Only I Am A Reader
chapter-379

Even though they were called the Nine Grand Families and the Ten Great Sects, the scope of power that a family and a sect held were far from being the same.

Compared to any sect that accepted students from all-over murim, the development of a martial family was a little bit stunted. Regardless of who had the better martial arts, that wasn't enough to compete against the quantity of both members and resources…

At best, martial families usually accepted members that didn't have their bloodline, but those members mostly stayed as outer ones, and although concentrating resources on a smaller number of people seemed like a valid thought, that didn't translate into superiority in this particular murim.

If Leo was to compare the situation to modern times, then a martial family had a scope similar to that of a city or a small state. On the other hand, a sect was more of a country of its own.

Naturally, not all sects were that large and influential, but when it came to the big ten, they could easily suppress the Nine Grand Families if it was in their best interest to work together on that.

As such, while Geochin's surprise raids on big martial families were concerning, Yeon didn't find them particularly threatening. At the very least, wouldn't the Ten Great Sects be able to handle him before he reaches the flat plains?

"We believed so as well at the start. However, as of this moment, other than the Murong Family that took refuge under the recovering Mount Hua, every other martial family that held any influence had succumbed under his methods, and…"

Even with all the tactics involved, the progress achieved was obviously aided by many more factors as the author had dictated it so. Leo was sure that Geochin wouldn't have made it to this point if not for everything combined.

However, that was what particularly made a protagonist so dangerous. If one didn't take them seriously just because all odds were against them, a single blink could be enough to find himself in deep trouble.

"He isn't even trying to hide it. He announced that his next target would be none other than the 'tyrannical sects'."

Though these words seemed to come from someone whose appetite had grown too strong, it was hard to ignore the miraculous precedents that he had already set. In addition…

"Just like the rest of Murim, the current state of the sects is a mess. Not only is their condition severely weakened, but they also appear to easily fall for Kim Geochin's psychological traps."

Aside from the sects themselves, the warrior of the Intelligence Department detailedly explained the lack of reaction from Murim as an entirety, and neither Leo nor Yeon could refute the plausible reality that had just become true.

As the supposed helmet of the chaotic society known as murim, the Murim Alliance was the one to be expected to make a move against Geochin's devouring, but unsurprisingly, it had retained its silence ever since the end of the war with monsters…

"The Alliance Leader might have been able to do something about this, but thanks to his bold decisions that angered all the sects and families, his seat had become nothing more than an image once the outside threat had been vanquished."

Big powers always held grudges, and even though Zhuge Gun's decisions did indeed play a large role in saving Murim, he now had to pay the price for paving the path for Geochin's dream.

Though it wasn't his intention, all of the old higher-ups believed that it was his fault that a nobody like Geochin could collect the forces necessary to flip the balance of Murim.

In fact, with how radical Zhuge Gun's decisions usually were, quite a good number of people thought he might even assist the rebels in breaking the traditions that he often called old and rusty. So, in the end, those who had the authority to do something basically crippled each other.

"Even when knowing that they could be the one to be struck next, none of the sects are actively working to get each other's help. Half of them are just hoping they won't be the unfortunate ones while slowly reinforcing their defenses, while the other half is hoping that this big pie will fall into their laps."

The psychological battle that Geochin played wasn't constricted to convincing people to give their all for the sake of his dream. Most importantly, he turned himself into something very similar to a mystery box!

Despite the Monster Association's great contribution to the formation of the Murim League, everyone could tell that it still wasn't enough to push it to its current level. So…

'He is indirectly confessing to his crimes.'

Those that thought hard about it could easily receive the answer to the topic that had been heavily debated earlier. Geochin had to be responsible for the robberies that took place after the victory!

By simply exhibiting his strength, Geochin had made himself into a temptation. After all, no matter how large the League was, it was impossible for them to consume all of the resources.

Additionally, unless they were blind, the various organizations were bound to understand that the second reason behind the robberies, if not the main reason, was to slow their recovery!

Most importantly, to the current forces, resources could be their secondary target at best, what truly tempted them was the large number of high-level combatants who had all become wandering Martial Artists.

As long as they managed to cut off the head that was Geochin and his confidants, the casualties that they had suffered in the war would immediately be accounted for and more! If nothing went wrong, they could even consider taking the opportunity to swallow one or two other sects!

By mixing all of that together alongside the fear of biting more than they can chew, no sect had any plans to step forward and take the burnt of the situation just like it was the case when everyone suspected the Heavenly Strength Society…

"I need some time alone."