Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 203 - Probe Battle (2)

Chapter 203 – Probe Battle (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The last time I fought Namgung Hwi, I was far weaker than I am now. That was why I had no choice but to barely snatch out a victory by making use of the rules.

But now things were different. Now I could see things in Namgung Hwi that I had not seen before.

I had fought people whose names were spoken on the same level as Namgung Hwi. Peng Chae-hyang, the Moon-Shrouding Saber. Mae Su-il, the Falling Blossom Sword Dragon. And now I could state it with certainty.

Namgung Hwi was a person on a different level from Peng Chae-hyang and Mae Su-il.

Of course, outwardly they might appear similar. If one limited oneself only to visible things like internal energy, speed, and strength, then yes.

“Hup.”

The blue lightning that had been crackling around Namgung Hwi’s sword turned white. It was white heat.

Now that I thought about it, the sword art Namgung Hwi was using right now was White Lightning Sword Art. Yet until now, all I had ever seen from Namgung Hwi was blue lightning. Why had I never questioned that?

That was it. The reason Namgung Hwi had only sent out blue lightning back then was that his realm in White Lightning Sword Art had still been low.

Kurureung.

A majestic rumble sounded, as though thunder itself were rising from the sword. The white lightning of White Lightning Sword Art stabbed toward my body.

I immediately raised a sword wind. Projected force spiraled as it rose upward. The lightning collided above my head and exploded.

Once I had received a single strike, I became even more certain. Namgung Hwi was on a different plane from Peng Chae-hyang and Mae Su-il.

People always said that there was a high level of comprehension in my sword. Even after hearing that many times, I had never truly known what it meant.

But now I felt that I finally understood. Namgung Hwi’s sword was not all that different in trajectory from the blades Peng Chae-hyang and Mae Su-il cast, and its speed and force were similar too.

The difference was in the intent held within it. I felt a bit sorry to keep comparing him to Peng Chae-hyang and Mae Su-il, but while those two seemed as though they read a secret manual and then moved exactly as it prescribed, Namgung Hwi felt as though he had forgotten the secret manual and was striking out in his own way.

“Just as I thought.”

With his eyes shining, Namgung Hwi rushed quickly toward me. He had already designed the linking technique in advance, knowing I would block.

I immediately spread the cloud-mist of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art from my sword. Yet Namgung Hwi illuminated the dense fog by lashing lightning in every direction.

Namgung Hwi’s lightning was as dense as a spiderweb. To go forward, it had to be cut apart. I retrieved with my sword the cloud-mist I had spread around the area. The mist spun as it was sucked back into the sword. The sword trembled, and mist leaked out through the gaps between the fingers gripping the hilt.

“You have grown tremendously in the meantime.”

Namgung Hwi clicked his tongue in admiration. Just as he had turned blue lightning white, I too had not been sitting idle.

The mist of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art was not, of course, actual mist. It was my qi spread outward in the form of mist. If I could seize that dispersed qi once more with my sword, then my strike would naturally carry far more force.

“Here I come.”

The moment I said it quietly, tension spread across Namgung Hwi’s face.

I brought my sword down at the lightning surrounding me. The lightning was severed as easily as reeds being cut.

For an instant Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened in shock, but he quickly recovered his composure and began to re-form his stance. The severed lightning lying strewn across the ground rose again and began to braid itself into a single line.

Behind Namgung Hwi, those threads of lightning became one great spear. The spear of white light slowly turned its tip and aimed straight at me.

“This is the greatest technique I can currently display.”

“It is beautiful. What is the name of the move?”

“White Thunder.”

“A fitting name.”

Namgung Hwi stepped one foot forward and bent his knee. His back foot stretched out in a straight line behind him.

I did not even blink. If anything, I put more force into my eyes and watched for Namgung Hwi’s next move. But it was all useless. Suddenly Namgung Hwi appeared before me, carrying the spear of lightning.

A speed more than worthy of being called a flash of lightning. But naturally, compared to the head of the Zhuge Clan or the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it still fell short.

Since I had already experienced their sword beforehand, I had more than enough room to respond.

The sword holding the mist and the spear of lightning Namgung Hwi had called forth crashed together. With a great roar, projected force exploded outward from the two of us.

“…Hoo.”

Namgung Hwi released the breath he had been holding until now. My sword and Namgung Hwi’s Azure Radiance were pressed together diagonally against each other.

“Cough.”

Blood surged out of Namgung Hwi’s mouth and soaked the ground. Since he had collided head-on with full power, he had inevitably suffered internal injury.

By contrast, I was fine. Seeing me, Namgung Hwi smiled bitterly.

