I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 107

From Today, I Will Do Business in the Central Plains – Episode 107

< The Best Swordsman of Mount Hua 2 >

“His martial arts are a blank slate right now. I only taught him one mental cultivation technique and didn’t teach him any martial arts at all. Before he met me, he learned something called the Solitary Soul Sword Technique, but that only taught him how to hold a sword.”

Im Yeo-ryang began to guess Kwon Jung-won’s intentions.

“The mental cultivation technique I taught him was also to stimulate his upper dantian [energy center]. In other words, he has a pure body.”

“So, you’re saying we should teach him the supreme martial arts of Mount Hua?”

“Why not?”

“Are you even serious right now, my friend!”

Im Yeo-ryang shouted.

“What do you think Mount Hua’s martial arts are? Do you think it’s like the Three Talents Swordplay that anyone on the streets can learn?”

“My disciple isn’t just anyone.”

Kwon Jung-won said casually, and Im Yeo-ryang’s eyes turned cold.

“Disciple? Do you think he sees you as a true master? You were just a means to push the Changryong Gate into the Murim Alliance [a martial arts alliance]. To me, he’s worse than anyone. He’s just an evil merchant who does anything for money. Did you think Mount Hua could accept someone like that?”

Kwon Jung-won’s expression turned cold at Im Yeo-ryang’s sharp reaction.

“You say he’s evil? What’s so bad about a guy who’s a born merchant being obsessed with making money? It’s no different from us being obsessed with martial arts. And has he ever harmed the Murim world? Tell me if he has. I’ll cut his throat right now.”

Im Yeo-ryang was speechless.

Growing the small Changryong Gate into a large faction is good for the righteous Murim. The Namgung family was destroyed, but it started with them, and the family head committed suicide. In the Murim world, the only way to resolve grievances is with one’s life.

It’s uncomfortable to say, but they also donate a lot of money to the Murim Alliance. Thanks to that, the Nine Sects [major martial arts sects], who are barely making ends meet, only have to bear a small cost to save face.

Although there are suspicious activities, they have never done anything evil to the righteous Murim.

Im Yeo-ryang shifted his focus.

“Are you okay with your only disciple learning martial arts that aren’t yours? If what you say is true, then he becomes a disciple of Mount Hua, not your disciple.”

“Does a writing teacher teach their own writing? They all teach the writings of Confucius and Mencius [influential Chinese philosophers], don’t they? But there’s no school where they don’t consider the writing teacher as a master, and no writing teacher who doesn’t consider them as disciples. I’ve done my part as a teacher just by guiding him on the path of martial arts.”

Kwon Jung-won didn’t seem disappointed at all.

“Honestly, my martial arts are just a lucky encounter, martial arts without roots. My insignificant martial arts are no match for the upright martial arts of the Nine Sects.”

Im Yeo-ryang’s face turned red. It was as if he had revealed his narrow-mindedness with the saying ‘Do not impart to the unworthy.’

Kwon Jung-won’s generosity, which could embrace even the majestic energy of Mount Hua, was incomparably greater than his own, who was protecting the righteous Mount Hua.

Im Yeo-ryang sighed.

“I understand your intentions. But it’s not my decision, and it’s hard to expect the sect leader’s permission.”

“Just let him know my intentions. And tell him about his immense potential.”

Kwon Jung-won looked at Jo Gwang-yun’s condition with a relaxed expression, as if he had relieved a great burden.

* * *

“Nonsense!”

That was the first thing that came out.

“Is it even reasonable to give a spiritual pill to a merchant with unknown origins?”

“No matter how unparalleled his body may be, there’s no guarantee that his damaged dantian will recover, is there?”

“Let’s say it recovers. Are you thinking of teaching him the supreme martial arts of Mount Hua?”

“Even if you teach him, he won’t be able to awaken the profound mysteries of Mount Hua.”

The sect leader remained silent, and everyone else strongly opposed.

Im Yeo-ryang was relieved.

He didn’t feel sorry for Kwon Jung-won, but it was something he didn’t want to do either.

After a wave of opposition swept through, no one opened their mouth, and a long silence continued.

The one who broke the silence was Noh Hye-gwang, who was sitting at the end of the table.

“Then are we just going to leave our Violet Dawn Pill like this? Forever?”

“You shut up. This isn’t a place for you to speak.”

His granduncle glared at him, but Noh Hye-gwang’s mouth showed no signs of closing.

“Then why am I wasting my time here? I’d rather swing my sword outside one more time.”

“You! How dare you be so presumptuous?”

“Leave him be. He’s not wrong.”

The sect leader opened his mouth for the first time.

“So? What do you want to say?”

“As far as I know, the current Violet Dawn Pill is almost eighty years old. There have been many things in our Mount Hua for eighty years, but no one has been able to touch it. Even if it’s a spiritual pill, isn’t it still medicine? Someone has to take it to show its true value.”

“It’s not just medicine. It’s a spiritual pill, so we should use it for something more valuable and important, shouldn’t we?”

“Then I’ll take it.”

He said it as if he were casually eating a bowl of leftover rice, and everyone shouted.

“You, you!”

“Not everything you say is true. You shouldn’t say impious things! Don’t you know that?”

But Noh Hye-gwang didn’t show any change in expression even at their shouts.

“The Best Swordsman of Mount Hua, the next sect leader. That’s what they say about me. They say that if I had been a little more dignified and polite, I would have already been appointed.”

That’s true.

The sect leader was hesitant because he was too reckless, but Noh Hye-gwang was clearly the next sect leader unless something unexpected happened.

“Considering my position as the next sect leader, and if my martial arts reach a higher level due to the spiritual pill, isn’t it natural for me to take it?”

“We can’t use the Violet Dawn Pill just to improve your internal energy! Also, even if you become the next sect leader, you can’t take it unless your life is in danger.”

