CLS-Chapter 165

Chapter 165

As people rushed forward in a frenzy, the clerks began organizing things. Soon they established a system, pushing those who needed to borrow money toward the Silver River Hall branch office, while distributing copies to those paying cash and guiding them to their seats.

“Is this really the genuine original?”

“Hey now!”

A clerk raised his hand to point at the banner.

“If a person doesn’t live with their head chopped off, how could anyone dare to commit fraud in front of the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance with a sign like this?”

Seeing the words “Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance Guarantee,” people nodded repeatedly.

“There’s no more reliable guarantee than this!”

“Even an imperial guarantee wouldn’t be more trustworthy!”

There could be nothing more credible than selling a martial manual guaranteed by the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance in the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance’s own front yard.

“H-here are three gold nyang! I brought them!”

“Please come this way, honored customer.”

The clerk guided him with a gentle smile. Those watching couldn’t help but feel increasingly anxious.

None of them had ever imagined that a supreme martial manual would be sold this way.

Just imagine.

Would Shaolin let people copy the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic for money?

Would Mount Hua sell the Plum Blossom Sword Technique for cash?

Since they had never once considered such things, they couldn’t properly grasp the significance of what was happening before their eyes.

But as more people began paying money to copy the manual, they started to feel it viscerally. Right here, right now, they could obtain the Sword Emperor’s manual—the greatest swordsman of all time—for just three gold nyang!

Just as people were getting heated up, someone peered into the tent and began raging.

“What is this nonsense!”

All eyes focused on one spot.

A black-robed figure wearing a large Daoist hat was approaching the tent.

“It’s Wudang!”

The large yin-yang symbol embroidered in the center of his black robes and his Daoist hat made his identity unmistakable to everyone present.

The Wudang Daoist, his face flushed with anger, came forward and shouted.

“How dare you! Committing fraud right in front of the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance’s main gate! Remove these things immediately!”

“Fraud?!”

At that moment, a white-robed young man dropped down from thin air.

Thud!

The young man who landed in front of the tent was, of course, Wei Yan-ho.

‘What, what’s this?’

The Wudang Daoist, Songmun True Person, looked at Wei Yan-ho in shock.

He hadn’t sensed any presence at all—where exactly had he dropped from?

‘Huh, such a sullen face?’

Though he had observed countless people’s faces over the years, he swore he had never seen a face with such a deeply embedded sullen expression.

As Songmun True Person was flustered, Wei Yan-ho started to say something, then sighed deeply and trudged over to sit on the bed.

“…Standing and talking is tiring. Would you like to sit down too, Daoist?”

Songmun True Person’s face filled with bewilderment.

But that was brief. Soon his face began filling with anger again.

“Are you the owner of this tent?”

“Yes, but what about it?”

“Where are you spreading these lies and deceiving people! The Sword Emperor’s manual, you say!”

“Did you just come out of seclusion?”

“…What?”

“You haven’t even heard that the Sword Emperor’s manual came out of Nashan?”

“Huh?”

Songmun True Person began to panic. Looking around, everyone was nodding.

“Is, is that so?”

“Yes.”

“However! There’s no proof that this manual is that manual!”

Wei Yan-ho sighed deeply.

“Daoist, you’re really naive.”

“What, what did you say?”

“If I were doing business here with a fake manual, would the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance just sit back and watch?”

Songmun True Person’s eyes trembled.

‘Now that he mentions it?’

Then does that mean the manual is real?

“…Then?”

Wei Yan-ho pulled out the manual from his waist and showed it.

“I don’t say empty words. The best way is to check it yourself. Would you like to come over here?”

“Hmm.”

Songmun True Person approached Wei Yan-ho as if entranced.

“However, you can’t see all of it. I’ll only show you the beginning, so please judge for yourself.”

Songmun True Person began flipping through the book with a reluctant expression.

‘It better not be real.’

At first, he read slowly. As with all martial manuals, the beginning was filled with seemingly abstract talk. But gradually, the sword principles of ascension began to appear.

Songmun True Person’s hand began flipping pages faster.

‘This, this is!’

It’s coming!

He was getting a feeling.

Behind this! Behind this lies the answer!

The clue to overcome the martial wall that had blocked his path for years, refusing to budge, was behind this. Mysterious brushstrokes and profound sword principles too difficult to fathom were contained within this book.

As they say, you see as much as you know—while others might think this was just abstract nonsense, as a Wudang elder, he could recognize how high-level the sword principles written in this book were.

‘Just a little more…’

At that moment.

Snap!

The book closed.

As Songmun True Person looked up with a panicked expression, Wei Yan-ho wagged his finger and said.

“You can’t try to see for free what others pay money to copy.”

“H-how much! You said three gold nyang?”

“Ah, that’s for individuals. For sects, you need to consult separately over there.”

Wei Yan-ho leaned forward and whispered quietly in Songmun True Person’s ear.

“For reference, Shaolin bought it for three hundred nyang.”

“Th-three hundred nyang!”

Though Wei Yan-ho spoke quietly so others wouldn’t hear, Songmun True Person’s shocked response was clearly audible to everyone else.

“They, they paid that money?”

“They wrote an IOU and took it. They’re such a trustworthy sect, after all.”

Conflict showed on Songmun True Person’s face.

