Chapter 21 : At the Seo Family Estate. -01

Chapter 21: At the Seo Family Estate. -01

Ban Hojin blinked his eyes.

It was because the incident had happened not long ago, so he thought it might not have spread yet.

Perhaps Geum Hoyeon or the Third Young Lord’s side of the Geum Family Estate had chosen to keep it a secret.

If that was the case, then everything fit perfectly.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t consider that. Whether it would be good or bad for it to be known that I captured the Iron King.’

Ban Hojin’s brows drew together.

In terms of reputation, it was better for it to be known.

Not only would his own obscurity be lifted, but the standing of Shaolin would also rise.

However, the problem was that the more famous he became, the more people there would be who envied or resented Ban Hojin.

‘Well, what those kinds of people do is obvious anyway.’

The more outstanding and capable someone was, the more enemies they were bound to have.

And envy and jealousy were human instincts.

Because of that, Ban Hojin did not view simple jealousy too negatively.

‘Still, why hasn’t it been revealed? From the feel of it, he seemed like someone who would move immediately.’

The Geum Hoyeon Ban Hojin had seen was a quintessentially soft-on-the-outside, strong-on-the-inside man.

On the surface, he seemed gentle and easygoing, but inside him was a sharp blade.

With that kind of temperament, he would only feel satisfied after repaying exactly what he had suffered, so there was no way he would have simply endured it and let it pass.

Yet when Seo I-gyeong seemed unaware of the Iron King’s death, Ban Hojin felt puzzled.

“Hm hm.”

“Ah, my apologies. Since Young Master Namgung was mentioned, something came to mind.”

“No, that is quite understandable. But may I ask for what reason you have come to see me?”

Sensing that the atmosphere had ripened enough, Seo I-gyeong naturally brought up the main point.

He thought that someone called the Divine Dragon would not come to see a person he had never met before without a reason.

“To be precise, I came to see your third son.”

“The third, you say?”

The doubt in Seo I-gyeong’s eyes deepened.

As far as he knew, his third son had never once gone beyond the estate grounds.

That meant there was no way they could have known each other, so Seo I-gyeong tilted his head in confusion.

“Isn’t the Third Young Lord afflicted with the Nine Yang Severed Meridians?”

“No, how did you know that!”

Seo I-gyeong was greatly startled.

It was known in the vicinity that his third son had a frail constitution, but the fact that it was the Nine Yang Severed Meridians was a top secret.

Seeing that Ban Hojin knew this, Seo I-gyeong’s eyes widened.

“For reference, I learned of this by chance. I did not hear it from any of your acquaintances, Estate Head. So I hope you will not harbor suspicions.”

“Hmm!”

Seo I-gyeong’s pupils wavered.

As the saying went that once suspicion took root it was difficult to completely uproot, even after Ban Hojin had gone this far, Seo I-gyeong could not entirely dispel his doubts.

He was human as well, so it could not be helped.

At the same time, however, he was curious as to how Ban Hojin had found out.

“The reason I came to see you, Estate Head, is to make one request.”

“A request? What do you mean by that?”

The more he listened, the less he understood, and Seo I-gyeong’s brows knit tightly.

Along with that, his wariness deepened.

Those born with the Nine Yang Severed Meridians were short-lived, but in exchange they were born with talents incomparable to ordinary people.

Because of that, Seo I-gyeong wondered if Ban Hojin might be trying to exploit that.

At the same time, the thought that he might be a fraud crossed his mind.

He suspected that perhaps he was impersonating Ban Hojin by taking advantage of the Divine Dragon’s fame.

Swoosh.

As countless thoughts and emotions stormed through Seo I-gyeong’s mind, Ban Hojin took out an item he had prepared in advance from his bosom.

He placed on the table an object that looked tightly sealed at a glance.

