Yeah, I'll Wait
‘A millennia-old noble house?’
At that moment, the black-robed elder took a step closer to Yeop Hyeon.
“People encounter all sorts of unexpected events in life, don’t they?”
With those words, the black-robed elder slowly clenched his fist.
At the same time, a tremendous energy began to envelop Yeop Hyeon’s entire body.
Just then, an old man dressed in mourning clothes appeared from one side of the street. His hair hung down to his shoulders, and a goatee adorned his face.
At his arrival, the black-robed elder furrowed his brow, glanced once more at Yeop Hyeon, and vanished.
The mourning-clad elder then approached Yeop Hyeon.
After giving him a quick once-over, a flicker of intrigue flashed in the elder’s eyes before swiftly turning into a complicated gaze.
“Are you from the An family as well, old timer?”
“Indeed!”
“Then I must be quite the big deal in the eyes of your An house.”
The mourning elder blinked in bewilderment for a moment before shaking his head.
“That’s putting it mildly. I never imagined you’d have the gall to say it so brazenly.”
“……”
“As you know, our An house values not just talent but bloodline and background above all. The world we live in is far more brutal than you can imagine. Alliances with powerful clans are a matter of survival for us. And among them, the young miss is an extraordinarily special existence. She can never marry an ordinary person. Do you understand?”
Caught off guard by the elder’s bluntness, Yeop Hyeon found himself at a loss for words.
“Truth be told, your talent isn’t bad at all in my eyes. But unfortunately, the An house is teeming with geniuses on your level—that’s the problem. And you have no background to speak of, do you? If you aspire to become a Sword Immortal… well, know that our An house already has four of them.”
Four Sword Immortals?
“I’ve said enough for you to get the picture, so I’ll take my leave for today. If you persist in this folly, it could bring harm to the young miss. Don’t forget—she had to step in last time because of something you couldn’t handle!”
With that, the elder vanished.
Standing alone in the middle of the wide avenue, Yeop Hyeon remained dazed for a long while.
A moment later, he shook his head with a self-mocking smile.
“Ranxiu… I’m still not quite there yet……”
He lowered his head, gazing at his Spirit Water Sword, then suddenly burst into laughter and shouted.
“Damn it all! Fine, I’ve got no status, no family—nothing but this one sword! But one day, with this blade, I’ll conquer the world! Ranxiu, just hold on a little longer!”
Yeop Hyeon strode forward with bold steps.
At that instant, atop the Gyeok Ok Tower, two of the three swords—the ones on the left and right—trembled faintly before settling back into stillness.
A short while later, a woman appeared in the spot where Yeop Hyeon had vanished. She wore robes as white as snow.
It was An Ranxiu.
A smile bloomed on An Ranxiu’s lips, beautiful enough to drain the color from the heavens themselves.
“Yeah, I’ll wait……”
As she began to walk, An Ranxiu soon melted into the shadows.
Returning to Canglan Academy, Yeop Hyeon immediately threw himself into training.
He focused first on sword techniques.
One Sword Determines Life and Death and the flying sword arts he had developed were his primary targets.
His flying sword arts, in particular, still held vast potential for growth. Yeop Hyeon began researching ways to strengthen them.
If he could incorporate One Sword Determines Life and Death into his flying sword arts, the blade could unleash the technique repeatedly with every strike. That alone would dramatically boost his combat prowess.
Beyond that, Yeop Hyeon started pondering the applications of sword momentum, sword potential, sword intent, and especially Borrowed Power. He was still quite immature with the latter.
Until now, wars had left no time to refine these, but with some breathing room at last, he could finally review his path of the sword.
Not just Yeop Hyeon—all the martial artists of Canglan Academy were devoting themselves utterly to training. Especially the students teetering on the edge of expulsion—they trained with desperate fervor.
Who would want to leave a place brimming with glory, training resources, elixirs, weapons, and techniques?
No one in Canglan Academy wanted to leave. To stay, they had to survive through relentless cultivation. They knew full well how many others desperately longed to join.
Competition breeds progress, after all.
The seventy Jiang Kingdom soldiers Yeop Hyeon had invited were also enduring grueling times.
They were learning the Killing Intent Art. To master it, they had to accumulate killing intent. For that reason, Gu Jiu took them out every day, and they invariably returned half-dead.
Their daily training was conducted at intensities that pushed human limits.
