***
The sixtieth birthday banquet, which had been scheduled for a week, ended on the second day.
People who came from far away in other provinces had many complaints because they couldn't enjoy it properly, but there was no one who spat out curses.
The Iron Sword Sect’s atmosphere became ominous due to this incident, so no one could easily express their anger.
Important figures from various places attended, but they did not receive a send-off from the Iron Sword Sect Leader Seong Cheon-wol.
After the incident, Seong Cheon-wol did not step out of his house, and Seong Mo-hyeon was confined in a golden cage.
“I learned the Great Absorption Technique! I clearly learned the Great Absorption Technique!”
Seong Mo-hyeon shouted about the Great Absorption Technique like a crazy person, but even the servants who brought him food only looked at him with resentful eyes.
And I woke up in a place that was not my original lodging.
‘What is this?’
Father or Gang Chae-seok could not afford to wear such silk clothes, and their body types were so bear-like that they wouldn't suit them anyway.
“Are you awake?”
“Who are you?”
“Is that question to probe me? To tease me? Whichever is the intention, it feels unpleasant.”
“.......”
“Can you only do that much behavior to me, who helped you with your ridiculous play? You, who spoke of benevolence and righteousness?”
As expected, Jegal So-myeong knew everything.
The Tag-eul Heart Method is a mental cultivation method whose purity is unparalleled, so internal injuries do not occur just because Seong Cheon-wol stirs the acupoints a little.
“I have committed a discourtesy. Chief Strategist.”
“Forget it. Sit down.”
Jegal So-myeong was busy reading documents and signing them, as if he still had a lot of work piled up.
I poured the tea in front of me to resolve my thirst.
“The wound in your mouth was big. Shall I prepare plain water?”
“Ahem....... It. It is fine.”
I did not suffer internal injuries, but I tore the flesh inside my mouth because I needed to vomit blood for a dramatic performance. For a while, I won't even be able to smell spicy food.
“Did you know?”
“I was certain when I saw your condition. Still, it is surprising that you did not suffer internal injuries. Is there such an outstanding mental cultivation method among the Tag-eul Sect’s internal energy mental cultivation methods?”
“It is the Tag-eul Heart Method, which is the foundation of the Tag-eul Sect.”
“You shouldn't be able to gather that much internal energy with the Tag-eul Heart Method.”
A question that does not need to be answered.
What is important now is why Jegal So-myeong did not tell the Iron Sword Sect Leader even though he knew the inside story.
If he was certain when he saw the wound in my mouth, he had already predicted it before that, and if so, he could have escaped long ago, but Jegal So-myeong added strength to my operation.
“.......”
He read a new document after one document was written, signed it, or rolled it back up and put it back in its place.
“From where did you plan it?”
“What are you talking about......”
“Was it at the banquet that happened the day before? Or was it when Seong Mo-hyeon mentioned forbidden arts?”
“......I do not know what you are talking about.”
“You are wasting time needlessly. Do I have to tell you how great the crime is of dragging the Murim Alliance into your play by mentioning the Enforcement Pavilion before you open your mouth?”
Only then could I know why Jegal So-myeong pretended to be deceived even though he knew.
He just intervened because he thought this stage I had woven was interesting.
As Heavenly Secret’s words that those with good heads feel strong interest in novels and surprising things came to mind, I became certain that I could extract something from the Chief Strategist as well.
“I do not know what you are talking about from earlier.”
“......Do I eventually have to raise the whip?”
“I know that silver is more effective than a whip to open the opponent’s mouth.”
Jegal So-myeong placed the Nine-Heavy Sword he had stood beside him on the table with a face that said he was dumbfounded.
“You refused when Seong Mo-ran said he would hold a banquet at first, right?”
He must have investigated the full story of the incident.
“You also said the Iron Sword Sect Leader would give three Iron Heart Pills. Has that become a thing of the past?”
“Haha.”
Jegal So-myeong took out a small wooden box from his bosom, and I quickly opened the wooden box and confirmed that there were three Iron Heart Pills.
“...Are you checking it in front of me right now?”
“It is good if everything is certain.”
Jegal So-myeong had an expression that asked what kind of guy you are.
“It was from the moment I heard that the Iron Sword Sect used the Gye-ryong Merchant Guild to invite the Tag-eul Sect.”
