining.

He would confront the issue head-on.

If covert investigation had its limits, the only solution was to investigate openly.

‘The justification may seem flimsy, but....

’ When justification was lacking, one could always create it.

That was the way the Martial Alliance’s intelligence department operated.

‘No matter how skilled he is, he’s only just passed twenty.

He won’t be too difficult to handle.

’ Though his unexpected strength was surprising, in the end, he was still a young man.

No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t afford to openly defy the Martial Alliance.

And...

‘It seems like he has a lot to protect.

’ Given his close ties to the women around him, Bumdong figured he could exploit that weakness.

Before the investigative authority was officially granted, he needed to suppress So Yeomra’s spirit.

With this plan in mind, Bumdong turned and spoke.