“I have lost.”

“You did well.”

I withdrew my sword. It was a clean finish. When Namgung Hwi swayed, Namgung Ik quickly ran over and supported him.

“Strong, just as I had heard. I had my doubts, you know.”

Namgung Ik laughed while holding Namgung Hwi up.

“About what?”

“About you being a peerless genius of the ages. I thought it was merely the usual exaggeration of martial people. Honestly, it makes no sense. That someone who had not even been practicing martial arts for a few years could already have his name placed alongside the most famous younger-generation experts of the jianghu.”

“I see.”

“Others have probably already received information about you by now as well, but there are likely still many who harbor the same doubts as I did.”

Namgung Ik gave me that warning. Well, human beings as a species did not readily believe things even when they saw them with their own eyes. So it was only natural that they would fail to believe the rumors about me as well.

“Then I suppose proving it will be my responsibility.”

“No, you need not go out of your way to prove anything.”

At Namgung Ik’s words, I tilted my head. Smiling, Namgung Ik continued.

“To speak frankly, the Namgung Clan hopes that when the time comes for you to prove it, you still will not have done so.”

“Why is that?”

“Because we want you to become a hidden weapon for us.”

Namgung Ik sat Namgung Hwi down upon flat ground. Namgung Hwi at once crossed his legs and shut his eyes. It seemed he meant to regulate his breathing and qi circulation to deal with his internal injuries.

“A hidden weapon?”

I lowered my voice and asked so as not to disturb Namgung Hwi’s qi circulation. But Namgung Ik laughed loudly.

“There is no need to lower your voice. Hwi is not the sort whose concentration will be broken by everyday noise.”

“Is that so. I did not mean any disrespect.”

“I know, I know. In any case, a hidden weapon means just what it sounds like. Naturally, a card the enemy already knows has little effect. A card they do not know, that is what has real effect. You are someone who could become such a card.”

“The enemy you mean does not seem to be the Demonic Cult.”

“It is hard to hide anything from you.”

At my words, Namgung Ik smiled faintly.

“That is correct. We intend to remove the Alliance Leader from his seat.”

I was slightly surprised. Even so, I had roughly expected something of the kind. There was no way there would be no backlash from the members when the Martial Alliance Leader was acting so high-handedly.

There must also have been this sort of internal conflict in my previous life. I simply had not known about it. If the orthodox martial world fought among itself, commoners would naturally feel uneasy, so the imperial court would surely have ordered people to keep their mouths shut. It was only natural that I, who had been nothing more than a merchant then, would not know.

“Do you have a reason for trying to remove the Alliance Leader?”

I asked that because I wanted to hear their position in concrete terms first.

“The Alliance Leader is certainly a man who moves for the safety of the jianghu. But his methods have a major flaw.”

A major flaw. I agreed with that. If one valued results so highly that one neglected the process, then noise and backlash were inevitable.

“I understand.”

“Moreover, the Alliance Leader’s convictions are twisted in a strange way. There is no one who does not know that the Alliance Leader harbors a peculiar hatred toward the great houses.”

Well, when he openly toyed with the direct and collateral lines like that, it would be stranger not to know.

“So our conclusion is that the Alliance Leader is dangerous. If he is not removed, he seems likely to bring an enormous chaos upon the martial world.” “I see.”

“And what do you think?”

Namgung Ik asked. I turned my thoughts over quickly. My answer now mattered quite a bit.

After thinking it through, I slowly opened my mouth.

“I think I would prefer to keep watching a little longer.”

“Unexpected. I thought you would naturally be on our side, given how openly opposed you were to the Alliance Leader.”

“This is something other forces are joining in on too, then.”

“Heh. Do not try to test me that way.”

“My apologies.”

“In any case, you want to keep watching. Very well. I cannot say I fail to understand your position.”

Right now I had to move carefully. Martial artists were not simply people who raised their swords and charged at things. If anything, the Martial Alliance was rife with political infighting that rivaled even the imperial court.

Naturally, in terms of personal preference alone, the Namgung Clan was far preferable to the Martial Alliance Leader. But I was not an individual acting alone. Behind me stood the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, and it was highly likely that Wudang too would become entangled. Namgung Ik had probably seen that possibility and thus approached me for recruitment.

So I could not carelessly decide who my enemy was. For now, it was enough simply to know that such internal division existed within the Martial Alliance.

“Then does that mean cooperation between the Azure Sky Merchant Company and the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company has fallen through?”

“Hahaha. As if. We are not small-minded people.”

“That is fortunate.”

With a smile, I shook Namgung Ik’s hand. The fact that Namgung Ik had offered a handshake, the greeting style of merchants, was in itself a sign of respect toward me.

