The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 42

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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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42
Woo Geom-san’s Quest for Supremacy
“Ahem! I was far too agitated earlier. My apologies!”
Master Seo apologized immediately upon entering the room.
“It is fine. Such things happen. Please, take a seat.”
Master Seo furrowed his brows as he watched Woo Geom-san reply with a smile.
It was because he felt once again that this was no easy opponent.
It is easy to get angry or reveal one’s emotions.
Ordinary people tend to display their emotions even more easily when they believe they hold the upper hand.
It had not been long since the negotiations broke down when Master Seo came back seeking him.
An average person would naturally assume they had seized the upper hand and speak harshly. Yet Woo Geom-san did not get angry at all, and instead welcomed Master Seo with a smile.
He knew all too well that dealing with this type of person was never simple.
In the end, Master Seo admitted he had misjudged the man.
‘I became complacent because I’ve driven transactions my way so easily until now. I forgot that the mountains hold not just deer and rabbits, but tigers as well.’
Because he had manipulated things to his liking for decades, thinking this time would naturally be the same was his critical mistake.
Master Seo braced himself and resolved to face Woo Geom-san with a fresh mind.
“Though I spoke rashly out of anger, practically nothing I said was wrong. When you factor in the expenses of traveling such a long way, plus the shipping costs and the like, I simply cannot raise the price by much. I have to make a living too, don’t I? So, I will raise it by ten more silver taels.”
“Ten silver taels?”
“Yes! Even raising it by this much leaves me with a disastrous loss.”
Woo Geom-san’s smile deepened at Master Seo’s miserable, dying voice.
‘He was threatening me just a moment ago, and now he’s appealing to emotion?’
Woo Geom-san looked Master Seo straight in the eye.
The moment their eyes met, Master Seo flinched.
It was because Woo Geom-san’s gaze, infused with a Profound Aura, seemed to pierce right into his innermost thoughts.
‘Why is this youngster’s gaze so incredibly deep?’
He never expected to see such a gaze from a young man so much younger than himself, so the bewilderment he felt could only grow larger.
Right then, Woo Geom-san rose from his seat and approached the brazier.
A kettle sat atop the piping hot brazier.
Woo Geom-san had filled it with water and set it there the moment he entered the room a short while ago.
Woo Geom-san brought the kettle over and poured it into the teacups he had prepared in advance.
The teacups contained an appropriate amount of tea leaves.
As the water poured in, a fragrant aroma of tea completely filled the room.
Woo Geom-san asked Master Seo.
“How do you like the aroma?”
“It is excellent!”
“In what way is it excellent?”
“That is…”
“It is subtle and pure. The aroma, which clears even the mind and body, is such that no famous tea in the Jianghu can match it.”
Woo Geom-san extended the cup of steeped tea toward Master Seo.
“Have a taste.”
“Mmh!”
Master Seo let out a low groan and brought the teacup to his lips.
The moment a single sip filled his mouth, a savory yet smooth Huigan delightfully stimulated his tongue.
This Yunjung Tea, cultivated in Yunjung Village, possessed characteristics similar to Longjing Tea, which was hailed as the king of teas. While the taste of the tea was similar, it actually surpassed Longjing Tea in its aroma and deep lingering aftertaste.
Because of this, anyone who tasted Yunjung Tea even once could never forget its flavor. Thus, the high officials and noble lords who tried Yunjung Tea consistently sought it out, meaning it naturally had to be sold at an astronomical price.
Buying it for next to nothing and selling it for an enormous price naturally yielded staggering profits.
Because of this, Master Seo’s standing within the Merchant Group skyrocketed tremendously.
That was the very reason Master Seo painfully traveled all the way to the foot of this distant Cheonbaeksan three or four times every year.
He came in person because he did not want to reveal an incredibly lucrative client to others.
However, a variable had arisen this time.
The young chief of the Merchant Group, who was rumored to be brilliant, happened to accompany him.
With even the young chief along, if the transaction fell through, not only his standing within the Merchant Group but even his trustworthiness could be shaken.
He absolutely had to prevent such a disaster.
The problem was that the Woo Geom-san before him was by no means an easy target.
Woo Geom-san forced Master Seo to taste the Yunjung Tea himself right before his eyes.
