Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: One Wing Alliance
"Soyah. Recite the details of the ten-year pact between our main family and the Tang Clan."
"Yes, Brother."
Baek Heon-so began his explanation.
"The Baek Clan and the Tang Clan joined hands, agreeing to target Hunan from both flanks. The key was to build enough power within ten years to be recognized as allies of the Tang Clan."
"Why Hunan, of all places?"
"Because Hunan is underworld territory under the indirect control of the Blood Slaughter Union. There's no need to compete with the White Path factions there, so no worries about justifications."
It was a valid point, but there was a far greater reason.
"If conquering Hunan was the goal, it would've been better to ally with some faction in Hubei right now. Why the Tang Clan? Why seal the pact a full ten years early?"
That was right. Conquering Hunan wasn't the point.
"The core of the ten-year pact isn't Hunan. It's the Tang Clan."
Baek Heon-so looked puzzled, but Tang Gun and Jin Yeong-gil nodded.
"I see. Because we're the 'Sichuan' Tang Clan, right, little brother?"
"The strongest faction near the Min River, wielding hidden weapons."
"Both answers are correct."
The greatest advantage of hidden weapons was striking enemies from afar.
For example, from one distant ship to another.
Moreover, the Min River marked the start of the Yangtze, which stretched across the world from west to east.
"And our Baek Clan is located in Jiangxi. Soyah, do you know Jiangxi's most famous product?"
"Of course. Grain, right? Jiangnan rice is the gold standard."
Cloth and grain—those two formed the foundation of all trade goods in the world.
Among them, Sichuan silk was the most renowned for cloth.
But the finest rice in the world came from Jiangxi.
"Jiangnan rice. Half the people in the world live on rice from Jiangnan."
"And the bloodline that distributes Jiangnan's harvest across the world is the Yangtze."
Tang Gun sprang to his feet, electrified.
"Sichuan, where the Yangtze begins! Add Jiangxi's fine grain! You've been dreaming of Yangtze transport from the start!"
The land of Hunan itself wasn't the prize.
One reason Hunan was called Hunan was its position south of the Yangtze.
The Baek-Tang ten-year pact aimed at the Yangtze trade routes by conquering Hunan.
Because Hunan—that underworld land for decades now—was where the Yangtze Water Alliance pirates pillaged most fiercely.
'We swore it right after defying time itself.'
He would elevate the main family to clan status.
No, beyond that, seize the title of the world's greatest.
"One qualification to claim the world is money."
Money. No, financial power transcending mere currency for buying and selling.
The Baek Clan needed that financial might.
But how?
"I see. Young Master Baek dreams of reviving the Cloth and Grain Merchants."
Jin Yeong-gil of the Three Great Tycoons of the World... or so the saying went.
But in truth, he was only third.
No, there were no second or third in between; compared to the first and second, he was barely fifth finger, the pinky.
This wasn't personal opinion—it was the common view.
Because the first and second of the Three Great Tycoons were the heads of the Shanxi Merchants and Hui Merchants.
Merchants would band together for profit, and there were hundreds of merchant guilds across the world.
The Shanxi and Hui Merchants were the top guilds vying for supremacy.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say half the Central Plains merchants fell under their sway.
"But before Shanxi and Hui, there were the Cloth and Grain Merchants."
The two great trade goods: cloth and grain.
In distant days past, the merchant group transporting Sichuan silk and Jiangnan rice via the rivers was called the Cloth and Grain Merchants.
"They can't exist now, though."
The reason was simple. The Yangtze spanned tens of thousands of li, and unlike before, underworld forces were overwhelmingly powerful.
The Yangtze Water Alliance alone rivaled the Blood Slaughter Union as one of the world's two great unorthodox sects.
"And the competition is fierce. Every great merchant deals in cloth and grain, really."
"No tycoon avoids rice or cloth."
"Even Yangtze transport has every riverside sect dipping their ladle in."
"The waterways from Sichuan to Jiangxi have fewer rivals, but..."
"The Yangtze Water Alliance pirates there are the worst. That's why there are fewer competitors."
Countless obstacles. No wonder the Cloth and Grain Merchants were gone.
But.
"If we succeed, the profits would be immense."
'To dream of the world, we must achieve it.'
Proof lay in the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
The Shanxi Merchants, centered in Shanxi—also called Shanxi traders—were closely tied to the Nine Great Sects.
The Hui Merchants, based in Anhui—also Anhui traders—funded the Five Great Clans.
'To dream of the World's Greatest Clan, we need financial power to rival Shanxi and Hui.'
Jin Yeong-gil, who alone claimed a spot among the Three Great Tycoons. He was the perfect man for it.
Hand him the means, and he could build a merchant empire rivaling Shanxi and Hui.
"The divine skill you showed in the subjugation was your potential to rise as Cloth and Grain Merchants."
"Exactly, Lord Jin."
Heaven-Covering 108 Swords, new ultimate technique.
Eagle's Roar Resonance, Water Union.
"You subdued over a hundred bandits in a single day. Keep showing that prowess, and it'd be a huge edge against pirates."
The Yangtze Water Alliance pirates weren't truly fearsome for their naval mastery.
What made them terrifying was their aquatic arts.
If pirates faster than fish attacked a ship's hull from underwater?
One ship would sink in less than a quarter-hour.
"But our Baek Clan is different. Water isn't their domain."
Eagle's Roar Resonance Water Union was a sonic attack unleashed underwater.
Vibrations were far stronger in water than air.
"Little Brother Hui. Pirates and bandits may both be foes, but the Water Alliance is leagues beyond the forest bandits."
The reason was simple.
