Chapter 65
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Number One Sword is a Weakling (5)
Rumble rumble...
The grand halls of Mount Hua, boasting centuries of history. Among them, one of the most exquisitely beautiful buildings began to shake violently.
"Wh-what's going on!?"
"An earthquake?! Is it an earthquake?"
The elders hurriedly gathered, staring at the suddenly quaking hall.
"A-a landslide?!"
"Don't talk nonsense. We're at the peak—how could there be a landslide?"
Mount Hua Sect's halls sat atop the mountain itself, making them safe even from landslides. Besides, Mount Hua was a rocky crag to begin with, where such disasters never occurred.
"Then what is it? Where's this vibration coming from?"
"Over there! It's the hall where we house our guests from Mount Hua!"
The elders pinpointed the source and rushed over, even deploying their lightness skills.
"Lady Won?"
Arriving at the source, the elders saw Won Yu-hwa standing there with a lost expression.
"Who's that young lady?"
"She's the girl who came with Hero Kang. A prodigy who's reached the supreme realm at her age."
"...Heavens! Impressive. Which sect is she from?!"
"They say she's Hero Kang's disciple."
"Wh-what...!"
The elders who hadn't been present at the reception hall that day were beside themselves with admiration.
"Lady Won, what happened?"
"I sense an ominous energy from the room where Brother went in. Should I go inside...?"
The elders' gazes followed Yu-hwa's to a room on the right side of the first floor.
Sure enough, an unnatural aura was surging from within.
The ground trembled around it, and the air itself quivered, as if some formation had been activated.
"Let's go in and check."
"Right away!"
"I'll come too!"
Entering a host's room without permission was rude, but if something had happened to Moo-jin, it was no mere breach of etiquette.
Worried, Yu-hwa and the elders flung open the door and rushed inside.
"Brother! Are you okay!?"
"Hero Kang! Are you all right!?"
"Hero Kang! Has something hap—"
Yu-hwa and the elders burst in, their eyes widening and jaws dropping.
A young man with a perfectly sculpted, muscular nude body—like a master artisan had carved it from rock—stared back at them.
"Eek!"
Yu-hwa hastily covered her eyes with both hands. Though her fingers parted just a sliver.
"H-Hero Kang? Where are your clothes...?"
"They tore during my meditation."
"Ah. Er... you're naked right now, though?"
"Yes. I'm aware."
Moo-jin looked down at the elders calmly.
If they found it uncomfortable, they could turn away and leave. No need for him to cover up.
"...I see."
The elders nodded in understanding, their gazes sliding from Moo-jin's massive, firm chest and abs... lower still.
"..."
Complex expressions—mingled sorrow, envy, jealousy, and spite—crossed their faces as they spoke.
"Th-that... that's... enormous."
The next morning.
Moo-jin met again with Mount Hua Sect's leader, Un Geom the Immortal, and two elders in the same place.
"So the elders' gossip was true."
A glint flashed in Un Geom's eyes as he regarded Moo-jin.
Yesterday's Kang Moo-jin and today's were like night and day.
His subtle aura was now perfectly concealed, impossible to fathom. His gaze had grown even more serene.
If yesterday he resembled a tiger poised to pounce, today he was a coiled dragon glaring down.
"To grow this strong in a single day. Does the Submersion Pill have some effect I don't know about?"
No matter how potent the pill, it shouldn't transform a person like this.
Besides, Kang Moo-jin was a transcendent realm master who had crushed the Plum Blossom Sword Immortal unscathed.
Spirit medicines worked less on the higher one's cultivation. Un Geom couldn't comprehend it.
"I've merely recovered a bit of my lost power."
"...!? You had power you'd lost?"
"Yes. Thanks to the Submersion Pill, I've regained quite a lot."
Un Geom was stunned.
The monster who demolished Mount Hua's top sword without a scratch had been wounded and holding back.
He couldn't imagine how strong it'd be fully recovered.
"You're truly... remarkable. Remarkable."
Un Geom clicked his tongue in awe at Moo-jin.
His prediction of supreme under the heavens in a decade had been proven wrong in a single day.
'Decades? He could stand toe-to-toe with the Ten Supremes right now.'
Un Geom was certain. If Moo-jin challenged the Ten Supremes' ranking today, the top seat would become the Sole Sovereign.
Thank goodness the pill's effect was one-time. Otherwise, the Ten Supremes might vanish tomorrow.
"What did you need me for?"
"Ah, to finish yesterday's conversation."
"...?"
Exchanging glances with the elders, Un Geom cautiously broached the topic.
