Chapter 41: The Beginning of my Banquet (3)

Translator: Hwarang

Editor: Klaurem

Ma Jung Soo was sitting down with a stern face. After seeing the empty vault he didnt break even a single piece of furniture. This was the first time he was so mad that the thought of breaking anything didnt come to him.

Aside from him there were three others inside this room with a heavy atmosphere. The other three were Old Man Flower Fan, Si Gon, and the Mysterious Woman. There was a big bruise on Si Gons face which made him feel more humiliated than having his arm cut off. Since he was someone prideful he might have even thought about committing a suicide.

But the first to wake from this heavy mood was Ma Jung Soo, I couldnt even have a single bite.

He was lamenting the fact that he lost the Divine Nine-Leaved herb. The reason why he didnt eat it was because he was going to use it to lure the other youths. Since he showed the Heavenly Origin sword this time, he was going to show the Divine Nine-Leaved Herb the next time. By showing them the divine sword and profound medicine he was going to get their trust and interest. Of course he didnt have any intention of giving it to them, they were just baits but

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ma Jung Soo continuously smashed the table. The rage that hehad beenholding back finally exploded. Atatime like these whenprofound medicines are rare, who wouldnt be mad if they got their precious herbs stolen from them. The table finally shattered into pieces but no one inside the room said anything. If that rage wasdirected atthem, then they could lose their life.

Ma Jung Soo asked angrily, Have you not found out who it was?

Old Man Flower Fan cautiously looked at Ma Jung Soo and said, Jung Bangjoosent out his men.

And you think its not him?

Old Man Flower Fan stared at Ma Jung Soo in the eyes and said, Its not his doing. He was with me when it happened.

Jung Yeo was very smart in choosing his alibi, he was withapersonwhocould verify it right away.

He could have sent his men

No one in the Yang Clan issuchan expertasto knock out Si Gon in one hit. Even Jung Bangjoo doesnt have the skill to do so.

When he heard the word knocked out, Si Gon stare becamefilled withbloodlust.

Then Ma Jung Soo stared at Old Man Flower Fan and said, Then you must be working with him.

How could you say such thing even if you are that angry?!

Angry? Do I look like I am angry?!

Ma Jung Soo showed his teeth, Do you think I am just angry? I am about to go crazy!If I catch that rat I will torture him until he dies. But I will never kill him, I will make him live inaworld oftorture.

As he said that heflaredhis killing intent and Old Man Flower Fan flinched. Since he knew that those words were true hefeltsomewhat afraid. He didntknow much about Ma Jung Soo but he knew about Ma Jung Soos evil intent.

Ma Jung Soosglarewas now pointed toward Si Gon, Have you gone mute?

Si Gonhadnt saida word since he entered this room.

He finally opened his dry mouth, I am sorry

His apologies made the mood even worse.

Old Man Flower Fan tried to lighten the mood, Idontthink there is anyone that we met who is that much of an expert. Dont you think so?

With that sentence Si Gon flinched. It sounded as if Old Man was doubting him.

What do you mean?

I am not saying this because I suspect you.

Then why are you saying such a thing?

Why?

This time Old Man Flower Fan flinched. Everyone could see that pressure that these two were giving off. Then Ma Jung Soos expression worsened. The person who was making things worse was theMysteriousWoman that was with them.

What if these two fought against each other, then he would have to discipline them. These stupid fools, but he couldnt say anything.

The women didnt say anything, she had her arms crossed just observing the situation. She was always like this. It didnt matter what he did,she was always silent and observing as if she was testing him. If it wasnt for his father,Ma Jung Soo would have slapped all of them.

Then Ma Jung Soo yelled, Everyone shut up!

With this thestaredownbetween Si Gon and Old Man Flower Fan ended.

Then Ma Jung Soo said to the two of them, You arent the only ones who are suspicious.

Their sights naturally turned towards the woman. However, even with their stare the woman didnt show any reaction.

It was suspicious if you were calm atatime that you had to be bewildered. But since the women was even calmer than that, she was not even suspicious. She looked like a person who had no interest in this.

Then Si Gon said, Its not her

Then Old Man Flower Fan question, How are you so certain?

The opponent wasnt a female.

Didnt you say you didnt see the face. Are you saying this because it might hurt your pride?

Then Si Gon flinched. The wordsthat Old Man Flower Fan said werepulling on his nerve.However,he wasnt going to fight him since he is a martial artist while Old Man Flower Fan was not. Old Man Flower Fanwas someone whowas driven by power.

Then Old Man Flower Fan added more insult to the injury, Not that I am trying to hurt you pride,but the situation calls for it.

I am certain it wasnt a woman

Old Man Flower Fan took a step back, If you insist.

Then SiGon looked at Ma Jung Soo and said, It wasnt that I was surprised the opponent was truly strong.

It was something that only the personwhowas hit knew. If the assailanthadtried to kill him he would not have praisedthemthis highly but the assailant didnt try todo that, but insteadknock him out. This was something that was harder to do than to killinthat situation since they hadto control their strength perfectly. If theassailantwanted to kill him he would have already been dead.

Ma Jung Soo madeperplexed expression, Why would someone that strong stoop so low as to steal? He probably would have somesort ofgrudge against me.

Then Old Man Flower Fan answered, Maybe he was aiming for the Heavenly Origin Sword?

