#1
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9.
As a member of the collateral branch of the Tang family, he developed the standard hidden weapons Cheonroegu and Poguhwachim, and was also the inventor of the Tang family’s Golden Dragon Hidden Weapons, including the Hell Calamity Flame King Bullet.
However, these were only a few of them, and he was a strange man famous for having narrowly escaped death several times while testing flying machines, machines that walked on water, and the like.
He never engaged in martial arts activities, and it is known that he himself extremely disliked going out.
In any case, considering that the reason the Demonic Cult faltered for so long in Sichuan during the Great War between the Righteous and Demonic Cults was due to the artifacts and poisons of this Tang family, the current assessment is merely harsh. It was an undeniable fact that this would be one of the pillars supporting the Tang family in the future.
“…….”
“Why is there no word? You wouldn’t pretend you don’t know now, would you?”
And it became known that I was the person who made the white flower tube I received from Yang Gun-baek in the past.
However, with his appearance, I felt as though a debt I thought I had repaid had arisen again.
However, I felt quite wronged. Didn’t Changjesingeom clearly send a letter personally, and didn’t Dang Seohui even say she would drop the matter?
“That meant you wouldn’t make an issue of it, but shouldn’t you still pay for the actual use of the Baekmohwatong?”
“……
Isn’t it the fault of the person who let a precious item like the White Flower Tube circulate in the underworld in the first place?
“Hoho…… Did you get the White Hair Flower Tube from the underworld??”
“Do you know how much it costs to make just one of those? A whopping five taels. You realize very well that this isn’t something that can be simply overlooked just because it wasn’t made an issue of, right?”
If someone said that a single hidden weapon costs five taels of gold, I would point my finger and call it a ridiculous lie, but since the White Hair Fire Tube is said to be that price, I felt like asking if mass production was possible.
Even though it was expensive, the effect was amazing.
Honestly, if only I could build up a stockpile to prepare for the Demonic Cult, I would be willing to stockpile as much as I want.
“Moreover, the white flower tube is an item I crafted by selling off my personal assets. Shouldn’t I be paid a fair price for it?”
As I listened to the story, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.
You mean it’s something you made yourself?
“That’s right. In the family, whenever I say I’m going to create something, they oppose it first.”
Then, I suppose the item remained private property even after it was made.
Of course.
Then why was it rolling around in the sunspot?
“……!”
Dang Hyeok-jae blinked his eyes repeatedly and then scratched his head vigorously.
“That’s strange. Doesn’t it make no sense that an item designated by the Tang family as a ‘Golden Dragon Stone’ is just rolling around like junk in a sunspot?”
Actually, the family prevented them from engaging in actual combat after the first test.
So, did they secretly throw it out onto the market?
To see what kind of effect it has?
I’m so dumbfounded I’m speechless.
This person is also quite out of their mind.
“Ahem. I’ve gone off on a tangent. Anyway, you owed me a debt, so I’ll consider this performance to have repaid it. How about that? Fair, isn’t it?”
Nothing is fair.
However, thinking that it was wrong to push a person who seemed to be missing a few parts from their head, I nodded.
“Well, let’s leave it at that. By the way, I understand you don’t like traveling abroad, so how did you manage to secure the position of Branch Manager of the Murim Alliance?”
“There have been a lot of interesting things happening in the martial arts world lately, you see. I wanted to meet someone.”
“Is it something interesting?”
“I heard there’s a guy who broke a five-hundred-year-old formation, stole the Golden Dragon from the Zhuge clan, and effortlessly wields the Golden Dragon Weapon, whose usage is unknown.”
Are you talking about me?
“okay.”
Judging by the way he mentioned the Golden Dragon of the Zhuge family, it seemed he already knew about Zhuge Tianqi.
Do you know the secrets of heaven?
“He is the most brilliant genius the Zhuge family has ever produced. It’s just that his light is so bright that others cannot see it.”
“If you wanted to see me, you could have just come find me. Why are you serving as the branch manager?”
“Ah, I don’t really like traveling. Actually, I don’t really like meeting people either. I thought it would be difficult for someone like me to find you on my own, so I tried to meet you through the Murim Alliance, and somehow ended up here.”
