I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 78

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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 78
Seonwu asked again, wondering if he had misheard.
“Did you say you are offering this formation manual to me?”
“That is correct, Your Highness.”
“Uh, wait a moment. I believe a copy is already kept in the Imperial Vault.”
Surely that copy wasn’t a fake.
Even if it were, he wouldn’t dare reveal it in front of him right now.
“Yes. Your humble servant’s explanation was brief. To commemorate the founding of the empire and praise the achievements of the current Emperor, the main house has already offered the formation manual of the Divine Wind Eight Trigrams Grand Formation to the Imperial Vault.”
“Ah, so you are offering another copy to me.”
In truth, it would be enough to just make another copy of the one in the Imperial Vault, but if the Zhuge Clan copied it themselves and offered it to him separately, it would make a fine memento.
“No. What I wish to offer is the formation manual for the Divine Wind Four Symbols Formation.”
“There is such a thing?”
“Yes. What we offered during the founding by His Majesty’s command were the Three Great Grand Formations. He did not command anything beyond that. However, among the formations hidden away by the main house, there is one that is smaller in scale and highly practical to deploy.”
“And that is the Divine Wind Four Symbols Formation?”
“That is correct, Your Highness.”
Judging by the name, it was likely a scaled-down version of the formation currently deployed.
“The range would be smaller… and it must be much easier to deploy.”
“That is correct. However, its might is nearly equal, so it can halt even a master of the Realm of Creation at the very least.”
“Heh, so a wind matching this one blows there as well.”
“That is correct. However, because its scale is small, compared to the Divine Wind Eight Trigrams Grand Formation, it cannot be helped that it breaks down faster if the enemy unravels it step by step from the outside.”
“Even considering that, it wouldn’t be something that can be broken in an instant, right?”
Seonwu’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Yes. Unlike the Divine Wind Eight Trigrams Grand Formation, which can endure for years if maintained from within, even if the opponent is in the cultivation realm of the Realm of Creation and well-versed in formations, it will take at least ten days. If they do not know it well, they will have no choice but to turn back.”
“What if it is a Transcendence Realm master who knows formations well?”
“Unless they bring a Realm of Creation master from somewhere, they will not be able to pierce it.”
Not bad.
That’s actually quite good.
Doesn’t that mean it can be used as a makeshift fortress?
“Then what if it’s a Realm of Creation master who doesn’t know formations well?”
“They would have to bring a formation expert from somewhere.”
“It is a true treasure!”
“Of course, there is a limit. The formation artifacts used to activate the formation are quite expensive…”
“But that is hardly a problem for me.”
Is money an issue?
Being able to hold out against a master of the Realm of Creation in an emergency is a truly great advantage.
‘The Zhuge Clan must have hidden it away for themselves.’
Since there was an imperial decree, they submissively offered the most famous Three Great Grand Formations, and simply kept pocketing the hidden trump card that wasn’t commanded.
But he understood.
Honestly, if a Wulin clan surrendered absolutely everything, how would they make a living?
Unless directly ordered, they could pocket a little something on the side.
Come to think of it, it must be the know-how they researched and gained across generations, so demanding they surrender everything would be shameless.
“How long does it take to install?”
“It depends on what artifacts you prepare, but if you use the most precious ones, fifteen minutes is enough.”
‘At that rate, it can’t be installed right before a fight breaks out with a Realm of Creation master, but if there’s just a little bit of leeway, installation is possible, right? This is an absolute jackpot.’
Even if pursued by a demon of the Realm of Creation, as long as a surprise battle didn’t break out instantly, he could easily hold out.
“Hmm, this will be truly useful for me, as I intend to roam the land of Jianghu.”
“It is an honor if you would accept it.”
Zhuge Ganyun did not add that because truly precious items were required to install it in fifteen minutes, even the Zhuge Clan themselves couldn’t use it.
‘For the main house to use, it’s a white elephant of a formation that was barely developed but half-abandoned due to preparation costs…’
From the perspective of King Wuryong, money was truly not an issue.
If he was ambushed by the Eight Hidden Demons while roaming the Jianghu and fell into danger, that would be a true disaster.
In such a time, if his family’s formation proved helpful, a great reward would surely follow in the future.
Though he called it a white elephant, its performance was certain.
