Chapter 44 :

# 44. <First-Rate Warrior Gathering People (3)>

The regions where the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were located were always packed with people, even if they were not representative cities.

Whether the places they settled were the Five Sacred Mountains or rural villages, new cities formed around them.

The villages around the Jegal Family were unusual in that many Confucian scholars and literati came and went.

I did not know about studies related to martial arts, but when it came to studies related to letters and learning, there was no place under heaven that could surpass the Jegal Family.

After leaving Yueyang and heading to Mount Longzhong, I rested for a day and then immediately headed to the Jegal Family.

It was a harsh march where I moved all day long, but after cleansing my body with innate true energy at Wolhyang’s tomb, I barely felt any fatigue.

“Huh…”

When I arrived at the Jegal Family below the slopes of Mount Longzhong, the place was already crowded with people from the front gate.

“What in the world…”

Wondering if I had come while mistakenly overlooking some memorial day at the Jegal Family, I searched through my mind, but today was not any special day.

“Perhaps…”

As I stood there dazed, the old man in front of me studied my expression.

“Warrior, have you also come here because you have business?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“That is true, but…”

“Then you should stand in this line.”

The old man wore shabby clothing, and in one hand, he held the hand of a child who appeared to be his granddaughter.

“I see. Elder, do you know this place well?”

“Elder? Not at all. Just call me Old Man Heo.”

The old man spoke in surprise, yet his gaze was directed toward the Black Dragon Sword.

“How could I do that? This sword is only carried for self-defense, so you need not worry.”

Although I said that, the old man’s attitude remained polite.

“I have come several times because something serious happened in my village. Today is already my seventh visit.”

“What serious matter requires you to visit seven times?”

“An imugi appeared in our village.”

“…An imugi?”

“Yes. An imugi that appeared a year ago has been eating the villagers. We called escorts to try to catch it, but that imugi’s skin was so hard that neither arrows nor spears could pierce it.”

“Ah…”

I knew the identity of the imugi in the old man’s story.

The Iron-Armored Black Python.

A being that appeared in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, and erased five villages in the area, including slash-and-burn farmer villages.

Its skin was as hard as steel, and its size was enormous enough to swallow an ox in one bite.

It was a demonic creature so powerful that it took less than fifteen minutes to wipe out a mansion-like house.

The reason the demonic creature that appeared in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, had not been caught for a long time was that, unlike other demonic creatures, it did not carry a spirit core.

Only after all five villages were erased and hundreds of people died did the Murim Alliance step forward.

‘Back then, the Shenghu Hall leader and deputy hall leader were swallowed whole.’

In my previous life, because of this incident, three halls of the Blue Dragon Pavilion collapsed, and Shenghu Hall had to be reorganized.

It was not a place like the White Wolf Pavilion, where the Small Elite Squad belonged and where street ruffians were gathered, but a group of elite experts. Yet they were swallowed whole by a single Iron-Armored Black Python.

“I see. So what has the Jegal Family said all this time?”

“They said matters like this must be reported to the Murim Alliance and handled only after approval is granted.”

What the old man held was false hope.

For the Jegal Family to step forward meant the Murim Alliance would pay the cost.

And the Murim Alliance would never hire the Jegal Family’s formation masters, whose fees were among the highest under heaven, just to save a slash-and-burn farmer village.

‘In the end, they set out to hunt it directly instead of sealing it.’

Even though I knew the answer, I could not tell him the harsh reality as it was, so I subtly changed the subject.

“I hope things go well. Is she your granddaughter, Elder?”

When I gestured toward the granddaughter, the child seemed frightened and hid behind the old man’s leg.

The old man seemed completely unused to looking after a child.

“My son and his wife were eaten by the imugi this time, so I brought her with me.”

“Ah…”

I had tried to change the mood, but somehow it became even gloomier.

Fortunately, it became the old man’s turn, and when the man dressed like a scholar greeting people at the front gate saw him, he frowned.

“You again! Did I not tell you? We will contact you once a decision has been made.”

“My lord, the imugi appeared again after only fifteen days and ate ten more villagers. Please, let me meet the family head just once.”

The scholar let out a deep sigh.

“Do you think the family head is some neighborhood constable? How dare a mere slash-and-burn village chief…”

The scholar clicked his tongue and signaled the warriors around the front gate with his eyes, and the warriors tried to take the old man away.

