Chapter 55: Where did This Fortuitous Encounter Come From? (2)

Translator: hwarang

Editor: Klaurem

The weapons that were displayed on the outside were stacked in the hundreds by their respective categories. The swords were all in one pile, shields were in another. They were all stacked neatly by different classes and groups.

I picked out one that looked decent from the pile. I wanted to give this to Kwang Du, How much is this?

Oh! You have good eyes for these things. The old manager knew that the sword that I had just picked up was the best sword that they could offer.

Six thousand nyang. This weapon should be inside the cage.

It seems that the hilt and the sheath received some damage.

Good eyes. Thats the reason why we had to put it outside.

If it wasnt damaged they could have sold it for at least ten thousand nyang.

Although this sword wasnt a divine sword, it was still one of the best regular swords that I had seen in this life. It was also the best sword for Kwang Du at the moment since I didnt know if he would be able to control a divine class sword yet.

Ill buy this.

A wise choice.

Now I picked a sword for Kwan He. It was another good sword that had some defects in it. This one was worth four thousand nyang.

Are you the son of a blacksmith?

Since it was difficult to explain to him, I just nodded.

So it was like that! You certainly know how to choose a weapon.

After saying that he looked at the sword that I had on my hip one more time. It seemed that he regretted what he said before. He had the look on his face of wanting me to show him the Heavenly Origin Sword, but I didnt have any thoughts of showing him the Heavenly Origin Sword.

As I was about to leave after buying two swords, something caught my eyes.

What is that?

There was something that was standing up which caught my attention. As I approached it to have a closer look, there was a small figure of a martial artist that was about the size of my fist. Since it was made of wood it looked old, and almost disfigured. As there were a few figures that had some disfiguration it caught my attention.

Each figure had a different pose. Some figures were striking with their hands, while others kicked their legs. Some were defending their back while others were defending their torso.

There werent any figures that had any weapons. Meaning that these were some sort of weaponless techniques. However in contrast to most other weaponless techniques, these figures were using all parts of their bodies..

Counting all of the figures, there were thirty-three of them in total.

Are you selling these as well?

Of course. Thats why it is here.

How much are they?

I wont sell them individually. All of them together are worth two thousand nyang.

I was surprised so I asked the old manager again.

These are one of a kind. The other shops dont have this. I have worked at the Shrouded City Merchant Guild for a long time but this was my first time seeing such things.

I will buy it

For real? There wasnt anyone who was willing to buy them for two thousand nyang, The old man said with a surprise.

He sold divine swords and cultivation medicines for tens of thousand of nyang, but that was expected since they were the most important things for a martial artist. However two thousand nyang for these figures was a large sum.

There is a start to everything.

Even though he sold the merchandise he still felt unsatisfied. He whispered in my ear, I really didnt want to sell this. Seeing it gave me a good feeling. Thats why I made the price expensive so that others wouldnt buy it. But it seems that you are going to buy it. Ill take the two thousand nyang as a compensation.

This old man misunderstood something. The reason I doubted him was that it was too cheap.

I believed that it was worth much more than that. Maybe five thousand nyang, or maybe even ten thousand nyang. Thats what I determined how much these figures should cost.

If someone were to ask me the reason, I would say it was the poses these figures had. They werent the normal poses. They werent created just for show. I wanted to look further into it.

Now, if I want to sell, I must sell well right?

He brought an old chest and put the figures inside the chest. Now that I look at it, this chest seems to have been created just for these figures. There were thirty-three compartments just like how there were thirty-three figures.

The old man put the figures inside the chest.

After receiving the chest and the two swords I gave him ten thousand nyang.

Please come again.

I will

If you want to sell the figures again Ill refund you the full price for it.

I said I understood, but I didnt have any plan on doing that.

Although I couldnt find the cultivation medicine that I had come here for, I felt satisfied. I was able to buy swords for Kwan He and Kwang Du, and I was able to get these figures at a cheap price.

With the rest of the money I went and deposited it at the bank.

It wasnt a small amount of money. It would be enough to buy more cultivation medicine if it became available at the Shrouded City Merchants, or to invest in my sect and the clan. Now that the financial problem has been solved I felt rather relieved. Now we could enjoy our meals without worrying what would be on our plates tomorrow.

With that feeling, I went back home.

I was also able to influence others with my feelings.

Since I called both Kwang Du and Kwan He to one place, all the members of my Sword Sect were nervous.

I gave the two of them the swords that I had bought for them.

After receiving the sword Kwan He asked, What sort of sword is this?

This is your sword from now on.

What? Kwan Hes eyes widened. He was moved at what I told him.

Thank you for all your hard work. I expect much from you in the future.

Sect master!

Its a strong sword, so it wont break that easily. Use it as you see fit.

Can I take it out of its sheath? His voice was shaking.

Of Course.

