Chapter 36. Hegemonic Tiger Gang (2)

In a large manor located at the edge of Dongin’s red-light district.

In the center of the place, where a plaque reading 'Hegemonic Tiger Gang' was hung.

The Hegemonic Tiger Gang Leader asked the Vice-Leader, who had come to report.

“How is the collection coming along?”

“We have gathered more than ninety percent of the target amount. It seems we will be able to collect the full amount by the day he arrives.”

At the Vice-Leader's report, the Hegemonic Tiger Gang Leader, Ryu Seokho, smiled.

“Kehehehe. That is truly welcome news.”

“Yes, Gang Leader. Once we obtain the spiritual medicine, the Hegemonic Tiger Gang will be able to grow even larger.”

That was right.

What they were trying to buy was a spiritual medicine.

Through a slave trader.

The slave trader periodically visited Dongin once every three months.

Each time, the Hegemonic Tiger Gang would purchase two or three slaves.

It was unavoidable.

Among the courtesans working in the red-light district, there were women who contracted venereal diseases, attempted to escape, or attempted suicide.

To fill the vacancies that arose each time, it was necessary to purchase slaves at regular intervals.

They had continued this symbiotic relationship with the slave trader for several years.

Was it a gesture of consideration for the Hegemonic Tiger Gang Leader, who had become a regular customer?

A month ago, the slave trader, who had suddenly appeared on a day that was not their usual meeting time, made a peculiar proposal.

- There is a rumor that an Azure Spirit Pill will be available at the Black Market this time. By any chance, are you interested in spiritual medicines?

He was more than interested.

The Hegemonic Tiger Gang Leader, Ryu Seokho. His martial arts had long been stagnant at the very edge of the first-rate level.

He wanted to borrow the power of the spiritual medicine to overcome that wall.

He wanted to step into the realm of the pinnacle.

If he could just reach the pinnacle, he could leave Dongin and become the hegemon of a larger region.

There was such a rumor in the Jianghu.

A rumor that one could reach the pinnacle if they opened their Ren and Du meridians.

And it was said that one needed at least one Gapja of internal energy to open the Ren and Du meridians.

However, opening the Ren and Du meridians was a huge gamble.

In the process, one could fall into qi deviation and become crippled or die.

What could reduce this risk even a little was spiritual medicine, or True Qi Transference from a distinguished master.

Since he couldn't hope for True Qi Transference from a distinguished master, Ryu Seokho could only rely on spiritual medicine.

In that sense, the name Azure Spirit Pill was more than enough to entice Ryu Seokho.

The Azure Spirit Pill, which was said to be occasionally made by a famous medical family, was, to put it simply, a mid-to-low grade spiritual medicine.

Special-grade, or supreme-grade spiritual medicines, like the Ten-Thousand Year Snow Ginseng or the inner core of a Ten-Thousand Year Hwali, or items like Gongcheong Seokyu, could not be bought even with a fortune.

Far from being purchasable, they were spiritual medicines that would cause a bloodbath in the Jianghu the moment an ownerless one appeared.

Though inferior in comparison, high-grade spiritual medicines, like the Ten-Thousand Year He Shou Wu, were likewise impossible to buy with money.

The spiritual medicines that one could buy with money, if they were lucky, were items of middle grade or lower.

Among such mid-to-low grade spiritual medicines, the Azure Spirit Pill was a perfect item for Ryu Seokho.

The reason the Azure Spirit Pill was classified as mid-to-low was simply because the amount of power one could gain from it was less compared to other spiritual medicines.

The main efficacy of the Azure Spirit Pill, true to its name, was to purify one's energy.

In the first place, it was more of a medicinal product for wealthy patients with turbid energy in their bodies than a spiritual medicine.

For Ryu Seokho, whose internal energy already exceeded one Gapja but was turbid, it was an item he couldn't help but covet.

In fact, this was not a problem unique to him.

It was a problem commonly experienced by most martial artists from evil sects or unorthodox factions, or those who had learned demonic arts.

Martial artists from places that prided themselves on being prestigious families would steadily accumulate pure internal energy from a young age.

However, other martial artists, those whom the prestigious sect bastards called rootless, had no choice but to rapidly accumulate internal energy full of turbidity.

That was why the majority of evil sect masters were often blocked by the wall of the pinnacle.

If one attempted to open the Ren and Du meridians with turbid energy, it was highly likely they would fall into qi deviation.