“I have a way to save the Third Young Lord. The Third Young Lord is seventeen this year, correct? I understand that those born with severed meridians usually die before reaching twenty. However, there is a fact people do not know very well. The later the treatment is delayed, the deeper the pain becomes, and the greater the aftereffects that remain. In other words, if treatment is possible, it is best to do it even a day sooner.”

“You can… save my son? Are you saying, Young Hero Ban, that treatment is p-possible?”

“Yes.”

Rather than a hundred words, showing it directly once was far better.

There was a reason the saying ‘seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times’ existed.

Thus, Ban Hojin revealed the Inner Core of the White Toad of a Hundred Years that he had tightly sealed away.

Shuhahaat!

The moment he opened the well-oiled leather pouch, a bone-chilling cold filled the room.

Even though it was midsummer, with the heat at its peak, frost formed atop the table.

The cold air flowing out from the Inner Core cooled not only the table but also the air inside the room.

Gulp!

The instant he saw it, Seo I-gyeong’s eyes grew as large as lanterns.

He could tell at once that it was an Inner Core imbued with Extreme Yin Energy, which he had searched for so desperately until now.

Inner Cores and spirit herbs were things that could not be obtained unless fate aligned, no matter how much gold one possessed.

But even if one struggled to obtain them, they were useless if they contained Extreme Yang Energy.

What was needed to treat the Nine Yang Severed Meridians was the opposing energy—Extreme Yin Energy.

Therefore, it was all the more impossible to obtain, and when an Inner Core imbued with the Extreme Yin Energy he had searched for so desperately lay on the table, Seo I-gyeong’s entire body trembled.

“It is the Inner Core of the White Toad of a Hundred Years. And as you can see, it is one that has lived for well over a hundred years. I am no expert, but I believe it may be one that has lived close to five hundred years.”

“T-this precious thing… how did you obtain it?”

“If you look at it one way, it may be heaven’s way of saying that it does not yet intend to take the Third Young Lord.”

“What is it that you wish to ask of me?”

Seo I-gyeong, who had been momentarily dazed, quickly pulled himself together.

Getting excited would not make anything possible.

Thus, Seo I-gyeong barely regained his composure and looked at Ban Hojin with a much calmer gaze and expression.

However, without realizing it, his eyes kept flicking toward the Inner Core from time to time.

“I would like the Third Young Lord’s talent to be used for the Central Plains.”

“……Pardon?”

Seo I-gyeong asked back a beat late.

He could not understand what was being said.

More precisely, it was far too broad and vague.

Unable to grasp the intent of what Ban Hojin was saying, Seo I-gyeong narrowed his brows.

“I mean exactly what I said. If the Third Young Lord is cured of the Nine Yang Severed Meridians, my request is that he use his abilities for the Murim of the Central Plains.”

“Wait a moment. Not for Young Hero Ban or for Shaolin?”

“Yes. This was something I obtained on my own. I am a lay disciple of Shaolin, but this matter is separate from that.”

“I may be slow to understand, but it does not sound to me like Young Hero Ban is saying that you will take my son in. Is that correct?”

“That is correct. However, I would like him to stay with me for a time. Since he is seventeen years old, complete treatment is impossible with the White Toad of a Hundred Years alone. That is why, for a complete cure, I prepared one more thing.”

Thud.

This time, Ban Hojin opened his bundle.

He then placed a single martial arts manual he had copied by hand from the Scripture Pavilion onto the table.

“Th-this is…!”

At a glance, it was clearly a freshly made copy, but what mattered to Seo I-gyeong was the title of the martial arts manual.

The moment he saw it, Seo I-gyeong was even more shocked than when he had seen the Inner Core of the White Toad of a Hundred Years.

“It is a divine art that is also called a demonic art—the Blazing Deity Divine Art. As you can see, the original is in Shaolin’s Scripture Pavilion, and this is a copy. I plan to control the Extreme Yang Energy that cannot be fully suppressed by the White Toad of a Hundred Years with the Blazing Deity Divine Art. Among Yang-attribute cultivation arts, the Blazing Deity Divine Art can be considered top-tier, so I believe it will be possible to control the Extreme Yang Energy.”

