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Chapter 44
Chapter 44. A First-Rate Warrior Who Gathers People (3)
The regions where the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans were located were always overflowing with visitors, even when they were not major cities.
Whether the place they settled was one of the Five Sacred Mountains or a rural hamlet, a new city would form around them.
Unusually, the villages around the Jegal Clan saw many Confucian Scholars and classical scholars coming and going.
I could not speak for studies in Martial, but when it came to studies in Letters, no place under heaven could match the Jegal Clan.
Ŵ е̌b̌nоv̆е̌l Еn u m а̄
After leaving Yueyang and heading to Mount Longzhong, I rested for one day, then went straight to the Jegal Clan.
It was a harsh march where I traveled all day long, but after washing my body with Innate True Qi in Wolhyang’s tomb, I barely felt fatigue anymore.
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“Huh…….”
When I arrived at the Jegal Clan beneath the foothills of Mount Longzhong, a noisy crowd had already gathered from the front gate onward.
“What on earth…….”
Wondering if I had forgotten that today was a memorial day for the Jegal Clan and come here by mistake, I searched through my memories, but today was no special day at all.
Eñu m̄ ã
“Perhaps…….”
As I stood there blankly, the old man in front of me looked cautiously at me.
“Have you come on business as well, Warrior?”
“Do you mean me?”
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“Yes.”
“I suppose so.”
Еn ū ḿ ӓ
“Then you should stand in this line.”
The old man wore shabby clothes and held the hand of a child who seemed to be his granddaughter.
“I see. Old Master, do you know this place well?”
“Old Master? I could never deserve that. Please just call me Old Man Heo.”
The old man started in surprise as he spoke, but his gaze was fixed on the Black Dragon Sword.
“I could not possibly do that. I am only carrying this sword for self-defense, so you need not worry.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Though I said that, the old man’s attitude remained polite.
“I have come several times because of a grave matter in my village. Today is already my seventh visit.”
“What grave matter requires you to visit seven times?”
“A Lesser Dragon appeared in our village.”
“……A Lesser Dragon?”
“Yes. A year ago, a Lesser Dragon appeared and began eating the villagers. We called Escorts to try to catch it, but that accursed Lesser Dragon’s hide was so hard that arrows and spears could not pierce it.”
Ӗ n u ṁ а̂ .і́ d
“Ah…….”
“The Escorts said this Lesser Dragon was so extraordinary that it could not be caught, and that we would have to unfold a formation and trap it.”
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I knew the true identity of the Lesser Dragon in the old man’s story.
The Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent.
It was the being that appeared in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, and erased five villages in that area, including a Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village.
Its skin was as hard as steel, and it was so large it could swallow an ox in one bite.
Е ň umâ .id
It was a Demonic Beast with strength so tremendous that it would not take even a quarter-hour to wipe out a manor as large as a palace.
The reason the Demonic Beast that appeared in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, had not been caught for a long time was that, unlike other Demonic Beasts, it did not carry a Spiritual Pill.
Only after all five villages had been erased and hundreds of people had died did the Murim Alliance step forward.
‘Back then, the Victory Tiger Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master were swallowed whole, weren’t they?’
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In my previous life, because of this incident, three halls of the Azure Dragon Pavilion collapsed, and the Victory Tiger Hall had to be organized again.
It was not a place like the White Wolf Pavilion, where the Sojeong Squad belonged and where riffraff were gathered, but an organization of elite experts that had been swallowed whole by a single Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent.
Ѐ nu m а . і̆d̃
“Oh dear. Then what has the Jegal Clan said so far?”
“They said that matters like this must be reported to the Murim Alliance and receive approval before they can be handled.”
What the old man carried was a vain hope.
For the Jegal Clan to act meant, in the end, that the Murim Alliance would pay the cost.
And there was no way the Murim Alliance would hire the Spell Practitioners of the Jegal Clan, whose fees were so high they would feel wronged if called second under heaven, merely to save a Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village.
‘In the end, they went to hunt it themselves instead of sealing it.’
