Chapter 88. Cho Ryu Hyang’s First Business Venture
The man who was stretching while looking into the mirror, was none other than the heir of the North Sea Ice Palace, Juk Hyul Myung.
He stretched a few times, and cracked his neck a bit.
Crack-
Craack-!
After stretching all his muscles, Juk Hyul Myung grinned a toothy grin.
“Fufu, I have revived completely. Perfect.”
A lot of things went wrong in his plan because of his battle with Shi Yup.
But after much rest, he had completely recovered.
Juk Hyul Myung admired his self through the mirror, as he sang to himself.
Then, he moved his gaze down to his chest.
After looking at it for a bit, he licked his lips, and covered up his chest with his clothes.
The scar was quite hard to see, as it was well-hidden by the clothes.
But he would never be able to forget it.
“Well, I learned a good lesson from it, so it’s all good, I guess.”
He tried to erase it, but it didn’t really work.
After all, the wound was quite big.
It was sad that his beautiful body was injured, but since he learned something from it, he was able to let it go.
“I can take a wound like this.”
It was the first time he got a scar from someone.
This motivated him very much.
“This won’t happen ever again.”
As he resolved himself, someone began to knock.
Knock knock-
As Juk Hyul Myung was able to sense the person, he didn’t bother responding.
He just kept admiring the mirror.
Knock knock knock-!
The sound of the doorknock got louder.
Juk Hyul Myung ignored it, and kept praising himself through the mirror.
Soon enough, a girl walked in without permission and complained.
“…….Senior brother, isn’t this humanely too much? You should at least pretend to notice me. You make me really feel bad.”
“You really don’t realize how much courage it takes for me to look at an ugly person like you, do you?”
“…….tch.”
Juk Hyul Myung’s Junior Sister, Ju Da Hye, pouted.
Only then did Juk Hyul Myung turn around.
“Ehh? What’s up with that face, junior sister? You look very discontent?”
When Juk Hyul Myung said this with a threatening tone, Ju Da Hye inched backwards.
Then she shouted out in fear.
“…….D, don’t forget I’m your savior!”
Juk Hyul Myung stopped.
He then spoke with a tired face.
“Damn, so you managed to find a weakness of mine.”
When it looked like Juk Hyul Myung wasn’t going to tease her, Ju Da Hye lifted her head and grinned.
“Ehehe, senior brother~”
“What? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Senior brotherrr~!”
Ju Da Hye suddenly latched onto Juk Hyul Myung’s waist.
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Juk Hyul Myung turned pale.
“Junior sister, aren’t you going a little too far?”
“Eh? What? Are you going to hit me? Your savior?”
When Ju Da Hye said this, Juk Hyul Myung’s cheeks twitched a bit.
He couldn’t hit her.
Normally, he’d attack her, but he just couldn’t this time.
This made him extremely pained.
‘Shi Yup……. I will have my revenge.’
As Juk Hyul Myung strengthened his resolve to have his revenge,
Ju Da Hye buried her face into Juk Hyul Myung’s chest, and muttered to herself.
“When else would I be able to touch you, other than now? If the sisters in the palace heard of this, they’d be so jealous! Hehe, it’s good that I came here with you.”
“…….Oh my, you think completely different from me.”
Juk Hyul Myung frowned when he realized Ju Da Hye wasn’t going to let him go.
At that point, Ju Da Hyu blushed a bit, and let go.
“Someone called.”
“About time. It’s been too long.”
He went missing at a critical time.
Juk Hyul Myung stretched out his hand, disregarding Ju Da Hye’s blushed face.
“Give it.”
Ju Da Hye made a slightly disappointed face, then gave him a piece of paper.
“Let’s read, shall we……”
The paper was encrypted, but since Juk Hyul Myung memorized everything already, it was easy for him to decode it.
His eyes began flashing as he read.
“Hoh? So that great heir of the church is in Sichuan?”
“Yes. I think he came as the representative.”
“How daring.”
It was unexpected.
Why would a heir of the church come out to a dangerous place like this?
“Teacher wants him eliminated.”
Obviously.
Pretty much everyone in the world except the church was probably thinking this.
‘We can’t create a new Gongson Chun Gi.’
The heir of the church, and the student of Gongson Chun Gi. That enough made it worth risking one’s life to kill the boy.
Juk Hyul Myung thought this as he stroked his chin, and smiled.
‘How strong are you?’
There was no information whatsoever about the heir.
That was strange.
No one knew the heir’s gender, age, habits, or likes. There wasn’t even basic info.
That just served to boost his expectations.
It made him believe that the heir would be worthy of having Gongson Chun Gi as a teacher.
‘But…….’
It wouldn’t happen a second time.
A monster like Gongson Chun Gi mustn’t live on.
There was a need to strike the roots when it was still young.
Everyone moved towards Sichuan while thinking this.
* * *
Cho Ryu Hyang realized that he actually felt quite exhausted when he woke up.
It was actually tiring to even lift a finger.
‘What happened?’
The highest level of training, the heartfelt thought, didn’t just train one through imagination. The imagination actually managed to train the body a bit, as well.
This was why he felt so tired, but Cho Ryu Hyang failed to realize this.
