The Extreme Demonic Sword Family and the Compensation
The Extreme Demonic Sword Family. It was one of the Eight Demonic Families that claimed to be the pillars of the Cult, and a singular house that governed countless Sword Sects. The master of the family was never chosen by the bloodline of the previous head, but by the law of the strong—the survival of the fittest. Any member from the various sword sects could succeed the family. Of course, the successor pushed by the current head was always powerful, but regardless.
For the past few days, the sword family had been in chaos because the head had not properly chosen a successor, but they finally seemed to be regaining stability after selecting a young master. In that sense, Jin Seung-ji, the outer chief manager of the sword family, was suffering from a headache due to sudden news.
"Everyone, say something. Tell me what the intention is behind the Supreme Elder suddenly deciding to show his face at the Gyomaguan graduation ceremony."
"······."
As everyone kept their mouths tightly shut, the youngest manager looked around and spoke up.
"Well······ I suppose. Since the Sword Holy Sovereign is from the Tyrant Sword Sect, perhaps he intends to push Young Master Jin Geuk as his successor·····."
Seung-ji slammed the table and glared at the young manager.
"Haa··· Do you think I gathered you all here just to hear such obvious nonsense?"
Objectively speaking, the young manager was right. However, neither the family head nor the Supreme Elder were people who held much affection for their own flesh and blood. If they had intended to push Jin Geuk as the successor—whether out of familial love or because they deemed him suitable—they would have done so long ago. Not now, when Young Master Jin Geuk had headed to the Gyomaguan and his influence had significantly waned.
'······Or am I overthinking this?'
It felt sudden, but··· couldn't he just be going through a late-onset midlife crisis? Objectively, that was the only way to interpret him going out of his way to attend the Gyomaguan graduation. The outer chief manager clutched his head and said nothing. All the other managers waited for his mouth to open. In this succession battle, the Outer Hall had taken a step back to observe from the sidelines. Since the family head hadn't designated a successor, every sword sect had been pushing their own young masters forward. In such a complex landscape, the Outer Hall had decided to pick up the scraps rather than engage in a dangerous gamble. But now, feeling a belated sense of regret at only picking up scraps, and seeing that the Supreme Elder seemed to be backing a new successor, this was the meeting to decide whether or not to support him.
The deliberation was long. Jin Seung-ji made his decision. He decided to support Jin Geuk.
"Alright. Everyone listen. I don't know about others, but isn't he the successor chosen by the Sword Holy Sovereign of the Ten Demonic Monarchs? We will make Young Master Jin Geuk the young master of the main family······"
— BANG!
It was the moment Jin Seung-ji was about to share his ambitious aspirations with his subordinates while dreaming of a rosy future. A messenger whose name he didn't even know kicked the door open and burst in.
"You insolent fool! How dare you be so rude?!"
"I apologize! An urgent letter from the Gyomaguan!"
"From the Gyomaguan?"
It was a truly ironic turn of events, as they had just been discussing the Gyomaguan and Jin Geuk. Jin Seung-ji twisted his face in disgust but snatched the letter from the messenger's hand, thinking he would have the man's head for interrupting the meeting if it wasn't anything important. It was fortunate for the messenger that he didn't. As Jin Seung-ji read the letter, his face turned deathly pale.
The letter was a personal missive from the Gyomaguan's master, Am-un-seo-saeng. To summarize the contents briefly, it was as follows:
Unauthorized possession of the Demonic Explosion Pill. Unauthorized consumption during a duel. Intentional use of lethal techniques.
[Are you trying to screw me over from the sword family right now?]
That was the implication. All of it was related to charges against Jin Geuk. No, they weren't even just charges. If that prickly Am-un-seo-saeng had labeled them as charges, he would have already verified the facts several times over. Jin Seung-ji, looking like a ghost, headed for the Gyomaguan. The future where he would make Jin Geuk the young master and unfold a rosy future had long since been wiped from his mind.
Subject: Jin Geuk
Status: Severe Violation of Gyomaguan Regulations
***
Seo-ah looked at the middle-aged man in front of her. The man was sweating profusely, glancing nervously at us. The interesting thing was that no one here had a higher status than that middle-aged man. Neither in martial prowess nor in rank. Because the middle-aged man was the outer chief manager of the Sword Family, one of the Eight Families. In that sense, this situation could be seen as the sorrow of a middle manager.
The instructor shouted.
"Does that make any sense?! How can a mere cadet obtain a Demonic Explosion Pill from the outside and smuggle it into the Gyomaguan!"
"I apologize. It really has nothing to do with our sword family······"
"Stop saying you don't know and bring the sect leader of the Tyrant Sword Sect here!"
"Right now··· the sect leader is away······"
"Are the Eight Families looking down on the Gyomaguan right now?"
"What?! Ah··· No. How could that be!"
"You are doing exactly that right now! Even with the Cult Leader and the Divine Maiden temporarily absent, is it okay for a member of the Eight Families to act so recklessly?!"
"Yes··· I apologize. For now······"
Conversations like this generally went back and forth between the instructor and the man who was the outer chief manager of the sword family. Whenever the instructor shouted for him to take responsibility, the outer chief manager, who had been set up as a mere shield, just kept bowing his head. That unproductive conversation lasted for about two gak (about 30 minutes). The sword family side confirmed that it was Jin Geuk's personal deviation and decided to actively cooperate with the investigation into the Demonic Explosion Pill. Instead, it was decided that the Gyomaguan would bury this matter as much as possible and not hold the sword family itself responsible. Of course, that was only on the surface. In the negotiations I wouldn't be privy to later, the sword family would likely have to bow down.
