Silver Light Merchant Group (3)
Hyeon Yucheon asked Yi Jeonggap how much he'd pay for his life in exchange for selling off the entire Black Sword Pavilion at a bargain price.
In the end, he planned to squeeze an exorbitant sum out of him.
"You... have you lost your mind? You dare lay a hand on me, Yi Jeonggap, here in Hubei Province?"
Yi Jeonggap's shock at his guards fleeing was short-lived. He quickly fell back on his connections.
He'd never been wronged by anyone in his life.
There had even been a time in the past when a longstanding martial clan in Hubei clashed with the Silver Light Merchant Group. That clan was teeming with peak and super first-rate masters.
Suffice it to say, the clan eventually crumbled into ruin.
Why? No inns, no battlegrounds, no one would trade with them once the Silver Light Merchant Group pulled strings. They couldn't keep going and withered away pathetically until they fled to another province under cover of night.
"Hmph! You destroyed the Black Sword Pavilion, so you're Sapa scum, aren't you? You think a mere Sapa sect can touch me?"
Yi Jeonggap bellowed with renewed arrogance, as if his earlier hesitation had never happened.
He knew full well his real weapon wasn't force or guards—it was wealth.
In the end, even you'll bow.
Yi Jeonggap puffed up with bravado, recalling that traditional clan from before.
They too had begged for mercy, but when it wasn't granted, they abandoned their legacy and fled.
He was certain no Sapa sect could withstand him.
"You still don't get it."
Hyeon Yucheon approached Yi Jeonggap.
Thud!
Without hesitation, he drove his knee straight into the man's solar plexus.
"Gah! Hack!"
It was a plain strike without any internal energy, but since Yi Jeonggap knew no martial arts, it was more than enough.
Thump!
He collapsed pitifully, writhing on the ground and glaring up at Hyeon Yucheon through eyes brimming with agony.
"I know all about your schemes. You dug into my background, trying to strangle my sect, didn't you?"
Hyeon Yucheon snorted derisively.
If that had scared him, he wouldn't have come this far.
"You'll never beat me."
Hyeon Yucheon declared it flatly.
Even if Yi Jeonggap and the Silver Light Merchant Group pressured the Demon Sword Sect, he wouldn't blink.
Why?
Because he had access to the Mangeum Clan's secret vault, brimming with unimaginable riches.
Pulling even a fraction of it out would make him one of the top five tycoons in the Central Plains.
The Silver Light Merchant Group, by contrast, was just a big fish in Hubei.
Crunch!
Hyeon Yucheon forced Yi Jeonggap to his knees, then clamped his palm around the man's shoulder.
With a sickening sound, he unleashed waves of torment.
"Aaaagh! Argh!"
He didn't relish tormenting someone ignorant of martial arts, but Yi Jeonggap had started it.
"For a merchant, the top priority isn't profit or gold—it's trust."
Hyeon Yucheon recalled his father, Man Jungho, and the lessons he'd imparted.
"You, who can't uphold trust or merchant honor, aren't a real merchant. You're just a thug, a lowlife rogue."
Some might say it was excessive for a martial artist to brutalize a commoner.
But the man had provoked first, committed the wrong, and rejected every chance to repent.
There was only one answer left.
"Now, I'll show you the pinnacle of pain."
Hyeon Yucheon shed his mild-mannered young master facade.
True to his role as lord of the Demon Sword Sect—the preeminent Sapa faction—he revealed the might of Sapa's strongest young prodigy.
Whoosh!
He poured fierce internal energy into his grip on Yi Jeonggap's shoulder, twisting organs, reversing blood flow, and pounding the skull with unbearable agony.
"Grrk! Glurgh!"
Unable to endure, Yi Jeonggap's eyes rolled back, whites showing, before he passed out.
Yi Jeonggap, fainted away, prayed it was all a nightmare.
Some awful dream from a bad night's sleep.
Reality, however, was merciless.
"Well, now that you're awake, ready to haggle over your life?"
As Yi Jeonggap's eyes fluttered open, Hyeon Yucheon smiled, while the Black Wolf Three Swords blocked the Black Room Auction House owner's escape, preparing a proper "official auction."
"Hey, boss!"
"Y-yes, sir! Young master!"
The Black Room Auction House owner bowed frantically at Hyeon Yucheon's call.
Now he knew exactly who held the power.
The cold pragmatist who'd lectured the "ignorant young pup" on Central Plains reality just moments ago was gone.
"This Black Room Auction House sells anything, right? No limits?"
"Yes, that's right!"
Fearing any slip-up, he answered promptly.
Indeed, the Black Room specialized in taboo items regular auctions wouldn't touch, maximizing profits without room for argument.
"What about people?"
Hyeon Yucheon asked again.
The implication was clear: Yi Jeonggap's life was up for bid.
"People? Y-yes! We occasionally handle slaves... courtesans and gisaeng for brothels. Oh, and skilled warriors too."
He spilled details to avoid offense.
"Perfect. Put him on the block. The lot is the Silver Light Merchant Group's lord."
At Hyeon Yucheon's casual order, the youngest Black Wolf Sword, Cheonjwa, grabbed Yi Jeonggap's collar and hoisted him high overhead.