What is that “how-how-how” thing?
I couldn’t understand at all why the person who wanted to meet me was in Akyang.
If I hadn’t come to Akyang, we might never have met in the future, right?
“Why did you want to meet me?”
I wanted to ask how you knew how to use the white-haired fire tube.
“How was it used?”
I told the story of how to use the white-haired firecracker, adding a bit of a lie.
Dang Hyeok-jae kept nodding and meticulously wrote something on a small piece of paper.
“I intended to create a weapon that is useless to the enemy but useful to our allies, but someone with such keen observational skills as you would be bound to figure out how to use it.”
“Still, I think it is a very useful item. It would be perfect for large-scale battles, too.”
Is it real?
Dang Hyeok-jae suddenly grabbed my hand and shook it up and down.
“That’s right. It’s difficult to predict where poison will flow depending on the wind direction or location. Naturally, friendly casualties are inevitable. On the other hand, aren’t mechanical weapons clean?”
“The idiots at Sega don’t know that. It’s just poison, poison, poison. Poisons are tricky to handle in the first place, so aren’t they difficult to pack during a long journey?”
Dang Hyeok-jae, seemingly so dissatisfied with something, cursed at every swear word imaginable for quite a while.
I thought I understood why, despite Sega having invented numerous gadgets, they were not treated well.
He, too, was a mutant within the clan, just like Zhuge Tianqi or Moyong Zaihua.
“Ugh, if only the thick-headed fools of the noble families had thought like you, the Tang family would have achieved a prosperity twice as great as it is now.”
“Wouldn’t it suffice to prove it? After all, the Tang family isn’t a sect that rejects hidden weapons.”
“Do you know how much it costs to prove it? What about the location? The duration? Am I supposed to make the tools all by myself? Where do I find a skilled blacksmith?”
It flies… … .
It smells delicious.
It feels like rare ingredients unknown to others are being treated like wild grasses.
“What if there were a place where all those things were fulfilled?”
“huh?”
“Moreover, the financier providing the funds is quite knowledgeable about such objects. You make various pieces for him and gain the Tang family’s recognition through that. Of course, on the condition that the Tang family gives their permission.”
“Of course I allow it. Do you know how many knights our party dispatches every year? But who is that financier?”
As I raise my hand, his curious gaze slowly follows my finger. And at the end of it, he points to a great patron.
Tap tap.
You?
Dang Hyeok-jae looked me up and down with suspicious eyes.
“Hmm, you don’t look to have much expertise regarding money, let alone items.”
I shot the Flying Dragon Bird attached to my left hand to extinguish the fire in the oil bottle, then retrieved it.
How is it?
Dang Hyeok-jae stood silent with his mouth wide open.
Okay, Jin So-woon’s jewelry box. Add one more. #The time Jin So-woon picked up an extraordinary person named Dang Hyeok-jae.
Even within the sealed sect in Hefei, Anhui Province, three people were having a close conversation.
The merchant guild has established itself to some extent. As we discussed earlier, we have named it Daecheon Merchant Guild.
Hong Mun-gi, whose cheeks had also sunken in likewise, nodded at Jin Tae-san’s remark that he seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight.
You’ve worked hard all this time. Now you can finally get some rest.
I feel like I just want to eat and sleep for about seven days and nights.
Hong Mun-gi nodded at Jin Tae-san’s words.
Jin Taesan worked tirelessly to stabilize the Taeeul Sect, enduring even greater hardships than he had to master the martial arts of the Taeeul Jingyeong.
According to the elders of the Council of Elders, they said that his nosebleed never stopped every night.
In any case, seeing the Taeeul Sect’s fortune improving noticeably, there was no need to even verify just how great Jin Taesan’s efforts had been all this time.
You’ve worked hard all this time. Thanks to you, the future of Taeeulmun is bright.
“It is not solely my merit. You have also suffered greatly, Master.”
Hong Mun-gi had also endured considerable hardship compared to Jin Tae-san.
How difficult it was to learn martial arts on my own due to my lack of natural talent from the start.
Moreover, since there wasn’t even anyone to learn from, he had no choice but to cling to his martial arts tenaciously.