And he had hidden it away in preparation for when the Imperial Court might demand additional tributes someday.
A hidden grand formation that had never once been shown to the world.
Originally, it was kept to excuse themselves later if a tyrant appeared in this dynasty and made great demands…
‘If I do not return the favor after receiving such grace, how can I say I know human decency?’
Therefore, Zhuge Ganyun made up his mind and brought it out to offer.
As expected, it was extremely pleasing to Seonwu.
“Haha, I have seen a great sight and received a great gift. My, coming to play at the Zhuge Clan brings me many benefits.”
“I am merely glad that you highly praise the meager efforts of the main house.”
“Oh, ‘meager’ is far too modest. I’m not saying you should be arrogant like the Namgung Clan over there, but the family head is far too humble.”
“I am overwhelmed, Your Highness.”
“Once I receive word from the Namgung Clan’s side, I think I will handle that and then depart. If I stay too long, won’t it be a burden to you all as well?”
“That is absolutely not the case. Your Highness’s stay is merely that much of an honor for the main house.”
Seonwu smiled faintly.
‘Oh, please. With a sky-high boss staying here, how could their minds be at ease? They’re just saying that because they’re grateful right now.’
Which work was it again?
From time immemorial, it was enough for a chivalrous xia to save the opponent and establish righteousness.
The act is completed by leaving at the right time without wishing for too much gratitude.
‘There was a work with words of a similar sentiment.’
In any case, one should leave while people are still clapping.
He had enjoyed the sight and received a gift.
Now, all that was left was to hear the results of the investigation on the Namgung Clan’s side and hand down the initial instructions.
“Ah, right, absolutely do not let Jun know my true identity. Understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Even though he said this, the family head understood it perfectly to mean that no one should know that Jun knew his identity.
To the outside world, Zhuge Jun was simply traveling as a friend, entirely unaware of the true identities of the two from the Eunhak Sect.
While behind the scenes, he would serve as the liaison between the main house and King Wuryong.
* * *
While staying at the Zhuge Clan like that, Seonwu saw everything he wanted to see.
Now it was time to move on to another place.
However, before that, he needed to wrap up the matters he had set in motion.
It was none other than the Namgung Clan.
Because it was no ordinary large family, the investigation was still underway, but the results of the initial investigation had come out.
The Golden Dragon Guard secretly delivered that report to Seonwu through Absolute Shadow.
The Zhuge Clan was not a place where just anyone could secretly slip in and out easily, but it wasn’t difficult to approach him while he went out to the village below for a brief sight-seeing trip.
“Hmm, as expected… Absolute Shadow, what do you think?”
“Your humble servant merely follows Your Highness’s commands as a guard, how could I dare discuss such state affairs?”
“I told you not to use that expression, ‘your humble servant’.”
Of course, it was just the two of them and they had set up a formation, but…
“My apologies. However, I believe it is presumptuous for this younger disciple to discuss it.”
“Ugh, then again, you’ve been too busy learning martial arts.”
Realistically, it was far too heavy an agenda to discuss with Absolute Shadow.
‘But it’s worth discussing with Jun.’
Even in the Republic of Korea, he was the top student at the most prestigious law school and a famously brilliant lawyer, and he could have been a judge but chose not to.
On top of that, he was now at the Zhuge Clan and had studied this world well…
‘Even though the ministers of the Imperial Court will discuss it thoroughly once I submit my opinion anyway…’
Still, I should come up with an initial opinion on my own level.
Because the moment a person in power like himself wonders about something, that becomes the baseline.
* * *
Seonwu, who called Jun, shared the report secretly offered by the Golden Dragon Guard.
Of course, Absolute Shadow had been sent away on an errand for a moment.
“Those Namgung Clan bastards, they completely snatched away all the credit for subjugating the small and medium sects within their sphere of influence in Anhui Province, just like collecting taxes? Should this be called a tribute?”
At Seonwu’s words, Jun smirked.
“That makes sense. It’s a tribute, dude.”
Of course, real tributes were completely different, just as they had learned in history class.
“We really didn’t do things like this, did we?”
“I believe you.”
Even for a subjugation they didn’t even participate in, they claimed that the Namgung Clan had dispatched a portion of their forces and took a share of the credit.
For the subjugations they did participate in, they inflated their share even more.