Even if he stoleit he would not be able sell it.Whiletheblack marketmight buy it,it would place a huge burden on them.

Probably.

Nodding, Old Man Flower Fan thought of something, What if it wasthework of one of the other successors?

Ma Jung Soo stood up and said, Yes thatsit!

That was the only explanation.

It didnt seem like the Yang Clan would do something as stupid as that since they couldgainmore by getting his favor.They couldnt have stolen from the vault since it contained a sword that they couldnt even sell.

Why didnt I think of that?

This time his father sent out many of his descendantsto different areas. This was a form of test. To be able to hire an expert whowas able to knock out Si Gon in a single blow,there was only one explanation. It was one or maybe couple of his brothers plotting against him. Especially the ones who were competing for the successorsseat had many expertsunder them.

These b*tches Ma Jung Soo grinded his teeth.

Old Man Flower Fan calmly said, First we need to regain our composure and decide how tomove forward. Even though we dont know who it is,if you lose your composure than you arejustdoing what they want you to do.

Ma Jung Soo nodded,calming himself andsat back down. Seeing that he calmed down old man Flower Fan added, Even though we may have lost a sword andsomemoney we are still alive and well. Wecan alwaysgather more money, and we can take back the sword anytime.

Your words are wise

First we must gather some money since it might affect the construction.

How much do we need?

To start the construction we need ten thousand nyang and later on we are going to needahundred thousand nyang.

Shit!

From his position where he lost all his money getting ten thousand nyang wasnt going to be easy.

Ma Jung Soo showed his teeth like a predator and said, Make a plan to gather the money.

I bought a new face alteration mask. Since I was going to use it and throw it away I bought a mid-tier mask.

Since I changed my voice as well as my walking habits I was like a different person.With all that preparation I entered the Shrouded City merchant guild and met with the old man who sold me the profound medicine before.

I was going to use the fifty thousand traceable banknote to buysomeprofound medicine. Finding a way to trade this for money was very dangerous so it was better to use it get something even if it was overpriced.

I heard that you came here to buy some profound medicine?

Yes

Since I used different tone and attitudein my previous visithe was unable to find out who I was.Howevereven if he find out it wouldnt have been a problem since I disguised my face and my voice back thentoo.

Doyou have some?

We do. But they arent the best quality

What do you mean?

We currently have six roots of white thorowax. It is said thattheycan only give two maybe three years worth of energy.

How much is it?

Each root is nine thousand Nyang

So six root meant fifty four thousand Nyang.

Relatively expensive.

These are times whenthese medicines are precious

Last time I was able to get fifteen years worth of energy from the Bansho root for fourty four thousand nyang. But six root of thorowax would at most increase the cultivation by eighteen years.

One might think that it is more expensive since you get more out of it; however, the effect of the root will diminish as you continuously usedit. If you wanted to get the full effect of two years from these roots you had to eat them a year apart from each other so that your body wouldnot build tolerance for it. But I didnt have time to do that so if I ate them all at the same time I wouldgetat most ten years of energy. Considering the price it was rather expensive, but it wasnt wise to buy something like a weapon orgear since it can leave behind evidence. It was better to get this and just eat it leaving no evidence.

I will buy all six roots so sell it to me for fifty thousand nyang.

Since they were strict on the price the old man hesitated for a while.

Then he nodded his head and said, Alright. It is better to sell it when there is a buyer.

He showed me the roots.

With that I bought six roots for fifty thousand nyang.

This fifty thousand nyang was traceable but the Shrouded City was a very tightknitorganization so it wouldnt be easy for the Heavenly Dao Gate to get anything out of it.Even ifthe Murim Alliance made a move,it wouldnt matter since I was wearing a face mask that I was going to burn.

After getting out of the Shrouded City merchant guild I entered the nearest inn. I moved without worry since this face was no longer going to exist in this world. After getting into my room I ate one of the roots. The first root gave me three years of energy. The second root also gave me three years of energy. The efficiency of my Heavenly Protection Technique was fully displayed. However, the third root only gave me two years worth of energy. I stopped eating the roots. From now on the efficiency of the root will decrease to two maybe one. It would be a waste to use any more.

With the three roots I was able to gainanadditionaleight years worth of energy. Now I had fifty-two years worth of energy in my dantian. I only need eight more years to reach sixty. At this rate it would take me less than a year to reach. Next year around this time I would be able to use the fourth technique of the Ashura Soul Chasing Sword Art.

After packing up the three roots, I got out of the inn. I planned on giving these three to Kwang Du.

I wanted to give it to my parents but they wouldnt keep it a secret so I decided to give it him. Itwould have beenhard to explain to them where I got it, but the bigger problem was keeping it a secret. If their son gave them a profound medicine,which parent wouldnt show it off to others. If others knew about it I would be in trouble.

I am sorry you two,I will get you something better when I make more money

I made Kwang Du swear that he wouldnt say anything. Either way he wouldnt know what he is eating so it wasnt going to be too much of a problem;and giving it to one person was safer than giving it to two since it was one less person to worry about.

Now the only thing that I had to take care of was the Heavenly Origin Sword. I knew a few famous blacksmithsinthe Central Plains. They were worthy of being called masters, but since they were far away that wasnt an option.Also since this was one of the personal swordsof the previous mengju they wouldnt keep the secret if they were threatened. So I had to disguise this myself.

I went straight to the nearest blacksmith.