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Even if I knew the answer, I could not simply tell him that harsh reality, so I subtly changed the subject.
“I hope it works out. Is she your granddaughter, Elder?”
When I gestured while looking at the granddaughter, the child seemed frightened and hid behind the old man’s leg.
The old man looked entirely unused to looking after a child.
“My son and his wife were eaten by the Lesser Dragon this time, so I brought her with me.”
“Ah…….”
Е̊ ṅũm а̊
I had tried to change the mood, but somehow it became even gloomier.
Fortunately, the old man’s turn came, and when the man dressed like a scholar who was receiving visitors at the front gate saw him, he furrowed his brow.
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“You again! Did I not tell you? We will contact you once a decision is made.”
“My lord, only fifteen days later, the Lesser Dragon has appeared again and eaten ten villagers. Please let me meet the Clan Head just once.”
The scholar let out a deep sigh.
“Do you think the Clan Head is some neighborhood constable? A mere Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village chief dares…….”
Е n̊ü mа .і̇ d
When the scholar clicked his tongue and gave a glance to the warriors around the front gate, the warriors tried to take the old man away.
Seeing the old man being dragged away and his granddaughter crying, I could not stay silent.
“Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
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The scholar looked me up and down as he spoke.
“This person is with me.”
Е́ ń ù m̊ а . і̃d̊
The scholar quickly saw through our relationship and snorted.
“I know you are doing this out of pity, but do not interfere needlessly. This man is from a Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village.”
“What is wrong with a Slash-and-Burn Farmer Village?”
“…….”
“He will enter with me. Please send word to the Clan Head.”
The scholar and the warriors gathered around us also burst into dumbfounded laughter.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Have these bastards been drinking in broad daylight……”
Before he could finish speaking, I held out a Promissory Note in front of his face.
“Ha! A Promissory Note like this is… what… impres… sive…….”
The scholar’s mouth clamped shut as he read the Promissory Note.
The warriors who had been laughing nearby also craned their necks out of curiosity, and when they saw the Promissory Note, their eyes trembled violently.
“T-Two hundred gold taels!!”
Ёnum̊а . і̂ d
At the words someone spat out as if chewing them, fierce exclamations passed among the people of the clan and the guests alike.
A Spell Practitioner dispatch from the Jegal Clan usually cost about twenty gold taels per year.
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Two hundred gold taels was enough money to hire ten such Spell Practitioners for an entire year.
And in the Jegal Clan, there was a regulation that for such large commissions, the Hall Master of the Artisan Hall or the Clan Head of the clan had to personally come out and handle it.
“May we enter?”
“Ah…… yes, yes. I will guide you.”
W е b̂ ňo v̄еl̃ Е́n̊ u m â
The scholar suddenly bent deeply at the waist and indicated the front gate with both hands.
I said to the old man,
“Let us go in.”
***
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If one were to name a martial sect capable of unfolding Mystic Gate Formations, the Maoshan Sect would be named, but in reality, the areas where the Maoshan Sect showed more of an advantage were mainly Demon Suppression and Spirit-Command Subjugation.
In other words, they displayed greater power in opposing things like necromancy and Ghost Arts used by those commonly called Unorthodox Factions.
W̌èb n̄ о̆ v еl̊ Е̃ǹ um̃ а
If one were to choose the foremost martial house for Mystic Gate Formations, it would unquestionably be the Jegal Clan.
While most sects of the Murim established merchant guilds or developed mines to earn profits, the Jegal Clan sold Mystic Gate Formations to the sects of the Murim World and accumulated wealth surpassing the other Five Great Clans.
Mystic Gate Formations themselves were extremely difficult to unfold, and they also required maintenance. Thus, except for unusual cases such as the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, if they were not maintained, their Formation Axes would twist and shake as time passed, and they would eventually undergo Formation Dissolution.
Because of this, the sects of the Murim World had to continue paying enormous costs not only for the initial installation, but also for maintenance.
Though the massive cost was burdensome, the Mystic Gate Formations of the Jegal Clan boasted the greatest efficacy, so for martial houses with countless enemies in the Murim World, they were not a choice but a necessity.
