Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 175

The Nine Dragons Legend (175)

“You managed to survive that chaos. You’re the first person I’ve ever worried about since I was born.”

Fifth Prince, who knew Hwa-rin was the Nine Dragons Clan Lord, was worried when he heard the news that he was fighting the Blood Oath Alliance.

He had tormented him so much when he was young, but after meeting Hwa-rin at the Nine Dragons Inn a few months ago, he recognized Hwa-rin as his brother, just as he had acknowledged his eldest brother as a good person. He had grown fond of him while spending time together, so he was concerned.

He had even told the Emperor about Hwa-rin’s situation and asked for help, but the Emperor already knew about Hwa-rin’s circumstances. The Emperor decreed that Hwa-rin had to overcome this on his own and strictly forbade the other princes and princesses from knowing that Hwa-rin was the Nine Dragons Clan Lord, leaving the Fifth Prince to worry alone.

“Is that so?”

“Perhaps it’s because of the wrongdoings I committed against you in my younger days. If I hadn’t met you at the Nine Dragons Inn back then and had an open conversation, I wouldn’t be so worried now.”

A faint smile appeared on Hwa-rin’s lips.

“I was just lucky. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back, if I hadn’t met the Fourth Emperor [a powerful martial artist] then, I would have been killed by the Blood Oath Alliance warriors.”

“It’s hard for an individual to defeat an organization, especially an alliance of organizations. There must be more than one or two people stronger than you among them.”

Hwa-rin nodded.

“It’s an organization that divides the Murim [martial arts world] into three parts. In fact, it was a battle I had no chance of winning.”

“You knew that and still fought like that?”

“I thought if I just held on, someone would help me. Whether it was the Righteous Heaven Alliance or the Demonic Cult.”

“That’s a reckless thought. How can we, who don’t even know what will happen an inch ahead of us, look so far away and predict the future? Don’t do such reckless things again. His Majesty may not show it, but he’s still a father, and he’ll be shaken if he hears bad news.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. But I heard that the other brothers and sisters have also come. Who came?”

“The third brother, sixth, and seventh came, and the second and fourth sisters came. Maybe the first sister and second brother will come on Uncle’s birthday.”

“Isn’t the Crown Prince coming?”

“The eldest brother is busy learning state affairs, so the second brother will deliver a personal letter on behalf of the eldest brother.”

“I heard that the Imperial Palace is noisy these days.”

“Since I was born and became aware of things, the Imperial Palace has never been quiet. It’s noisy every day. The Empress Dowager in her own way, the consorts [imperial concubines] in their own way, and the ministers in their own way are all trying to maintain their power, so there’s never a calm day.”

“The position of being second to none must be good, to see them covet it so much.”

“I know, right? I don’t know if it’s good, but why are they all fighting so fiercely?”

“But I heard that the Empress Dowager is living a life of exile, or something close to it.”

“Well, she rarely comes out of the Empress’s Palace, but she always shows up at the Imperial Palace events. And she’s still the same, becoming a fighting cock and nagging the consorts.”

Hwa-rin recalled the Empress and once again confirmed that one’s nature doesn’t change.

“How are the other consorts? If the Empress Dowager is causing such a disturbance, the consorts won’t stay still.”

“That’s right. But His Majesty has given the consorts a strong warning, so they can’t take action and seem to be suppressing their anger by gossiping about the Empress behind her back. My mother is a prime example.”
Hwa-rin chuckled at that.

“His Majesty must cherish the Empress Dowager very much.”

“I think so too. When you look at it, the Empress Dowager only looks at His Majesty, but His Majesty sometimes turns his eyes to other women, so she seems to be consumed by jealousy and nags the consorts so much.”

“You have such positive thoughts. If it were other brothers, they would have taken their mother’s side and listed the Empress Dowager’s flaws.”

“I do that too when I’m trying to please my mother. But that’s it. After that, there’s nothing beneficial to me. If disadvantages come later, there’s nothing I can do, so I just think positively in my position.”

Even if the Fifth Prince was immature when he was young, Hwa-rin could see that he was a good person now.

“How is the eldest brother’s health?”

“He’s healthy. Recently, His Majesty opened the Imperial Palace Report [a collection of state secrets and martial arts manuals] to the eldest brother. He spent fifteen days in the Imperial Palace Report and came out to practice martial arts diligently.”

Hwa-rin’s mother stole the key to enter the Imperial Palace Report, the Imperial Palace Secret, and hid it. Hwa-rin found it, trained in the Imperial Palace Report for five years, and returned the key to the Emperor.

That was six years ago, and if he had recently opened it, it meant that he had completely erased all traces of his five years in the Imperial Palace Report.

“Then the eldest brother’s martial arts must be considerable.”

“But the eldest brother is clumsy.”

“Clumsy?”

“Although I haven’t met many people, I’ve watched the students, the Embroidered Uniform Guard [imperial secret police], and the warriors of the Imperial Palace Guard train in martial arts. The eldest brother has no talent for martial arts. Instead, he’s good at this.”
The Fifth Prince, Joo Young-ho, tapped his head and said.

“The eldest brother learns martial arts, but he probably learns it for health, not for self-defense or to establish a family with martial arts.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s how I see it. When I asked him, ‘Did you see any martial arts books in the Imperial Palace Vault?’ he said he only read a book called ‘Comprehensive Compendium of Martial Arts’.”
Hwa-rin recalled the Comprehensive Compendium of Martial Arts he had read and nodded.

“Please take good care of the eldest brother. I’ll cheer you on from the outside.”

“I will. You worry about yourself. Don’t cause such big accidents in Murim.”
Hwa-rin turned his head back, looked at the entrance for a moment, and then looked back at Joo Young-ho.

“It seems someone has come to see me.”

