The Regressed Sword Demon Changes the Future

Greed!

Jang Baekseo by no means looked down on Geum Gadong's character.

But nevertheless, human desire was truly a frightening thing, and it sometimes created situations where a parent would cut off their child's head, and a child would drive a knife into their parent's chest.

That's why Jang Baekseo was trying to get a definite answer.

Can I trust you? At the same time, a definite answer to whether you trust me!

Of course, one might wonder what use such a promise would be, but at least in Jang Baekseo's eyes, Geum Gadong was not the kind of person who would turn back on a promise he had made out of his mouth as easily as flipping his palm.

"Trust…"

Apart from such thoughts of Jang Baekseo, Geum Gadong was also having many thoughts, looking at Jang Baekseo.

'How can a boy of the age of learning {15 years old} have such spirit?'

He had thought that his own daughter, Geum Hyeonah, was a mature child for her age, but Jang Baekseo's was on a different level.

Then, Geum Gadong suddenly recalled the conversation he had had with Geum Hyeonah, who had come to his house before.

"Is your life at the Mysterious Profound Sect okay?"

"Compared to when I was living only in bed every day, it's like heaven."

"Hahaha! Is that so! Of course, it should be!"

"But, Father."

"Huh? What is it?"

"If there is something you want but you can't have it easily, what should you do?"

"Hmm? Something you want but can't have easily… then how about thinking about whether you're short on money?"

"Um, I think I didn't explain it well. I mean, it's not about a thing, but about a person's heart."

"Haha… a person's heart. That's right. The lightest and at the same time the heaviest thing in the world is a person's heart. There are times when you can win a heart with a single coin, and there are times when you can't win it even with a thousand gold pieces…"

"He's about my age… but his actions and his mind are not ordinary, so there are times when I feel like I'm dealing with an old martial artist. Besides, he's not interested in wealth, and his abilities are also outstanding, so even if I try to give him what he wants, there's nothing I can really give him…"

"Hmm, Hyeonah, you're too focused on giving something material to win someone's heart, aren't you?"

"Yes? What do you mean by that…"

"Sometimes, a handful of peace of mind is more valuable than ten million gold pieces. You just have to become a resting place for that person's heart. It's important to make the other person want you."

"I see…! Father, you have outstanding insight!"

"But… Hyeonah?"

"Yes?"

"Is that person a man, by any chance?"

"…Then I'll be on my way back to the sect. My junior brothers must be waiting."

"Hyeonah! Is that person a man!!"

'So it was this child!'

Geum Gadong, who had noticed the identity of the person to whom Geum Hyeonah was showing such favor, was lost in thought for a moment.

'Should I just crush him!?'

The matter of the proposal and trust had all been pushed to the back of his mind, and Geum Gadong was only focused on what to do with the scoundrel who had dared to steal the heart of his precious daughter.

'Ugh! To take my daughter, he has to be tall and handsome, have an excellent character, have an outstanding background, and crucially, his own abilities must also be outstanding!'

But come to think of it, Jang Baekseo satisfied most of those conditions.

Right now, he was not just tall, but at the age of learning, he had the height and physique of a normal adult. What about his character and abilities?

The Path of Chivalry, which had made the current martial world buzz! He had risked his life for the one word 'chivalry' and had saved the lives of a mother and daughter in distress, so there was nothing more to say about his character and skill.

And his background, the position of the great disciple of the Mysterious Profound Sect, was a position that could receive a score of seventy or eighty, if not a perfect score of one hundred.

'His face is… well, just average… but his features are strong and handsome, so it's not bad.'

As Geum Gadong, who had objectively acknowledged that he was a rather excellent groom, was in a dilemma…

"…Lord Geum?"

Although he had put on a serious face and had talked about trust and what not, Jang Baekseo, who had become anxious because the other party had no answer, spoke.

"Huh? Ah, ah! Yes, trust. Trust is important. I promise on the name of Geum Gadong, the master of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, that I will not betray my trust with you."

Although his worries had been strangely long in the middle, Jang Baekseo, who had received a definite answer anyway, soon began to talk about the secret vault of the Hegemon's Fortress.

