I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 122

“Seeing you, Hyung-nim [older brother or respected male figure], and those two masters who came with you, I may not know the full power of the Nine Sects, but I certainly understand the strength of Shaolin, Hwasan, and Wudang.”

“Oh, you were able to gauge the martial prowess of those two?”

“The monk is below you, Hyung-nim, but I’m not sure about the Taoist. I can’t even begin to guess, so I think he might be a step above you.”

Noh Hye-gwang laughed.

“In a sparring match, I’d be below, but in a life-or-death struggle, I’d survive.”

“Is that the difference in experience?”

“Yes. Just by looking at him, I can tell that guy has only trained in the mountains. He hasn’t seen blood yet.”

Noh Hye-gwang held out the sword in his hand.

“This is the Hwasan Sect Leader’s sword. Hundreds of lives have been claimed by this sword. Yoo Gyu-seong may be said to be the next Sect Leader, but it’ll be hard for a young master who has grown up without a drop of blood on his sword to inherit the Sect Leader’s sword.”

Jo Gwang-yun smiled and said,

“So, Taoists who cultivate in the deep mountains can’t become Sect Leaders if they don’t kill people… The Murim [martial arts world] is truly brutal.”

“Brutal? Is that something you should be saying? How many people have you silenced with your silver tongue?”

“Still, after learning martial arts, I haven’t directly cut anyone down.”

Noh Hye-gwang smiled at Jo Gwang-yun and said,

“Shall we see if you have the skills to cut someone down? Pick up a sword and show me how much you’ve trained. If you’re lacking, be prepared. After visiting Sichuan, you might end up settling down here for good.”

“Just don’t be too surprised. I’m very good at quick, intensive learning. Hehe.”

Jo Gwang-yun picked up a sword hanging on the wall.

* * *

Thirty-two sharp throwing knives flew wildly around the training room.

Noh Hye-gwang easily blocked the knives flying towards his entire body, constantly smiling.

“You’ve trained quite a bit. I thought you’d only be able to handle about eight at will, but you’re already moving thirty-two so naturally? Amazing.”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m getting confused.”

Jo Gwang-yun stood in the corner of the training room, focusing all his attention on the throwing knives. After enough time had passed for his body to be completely soaked in sweat, his throwing knives began to lose their way and fall to the floor one by one.

“You have a dantian [energy center in the body] that endlessly fills with internal energy like flowing water, so you couldn’t have run out of internal energy… The fact that the throwing knives are weak must be for another reason, right?”

“Focus… Huff!”

A gasp escaped from Jo Gwang-yun’s mouth.

The throwing knives that had fallen to the floor floated up and pointed their tips at him.

The throwing knives flew, cutting through the air.

There was no time to draw his sword and block. One of the throwing knives grazed his thigh, and the pain of the cut jolted him awake.

He refocused on the throwing knives.

“When a crisis strikes and you feel pain, you gain concentration you didn’t have before.”

He wanted to retort to Noh Hye-gwang, who was chuckling as if he found it amusing, but he had to concentrate so much that he couldn’t even open his mouth. However, even with superhuman concentration, he could only change the direction of the flying throwing knives.

No matter how much his dantian seemed to overflow, Noh Hye-gwang overwhelmed him with unfathomable internal energy.

When the throwing knives grazing his skin left several wounds, Noh Hye-gwang withdrew his internal energy, and the thirty-two throwing knives disappeared into the leather belt as if pigeons returning home.

Only then did Jo Gwang-yun slump to the floor, gasping for breath.

“You could have whipped me enough to keep me focused without causing injuries. Ouch! It hurts like hell.”

“You’re a man, stop whining! You need to taste the sword with your body to shake off the fear of the blade. If my sword can pierce the opponent’s heart instead of their sword piercing my shoulder, I should give up my shoulder without hesitation. To do that, you have to get used to the pain.”

“Thank you for the teaching, but please tell me my score first. How was it?”

Noh Hye-gwang unfolded his furrowed brow.

“Excellent, considering the short time. I was honestly a little surprised. If there’s one thing that’s lacking, it’s that the movement of the throwing knives is too random. It would have been better if you had applied Hwasan’s martial arts.”

