Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Receiving the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet!
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So Yang-gun took something from his robes and held it carefully in both hands.
My gaze, and Sang Gang-jo's, focused on it.
It was a noble pouch of green silk, exquisitely embroidered with a golden phoenix.
The moment I saw it, two thoughts came to mind.
First, the phoenix is the noblest of legendary creatures, and `bong` refers to the male.
Second, since we were talking about me, this pouch must be a gift from the Alliance Lord.
Just as I suspected, So Yang-gun knelt and reverently offered the golden pouch to me.
“Please, accept this.”
“What is this?”
I asked, feeling as if I were looking at a cup of poison.
“The Alliance Lord instructed me to give this to you, sir.”
“So, I'm asking, what is it?”
“I do not know. But you will understand once you accept it, sir.”
So Yang-gun was right. I would know once I took it. Surely it wasn't some trick to kill me. Besides, if I didn't accept it, they would think me a coward.
As I took the golden pouch, So Yang-gun spoke.
“Please, open it.”
“Maedang, did you open this?”
Maedang jumped.
“Heavens, no! How could I dare open an item bestowed by the Alliance Lord?”
I slowly untied the pouch's drawstring and opened it, unable to hide my tension.
It was because the sender was the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance, where I had once been a low-ranking warrior. In the past, this would have been unimaginable.
Back then, to me—no, to all three hundred thousand members of the Martial Alliance—the Alliance Lord was the sky itself.
At that time, I trembled even before my direct superior, Altar Lord Cheol Ryu-yeop. What more needs to be said about the Alliance Lord?
The Alliance Lord was a god-like figure not just within the Martial Alliance, but throughout the entire martial world.
I have one question about Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo. How did she, a woman only in her early twenties, become one of the Eight Absolutes of the World?
Slowly, I reached into the pouch and grasped an object. The sensation in my hand was strange. It felt warm yet cold, soft yet hard.
*What is this?*
When I took it out, it was a round object, a quarter the size of my palm, with a thin cord attached.
Lying on my palm, the jade-like object, a mix of several colors, scattered a hazy light.
“Ah!”
So Yang-gun and Sang Gang-jo, greatly surprised, shot to their feet with a gasp.
“What is this?”
So Yang-gun exclaimed in a low voice, his face filled with astonishment.
“It is the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet!”
The moment I heard the name "Peerless Empress Jade Tablet," I had an inkling of what it was, but I wanted to be sure.
“What is the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet?”
Sang Gang-jo asked So Yang-gun.
“Maedang, isn't the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet the Alliance Lord's personal sigil?”
“That is correct. It is the sigil the Alliance Lord never parts with.”
I examined the so-called Peerless Empress Jade Tablet closely.
The jade tablet was ringed with five colors: yellow, green, white, red, and blue.
But in the very center was a raised, embossed character: `bong`.
It was called the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet, but the character was `bong`.
“The character engraved here is `bong`, yet you call it the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet?”
“Ah! Is that so?”
So Yang-gun gasped as if he'd realized something.
“In that case, it is the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet.”
“What is that?”
“It is the jade tablet given to the future husband.”
“Husband? Surely you don't mean the husband I'm thinking of?”
“That is correct. The Alliance Lord's husband.”
So Yang-gun explained.
“When Lady Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo ascended to the position of Alliance Lord, the elders had the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet created to be given to her future husband.”
“Is it customary to give such a tablet to the Alliance Lord's spouse?”
“The three previous Alliance Lords were all men from the Hyukryeon family. They possessed outstanding leadership, great wisdom, and vast experience. They carried the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet as their personal sigil.”
“So, if the Alliance Lord is a man, he carries the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet, and if a woman, the Peerless Empress Jade Tablet?”
“Precisely.”
When the previous Alliance Lord, Hyukryeon Jeong-mu, died suddenly in an attack by the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union, his sole heir, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, was only eleven years old.
From that time, the Grand Elder of the Martial Alliance and the ten elders—the Ten Great Elders—became Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's masters and taught her.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, who had been praised as a genius since childhood, fully inherited the profound teachings of the Ten Great Elders over seven years and, upon turning eighteen, shed the title of heir to formally ascend as the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance.
In the Martial Alliance, one must be eighteen, regardless of gender, to join and attain a position, and Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo was no exception.
The Ten Great Elders had the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet crafted so that when the young Alliance Lord eventually married, she could lead the Martial Alliance in a dual-leadership system with her husband.
That Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet is the very one in my hand.
If the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet was the sigil of the previous male Alliance Lords, then the one in my hand now signifies the authority of the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance.
Feeling as if I were holding a ball of fire, I quickly placed the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet on the table.
“I will not take this.”
“…You cannot do that.”
“It has already been decided.”
So Yang-gun and Sang Gang-jo spoke with equal firmness.
I spoke more firmly than either of them.
“There is no such thing as 'already decided.' I will not become the Alliance Lord's husband.”
Me, marrying the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance and becoming her husband? It was an utterly ridiculous notion.
All I did was take Go Un-hyo to Mount Gwalchang, and in that short time, it feels like the world has turned upside down.
So Yang-gun said with a solemn face.
“Sending the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet means that not only the Alliance Lord, but also the Grand Elder and the Ten Great Elders, have approved of your marriage.”
“Even so, I refuse!”
So Yang-gun looked at Sang Gang-jo.
I could read the question in So Yang-gun's expression: 'Is this man always so fickle?'