“You may enter this way.”
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After guiding us to a guest chamber used to receive visitors, the scholar in charge of guiding us said he had prepared the documents regarding the dispatch and delivered them.
“It will take time for approval to come through and for the meeting to take place.”
“I will wait.”
The scholar kept watching my expression, but at the same time, he seemed quite uncomfortable with the old man being in this space.
“May I ask that you meet the Clan Head alone?”
“Did I not say he is with me?”
W е̃ b́ n̊ оv̆ ѐl̆ Ëñu m̌ a
“…….”
If the scholar found this situation uncomfortable, the old man was frightened of it.
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He had asked to meet the Clan Head of the Jegal Clan, but he clearly had not thought he would actually meet him like this.
Moreover, the scholar and the warriors inside the guest chamber were looking coldly upon the old man.
For someone who found it difficult even to deal with a young person like me, enduring such a heavy atmosphere did not look easy.
“Elder, it is all right. Please do not be too nervous. You came only to speak with him, did you not?”
Ê n̈u m а .i d
When I spoke while looking at the granddaughter, whose hand looked pained from how tightly he was gripping it, the old man finally started in surprise and let go of her hand.
“Goodness. Are you all right, little one?”
“…….”
Like her grandfather, the granddaughter nodded while watching the mood, then took her grandfather’s hand again.
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A short while later, two people entered.
One was a middle-aged man in plain clothes, and the other was an old man dressed in splendor that was the exact opposite of Old Man Heo standing on this side.
Ŵ е̃b̌n оvеl̇ En ǔ m̈ а̌
He had a plump body and wore silk clothes.
He came in wearing all sorts of precious jewelry, waving a fan that imitated the White Feather Fan Jegal Liang had held in the past.
That man was Jegal Jeong, Hall Master of the Artisan Hall and practically the master of the Formation Masters and Spell Practitioners belonging to the Jegal Clan.
Though he was not of the direct line of the Jegal Clan, he belonged to a not-too-distant collateral line, and he was also the younger cousin of Jegal So-myeong, the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance.
“Ah, Chief Heo. I heard the story. They say your village suffered a grave matter?”
Jegal Jeong quickly ran over, grabbed the old man’s hands, and spoke. The old man, who had been called Chief Heo, was startled.
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“You, you remember me?”
“Of course I remember you. Did we not greet each other once at Mount Geummok twelve years ago?”
“Ah…….”
Chief Heo looked at Jegal Jeong with eyes full of emotion.
“I had already heard about your situation, Chief Heo. When I learned that you had told us several times and still had not received an answer in time, I gave them quite the scolding.”
“No. No. The warriors have done nothing wrong.”
Ẁ е̄b̀n о̆v ѐl Е ṅ ǔ m̃ а̂
Chief Heo was shaking his head as though flustered.
“The truth is this. When I heard that a Lesser Dragon had appeared, I was about to personally lead our clan’s people and seal it at once, but by its nature, a formation cannot be established carelessly without the Murim Alliance’s permission.”
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“Ah…… then, then what should we do?”
“I will send people again immediately and ask for permission before greater damage appears. If it truly does not work, I will personally visit the Murim Alliance and get an answer. I will settle this matter decisively.”
“Oh, thank you. Elder. Truly, thank you.”
Chief Heo wept and even prostrated himself on the floor.
Ēṅŭḿа
Jegal Jeong hurriedly helped him up.
“You should go back up now. Does the sun not set quickly in the mountains? Your granddaughter also looks very tired.”
“Yes, yes. I should. I leave it in your hands.”
Chief Heo greeted Jegal Jeong, the middle-aged man standing beside him, the scholar, the warriors, and even me before leaving the guest chamber.
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After he left like that, Jegal Jeong and the middle-aged man took their seats.
Then, unlike when he had been speaking with Chief Heo moments earlier, Jegal Jeong frowned and spoke.
Ênu m̂ ӑ
“They say you are Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect?”
“It is an honor to meet……”
“Why are you doing needless things?”
