The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 31

Chapter 31. A Second-Rate Warrior Searching for a Legend (3)

“Senior Sister suddenly asked whether I had any thought of going to Murim Academy. When I asked her why, I heard that she was going to take the Regular Exam with you, Eldest Senior Brother, and that is how I found out.”

Sa-ryeon seemed to have been searching for a way, even though she knew it would not work. Should I call that foolish attachment?

Then I felt something strange at one point in the story and tilted my head.

“Of course, it would have been impossible, but why did you refuse?”

Murim Academy was the gateway to every Later-Generation Talent’s dream. Someone of Geum-pyo’s level, who had made it all the way to the final four, would have had every reason to be tempted, so I found it strange that he had refused so immediately.

“Is Senior Sister not the Sect Leader’s daughter? Even if she were not, I did not think I could send Senior Sister into a place of death and then comfortably swallow Murim Academy’s food.”

“…….”

The boy’s words left me speechless.

They had grown up like siblings, but they were not true siblings…… The way they thought of each other was so touching and so worthy of gratitude that several emotions overlapped inside me.

“Please take us with you.”

“Please take us with you.”

“Please take us with you.”

I came to my senses and shook my head.

“No. The Regular Exam is not as easy a path as you think.”

“…….”

The Geum·Eun·Dong brothers lowered their heads like puppies caught in the rain at my firm words.

“However, if the work I am planning goes well, and if you complete every task I give you in the meantime, I will consider it.”

“Really?”

“Really?”

“Really?”

“If you’re all going to give the same answer, only one of you should speak.”

The three Geum·Eun·Dong brothers rejoiced as if they had already entered Murim Academy.

“Every morning, go up and down Mount Hwaun to the peak three times.”

“What?”

“Why? You think you can’t?”

“No! We can do it.”

“And from now on, practice matching the sword formation I am about to teach you fifty times a day. The period is half a year. The three of you must be able to make your coordination fall perfectly into place even without seeing, hearing, or speaking to one another.”

Gulp.

The Geum·Eun·Dong brothers swallowed at the same time.

“While doing that, you also cannot miss the lessons at Swift Blossom Hall. If you complete all of Swift Blossom Hall as well, I will consider it then.”

“…….”

“The Murim Academy Exam is an exam where even the Later-Generation Talents of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Clans fail in droves and get injured. And even among them, there are deaths. If you do not have that level of skill, taking you with me would be no different from telling me to take the exam while carrying luggage on my back.”

The three brothers’ faces darkened.

“Therefore, you need something more than the goal of simply wanting to enter Murim Academy. The resolve that I will shed blood for the brothers and sisters of Taeul Sect, and the effort required for that resolve! If you do not have that, you can simply receive Sa-ryeon’s and my protection.”

At that moment, the youngest, Dong-ryong, hesitated before speaking.

“Then…… are you and Senior Sister not shedding blood for us, Eldest Senior Brother?”

I stroked the boy’s head.

“It’s all right. That is what I must do as Eldest Senior Brother. Sa-ryeon will think the same.”

“……I will do it.”

Dong-ryong spoke as if making a firm vow, and then Eun-ho and Geum-pyo spoke as well.

“I will do it.”

“I will do it.”

My plan to give them deliberately difficult tasks and frighten them into giving up had produced a strange result.

Of course, I did not think these children could do all of it.

Even so, the fact that they had this heart at all was important, so I needed to become the destination their efforts could aim for.

“All right. Then I will look at your accomplishments half a year later and decide.”

“““Yes!”””

“Ah, right. And this must remain a secret from everyone. The adults in the sect would never permit you to participate in the Regular Exam.”

***

I separately paid my respects to Sect Leader Hong and my father, packed a small bundle, left Taeul Sect, and headed toward Wang Residence.

It was the schedule for the coming half year, so I should have packed a great deal, but I could not borrow a horse every time I moved. I had no choice but to trust my inner arts and choose the road on foot.

“Should I have taken a little of the money from selling the Seven-Colored Jewel?”

My first destination was Suzhou.

If I used a movement art, distance itself would not be a problem, but there was no way to relieve the fatigue that accumulated.

“Should I dig up a treasure or something?”

I knew a few treasure maps that had not yet become known to the world, but they were too far away.

“Let’s move first and think after that.”

Wang Residence stood on a vast tract of land half a double-hour away from Taeul Sect.

