Chapter 26
There were three ships in total that left Wenzhou Harbor: the Eun Merchant Group’s large merchant ship, the White Tiger Ship, and the White Wolf Ship. The White Tiger Ship and the White Wolf Ship escorted the Eun Merchant Group’s merchant ship from its flanks.
Baek Mu-Gun was on board the White Wolf Ship, commanded by Baek Cheon-Ung. Since the Justice Martial Sect members were split up between the White Tiger Ship and White Wolf Ship, their young patriarch, Jeong Ho-Gun, chose to travel with his close friend Mu-Gun.
Eun Ye-Sang was aboard the Eun Merchant Group’s merchant ship. Mu-Gun was quite surprised to learn that she was participating in this round’s mercantile journey, considering it came with relatively high risks. After all, they hadn’t completely cleared the sea route to Nanjing yet.
As such, he thought it was unlikely for Ye-Sang to join this journey, but reality proved otherwise. Mu-Gun thought the Eun Merchant Group protected her as if she was a greenhouse plant. Learning she took part in this expedition made him think she was bolder and more business-minded than he expected.
His evaluation of her also—
“Blwerghhh!”
Mu-Gun turned his head to the sound of someone throwing up, only to find Ho-Gun bending over the ship’s railing. Mu-Gun shook his head at the sight of his friend suffering from seasickness.
“You still feel ill even after circulating your qi?”
“Ugh, it’s no use. I’m way too nauseous to properly circulate my qi.”
“Tsk tsk, can you even fight in that state? What if pirates show up?”
“How is that important right now? Your friend is dying here.”
“Dying, my ass. Something like that won’t kill you,” Mu-Gun chided his good friend.
“Heartless bastard.”
“Heartless, huh? I was going to help you with your seasickness, but I guess I shouldn’t.”
“Who said our Mu-Gun is heartless?! My friend Mu-Gun is more compassionate than Buddha!” Ho-Gun immediately changed his stance.
Mu-Gun chuckled at Ho-Gun’s cheekiness as he approached the latter from behind. Then, he put his palm at the latter’s myeongmun point.
“Don’t resist what I’m about to do. Just trust me on this.”
Mu-Gun poured the energy of the Heavenly Thunder Constellation Divine Art into Ho-Gun’s myeongmun point. With the Qi Transfer Healing Technique, Mu-Gun then gently circulated his qi inside Ho-Gun’s body. As a result, Ho-Gun’s seasickness disappeared as if it never occurred in the first place.
“What’s this? Why didn’t you use this amazing seasickness cure on me from the very beginning? I really thought I was going to die, you know.”
“This is nothing more than a temporary measure since I can’t do this all the time. We have to keep going like this for the next few days, so you have no choice but to adjust. I’ll still help you manage your seasickness every now and then, though. Just let me know when you’re having an exceptionally hard time. ”
“Okay.”
“Go get some rest.”
“What about you?”
“There’s no point in lazing around. I’m going to train my martial arts.”
“Here?”
“Is there any reason why I can’t train here? This ship’s deck is big enough.”
“Do what you want, I guess,” Ho-Gun, replied, looking fed-up.
Mu-Gun smiled at him, then began his martial arts training. His six followers and other members of the White Wolf Squad trained with him. Ho-Gun shook his head at the sight.
“His subordinates are just like him,” Ho-Gun mumbled to himself. Ho-Gun thought that maybe Mu-Gun’s real talent was the amount of effort he put into his martial arts.
“This is making me feel ashamed for some reason,” Ho-Gun continued in self-reflection.
His talent wasn’t bad either. If he had put in the same amount of effort as Mu-Gun, he would have advanced into a higher realm than the one he was currently in. However, he was lazy by nature. He enjoyed having fun rather than training. Therefore, his achievements in martial prowess were inferior to his talent.
Watching Mu-Gun training even after reaching the Peak Realm made Ho-Gun feel pathetic for not putting in the effort despite lacking as much talent. The longer this went on, the wider the gap between them would become. Considering their current situation, could they still be close friends in the future?
Mu-Gun would treat Ho-Gun the same regardless of what position he was in. However, if their status changed, it would inevitably create some distance between them even if Mu-Gun didn’t intend to.
Putting everything aside, Ho-Gun felt lacking and intimidated when he saw Mu-Gun, who had reached such a high place. At this rate, the relationship between them would grow increasingly distant. Ho-Gun didn’t want to lose his close friend that way. Hence, he thought he should devote his time to training his martial arts for the sake of their friendship.
There were friends harmful to keep around. Likewise, there were those that were helpful. In that sense, Mu-Gun served as Ho-Gun’s role model. And for acknowledging Mu-Gun as well-accomplished and treating him with sincerity, Ho-Gun was also a good friend to Mu-Gun.
That same afternoon, Baek Mu-Ok approached Mu-Gun, who was resting after completing his training on the deck.
“I’m honestly a little disappointed, brother,” Mu-Ok spoke, his voice sounding as if he came to Mu-Gun with a firm determination.
“What do you mean?” Mu-Gun, seemingly perplexed.
“I know you said you’d only pass down the martial arts you created to those ranked Advanced and above. However, I still can’t help but be disappointed that you separately taught martial arts to six of the White Wolf Squad members.”
“Are you upset because I didn’t do the same for you?” Mu-Gun inquired upon hearing Mu-Ok’s words.
“Yes, I’m still your younger brother. Unfortunately, I guess you simply don’t think I’m better than them.”