Fortunately, Canglan Academy had money to spare.
Golden Creation Pills and all manner of great replenishing elixirs were supplied in abundance.
Moreover, the martial techniques they trained in were at minimum Earth Grade, and their equipment was top-tier Mystic Grade without question.
However, Gu Jiu didn’t hand over the Black Flame Cavalry’s gear so easily.
They had to meet her set standards first.
Only those who qualified received the Black Flame Cavalry equipment.
What martial artist wouldn’t feel frustrated staring at the finest gear, just out of reach?
Training upon training!
To claim that equipment, nothing less than life-risking effort would do.
Most crucially, the bottom performers in the exam a month from now would be expelled from Canglan Academy.
The academy provided the best food, gear, and training resources. What martial artist would want to leave such a place?
For that reason, nearly all the soldiers threw themselves into training with their lives on the line.
Naturally, their skills advanced at a breakneck pace.
Beyond that, after appointing Geom Cho-cho as chief financial officer, Canglan Academy underwent massive changes.
The academy began drawing crowds daily—visitors eager to observe the training. They all paid an entry fee. It wasn’t a huge sum individually, but the sheer volume of people made it substantial.
On the first day of this “opening,” they raked in over twenty million taels.
And Geom Cho-cho took two million of it.
That wasn’t all her income, though. She also auctioned off unused land near the academy to those who wanted to live close by.
On the first auction day, she sold five plots—each about a hundred pyeong—for thirty million taels in gold.
The land around Canglan Academy spanned tens of thousands of mu at minimum.
With various side ventures succeeding, she pocketed thirty million taels on day one alone.
At this rate, joining the ranks of Jiang Kingdom’s great magnates would be a breeze.
She even assembled people and horses to scour the mountains for mines and veins.
Sure enough, within less than a month, they discovered a genuine gold mine in a mountain range about a thousand li from Canglan Academy.
The news sent the entire academy into a frenzy.
A single gold mine meant huge things for Canglan Academy. Billions of taels’ worth of gold lay buried there at least.
Acknowledging her功, Yeop Hyeon rewarded Geom Cho-cho with tens of millions in gold and a single Mystic Grade spirit artifact. Having tasted success, she dragged her brother Geom So-wang and even her family into Canglan Academy to help.
Geom Cho-cho went further, forming a “business unit” of over a hundred people under her command. Their ventures generated no small sum. Though only a hundred strong, they oversaw all of Canglan Academy’s operations.
This unit also approached Jiang Kingdom’s many noble houses: pay a fee, and their children could train at the academy. Stand out, and they’d arrange formal enrollment.
Yeop Hyeon hadn’t expected much from this at first. He figured rich clans were scarce.
But that was dead wrong.
Jiang Kingdom’s noble houses weren’t poor—they were filthy rich.
Thirty million taels per head.
Canglan Academy accepted trainees from over twenty such houses for that fortune. That alone projected six hundred million taels in annual revenue.
Of course, those houses could cut ties anytime. But Yeop Hyeon realized they had no desire to.
Martial artists who trained at Canglan Academy returned to vastly better treatment than before.
Inquiries flooded in from countless noble houses wanting to send their warriors. Geom Cho-cho was swamped, nearly paralyzed by the workload.
In less than two months, Canglan Academy had transformed beyond recognition.
Its influence grew, and so did its strength.
But Yeop Hyeon had one worry.
There were too few peak experts in Canglan Academy. Gu Jiu, Mu Won, and Bong Nam hadn’t revealed their true power yet. Even if they were exceptional, would they fight in the academy’s wars?
Yeop Hyeon felt the academy’s lack of strength down to his bones.
One day, O Ru-ju of Chwi Seon Ru visited Canglan Academy.
Meeting Yeop Hyeon in the guest quarters, O Ru-ju grinned.
“Yeop Hyeon! I’ve brought a gift that’ll surprise you.”
“Hahaha! Really? Now I’m excited!”
O Ru-ju chuckled and pulled out a box he’d brought. Inside lay five swords.
All Mystic Grade blades.
Then, spreading his hand, a black sword sheath appeared in his palm.
“This is……?”
O Ru-ju smiled.
“A True Grade sword sheath. Auctioned to our Chwi Seon Ru by a Sword Immortal from Jungto Sinju. Worth twenty-six billion in gold… or more precisely, twenty-five million top-grade spirit stones. Need it?”
“……”