2
8
4.
To think that the owner of the Five Spirit Immortal Flower, which appears only once every sixty years, is predetermined.
Thinking he was picking a fight again with such nonsense, I looked at Cheol-sun-jik, and his expression was very different from his usual triumphant self.
To be precise, it looks like he himself knows he is talking nonsense.
I asked again, feeling like there was a different meaning for some reason.
“What does that mean?”
Cheol-sun-jik did not answer for a while.
And much later, he asked me back.
Do you happen to have a map of Cheondonggul?
“…….”
I took a map out of my pocket and showed it.
He looked back and forth between the map and me.
“……
I can’t believe I bought this.
An unpleasant look, as if looking at someone who was tricked by a quack doctor into buying the elixir of immortality.
I didn’t know Representative Jin was such a naive person.
Ha, look at that little brat changing the subject.
“I heard the map costs as much as twenty taels of gold… Did you really buy it?”
No way.
I briefly told them what happened as soon as I arrived in Xi’an.
Cheol-sun-jik, who had been listening silently, nods his head.
That is at least a relief.
I don’t know what’s so fortunate about that.
Anyway, never mind that.
Are you going to keep changing the subject?
At my fierce glare, Cheol-sun-jik soon nodded and continued speaking.
Zhongnan has already reached an agreement with Huashan. That Zhongnan will possess the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Oil.
What on earth is that supposed to mean?
Who says so?
“Have you already found Oryeong Seonhwa Yu?”
“Not yet. We don’t know where in the Heavenly Cave the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Oil might appear. Instead, having obtained permission from Mount Hua, Zhongnan is formulating a plan to exclude the others.”
Oryeong Seonhwa-yu is a miraculous elixir that bursts out in an instant when a certain amount of the earth’s energy is gathered.
You can know when it will come out, but you don’t know where it will come out.
The story that the act of searching for the Oryeong Seonhwa Yu inside Cheondong Cave itself leads to competition.
Even so, the fact that one can exclude others is… … .
Does this mean Jongnam is stepping forward in earnest?
In the end, it was no different from saying that they would prevent others from entering the competition from the very beginning.
And Cheol-sun-jik nodded, wondering if my prediction was right.
Zhongnan will mobilize the disciples of the main temple and the lay people to prevent others from approaching the Heavenly Cave.
I tilted my head.
“But Gaebang is selling maps?”
“That, too, was agreed upon by the Beggar Sect and the Central Plains. The Beggar Sect handed over a detailed map of the Heavenly Cave to the Central Plains, and in return, they are profiting by selling the incomplete map to people.”
So you’re saying it was rigged from the start?
then…….
It is no coincidence that Representative Jin got into a dispute with the Beggar Sect. The Beggar Sect is compiling a list of strangers in preparation for the possibility that Jongnam might fail to secure the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Oil. That is what caused the dispute.
Now everything fits together.
The report from the Xi’an Branch and the Jianghu Elixir Book only state that Zhongnan secured the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Oil.
When I first saw the materials in my previous life, I simply thought, “Is this the true power of the Nine Sects?” regarding the fact that Zhongnan had secured the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Oil despite the many competitors, including Mount Hua. “But is that not the case? Did they block competition from the very beginning and collude among themselves?” Moreover, the Beggar’s Sect was even toying with people’s desires.
It is not just a few pennies; twenty nyang is a large sum of money that an ordinary person would have to save in a lifetime.
This was clearly a scam.
“To think you would go this far in toying with people…?”
A hint of bitterness spread across Cheol-sun-jik’s face at my murmuring.
“Jukhyeonbang is also already guarding the area around Cheondong Cave. Representative Jin will not be able to enter Cheondong Cave either. If he tries to force his way in,.……”
Jongnam and his secular family won’t sit idly by.
Cheol-sun-jik nodded briefly.
His continuing story was even more desperate.
In Zhongnan, even the Big Dipper Swordsmen were mobilized.
“crazy…….”
The North Star Swordsmen are the final assault force of Zhongnan.
As long as the roots of Jongnam remain unshaken, we will never step forward, and once we do, we will not stop until the enemy is annihilated.
To think they even mobilized the Big Dipper Swordsman.
This shows just how sincere Jongnam is about the Five Spirit Immortal Flower Potion.
“Rumor has it among the lay people that the Xuanqing Pill is nearly depleted, so they must secure the Wuling Xuanhua Oil this time at all costs. This implies that Zhongnan is prepared to face criticism.”
