Chapter 5

Ch. 5

King of Fist, Declares His Return

Dan Wooseong's conclusion regarding Lee Jin-eon's memories was this:

'You must have been happy being born into a family without money.'

Lee Jin-eon had known the taste of money from a young age. When he got beaten up in the neighborhood, he'd bring money to solve it. When things went wrong with women, he'd take money and go to taverns. His life became cowardly because of money. His gentle nature that couldn't be ruthless also played a part in this.

The type of people Dan Wooseong disliked most were those who lived kindly without any plan, and Lee Jin-eon was that type.

His nature was kind.

But what did that matter?

How much help would being kind without any plan be in living life?

Lee Jin-eon became even more weak-willed because of money.

He began to be looked down upon because he mistook money's power for his own power.

The burden of being the successor, the emotional fights between brothers, the emotional changes of his younger brothers as they grew up, his father's increasingly cold gaze, and even the way the household servants looked at him - all of this tormented Lee Jin-eon.

But he still had plenty of money.

Whenever things got tough, he turned to alcohol, went through women, and bragged about money in front of his friends. Lee Jin-eon even knew that his friends sought him out because of money. However, within his already twisted life, he didn't have the courage to abandon even these friends. Leading around ragamuffins who wanted free drinks and food while frequenting this tavern and that tavern was Lee Jin-eon's main daily routine.

In short, it was a ragamuffin life.

When Lee Jin-eon, who hadn't taken care of his health, collapsed while coughing up blood, being sent to the Ahn family for recuperation by his father's order was the main event that had occurred.

As these memories combined with the faces of surrounding people he had seen in portraits, Dan Wooseong came to understand the entire situation as if he had absorbed all of Lee Jin-eon's memories.

If Lee Jin-eon had been such a ragamuffin, it would mean he wouldn't particularly care about this kind of exile. Dan Wooseong decided to comfortably recover his martial arts and return when the time was right.

Having completely absorbed the memories, Dan Wooseong immediately got up, grabbed Gongson Myeong by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him out of the room. He still intended to give this conscienceless physician a proper burial.

* * *

All the servants had gathered in the main hall.

Two hours ago, when Dan Wooseong had dragged out the physician's corpse, one servant had been so shocked she fainted.

When the Great Young Master called everyone after killing the physician, they all held their breath wondering what this was about.

Dan Wooseong spoke to the gathered servants.

"Everyone."

"Yes, Young Master."

"I killed Physician Gongson. That man's prescriptions made my health worse. Things like Dragon Phoenix Soup were no different from poison. As you know, just by controlling alcohol and food and stopping the medicine and acupuncture, my body is recovering like this. This means that man valued money more than his duty. That's why he died. Even if I had spared him, he would have gone elsewhere and used medicine to kill people just like he did to me."

The servants had nothing else to say. Honestly, he didn't need to explain so kindly to them.

Dan Wooseong reassured the servants.

"If the main family questions this, I'll handle it. Whatever happens, I'll make sure you suffer no harm."

Only then did the servants respond.

"Thank you, Young Master......"

"Thank you for your consideration."

Dan Wooseong nodded and replied.

"Also, clean up Physician Gongson's quarters and use them yourselves. If you find any correspondence he exchanged with someone from the main family, bring it to me."

Dan Wooseong's tone was so calm that the servants felt fear even as they answered.

As the servants withdrew while holding their breath.......

Dan Wooseong pondered the order of martial arts he needed to imprint on his new body.

It was imprinting, not training.

Some he wouldn't be able to perform immediately due to insufficient inner qi. Some he wouldn't be able to perform properly due to inability to achieve the required speed. Therefore, he planned to find what suited Lee Jin-eon's body and consider maximum efficiency.

After pondering, Dan Wooseong decided to focus on White Lightning Ten-Stage Art only up to the fourth stage, and while reaching the fourth stage, he would imprint Enlightenment Footwork, Enlightenment Body Technique, and Teleportation Light Arts on his body. Speed and instantaneous movement were directly connected to life and death, so this was the area that needed to be trained first.

The reason for focusing on White Lightning Ten-Stage Art first was simple.

Because he could inflict pain on opponents with the Lightning Qi that could be unleashed through White Lightning Ten-Stage Art.

Here, Dan Wooseong had a strange thought.

It felt like carefully reviewing the martial arts he had learned from the basics. When he was the King of Fist, he had never looked back on the martial arts he learned in the early days, but now he was reviewing them for survival.

Dan Wooseong got up from his spot and headed to Nine Flower Mountain again.

Dan Wooseong had never hoped for or expected a different life from the beginning. For both Lee Jin-eon's body and Dan Wooseong's mind, this was a time when only training was needed.

* * *

By the time four seasons had changed since Dan Wooseong began training, going between the Ahn family residence and Nine Flower Mountain without missing a single day.......

A young martial artist wearing a sword entered the Ahn family residence and asked a passing servant.

"Where is the Great Young Master?"

The servant was startled by the voice of an outsider she hadn't met in a long time and replied.

"Ah, he should be at the training hall around this time."

Since the man was dressed in the uniform of the Galaxy Merchant Group's guard brigade, the servant was relieved.

The man tilted his head.

"Training hall? Was there a training hall at the Ahn family residence?"

"Yes. He's using the annex in the back garden as a training hall. Over there......"

The servant pointed to a small path on the right side of the main building.

