Chapter 69
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: That's How I Feel (4)
“Hah…!”
The Mount Hua Sword Demon, Uncheon, couldn’t hold back his admiration. The shock was vividly etched across his usually composed face.
What kind of monster is this guy?!
When he’d heard the saying, “One word repays a debt of a thousand taels,” he’d dismissed it as an exaggeration.
But this freak right in front of him had earned not a thousand, but ten thousand taels with a single word.
And not from some local idiot, but against one of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang—the Mount Zhongnan Sect, no less!
His tongue cuts sharper than his fists.
A glint of intrigue flashed in Uncheon’s eyes as he gazed at Moo-jin.
Was there anyone else in the Central Plains like this?
Uncheon hadn’t met every martial artist in the world, but he’d stake his reputation that there wasn’t.
Not only did he wield power rivaling the Ten Martial Venerables, but his silver tongue could roast them alive too?
No way another such monster existed.
And Poonghyeon’s cunning isn’t ordinary either. To fool him into looking like a complete fool.
The Mount Hua Sword Demon, Uncheon, was the type who solved problems by swinging his sword rather than racking his brain, but the Whirlwind Divine Sword Poonghyeon was different.
Despite being Mount Zhongnan’s top swordsman, he excelled in schemes and strategy, holding his own in sophisticated debates even with the Zhuge family’s fan-wielding schemers.
Yet this guy had deceived Poonghyeon without him even suspecting a thing.
From Uncheon’s perspective, it was enough to make his head spin.
“You’re truly remarkable in every sense, kid.”
“Heh heh heh. Thanks for the praise.”
Moo-jin’s lips curved into a wide grin. He’d received five thousand taels—half of the ten-thousand-tael advance—in promissory notes rather than hard silver, so they lacked weight, but his mood was still through the roof.
“Indeed… impressive, brother-in-law.”
Yoo-hwa couldn’t hide her awe as she scribbled notes with her brush on a notepad.
She was recording this “one stone, two birds” technique for future reference.
Learning tricks like this would surely help when it came time to squeeze money out of someone later!
“Yoo-hwa. Have you contacted the Diamond Escort Agency?”
“Yes. I sent Mong-rang ahead, asking them to come quickly.”
“Good work. Hmm. One thing, though. It might be better to write it as ‘extorting payment’ rather than ‘ripping off money.’”
“Got it, brother-in-law!”
“...?”
Uncheon tilted his head with a blank expression.
Weren’t they the same thing? What was the difference!?
Even though his martial realm had reached the Flower Realm, the intricacies of commerce remained an enigma to Uncheon.
Two days had already passed since Moo-jin received the commission—er, scam—from the Whirlwind Divine Sword Poonghyeon.
In that time, Moo-jin had done nothing but assist Yoo-hwa’s training in the inn and refine his own cultivation.
Kang Moo-jin spent most of his days so casually inside the inn that Uncheon, watching him, began to grow anxious instead.
“Uh… not that it’s my place to say, but is this really okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Mount Zhongnan folks are talking a lot.”
“Talking?”
The young Taoist disciples of Mount Zhongnan, upon hearing that their Whirlwind Divine Sword had commissioned Kang Moo-jin, hadn’t hidden their displeasure and had spewed all sorts of slander.
From claims that the elder must have dementia to questions about what on earth he saw in that guy to justify such a massive commission.
These rumors weren’t confined to the Mount Zhongnan disciples’ mouths; they spread rapidly among eavesdroppers too.
“A backlash against Poonghyeon and you is starting to form. Thanks to those young Zhongnan punks, but others can’t make sense of it either.”
“Don’t mind it. Public opinion always shifts anyway.”
Moo-jin didn’t care what others chattered about.
Wasting time on that nonsense was less worthwhile than one extra rock lift.
“You’re just going to watch while the Zhongnan fools head to Mount Taebaek to subdue that qilin beast?”
Moo-jin wiped the sweat from his brow as he set down the house-sized boulder he’d been holding overhead.
“Old man, I told you. The subjugation will fail anyway. And we have an agreement, so we wait.”
Just before signing the contract, Poonghyeon had imposed one condition on Moo-jin.
They were to wait in Mi-hyeon until the Mount Zhongnan elders’ qilin beast subjugation ended.
“Right, I know that. I know they’ll fail too.”
Both Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan had already failed three times each against the spirit beast qilin.
Adding a few more elders wouldn’t change a thing now.
“What I mean is, they could be in danger. You’re fine just watching?”
Uncheon scratched his nose bridge, feeling awkward even as he said it.
A Mount Hua elder infamous for his prickliness worrying about Mount Zhongnan elders was pretty ridiculous, even to him.
“They’ve blocked off Mount Taebaek to keep civilians away, so they’re safe.”
“...I wasn’t talking about civilians.”
“...?!”
Moo-jin’s eyes widened round at the words.
That look screamed, Has this old man finally lost it to dementia?
“Did you drink bad rice wine? I told you not to grab just any booze.”
“That’s not it, you brat!”
Uncheon’s face flushed red as spicy sauce.
“Damn Zhongnan bastards are still people, aren’t they? That’s why I’m worried.”
“Huh?”
Moo-jin blinked in disbelief as he slipped back into his training robe.
“Not like the guy who brutally hacked off bandits’ limbs back in the day.”
“Ugh. That was when my blood ran hot. I’ve gotten older too, you know.”
“For someone like that, you sure threw a fit in the guest hall.”
“...My bad. Just answer me.”
Uncheon sighed deeply, realizing arguing with Moo-jin offered zero chance of victory.
