My Younger Siblings Are the Greatest Masters in the World - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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132.

Since Hwangbo Ryeoseon’s suspicion was natural, Seol Mujin briefly told her about what had happened in Beijing.

Of course, he couldn’t mention that Hwangcheonseong was a physician of the Demonic Cult.

Because then he would have to reveal the identity of the triplets.

He glossed over that part vaguely, but it was sufficient to make them believe Seol Mujin.

The sighs that escaped from the mouths of the three people after hearing Seol Mujin’s story were of relief.

“I see. Honestly, I don’t like preserving the Myeoncheonhoe, but if they become important military strength for His Highness the Third Prince, it can’t be helped.”

“Since the Myeoncheonhoe has a grudge against the Hwangbo Family, it would be emotionally difficult to accept.”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk said.

“Of course, but yesterday’s enemy becoming today’s friend isn’t uncommon in the martial world. We can somehow manage our emotions. But Brother Cheonag will be different. After all, he lost his mother to the Myeoncheonhoe.”

“I was worried about that part too, but fortunately Cheonag-i understood.”

“Brother understood?”

When Seol Mujin nodded, Hwangbo Hyeonguk showed a relieved expression.

“Then I’m fine with it. What about you, Sister?”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon shrugged her shoulders.

“All those who directly participated in the conspiracy against the Hwangbo Family are dead, right?”

“Yes. Including Bae Cheonman.”

“Then I’m fine with it. But I think we should tell Father.”

“The secret won’t last long. A year at most.”

“We should keep the secret until then. But can the Third Prince really become emperor?”

“It’s something I can’t guarantee. They say the emperor is sent by heaven, so maybe it’ll work out if heaven helps.”

“He doesn’t seem like someone who relies on such luck…”

“Isn’t what’s really important whether the Third Prince is suitable to be emperor?”

“Since Seol Podoo chose him, he must be suitable.”

“Aren’t you trusting my judgment too much?”

“I’m trusting my own judgment.”

“Pardon?”

“My judgment about Seol Podoo.”

Sang Chiyeon said.

“Young Lady, your flattery is professional level.”

“That’s fortunate. It’s better than being below standard.”

“You’ve learned a lot about social life.”

They had a delicious meal with roasted wild boar and then sparred for two hours.

This time Seol Mujin pressed them hard, so the three had a much more difficult time than before.

“Huff! Huff! At this rate, I’ll win the Dragon Phoenix Tournament at the upcoming Jeongmu Jeonghu.”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon responded to Hwangbo Hyeonguk’s words.

“Of course you should win.”

“It’s not ‘of course.’ Do you know when the Odaesega last produced a Dragon Phoenix Tournament winner?”

“Hmm, it’s been a while?”

“Thirty years. For the past thirty years, the Dragon Phoenix Tournament winners have all been from the Nine Great Sects. Four of those times were Shaolin Temple. The Hwangbo Family has never won even once. And in such circumstances, you say winning is natural. Isn’t that too arrogant?”

Seol Mujin asked.

“What are Jeongmu Jeonghu and the Dragon Phoenix Tournament?”

“You don’t know yet, Brother. Jeongmu Jeonghu is a grand gathering where the orthodox factions of the martial world meet once every three years to strengthen friendships.”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon said.

“If it were just about strengthening friendships, it might not be much, but actually they hold meetings to mediate disputes between orthodox factions or join forces to drive out unorthodox factions.”

“So disputes between orthodox factions are resolved that way.”

“Most are resolved through dialogue between the parties involved, but when that doesn’t work, they go through mediation at Jeongmu Jeonghu. That often solves things. They also designate public enemies of the martial world at those meetings. Anyway, various things happen.”

“What about the Dragon Phoenix Tournament?”

“It’s a martial arts competition. Martial artists love fighting, you know. It started as a kind of entertainment, but before we knew it, the honor of each sect became involved. Any rising star of the orthodox factions who is twenty-two years old or younger can participate.”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk added an explanation.

