Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: You Have It All Planned Out?! (1)
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At Master's question about where I got it, I couldn't answer right away.
Even though I was now an official disciple of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Sect, when I took it, we weren't connected at all. Strictly speaking, I'd touched the spirit pill without his permission.
Of course, I felt no guilt about it myself.
By nature, I was the type to grab anything I could as early as possible. Besides, it had been a full hundred years since Master had tossed the spirit pill into the ancestral shrine.
'Even if you gathered every judge from Judge Bao of the past to the judges of the distant future, they'd all rule a hundred times out of a hundred that Master's ownership had lapsed.'
But the problem was that the person involved had become my master.
'He's already scolded me plenty for turning from Sword Demon to Demon Sword, and he's finally calmed down. I can't give him another reason to flare up.'
So, I pondered how to phrase it to sound good in Master's ears.
But that worry quickly proved pointless.
- Well done! Good job! In that chaotic mess, how did you manage to grab that?! Hahaha! You brought it out! I was racking my brains over how to resolve this, and now that knot in my chest unravels in one go! It seems my master—who is your grandmaster—is watching over our Heaven-Splitting Sword Sect from the heavens! Euahaha!
Who could argue when Master was so delighted?
Putting aside my needless fretting, I smiled along with the happily humming sword at my waist and spoke up.
"Anyway, this thing called the Manbak Heart-Protecting Pill is right here. Does that solve all the problems?"
- Indeed it does. Just one pill will more than fix your messed-up internals. Use that sorted foundation and the inner energy you've gained to gradually learn the Heaven-Splitting Divine Art and swordsmanship. And if things go as you say and I can manifest a form to demonstrate, I'll be able to help even more.
Come to think of it, Master himself had compared the Manbak Heart-Protecting Pill to the Shaolin Great Returning Pill or the Wudang Supreme Purity Pill.
He wouldn't overhype it just because it was from his sect.
Master wasn't the type for that anyway, but I'd seen everything this spirit pill did in the original story, so I already knew.
'It would be reborn under the name Great Demon Returning Pill and greatly advance the prowess of the demon cultists.'
Anyway, the best time to pull a crooked horn is right away.
"Sounds good. Shall we start right now?"
I immediately sat cross-legged and opened my mouth.
- Hmm... But isn't the location a bit off?
That's when Master voiced his objection.
'The location...'
Among Taeho's slums, this was the garbage dump, so yeah, it was a bit iffy...
I nodded and replied.
"True, if someone in the jianghu later asks where I learned such skills, saying 'in Taeho's garbage dump' would lack a certain flair."
- It's not about flair!
"It's not?"
- Fixing your wrecked internals will definitely bring on the muzzy symptoms. The pain of your organs shifting will continue, followed by the agony of your bones reassembling. So we need a safe place!
"Ah, that's what you meant?! But Master, I'm incredibly tolerant when it comes to pain and such. Do we really need a safe spot?"
- I acknowledge your mental fortitude that even my formation couldn't penetrate. But this isn't something mental strength can handle. Your mind might stay sharp, but your body will be utterly spent, unable to lift a finger.
I had no choice but to nod at Master's words.
If my internals were as messed up as he said, fixing them would drain my physical energy regardless of my will, so a safe place seemed necessary.
The real issue then was how long I'd be out of commission.
"Disciple understands all of Master's words. So, to ask: how 'safe' does it need to be?"
- Ho, good question. The level of safety determines our options—narrow or wide. Everyone's constitution varies, so my experience isn't absolute, but judging by your state, you'll need about three days and nights of recuperation.
Three days.
Short if short, but assuming total immobility, it wasn't that brief.
Until now, I'd roamed the jianghu without major incident, but three days completely helpless would make me a treasure trove in a sleeping forest.
'Taeho area is absolutely out.'
I'd spread around buying herbs, medicines, supplies—flashing cash everywhere.
Even after a century of futility, the founding Heavenly Demon's edict to the cult was 'Find the true Isle of Taeho.' Someone from the cult might be stationed here.
'Thinking of how Eon Yong-un falls completely for the cult's temptations in the original, better avoid them until I've mastered the Heaven-Splitting Sword Arts to some degree.'
Hmm.
So where to go?
How long had I been pondering?
Perhaps finding the sheathed sword's wait frustrating, Master at my waist spoke up.
- Is that worth agonizing over? When you formally introduced yourself earlier, didn't you say you're from Northern Hebei's Pearl, bearing the Eon surname?
"I did."
- The Eon Family of Northern Hebei was renowned for fist techniques and corpse manipulation even in my day roaming the world. Among them, the one called Fist King was decent enough to spar with.
"Ho, really?"
- Indeed. His innate martial bones, talent in sorcery, and unflinching attitude even before someone of my stature—it seemed you'd thickly inherited the Fist King's blood. Or not?
"Well, as a direct descendant of the Eon Family, I do carry the blood Master imagines."
