Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 156

The Legend of the Nine Dragons (156)

Acquiring a Disciple

The heads of the assassin clans gathered on Mount Oh, discussing Hwa-Rin’s proposal for an assassin alliance.

“I believe it will be beneficial and not harmful. If things proceed as the Preeminent One says, it will be an unprecedented event in the assassin world, guaranteeing a 100% success rate for requests.”

It was clear that the assassin industry would boom as a result.

“Isn’t there something the Preeminent One can’t handle? Like a request to kill the Heavenly Demon?”

“Is such a request even possible? If such a request came in, how much should we charge?”

The astronomical cost meant that even Jeon O-Rak, the Man Geum Merchant [Ten Thousand Gold Merchant] of the Dae Ryuk Trading Company, known as the wealthiest under the heavens, wouldn’t be able to afford the fee.

“And if we unite and form an alliance as the Preeminent One suggests, our status will also rise.”

Everyone agreed with his words.

“And he said he would strengthen our clans, so I don’t think it’s a loss for us.”

“There is no loss for us, only gain, so I also think it would be good to proceed with the alliance as the Preeminent One says.”

Like Moon-So, the head of the Sa Dang [Four Dignities Hall] in Seoseong Province, said, there was no loss, only gain, so there was no reason not to do it.

“Then what about the clan leaders who did not attend this meeting?”

“They are the ones who denied the Preeminent One of the Jongju [Sect Leader] position and decided to follow the Sword Demon of Slaughter. If this plan gets into their ears, it will also get into the ears of the Sword Demon of Slaughter, and it will be known to other clans.”

“Then are you saying that only the people gathered here should form the alliance?”

“If we receive external pressure before we even start, the Preeminent One will lose strength. Moreover, we are currently under the surveillance of the Blood Oath Alliance, so isn’t it better to be careful?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“More than anything…”

They had a thorough conversation late into the night and reached a conclusion.

“Then let’s create a signed pledge to follow the Preeminent One’s will.”

“That would be good. Let’s hide this fact for the five years that the Gu Ryong Manor [Nine Dragons Manor] is sealed, and on the day the seal is lifted, let’s propose to other assassin clans and ask if they want to join.”

They decided to join Hwa-Rin and wrote a blood oath for secrecy.

* * *

“This mine is yours?”

“It’s not mine, but rather Gu Ryong Manor’s.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No. Even if I’m not here, this mine belongs to Gu Ryong Manor and is a place that earns money so that the members of Gu Ryong Manor can live. I just have more shares than the members.”

Hwa-Rin came to the mine with Baek-Gunseong and looked around.

Everything from the process of mining minerals to sorting them was done at this mine.

The sorted ore was sent to the village, crushed into powder, and then heated.

Then, through another heating process, any possible impurities were burned off as much as possible to obtain high-quality minerals.

The minerals obtained in this way were being sold to each province of the Central Plains through Dongseo-Dok of the Yeongcheon Trading Company.

Dongseo-Dok of the Yeongcheon Trading Company was forced to buy and resell the minerals produced from his mine at a high price due to a momentary mistake, and as a result, he was suffering enormous losses.

Moreover, he had to bear the monthly salary of the workers working here, so the damage was beyond description.

Nevertheless, the reason why he couldn’t complain was because it was better than having all his property taken away and his entire clan exterminated.

“Judging from how shallow it is, it hasn’t been developed for very long.”

“That’s right. It is said that we can produce minerals for at least fifty years, so it is a very important business for me.”

Baek-Gunseong looked around the mine and then at Hwa-Rin with envious eyes.

“You’ll live your whole life without worrying about money.”

“Do you worry about money?”

“I don’t now, but once I take a position in the Alliance, it’s a fight against money from then on.”

Hwa-Rin looked at Baek-Gunseong with a questioning look.

“Isn’t that obvious? The amount of money to be used by the Alliance for a year is fixed. That money is divided among each department and organization, but it’s always given insufficiently.”

“Really?”

“So the heads of each department and organization have no choice but to bow down to the finance department in charge of finances.”

“It’s always the ones who have more who do that.”

“I know.”

Baek-Gunseong also agreed and grumbled.

“Let’s go eat. I know a restaurant that serves delicious meals with wild vegetables.”

“Really?”

Hwa-Rin took Baek-Gunseong to a house in the mining village.

The exterior was a house, but they set up a platform in a yard-like place and made a place to receive guests and do business.

When Hwa-Rin entered the house, the owner came out and greeted him.

“Welcome, Clan Lord.”

There was a commotion caused by the mine manager in the past, and after that, he became so famous that everyone knew Hwa-Rin.