It was because he was certain that even after tasting this famous tea, Master Seo would not be able to disparage it as nothing special.
Woo Geom-san, who drank his tea just like Master Seo, continued speaking.
“I, too, have tasted every tea there is to drink. Among them were Mengding Ganlu, Huangshan Maofeng, and Longjing Tea. Yet no other tea could leave such a deep aftertaste or make the mind as clear as this Yunjung Tea. Am I wrong?”
“That is…”
“If I am, speak honestly and tell me I am wrong.”
“Sigh! Honestly, it possesses a flavor that is not inferior to them.”
“I thought as much. If that is the case, it means this Yunjung Tea also ranks among the famous teas, so don’t you think that charging a mere fifty silver taels for twenty donkeys’ worth, a total weight of two thousand geun, is truly going too far?”
“……”
“Of course, I acknowledge that expenses including shipping costs are considerable, just as Master Seo said. However, even when taking expenses into account, fifty silver taels is clearly an absurdly low price. I am aware that Longjing Tea commands more than two silver taels per geun.”
“Hold on! Yunjung Tea does not have that kind of recognition yet. Asking for a price similar to Longjing Tea is utterly preposterous.”
Woo Geom-san nodded at Master Seo’s counterargument.
“Of course, I am not asking you to pay the price of Longjing Tea right this second either. However, we can use it as a benchmark.”
“Using Longjing Tea as a benchmark? From our perspective, it might actually be better to just take it by force.”
Master Seo openly displayed his dissatisfaction, but Woo Geom-san merely smiled.
“Well, I suppose you could do that. I saw earlier that you brought as many as ten Escort Guards with you. But what about next time? If we no longer cultivate the tea, how do you plan to obtain it next time? And would you even be able to find your way to our village?”
“……”
Master Seo was driven further and further into a corner.
Threats did not work, and he was being outargued logically.
The other party held the just cause and the upper hand in everything.
From Master Seo’s perspective, it was enough to drive him utterly mad.
Having always dealt only with simple-minded village youths who knew nothing of the world, facing someone who was thoroughly well-versed in worldly affairs and skilled at trading rendered his dignity and negotiating power completely useless.
An opponent like this was a first in his seventy years of life.
Woo Geom-san delivered the decisive blow to the speechless Master Seo.
“Furthermore, if you use force to seize the goods, would the Man-sang Alliance be pleased? The Man-sang Alliance values trust and good faith above all else, after all.”
“Gasps! How do you know that…”
“As I thought, you belong to the Man-sang Alliance.”
Woo Geom-san smiled.
His assertion that Master Seo belonged to the Man-sang Alliance was a calculated guess.
No matter how much he thought about it, the only Merchant Group capable of sending people to such a distant, remote region was the Man-sang Alliance.
The Man-sang Alliance was one of the Seven Great Water Gates and, just like the Woo Family Manor, held shipping rights.
They operated four large sub-divisions across the world, and under these four sub-divisions, they placed dozens of branch offices.
The dozens of branch offices searched for and traded goods that could make money all over the world.
Master Seo was the person in charge of running a branch office under the Western Branch Office.
To him, this Yunjung Tea was the most precious trade item.
By monopolizing the trade of Yunjung Tea for decades, he had been able to solidify his position.
Master Seo asked Woo Geom-san with a look of utter exhaustion.
“Who on earth are you? Who are you to understand the state of the world so clearly?”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? I am a member of Yunjung Village. Do you feel like negotiating properly now?”
“Sigh! My own eyes were blind for failing to recognize the caliber of my negotiating partner from the start. Fine! Let us conduct a proper negotiation from now on.”
The look in Master Seo’s eyes changed.
It was the gaze of someone looking at a proper opponent, not an ignorant mountain rustic.
From that moment on, a fierce negotiation began.
Baek Wol-sang quietly lifted his teacup and watched the debate between Woo Geom-san and Master Seo.
Though no actual swords were drawn, a war of words sharper than a blade was unfolding right before his eyes.
Listening to them ruthlessly gouge out each other’s weaknesses made his mind grow utterly faint.
Their war of words finally came to an end after nearly two shijin.
In the end, Master Seo accepted Woo Geom-san’s proposal with a face of total exhaustion.
“We will make it one silver tael for every ten geun of Yunjung Tea.”