It had been built from the beginning as a village for people connected to Wang Estate to live in, so the village’s structure differed greatly from the ordinary kind.

Especially since this place was the central headquarters of all the businesses operated by Wang Estate, Wang Residence also had the nickname ‘the village where the fires never go out.’

And yet, for some reason, all of Wang Residence felt quiet.

At the Wang Estate master’s mansion in the center of Wang Residence, far from seeing people connected to the merchant world moving about, cauldrons had been set up, soup was boiling, and meat was hanging and roasting.

The Chief Steward who was guiding me said,

“The Estate Master said he had an important appointment today, so he cleared his entire schedule.”

“Oh? Then did I come for nothing?”

“Hoho, not at all.”

While I was wondering whether I should turn back immediately or not, the Chief Steward smiled strangely and led me to Wang Geum-san.

“This humble junior of the murim, Jin So-un, offers his greetings. Have you been well in the meantime?”

In Wang Geum-san’s quarters, it was not only Wang Geum-san present, but also his only daughter, Wang So-so.

“Haha. I made a mistake with you then, but I thought I had eased things somewhat. It seems that was not the case.”

“What do you mean? The things you have already given me were so great that I do not know how I could repay them.”

“It was not eased. It was not eased at all.”

Wang So-so covered her mouth and chuckled.

I spoke honestly.

“What was the reason you suddenly asked to have me? I nearly became someone sold off in place of a debt, did I not?”

“Because I wanted to repay the favor I owed you.”

“Your repayment of a favor nearly ruined the very person you owed it to, did it not?”

“Why would it ruin you? It would have given you power you could not easily obtain.”

“……?”

“Is martial force the only power in the world? Financial power can accomplish any number of things that martial force cannot.”

It was not exactly wrong. In truth, the greatest obstacles to the Demonic Cult’s domination of the murim had been the three great merchant magnates.

After Wang Geum-san vanished, the Three Great Merchant Houses joined tightly together and did not yield to the pressure of the Demonic Cult.

The Demonic Cult had exterminated the families of merchant magnates with a storm-like momentum, but the remaining retainers had not submitted and had continued to resist.

In the end, nothing in the world turns without money.

Even the Demonic Cult had ultimately gone through a process of negotiating with the Three Great Merchant Houses, and they had remained in the murim after the Murim Alliance disappeared.

“However, you still seem to be walking your own path as if you are certain of something. That is why I thought I had made another mistake.”

“No. Thank you for looking after me.”

“Do you intend to take the Regular Exam?”

“!”

The way he struck straight in with words I had not expected, from a place I had not expected.

Wang Geum-san’s eyes were already filled with certainty. Indeed, the title of one of the Four Great Merchants under Heaven was not given to just anyone.

“What do you mean? Father?”

Wang So-so asked, but Wang Geum-san did not answer and only stared directly at me.

When I, too, did not answer, Wang So-so’s complexion gradually began to worsen.

“Brother! That makes no sense. Even I, who have spent my entire life at home, know how terrible the Regular Exam is.”

“So-so. This father of yours is having an important conversation right now. Speak of your personal worries later.”

“…….”

This time, Wang Geum-san spoke firmly even to the daughter he treasured so dearly.

I, too, could not pour cold water on this atmosphere, so I answered obediently.

“How did you know?”

“You yielded the One Hundred Eight Peaks privilege to your junior sister, and you are moving in haste with half a year left until the Regular Exam. Moreover, at this important moment when no one knows how Taeul Sect will stir to life again. In that case, is there not only one answer?”

“…….”

Since Wang Geum-san had his own personal information network as well, he could not have inferred it from fragmentary information alone.

However, the way he predicted a person’s objective solely from that person’s actions showed that the wealth Wang Geum-san had built was no coincidence.

“Traditionally, they say the Nine Sects and One Gang use one entire unit to place a single prodigy into Murim Academy. In the case of the Five Great Clans, two units. They say there are countless examinees who still fail to enter the academy even after that. Taeul Sect does not have such capacity. What do you intend to do?”

“Originally, the Regular Exam was designed so an examinee could pass through individual ability.”

“Yes, and as the competition rate of that exam rose, the situation became what it is now.”

“Even so, the larger framework has not changed.”

“Hmm. Are you saying you will simply throw yourself against it?”

