Moon-Shadow Sword Emperor - Chapter 8
Episode 8:
After completing the negotiations with Wang Chun-sheng.
After returning to my lodgings, I sat cross-legged on the bed and devoted myself to fortune-telling exercises.
‘It’s at a terrible level.’
As I was measuring the total amount of energy accumulated in my dantian, I sighed inwardly.
The utility of inner strength is truly endless.
Things like improving physical strength, increasing physical ability, and supporting health are only the most basic effects.
As the level of the user increases and the deeper the study, the inner skills can be used in various ways.
For example, cutting power can be dramatically increased by adding internal energy to a weapon, or massive propulsion can be gained by erupting through Yongcheonhyeol (湧泉穴).
‘It’s like a dream to me now.’
What I pictured in my head was my past life where I could freely handle the 120 years of internal energy, but in reality, I couldn’t even reach that point, so it was extremely frustrating.
It was said to be 120 years old, but if you include the energy that could not be embodied, it had an internal power of approximately 4 Gapza (240 years).
‘It may only be a temporary measure, but there is a need to increase the amount of internal energy accumulated by consuming long-acting elixirs.’
The elixir or spirit altar is a precious item that is never commonly seen.
It is said that there are several great clans or large corporations that succeeded in creating their own elixirs, but in fact, strictly speaking, what they created was a little different from the elixirs that people in the world talked about.
‘Wearing long clothes is almost like a kind of tonic that helps improve internal energy.’
If there were an exception, would it be the Shaolin Temple’s Summoning Altar and the Hwasan Sect’s Plum Blossom God Dan?
‘Well, the ingredients are as rare and valuable as the elixir, so there won’t be much of a difference.’
Turning the story around, the ‘real elixir’ rarely appears in the river.
Because it is not easily discovered, and even if discovered, it is not distributed.
No merchant or government in the central region was willing to handle the transportation of the elixir.
No matter how high the value of the elixir is, what do you do?
This is a troublesome item that the martial arts people disguised as robbers keep getting caught up in.
As a result, even if a lucky Simmani or a martial artist discovered an elixir, the fact was often not known and was concealed.
The only time rumors about the elixir spread was when a bloody incident occurred surrounding it.
Even though I had memories of my past life, I knew almost nothing about the whereabouts of the elixir.
Although I remember a few major incidents, I was not directly involved in them, so it was impossible to pinpoint the location of the elixir based on those alone.
At least it wasn’t something I could do anything about now.
‘Especially because I was cut off from the outside world for the ten years I was stuck in Jamma-dong during this time. At the very least, I have no choice but to take the long-acting elixir consistently.’
Elixirs are largely divided into two types.
Immediate-acting elixir and delayed-acting elixir.
As mentioned before, immediate-acting elixirs are valuable items that allow you to gain enormous energy upon consuming them, and long-acting elixirs are a type of tonic.
What I wanted to make was the latter.
‘If possible, I tried to save it until the time when maximum efficiency could be achieved.’
There was a risk of confidentiality leaks, and the effect was not indefinite.
Therefore, I was thinking of using it later if the right time came.
‘It can’t go on like this.’
There was no longer any way to delay.
The speed of accumulating skills could not keep up with the speed of growth.
As I skipped the trial and error process that everyone else went through and progressed quickly, a strange phenomenon occurred where my internal skills were ridiculously low compared to the skill level of the herbivore.
There may be many military personnel who suffer from similar problems, but in my case, it was severe.
‘If this continues, I may have to stop training soon.’
Internal energy that cannot be handled becomes the cause of a fire-entry demon.
On the other hand, if a person who lacks internal energy forces himself to use upward martial arts techniques, his energy and blood will be distorted and his heart and veins will be torn.
It was obvious from the martial artist’s words that the balance of the mind and body was broken.
Just because it was okay right away, we couldn’t just leave it alone forever.
‘Let’s start production right away as soon as the materials are ready.’
It’s not that there are no elements of anxiety, but I’m not in a position to worry about this or that right now.
* * *
After finishing the fortune-telling, I headed to the restaurant used by gasols living in the outer garden.
When I first came to Sega, the family servants would bring meals to my lodgings, but now there was no such special treatment.
‘No. Since an entire spare room was given over to guests, it must be said that they are treated clearly differently from other servants.’
My official position in the Manjang family is that of a servant employed by the family.
In fact, he could have asked for a higher status, but he deliberately insisted on being a servant.
I thought that if my status got higher, it would be a hassle when I left Sega later.
‘It doesn’t really matter what your status is within this village martial arts family.’
The only goal is the Murim League Senate.
Manjangsega was just a stepping stone for advancement.
“Hahaha! So you say you wasted all your salary in one day?”
“Don’t laugh… I really feel like I want to die.”
“So I should have drank less.”
“That bitch Cherry Blossom is truly a monster. “When I come to my senses, I see an empty glass in my hand.”
“Why are you spending money on something like that? “It’s a waste of money.”
“I know it in my head too.”
As I entered the restaurant, a loud noise penetrated my ears.
Even though no one had specifically instructed them to do so, the family members were divided into two groups and were eating.
Based on the central food section, the warriors are on the left and the servants are on the right.
My steps naturally turned to the right.
There were more empty seats on the left, but I didn’t want to get glares for breaking the unspoken rule.
“her.”
“Can I eat all of that?”
The other servants’ eyes widened when they saw me bringing rice piled high on a bowl.
It was too much for a twelve-year-old boy to eat.
‘Why have this much?’
That said, the amount of food I ate in my previous life was far below that.
Although I learned martial arts, I was basically a glutton.