“You?”

Then a voice was heard from outside.

“Your Highness, Prince Heungchin wants to meet the Ninth Prince.”

“Uncle?”

“That is correct.”
Hwa-rin got up from his seat and slightly bowed his head to Joo Young-ho.

“Then I’ll be back.”

“Okay. And if you’re lonely, you can come and stay in this brother’s room. It’s too big to use alone.”
Hwa-rin nodded, turned around, and left the room.

Hwa-rin met Prince Heungchin, Joo Young-guk, in private, and he seemed curious about the fight between the Blood Oath Alliance and the Nine Dragons Clan, so he asked about it.

Hwa-rin told him exactly what had happened without adding or subtracting anything.

“So, you’re saying you got beaten up and knocked out, and you’re in debt to the doctor.”

Perhaps because he was in command of the military, he spoke comfortably rather than using refined language befitting his status.

“That’s right. He was still one of the strongmen I couldn’t beat.”

Joo Young-guk seemed to know something about the Fourth Emperor, Baek Mu-gi, and Hwa-rin acknowledged his words.

“Even though it’s only only half a level difference, he didn’t show me any openings, so no matter how many times I fought, I couldn’t beat him now.”

“Then will you be able to win if time passes?”

“I can’t guarantee it, but he will get old, and I’m still in my prime, so I think I’ll be able to win if twenty years pass like this.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. But if I win like that, I don’t think I can forgive myself, so I’m still training diligently.”
Joo Young-woon nodded.

“In cultivating training or learning, habit is very important. It’s not about how much you walk in a day, but about walking the same steps every day.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”
As Hwa-rin bowed his head to listen to the advice, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Ah, I have prepared a small gift for Uncle’s birthday.”
Hwa-rin raised his hand in the air, pretended to grab something, and pulled it out, and a wide box wrapped in a yellow cloth came with it.

Joo Young-guk, who saw the scene, looked at Hwa-rin with surprised eyes.

“It’s a magic of the Colored Eyes Country.”
Hwa-rin hid the fact that he had learned the Demonic Cult’s sorcery from Joo Young-guk.

“Magic of the Colored Eyes Country?”

“That’s right. When I was serving in the military as a member of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad [elite military unit], I was dispatched to the Colored Eyes Country on a mission.”
Joo Young-guk also knew that Hwa-rin was from the Fierce Tiger Death Squad.

Although he had erased all of Hwa-rin’s data from the Imperial Palace, he had been watching Hwa-rin since he joined the Fierce Tiger Death Squad as the head of the Heungchin Royal Guard.

“Did you learn the magic there? It wouldn’t be something you could learn in a year or two?”

“Even after bringing back the magic, I have been constantly training to avoid people’s eyes, and I have barely been able to perform this much skill.”

“I’ve heard that you’re cunning, but I didn’t know you were hiding the fact that you were learning magic.”

“In addition to magic, I have secretly learned martial arts and secret arts that I could obtain from the sects and organizations that I destroyed on missions.”

“Will it be helpful to learn so many things? Wouldn’t it be better to become a master who specializes in one thing?”

“Everyone thinks differently, so I can’t say for sure, but I want to learn as many martial arts as possible, understand the strengths and weaknesses of those martial arts, and create my own martial arts.”

“Your own martial arts? Are you talking about unique martial arts?”

“That’s right.”

“The path of a grandmaster will not be easy.”
The word “grandmaster” is used in various worlds. In Murim, it refers to a teacher-like figure who creates new martial arts, promotes martial arts, gains fame, teaches martial arts to many disciples, and exerts influence and respect in the Murim world.

For painters, it refers to those who create new painting styles, and for calligraphers, it refers to those who create new writing styles and spread them widely to the world.

It was a glorious title given to those who newly created and passed on something for the first time, thereby benefiting the world.

“I have a promise with His Majesty. In order to keep that promise, I just want to leave a mark on Murim with my own things, not someone else’s.”
Joo Young-guk looked at Hwa-rin’s unwavering eyes and knew that he would move forward to achieve his goals no matter what.

“I understand. But what is this?”

“It’s something I got with difficulty.”
Hwa-rin unwrapped the yellow cloth and opened the lid of the box.

“This is…….”

“It’s a sea dog penis and Heavenly Thunder Ginseng that can only be found in the Haedong Kingdom [ancient Korean kingdom].”
In the middle of the box was a sea dog penis, and around it were eight roots of Heavenly Thunder Ginseng.

“This precious thing…….”

“I bought it through an underground merchant, so I committed a sin, but I prepared it in the hope that Uncle would eat it and be healthy for a long time.”
As Joo Young-ho laughed heartily and showed his joy, a faint blue light flickered in Hwa-rin’s eyes.

“Uncle.”

“Speak.”

“I heard that you received a painting of a beauty from the Gungsang Sect as a gift three years ago.”

“That’s right. I like it so much that I hang it there and look at it as I come and go.”
Hwa-rin turned his body and looked at the painting of a beauty hanging on the wall, Seonhwa Yujeongdo [a painting title].

“I also have a painting of a beauty that has been around for a long time. You will love it, Uncle.”
Hwa-rin took out a scroll containing a painting from his arms and showed it to Joo Young-guk.

It was a full-body painting of Hwanggeumhwa Jeon Yeo-bin that he bought from an art shop a few days ago. Hwa-rin used old dust, moisture, moss, and sorcery together to disguise it as an old painting.

At first glance, it looked like a painting that had been around for a longer time than Seonhwa Yujeongdo.

“Oh, such a beautiful woman…….”

“Uncle.”
Hwa-rin spoke quietly to Joo Young-guk, who seemed to have been captivated by the painting.

“Let’s exchange this painting of a beauty with the one hanging on the wall.”