The Fox's Ledger

Snow piled up on Jin So-wol's shoulders as she knelt before the door of the inner hall, flakes melting only to freeze again in the biting mountain wind.

Yet she did not so much as flinch.

Yun Cheon looked down at her without expression. Her knuckles—split and bleeding from gripping the spear shaft—were layered with thick calluses at every joint. These were not the hands of a delicately raised woman, but the mark of a warrior.

"I have heard that Jin Mu-yang's spear once shook with the majesty of the Black Dragon. And now his daughter comes to offer herself as a mere retainer of my sect?"

A cold silence swept across the training ground. So Ryong and the retainers held their breath, all eyes fixed on the Sect Leader's lips.

"If you would only accept me... I will devote myself to this sect with a spirit of selfless service, even unto death!"

A faint smile touched Yun Cheon's lips. The voice that followed, however, was cold as a sheet of ice.

"And yet, I have no intention of taking you in as a retainer."

Jin So-wol's shoulders visibly sagged. It was the price of the commotion she had stirred up, all in the name of restoring the Black Dragon Sect's honor. She bit her cracked lip and dropped her head.

"...I understand. I apologize for my presumptuous rudeness."

Just as her despair-laden voice sank low into the snow, Yun Cheon's words struck the training ground like a thunderclap.

"Instead, as of this day, I appoint Jin So-wol as a temporary instructor of the Black Dragon Sect."

"...!"

Jin So-wol's head snapped up in shock.

"The years carved into your spear technique are too precious to let rot as one retainer among hundreds. Prove to the retainers the blood and sweat you have shed alone. Then seize your proper standing with your own hands. That is my way."

Jin So-wol's shoulders trembled faintly. Temporary though it was, it was a position that placed her above the retainers, teaching them. Her black eyes quivered.

Temporary or not, it was a heavy responsibility—one that would shape the martial strength of the entire Black Dragon Sect. The woman who had barged in uninvited and caused an uproar was being treated not as a burden, but as a comrade—and moreover, as a warrior whose ability had been recognized.

"...I accept your gracious command. I, Jin So-wol, shall stand at the vanguard of the Black Dragon Sect."

She clenched her fists and bowed deeply.

"Your resolve pleases me. So Ryong—grant her the old banner of the Black Dragon Sect. It seems the time has come for her to reclaim her true martial arts."

Yun Cheon gave the order with a tilt of his chin toward So Ryong, who stood beside him. Both So Ryong and Jin So-wol's mouths fell open.

"...You knew?"

"H-how could you—?!"

"I saw your martial arts. An ordinary spear pursues the straight line, but your methods carry weight in the coiling and turning as well—the art of overcoming a banner's resistance and mastering the wind itself. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That is no mere unconventional spear technique. It is the banner arts, if I am not mistaken."

In other words, Jin Mu-yang's true inherited art was never simply a spear technique—it was a martial discipline built around the bannered war spear. And Yun Cheon had pierced through to that foundation from a single bout alone.

Astonishment flooded Jin So-wol's eyes. After her father had laid down the Black Dragon Sect's banner, she had trained alone, believing she was merely refining an 'unconventional spear art.' Yet the Sect Leader had seen through to its very root with a single exchange.

"M-may I ask just one question?"

Jin So-wol's voice shook.

"Of course."

"If I were to take up a banner instead of a spear... could I become stronger than I am now?"

"If, and only if, you can truly master it."

"...!"

"A banner is no easy thing to wield. You must learn not only spear and polearm technique, but the subtlety of controlling a fluttering aura as well. Fail to master it properly, and you will simply expose your weaknesses. But... if you reach its extreme, it will be more powerful and more unpredictable than any spear. Is that question enough?"

At his answer, fighting spirit blazed to life in Jin So-wol's eyes. That alone made her choice plain to see.

"Y-yes, indeed!"

"Jin So-wol. Train the war spear into your hands, and teach the retainers polearms, spears, and every manner of long weapon besides."

Yun Cheon turned his head and motioned toward So Ryong with a jerk of his chin.

"So Ryong, guide her. See that she learns our sect's rules and our current training regimen."

"As you command! This So Ryong is, once again, utterly awed by your discerning eye, Sect Leader!"

So Ryong bellowed his reply, then disappeared deep into the storage house and returned hefting a dust-covered black box.

"Well now, big sister, do you finally understand? Why I threw away every scrap of my pride to serve that man...?"

So Ryong sidled up to Jin So-wol, hamming it up as though he'd been waiting all his life for this moment.

"...I'm sorry, So Ryong. I thought you'd sold the Black Dragon Sect off to some nameless grunt—when in truth you'd caught the tail of a dragon ascending to heaven."

At her apology, So Ryong shrugged with his trademark sly grin.

"I knew it the moment I laid eyes on him. That he was no man who would stay stuck at rank one hundred on the Wind Cloud Board..."

"You were clever enough as a child, too. I'd assumed you'd only grown up to be a schemer... but I suppose you've come along nicely."