They also promised compensation for the twins, who could be called the biggest victims of this incident. The instructor, who had also served as the referee for the duel, nodded as if reasonably satisfied and walked out of the room. Once the instructor left, the sword family's outer chief manager, Jin Seung-ji, unexpectedly bowed his head toward us first.
"I apologize. However, as you heard in the conversation just now, the main family was not directly involved in this incident, and······"
It was roughly an extension of what he had said earlier. To summarize, it was like this: [I'm sorry. But we are not at fault. Still, since Jin Geuk is a person who has his roots in the main family, I will compensate you. Instead, let's agree to keep this quiet from now on.] That was the feeling.
'What? This is quite decent.'
It was a truly unexpected response. In fact, I had expected that as soon as the instructor left, he would shut his mouth, toss a money pouch at us, and say, "Compensation over. Good work," and leave in a rude manner. Because what they feared was the upper echelon of the Gyomaguan, not us, who were just cadets involved in a squabble. To put this another way······ it meant that the sword family was taking this incident quite seriously. It also meant they wanted to shut our mouths so that no rumors would leak out. In other words, it meant there was a lot we could extract.
"You said you would compensate us. May I ask how the compensation will be made, and how much it will be?"
[I'll let you make the first offer.]
I decided to extract as much as I possibly could.
***
Returning to our quarters, we looked at the wooden box left sitting in the middle of the room. At first glance, it might not have looked like much of a compensation, but anyone who knew the value of this wooden box would never say such a thing. We were those people. The first to speak was Baek-ak.
"A 2nd-grade spiritual elixir······"
It was an astronomical amount of spiritual medicine. To give an example that's easy to understand, the Gongcheongseokyu or the Great Restoration Pill of Shaolin, which are often considered treasures in modern martial arts novels, belonged to the 1st-grade spiritual elixirs. In comparison, the 2nd-grade spiritual elixir, which was slightly less rare, was on par with the Wudang's Taecheongdan, the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, or the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp. It was just a grade lower than the 1st-grade, but it was a treasure among treasures.
If word got out right now that we possessed a 2nd-grade spiritual elixir, it wouldn't be strange if we were found as cold corpses the next day. And would it just be us? Hundreds or thousands could die. The reason the sword family gave us such a treasure was clear.
'They're saying if we eat this and open our mouths, they'll kill us.'
Perhaps the Tyrant Sword Sect leader was running around trying to save his son. Seeing them readily hand over such a treasure, it must also mean they intend to build a connection with the twins who defeated the sword family's talent. It's a good thing for us. We've gotten our hands on a spiritual elixir that we might not even be able to eat once in a lifetime. The only problem was······ who would eat this elixir? Because there was only one wooden box.
As I was agonizing over it, Baek-ran said.
"This. Let's have you eat it, sister."
Seo-ah was startled by Baek-ran's sudden declaration and said.
"What? This is yours. You won it."
"No, sister. You're the one who saved us when we were about to die, and we've owed you a lot until now."
"That's right. And since we're top students at the Gyomaguan, we've received plenty of spiritual elixirs until now. You know the effect drops if you eat them too often, right?"
"No, still······"
"And! You should overcome the exhaustion you feel every time you use your internal energy now!"
After a bit of bickering, I suggested we divide the elixir into three parts. However, the twins almost had a seizure, insisting that the effect would almost disappear if we did that, and they adamantly stopped me. In the end, the 2nd-grade spiritual elixir ended up in my hands. It was an overly generous gift. Of course, unlike my words of refusal, the corners of my mouth were more honest than I thought.
***
Ash Body Pill (Hoesin-dan). A pill made by burning the body to ashes. I remember being horrified when I first heard the name and asking the manager about it. Regardless, isn't this the Demonic Path? A gathering of psychopaths who do all sorts of crazy things to achieve their goals without regard for means or methods. Of course, now that the demonic sects have been incorporated into the Cult, they are keeping a certain line. But in the case of the primitive demonic sects of the past, grinding up a few people to make pills was nothing for some sects.
— Ah. It's not like that. You can think of it as a name given because countless manpower was ground down to make this. Of course, in a metaphorical sense.
In short, it was a name given because people were ground down by overwork. 'Ah······' Seo-ah felt a sense of pity and put the crystal, made by sacrificing the work-life balance of countless alchemists, into her mouth. As soon as she put it in her mouth, the Hoesin-dan disappeared in her mouth as quickly as if she were eating cotton candy. The taste, unlike cotton candy, felt like eating an incredibly bitter herbal medicine, but the amount of true qi that entered her body was hundreds of times what was currently in her dantian. Her blood vessels felt like they were going to burst, and she felt her consciousness fading for a moment.
— Sister! When eating a spiritual elixir. Never. Absolutely never be greedy. You might explode.
Seo-ah recalled Baek-ran's joke-filled warning before eating the elixir and began to drain most of the true qi that had entered her body. It wasn't a waste. Even if she drained most of it, it was obvious that her current internal energy would increase dozens of times. Drain it. Store it. Shape the size of the dantian. Drain it again. Store it. Seo-ah immersed herself in the work like crazy, just as she had when she first learned the internal energy cultivation method. And when she opened her eyes again, the sky had darkened once more. What was more surprising was the fact that a familiar-looking beautiful girl was looking at her under the moonlight.
"So-yul?"
It was a sudden reunion.