The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 116 : An Unexpected Answer (1)

There was a lot to do, but only one body. Time flew like an arrow.

He dealt with the piling work, moved his legs busily, and roamed here and there.

Even in the midst of that, he gathered scraps of time to practice the Zixia Divine Art, and in a flash, two months had passed.

Two months, a short yet long time.

Around the time the harsh winter ended and he could feel the stirrings of spring, he could feel the results of his training.

While the Soul-Stealing Ice Art was a martial art of the North Sea Ice Palace, the Yin secret of the Zixia Divine Art had the advantage that it was inherently a little easier for Jang So-gil to approach because its creator was a person of the Central Plains. Also, since Sima Hui had dismantled the group and made it easy to learn, it was not very difficult for Jang So-gil to understand.

Thanks to that, the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, whose progress had been completely blocked and whose direction of development was not even visible, had risen several stages in two months and had now reached the fifth star.

Relatively speaking, his understanding of the gang qi of the Zixia Divine Art was slightly behind. Although Jang So-gil had accumulated experience in real combat in his own way, it was because he still lacked experience compared to other first-rate masters.

But that was also a matter of time. Because Jang So-gil's skill was increasing day by day and was developing noticeably.

Soon, he would be able to handle sword qi freely. He himself had such a premonition.

Although Jang So-gil had been growing fast anyway, after obtaining the Yin secret of the Zixia Divine Art, he had truly grown with a fierce momentum and had become frighteningly strong.

While Jang So-gil was growing so tremendously, Yang Gwan had unexpectedly fallen into a period of stagnation.

Although Yang Gwan was also a very excellent first-rate master for his age, when compared to Jang So-gil, his achievements became too ordinary.

The result of the two's martial arts competition was, surprisingly, Jang So-gil's 10-0 victory. At that shocking result, Yang Gwan was dumbfounded.

There was no answer when Jang So-gil, who had reached the fifth star of the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, pressed down with the mighty internal energy of one sixty-year cycle.

But as a martial artist, it was an unbearable thing to be left behind by a latecomer. He could not stay still like this.

So Yang Gwan, with a determined heart, decided to enter closed-door training once again.

Of course, there was another reason.

Although it was something to be avoided as much as possible because the chances of winning were low. If, by any chance, he were to have a frontal confrontation with the Black Killing Hegemon King, Ha Hu-yeong, he had to become at least twice as strong as the current Yang Gwan to have a sparrow's tear's worth of a chance of winning.

"To think you're going to spend nearly half a year in closed-door training, you're a lucky fellow. You'll never know how much money is broken every time you do closed-door training."

"Huh? Really?"

The Sword Dragon, Song Baek, who had come to Luoyang as a representative of the Huashan Sect, blinked his eyes as if it were a story he had never heard before.

So, as if he were pathetic, rested his chin on his hand.

"The 'wall-grain pills' you eat during closed-door training are not just ordinary wall-grain pills. If ordinary wall-grain pills are made by roughly gathering grains, grinding them, adding some water, kneading them into a round shape, and then drying them to eat. The wall-grain pills that martial artists eat are different from the ingredients they are made of."

"How are they different?"

"You grind pine needles to make a powder, and you also grind black beans, one-third of that amount, to make a powder. To that, you add jujubes and chestnuts soaked in honey, licorice, dried persimmons, walnuts, black sesame seeds, and purified water to make it. The cost of the ingredients alone is more than fifty times that of ordinary wall-grain pills."

"Fifty times! Is such an expensive wall-grain pill really necessary?"

"It's for the balance of nutrition, so it can't be helped. What constitutes a person's mind are the 'hun' and 'po', and what constitutes the body is the food you've eaten in your life. If you're cooped up in a cave where no light comes in and you live for two or three months eating only ground grains, will you get sick or not? So the wall-grain pills for closed-door training are made with ingredients that can supplement the lack of nutrition, and the fact that they are made that way means that the price is high."

Jang So-gil, tapping the table with his index finger, did a simple mental calculation.

"Roughly, the cost of the wall-grain pills alone is eighty taels a month."

"Eighty taels!"

"It's enough money for an ordinary family to live on for four years."

Song Baek clicked his tongue. The time he had spent in closed-door training so far was a little over five years.

