Chapter 7 :

Chapter 7. The Third-Rate Warrior Who Protects His Sect’s Honor

If one were to look for the reason the Iron Sword Sect and Taeul Sect bore grudges against each other, it was nothing special.

They were both based in the same Hefei.

In truth, from Taeul Sect’s perspective, even that was enough to make one go mad and jump in frustration.

Taeul Sect was an old stagnant pond with nearly five hundred years of history, while the Iron Sword Sect was a fresh young sprout that had not even quite reached one hundred fifty years.

From Taeul Sect’s perspective, those whose building pillars had not even dried yet were acting insolent.

However, because an outstanding figure named Seong Hyeonbaek, the Ghost Sword Immortal Elder, had appeared one hundred fifty years ago and firmly laid the foundation, Taeul Sect had now ended up in a position where it had to watch the mood of that still-young brat.

As the saying goes, once one’s size grows, even a palace of one hundred rooms feels cramped. The Iron Sword Sect always wanted to expand its influence, and our Taeul Sect was an obstacle to them.

‘Especially being unable to receive the “special admission track” must have been incredibly irritating.’

Since the regular entrance exam required for entering the Martial Academy was already extremely difficult, the benefit of the special admission track must have felt like a privilege that even a rising star like the Iron Sword Sect could not ignore.

How many of the One Hundred and Eight Peaks accepted countless outsiders under the name of “secular disciples” during the period when the Martial Academy opened?

For the Iron Sword Sect, it was only natural that their stomachs would churn every time Taeul Sect, already a thorn in their side, received the benefits of the special admission track.

In any case, despite such circumstances, we attended the sixtieth birthday feast at the invitation of the leader of the Iron Sword Sect, and Father knelt.

“But it is strange.”

In truth, thinking about it, it was not a major incident.

Hong Saryeon, Gye Cheolyeong, and I attended a tea gathering at night with peers our age, but because Blood Wolf Iron Sword, the current sect leader’s grandson, suddenly lost his temper, we ended up having a sparring match the next day.

I knew I would lose, but I had tried to step forward for the sparring match in order to vent my resentment.

When Father found out about it,

he settled the matter by kneeling and apologizing before the countless people attending the feast.

“It would have been enough if it had ended with me just getting beaten up.”

Because of this incident, Taeul Sect’s name was once again thrown to the ground, and the Martial Alliance assigned us far more “mandatory service personnel” than usual.

Honestly, even thinking about it now, I did not think I had done anything wrong that evening.

How was I supposed to dodge a bastard charging at full force with the momentum of Bowing Body Bullet Shadow?

‘……Have I spent too much time with those Sojeong Unit bastards? My expressions are getting cheaper by the day.’

Suddenly realizing that my way of speaking had fallen to the level of a street Haomun disciple, I came back to my senses and continued thinking again.

They had simply needed a justification to step on Taeul Sect once.

If I had endured it that day, they would have picked a fight over something else the next day, and if we endured that too, they would have later complained about the gifts we brought.

‘The best method would be not to attend.’

If I thought of methods, there would be several.

There might be a method of overturning Taeul Sect once with the ascending form of the Small Heaven Sword Art, then pushing everyone so frantically that they had no choice but to reestablish the martial arts.

There was also a method of returning with a plan to earn money and making the hall masters of Taeul Sect focus their attention in that direction.

But the problem was that I was taking this as a matter of pride.

If I thought about it coldly, rather than going to the Iron Sword Sect, scuffling around for several days, and then spending time cleaning up what happened afterward, it would be far more constructive for me to spend that time obtaining another elixir or catching another demonic beast.

“But if I leave those damned bastards alone, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at night for a while.”

For now, I put the thought aside and headed toward Mount Songak in Jeongwon.

The Murim Elixir Records had marked it as the place where the One-Horned Flower Serpent would appear, so originally, I had not planned to take it. However, thanks to the Azure Dragon Ring, I could absorb even poison-filled inner cores without any after-treatment, so there was no reason to pass it by.

Shaaaak!

There was no particular need to hunt it.

The moment it tried to coil its huge body around me and swallow me in one bite,

all I had to do was activate the Azure Dragon Ring.

Kiaaaak!

The creature let out a strange scream and began shriveling up in an instant, and in the end, it turned pitiful, like a dried-up root.

Once again, I clicked my tongue at the merciless ability of the Azure Dragon Ring.

“If I’m caught using this, becoming a public enemy of the murim world is guaranteed.”

I lightly snapped off the One-Horned Flower Serpent’s golden horn and put it inside my clothes.

Its horn was a decorative material that could fetch a good price.

