Martial Arts Ain’t That Big of a Deal

"Uh, um..."

Chun-bong scratched her head.

"He's gone."

She glanced around. The people stood there blankly, staring at the place where Seo-jun had disappeared.

The banquet hall was a complete mess. Shattered furniture and debris were scattered across the floor.

Only the plates that Seo-jun had set aside beforehand remained intact.

"Wow, what are we supposed to do about this?"

As Chun-bong awkwardly scratched her head, Namgung Myeong let out a small chuckle.

"It's fine. We can just replace them with new ones."
"Isn't that expensive?"
"It's not much."

The Namgung Clan was wealthy. From their perspective, it probably wasn't much.

Chun-bong idly picked up one of the plates that had rolled onto the floor.

Looks expensive to me.

Maybe her brother had set them aside because they looked expensive? It wasn’t just the plates—every piece of furniture here was probably worth a fortune.

"Can't we just charge the Imperial Court for this?"
"Haha..."

Namgung Myeong gave a strained laugh and turned to the guests. Most of them were lost in thought, likely trying to absorb whatever insights they could from the high-level battle that had unfolded before them.

"For now, let's end the gathering."

With things as they were, there was no point in keeping them here any longer.

Namgung Myeong smiled gently.

"However... Jongnam, could you stay behind for a moment?"

Wasn’t there a saying about how an elegant crane that raises its head too high is always the first to die?

Even if the deceased Elder of the Martial Alliance had acted alone, Namgung Myeong had no intention of letting it slide.

His gaze turned ice-cold.

****

The Emperor kicked off the air, moving through the sky with a satisfied smile.

"That was fun."

That man, the so-called Heavenly Lord, was far more entertaining than he had expected.

Based on the rumors, he had assumed the guy was nothing more than a blood-crazed lunatic. But in reality? On the surface, at least, he seemed fairly normal.

Of course, like most transcendent martial artists, the man was definitely not sane. But watching from the sidelines had been amusing enough.