"Truth be told, we didn't invite you to Mount Hua just for the duel."
"So revenge wasn't the goal?"
"Well, can't say it played no part. Though it failed."
Mount Hua had invited Kang Moo-jin for two reasons.
A duel for vindication. And a commission.
They'd hoped to catch both hares at once.
"A commission? For escort duty, you could go through the Diamond Escort Agency."
"Not escorting cargo. More like a hunting commission."
"...?"
Un Geom sighed deeply, steadying his breath.
"Shaanxi Province has three major mountains: Mount Hua of our Mount Hua Sect, Mount Zhongnan of Mount Zhongnan Sect, and Mount Tai Bai."
Unlike the first two, home to colossal Nine Great Sects powers, Mount Tai Bai had no master.
Until a month ago, when something claimed it as its own and began slaughtering all who ascended.
"What kind of bastard is it?"
"Mm... not human."
"Not human!?"
Moo-jin tilted his head at the words.
Not human? Some demon lost to heart devilry, then?
"It's called a Kui Beast. The Classic of Mountains and Seas names it 'Kui'—a monster."
Un Geom pulled a bloodstained letter from under the table and placed it atop.
A bizarre creature was sketched on it.
It resembled a massive ox but had only one leg. Where eyes should be, two huge horns curved downward. A single red eye glared between them, and human fragments filled its gaping maw.
"Grotesque."
"A truly horrific beast."
Un Geom clenched his fist at the image until his knuckles whitened.
"For reasons unknown, these monsters have surged across the Central Plains lately. The Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Families are exhausting themselves subjugating them."
"Hm."
An old man's image flashed in Moo-jin's mind—the mysterious elder who'd hurled him into the Linked Qi Realm with a formation.
"It's already slain over a hundred innocents. Their blood flows down Mount Tai Bai."
"You haven't subdued it?"
The Nine Great Sects, champions of justice, always stepped up for the common folk's plight.
Like purging bandits or pirates.
"We've tried several times. Mount Hua sent our ten Plum Blossom Swordsmen. Mount Zhongnan dispatched their eight Blue Crane Swordsmen."
All perished gruesomely, bodies scattered unrecoverable across the mountain.
"Shameful to admit, but... we have no means."
Un Geom stared piercingly at the sketch, avoiding Moo-jin's eyes.
"That's why we called you. You've fought spirit beasts and slain jiangshi—you're the expert here."
Even peak warriors who cleaved boulders and soared skies struggled against such monsters.
Blades failed, they spewed fire or poisonous mist—turning experts into mere mortals.
"You want me to fight this Kui Beast."
"Yes. That's our commission."
"Hm."
Moo-jin eyed Un Geom and the elders alternately, eyes narrowed.
'They won't spill their own blood—want to use another's hand.'
A Nine Great Sects giant could surely handle one monster.
Even if not, they could drive it from the mountain.
'But at great cost.'
Moo-jin had battled countless such beasts in the Linked Qi Realm, forging supreme techniques in the process.
To him, it was routine.
But Mount Hua, lacking such experience, would suffer heavy losses even in victory.
'Not to my liking.'
Shaanxi had two overlords: Mount Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua Sect.
No room for two bosses in one province—they were notoriously at odds, constant friction.
Mount Hua wanted Moo-jin as their blade to slay the beast and trumpet their name.
Being wielded as another's sword in their fight? Not what Moo-jin wanted.
'I'll refuse.'
As Moo-jin opened his mouth to decide—
"Bu—but..."
"Succeed in this commission, and we'll entrust part of the Plum Cloud Merchant Group's tea escort contracts to the Diamond Escort Agency."
Moo-jin jolted, eyes bulging.
Plum Cloud Merchant Group's tea distribution?!
That was the regular escort route the Taiyuan Escort Agency had monopolized for decades, amassing vast wealth!
'Has the sect leader lost his mind...?! Offering that!?'
Mount Hua's plum tea was beloved from peasants to nobles, shipped across the Central Plains.
Thriving in eight provinces—that was their tea trade's escort empire!
Taiyuan Escort Agency dominated those eight just by that, crowning Shaanxi's richest.
Sharing it meant true prosperity for Diamond Escort Agency.
'No. Still, being swung as their blade...'
Even one province from Plum Cloud's routes meant 1,000 silver taels every half-year.
Diamond Escort Agency's entire half-year income!
"Bu—but..."
"By 'part,' I mean four provinces: Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hebei. Exclusive regular escorts."
"...I accept without hesitation! Esteemed client!"
Moo-jin seized the sect leader's hands.
He had no choice.
The money was too good to refuse.