The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 146

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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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Chapter 146. How Leisurely

 

 

Three days is a short time.

Time passed in an instant.

Ha Mu-baek visited the estate where Gung Mu-hyeok was staying.

Early dawn.

A time when all around was quiet.

Gung Mu-hyeok had finished all preparations and was waiting for Ha Mu-baek.

“Let’s go.”

The two men mounted their horses.

Two horses slowly began to walk.

Only Gongsun Mu-oe and Gongsun Hwa-gyeong quietly watched and saw them off.

Gung So-yu was still deep in sleep.

“Please let it be settled well without great turmoil…”

Gongsun Mu-oe muttered quietly, and Gongsun Hwa-gyeong watched her husband’s retreating figure with a worried face, her hands clasped tightly together.

The journey was peaceful.

Though it was winter when bandits should have been swarming, they didn’t encounter a single one.

This was because Ha Mu-baek used his Ki Sense to avoid troublesome situations.

There was no point in clashing with them unnecessarily, as dealing with those bastards would only be bothersome.

Thus, a rather steep-looking mountain appeared before the two men.

“The mountain terrain is quite magnificent.”

Ha Mu-baek spoke of what he saw.

“More than the terrain, this mountain has quite many good mineral veins. That’s why Manmulryeon established itself here. For blacksmiths, there’s no treasure like excellent minerals.”

Gung Mu-hyeok spoke with a gentle smile on his lips.

Considering what awaited them ahead, it wasn’t a situation to smile about.

Yet looking at that mountain naturally brought a smile to his face.

He was a born blacksmith.

So was Gung Mu-hyeok.

Cheonjung Mountain in Henan Province.

This was the entrance to the mountain where Manmulryeon was located.

“Above all, Cheonjung Mountain also has veins of Ten Thousand Year Old Black Gold Iron. Though it’s extremely rare.”

Pride was embedded in Gung Mu-hyeok’s voice.

“Ten Thousand Year Old Black Gold Iron?”

This was a metal Ha Mu-baek was hearing about for the first time.

He thought he had accumulated quite a bit of experience.

“It’s natural that you don’t know. It’s an extremely rare metal that few people know exists.”

“It must be an amazing metal.”

The path toward the middle of Cheonjung Mountain.

When talk of his area of expertise came up, Gung Mu-hyeok’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“It’s truly the finest metal. Just using a very small amount can easily create a famous sword. Of course, it’s equally difficult to handle.”

“I only know about Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Gung Mu-hyeok nodded.

“That’s normal.”

Gung Mu-hyeok’s eyes sparkled once more as he answered. He looked as if he had decided something.

“I see. More than that, it probably won’t be easy.”

Ha Mu-baek spoke while looking at Manmulryeon, faintly visible in the distance on the mountainside.

 

***

 

News of Ha Mu-baek and Gung Mu-hyeok’s arrival was immediately conveyed to Gung Do-hyeok.

Cheonjung Mountain was Manmulryeon’s territory.

The moment the two began climbing the mountain, Manmulryeon already knew of their presence.

Since it was the Ryeon-ju’s return, they were simply watching.

“The Elder Council?”

“They’re all absorbed in the Ten Thousand Year Old Black Gold Iron.”

At his subordinate’s words, Gung Do-hyeok nodded.

“You’ve blocked all communication lines to that side?”

“We’ve blocked them all since three days ago.”

Three days ago.

The time when they first learned that Gung Mu-hyeok and Ha Mu-baek were coming to Manmulryeon.

With Haomun having broken away, they learned of it late.

If Haomun had continued performing missions, they would have known when they left Muchang.

“The traitors?”

Gung Do-hyeok’s question.

“We’ve imprisoned them all in Thunder Prison.”

The subordinate answered with a sinister look in his eyes.

They had blocked the Elder Council’s eyes and ears, and imprisoned all those who supported Gung Mu-hyeok.

They had been frantically busy handling everything in just three days.

They had even stopped analyzing the blueprint for Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder.

“Wi Sang-hyeong.”

“Yes, Ryeon-ju.”

Gung Do-hyeok looked at his confidant who called him Ryeon-ju.

“After today passes, you will be Manmulryeon’s Vice Ryeon-ju.”

“I will devote my loyalty, Ryeon-ju.”

In the Great Hall with just the two of them.

Wi Sang-hyeong prostrated himself fully before Gung Do-hyeok.

Manmulryeon.

