Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 201 - The Calm Before the Storm (4)
Chapter 201 – The Calm Before the Storm (4)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“An usage fee, you say. How much are we talking about?”
People looked afraid. Just as I had said, they could only find Longyuan through the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.
That meant that no matter what outrageous sum I named, they would have to accept it. But the usage fee had already been decided inside me.
“I think the usage fee should be exactly the amount of money you people plan to collect from the merchant companies.”
“…Huh.”
A groan escaped the people’s mouths. Those with a bit of brains would know from those words alone that the whole board had just been overturned.
“Then if no money is collected from the merchant companies, it is free?”
“You understood correctly.”
I smiled. People began looking at one another.
Especially the members of the sects and clans who had supported collecting money from the merchant companies. They showed it most clearly. This was a dead end.
If they insisted on the method of collecting tribute money from the merchant companies, then while their relationship with the merchant companies soured, the money would simply be paid over to me instead. If they refrained from collecting it, they could at least maintain an amicable relationship with the merchant companies. I had narrowed their options down to one.
“Then there is no reason at all to collect money from the merchant companies, is there?”
“I have no reason to stop you. I would be the one eating all that money.”
The expressions of the people grew awkward. One of them glanced around and then spoke.
“Ahem. In that case, let us put aside the proposal to collect money from the merchant companies for the moment. If the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company helps us without charge, then would we not have received a favor from the commercial world and be obliged to repay it?”
“Well said.”
As if they had been waiting for it, the others immediately voiced their agreement. In the midst of it all, their skill at dressing themselves up was quite something.
“Since neither the Nine Great Sects nor the Five Great Families agree, it seems the proposal to collect money from the merchant companies will have to be withdrawn.”
Smiling, I looked at Su Je-heon. His expression was blank. If anything, he was even wearing a faint smile.
“Well, now. I took quite a blow there. Then so be it.”
In the end, Su Je-heon withdrew the proposal to collect money from the world of commerce. But I had no intention of stopping there.
“I have another proposal as well.”
“And what might that be?”
“I would like the Grand Martial Assembly to be withdrawn too.”
Su Je-heon’s smile froze. The murmuring among the people intensified as well. By this point, everyone must have realized it. The fact that I was obstructing Su Je-heon’s moves in a major way.
“May I ask the reason?”
Su Je-heon asked calmly. I answered at once.
“As everyone here already knows, the Grand Martial Assembly is dangerous. If even one or two top experts are injured, it becomes a great loss to the martial world.”
“A merchant worrying about the martial world? That bruises my pride a little.” “I am a merchant, but I am also a martial artist.”
“Heh. To say that here, you are rather full of confidence.”
Su Je-heon said that. Certainly, I could imagine that among the many old masters present, there would be those who would dislike hearing a merchant like me claim to be a martial artist.
When I looked around at the others with that thought in mind, there were not actually that many glaring at me.
“It is only natural that there would be injuries at the Grand Martial Assembly. How could there be no injuries when top masters fight one another for the title of strongest under heaven? Yet it is only in an era as peaceful as this one that there is even a chance to decide the strongest under heaven.”
“A peaceful era. Are you really certain of those words?”
I could not agree with him on that point. Of course, these people could say such things because they did not know that the Yunchang Merchant Company, an enormous merchant company, had in its entirety been a lair of the Demonic Cult.
But from my point of view, knowing that fact, this was by no means an age of peace. It was the stillness before a storm. In other words, an age that was calm only before the storm broke.
And in the first place, Su Je-heon would have no interest at all in deciding the strongest under heaven. His aim was obvious.
He wanted the influence of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families to diminish drastically. He was likely planning to use the Grand Martial Assembly for that. The people obsessed with the title of strongest under heaven would wound each other of their own accord. It was his way of blowing his nose without lifting a finger.
“In my opinion, this is not an age of peace. But even if it were, peaceful times are precisely when one should prepare for war. If we lower the strength of the orthodox sects for the hollow title of strongest under heaven, how foolish would that be?”
