Because You're the Iron Blood Manor Lord
Jin Chung had discarded his old name.
From now on, he was Jao.
But he was different from the old Jao.
He was a Jao destined to one day become Gak-eung.
"Young Master Baek. I look forward to working with you. Feel free to call me Jao."
"...Yes. If I may be so bold, who might you be...?"
"I'll explain briefly. I am..."
Jao was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes and an ordinary build.
Like the very picture of an assassin.
But surprisingly, he talked a lot and fast.
He'd said he'd keep it brief, yet he prattled on nonstop for a full incense stick's worth of time.
Thanks to that, Baek Seung-mu learned more about Jao than he'd ever known about all his Kunlun seniors combined.
And he came to a firm conclusion.
'I should never start a conversation with him again.'
But that was only the second issue.
There was a more fundamental problem.
'How can we trust a Sima Lian warrior?'
Jeong Gwang had called him "our eyes and ears," but that didn't add up.
With all that nonstop chatter? He seemed more like their mouth and tongue.
Above all, this was a man they'd captured by force-feeding him chronic poison and threatening him with the antidote.
Jeong Gwang claimed he'd pass on some amazing martial arts, but...
'He's Sapa. He could betray us anytime.'
Baek Seung-mu immediately sent a transmission to Jeong Gwang.
-Senior brother. I can't trust this man.
-Huh? Me neither.
Baek Seung-mu blinked at the absurd reply before managing to ask,
-...Then why did you take him in?
-Should I kill him?
Baek Seung-mu was momentarily speechless.
Life was precious, no matter whose it was.
That had always been his creed in peacetime.
-...You're right, senior brother. We should try to lead him down the righteous path.
Jao hadn't committed any evil deeds right then and there.
So as a righteous sect disciple, he had to make at least some effort.
If that failed, they could decide what to do later.
'I'm actually closer to demonic than senior brother is. How can I ever serve him like this?'
Jeong Gwang scolded the self-reproaching Baek Seung-mu.
-Lead him down the righteous path? In what lifetime?
-...Pardon?
-Just use him as needed. If he seems off, deal with him then.
-...!
Baek Seung-mu regretted his earlier self-reproach.
Jeong Gwang was Jeong Gwang, after all.
'As expected of senior brother. But how can we trust him with tasks?'
What Baek Seung-mu hadn't considered was Sapa nature.
They weren't bound by loyalty.
Their bonds were transactional—mutual exchanges of appropriate compensation.
To avoid a knife in the back from a subordinate, treat them right.
It was tricky, but some handled it effortlessly.
Jeong Gwang was one such person.
"Jao. How much did Sima Lian pay you?"
Jao answered, and Baek Seung-mu's eyebrow twitched.
It was no small sum.
"Junior brother. Why the face? Too much?"
"Seems like it."
"Nah."
"...Pardon?"
"Sapa don't hand out salaries lightly. They match it to ability. Otherwise, they'd get stabbed in the back."
Jao nodded in agreement.
Seeing that only deepened Baek Seung-mu's prejudices about Sapa.
'Bound by profit, not honor. Worse than I thought. How much is senior brother planning to offer?'
Baek Seung-mu still didn't fully understand Jeong Gwang.
"Jao. No salary."
"..."
"...S-Senior brother. Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Why? We're not in a lord-vassal relationship."
Baek Seung-mu's jaw dropped.
'So that's why he refused when I offered to serve him as lord!'
A quick glance showed no change in Jao's expression.
"It's fine. You promised something greater."
"Ah!"
Baek Seung-mu let out an exclamation, and Jeong Gwang grinned.
"Money? With enough power, it comes quick. That's the Sapa way."
"Exactly, Azure Jade Dragon."
Jeong Gwang asked the agreeable Jao,
"You'll train hard, right?"
"Of course!"
Jao replied with heartfelt enthusiasm.
Baek Seung-mu looked at him with pity.
He didn't know what Jeong Gwang's "train hard" really meant.
But whose side was Baek Seung-mu on to pity others now?
Dawn was breaking, and he'd soon be sweating buckets in the forge.
Baek Seung-mu closed his eyes with a small sigh.
Praying this ordeal would end soon.
At first light, Baek Seung-mu headed to the forge.
Jeong Gwang instructed Jao to sneak out and re-enter formally as his friend, allowing him to stay at Iron Blood Manor.
Jao obeyed instantly.
"Show me everything you know."
"Yes, Azure Jade Dragon."
A flood of martial arts poured out.
True to his Sapa roots, Jao's techniques were sinister and bizarre, in chaotic variety.
Jeong Gwang's assessment was simple.
"Specialized in backstabbing, huh."
"Espionage and assassination were my trade..."
As Jao trailed off, Jeong Gwang wagged a finger.
"Don't get down. Efficient and solid, really."
"...!"
"Let's hone that direction properly."
Jao didn't care.
As long as he got stronger, what did it matter?
No, he was relieved he didn't have to discard what he'd learned.
Time was precious past his forties.
'I'll learn properly! I'll stake everything on it!'
That resolve lasted less than an hour.
The training was insanely intense!
Torture or training? Impossible to tell!
Escape plans bubbled up unbidden.
But Jao was wise.
'Still better than the poison's agony! Flee, and I'll suffer that endlessly!'
Jeong Gwang smiled warmly at the gritted-teeth endurance.
'As expected of an assassin. Strong willpower.'
Then he ramped up the intensity accordingly.
He taught modified calisthenics from the Murim Alliance demos, plus solid stealth and concealment arts.
Jao, knowing their value, threw himself in.
Even amid urges to flee or end it all.
His desperation was so pitiful that Baek Seung-mu, back from work with bleary eyes, offered to seal his pressure points.
