Chapter 426: Five Hundred Years of Waiting

News that Taeul Sect was opening its gates spread across the entire Murim Alliance.

It wasn’t as though Taeul Sect’s gate-opening would have any significant impact on the murim’s power dynamics.

A lower-tier sect among the One Hundred Eight Peaks, based near Hefei — whether they opened their gates or rebuilt their roof, nobody would normally care.

But once events directly involving them started unfolding, Taeul Sect’s gate-opening began circulating through people’s mouths for entirely different reasons.

“I’m telling you, that rookie who just got commissioned already put in for leave.”

“You too? Our Deputy Captain threw an absolute fit saying he had to use his leave no matter what.”

“Hah, what’s so special about Taeul Sect that they’d attend a gate-opening ceremony?”

“Apparently it’s not because of Taeul Sect.”

“Then why?”

The Alliance member delivering the news shivered as if in awe.

“That vicious bastard Jin So-un supposedly has dirt on his classmates, so they’ve got no choice but to do as he says.”

“Hah! That little shit, I swear — the more you watch him……”

From Jin So-un’s perspective, this was a gross injustice, but there was really nothing he could do about it.

From the seniors’ standpoint, Taeul Sect was neither the Shaolin Temple nor the Namgung Clan — they couldn’t fathom why anyone would feel compelled to make the trip and show face there.

It wasn’t as though some master worth cultivating the slightest connection to was in residence.

And while the sect was growing, with only a single merchant guild and a single mine to its name, it was hard to argue Taeul Sect possessed any real wealth or power.

In any case, once someone filed leave — usable only once a year — the seniors had no choice but to approve it.

Their discontent naturally manifested as curses directed at Jin So-un, and in that fashion, news of Taeul Sect’s gate-opening spread across the entire Murim Alliance.

And then.

“Taeul Sect’s gate-opening ceremony? What’s there to see at a place like that?”

“I hear they’re not just doing a ceremony — they’re holding a Martial Duel Tournament too.”

Fresh news stoked people’s curiosity even further.

“A Martial Duel Tournament?”

“Wudang and Diancang are furious at Taeul Sect, aren’t they? They say the Martial Duel Challenges pouring in daily from across the country are enough kindling to keep the fires going all winter. But Taeul Sect can’t just dodge them forever.”

“So since they’re going to get beaten anyway, they might as well hold a tournament and at least preserve their lives — is that it?”

“Exactly. They figure if it’s in front of spectators, nobody will go too far.”

“Now this…… sounds entertaining.”

Wasn’t the most entertaining spectacle in the world a fire or a fight?

And when the ones getting pummeled happened to be Taeul Sect — a group riding high on their own hype lately?

The thought of watching them get beaten into pulp and sent rolling across the ground was an impulse no warrior could resist.

“I’ve already submitted my leave request, as it happens.”

“Damn! I already used mine.”

“I’ll watch carefully and report back.”

As a result, it wasn’t only the Academy classmates whose arms Jin So-un had twisted(?) who began moving toward Anhui Province — martial artists from across the murim, Alliance members included, started heading there in droves.

***

Instead of taking carriages, my junior brothers, sisters, and I ran directly to Taeul Sect.

Carriages offered comfort and ease, but arriving at the same time as the guests departing from the Murim Alliance would have been a discourtesy.

Besides, there was far too much to prepare in advance.

At least my juniors had learned the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, so our travel speed was incomparable to any carriage.

“This movement art really is amazing. To think it can be this fast and still not feel taxing at all.”

Well, of course — it was a movement art jointly created by the Hell Demon Emperor, one of the most powerful Heavenly Demons of the Demonic Cult, and the legendary master Taeul Sword Emperor.

I’d learned the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art years ago myself, but I still hadn’t grasped its true deeper mysteries.

If that was the case for me, my juniors were the same or worse.

In any case, alternating between camping under the stars and using movement arts, we passed through Hefei faster than expected and arrived at So-eum County.

“Whoa……!”

We couldn’t close our mouths at the sight before us.

“What on earth? When did So-eum County get this big?”

As Geum-pyo put it, the transformation was beyond recognition — and we couldn’t help but gasp.

This was not the tiny village we’d walked through every day as children.

“New goods just arrived!”

“Make way, please!”

Every street was packed with people, and vendors lined the roads with portable stalls, their wares overflowing.

The empty lots where children once played war games now had new buildings going up, and a continuous line of supply carts poured in without end.

“Did we…… come to the wrong pla—”

“Brother So-un!”

Standing there like country bumpkins seeing the capital for the first time, we all turned in unison at the voice behind us.

“Brother!!”

A beauty whose face practically radiated light was running toward us with a beaming smile.

“So-so!”

She must have been in the middle of work — she held an abacus and ledger in her hands, her long hair hastily pinned up with a wooden hairpin.

Even so, every man passing on the street couldn’t tear his eyes from her sparkling smile.

“Brother! You’re earlier than I expected?”

I ruffled her hair and smiled back.

“We need to get here early if we’re going to prepare. But just now, it looked like you were talking to the innkeepers…… What exactly happened here?”