Even those who champion justice will turn a blind eye when their own feet are on fire.
If even ordinary people would act this way, it is clear that a massive sect like Jongnam would stop at nothing if it sensed a crisis.
“This situation is different from the Maryeong Plateau. Jongnam will try to secure the Oryeong Seonhwayu at any cost.”
Are you saying you wouldn’t hesitate to commit murder?
Cheol-sun-jik stopped speaking for a moment.
His gaze lingers in the air for a moment before turning back to me.
“I suppose they are blocking the entrance to prevent such a situation from happening.”
At first glance, it doesn’t seem like it would be a big problem, but…
Of course, wouldn’t no one know what happens inside the Cave of Heaven?
Cheol-sun-jik’s subsequent words are extremely subversive.
As he said, since no one knows what is happening inside, it will become something that ‘never happened’ in the first place.
Representative Jin, please return to your hometown. I hope you enjoy your break.
This time, there is sincerity in his eyes as well.
There is no need to waste energy on the impossible.
It seems impossible… …but it certainly looks that way.
If things have gone this far, wouldn’t it be impossible to back down?
“Does Jukhyeonbang go inside Cheondonggul?”
Cheol-sun-jik sighed as he saw my expression.
You have no intention of giving up.
Just tell me whether it goes in or not.
He looked at me with an incredibly complex gaze.
The secular family cannot enter the interior of the Thousand Cave. They merely guard Jongnam.
That’s good.
“What on earth… Phew, never mind.”
Cheol-sun-jik, who was about to ask for the reason, soon shook his head.
It seems he has become more perceptive after getting tricked by me a few times.
“Are you really planning to go in?”
His question was wrong from the start.
Are you asking if I’m going in? That’s obvious.
That isn’t even worth discussing.
We can’t give up on Oryeong Seonhwa Yu either.
“What do you think it looks like?”
Rather, the only choice before me is whether to confront them fairly and squarely, unlike them, or to respond fairly(?) by cheating just like them.
So this is how Jongnam is going to act… As soon as dawn broke, I bought the Four Treasures of the Study and climbed Mt. Judang with my fellow disciples.
I had heard Cheol-sun-jik’s story, but I needed to know exactly how Jong-nam would exclude others.
From the very beginning of the mountain, it was already filled with countless armed men, and a silent war of nerves was unfolding everywhere.
And when we had reached the middle of the mountain.
The crowd began to stall.
“Senior Brother, the number of people is increasing.”
People were having difficulty moving forward.
Some of those with exceptional martial arts skills managed to escape the crowd by climbing trees or scaling cliffs, but most of the people remained stuck on the hiking trail.
As I squeezed my way through the crowd and went up, I realized the reason for the traffic jam.
“What are you talking about! You mean I can’t enter!”
Please understand that this measure was unavoidable due to the risk of casualties from too many people gathering.
“What kind of bullshit is that! So you’re saying Jongnam is going to monopolize the elixir?!”
“Bullshit?”
A warrior of the Zhongnan Sect drew his sword, seizing on a provocation by the protester.
Say that again.
“Ugh!”
As the warriors of Jongnam, along with their disciples and warriors from the secular family, stepped forward, the one who had been protesting fell silent.
Everyone was filled with dissatisfaction over the situation that defied common sense, but they could not speak up rashly due to the sword blade flickering before their eyes.
“The entrance is congested because Jongnam unilaterally blocked it and prevented people from entering! I think this is unreasonable! Furthermore, to think Jongnam would resort to such a petty tactic…!”
As someone logically refuted it, anticipation began to appear on people’s faces.
After all, the White Path was driven by justification.
“Even the Murim Alliance has stipulated that the rights to the elixir belong to whoever acquires it. I believe it is problematic for Jongnam to act so unilaterally.”
As the story of the Murim Alliance came up, everyone looked at the warrior from Jongnam.
No matter how much the absolute ruler here is Jongnam, he won’t be able to defy the Murim Alliance.
During the brief lull in the commotion among the people.
The warrior, who had been looking at the one who protested, opened his mouth.
“Do you all remember the incident during the last Maryeong Plateau, when a huge crowd of people entered the Maryeong Plateau and met with misfortune?”
“Back then, didn’t everyone unanimously hold the shaman responsible?”
As the warrior of the Zhongnan Sect continued to speak, the shoulders of the one who had protested hunched over.
