Chapter 58
Chapter 58
The Dagger in the Bag
Ten days had already passed since the friendly sparring match at the Sichuan Tang Clan concluded.
Though the shocking outcome was ripe for gossip, surprisingly, the details never spread beyond the Tang Clan's gates.
"You all know this, right? No one outside the Tang Clan should hear about the friendly sparring match."
"Of course! If word gets out, those jealous of our Young Lord might stir up trouble again!"
"Exactly. We have to protect him with everything we've got."
"Just as the Young Lord said—let's quietly gather our strength beneath the surface."
"Right. Until the day no one dares look down on us."
The sparring match brought tremendous change to everyone in the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Not because of the result, but because witnessing the process firsthand transformed their defeatist mindset and solidified their unity.
Moreover, since the participants from both teams suffered only minor injuries, no disputes arose afterward.
The only incident that worried the clan members afterward was when Zhang Yi, a member of the Young Lord's team, was suddenly found collapsed in the stables.
Perhaps the exhaustion from the grueling training and match had caught up to him—he had been discovered unconscious from sudden dizziness.
Given Zhang Yi's naturally robust constitution, rarely ever falling ill, everyone was startled.
He complained of a stiff neck and had lost an entire day's memories, but the matter ended on a touching note when the Young Lord himself personally nursed him back to health.
At any rate, while the clan members worked hard to keep their secrets...
"Hey, don't you think the Sichuan Tang Clan has been acting strangely lately?"
"Oh, you think so too?"
A dagger in a bag cannot hide its point (nangzhongzhichui—talent cannot stay hidden).
Even if it wasn't about the sparring match, plenty of other reasons had the Tang Clan on the lips of gossips.
And most of those reasons, unsurprisingly, stemmed from the exploits of the Young Lord, Tang Se-woon.
"Did you hear? The Green Dragon single-handedly wiped out the Neijiang Stronghold during an escort mission."
"Neijiang Stronghold? Wasn't that place about to join the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds?"
"Bah, just rumors. Their leader, the Flying Disaster Axe, was said to be at the pinnacle of martial arts. How could the Tang Clan's Young Lord possibly defeat him?"
"You've all been fooled—it's true! The escort route of the Green Dragon's convoy overlapped with the Haeyue Escort Agency's, and they confirmed the stronghold was completely destroyed."
"Wow, if that's true, the Green Dragon might as well join the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes!"
"I don't believe it. No one actually saw him fight, did they?"
Tang Se-woon, now leading the Tang Clan Escort Agency, had been swiftly clearing the backlog of missions.
Under his leadership, the agency's banner had returned to its former glory:
Debts of gratitude must be repaid; grudges are carved in blood.
Still, Se-woon didn't outright wage war against the Green Forest bandits who disrupted their operations—negotiation came first.
But for those who, remembering the Tang Clan's past weakness, tried to extort more money or dismiss them, he drew his blades without hesitation.
As the number of strongholds shut down by Se-woon's hand grew, clients who had initially been skeptical now entrusted their missions to the agency with confidence.
Yet the escort agency wasn't the only part of the Sichuan Tang Clan flourishing.
"Please, I must see the Divine Doctor today..."
"Sigh, I've been waiting for three days. How long have you been here?"
"Uh... two days..."
"Hah, seriously? Complaining after just that long?"
The Tang Clan's Medical Hall was also packed to the brim.
Twice as many patients as before formed endless lines outside the estate.
Beyond mere word of mouth, even high-ranking officials and renowned figures from Sichuan now silently joined the queue.
If they had once sought out the Tang Clan as a substitute for the distant Emei Sect, now they came because they had full faith in Se-woon's medical skills.
Moreover, Se-woon had already earned the recognition of Abbess Geumhwa, the Emei Sect's abbess.
Rumors spread that the two exchanged letters sharing treatment methods, further inflating his reputation by the day.
"Sigh... looks like I won't get treated today either..."
"I've booked a room at an inn in Tangjiadao below. Let's stay overnight and come back early tomorrow."
"Oh, really? Thank you!"
Even Tangjiadao, once abandoned and filled with empty houses after the clan's decline, was gradually regaining vitality.
As the wait times grew longer and more patients were turned away, many found the journey back to Chengdu too far and camping outdoors too exhausting.
Demand for lodging surged, prompting former clan members who had left to return to their hometown and open shops or inns one by one.
And they could do so only because Clan Leader Tang Mu-yeol lent them the funds.
Grateful for his forgiveness and embrace, they paid their rent diligently and voluntarily sought ways to contribute to the clan's revival.
But as the Sichuan Tang Clan's fortunes rose, so did envy and resentment.
Gossips latched onto one particular detail—the mine the clan had received as compensation from the Martial Alliance.
"Tsk tsk. Looks like the Tang Clan's prosperity won't last long."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Haven't you heard? Their Young Lord is wasting all the silver he earned on a worthless venture."
