Chapter 132
Following Baek Mu-Gun’s will, the Qiankun qi surged toward Cho Woo-Kyung’s chong-maek point and soared straight into his Mud Pill Palace, the powerful impact causing an ear-splitting roar to ring in Woo-Kyung’s head. Woo-Kyung barely managed to hold himself back from screaming due to the pain that seemed to be breaking his head apart. Fortunately, he instinctively knew that this was the most important crisis that he had to persevere through.
Failing to burrow through the Mud Pill Palace, Mu-Gun once again condensed the Qiankun qi that had been deflected out. This was their last chance. If Mu-Gun failed to break through again, Woo-Kyung would not be able to withstand the backlash.
Mu-Gun compressed the condensed Qiankun qi as much as he could, then directed it to the Mud Pill Palace all at once. The Qiankun qi soared toward the Mud Pill Palace incomparably faster than their first attempt. Woo-Kyung shut his eyes as he waited for the impending shock that was about to hit him.
Having already been dented by the first impact, the Mid Pill Palace failed to withstand the second impact, which was much more powerful than the first one. With Woo-Kyung’s Life and Death Gateway now opened, the Qiankun qi became one with the world. A blue aura soared through the top of Woo-Kyung’s head and enveloped him as if it was trying to protect him, pushing even Mu-Gun back.
Mu-Gun had done everything he could for Woo-Kyung. From this moment forward, everything would be all up to Woo-Kyung.
Enveloped in the blue aura, Woo-Kyung entered the Floating Samadhi state, causing him to float about three inches from the floor. If he had a high level of enlightenment, he would have been able to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, which he could then use to open up his middle dantian and achieve metamorphosis.
However, Woo-Kyung’s enlightenment had yet to reach that point. From the Floating Samadhi state, he dropped down to the floor as the blue aura enveloping him quickly permeated the top of his head. Unable to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, all he could do now was end the process by properly putting the energy above him away, which he should be more than capable of doing.
Mu-Gun stood up and took a few steps back.
“Well done, and thank you so much. You’re the reason Woo-Kyung managed to reach the Absolute Realm.”
“I would also like to thank you, Young Patriarch Baek. If it weren’t for you, he would not have been able to advance into the Absolute Realm.”
Seok Gang and Geom Woo-Saeng, who were both watching from behind, expressed their gratitude toward Mu-Gun. As Absolute-Realm masters themselves, they knew that Woo-Kyung had advanced into the Absolute Realm as soon as he entered the Floating Samadhi state.
“It would have been nice for him to have achieved metamorphosis too since we have already come this far. It’s a shame,” Mu-Gun said.
“We have made enough progress for now. If we press our luck and overdo it, we could find ourselves in harm’s way instead,” Woo-Saeng replied.
As Woo-Saeng said, if Woo-Kyung kept going without proper enlightenment, he could have faced a dangerous situation.
“That’s right. Even if he is only half-baked right now, it’s great enough that he was able to reach the Absolute Realm at that age. That brat will have to handle the rest of what’s to come himself,” Seok-Gang added.
“I hope you can teach him many things as he serves you, Young Patriarch,” Woo-Saeng said, implying that there was still a lot for Woo-Kyung to learn.
“He already has two outstanding masters, so what else is there for me to teach him?”
“You are far more outstanding than the two of us combined. Didn’t you just easily accomplish what we could not even dare do? More importantly, wouldn’t properly raising that brat also be a great help to you?”
“Well, that could certainly prove true if Young Master Cho decides to follow me. It will be all for naught otherwise,” Mu-Gun stated the obvious.
“All you have to do is make him follow you. I’m sure you’re more than capable of doing that, Young Patriarch Baek.”
“Haha, you two venerable elders are fueling my competitive spirit. Alright then. I’ll teach Young Master Cho as much as he desires.” Mu-Gun finally gave in.
“That brat has a good eye for things, so he will not refuse your teachings, Young Patriarch Baek.”
“We will have to wait and see to confirm that. Anyway, I’ll be on my way. That procedure exhausted quite a lot of my mental power, so I would like to get some rest. As long as he handles his internal energy properly, he won’t find himself in any particular danger.”
“Again, thank you, Young Patriarch. Please have a good rest.”
Mu-Gun bid farewell to the two venerable elders and returned to his residence.
“Did everything go well?” Namgung Hyun-Ah welcomed him back.
