The Hope of the Yi Clan
There was so much to be done.
A martial artist pays back every debt owed to him — that was the code Yi Do lived by.
He intended to seek out the Killing Curtain and exact his revenge. He intended to bring every power within Jangryeong Commandery to its knees.
But all of those plans would have to wait.
Of all people, Geum-cheon Shin-geom was coming.
It was a debt of gratitude and grudge that he himself had created, and so it was only right that he settle it himself.
Their intent was obvious.
Annihilation.
They meant to erase the Yi Clan from the face of the world entirely. Lady Un and the head of the Wun Clan still clung to the lax belief that things could never go that far — a delusion possible only for those who knew nothing of the Emperor Sword Sect.
Yi Do was not one of them.
He knew the Emperor Sword Sect. He had killed roughly half of the martial artists affiliated with it, and he had crossed blades with the old man known as the Sword Emperor with his own two hands. He could say with confidence that he understood that sect better than anyone alive.
And so, he was preparing.
First, he had ordered Yi Won to gather every spirit elixir in the clan's possession — immediately. Ten-year ones, twenty-year ones, even five-year ones. Yi Won had looked baffled at the indiscriminate order, but he had fetched them all the same.
The Yi Clan's power had grown considerably by now. That much was well within their reach.
And so, at this moment, a box sat in Yi Do's hands filled with dozens of spirit elixirs. Yi Won had promised another few dozen by the end of the day, so Yi Do decided to make what preparations he could with these first.
He made his way back down to the hidden underground chamber.
A sigh escaped him. He hadn't expected the moment to arrive this quickly.
Nothing for it. He set to work, moving with brisk urgency.
Ilbaek, Ii-heuk, Sambyeok, Sarok, Ohwang, Yukbaek, Chiljeok, Palbaek, Guja — the Nine Stars — joined with the Central Palace, and to them the eight trigrams. Geon, Tae, I, Jin, Son, Gam, Gan, Gon — the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams — and atop them, the Eight Gates: Hyu, Saeng, Sang, Du, Gyeong, Sa, Gyeong, Gae.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. He did not stop.
He anchored the Nine Palaces, then wove in the Five Elements. Wood, fire, earth, metal, water.
Yi Do was hardly a deep scholar of formations, but there was exactly one he knew — one his master had taught him. And when he passed it on, his master had said this:
"If ever an enemy far mightier than you are now sets their sights upon you — use this."
In truth, he had never once used it. He had never dreamed he would end up resorting to it like this.
His current realm was merely the entrance of the Four Realms of Qi Condensation. But Geum-cheon Shin-geom was a master of the Realm of Harmony — and not merely at its peak, nor at some first-rate tier. He was a supreme master who stood beyond even superlative excellence.
To face him, Yi Do had no other choice.
He drew upon the energies of the elixirs from Yi Won to activate the Five Elements. The Eight Trigrams and Eight Gates followed suit.
But the Nine Gates needed to be brought to life as well, and the elixirs fell short. It would have taken spiritual herbs of at least several hundred years. For now, he merely set the framework in place, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
He gathered Pure Harmonious Qi at the tip of his index finger and began carving characters into the ground.
It felt as though his dantian were being torn apart. The sweat on his forehead had long since turned cold.
It didn't matter. With every ounce of strength left in his body, he wrote each character, one by one — until he could write no more and collapsed where he stood. The Pure Harmonious Qi was spent, and his inner meridians with it.
He wiped his brow. His hand came away soaked.
He sat in place for a while, cycling the Primordial Unity Qi Cultivation. Once he had lightly completed one full circuit of the Small Heavenly Cycle, he began carving again.
Someone was coming to kill him. Whether that man stood in the Realm of Harmony, the Realm of Entering Divinity, or the Realm of Myth — none of it mattered in the slightest.
These were people who bore him clear, unambiguous killing intent.
Evade the situation? Show them his back and run?
Not for an instant. This would be settled here, once and for all. Either Yi Do died, or Geum-cheon Shin-geom did. One of them was certain to die.
And so, time passed.
Yi Won's mind was a tangled mess.
Word of Geum-cheon Shin-geom's arrival had set all of Jangryeong Commandery abuzz, and the whole commandery was whispering that the days of the Yi Clan were numbered. Those murmurs had found their way to Yi Won's ears — which was precisely why he was in such turmoil now.
Even so, he did what needed doing.
"You found them, then?"
The clan's ranks had been freshly reshuffled. The current Chief Manager of the Yi Clan was Chief Manager Yang, a man who had once held the trust of every manager beneath him. At a flick of Yang's fingers, a servant carried in five chests.
A smile bloomed across the Chief Manager's lips.