A hint of disappointment entered Wang Geum-san’s eyes at how unprepared I seemed.

“I may fail. No, I will surely fail. But trying and failing is different from giving up without ever attempting.”

“However, is that not too dangerous an exam to do that with? That must be why you cannot tell others.”

“What matters is the spirit of not giving up. Even if I fail, if that spirit continues, my junior disciples will work harder and prepare, and my junior disciples’ disciples will work even harder and prepare. I believe this is not a matter of admission to the present Murim Academy, but the path the sect must walk.”

At my words, Wang Geum-san pressed his mouth shut like a man who had eaten honey. In contrast, Wang So-so’s mouth was hanging open in surprise.

After a long silence, Wang Geum-san spoke as if muttering to himself.

“They say a dragon can soar without distinguishing between a stream and the sea.”

Wang Geum-san nodded.

“Whether you take the Regular Exam or do something else, make certain you return alive. Even if you lose everything, as long as you have the heart to begin again, it is not failure, but experience.”

“Thank you.”

“I called you because I thought I might be able to help you somehow on the path you are taking.”

When Wang Geum-san looked at Wang So-so and nodded, Wang So-so brought over a wooden tray lined with silk from one side.

On the tray lay a silver token the size of a finger and a small pouch.

“This is called the Silver Wang Token, used by the members of our Wang Estate.”

I gulped at Wang Geum-san’s words. The Silver Wang Token was nothing less than a kind of credit certificate used only by the bloodline members of Wang Estate.

Not only could one use the businesses operated by Wang Estate, it was also a kind of guaranteed payment certificate that allowed one to procure money from money houses contracted with Wang Estate.

“I…… think that object is far too much for me.”

“Hmm? What are you thinking? If you spend money at a money house, I intend to bill all of it to Taeul Sect.”

Wang Geum-san undoubtedly had a talent for shattering another person’s good mood in a single instant.

“I am giving this to you so you can use the businesses our Wang Estate operates. If you are going to stir up every corner under heaven, should you not at least be able to use the stables freely?”

“Ah……. Yes. Thank you.”

Gratitude welled up in me, but for some reason, a feeling of disappointment welled up at the same time.

“Ah, right. That was something our So-so threw a tantrum about, saying I had to prepare it for you.”

“F-Father. When did I throw a tantrum?”

Wang So-so’s face reddened, and she lowered her head deeply.

“I thought sending her to Taeul Sect might make her a little more mature, but only her body has grown. She is still a child. A child.”

I glanced at the open pouch and widened my eyes.

Unlike what I had expected, that it would contain copper coins, the bulging money pouch was filled with gold coins.

“Well? Is it still not eased?”

“Pardon? Whatever do you mean? I have always deeply respected Estate Master Wang.”

Once the money pouch entered my robe, my tongue rolled smoothly.

Long live the rich.

***

In my past life, while I was shoving the materials of Mantongbu’s Sim Hyeon-gak into my head without processing them, my hand once came to an abrupt halt.

-Taeul Sword Emperor.

It was only natural that my hand stopped at the sudden appearance of that out-of-place term.

A legendary master said to have ruled heaven and earth with ten thousand swords and made all who stood before his sword kneel.

This absurd legend was a story people of the murim used when teasing Taeul Sect, which shared the same name.

Naturally, even the disciples of Taeul Sect did not believe this absurd story, so when its protagonist appeared in the deepest interior of Sim Hyeon-gak, I had no choice but to stop.

The oldest materials even within Sim Hyeon-gak.

The name of Taeul had appeared among materials whose importance could no longer even be judged, which had only piled up for hundreds of years.

-The influence of Dark Heaven reached its extreme and covered the sun.

-The master of Ten Thousand Swords willingly stood before all people.

-Ten Thousand Swords drove Dark Heaven back.

-The masters of the sun fear that Ten Thousand Swords will fill the place from which Dark Heaven withdrew.

-The masters of the sun decided to separate Dark Heaven and Ten Thousand Swords from the mortal world.

-Beside Chu’s platter. At the end of the hell where heaven and earth touch. There, they sealed Dark Heaven and Ten Thousand Swords. Then all under heaven was at peace.

At the time, the story was nothing but coded phrases from which I could make no particular inference.

Only later, when I had shut myself away in remote mountains and deep valleys and was reviewing Sim Hyeon-gak’s materials out of boredom, did I finally realize the importance of this information.