At my words, uncomfortable coughs rose from around the room. That was because I had just turned everyone who was looking forward to the Grand Martial Assembly into fools.
Sure enough, a rebuttal came flying back immediately.
“The title of strongest under heaven is no hollow thing. It is the greatest honor a martial artist can obtain. There is more than enough meaning in determining it.”
A middle-aged man in a dark blue martial uniform spoke. Beside him sat a young man with a familiar face. Looking closely, it was Namgung Hwi, from whom I had once taken Azure Radiance. Which meant that the middle-aged man was likely an elder of the Namgung Clan.
Once the elder of the Namgung Clan spoke, the others began to chime in as well.
“That is right. It is already absurd enough for some merchant to call himself a martial artist, and now…”
“Even so, that does not make it more important than preserving the strength of the orthodox sects. I would only ask that you not dismiss the symbolism of the strongest under heaven.”
Unexpectedly, the elder of the Namgung Clan ended his words in a way that almost sounded as though he were taking my side. The only ones left embarrassed were those who had tried to turn their blades on me.
It seemed the elder had spoken first on my behalf. Since my words could have become controversial, he had pointed it out first and then shielded me so that the matter would go no further.
I had no idea why an elder of the Namgung Clan would shield me like that. It occurred to me that perhaps Namgung Hwi had told him something beforehand.
“Then does that mean everyone agrees to withdraw the Grand Martial Assembly as well?”
Looking across the room, Su Je-heon asked the question. Since the elder of the Namgung Clan had spoken that way, it meant the Namgung Clan too had expressed the view that the Grand Martial Assembly should not be held.
Moreover, the side of righteousness lay with the anti-assembly argument. I was saying that in preparation for the calamities to come, the righteous sects should not injure each other. If one opposed that, then one would only become a fool chasing after the title of strongest under heaven, just as I had said.
“Then we must start from the beginning. How shall we decide who Longyuan belongs to?”
Su Je-heon asked in an unhappy voice. But I already had an answer prepared for that too.
“There is an easy way. Decide it through the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes. Give it to the sect that sends the most outstanding younger-generation expert at the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes. Would that not settle it?”
“Through the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes?”
Su Je-heon reacted sourly. The people listening had much the same reaction.
“Unlike the Grand Martial Assembly, the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes is judged by masters who are at least two levels above the younger generation, so people are hardly ever injured. On top of that, does not the ability to raise outstanding younger-generation experts directly represent the strength of a sect?”
At my words, people started whispering among themselves. It seemed they were calculating which option was more advantageous to their sect or family. “The Zhuge Clan agrees.”
Unexpectedly, Zhuge Gyeom raised his hand in support of my proposal.
“I too think it is a foolish act to determine the strongest under heaven through the Grand Martial Assembly. Let us do this instead. Let Longyuan be awarded to the most outstanding younger-generation expert at the Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes. Should we not at least place one of the Eighteen Famous Swords into the hands of the next strongest under heaven?”
People looked bewildered at the confident way Zhuge Gyeom said it. Both I and the others knew that the Zhuge Clan did not presently have any younger-generation expert worthy of that level.
Yet he sounded so confident. It was natural for the others to be confused.
“The Namgung Clan agrees as well.”
The elder of the Namgung Clan immediately agreed too. Well, since Namgung Hwi was currently the foremost younger-generation expert, he had reason for confidence.
“The Mount Hua Sect also agrees.”
Gu Jinqing, the Violet Mist Divine Sword, cast his vote in favor as well.
From Gu Jinqing’s perspective too, it probably seemed more possible to make Mae Su-il the strongest younger-generation expert than for he himself to become the strongest under heaven.
In any case, as one after another started shifting to the side of agreement, the people of the other sects and families also began to agree as if they were being pushed into it.
Because the moment they opposed it here, they would be doing nothing more than openly admitting they lacked confidence in their future.
For martial artists, who valued the pride of their own force above all else, that was something absolutely intolerable.
“…Then I suppose there is no helping it. So be it.”