Thanks to such tenacity, I was able to achieve a level that I could be proud of in front of my disciples.
Why does it seem like only the two of you suffered?
The two people glared at Kang Chae-seok because he was grumbling.
“Honestly, what have you really suffered?”
At Jin Taesan’s sharp words, Kang Chaeseok snorted loudly in disbelief.
“Don’t you know how hard it was for me to put the kids who went to the Murong Clan through special training? Look at this. My firm skin has wrinkles, wrinkles.”
However, the wrinkles around Kang Chae-seok’s eyes were not very noticeable. No, perhaps they formed because he had nothing but reasons to laugh, without any worries or anxieties.
“Indeed, indeed. You’ve worked hard too. In any case, seeing everyone in the sect living so diligently, as the Sect Leader, I cannot help but feel proud.”
Jin Taesan pointed his finger at Kang Chaeseok and said.
“Master, please leave out the praise for that fellow. If you do, how would I feel after all the hardships I’ve endured?”
“No, I’m telling you, I had a hard time too!”
“Hmph! Then why does the bill for drinks on credit keep going up every month?”
“Why do you drink once every three days when you used to drink only once every seven days and nights?”
“Ahem, th-that’s it. ……
Hmm! Th-that’s right! I have a lot of kids to teach too, so I drank to relieve my fatigue!
“Hmph! Which of the disciples needs your help right now? They’re all doing just fine on their own.”
In fact, the disciples of Taeeulmun were filled with children possessing exceptional talents that could not even be compared to their masters.
In particular, most of the children Jin So-un brought possessed martial arts talents that were not inferior even when compared to the promising young talents of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know that you go around drinking because you have absolutely nothing to do?”
At Jin Taesan’s rebuke, Kang Chaeseok merely twitched his lips and could not offer much of a response.
Eventually, Munjuin Hong Mun-gi stepped forward.
“Taesan, don’t you know that friend Chaeseok is having a hard time? Stop it.”
Hong Mun-gi tried hard to quickly change the atmosphere.
“Come to think of it, So-un received a secret letter. It said they would send a candidate for disciple.”
“Again?”
Jin Tae-san frowned, but Kang Chae-seok burst into a wide laugh.
“Look here. Your son sends me disciple candidates without a word every time like this; just imagine how exhausted I must be.”
Jin Tae-san looked at Hong Mun-gi without listening to Kang Chae-seok’s story.
“Well, they say the choice is up to me, but since it’s a child sent by Soun, I suppose it’s right to accept him.”
“Ahem, of course. It certainly won’t even have the basics down. I guess I’ll be working my butt off for a while.”
I don’t know the reason, but the children’s voices that Jin So-un often sent were all amazing.
Just as a tree with strong roots grows well anywhere, exceptionally talented children quickly reveal their abilities if given a solid foundation.
Since no one could match Kang Chae-seok when it came to laying the foundation, Jin Tae-san could no longer press him.
Just then, one of the four disciples came inside and said.
“Master… someone has come carrying a letter from the Senior Brother.”
The three people’s gazes intertwined.
Isn’t he the disciple I was talking to just a moment ago?
“Alright, since things have turned out this way, guide me this way.”
Are you saying all the way over here?
“Right. He is probably the one who will become the Fourth Disciple. He came here on your Senior Brother’s recommendation.”
What? The, the four great disciples?
The faces of the four great disciples were subtly twisted.
Kang Chae-seok shouted angrily at the sight of the puppy that seemed unable to do anything and hesitated because it needed to poop.
“What are you doing! Why aren’t you bringing him over immediately!”
Ah, yes! Ah, I understand.
The four disciples suddenly came to their senses and rushed out like arrows.
It was the appearance of the Taeeulpalmansinbo having reached a high level.
The three people were waiting for a new disciple, watching the scene with satisfaction.
Thump, thump, thump.
With the sound of loud footsteps, a man of massive build entered the arena.
The three people drinking tea naturally turned their gaze to that massive physique.
“who?”
Jang Han spoke respectfully to the three people who were questioning him, holding his fist.
“Greetings. I am Bei Yuanping, who has come to become your disciple after being introduced by Young Hero Jin.”