True to its name as a Ryeon, Manmulryeon originally began as an alliance of numerous blacksmith families.

Those who had gathered at Cheonjung Mountain in search of good mineral veins created this alliance to protect their safety and interests.

It had somehow grown large enough to become one of the Eight Rising Sects.

In that process, the name Ryeon became meaningless as it solidified like a single sect.

The Ryeon-ju had always been from the Gung family, and the Elder Council was also occupied by other specific families through generations.

Families that had been eliminated in that process but still harbored ambitions.

One of them was the Wi family.

The Family Head of the Wi family, Wi Sang-hyeong.

His meeting with Gung Do-hyeok and becoming his confidant was a predetermined sequence.

A younger sibling overthrowing his elder sibling to become Ryeon-ju.

That alone would collapse Manmulryeon’s established powers and allow new forces to take their place.

The Wi family would rise to the highest position among them.

Second only to one, above ten thousand others.

To the position of Vice Ryeon-ju.

Wi Sang-hyeong had recognized his desires before Gung Do-hyeok himself did.

The moment he noticed Gung Do-hyeok’s ambition, he became his confidant and bet his stakes on the gamble of a lifetime.

A decisive battle where he put himself and his family on the gambling table.

That day was today.

“The preparations?”

“We just need to shut down the Elder Council’s workshop and we’re done.”

The Elder Council.

Old monsters who worship Manmulryeon’s traditions.

They would side with the Ryeon-ju no matter what happened.

Until Gung Do-hyeok ascended to the position of Ryeon-ju, they were nothing but enemies.

The Elder Council only respected him because he was the Vice Ryeon-ju who had been delegated many responsibilities by his brother, the Ryeon-ju.

The moment his brother returned and revealed his actions, the Elder Council would side with his brother and call him a traitor.

Then even those he had painstakingly won over would clearly stand with his brother.

Only thirty percent of Manmulryeon’s total forces had pledged absolute loyalty to him.

‘I suppose I am a traitor. One who’s about to violate the natural order.’

Gung Do-hyeok chuckled softly.

“How far have they come?”

“At their current pace, they should reach the main gate in half a hour.”

“How leisurely. Hehe.”

Laughter spilled out.

His brother was surely coming to execute him.

Yet he was approaching at a pace as if touring Cheonjung Mountain.

Was he overflowing with confidence because he was with that monster?

“The Guard Corps?”

The Ryeon-ju’s Guard Corps.

In reality, it was Gung Do-hyeok’s Guard Corps.

He had completely made the Guard Corps of about a hundred members into his hands and feet.

Thanks to the biggest obstacle, the Dan-ju, leaving for Muchang with his brother, winning over those who remained wasn’t difficult.

In truth, quite many people in Manmulryeon had resentment festering in their hearts.

Manmulryeon had become stagnant water that didn’t flow.

That alone had planted resentment in those who experienced frustration.

Gung Do-hyeok had merely nurtured his desire for the Ryeon-ju position seeing his weak brother’s appearance.

But Manmulryeon’s reality was helping him.

There were many who wanted change.

Thirty percent of Manmulryeon’s members wanted change. It wasn’t a small number.

Even if the remaining people were satisfied with Manmulryeon’s current state, it meant there were also many with complaints.

The one most surprised by this fact was Gung Do-hyeok himself.

After meeting with Sam Ryeong-ju.

After telling him of his resolve.

When he was about to make his move.

His subordinate Wi Sang-hyeong had confided in him first.

That day, Wi Sang-hyeong became Gung Do-hyeok’s confidant.

Surpassing all those who had already lined up behind Gung Do-hyeok.

And his performance afterward was brilliant.

As if he had been preparing in advance, he won over those who wanted change and made them his allies.

Thus Gung Do-hyeok expanded his power.

Those who opposed him were either persuaded and absorbed, or if absorption was impossible… eliminated.

Thus he placed seventy percent of Manmulryeon under himself. He imprisoned twenty percent by branding them as traitors, and blocked the eyes and ears of the Elder Council, which comprised ten percent.

So that his brother couldn’t do anything even if he returned.

The final piece was the Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder in the secret vault.

The monster who survived even the explosion of that terrifying weapon.

That monster was by his brother’s side.

Even though he had gained power, if legitimacy and strength were on the other side, it would be a fight he was bound to lose.

He needed even more powerful force to eliminate the monster.

“Shut down the Elder Council’s workshop.”

Gung Do-hyeok’s order was given.