"Agh! Nooo!"
Yi Jeonggap thrashed, thinking his end had come, but he was pinned like a bug on a board.
"Come on, Yi Jeonggap. You've dealt in human merchandise before. Bid on your own life."
Hyeon Yucheon spoke with an innocently gentle smile—handsome, bold, and brimming with the roguish charm of Sapa's finest.
"Th-that's..."
Yi Jeonggap hesitated, and Cheonjwa tightened his grip.
"Aaaaagh!"
Fresh agony wracked him, and he flailed wildly.
"You know the Black Room hates drawn-out bidding wars. Better bid fast."
Under Hyeon Yucheon's veiled threat, Yi Jeonggap sobbed.
"Hic... snif!"
Never in his life had he endured such humiliation.
But to survive, he had no choice.
"Five hundred gold taels!"
He started at five hundred—the original price of the Black Sword Pavilion.
Right then—
"Six hundred gold taels!"
Cheonjung, the second Black Wolf Sword, called out with a playful grin.
"Oh, Sect Lord. Mind if I join the bidding?"
"Why ask me? Ask the boss."
Cheonjung fixed the auction owner with a terrifying glare, worlds apart from his deference to Hyeon Yucheon.
"O-of course! Absolutely allowed."
With the boss's approval, nothing more was needed.
Hyeon Yucheon and the Black Wolf Three Swords planned to torment him until a satisfying sum emerged.
"Urk! One... one thousand gold taels!"
Sharp-eyed merchant that he was, Yi Jeonggap saw the trap and doubled to a thousand through tears.
"Two thousand gold taels!"
Cheonjung countered instantly, flashing two fingers with a clear voice.
The sight was so infuriating, Yi Jeonggap's blood boiled.
"Three thousand gold taels!"
He had to win the bid to live.
As time ticked, victory here was his only salvation.
"Tsk, Hubei's top tycoon acting so stingy. Don't you think?"
"Exactly. Thousand-unit jumps? Go straight to ten thousand."
Hearing Hyeon Yucheon and eldest sword Cheonu's exchange, Yi Jeonggap shot to his feet in shock.
"H-heh?!"
Ten thousand gold taels could buy a whole merchant group outright.
It wasn't pocket change even for him.
"Why so cheap?"
"Nngh..."
"Got multiple lives or something?"
Yi Jeonggap wilted at that, and then—
"Hmm, ten thousand? For a lackey like me who's only ever been a sidekick, that's way out of reach."
Cheonu drawled shamelessly, parroting Yi Jeonggap's earlier words verbatim.
In truth, ten thousand was their target from the start.
"Waaah!"
Overcome with misery, Yi Jeonggap bawled before finally choking out,
"Ten thousand gold taels..."
Hyeon Yucheon and the Black Wolf Three Swords beamed at the number, turning to the auction boss.
Feeling their heavy stares, he cleared his throat dramatically.
"Ahem. Sold! To Yi Jeonggap for ten thousand gold taels."
And with that, the grand auction concluded.
"Oh, right, boss. We sold the Black Sword Pavilion for fifty gold taels too, so strictly speaking, it's ten thousand and fifty. Don't forget."
Hyeon Yucheon was shrewd.
By dumping the lot cheaply first, he'd proven a fair auction, tying up every loose end perfectly.
And more—
"Um... Elder Yi Jeonggap. As you know, the Black Room requires immediate payment upon winning a bid."
"Waaaah!"
At the boss's polite reminder, Yi Jeonggap utterly broke.
In the end, Hyeon Yucheon and the Black Wolf Three Swords pocketed over ten thousand gold taels and swiftly returned to the Demon Sword Sect.
"Heavens!"
"Again?! What now?"
"Sect Lord! Which battleground did you raid this time?"
Demon Sword Sect warriors gawked at the wagons overflowing with uncountable gold taels, eyes spinning.
Even these veterans, who'd seen plenty of loot, felt dizzy.
"Sect Lord. Is this alright?"
Eum Ji-myeong voiced his concern, but Hyeon Yucheon replied firmly.
"We're Sapa. We handled it the Sapa way."
He didn't stop there.
"Housekeeper Gu!"
Back at the sect, he immediately summoned Gu Seung-hwan of Black Island.
"Yes, Sect Lord!"
Gu Seung-hwan admired Hyeon Yucheon's impossible feats but worried too.
Will Yi Jeonggap and Silver Light stay quiet?
That hot-tempered old fox was surely plotting revenge.
But Hyeon Yucheon ignored such trifles and cut straight to it.
"Do you know the Silver Light Merchant Group's main goods?"
Gu Seung-hwan wondered why but answered without question.
"From what I know, their staples are silk and raw cotton."
As he said, Silver Light started as a fabric shop, specializing in silk and cotton.
Back when Mangeum Clan thrived, it was a humble outfit, but it ballooned under Seok Family patronage.
Hyeon Yucheon flashed a knowing smile.
"Soon, those will flood the market at rock-bottom prices. Prepare to buy in bulk."
It was a glimpse not just of the Demon Sword Young Master's prowess, but the Mangeum Young Master's as well.