The Perfect Way to Seize Victory
“Waaah! Waaaaah!”
At the Golden Prince Seok Geum-ryong’s flawless reversal, not only the others but even the weathered gamblers who had predicted his defeat burst into cheers and stared in disbelief.
Even if a miracle had happened, they had thought he would only manage to force a tie. To wipe out the dice entirely and reduce the result to zero was beyond ingenious; it was a move no one could have imagined, not even gamblers who had spent decades drifting from one gaming den to another.
“I-it can’t be!”
What shocked the red-robed old man, Na Cheon-lip, the Heaven-Earth Scholar who had been watching with growing anxiety, was no different.
That was only natural. Dice used in proper gambling houses were typically made of ivory, hard and resistant to scratches.
And not just ordinary ivory, either. They were treated with lacquer and other methods to make them sturdier, so no tricks or petty sleight of hand could easily alter them.
Which meant that even a superb internal-energy master would have difficulty turning one to powder and making it vanish with bare hands.
“This is cheating! It’s clearly hidden in your sleeve or your clothes—!”
Gwi-su, on the verge of collapse, shouted at Seok Geum-ryong.
In response, Seok Geum-ryong calmly held out his sleeves for all to see, then even stripped off his upper garment and turned out every pocket in his trousers.
Look all you want. You won’t find the dice.
Looking down at Gwi-su’s frantic search, Seok Geum-ryong clicked his tongue inwardly.
The dice were already gone, perfectly erased.
How, then, could they be found?
Just what happened here?
Not only Na Cheon-lip, but Hong Hwa-hee, the owner of Hoho-gak, and the gamblers were all desperate to know.
The truth was this.
Just before Seok Geum-ryong calmly placed the dice into the bowl and began to roll them, he had unleashed Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique with full force.
He was already a prodigy with terrifying internal energy, but after recently obtaining the thousand-year Longing Core, his internal strength had become almost impossible to match. It went without saying how monstrous that made him.
Clatter!
The table jolted briefly, and in that instant the dice spinning fiercely in the bowl were utterly scattered by Seok Geum-ryong’s internal force.
Completely. So thoroughly that hardly a trace remained.
Turning dice made of lacquered ivory to powder with internal force alone was a realm accessible only to monsters who had surpassed the Super Peak realm by a wide margin.
“Th-this is absurd! Absolute nonsense!”
Gwi-su, who had suffered an unexpectedly crushing defeat, shouted in panic.
But his argument had no weight behind it.
“Was there a clause in the oath that said the dice couldn’t be made to disappear? If not, then I’d say the victory belongs to me for eliminating the dice themselves.”
By contrast, Seok Geum-ryong presented his case calmly, which only strengthened its force.
In fact, the oath contained no rule forbidding the dice from being destroyed, and it plainly stated that the one who rolled the lower number of the two dice would win. By every measure, this was Seok Geum-ryong’s victory.
“My heavens, my heavens!”
Gwi-su and Hong Hwa-hee both still could not believe it, their pupils trembling.
Seok Geum-ryong looked at the despairing men of Hoho-gak and spoke with formal certainty.
“According to the oath, sir, you are now a free man, and all your debts have also been forgiven. There should be no reason left for you to continue hounding us.”
In other words, if they tried to interfere like this again, they had better be ready for what came next.
Seok Geum-ryong was not some nobody, nor was he an immature young master posturing on the Seok family’s protection. Having experienced that fact firsthand, who in the room could possibly argue against his words?
“As expected of Chilseonggun’s descendant. Remarkable!”
Now free, Na Cheon-lip was following behind Seok Geum-ryong in high spirits, looking as though he might shout for joy.
It’s not just his internal energy. He’s got the nerve and strategic mind to devise something this ingenious too!
Na Cheon-lip had spent time in the Jianghu, and in places even harsher than the martial world itself, drifting through gambling dens and meeting all kinds of people. Yet he had never before encountered someone so multifaceted and gifted.
“And I’d like one more promise from you as well, sir.”
Having handled everything to perfection, Seok Geum-ryong then asked Heaven-Earth Scholar Na Cheon-lip to promise him one thing too.
“What? A promise about what?”
Na Cheon-lip, who had been inwardly admiring Seok Geum-ryong’s talent and breadth of spirit, looked up with interest at the request.
“From this moment you spend with me onward, promise that you will give up gambling and drinking entirely.”
Seok Geum-ryong said it coolly.
He carried a great deal of regret for Na Cheon-lip, whom he had failed to look after in his previous life, but strictly speaking, the one who had ruined himself and burned everything down was none other than Na Cheon-lip himself.
However many misfortunes and unlucky circumstances had followed him, there were plenty of people with even worse lives who still never touched gambling or alcohol and lived healthy, decent lives.
It’s cruel, but I can’t help it.
Even if it pained him, Seok Geum-ryong had no choice.
If Na Cheon-lip failed to give those things up and followed him to Bukcheon-won only to keep spreading unhealthy habits, then he would cut him loose without hesitation.
“You’re saying exactly what Seong-cheon said. Of course I will. Even if only out of regret for Seong-cheon, who passed away so pointlessly, I’ll keep my promise to you for certain. If I break it, then cut off my head.”
Na Cheon-lip made his resolve clear, even going so far as to say that if he broke his promise, Seok Geum-ryong should kill him.
Of course, giving up gambling and alcohol would bring many hardships and trials, but Na Cheon-lip was certain he could endure them.
He was no longer alone. He now had the Golden Prince Seok Geum-ryong, and a place that felt like home to return to.
Even if he could never drink or gamble again, he would not despair.
Smiling brightly, Heaven-Earth Scholar Na Cheon-lip grinned.