"Yes, Clan Head. All of them. Three Thirty-Year Tae-eul Pills, one fifty-year ginseng, one Twenty-Year Myeong-won Pill. Five in total."
Yi Won accepted them all and inspected the contents one by one, licking his lips. If I consumed all of these, I could push not merely into the Zhu-cheon realm but even attempt the Four Realms of Qi Condensation beyond it...
The thought flickered through his mind — and he shook it away at once.
These were for Yi Do. Yi Do had helped him rise to the seat of Clan Head. Now it was Yi Won's turn to keep his promise.
"And the other elixirs?"
By "other elixirs" he meant the ones already ordered from elsewhere: precisely one Hundred-Year Ginseng, five fifty-year Tae-myeong Pills, eleven fifteen-year Bo-tae Pills, and one two-hundred-year ginseng.
"...The Hundred-Year Ginseng and the Tae-myeong Pills should arrive by this evening. The rest within two hours. But the two-hundred-year ginseng you mentioned... I apologize, Clan Head. We placed the order, but the Martial Alliance has already bought it out."
"The Martial Alliance... Hah. Useless at the very moment it matters most."
Strictly speaking, the Yi Clan was itself a member of the Martial Alliance — a name scrawled at the very bottom of the roster's lowest ranks, but a member all the same. To be precise: the Jangryeong Commandery branch of the Martial Alliance. That was the Yi Clan.
He let the matter pass.
"Then take the funds meant for the two-hundred-year ginseng and sweep up every other spirit elixir available on the market."
The Chief Manager's face went pale as he asked, "C-Clan Head... forgive my presumption, but may I speak frankly?"
"Speak."
"The Yi Clan's funds are nearly spent dry. In this situation, I cannot help but wonder why you are amassing so many elixirs. I wouldn't presume to know the minds of the other managers, but I am the Chief Manager. I believe I ought to at least understand how the clan's finances flow."
It was not an unreasonable point. What was the seat of Chief Manager, after all? A post that assisted the Clan Head and managed every affair of the clan, down to the treasury. Yi Won regarded him quietly for a moment, then answered flatly.
"Do you imagine I would do this without reason?"
"But Clan Head — as I've said, the treasury is empty. Gather any more elixirs and the whole clan will begin to totter..."
So be it. Yi Won thought. I would sooner see the clan totter than be annihilated by the Emperor Sword Sect. If you asked me to decide a hundred times, I would make the same choice a hundred times.
Yi Do seemed to have a plan. Then for now, he would trust it and follow.
"Chief Manager Yang."
"Yes, Clan Head."
"There — you see? There is a greater purpose at work. The clan tottering? You are hardly ignorant of the rumors circulating out there."
There was no way he couldn't be.
"This is one measure to prevent our annihilation. Proceed without worry. Understood?"
"...Understood. I shall carry out your command, Clan Head."
"And place these elixirs in Yi Do's chamber."
The moment Chief Manager Yang bowed his head and stepped outside, Lady Un and his maternal uncle swept in as if they had been lying in wait. Before Yi Won could even gather his thoughts, Lady Un burst out.
"Won-ah! What in the world do you intend to do with all those elixirs!"
His uncle was no different. "Won-ah, there is no harm in buying elixirs, but this is too much. Draining the family treasury to purchase them like this... is this not sheer foolishness?"
Yi Won let out a long breath. "...I will handle it myself."
"Handle it yourself? I fear that in 'handling it yourself,' you will ruin the entire family."
His uncle chimed in. "I understand the joy of becoming Clan Head in such a precarious time, but buying elixirs at this scale does not suit it. I will say nothing of what is already purchased, but cancel every order you have placed from this point on."
Irritation began to creep up on him. Yi Won's eyes darkened.
"...What exactly do the two of you think you are doing?"
"What?"
"Who is the Clan Head of the Yi family?"
"..."
"If a stranger walked in right now, they would take the two of you for the heads of the Yi Clan."
The words stung — the two of them flinched — but their manner did not change.
"That is not the issue at hand, is it? The funds are—"
"I am the one who manages those funds, Mother."
"..."
"And you, Uncle."
The head of the Wun Clan, who had been blustering along, looked up at Yi Won.
Yi Won found himself recalling a sight he had once witnessed — Yi Do, in a moment like this one. What would Yi Do do here? The answer flowed out of him naturally.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"...Hm...?"
"Since when did the Wun Clan stand above the Yi Clan?"
"..."
"However you spin it, even my own maternal uncle is, strictly speaking, a subordinate family sworn to the Yi Clan. What is with this insolence?"
Perhaps he had nothing to say, or perhaps he conceded he had overstepped — either way, Wun Mu-jeong's mouth clamped shut.