Don’t tell me this girl created all of this? But how?

So-so placed both hands on her hips and puffed her shoulders out with pride.

“Naturally, any sect with great influence creates a large town around it, no matter where it’s located. This is just that natural process, you know?”

“Natural? For Taeul Sect?”

At Geum-pyo’s jab, Wang So-so blew air from her nose with a sharp huff.

“Brother Geum-pyo! Does it matter whether a big sect creates a big town, or a big town creates a big sect? What difference does the order make?”

Even so, wasn’t this way too fast?

When I visited last winter, the town hadn’t grown anywhere near this size.

“That’s because of the people protesting in front of Taeul Sect.”

According to her, she’d bought up every inn and restaurant to gouge prices at three to five times the original rate, all to mess with the protesters camped outside the gate.

“At first, customers dropped off sharply, obviously.”

But Taeul Sect was situated in a location so remote that it took at least half a day to reach Hefei.

Eventually, that brutal distance tested the patience of even the most confident martial artists.

“Hehe…… How long could they really hold out?”

The parentless price growth of So-eum County had eventually been rationalized as the cost of exchanging one’s laziness for convenience.

On top of that, because prices were so exorbitantly high, merchants from Hefei started trickling in one by one, selling at reasonable prices and raking in large profits.

As word spread, more merchants flooded in, and the village was growing larger by the day.

“Then…… didn’t you end up losing money?”

“Knowing that would happen, I’d already bought up every available plot of land around So-eum County. Plenty of the land was ownerless anyway. The inns and restaurants we purchased will undergo renovations to target high-end clientele, and we’ll keep growing the village itself with the influx of outsiders.”

“……”

I was dumbfounded by this business strategy I’d never seen or heard of before.

But at the same time, my instinct for sniffing out money jolted my entire body awake, sending shivers down my spine.

People gather, the village grows, more money circulates — and in the end, it’s the landowners who profit.

Barren land transforms overnight into a golden-egg-laying goose.

What escaped me went beyond admiration into sheer astonishment.

‘Are all children of merchants like this?’

Probably not. How many wastrels were there who inherited vast fortunes only to squander them in the blink of an eye?

She was truly remarkable, but I’d better be careful around this one……

“Oh, and the investment capital was split fifty-fifty between the Wang Estate and the Great Heaven Merchant Guild. The fools illegally protesting in front of Taeul Sect are essentially delivering their own wealth right to our doorstep.”

“Magnificent! So-so, you are my little sister for life!!”

I couldn’t contain the deep roar of approval surging up from below my Qi center.

“What an unheard-of method! You’re a genius — a genius!”

A business strategy that pulls money straight from your enemy’s purse!

And on top of that, developing the village in the process to create a full-fledged commercial district.

This was what you’d call insane talent.

I wish I had a gift like this instead of my useless memory.

“Did I do good, Brother?”

I vigorously ruffled the top of Wang So-so’s head as she offered it up like a little child.

Each stroke seemed to waft the scent of money, and So-so couldn’t stop grinning.

“Sister Wang.”

And Eun-ho, who’d been barely containing his astonishment throughout the entire explanation, cautiously raised his hand.

“Could you tell me about this venture in a bit more detail? I’d like to apply it in the future.”

“Of course, Brother Eun-ho.”

After sharing that brief reunion with the world’s most lovable little sister, we promptly left So-eum County and headed for Taeul Sect.

***

We’d said we were hurrying, but having only passed through Hefei in the afternoon and then lost ourselves gaping at So-eum County’s transformation, we didn’t reach the vicinity of Taeul Sect until the sunset was ripening across the sky.

“Senior Brother, we’re finally almo—”

“Wait.”

I halted the moment I sensed people with my Sensory Perception.

At my abrupt stop, my juniors looked at me with questioning expressions.

“Fix your appearance.”

The humor drained from my voice, and after a moment of puzzlement, understanding dawned on their faces as they straightened their attire.

We’d already changed into new clothes in Hefei, so everyone was presentable, but dust had accumulated during the run.

We brushed off the dust and retied our sashes.

Swords that had shifted were set back in place. Sa-ryeon and So-so re-pinned their hair.

“Done.”

I addressed them as they stood before me.

“Have we done anything wrong?”

“No.”

“Have we caused harm to anyone?”

“……No.”

It took a moment, but the answer was resolute.

“Then don’t lower your heads. Even if someone radiates killing intent and glares at you with fury, keep your shoulders straight. If you carry yourself like a criminal, you become one.”

“””Understood!”””

“Let’s go.”

The sunset slipping behind the mountains painted the entire world in red.

Below it, the rooftops of Taeul Sect and the signboard on its main gate came into view.

The countless throng gathered before it.

When their number proved to exceed four hundred, Dong-ryong instinctively hunched his shoulders.

Eun-ho discreetly rubbed his back, and Dong-ryong straightened up again with a snap.

In that instant, I felt a sense of déjà vu with a scene from my past life.

And soon, that scene unfolded vividly before my eyes.

Taeul Sect, ablaze.

Countless Demonic Cult members gathered before it.