“Please give me wild vegetable dishes and Beef Red Sin Tang [Spicy Beef and Radish Soup].”

Hwa-Rin ordered as if he was familiar with it, and Baek-Gunseong asked.

“What is Beef Red Sin Tang?”

“It’s a soup made by boiling beef and radish thoroughly and then adding spicy spices. You’ll go crazy when you eat it.”

Baek-Gunseong roughly imagined it in his head based on Hwa-Rin’s words and nodded.

“Meat is the truth.”

“Please wait a moment.”

As the owner went to the kitchen to prepare the food, Baek-Gunseong asked.

“Don’t you want to meet the Demonic Faction people besides the Righteous Faction people?”

“Demonic Faction people?”

“Yeah. If you’re willing, I’ll introduce you.”

“I’m expensive. I don’t make friends with just anyone.”

Baek-Gunseong smiled.

It wasn’t wrong for Hwa-Rin to say that, but his actions and tone were no different from the thugs often seen in the marketplace or at the city.

“But why does it look so cheap?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. When I see you talking and acting, you’re no different from a rogue.”

“What are you talking about? How high-class am I?”

“High-class my ass…”

Baek-Gunseong’s tone had become a little lighter than before, perhaps because he had been influenced while hanging out with Hwa-Rin.

“So who are the Demonic Faction people? I made a few friends from the Demonic Faction at the Hwasan Branch opened by the Hwasan Sect last time.”

“Really?”

“Why do you distinguish between the Righteous and Demonic Factions when making friends?”

Baek-Gunseong thought Hwa-Rin’s words were right.

“Anyway, if you want to meet them, I’ll introduce you to the people from the Twelve Families and the successors of the clans that have influence in the Alliance.”

“Are they about the same level as the Ten Great Sects and Nine Schools?”

“You can think of it that way.”

“But aren’t I not supposed to contact martial artists?”

“That’s not true. You can contact martial artists, but there’s a difference between meeting them with a purpose and meeting them purely for friendship.”

Hwa-Rin thought for a moment and asked.

“Who judges that difference?”

“The Alliance will.”

“Damn it… Then meeting Demonic Faction people is pure, and meeting Righteous Faction people is meeting with a purpose. I didn’t think you were a salesman.”

“What am I selling? I don’t know if the Alliance will judge it that way or not, but if you’re willing to meet them, I’ll introduce you.”

“I want to meet them, but I don’t feel like it right now. And I think it would be better to meet them through Sa Do-Jun than through you. Oh, and I’m friends with Lee Seo-Won of the Cheonryangsa Family, so I can go through that friend.”

“Then do that. There are some pretty good people among the ones I meet. There are also pretty girls.”

Hwa-Rin smirked.

“Don’t say that when Soo-Yeon is around. You might get torn to death.”

“Ah…”

When Baek-Gunseong thought of Namgung Soo-Yeon’s face, he nodded as if Hwa-Rin’s reaction was natural.

“How did you get caught by such a fierce girl?”

“She may be fierce to you, but she’s a gentle lamb to me. She sometimes rebels, though.”

“Is that rebellion? If she rebels twice, there won’t be any rafters left in Gu Ryong Manor.”

The reason why Baek-Gunseong had a bad feeling towards Namgung Soo-Yeon was because he had a hard time with Namgung Soo-Yeon when he first came to Gu Ryong Manor.

She had a bad prejudice against the people of the Demonic Faction, so she didn’t like Baek-Gunseong’s entourage who were swaggering around when he first came to Gu Ryong Manor, and she beat them to a pulp.

This caused an argument with Baek-Gunseong, and Namgung Soo-Yeon’s voice rose, and she used force to knock Baek-Gunseong down.

Due to this incident, Namgung Soo-Yeon was not a very good person for Baek-Gunseong to be around.

“Shall I introduce you to a really gentle woman? Compared to her, Namgung Soo-Yeon is not even a woman.”

“Stop it. If Soo-Yeon hears about it, it won’t end with fainting.”

“If it doesn’t end?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“What?”

“When Soo-Yeon was in the military, she would kick the balls of the guys who harassed or flirted with women!”

As Hwa-Rin pretended to clench his fist and made a painful expression, Baek-Gunseong’s legs instinctively shrank.

“When I was there, I sent about fifty people like that. When you fainted, I barely stopped her from trying to blow it up.”

“Haa…”

Baek-Gunseong, who could not beat Namgung Soo-Yeon in terms of force, sighed whenever her name came up.

“How did such a mutant come out of the Namgung Family?”

The owner brought the ordered food to the table.

He did not put the food down on the platform separately but brought it up on the table.