“The Dragon Phoenix Tournament is a festival for the Nine Great Sects and Odaesega. Over a hundred sects participate in the Dragon Phoenix Tournament, but they can rarely surpass the Nine Great Sects and Odaesega.”

Sang Chiyeon said.

“If Seol Podoo participated, he would win.”

Seol Mujin waved his hands dismissively.

“It’s not a place for me to participate. I’m not even affiliated with a sect.”

“There are about seven months left, so you could qualify within that time.”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk burst into laughter.

“Hehe! It would be interesting if Brother participated in the Dragon Phoenix Tournament.”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon also nodded.

“I can clearly picture people’s surprised faces.”

Seol Mujin said, “That will absolutely never happen.”

***

Jegal Songseon, the head of the Jegal Family, was fifty-five years old but looked no older than his mid-forties.

Jegal Songseon, who had the kind of looks that would have made many women cry in his youth, had been maintaining silence for a full hour with Seol Mujin in front of him.

Slurp—. Only the sound of tea drinking echoed around the reception room.

“You’re handsome.”

“Pardon?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“No.”

He answered for now.

“Hmm. Fall in love while you’re young. When you get old, you can’t even if you want to.”

“It seems you’ve experienced a lot, Family Head.”

Jegal Songseon let out a long sigh.

“That’s my biggest regret in life. Living my whole life with my current wife, whom the family arranged for me, without ever having a proper romance with this face.”

Looking at his expression, he seemed to truly regret it.

“The only thing I know better than Seol Podoo seems to be life experience from living long, so I’m giving you serious advice. Fall in love to your heart’s content while you’re young. You must!”

“I’ll, I’ll try my best.”

Jegal Songseon smiled brightly.

“Looking at Seol Podoo’s face, I predict troubles with women. Good. Very good. Then shall I introduce you to my daughter for experience?”

“What? No, no.”

“Why not? She’s pretty because she takes after me.”

“I think I’ll be too busy to have time for romance right now.”

“Tsk tsk… You’re letting my advice go in one ear and out the other. Romance isn’t done with time, but with passion.”

“Hmm. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Now we need to talk business, so I’ll call Sangun.”

When Jegal Songseon rang the bell on his desk with a ding!, a maid who had been waiting outside opened the door.

“Family Head, did you call?”

“Go and bring Sangun.”

The maid closed the door and disappeared, and less than half an hour later, Zhuge Sangun entered.

Zhuge Sangun in his neat appearance looked very different from when he was a gang leader of the underworld.

“I greet the Family Head.”

“Inseok, I told you to call me Uncle in private settings.”

“It doesn’t seem like a private setting.”

“It is private, private.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Zhuge Sangun’s gaze turned toward Seol Mujin.

Seol Mujin could read the welcome reflected in Zhuge Sangun’s eyes.

Seol Mujin stood up from his seat and spread his arms toward Zhuge Sangun.

The amount of joy was too great to end with just a handshake.

Zhuge Sangun also warmly embraced Seol Mujin.

“It’s been a long time, Seol Podoo.”

“You look well.”

Zhuge Sangun was startled by Seol Mujin’s polite speech.

“Why so suddenly…?”

“Because you’re no longer the Heuksa Association leader.”

“Still, I feel a bit disappointed by the distance.”

“When you return as the Wangho Gang Leader later, I’ll speak down to you then.”

But Zhuge Sangun would never return as the Wangho Gang Leader.

Seol Mujin said to Jegal Songseon.

“If we’re talking business, it would be good to call Hyeonguk too. We need to hear the Hwangbo Family’s opinion as well.”

“Can Hyeonguk represent the Hwangbo Family’s opinion?”

“Doesn’t he have sufficient qualifications?”

“It seems the Hwangbo Family has decided to appoint Hyeonguk as the young master. Then he’s qualified.”

Shortly after, Hwangbo Hyeonguk also joined them.

Jegal Songseon said to Seol Mujin.

“First, I offer my sincere apologies for our family’s rudeness toward Seol Podoo.”

How quick with the apology.

“I also feel sorry for handling things a bit harshly.”