Seeing the old man being dragged away and his granddaughter crying, I could not stay silent.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

The scholar looked me up and down as he spoke.

“This person is with me.”

The scholar quickly saw through our relationship and smirked.

“I know you are doing this out of sympathy, but do not make needless interference. This man is from a slash-and-burn farmer village.”

“What is wrong with a slash-and-burn farmer village?”

“…”

“He will enter with me. Please inform the family head.”

The scholar and the warriors gathered nearby burst into incredulous laughter.

“These people must have been drinking in broad daylight…”

Before he could finish speaking, I held out a draft note in front of his face.

“Hah! A draft note like this… what… impressive… ha…”

The scholar’s mouth snapped shut as he read the draft note.

The warriors who had been laughing around him also craned their necks out of curiosity, then saw the draft note and their eyes shook violently.

“T-Two hundred gold coins!”

At someone’s strained words, intense exclamations passed among the people of the family and the guests alike.

A Jegal Family formation master’s dispatch usually cost around twenty gold coins a year.

With two hundred gold coins, one could hire ten such formation masters for an entire year.

And the Jegal Family had a rule that for such large matters, the master of the Craftsman Hall or the family head had to come out and handle it directly.

“May I enter?”

“Ah… yes, yes. I will guide you.”

The scholar suddenly bent deeply at the waist and pointed to the front gate with both hands.

I said to the old man,

“Let us enter.”

#

If one spoke of martial sects capable of deploying strange-gate formations, the Maosan Sect would be named, but in truth, the Maosan Sect showed more advantage in demon suppression and command subjugation.

They displayed greater power when opposing necromancy, ghost arts, and similar things used by beings commonly called unorthodox factions.

If one were to name the best martial family in strange-gate formations, it would undoubtedly be the Jegal Family.

While most murim sects made profits by running merchant companies or developing mines, the Jegal Family sold strange-gate formations to the sects of the murim world and accumulated wealth surpassing the other Five Great Families.

Strange-gate formations were extremely difficult to deploy and also required maintenance and management. Therefore, except for unusual cases like the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Formation, if they were not maintained, the formation axis would distort and shake as years passed, eventually walking the path of dissolution.

Because of this, murim sects had to continuously pay enormous costs not only for the initial installation but also for maintenance.

Although the immense cost was burdensome, the Jegal Family’s strange-gate formations, which boasted the best effectiveness, were not a choice but a necessity for martial sects with countless enemies in the murim world.

“Please enter this way.”

The scholar in charge of guiding us led us to a guest room used to receive visitors, then said that he had prepared the documents regarding the dispatch and delivered them.

“It will take some time for permission to be granted and for the meeting to take place.”

“I will wait.”

The scholar watched my expression, while on the other hand, he seemed quite uncomfortable with the old man being in this space.

“When meeting the family head, could you not meet him alone?”

“Did I not say he was with me?”

“…”

If the scholar was uncomfortable with this situation, the old man was afraid of it.

He had asked to meet the Jegal Family head, but he clearly had not thought he would actually meet him like this.

Moreover, the scholar and the warriors in the guest room were looking coldly at the old man.

For someone who had trouble dealing with even a young person like me, enduring this heavy atmosphere did not seem easy.

“Elder, it is fine. Please do not be too nervous. You came only to talk, did you not?”

When I said this while looking at the granddaughter, whose hand hurt because he was gripping it too tightly, the old man finally startled and let go of her hand.

“Oh dear. Child, are you all right?”

“…”

The granddaughter, as if watching her grandfather’s expression, nodded and grabbed her grandfather’s hand again.

A short while later, two people entered.

One was a middle-aged man dressed plainly, and the other was an old man in a splendid appearance, the complete opposite of Old Man Heo standing on this side.

He had a plump body and silk clothing.

He entered while wearing precious jewelry all over and waving a fan that imitated the white feather fan once held by Jegal Liang.

That man was Jegal Jeong, master of the Craftsman Hall and practically the teacher of the formation masters and spell masters belonging to the Jegal Family.

He was not a direct descendant of the Jegal Family, but he was not from a distant collateral line either, and he was also the younger cousin of Jegal Somyeong, the chief strategist of the Murim Alliance.

“Oh my, Village Chief Heo. I heard the story. They say your village suffered a great calamity?”