"Haha... anyway—go on, open the box."

When the lid came off, an enormous banner emblazoned with the Black Dragon emblem emerged into view.

Snap—!

The sound of the banner unfurling in the mountain wind rang out like a dragon's roar. So Ryong murmured, thick with emotion.

"To think this banner would stand on a training ground again..."

Just as the misunderstanding had been cleared and their conversation was warming, a booming shout cut through the ruins of the main gate.

"The Sun Moon Merchant Guild requests an audience with the Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Sect!"

The cry shook the training ground to its foundations. A man with his bamboo hat pulled low was cupping his hands and bowing, peering out from beneath the brim.

"Wh-what?"

"Don't tell me—the Sun Moon Merchant Guild? One of the Ten Great Guilds of the Central Plains?"

In an instant, the training ground froze over.

The Sun Moon Merchant Guild? That colossal guild that holds the golden veins of the Central Plains—coming to offer congratulations first?

The Black Dragon Sect has already risen that far?!

Awe blossomed in the retainers' eyes. Yun Cheon, by contrast, remained composed. This was clearly the work of Yu Ha, young patriarch of the Sun Moon Merchant Guild.

That fox has set the table. What's he scheming this time?

Tuning out the retainers' buzzing whispers, Yun Cheon gave a quiet order.

"So Ryong, show our guests to the administrative office. And..."

"Understood! Right away!"

The Sect Leader's administrative office. Charcoal crackled and blazed in the brazier.

Yun Cheon faced the man sent by the Sun Moon Merchant Guild.

"I am Geum Bu-dong, Qinghai Branch Manager of the Sun Moon Merchant Guild."

Meticulously composed bearing, a shrewd glint in his eyes. The man radiated the imposing gravity of a magnate who controlled the economy of an entire province.

"Sent by Yu Ha, are you? State your business first."

Geum Bu-dong smiled a benevolent merchant's smile and drew something from his robes, setting it carefully on the table.

Clang—.

With a ring of metal, the object settled onto the table: a Black Iron Token of the Mad Path Pavilion, precisely split in half.

The very token Yu Ha had once paid with to mobilize the Life and Death Venerable on Yun Cheon's behalf.

A demand for repayment, is it?

Yun Cheon flicked the cold, cooled metal with his fingertip.

"You've come to collect an investment, it seems. Very well—what does Yu Ha want?"

Geum Bu-dong answered with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Our Young Patriarch judges that the Black Dragon Sect occupies a position of heaven-blessed strategic value, linking the Heavenly Mountains and the Central Plains. He therefore wishes to purchase the surrounding lands, including the Black Dragon Inn. The guild is prepared to pay the highest price within its means."

Yun Cheon shot So Ryong a subtle glance.

"What in the—!"

So Ryong sprang to his feet at once, unable to contain himself.

"We've only just gotten on our feet, and they demand we hand over our land! Is some great guild planning to crush us by brute force?"

So Ryong's fury was justified. On its surface, this looked precisely like a giant guild squeezing a small sect to strip away its assets.

He brought out the Black Iron Token for something this trivial?

But Yun Cheon studied the split seam of the token, working to read Yu Ha's true intent.

No... this is a proposal that looks past the present—toward a farther future, and higher ground.

The Black Iron Token was not a veiled threat about a debt. It was Yu Ha's emblem of friendship and trust.

You want me to trust you, then.

Yun Cheon looked down at the token on the table once more, then stilled So Ryong and spoke calmly.

"Let us hear your demands through to the end. There must be ancillary clauses—security authority, terms of trade, and the like?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Geum Bu-dong's eyes. This was a composure more merchant-like than any merchant's.

"Excellent. There are three demands. First, security for the districts the guild enters will be handled by the Black Dragon Sect. Second, exclusive trade with the Sun Moon Merchant Guild, and adoption of the guild's promissory notes. Third, the maintenance and regularization of the duel arena."

"You want us to become the guild's guard dogs, is that it?"

So Ryong flew off the handle again, but the abacus beads in Yun Cheon's head clicked along a different track entirely.

Granting us security authority means formally recognizing the Black Dragon Sect as the governing martial power of this region. Exclusive trade means a monopoly on our supply lines, and regularizing the duel arena is a scheme to forcibly pull foot traffic through our gates.

Yu Ha was not simply trying to swallow the Black Dragon Sect.

If he were, he would have swallowed it long ago. The fact that he came only after I took office ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as Sect Leader... means he wants to raise the stakes?

It was just like Yu Ha. Far from recovering his investment, he was pouring in several times more with shameless abandon—a proposal of symbiosis: raise the Black Dragon Sect into one of Qinghai's major powers, and set the Sun Moon Merchant Guild's golden veins flowing through it.

That was Yun Cheon's reading of the guild's offer. Even so, he could hardly fold so meekly.

"I accept. However, we have conditions of our own."

At Yun Cheon's immediate answer, Geum Bu-dong's eyebrows twitched.

"Not a refusal... you accept?"

