I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28
The news that the Fifth Prince would be appointed as King Wuryong had already spread widely across the world a year ago.
Such an important matter was never sprung on people suddenly on the actual day.
A massive palace to serve as the new Prince Mansion was built in Henan Province.
The Imperial Court also purchased various ceremonial items required for the enthronement of King Wuryong.
With such blatant advance preparations, it was impossible for rumors not to spread.
Not only that, but every family with any decent amount of influence received an invitation to secure a seat at the enthronement ceremony of King Wuryong.
In fact, families that failed to receive such an invitation were virtually branded as lacking proper status, to the point where they worried frantically about being left out.
They agonizingly debated who should attend and what kind of gifts to prepare.
Among them, unlike ordinary noble families whose goal was to enter public service and serve the Imperial Court, the factions making up the Wulin faced a much greater dilemma.
“Hmm, His Highness King Wuryong.”
“His four elder brothers are the Dragon Kings of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.”
It did not align with the Five Elements in the first place, and if one had to look into it, the titles of the four upper princes utilized four of the Eight Trigrams.
Yet now, the fifth was King Wuryong, utilizing neither, but rather the character for ‘martial’.
The ‘Mu’ from Wulin.
On top of that, it was no secret that the Fifth Prince had shown a deep interest in the Wulin since childhood.
“The fiefdom he received is also Henan Province.”
“Shaolin is located there, and Wudang of Hubei is close by.”
“Mount Hua and Zhongnan in Shaanxi are not that far either, the Peng Clan is in neighboring Hebei Province, and it also borders Anhui Province where the Namgung Clan resides.”
Placing Shaolin, which enjoyed the grandest prosperity among the Orthodox Factions of the Wulin, within his fiefdom while managing the neighboring forces.
Looking at it that way, Henan Province was the perfect location to exert influence over Wudang, Namgung, Peng, Mount Hua, and Zhongnan.
In the first place, since it was a province containing Luoyang and Kaifeng, which were capitals of previous dynasties, it was only natural for it to be such a strategic point.
“Until now, the government didn’t heavily involve itself in the affairs of the Wulin.”
It was not exactly a matter of Non-Interference Between Court and Wulin.
If anyone went around shouting for the government to stay out of the Wulin’s business, even the Namgung Clan, which boasted the greatest prosperity among the Five Great Noble Families, would see their entire extended family wiped out if branded as traitors, turning an existing sect into nothingness overnight.
However, it was more like a delegation of authority.
As long as the Wulin handled its own domain reasonably well and properly paid its taxes and tributes, the government did not interfere much.
Conceptually, everything within the empire fell under the Emperor’s virtue and rule from the start.
But at the same time, it was impossible for the Emperor to personally oversee every single minute detail in every corner.
Proper government offices were established only down to the province, the prefectures below them, and the counties below those.
Townships, which were units smaller than counties, did not have individual government offices.
Since a township was a unit generally referred to as a village, individual villages were ruled autonomously by local influential figures who cooperated with the government’s instructions.
And while naturally not every local influential figure belonged to a Wulin sect, every Wulin sect could be considered a powerful local figure.
Whether they belonged to the Orthodox Factions, Unorthodox Factions, or somewhere right in between.
As long as one possessed martial power, they were deemed an influential figure.
‘In the counties, we have to be somewhat careful since there are government offices there, but…’
The Wulin was accustomed to living with their heads held high in the townships.
And even in the counties, a giant sect or a noble family naturally extended its influence across multiple counties, and by offering appropriate gifts to the government, they could govern a substantial territory autonomously.
For instance, the Namgung Clan lived large, calling the shots across several counties in the southern part of Anhui Province.
At the very least, the voice of the Patriarch of the Namgung Clan carried far more weight than that of a county magistrate.
In fact, the Namgung Clan’s influence was greater than that of the prefectural office governing the region.
Only when reaching the level of the Provincial Administration Commissioner or the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner who governed the entire province did the Patriarch finally adopt a build that required careful behavior.
Yet now, they were establishing the Muryong Prince Mansion to inspect the Wulin…
‘Are the good old days over?’
‘Hmm, well, it’s probably just tightening the reins a little more.’
‘Indeed, realistically, how much could he actually do?’
They just needed to ensure they did not become the first sacrificial lamb used to set an example and establish discipline.
Even if it was the Muryong Prince Mansion, it was highly unlikely to inspect the entire Wulin.
