In so ways, there had been a terribly awkward incident… but overall, the matters at the Murim Alliance had been resolved smoothly.
Blood Demon had been completely annihilated without even a chance of revival. Although the Heavenly Demon’s unexpected intervention had occurred, they had successfully bypassed the ntal restrictions through cunning thods.
Moreover, though it wasn’t intended, he had even co to an epiphany while swinging his sword for decades within the trick.
One could say that it was a conclusion in which he had attained everything he wanted.
Thanks to that, although a few doubts and concerns still remained, he was able to leave the Murim Alliance with a much lighter heart than before.
And once he found a bit of breathing room, certain thoughts began to surface.
“Gauntlets.”
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden, Hwi?”
“Wouldn’t you like a pair of gauntlets made from Myriad-Year Cold Iron? If we reinforce it with the leather from the Flood Dragon we brought back last ti, I think it could be quite helpful to Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin.”
“If it’s that kind of rare item, it would certainly be useful, though my aura is inherently tyrannical, so it might not make a huge difference.”
“So in other words, it will help. As it happens, I know the location of a pair of gauntlets made from Myriad-Year Cold Iron.”
“???”
Seo Mun-Hwarin blinked rapidly, as if she couldn’t follow the flow of the conversation.
However, instead of adding an explanation for her, he shifted his gaze straight to Seol Lihyang.
“What was the sound-based martial art you’re learning right now?”
“Uh… It’s called ‘Laughter of One Heart’, sothing I received from Jinju Yeon Clan.”
“Must be an orthodox technique.”
“Well, of course it is?”
“Seol Lihyang. You suit unorthodox sects more than orthodox ones. Would you be interested in learning a technique called ‘Collapsing Heavenly Sound’ as well? It’ll be of great help when unleashing a tyrannical assault.”
“Of course it’s nice to learn another sound technique, but… what do you an I suit unorthodox sects more?! Cheon Hwi, answer properly!”
Apparently still shocked by what she had seen in the Heartscape, Seol Lihyang, who had been sneaking glances at his body these past few days, now fixed her gaze on his face for the first ti in a while.
Naturally, he ignored it lightly and turned to ask Tang Sowol one last thing.
“The inner core of the Fire Centipede. Would it still be effective for you now?”
“There should still be an effect! The Fire Centipede’s poison isn’t very strong for at this stage, but its real value shows when combined with other poisons. I’m sure so good results will co from experinting!”
Unlike the others, who reacted ambiguously, Tang Sowol was already bouncing with excitent.
After all, wasn’t she the kind of person who mixed poisons just to see what would happen? Whether it made her stronger or not, she’d definitely enjoy it.
It wasn’t just her innate talent of Poison Spirit Constitution, but also her love for poison arts themselves that defined her.
Satisfied, he nodded, and then Tang Jincheon, who had been watching them from a short distance away with a dumbfounded look, finally spoke up.
“I don’t know why you’re suddenly talking about all that the mont we left the Murim Alliance… but is there nothing for , son-in-law?”
“Isn’t my very existence already a blessing and a great gift to the Tang Clan?”
“The higher your realm gets, the more shaless you beco, huh.”
Tang Jincheon chuckled but didn’t deny it. Though he had taken a slight misstep, the tense atmosphere brought on by learning part of his mories from before regression had eased a little.
Good. With things like this, it should be about ti to bring up the main point.
“I’ll make a few quick stops to collect the things I just ntioned before returning. I’m leaving the aftermath to you, Father-in-law.”
“…Huh?”
Tang Jincheon flinched at the sudden declaration of delegation, while the others seed relatively calm.
Perhaps it was because he’d often acted abruptly before, but more likely, it was due to their having glimpsed so of his past-life mories.
The first to step forward was Seol Lihyang, wearing a face that seed to understand everything.
“Yeah. It’s better to have it than not. Besides, whoever picks up the thing that’s fallen to the ground first gets to keep it, right? Let’s grab it before soone else does.”
“Uh… yeah, sothing like that.”
Had Seol Lihyang realized sothing? She had said she was under the sa ntal restriction. Perhaps she had truly co to the conclusion of regression.
She didn’t ask any of the most crucial questions, like the basis or the source of his information, yet still grasped the key points. That was telling.
Tang Sowol and Seo Mun-Hwarin also nodded a beat later, and only then did Tang Jincheon let out a deep sigh.
“Return as soon as you can. They said they’ll contact us once preparations for the next great formation are complete, but you’re essential for it.”
“Don’t worry, Father-in-law. I won’t take long.”
His ntal restrictions had beco known, and part of them had been bypassed through the trick.
If there was one thing that had changed the most compared to before, it was that he no longer needed to co up with plausible excuses to use his knowledge from before regression.
In that case, wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to finally gather so of the overdue fortunes he’d missed?
Regression had given him new chances and the knowledge to use them, but most of those couldn’t be applied imdiately.
Think about it—if one rembered the location of a treasure uncovered by a landslide ten years later and went back twenty years in ti, they’d still have to wait ten years.
In that sense, he hadn’t been able to fully utilize the knowledge from his previous life until now.
Of the big rumors even soone like him, who had mostly operated among unorthodox sects, might know—how many were usable regardless of timing, or had just so happened to be tily?
But now, enough ti had passed since his regression that he could finally start putting so of that knowledge to use.
How much help it would be to their now-stronger group remained to be seen, but… well, better than nothing.
