Chapter 126
After guiding Seok Gang and Geom Woo-Saeng to their residence, Baek Mu-Gun visited Baek Cheon-Sang again.
“Have you dropped them off at their residence?”
“Yes. I introduced them to the Four Peerless Wanderers before heading back here,” Mu-Gun informed Cheon-Sang.
“They are all similar in age and were on active duty during the same era, so they probably have a lot in common,” Cheon-Sang said in delight.
“They have never met in person before, but they are well aware of each other’s reputation and have similar personalities. They will likely find it easy to bond.”
“That’s a relief. It would be a big problem if the venerable elders fail to get along with each other.”
“That won’t happen, so don’t have to worry,” Mu-Gun reassured Cheon-Sang.
“Alright. Did anything unprecedented happen in Guangdong Province?”
“We hunted a divine beast called the Three-Headed Centipede on Mount Nankun.”
“The Three-Headed Centipede?”
“As its name suggests, it was a centipede that was over fifty feet long and had three heads.”
“How did you find it?”
“Our new venerable elders had their hearts set on slaying it, so I accompanied them.”
“They took the beast core, didn’t they?”
“The Three-Headed Centipede had not one but three beast cores. I took one, and the two venerable elders took the other two.”
“Did you just say it had three beast cores?” Cheon-Sang asked in surprise.
“Yes. Each head had one.” Mu-Gun further explained.
“That makes me wish it was nine-headed instead. We would have gotten nine beast cores,” Cheon-Sang joked.
“That would have made it harder to hunt. Despite the two venerable elders’ martial prowess, they failed to take down the Three-Headed Centipede multiple times.” Mu-Gun sounded nervous, which served as a testament to how strong the divine beast was.
“You don’t have to take it so seriously.”
“Anyway, that’s the end of my report regarding the divine beast. I would like to absorb the beast core that I have obtained. Would that be fine?” Mu-Gun asked for Cheon-Sang’s permission.
“You were the one who obtained it, so do with it as you please.”
“Thank you.”
“Why thank me? It’s only natural for you to have it. Now, is there anything else?”
“I have confirmed that someone is after me,” Mu-Gun replied.
“What do you mean?”
Mu-Gun told Cheon-Sang about the letter he received.
“You made the right decision to not follow its demands.”
“However, as a consequence, I missed an opportunity to find out who the enemy was.”
“Your safety is much more important than that. We can figure out who our enemy is later, but you only have one life. Make sure you put your safety above all else from now on,” Cheon-Sang cautioned Mu-Gun.
“Understood.”
“That being said, do you have any guesses about who sent the letter?”
“I gave it some thought on the way back. I suspect the Guangdong Jin Family.”
“The Guangdong Jin Family?” Cheon-Sang confirmed.
“Yes. I initially suspected the Nine Celestial Demons Sect, but they would have had trouble exerting their influence within the Guangdong Jin Family’s home territory. Hence, that only leaves the Guangdong Jin Family as the probable suspect,” Mu-Gun explained.
“We don’t have any particular grudge against them, though. Why would the Guangdong Jin Family suddenly target you?” Cheon-Sang was not convinced.
“The Guangdong Jin Family—no, the entire Seven Great Families would not allow other forces to surpass their power. If the Guangdong Jin Family found out that I had recruited the two venerable elders, they would have treated this matter seriously enough to find a way to prevent our sect from growing any further. That resulted in a plan to eliminate me.”
“However, if the Guangdong Jin Family does intend to get rid of you, would they have really gone with such an obvious trick? Despite how strong you and three of the vulnerable elders are, if they put their minds to it and mobilized all their forces, it would not have been difficult to wipe your entire group out. They could have easily gotten rid of you and anyone who could act as a witness.” Cheon-Sang doubted the Guangdong Jin Family would try to use such an obvious bait.
“The Guangdong Jin Family probably had trouble doing that. They would have to deploy the Five Peerless Tyrants to get rid of me and the three venerable elders who were with me. Hence, even if they succeeded, it would have spread that they caused the incident. In that situation, they would not be able to avoid harsh criticisms from murim, especially with the looming threat from the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. For that reason, they most likely tried to get rid of me with only the minimum number of forces required. If that’s not the case, then there’s also the possibility that some of their members acted arbitrarily.”
“In any case, it seems we now have to be wary of the Guangdong Jin Family.”
“It’s not just them. We have to keep an eye on the entire Seven Great Families,” Mu-Gun said.
“I’m not sure about the others, but wouldn’t it be fine not to keep our guard up around the Great Namgung Family since we will be connected to them through marriage?”
“On the contrary, we should be wary of them the most. The Great Namgung Family will try to somehow control us through our marriage with them.”
“If so, then I fear our marriage with the Great Namgung Family will be rendered useless,” Cheon-Sang replied, clearly concerned.