"Oh? Do tell."
"Periodically, carts loaded with useless ore enter the Tang Clan. They're pouring all their escort and medical earnings into digging for gold in that abandoned mine."
"Hah! Really? As they say, a leopard can't change its spots. The Green Dragon might be skilled in martial arts, but his brains are lacking."
Thus, rumors about Tang Se-woon spread beyond Sichuan, reaching the Central Plains.
Opinions were sharply divided—some saw him as the likely successor to the title of Sichuan's top prodigy, currently held by I Hoseong of the Qingcheng Faction.
Others dismissed him as a fool drunk on fleeting glory, wasting his time on nonsense.
But no matter how loudly others chattered...
Clang!
Clang!
"Hah..."
Se-woon paid them no mind, wholly focused on hammering away in the forge.
That night, after finishing his medical duties, Se-woon didn't return to his quarters.
Instead, he headed to the empty forge in the Iron Hall and picked up a hammer.
First the escort agency, then the Medical Hall—now he's even honing his blacksmithing skills for the clan's revival...
Watching from outside, clan members were moved to tears by Se-woon's tireless efforts.
But in reality...
'Hah... this Yin-Cold Energy is truly vicious.'
Se-woon wasn't practicing blacksmithing.
He was training his martial arts.
Or rather, suffering the aftereffects of his previous recklessness.
While hammering the materials, he simultaneously circulated his Golden Arm Internal Energy (Jinwan Donggong).
Hss... hss...
But unlike usual, his energy flow was obstructed.
A frost-like Yin-Cold Energy had settled throughout his meridians, disrupting the circulation.
The same Yin-Cold Energy he had used against the Nameless Swordsman's Extreme Flame was still wreaking havoc inside him.
'I met the minimum condition to unlock the Heavenly Net's second ability, but it was still too much.'
Se-woon grimaced inwardly.
Upon reaching the Pinnacle of Martial Arts, a second of the five spells embedded in the Heavenly Net had unlocked.
After the Tracking Technique in his ring finger...
The "Ice Wheel Threads" in his little finger was now accessible.
This ability froze anything the threads touched and granted resistance against even the most extreme Yang energies.
But the backlash after using it was severe.
'...The spells of the demonic path are truly terrifying.'
Unlike the Tracking Technique—a refined art from the orthodox Shennü Sect—the remaining four spells were deeply tied to unorthodox demonic methods.
The forbidden techniques inherited from the Ten Great Demon Arms' wielders and the materials used to forge them formed the foundation of these spells.
Though Se-woon had engraved the spell formulas perfectly in his mind, to wield them without side effects...
He needed to absorb the unique materials originally used to craft the Demon Arms into the Heavenly Net.
The Ice Wheel Threads, in particular, were tied to her Demon Arm.
Se-woon's mind conjured an image.
—Aren't you excited? The sight of the entire world freezing white and crumbling away.
A bewitching woman, sweeping her snow-white hair aside as she smiled at him.
—I want to watch the Blood Demon end the world from the front row.
A madwoman who had surrendered her entire North Sea Ice Palace to join the Blood Cult.
One of the Ten Great Demon Arms' wielders—the master of the Water White Fan.
And one of the Blood Cult's Five Demon Venerables—the Frost Demon Venerable, Xue Yilang.
—In that space of annihilation... I'd love for you to be there, Demon Smith.
Shiver.
Shaking off her eerie voice, Se-woon burned away the last remnants of Yin-Cold Energy in his meridians.
'Hah... I've purged all the Yin-Cold Energy inside me for now. But if I use the Ice Wheel Threads again, the same thing will happen.'
There were only two ways to wield the Ice Wheel Threads without backlash:
Either break through the Pinnacle and reach the Fire Realm...
'Or absorb a spiritual entity imbued with extreme Yin-Cold Energy.'
But for the latter, the bare minimum would be a Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
Such treasures didn't just fall from the sky.
"In short, I need to raise my realm as quickly as possible."
That left him with only the first option.
But breaking through to the Fire Realm was far harder than reaching the Pinnacle.
Even in his past life, the longest stagnation he experienced was at this very bottleneck.
Still, he had already planned a way forward.
Swish.
Se-woon set down the hammer, his eyes gleaming with determination.
'I need to head to the Martial Alliance as soon as possible.'
To obtain bear gall, one must go to the bear's den.
But of course...
He had unfinished business to settle first.
Whoosh!
Se-woon suddenly lashed out toward the ceiling.
The Heavenly Net shot out like a spreading web, snagging something and yanking it down.
Thud!
"Gah!"
A black figure, previously invisible, crashed onto the floor, entangled in the threads.
"Surely you know that spying on another's training is a capital offense?"
Se-woon's cold voice rang out as the intruder's stealth technique was effortlessly foiled.