Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 41: I was training my stomach lining.

For the past ten days.

I had trained the Shadowless Terrace so hard that my mouth never had a chance to dry from the metallic taste of exertion.

So much so that I wondered if I, who had lived a tough life, had ever been this intense.

They were men from whom even the Blood Demon, who had not an ounce of teaching talent, had managed to forge such martial arts.

Indeed, that was the Shadowless Terrace.

Despite fainting dozens of times, unable to withstand the intensity of the training, all of them eventually succeeded in mastering the Black Cloud Hegemon Sword.

Well, it wasn't at a level that satisfied me.

If they were to have a martial arts tournament with the Azure Sky Sword Squad, they would lose eight or nine times out of ten.

The Jianghu wasn't a place lenient enough to hope for a fluke with hastily mastered martial arts.

Of course, you never knew until swords were crossed, so if they fought with all their might, an unexpected result could emerge.

But from the beginning, my goal was not their victory.

It was to drain the crimson water that the Blood Demon bastard had dyed them with.

To excise the traces of that damned Demonic Cult was my original goal, so in my view, I had accomplished it splendidly.

Ah, of course, I was on my way back after climbing Peak-and-Valley Mountain and letting off a refreshing blast of Madness Annihilation Soul Force.

“Is this everyone?”

Servants were gathered like a cloud in front of my residence.

They seemed flustered by my sudden summons.

Gathering all the servants, even those from the outer courtyard, their numbers reached over eighty.

Yeo Gu-cheol wiped his characteristic aquiline nose and bowed his body.

“Everyone is gathered, except for those who have the day off today.”

That bastard Namgung Sejin was arriving in two days.

Feeling impatient, I hurriedly divided the servants into several groups.

“Up to here is Group One, up to the third row from that fat guy is Group Two, and the rest are Group Three. The most experienced person from each group, come closer.”

The experienced ones, who were hesitantly exchanging glances, spotted my distorted expression and quickly ran over.

There was no time to coax and soothe.

I continued my explanation at once.

“Group One, you will remove everything round in the clan. Round tables to square conference tables, gourds to angular bottles. Understand?”

“Wha- what do you mean by that?”

“I mean change every single object with a curve into something angular, an angle! Don't you know what a square is?”

“……A square?”

“Yes, a square! A quadrangle! Run to the smithy and have even the spoons changed into square shovel shapes! I mean grind down even the Go stones into squares!”

“Third Young Master? Why would we do such a thing…?”

“Shut up and scatter quickly!”

I glared at the Group One leader, who was stepping back with bewildered eyes.

“What’s this, walking? You’re not running?”

As the servants of Group One scattered in a hurry, I fiercely glared at the leader of Group Two.

“Your mission is to find plum blossom fragrance. Whether you uproot a plum tree or find a sachet, just get the plum blossom fragrance. Got it?”

“……Plum blossom fragrance?”

“Yes! Preferably red plum blossom fragrance! The kind those Mount Hua bastards have! Now, scatter!”

At this point, the leader of Group Three came running with a bit of sense.

“What should we do?”

“Go get Longjing tea!”

“Longjing tea?”

“Yes! The finest West Lake Longjing that the Namgung bastards distribute!”

“How can we get something so expensive….”

I immediately reached into my clothes and took out a fan.

This was the accessory that symbolized the bloodline of the Jaegal Clan, the Phoenix Fan.

“Take it!”

“Yes?”

“Get it on credit, on credit! When the heirloom of the Jaegal Clan is offered as collateral, what big-shot wouldn't give up their goods?”

“…….”

Stunned by my words to get it on credit, the leader of Group Three couldn't open his mouth recklessly.

“Ransack all the trading companies in Wuhan and pull in as much as you can! Just tell them to give you everything they have! Take every single cart with you!”

“Yes? Right away!”

Once the servants of Group Three had all disappeared, Yeo Gu-cheol looked at me cautiously.

“Third Young Master, what should I do?”

“Of course, you have to attend to me.”

“Yes?”

“Bring me some liquor.”

After Yeo Gu-cheol stood there blankly for a moment and then disappeared with slumped shoulders, the Blood Demon, who had been watching quietly all this time, spoke to me.

“There’s a limit to strange antics, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s in your head. What are you scheming this time?”

For the sulking bastard who hadn't spoken a word for days to suddenly talk to me meant he was that curious about my intentions.

I sat on the main hall's floor, laughing and patting my stomach.

“I was training my stomach lining.”

“…….”

The Blood Demon was looking at me as if I were a madman, his face contorted.

I gave him a wide grin.

Angle, plum blossom, Longjing.

If there was anyone who could find the common thread here, it would undoubtedly be someone who knew me inside and out.

I was a man who had spent half a century researching ways to turn the stomachs of the orthodox bastards, and this operation was a proven method with a high success rate.

Of course, it was also a strategy that only I, who knew Namgung Sejin inside and out, could execute.

“Curious?”

The Blood Demon, looking at me, was twitching his eye.

If I were to shut my mouth now, the Red Mist Demonic Art might flow from that ignorant palm again.

“That Namgung Sejin. Do you know why he doesn’t tie his hair up in a topknot but lets it down like a girl and neatly starches it?”

Hearing my words, the Blood Demon’s brow furrowed even more.

“No, isn’t it strange? Let’s not even bring up the grand Confucian etiquette. In this crazy Jianghu, there are a couple of ruffians who go around with their hair down. A martial artist might find a formal hat cumbersome, of course.”

A smirk.

“But why does he starch his hair to keep it firmly in place? Why? For what reason? Does he have nothing better to do?”

At my jest, the Blood Demon’s eyes gradually filled with suspicion.

“Could it be his face?”