Within the Murim Alliance’s cipher system, the Murim Alliance was generally compared to the sun.

Conversely, the Demonic Cult was designated as Dark Heaven by allusion to the Heavenly Demon.

Then, who did the Ten Thousand Swords in this cipher refer to?

At a glance, one might see it as a force with ten thousand members, but then the matter of the seal did not fit.

The coded text clearly contained the designation of the master of Ten Thousand Swords.

When I had decoded the cipher this far, my body trembled.

“Was the Taeul Sword Emperor real?”

Taeul Sect entered the One Hundred Eight Peaks at the same time the Murim Alliance was founded.

And for nearly five hundred years, it had never once been removed from the One Hundred Eight Peaks.

This was something only distinctive factions with powerful forces no less than the Nine Sects and One Gang, such as Gangcheon Sect or Maoshan Sect, could accomplish.

And yet Taeul Sect, despite having almost no development, had never once left the One Hundred Eight Peaks for four hundred years.

At this point, I came to think that perhaps the legend of the Taeul Sword Emperor might be true.

‘Perhaps Taeul Sect was kept within the One Hundred Eight Peaks in preparation for the master of Ten Thousand Swords who might someday appear again.’

That is why, with half a year left until the Murim Academy Regular Exam, I am putting aside Spiritual Medicines and treasures and searching for the Taeul Sword Emperor.

Identifying the first location was not particularly difficult.

-Chu’s platter.

Platter was a word often used to mean a lake.

Chu’s platter meant that the platter itself possessed representative significance, and if one thought of a place called Chu that had a representative lake, one could recall the Chu State of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.

In the end, the answer pointed to Hunan Province, where Dongting Lake was located.

“But this won’t be easy…… Of all times, this should be when Hunan Province is at its noisiest.”

At this time in my past life, Mita Sacred Water, a once-in-an-age Spiritual Medicine, was discovered in Hunan Province.

This Spiritual Medicine, possessing the nature of Extreme Yin, had such powerful cold energy that an ordinary person would get frostbite just by touching it and would have to cut off the entire arm.

However, if a martial artist consumed it in a special manner, it produced an effect like rebirth and bone remolding, and at the same time possessed the ability to bring about the opening of the fine meridians.

Moreover, although it had a yin nature, both men and women could consume it, so anyone who had learned martial arts coveted it.

“Thanks to that, a lot of people died, too.”

Of the people who entered the underground valley of Demon Spirit Plateau to find Mita Sacred Water, no fewer than five thousand died.

Even considering that a bloody storm blew every time a Spiritual Medicine appeared in the murim, the number was excessive.

Moreover, the reason this incident became famous across the entire country was that among those five thousand were members of the Namgung Clan and Namgung Seon-hwa, the granddaughter of the current Clan Head.

It was also the reason I did not dare attempt it, even with One cycles of inner arts.

Even the elites protecting the young lady of the Namgung Clan had entered and failed to return alive. If I went in alone, could I even preserve my life?

“Should I have told him?”

Namgung San suddenly came to mind, but I immediately shook my head.

“No. One wrong step and I could end up becoming a shaman.”

Saving people who would die in the future was something I could do only within the limits of my own direct actions.

“Neeeeigh.”

While I was lost in thought, the horse I had borrowed from the stable snorted, as if it wanted to run.

“You want to run too? Let’s have one good run.”

I gripped its reins tightly and turned the horse’s head toward Yueyang.

***

After arriving in Yueyang, the first place I visited was the stable operated by Wang Estate so I could leave the horse in their care.

Because it had run such a long distance, the horse was covered in dust and quite exhausted. Seeing that horse, the stable owner clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk. What was so urgent that you worked the horse this hard?”

“My schedule was tight.”

“Sorry, but I cannot exchange your horse for another one.”

“Ah, I only came to leave it here….”

“Eh?”

The stable owner looked me up and down, then clicked his tongue again.

“In that case, would it not be better to try somewhere else? Our stable is famous for being expensive in Yueyang.”

“Ah, I do not intend to pay.”

“What?!”

The stable owner’s eyes sharpened.

I quickly showed him the Silver Wang Token I had received from Wang Geum-san from inside my robe.

“The Estate Master told me I could use it as I pleased if I showed this.”

When he saw the Silver Wang Token, the stable owner’s eyes went round, and he bent at the waist until he was folded in half.

