The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 29

[ … words ]

***

I calmed my mind calmly and started to pull up the energy of the Dan-jeon.

Then, the sound of birds from far away and the sound of leaves crossed by the wind, which I couldn’t hear usually, sounded vividly as if they were heard right next to me.

And the moment I opened my eyes.

The cliff, which was so high that I had to lift my head stiffly to see the top, looked small as if it were piled up with sand.

Rum-rum-rum.

Three hundred and sixty-five acupuncture points resonated in unison, and heavy energy started to flare up from both arms as if lightning had struck.

Intoxicated by that sense of exaltation, I shouted the name of the sequence that I would never utter usually.

“Gwang-cheon-sin-jang (Radiant Heaven Divine Palm)!”

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!!

The Gwang-cheon-sin-jang, which stretched out from the hand, made a hole as big as a house in the huge cliff.

“Hoo.”

I sat down in the seat with the sense of elasticity that the Dan-jeon had become empty.

“If the achievement is not high, it will be useless in actual combat.”

I learned a rare palm technique, but the amount of internal energy consumed is too huge.

A whopping one Gap-ja.

Its destructive power is worth the internal energy, but if I used something like this in actual combat, it is clear that the opponent who avoided the palm technique would cut my throat at once.

Moreover, unlike emitting strong destructive power as the achievement is higher, the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang had stronger destructive power as the achievement was lower.

So if I wanted to use the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang by distributing appropriate internal energy, I had to raise the achievement of the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang, and to raise the achievement of the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang, I had to use the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang…….

Damn it.

Continuing with complex thoughts, I felt my miserable situation pitiful.

“A sword technique that is weak like an ant’s urine, and a palm technique that is huge like the Yangtze River. What kind of warrior is this? It would be better to introduce myself as a gambler.”

I feel a sense of fairness that the road I still have to go is a thousand-li road.

Perhaps it is because the sensations of my previous life awakened thanks to Lee-ja-gon the other day.

[Then there is nothing to be done, is there? Gang-ho is originally such a place.]

Yes, I know.

That Gang-ho is a ruthless place.

Is it only Gang-ho?

The world itself is ruthless.

The Tae-eul Sect without power is dragged into an unwanted war, and disciples without power die while acting as sword shields for others.

One might say, can’t we just avoid it, but these crazy bastards of the Demonic Cult are of a different species.

They put a sword to a person who believed in the Way and believed in Buddha until yesterday and tell them to believe in the Heavenly Demon, so how can they avoid it if they want to avoid it?

In the end, the best way to prepare for the coming war is not just to become strong, but to occupy a high-ranking position within the Murim-maeng.

If I am strong alone, I will protect myself, but I cannot protect the disciples or the Tae-eul Sect.

“Before that, I have to do something about the martial arts. This is not some petty gambling.”

With self-deprecating grumbling, I took out the wooden box from my bosom.

The reason I came to a stone mountain that was quite far away, not the Hwa-un mountain that I frequent, to test the palm technique was here.

“If they find out later that the pill of Cheon-myo-sin-ui (Heavenly Mysterious Divine Doctor) is the prize for 2nd place in the special admission exam, everyone’s mind will become faint.”

The prize for 2nd place in the special admission exam was a pill called Jeong-sim-dan made by the Medical Pavilion of the Murim-maeng.

Since the 3rd place prize was the Jeong-do-geom (Justice Sword) made by the Armory of the Murim-maeng, there would be people who would feel puzzled, but that is because people do not know the true efficacy of the Jeong-sim-dan.

Inside this pill, there was a miraculous efficacy that prevented Ju-hwa-ip-ma.

The problem is that neither the person who made this nor the person who eats it knows the efficacy of this medicine.

Because, to know the hidden efficacy of the medicine, one must fall into Ju-hwa-ip-ma.

Because it is something you can know only after you get Ju-hwa-ip-ma like Gye-cheol-yeong or receive internal injuries, few people know the efficacy of this Jeong-sim-dan right now.