If the kid only had a slick tongue, a few punches would shut him up. But he fought well too—infuriating.
“Don’t worry, old man. The Zhongnan martial artists will be fine.”
“Got a reason for thinking that?”
“I commissioned the Beggar Clan to investigate. Turns out that qilin mainly uses sonic arts.”
According to the Beggar Clan’s intel, the qilin generated sonic attacks through resonance in its mouth, rupturing eardrums and striking internals.
“Civilians face a high risk of their bodies exploding, but it’s different for qi cultivation martial artists. Even if their eardrums burst or they take internal injuries, it won’t kill them.”
Sonic arts fundamentally blended internal shock techniques targeting the body’s insides.
They shone against evil sects, but against slower-yet-deeper, pure orthodox arts, their effect halved.
In other words, the qilin’s sonic arts wouldn’t deliver fatal blows to Taoist disciples trained in orthodox methods.
“That’s for ordinary sonic arts. This one’s no normal spirit beast, and its sonic arts are nasty. One of our Mount Hua elders took a direct hit and his dantian shattered.”
“...?”
Moo-jin looked at Uncheon with slightly widened eyes.
He hadn’t expected a Mount Hua elder to suffer such a critical wound.
“Must’ve gotten too close. Sword range?”
“...?! How’d you know without seeing?”
“Sonic arts are more threatening up close.”
“What...?! The Beggar Clan didn’t mention that. How do you know?!”
“Eh, just happened to pick it up.”
“...?!”
Uncheon’s eyes bulged.
Sonic art users were rare in the Central Plains, and most were mediocre, so few encountered them.
Even the Beggar Clan, the top info network, lacked details on sonic arts.
Yet this guy spoke like he’d faced it personally.
“...Amazing. Anyway, that means Zhongnan elders could be in danger too.”
“Hmm. If a Mount Hua elder lost his dantian, Zhongnan’s probably been through the same.”
“Yeah.”
“But they’d approach recklessly again? I don’t think Zhongnan’s that stupid.”
“Hmph. I don’t see it that way.”
Uncheon shook his head, stroking his chin.
“I get you hate Zhongnan, but you’re underrating them too much.”
“Tch. Seems to me you’re overrating them. Wanna bet?”
“Fine. What’re the stakes?”
“If I win, tell me what martial art you’ve cultivated...”
Bam—!
The inn’s closed door burst open, and a blue-robed Taoist rushed in.
His hair disheveled from his frantic dash, it was none other than the Whirlwind Divine Sword Poonghyeon.
“H-Help us, Golden Ghost Indestructible!”
“...?”
“Big trouble… big trouble!”
Mount Zhongnan Sect’s top sword, the Whirlwind Divine Sword Poonghyeon.
Mount Hua Sect’s top sword, the Mount Hua Sword Demon Uncheon.
These sword masters, representing sects as incompatible as water and oil, now raced side by side using lightness skills.
Even the white-haired elders who’d lived over sixty years in Shaanxi Province gawked at the unprecedented sight.
“Th-the Whirlwind Divine Sword and Mount Hua Sword Demon… running together!?”
“And they’re not even fighting!”
Anyone would expect limbs flying the moment they met, so onlookers buzzed loudly.
“D-did they reconcile or something?!”
“Nah, looks like it’s that young guy leading them.”
Gazes shifted to the sculpture-like youth dashing ahead of Uncheon and Poonghyeon.
Kang Moo-jin surged forward, his black-and-white windbreaker robe flapping dramatically.
“That’s… Golden Ghost Indestructible, right!?”
“Did Golden Ghost Indestructible reconcile those two oil-and-water rivals?!”
“No wonder his fame’s shaking the Central Plains!”
“He must’ve punched them into making up!”
Ignoring the mounting misunderstandings, Moo-jin, Poonghyeon, and Uncheon left Mi-hyeon behind and began ascending Mount Taebaek.
Though rugged and deep like Mount Hua, the three masters reached near the peak as easily as sprinting across a plain.
“Where is it?”
“Somewhere around here. I got word without climbing myself, so I don’t know exactly!”
Poonghyeon had rushed straight to Moo-jin’s inn upon hearing the Zhongnan elders were in peril against the qilin subjugation, so he lacked details.
All he knew was one thing: only Kang Moo-jin could save the Zhongnan elders.
“Tch. Never seen such a frustrating old man. Should’ve scouted first! How do we search this whole mountain?!”
“No time, I told you! How many times do I have to repeat? Deaf in your old age?!”
“What, you punk?!”
“You bastard!”
Uncheon and Poonghyeon’s faces twisted as they grabbed each other’s collars without missing a beat.
“Cut it out. The Zhongnan elders are over there.”
“...?!”
“Huh?”
The two elders’ eyes widened at Moo-jin pointing to one side of the mountain.
As their sect’s top swordsmen with peerless skills, all they saw was forest—no sign of the Zhongnan elders.
“You can feel their energy from there, right? No way you can’t sense it.”
“...”
“...”
The two top swords exchanged glances, rolling their eyes.
They couldn’t sense it, but pride kept them from admitting it first.
“Sigh. Just hurry up and follow.”
Moo-jin sighed and dashed toward the Zhongnan elders first.
“I don’t feel anything… you sure they’re there?”
“Nothing for me either. Honestly, no clue.”
The two top swords tilted their heads in disbelief.
But right then—
“Kuuuoooooo!”
The spirit beast qilin’s roar shook heaven and earth.
Its source matched exactly the direction Moo-jin had bolted.
“...”
“...”
“This is your fault we’re late.”
“Yours, you old fogey.”
The bickering elders trailed after Moo-jin without stopping their squabble.