Now that we’ve become allies, I should be courteous.

“Now that the past is behind us, let’s talk about the future. Sangun made a very interesting proposal. You’ve heard it too, haven’t you, Seol Podoo?”

“Yes. It’s both interesting and worrying.”

“The worrying part would be…?”

“Unifying the Odaesega doesn’t seem like it will be easy. Not just in terms of will, but physically the distances are far, aren’t they? The Sichuan Tang Family alone is located in the Sichuan region.”

Zhuge Sangun said.

“I’ve thought of one solution for that part. We could place the Odaesega alliance in one location. I think Jinan would be good. Since Seol Podoo is there. Communication with each family through messenger birds shouldn’t take too long.”

Seol Mujin nodded slightly.

“That doesn’t seem like a bad idea. The next problem is unifying the Odaesega…”

“The Namgung Family, Hwangbo Family, and Jegal Family have already agreed to join forces. The rest are the Sichuan Tang Family and Hebei Peng Family. I think the Hebei Peng Family is particularly important.”

“Because they’re geographically close to Beijing?”

“That’s right.”

While it was true that the Hebei Peng Family had the weakest power among the Odaesega, they weren’t a force to be ignored.

Seol Mujin asked Jegal Songseon.

“Have you contacted the Hebei Peng Family and Sichuan Tang Family?”

“I sent messenger birds, but haven’t received replies yet.”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk said.

“Wouldn’t it be better to visit them directly? The Third Prince isn’t the only one seeking cooperation with murim forces.”

We must also consider the possibility that the Sichuan Tang Family and Hebei Peng Family have joined hands with other imperial relatives.

Jegal Songseon said.

“That’s why I didn’t write detailed stories in the messenger birds. I just hinted that there was something important to discuss in person.”

Zhuge Sangun cautiously offered his opinion.

“And this is my personal thought, but do we necessarily need to limit our forces to just the Odaesega?”

Jegal Songseon asked.

“Are you thinking of the Nine Great Sects too?”

“Wouldn’t it be much better if we gathered the orthodox faction’s forces in one place?”

“Hmm…”

Actually, Jegal Songseon had considered that thought as well.

But he was concerned about the subtle friction between the Nine Great Sects and Odaesega.

Though they were both orthodox factions, there was a history of the Nine Great Sects and Odaesega secretly keeping each other in check.

So conflicts often arose and sometimes escalated into major fights.

The Jeongmujeonghoo was created largely to prevent such fights.

Zhuge Sangun said.

“I’m not unaware of the friction between the Odaesega and Nine Great Sects, but I don’t think now is the time to put pride first. If we’re not careful, orthodox faction sects might end up in life-or-death battles with each other.”

Since Zhuge Sangun’s words were correct, there was no way to refute them.

The fight for imperial power is a battle waged over the entire realm.

Murim naturally existed within that realm, and if they chose different sides, conflict would inevitably occur.

The imagination of Shaolin and Wudang, the Namgung Family and Hebei Peng Family crossing swords and drawing blades to kill each other might not remain just imagination.

Jegal Songseon muttered like a groan.

“Such a thing must not happen.”

“So shouldn’t we prevent it beforehand?”

Seol Mujin said.

“There’s supposed to be a Jeongmujeonghoo in seven months, right?”

“I don’t know if this Jeongmujeonghoo will be held safely. As you know, the current situation is so chaotic. And with seven months remaining, who knows what might happen in that time.”

The Central Plains situation was changing rapidly day by day.

If Seol Mujin hadn’t suppressed Ju Hyeongwang’s rebellion immediately, there was no telling how far those flames would have spread.

When a major murim sect becomes involved in an imperial relative’s rebellion, the aftermath would shake murim in an instant.

So those seven months were as precarious as walking on thin ice.

“But Seol Podoo can’t go around visiting every sect one by one, can he?”

Seol Mujin going wouldn’t be a sharp solution either.

Seol Mujin said.

“How about we first strengthen the unity of the Odaesega, which was our target?”

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