He couldn't help but be surprised to learn that the cost of the wall-grain pills he had eaten during that time was enormous.

"No, then how much money does our sect spend?"

In the Huashan Sect, there were always ten disciples who entered closed-door training every year. By simple calculation, it meant that each person easily spent a thousand taels.

As he was in shock, Jang So-gil once again made a sullen expression.

"Although there are grades in wall-grain pills, if it's the Huashan Sect, they'll probably use the highest grade. In the first place, that damn closed-door training costs a lot of money. The cost of the wall-grain pills, the cost of the elixirs, and you have to have someone stand guard outside. It's a money-eating ghost. That's why everyone is so crazy about money."

"I see..."

"And the reason I hate closed-door training is not just because of the money, but there's another reason."

"What else?"

"Tsk, tsk. Think about it logically. How many years have you been in closed-door training?"

"About five years. I think it's a little less than other people..."

"People who should be living a normal social life are cooped up in a cave and only training in martial arts. You're thirty this year, but in reality, you've lived five years less of a social life because you were in closed-door training. It means your mental age is only about twenty-five."

"Uh... does the story go like that?"

"Martial artists are already naive because they live off the world with their fists and swords, and since their mental age becomes even younger because they train in that way, it's only natural that they don't know the ways of the world."

It seemed he was quite displeased that Yang Gwan had entered closed-door training. Song Baek quietly drank his tea.

By the way, closed-door training was closed-door training.

Song Baek had noticed one fact.

"I see. You know my age. And you're still speaking informally. Do you know the saying 'there is an order between the old and the young'? Or the 'Three Bonds and Five Relationships'?"

"A snot-nosed Daoist is discussing Confucianism in front of whom. And I've been living a social life since I was three. If you consider the time you've forgotten while doing closed-door training, my mental age is higher."

"..."

"In the first place, mental age should also include the speed of thought. I have spent a more dense and rich time than other people, and since I have lived by splitting each day, I think it's fine to count my actual age as double. The definition of mental age here is..."

"...I get it. Speak informally, go ahead."

I can't win with words.

Song Baek continued to drink his tea and then let out a sigh.

"Is there no alcohol?"

"There isn't."

"The hospitality for guests is terrible..."

"I don't think a person who looks for alcohol during official business is a guest."

"Tsk... then let's continue the official business. So, how does the Martial Alliance plan to handle the matter of Huashan and Zhongnan?"

'Hmm', clearing his throat, Jang So-gil took a breath. He took a sip of the 'Jade Dew Tea' and slowly rolled his tongue, organizing his thoughts.

The matter of Huashan and Zhongnan. The outline of the story was as follows.

The origin of most of the existing Daoist sects was the Quanzhen Sect. If you traced back the lineage of Huashan, Zhongnan, Wudang, etc., at the beginning of all of them was Quanzhen.

Therefore, since the basis of their martial arts was all the same, they often fought over a single martial art.

Among them, Huashan and Zhongnan were located in the same Shaanxi, and since both were sword sects, they were long-standing rivals who had been fighting for a long time.

This time, it was such a matter.

"To put it briefly, it's a dispute over the ownership of the 'Dark Fragrance Float'."

"You've shortened it too much."

"If you cut out all the troublesome parts, isn't this the conclusion?"

The Zhongnan Sect had the secret of the Dark Fragrance Float.

The Huashan Sect had the 'fighting path' of the Dark Fragrance Float.

Even if you knew the secret, if you didn't know the fighting path, you couldn't use the lightness skill.

Even if you knew the fighting path, if you didn't know the secret, it was the same.

To complete the Dark Fragrance Float, you had to combine the two into one.

It was a simple matter of exchanging what each other had.

"But they don't want to combine it. Because if they did, the opponent would also be able to use the completed Dark Fragrance Float."

It was a situation where they were fighting, saying 'you should yield', because they were reluctant to give the rice cake that would go into the opponent's mouth. Of course, their opinions would be forever parallel.

The Martial Alliance was originally an organization created to mediate such matters.

Both Huashan and Zhongnan had requested the cooperation of the Martial Alliance, saying that they had the right to have the Dark Fragrance Float.

The reason why Huashan's reaction was faster than Zhongnan's was thanks to the fact that there was a slight connection between Song Baek and Jang So-gil, so they had approached him directly through that.

