006. Do You Not Need a Son?
006. Do You Not Need a Son?
The head of the Sama Clan was a bit different from Dam Cheon's expectations. Since she was said to be married to Geum Wi-un, who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, he had thought she would at least be over thirty.
But the woman before him had a petite height suitable for being called a girl, a perky chest, and beautiful features.
It wasn't a joke—if you didn't know her identity, you might even be tricked into calling her a late-stage teenager.
Her elegant and refined atmosphere gave the impression of a daughter from a prestigious family.
'But she's not some old master who has reversed aging.'
Sa-ma Ryang was clearly weaker than himself, so he could clearly sense it.
Nevertheless, the fact that she looked so young and youthful caused cognitive dissonance for Dam Cheon.
However, there was nothing he couldn't discern.
'Hwa-an-geum-jeong.'
He deployed the ability he had obtained in The Tower.
The eye technique of the legendary Great Sage Heaven's Equal, Son-o-gong. Known as an eye technique that allows one to see the flow of all things in the world, Dam Cheon, who had obtained it through The Tower, could discern anything.
However, when activating Hwa-an-geum-jeong, his eye color changes, so he hid it by assuming a polite posture, slightly lowering his head and closing his eyes as if greeting her.
"It is an honor to meet you, Clan Head. I am Dam Cheon."
While pretending to greet her, he thoroughly scanned her with Hwa-an-geum-jeong.
He could read quite a lot from Sa-ma Ryang.
'O-haeng-ji-che? She settled O-haeng-ji-che into her own body at such a young age. Is that why her growth is slow?'
Just as he had completed a body similar to Eum-yang-ji-che by aligning Yin and Yang through martial arts.
Sa-ma Ryang had combined spells and martial arts to complete a constitution similar to O-haeng-ji-che.
However, if the problem was that she refined her body into O-haeng-ji-che too quickly, then it was indeed a problem. Completing O-haeng-ji-che at such an early age had caused her growth plates to close, as seen through Hwa-an-geum-jeong.
'It's the same principle as not growing tall due to overworking muscles too young.'
Though not a martial bone, her five elements were too outstanding, causing imbalance even after completing O-haeng-ji-che.
Thus, she reached her limit and, killing her own potential, remained at that age level.
After analyzing and judging all this in an instant, Dam Cheon withdrew Hwa-an-geum-jeong and raised his head to face Sa-ma Ryang.
"I heard you dislike roundabout talk, so I'll get straight to the point. Why did you want to see me?"
"The formation surrounding the Sama Clan. I want to make a deal with the person who created it."
"A deal?"
"Yes."
Dam Cheon put his hand into his robe. Pretending to take something from inside his clothes, he pulled out one secret manual from his dimensional pocket.
The legacy of his former colleague who once climbed The Tower together.
Though not from the 4th martial world, a genius from the 2nd martial world with exceptional intelligence from the Zhuge Clan.
The legacy compiling Jegal Gun-ha's knowledge revealed itself to the world.
"This secret manual is of a type I cannot learn. But I smelled a similar scent from what I saw here and the formation you installed."
"......."
Sa-ma Ryang's eyes trembled.
She usually thinks quickly and finds conversations with others frustrating, but this time she was in the opposite position.
The information flowing into her mind through her hearing momentarily couldn't be distinguished as fact, causing confusion in her brain's computational circuits.
Confusion from whether what she just heard was true to whether she could believe it muddled her mind.
Seeing Sa-ma Ryang's reaction, Dam Cheon inwardly laughed.
The reaction was more spectacular than expected. Seeing dozens of emotions flicker in her eyes like the inside of a test tube undergoing a chemical reaction, he was convinced she was yearning.
'I don't know why she desires advancement so much, but it's not strange for a martial artist to be obsessed with martial arts.'
In other words, she desperately desired his colleague's legacy.
This alone essentially determined who would be the 'dominant party' and who would be the 'subordinate party' now.
'By the way, the plan has shortened naturally.'
Originally, he intended to leisurely learn about the Sama Clan and see what kind of person Sa-ma Ryang, the owner of the formation, was.
But the moment he discerned her O-haeng-ji-che with Hwa-an-geum-jeong, he immediately became convinced that she was the only successor who could obtain this legacy of Jegal Gun-ha.