Geum Gadong, who had been listening to the story quietly without a word, soon closed his eyes and was lost in thought when the story was over.

"The Hegemon's Fortress… to think that I would hear that cursed name again like this…"

"Yes? Lord Geum, what do you mean by that…"

"Ah, I'm sorry. It's a long story to explain, but well, to put it simply, the Hegemon's Fortress's march across the world… at that time, our Geumjo Merchant Guild also suffered a great loss… just know that much."

"Yes…"

As it was a march across the world that had literally swept the world, it was not strange at all that the Geumjo Merchant Guild had suffered a loss.

"Certainly… if there is the secret vault of the Hegemon's Fortress of the rumors, the financial power to advance into the Eastern martial world will be covered in an instant. But the military power… are you planning to have the martial artists of this merchant guild learn the martial arts of the Hegemon's Fortress?"

The Hegemon's Fortress had been destroyed, becoming a public enemy of the martial world.

Of course, it was a clear fact that a person who had learned the martial arts of such a Hegemon's Fortress would also be designated as a public enemy of the martial world.

"It's similar, but different."

Saying so, Jang Baekseo drew the sword at his waist.

For a moment, two black figures fell from the ceiling.

"Calm down. I just drew it because there's something I have to show you."

Jang Baekseo said so calmly, and soon Geum Gadong dismissed the guards.

As the guards disappeared into the ceiling again, Jang Baekseo focused his energy on his sword.

At the same time, a dark sword qi formed on the sword.

At that, Geum Gadong's eyes widened. Although he had thought that his level would not be low, as he had succeeded in the almost impossible escort mission of the Path of Chivalry, to think that he was at the peak realm!?

The number of people who had reached the peak realm at the age of learning could be counted on one hand even if you looked at the long history of the martial world.

It was not just Geum Gadong who was flustered. A flustered presence was also felt from above the ceiling.

And Jang Baekseo swung the sword clad in sword qi.

Since Geum Gadong's room was large, there was enough space to swing a sword, and Jang Baekseo's sword dance continued for a moment.

"What do you think?"

At Jang Baekseo's question, Geum Gadong could not say anything for a moment. He soon came to his senses and called someone.

"Yiseon, what do you think?"

At the call, the person named Yiseon, who had sprung up from Geum Gadong's shadow, opened his mouth.

"It is a very outstanding sword technique. It is a high-level sword technique that is light and fast, but not messy. However…"

"However?"

"I have not heard that there is such a sword technique in the Mysterious Profound Sect."

"…Then…"

Jang Baekseo kindly answered Geum Gadong's question.

"Yes, it is a martial art that I have created by independently changing the martial arts of the Mysterious Profound Sect. And I plan to change the martial arts of the Hegemon's Fortress in this way as well."

Geum Gadong immediately understood what Jang Baekseo was trying to say.

In other words, it meant that Jang Baekseo himself would modify the martial arts of the Hegemon's Fortress, which would designate him as a public enemy of the martial world just by learning it, to the point where it could not be recognized.

"To think that he modified the martial art himself…"

Unlike Geum Gadong, who was thinking so simply, the man in the black mask called Yiseon was dumbfounded at Jang Baekseo's words.

If martial arts could be modified so easily, why would martial artists risk their lives for a single martial arts manual?

The sword technique that Jang Baekseo had just demonstrated was the Twin Wings sword manual of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms.

'Well, it's true that I made it myself, and it's also true that I referred to the martial arts of the Mysterious Profound Sect, so it's not a lie.'

Geum Gadong, who had heard the measures for the martial arts of the Hegemon's Fortress in this way, expressed his intention to actively participate in his plan.

After that, it was a smooth ride.

Jang Baekseo asked Geum Gadong to find people.

People who were tight-lipped and had a clear identity to secretly transport the treasure, and if possible, people whose weaknesses or hostages could be secured by the Geumjo Merchant Guild. And even the martial artists under Geum Gadong who had a level of peak or higher.

