Chapter 47 : Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency
The highest person in the Mysterious Profound Sect, the Sect Leader, and the key members of the sect were all gathered in the main hall where he resided, actively having a meeting.
"With the commercial rights and silver promised by Qingcheng, the current finances of the Mysterious Profound Sect are at the highest level since its founding."
"Likewise, since Qingcheng has also given an explanation to the Emei Sect, it seems there will be no more particular friction."
"Currently, the support for the Mysterious Profound Sect in Gangjeong County is at its highest level."
"Ho ho, what a great thing, what a great thing!"
The current situation of the Mysterious Profound Sect was the best.
Qingcheng had handed over the promised commercial rights and silver to the Mysterious Profound Sect with a bonus, and thanks to that, the position of the Mysterious Profound Sect within Gangjeong County was now the best.
And above all…
"In the case of the Azure Heaven Faction, unfortunately, it was concluded that the traitors were only a 'part' of them."
"Ho ho, what a pity. On this occasion, we should have completely… ahem."
"That's right. On this occasion, we should have just crushed them… ahem."
The key members of the first generation, who were about to say something crude, trailed off when the Sect Leader glared at them once.
"Hoo, let's be careful."
"Ahem, I'm sorry, Sect Leader…"
"I'll be careful in the future…"
"…We're going to be the best sect in Gangjeong County in the future, so shouldn't we maintain some dignity?"
At the Sect Leader's words, the faces of the key members of the first generation, who had been cowering just a moment ago, brightened.
Hanyang Yul, who had participated in this Qingcheng branch meeting as a representative of the Azure Heaven Faction, had also been involved in this traitor incident.
Thanks to that, the position of the Azure Heaven Faction within the Qingcheng branch meeting had literally fallen to the bottom.
On the other hand, the Mysterious Profound Sect, which had played a decisive role in ferreting out the traitors, had even received a generous reward from Qingcheng, so the power dynamics of the two sects within Gangjeong County had already been completely tilted for a long time.
Thanks to that, the long-standing bad relationship was also not far from seeing its end.
As the story was proceeding in such a friendly atmosphere, a key member of the first generation opened his mouth.
"Hoo, I'm sorry to say this when we're only talking about good things, but I think I have to say something that's not so good."
At the words of Ju Yangho, the head of the external affairs hall who was in charge of the sect's external affairs, the faces of the other key members of the first generation who were listening became quite serious.
"As you all know, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency, the direct escort agency of the Mysterious Profound Sect, has been going through some bad things lately."
"I know, but… for the hall master to say that much, it seems to be more serious than we thought…"
"Hoo, is it just not good… it's already been three years since the head of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency collapsed…"
Ju Taehyeon, the head of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency, was a fellow disciple of the current first generation and a disciple of the Mysterious Profound Sect.
And it was he who had left the sect and founded the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency.
Of course, such a Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency had a close relationship with the Mysterious Profound Sect. No, to be frank, a part of the money that the Mysterious Profound Sect was rolling outside was being rolled as it was in the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency.
It had already been three years since such a head had collapsed.
"Come to think of it, for what reason did the head collapse…"
"…He ate a fake elixir that was put up for auction at a cheap price and then…"
"…"
"…"
At the reason that was beyond imagination, a silence fell among the key members of the first generation for a moment.
"Then who is leading the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency now…"
"Hoo, currently, the head's younger brother and the merchant guild master's daughter are leading it…"
"But, it's unlikely that you would have talked about the merchant guild master collapsing a long time ago as a big deal now. Did something else happen?"
"It's a long story…"
The story of Ju Yangho that began in that way was like this.
Although the merchant guild master, Ju Taehyeon, had collapsed with an internal injury after eating a fake elixir, thanks to his younger brother and daughter leading the escort agency with all their might, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency had somehow been able to get by until now.
But recently, with the continuous failure of the escort missions, the damage had gradually accumulated, and now, even the trust of the escort warriors had fallen, so even if they wanted to do an escort mission, they were in a state where they could not do an escort mission because they lacked escort warriors.
"Ugh… it's serious."
Although the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency was not a very large source of funds among the entire financial resources of the Mysterious Profound Sect, it was a considerably large source of funds to be treated as if it did not exist.
Moreover, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency was a sect founded by a fellow disciple of the current first generation, that is, a senior or junior brother. They could not pretend not to know.
"…Has any trace of someone playing tricks been found?"
At the Sect Leader's words, Ju Yangho let out a sigh and shook his head.
"At least I haven't found any. And it doesn't seem like the head's daughter and younger brother, who have been leading the escort agency well for three years, have made any mistakes or committed any fraud… I can only say that bad luck has overlapped unfortunately…"
It was bad luck.
Although it might sound like an excuse, in the world, there were often cases where things went wrong just because of bad luck, even if everything was going well, and this Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency incident was the same.
"Hoo… for now, let's select some people from the second generation of the sect to act as escort warriors and send them as support."
After the meeting of the key members ended, the Sect Leader, who was left alone in the main hall, was lost in thought for a moment.
Then, the Sect Leader called a disciple of the second generation from outside and ordered him to bring Cheongmu.
After a while, Cheongmu came to the main hall, and the Sect Leader offered him a cup of tea that had been prepared in advance.