It was unpleasant, but there was nothing I could do. I would rather have two fathers than accept this poisoned chalice. No words could change my mind. I would bet my life on it—this could not happen.
So Yang-gun's expression grew even more solemn than before. No, there was also a hint of rebuke in it.
“Sir, are you toying with us?”
“...”
I was speechless. So Yang-gun was right. To anyone watching, it would look like I was playing a game.
“You were the one who started this. Am I wrong?”
“...”
“I merely suggested moving the Hangzhou branch to Dong-ro County, but you were the one who demanded the Alliance Lord, who said you would take the Alliance Lord as your wife.”
“...”
Again, I was at a loss for words. He was right. I had started this.
“This matter is an arrow already loosed from the bow. You are the one who shot it. And that arrow flew and struck the Alliance Lord. Can you call it back?”
“...”
I remained speechless. I had no retort. But I didn't want to be stubborn, which wasn't like me. I had never felt so frustrated in my life.
“You asked for the Alliance Lord as your wife, and the Alliance Lord and the Ten Great Elders have responded in kind. Am I mistaken?”
“...”
“If you refuse to accept the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet, you are simply being obstinate. Do you wish to be obstinate?”
“…Hmph!”
After a long while, I managed only a single sound, a grunt.
“Please, wear the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet around your neck.”
When I remained silent, So Yang-gun continued.
“When the Peerless Phoenix and Peerless Empress Jade Tablets are worn, they grant immunity to water, fire, and demonic poisons.”
I was too busy berating myself for getting into this mess with a single misspoken word to hear him.
So Yang-gun said nothing more, simply watching me in silence.
In this situation, there was nothing I could do. No, there was one thing. To put the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet around my neck.
Inwardly, I unleashed every curse I knew.
In the end, I put the Peerless Phoenix Jade Tablet around my neck.
“I have a question.”
After tucking the tablet inside my clothes, I spoke. The expressions on So Yang-gun and Sang Gang-jo's faces softened considerably.
“Please, ask.”
“What is the level of the Alliance Lord's martial skill?”
“She is on par with the Grand Elder.”
“And what is the Grand Elder's level?”
“The Grand Elder is one of the Four Wonders of the World.”
“The Four Wonders of the World!”
Sang Gang-jo had explained that above the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World were the Eight Absolutes of the World, and at the very pinnacle above them were the Four Wonders of the World.
I looked at Sang Gang-jo, and he was staring at So Yang-gun with a shocked expression.
“Maedang, the Grand Elder was one of the Four Wonders?”
“That is correct.”
“Ah! I had no idea.”
If he had known, he would have mentioned it when he explained about the Four Wonders to me before.
“Who is the Grand Elder?”
“He is Zen Master Yeonggak, the former abbot of the Shaolin Temple.”
But what truly astonished me was the fact that Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's martial skill was on par with Grand Elder Yeonggak, one of the Four Wonders of the World.
I had a few more questions about Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo.
“How old is the Alliance Lord?”
“She is twenty-three.”
“And yet she's on par with the Grand Elder?”
So Yang-gun smiled gently.
“It is the result of the immense effort the Ten Great Elders have invested in the Alliance Lord for seven years.”
Still, I couldn't quite grasp it.
“What kind of effort did they invest?”
“That is a secret known only to the Alliance Lord, the Ten Great Elders, and myself.”
Sang Gang-jo interjected.
“Maedang, it's a secret even from the man who will be the Alliance Lord's husband?”
I was curious about this secret, so I kept quiet despite the mention of being her husband.
“It wouldn't hurt for her husband to know, would it?”
“Ah! You are right.”
I could only watch their back-and-forth with a bitter feeling.
According to So Yang-gun's explanation, over seven years, the Ten Great Elders had Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo consume all manner of elixirs, spiritual herbs, and mystical creatures that they had either procured or were in the Martial Alliance's possession. Thanks to this, she had attained profound internal energy.
“What martial arts did the Alliance Lord learn?”
“She has perfectly mastered all the ultimate arts that only the sect leaders and elders of the Nine Great Sects and One Union are permitted to learn.”
I casually tried to probe further.
“I've heard that the Martial Alliance has something called the Martial Repository.”
So Yang-gun wore a regretful expression.
“Thirteen years ago, during the great attack by the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union, the main headquarters was engulfed in a massive fire. The Martial Repository was completely lost then. Not a single martial arts manual from the repository survived that fire.”
“Is that so?”
“If the Alliance Lord had been able to train in the ultimate arts that were in the Martial Repository, she would have become invincible.”
“A pity.”
However, I didn't believe So Yang-gun's words.
I am not so simple-minded. I figured that over such a long period, there must have been at least a few people who had read the martial arts manuals in the repository.
Even if they hadn't mastered every manual in the repository, there must have been someone who had read or learned a fair amount.
Moreover, an Alliance Lord would not have simply ignored the Martial Repository.
That's why I believe the Alliance Lord must have studied its contents.
If not studied everything, she must have at least mastered the greatest arts within it. No, that's the only way it makes sense.
It would be a relief if that weren't the case, but for now, it's best to consider her on the same level as me.
If Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's skills are on par with Yeonggak, one of the Four Wonders, and she also trained in the arts from the Martial Repository, she would truly be invincible.
If that's true, my dream of becoming the strongest in actual combat might never come true.
In any case, I have not the slightest intention of marrying Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo.
Because of the words I spouted, I have no choice but to keep my mouth shut for now, but I will find a way to throw off this noose that's been placed around my neck.