Of course, a secret meaning that even the Cheon-myo-sin-ui, who was in charge of preparing the medicine, did not know.

The price to manufacture it in a state where the efficacy is not known is too expensive, so it is made only in this exam and not made from the next session.

“In the end, only the guys who took 2nd place in this special admission exam are the ones who hit the jackpot.”

I put the Jeong-sim-dan in my mouth and started Un-gi-haeng-gong.

This medicine is especially effective for those like me whose Dan-jeon has grown rapidly due to spiritual medicine.

It exerts the effect of wrapping the softened Dan-jeon firmly.

When I started Un-gi-haeng-gong, small energy started to gather slowly in the empty Dan-jeon.

A handful of energy started to gather energy little by little while going around every corner of the body, and the energy gathered like that started to run vigorously, tapping the eight extraordinary meridians like a living creature.

Three hundred and sixty-five acupuncture points resonated in unison and passed through the eight extraordinary meridians along the twelve regular meridians.

The energy that finished all the circulation of the whole body like that was filled with the Dan-jeon by about 20 percent and returned to its place.

I would have had to do Un-gi-haeng-gong a few more times in this state to fill the Dan-jeon, but I stopped Un-gi-haeng-gong due to the feeling of energy felt in the surroundings.

“You didn’t say you came if you came.”

When I opened my eyes, Sa-ryeon, who was wearing a sword, was glaring at me with sharp eyes.

“Hehehe, seeing that your eyes looking at the Great Senior Brother are full of rebellious intent, you must be hit in the buttocks to come to your senses.”

“Then why did you run away here instead of hitting my buttocks?”

“Uhem? Who ran away.”

Sa-ryeon said while looking around with her arms crossed.

“Why did you come to Seok-ju-san, not Hwa-un mountain where you hang out every day?”

“Keo-heom. You guys. Watch your language. Still, I am the Great Senior Brother…….”

“Forget it! Why did you do that?”

“Do what.”

At my question, Sa-ryeon bites her lips hard.

“……Why did you give up in the duel?”

In the third exam, Sa-ryeon eventually took 1st place. Although her score was a bit short, I, who went up to the finals, was 2nd place.

Dong-ryong, whose bracket was good, was 3rd place.

Dong-ryong, who received a Jeong-do-geom that didn’t fit his body, had a puzzled expression, and Sa-ryeon, who became 1st place, was the same.

I looked at Sa-ryeon and shook my head.

“Giving up, you say. It is clearly a defeat.”

“Is that a defeat? Dropping the sword in a few moves without any strength in the sword?”

“Didn’t you see it too? It is because I used up all my internal energy while fighting a decisive battle with Senior Brother Gye with all my might.”

“Are you saying that as a word right now?”

I closed my eyes again and said.

“Dae-jin-un (Great Luck) is also a skill. In the end, Sa-ryeon, you……”

“Aaaak! Stop! Stop it! Forget it. I will go and say I won’t go to the Murim Academy. So whether you go or not, do as you please.”

Anyway, that temperament…….

If I think about the things of my previous life, my role is to stop Gye-cheol-yeong to the end.

I just returned to Sa-ryeon what she should have originally possessed. Neither more nor less.

Moreover, if I want to protect the disciples of the Tae-eul Sect in the Righteous-Demonic Great War according to my plan, it was necessary for at least three to five personnel to enter the Murim Academy and become executives of the Murim-maeng.

The second best way to survive in the Righteous-Demonic Great War is to meet a good leader.

Then what is the best way? Isn’t it for me to become the leader!

Sending even one more person to the Murim Academy now was more important than anything else.

“Hong Sa-ryeon. Stand there.”

At my low voice, Sa-ryeon’s shoulders flinched.

“The results of the exam are already decided. Even the Sect Leader cannot change that at will. So if you don’t go, no one will be able to go from the Tae-eul Sect.”