“Very well.”
Although it was a mere one-twentieth of the price of Longjing Tea, it was not a bad price when taking into account its reputation in the Jianghu and the shipping costs.
The reason Longjing Tea could be traded at such a high price was due to its quality, but also because its place of production was West Lake, which could be called the center of the Jianghu. Rather, people traveled there to buy it, so no shipping costs were incurred.
On the other hand, bringing Yunjung Tea all the way to the Jianghu incurred astronomical shipping costs. That difference had to be acknowledged.
Furthermore, demanding full value from the start would cause many problems in various ways, so Woo Geom-san also decided to step back at this point.
The weight of the Yunjung Tea loaded onto the twenty donkeys exceeded two thousand geun.
It was worth a whopping two hundred silver taels.
Considering they used to receive fifty silver taels before, it was a business that yielded more than four times the profit.
Baek Wol-sang’s jaw dropped.
Thanks to Woo Geom-san’s intervention, they were able to pull off a deal worth more than four times as much.
‘This is insane. Truly insane!’
***
The news that they had earned a whopping two hundred silver taels from this transaction spread rapidly among the village youths.
“Is it really two hundred taels?”
“No, how? Did he perform some kind of magic?”
“That just shows how much Master Seo had been ripping us off for our tea.”
“If not for Geom-san, we would have kept getting robbed blind like that.”
“Geom-san is a lucky charm.”
While the village youths were praising Woo Geom-san, Master Seo was chewing on the bitter taste of defeat in his room.
“It is my complete defeat.”
It was a feeling of defeat he had not experienced in a long time.
This was the first time since he threw himself into the Man-sang Alliance that he had been so unilaterally dragged around by someone.
Woo Geom-san saw through the situation perfectly and knew exactly what to do to lead the negotiation to his advantage.
He had suffered a total defeat after meeting an opponent who knew how to fully utilize the power he possessed.
“His outward appearance is like a gently raised noble young master, but it feels like a hundred foxes live inside him. Where did such a fellow come from?”
He was certainly not a native of Yunjung Village.
Although he had never entered Yunjung Village directly, he had met numerous people from Yunjung Village.
Thanks to that, he knew their temperament and character better than anyone.
A person’s temperament is partly something they are born with, but it is also influenced by their environment.
People who live in an isolated place like Yunjung Village are mostly ignorant of the world and tend to be gentle and honest.
Every person from Yunjung Village whom Master Seo had met until now was exactly like that. Thanks to that, buying Yunjung Tea from them for next to nothing had not been difficult.
If he glared just a little or raised his voice, they would lose their nerve and meekly follow Master Seo’s words.
Yet Woo Geom-san was different from them.
He did not back down against Master Seo’s momentum and led the negotiation in a direction favorable to himself. At the same time, it wasn’t as if he completely crushed Master Seo’s face either.
He had conceded just enough for Master Seo to still leave a reasonable profit.
Thanks to that, despite suffering a total defeat by Woo Geom-san, he did not feel entirely terrible.
More than that, he was curious about the existence called Woo Geom-san.
“The good old days are all gone.”
“What do you mean by all gone?”
A tender voice cut in right then.
Startled, Master Seo looked toward the entrance and saw a young lady of marriageable age peering at him through the slightly open door.
“Young Lady?”
“I knocked on the door several times, but there was no answer.”
“I was caught up in other thoughts and failed to hear you. My apologies.”
“No, it is fine.”
“The negotiation… went well. We will be able to continue supplying Yunjung Tea to the Main Headquarters in the future.”
“That is a relief. Since I did not have to step in.”
“Such a thing will never happen in the future either. At least not where I am.”
“If you ever find yourself in trouble, please let me know at any time. For I am always ready to help.”
Master Seo furrowed his brows at the girl’s confident voice.
He knew all too well just how outstanding her abilities were.
The girl right before his eyes was none other than someone with such incredible business talent that she had been appointed as the young chief at the mere age of fifteen.
The girl’s name was So Seol-yeong.
She was the only daughter of the Man-sang Alliance Chief, So Han-gyeong, and a genius hailed as a natural-born merchant.
Over her face, Woo Geom-san’s face seemed to overlap.
‘Does this mean they are of the same genius caliber?’

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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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