* * *
Seok Geum-ryong and his group, having erased Na Cheon-lip’s debts in full, escorted him out of Hoho-gak and headed straight for a nearby faction stronghold.
Na Cheon-lip had been wondering where they were going when, to his surprise—
“T-this direction is... toward Cold Blood Sect, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you’re heading to Cold Blood Sect?”
He shouted in alarm.
“That’s right.”
Unlike the startled Na Cheon-lip, Seok Geum-ryong remained perfectly composed.
“Listen, I don’t know whether you realize this, but Cold Blood Sect is not like an ordinary black-market gang. They control Xi’an’s back alleys, where money flows like a river, and they have more masters than most demonic factions. And if they ever take an interest in revenge, they won’t stop until they’ve killed every last person they hate and vented all their rage. So I wouldn’t recommend making enemies with them.”
Na Cheon-lip tried to convince him with a detailed explanation of Cold Blood Sect.
His words were reasonable. Cold Blood Sect was on an entirely different scale from the average alley gang.
In all of the Central Plains, it would not be an exaggeration to call them the largest black-market faction, with no shortage of experts among their ranks.
Since ancient times, wherever black money gathered, thugs and ruffians inevitably gathered to sniff it out.
Cold Blood Sect had unified all such men under one banner and steadily grown strong enough that neither orthodox nor demonic sects could casually lay a hand on them.
“I’ve picked up enough about the workings of black-market groups from hearsay to know the basics. As you say, sir, the best course is to avoid any grudge with them. But... didn’t we already bring you away from people who considered you their property?”
Seok Geum-ryong continued to persuade Na Cheon-lip with cool, logical reasoning.
Na Cheon-lip thought about it and found that Seok Geum-ryong was right.
That’s true. Those Cold Blood Sect bastards value me quite highly.
That was why they had made it convenient for him to gamble at Hoho-gak and even assigned escorts or lookouts of their own, worried he might get ideas about some impoverished old man’s silver.
The reason that normally prickly Cold Blood Sect had cared that much was simple.
Even if he was sunk in liquor and crazed by gambling, Na Cheon-lip was still Na Cheon-lip.
He still had real skill and utility left, so the sect leader had long since treasured his talents in secret.
They had intended to keep using him for a long time. So what would happen if some half-baked young master from Seokga Manor suddenly tried to snatch him away in the middle?
“Also, on the way into Hoho-gak, we already took down a few of Cold Blood Sect’s thugs. From what I’ve heard, Cold Blood Sect never forgets a grudge.”
Seok Geum-ryong and his group had already become people who could not coexist with Cold Blood Sect.
Once that side took offense, they were the kind to be vicious about it.
So how should they act?
“Isn’t it better for me to strike them first before they come after us?”
“...!!”
At Seok Geum-ryong’s perfectly reasonable answer, one that was still difficult to accept at first hearing, Na Cheon-lip was shocked once more.
Of course, it was easy to say, but charging first into a fearsome black-market gang was no different from sticking one’s head into a tiger’s den.
Na Cheon-lip was astonished again by Seok Geum-ryong’s courage in doing what everyone else avoided, and a host of thoughts crossed his mind.
His internal energy and composure are just like Chilseonggun Je Seong-cheon’s... but he’s stripped away Seong-cheon’s flaw of being too kind and rigid, and turned that into a clean, decisive way of cutting enemies down.
Na Cheon-lip concluded that Je Seong-cheon had certainly left behind an immensely fortunate descendant.
“Yes, exactly. Those men are not the sort to give up first. In that case... I’ll lead you to their back entrance.”
He had spent years living in this area, taking lodging from both Hoho-gak and Cold Blood Sect.
So instead of taking them to the heavily guarded front, where Cold Blood Sect’s best fighters were stationed, he guided Seok Geum-ryong and the others to a back entrance known only to those who truly understood the place.
This is the place.
Having recovered some of his martial skill and internal energy after proper treatment and restorative medicinal soup last time, Na Cheon-lip sent the thought by transmission.
It had been worth boasting that he knew a path only insiders knew.
“So this is why I was talking about that woman—”
“Hahaha!”
While the low-level thugs of Cold Blood Sect were chatting idly and laughing among themselves,
“From this moment on, I’m going to break the precept against killing in a big way.”
Shing!
Seok Geum-ryong drew the Silver Radiance Sword and stepped forward, fully resolved for once.
The precept against killing was, in origin, a rule observed by monks and those who had taken refuge in the Buddha’s law, meaning they did not casually take the lives of sentient beings.
Seok Geum-ryong was not a Buddhist, but he had always preferred to avoid unnecessary slaughter when he could.
Today, however, he was making an exception.
If my opponent is vicious, then I’m prepared to be even more vicious.
Seok Geum-ryong knew how to deal with black-market groups.
They were not the sort to give up until they were wiped out, more or less.
So what should he do?
Kill every last one of them, the way I want.
That would probably be cleaner, not just for the Xi’an area of Shaanxi, but for the entire Central Plains.
Step.
Thus the Golden Prince Seok Geum-ryong advanced with the Silver Radiance Sword drawn.
The ferocious aura and murderous intent spilling from him were on a completely different level from his usual self, and even from the man he had been when gambling dice at Hoho-gak.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Kid, this is a scary place.”
“You should’ve come with your parents. Heh heh heh.”
As Seok Geum-ryong, who still looked rather young, walked into the most dangerous part of the black-market back alleys, a place even Xi’an natives avoided if they could, the Cold Blood Sect thugs tried to scare him.
Then, as they looked more closely and saw how wealthy he appeared, they began to think they might make a good score if they got closer.
And at that very moment—
Wind-Wave Chaotic Flower!
The bloodbath Seok Geum-ryong had prepared for Cold Blood Sect began.