I could sell it, or if I met a skilled blacksmith, I could use it as decoration on my weapon.

‘Roughly forty years.’

Although it was a small amount, my internal energy had increased again.

From now on, I had to start hiding my internal energy.

“Because if a mere disciple of Taeul Sect has sixty years’ worth of internal energy at the age of twenty, it would be perfect for arousing suspicion.”

I was not too worried, because fortunately, one of the members of the Sojeong Unit had miscellaneous skills in this field that were close to the best in the world.

“I wonder if that guy is working as an assassin around now?”

After descending from Mount Songak, I stopped by the village, bought a bundle of things I needed, and headed to Taeul Sect.

“Senior Brother Jin!”

“Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother!”

The chick-like young junior disciples were coming out of Busaeng Hall when they spotted me and rushed over in a hurry.

“Senior Brother! Where in the world have you been?”

“Senior Brother! I’m learning the Small Heaven Sword Art again!”

“Senior Brother! Have you eaten?”

By the time I had stroked each of their chattering heads once,

Gye Cheolyeong and Hong Saryeon appeared.

“Where in the world have you been wandering around before finally coming back now?”

Gye Cheolyeong seemed to be in a bad mood, his irritation fully showing.

“Huh? Senior Brother Gye. You look somehow different. The effects of the Snow Plum Pill really must be amazing. Just looking at you, I can feel the aura of an expert so strongly that I hardly dare meet your eyes. Have you fully digested the spirit pill?”

At my words, Gye Cheolyeong’s face turned like that of an evil spirit.

“That is none of your concern!!”

After shouting that, Gye Cheolyeong shoved aside the young junior disciples and left.

“Why are you provoking him? Didn’t you hear that the Snow Plum Pill was stolen?”

“I heard. That’s why I said it.”

Hong Saryeon let out a sigh.

“What in the world have you been doing all this time?”

“I just went around here and there, ate good things, saw good sights, and so on.”

“……Where did you get the money?”

“I hunted and worked.”

If I spoke honestly, Taeul Sect would be turned upside down, but in any case, I had spoken honestly.

“……The sect leader said there’s no longer any need to watch the Gyeryong Merchant Guild’s mood. So come back now.”

“Hm?”

“They say we’ve decided to attend the leader of the Iron Sword Sect’s sixtieth birthday feast this time. And…… as you know, the Gyeryong Merchant Guild is busy with the Snow Plum Pill incident, so they hardly come to Taeul Sect anymore. There’s no need to watch anyone’s mood now.”

Uh…… That put me in a difficult position.

Saryeon seemed to be seriously misunderstanding something.

I had to keep wandering outside anyway. But that was not what was urgent right now.

“It’s already been decided that we’ll attend the leader of the Iron Sword Sect’s sixtieth birthday feast?”

“Yes. It seems the guildmaster of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild begged earnestly. He asked us to please attend, even if only for his sake.”

“Are you attending too, Ryeon-mae?”

“…….”

“Hm? You’re not attending?”

“Why do you keep calling me Ryeon-mae? It makes me feel itchy, so don’t call me that.”

“What’s wrong with it? I like it.”

“……I told you not to. Anyway, I’m attending. Senior Brother Cheolyeong will attend too.”

Originally, in my previous life, my attendance had not been planned either. I had begged because I wanted to see the Twin Wolf Iron Swords.

“But what is that bundle?”

“Ah…… this.”

I gathered the junior disciples whose heads I had been stroking and opened the bundle.

“Wow!”

“Wow! It’s candied fruit!”

The eyes of the children, who were covered in sweat and full of exhaustion, began shining brightly.

“Now, now, share it nicely. Any brat who eats too much alone will get a beating!”

“““Yes! Senior Brother.”””

The junior disciples chirped as they crowded around the bundle and began sharing one piece each.

Fortunately, no one seemed to be eating more than the others.

“……Why candied fruit?”

“Hm? I went to the market and thought of them.”

“……As if you have money.”

For some reason, Saryeon’s expression did not look very bright.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother. Senior Brother Jin.”

At that moment, my junior disciple Dongryong tugged at the hem of my clothes.

“What? Did they not give you any candied fruit?”

“No. No. That’s not it. This.”

The boy shook his head repeatedly and held out a bundle of paper folded several times from inside his clothes.

“Hm?”

“Senior Brother, you didn’t get to try this delicious thing.”

When I unfolded the paper, there was a hard rice cake inside. Who knew how many days old it was?

The other senior brothers said it was a really delicious rice cake.”

Saryeon, who was standing beside me, covered her mouth.