Now it begins.

A do-or-die battle for the position of Manmulryeon’s Ryeon-ju.

 

***

 

Baek Ri-pyeong looked at the letter placed before him.

A letter he had already read once.

He read it once more.

The content wouldn’t change just from rereading it.

His eyes were complex.

No, they were angry eyes.

The letter’s content had made Baek Ri-pyeong feel this way.

It was a letter with many detailed words written in it.

But to summarize simply.

‘Stop and come back.’

That was it.

Withdrawing from Maengryong Corps midway wasn’t a difficult matter.

Anyone who wished to withdraw could do so.

One condition.

They just had to return all the monthly salary they had received so far.

If they couldn’t return the monthly salary, withdrawal was impossible.

Even so, quite a few people withdrew each year without returning their monthly salary.

Unauthorized withdrawal.

Originally, they should be tracked down and caught to the end, but Gyoryong Hall didn’t do that.

It was because Peng Do-yul didn’t do so.

If this fact became known, riffraff would gather targeting Maengryong Corps’ substantial monthly salary, but strangely, that never happened.

It was because those who withdrew without authorization lived quietly.

The fact that they had fled from Gyoryong Hall’s Maengryong Corps and accumulated quite substantial monthly salaries.

It wasn’t something to boast about anywhere, was it?

What if rumors spread and people from Gyoryong Hall came looking?

Unauthorized withdrawers lived quietly with such thoughts.

The money order enclosed with the letter.

It was a money order for an amount that exactly matched the total of all monthly salaries Baek Ri-pyeong had received so far.

The letter also mentioned the money order.

‘Pay it back later?’

A chuckle escaped him.

Should he say this was befitting of a sect leader?

It was the sect leader’s command.

Return to Zhongnan.

As a proud disciple of Zhongnan, he should naturally follow the sect leader’s command.

This was the kind of thinking Baek Ri-pyeong would have done when he first entered Maengryong Corps.

Now it was different.

‘Should I go?’

Conflict.

Because his current life in Maengryong Corps was so satisfying, Baek Ri-pyeong was troubled.

He picked up the letter and stood up.

Then he wandered all around Gyoryong Hall. But he wasn’t there.

At a time like this, of all times.

That so-called Instructor was nowhere to be found when a cadet sought him out.

There was no one to consult with.

In the end, Baek Ri-pyeong had no choice but to recall his Grandfather’s words.

‘The pride of Zhongnan means standing dignified before the name of Zhongnan.’

Withdrawing midway would actually go against Zhongnan’s pride. It would be fleeing without fulfilling a promised duty.

Even so, Baek Ri-pyeong could not act as he had decided.

Though called a letter, it was an order.

To defy the sect leader’s command.

That could provide grounds for excommunication.

Baek Ri-pyeong skipped cultivation and spent the entire day agonizing.

The conclusion was.

‘I have no choice but to return…’

He could not risk excommunication.

He could not know what hardships awaited him upon returning to Zhongnan.

Even knowing this fact, he had to go.

He could not abandon the name of Zhongnan.

Because that was Baek Ri-pyeong’s foundation.

 

***

 

“From now on, it won’t be easy.”

Ha Mu-baek spoke calmly while looking at the massive main gate before them.

“I came prepared for this.”

Gung Mu-hyeok spoke with a resolute expression.

“Your younger sibling seems quite capable. All of Manmulryeon is filled with hostile energy.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Gung Mu-hyeok smiled bitterly.

“With my weak body buried in research, I couldn’t tend to the Ryeon. My younger sibling handled all of the Ryeon’s affairs, so perhaps this is only natural.”

Words filled with self-reproach.

“That cannot serve as justification for rebellion.”

Ha Mu-baek’s voice had turned coldly subdued.

The main gate stood open.

But there was no one guarding it.

Instead, hostile energy surged around the main gate.

Killing intent pierced the sky.

For subordinates to emit such killing intent toward their Ryeon-ju.

It was a situation that could only make Ha Mu-baek’s voice turn cold.

“Just follow behind me. Don’t be surprised no matter what happens. You won’t suffer so much as a hair’s harm.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Gung Mu-hyeok nodded and dismounted from his horse.

Ha Mu-baek leaped down from his horse and stood before Gung Mu-hyeok.

Ha Mu-baek headed straight for Manmulryeon’s main gate.

He briefly glanced at the characters ‘Manmulryeon’ on the signboard, then stepped beyond the main gate.

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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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