Volcanic Age - Chapter 19

Editor: Summerstood, Imagine

“If you miss even one of them, it will naturally get known in the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain. In that case, who will bear the consequences?”

“Is it us…no, Mount Hua?”

Jang Seo Eun wasn’t sure of it so she asked carefully.

Gu Pung shook his head and turned his head.

“It’s this elder.”

“What?”

Jang Hong put on a dumbfounded expression like he couldn’t understand it.

“As long as we don’t touch the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain, then they won’t touch us either. They won’t try to get revenge just because I killed a few pirates but they would vent their anger on the boat owner.”

“What wrong did the boat owner commit?”

Jang Seo Eun asked as if it was absurd.

“We are not talking about who is in the right and who is in the wrong. It’s just venting their anger. The Nine Fleets of the Water Forest, no, the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain don’t walk in the black arts for nothing. They are the kind of people to do so.”

The Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain aren’t guardians or martial artists that care about prestige. They are beings that not even the four factions accept.

They are merely a group of bandits.

“If you are not going to take responsibility for the life of the captain, you better stop. Also, if rumours about that spread no boat owner will let us ride their boat as retaliation of the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain”

“…”

Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun still had their shoulders drooping and weren’t saying anything as if their shock hadn’t faded away.

“I, no, everyone knows that it’s wrong but at times there are things you can’t do anything about. You will face unreasonable things like this every time you come to Kang Ho. If that time comes, think about what happened today and think before you act.”

‘Ho, I didn’t know a pinnacle master could be this rational.’

Ju Seo Cheon listened to Gu Pung’s teachings and was amazed.

Experts all had high pride and there was nothing to say about if you were pinnacle experts.

Having this way of thinking without having a trace of anger wasn’t common at all.

The Fourteenth Gallant Sword Gu Pung was used as a sacrificial lamb in the age of war and would die a few years later. It was a regretful thing.

If the future changes in this life, and if Gu Pung stays alive. Ju Seo Cheon was wondering about such things.

“The Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain should disappear for these things to not happen. However, as you may already know their scale and strength isn’t low at all. It isn’t only Mount Hua but the Murim Association will also have to move but that isn’t plausible either. Do you know why?”

Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun didn’t answer.

It seemed like the two of them knew something but didn’t want to say it.

Gu Pung waited silently for an answer to return.

Ju Seo Cheon couldn’t watch anymore and spoke.

“It’s because the balance will crumble.”

“Elaborate that.”

Murim still maintained peace before the age of war and that was because the forces maintained a perfect balance of strength.

The Murim Association of the Righteous Sect, and the apostles of death of the Death Faction.

The Second Generation of The Demonic Path’s blood teachings and demonic teachings.

The strength of the four power houses were similar and that was why no one could move rashly.

Even if they won a battle, the damages they suffered would be great because their forces were similar. So if two forces joined hands in that situation, they would be able to easily get rid of the remaining force.

A similar thing would happen if the Murim Association got the Eighteen Strongholds of the Monsoon Rain as their enemies and lost their forces.

The remaining three forces could join hands to turn the weakened Murim Association into a wasteland. They really couldn’t do anything about it.

“You know it well. And that’s why I also think you know it too. Just that you don’t want to say it out loud.”

Gu Pung looked at Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun. The two of them agreed with the silence as if his words weren’t wrong.

They couldn’t endure the fact that they had to leave the bandits who were right in front of them act as they pleased no matter how unavoidable it was.

They were at an age where they were overflowing with justice. It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand.

“It’s not that you don’t understand the idea but the reality in Kang Ho is especially cruel. Think about it well.”

Gu Pung laughed and that laughter seemed quite bitter. It was the laugh of an adult that had thrown away his dreams and had compromised with reality.

The boat arrived at the estuary. The group was able to cross the Yangtze river safely without fighting any pirates.

It seemed like Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun were still in thought.

Ju Seo Cheon saw that and laughed inwardly.

‘I remember the old times. I was also like that.’

The two of them spoke a lot since they departed but now seemed to be filled with thoughts.

“Hm, it seems like it didn’t affect you at all.”

Gu Pung looked at Ju Seo Cheon in a strange look.

Ju Seo Cheon realized his mistake at those words. He didn’t control his expressions as he was looking at Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun.

he had somewhat acted on the boat while thinking of other things but now he had stopped acting.