“But…….”

“Stop acting like a child!”

I know Sa-ryeon’s feelings, but since I know the future, I have no choice but to make Sa-ryeon understand in this way.

At my roar, Sa-ryeon was startled, and then she lowered her head and wiggled her fingers.

“What happens after the disciples who completed the Bu-saeng-dang complete the Kwae-hwa-dang?”

“……?”

“Don’t they all go to the Murim-maeng for mandatory service after a few years.”

“……Yes.”

Sa-ryeon started using honorifics suddenly, which she didn’t usually use.

“What kind of work do you think the disciples who went to the Murim-maeng like that will do there?”

“…….”

There is no way Sa-ryeon would know about the future work she hasn’t even experienced yet.

Sometimes I talk about the work of the Hall Leaders, but I only tell her a fragment of the hardship.

Since they also didn’t have very good memories of the Murim-maeng, they didn’t like to talk about it.

“I know that the junior brothers have expectations for Murim-maeng life. However, dreams and reality will be thoroughly different.”

“What does that……”

I stared at Sa-ryeon and said in a firm voice.

“The Tae-eul Sect will be used like slaves in the Murim-maeng.”

“Yes?”

I wish I could tell her about the Righteous-Demonic Great War, but since I couldn’t, I thoroughly told her only about the reality the Tae-eul Sect is facing.

“The Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans. No, there is no need to go that far. The upper sects of the 108 Peaks treat the lower sects as less than humans. What work do you think we can do in front of them?”

This point is something that all the Hall Leaders, including the Sect Leader, know.

So in my previous life, the adults in the sect appointed Gye-cheol-yeong, who had money and the weapon called the Murim Academy, as the Great Senior Brother.

And now I have wiped out all such previous lives.

“No one helps us. We must help ourselves.”

“…….”

“For that, we need a graduation certificate from the Murim Academy. And if you enter the Murim-maeng as an executive, you will be able to have the position of a unit commander commanding ten people. Can you endure those who ignore the Tae-eul Sect with only the position of a low-level warrior?”

The Murim-maeng also has a system of upper and lower command. If there is no one to pull from above, it is inevitable to become the weakest eventually.

“Then……! Even more so, you should have gone, Senior Brother!”

Sa-ryeon endured while clenching her fists even while being afraid of this situation and said what she had to say.

I looked at Sa-ryeon.

“I will go too.”

“Yes?”

I told Sa-ryeon clearly.

“Through the regular exam. I will go to the Murim Academy.”

“Senior Brother…….”

“So go ahead and wait.”

Sa-ryeon was looking at me with a face that she couldn’t believe, as if looking at someone who says they saw a dragon.

“……Are you out of your mind?”

Geez, your words are too harsh.

“That’s not it. The person who took 1st place admits it. Won’t you understand.”

Sa-ryeon was persistent. She tried to persuade me.

“Uh? Are you going to keep doing this? Then I won’t go to the Murim Academy! I really won’t go! I am a person who doesn’t go if I say I won’t go!”

She even threatened me.

“Senior Brother, actually I have an incurable disease…….”

“So as the wish of the dying junior sister…….”

She even begged me.

“No! I won’t change it. Go back! I won’t change it!”

I firmly refused.

The moment we were about to enter the Tae-eul Sect while we were fighting like that.

Gye-yeon-seok was coming out of the Tae-eul Sect.

Hollow eyes with bloodshot spots.

Hair that became dough as if he hadn’t washed for days.

Perhaps because he hadn’t washed, a smell of liquor was wafting from his whole body, and his fine silk clothes were full of wrinkles.

Gye-yeon-seok’s eyes, who discovered me while coming out, became as big as a lamp, and then he glared at me with full poison.

“It is because of you. All because of you.”

I burst into absurd laughter.

“Who are you blaming when you use a forbidden medicine? Did I hold a sword and threaten you to use such medicine?”

