Taunt Doll Baekri-wan
The expressions on the disciples’ faces as they entered the room were anything but pleasant. They hadn’t expected a warm welcome, but being openly scorned like this was enough to make anyone shrink back.
“Avoid picking fights as much as possible. Don’t hold eye contact for long either. If trouble starts, we’re the ones at a disadvantage.”
Un Song-byeok, his traveling attire neatly arranged, issued the order.
“Yes. Understood.”
“No. That’s the wrong approach.”
The contradictory answer made Un Song-byeok turn his head. Naturally, his gaze landed on Han Yuhyeon, the only one who had spoken against him.
“What do you mean?”
“If Sect Master intends to move the Baekun-pa to So-ui-ju, then we must not dodge the provocations that come our way.”
“And why is that?”
Un Song-byeok’s expression darkened slightly. Even so, having a direct disciple openly contradict the sect master was hardly a comfortable experience.
“If we can’t even endure the territorial bullying at an invited gathering of sects, how do you expect to handle the far greater hostility that comes with relocating our entire foundation? If we bow our heads here, we’ll have to keep bowing forever. And bowing won’t even be the end of it. Humiliating tributes will follow, one after another—exactly the way the Baekun-pa collects spirit stones from the mid- and low-tier sects of Yeongil-ju.”
Everyone fell silent at Han Yuhyeon’s words. There wasn’t a single false note in what he had said. Riding the momentum, he continued.
“If we end up paying tribute to every sect in So-ui-ju, the cultivation resources we stockpiled while ruling as the hegemon of Yeongil-ju will dry up in no time. And once we have nothing left to offer, we’ll be wiped out.”
“Junior Brother Han. Mind your words in front of the Sect Master—”
Geum Wi-hyeong, who had been listening quietly, cut in. For an inner disciple to speak of annihilation right in front of the sect master was, without question, rude. But the one who stepped forward then was Baekri-wan.
“Junior Brother Han isn’t wrong. I consider it necessary counsel for the Baekun-pa.”
Geum Wi-hyeong and Baekri-wan’s opinions clashed, and Un Song-byeok folded his arms, letting out a thoughtful hum. Every eye fixed on his mouth. Under Un Song-byeok’s judgment, the Baekun-pa’s stance would be decided.
“So what you’re saying, Yuhyeon, is that we should meet every provocation head-on?”
“Of course we should. If the Sect Master had no ambition to move the Baekun-pa to So-ui-ju, I wouldn’t even be saying this. We need to make it clear that the Baekun-pa possesses the strength and potential to thrive even in So-ui-ju. This gathering is a tremendous opportunity for us.”
Han Yuhyeon’s tongue was silver-smooth. Un Song-byeok considered for a moment, then nodded as though he had made up his mind.
“You’re right. I was mistaken. Very well—I leave the judgment entirely to you. Even if the goal is to display our potential, charging blindly at an absurdly powerful opponent is sheer arrogance. Assess the situation yourselves and respond accordingly.”
“Understood!”
The inner disciples answered in unison. In that moment, the Baekun-pa’s attitude was set.
Han Yuhyeon smirked. That was exactly the answer he had wanted from Un Song-byeok.
Alone in his room with the door shut, Han Yuhyeon had the Mongan Hyeolseo open before him. He needed to check it whenever he had spare time. Even he didn’t remember every item and technique in Yeonhwa Seonrok. Plenty of things only came back to him once he actually saw the entries.
Right now he was looking at dharma tools. That damn Geom Jung-gun had smashed every tool he owned, so new ones were urgently needed.
200 Lower-Grade Spirit Stones
The spirit stones he currently held were the two hundred lower-grade ones Un Song-byeok had given him. He needed to see if there was anything decent he could buy with that.
Countless dharma tools floated before his eyes. Some looked familiar; others made him wonder if they had even existed. With two hundred lower-grade spirit stones he could certainly buy tools of solid quality—tools rarely seen even in Yeongil-ju or So-ui-ju. True to the Mongan Hyeolseo, excellent gear was being sold at excellent prices.