"The reason I called you like this is because I have a proposal… no, something I want to ask you."
At those words, Cheongmu, who had taken a sip of tea, urged Ju Yulgok's next words with his eyes, as if to say, 'Go on.'
"It's a story that was decided at the meeting of the first generation just now, but as you know, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency is not in a good state these days."
As he was the best master of the Mysterious Profound Sect, Cheongmu, who was often active outside, was also well-informed about such information, and of course, he also knew about the bad luck of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency.
"So, to help the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency, we are going to select a few second-generation disciples and send them as support for the escort role."
"Yeonah will be excited to volunteer."
"That's right."
"But… you wouldn't have called me just to say that…"
"Yes, the main point is from now on…"
Saying so, the Sect Leader, who had taken a sip of tea, spoke.
"How about sending Baekseo there?"
"…I don't think it's a good thing for Baekseo to stand out."
A peak master at the age of fourteen. He was a person who could not help but stand out.
"Listen to the end."
"Yes."
"Although bad luck has overlapped by chance and the state of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency is not good now, as you know, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency is not a place that takes on such dangerous requests, is it?"
"That's right."
"Probably, even if they go for support this time, they won't be doing anything particularly dangerous. So, how about giving Baekseo an experience of the martial world on this occasion? Of course, once or twice is enough, so I'm saying let's take him only for the first one or two times."
"…If it's to that extent."
Just as there was a saying that you should send a cute child on a journey, Cheongmu also did not want to spoil a genius like Jang Baekseo by being too protective.
"Then I'll coordinate the schedule. Don't worry, I'll choose a job that has no danger and is as close as possible."
"Then I'll trust you, Master."
***
Thus, without knowing that the story of his treatment was being decided in a place he did not know, Jang Baekseo secretly climbed over the wall and came to a stream at the entrance of Gangjeong County.
"Hoo… external art… if it's external art, this is the best."
Jang Baekseo, who had gone to a place as deep as possible so that his feet would not touch, held his breath and went into the river.
Jang Baekseo, who had firmly fixed himself on the riverbed by unfolding the Thousand-Pound Drop using his internal energy, soon began to move his body.
But all of those movements were unusual.
Leaving aside the fact that the movements were powerful, he twisted, stretched, and bent his body to the extent that the question 'Can a person even take such a posture?' would arise.
Although Jang Baekseo was moving powerfully, as if he did not feel the resistance of the water, what was moving more powerfully was not the outside of his body but the inside of his body.
Jang Baekseo was concentrating his internal energy on his muscles and bones, using the internal energy that had become incomparably larger after reaching the peak.
Flame-Burning Body Art!
That was the name of the external art training method that Jang Baekseo was doing now.
The Flame-Burning Body Art was a unique external art training method in the world that developed the muscles and bones by stimulating them with specific movements and internal energy.
This external art training method, which was said to be able to break a rock with one fist and prevent a sword from piercing the skin without internal energy when it reached great mastery, had one fatal flaw that was contrary to its excellent function, and that was…
'It's hot!'
It was that the body temperature rose like crazy during the training process.
As a result, the training place had to be a place like a river or a lake where the whole body was completely submerged.
For that, Jang Baekseo had gone all the way to a stream far away, climbing over the wall of the Mysterious Profound Sect.
Jang Baekseo, who had been continuing the training of the Flame-Burning Body Art for a while, soon jumped up from the riverbed at the very edge of his limit.
"Puha!!"
White steam was constantly emitting from Jang Baekseo's body, which had jumped out of the river.
If someone were to touch Jang Baekseo's body, from which white steam was emitting like a boiling pot, they would be surprised by the heat and would take their hand away.
"Sniff!"
Jang Baekseo, who had blown out the water that had entered his nose, shuddered at the pain of the external art training.
'The Dansim Art and the Flame-Burning Body Art, why are all external arts so painful…'
But as much as that, the result was always sweet.
In internal energy training, no matter how diligently and according to the proper method one trained, there were often situations where one would hit a wall after a certain point and would just wander around, making no progress. But external art training, although it was accompanied by extreme pain compared to internal energy training, was a way to become stronger, albeit small but certain, as much as that pain.
Knowing that fact well, Jang Baekseo hardened his resolve once again.
Jang Baekseo, who had pushed himself to the limit of his limit by repeating the training of the Flame-Burning Body Art for about an hour, finished his training just one step before he felt it was really the limit.
With a body that had become as heavy as a water-soaked cotton blanket due to extreme fatigue and pain, Jang Baekseo moved from the deep part of the stream to the shallow part.
Since the training was over, he had to return to the Mysterious Profound Sect, but…
"My body is still quite hot…"
Since the heat of the training was still quite there, Jang Baekseo, who did not want to get out of the water, decided to swim slowly downstream for now.
Looking at the location, since the Mysterious Profound Sect was closer to the downstream anyway, the distance would not be that different.
Jang Baekseo, who was swimming downstream without any thought, felt a presence downstream.
'Who is it at this time of night?'
Jang Baekseo, who was swimming downstream with that question, soon held his breath at the sight that came into his eyes.
"Hup!?"
There was the figure of a beautiful woman bathing in the moonlight.
Her naked body, wet with water, was shining in the moonlight, and the eyes of such a woman and Jang Baekseo met in the air.
(End of Chapter)