Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 410

Nangseon’s Romantic Tale – Part 2, Episode 119

“That’s quite a lot.”

Having briefly returned to Gyewolseon, where his main body resided, Cheonbeom sat with Tamhwa, looking at the piles of books and various treasures.

“Father, can I eat this?”

“Let’s see…”

Among the piled-up treasures were magical artifacts with pure energy and exceptionally high quality.

They ranged from ornaments to sword-shaped items.

“If you want to eat it, go ahead.”

As soon as Beom’s permission was granted, Tamhwa transformed into his true form and swallowed the magical artifacts.

The reason so many magical artifacts were piled up before Cheonbeom was to sort out the useless ones for sale.

Some of these were originally Beom’s, but most came from the Dark Valley Market.

He had given the elders a Gongjeong Container [a container that maintains its internal environment] filled with auction items from the Dark Valley Market, but not everything.

He had kept one Gongjeong Container for himself, and it contained an indescribably diverse collection.

“The books would be good to read slowly, and the suitable magical artifacts can be given to the Munmuseons [a group of martial artists], one by one.”

The rest should be sold off.

“Gayeon, are you there?”

At Cheonbeom’s call, the door at the end of the room opened with a rough creak.

“You called?”

“Take all of this and sell it off.”

“All of this?”

“Yes, but not in Hyeonmu Fortress… you’ll have to go a bit further to sell it.”

“Why is that?”

“You don’t need to know, just do it. And give these to the Munmuseons, one each.”

He had set aside the ones with particularly good quality.

They would probably be delighted.

“How is the repair of Gyewolseon progressing?”

“It’s going smoothly. I’m reviewing the estimates with Court Lady Ju. As expected, she said the repairs would be finished in a year. Contrary to her appearance, she seems quite meticulous.”

It was reassuring that Ju Gyulgyeong, who was in charge of Gyewolseon, was overseeing it.

“You’ve probably heard, but we’ll be staying in Hyeonmu Fortress for about a hundred years.”

“Yes, I heard a rough outline from Baek Su-seon.”

That guy really loves to gossip.

“But will it be alright?”

“What are you worried about?”

“If a sect has established itself here and such an agreement has been made, the Seon Palace, which is the center of the Hondon [a spiritual realm], won’t stay still. They will send a Suseon [a high-ranking immortal] here to escort you, Master.”

“Yes, they probably will.”

Cheonbeom thought so too.

“They’ll find out about what happened in Juhaeseong, and if that happens, many troublesome things might arise.”

But Cheonbeom and his group had done nothing wrong, so it didn’t matter.

It would just be a bit annoying.

“So, we should go before they come.”

“To the Seon Palace?”

“Yes.”

But Cheonbeom couldn’t go.

In a way, it was a good thing.

“Yeona, the Cheonnyeo [a celestial maiden], is in the Cheon Palace in the Human Realm. But there is no suitable envoy to send to the Seon Palace.”

“I want to accompany you, Master.”

He clearly draws a line, saying he doesn’t want to go.

“…I should send Vice Minister Woo.”

“An excellent choice.”

Cheonbeom stared at Gayeon’s glibness before averting his gaze.

“Since the reason I came was to overcome the upcoming Seonsal War [a war between immortals and demons] by joining forces, this might be the right thing to do.”

Cheonbeom, who had sorted the piled-up magical artifacts and placed them in a separate Gongjeong Container, threw it to Gayeon.

Gayeon caught it and nodded after checking its contents.

“What should I do with the money from the disposal?”

With the quality and quantity of these magical artifacts, it would be at least five thousand nyang [an ancient Korean currency].

“Keep half and use the other half for military funds. We won’t need money for a while.”

“You won’t need money?”

Funds were needed to provide food, alcohol, and everything else necessary for the Munmuseons’ training. Cheonbeom’s words that they wouldn’t need money didn’t make sense.

‘Well, if I sell these magical artifacts, it’ll be at least a thousand nyang, so that should last about a hundred years…’

They also had to procure things from Hyeonmu Fortress, and if they were going to stay for about a hundred years, they would need that much money. It was possible to have the Munmuseons do the necessary work in Hyeonmu Fortress to cover the costs, but either way, it wasn’t true that they wouldn’t need money. The more money, the better.