Yet for some reason, nothing really caught his fancy. If he was going to acquire something, he wanted the best possible.
“Hmm…”
With a dissatisfied hum he kept scrolling. Then, mid-scroll, something suddenly leapt out at him and he yelped.
“What?!”
No way. It was selling for that? One mid-grade spirit stone equaled a thousand lower-grade stones. Han Yuhyeon forced his thundering heart to calm down.
The Blood Shadow Nine Nights Sword was a growth-type dharma treasure so rare it was hard to find even across the vast world of Yeonhwa Seonrok. A sword that grew stronger by drinking blood. That merit alone was more than enough—overflowing, in fact.
After seeing the Blood Shadow Nine Nights Sword, every other tool vanished from sight. Being a growth-type weapon, he needed to acquire it as soon as possible and start feeding it. There was no need to spend the two hundred stones right now.
Besides, the True Dragon Ascending Heaven-Shocking Art itself was a body-tempering method; he could fight perfectly well without relying on tools.
“Perfect.”
With that resolve he closed the Mongan Hyeolseo. From this moment on, the goal was the Blood Shadow Nine Nights Sword—and he needed to buy it as fast as humanly possible.
Han Yuhyeon immediately left his room and knocked on the door of Baekri-wan’s room right next door.
“Elder? It’s Han Yuhyeon.”
When there was no response he wondered if she might be asleep—then the door opened. The instant it did, an extremely ugly face appeared.
“Holy crap—you startled me. I think that face might actually be uglier than mine.”
“Impossible.”
Baekri-wan answered in a dead-serious voice, and Han Yuhyeon shook his head. Arguing about faces with a beauty was a losing game for him alone.
“Were you sleeping?”
“No. I put the mask on. It’s stuffy in the room so I take it off.”
“Ah. That makes sense.”
“So why are you here?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to go for a walk.”
At his words Baekri-wan dragged her voice out as if she found the situation awkward. She stepped right in front of him and looked up.
“Junior Brother Han. I’m sorry, but this can’t go anywhere. I’ll refuse you now, before your feelings for me grow any deeper.”
Her tone was both earnest and careful. Han Yuhyeon snorted a laugh.
“It’s not like that.”
“Right, right. I understand. Getting a confession rejected is embarrassing. We can just pretend it never happened. I’ll look the other way this once.”
“I’m serious. I need Elder Baek right now. How do I put this… as a taunt doll.”
“A taunt doll?”
Baekri-wan tilted her head; it was clearly a term she had never heard. No wonder—Han Yuhyeon had just invented it.
“Just come out for a bit. Explaining is hard; you’ll understand once you see it yourself.”
Baekri-wan frowned but followed him out. With her already hideous face scrunched up, she looked even worse.
They stepped outside the Gyeonghagak building. The number of cultivators in the courtyard had increased.
Every gaze locked straight onto Baekri-wan and Han Yuhyeon.
“Heh. Faces that just beg to be taught a lesson, the both of them.”
“There was a decent-looking female cultivator earlier, but I guess she didn’t come out.”
“Wait—that ugly thing doesn’t even have a visible Adam’s apple. Is it a woman?”
“What? Not an ugly man but an ugly woman?”
Han Yuhyeon’s own face was covered in scales and hardly pleasant to look at either, but that was more grotesque than ugly. Surprisingly, the cultivators’ insults focused entirely on Baekri-wan’s face.
“Being outdone in looks for the first time feels weirdly complicated.”
“It’s your face. You beat yourself. Your only rival is you.”
“If I only heard the tone I’d think it was encouragement. The content is just pure cursing.”
He felt Baekri-wan’s facial muscles twitch. Something seemed funny to her, yet she forced it down.
“If it’s funny, just laugh.”
“It’s not funny.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It is not.”
Baekri-wan stuck to the lie until the end.
Come to think of it, Han Yuhyeon had seen her wear faint, subtle smiles, but he had never once seen her burst into open laughter.