“O-oh dear, I am sorry. I failed to recognize an esteemed guest.”

Seeing how quickly his way of dealing with people changed, he was a man who would rise in the world.

“It’s fine. Get up now.”

“……Ah, yes. T-Thank you.”

At my sudden informal speech, the stable owner’s face twisted into a strange shape, neither smiling nor crying.

“Do you only need me to look after the horse?”

“Ah, does the stable perhaps have a room where I can stay?”

“Pardon?”

My entire body ached from running without rest for four days. I was thinking of staying a few days to relieve my travel fatigue and make preparations.

“…….”

“Why? Is that not possible?”

Originally, I had planned to get a room at an inn, but the way he had looked down on me for having no money from our first meeting annoyed me, so I intended to stay here.

“N-No, it is not. I will personally serve you. Please come inside.”

“I’ll go in.”

For three days, I relieved my travel fatigue at the stable operated by Wang Estate, took care of several matters, and then left the stable.

Yueyang was as lively as the place I had seen in my past life.

Countless people walked along the main road, and in front of stalls, many merchants raised their voices to sell their goods.

I passed those fairly respectable shops for quite some time and entered an alley a little removed from the main road.

There were shops there that looked lower in quality than the decent stores I had seen until then.

And among those shops, I stopped in front of a fabric shop.

Ha Fabric Shop.

“Cheap martial arts uniforms and long robes have just come in. Please have a look around.”

The fabric shop owner was hawking cheap cotton fabrics to customers.

I approached that owner and spoke.

“I am looking for a special cloth.”

“What sort of special thing are you looking for?”

“The darkest and deepest cloth would be best.”

The owner’s expression hardened for an instant, then soon relaxed.

“As it happens, a cloth came in from Tibet, but I have not yet laid it out. Will you come inside?”

“Of course.”

When I followed him inside, a small corridor appeared.

“Ah, before that, forgive me, but may I confirm that you have money?”

“Of course. I have enough, so do not worry.”

“That is not the correct answer.”

The owner, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly hardened his face and drew a blade from his waist. At the same time, blades flew in from every direction and formed a flower cup around me.

“I know. But I did not have a black token, so I came in first.”

“Leave if you do not want to die.”

“You hawk cloth that does not sell, but you do not solicit important customers?”

“Because most bastards who say things like that are nobodies.”

“I will put my hand into my robe for a moment.”

I carefully, carefully took out the Silver Wang Token from inside my robe and showed it to him.

Then the owner’s eyes flashed open.

“Would this be enough for me to become an important customer?”

This place, which looked like an ordinary fabric shop.

It was none other than Hao Gate’s Yueyang Branch.

***

The place the owner guided me to was a staircase leading underground at the end of the fabric shop’s corridor.

When I went down those stairs, a large room appeared, and inside that room, which did not have even a single opening through which light could enter, night-luminous pearls shone in place of light.

“I failed to recognize an esteemed guest. Please forgive the time it took to verify matters.”

He was referring to the time it had taken to send and receive a carrier pigeon letter in order to verify the authenticity of the Silver Wang Token.

Less than a week had passed since Wang Estate issued the Silver Wang Token, so no matter how few its owners were, it would not have been easy for them to know the token’s authenticity in advance.

“It may not quite be compensation, but please give me a black token. I think I will use your services often.”

“Need you even ask? I will prepare a special-grade black token.”

Inside the room were strange devices and weapons.

There were rare objects, poisons, and mechanical devices that could not be easily obtained on the market, as well as treasured swords that looked as if they had been taken from someone.

“What do you need? From hidden weapons to Spiritual Medicines, there is nothing we do not have. If it is not here, we will search all under heaven and bring it to you.”

“I am well aware of the rumors. But what I need right now is information.”

“Ah…… Information sometimes demands a greater value than a treasured sword.”

The owner rubbed his palms together once and spoke.

“What information do you want?”

“Please find me a place in Hunan Province suited to the name, ‘the end of the hell where heaven and earth touch.’”

The clue was far too simple, so I had expected it to take time. However…….

“The price is twenty gold taels.”

“Huh?”

At the answer that came too quickly, I tilted my head.

Then the owner tilted his head as well.

“Did you not come to search for Mita Sacred Water?”

My eyes flashed wide open at the appearance of a term that should not have come from his mouth.