“Hmm? Ah, it was here.”

As if he had forgotten, he threw another Gongjeong Container, which Gayeon caught.

Upon inspecting the inside.

“Oh!”

It contained an enormous amount of money.

“It was about four thousand nyang.”

“W-Where did you get this?”

Cheonbeom suddenly put his hands behind his back, turned around, and said wistfully.

“Sometimes, it’s best not to know. Don’t try to find out.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say he had embezzled it.

Gayeon was overjoyed at the large amount of money. She had been feeling the pinch lately, so it was natural that she was thrilled to receive such an excessive amount of funds.

“The Munmuseons will be pleased.”

“Tell Tamlang to be self-disciplined.”

“I will definitely convey that. Then.”

As Gayeon left, he took out another Gongjeong Container from his pocket.

It contained an even larger amount of money than the one he had given to Gayeon.

“Even the Sugye [a beast realm] doesn’t have this much money… Does the Seon Gye [an immortal realm] circulate more money than the Sugye?”

The amount of wealth flowing through a simple sect was quite different from the Sugye.

“That means there’s more active trade. Well, humans probably trade more actively than beasts.”

Cheonbeom, who had put the Gongjeong Container in his pocket, stroked Tamhwa’s true form, which was lying nearby with its head resting, and then plopped down in his seat.

He had a lot to think about.

He had to control the Demonic Energy of Illusion, maintain exchanges with all three major sects, and keep them in check.

He had to send Yeona to the Cheon Palace to inform them of the Sugye’s intentions and send U-myeong to the Seon Palace to prepare for the Seonsal War.

It wouldn’t be bad to inform them of the events in Juhaeseong and receive compensation for it.

“…Annoying.”

But it was something he had to do.

Cheonbeom glanced at the Golden Pig Statue placed on one side.

It was a sealed artifact where his original spirits, trapped in the golden pig statue, were sleeping.

“I need to find out about the original spirits too.”

He would be able to hear various stories while interacting with the sects of Hyeonmu Fortress.

There would be things he would have to give in return, but it was a familiar task.

Cheonbeom, who had lived by turning crises into opportunities and seizing those opportunities, wouldn’t find it difficult.

“I’m tired, so I’ll just take a nap…”

If he just took a nap and woke up.

He would once again move busily as usual, tying up loose ends as the Munmugwanjang [leader of the Munmuseons], as the Sugye’s envoy, as a child’s father, as a teacher, and as a master.

Just after taking a nap and waking up.

* * *

A hundred years later.

In a Seonsan [a mountain inhabited by immortals] located in a corner of Hyeonmu Fortress, Hwanmang and Cheonbeom were sitting inside a pavilion, drinking a cup of alcohol.

Hwanmang’s face was different from a hundred years ago. His complexion was better than before, and the energy he exuded was like a calm wave.

This was because he had been holed up in Seonsan for the past hundred years, desperately mastering the Ssanggyeolgigo [a technique for controlling demonic energy by separating good and evil energies].

“I often hear my vice ministers say that I’m reckless, but Hwanmang seems to be even more so than I am.”

“Haha, how could I be more so than the Cheon Suseon?”

“You stubbornly tried to master the Ssanggyeolgigo, a technique for controlling Demonic Energy, on your own, and then you spread Demonic Energy throughout Hyeonmu Fortress, and we had to break a sweat to cover it up?”

“Ahem. Those who cultivate are supposed to not look back on the past.”

Hwanmang was an Inseon [a human immortal].

Of course, Inseon here was nothing more or less than Cheonbeom’s line, so everyone knew that Hwanmang belonged to Cheonbeom’s line. When such a person emitted Demonic Energy, it once caused quite a stir.

Cheonbeom barely managed to calm things down and covered it up by experimenting with the line, but if he hadn’t been in the position of the Sugye’s envoy, the sects of Hyeonmu Fortress wouldn’t have let it go so easily.

“I’m looking forward to it. How will Hwanmang repay this debt in the future?”

“Haha, my shoulders are heavy.”

“Originally, shoulders need to be a little heavy so that you don’t slack off.”