"If you dare spit such nonsense at the Clan Head's decisions one more time, then what follows... I will leave to your imagination. Do I make myself clear?"
Wun Mu-jeong's brow creased. Yi Won ignored him.
"And you, Mother."
"...Yes."
"I have said this before — I am the Clan Head now. How long do you intend to act as though you sit above me?"
"...You child. Do you not understand that all of this is for your sake and the family's?"
"I do. And yet, Mother, you have long since crossed every line there is. When it comes to the family's affairs, I will take your counsel to heart — but if you continue to overstep as you are doing now, then no matter that you are my mother, I will not stand idle."
Yi Won's manner was sharper than either of them had expected, and Lady Un, too, fell silent.
"And one more thing. Whether it is Geum-cheon Shin-geom or the Emperor Sword Sect — if they visit the Yi Clan, do nothing. I mean that. Do not attempt to hand Yi Do over to them. Nothing of the sort."
"...Won-ah. Yes, I understand your heart. But will you not hear your mother out?"
"Speak."
"Are you content to be the tail of the dragon?"
"..."
"Strictly speaking, you are not even a dragon. A concubine's bloodline with somewhat exceptional talent for the martial arts — a snake, one might say. You are living now as the tail of a snake. How can a man be content with that? Yi Do? I do not deny that his merit is great. But this is not right. The head of this family — yes, you are correct, it is you, not him. So why does your every action, your every thought, merely echo his? Why do you not think to move on your own? That is what I am asking."
"..."
"Everything I say, I say as your mother, for your sake. The Emperor Sword Sect's threat is at our very doorstep. Only a swift decision now can keep you safe — and keep the Yi Clan safe."
No. That must not happen.
It truly must not.
Yi Won's ears began to flap.
"...Who is Geum-cheon Shin-geom? An elder of the Emperor Sword Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects. His martial power has reached the monstrous Realm of Harmony — and we have already brought down the Jang Clan. Do you think Jang Un-yeon will simply sit still? One way or another, the Emperor Sword Sect will keep pressing us, again and again. You must live first before you can do anything at all, no?"
"...Go on."
"I looked into Geum-cheon Shin-geom's temperament separately. By all accounts, he is not a man utterly without mercy in his methods. He is known as a great hero of the orthodoxy. If our Yi Clan delivers Yi Do to him and assists in rebuilding the Jang Clan, his blade will not reach us."
It was a course of events entirely unlike anything Yi Do would have envisioned — and yet, Lady Un's reasoning was not entirely wrong.
In the end, the Emperor Sword Sect too would move toward whatever profited it. If the Yi Clan swore to offer everything it had to the sect — yes, it would be a form of slavery, but the odds of escaping annihilation would rise considerably.
"But a man's temperament often differs from his reputation."
"True, that's no lie. But what if there were powers willing to vouch for us?"
Yi Won tilted his head. Powers to speak on their behalf?
"The Hyeok-ri Clan."
His eyes flew wide open.
"If the Hyeok-ri Clan — second only to the Yi Clan in Jangryeong — stood with us to persuade Geum-cheon Shin-geom? And if that were not enough, we could summon the County Magistrate. Or the Commandery Governor. However formidable Geum-cheon Shin-geom may be, once the authorities involve themselves, we could steer him toward an agreeable outcome in the end."
"...But if Yi Do learns of this..."
"Tsk, why fret over such a thing? For our Yi Clan to survive, all it takes is killing that one man. It requires no thought at all — how can a Clan Head be so lacking in resolve?"
Yi Won clutched his head.
It made sense. From beginning to end, every word was correct.
Yes. Not a single thing is wrong. They are all right.
And how had I won this seat? I had knelt to the ground to take it.
He did not want it so easily pried from his hands.
"Can... can you truly bring the Hyeok-ri Clan over to us?"
Lady Un smiled brightly. "Of course. Your mother has already seen to all the preparations."
"...I will think on it. For now, leave me."
"...Very well. I only hope you judge wisely, as Clan Head. Are you not the hope of the Yi Clan?"
And with that, the two of them withdrew.
Left alone in the Clan Head's hall, Yi Won agonized over the question again and again.
It was not as though he had never considered it before.
Why did I kneel to Yi Do?
It had been to become Clan Head.
But imagine: one year passes, then five, and then ten long years slip by. Think of that day. Even if everything went flawlessly and he came to rule all of Jangryeong, to the question of who headed the Yi Clan in this sprawling commandery, one hundred travelers out of one hundred — every stray mongrel trotting past, even — would point to Yi Do.
He would live his whole life as a shadow. A scarecrow in life, a scarecrow in death.
And perhaps this was the last chance he would ever get to overturn that fate.
The scales were tipping.
Or perhaps...
they had already tipped.