“Yes. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. If it’s alright with you, I would like to get some rest. I have exhausted my mental power.”
“Okay, head inside and rest. I’ll make something for you to eat later.”
“Leave those things to the servant and come rest with me, my dear.”
“No, I can handle it. I want to do it myself anyway, so worry about me and just head inside,” Hyun-Ah insisted.
“Alright.” Mu-Gun went inside the room to rest.
Meanwhile, Hyun-Ah headed to the kitchen next to their residence to prepare some snacks for Mu-Gun. Contrary to her appearance, she was quite good at cooking. In the past, she spent some time practicing her cooking so that she could one day cook for her husband when she got married. With her cooking skills, she created sweet snacks that removed Mu-Gun’s fatigue.
The next day, Woo-Kyung came looking for Mu-Gun.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m feeling great. I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to you for leading me to the Absolute Realm,” Woo-Kyung responded. He did seem to be in good condition.
“I did it because I wanted to, so you don’t have to thank me. All I ask is that you use that power for the sake of murim,” Mu-Gun said.
“I will. That being said, I have heard from my masters that you would be willing to teach me for as long as I desired.”
“That’s correct.”
“Please take me in as your student. In exchange, as I mentioned yesterday, for as long as the Baek Sword Sect does not go against murim’s path of righteousness, I will work for its sake.”
“I see. I am more than willing to teach you if you want to learn, Young Master Cho. For now, please focus on putting your newly obtained internal energy under your control. After that, I will properly teach you.” Mu-Gun gave Woo-Kyung a task.
“Understood. Again, thank you.”
Mu-Gun smiled in satisfaction as he watched Woo-Kyung leave. Although Woo-Kyung was still only a half-baked martial artist, he was talented enough to become a true Absolute-Realm master in due time. When that talent expressed his desire to work for the Baek Sword Sect on his own accord, Mu-Gun was put in a good mood. However, Woo-Kyung still wasn’t a true member of the Baek Sword Sect, which meant he could leave the Baek Sword Sect at any time depending on the situation.
Mu-Gun had to win Woo-Kyung over to make him truly one of their own. However, instead of using any tricks, he hoped teaching him with all his heart would be enough to do that. Interestingly enough, Woo-Kyung’s tone toward Mu-Gun had changed. Though the former used formal-lateral speech[1] all the time, he spoke formally to Mu-Gun today. That evidenced that he now recognized Mu-Gun as his superior and could also be interpreted as Woo-Kyung’s decision to put his trust in the Baek Sword Sect to some extent.
* * *
In various parts of the Central Plains, the Heavenly Secret Hall’s informants put up posters advertising the Baek Sword Sect’s intention to recruit martial artists who used to be in the army. Many people would have ignored the Baek Sword Sect’s advertisement in the past, but times had changed. Since becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader and recruiting the Four Peerless Wanderers, the Qiankun Hands, and the Daybreak Swordmaster, the Baek Sword Sect’s status and authority had grown to incomparable heights.
Above all, the Baek Sword Sect also offered extraordinary monthly salaries, having doubled the army’s offer, and that was just the basic rate. The higher one’s skills were, the higher their monthly salary. Attracted by the Baek Sword Sect’s status and the monthly salary that was greater than those offered by decent-sized clans, the ex-army martial artists scrambled to visit the Baek Sword Sect. In response, instead of setting a particular examination date, the Baek Sword Sect verified their abilities as soon as they arrived and hired those who were talented on the spot. Applicants began to flock one month after the Baek Sword Sect posted the recruitment notice.
The Baek Sword Sect conducted the basic physical assessment test first. Those who passed then went through a sparring session to gauge their martial arts. Mu-Gun and the six venerable elders themselves handled the martial arts verification test, so the applicants did not dare disagree with the martial arts rank they were granted.
The Baek Sword Sect’s recruitment event lasted for a whole month. In that span of time, over five hundred ex-army martial artists applied. Among them, about four hundred passed the basic physical assessment test and reached the martial arts verification test. Through the second test, Baek Sword Sect identified twenty-eight Special-ranked, fifty-nine Advanced-ranked, and one hundred thirty-six Intermediate-ranked. The rest were Low-ranked. The Baek Sword Sect could not take them all in since there were too many of them, so the upper brass decided to recruit only those ranked Intermediate or higher. In total, they recruited two hundred twenty-three martial artists.