Jo Gwang-yun groaned and stood up.

“A little? Lacking? Then I’ll completely surprise you from now on.”

Without delay, he drew his sword.

“I saved Hwasan’s Plum Blossom Sword for this, not the throwing knives.”

Jo Gwang-yun took a breath and unfolded the Plum Blossom Sword.

About a *bin sijeon* [roughly 15 minutes] had passed when he couldn’t bear the pain in his wrist and dropped the sword.

A clanging sound was heard, and he felt the tip of the sword almost touching his neck.

He comforted himself that he had endured quite a bit and examined Noh Hye-gwang’s expression, but he couldn’t tell whether he was satisfied or not.

“Is this younger brother’s effort greatly lacking?”

He asked cautiously, and Noh Hye-gwang slowly opened his mouth.

“Ah, no. It was excellent. I was just a little surprised.”

The Hwasan’s Finest Sword was so excellent that it was surprising; Jo Gwang-yun found it hard to hide his smile.

“I’m the kind of guy who does what he sets his mind to, you know? Haha.”

Usually, if a disciple showed such arrogance, the master would give a stern word or a rebuke not to be complacent, but Noh Hye-gwang’s reaction was different.

“I’ve mastered the Plum Blossom Sword for decades, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a Plum Blossom Sword. If a Hwasan disciple without discernment saw it, they wouldn’t even be able to tell if it was the Plum Blossom Sword or not.”

What does this mean?

The smile disappeared from Jo Gwang-yun’s face.

“If it’s hard for a Hwasan disciple to discern, does that mean I’ve learned it wrong?”

“That’s not what I mean. The essence of Hwasan is still alive and well. Don’t worry, you’ve trained properly.”

“Then is there anything lacking?”

“There’s a lot. But I don’t feel like pointing it out and correcting it, so that’s why I say it’s excellent. Maybe you’ve achieved your own Plum Blossom Sword. In that short amount of time.”

It seemed like he would never hear more praise than this in the future.

“If your internal energy deepens and your sword matures firmly, I might have to compete with you for the position of Hwasan’s Finest Sword.”

The praise was so excessive that he became uneasy.

“Of course, that competition will be at least ten years from now, so don’t get too cocky.”

“I’ll shorten it to within ten years. Be nervous. Hehe.”

Jo Gwang-yun led his tattered clothes and wounded, exhausted body out of the training room.

* * *

“This is my first time meeting Head Jo, but you seem very different from the rumors.”

Yoo Gyu-seong said cautiously at the dinner table the night before leaving after staying for two days.

“What are the rumors like?”

“A fearless merchant trying to dominate the Murim with money. Or a strategist that even the Zhuge family [famous strategist family in Chinese history] can’t handle.”

“Wouldn’t it be a schemer, not a strategist?”

Yoo Gyu-seong was embarrassed when Jo Gwang-yun said with a smile. He couldn’t bring himself to say schemer, so he spoke indirectly, but it was too direct.

“I’ve heard that too, vaguely.”

“Then what do you think is different?”

“A merchant with a grand vision that surpasses the world’s expectations. And a martial artist whose martial arts are by no means simple.”

Yoo Gyu-seong spoke without hesitation and turned to Noh Hye-gwang.

“Do you have any connection with Hwasan?”

Noh Hye-gwang was also straightforward.

“Yes. He is a disciple that Hwasan cherishes.”

Yoo Gyu-seong didn’t show any change in expression as if he had already guessed, but Gong-gyeon was surprised enough to stop using his chopsticks.

“A disciple of Hwasan? Is it real?”

“This is not something to joke about.”

Noh Hye-gwang nodded.

“No, but why have you been hiding this fact until now?”

“I wasn’t hiding it, but I just didn’t have the opportunity yet. It hasn’t been that long. And it’s not like I’m going to spread the word everywhere just because I received a disciple…”

“Isn’t it because he’s not just any disciple? It’s a story that will turn the Murim upside down…”

Gong-gyeon scanned Jo Gwang-yun up and down.

“Head Jo’s internal energy was strangely flashing… So that was because of Hwasan’s martial arts.”

Jo Gwang-yun put his hands together and bowed to the two.

