The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 190

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully – Episode 190

Yu Hyun-wol (6)

There was an unwritten rule about not messing with brokers, but this time, there was a justifiable reason.

Yu Seong-woo, grabbing the broker by the collar and hauling him up, said,

“The information I received doesn’t match the factory’s actual strength. What’s going on? If you can’t give me a good explanation, you can kiss your career as a broker goodbye.”

“…Calm down. How about we put this down and talk?”

The moment Yu Seong-woo grabbed the broker’s collar, the wandering warriors in the tavern instinctively reached for their weapons.

Ready to attack if things escalated.

Yu Seong-woo glanced at them and continued, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear,

“The information you gave me said it was an Upper-level threat. The security force was sixty to seventy, with seven martial artists, mostly first-rate, with two Transcendent [those who have surpassed the limits of ordinary martial arts] and Hwagyeong [a high level of martial arts mastery] masters. But the place I went to had over two hundred soldiers and thirty martial artists, including five Transcendent and Hwagyeong masters.”

Upon hearing this, the wandering warriors in the tavern slowly removed their hands from their weapons.

The broker had made a serious mistake. He had practically sent Yu Seong-woo to his death.

However, the broker didn’t even flinch and said,

“But you handled it, didn’t you? Put me down and follow me inside. I have something to tell you.”

As Yu Seong-woo released his collar, the broker straightened his clothes, opened a door near the counter, and went inside.

Yu Seong-woo and Yu-wol followed, and after closing the door, the broker poured warm tea that he had prepared in advance, saying,

“I apologize for that little… incident. I had to do it to verify something.”

“Verify?”

Yu Seong-woo sipped his tea, his eyes narrowed at the broker.

The broker calmly met his sharp gaze and said,

“…That’s right. Seeing your outstanding skills, I knew you weren’t just some mercenary working in the Hae District. Even handling several transport requests a day is clearly not easy.”

“So?”

“You’re not an internal member of the Cheonmaeng Fortress [Thousand League Fortress, a powerful martial arts organization]. It seems you came in a smuggled vehicle from the Demonic Faction [a rival martial arts faction].”

“…You’ve investigated that far.”

“You can’t survive if you’re ignorant of information; that’s just how Cheonmaeng Fortress is.”

“So, what does that have to do with your ‘verification’?”

At Yu Seong-woo’s question, the broker took a sip of his tea and said,

“Stories of skilled individuals like you spread quickly. Just look at the six transport requests a day. All the destinations you went to had the worst security. And you returned without a single scratch.”

Saying that, the broker took out a tablet from his pocket and handed it to Yu Seong-woo.

“Hyun-wol, you are considered a risk factor. To the point where it’s judged you could disrupt the order of the Hae District.”

“Is that so.”

“The mercenary agencies in the Hae District of Cheonmaeng Fortress seem to be all about the exchange between brokers and mercenaries, but the reality is different.”

What appeared on the tablet the broker handed over were the names of numerous mercenary agencies in the Hae District.

Yu Seong-woo was able to find something interesting there.

The names of various families and sects connected to the mercenary agencies.

“So, from the beginning, the mercenary agencies were a means for the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families to control the Hae District?”

“That’s right. The Haeun Mercenary Agency is affiliated with the Wudang Sect [a major Taoist sect]. This incident was also a test from the Wudang Sect for you.”

Wudang Sect.

A sect based on Taoism.

Another sect, one of the pillars of Cheonmaeng Fortress, was now involved.

So, this incident was a scheme by the Wudang Sect to interfere with the Peng family’s business?

To think that those aiming to become immortals would do this…

Yu Seong-woo, suppressing the urge to scoff, said,

“So, is the verification over?”

“Because this incident ended too perfectly, suspicion has only deepened. Now, there won’t be anyone in the mercenary agencies around here who doesn’t know your name.”

“And?”

“Still, I judged that even if there’s suspicion, there’s no reason not to use someone like you who wields a sword. So…”

The broker finally said the words Yu Seong-woo wanted to hear.

It was what he had been hoping for all along.

“Prepare to enter the Ji District. A branch of the Wudang Sect wants to see you.”

“Then I have no choice but to go.”

***

“You’re going to help me.”

“Yes. I will help you suppress the ferocity of the spiritual entities trying to settle in your body and allow you to receive only the experiences intact. It’s something only a noble high elf like me can do.”

“No, you need to help me accept all the spiritual entities into this body. Without missing a single one.”

“Even if it means going insane? No matter how superhuman your mental strength is, you won’t be able to withstand a dozen or so ferocious spiritual entities that are thousands of years old.”

“No. The Heavenly Demon [a being of immense power in martial arts mythology]… must accept all of that to be complete. Accepting the spirits and martial arts of the predecessors into this body, completing the microcosm from the lower dantian [energy center] to the upper dantian. Only then can one transcend humanity and become a Heavenly Demon.”

A Heavenly Demon is a seeker who has transcended humanity.

The demon god named Heavenly Demon, who only appeared in martial arts novels, revealed himself on Earth during the Great Cataclysm.

A girl who didn’t even know the name of the Demonic Cult accepted the power of the demon god, rose to the position of Heavenly Demon, and embarked on the thorny path of seeking to achieve the true Heavenly Demon’s work.

“The Heavenly Demon is a demon god. The one and only god who accepts the prayers of all believers. This is self-forging. Tempering oneself by clashing with the spirits of the predecessors, transcending humanity and achieving it as a demon god.”