“A-amazing.”

Faced with such perfect preparation that left no room for criticism, Seo I-gyeong was momentarily unable to collect himself.

But he soon came to his senses.

Seo I-gyeong had no time to simply be amazed.

At this very moment, his third son was suffering from the tremendous Extreme Yang Energy erupting from his nine major acupoints.

‘The Inner Core of the White Toad of a Hundred Years, and the Blazing Deity Divine Art.’

Seo I-gyeong’s gaze moved in turn to the two items laid side by side on the table.

Each one was something that could never be obtained with money alone.

Thus, from the moment he saw the two of them, Seo I-gyeong had already made up his mind.

If he could not obtain those two items on the table, his youngest son would not survive even three more years.

‘At least he is not an evil man.’

Up until the White Toad of a Hundred Years, there had still been a lingering doubt.

However, the instant he saw the Blazing Deity Divine Art, Seo I-gyeong could be certain.

No place other than Shaolin’s Scripture Pavilion could possess the Blazing Deity Divine Art.

As Shaolin was the place that separately safeguarded demonic and heterodox martial manuals for the peace of the Central Plains, its trustworthiness was unquestionable.

“Ah, there is one thing I forgot to mention. There is a time limit. Asking someone to devote their entire life to the peace of the Central Plains would be unreasonable. Exactly twenty years. From the moment he consumes the White Toad of a Hundred Years, he only needs to keep the promise for exactly twenty years. After that, he may live freely.”

“Twenty years, you say. Until yesterday, it was a span of time I would not have dared to imagine.”

Seo I-gyeong gave a faint smile.

To someone who could not even guarantee three more years, twenty years was an unimaginably long span.

But with the White Toad of a Hundred Years and the Blazing Deity Divine Art, it was possible.

No, rather, the conditions felt almost too generous.

“With those two and the resolve to give it one’s utmost, he may live for more than one cycle of sixty years.”

“Is that truly the only thing you desire?”

“Yes. There is nothing else. Ah, if I had to name one more thing, it would be not breaking the promise.”

“That will not happen.”

Seo I-gyeong said firmly.

Though his family had fallen into decline, that did not mean they lacked pride or self-respect.

If anything, because they had fallen, they clung to those things all the more.

They had nothing left but pride and self-respect.

“Rather, I believe the conditions are too generous.”

“That is not the case. You may not understand what I mean right now, but as time passes, you will come to understand.”

As he met Seo I-gyeong’s eyes, Ban Hojin showed a slightly apologetic expression.

In a way, it was because he was buying the future of the Third Young Lord—who could be called a genius among geniuses—at a cheap price.

Of course, a future only had meaning if one was alive, but even so, considering the Third Young Lord’s abilities, it was fair to say he was being used cheaply.

Nevertheless, the Third Young Lord was absolutely necessary for Ban Hojin’s grand scheme.

“I will need to hear my youngest son’s opinion as well, but I am agreeable. There is no reason to refuse such terms. How could I refuse when a son who would not even live three more years can live for over twenty? Rather, I am simply grateful that you came to find me and my youngest.”

Seo I-gyeong rose from his seat and bowed deeply toward Ban Hojin.

Though there were conditions attached, there was no doubt that he was saving his third son.

And he had prepared everything thoroughly to do so.

That was why Seo I-gyeong bent his waist with heartfelt sincerity.

“Haha. I will accept your thanks just this once. In any case, it is true that I am the one saving the Third Young Lord. By the way, is he in a condition where movement is difficult?”

“He can move comfortably for about one shijin a day.”

“Then that means he spends the rest of the time in pain. And the cycle at which the pain worsens must also be growing shorter.”

“That is correct. Shall you meet him now, then?”

“Yes. As they say, even an ox’s horn should be twisted while it is hot.”