When the martial artist from the main family walked toward the training hall, the servant also moved quickly as if she needed to inform her colleagues.

The unfamiliar man was a young martial artist belonging to the Galaxy Merchant Group's guard brigade who had come with a letter to deliver to the Great Young Master.

The door of the annex was wide open.

When Mok In-seop entered the annex, he saw a man with his upper body exposed sitting with his back turned on the wooden floor where all miscellaneous furniture had been cleared away.

His entire body glistened with sweat.

His bare back showed well-defined muscles.

While thinking this man couldn't possibly be the Great Young Master, Mok In-seop carefully asked.

"Young Master Jin-eon? I'm Mok In-seop from the guard brigade."

Dan Wooseong roughly put on the shirt from the floor and said.

"Come up."

At the words to come up, Mok In-seop looked down. It was a wooden floor raised slightly from the ground. As he was about to step up, Dan Wooseong spoke again.

"Take off your shoes."

"Ah, yes."

After Mok In-seop took off his shoes, he stepped onto the creaking wooden floor.

Dan Wooseong continued to regulate his breathing.

Eventually, Mok In-seop went in front of the Great Young Master, bowed once, and then looked at his face.

"It's been a long time."

When Dan Wooseong gestured toward the floor as if telling him to sit, Mok In-seop took out a letter from his chest, handed it to Dan Wooseong, and then sat down.

Dan Wooseong read the letter, and Mok In-seop looked at Dan Wooseong's upper body with surprised eyes. Through the unbuttoned shirt, distinct abdominal muscles and upper body muscles carved like with a knife were visible. Moreover, it was a bronze-colored body as if thoroughly tanned by the sun.

'What? Was the Great Young Master's body this good?'

It felt like facing a master of external arts, and there was no trace of illness on his face. Hot steam rose from the top of his head, and traces of intense training remained throughout his clothing.

The white steam rising from the top of his head was a characteristic that appeared when training White Lightning Ten-Stage Art, which handled extreme yang qi.

After reading the letter, Dan Wooseong asked Mok In-seop.

"There's no explanation of why he collapsed."

The letter briefly stated that Lee Jin-eon's father was bedridden. Nevertheless, it didn't say that Great Young Master Lee Jin-eon should return to the main family. It was just a letter telling him to be aware of it.

Mok In-seop felt disappointment from Dan Wooseong's expression. He had expected to see worry about his father on his face, but the atmosphere was extremely cold.

Mok In-seop said.

"The tribute paid to the Gu Family under the name of protection fees has increased again. Before that happened, we had made a new contract with an ironworks that had become famous in Uisung to send goods to the western regions, but using this as a pretext, the Laughing Immortal Sect established in Uisung contacted us late to impose a tax on taking military weapons. Well, they call it a tax, but it's an unreasonable forceful demand. Anyway, the ironworks dealers must have known about this too, but seeing they kept quiet, both places have played us."

Dan Wooseong asked.

"What did the Gu Family, who takes protection fees, do?"

"They're only maintaining their position that when problems arise for the Galaxy Merchant Group's main family, the Gu Family will provide military support......as originally contracted. It was originally a contract where they wouldn't get involved in the merchant group's contracts or miscellaneous affairs. There's no problem with the contract, and morally, only we're frustrated."

"So he collapsed because of that?"

Mok In-seop replied with a reluctant expression.

"There's more. While this was happening, the personal guards of the Second Young Master and Third Young Master got into a dispute and fought, and the fight escalated into a sword battle. The young masters also got involved in the fight, and the Second Young Master was injured too. This matter was somehow resolved well, but...... with bad things happening outside and the two young masters fighting, he seems to have temporarily fainted. According to the physician, it's common fire disease."

Honestly, Mok In-seop couldn't understand why he was explaining the main family's circumstances in such detail to this ragamuffin Great Young Master. Previously, he would have just thrown down the letter, said a few words, and returned.

However, because the Great Young Master's atmosphere when asking about the circumstances was different, Mok In-seop had naturally extended his explanation.

On one hand, there was also an intention to deliberately talk while carefully observing the Great Young Master.

After thinking briefly, Dan Wooseong replied.

"The Laughing Immortal Sect's demand can just be rejected."

"Pardon?"

"Even if the angry Laughing Immortal Sect sends a few masters, the Gu Family will handle it."

"The ironworks contract is the problem."

"There's no need to keep selling goods that cause trouble. Business isn't limited to just that. It would be better to pay the penalty and withdraw. By the way, I find the Gu Family stranger."

"In what way?"

Dan Wooseong didn't immediately speak since what he found strange was just speculation.

"I'll tell you after looking into it more. By the way, with Father in that condition, my two younger brothers are fighting...... and with swords at that. This can't be left alone. If brothers fight with swords, who knows where the sparks will fly next."

"That's right. It's serious."

Mok In-seop nodded vigorously. He wondered what was happening since the Great Young Master was saying all the right things.

Dan Wooseong looked at Mok In-seop and said in a calm tone.

"I'll return soon."

Since the high-quality ginseng and low-grade elixirs the Ahn family had in stock were all depleted, he needed the merchant group's resources at this point. From both Lee Jin-eon's and Dan Wooseong's perspectives, they didn't want the Galaxy Merchant Group to collapse.

Mok In-seop stared intently at Dan Wooseong's eyes, then realized his rudeness and slightly bowed his head.

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