Jegal Jeong quickly ran over, took the old man’s hand, and spoke. The old man, who had been called Village Chief Heo, was startled.

“You… you remember me?”

“Of course I remember. Did we not greet each other once at Mount Geummok twelve years ago?”

“Ah…”

Village Chief Heo looked at Jegal Jeong with moved eyes.

“I had already heard Village Chief Heo’s story. When I found out that you had spoken to us several times and yet were not given a timely answer, I scolded them harshly.”

“No. No. The warriors have done nothing wrong.”

Village Chief Heo shook his head vigorously as if flustered.

“The truth is this. When I heard an imugi had appeared, I wanted to immediately lead our family’s people and seal it myself. But formations, by nature, cannot be carelessly established without the Murim Alliance’s permission.”

“Ah… Then what should we do?”

“I will immediately send someone again and request permission before greater damage appears. If that does not work, I will personally visit the Murim Alliance and bring back an answer. I will settle it decisively.”

“Oh my. Thank you, Elder. Truly, thank you.”

Village Chief Heo wept, lay flat on the floor, and even bowed.

Jegal Jeong quickly helped him up.

“You should hurry back now. Does the sun not set quickly in the mountains? Your granddaughter also looks very tired.”

“Yes, yes. I should. I leave this in your hands.”

Village Chief Heo bowed to Jegal Jeong, to the middle-aged man beside him, to the scholar and warriors, and even to me before leaving the guest room.

After he left, Jegal Jeong and the middle-aged man sat down.

Then, unlike when he had spoken to Village Chief Heo a moment ago, he frowned and said,

“You say you are Jin Soun of the Taeul Sect?”

“It is an honor to meet you for the first—”

“Why do unnecessary things?”

“…time. I am Jin Soun.”

Instead of answering his question, I tilted my head.

“Because you dragged that man inside, the Jegal Family has ended up bearing a burden, has it not?”

Hearing those words, I nodded.

“As expected, that was a lie.”

“What?”

“There is no way the Jegal Family, with its expensive fees, would do something like free service, is there?”

Permission from the Murim Alliance was needed to install a formation?

Formations were not something that required permission in the first place.

Who in the world reported to the Murim Alliance every single time they installed a formation?

In the end, Jegal Jeong had shifted responsibility onto the Murim Alliance and gotten rid of Village Chief Heo.

“Brat. Do not act arrogant just because you have some money. We came out not because of your money, but because we heard you helped the Namgung Family, who are close to us.”

“Ah, I see. It would have been even better if you had come and helped back then. I am sure the reason you could not help at that time was not because of money, but because the timing did not work out, right?”

“…Brat. Did you come here to argue with me?”

“That is not it. Then let us talk business.”

“Before that. You.”

Jegal Jeong pointed at the scholar.

“You could not even write one dispatch request properly and submitted documents like this?”

Jegal Jeong flicked the documents at the scholar, and the papers struck the scholar’s face before falling to the floor.

“You should have written the name of the dispatch target and the period!”

“N-No, that is because this guest said the person was not on this list and that he would explain in person.”

“Not on this list?”

Jegal Jeong looked at the hundreds of nameplates placed along one side of the guest room wall.

They listed all the names of those currently active in the Jegal Family and eligible for dispatch.

“Brat, what is it you want?”

I looked once at the man sitting beside Jegal Jeong before speaking.

“Jegal Cheongi. The dispatch period is five years.”

Flinch.

The middle-aged man gazed intently at my face.

Jegal Jeong seemed to sense that sign as well, cleared his throat, and continued speaking.

“I do not know how you know that child, but that child is not an official spell master.”

“That does not matter.”

“…It does matter. That does not fit our family’s regulations…”

“Ah, and the amount of two hundred coins that I wrote was meant to show that I would pay two hundred coins per year.”

“…”

Jegal Jeong loved money.

When he finished his mandatory service in the Murim Alliance, while others remained in the alliance to seek success, he returned to the family faster than anyone else and worked to seize control of the spell masters.

From a young age, he had known that the position of dispatching and managing spell masters handled the greatest amount of money within the family.

“I heard you like money.”

Jegal Jeong’s dazed face turned bright red.

At that moment, the middle-aged man, who had been silent, cautiously opened his mouth.

“May I ask what work you intend to use Cheongi for?”

He was Jegal Hyeonun, the current head of the Jegal Family and the son of Jegal Somyeong.