Because Jegal Gun-ha's secret manual required growth like a towering tree, starting from the foundation of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements and stretching upward.
The compatibility was too good to leisurely observe and judge her disposition and environment.
"I think you've heard stories about me. The content about being trapped for over ten years in the mad Great Immortal Daera's opportunity, you know?"
"What does that have to do with this situation?"
"When I escaped from there, I grabbed a few more opportunities. This is one of them. Though I can't use it, for others, this secret manual could be desperately desired."
"You... were looking for someone to sell that opportunity dearly."
"Yes. It's not necessary for me, but for someone, it would be a very valuable opportunity. I skimmed through it, but the direction was completely different, so I just left it aside, but I thought its potential was sufficient."
Here, he doesn't foolishly say it's a friend's legacy. If he said that and Sa-ma Ryang tried to play hard to get, Dam Cheon would also find it annoying.
To maintain absolute dominance and make her desperate, signaling that he was looking for someone to learn it was less effective than acting like a merchant trying to sell it dearly.
"Don't you think I could grow my own skills and advance as much as the person who devised that secret manual?"
"If you've completed O-haeng-ji-che and your level is only that much, then you must be blocked."
"I don't understand what you're saying."
Though she calmly denied it, Sa-ma Ryang was inwardly very flustered. After all, there were many strong people who discerned her martial prowess level, but there had never been anyone who discerned the constitution called O-haeng-ji-che.
However, she couldn't openly affirm it.
She was so surprised by the fact that that secret manual was the work of a precursor who had advanced beyond the martial path she developed that she revealed a gap.
But such a mistake was enough once, and Sa-ma Ryang, hardening her mind and body, consistently maintained silence.
"Let's go with that."
Dam Cheon shrugged his shoulders with an attitude that it could be so and continued.
"First, as a taste, the ultimate condition to master this secret manual is that the body must accept the principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. It's not just using power according to the circulation of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, but the body itself must embody Yin-Yang and the Five Elements."
"...I'm not O-haeng-ji-che."
"Though Clan Head lacks Yin-Yang, you have completed O-haeng-ji-che, so you are a vessel sufficient to learn this secret manual and become a master, even if not to mastery. I guarantee, if you properly learn this secret manual, even if Nokrim bandits like the Black Tiger Stronghold I dealt with swarm, they won't be able to defeat Clan Head."
"Is there proof that I desire that?"
"You were completely exposed at first. Your fluster was clearly visible."
Unable to refute, Sa-ma Ryang covered the corner of her mouth with her purple feather fan, pretending to smile with her eyes.
Dam Cheon was convinced that beyond that purple feather fan, the corner of her mouth was trembling.
Perhaps finally admitting that she desperately desired the secret manual, she lowered the purple feather fan, deeply sighed, and raised the white flag.
"Huuu. Something I desired so desperately appeared before me at an unexpected moment, so I lost my composure."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Yes. As you said, my studies now have no shortcomings, but my martial arts have entered a stagnant period. I combined Mount Mo's spells with our family's martial arts, but it became a martial art that requires talent... precisely, constitution, more than expected. But I can't give up because before combining, unseen levels of advancement now shimmer before my eyes."
Seeing Sa-ma Ryang explaining her situation, Dam Cheon was startled.
He felt her yearning contained in her black pupils tinged with purple like the fan she held. Not just the desire as a martial artist to grow somehow, but other complex yearnings mixed together became a goal itself as aspiration.
Usually, those with such eyes would not hesitate to cross lines if an opportunity to achieve it appeared before them.
If he acted like he wouldn't hand over the secret manual saying his thoughts had changed now, Dam Cheon felt he knew what she would do.
'If I say I won't give it, she'd probably try to kill me and take it even leading the whole clan? But it's obvious she'd fail.'
The impression of elegance and refinement remained.
But seeing her eyes, he couldn't erase the impression that the opponent was like a lion.
It felt like a mindset that would never let go of prey once caught.
"So, do you want something else as the price for that secret manual?"
"Perhaps, do you not need a sturdy son?"
"......???"
Sa-ma Ryang's pupils underwent an earthquake.