“Senior Brother Gye handed this out.”

“……And you didn’t eat it?”

“I’m fine. I ate a lot of meat that day.”

How hard must it be for children from families that were not well-off at this age to hold back from food?

Dongryong was looking at my face with sparkling eyes.

With the same anticipation I felt when eating an elixir, I put the hard rice cake into my mouth.

“How is it? Is it tasty, Senior Brother?”

“Yeah. It’s very tasty. This is so tasty that I’ll have to eat it all myself. Dongryong, you go eat the candied fruit.”

“Yes. I’m fine with just eating candied fruit.”

Dongryong ran toward the candied fruit, looking satisfied.

“……Isn’t that old and hard?”

“It’s like a stone……. But it’s tasty.”

“……Sigh.”

“As expected, it makes no sense for such a fine martial sect to be humiliated by thugs, right?”

“……What are you talking about?”

“There’s something like that. I can go to the Iron Sword Sect too, right?”

“……You want to go there?”

“I want to see the Twin Wolf Iron Swords, and people from the Namgung Family will be coming too, won’t they?”

When I gave the same reason as in my previous life, Hong Saryeon shook her head.

“Do as you please. The hall master of the External Hall will be attending anyway.”

#

The Gyeryong Merchant Guild’s carriage procession heading toward the Iron Sword Sect was extremely splendid.

Around the time Gye Cheolyeong was entering martial arts, the Iron Sword Sect had offered him the position of a secular disciple, but a secular disciple position without the “special admission track” was not a very sweet offer to either Gye Cheolyeong or Gye Yeonseok.

Even so, someone who did business based in Hefei could not avoid watching the Iron Sword Sect’s mood, and the price of that was expressed in this splendid golden carriage.

As the Iron Sword Sect drew near, Kang Chaeseok, the hall master of Kuaehwa Hall, thrust his fierce face toward us.

Still, the fact that Kang Chaeseok, the strongest person in Taeul Sect, had come along was the sect leader’s consideration for any unexpected situation that might arise.

“There is something you must keep in mind when we go to the Iron Sword Sect.”

“What is it?”

“Absolutely do not act rashly.”

“I do not act rashly, though.”

“Tsk. You are already acting rashly.”

Kang Chaeseok glared and said,

“You know very well what I mean.”

“I want to hold back, but what am I supposed to do if people around me keep provoking me?”

“That is exactly what I am telling you not to do!”

Normally, this kind of nagging would have been the role of my father, Jin Taesan. But for some reason, Jin Taesan had been unable to loosen his heavy expression the entire time.

“Understood. But what if they keep picking fights again and again?”

“You brat?!”

“Ah, understood. Then even if they insult our sect and our patriarch is insulted, I will endure it and let it pass.”

“……You little brat, are you going through a rebellious phase?”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

In any case, as long as we went to the Iron Sword Sect, Taeul Sect being insulted was already certain.

Under a superior determined to nitpick, there was no such thing as a flawless subordinate.

“I am telling you to behave as much like a gentleman as possible and not step on shit for no reason.”

“Yes, yes, understood.”

“…….”

At the entrance of the Iron Sword Sect, a huge crowd had already lined up to enter.

There were many lines for those without luggage, so they were not that long, but the carriage procession had only one line, so it was long.

We lined up on the side of the carriage procession, and we had no choice but to wait for quite a while.

“They said the Iron Sword Sect’s influence was great, and it truly is.”

There was something bitter filling Jin Taesan’s words.

“How is this the influence of the Iron Sword Sect? Since the chief strategist and an elder of the Martial Alliance are attending, they must all be people who came hoping to make themselves known to them.”

“Hehe. I wonder if we could invite them to our sect leader’s sixtieth birthday too.”

“Keke. As the hall master of the External Hall, could you handle this crowd?”

“Even if I couldn’t handle it, I’d like to experience it once.”

As they continued talking for a long while, another carriage and procession came rushing from far away, raising clouds of dust.

“Excuse me. Please move aside so that we may cut in.”

At those absurd words, the guildmaster of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild shouted angrily.

“Stop talking nonsense and go to the back of the line. Do you know how long we have been waiting?”

“The fellow standing in front of you is a guard from our Jacheong Merchant Guild. If you continue to be so uncooperative, things will not be pleasant.”

Beside the person who appeared to be the representative of the Jacheong Merchant Guild, warriors dressed in matching blue martial uniforms were lined up.

Judging by their aura and atmosphere, they were not ordinary guards.