They monopolized good opportunities that could be easily subjugated and barred others from participating.
They made a killing in various ways, devouring the credit of the subjugation and its byproducts.
Looking at what was revealed, they truly acted like kings.
“No, a real king wouldn’t even do it like this. Hmm… would they not…? Would my four older brothers do it?”
Seonwu suddenly lost his confidence.
Honestly, he didn’t really know how his four older brothers did things above him.
Somehow, it felt like the generals would inflate his brothers’ credit too…
What should he call it.
The king merely remains as the nominal commander-in-chief, and the generals and soldiers did all the actual fighting, but it’s called the king’s virtue that was greatest.
Jun actually defended them instead.
“Hey, hey, that’s a different case. Even if the general originally did it, saying ‘this is all thanks to His Imperial Majesty or His Royal Highness’ is just a Confucian expression. Saying that doesn’t mean they don’t actually reward the credit of those below.”
“Hmm, true.”
“The problem with the Namgung Clan is that after forging credit like that, they devoured the rewards themselves too, right?”
“Right.”
The problem was that the Namgung Clan devoured the rewards given out according to the performance of subjugating demons or demonic monsters like a tribute.
For small and medium sects, the law was far but the sword was near, so they couldn’t utter a single peep and handed over a portion of their credit to the Namgung Clan.
“This is fraud.”
At Seonwu’s words, Jun added.
“Calling it fraud makes it sound light.”
“Forgery of public documents?”
“Hey, you should call it deceiving the sovereign. Why use expressions like that when you have one that fits the current era?”
At Jun’s scolding, Seonwu snorted.
“No way. I’ll classify it however it’s convenient for me. Do you know how hard I worked to maintain the knowledge from my past life because it would be a waste to lose it?”
“Good grief, fine. Anyway, fraud, forgery of public documents, extortion of meritorious deeds… parsing it out, this is a massive crime for sure.”
“And they severely ripped off the small and medium merchants they traded with too, huh? Though not enough to completely ruin them.”
Of course, along the way, one or two who were hit with other misfortunes did completely go bankrupt.
What Seonwu happened to see was precisely such a case.
“It’s somewhat natural for the side with power to take advantageous trade terms… but those Namgung Clan bastards, they really ripped them off too much, didn’t they?”
“True. But it’s quite ambiguous to catch them by law for this. If they had threatened them with swords and stolen it like bandits, that would be one thing, but ripping them off just enough to leave a tiny bit of profit is greedy, but ambiguous to call illegal.”
“Hmph, I don’t like it.”
But they hadn’t threatened them with swords and committed robbery; they had paid at least a minimum price.
“Of course, they probably made it hard to trade without going through the Namgung Clan, and subtly retaliated against those who didn’t listen. Honestly, there’s no way they would keep trading under such bad conditions unless there was a show of force.”
Seonwu agreed with Jun’s words.
‘If it were me, I’d trade directly if possible, I wouldn’t wholesale at this price.’
There was clearly some form of tyranny.
“However, it’ll be hard to uncover it by investigating now. It’s likely been a long time since this structure was established, and by now, everyone is probably at the stage of conforming to it, right?”
“Meaning that even if we investigate, there’s a high chance there are no recent cases where they actually used physical force to do something to someone.”
“Right.”
Smacking his lips, Seonwu turned the investigation report over.
“Wow, they severely undercut the wages of the artisans hired by these guys too?”
If so, couldn’t they just resign from the Namgung Clan and move to another region?
‘If you subtly scare them by saying they don’t know what might happen to them on the road if they do such a thing, they can never leave.’
On top of that, even if they went elsewhere, there weren’t many forces bold enough to casually hire someone marked by the Namgung Clan.
To go far away entirely was no easy task.
“Unit price slashing, wage slashing, these bastards are just a bit more insidious than the unorthodox factions who openly commit robbery, but why is what they do exactly the same?”
“I understand and sympathize with your feelings, but there is no minimum wage or small business win-win cooperation act in this country.”
“Ugh, does this mean the British bourgeois from the Industrial Revolution era existed in the Wulin too?”
Seonwu lamented.
At this rate, won’t some communist blood demon appear in the Wulin later on?
[This Seat is the First Heavenly Demon of the Communist Demonic Cult, Karl Marx.]
He could only hope he would never hear such words.

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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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