Chapter 132
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Chapter 132
Following Baek Mu-Guns will, the Qiankun qi surged toward Cho Woo-Kyungs chong-maek point and soared straight into his Mud Pill Palace, the powerful impact causing an ear-splitting roar to ring in Woo-Kyungs head. Woo-Kyung barely managed to hold himself back from screaming due to the pain that seemed to be breaking his head apart. Fortunately, he instinctively knew that this was the most important crisis that he had to persevere through.
Failing to burrow through the Mud Pill Palace, Mu-Gun once again condensed the Qiankun qi that had been deflected out. This was their last chance. If Mu-Gun failed to break through again, Woo-Kyung would not be able to withstand the backlash.
Mu-Gun compressed the condensed Qiankun qi as much as he could, then directed it to the Mud Pill Palace all at once. The Qiankun qi soared toward the Mud Pill Palace incomparably faster than their first attempt. Woo-Kyung shut his eyes as he waited for the impending shock that was about to hit him.
Having already been dented by the first impact, the Mid Pill Palace failed to withstand the second impact, which was much more powerful than the first one. With Woo-Kyungs Life and Death Gateway now opened, the Qiankun qi became one with the world. A blue aura soared through the top of Woo-Kyungs head and enveloped him as if it was trying to protect him, pushing even Mu-Gun back.
Mu-Gun had done everything he could for Woo-Kyung. From this moment forward, everything would be all up to Woo-Kyung.
Enveloped in the blue aura, Woo-Kyung entered the Floating Samadhi state, causing him to float about three inches from the floor. If he had a high level of enlightenment, he would have been able to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, which he could then use to open up his middle dantian and achieve metamorphosis.
However, Woo-Kyungs enlightenment had yet to reach that point. From the Floating Samadhi state, he dropped down to the floor as the blue aura enveloping him quickly permeated the top of his head. Unable to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, all he could do now was end the process by properly putting the energy above him away, which he should be more than capable of doing.
Mu-Gun stood up and took a few steps back.
Well done, and thank you so much. Youre the reason Woo-Kyung managed to reach the Absolute Realm.Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.
I would also like to thank you, Young Patriarch Baek. If it werent for you, he would not have been able to advance into the Absolute Realm.
Seok Gang and Geom Woo-Saeng, who were both watching from behind, expressed their gratitude toward Mu-Gun. As Absolute-Realm masters themselves, they knew that Woo-Kyung had advanced into the Absolute Realm as soon as he entered the Floating Samadhi state.
It would have been nice for him to have achieved metamorphosis too since we have already come this far. Its a shame, Mu-Gun said.
We have made enough progress for now. If we press our luck and overdo it, we could find ourselves in harms way instead, Woo-Saeng replied.
As Woo-Saeng said, if Woo-Kyung kept going without proper enlightenment, he could have faced a dangerous situation.
Thats right. Even if he is only half-baked right now, its great enough that he was able to reach the Absolute Realm at that age. That brat will have to handle the rest of whats to come himself, Seok-Gang added.
I hope you can teach him many things as he serves you, Young Patriarch, Woo-Saeng said, implying that there was still a lot for Woo-Kyung to learn.
He already has two outstanding masters, so what else is there for me to teach him?
You are far more outstanding than the two of us combined. Didnt you just easily accomplish what we could not even dare do? More importantly, wouldnt properly raising that brat also be a great help to you?
Well, that could certainly prove true if Young Master Cho decides to follow me. It will be all for naught otherwise, Mu-Gun stated the obvious.
All you have to do is make him follow you. Im sure youre more than capable of doing that, Young Patriarch Baek.
Haha, you two venerable elders are fueling my competitive spirit. Alright then. Ill teach Young Master Cho as much as he desires. Mu-Gun finally gave in.
Mu-Gun had to win Woo-Kyung over to make him truly one of their own. However, instead of using any tricks, he hoped teaching him with all his heart would be enough to do that. Interestingly enough, Woo-Kyungs tone toward Mu-Gun had changed. Though the former used formal-lateral speech[1] all the time, he spoke formally to Mu-Gun today. That evidenced that he now recognized Mu-Gun as his superior and could also be interpreted as Woo-Kyungs decision to put his trust in the Baek Sword Sect to some extent.