“Don’t worry too much. Lady Namgung has made up her mind to cut ties with the Great Namgung Family to become my wife. For as long as she does not bear any ulterior motive, the Great Namgung Family won’t be able to exert any influence on us. Moreover, with the recruitment of two new venerable elders, our power has grown strong enough to prevent the Great Namgung Family from treating us recklessly. We have nothing to lose from our connection with them, so there is no reason for us to listen to them either.”
“Okay, I got it. Anyway, be more careful in the future. Be it the Seven Great Families or the Nine Prominent Sects, they will certainly aim for you.”
“Understood.”
“That aside, Lady Namgung has probably departed from the Great Namgung Family’s manor by now.” Cheon-Sang wondered where Lady Namgung was.
Mu-Gun and Namgung Hyun-Ah’s wedding was twenty days away. Mu-Gun normally would have picked up Hyun-Ah, but due to the distance between the Baek Sword Sect and the Great Namgung Family, Mu-Gun didn’t personally go. Instead, twenty days ago, White Leopard Squad Leader Baek Soo-Kwang and twenty Baek Sword Corps martial artists left Wenzhou to pick her up on his behalf. As per their schedule, they should have left the Great Namgung Family’s manor and were on the way to Wenzhou by now.
Mu-Gun smiled gently when he recalled Hyun-Ah’s beauty. He could not wait to see and embrace her.
“That smile on your face tells me you really like Namgung Hyun-Ah.”
“That’s why I want to marry her.”
“How do you feel about the marriage itself?” Cheon-Sang asked.
“I feel happy and fortunate. I get to marry the woman I love, after all.”
Mu-Gun had reincarnated several times, but he had never once gotten married. It was not because he could not do it, however. Rather, he simply did not have the confidence to face his wife or children upon reincarnating again, especially since they would have grown up or even died by then.
He had met, loved, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with the many women he had met in his previous reincarnations. He wanted to have children who looked just like him and the women he loved. However, he could not bear to do it—and that was his biggest regret. Fortunately, there was no longer any need for him to worry. His current life was the last he would get from the Nine Lives Reincarnation Spell. He would not reincarnate anymore after this. Hence, he no longer hesitated to get married and have children. To a certain extent, his inability to be satisfied with dating and marrying just one woman could be attributed to his desire to compensate for what he could not have in his past lives.
Either way, Mu-Gun was extremely excited about his marriage to Hyun-Ah. After all, it was considered the final step in one’s relationship with their beloved, and he had never gotten this far before.
“I’m suddenly getting worried about this. I’m concerned you will be so engrossed with the newlywed lifestyle that you will start neglecting your responsibilities as our Young Patriarch,” Cheon-Sang joked.
“Father... That sort of thing won’t happen, so don’t worry.”
“It’s a joke, you brat.”
“Anyway, did anything happen while I was away in Guangdong Province?” Mu-Gun changed the subject.
“There was one thing. Some of the small martial clans that joined the Zhejiang Martial Alliance suffered from the tyranny of evil sects. They are now requesting the Zhejiang Martial Alliance to deliver justice to those evil sects.”
Zhejiang Province wasn’t only inhabited by righteous factions. It also had evil sects scattered through its lands, all of which were led by Shaoxing’s Black Sword Gang. Their forces were inferior to the Ten Clans of Zhejiang, but that did not mean they could be treated lightly. Although the Ten Clans of Zhejiang could annihilate them if they decided to, doing so would mean they would also suffer casualties. Not wanting to take unnecessary losses, they left the evil sects alone.
The evil sects’ forces had never invaded the Ten Clans of Zhejiang’s territories either, giving the latter no justification to eliminate them. However, they didn’t treat smaller martial clans the same way. Befitting the makings of an evil sect, they executed various tyrannical acts on the small martial clans, who were weaker than them. In response to their tyranny, the small martial clans turned to the Ten Clans of Zhejiang for help. Not wanting to suffer losses, the Ten Clans of Zhejiang refused to fight the evil sects.
The story was different now, however. The small martial clans had joined the Zhejiang Martial Alliance, which meant the Zhejiang Martial Alliance was now obligated to protect them.
Initially, the evil sects in Zhejiang Province shrank away from their common practice when they found out that the small martial clans had joined the Zhejiang Martial Alliance. However, over time, the habits they tried to suppress began to resurface. They began to tyrannize over the small martial clans again for their own benefit, and the small martial clans asked for help from the Zhejiang Martial Alliance.
“What do you intend to do?” Mu-Gun asked.
“After discussing it with the Ten Clans of Zhejiang, we decided to take this opportunity to finally punish those evil sects.”
“That’s good. I have actually been planning to get rid of them. What about the designation of responsibilities?”
“A total of seven evil sects pose a threat in Zhejiang Province. Each of our allies was assigned to an evil sect based on their forces and geographical location. However, as the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader, I decided that we should be the ones to wipe out the Black Sword Gang, the largest force among the evil sects.”