“Please spread the rumors widely in Gangho [the martial world]. The more it is known that I am a disciple of Hwasan, the more the number of people picking fights will decrease. Haha.”

“It’s not that Head Jo is benefiting from Hwasan, but that Hwasan will benefit a lot from Head Jo.”

Gong-gyeon was speechless at Yoo Gyu-seong’s words, his mouth wide open.

To say that he would benefit a lot from a merchant in front of Hwasan’s next Sect Leader? It’s no different from saying that he’s benefiting from a merchant by selling Hwasan’s name.

But he felt even stranger when he saw Noh Hye-gwang, who had heard insulting words enough to draw his sword, remain silent without saying anything.

At this time, Noh Hye-gwang opened his mouth.

“Great Hero Yoo.”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t mind, can you tell me what you saw?”

Gong-gyeon had never heard Noh Hye-gwang speak to Yoo Gyu-seong with such courtesy.

“I don’t know what kind of opportunity you’ve encountered, but isn’t your upper dantian completely open? A body blessed as a martial artist that can maintain inexhaustible internal energy without the need for accumulation. If you only train properly, you seem to have enough potential to become the best in Gangho.”

Gong-gyeon felt like his jaw was about to fall off.

To hear the words ‘the best in Gangho’ at a merchant’s table.

But Jo Gwang-yun heard the words ‘only train properly’ the most.

“I don’t know what to do with myself because Great Hero Yoo sees me so favorably. Then how much do I have to train to become the best in Gangho?”

“If you devote yourself to training from now until your sixtieth birthday, you will become the best in Gangho at sixty.”

That’s right. In the end, isn’t it just saying that you can become the best in Gangho if you dedicate your life to martial arts?

It’s a sound that martial artists would cheer for. You can tell just by looking at that monk who can’t open his mouth and say anything right now. His eyes are full of envy and jealousy.

But he can’t live his whole life just digging into martial arts.

He has a path to becoming a chaebol [wealthy business owner] laid out in front of him, so isn’t it impossible to change his goal to the Premier League just because he has some talent in soccer?

It’s enough to train martial arts from time to time for about ten years and become like Noh Hye-gwang. Like a chaebol taking care of his health with early morning soccer.

“I will engrave Great Hero Yoo’s words deep in my heart.”

Jo Gwang-yun bowed politely and handed over a silk pouch.

“Sichuan is far away. Of course, it’s not a big obstacle for the absolute masters, but still, the sleeping place must be comfortable. I put in enough to stay at a decent inn.”

“That’s enough. We have travel expenses too.”

Noh Hye-gwang and Yoo Gyu-seong didn’t even look at the silk pouch. But the monk who came down to the secular world must have felt different.

“Oh my, I will never forget our Head Jo’s sincerity. I will grab everyone I meet on the way to Sichuan and spread the word. Head Jo Gwang-yun is a disciple of Hwasan who will become the best master in Gangho in the future. Haha.”

* * *

“Monk. Tell me honestly. Is this your first time down the mountain?”

Noh Hye-gwang glared at Gong-gyeon because he was a whopping fifteen days late, but Gong-gyeon avoided Noh Hye-gwang’s gaze.

“How could that be? It’s just that the Gangho, which has changed so much because it’s been so long, felt new.”

Looking at Gong-gyeon’s awkward expression, a hollow laugh came out.

All three of them in this place are said to be the next Sect Leaders, but the naive monk and Taoist who don’t know the ways of the world came down the mountain because they wanted to see Gangho, and he was just a pathetic combination who came down because he was curious about the newly entered disciple.

As much as he boasted to Jo Gwang-yun, he was starting to worry about whether they would show the power of the Nine Sects.

But as the huge main house of the Tang family began to appear in the distance, the expressions of the innocent monk and Taoist who didn’t know the ways of the world changed.

Their changed faces were those of martial artists.

Before knocking on the Tang family’s gate, Noh Hye-gwang brought up the words he had been holding back.

“After this mission is over, let’s go to a quiet place and compete in martial arts. How about it?”

The two men’s stiff faces relaxed.

“Then we’ll have to finish this work as soon as possible.”

“Of course. Let’s get rid of it quickly.”

Noh Hye-gwang felt much lighter after hearing the two men’s answers.

End