“Please speak comfortably. If the head of the Jegal Family speaks to me like that, people will curse me, will they not?”

“Ahem. Very well. What work do you intend to use Cheongi for?”

“The Taeul Sect currently has no defensive facilities. I intend to entrust that part to him.”

“But… Cheongi’s study of strange-gate formations is shallow.”

That could not be true.

In the field of scholarly learning, Jegal Cheongi was a genius on the same level as Yong Soa.

He simply had no interest in studying.

Even if Jegal Cheongi began studying from now, he would surely acquire skills surpassing any formation master in the Jegal Family within the shortest time.

“You need not worry. What I intend to entrust to him is not strange-gate formations.”

“…”

“…”

Jegal Jeong and Jegal Hyeonun looked at each other.

Then Jegal Jeong frowned and spoke.

“Do you mean to install mechanisms? No! Those foolish things are devices that injure people.”

At present, perceptions of mechanical formations were degraded to a trivial level compared to strange-gate formations.

And the one who would later change that perception was Jegal Cheongi’s mechanical formation.

“Moreover, that child is imprisoned in the Golden Prison for injuring someone with a mechanism. For that reason alone, he cannot be dispatched all the more.”

“Is it not natural for injuries to occur during experiments? Does someone get locked in the Golden Prison over such a thing?”

According to Jegal Cheongi, the reason he had been locked in the Golden Prison was because all the formation masters in the family hated the mechanical formations he made.

I had pointed out that part.

Jegal Jeong’s expression gradually began to show displeasure.

“Even if casualties occur because of the mechanical formations Jegal Cheongi creates in the Taeul Sect, the Taeul Sect will take responsibility for everything. If you want, I will write a contract as well.”

“…”

Jegal Jeong looked at Jegal Hyeonun as if telling him to say something.

However, Jegal Hyeonun somehow felt as though he was siding with me.

He continued observing me, then looked at Jegal Jeong and said,

“Judging by what I have heard so far, as the family head, I do not think I can refuse.”

“Family Head!”

“In truth, it is natural for injuries to occur during the process of experimentation, is it not? In the Sichuan Tang Family, dozens of people are poisoned every month as well. Without such trial and error, would we not eventually become stagnant water?”

Jegal Hyeonun looked at me.

“Moreover, if we can conduct experiments on mechanical formations through the Taeul Sect, it would be an opportunity for us to broaden our foundation as well. From my perspective, I see no reason not to accept it. However… the final authority to decide dispatch lies with the grand elder, so I ask that you take this only as reference.”

He used words such as “reference” and “ask,” but Jegal Jeong could not easily ignore them.

The family head had already presented justification.

Furthermore, although the decision to send Jegal Cheongi to the Golden Prison had been made unanimously by the Elder Hall, Jegal Cheongi was, in any case, Jegal Hyeonun’s youngest son.

“Ahem…”

Jegal Jeong rolled his eyes around, wracking his brain.

“If the family head goes that far, then I suppose we must. However, our Jegal Family only accepts clients who meet our standards. Unfortunately, the Taeul Sect does not meet those standards.”

Jegal Jeong leisurely waved the fan modeled after the white feather fan.

Though I already knew what that standard was, I asked.

“What is that standard?”

Jegal Jeong sneered and said,

“To be an existing client of the Jegal Family.”

One of the reasons the Jegal Family’s name was counted as the best under heaven was precisely this.

The Jegal Family chose even the people who were allowed to pay them.

“That is an absurdly contradictory standard.”

“If you met the standard, an invitation would already have been sent by the Jegal Family.”

Murim people often used an invitation from the Jegal Family as one of the measures for judging a sect’s strength.

In this way, they had made their name more valuable than gold.

“Hmm… In that case, the Taeul Sect will have to wait a little longer.”

“Well. No invitation has been sent for the past five hundred years. Will there ever be one in the future?”

“That is true too. Then how about giving me one opportunity?”

“An opportunity?”

“Yes. If I accomplish something even you can accept, please permit Jegal Cheongi’s dispatch.”

“Heh heh. What could there be that would make me acknowledge you?”

“How about the Iron-Armored Black Python? The imugi you lied about to Elder Heo earlier.”

“Hm?”

“If I catch that thing, how about considering that I have passed the standard?”

Not only Jegal Jeong, but even Jegal Hyeonun’s eyes widened.