“What did you say?”
“If it was just for friendship, wouldn't they have sent a formal invitation? But it was not that, and they used the Gye-ryong Merchant Guild, which has a huge influence on the Tag-eul Sect, to force us to attend. What reason would there be to do such a thing unless there was some intention?”
“Huh......”
Since it was something I knew from my previous life, I spoke honestly. Because if I tried to lie in front of the Chief Strategist, it would all be exposed.
“Then did you know that Seong Mo-hyeon would mention forbidden arts? And how did you make Seong Mo-hyeon think that way?”
“Which of the two are you curious about?”
“I am curious about both.”
“Then the calculation does not match.”
“What does not match the calculation? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have obtained the Nine-Heavy Sword or the Iron Heart Pills. Furthermore, you might have lost your life.”
“Instead, the Iron Sword Sect and the Murim Alliance will be criticized for a long time due to this incident. The Iron Sword Sect would never have dared to suppress the Tag-eul Sect and enter the One Hundred and Eight Peaks again.”
“In any case, it was able to be solved well because of my help.”
“Chief Strategist, you did not do the obvious thing from the beginning, and you solved it only after the problem grew later. This cannot be said to be helped.”
“If I win the duel overwhelmingly, I don't know what kind of harm they will cause later. But if an incident like this explodes once, wouldn't they at least stay quiet for at least 10 years?”
“I could have ignored it until the end.”
“If you did that, the justification for the Murim Alliance’s maintenance would disappear, so would you have done that?”
Trying to ignore it with all one’s might while drunks gathered from all over the world are watching? It would only worsen public opinion about the Murim Alliance, which is already not good.
“......Still, nevertheless, what if you were framed for learning forbidden arts until the end?”
“If that had happened, they would have taken my corpse from the Murim Alliance’s Enforcement Pavilion, and they would have revealed through an autopsy that I did not learn forbidden arts.”
Jegal So-myeong, who shut his mouth tightly as if he had eaten honey, opened his mouth after a while.
“......Did you risk your life for just this much of a matter?”
“Did you say ‘just this much’? Because of that ‘just this much’, the Iron Sword Sect used the Gye-ryong Merchant Guild to pressure the Tag-eul Sect. Because of that ‘just this much’, my father still has a scar as a wound he received from Seong Ju-tak twenty years ago, and because of that ‘just this much’, the people of the Tag-eul Sect were trying to fight the entire Iron Sword Sect by risking their lives.”
“.......”
“Isn't that name more important than gold to the Jegal Clan? What is different about a small sect?”
“Hmm......”
High-ranking people always have this problem. That narrow-mindedness of thinking that their name is a value more noble than anything else, but our names are not things to the extent of risking our lives.
That must be what made the Murim Alliance of my previous life like that.
“Then I will ask one thing. If the name of a small sect has such value, when the Tag-eul Sect and the Jegal Clan are at opposite points, how will the Tag-eul Sect deal with the Jegal Clan?”
“.......”
Instead of answering, I looked at him.
He realized the intention right away and let out an absurd laugh.
“Kkul-kkul. So the calculation doesn't match, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. To match the calculation, what must I give? I am a person who relies on the Haeng-dan (apricot altar), so I have no money, so I cannot give money.”
Jegal So-myeong, who was rummaging through his bosom, took out a small plaque made of ivory.
On the ivory plaque about the size of two fingers, the characters ‘Ip-gwan’ (Entering the Pass) were written.
An object that was rumored to exist, but rarely was there anyone who had actually seen the real thing.
It was an Ip-gwan-pae (Entry Pass) that allowed one to enter the Murim Academy without blood, without taking the ‘Jeong-si’ (regular exam) called the Hell Exam, and without using the ‘Special Recruitment’ that is a privilege of the One Hundred and Eight Peaks.
An Ip-gwan-pae that could not be obtained even by paying billions of gold had appeared right before my eyes.
“Is this much enough?”
I quickly picked up the Ip-gwan-pae and put it in my bosom, and Jegal So-myeong let out a sigh as if it were absurd this time too.
“The opposite point with the Jegal Clan. Truly, it is terrible just to imagine. If I were to choose the most troublesome opponent among the Five Great Clans, I would choose the Jegal Clan.”