Moreover, in the case of those prestigious sect bastards, a master who had reached a high realm would help with True Qi Transference, or they would feed their disciples spiritual medicines passed down through the sect for generations.

If the wall of the pinnacle was like a sheer cliff for evil sect masters, for the disciples of prestigious sects, the realm of the pinnacle was a mountain that, though high, was gently sloped.

And now, the spiritual medicine that would smooth down that steep cliff was scheduled to come into Ryu Seokho’s hands.

Every time he imagined himself taking the Azure Spirit Pill and stepping into the realm of the pinnacle, a smile naturally appeared on Ryu Seokho’s face.

“Hehehehe. Yes. As long as this body reaches the pinnacle, it will only be a matter of time before I swallow up other regions. Hahahaha.”

Though he had spent a huge amount of money for it, it didn't matter.

If he lacked money, he just had to collect more.

Ryu Seokho, who had earnestly asked the slave trader to be sure to buy the Azure Spirit Pill from the Black Market, had doubled the protection money he collected in Dongin since that day.

“We haven't collected all the money yet. Tell them to hurry up and collect more!”

“As you command!”

After giving the order to the Vice-Leader and being left alone.

The image of his future self kept appearing in Ryu Seokho's mind.

“Hehehehe.”

The image of himself standing tall as the hegemon of a larger region after reaching the pinnacle.

It felt like walking on clouds.

Was it a pity to enjoy the feeling alone? He gave an order to the subordinate guarding the entrance of the Leader’s Hall.

“Bring Hwayeong from Hongwollu! And bring wine too!”

He spent a long while drinking with a woman on his lap, in high spirits from the early evening.

The Hegemonic Tiger Gang Leader, who only fell asleep at dawn, had a dream.

He was a pinnacle master.

No, going beyond that, he was dreaming of becoming the best under heaven and commanding the world.

Just then, a shout that disturbed his sweet sleep was heard.

“E-enemy attack!!”

***

Slice!

I easily cut off the neck of a Hegemonic Tiger Gang ruffian and glanced to the side.

“Haat!!”

A roar, thunderous enough to match his size, but somehow childishly unsuited for his size, erupted.

Whoooooooosh!!

A terrible sound of tearing air echoed, followed by the gruesome sound of something being crushed.

Crack.

The body of a foolish evil sect member who had tried to block Nam Geon’s Mother’s Affection Sword was cut apart along with the sword he swung.

Hmm.

Come to think of it, that wasn't being cut apart.

It was simply crushed along with the sword.

“Th-this monstrous bastard!”

The startled evil sect members all thrust their swords or spears at Nam Geon in unison.

Clang, clang, clang!

A series of metallic sounds rang out.

Of course, it wasn't Nam Geon who had blocked them with the Mother’s Affection Sword.

The eyes of the Hegemonic Tiger Gang ruffians who had struck Nam Geon’s body with iron widened.

“Haaaaat!”

Nam Geon, who seemed to be clad in iron, swung the Mother’s Affection Sword again.

A stance that paid no attention to defense whatsoever.

At that strike, focused solely on offense, another ruffian was crushed to a pulp.

I nodded my head on its own.

“He’s doing well.”

It wasn't because of his clean Mighty Sword Art.

I thought he would make a scene, crying and wailing that he didn't want to kill, but Nam Geon was methodically taking them down one by one.

Was it because they had witnessed their comrades being mashed into something like minced meat one after another?

The ruffians' faces turned pale.

Just then, someone shouted.

“It's him! Kill him first!”

The man’s finger was pointing at me.

At that, the ruffians who had been terrified rushed toward me in a crowd.

It was a strange feeling.

“Did I kill them too quietly?”

Even though the corpses of evil sect members with their necks cut or hearts pierced were scattered around me.

Was it because of the realization I had recently gained?

A shift in my thinking occurred in a positive direction.

“Hmm. It’s better this way, since I don’t have to go through the trouble of chasing them down one by one.”

I swung my sword with a willing heart at the evil sect members who were flying towards me like moths to a flame.

Slice!

Slice!

Slice!

One man per strike.

As I cleaned up the kind trash who came to die on their own accord, at some point, the customers stopped coming.

“Oh dear.”

Was this how an innkeeper felt when their customers stopped coming because they were skimping on ingredients?

