“I don’t know why the world is so chaotic these days.”
“Oh dear, who knows. I hear the gentleman next door is wailing in grief because his wife has gone missing.”
“What on earth is the Wulin Alliance doing? The world is ending, truly ending.”
“They’re drunk on peace, those martial artists have forgotten their duty. Drinking on duty, the very idea.”
The Seongyeong Inn was filled with the usual clamor of people.
Over the past few months, public sentiment in the Shaanxi region had been plummeting.
The reason was the continuous incidents and the Wulin Alliance’s inadequate response.
To the point that common folk were suffering one-sidedly due to escalating confrontations with the Demonic Faction.
Word had even spread that large merchant guilds were reducing their visits to Shaanxi.
“What do you think, brother?”
“I’m not sure. I only recently came down from the mountain.”
“You’d best be careful. These days, the shabbier you look, the more flies will swarm to you.”
A man offered words of warning to one draped in a filthy, tattered sackcloth.
However, the man—Baek Yeonghyeon—had eyes that gleamed brightly.
*It was around this time that the Demonic Faction truly flourished.*
The greatest factor behind the Wulin Alliance’s inevitable crushing defeat in the Righteous-Demonic Great War was the existence of the Bingtian Demon Lord.
The second factor was that it had not been long since the Righteous-Evil Great War ended.
In other words, unless the conflict with the Demonic Faction was resolved, the chances of victory in a bloody struggle against the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were zero.
*This is perfect. The situation hasn’t fully escalated yet.*
From what I knew, even within the Demonic Faction, moderates and radicals were pushing their opinions with deadly seriousness.
Then the radicals had arbitrarily murdered the Demonic Alliance Leader—the master of the faction—and forced their plans forward.
If I could stop that absurd incident, I could eliminate the conflict with the Demonic Faction entirely.
“Where might you be from, brother? Hardly anyone has been coming to Shaanxi lately.”
“I’m just an ordinary herb gatherer. I heard there are many herbs on Mount Hua.”
“Hoho, gathering herbs on Mount Hua. One wrong step and it’s a straight path to death.”
“Thank you for your concern, but I’ve eaten quite a good herb.”
It was not a lie.
The cave of the Quanyue Shen Gong had been stocked with so many hundred-year He Shou Wu that one needn’t even give them a second thought.
At any rate, after continuing the conversation and gleaning some information, I left the inn.
Before I could move in earnest, what I needed was money.
Raising a large sum immediately was no easy task, but I had information about the future.
Which merchant guilds would fall, and which would rise to the position of the greatest under heaven.
*First, shall I try contacting the Azure Dragon Merchant Guild?*
If I presented a few night-shining pearls in advance, I should be able to meet the guild leader or someone of equal standing.
I left the crowded inn and headed toward the Azure Dragon Merchant Guild’s branch office.
*****
“W-welcome! Customer!”
Upon arriving at the Azure Dragon Merchant Guild, I wordlessly held out two night-shining pearls.
The receptionist jumped as if seeing a ghost and guided me inside.
Before long, a woman with an urgent expression appeared.
The only daughter cherished by the Azure Dragon Guild Leader—Cheong Yuran.
“I greet an honored guest. I am Cheong Yuran. I have heard the story.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Cheong. I am Baek Yeonghyeon. Though I have not told any story.”
“That is precisely the point. It is not common for someone to silently hand over two night-shining pearls.”
Cheong Yuran, having given a fist-and-palm salute, swept her sharp gaze over me.
In my memory, she always wore a tired expression in front of piles of documents.
That meant she possessed extraordinary business acumen.
She was likely still in a learning position as the heir to the guild leader.
She tended to hate people who talked too much.
Because every swindler without exception hid themselves behind eloquent speech.
She preferred people who stated their business simply.
That is why I showed her only the night-shining pearls without a word.
“I will speak frankly. How much will you buy them for?”
“Please name your price first.”
“I will do thirty thousand taels.”
A twitch.
Cheong Yuran’s eyebrows curved, as if impressed.
An ordinary person could not possibly know the exact market price of night-shining pearls.
Though the value of night-shining pearls varies wildly depending on whether they are low or high grade, the ones I held were appropriately priced at thirty thousand taels.
In that sense, Cheong Yuran could not help but hesitate.
*Haggle him down, or accept the offer?*
If he were someone she would only deal with once, she could haggle.
But considering the attitude I had shown thus far, she must have judged that doing so would be a clear disadvantage.
Sure enough.