“Someone from the Azure Sky Merchant Company will come soon. We can discuss the details then.”

“Very well.”

“Where are you meeting next after this?”

Namgung Ik asked. I smiled.

“I think I will not be meeting anyone at all.”

Namgung Ik’s eyes widened slightly.

“That is an interesting move. It seems everyone is burning to see you right now.”

“If one wants to raise one’s value, should one not act aloof at times like this?”

“Will that not needlessly make enemies?”

“If they are the kind of people who would show hostility merely because I did not meet them once, then they were bound to be that sort from the beginning.”

Nodding, Namgung Ik smiled as if he agreed with me.

“Then perhaps I should be grateful that you met with us.”

“It was only a return of favor. You helped me during the meeting.”

I rose from my seat.

And with that, my meeting with the Namgung Clan came to an end.

* * *

When I returned to the lodging, a welcome face was waiting for me.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah.”

Yeo Hong-yang was drinking tea that I had no idea who had provided.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why? Is there some rule saying I can’t be?”

“Shouldn’t you be at Wudang?”

“What, is a secular disciple supposed to stay at Wudang forever? It’s over.”

“Ah, right?”

This truly had not occurred to me at all. Then again, secular disciples were people trained and then sent back out into the world. I had already spent more than three years at Wudang myself, so it was about time the secular disciples of this intake were released.

“Then Jeon Oh-su and the others must have all come out too.”

“Right. Not that there were all that many of us.”

“So you’ve returned to Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company?”

“Yeah.”

When I thought about it, it was actually welcome news. Yeo Hong-yang had all the secular disciples of this intake firmly under his hand.

That meant that if I moved Yeo Hong-yang, I could move all the secular disciple classmates who had gone out across the Central Plains. Except for outliers like me, secular disciples generally came from wealthy or notable houses, so they would certainly prove useful.

“But why did Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company send you instead of Yeo Hong-won?”

“Well, maybe my father used his head a bit.”

“Your father? The retired king?”

“Yeah. In the end nothing leaked, but our merchant company was apparently the broker for the Taiji Wisdom Sword, right? Maybe he put me forward because you might expose that.”

“Ah.”

I had not been planning to do that. But since Yeo Bul-jin had no way of knowing my mind, it made sense he would think that way.

“Anyway, so I was going to just sit here quietly and then leave, but the Martial Alliance Leader had to start spouting utterly absurd nonsense.”

With a bitter smile, Yeo Hong-yang shook his head. I nodded as well. From the viewpoint of the world of commerce, the Martial Alliance Leader’s words had been utterly unacceptable.

“How are the people of the commercial world taking it?”

“Hard to say. They all claim to oppose it, but some of them look as though they are hiding schemes behind their backs.”

“Naturally. It is always at times like this that traitors crawl out and try to suck everything dry for themselves.”

When an entire industry is shaken like this, the proper response is for everyone to band together and fight. But selfish people existed everywhere, so that was difficult in reality.

There were certainly those who would protest in front of the other merchants and then, behind the scenes, secretly side with the Martial Alliance in order to snatch up all the Alliance’s contracts for themselves.

Leaning back against the backrest, Yeo Hong-yang shook his head.

“The Martial Alliance is one hell of a madhouse too. I thought only the world of commerce was.”

“The world is a madhouse wherever people live.”

It was more complicated than I had expected. Living as a merchant in my previous life, I had always thought the martial world itself was peaceful.

Yet beneath that placid surface, they had been stabbing at each other with the spearhead of the storm.

If such internal conflict existed, then there was little chance matters in the Zhoushan Archipelago would pass quietly either.

After all, whether it was the anti-Alliance-Leader forces, including the Namgung Clan, or the Martial Alliance Leader’s forces, who seized Longyuan would itself become an immensely important matter.

“You know, though. I kind of prefer a complete mess like this.”

“I figured you would.”

I laughed. As expected, since Yeo Hong-yang had spent so much time with me, he understood me fairly well.

I had thought only merchants engaged in this sort of political infighting, yet the martial world was exactly the same. In the end, every place where people lived was alike.

And I was someone thoroughly accustomed to this sort of political maneuvering and underhanded scheming.

Clapping my hands once, I let my eyes shine.

“Let’s start touching the board.”

“How?”

“Should we start by meeting our proud secular disciple classmates who have already gone out into society?”

I picked up a brush. Though I had been holding only a sword for so long, holding a brush again did not feel awkward in the slightest.

To Jeon Oh-su, Young Proprietor of Wuhan Money House, personally. The first letter was written exactly that way.