“Those who entered there were not pushed into it. They went in of their own accord for their own benefit, yet everyone united to raise the issue of responsibility simply because the Wudang faction was present. Isn’t that right?”
Th-that’s a little different… …”
“Cheondonggul Cave is not far from the Jongnam Sect. If something goes wrong at Cheondonggul Cave, there will surely be those who hold the Jongnam Sect accountable.”
Before long, the audience was enveloped in silence.
The warrior of the Zhongnan Sect smiled faintly as if he had seized the victory and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Zhongnan is striving to take preventive measures regarding this matter! Mount Hua has already understood the situation and granted permission for Zhongnan’s event. Therefore, I earnestly ask for the understanding of those gathered here.”
When the story of the Hwasan Sect came up and the warrior of Jongnam even took up the bow, those who had been protesting all shut their mouths tightly.
Pushing ahead with such an absurd justification was tantamount to a declaration that they would not listen to anything, no matter what was said.
Everyone was full of complaints, but no one was willing to step forward easily.
While Jongnam’s military power was formidable, the number of laymen who joined them was also significant.
Moreover, since those who had gathered to enter the cave belonged to different factions, they could have ended up becoming a good example if they had protested first.
On the one hand.
Let’s try another entrance.
Right, this isn’t the only entrance to Cheondonggul Cave.
Move aside, I’ll go first.
Some people looked for another entrance to enter Cheondonggul Cave, but the situation there was not much different.
“Damn it…! I shouldn’t have bought the map!”
“Surely those bastards didn’t not know this?”
“That can’t be right?! Those Beggars definitely pulled a scam!”
There were even people who, unable to contain their anger, tore up the map.
There were people screaming and others glaring at Jongnam resentfully, but Jongnam paid no attention to any of it.
At that audacity, a hollow laugh involuntarily bursts out of me. ‘Were they really this self-righteous?’ The Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans I saw in my past life were formidable beings.
After all, they were the ones who held onto the supreme position without losing power to the very end in the fiercely competitive and overheated world of martial arts.
At one time, I envied them and followed them.
As they were those who had ascended to a place that disciples of the Taeeul Sect could not reach even with a lifetime of effort, they envied them while simultaneously being enraged by their oppression.
but.
The sight of them now was nothing more than the crude spectacle of climbing up first and then kicking away the ladder. ‘Is this how they have maintained power?’ By nonchalantly snatching away the opportunities of others.
They deprived us of even the opportunity to rise and the right to compete.
“They use their own force again to maintain the power they obtained so cowardly. ‘Damn it…’ If they were truly strong, it wouldn’t matter how cowardly their tricks were.”
As a strong person, he could have sufficiently served as a shield to protect others.
However, what were they like in the Great War of the Righteous and Demonic?
Those who monopolized the elixir stood at the very back, while those who were deprived of the opportunity stood at the very front.
“We, who used to scavenge only the scraps dropped by those in power, were not the first to become cannon fodder under the pretext of upholding justice in the martial arts world? Even the opportunity to defend justice was forcibly granted to us. For weak sects like Taeeulmun.”
Have we ever stood at the very front of our own free will?
By those who hid behind us and aimed their swords at our backs, not the enemy.
I was just pushed to the very front.
That is how we lost our lives.
“Senior Brother, it looks like there is absolutely no way to get in.”
“If Jongnam is blocking it like that, there won’t be any way to break through.”
“Moreover, if I stay here any longer and get caught up in the oppression of Jongnam…”
I turned my head toward the source of the voice.
I see the faces of the priests filled with the light of worry.
Yes, they are still alive.
I fixed my gaze once again on the Jongnam Sect group.
The opportunity they monopolized was an opportunity that the priests could have had.
And if they had had that opportunity, these guys wouldn’t have died so ridiculously in their previous lives.
That is why I absolutely cannot miss that opportunity in this life.
I am climbing Mt. Judang now.
The priests tilted their heads at my words.
“This is already Judangsan, isn’t it?”
I looked back at the guys.
You have all the writing implements, right?
“yes.”
“From now on, draw the area around Cheondonggul Cave in detail. Make sure to capture the shape of the terrain exactly as it is, without leaving a single detail out.”
“Huh? What do you mean…?”
“Senior Brother, what are you plotting again?”
Jongnam, who had a chance in his previous life, ultimately failed to stop the Demonic Cult.
In that case, this opportunity.
It is time to show the power of the Taeeulmun.
It is our turn to have it.
