The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 80

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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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80
Woo Geom-san’s Conquest
Liu Jiayan regained consciousness the following morning.
The very first thing she did was seek out Woo Geom-san to express her deepest gratitude.
“I will never forget this kindness, even in death. Please forgive my previous rudeness. The circumstances were so dire that I grew suspicious of my benefactor.”
“I’m just glad you survived unharmed. As I mentioned before, the most important thing now is to find a proper doctor and recover.”
“Could you not continue to look after me, Benefactor? Once we reach our destination, I will surely reward you handsomely.”
“I will do my best to care for you until our paths diverge. However, anything beyond that will be difficult. I have my own urgent reasons to return to my hometown.”
“I’m sorry. I made an unreasonable request.”
“I am sorry as well.”
Liu Jiayan wore an apologetic expression at Woo Geom-san’s apology.
She was the one who had been stubborn, yet Woo Geom-san was the one apologizing, making her feel utterly embarrassed.
After contemplating for a moment, Liu Jiayan held something out to Woo Geom-san.
“Please accept this as a token of my gratitude.”
“What is this?”
“It is called the Eunwolgeom. I wish I could give you more, but this is all I currently possess.”
What she offered was a small dagger.
It was a bizarrely shaped dagger, curved like a crescent moon, and its hilt and scabbard were so heavily encrusted with countless jewels that it looked remarkably splendid.
Even at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object.
Woo Geom-san shook his head and said,
“I didn’t do it expecting a reward.”
“But…”
“If you truly wish to repay me, please gift me a silver needle later on.”
“A silver needle?”
“I’ve found that obtaining proper silver needles isn’t easy. I would be even more grateful if you could gift me a silver needle crafted by a master artisan.”
“Understood. As soon as I return to my family manor, I will search for an artisan and have them forge an exquisite needle. Where should I send it?”
“I will go collect it myself later.”
“In that case, you just need to find the Qingyu Clan. If you happen to not know…”
“By any chance, do you mean the Qingyu Clan located in Yeogang?”
“That’s right. You know of it?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of it.”
Woo Geom-san nodded.
Yeogang was a city located south of Poyang Lake, not very far from Jinjiang where the Woo Family Manor was situated.
Therefore, Woo Geom-san was already well aware of it.
Although the Qingyu Clan was not quite on par with the recently reorganized Five Great Clans, it was a family with formidable underlying strength.
At the very least, there was no rival capable of matching them within a radius of several hundred li around Poyang Lake.
“I will make sure to have the silver needle crafted and ready, so please ensure you visit.”
“Yes, I will definitely stop by.”
Only after receiving Woo Geom-san’s firm assurance did Liu Jiayan return to her spot.
Left alone, Woo Geom-san unfolded the lower volume of the Bojebang.
The medicine in the upper volume had already been thoroughly validated through the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie.
The fact that the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie worked meant that the medicinal pills and secret formulas recorded in the lower volume of the Bojebang would be effective as well.
“The Yeongbo Vitality Pill is good, but I need a medicine with even greater efficacy.”
The Yeongbo Vitality Pill, crafted from the secret heritage of the Quanzhen Sect, was a medicine with great versatility. Anyone could take it without experiencing side effects, and it significantly boosted vitality.
Thanks to this, it offered the advantage of preventing minor illnesses almost entirely, but it was correct to assume it had no effects beyond that.
The only exception was Hongbaek, who was currently following Woo Geom-san from up in the sky.
For some unknown reason, Hongbaek, who had taken the Yeongbo Vitality Pill regularly for a long time, had grown several times larger than an ordinary hawk.
However, this was a highly unusual occurrence. No noticeable changes had appeared among the people of Yunjung Village who had taken the Yeongbo Vitality Pill for a long time.
The lower volume of the Bojebang contained detailed illustrations of the medicinal herbs, poisonous herbs, and poisonous substances existing under heaven, and it was densely packed with methods on how to utilize or treat them.
Among these, there were methods for compounding numerous medicinal herbs to create spiritual elixirs, or mixing poisonous herbs and poisonous substances to brew deadly poisons.
He had absolutely zero interest in creating deadly poisons, but spiritual elixirs were a different story.
What particularly caught Woo Geom-san’s eye in the lower volume of the Bojebang were the Hongeun Bowon-dan, which showed extraordinary efficacy for internal injuries, and Sinmyeonggo, a wound salve that exerted an immediate effect on external injuries.
Medicines for internal and external injuries were what martial artists, who lived alongside wounds, needed most.
Unless it was a medical sect like Saengsagok, creating proper medicine for internal and external injuries was impossible, making them incredibly difficult to obtain.