Once public opinion had formed without leaving Su Je-heon any room to intervene, even he had no choice but to accept it.
And thus every agenda of the Martial Alliance meeting ended according to my intentions. I hate praising myself, but honestly, that Martial Alliance meeting lacked nothing that would prevent one from calling it my one-man show.
After the meeting ended, I went outside together with Cheong-yu’s party. Since the annoying business was finished, I thought I might go eat something delicious with my companions. Nanjing had many good places to eat.
But that was far too complacent a thought.
The moment I stepped out of the meeting hall, the others rushed in like a swarm of bees.
Startled by the sudden press of people, I first lifted Myeong-gyeong into my arms. He was small, so he might get buried in the crowd.
“Young Hero Muk, let us speak for a moment.”
“How about we share a cup of tea?”
At the countless hands of invitation filling my sight, I could only stare blankly.
* * *
Me, once a merchant, becoming a popular figure among the prestigious martial houses?
Hm. Even as the title of a novel, that would probably be judged third-rate.
Yet astonishingly, it was true. Of course, there were those who found me unpleasant. Some had openly belittled me as nothing but a merchant right there in the middle of the meeting.
Even so, many people wanted to speak with me. The first ones I met were the elder of the Namgung Clan who had helped me during the meeting, together with Namgung Hwi.
“I am Namgung Ik. And you already know the one beside me, I believe. I heard you are old acquaintances.”
“Yes. Young Master Namgung. It is good to see you.”
“Not at all. The pleasure is more mine. I never expected to see you here.” Namgung Hwi offered me a polite fist-and-palm salute. Namgung Ik looked at Namgung Hwi with curiosity.
“This fellow is not someone who treats others so politely. Young Master Muk truly must be no ordinary man.”
“Haha. Young Master Namgung is simply a polite person.”
We exchanged a layer of gilding on each other. Namgung Ik went straight to the point.
“There are many who want you, Young Master Muk, so I cannot take too much of your time.”
“You may speak slowly.”
“The other sects and clans will complain all the same. One cannot monopolize the hottest topic in the martial world right now, can one?”
“What hot topic could I be?”
“So you truly do not know. In truth, those who needed to know already knew of you. Our Namgung Clan certainly did. And even those who did not know were forced to learn after your fight with Clan Head Zhuge. They had no choice but to ask themselves where such a younger-generation expert of Wudang had suddenly come from.”
“I only gave Martial Grand-Uncle Cheong-yu a hand.”
“That is what is even more remarkable. How can a younger-generation expert coordinate sword strikes with an elder-level figure? That is what shocked everyone.”
Namgung Ik laughed heartily.
“From what I hear, the Beggars’ Gang had originally been treating you as top-class intelligence, but has now raised you to special-class. A natural decision, given the demand. Since our Namgung Clan already obtained the report, it does not matter to us, but the others will have to pay at least three times the price to read your file.”
“I am not sure whether I should be pleased or not.”
“Famous people naturally pay their price.”
I drank the tea poured before me. It was Huangshan Maofeng, a specialty of Anhui. As expected of the Namgung Clan, it was the highest grade.
“It tastes good.”
“Thank you.”
“So what is your business with me?”
“From here, Hwi will speak.”
Namgung Hwi?
I looked at him in surprise. I had assumed he had simply come along with Namgung Ik, yet it turned out the main body of the matter was actually Namgung Hwi.
Come to think of it, Namgung Hwi had indeed been sitting with both hands neatly placed on his thighs, his posture stiff and rigid.
“What is it, Young Master Namgung?”
“Mm…”
Namgung Hwi opened and closed his mouth while looking at me. It seemed the words would not come easily. Was he about to make some difficult request? Without meaning to, I too began feeling tense.
“Speak quickly. Young Master Muk is a busy man.”
When Namgung Hwi continued to hesitate, Namgung Ik scolded him. Only then did Namgung Hwi finally speak in a small voice.
“W-would you be willing to have a proper spar with me?”
“…” For all the stammering, it was actually a rather simple and manageable request.