I thought maybe I should have pretended to struggle a bit.

The evil sect members who had stopped in their tracks while charging at me looked at me with an expression similar to when they looked at Nam Geon.

“A g-ghost……”

Nam Geon was a monster, and I was a ghost.

Whatever it was, it was better than being trash, so it didn't matter.

I wasn't an innkeeper, after all.

“If you don't come, I will.”

When the customers stopped coming, one just had to resort to forced sales.

Pat.

I willingly approached the frozen ruffians and swung my sword.

At a glance, Nam Geon was also diligently continuing his forced sales.

“Haaat!”

Whether the evil sect members around him were swinging their weapons or not, his one sword strike was swung only forward.

Perhaps because he was already terrified of Nam Geon, the evil sect member in front of him hastily threw himself aside with a pale face.

Crack.

Thanks to his half-hearted dodge, that evil sect member not only had his arm torn off, but his shoulder and collarbone, down to his ribs, were all crushed.

“Aaargh!!”

Was his internal organs crushed as well?

The man who let out a scream mixed with bloody foam fell to the ground, writhing and vomiting blood.

I thought it would have been better for him to die in a single blow than to suffer like that.

Well, whether a piece of trash died painfully or not was none of my business.

However, it seemed Nam Geon was bothered by the man writhing.

“S-sorry, bad Big brother. D-don’t dodge next time.”

I wondered if there would be a next time, but anyway, after finishing his apology, Nam Geon swung his greatsword again.

Crack!!

This time, the sword, swung horizontally, not only split the torso of an evil sect member but also struck the wall of an adjacent building.

Crash!!

As the wall exploded, Nam Geon, with a startled face, retrieved the Mother’s Affection Sword and inspected it.

While Nam Geon, with a tearful face, was checking if the Mother’s Affection Sword had been chipped.

“D-die, you monster!!”

A few fearless evil sect members swung their weapons at the motionless Nam Geon.

Clang!

Several of the weapons that struck Nam Geon’s body broke futilely.

“C-crazy……”

While the evil sect members were doing their useless things from behind.

Nam Geon, having checked the Mother’s Affection Sword, raised his head and looked forward.

In front of him was only an empty building.

“Ah!”

Only then did Nam Geon hastily turn around and look back the way he had come.

That was right.

Since attacking the Hegemonic Tiger Gang, Nam Geon had only been moving forward.

The Mighty Sword Art he had learned from me only contained techniques that involved taking a step forward while swinging.

Nam Geon, having turned around, also only moved forward, swinging his sword.

“Sc-scatter!”

As the enemies scattered to the sides, Nam Geon, again in a hurry, quickly turned and once again swung his sword forward.

He still seemed to have a long way to go, but I was quite satisfied.

Even if his application skills were lacking, the way he pushed forward with the one thing he had learned with perseverance was good to see.

Also, I was not in a position to criticize others for having a long way to go.

Slice.

Right after beheading an evil sect member, I lightly clicked my tongue.

“Tsk.”

Every time I swung my sword freely, I felt a subtle, uncomfortable sensation in various acupoints.

It was because of the Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art, but that didn't mean there was a problem with the art itself.

Thanks to learning the Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art, a much larger amount of energy flowed through my acupoints much faster than before.

The problem was that I felt a subtle sense of hindrance each time.

It was due to the turbidity that had accumulated in my body for sixteen years.

And this was a problem I had experienced in my previous life as well.

In my previous life, when I first resolved to learn martial arts, some of the sects I visited had said this.

That I was already old and too late to learn their martial arts.

At the time, it just sounded like an excuse, but after practicing martial arts for decades, I was able to realize it.

The fact that martial arts, especially internal energy arts, were more effective the younger one started learning them.

A sense of foreboding that I might be blocked by the wall of the pinnacle again like in my previous life crept over me.

“Tsk.”

I lightly clicked my tongue and shook off the distracting thoughts.

Now was the time to focus on cleaning up the trash.

Slice.

Right after beheading another evil sect member.

“Who are you people!!!”

A middle-aged man appeared, shouting loudly.

“G-Gang Leader!!”

The Hegemonic Tiger Gang ruffians were delighted, as if they had found their savior.

I, too, was delighted.

Because I had found the biggest piece of trash that needed to be cleaned up tonight.

“So you’re the Gang Leader!”

With a smile full of joy, I rushed towards the Gang Leader.

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