Kwan He took out his sword nervously.

Shiing!

The sound of the sword was different.

Woaah! His face was full of amazement, I have never seen such amazing sword before.

Of course he would say that. Since he would buy a sword that was worth maybe hundred nyang at most.

But since this was four thousand nyang, how different would this feel compared to his other swords?

Thank you very much sect master!

If I gave him something else he wouldnt be this happy. Since Kwan He was so focused on getting stronger he would even cut back on his sleep to train.

Since he was such a straightforward person it was easier to see his excitement.

After Kwan He left, only Kwang Du was next to me. Then I asked him, Why arent you that excited?

How could I not be excited? Since Chief Kwan looks so happy, I am just calmly standing here. I lost my chance to do so.

Of course, he wasnt the type that would try to steal the spotlight from others. Although he just yielded to Kwan He, he was just as excited and happy and wanted to take out his sword. This was the sort of person Kwang Du was and this was the reason why I liked him so much.

Finally, Kwang Du took out his blade.

It looks pretty good.

I saw the reflection of his face through his sword. It looked as if he was about cry since this sword was incomparable to the sword that I gave him before.

I think you are not satisfied. Bring it over here. There are few others who could use it.

As I got closer to him to steal the sword from him, he ran away from me.

Cant I make a joke? Its the best. Wow! This is the best sword in the world!

His expression was priceless. Now that he had a decent sword, Kwang Du looked like a real martial artist.

Didnt you say that the sword that I gave you last time was the best?

Isnt this more expensive?

Yeah, by many times.

Then this is the best.

Hahaha

After putting his sword away he looked at me. Gratitude and respect filled his eyes.

Young master, it seems that when you rescued the Kang Ho I must have been there with you.

So it seems.

I just agreed with him but I thought otherwise. I saved the Kang Ho to meet you.

Laughing, he asked me confidently, But...my sword is better than Chief Kwans right?

Who knows.

Tell me. How much more expensive was it? Fifty nyang? Hundred?

Since I didnt tell him until the end, Kwang Du followed me everywhere I went.

Your blade was two thousand nyang more expensive. I wanted to tell him, but it was more enjoyable to tease him

That night I entered the cave in the mountain. I had always entered this cave when I wanted to be alone or when I had to do something important. The reason why I entered this cave today was because of the figures.

I took out the figures from the box and placed them on the floor. Seeing the poses of the figure under the moonlight made them feel alive.

After looking them for a bit, I could tell there was something rough about them. It looked like they werent created by a professional smith.

This was another reason why they werent sold for a much higher price. However this made me even more excited.

Then it must mean that the one who created these was a martial artist who practiced the martial art that these figures were posing as.

To prove that point, the angle of the hand strikes and foot strikes were very precise. It was created for a purpose. I looked at all of the figures carefully. They seems to belong to a martial arts technique.

I copied the pose of a couple of the figures and I received the feeling that this was created by an expert. If it was sword art I could figure it out in seconds; however, since this was completely new to me it was going to take me some time to decipher this.

I kept on shuffling and changing the order of the figures to determine the order of the techniques. I couldnt put one next to another just because it looked like a continuous movement from the other since it could have a different meaning. I kept researching and shuffling the figures; It was like solving a very difficult puzzle. However I could tell that these weren't ordinary techniques since they used all part of the body. This was another reason why I was confused. This was my first time experiencing this sort of martial arts.

So I kept researching it calmly and diligently.

Even when the morning rooster cried, I didnt give up. Others might have given up at this point but I wasnt the type to give up so easily.

Finally, I was able to decipher the true meaning of these poses.

They were five different techniques.

These thirty-three figures were showing five different techniques. The movement of these five techniques was very profound. Due to my experience, I was able to understand that just by practicing it once.

Unfortunately that didnt mean that I understood their full application. How great was this technique that this person even made figures of it? If I had the chance I truly wanted to train and understand the reasoning behind this technique.

I put the figure back into the box. I put them in order since I figured out where each figure belonged.Then when I put the final figure inside the box there was a sound of the box opening and the bottom compartment of the box opened.

It was made so well that no one knew that there was another compartment in the box. However I was expecting something like this was going to happen when I put the figures back in order.

It was truly a clever mechanism. Inside the compartment was a piece of paper. Since it was so old it was about to rip, but I carefully took it out and read it.

Heavenly Gate Mountains White Crane Peak

Heavenly Gate Mountain was a mountain that was near Ho Book Fortress. It was located fairly close to the Headquarter of the Murim Alliance so I knew about the Heavenly Gate Mountain fairly well and there were many occasions when I went up that mountain. I remembered where the White Crane Peak was on that mountain.

Why did this box point towards the White Crane Peak?

Was there something there that held the origin of this martial art? Or was it something completely different?

Since it was calling for me I wasnt going to decline the invitation.