Geum Gadong, as if to prove that he was the richest man in Sichuan, gathered people who perfectly met the conditions that Jang Baekseo had set in an instant. And thus, Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran, and the secret vault excavation team headed to Jiuzhaigou County in Sichuan.

"…But why is my junior sister here?"

Jang Baekseo, who had arrived in Jiuzhaigou County in that way, had his eyes wide open at the appearance of an unexpected person.

"Oh my? Did I come to a place where I shouldn't have come?"

"…I asked Lord Geum to keep it a secret…"

"It wasn't my father who told me first. I went to him myself and asked."

"…How on earth did you know…?"

"Hahaha, it's a woman's intuition."

Although she said that, it was expected how she had found out.

Probably…

'It must have spread from that person, Yiseon…'

Yiseon, a master of the transcendent realm and Geum Gadong's exclusive guard. And probably…

'He must be in contact with Geum Hyeonah's guard as well.'

The secret stealth technique that sprang from the shadows. And it was highly likely that they had learned martial arts in the same place. A considerable number of the masters that the Geumjo Merchant Guild could mobilize had been mobilized for this excavation team, and that fact must have been relayed to Geum Hyeonah's guard.

'And the quick-witted Hyeonah must have read something from there and investigated…'

As Jang Baekseo was thinking that, Geum Hyeonah was staring at Jang Baekseo's face.

"Wh-why are you doing that?"

Geum Hyeonah did not answer and just hugged Jang Baekseo tightly.

"J-junior sister!?"

"I'm glad you came back safely."

Water was seeping into Geum Hyeonah's voice as she said that.

And the chest where Geum Hyeonah was hugging was also getting wet little by little.

But Jang Baekseo did not show it and just patted the back of Geum Hyeonah, who was hugging him, without a word.

"Thank you. I was able to save my life thanks to the 'amulet' you gave me."

Thus, the two shared the joy of their reunion for a moment.

Jang Baekseo's party, which had finished their reunion with Geum Hyeonah, soon arrived at a slash-and-burn farming site in Jiuzhaigou County.

"…Here?"

Jang Yuran looked at Jang Baekseo with a question mark floating above her head.

"You're saying the secret vault of the Hegemon's Fortress is in a place like this?"

Jang Yuran, who had naturally expected a place like a cliff or a hidden cave, was flustered by the unexpected place.

"Well, just follow me quietly for now."

Jang Baekseo had the porters who were moving the luggage prepare for camping, and he looked around the slash-and-burn farming site with Jang Yuran, Geum Hyeonah, and the secret military force of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, the Geumjo Guard, which Geum Gadong had brought along.

"…It's just a slash-and-burn farming site, isn't it?"

Jang Yuran, who had not been able to figure out what was what even after looking around the site once, had a question mark floating above her head, and the Geumjo Merchant Guild was also the same.

At that time…

"Hmph! The master trusted you and sent you, so I came with my mouth shut, but this is just a swindler, isn't it?"

The one who had cursed as if for Jang Baekseo to hear was a member of the Geumjo Guard.

At the reaction of the man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, Jang Baekseo looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"…It seems you don't like me very much?"

"Bangho! What kind of rude remark is that to Young Master Jang! Apologize to Young Master Jang at once!"

Yiseon, the exclusive guard of Geum Gadong and the leader of the Geumjo Guard, who had been specially dispatched for the success of this matter, scolded the man named Bangho.

Jang Baekseo stopped such a Yiseon and stepped forward.

"Well, let's not drag this out. A person like you is obvious, isn't it? In the end, you don't like the fact that a person who is younger and less skilled than you is taking the lead… in the end, that's your true feeling, right?"

"Wh-what!? You brat…!"

Looking at Bangho, who was stuttering as if he had been hit where it hurt, Jang Baekseo smiled and beckoned with his hand.

"A puppy that has just been born doesn't know how scary a tiger is. No, it doesn't even recognize that the opponent is a tiger, so I'll have to let you know. The difference in power."

The moment Bangho, who had been flustered, was about to swing his fist in response to Jang Baekseo's clear provocation!

Crack!

Jang Baekseo's preemptive punch, which had been delivered after the fact, hit Bangho's face.

(End of Chapter)