Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 198 - The Calm Before the Storm (1)

Chapter 198 – The Calm Before the Storm (1)

[ Some lock conditions have been lifted. ]

Right. I needed to remember this part too. It was the moment the conditions for grade three were unlocked.

First of all, before looking at the grade-three martial talents, there was something I was curious about.

This martial talent shop always claimed that I had fulfilled its conditions at the most random times, but what in the world were those conditions I had supposedly fulfilled?

The first time was when I was being worked like a dog at Grain Hall, the second was when Cheong-ui locked me in the Cave of Repentance, and the third was just now.

There is something I ought to confess here.

Whenever I face anything in this world, I first wrap myself in the shell called reason. In a world full of blades of hostility, I become a cocoon clad in the armor called reason.

My reason knows the right path because it has accumulated experience over time. So I follow the voice of reason. Since that reason is built on logical structures, most people can accept it, and because of that, I do not fail.

But the emotions roiling beneath the surface of reason. Those emotions I consciously hide. That is because they are sometimes antisocial, inhuman, impulsive, and irrational.

Those emotions likely branched outward from the blood-crazed madness I had so desperately wished to conquer.

I know they are not something I should show to others, and I am even ashamed of them. That is why I believe that among all the people who have seen me until now, there is not one who has sensed even a fragment of that madness. I am skilled at hiding myself.

Anyway, there is a reason I am saying this now.

Because if I look at it from the realm of reason, I cannot understand why I fulfilled those conditions. One could only understand it by reading the changes in the emotions that surged like lava beneath reason. But unless one was my real self, there was no way to know that.

It is deeply embarrassing, but I am now going to lightly uncover the emotions I felt at those times.

At that time, I had wanted to leave the Wudang Sect, yet I could not. Just before that, Cheong-su had also struck me. Of course, now I know that was acupoint-opening beating, but at the time I did not know that. I had even been threatened with having my dantian crippled.

To speak honestly, at that time I felt a horrible killing intent. I wanted to pour oil over all of Mount Wudang and set it ablaze.

When Cheong-su was hitting me, the death of my grandfather overlapped with it, and that was what provoked my killing intent.

Thus, while feeling that terrible killing intent, I fulfilled the condition for the first rank increase.

The second time was when Cheong-hwa gave me that strange spirit medicine and shut me inside the Cave of Repentance.

In one sense, it was not that different from the first. My free will had been ignored and I had been locked up in the Cave of Repentance.

But there I felt trust.

Even within that Cave of Repentance, so dark it seemed to devour everything, I had trust that the Wudang Sect would not harm me. What Wudang had shown me up to that point had changed me. At that moment, I realized that I too trusted Wudang.

When I became aware of that trust, I fulfilled the second condition.

The third was now.

As I looked at Myeong-gyeong, who had come to me late at night, I felt an affection that went beyond trust. Not the loud and gaudy affection that came from sexual instinct, but the simple affection of colors and sounds that arose when one person’s heart connected to another’s.

Now, the child called Myeong-gyeong had become one of my own not because he was of Wudang, nor because he was my senior brother, but simply because he was Myeong-gyeong.

Even if Myeong-gyeong, on some fleeting whim, snapped at me in annoyance, and even if, out of the immaturity of his character, he lied to me, in the end I would still willingly forgive him.

From here on, while I spared no advice in order to guide him in the proper direction, I would likely also discover myself anxiously worrying in secret lest Myeong-gyeong begin to hate me.

When I became aware of that, I fulfilled the third condition.

The common point among all three was that my emotions had been amplified. To the point that they might almost have broken through the solid cocoon of my reason.

Then did fulfilling the condition mean amplifying a specific emotion? But that was not something one could artificially do. Emotions were like the tail of a comet that followed behind the orbit of my life.

“Huu.”

Feeling warmth again as I looked at Myeong-gyeong sleeping peacefully, I thought it might be better simply to live as I was rather than scurrying about trying to fulfill conditions to raise the shop’s rank.

After sorting out my thoughts, I looked once more at the martial talent shop floating above Myeong-gyeong’s pillow.

