episode_0006

Cheongun was speechless with shock.

He risked his life to save her.

He had walked for two straight days, all the way from the Yangtze River to Mount Cheongseong.

He even encountered a group of black-path martial artists at the inn.

What? Now they’re saying they can’t give him the gold ingot?

He had rushed for days just to get that one thing?

This felt exactly like his rented room, which he’d just moved into yesterday, being put up for auction due to a jeonse scam.

It was difficult to suppress his boiling rage.

With just that, the natural energy remaining in Cheongun’s dantian began to subtly seep out.

His internal energy circulated wildly, his eyes glowed a frosty blue, and the temperature within a radius of one cheok (approximately 30 cm) sharply froze.

“So, this is how you’re going to play? I saved your only sister, and now it’s ‘impossible’? ‘Im-pos-sible’? Oh my. It seems you don’t quite understand the meaning of ‘impossible.’ Perhaps I should show you what true ‘martial principles’ look like?”

“It’s not like that. Please, listen to what I have to say first.”

“Senior Cheong! I am not such a shameless martial artist as to wipe away the debt of a life-saving grace and move on! Please believe me!”

Hmm, it seems they don’t intend to just renege on it.

Only then did Cheongun nod his head.

If there’s a valid reason and they don’t plan to welch on it, then it’s acceptable. Mm-hmm.

There was a reason Cheongun was reacting so violently.

The Namgung family is often referred to as the foremost among the Five Great Families, but when considering the actual Chinese history they are based on, the Namgung family only appears as one of the Five Great Families and cannot be said to have a particularly outstanding status.

Perhaps it’s because Cheongpung Jeon, considered the original work of this world, was a game developed in Taiwan?

The historical research was unnecessarily thorough.

The reason Cheongun could draw his sword in broad daylight at an inn and demand ‘Give it to me’ was the same.

Because he had strength. Because his opponent was weaker than him.

If they ignored him, he killed them.

If they coveted his things, he killed them.

If they were even slightly entangled in a grievance, he killed them.

He killed for this reason, he killed for that reason, and sometimes he killed without reason.

Why, isn’t there such a saying?

Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know.

This looks like a truly profound line on the surface, but in reality, it’s a horrifying, Chinese-style display of cunning, meaning that since only you and I know besides heaven and earth, I’ll kill you to silence you.

Might makes right, survival of the fittest.

That could be said to be the true martial world of the mainland, where only the genuine survive.

But still, they were nominally one of the Five Great Families, weren’t they?

A gold ingot was indeed a large sum of money, but it wasn’t an amount that would make them struggle this much.

Only after realizing that could Cheongun cool his heated head.

As Cheongun’s killing intent subsided, Namgung Hwi finally continued speaking.

“As I said, I cannot give you the gold ingot right now.”

“So, why not?”

“If you had come to the Namgung family’s main branch in Henan Province, we would have given you any number of gold ingots. However, this is a branch of the Justice Alliance, isn’t it?”

…Is that right?

Cheongun listened quietly to Namgung Hwi’s words.

“The Justice Alliance branch operates as an independent organization, separate from the main family, so its budget is managed individually. Therefore, it is not structured to arbitrarily disburse large sums.”

“…”

“Furthermore, the distance to the Namgung main family is a thousand li, so we are not in a position to immediately prepare and give you the gold ingot, Senior. I, as the branch head, must send a document stamped with my official seal to the main family, and only after the Family Head receives it and issues an order to the General Manager can the gold ingot be disbursed.”

Cheongun finally grasped the gist of the matter.

In other words, to receive the gold ingot, he would have to wait endlessly until all those annoying procedures were completed.

Meanwhile, Namgung Hwi was observing Cheongun’s expression.

Based on his rough demeanor, he was no different from the beggars of the Beggars’ Sect… no, the ruffians of the black path, but the internal energy Namgung Hwi had just directly felt from Cheongun was different.

His internal energy was astonishingly pure.

It was like the sea.

He felt a denser Immortal Qi than even the elders of his family.