Throughout the sect grounds, the bodies of people who had been my brothers, my sisters, my family — left discarded like animals.

Sa-ryeon, driven mad at the sight of Hong Mun-gi and his wife’s corpses hanging from the pillars of the main hall, humming a song from her childhood as she gathered severed fingers and ears.

The helplessness and guilt of having done nothing.

The thought that I’d lost even the right to offer comfort — and so I simply watched.

Sa-ryeon carefully tucked a severed ear into her clothes, then turned to me with a bright smile.

[Brother Jin.]

“Senior Brother……”

“Hk……!”

In an instant, the vivid hell shattered like a breaking mirror.

Sa-ryeon of the past life and Sa-ryeon of the present overlapped before my eyes.

Instead of disheveled hair — neatly tied hair.

In the hands that had once gathered severed fingers and ears — a proper sword.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

“You told us not to be nervous, and yet you look the most nervous of all, Senior Brother.”

Sa-ryeon gave a prim little smile.

Her eyes were not hollow, and her hands were no longer covered in blood.

“Se.nior. Bro.ther!! Snap out of it already!”

She huffed at me once more.

Right. I’m not the “Brother Jin” of my past life — I’m Jin So-un, eldest disciple and Senior Brother of Taeul Sect.

I steadied my breathing for a moment, then smiled at her.

“Nervous? Because of those idiots over there?”

“Then let’s walk. People are starting to look this way.”

The murmuring grew louder.

Some pointed fingers in our direction, others grabbed their weapons and glared, still others shook awake their sleeping companions.

The bustle kicked up thick clouds of dust.

“Aren’t those Taeul Sect?”

“Looks like it.”

“Why are they coming this way?”

“You think they’re looking for a fight?”

“Then all the better!”

People cracked their shoulders and necks, creating a menacing atmosphere.

Others sat on the ground, sneering and throwing contemptuous grins.

Others glared murderously, coiled and ready to launch themselves at any moment.

I stepped toward them.

TAP.

The Qi I extended with my step forced the thick dust hanging in the air to settle in an instant.

Tap, tap, tap.

My steps did not falter.

With each stride, the rising dust thudded back down.

“That son of a bitch—”

“Arrogant bastard.”

“He thinks he can just walk through us?”

They ground their teeth at my actions, releasing their fighting spirit in all directions.

“Senior Brother, if we keep this course, we’ll have to cut straight through them.”

Our trajectory headed directly for the center of the people blocking Taeul Sect’s entrance.

“Eun-ho.”

“Yes.”

“The gentleman walks the main road.”

“……You’re no gentleman.”

He said that, but my juniors soon matched their stride to mine.

We came to a stop before the protesters.

“If you’d kindly step aside. We’re returning to our sect.”

“And if we don’t feel like it?”

“A guest is only a guest as long as they act like one.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

In that moment, the energy of the Taeul True Scripture surged up before my will even directed it.

I gave myself over to that anger and released my internal Qi to its fullest.

BOOM-BOOM-CRASH!

The barely settled dust exploded outward in every direction.

And the threads of killing intent woven through it forced the warriors to react on instinct.

“Th-this damn bastard!”

“Oh, so you’ve got some skill, is that it?”

I directed their attention to their own feet.

They realized, without having noticed, that they’d retreated a full five steps — and their faces flushed crimson.

Just then.

“You must be the Black Flame Dragon, Jin So-un.”

A man stepped forward from the parted crowd.

The middle-aged man carrying a saber did not recklessly bare his emotions like the others.

“My name is Jang Bu-yong.”

By offering nothing but his name, he proved his own presence.

Already, whispers of “Shandong’s Thousand-Man Single Saber?” rippled through the crowd.

“Actions like these will provoke the people gathered here. Are you confident you can handle the consequences?”

I spoke to the man.

“If you act like guests, Taeul Sect won’t shy away from anything.”

“Do we look like guests to you?”

“If you weren’t, I’d have treated you like common Black Path thugs and dealt with you accordingly.”

“……”

If they weren’t guests, I’d treat them as such. Simple as that.

“Impressive confidence. For a disciple of Taeul Sect.”

“Where one belongs doesn’t give confidence, but I believe a disciple of Taeul Sect has earned the right to carry this much.”

The man nodded.

“A fine display. I do hope that bold bearing holds to the very end. Otherwise, the confidence you’ve shown here will only make the shame that much deeper.”

“I won’t forget.”

As Jang Bu-yong stepped aside and extended his arm, the crowd parted to both sides.

We followed the straight path that opened before us and walked slowly toward Taeul Sect.

The main gate opened, and there stood Hong Mun-gi alongside the Hall Masters.

“We’ve returned.”

We immediately offered a clasped hands greeting.

“You’ve had a long journey.”

The elders welcomed us with the warmest expressions we’d ever seen from them.

The murmur of the crowd behind us still reached my ears, but I stood quietly and looked up at Taeul Sect.

In the burning crimson of the sunset.

I etched into my eyes the sight of Taeul Sect — unyielding, undevoured by anything, its wings spread wide and proud.