[ Martial King’s Body – Grade Three ]

[ Price: Zhanlu of the Eighteen Famous Swords ]

I yawned and stretched. Then I even rubbed my eyes and looked again. Because it was possible I had misread it from drowsiness and exhaustion.

But no matter how many times I looked, the price did not change. Zhanlu truly was one of the Eighteen Famous Swords of the martial world. They said it was a sword memorable for its dark blue light, but naturally I had never seen it and did not even know who currently possessed it.

“These lunatics.”

“…Don’t use bad words.”

“Oh, were you awake?” “Don’t. Junior Brother…”

Startled, I looked at Myeong-gyeong, but his eyes remained closed and his arms simply flailed faintly. Apparently it was only sleep talk.

“Hah.”

I looked through the other talents as well. Right, because perhaps only this one was ridiculous.

[ Wind God – Grade Three ]

[ Price: Secret manual of Heavenly King Divine Art ]

This was even worse. Heavenly King Divine Art was known as the unique ultimate art of the Heavenly King Sect, a martial art that had vanished more than ten years ago.

No one had ever even discovered why that sect had disappeared, or how. Yet it wanted me to bring its secret manual.

When I looked through the other talents as well, there was no money involved anymore. Almost all of them were priceless treasures that could not be obtained even with immeasurable wealth.

Suddenly a thought came to me. Whenever I bought martial talents, the money in my pouch disappeared. Then if I bought the grade-three martial talents, would these treasures also disappear?

I shook my head. It was not something I needed to think about at this stage. Even if they did disappear, honestly, it was none of my concern.

“Sigh.”

It was a meaningless worry. Whether it was Zhanlu or the secret manual of Heavenly King Divine Art, those things would have to come into my hands before I could even worry about such a thing. Objects that might never come into my possession in my lifetime.

Well, it did not matter. To begin with, people already evaluated even grade-four talents as gifts the martial world might never see again. I comforted myself with that thought and eased my disappointment.

“I should just sleep.”

I closed my eyes beside Myeong-gyeong. I was so tired that the demon of sleep swept over me the instant I shut them.

* * *

“Little Daoist. I looked for you everywhere. If you were going to leave, you should have said something first.”

“Why were you looking for me?”

Myeong-gyeong asked as though he were sincerely puzzled. Peng Chae-hyang was struck speechless.

Why else? Because Peng Chae-hyang was still a warm person at heart and wanted to look after Myeong-gyeong.

But she had her pride too, so she could not bring herself to say that.

“…Just because.”

“What’s with you.”

When Myeong-gyeong turned his face away coldly, Peng Chae-hyang looked slightly hurt. Well, it was not easy to be treated coldly after coming out of genuine concern.

To lighten the atmosphere, I asked Cheong-yu and Peng Chae-hyang after their well-being.

“Did Martial Grand-Uncle and Miss Peng sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

We were presently in the Martial Alliance’s grand assembly hall. People entered in groups of three or four, and before long the entire large conference hall was swarming with people.

The meeting to be held today was the very reason the Martial Alliance had summoned us.

“By the way, do they not usually notify people of the agenda before a meeting?”

I asked. Among merchants, that sort of thing was standard in meetings. But Cheong-yu looked at me as though it were the first time he had ever heard such a thing.

“That has never once happened.”

“I see.”

So the culture of merchants and martial artists was different. Well, merchants valued documents, while martial artists valued swords, so perhaps that was only natural.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I had attended a meeting where so many martial artists gathered. I found myself curious how martial artists conducted meetings.

Cheong-ui had said at the time that there would be proposals concerning Wudang’s entry into the world of trade, warnings and security education over the leakage of manuals from orthodox prestige sects, the sharing of defensive formations, and one major announcement.

Naturally, the one that snagged my attention was the major announcement. But no matter how I looked around or heightened my hearing, no one seemed to know anything about it.

Not long after everyone had gathered, Su Je-heon, the Martial Alliance Leader, slowly ascended the platform. Though it was called a meeting, it seemed likely that it would in fact amount to little more than a one-sided announcement of the Alliance Leader’s opinions. Even so, he would at least be able to solicit people’s views in the middle.

“Did everyone have a peaceful night?”