Mu-Gun chuckled at Mu-Ok’s remark.
“Why are you laughing? I really am upset.”
“Why would I care more about them than my own younger brother? I didn’t teach you martial arts not because I thought you were worse than them. Your martial talent simply didn’t meet my standards.”
“Your words are killing me.”
“It’s neither difficult nor a waste to teach you martial arts. However, to be honest, I’m not sure if it will be of any help to you.”
“I understand what you mean. I’m not qualified to learn your martial arts, brother. I get it already.” Mu-Ok said as he grew sullen.
“I want you to succeed through your resourcefulness rather than your martial arts.”
“Resourcefulness?” Mu-Ok did not understand what Mu-Gun was driving at.
“In my opinion, I think you’re much more talented as a strategist than a martial artist. With that in mind, how about specializing in strategies?”
“How can I abandon martial arts and put my all into becoming a strategist when I’m a child of a martial family?” Mu-Ok unwillingly blurted out.
“Don’t underestimate a good strategy. An outstanding strategist is better than a hundred experts. My martial arts will lead the Baek Sword Sect’s growth. However, I need you to support the sect with your strategies. With your resourcefulness and my martial prowess combined, the Baek Sword Sect will be capable of surpassing the Seven Great Families.”
“The Seven Great Families?”
“Why? You don’t think we can do it?”
“I just can’t imagine it.”
“Then you should try to keep imagining it starting now. Think about what you can do as the strategist of the Baek Sword Sect as well.”
“I understand what you mean. However, do I really have the talent to be a strategist?” Mu-Ok was feeling a lack of confidence.
“Trust in your brother’s eyes. As long as you try, you will be able to easily stand on equal footing with the wits of the Great Zhuge Family.”
“Understood.”
Smiling brightly, Mu-Ok nodded. He had an inferiority complex when it came to his martial talent since he kept being compared to his brother. The fact that his ability couldn’t be of help to the Baek Sword Sect also disheartened him. Now, however, he finally found a way to help the Baek Sword Sect. In addition, his idol, Mu-Gun, believed in him with conviction. To him, there was nothing that could make him happier than this. He vowed to do everything in his power to become the greatest strategist.
“Now, go get some rest.”
After completely shaking off his disappointment for not being taught any martial arts, Mu-Ok left the cabin to stop bothering Mu-Gun’s rest. Left alone, Mu-Gun began to think about what he had to do in Nanjing.
Mu-Gun considered strength, money, and information to be the most important keys to rising to a high position in murim. That’s why he made prior arrangements to acquire those throughout his past reincarnations.
He made a pact with the Medicine King Family to enhance his internal energy, which would ultimately result in the development of his strength. He had also deposited his funds in various vaults to always have funds available. Lastly, he established the Heavenly Secret Hall, which was based in Nanjing, for information-related necessities. Mu-Gun planned to take over them with his current identity.
The Heavenly Secret Hall was an intelligence syndicate with roots in the Undern Sect, which was considered the largest intelligence syndicate in murim along with the Beggars Gang. The Undern Gang dealt with an extensive amount of information. However, the majority of them were nothing more than miscellaneous information. The high-level information they had on each murim family and sect was relatively useless because of their information collection methods.
The Undern Sect obtained information through the eyes and ears of those living at the bottom of the social chain, which had a foundational error: gathering crucial information through people like them was difficult.
The Heavenly Secret Hall was created to make up for that weakness. It used servants, workers, and even the low-rank martial artists working for the martial sects and families scattered all over China as informants, allowing them to obtain more direct information.
Mu-Gun established the Heavenly Secret Hall four hundred years ago when he was reincarnated as a figure in the Undern Sect in his sixth reincarnation and led the sect to its prime.
The Undern Supreme Monarch, Ha Wun-Bi. That was the name of Mu-Gun’s sixth reincarnation. At that time, he created the combat organization Heavenly Martial Hall and the intelligence syndicate Heavenly Secret Hall.
The Heavenly Martial Hall collapsed ten years after his sixth reincarnation’s death, but the Heavenly Secret Hall still stood even during his last reincarnation’s lifetime.
Like the Medicine King Family, the Heavenly Secret Hall was supposed to follow the inheritor of the Thunder God through the Thunder God’s pledge.
“If things go well, I’d likely be able to see Hall Master Cheon again.”
Mu-Gun recalled Cheon Yu-Hwa, the Heavenly Secret Hall Leader, whom he had a relationship with in his past reincarnation.
At that time, Yu-Hwa was in her late twenties, so there was a high possibility that she would still be in good health now.
In his past eight reincarnations, Mu-Gun couldn’t meet any of his previous connections because of the hundred-year gap between them. He had even stopped dwelling much on his previous lives’ connections since he kept reincarnating. For those reasons, he couldn’t help but feel weird about finally meeting someone from his past reincarnation.
Being reincarnated around one hundred years later each time meant there was no need for him to be concerned with his past connections. Otherwise, there was a chance he’d become negligent of the present. Hence, if possible, Mu-Gun lived far away from them, his family and his family members included.
However, this time, there was a shorter time gap between his previous life and his current reincarnation. Hence, his connections were bound to be intertwined. If Yu-Hwa was still affiliated with the Heavenly Secret Hall, taking over the Heavenly Secret Hall would be much easier than he expected.
Even if that wasn’t the case, the outcome would still be the same. Taking over the Heavenly Secret Hall in Nanjing and obtaining their information network would be a great help to the Baek Sword Sect’s growth.
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