"I do. In exchange: first, lands essential to the Black Dragon Sect's expansion are never to be touched. Second, this will be a lease, not a sale. And thirty percent of all commercial profits generated will belong to the Black Dragon Sect as our share."

Even So Ryong, standing at his side, broke into a cold sweat, certain his Sect Leader was pushing his demands past all reason.

S-Sect Leader! I know you ordered me to oppose everything, but... is this really, truly going to be all right?!

So Ryong had nitpicked every word out of Geum Bu-dong's mouth exactly as instructed, but by this point he was starting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to think it wasn't Geum Bu-dong who needed restraining—it was Yun Cheon.

"Thirty percent?! That's the guild's entire margin—!"

"My demands are not yet finished. And lastly—as the price of our exclusive contract, report to us regularly, every month, all the information on the martial world that the Sun Moon Merchant Guild acquires. We do not wish to be mere vassals. We demand an exchange of information between equals."

Clack!

In that instant, the abacus beads Geum Bu-dong had been flicking slipped out of rhythm with a sharp crack.

An accounting more ruthless than any merchant's. Geum Bu-dong's brow furrowed.

If the Black Dragon Sect sold off the land, they could pocket an enormous fortune on the spot. But the new Sect Leader was not swayed by it. By choosing a land lease and information sharing over immediate profit, he had chosen the future over the present.

Run the numbers, and strictly speaking the guild doesn't exactly lose. And yet... how cunning. He refuses to give up the land, leases it back to secure long-term returns, and even reaches for our intelligence network...

Geum Bu-dong had weathered every storm a merchant could face, but he had never encountered arithmetic this vicious. It was like facing the Young Patriarch Yu Ha himself.

"Hmm... well, that is..."

Just one thing still troubled him: that the Black Dragon Sect remained, compared to the Sun Moon Merchant Guild, an absurdly small power.

At that moment, Yun Cheon stepped forward and drove in the final nail.

"Selling this land today would be selling the future. Branch Manager—would you gladly bind yourself to a sect that sells its tomorrow? Or would you rather grow alongside a sect that dares to look farther ahead?"

Yun Cheon's words struck true. It struck Geum Bu-dong to the bone just why the Young Patriarch had left the Black Dragon Sect alone all this time, and sent him only after the new Sect Leader took office.

Yu Baek-cheon had pressed those words upon him before departure, ordering a rigorous vetting—but Geum Bu-dong's heart had already begun to tilt.

In the end... business is the business of people. If this man is the Black Dragon Sect's leader, then the sect's future is bright beyond measure!

Geum Bu-dong silently apologized to his grandfather.

Elder of the Black-and-White Paired Elders... try as I might from here on, I will find no flaw to seize. The Young Master Yu Ha's eye was true.

Geum Bu-dong set down his abacus and bowed his head to the Black Dragon Sect Leader.

"Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Sect—as of this day, the Qinghai Branch of the Sun Moon Merchant Guild stands allied with your sect."

"Naturally. We will settle the finer details later with So Ryong, General Manager of the Black Dragon Sect."

Geum Bu-dong clicked his tongue in admiration, gathered the signed documents, and withdrew.

Once the door closed and silence settled over the office, So Ryong—who had been glaring daggers only moments before—grinned and bowed at the waist.

"Sect Leader, how was my acting? Decent enough, I hope?"

Yun Cheon set down his teacup and answered shortly.

"It made the negotiation easy."

"Hehe, all I did was follow your orders and oppose everything the Sun Moon Merchant Guild said, that's all."

"Still, it made for fine improvisation."

Jin So-wol, who had watched the whole scene from the side, could only stand there dumbfounded.

That was... an act?

She had genuinely believed So Ryong was furious throughout the entire negotiation. To think it had all been directed by Yun Cheon.

The Sect Leader is... just what exactly is he?

The martial prowess of subduing a spear master barehanded. The cunning to tear exactly what he wanted out of a colossal merchant guild. And on top of it all, the leadership to keep a cunning operator like So Ryong dancing in the palm of his hand.

Before she knew it, Jin So-wol's grip on her spear shaft had tightened. A shiver ran down her spine—the premonition that she might truly live to see the Black Dragon ascend to the heavens.

"In any case... it's about time we started preparing."

"Yes. If Lady Jin So-wol came out of closed-door cultivation the moment word reached her... the rumor is spreading at an alarming pace. Far more warriors will come flocking than before."

At that same hour, in the Black Dragon Inn.

A group of fierce-looking warriors was slowly scraping a knife-edge of their greatswords across the Wind Cloud Board rankings written on the notice board.

"The Black Dragon? He takes the hundredth seat and dares to use the name of a dragon? Arrogance beyond all bearing."

One of the men crushed his wine cup in his fist and tore the notice board posting clean off the wall.

"Well then... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shall we see what this 'skill' of his is worth?"

Return of the Cloud Dragon

Author | Chu Sang (Autumn Frost)

Publisher | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.

Managing Editor | Editorial Department

Published by | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks

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