“……you. I am Jin So-un.”
Instead of answering the question, I tilted my head.
“Thanks to you dragging that man inside, the Jegal Clan has been saddled with a burden, has it not?”
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Hearing those words, I nodded.
“As expected, you were lying.”
“What?”
“There is no way the Jegal Clan, whose fees are so high, would do something like volunteer work for free.”
Permission from the Murim Alliance was needed to install a formation?
To begin with, formations were not something that required permission. Who in the world reported to the Murim Alliance every time they installed a formation?
Е̂ nǔ mа̊. іd̈
In the end, Jegal Jeong had shoved responsibility onto the Murim Alliance and gotten rid of Chief Heo.
“You brat. Do not act insolent just because you have some money. We came out not because of your money, but because we heard you helped the Namgung Clan, which is close to us.”
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“Ah, is that so? It would have been even better if you had come and helped us back then too. At that time, it was also because the timing did not work out that you could not help, not because of money, correct?”
“……Brat. Did you come here to quarrel with me?”
“That is not the case. Then let us discuss business.”
“Before that. You.”
Е̃ n̊ um̆а. î d̈
Jegal Jeong pointed at the scholar.
“You could not even write one Dispatch Application Form properly, and you submitted a document like this?”
Jegal Jeong flicked the document at the scholar, and the document struck the scholar’s face and fell to the floor.
“You should have written the name of the dispatch target and the period!”
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“N-No, that was because this guest said the person was not on this list and that he would explain in person, so I did not write it.”
“Not on this list?”
W̃е b̌nоv е l. Е n̊ũmǎ
Jegal Jeong looked at the hundreds of nameplates placed on one side of the guest chamber wall.
They included all the names of the current active dispatch candidates of the Jegal Clan.
“Brat, what is it you want?”
I glanced once at the man sitting beside Jegal Jeong, then spoke.
“Jegal Cheon-gi. The dispatch period is five years.”
Flinch.
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The middle-aged man stared intently at my face.
Jegal Jeong also seemed to notice the sign, because he coughed and continued speaking.
“I do not know how you learned of that child, but that child is not a formal Spell Practitioner.”
“That does not matter.”
“……It does matter. That does not accord with our clan’s rules……”
“Ah, and the amount of two hundred gold taels that I wrote was meant to show that I would pay two hundred gold taels per year.”
Еṅ um̂ӓ
“…….”
Jegal Jeong loved money.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
When he finished his mandatory service in the Murim Alliance and others remained in the Murim Alliance to strive for success, he returned to the clan faster than anyone and worked to seize control of the Spell Practitioners. Since his youth, he had known that the position that dispatched and managed Spell Practitioners handled the largest amount of money within the clan.
“I have heard that you like money.”
Jegal Jeong’s blank face flushed bright red.
At that moment, the middle-aged man who had been silent carefully opened his mouth.
Еn ŭ mа́
“May I ask what you intend to use Cheon-gi for?”
He was Jegal Hyeon-un, the current Clan Head of the Jegal Clan and the son of Jegal So-myeong.
“Please speak comfortably. If the Clan Head of the Jegal Clan speaks to me in that way, will people not curse me?”
“Ahem, ahem. Very well. What do you intend to use Cheon-gi for?”
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“At present, the Taeul Sect has no defensive facilities. I intend to entrust that part to him.”
“But…… Cheon-gi’s studies in Mystic Gate Formations are lacking.”
Ēnû m̌ â
There was no way that was true.
Jegal Cheon-gi was a genius in the field of Letters (文) on the same level as Yong So-ah.
He simply had no interest and did not study. Even if Jegal Cheon-gi began studying from now, he would undoubtedly gain skill surpassing any Formation Master of the Jegal Clan in the shortest possible time.
“You need not worry. What I intend to entrust to him is not Mystic Gate Formations.”
“…….”
“…….”
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Jegal Jeong and Jegal Hyeon-un looked at each other.
Then Jegal Jeong furrowed his brow and spoke.
