Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: You Must Gain Power
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#064: You Must Gain Power
After explaining the effects of the War King Arts to Cheong So-so, I began my cultivation technique again.
After about ten minutes of cultivation, a tearing pain wracked my body, and sweat poured down like rain.
Blood oozed from my stab and slash wounds, and a needle-like pain pricked at the meridians and pressure points throughout my body.
Still, it was working.
‘It’s moving.’
The War King Energy, which had been frozen solid in my dantian, was beginning to thaw.
“Gasp, gasp.”
The moment I felt the effect, I stopped the technique.
My body’s condition told me I couldn’t push it any further.
After briefly recovering my strength, I started the technique again. I repeated this process three times and finally achieved my initial goal.
“Hoo…”
The War King Energy, which had initially moved like a speck of dust, had now grown to the size of a grain of rice. It began to move on its own, purging the impurities.
As if it had a spirit of its own.
Furthermore, the medicinal brew made from near-elixirs worth 490 nyang accelerated the movement of the War King Energy even more.
‘Worth every penny.’
It was just as you’d expect from a secret decoction from the Cheong Family, the best general hospital of this era.
The problem was.
“Grrr…”
The constant movement had reopened my wounds, and it hurt.
A lot.
Cheong So-so, who had been lingering nearby, quickly approached.
“Let me see.”
After examining my wounds for a moment, she unwrapped the bandages and started sprinkling a powdered medicine on them.
“Ugh!”
“Don’t be such a baby. Are you really a master?”
“Hey! Didn’t you see me give Baek Mu-ha a thorough beating?”
“That’s what I mean. I saw it with my own eyes, so I can’t not believe it… but you act just like a local troublemaker.”
“Ow, that stings! Please be gentle.”
“Just bear with it!”
A moment later, after finishing the simple treatment, Cheong So-so spoke with a slightly relieved expression.
“Thankfully, the wounds haven’t torn open again.”
She continued as she wrapped a new bandage.
“By the way, is this method really effective?”
“I just tried it, and it worked.”
“Hmm, alright. I’ll keep an eye on you for now, but call me immediately if you feel anything strange. Internal injuries aren’t something you can be careless about, especially when your organs are damaged like yours, Squad Leader Jin.”
With that, Cheong So-so went into the Cheong Family’s branch office.
As she said, my internal injuries were severe.
Thanks to that, I was blowing through money and suffering all the while.
‘This is all Baek Mu-ha’s fault.’
He and I had already crossed a river of no return. He would use his connections in the Heavenly Dragon Society and his backing from the White Dragon Hall to come after me.
There was no making amends now, so I had to prepare thoroughly as well.
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
“Senior Jin, are you there?! Jeon Muk of the Gray Dragon Hall is here!”
“…I’m here too.”
It was that I, too, had made connections during the Nine Dragons Tournament.
And not just any connections, but ones with backgrounds so powerful they were overflowing.
“Why are you here?”
“What about you, Senior Red Dragon Sword?! You didn’t even cross blades with Senior Fighting Dragon.”
“He is to be my family’s future live-in son-in-law.”
“Hmph, says who! Senior Jin is slated to become the Vice Hall Master of our Gray Dragon Hall!”
“What?”
Despite a little bickering.
“Don’t be like that, please have a seat. Sister! Could you bring us some tea?”
Even after I refused their recruitment offers, these two had consistently visited under the pretext of checking on me.
It might not have been out of pure goodwill, but that was fine.
Thanks to them, I wasn't bored while lying in bed.
We’d also gotten friendlier in the process.
What are connections, anyway? They’re built just like this.
Jeok Il looked at me, sweating, with a surprised expression.
“Were you training? In your condition?”
“Huh? Ah… well, I was getting restless just lying around.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to hunt down the man who reported that you had no interest in martial arts.”
I didn’t know who the target was, but it sounded like there would be wailing in the Red Dragon Hall tonight.
Anyway, to submit such a report.
The guy was clearly a poor judge of character.
Where else would you find someone who works as hard as I do?
Jeon Muk chimed in, filled with admiration.
“To think you’re so earnest! I, Jeon Muk, will follow your example, Senior Jin, and dedicate myself even more to my training.”
“Right. If you keep working hard, your day will come.”
“Yes!”
For the record, this guy was much stronger than I was at his age.
If I’d fought him with my skills from back then, I probably would have surrendered in less than a hundred seconds.
As the three of us were chatting over tea, Jeok Il brought up a serious topic.
“The White Dragon Hall has been making some strange moves lately.”
“What kind of moves?”
“It seems they’re scheming against the Outer Hall. They’ll probably call for its dismantlement.”
“What?!”
“It’s not time to worry yet, so you just focus on your recovery. Dismantling an organization the size of the Outer Hall isn’t easy.”
“But still…”
What worker would stay calm hearing rumors that their workplace is shutting down?
“Is this because I defeated Baek Mu-ha?”
“That’s part of it. But it’s more likely because of Hall Master Bukgung. From Hall Master Baek’s perspective, he suffered a great humiliation.”
“I see.”
As the atmosphere grew heavy, Jeon Muk chimed in again.
“Don’t you worry, Senior. The Gray Dragon Hall will never agree to such nonsense.”
“Thanks.”
His friendly demeanor made the huge twenty-year-old seem rather cute.
“So, as soon as you recover, let’s go to the mines together and swing some pickaxes…”
Until he started spouting this nonsense.
* * *
That night.
Lying in bed, I was lost in thought.