In the first place, members of the Imperial Family were not diligent enough to personally oversee every single matter like that.
Looking at the four elder kings right now, they only joined the fight when a powerful demonic monster appeared that absolutely required their strength, while barely involving themselves in ordinary domestic governance, did they not?
However, one or two sects could easily become a demonstration case under the pretext of establishing discipline.
They had to avoid getting targeted.
Even if the Imperial Family could not govern every detail of the entire empire, they possessed more than enough power to erase a single sacrilegious sect from existence.
Even if the entire Wulin combined its strength, it could never match the armies of the Imperial Family and the Imperial Court; how much more so for a single sect, which would face total annihilation if targeted?
‘It would be best to offer a generous gift this time.’
‘At least as much as everyone else is doing.’
‘We must avoid the storm.’
Thus, while they were all warily watching each other, the Abbot of Shaolin was the very first to make a decisive move.
“It would be best to offer a Great Rejuvenating Pill as a gift.”
“The… The Great Rejuvenating Pill, you say?”
No matter how grand Shaolin was, a Great Rejuvenating Pill was not something that could be created easily.
“In the past, we have offered Lesser Rejuvenating Pills alongside various other tributes, but is this occasion not extraordinary?”
“However, even our main temple currently possesses only a single Great Rejuvenating Pill…”
“But the ones we have painstakingly crafted over the past few years will be completed soon, so won’t we have two more in the near future?”
“That is true, but.”
Those two pills naturally had their own vital uses.
Therefore, it was only natural for the elders to feel it was a waste.
However, the Abbot’s stance did not waver.
“Though the Great Rejuvenating Pill is precious, compared to the entire main mountain and the numerous secular families attached to Shaolin, it is merely an external object. If we stingily withhold it, and His Highness King Wuryong thinks, ‘Why are the practitioners of Shaolin so consumed by material greed?’ then what shall we do?”
“Mmm.”
“Indeed…”
If that happened, they might suffer a great disaster compared to which a Great Rejuvenating Pill was absolutely nothing.
What if the state, finding them offensive, decided to slash the allocation of spiritual medicine ingredients granted to Shaolin for making Great or Lesser Rejuvenating Pills by half?
Or what if they revoked the various privileges received as one of the Nine Great Sects?
“The Abbot’s words are correct.”
“Since it is a gift for the enthronement ceremony, it is right to show our sincerity by offering the Great Rejuvenating Pill.”
“You have all reached a wise conclusion.”
Thus, Shaolin’s intent was decided.
And that news quickly reached the other sects that were currently locked in deep contemplation.
Sect Leader Master Xianchian of Wudang gathered the elders.
“I hear Shaolin is offering a Great Rejuvenating Pill.”
“Haha, those Buddhist fellows are making such a move…”
“No, those monks. Just how good do they want to look that they’d throw in a Great Rejuvenating Pill! When they only have one left themselves right now.”
“Haha, Junior Disciple. Even if it’s just among ourselves, watch your language a bit.”
“Did I say anything wrong!”
If Shaolin so readily offered a Great Rejuvenating Pill, Wudang would be forced to match it due to social pressure.
However, because Junior Disciple Xianwu spoke so carelessly, the Sect Leader merely shook his head.
‘One of these days, he’s going to make a slip of the tongue in front of others and cause a massive accident.’
Even after cultivating to this age, he still could not fix that temperament of his.
“Since things have turned out this way, we must offer a Supreme Clarity Pill as well.”
They only had one left, and it would take several more years to create the next one, but what choice did they have?
If Shaolin offered a Great Rejuvenating Pill, it would be deeply troublesome if words like “Where did Wudang’s Supreme Clarity Pill go?” came out of His Highness King Wuryong’s mouth.
“Yin and Yang must achieve harmony, and diverting a typhoon gently is the core principle of Taiji.”
“Why do you have to put things so complicatedly! Aren’t you just saying that if we don’t want to get targeted and beaten, we shouldn’t stand out needlessly and just lay low?”
At his junior disciple’s blunt interpretation, the Sect Leader could only shake his head once more.
To think that even at that age, he had still failed to learn Wudang’s manner of speech, which woven words like Yin and Yang, Taiji, and harmony into the exact same statement.
‘In any case, there’s no helping it.’
Nothing accurate was known about the personality of His Highness King Wuryong.