“Surely, you do not intend to install mechanisms? No! Those foolish things are devices that injure people.”
At present, perception of Mechanism Formations was evaluated as trivial compared to Mystic Gate Formations.
And the new concept that would later overturn that perception was Jegal Cheon-gi’s Mechanism Formations.
“Moreover, that child is confined in Prison for the crime of gravely injuring someone with a mechanism. Therefore, he absolutely cannot be dispatched.”
Ẅ еbn̊о̌.v̀ël Е ň ú ṁ а̌
“Is it not natural for injuries to occur during the process of experimentation? Does one get confined in Prison over such a thing?”
According to Jegal Cheon-gi, the reason he had been confined in Prison was because all the Formation Masters within his family hated the Mechanism Formations he created. I had pointed out that part.
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Jegal Jeong’s expression began to reveal more and more displeasure.
“Even if casualties occur because of the Mechanism Formations Jegal Cheon-gi creates at the Taeul Sect, the Taeul Sect will take responsibility for everything. If you wish, I will even draft a contract.”
“…….”
Jegal Jeong looked at Jegal Hyeon-un as if telling him to say something.
Е̊.n um а̊ . іḋ
Yet for some reason, I felt as though Jegal Hyeon-un was taking my side.
After continuing to observe me, he looked at Jegal Jeong and spoke.
“Judging by what I have heard so far, as Clan Head, I do not think I can refuse.”
“Clan Head!”
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“Is it not true that injuries can naturally occur during the process of experimentation? In the Sichuan Tang Clan, dozens of people are poisoned every month as well. If there is no such trial and error, will we not also end up as stagnant water?”
Jegal Hyeon-un looked at me.
Ẅеb̀ň оv е̄ l̆ Е n u̇mӓ
“Furthermore, if we can experiment with Mechanism Formations through the Taeul Sect, it would be an opportunity for us to broaden our base as well. From my position, I do not think there is anything I cannot accept……. However, the Grand Elder holds the final authority over dispatch, so I ask you to take this merely as reference.”
Though he had used words such as “reference” and “request,” it was not something Jegal Jeong could easily overlook.
The Clan Head had already presented justification. Moreover, although Jegal Cheon-gi’s confinement in Prison had been decided unanimously by the Elder Hall, Jegal Cheon-gi was Jegal Hyeon-un’s youngest son, whatever the case.
“Ahem…….”
Jegal Jeong rolled his eyes around as he squeezed out his thoughts.
“If the Clan Head says so much, then that is what we should do. However, does our Jegal Clan not accept only clients who meet our standards? Regrettably, the Taeul Sect does not meet those standards.”
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Jegal Jeong waved the fan made in imitation of the White Feather Fan and acted leisurely.
Though I knew what those standards were, I asked anyway.
“What are those standards?”
Jegal Jeong sneered and spoke.
“They must be an existing client of the Jegal Clan.”
One of the reasons the Jegal Clan’s name was called the best under heaven was precisely this.
Ёnūm̄ á.іd̄
The Jegal Clan even chose who was allowed to pay them money.
“That is a nonsensical, contradictory standard.”
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“If you met the standard, an invitation would already have gone out from the Jegal Clan.”
Murim World people often used an invitation from the Jegal Clan as one measure of a sect’s strength.
By doing this, they were making their own name more valuable than gold.
“Hm…… Then the Taeul Sect will have to wait a little longer.”
Е̌ n̂um̆ a
“Well. No invitation has gone out in the past five hundred years. Do you think one ever will?”
“That is true. Then why not give me one chance?”
“A chance?”
“Yes. If I accomplish something even you can acknowledge, please permit Jegal Cheon-gi’s dispatch.”
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“Heh heh. What could there possibly be that would make me acknowledge you?”
“How about the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent? I mean the Lesser Dragon you lied to Old Master Heo about earlier.”
Web n̂ov̆êľ Е nú mȧ
“Hm?”
“If I catch it, how about considering me as having passed the standard?”
Not only Jegal Jeong’s, but even Jegal Hyeon-un’s two eyes went round.
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