As he said jokingly, this time Hwanmang turned his glass and asked.

“I’m like that, but Cheon Suseon is also quite stubborn, isn’t he?”

“Me?”

“Yes, the sight of the Munmuseons trying to stop you from creating a new divine power with the body of a Hwasin [an avatar of a god] was a spectacle that couldn’t be seen anywhere else.”

“Ahem.”

Beom was embarrassed but soon laughed and clinked glasses.

“A man should try and do anything.”

“Even I was terrified when all the blood was pouring out of Cheon Suseon’s body. What… what did you call it, Hahyeoljiche?”

“Hwahyeol, Hwahyeol, not Hahyeol…”

Hahyeol refers to bleeding from the anus, and it seemed that Hwanmang was intentionally making a pun.

“Ah, you said Hwahyeol. You said you were going to create a great technique by combining Beophyeol [a technique using blood] with Hwasintong [a divine power of the avatar], so I was looking forward to it… but I had never seen such a festival of blood. I still can’t forget it.”

But judging from the smile on his face, he would keep teasing him all day if he let him.

“Where are you going? Are you going to complete the Hahyeoljiche?”

“…None of your business.”

Hwahyeoljiche was a technique that Cheonbeom had tried to create with the body of Hwasin, made of Hyeolbungsul [a blood manipulation technique] and Cheonbeophyeol [Cheonbeom’s unique blood technique].

However, he failed because his understanding of Beophyeol was somewhat lacking.

He was laughing now, but forty years ago, the Cheonbeophyeol in his body had flowed backward, and blood had exploded from all seven orifices.

His life wasn’t in danger, but he was quite injured and his pride was hurt, so he hadn’t come out for a while, claiming to be in seclusion.

‘I didn’t even break even.’

Beom smiled and got up from his seat and came down from Seonsan.

Hwanmang was going back into seclusion, so he had come to see his face before that.

His condition was much better compared to a hundred years ago.

Most of his internal injuries had been healed, and his chaotic state due to Demonic Energy had also regained stability by practicing Ssanggyeolgigo.

He may not be able to continue the same cultivation as before, but if certain conditions are met, faster cultivation than before will be possible. Of course, it will be deeply related to Demonic Energy.

‘Ssanggyeolgigo…’

Demonic Energy is Demonic Energy.

It is a unique technique that divides Seon Energy as Seon Energy and uses the repulsion of the energy flowing from the two.

Cheonbeom also helped Hwanmang’s cultivation and gained a lot of help by examining Ssanggyeolgigo.

It was as if the framework of thought that surrounded energy had been broken.

The attempt to create a technique was also greatly influenced by Ssanggyeolgigo.

“It was more difficult than I thought, so I failed.”

It is still in progress.

In theory, creating Hwahyeol would allow him to exert much stronger power and divine power than he does now.

“If blood becomes fire and roams inside the body, it might become Geumhyeoljihwa [golden blood fire] instead of Geumcheonjihwa [golden celestial fire].”

If golden fire is attached to red blood and travels inside the body, this Hwasin made with the body of Hwajeong [a fire essence] may become more useful.

Combined with Taecheon Oeyangsingong [a supreme martial art], it will unleash an even more powerful Hwasintong.

“I need it…”

A new realization about Beophyeol and something else.

A more accurate truth about Beophyeol was needed, and something solid was needed to surround the unstable blood.

The important thing was that he had no idea what to do with it.

“Master! Were you here?”

“What’s going on?”

He seems quite urgent.

When he asked what was going on.

“The daughter of the Hyeonmu Sect’s leader has disappeared, and the entire Hyeonmu Fortress is turned upside down.”

Hyeonmu Sect’s daughter?

“Why suddenly the Hyeonmu Sect’s daughter?”

“I don’t know the details, but the Hyeonmu Sect’s daughter suddenly disappeared, and the leader is desperately searching for her.”

Because of that, he is turning Hyeonmu Fortress and everywhere else upside down, making a fuss to find his daughter.

And the Hyeonmu Sect’s leader is now.

“Heading to Gyewolseon.”

At the last words, Cheonbeom’s face changed quite seriously.