Pfft—gurgle—Kang Chae-seok spits out all the tea in his mouth, and tea flows profusely from Jin Tae-san’s mouth.
The child they were waiting for was a little bigger than expected.
Samcheongsu Sinryong Bukwonpyeong.
It was the disciple candidate So-un had mentioned.#“Why did you come only now?”
When I returned to Jang Do-won’s shop, he had reverted to being the gruff man he used to be. ‘This is better.’ Jang Do-won smoked his pipe, then turned around and brought back a large bundle and a long iron club.
“What are these?”
“What else could it be? You ordered it.”
Me?
I clearly asked you to make jewelry by finely chopping the iron bow that Moyong Jaehwa would use and the white fragrant jade, which was one of the items I received when I became the representative.
But forgetting about jewelry, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with an iron club.
“Oh! You didn’t actually make this?”
Just then, Geumpyo opened the bundle with a thud and smiled brightly.
You really made it!
I turned my head wondering what it was, and lo and behold, something I had seen somewhere before popped out.
“Biryongjo?”
That is none other than the Flying Dragon Bird attached to my left hand.
Geumpyo quickly took out the flying dragon birds from the bundle one by one and distributed them to Eunho and Dongryong.
“What on earth is this?”
Ah, we specifically requested this.
“You guys? Never mind the money, where did you get the silkworms?”
“I heard that Jae-hwa’s family has plenty of Heavenly Silk, so I asked you to make one for us while you are making one for Jae-hwa.”
Jang Do-won frowned deeply.
I couldn’t even get proper sleep making all sorts of things in such a short time. I will make sure to charge you the full price, so keep that in mind.
“Do you have any money?”
“Huh? Senior Brother, I just remembered something urgent.”
“me too!”
“Let’s go, brothers!”
The damn Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers who just dash off like that.
You have a good priest.
Those bastards must have chosen a good death sentence.
You are still young, so you do not know how good your priests are.
Those kids eat nine servings of rice in one meal.
“That’s enough. Go check the other items.”
“Come to think of it, why can’t I see the iron bow?”
“Isn’t it there?”
“yes?”
What Jang Do-won held out was a crude iron club made of steel.
There are grooves at both ends; hang this there. I have no strength left to hang it.
No matter how much it is made of iron, wouldn’t it just get dented or broken if you forcibly bent it?
But surprisingly, the iron club bent as it was bent, then snapped back to its original shape.
“If the long sword requires the strength of an iron bow, the tension must also be at least that much.”
It wasn’t just an ordinary iron bow.
At this level, it was enough to be called a treasure, if not a divine artifact.
I could not help but be amazed that such a treasure was created in just fifteen days.
“What are you talking about? How can you make that in such a short time? I’m giving you what I made earlier.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“In the meantime, I spent all my time making the Flying Dragon Bird and that necklace. Anyway, that item shouldn’t be too bad.”
It wasn’t just not bad.
It was certainly not an inferior item to the iron bow Moyong Zaihua used in the past; if anything, it was even more impressive.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Thanks? Just pay the proper price.”
I handed Jang Do-won a voucher worth 500 nyang that I had prepared in advance.
After checking the amount on the slip, Jang Do-won was momentarily startled, then repeatedly cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.
“And you know what….”
“yes.”
“Ahem… ahem….”
For some reason, Jang Do-won hesitated for quite a while, unable to open his mouth.
Please feel free to speak, sir.
When I said that, Jang Do-won, who had been hesitating for quite a while, finally opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.
“Um, uh, I heard from your junior sister that you are looking for a craftsman to work at the sect, so I was wondering if the treatment is… decent.”
“I’ve learned a thing or two from this incident, you see. That is why I’m asking what you think of your disciple. Anyway, what do you think?”
Come to think of it, considering that Jang Do-won eventually joined the Murim Alliance all by himself in his previous life, it must be proof that something else happened in the meantime.
Because dangerous things were commonplace in times of chaos.
In any case, it wasn’t a bad thing for either Jang Do-won or me.
For someone of your stature, we should naturally give you the best treatment.
I’m sorry, but now fifteen
All the sacred artifacts are mine. Hehehe.