In fact, not a single person in the Wulin had ever properly seen his face.
Unlike the other four kings, the Muryong Prince was an unknown king wrapped in mystery in many aspects.
They only knew he had a great interest in the Wulin and spiritual medicine, so who would dare not match strides with Shaolin, knowing what kind of calamity might brew otherwise?
Thus, Wudang also decided to give up their singular, ultimate spiritual medicine.
As this unfolded, the remaining sects and noble families who caught wind of the news had no choice but to match the standard.
“Ugh, then we shall offer the Ten Thousand Poisons Pill…”
The Tang Clan decided on their gift while weeping tears of regret.
“Our Mount Hua Sect must put forward the Red Plum Pill.”
“Aigo, we don’t possess as much spiritual medicine as Shaolin or Wudang; if we give this up, when will we ever make it again?”
“Still, we can reduce the other gifts by that much, so let us take comfort in that.”
Everyone decided on their gifts according to their proper standing.
* * *
The day Seonwu was officially enfeoffed as King Wuryong by the Emperor finally arrived.
A tremendous amount of gunpowder was deployed for a massive fireworks display, and celebratory performances erupted in all directions.
Was that all?
Various restaurants completely chartered by the Imperial Family provided a free meal to anyone who walked through their doors.
The entire Gyeongseong was in a state of festival.
“Wow, they must have spent an insane amount of money.”
Seonwu clicked his tongue as he watched the fireworks still bursting in the sky.
‘Of course, in this world, there’s less need to forcefully turn gunpowder into weapons.’
Therefore, they could mindlessly blast gunpowder for fireworks without feeling any burden.
Why?
Because a master possessed the defensive power to deflect bullets and block artillery shells.
It wasn’t a particularly popular weapon.
A castle wall only held meaning as a barrier if it was difficult for people to scale.
And cannons that shattered those castle gates held value because of that.
However, a master could easily leap across a moat and scale a castle wall in a single bound.
What blocked a master was another master.
It wasn’t a castle wall or a moat.
Therefore, even at defensive strongholds, they deployed formations rather than clumsy castles.
Within those formations, masters led other martial artists to fight and defend, meaning the value of gunpowder weapons was bound to be relatively much lower.
‘Because of that, the cannon technology here is actually worse than the Ming Dynasty period I know. They just stick to making gunpowder.’
Of course, considering that a master of the Realm of Creation could easily assassinate the American President if they went to the modern era, the country wasn’t weak just because they couldn’t build proper cannons.
However, even taking into account the low value of gunpowder, it truly sank in that such a luxurious festival was being held solely for him.
And it wasn’t just Gyeongseong before his eyes.
‘I heard they proclaimed today’s event in all the other major provincial capitals and held quite a grand festival there too, right?’
Literally the entire nation was celebrating him.
And among those, the most core celebration lay elsewhere.
“Your Highness, Shaolin has offered a Great Rejuvenating Pill, Wudang has offered a Supreme Clarity Pill, and Mount Hua has offered a Red Plum Pill…”
“Oh oh, such precious items!”
Seonwu smiled brightly.
He had received so many items on the level of the Lesser Rejuvenating Pill by now that the excitement had worn off, but the Great Rejuvenating Pill was different.
Of course, it was said that the Tianlong Pill he pulled out from the Imperial Vault and placed in his storage ring contained spiritual pill ingredients superior to those of a Great Rejuvenating Pill, but…
‘No matter the performance, the Great Rejuvenating Pill has a far more fundamental name steeped in history and tradition.’
The important thing was romance, wasn’t it?
Compared to the Tianlong Pill, which he had only ever heard of after being born into this world, the Great Rejuvenating Pill was something that appeared in countless wuxia novels and games in his past life.
‘Keh, this is the true commemoration of ascending to kingship.’
He was blissful amid the pouring gifts.
Thus, Seonwu ascended to the position of King Wuryong while receiving all kinds of congratulations.
However, in front of those offering their formal congratulations, he wore a veil that blocked any transparency, and his formal responses were not spoken directly but were instead received and called out by his guards, so no one could directly hear his voice or see his face.
Consequently, all sorts of rumors began to circulate regarding the true appearance of His Highness King Wuryong.
Of course, all of this was done so that Seonwu could head out into the Wulin.
* * *
Moving to his prince castle prepared in Henan Province, Seonwu finally began to busily prepare for his long-awaited debut into the Jianghu.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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