Three hundred nyang was an enormous sum. But if he could obtain what appeared to be the genuine Sword Emperor’s Treasury for those three hundred nyang, it would hardly be a waste.

Moreover, hadn’t ‘that’ Shaolin already taken it!

As a sect leader with competitive feelings toward Shaolin, if he heard that Shaolin had the Sword Emperor’s Treasury while they didn’t, he would charge at Songmun True Person ready to cut him down for not buying the manual.

Furthermore, while Shaolin was strictly speaking closer to a fist sect, they were a sword sect. Wudang was where the Sword Emperor’s Treasury could be most usefully employed.

“…Come to think of it, I heard Sword Ghost uncle also sent word to Mount Hua.”

“Sword Ghost? Mount Hua? The Plum Blossom Sword Ghost?”

“Yes. Well, that’s what I heard.”

That was the deciding blow.

Shaolin had already bought it, and Mount Hua was reaching for it. Then Wudang couldn’t lose either. If Mount Hua got their hands on this manual and studied it to surpass Wudang, he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes even in death.

While abandoning greed was the Daoist’s path, if anyone could do that, why would they go crazy and bury themselves in the mountains, gnawing on grass roots while training?

“I’ll write an IOU! If I’m a Wudang elder, my identity is verified! I’ll write an IOU, so give me that manual!”

“Um, you seem to be mistaken.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not giving it to you—I’m letting you copy it. Write your IOU and go over there to copy it. And the deadline is two weeks. If the money doesn’t come in by then, the interest doubles.”

“Ah, understood!”

Songmun True Person hurriedly signed the IOU, then crouched in a corner and began transcribing the manual.

With this, no further verification was needed.

All of Luoyang began to stir.

Not just martial artists, but even non-martial people began running to the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance’s main gate with bundles of money. For the first time since the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance opened its doors, the main gate began filling with people who had no appointment to visit.

Wei Yan-ho lay on the bed watching this scene while flipping through the manual once more.

‘Strange.’

This had started as half a prank.

But even though things were getting bigger and bigger, nobody found it strange. Not just Master Gongyeong, but even Songmun True Person, who seemed to have some knowledge of swords, didn’t doubt that this manual was genuine.

Wei Yan-ho looked at the manual and tilted his head.

‘It’s not particularly crude or anything…’

It wasn’t a fake manual. But to call it the Sword Emperor’s manual seemed somewhat unsatisfying. And he felt something ominous strongly emanating from within the manual.

Though he couldn’t define it clearly, malice perhaps?

‘Hmm…’

Wei Yan-ho looked at the manual quietly, then closed it and leaned back.

“Just how strong was our master?”

If this really was the genuine Sword Emperor’s manual, it meant his master was strong enough to steamroll the Sword Emperor. Wei Yan-ho trembled as he realized his master’s greatness.

‘I’m lucky to have survived.’

No wonder every beating felt like death.

Having survived five years of daily beatings from someone who could kill even the greatest person of all time, didn’t Wei Yan-ho deserve to be called the greatest punching bag of all time?

Watching the endless stream of people, Wei Yan-ho lay on the bed with the expression of a well-fed cat.

“If I’d known there was such an easy way to make money, I wouldn’t have unnecessarily troubled So-ah. I should have just left her to live comfortably.”

If Jin So-ah in Wuhan had heard this, she would have coughed up blood.

‘But…’

Wei Yan-ho turned his head with an uneasy expression.

‘Why do I feel so anxious?’

He felt like he had done his business but hadn’t wiped properly.

Because of that manual?

Unfortunately, Wei Yan-ho hadn’t become sensitive enough to feel anxiety over such trivial matters.

Then what could it be?

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho suffered from inexplicable anxiety while pulling his blanket up to cover himself.

At times like this, sleeping was best. If he slept and woke up, such vague anxieties would quickly fly away.

***

Saga poured wine into Guangqushen’s cup and asked.

“Then isn’t it all good?”

“Good?”

“In any case, the Radiant Martial Lord made money, and others got their hands on the Sword Emperor’s manual. Even if it’s not actually the Sword Emperor’s manual, from what I hear, it seems worth three gold nyang?”

“That’s right.”

Guangqushen nodded.

“You’re absolutely right. The manual itself has a value worth a thousand gold. Though it can’t compare to a manual the Sword Emperor personally created with his insights, you could say it has comparable value.”

“Then isn’t everything fine?”

Guangqushen smiled bitterly.

“It should be, but things don’t always work out that way in this world. If you knew where that manual came from, you’d understand what I mean.”

“Where did that manual come from?”

“That’s not the story for now. There’s something more important remaining.”

“…Yes?”

Guangqushen began wearing a strange smile.

“Wei Yan-ho easily made money, but in the process, he made one mistake.”

“…Did you say mistake?”

“That’s right.”

Saga could only tilt his head. From what he had heard, Wei Yan-ho hadn’t committed what you could call a mistake.

“What kind of mistake?”

“Divine Accountant Jo Hyeon.”

“…”

Guangqushen chuckled and said.

“That fellow isn’t ordinary either. But Wei Yan-ho took him too lightly. Thanks to that, Wei Yan-ho got quite a headache too.”

Saga looked at Guangqushen with a confused expression.

Was there something that could give that Radiant Martial Lord a headache?

“Shall I tell you?”

Hearing Guangqushen’s mischievous laughter, Saga made a crying face.