In the heyday, there was a time when I emptied an entire large pot.
‘There are only three things that are good in the countryside.’
The Manjang family was not that large among the martial arts families.
Because of its short history, the number of members was small, so warriors and employees ate together in one space.
Thanks to this, even though there was an invisible wall, there was no difference between the meals of warriors and employees.
‘It’s a luxury I couldn’t even dream of when I was in Jamma-dong.’
I felt relieved that I would no longer follow the same path as in my previous life.
It is important to receive sufficient nutrition during the growth period.
It is no exaggeration to say that the growth of the body depends on diet.
From that perspective, Jamma-dong’s education policy can be said to be very inefficient.
‘It is true that that desperation is the driving force that produces so many strong men.’
A contradiction where inefficiency creates possibility.
People in the world cite the special nature of magic as the reason why demons are strong, but my opinion is a little different.
Magical techniques, which are less stable than Jeongjongsimbeop, become more difficult to overcome as the level increases.
Nevertheless, the Demonic Cult is full of venerable masters.
In theory, the number of top unmanned personnel should be small, but in reality, this is not the case.
‘When it comes to cult leadership, it is a monster of monsters with no rival in the world.’
Demonicists and Jeongpa people have different attitudes toward martial arts.
You can tell this just by looking at the warriors belonging to Manjangse.
“kid.”
“……?”
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
When I was about to finish half of the rice on the bowl, a group of men lined up as if to surround me.
I put down my chopsticks and frowned.
‘They say they don’t even touch the dog while eating.’
When I turned my head, I saw a man with a strict expression glaring at me with a grim expression.
It was a familiar face.
The name of the person who oversees the servants employed by the Manjang family is…
‘What was it?’
What’s important about a name?
What matters is what purpose you came to see me for.
‘Judging by the atmosphere, I don’t think it’s a very good reason.’
Sure enough, the man lifted his index finger and spoke as if giving me a command.
“Follow me. “This is not a good place.”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the backrest.
“I don’t like it.”
“what?”
“I said no.”
There’s only half of the rice left, so where can I go?
If you have something to say, I hope you can do so here.
Or wait until you finish eating.
“It would be good to follow when you say something nice.”
“I’m going to follow along obediently and end up in trouble.”
“I have no intention of causing any harm, so there is nothing to be afraid of.”
“How can you believe that?”
A furrow was carved between the man’s eyebrows.
He snorted several times as if he was very angry.
He reached out and grabbed me by the collar.
“Stop talking nonsense and follow me!”
“Let go.”
Naturally, my voice also became cold.
I didn’t want to stand out by causing unnecessary friction, but I also didn’t intend to sit still and suffer injustice.
“Didn’t your parents teach you manners toward elders?”
“Unfortunately, he was abandoned by his parents.”
The sound of giggling and laughing rang in my ears.
I wonder what grown adults do around a child.
“That’s why your manners were such a mess.”
“At least it seems like you have more common sense and are more polite than that.”
He replied harshly and grabbed the man’s wrist.
Because of his size, his physical strength is not very good, but even though he is like this, he has mastered martial arts.
It wasn’t even a task to subdue an ordinary person.
“100 million!”
The startled man withdrew his hand and took a step back.
The response was more agile than expected.
I tried to just break his arm and throw him on the ground.
‘Did you learn martial arts, even if only in a clumsy way?’
The man wrapped his arms around his wrists and let out a groan.
It will be quite painful.
This is because the internal energy flowing through the wrist will stimulate the nerves in the body and cause extreme pain.
This was the scary thing about the internal heavy hand method.
The man shouted with an evil look on his face.
“You must be so proud that the Commander-in-Chief and Lady Yeon-hee look at you favorably!”
‘…I can understand why it’s like this.’
It became clear from the statement just now.
‘At this point, I want to clearly organize the rankings, I guess.’
Why does the servant look down on me?
There were several possible causes.
Even though he was a servant, he felt uncomfortable with me not being under his control.
He said he was annoyed that I was earning a salary several times higher than that of a servant, and that he didn’t like the fact that I was sitting in an entire lodging room for empty guests.
Wherever you go, fights over food and jealousy tied to them exist.
‘I have to be careful about such topics. ‘I guess you wanted to avoid a situation where trouble would arise if you touched it carelessly, right?’
If you touch it wrongly, you may face a backlash if it gets to the ears of Commander Wang or Cho Yeon-hee.
So I couldn’t touch it easily and just watched quietly. What?
This guy hasn’t been able to escape the status of a servant for over two years?
It seems that Minister Wang has shown no signs of choosing her as his successor and his relationship with Cho Yeon-hee has become bleak.
Was he a guy who wasn’t as special as he seemed? The thought naturally arose.
Even if the other person is a twelve-year-old child, there is nothing more to say.
‘It’s a pain in the ass.’
So what action should I take in this situation?
The best thing to do is to hold out and not be dragged away like this, and later tell the King General about what happened here.
The worst thing is that you get scared and follow them.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Follow me when you say something nice!”
“…….”
After thinking for a moment, I sighed and got up from my seat.
I don’t want to play to their intentions, but to catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den.
‘Isn’t it a bit hard to compare this guy to a tiger?’
Anyway, how is it?
Whether you want to catch a rabbit or a fox, you have to go into the hole first.
I did not want to rely on Minister Wang’s power to solve the problem.
Especially because of the story I heard from Cho Yeon-hee.
Borrowing someone’s power was like being indebted to someone else.
As I glanced around, the rice that was only half cooked caught my eye.
‘What a shame.’
I am guilty of interrupting my meal.
I was planning to make him pay for this crime.