Hwa-Rin pulled the table closer and said with a grin.

“Let’s eat. I’ll think about the Demonic Faction people a little more.”

* * *

When it was night, Hwa-Rin left his double in charge of Lee Do-Moon and came to Mount Oh to meet the heads of the assassin clans.

The heads of the assassin clans handed Hwa-Rin the written pledge.

“What is this?”

“It is a written statement with the names of the clan leaders who agree to create the alliance.”

“A written statement?”

Hwa-Rin scanned the book they handed him. There were several rules set by the clan leaders, and the names of sixty-six people were recorded.

“All the clan leaders who came here have signed. And in the case of the clan leaders who did not come…”

Among the things they discussed, the things that were not recorded in the book were told orally.

After listening to the story, Hwa-Rin nodded and pretended to put the received book on the bookshelf, and the book disappeared into the air.

“I understand. Then I will start creating a system for the alliance.”

As soon as Hwa-Rin finished speaking, the heads of the assassin clans straightened their posture and bowed to Hwa-Rin.

“We greet the Alliance Leader.”

Hwa-Rin was recommended as the first Alliance Leader of the newly created alliance.

Hwa-Rin did not particularly object to this. He needed power to achieve his goals.

When Hwa-Rin flicked his finger in the air, a space pocket appeared there.

Hwa-Rin took out a shallow booklet from the space pocket, and the number was equal to the number of clan leaders.

The cover of the book read ‘Hwama Blood Wolf Art’.

It was a hand technique created by improving the Hwama Blood Hand Strike, a martial art of Gwonma Dan Cho-Woon, so that each person could use weapons such as swords, spears, and short staffs while making use of their characteristics.

The reason why Hwa-Rin was learning the Hwama Blood Hand Strike was because it was one of the martial arts he had learned in the imperial palace.

The reason why the Hwama Blood Hand Strike was sleeping in the imperial palace report was because the imperial palace’s Dongchang [Eastern Depot, a secret agency] was involved in his death.

The imperial palace’s intelligence is better than what the martial arts world thinks.

After hearing rumors that Gwonma Dan Cho-Woon and the masters of the martial arts world would fight at Cheonnoebong [Thunder Peak], Dongchang secretly buried gunpowder in various places of Cheonnoebong. However, when the fight started and the explosion occurred, even they could not prepare for the situation where Cheonnoebong was collapsing and were 함몰 [buried/submerged] together.

In the meantime, Gwonma Cho Dan-Woon broke through the collapsing Cheonnoebong, but due to serious injuries, he could not use his strength properly and was suppressed and killed by the Dongchang warriors who were waiting nearby.

After that, Dongchang recovered his martial arts and did not even leave his body in Hwagolsan [Bone Mountain], so people believed that he was 함몰 [buried/submerged] together when Cheonnoebong collapsed.

The clan leaders received the shallow booklet given by Hwa-Rin and showed the cover.

“Hwama Blood Wolf Art?”

“Haven’t you heard a similar name somewhere?”

“Hwama Blood Hand Strike…”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the name of the martial art that came out of one person’s mouth in a low voice.

“It has been improved. You will not be able to find traces of the Hwama Blood Hand Strike in the martial arts, so you can learn it with confidence.”

If Hwa-Rin had not met the Four Emperors in the Hwasan Sect, there would still be someone who had learned the Hwama Blood Hand Strike roaming the martial arts world.

“Then are you saying that the Alliance Leader was the 전인 [successor] of Gwonma Cho Dan-Woon who recently appeared?”

“I happened to meet someone who had learned his martial arts. He ignored people in an arrogant manner because he believed in his martial arts, so I just killed him.”

There was no need to tell them the truth, so he spoke vaguely.

“I was planning to drag the Demonic Cult into the fight with the Blood Oath Alliance, which is expected to be a long-term battle, and created a new identity, but Baek Mu-Gi, the Four Emperors, stepped in, so I could not succeed in that plan.”

Everyone was speechless and could not say anything.

“You are clan leaders in name, but you can’t be weaker than your disciples, can you?”

“Are you saying?”

“The disciples you brought here will also become stronger than they are now and return to their clans.”

“Thank you for your grace like the sea.”

As Sa-Gunseong, the 곡주 [Valley Lord] of Cheonsagok [Heavenly Sand Valley] in Hobukseong [Tiger Cloak Province], 선창 [led the chant], the clan leaders of other clans bowed their heads and expressed their gratitude.

“The name of the martial art is recorded for convenience, so please recreate it as a new and original martial art with the clan leaders’ enlightenment added to the martial art and name it.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course. I hope you will give me a lot of help in the future.”