- Then has the Eon Family fallen in the meantime?
"No. Their fortunes have waned a bit, but they'd still rank in the top ten martial families of the world."
- Then what's the dilemma? Just go to your main family home.
I wondered why he brought up my formal greeting—turns out it led here.
'Hmm. How to explain this?'
No point in the long tale of possession to Master for any gain.
Better to plainly state I'd been expelled.
Gathering my thoughts, I spoke.
"It's complicated, and explaining fully would take too long. In short: I was kicked out of the family. More directly, stricken from the registry."
- I see.
"?"
- What?
"...I said it was a complicated situation, yet how does 'I see' come out so quick?"
- Because it makes sense. You must've tricked your family just like you did me!
Good grief, treating his disciple like a con artist?
I thought he'd gotten over it, but he's still sulking inside the sword...
Well, it was my fault, and I had to shoulder former Yong-un's karma anyway—no need to argue.
Above all, the key now was where to go.
"Anyway, main house is impossible."
- Then what choice is there? Head to some deep mountain or secluded valley.
"Into the mountains?"
Master's voice conjured images of waterfall meditation, exposure training, climbing peaks—the classic methods.
'If it makes me stronger, I don't care.'
But don't mountains have bandits?
From Yong-myeong's map, nearly every major mountain had a bandit lair...
'Wait! Bandits?!'
And then.
A memory flashed through my mind.
'Northern Deer Bandit Lair's Bang Cheon-deok is dealt with, so it's empty. Head there?'
No.
No.
Not that—why not go straight to Yin Xia Lian at the Silver Radiance Merchant Group in Hwi Province?
Yin Xia Lian was currently the person in the world who thought highest of me and was most grateful.
'And crucially, where the most people would flock.'
Thanks to me, she'd overcome the Northern Deer Bandit Lair incident with far fewer losses than in the original.
But with the successor struggle raging at Silver Radiance—one of the world's great merchant groups—getting tangled would be a blemish.
Recalling the original events and the people I'd seen, her faction likely wasn't sailing smooth.
'Short on manpower, so if I show up, she'll welcome me with open arms.'
Nominally a guest of Silver Radiance, but as her benefactor, I'd be the real boss.
'Train in luxury with Heaven-Splitting Divine Art and swordsmanship, prepare for next year's academy exam too.'
If I spot a chance to help her faction, I could pitch in.
The successor race ends with Yin Xia Lian victorious.
She doesn't know that, making it perfect for subtle influence.
'Safely circulate qi, train in abundance, observe the successor game, invest in the future?'
Eating the pheasant and its egg—an optimal setup no one else could match.
'We're already entangled enough.'
I'd planned to reunite at the academy, but with it fitting so perfectly, time to double down on Hyeon-lian coins without question!
Calculations done, I tapped the scabbard housing Master and spoke.
"Master. I figured out where to go."
After the Northern Deer Bandit Lair incident, the first thing Yin Xia Lian did upon reporting to her father, the Southern Jiang Merchant King, was to purge her inner circle.
It was unavoidable.
The bandit raid required detailed knowledge of her caravan plans—meaning a close aide had sided with her younger brother.
She couldn't advance without tightening her circle.
So weeding out serious offenders and the suspiciously behaved was inevitable.
The problem: no replacements.
Her standards had tightened, and post-fiasco, her credibility dipped, swelling the ranks of those hedging between her and her brother. Manpower shortage ensued.
Sure, cut tasks to match—but that meant forfeiting the successor race.
Failing tasks from her father declared incompetence.
'...I haven't slept a full watch today.'
Thus, she shouldered the gaps, her body wearing down—though youth endured it.
The issue: her spirit fraying too.
Day and night, schemes and threats to install her brother—no one to confide in.
'If only someone like Eon Gongzi to give them a dressing-down.'
Trustworthy like Eun Jeong-gil remained, but they protected and agreed—not sharply rebuked.
'Come to think, next year approaches, so Righteous Martial Academy's entrance exam nears.'
Right after the bandits, she'd vowed to join the exam, show Eon Gongzi a new side, rebuild ties...
But could she even prepare now?
'The Serene West silk investment profited big, growing the entrusted funds...'
That was when.
In her foggy mind, for some unknowable reason, Eon Yong-un surfaced.
Then Eun Jeong-gil urgently sought her outside Radiant Prosperity Hall.
"Hall Leader! You need to come out and see this!!"
Unthinkingly, a curt tone escaped her.
"I haven't even washed my face! What's so urgent this early dawn?"
"...Ah, sorry. Eon Young Hero arrived, so I rushed. I'll tell him to wait."
"?!"
No sooner said, Radiant Prosperity Hall's doors burst open.
And Yin Xia Lian—who'd grumbled about the dawn—rushed out barefoot.
"Hall Leader! Shoes! You forgot your shoes!! You have to wear shoes!!"