“Yes! That’s right! He hates it to death when his hair flutters in the wind, even when executing a sword form! You don’t know how scary the power of bloodline is, do you?”

“Bloodline?”

I knew.

The real reason why the men of Namgung let their hair down and starched it.

“That ridiculously wide jaw! That angular, square face that looks like it was cut with a knife, he hates it with a shudder! Even the Azure Sky Divine Sword is human and a man! He wants to carry a sword and show off the heroic air, but the moment his hair flutters, everyone bursts out laughing!”

“…….”

The Blood Demon’s expression twisted in disgust, as if he had seen something filthy.

Yes, it must seem ridiculous.

The Azure Sky Divine Sword of the world.

That dignified member of the Seven Revered of Jianghu.

It would be hard to believe that he let his hair down for such an absurd reason.

I was the same at first.

I had mistaken that unique style of starched hair for some traditional family custom passed down only in the Namgung Clan.

But now I knew.

The heavens gave Namgung the talent for martial arts to reach the Azure Sky.

But at the same time, it left the indelible heavenly punishment of Namgung, the curse of that perfect square angle. This update ıs available on novel⚑fire.net

This is why they say the heavens are impartial.

“Your words to get rid of all round objects and fill the place only with angular things is, in the end…?”

“You think it’s funny, don't you? You think that Namgung Sejin would even bat an eye at something so trivial?”

Attacking one's appearance.

Everyone would say that the great Namgung Clan would never be swayed by such a childish act.

But is that really the case?

I had seen it.

The kind of vulgar curses that bastard, who pretended to be so polite and noble, spewed out.

At this simple provocation, the Namgung bastard’s character exploded, making the fame of the Seven Revered of Jianghu seem meaningless.

That’s how people are.

No matter how noble a person’s character is, if you expose their flaws and keep rubbing salt in the wound, they will eventually explode.

Just because his martial arts are powerful, just because he has cultivated himself a lot, does that angular jaw, that wide face, disappear into hell?

Even when he washes his face and sees his reflection in the water, a sigh is what comes out.

“Then the plum blossom fragrance has a similar reason.”

“Well, something like that?”

I can guarantee that the bastard Namgung Sejin hates the Sword Saint several times more than I do.

The position of the Sword Sect is that terrifying.

For hundreds of years, Namgung has been striving to surpass the Daoist sword sects, and each time, it was Mount Hua that stood in their way.

The Illusionary Sword of Mount Hua, which is the exact opposite of the Heavy Sword of the Namgung Clan.

However, in this Jianghu, there is the term Mount Hua Sword Sect, but there is no term Namgung Sword Sect.

It was always Mount Hua that had claimed the honor of the Sword Sect.

Naturally, the gulf between them is quite deep and wide.

“Do you really think such a vulgar trick will work?”

I snorted.

He seemed to think the Seven Revered of Jianghu were some great monsters with three heads and six arms.

But even this Martial Emperor standing before you is just an ordinary person, so what could be different about Namgung Sejin?

“All the angular things, the scent of plum blossoms wafting from all directions, it won't be a big deal at first. But my words will be mixed in. I'll keep getting on his nerves and poking at his sore spots. Subtly, of course, as if seeping in.”

Son of a bitch.

It might be hard to believe, but that was the curse that Hye-won, the so-called spirit of Shaolin, directed at me.

My talent is to make even a Buddhist practitioner, who has cultivated his mind through a lifetime of wall-gazing meditation, degenerate into a back-alley ruffian.

The Blood Demon finally nodded as if he was beginning to understand.

Indeed, the person who has experienced me the most in this life is this Blood Demon.

The one who experienced the terror of my eloquence most harshly in that dark basement is this poor Demonic Cult follower.

The Blood Demon’s expression was changing strangely.

When unbearable curiosity arose on his face, I shook my head with a serious expression.

“Surely you don't want to watch the squabble between me and the Namgung bastard from the side, do you? Don't get any foolish ideas. You are the Blood Demon.”

“No one in the Alliance knows my face. Didn't you say there would be no problem as long as you hide your demonic arts well?”

“Hey, asshole, the opponent is one of the Seven Revered of Jianghu. The Azure Sky Divine Sword.”

Has this bastard lost his fear while I wasn't looking?

To think that the coward who used to be so timid is now trying to take off his mask.

“He is a man who has spent half his life dealing only with demonic practitioners. Remember that he is the hero who finished off Hamma Valley.”

Still, the Blood Demon could not easily let go of his lingering attachment.

Staring at the two eyes behind the Blood Demon’s mask, a chuckle escaped me.

“Look at this. How are you any different from that Namgung Sejin bastard? The future Blood Demon is emptying his brain so easily over a mere curiosity?”

“What! How dare you compare me to that untrustworthy Daoist!”

“Do you know why the men of Jianghu die so quickly? Because they can't stand not knowing, just like you.”

“Hmph!”

This bastard keeps hmphing, he's turning into some old man in the back room.

“Then what is the purpose of the Longjing tea?”

I answered without hesitation.

“Intestines.”

“Hmm?”

A grin.

“If you've torn open your opponent's belly with your long teeth, you have to taste the hot intestines first. Then you eat the liver, the heart, and tear off all the flesh.”

“It seems you plan to break the Namgung bastards' monopoly.”

It was pathetic.

This guy seems smart, but his imagination always falls short by an inch.

“Do you think I would go to all this trouble just to share with the Namgung bastards?”

“Then?”

I gazed far to the west.

“Tea houses.”

Something I couldn't do as the Great Murim Alliance Leader.

“I'm going to take away all of the Namgung bastards' tea business, starting now.”

As long as I belong to the Five Great Clans.

This isn't war, it's competition.