“……Keuheuk.”

“Moreover, you said you wouldn’t let this slide?”

It is said that Lee-ja-gon stopped by his house to grasp Gye-cheol-yeong’s condition on the way back.

The Gye-ryong Merchant Group tried desperately to block it to avoid being caught using the forbidden medicine, but they were no match for the Enlightened Envoys and Enlightened Warriors of the Murim-maeng.

Like that, it was confirmed that he took the forbidden medicine Pok-hyeol-dan, and the Gye-ryong Merchant Group suffered both material damage and disgrace due to this incident.

“Do you think I will just be hit?”

“Why do you keep blaming others while leaving your own fault? Do you really want to distinguish right from wrong properly?”

At that time, Sa-ryeon pulled my sleeve.

“Let’s just go in. Senior Brother.”

It is because Sa-ryeon also heard the news that Gye-cheol-yeong’s Dan-jeon was finally broken.

Knowing that the Dan-jeon of his only child has become a state where it can never be used again, Sa-ryeon also knew well that Gye-yeon-seok has become a person who goes to extremes.

“That’s why you should have used your heart properly in the first place. If you had done that, you wouldn’t have come to this.”

I left that one word and went inside.

Gye-yeon-seok remained in that spot like a stone statue and was sending eyes full of resentment.

The Tae-eul Sect venue was noisy.

The children, who had completed the Bu-saeng-dang and finished all the exams of the Enlightened Envoy, were playing noisily in groups of three or five as if they had become free.

“Still, this is too much. Why can’t I see any of the Hall Leaders?”

Strangely, there were no adults in the venue.

At that time, Dong-ryong approached me.

“Great Senior Brother. They say to come to the Great Hall now.”

“What is it for?”

“I don’t know. It seems an emergency Hall Leader meeting has been held.”

A Hall Leader meeting is a solemn meeting attended by Hall Leader-level people who lead the sect, the Sect Leader, and some Elders.

It is strange that a regularly held meeting was held urgently, but to tell me, a Great Disciple, to attend such a Hall Leader meeting?

I put aside my doubts and headed to the Great Hall.

“Disciple Jin-so-un. I have entered.”

When I offered the Po-gwon-ji-rye, Hong Mun-gi skipped the greeting by flicking his hand.

I sat quietly in the empty seat at the end of the long table and looked around.

It was said to be a meeting, but there was only a quiet silence, and no one was easily speaking out. Moreover, strange papers were piled up in front of Hong Mun-gi.

“This matter does not make sense at all. Asking to return the donations we have received so far.”

“That is right. What sect in the world returns the donations they received.”

“This is because they think our Tae-eul Sect is easy. Wasn’t Gye-cheol-yeong’s Ju-hwa-ip-ma something they brought upon themselves in the first place?”

Listening to the stories the Hall Leaders and Elders were talking about while spitting, it seems Gye-yeon-seok used his son becoming like that as an excuse to ask for the donations he had given so far back.

‘Geez, you are doing all sorts of things.’

While swearing inside, I thought that it might not be an easy task.

In a Buddhist sect, one makes a donation, and in a Taoist sect, one gives donations, Taoist equipment fees, memorial services, etc., and receives money.

In a way, the Tae-eul Sect also belonged to a Taoist sect, but since the color of the religion is not deep and they only receive the meaning, they had not done memorial services, etc.

Depending on the perspective from which one looks at the money Gye-yeon-seok gave as a donation, it could also be borrowed money.

“Perhaps the Gye-ryong Merchant Group prepared for such a time from the beginning.”

Like the Hall Leader of the Outer Hall, my father pierced the problem of the situation at once.

But he just pierced the problem, and there was no solution.

“What should we do if we have to reimburse all this amount?”

“Sect Leader!”

“It is not allowed! Sect Leader!”

“There is no such case. What sect in the world returns the money that came in as a donation?”

There is no one bold enough to donate to the sect of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans and ask for it back.