The Black Sword Gang was based in Shaoxing. Hangzhou’s Byeok Sword Manor or Ningbo’s Mei Household were closer to Shaoxing, so they normally would have been tasked with eliminating the evil sect. However, since the Black Sword Gang had the largest force, the Baek Sword Sect decided to handle them instead. Mu-Gun agreed with that decision. As the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader, he thought it was only natural for them to take on the biggest threat.
“When will we start the operation?” Mu-Gun asked.
“We can’t spill blood ahead of a celebration. Hence, we plan to proceed after your wedding. Since I will be personally taking command of this battle anyway, you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“You will, Father?” Mu-Gun was surprised.
“I can’t just leave everything to you, can I? This decision is final, so just focus on your marriage,” Cheon-Sang assured Mu-Gun.
“Understood.”
Even though the Black Sword Gang was the largest evil sect in Zhejiang Province, they were not a threat to Cheon-Sang, an Absolute Realm master. Hence, Mu-Gun did not object to the decision.
After his meeting with Cheon-Sang, Mu-Gun left the White Sword Pavilion and headed to the Flower Honor Manor. When he arrived, he had hot intercourse and spent time catching up with Dan Seol-Young, whom he had not seen for more than a month because he was away in Guangdong Province.
The next day, Mu-Gun traveled to Mount Yandang with the Six White Wolves, who carried the dried pieces of the Three-Headed Centipede, to deliver the divine beast’s corpse to the Medicine King Family and collect the spiritual pills that they had produced since the last time he visited them. Upon arriving at the Medicine King Family’s manor, he immediately met up with Seonwoo Pyo and showed him the Three-Headed Centipede’s dried corpse.
“What do you think?” Mu-Gun asked Seonwoo Pyo.
“It’s a material of the highest quality. It contains the energy of the Three-Headed Centipede, a divine beast, so it should produce outstanding effects when used to create spiritual pills. I’m confident it would also produce excellent effects as a medicinal ingredient.” Seonwoo Pyo sounded delighted.
“That’s a relief. I was worried it would be useless.”
“Of course not. Huge sums of money alone normally would not be enough to buy divine beast corpses. If you left it behind, you would not have heard the end of it from me.”
“Well then, please use the Three-Headed Centipede’s corpse as you please, Patriarch Seonwoo.”
“Thank you for bringing such precious material. I’m curious, though. What did you do with its beast core?”
“The Three-Headed Centipede had a beast core in each of its heads. I took one of them and gave the rest to the people who hunted it down with me.”
“This divine beast has three beast cores? That’s surprising. Are you sure everything would be fine even if we do not process them?”
Beast cores contained the energy of divine beasts. Hence, absorbing them in their rawest form could put too much burden on one’s body. The beast core of divine beasts that possessed poison attributes, in particular, were normally imbued with poison qi. Consuming it without purifying it could cause grave injuries. A beast core could also contain too much energy for its consumer to handle, resulting in complicated problems. Processing beast cores was essential in avoiding side effects when consumed.
“The three beast cores are imbued with thunder qi, fire qi, and ice qi respectively, and their energy is so pure that it eliminates the need to detoxify or process it first. Although they do contain enormous energy, they don’t have enough to cause problems,” Mu-Gun assured Seonwoo Pyo.
“I see.”
“That aside, how did it go with the newly opened medical clinic in Hangzhou?”
“We’re getting more patients over there as word of mouth spreads,” Seonwoo Pyo shared the good news.
“It will soon be crowded with patients, then.”
“It would be a problem if we get too many patients. After all, that means we will also need even more medicine.”
“You don’t have to worry too much about that. I have instructed the Hangzhou Merchant Company to increase the amount of medicinal materials they buy, so even if we do get more patients, we won’t suffer from the shortage of medicinal materials.”
Mu-Gun had instructed the Hangzhou Merchant Company to prioritize and increase the purchase of medicinal materials while preparing to open the Shennong Clinic in Hangzhou. As he had ordered, the Hangzhou Merchant Company began transacting with herb dealers in various parts of the Central Plains and started working on increasing the volume they bought per transaction. He initially wanted to commission the Eun Merchant Group for this task. However, unlike the Eun Merchant Group, Mu-Gun owned the Hangzhou Merchant Company, which meant he did not have to pay a fee when transacting with them.
“Thank you. It would have been difficult for the Shennong Clinic to settle down as quickly as it did if it weren’t for you, Young Patriarch Baek.”
“It’s nothing compared to what the Medicine King Family has done for our sect.”
“Hearing you say that makes me think we need to start putting more effort into producing pills.”
“I’m already satisfied with how things are going,” Mu-Gun responded in kind.
“Alright. Please wait a moment. I will bring over the spiritual pills that we have concocted so far.”
Seonwoo Pyo summoned a subordinate and instructed him to bring the spiritual pills over. Upon accepting the package, which contained five Heavenly Medicine Pills and thirty-five Hundred Herb Pills, Mu-Gun returned to the Baek Sword Sect with the Six White Wolves.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)webnovel