‘The White Dragon Hall…’
I could understand why they were acting this way.
In the world of martial arts, a warrior’s pride is as precious as his life.
A man of the White Dragon Hall Master’s stature would have immense pride.
With that pride scratched, he had to do something.
Otherwise, he would lose face in front of his subordinates.
But wasn’t this too petty?
Instead of facing me honorably as a warrior, he was using his power to try and dismantle the Outer Hall.
‘Those bastards.’
The father and son were exactly alike.
‘Trying to dismantle the Outer Hall…’
Honestly, if anyone other than Jeok Il had told me this, I would have dismissed it as nonsense.
After all, it was the Outer Hall that achieved the greatest merits in the recent Southern Barbarian War.
Hall Master Bukgung Baek himself had even earned the highest distinction for his contributions.
Proposing to dismantle such an organization would surely get one branded an idiot.
The problem was, that idiot was Baek Jung-cheon.
In terms of military power, they were third, after the Green and Blue Dragon Halls.
In terms of wealth, second only to the Gold Dragon Hall.
On top of that, Hall Master Baek Jung-cheon was known as a master of politics.
A man like that proposing a motion that would make him look like an idiot?
Impossible.
He must have some other trick up his sleeve.
“This won’t do.”
The heavy thoughts chased away my sleep.
I figured I should take a walk around the neighborhood.
Cheong So-so would throw a fit if she found out, but what could I do?
I was dying of restlessness just lying still.
As I secretly slipped out of my room and began to walk slowly.
“Where are you going so cautiously in the middle of the night? Like a thief in the night.”
“Whoa! You scared me.”
Yong Ma-san, his head reflecting the moonlight, walked over.
“Make some noise when you walk. You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?”
“I came to check the security around your residence, Squad Leader Jin.”
He said with a shrug.
“By the way, seeing as you haven’t opened your senses yet, your internal injuries must be severe, I presume?”
“Yeah, it hurts like hell.”
“Still, you should consider yourself lucky, Squad Leader Jin. You have a renowned doctor like Lady Cheong by your side, don’t you?”
“Renowned doctor? She’s just a young lady who knows a bit of medicine.”
“…Perhaps you don’t know because you live together. There’s no one around here who hasn’t heard of the Blue Flower Divine Maiden.”
“What? Blue Flower Divine Maiden? Lady Cheong already has a title?”
“Of course. A touch of her hand can cure illnesses that have plagued people for ten years.”
“…Was she really that amazing?”
“Are you not paying attention, or are you unable to? And in Lady Myo’s case…”
“My sister? What about her?”
Yong Ma-san closed his mouth.
“…It would be better if you heard it from her yourself.”
“What? How anticlimactic.”
“Anyway, did you come out for a walk?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep, so I’m going for a stroll.”
“How about I accompany you? It would be a disaster if you were ambushed while wandering around in your condition.”
“An ambush? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“The White Dragon Sword has never spared anyone who stood in his way.”
“Let’s go together.”
“A wise decision.”
Walking while watching the moonlight reflect off his head, I started to feel a bit better.
As if sensing my mood, Yong Ma-san spoke.
“You seem frustrated.”
“About what?”
“About Baek Jung-cheon. Isn’t he trying to propose the dismantlement of the Outer Hall at the Hall Masters’ meeting?”
“How did you… no, never mind. A man like you would know.”
I’d forgotten this guy was the master of the Underworld Guild ver. 2.
Yong Ma-san chuckled and continued.
“You don’t need to worry for now.”
“For now?”
“Baek Jung-cheon’s goal isn’t to dismantle the Outer Hall.”
“Then what?”
“It’s the members of the Outer Hall themselves.”
“What?”
I couldn’t hide my shock at Yong Ma-san’s next words.
“If he proposes to dismantle the Outer Hall, on what grounds would others object?”
“On the grounds of its necessity, of course…!”
“Your head isn’t completely empty, I see. That’s right. The opposition will emphasize the Outer Hall’s importance. With its performance in the Southern Barbarian War, a supreme master like Hall Master Bukgung, and Squad Leader Jin who took second place in the Nine Dragons Tournament, it’s objectively not a force to be taken lightly.”
“…”
“If I were Baek Jung-cheon, I would propose a different motion amidst that public opinion: that since the Outer Hall’s military strength is considerable, the Fortress should assign it missions. The halls that opposed the dismantlement would be unable to object, having already spoken of its value.”
“That crazy bastard!”
In short, he planned to elevate the Outer Hall’s status to that of the eight inner halls and assign it missions.
What does that mean?
It means they intend to dispatch Outer Hall warriors on missions of the seven ranks.
The problem is, the Outer Hall warriors, who are merely second-rate, could never succeed in these missions.
In other words, nine out of ten would surely die.
Naturally, warriors fearing for their lives would quit in droves, and in the end, only a few, including myself and Bukgung Baek, would remain.
With its numbers depleted, the Outer Hall would have no choice but to be dismantled.
“…Is there a reason you’re giving me this advice?”
“It’s just that it reminds me of the Underworld Guild a hundred years ago.”
“What?”
“Back then, the Underworld Guild was also powerless and pushed around by influential factions. Perhaps tired of it all, our only military force, the Crimson King Brigade, betrayed us. After that, as you know, Squad Leader Jin, we began our decline.”
I’d just heard an unexpected secret history.
Yong Ma-san gave a self-deprecating laugh and continued.
“If you don’t want to be shaken by others, you must gain power. I believe you are more than capable of it, Squad Leader Jin.”