If they hadn’t given it in the first place, I don’t know, but giving and then taking it back could look like an act of insulting the opponent, so it could make the situation worse.

Moreover, since there were no people who looked favorably on acts that deceive the opponent, it was not good for rumors either.

‘The Merchant Group Leader has been cornered.’

It is especially clear that the Gye-ryong Merchant Group, which is a merchant, will have a big blow to its trust due to the Pok-hyeol-dan.

Even so, the reason he is forcing it must be because the resentment he harbors is that big.

“The Merchant Group Leader said he would report it to the government office. Do you have a countermeasure for this?”

A story that he will even drag the government office into it is the same as Gye-yeon-seok not taking care of his own state.

Since the story will be published in all directions, the merchant group’s trust will fall even further.

This is no different from Gye-yeon-seok using Dong-gwi-eo-jin (Mutual Destruction), which is something warriors might use.

“Phew.”

“Ahem.”

“Geez.”

As the story of the government office came out, everyone became dumb.

Unlike the Gye-ryong Merchant Group, the Tae-eul Sect, which has no connection with the government, would already suffer great damage just by distinguishing right from wrong.

Moreover, if a result comes out to return the donations, the result will become irreversible.

“Outer Hall Leader. How much property do we have?”

“……If we sell all our family property, we will barely be able to match it.”

He must be talking about the taverns and inns, which are the few money-making holes.

My father, who paused for a moment, continued.

“I am a bit hesitant to say this in this situation, but how about receiving some help from the Wang Manor?”

“Wang Manor?”

“Yes. The Wang Manor Master expected such a thing the other day. He said that if a problem occurs in the Tae-eul Sect, I should find him anytime. He said I don’t have to repay the money if the situation is not good.”

“He said such a thing?”

“Huh.”

At my father’s words, the faces of the Hall Leaders brightened.

But the Sect Leader tilted his head.

“No matter how much affection he has for our Tae-eul Sect, giving that much money without compensation does not fit the logic, and it is even more difficult to understand that a merchant would do so.”

“Yes…… that is…….”

My father, who hesitated for a moment, looked at me.

Why suddenly me?

“He asked for the Great Disciple Jin-so-un.”

What the hell!

“Ye-es?”

The Hall Leaders’ gazes gathered on me, and I let out a sigh of surprise.

“What does that mean?”

“Perhaps he wants to teach merchant work if I have an intention for business…….”

Suddenly, I became a person who was sold off instead of the sect’s debt.

“What does that mean? It is an absurd word. The Great Disciple of the Tae-eul Sect doing merchant work!”

Hong Mun-gi firmly refused.

The Hall Leaders let out a sigh of regret even while knowing it wasn’t right, and especially Hall Leader Kang Chae-seok of the Kwae-hwa-dang was looking at me openly.

Look at that human’s eyes shining!

Eventually, the Sect Leader organized the situation again.

“I would rather sell all the sect’s property than do such a thing.”

“……Yes. That is right.”

My father also looked at me with strange eyes as if he felt regretful, and then turned his head.

“Even so, borrowing money from the Wang Manor is something to think about. Since we don’t have the ability to pay back all the donations right away, I will speak on the premise of paying it back over several years.”

“Hmm.”

In the end, this was also just a stopgap measure.

Everyone, including the Hall Leaders, was just swallowing cold tea.

Silence that settled for a moment.

Kang Chae-seok, who was playing with a teacup, cleared his throat.

“Ahem, how about listening to our Great Disciple’s opinion?”

What is it? Why is that human like that suddenly? Even though he always told me to shut up.

Naturally, I, who had no right to speak at the Hall Leader meeting, could not speak unless someone gave me the right to speak.

“So-un, you say?”

“Yes. Isn’t he the Great Disciple, even if he looks like that. He might come up with such a brilliant idea that we Hall Leaders can’t think of, and also…… perhaps he has had an interest in business usually.”