Controlling the Yangtze meant enormous wealth.
"Is it really possible?"
"Who knows."
Everyone looked puzzled at the uncharacteristically vague answer.
"Not knowing makes it all the more valuable."
Jin Yeong-gil hadn't said he'd contract with Yang Hui.
Only that he'd give it a shot.
"It's a gamble. Low odds. That's what makes it worth betting on."
A faint smile crept across Jin Yeong-gil's cold, irritable face.
It was the ambition of the man who had earned the moniker "of the World" alone.
"Shanxi and Hui aren't the only ones. As an individual, this Jin might rank in the world's top three, but as a group, we're far off."
Jin Yeong-gil was one of the Three Great Tycoons, but his Jin Manor and merchant group didn't even make the Ten Great Merchant Groups.
Beyond Shanxi and Hui, there were Guangdong's Yue Merchants, Zhejiang's Zhe Merchants, and countless others vying for world dominance.
"The martial world has a technique called mutual destruction."
When facing an unbeatable foe, using a flesh-sacrificing strike to die together was mutual destruction.
"The weak can't beat the strong—that's why they're weak. I ask you martial folk: if victory's impossible, would you just offer your neck?"
The Tang Clan young leader shook his head first and foremost.
"Of course not. If we can't win, we drag them down with us."
The Tang Clan of poison mastery had no painless poisons for easy death.
Not because their poisons weren't for assassination?
That was partly true, but they refused poisons meant for painless surrender.
Repay favors twofold, grudges tenfold.
The Tang Clan coated themselves in poison and perished together rather than yielding peacefully.
"What about the Baek Clan?"
Instead of answering, Yang Hui glanced at Baek Heon-so.
Baek Heon-so replied with resolute determination.
"Even if they take our neck, we'll claim their heart. Who knows? A desperate last stand might turn the tide."
A fine answer. Yang Hui nodded in satisfaction.
"This Jin Yeong-gil feels the same. I want the world in my grasp. Nothing above the three words 'Jin Yeong-gil'."
His quiet voice grew louder.
"So this Jin Yeong-gil! Can stake everything he has at any moment!"
The declaration of the guest room's sole bearer of a world title.
His eyes met Tang Gun's. A spark of delight surged.
Without a word of who started, Tang Gun and Yang Hui spoke.
"Our Tang Clan is mere dogs to the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans."
"The Baek Clan can't even be called a clan."
"Lord Jin. Do we..."
"Have that kind of value?"
It sounded weak, like preemptive excuse for failure.
Yet Jin Yeong-gil nodded.
"I don't trust the Baek or Tang Clans. I trust my own judgment. That's gambling, isn't it?"
In other words, the Baek and Tang were cards worth betting the Three Great Tycoon's all on.
"Congratulations, Lord Jin."
"On what?"
"Investments are best made swiftly."
"That's the merchant's way. Buy low, sell high."
Jin Yeong-gil burst into a hearty laugh.
"Is that so? How much, then?"
"To sell high, I should give you a taste first, right?"
Yang Hui took Jin Yeong-gil's pulse and infused energy.
"You were considerate, my lord, but one thing needs clarifying."
"About Jeomchang?"
"Keep it to yourself. The golden seal ailment was tied to Jeomchang. But we can't act on Jeomchang yet."
"Why?"
"I'd like to make Jeomchang an ally too."
The Jeomchang Sect, located in Yunna's Chang Mountains.
Yunnan had long brimmed with foreign goods.
Jin Yeong-gil nodded after hearing the details.
"Another gamble. Cloth and grain are the basics, but more goods are always better."
"And they're a Nine Great Sect to boot."
Even combined, current Tang and Baek couldn't match Jeomchang.
That was the might of a Nine Great Sect.
With them aboard, seizing Yangtze hegemony would be far easier.
"Sorry for deciding unilaterally. In return, I'll ensure you never suffer the golden seal again."
The world's purest energy elixir settled into Jin Yeong-gil's dantian.
"What tremendous energy..."
Jin Yeong-gil, whose martial knowledge was limited to health cultivation, felt it instantly.
"It's called Immortal Egg Valor Art. You'll never fall to evil qi again, my lord."
"That's its only effect? Feels way too potent for that."
Yang Hui didn't know more.
He hadn't fully grasped elixir arts yet.
Though self-created, the Immortal Egg Valor Art might hold unintended powers.
"My thanks, Young Master Baek."
Tang Gun, who had watched silently, spoke up.
"So now our alliance core grows to three."
"Right?"
"Can't call it a Baek-Tang alliance anymore."
"Names define all. How about naming our alliance?"
After pondering Jin Yeong-gil's suggestion, Yang Hui replied.
"I have a good name. May I decide?"
"What is it?"
"One Wing Alliance."
Feathers form wings.
Three feathers now, but one day, the One Wing Alliance would soar the skies as a full wing.
"By the way, Lord Jin."
"Speak freely, Young Master Baek."
Yang Hui grinned slyly.
He'd laid out the blueprint.
Naturally, the other side should foot the bill.
"So, how much will you invest?"
"Hm?"
"A modest million taels?"
Jin Yeong-gil's eyes widened.
Then he laughed uproariously, conceding defeat.
"Ever thought of becoming a merchant? This Jin Yeong-gil would back you big time!"
"Note that the Tang Clan's share is separate."
"Ahem? Starting stronger than expected?"
"No worries. Theirs isn't cash."
"Not money?"
Yang Hui spoke without consulting Tang Gun, but the latter didn't mind.
He watched Yang Hui with eyes tinged with anticipation.
"Gather as much Ice Essence as possible."
It was time to complete the Three Origins Return Art.