After the recruitment phase, the Baek Sword Sect reorganized its combat division. To begin with, the name Baek Sword Corps’ five sword squads had become ambiguous, so they combined all squads to form the White Dragon Corps. White Dragon Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Gi was appointed as its Commander, and White Wolf Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ung was appointed as Vice Commander.
Moreover, they also created a new Corps, which was named White Tiger Corps, and assigned the two hundred twenty-three new recruits to it. White Tiger Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ho was appointed as the White Tiger Corps’ Commander, and White Leopard Squad Leader Baek Soo-Kwang was appointed Vice Commander.
With their new recruits, the Baek Sword Sect now had four hundred martial artists. Including the Heavenly Martial Hall members, they could mobilize up to five hundred warriors. It would take considerable time and effort to convert the Baek Sword Corps’ new recruits into loyal members. Nevertheless, things were still looking optimistic for the Baek Sword Sect since they had just further increased their power by recruiting talented warriors with military backgrounds en masse.
The over two hundred martial artists who did not qualify for the Baek Sword Sect’s recruitment were recruited by the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. Since those two sects had also been planning to increase their combat forces, they willingly recruited the former soldiers when the Baek Sword Sect explained the situation to them. The two sects could have refused to recruit them because they were not competent enough for the Baek Sword Sect to recruit, but it was important to note that they all passed the martial arts verification test. More than half of the Baek Sword Corps were expelled for failing it in the past.
The fact that those martial artists passed the martial arts verification test, which was much stricter than before, was enough to prove that their martial arts skills had surpassed the basic level. The Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would have had to spend a lot of time and money to recruit such skilled warriors on their own.
From the two sects’ point of view, it was much more beneficial for them to recruit the martial artists who were eliminated from the Baek Sword Sect’s recruitment process. The problem was whether those people would accept the recruitment offers of the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. After all, compared to the Baek Sword Sect, they were nothing but trifle forces. Hence, their prospects might not be willing to join them.
As expected, more than thirty percent of the ex-army martial artists rejected the Justice Martial Sect and Flying Lance Sect’s recruitment offers. However, the remaining seventy percent willingly joined because the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were pivotal forces of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance along with the Baek Sword Sect. They judged that in the future, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance would grow rapidly due to the status of the Baek Sword Sect. Since the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were close to the Baek Sword Sect, that possibility was even higher for them.
Hence, although it would be incomparable to being a member of the Baek Sword Sect, the ex-army martial artists concluded that joining the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would give them promising futures. Thanks to that, the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were able to reinforce their combat forces with over sixty martial artists each.
After the whole recruitment event, the Baek Sword Sect prepared for the marriage between Baek Mu-Gun and Dan Seol-Young. Many rumors about Mu-Gun spread because he was about to marry a Flower Honor Manor gisaeng just three months after marrying Namgung Hyun-Ah. Some even claimed that Mu-Gun welcomed the gisaeng because he was already tired of Hyun-Ah.
Mu-Gun paid the rumors no heed at all, however. The best way to get rid of rumors had always been to ignore them. Hyun-Ah did not really care about the rumors either since they were all false.
As Mu-Gun and Seol-Young’s wedding approached, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang once again visited the Baek Sword Sect to congratulate Mu-Gun on his marriage. They also thought that Mu-Gun’s decision to hold a second marriage despite having married Namgung Hyun-Ah less than three months ago was strange.
They were also worried about the Great Namgung Family’s reaction. Namgung Hyun-Ah was the daughter of Namgung Jo, the Great Namgung Family Patriarch. The Great Namgung Family was bound to disapprove of Mu-Gun’s second marriage, especially when considering he would be marrying a gisaeng. Considering there was no way they would just watch that happen, they would most likely try to prevent the marriage from happening somehow.
The Baek Sword Sect pushing ahead with the marriage despite the Great Namgung Family’s demands could create a conflict between the two factions. Hence, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang couldn’t help but be worried. After all, that conflict would needlessly cause harm to the Zhejiang Martial Alliance.
They naturally informed Baek Cheon-Sang of their concerns. However, although he understood where they were coming from, he showed no intention to call off the marriage just because they feared the Great Namgung Family. More importantly, Cheon-Sang made it clear to them that the Baek Sword Sect would never back down if the Great Namgung Family pressured them due to this marriage.
1. Formal-lateral speech is used to acknowledge respect for the addressee while also emphasizing one's own status. ?
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