Noh Hye-gwang was waiting for these words.

“If the sect leader’s life is in danger, then we’ll be arguing again, won’t we? Saying that we should save it because there’s no guarantee that it will completely recover even if we take the spiritual pill, or that we should question whether we should use it because there’s a high possibility that the spiritual pill’s effects won’t be complete… We always only think about not using the spiritual pill. What’s the reason for that?”

Noh Hye-gwang’s cold words silenced everyone.

Some even blushed, and the sect leader opened his mouth.

“Hye-gwang.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll have to be healthy for the next eighty years.”

Noh Hye-gwang smiled, understanding the meaning.

“Fortunately, my parents gave me a strong body. I’m an iron lump that doesn’t even catch a cold in the coldest winter, am I not?”

Only Noh Hye-gwang smiled, but the others were horrified.

“Senior brother! What are you saying?”

“Are you really going to give him the spiritual pill?”

The sect leader’s eyes turned sharp at the harsh words.

“Everyone be quiet!”

The sect leader began to look at the silent people as if they were pathetic.

“I’m not giving out the spiritual pill to save a life, nor am I expecting him to raise the level of our Plum Blossom Sword. What I’m thinking is that it’s enough for that Jo Gwang-yun to come to his senses.”

He’s using the spiritual pill without expecting much? No one understood the sect leader’s thoughts.

The sect leader spoke to Noh Hye-gwang again.

“Hye-gwang. If you want to become the sect leader, you must keep this one thing in mind.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

“As long as you don’t abandon the greater good, you must always think and act for the sake of our Mount Hua.”

“That sounds too obvious.”

“It means to broaden your perspective. What kind of person is Jo Gwang-yun?”

“Well… he’s the one who actually leads the Changryong Gate…”

“What else?”

“He’s a merchant, but he also has the guts to fight the Namgung family… He’s also ruthless, using any means to avoid losing a fight.”

“That’s not the answer I want. Think from a non-Murim perspective.”

Noh Hye-gwang frowned, pondering for a long time.

“Could it be…? Because he’s an incredibly wealthy man…?”

The sect leader clapped his knee.

“That’s exactly why I’m giving him the spiritual pill.”

Everyone frowned like Noh Hye-gwang when they heard the sect leader say such a secular and materialistic thing.

The sect leader’s eyes were filled with frustration as he looked at them.

“I think everyone’s heads have become stiff because they’re only focused on martial arts.”

Noh Hye-gwang stepped forward.

“Could you please explain it in a way that even a blockhead like me can understand?”

“The reason why spiritual pills are precious is because they require a long time to refine, but the most important thing is that it’s difficult to obtain the elixir, which is the ingredient.”

“That’s right.”

“If we save Jo Gwang-yun, he will surely try to repay the favor, so we can ask him to provide the elixir, which is the ingredient. Since he’s a generous merchant, he might get us not just one, but two, or even several elixirs that we can use to make more. If that happens, we’ll have two, or even three or four Violet Dawn Pills eighty years from now.”

Noh Hye-gwang was speechless and gaped.

How could the sect leader utter such calculating words so casually?

It wasn’t just Noh Hye-gwang. Everyone felt ashamed and their faces turned red. But the sect leader only looked at Noh Hye-gwang and continued to speak.

“When you become the sect leader, you have to be prepared to do such calculating things, even if it’s embarrassing. The sect leader must become a merchant and beg like a beggar for the sake of Mount Hua. In times of crisis, you shouldn’t hesitate to kneel and beg for your life for the sake of Mount Hua. That’s what a sect leader is, someone who covers themselves in filth.”

The faces of those who were blushing turned even redder.

They didn’t understand the sect leader’s heart for Mount Hua.

“But you can’t get the elixir just because you have a lot of money, can you? That’s why it’s called an elixir, because you can’t buy it with money.”

“That’s right. You’re starting to calculate now too. Heh heh.”

The sect leader smiled at Noh Hye-gwang’s words.

“You can’t buy it with money, but if you have a lot of money, wouldn’t it be easier to get it than if you didn’t have any money?”

There was nothing more to say.

“Well, I’ve said all my thoughts, so if you have any other opinions, say them now. Don’t think about bringing it up again later.”

“We will follow the sect leader’s will.”

Everyone gave the same answer.

The sect leader spoke to Im Yeo-ryang.

“Since you started this, how about you finish it?”

Im Yeo-ryang bowed his head.

“I will finish it.”

* * *

“Is that true?”

“Don’t you believe it? Then just go down. Hehe.”

He thought they would refuse, of course.

Kwon Jung-won was thinking about the next step of negotiating with the sect leader, but he was rather embarrassed when the result was different from what he expected.

“Where is the sect leader now? I have to go and greet him in person.”

Im Yeo-ryang shook his head.

“You seem to have a lot of free time. His condition is urgent, so what greetings? Greet him when it’s all over. He entrusted everything to me.”

Kwon Jung-won put his hands together and bowed to Im Yeo-ryang.

“I will never forget the generosity of Mount Hua.”

Im Yeo-ryang hurriedly grabbed Kwon Jung-won’s hand and raised him up.

“I told you, postpone all greetings until later. Moving to another place is the priority.”

“Where are you thinking of going?”

“Does Mount Hua have one or two empty caves? Carry him on your back and follow me. I’m thinking of doing it without the disciples of Mount Hua knowing. If they find out that someone who isn’t a disciple of Mount Hua swallowed that precious spiritual pill, everyone will be disappointed, no matter what the sect leader decided. No, they might even be furious.”

Kwon Jung-won nodded and carried Jo Gwang-yun on his back.

They quietly moved to a remote place on Yeonhwa Peak.

< The Best Swordsman of Mount Hua 2 > End