“…The more I hear, the more I think you’re out of your mind. Then, all I can do is open the gate to the spirit realm even wider and accelerate your consciousness.”

“…Not bad. All these spiritual entities are something I have to handle myself. Sage of the Forest, open the spirit realm. I was already feeling frustrated because it was too slow.”

“You’re really crazy, crazy……”

Shua-nel muttered, but still raised her small body and approached Heuk Sahyang.

Then, she wiggled her ears, looked around, and stirred up her magic power.

Shua-nel’s magic power spread in all directions and soon mixed with the jet-black aura that Heuk Sahyang was emitting.

The magic power of harmony.

The nature-friendly magic power that elves are born with.

She slowly began to move the magic power mixed with jet-black.

Leading it as she wished, drawing a circle centered on herself and Heuk Sahyang.

What she wanted was to throw open the gate to the spirit realm, which was only slightly open, and slam all the spiritual entities called Heavenly Demon inside into Heuk Sahyang.

“…Starting.”

With the power of mixing Heuk Sahyang’s jet-black aura and her own magic power, she drew a magic circle.

To open the gate to the spirit realm even wider, she twisted space and interfered with a world different from the material world she was currently standing in.

An impossible task for a normal magician.

A miracle possible only for a high elf, whose very existence is said to be close to God.

As Shua-nel raised both hands high, a hole darker than jet-black opened in the sky, and a ferocious force poured out from it.

The spiritual entities of the Heavenly Demon, old and worn out, with only ferocious instincts left, thrust their heads into the wide-open hole, and Shua-nel created a large funnel connecting the hole and Heuk Sahyang with jet-black.

At that moment, Heuk Sahyang’s body shook violently.

How appetizing must Heuk Sahyang’s flesh, revealed when the gate to the spirit realm opened, have looked to the former Heavenly Demons?

Shua-nel quietly watched Heuk Sahyang, who was twisting and making terrible noises.

It must be painful, but Heuk Sahyang didn’t even groan once, keeping his mouth shut and fighting as he accepted the spiritual entities.

Shua-nel looked at the scene and said to Choi Ah-yeon, who was still sitting near the entrance.

“Water.”

“Yes?”

“Bring water. I’m thirsty.”

“Yes…….”

***

The reputation of the mercenary named Hyun-wol suddenly soared.

He infiltrated a factory site under the protection of the Peng family, killed a Transcendent master, and escaped safely.

Because it was a place secretly supported by the Peng family, they didn’t openly pursue him, but the brokers of the mercenary agencies who held the information adjusted his rating to the highest level.

“A great mercenary has appeared. But there’s a rumor that he’s going to the Ji District soon?”

“The sects must be trying to recruit him again. All the skilled mercenaries end up going to the great families or sects.”

“The treatment is worlds apart from living as a mercenary……”

While people were saying such things, Yu Seong-woo was heading to the Ji District with Yu-wol.

After riding in the broker’s car and passing through the gate into the Ji District, a different world unfolded.

Well-maintained streets and smiling faces, making one wonder if it was really on the same land.

It was completely different from the Hae District.

As he looked around, the broker, who was holding the steering wheel, said,

“Most of those who have only been in the Hae District and come to the Ji District show similar reactions. You’re not that different.”

“It changes so much after passing through one wall; I can only imagine how much the insiders are ripping off the outsiders.”

“In Cheonmaeng Fortress, skill is everything. Those who are weak or don’t know the ways of the Jianghu [the martial arts world] are pushed out to eat the scraps.”

“A ruthless world. Truly.”

“…The Jianghu is a jungle. Those who can’t endure are pushed out.”

The broker, who had been driving into the Ji District for a while, stopped the car in front of a building.

A building with a large garden.

The broker said it was a branch of the Wudang Sect, with a sign that read ‘Sanmu Sect (山霧門) [Mountain Mist Gate].’

The broker opened the window and said to the guard standing at the gate,

“Tell them Mao-jun has arrived.”

Mao-jun is his name, huh.

It wouldn’t be his real name. It must be the name he uses as a broker.

The guard checked inside and soon opened the gate.

The broker moved the car, parked it in the parking lot inside the garden, and led Yu Seong-woo and Yu-wol.

“From now on, you must be careful with your actions. We’re going to meet someone who, although from a branch sect, is being watched to some extent by the main sect.”

“I understand.”

Yu Seong-woo answered, and Yu-wol nodded slightly.

As they walked inside the manor, people wearing martial arts uniforms and swords at their waists naturally fell in step on both sides.

They relieved the three of their weapons and stood beside them warily.

After passing through a corridor lined with wooden pillars and entering the interior, there was an old man who looked like a god sitting at the head of the table.

The old man was surrounded by martial artists exuding a fierce aura, as if trying to intimidate them.

‘What a show…….’

Yu Seong-woo, swallowing the words that were about to come out unconsciously, knelt on one knee in front of the old man, following the broker.

The old man looked at Yu Seong-woo’s group, who were obediently prostrating, with a satisfied face and opened his mouth.

“Just being brought into the main sect from the filthy Hae District should be an honor for you.”

“……”

“Your names have been heard even in the Ji District. Hyun-wol, and Yong-wol, was it? You’re filthy things, but there might be some use for you.”

Arrogant tone.

Overbearing attitude.

The old man, who possessed both, continued to speak.

“Become the swords of the main sect. If you do, the main sect will guarantee you.”