This meant it wasn’t energy filled through some demonic technique, but literally pure internal energy.

And it was Daoist Qi Gong!

That he had accumulated such highly pure internal energy meant that this boy, Cheongun, had walked the path of Dao for at least several decades.

He could truly be called a ‘hidden dragon.’

Of course, this was Namgung Hwi’s delusion.

The energy he felt was not internal energy but the natural energy crammed into Cheongun’s dantian.

Since it was unprocessed, pure energy derived from nature itself, its purity was naturally high.

But Namgung Hwi’s expression, as he scrutinized Cheongun, grew serious.

‘Is that a realm achievable at such a young age?’

…Impossible.

It would be impossible unless he had been consuming spiritual elixirs since he was in his mother’s womb.

Then what on earth is it? Could it be the legendary ‘Rejuvenation’ realm that he’d only heard about?

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

How could someone walking the path of Dao be so reckless and greedy in their behavior?

Namgung Hwi let out a breath in exasperation.

He then continued, sounding genuinely regretful.

“Senior. As I said earlier, it is merely impossible at this moment; if you grant us some time, we will certainly pay the promised compensation.”

“How long will it take?”

“It will likely take about two weeks. Since this compensation should have been paid immediately, we will also provide an additional token of appreciation for the delay.”

Oh, now that’s what I’m talking about.

That’s more like it.

Cheongun smiled contentedly.

Namgung Hwi subtly smiled, watching the satisfied Cheongun.

“Do you have a place to return to, or are you affiliated with any particular family?”

Affiliated with a beggar?

Of course not.

“Then how about joining our family?”

“Me, joining Namgung?”

“Yes. I can promise you the best possible treatment.”

Cheongun pondered.

Join a family? That’s a bit troublesome.

Why troublesome?

There were several reasons.

First, Cheongun’s martial arts level, without his special traits, wasn’t that high yet.

Second, no matter how desperate he was for money, the moment he truly became involved with the martial world, he would get entangled in all sorts of troublesome affairs.

After years of living as a beggar, Cheongun realized something.

How annoying, troublesome, and terrifying the concept of ‘grievances’ in the martial world truly was.

My enemy is my enemy, and your enemy is also my enemy.

That maddening logic—that it’s a shame to kill just one person, so they’ll annihilate everyone connected—that is the true nature of grievances.

If he were to join the Namgung family?

The moment he did, every force hostile to Namgung would become Cheongun’s enemy.

Simply because Cheongun was ‘Namgung.’

“That’s a bit…”

“Are you truly unwilling to join our family?”

Cheongun nodded, thinking Namgung Hwi was truly persistent.

Namgung Hwi swallowed his regret and asked several more times, but Cheongun’s answer remained the same.

“I understand Senior’s wishes.”

At Cheongun’s resolute attitude, Namgung Hwi stopped trying to persuade him.

Of course, he hadn’t given up.

In the martial world, something more valuable than gold and treasures was a master of peak realm or higher, especially a wandering martial artist with no affiliation.

Particularly a prodigy like this boy, who seemed to have fallen from the sky, whose value couldn’t be estimated.

Namgung Hwi smiled faintly and proposed another condition.

“Then how about staying here temporarily as a guest?”

“A guest?”

“Yes, I will arrange for you to stay comfortably in the annex, with food, until you receive your compensation.”

“What about the food cost?”

“There is none. You can just live here as comfortably as if it were your own home.”

A guest was literally a valuable visitor.

Accommodation provided free of charge, three square meals a day, and clothes made of good quality fabric.

And that wasn’t all. If he just lay around, scratching his belly, and said “Do it for me,” they would do laundry, cleaning, and all sorts of errands.

All of that for free?

“Good.”

Cheongun immediately accepted the proposal.

****

Cheongun temporarily stayed as a guest in the Namgung family’s annex at the Justice Alliance branch.

The annex, built in a siheyuan style, had buildings situated on all four sides—east, west, north, and south—around a central courtyard, resembling a block of tofu cut into a cross (+) with the center hollowed out.