“Even if it isn’t because of her, I must absolutely craft these two kinds of medicine.”
Both the Hongeun Bowon-dan and Sinmyeonggo required dozens of different medicinal herbs. Fortunately, with the exception of the two or three herbs that formed the core, they were all things that could be easily procured on the market.
Even the core medicinal herbs were simply difficult to find, not impossible to obtain.
“If I tell people I bought such a magnificent medical manual at a market, no one will believe me.”
Woo Geom-san thought that heavenly luck had sided with him.
A medical book like the original Bojebang was not something that could be bought simply by offering money.
It was a magnificent medical manual that would be treated as a treasure by any sect.
He could not help but think that heaven itself had watched over him, allowing him to lay his hands on such an item.
Suddenly, he thought of his father.
He was a man who was utterly blunt to the world, a single-minded person who thought of nothing but the Woo Family Manor.
There were times when Woo Geom-san felt slighted, as his father seemed to care for the Woo Family Manor more than his own children, but he had never resented him for it.
This was because he knew just how difficult it was to completely protect and pass down the Woo Family Manor, which possessed four hundred years of history, to future generations.
Ever since securing the shipping rights, the Woo Family Manor had continuously faced challenges from other sects.
The shipping rights held by the Woo Family Manor were rumored to be the most lucrative among all the shipping rights possessed by the Seven Great Water Gates.
This was because the Woo Family Manor was settled at a strategic bottleneck where the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal intersected.
Furthermore, because it connected all the way to the sea through the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, countless ships came in to unload goods every single day.
All of these goods were transported across the entirety of the Jianghu via land and water routes.
Naturally, an astronomical amount of profit was generated.
Because of this, numerous sects cast greedy eyes upon the shipping rights of the Woo Family Manor and tried to snatch them away.
Woo Jang-myeong had been so busy dealing with this that he could not properly pay attention to his children.
It was to the extent that Woo Geom-san had relied on his eldest brother, Woo Mun-san, like a father instead of Woo Jang-myeong.
Even so, a father was still a father.
Even if he had not looked after him affectionately in daily life, he could not bring himself to blindly resent him.
As he grew older, he came to understand why Woo Jang-myeong had to act that way.
Although he did not know what caused Woo Jang-myeong to collapse, he could not just leave him to die like this.
If only for his fallen father, he had to master the medicine and pharmacology of the Bojebang.
Woo Geom-san devoured the Bojebang even as he walked along the road.
“Well, that’s truly bizarre. How can he walk so straight while looking at a book?”
“He doesn’t even trip over any loose stones.”
It was to the point that Gong Hwapyeong and Zhang Yinu could only shake their heads in disbelief.
He did not know how long they had been walking like that.
Suddenly, voices from the front of the Feiyun Merchant Group drifted over.
“It’s the Yangtze River!”
“Wow! We’ve arrived.”
When Woo Geom-san lifted his head, a massive river came into view in the far distance.
It was the Yangtze River, his primary destination.
“I’ve finally arrived.”
Woo Geom-san tucked the Bojebang away into his bundle.
The place where the Feiyun Merchant Group arrived was a county called Cheongang County, located along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Cheongang County possessed a large wharf where ships navigating the Yangtze River could dock.
If one boarded a ship here, they could comfortably travel to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Woo Geom-san muttered to himself as he looked at the wharf.
“It’s the banner of Punglim Fort.”
Banners symbolizing Punglim Fort were fluttering in the wind all across the wharf.
This meant that the master of this place was Punglim Fort.
To Woo Geom-san, Punglim Fort was not an unfamiliar name.
This was because it was one of the Seven Great Water Gates, just like the Woo Family Manor.
However, because the distance from the Woo Family Manor was too great, and sects like the Hongjo Bang and the Tianjin Escort Agency were sandwiched in between, they had never had a reason to meet directly.
His father, Woo Jang-myeong, occasionally attended the gatherings of the Seven Great Water Gates, but an opportunity to interact had never been granted to the third son, Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san smiled as he looked at the banner symbolizing Punglim Fort. This was because the banner of Punglim Fort reminded him of the banners of the Woo Family Manor.
Countless banners just like that were pitched across the wharf managed by the Woo Family Manor as well.
The familiar scenery put Woo Geom-san’s mind at ease.
Right then, the Chief of the Feiyun Merchant Group, Niu Jinshu, approached Woo Geom-san.
“We have arrived at our destination, but what will you do, Young Master Woo? We plan to stay here and wait for the ship we contracted to arrive… If you aren’t in a hurry, you can stay a few more days and board it with us.”
“Thank you for the hospitality, but my situation requires me to leave as quickly as possible, so I will look for a separate ship.”