Brazenly enough, that was the first thing Su Je-heon said. To begin with, I myself had not had a peaceful night because of Su Je-heon.

The others did not answer his words either. Without showing even the least bit of awkwardness, Su Je-heon began speaking at once.

“First, I thank all of you for coming despite this urgent summons by the Martial Alliance.”

Su Je-heon looked across the assembled crowd and gave a fist-and-palm salute.

“I will get straight to the point. As all of you likely know by now, there was recently an incident where martial arts of a prestigious orthodox sect leaked out and began circulating on the market.”

People’s gazes turned toward where the people of the Mount Hua Sect were seated. They had probably all heard the same news.

Cheong-ui too had known that the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms had leaked.

Gu Jinqing, whom I had seen at the inn, sat with his arms crossed, staring only forward as if deliberately avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes, while Mae Su-il kept his gaze lowered.

Now that I thought about it, it had been I who obtained the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms from the Tou Venerable for these bastards, and yet they had not known gratitude and instead picked fights with me. Well, it was only natural, since Baek Yu-gyeom would hardly have gone out of his way to tell them that Muk Hui-yeong, the imperial Censor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had retrieved them. Still, it annoyed me.

“Was the culprit who leaked it caught?”

Someone raised a hand and asked. Looking closely, it was one of the people from the Tang Clan whom I had seen in the dining hall earlier.

“That’s Thousand-Poison Scholar Tang Se-ui.”

“Ah, so that’s him.”

When I stared too intently, Peng Chae-hyang noticed and quietly told me who he was.

“The one beside him is Tang Sin-hyeon, the Tang Clan’s young clan heir.”

“I see. And how did you know that’s what I was wondering? Were you staring only at me the whole time?”

“W-what are you saying?”

Peng Chae-hyang snapped in a sudden shout. Since the conference hall was quiet, everyone’s gaze turned toward her.

“Since we are in a meeting, I would ask that private conversation wait until later.”

Su Je-heon said that with a dry cough.

“…My apologies.”

In the end, Peng Chae-hyang was the one who apologized. There was no need to mention that her face had turned bright red like an apple.

Though Peng Chae-hyang glared at me resentfully, I ignored her. I had only made a joke. It was her fault for taking it so sensitively.

“In any case, unfortunately, the culprit has not been caught.”

“I see. So you do not even know whether it was an outsider or an insider?”

“As a result of our investigation, we have yet to find any traces of an outsider. Of course, the investigation is still ongoing even now.”

Since it was the first time anyone there had heard this, the room stirred. From the standpoint of the Martial Alliance, they had effectively just publicly certified that there was a spy inside the Mount Hua Sect.

“I ask that you speak more carefully. Is the matter not still under investigation?”

Gu Jinqing immediately voiced his displeasure. Smiling faintly, Su Je-heon answered.

“My apologies. But I never once said Mount Hua.”

“Your word games are as tiresome as ever.”

Gu Jinqing replied sharply. Somehow, I thought that compared to the image of the great hero he had shown at the inn, this was much closer to Gu Jinqing’s true nature.

“In any case, regarding the leakage of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms, ah, my mistake, let me correct that. Regarding the leakage of manuals from prestigious orthodox sects, we are investigating it, and I ask that each sect as well pay careful attention to protecting their secret manuals.”

Even to the very end, Su Je-heon needled Gu Jinqing. It seemed Su Je-heon and Gu Jinqing did not get along.

“Are there no countermeasures being carried out at the level of the Martial Alliance?”

Someone asked. It was a question asking whether a mere warning was all there was. Su Je-heon shook his head.

“Of course not. The Martial Alliance will cooperate with the Zhuge Clan to create formations suitable for archive vaults and share them. I expect they will become excellent formations that handle both protection and management at once.”

Exclamations broke out among the people at Su Je-heon’s words.

And the unified mood of the Martial Alliance meeting ended there.

“The Zhuge Clan has no intention of cooperating with the Martial Alliance in that matter.”

Raising his hand, Zhuge Gyeom spoke. Su Je-heon’s brow rose slightly.

I had felt uneasy the moment he said they would be cooperating with the Zhuge Clan. A stillness like the calm before a storm spread through the conference hall.