“Nnn…….”
Cho Ryu Hyang tried to stand, but gave up.
He then utilized the Moon Edge Blade Technique as he lay down.
The Moon Edge Blade Technique allowed for perfect control of the body.
When the clear, refreshing energy flowed through the body, his tired body quickly became refreshed.
After realizing that he was no longer tired, Cho Ryu Hyang stood up.
There were a lot of things to do today.
When Cho Ryu Hyang walked out, No Jin Nyung greeted him.
“No Jin Nyung greets his lord.”
Cho Ryu Hyang faintly smiled at No Jin Nyung’s professional attitude.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes.”
“Then, please take care of me well.”
“Hehe, understood, my lord.”
No Jin Nyung followed Cho Ryu Hyang with a grin.
He then widened his eyes, and carefully observed his surroundings.
Cho Ryu Hyang smiled when he saw this, and walked towards the Greeting Hall.
“This one greets the heir.”
When he arrived, Sunwu Cho Rin greet him immediately.
Cho Ryu Hyang lifted his hand as a greeting, and spoke.
“Did he come?”
“Yes. He is waiting for you inside.”
“Bring him here, then.”
“Understood.”
Cho Ryu Hyang drank some tea as he waited.
Soon, a pale, scar-faced man entered the room.
The man flinched when he saw Cho Ryu Hyang, then realized his mistake, and bowed.
“The master of the Black Serpent Guild, Gal Mun Hyuk, greets the heir.”
“It is nice to meet you. I am Cho Ryu Hyang.”
Gal Mun Hyuk sweat profusely.
To think the heir was a mere boy…….
‘Just how much talent does he have…..?’
There were no information on the heir in the martial world.
It was partly thanks to the ability of the church to be able to control information, but it also had to do with the fact that no one was confident enough to penetrate into the church to get info.
“I have heard that you controlled the salt merchants in the area.”
Gal Mun Hyuk came back to senses at Cho Ryu Hyang’s words.
He raised his head, and looked at the heir.
He could see the heir looking down on him.
At that moment, he became very confused.
‘What the? There aren’t any traces of him ever training martial arts?’
For a man, the more powerful he gets, the larger his temple became.
But there was no traces of that happening for Cho Ryu Hyang.
There were only two cases of this happening.
The boy didn’t know martial arts,
Or he was so powerful, it was unable for him to sense it.
‘Could he be a harmonious expert? At that age?’
It seemed possible, as the heir was the student of Gongson Chun Gi’s.
Once he thought this far, he unconsciously sucked in, and opened his mouth.
“Right, I am the one who controls the salt in the black market.”
He spoke in a very polite tone.
Cho Ryu Hyang stared at the documents in front of him, and opened his mouth.
“So you are trying to work with us, but would that be alright? The Black Moon Guild would try to take revenge……..”
The Black Serpent Guild and the Black Moon Guild actually held some connections.
The Black Serpent Guild operated under the Black Moon Guild’s protection.
Changing sides like this would definitely enrage the Black Moon Guild.
Gal Mun Hyuk grinned.
He knew how much risk he was taking.
But he needed to do this.
If he wanted to get stronger, he needed to be prepared for danger.
Gal Mun Hyuk opened his mouth.
“Guys like us who are at the bottom needs to know who is the strong one in this era. We know who we need to stick to in order to continue to survive in Sichuan in the future.”
Cho Ryu Hyang put down the documents, and looked at Gal Mun Hyuk.
Although the man was smiling pitifully, his eyes were extremely calm.
The man was testing him out.
He wanted to see how Cho Ryu Hyang would respond.
‘So he wants to feel us out?’
It looked like the man wasn’t just an idiot.
Controlling up to thirty percent of the salt in Sichuan was no small feat.
It wouldn’t be good if an unintelligent man took care of such a thing.
Cho Ryu Hyang would need an intelligent man to serve him in the future.
“Is that the only reason why you want to work with us?”
“Of course. Being safe is at the top of my priorities. I firmly believe the church would be able to help us far more than the Black Moon Guild.”
Cho Ryu Hyang smiled.
He then opened his mouth with a cold voice.
“That’s not all you want though, is it now?”
“……What?”
“Did you not want complete monopoly over the salt of the church?”
“…….”
Gal Mun Hyuk paused a bit.
He didn’t know they’d get to the main point this early.
‘This kid…….’
It looked like he was seen through.
He didn’t know how much salt the church could acquire, but there was no doubt the amount would be large.
But then grabbing onto this opportunity made him too afraid of the consequences.
As Gal Mun Hyuk hesitated, Cho Ryu Hyang continued to talk.
“What happens if we decide not to work with you?”
“……!”
Gal Mun Hyuk frowned.
If they refuse his offer here, things would go very badly for him.
The Black Moon Guild definitely wouldn’t get go of someone who tried to betray them.
If the church steps out of this, his guild would get in much trouble.
‘Shoot.’
When Gal Mun Hyuk’s face turned pale, Cho Ryu Hyang opened his mouth.
“I think it’s a fitting time to talk about our terms, is it not?”
The trade with Gal Mun Hyuk.
This would be the first thing Cho Ryu Hyang would do in Sichuan.