“Senior uncle should also know that I have gone out of the sect when I was young.”

“Ahh, it seemed like something happened back then.”

“Yes, I already received the shock back then so it’s not that big this time.”

Ju Seo Cheon laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.

The group just crossed Chongqing and entered Guizhou.

‘I’m finally at Guizhou.’

He had just arrived at Guizhou but this place wasn’t his destination. The place he had to go was Kaiyang.

“Starting today you will not be allowed to use any footwork technique.”

The territories of the Righteous and Death factions inside of Guizhou changed a few times in a day. This land was that chaotic.

The Murim Association and the Apostles of Death weren’t at war but it was different at least here, in Guizhou. There were small and big battles everyday.

The expenditure of internal energy was severe when using footwork techniques so it may become dangerous when they encountered enemies.

That’s why they stopped using the light step arts and footwork techniques and decided to walk until Kaiyang.

‘Guizhou!’

He would have already screamed excitedly if it wasn’t for the group.

There was someone he had business with, no, he had to find.

The treasury of the Three Eyed Immoral God.

He had racked his brains everyday to obtain the treasures sleeping in the treasury.

He brought up his memories the best he could and established a plan and revised it. The time it took to do that was almost three years.

He needed the help of a few people in his plans and it was estimated that one of those people was at Guizhou.

‘Merchant king, Lee Ui Chae!’

His name wasn’t really known yet but he was someone that would become the best merchant in the midlands one day.

Originally he was an ordinary rice dealer but his life changed drastically as the age of war started.

Lee Ui Chae was a really greedy person. He would form a connection with a martial artist coincidentally in the age of war.

And then obtained small information about the war from that merchant and went to a secluded region and sold the provisions of the army.

The other merchants clicked their tongues saying that Lee Ui Chae didn’t value his life.

Lee Ui Chae gathered up a great deal of money like a rake with this happening and started to increase his wealth and business.

Originally, Lee Ui Chae’s talents related to money were ghostlike to the point people said that God descended that ability upon him.

He had little capital until then and was unlucky but when one opportunity came to him, he used that and grew up at a monstrous rate.

‘The merchant king is someone I should absolutely never make an enemy of. I have to get that money grubber by my side.’

Lee Ui Chae didn’t belong to the Righteous or Demonic Faction. He was a merchant from beginning to end and his philosophy was scary enough.

The Righteous and Demonic Faction. On top of that, the unknown forces that haven’t shown themselves yet like the Second Generation of The Demonic Path.

Lee Ui Chae employed methods to earn money from beginning to end since the age of war started. He didn’t belong to any side.

The level of his guts wasn’t normal . Who would try to make business with Murim as its opponent? He wasn’t the merchant king for nothing.

‘In addition, there’s a saying that the winner of the age of war was the merchant king.’

Lee Ui Chae’s worthless Golden Business Group gained countless profits through the age of war.

And when everything ended, the Golden Business Group became the best merchant group and descended on the peace that barely arrived.

He had so much wealth that people said he could buy the world with his money.

‘There’s nothing to speak about his talent. If I entrust the treasures to the treasure king, he will mobilize it well by his own. The fact that he’s someone I can feel relief and entrust it to him is especially important.’

There was a possibility of people escaping with the treasures if he entrusted it to them. But Lee Ui Chae wasn’t like that.

There was a saying between merchants that went ‘Having no trust is no different from death’.

Trust between merchants was a must in a business. If that trust was broken, no one would try to make a transaction with them.

The reason Lee Ui Chae was able to climb to the seat of merchant king was because of his ability but also because he kept that trust without fail.

The most reliable person in the world was Lee Ui Chae if only he was given money. But contrary to that, he was someone unreliable with no money.

This meant that there was no one more reliable than the merchant king in a benefiting relationship.

But in the opposite case, it was doubtful whether you would even have an opportunity to speak with the merchant king leaving trust aside.

Actually, when Lee Ui Chae visited Mount Hua in the past Ju Seo Cheon saw his face several times but he wasn’t able to speak to him.

It was because Ju Seo Cheon was a shapeless martial artist at that time.

When he became one of the Five Elders, Lee Ui Chae had become such a great figure that he sent his underlings and didn’t show himself.

Ju Seo Cheon looked forward to his meeting with the merchant king and walked towards Guizhou with more strength.