It was said that in Zhongnan, an elder of the Zhongnan Sect was climbing the ladder of connections to approach Sima Hui and the Alliance Leader.

"A secret is something that is passed down from mouth to mouth. Zhongnan argued that since they were continuing the historical value and legitimacy of the Dark Fragrance Float, they had the ownership. And Huashan..."

"A fighting path is something that is passed down because there was a person who actually used it. It is proof that there was a user until recently. Therefore, isn't Huashan more suitable to continue the Dark Fragrance Float?"

Jang So-gil tapped his brow. Both sides had a point.

"The justification is sufficient for both sides. If it's like this, we have no choice but to side with the one that gives a practical benefit."

"A practical benefit?"

"To put it directly, it means we have no choice but to side with the one that is beneficial to the Martial Alliance."

"Hmm. What if we present the completed Dark Fraggance Float to the Martial Alliance?"

"Unfortunately, they won't accept such a proposal."

It could be said that the Dark Fragrance Float already existed in the martial arts library of the Martial Alliance. Because the Huashan secret manual that had organized the fighting path and the Zhongnan secret manual that had organized the secret were in one place.

There was no way Gumen Long would agree to being given something he already had.

Jang So-gil quickly finished his judgment.

"This will be on the agenda for this meeting."

Ambiguous and complicated problems that could not be easily judged were handled by a majority vote at the Martial Alliance meeting presided over by the Martial Alliance Leader. This meeting, which was held once a month on the last day of each month, originally had the voting rights with the ten elders sent by the Nine Sects One Alliance and the five military advisors sent by the Five Great Noble Families.

Now, due to the extermination of Diancang, the number of elders in the Martial Alliance had become nine, and in addition, a new voting member, the inspector, had been added.

"In my opinion, Zhongnan will win by a majority vote."

"Why?!"

"Because the power of Huashan is stronger than Zhongnan."

The Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Noble Families checked each other. So just because you were strong, it wasn't always a good thing.

The fact that another's power grew was the same as them becoming weaker. If there was a person running next to a walking person, you had to stop them from running out alone.

"If Huashan succeeds in restoring the Dark Fragrance Float, who would like that? Only Huashan would be happy, and the other sects would have nothing to gain. Wudang, which is a sword sect of the same Daoist lineage, would of course be like that, and even the Hengshan Sect would be reluctant to see Huashan's advance. They would also dislike the Zhongnan Sect, but they would think it's several times better for Zhongnan to have it than to give it to Huashan."

"Still, Shaolin is on our side..."

"That's right. Huashan is on good terms with Shaolin. So Huashan will receive one vote from Shaolin, and Zhongnan will receive the votes of Wudang and Hengshan. And the rest will abstain."

"Abstain?!"

"Me, the Five Great Noble Families, and the rest of the sects have no reason to side with anyone. Since there's no need to be at odds with Huashan or Zhongnan, it's best to take a step back."

Although it was a story about politics, since it was a simple matter of gains and losses, Song Baek could also easily understand it.

"The point is the abstention votes. We have to bring the abstention votes to our side as affirmative votes."

"It was worth explaining it in a way that even a snot-nosed Daoist could understand."

"The difference in votes between Zhongnan and Huashan is one. To win, at least two places have to give their affirmative votes to this side..."

"Coincidentally, the inspector here is a person who can move several votes by himself."

His own one vote. Since moving Sima Hui was no big deal, it was lightly two votes.

If he just put in a little effort, he could bring in as many other votes as he wanted.

Jang So-gil grinned.

"So. What can you give me?"

"Hmm... how about money?"

"Can Huashan give me enough money to satisfy me?"

"A secret manual... hmm, this is not something I can decide, but I'll do my best..."

"I don't need a secret manual."

Would Jang So-gil, who could enter the martial arts library, need to covet the secret manual of Huashan?

As Jang So-gil coolly refused, Song Baek said again.

"Then let's do this. You said you were going to fight the Four Black Alliance, right?"

"That's right."

"I and Huashan will help you with that."

"Did I not explain it enough earlier? Our Alliance Leader-nim told me to solve it in the way of an orthodox martial artist."

"That's right. But where is there a method more like an orthodox martial artist than this?"

"What?"

He slowly continued his words.

And gradually, Jang So-gil's expression crumpled.

(End of Chapter)