“Understood. If you have your reasons, it can’t be helped.”
Niu Jinshu conceded with a look of regret.
While he did not know the level of Woo Geom-san’s martial arts, he was a person worth keeping close based on his outstanding medicine alone.
He had been thinking of recruiting him somehow while traveling together, so it was naturally regrettable that Woo Geom-san was going his separate way.
Woo Geom-san offered a cupped hand salute to Niu Jinshu and turned around.
Along the way, he also bade farewell to Gong Hwapyeong, Zhang Yinu, and the others.
In truth, he wanted to continue checking up on the physical condition of Ning Yunxiao as well as Liu Jiayan, but going to the Woo Family Manor took priority right now.
After finishing his greetings, Woo Geom-san caught one of the sailors walking around the wharf and asked,
“Where should I go to buy a ferry ticket?”
“A ferry ticket? See that shabby building on the left side of the wharf over there?”
“Yes!”
“If you go there, you can buy a ferry ticket.”
“Thank you.”
After thanking the sailor, Woo Geom-san entered the building he had been directed to.
Inside the building sat a mysterious young woman and two men.
The men were wearing ordinary sailor attire, so there was nothing unusual about them, but the woman was unexpected.
This was because, normally, places operating ships did not employ or permit women to reside there.
There was a superstition that boarding a woman or employing one on a ship would bring misfortune.
The woman was wearing a red dress that openly revealed her chest.
The gentle smile playing on her lips made her look somewhat vulgar at a glance, but Woo Geom-san noticed that her gaze was exceedingly cold and sharp.
At Woo Geom-san’s appearance, the woman smiled brightly and made a grand fuss.
“Oh my! Look who it is. What a handsome guest. What brings you here?”
“By any chance, is there a ship setting sail today?”
“Where are you headed? Upriver or downriver?”
“Downriver.”
“If it’s downstream, there is a ship setting sail tomorrow around noon, though.”
“Noon?”
“It comes in during the morning, but because they have to unload the cargo they brought and load new cargo, it will probably be around noon before they can set sail.”
Ships navigating the Yangtze River basically transport not only people but also vast amounts of cargo.
Because of that, loading and unloading cargo takes a significant amount of time.
The woman dressed in red asked,
“So, how far down are you planning to go?”
“I intend to go as far as Yichang.”
“You’re going quite a long way. To go all the way to Yichang, I’ll have to charge you three taels of silver.”
“Does that three taels include food expenses?”
“As if!”
The woman gave a flirtatious smile.
“I suppose I’ll have to prepare it myself then?”
“Well, the ship stops at other wharves along the way, so you can just buy food then. If you want, you could always prepare it in advance.”
“Understood. I will purchase a ferry ticket.”
“Good choice. There’s no means of transportation as fast as a ship when going to Yichang.”
The woman spoke using a mix of formal and casual speech.
If anyone else had done that, it would have been off-putting, but perhaps because that manner of speaking suited her well, it didn’t arouse any animosity.
When Woo Geom-san handed over three taels of silver, the woman issued him a ferry ticket.
“It sets sail right at noon, so make sure you aren’t late.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Woo Geom-san replied as he received the ferry ticket.
The woman stared intently at Woo Geom-san’s face and said,
“You really are handsome. If you don’t have a place to stay tonight, you could always lodge here.”
“I should sleep at an inn. Thank you for the hospitality.”
As Woo Geom-san walked outside without a shred of lingering attachment, the smile that had been plastered on the woman’s face vanished like a lie.
“Zhang Oh!”
“Yes!”
In an instant, the burly man beside her leapt to his feet in response.
“Follow that man and find out where he’s staying.”
“Why? Are you planning to break into his room tonight?”
“Hey! Do I look like such a loose woman to you?”
“Yes!”
“What do you mean ‘yes’ again? What do you take me for…”
“Honestly, that guy is so handsome that even a man could fall for him. He’s exactly the Chief’s type.”
“Of course he’s my type, but…”
“Is it really okay to mobilize your subordinates for personal matters like this?”
At Zhang Oh’s words, the woman shouted out in anger.
“Who said anything about mobilizing you for personal matters? Anyone can see he’s exuding a completely extraordinary aura. If that’s the case, we obviously need to gather information, you brat!”
“Ah!”
“What do you mean ‘ah’? That’s exactly why we are stationed here. Hurry up and chase after him to find out his lodging. Don’t forget to dig into his background and identity either.”
“Yes! Understood.”
Watching Zhang Oh scramble frantically out the door, the woman let out a sigh.
“Ha! When will that blockhead ever grow up?”
The woman’s name was Im So-ryeong.
She was the Chief of the Inspection Hall of Punglim Fort.

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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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