Cheongun’s room was one of the guest rooms on the west side, and beyond the window, he could see an artificial mountain made of Taihu stone and a small pond.

After living as a beggar, suddenly becoming a guest of the Namgung family was like heaven on earth.

Three meals a day of delicacies from the Jiangnan region were served, and servants tiptoed around, doing laundry and cleaning.

This was the ultimate jackpot.

The problem was that he didn’t know when some villains might suddenly attack.

According to Cheongun’s memory, the Justice Alliance branch located on Mount Cheongseong would be annihilated by a sudden attack from Demonic Cultists.

However, the exact timing was unknown.

This was because the point in time Cheongun transmigrated into was a custom-made scenario, much further in the past than the original story’s starting point.

So, his only option was to receive the gold ingot as quickly as possible and flee.

And before that, he’d improve his martial arts at the same time.

Cheongun sat cross-legged in the center of the floor, assessing his current state.

The cultivation method Cheongun first chose to accumulate internal energy was the Three Calamities Cultivation Method.

As expected of a third-rate cultivation method, its efficiency was truly terrible.

“Isn’t the Three Calamities Cultivation Method good enough?”

Of course not. To survive in a martial world where power inflation ran rampant, the Three Calamities Cultivation Method was far from enough.

Nevertheless, Cheongun chose the Three Calamities Cultivation Method for a simple reason.

Because it was the easiest, safest, and most stable.

Moreover, since it was a cultivation method faithful to the basics, there was no possibility of qi deviation occurring even if he learned other methods later.

He wanted to learn sword arts too, but sword arts couldn’t be acquired simply by knowing sword formulas and having good qi perception.

In the game, it would be learned with a single click, but wasn’t this reality?

“Preparations are complete.”

The name of the new cultivation method Cheongun would learn was the Heavenly Earth Primordial Energy Cultivation.

It was one of the cultivation methods considered the best in the world within the story.

It was a cultivation method created by the True Immortal Taiyi, known as the progenitor of Daoism before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of ancient times, and if one mastered it, it could undeniably be called the strongest cultivation method.

It boasted an extremely difficult introductory level, but if one overcame the maddening mastery process of the early and mid-stages, they could accumulate enough internal energy to surpass even demonic cultivation, regardless of their physique.

How did he know about such a cultivation method?

It was because all kinds of cultivation methods floated before Cheongun’s eyes like buttons.

[Heavenly Earth Primordial Energy Cultivation]

[View Formula]

Click.

He had given up on learning cultivation methods until now due to insufficient internal energy, but now that his dantian was bursting with natural energy, it was a different story.

“Hoo.”

Cheongun closed his eyes and regulated his breathing.

He reviewed the Heavenly Earth Primordial Energy Cultivation’s formula, and at the same time, allowed the meager internal energy he had cultivated with the Three Calamities Cultivation Method to flow along his opened Ren and Du Meridians.

This was a process that usually required more than ten years of cultivation, but for Cheongun, whose Qi Perception stat was ridiculously high, finding the Qi circulation paths was not difficult at all.

Moreover, perhaps because the experience of encountering a Demonic Cultist and absorbing natural energy remained in his body, his Qi circulation paths were already opened like a highway, allowing the first hurdle of the Heavenly Earth Primordial Energy Cultivation to be cleared more easily than expected.

With each breath he took in rhythm, a warm, vitalizing energy flowed into Cheongun’s body.

A refreshing sense of exhilaration caused his face to flush.

His whole body was overflowing with strength; it felt like he could easily knock down a first-rate martial artist.

Having completed the Small Heavenly Cycle corresponding to the first stage of Heavenly Earth Primordial Energy Cultivation, Heavenly Qi, Cheongun opened his eyes, sweating profusely.

His entire body was damp.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

What was certain was the feeling of high-quality, pure internal energy stably settled in his dantian.

Cheongun summarized the situation.

“Martial arts are easy, aren’t they?”