Then that’s it…….

Are you trying to sell me for donations right now?

When I glared at Kang Chae-seok, Kang Chae-seok cleared his throat and turned his gaze away.

“Geez, and if So-un inherits the Wang Manor, isn’t it a good thing for everyone?”

At the words of Kang Chae-seok, who drank honey water to his heart’s content so that he didn’t know the end, the expressions of everyone, including me, were dumbfounded.

“Why are you doing this? Marrying off his only daughter, whom Wang Geum-san values more than his own body, to a second-rate warrior of the third-rate sect Tae-eul Sect?”

What on earth is he thinking in that head?

But the funny thing is that among the other Hall Leaders, people started to nod one by one.

“Stop. I won’t talk about that anymore. I have no intention of teaching So-un business at all.”

Hong Mun-gi organized the venue at once.

“You can also try speaking if you have a story you want to tell.”

Hong Mun-gi was looking at me with eyes full of expectation.

“What story would the disciple know to tell?”

In my words, everyone, including the Hall Leaders, looked disappointed.

“But if you don’t mind any story, I will try once.”

“Yes.”

“Actually, I haven’t been going around all over the place, have I? Then I met a miner in a mountain.”

“A miner?”

“Yes. That miner said he was wondering why a mine doesn’t appear in such a place.”

The Sect Leader and the Hall Leaders also had expressions of not knowing.

“The miner said that a lot of high-quality iron ore is piled up in a mountain called Seok-ju-san located behind Hwa-un mountain.”

“Iron ore?”

Iron is the mineral that is used most, and most commonly, among ores.

Especially since the martial arts sect is linked to iron as soon as it is a weapon, giant sects always include mines in their assets.

The question was asked by my father instead of the Sect Leader.

“Isn’t Seok-ju-san just a stone mountain where even trees don’t grow.”

Seok-ju-san is a stone mountain with no owner.

Because it was a useless mountain full of weeds where trees did not grow because the soil was barren, no one thought of doing anything there.

The price was also ridiculously cheap.

Because there was nothing you could do even if you owned a useless mountain, no one tried to buy it.

“The miner said that if you dig into Seok-ju-san a little, you can dig iron right away. So, how about the Tae-eul Sect buys Seok-ju-san and borrows money from the Wang Manor to develop the mine? If you do that, you will be able to liquidate the debt of the Gye-ryong Merchant Group step by step.”

I told the story, but everyone seemed not to trust it much.

It wasn’t that they didn’t, but they thought that if there was such a good mine, someone would have occupied it already, and if it was enough for a miner to recognize, it was something that even the government could step into.

But for me, I have no intention of missing this opportunity.

Two years later, heavy rain falls in this area, and a landslide occurs on Seok-ju-san.

At the same time, the soil of Seok-ju-san is washed away, and a large-scale iron ore mine is discovered inside it.

The government office, which was the owner of Seok-ju-san, became a jackpot due to the sudden appearance of mine, and my father used to get drunk for a whopping three years, saying he should have bought that mountain.

“The miner you met couldn’t have lied. However, the risk is too big right now to invest just by believing his words.”

The Sect Leader also seemed to think that my words were absurd, but he did not pick a book on it.

I nodded and said.

“I thought you would think so, so I dug into the ground of Seok-ju-san for the past few weeks.”

Actually, I dug it while practicing the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang this morning, though.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

I put down one stone the size of a melon from my bosom.

It was an iron ore with a thick black color and a light silver tint.

I picked it up from the edge of a huge cave created by the Gwang-cheon-sin-jang.

“It has been a while since I discovered this, but please understand that I am telling you now because I had to get it confirmed by a blacksmith.”

As if my next words were expected, the mouths and eyes of the Hall Leaders started to open wide.

“The blacksmith said it is a high-quality iron ore.”

Even the gentle Hong Mun-gi’s mouth and eyes opened as wide as a jar.