And that was why, after parting ways with Tang Jincheon, he had headed for Hu-eum Village, a small village in the sa Hubei Province.
The village itself was ordinary and unremarkable, but if one had to na a unique feature—it had once produced an exceptional blacksmith decades ago.
That blacksmith’s skills were so highly praised that he rose to the position of imperial smith… yet perhaps that wasn’t enough for him.
He had secretly embezzled precious materials to craft weapons and sold them to martial artists at high prices.
Eventually, he was caught and executed along with a martial artist he had tried to trade with in secret.
During that process, the whereabouts of a pair of gauntlets made from Myriad-Year Cold Iron had beco unclear…
“They say it was recently rediscovered in this village.”
“Hmm?”
“A newlywed couple was building a new house and tore down an abandoned plot. That’s when they found it—or rather, not while digging the ground, but in the mountain, while gathering wood for their new ho.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Ah, foolish of to question such a thing. Let’s go fetch it at once!”
When he awkwardly shut his mouth, Seo Mun-Hwarin, seemingly guessing it was due to the ntal restriction, simply nodded.
Thanks to that, they headed to Hu-eum Village without much trouble and were able to purchase the gauntlets cheaply from the couple, who didn’t realize their true value.
Of course, ‘cheap’ ant giving them three nyang of gold—still a satisfactory trade from the couple’s perspective.
Had they not bought it, a wandering rogue would have found the gauntlets, and the news of their existence would’ve brought martial artists flocking, likely resulting in the deaths of most of the villagers.
In a way, they had saved lives.
“So please, stop looking at like I’m so kind of legendary con artist. I just needed the gold for sothing else later.”
“You… Still, three nyang of gold is…”
Seo Mun-Hwarin tilted her head while hugging the gauntlets.
They didn’t seem to fit her hands—perhaps the original owner had been a giant—but that could be fixed easily at the Tang Clan’s forge. While at it, they could add the Flood Dragon’s leather too.
Receiving her happy yet awkwardly conflicted gaze, they next headed through Jiangxi Province to an auction house in Fujian Province.
It wasn’t as notorious as Zhejiang Province, but it was clearly within unorthodox territory. Normally, as mbers of the Tang Clan, they wouldn’t be able to move so openly here…
“Gasp! Everyone, open your eyes! It’s the White Moon Sword Lord!”
“You idiot! Didn’t you hear the rumor that he’s fine as long as you don’t pick a fight first? The real one to watch out for is the Demonic Sound Ice Witch!”
“What the hell did she do?”
“They say if you look at her wrong, she’ll turn you into an ice block. Her hobby is shattering those ice blocks that used to be people.”
“…Why is soone like that even in the orthodox faction?”
Maybe it was thanks to Seorin, the Lord of the Black Lotus Sect. While so at the Murim Alliance questioned whether he truly belonged to the orthodox side, here in unorthodox territory, he was surprisingly well-regarded.
In fact, they seed more fearful of Seol Lihyang, who had flattened every late-stage Black Lotus Sect mber and left a trail of terrifying rumors.
“I’m innocent! Those were all just sparring matches!”
“But you did turn soone into an ice block just because you didn’t like the way they looked at you.”
“He was ogling with gross eyes! That’s why!”
“Was he? Then you did well. But… you didn’t shatter him after freezing him, did you?”
“Why would I do that in a non-life-and-death duel?!”
“Seol Lihyang enjoys shattering her frozen opponents in real life-and-death matches… noted.”
“Don’t note it! That’s a twisted rumor!”
He listened to Seol Lihyang’s protests with one ear and let it out the other as they entered the auction house.
He didn’t know where or how it had ended up here, but in this ti period, the Fujian auction house was offering the martial art “Collapsing Heavenly Sound” for sale.
Being a sound-based technique with low demand, it hadn’t sold, and its price had kept dropping. Eventually, it had been sold cheaply—but when people learned it was actually a top-tier advancent martial art, chaos briefly erupted.
People figured that even as a sound technique, there’d be sothing worth learning if it was that high in level.
Unfortunately, that couldn’t be confird. The secret manual of Collapsing Heavenly Sound had been damaged during the scuffle over it.
Such things happened often in unorthodox circles. Many died or were injured over a secret manual, only for it to be destroyed in the end.
But that wouldn’t happen this ti.
Perhaps because it had only just arrived at the auction house, they were able to obtain it for 80 nyang of silver—not even needing gold.
“Um… Cheon Hwi? I know it’s a great martial art and I’m thankful for the gift, but…”
“Is there a problem?”
“You said you’d need the gold for sothing else. If you’re not using it now, then when are you going to use it?”
“That’s what was bothering you? I’m planning to use it to purchase the Fire Centipede.”
“Purchase it? A spirit beast?”
These days, it was becoming harder and harder to find spirit beasts. Unless it was a remote place like the North Sea, powerful spirit creatures were nearly extinct.
The Fire Centipede wasn’t quite on par with the Flood Dragon, but it was still a powerful creature of the Peak Stage.
And perhaps because it housed seven poisons in perfect harmony, it was also a rare specin, even for its level of power.
If such a creature appeared in the Central Plains, it would naturally cause an uproar.
He had heard rumors about the Fire Centipede even before his regression.
And the rumor had been simple:
“There was soone who tried to raise a Fire Centipede and ended up getting kicked out of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
“Eh? Isn’t raising venomous insects, not beasts, more of the Thousand Poison Gate’s style?”
“That’s exactly why he got kicked out.”
“Aha!”
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