Jeong Gwang stopped it after one day.
"Junior brother. I told you prolonged point-sealing harms warriors."
"Sorry. Slipped my mind."
By the third day, Jao collapsed unconscious.
Would Jeong Gwang just watch?
He injected inner energy, jolting him awake with agony.
"Gaaack!"
"Weaker body than I thought."
"Urk. Cough, cough. My apologies."
Jao tried to rise, but his body wouldn't obey.
Jeong Gwang pondered the writhing man.
'Strong will, good talent. But his poor foundational arts wrecked his body.'
Sapa arts used shortcuts, rife with side effects.
Proper ones were rarer still.
Jao hadn't qualified for those.
Switching to Jeong Gwang's orthodox-demonic blend broke him.
'Clear the evil qi clogging him, and he'd grow fast.'
'What to do.'
There was a way.
No real reason to bother, though.
Then Jao rose, trembling.
Spirit lifting flesh!
Jeong Gwang decided.
'Worth investing.'
He offered an elixir.
Jao eyed it suspiciously.
"Eat."
"...Another poison?"
"Huh? It's an elixir."
"...!"
Jao's eyes widened.
When had he ever seen one?
'Wait. Really not poison?'
Doubt lingered, but the answer was clear.
His body was already poisoned chronically.
One more wouldn't matter.
Refuse, and Jeong Gwang wouldn't let it slide.
Jao swallowed without hesitation.
And wept in awe at the surging vital energy.
True elixir!
'Azure Jade Dragon! I'll never forget this moment!'
Unlike him, Jeong Gwang tallied costs mentally.
'To recoup this, I'll work him to the bone.'
As the two pondered separately,
a squat old man appeared at Iron Blood Manor's main gate.
The guards bowed in unison.
"Welcome back, Manor Lord!"
The next morning,
a man came to Jeong Gwang.
"The Manor Lord has returned. Shall we go?"
Baek Seung-mu was already at the forge.
Jeong Gwang told Jao to keep training, then followed.
Soon they reached a modest hall.
"Go in."
"Yes."
Inside sat Cheol Jin-gi and the squat elder.
The elder's face was scar-covered like Cheol Jin-gi's, expressionless as if forged from iron.
Cheol Jin-gi introduced him.
"You're here. This is my father."
Jeong Gwang bowed politely.
"Hello, Manor Lord. I'm Jeong Gwang of Kunlun."
"..."
Cheol Jin-gi spoke apologetically for the silent elder.
"Father's the quiet type. Forgive him. I apologize on his behalf."
"No worries."
Cheol Jin-gi was surprised by Jeong Gwang's easy response.
Ignoring a junior's greeting was rude, regardless of age.
Jeong Gwang didn't seem the type to tolerate it.
'Unexpected side. The more I see, the more enigmatic.'
He'd be more shocked if he knew.
Jeong Gwang was in a great mood.
The Iron Blood Manor Lord reminded him of someone from his past life.
'Just like Reverse Heaven Demon Craftsman. Wordless. If only his skill matched.'
Jeong Gwang smiled faintly, and the Manor Lord's eyes flickered.
Cheol Jin-gi cleared his throat, glancing between them.
"Father has questions for you. All right?"
"Of course."
"Truth be told, neither Father nor I care much for Hu Wei-jin. His father was scum to begin with."
Cheol Jin-gi had a kind-hearted sister, he'd heard.
A Sapa thug had abducted her—Hu Wei-jin's father.
"Look at that brat's attitude. Not like my sister. Must be that thief's influence."
After birthing Hu Wei-jin, she and her husband came to Iron Blood Manor.
The Cheol father-son duo chased off the husband, naturally.
But she left weeping, babe in arms.
"Father was heartbroken. He made a jade plaque, waiting for her return. The one you brought."
The Manor Lord believed his grandson would inherit her genius.
Thus, he carved a mythical qilin into precious blue jade.
"But the grown brat who came..."
No prodigy as dreamed.
A rude punk!
"What happened then?"
"Told him to take the plaque and leave. Return as noble as the qilin carved on it, and he'd grant any wish."
Hu Wei-jin boasted three years would suffice.
Exactly three years later,
he returned, having bullied and threatened for the nickname "Jade Qilin."
"How could we grant that punk's wish?"
"Ah. Of course not."
"He kept whining, so we said transfer it to another. Whoever brings it gets a weapon of choice."
"Makes sense now. That's why you handed it over easily."
Cheol Jin-gi nodded, then flinched under his father's glare.
"Talking too much. Father asks: how'd you befriend the boy? Heard you gave him the plaque. How?"
Word from the guard who'd guided Jeong Gwang.
Dismissed as brag then, but now believable.
"He told me to join Sima Lian."
"...You, a Kunlun disciple?"
"Yeah. I said no."
"...Must've thrown a fit."
"Epic one. Figured I'd cure his ailment while beating sense into him."
"...Ailment?"
"That 'Heaven and Earth, Only I Am Venerated' disease."
"Ah!"
Cheol Jin-gi exclaimed, then coughed and praised Jeong Gwang.
"Ahem. Cocky brat claimed no peer his age could match. Hope you've improved him some."
"Hmm. Doubt it."
"Sigh. Yeah."
Jeong Gwang eyed sighing Cheol Jin-gi.
"Can I ask something now?"
"What? Shoot."
Jeong Gwang's gaze shifted to the Iron Blood Manor Lord.
The elder met it, face still blank.
But...
"Manor Lord."
"..."
The Manor Lord's face changed at Jeong Gwang's words.
A real expression for the first time.
"You know what to mix into a sword forged from twenty-one geun fourteen nyang of pure steel for better elasticity, right? Because you're the Iron Blood Manor Lord."