He had assumed she was simply a cold beauty with a sparse smile, but if she suppressed even the urge to laugh when it was clearly rising, of course he would never see it. Holding back laughter in this harsh world seemed strange, but since it didn’t help his own cultivation he saw no reason to dig deeper.
And in any case there was no time to dig. The inner disciples of the Uisong Sect who had picked a fight earlier were already swaggering toward them.
“Mind if I ask something? That ugly cultivator over there—man or woman?”
“Does it matter?”
Baekri-wan answered sharply. Her voice, however, was unmistakably a woman’s, and the Uisong disciples recoiled in shock.
“That voice came out of that face?”
“I thought someone had used Six Harmonies Voice Transference. Face and voice simply refuse to match.”
“Is the man next to her her lover? They make a fine pair.”
“Absolutely! A match made in heaven!”
Hahahaha…
In an instant the mockery of the surrounding Uisong inner disciples rang loudly through the area near Gyeonghagak.
“So is that all you wanted to say?”
Baekri-wan answered coldly. The one who looked like the senior-most among the Uisong disciples stepped forward.
“Of course not. We have business.”
“What business?”
“Isn’t it only natural for a minor sect to show proper respect to a major one? It seems we haven’t received that courtesy yet.”
They had come at it exactly as expected. By the standards of the immortal world this wasn’t even considered wrongdoing. It was simply the natural order. That was why they could pull this nonsense without hesitation even on someone else’s doorstep.
Hadn’t the Baekun-pa’s own inner disciples also forced “shows of respect” from newly promoted juniors? The weak are plundered; the strong take. It was as natural as breathing in this world.
“I’m a little surprised. I didn’t think they’d pick a fight this fast. Still, this is Wonhu Sect territory, isn’t it?”
Baekri-wan said. Han Yuhyeon shook his head and secretly transmitted the truth to her via sound transmission.
“Elder Baek doesn’t seem to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Just how devastating the destructive power of that face really is.”
“What are you talking about?”
Baekri-wan’s eyes clouded with confusion. Han Yuhyeon launched into a confident explanation. No matter how learned Baekri-wan was, on this particular subject Han Yuhyeon was the authority.
“You know the type, right? The ones who look so punchable that you just want to shoulder-check them when you walk past.”
“I do.”
“Elder Baek’s current appearance isn’t merely ‘want to shoulder-check while walking past’ level. It’s ‘spot from a distance and charge over just to slam them with your shoulder’ level of face.”
In game-system terms, that was the effect of Charm. High Charm made first meetings friendly; low Charm made them hostile.
“….”
Baekri-wan chewed her lip. It felt like she was being insulted, yet the face actually being insulted was Han Yuhyeon’s, leaving her with a complicated feeling.
“I’ll handle these people. Elder Baek, please step back.”
Han Yuhyeon ended the sound transmission and spoke aloud. When the scale-covered monstrosity stepped forward, the Uisong disciples flinched.
“Of course we should show our respects. How could our humble Baekun-pa dare oppose the great Uisong Sect?”
So saying, Han Yuhyeon stepped closer while rummaging in his storage pouch. The disciples who had tensed a moment earlier now looked satisfied, as though this was only proper.
“Mm, mm. At least this fish-head knows his place.”
As Han Yuhyeon approached, a Uisong disciple swaggered closer as well.
“What’s taking so long to pull it out?”
“Ah, it’s precious so I buried it deep. Oh—found it.”
Han Yuhyeon withdrew his hand from the storage pouch. Nothing was held in it. Only the thick scales of the True Dragon Ascending Heaven-Shocking Art rose densely over his fist.
“What—?”
“I humbly offer this to the great Uisong Sect!”
Before the Uisong disciple could grasp the situation, Han Yuhyeon shot out a palm strike. The distance was so close the man didn’t even think to dodge.
Thud!
Struck square in the chest, the inner disciple sprayed blood as he flew through the air.
Baekri-wan watched the soaring Uisong disciple with empty eyes. In that instant, the meaning of the words “taunt doll” became perfectly clear.