The person who seemed to be their representative stepped forward, cupped his fist, and said,

“I am Yu Munchung, captain of the Blood Bamboo Unit of Green Bamboo Fort, from Nanjing. Because we came from far away, fatigue has built up, so we sent someone ahead. Please understand.”

The moment the words Green Bamboo Fort came out, Gye Yeonseok’s eyes began shaking violently.

Green Bamboo Fort was one of the most famous sects in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

If one were to make a rough comparison, could it be called Nanjing’s Iron Sword Sect?

“…….”

While Gye Yeonseok was unable to do this or that,

a young man stepped past the captain of Green Bamboo Fort and came forward with a swagger, speaking in a provocative tone.

“Hey! From the look of it, you’re a small merchant guild. If you don’t want to see the porters beside you get hurt, get out of the way.”

His gaze did not leave Hong Saryeon’s face.

And a smug sneer formed at the corner of his mouth.

‘That bastard knows.’

I could be certain.

He definitely knew who we were and what sect we belonged to.

It could not be a coincidence that among those standing in front of us, there was no sect weaker than ours.

If one treated this as mere coincidence, one could not survive in the murim world, where schemes ran rampant.

In a martial world where blades moved before the law, stretching out one’s foot without even looking where one could lie down was the perfect way to get one’s ankle cut off.

The situation was slightly different from the past, but if we showed weakness starting here, things would go nowhere once we entered the Iron Sword Sect.

Moreover, this ill-mannered bastard was already someone I knew.

When I tried to step forward, Kang Chaeseok stopped me.

“Did I not tell you not to act rashly?”

“No, is he not insulting our Taeul Sect right now? This is the time to step forward.”

“No, in the first place, he is not someone you can deal with……”

I no longer listened to Kang Chaeseok’s words and moved forward.

Gu Yangsa, Young Master Bamboo Flame of Green Bamboo Fort.

Right now, he was just a brat who could not tell shit from piss, but later, after going to the Martial Alliance, his arrogant personality would fit perfectly with Gye Cheolyeong’s, and he would become a reckless bastard who ran around with him like a sworn brother.

Naturally, it had not been just once or twice that he treated the junior disciples of Taeul Sect as if they were his subordinates.

His current martial arts level was just slightly better than Gye Cheolyeong’s.

“It is true that the Gyeryong Merchant Guild is a worthless, beggarly merchant guild. But we are not people who can be looked down on by someone from some nameless Purple Bamboo Fort or whatever.”

“Hah, how dare this bastard!”

As if he had been waiting for it, Gu Yangsa uncrossed his arms and immediately tried to draw his sword.

I approached one step faster than Gu Yangsa and used Lotus, the grafting technique of Flowing Cloud Gate, to push his sword back in, spin him once, and place him on the opposite side.

“Wow!”

“Oh! What sect is that young man from?”

The people who had been waiting in boredom let out exclamations as if they finally had something to watch, and in proportion to that, Gu Yangsa’s face turned bright red.

Just as Gu Yangsa tried to draw his sword again, I said,

“Are you trying to shed blood at someone else’s feast? As expected, it seems you really are from a rootless sect.”

“……You dare…….”

Just as Gu Yangsa, who had half-drawn his sword, was about to spring forward as if he did not care even if it became hand-to-hand combat,

a clear voice rang through the venue.

“Stop.”

A red-faced beauty appeared, parting the crowd.

Dressed in gorgeous ceremonial clothing and wearing makeup, she looked so striking that people could not take their eyes off her.

She was Seong Moran, the younger sibling of the Twin Wolf Iron Swords.

“It’s the Beautiful Wolf Iron Sword!”

“Is the Blood Wolf Iron Sword with her too?”

Seong Moran, the Beautiful Wolf Iron Sword, looked around the venue and spoke to Gu Yangsa.

“Did you come here to shed blood at my grandfather’s birthday?”

“……Ah, th-that’s.”

The brat who had been full of delinquent arrogance just moments ago disappeared, and the red-faced boy stammered, unable to answer.

“And the Iron Sword Sect has not established any rule that lets people reserve a place in line in advance. So please go to the back and wait your turn.”

They were the words of a girl who had not even reached the age of twenty yet, but the weight of those words was heavy.

The Jacheong Merchant Guild and Green Bamboo Fort went to the back of the line, their shoulders drooping as though they had been thoroughly scolded.

“I heard you are from Taeul Sect and the Gyeryong Merchant Guild.”

Seong Moran, the Beautiful Wolf Iron Sword, slowly swept her gaze around.

“I will apologize for what just happened. I cannot really call it compensation, but may I escort you inside?”

Everyone standing in the long line looked at us with eyes full of envy.