“Flattery is enough. Just tell the story.”
“Well. First of all, I will sell the family property as much as I can.”
“And then?”
“Then I will divide the family property and divide the adults and children to scatter them all over the world. Even so, the Jegal Clan, which is a righteous sect, wouldn't send pursuers to kill everyone, right?”
“.......”
Jegal So-myeong had eyes looking at a dog eating dung.
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“.......”
“You wanted me to answer the question, but you did not say I had to say the correct answer.”
“......Did you plan this strategy too?”
“The calculation does not match.”
“......I am sick and tired of that calculation story.”
“Can I stand up now?”
“You will come to the Murim Academy, right?”
“......Is it absolutely necessary for me to enter?”
“The Ip-gwan-pae was given to you, so it is your heart how you use it. It is already proving its existence with that.”
“I understand. I intend to challenge the Murim Academy.”
“It is advantageous to complete the Murim Academy to enter the Man-tong-bu.”
“Yes...... Well, that is so.”
A talent among talents.
Especially, the special position that one cannot go to if one is not smart is the Man-tong-bu.
But actually, it is the place I least want to go.
“If you complete the Murim Academy, I will make a seat for you in the Man-tong-bu.”
“??”
I burst out in astonishment at Jegal So-myeong’s sudden nonsense.
Man-tong-bu, what is he talking about? In my previous life, I couldn't even fight with my junior disciples because I was looking at documents, so he wants me to do that in this life too?
I will not do it even if I die.
Anyway, if the war continues, I have to go to the battlefield too. In that case, it would be better for me, my junior disciples, and those on the scene if I accumulate experience in the field from beforehand and raise my rank.
“Ah...... I am not interested in the Man-tong-bu.”
Jegal So-myeong tilted his head for the first time.
“I have been thinking since the duel. Are you a little crazy?”
No, honestly speaking, isn't the guy who says he will sit at a desk while his junior disciples are dying the crazier guy?
<><><>
“Did not do the obvious thing?”
“Our Tag-eul Sect was being unjustly oppressed, and Chief Strategist, you were calculating who would be more profitable to the Murim Alliance instead of judging right and wrong.”
“...That is what I have to do.”
“So I did not receive the Chief Strategist’s help, and I do not owe the Chief Strategist anything, so is it not that answering all of the Chief Strategist’s questions does not match the calculation?”
Jegal So-myeong’s mouth opened for the first time.
“In the Jianghu, there are those who wait for days and days with ten thousand gold to have a conversation with me for a moment of time. Are you refusing even though you can have such an opportunity with just a few answers?”
“Isn't that because they are trying to meet because they have something to gain more than ten thousand gold?”
“Ha! You have nothing to be sorry for me?”
“Our Tag-eul Sect accepted Gye-cheol-yeong to eat three meals instead of two. What benefit would our Tag-eul Sect gain by being with the Chief Strategist.”
“Huh......”
Explicit expression of unpleasantness.
Even so, if I don't have to meet him in the future, isn't he just an uncle? Even if I enter the Murim Alliance, what reason would I have to meet a high-ranking person from the Man-tong-bu?
“Perhaps today will be the last day I see the Chief Strategist in my life, right?”
“.......”
“If you have nothing more to say, I will be going now.”
“......Talk about ‘Did you know that Seong Mo-hyeon would mention forbidden arts?’.”
As expected of the Chief Strategist, curiosity about strategy was greater than about martial arts.
“It did not necessarily have to be forbidden arts. Seong Mo-hyeon was certain of his victory, and that is a fact that even the people of the Tag-eul Sect know. In such a situation, he must have been unable to believe that he would lose. Perhaps the outstanding talents who cross swords with me would not be able to shake off the thought in their heads that I use evil arts.”
“......So, you could have just won?”
“Isn't that something you also know, Chief Strategist?”
Jegal So-myeong is not only a genius in his head but also an outstanding warrior in himself. Every time his Seol-hwa-cheol-seon (Snow Flower Iron Fan) moved in his youth, the blood of the evil faction scattered in all directions formed a river.
“Then shouldn't you have just cleanly led the duel to victory?”
“If I only win simply, can't I gain anything?”
“.......”