“I will take them at twenty-five thousand taels each.”
“Oho, has the market price dropped so much?”
“It is a small gesture of goodwill toward a customer with whom I will continue to do business.”
A customer who would go together.
In just a few words, Cheong Yuran grasped that I was interested in the Azure Dragon Merchant Guild itself.
Truly, she was a woman who would become the greatest female guild leader to lead the next number-one merchant guild under heaven.
I held out the two night-shining pearls with a satisfied expression.
“I will come to collect the money when I need it. Is that alright?”
At my question, Cheong Yuran took out a gold plaque from her bosom.
“If you present this gold plaque, any branch will provide you with funds.”
“I like how quickly this conversation is going.”
It hadn’t even been a quarter of an hour since I entered.
Yet Cheong Yuran and I had seen through each other’s thoughts and established a relationship of trust.
If I brought night-shining pearls whenever I was bored from now on, that relationship would grow even stronger.
For now, it was more than enough satisfaction to have made her acquaintance today.
It was then.
“Vice Guild Leader! Something terrible has happened!”
“What is it?”
A man flung open the door to the reception room with a contorted face.
He flinched slightly upon confirming there was a guest, but he did not stop.
He approached Cheong Yuran and whispered in a very small voice.
Her eyes grew as large as lanterns.
“How could this! Was it not a safe route?”
“...I have no excuse.”
From what I heard, a caravan transporting valuables had been captured by the Green Forest.
Even several escort warriors guarding it had met their deaths.
“They are demanding a hefty sum... If we do not respond within three days, they will destroy the goods and even kill all the hostages...”
“How could this!!”
Perhaps no longer even thinking of whispering, their conversation rang out thunderously before me.
Cheong Yuran caught herself and managed her expression.
“I apologize for showing an unsightly flustered appearance before a guest.”
“Not at all. From what I heard, it seems a rather dangerous situation.”
“Yes...”
“I shall help you.”
“Pardon?”
At my sudden words, Cheong Yuran blinked.
Perhaps she could not believe that someone would extend a hand without any compensation.
But I truly intended to move without receiving anything.
*I need to verify my strength anyway.*
I had barely ascended to the Hua Realm.
Reaching the Hua Realm from a level not even third-rate had been like hell.
A process in which I had almost completely eliminated the human emotions known as the Five Desires and Seven Emotions.
Especially since I had eaten nothing but spirit medicines and Bigu Pills, my tongue had nearly gone numb.
The first thing I ate after leaving the cave was a bowl of well-cooked rice—need I say more?
Anyway, because of that.
“Please leave it to me. If you just tell me the location, I will rescue them all.”
“Young Hero Baek, I apologize, but this is something our guild—”
“Wouldn’t this be enough?”
*Kwaah!*
As I unleashed my inner energy as a demonstration, Cheong Yuran’s pupils trembled once more.
Though she was not a martial artist, she could tell that this aura, like a great wave, belonged to an expert.
An expert far beyond what she had imagined.
Cheong Yuran’s head began to spin rapidly.
Was it right to ask this person for help without any compensation?
Could he handle all the enemies alone?
If he failed and a great disaster occurred where all the hostages died, what was she to do?
Countless hypotheses flashed through her mind, but her thoughts eventually arrived at—
“May I... ask this of you?”
“Of course.”
She had played a brilliant gambit by trusting me.
*So that’s why things felt strange today.*
Cheong Yuran looked at the man before her and recalled.
Since she had woken up this morning, ominous events had continued to occur; she had thought the inevitable had finally happened.
But where there is misfortune, there is also fortune.
Cheong Yuran wanted to take a chance on a man named Baek Yeonghyeon.
She was not certain.
Sometimes a woman’s intuition was more accurate than any logical evidence.
Now was such a time.
Cheong Yuran thought so.
“Young Hero Baek. Though you said you would not take compensation, if you complete this matter successfully, our guild will provide you with a reward.”
“You need not give it to me.”
“No, we will give it. We cannot simply sit still and wait for help. Our guild shall hire Young Hero Baek.”
Her eyes shone with intelligence.
For a brief moment, I felt as if I was facing the future Cheong Yuran at her prime.
The righteous woman who had devoted everything of her guild to stopping the advance of the Demonic Cult’s armies until the very end.
To me, Cheong Yuran was the very image of a female general.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Afterward, having heard the information about the escort mission from Cheong Yuran, I turned directly toward the mountain ridge.
It was time for the Quan Tian to stretch its muscles.