* * *
In various parts of the Central Plains, the Heavenly Secret Halls informants put up posters advertising the Baek Sword Sects intention to recruit martial artists who used to be in the army. Many people would have ignored the Baek Sword Sects advertisement in the past, but times had changed. Since becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader and recruiting the Four Peerless Wanderers, the Qiankun Hands, and the Daybreak Swordmaster, the Baek Sword Sects status and authority had grown to incomparable heights.
Above all, the Baek Sword Sect also offered extraordinary monthly salaries, having doubled the armys offer, and that was just the basic rate. The higher ones skills were, the higher their monthly salary. Attracted by the Baek Sword Sects status and the monthly salary that was greater than those offered by decent-sized clans, the ex-army martial artists scrambled to visit the Baek Sword Sect. In response, instead of setting a particular examination date, the Baek Sword Sect verified their abilities as soon as they arrived and hired those who were talented on the spot. Applicants began to flock one month after the Baek Sword Sect posted the recruitment notice.
The Baek Sword Sect conducted the basic physical assessment test first. Those who passed then went through a sparring session to gauge their martial arts. Mu-Gun and the six venerable elders themselves handled the martial arts verification test, so the applicants did not dare disagree with the martial arts rank they were granted.
The Baek Sword Sects recruitment event lasted for a whole month. In that span of time, over five hundred ex-army martial artists applied. Among them, about four hundred passed the basic physical assessment test and reached the martial arts verification test. Through the second test, Baek Sword Sect identified twenty-eight Special-ranked, fifty-nine Advanced-ranked, and one hundred thirty-six Intermediate-ranked. The rest were Low-ranked. The Baek Sword Sect could not take them all in since there were too many of them, so the upper brass decided to recruit only those ranked Intermediate or higher. In total, they recruited two hundred twenty-three martial artists.
After the recruitment phase, the Baek Sword Sect reorganized its combat division. To begin with, the name Baek Sword Corps five sword squads had become ambiguous, so they combined all squads to form the White Dragon Corps. White Dragon Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Gi was appointed as its Commander, and White Wolf Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ung was appointed as Vice Commander.
Moreover, they also created a new Corps, which was named White Tiger Corps, and assigned the two hundred twenty-three new recruits to it. White Tiger Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ho was appointed as the White Tiger Corps Commander, and White Leopard Squad Leader Baek Soo-Kwang was appointed Vice Commander.
With their new recruits, the Baek Sword Sect now had four hundred martial artists. Including the Heavenly Martial Hall members, they could mobilize up to five hundred warriors. It would take considerable time and effort to convert the Baek Sword Corps new recruits into loyal members. Nevertheless, things were still looking optimistic for the Baek Sword Sect since they had just further increased their power by recruiting talented warriors with military backgrounds en masse.
The over two hundred martial artists who did not qualify for the Baek Sword Sects recruitment were recruited by the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. Since those two sects had also been planning to increase their combat forces, they willingly recruited the former soldiers when the Baek Sword Sect explained the situation to them. The two sects could have refused to recruit them because they were not competent enough for the Baek Sword Sect to recruit, but it was important to note that they all passed the martial arts verification test. More than half of the Baek Sword Corps were expelled for failing it in the past.
The fact that those martial artists passed the martial arts verification test, which was much stricter than before, was enough to prove that their martial arts skills had surpassed the basic level. The Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would have had to spend a lot of time and money to recruit such skilled warriors on their own.
From the two sects point of view, it was much more beneficial for them to recruit the martial artists who were eliminated from the Baek Sword Sects recruitment process. The problem was whether those people would accept the recruitment offers of the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. After all, compared to the Baek Sword Sect, they were nothing but trifle forces. Hence, their prospects might not be willing to join them.
As expected, more than thirty percent of the ex-army martial artists rejected the Justice Martial Sect and Flying Lance Sects recruitment offers. However, the remaining seventy percent willingly joined because the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were pivotal forces of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance along with the Baek Sword Sect. They judged that in the future, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance would grow rapidly due to the status of the Baek Sword Sect. Since the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were close to the Baek Sword Sect, that possibility was even higher for them.
Hence, although it would be incomparable to being a member of the Baek Sword Sect, the ex-army martial artists concluded that joining the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would give them promising futures. Thanks to that, the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were able to reinforce their combat forces with over sixty martial artists each.
After the whole recruitment event, the Baek Sword Sect prepared for the marriage between Baek Mu-Gun and Dan Seol-Young. Many rumors about Mu-Gun spread because he was about to marry a Flower Honor Manor gisaeng just three months after marrying Namgung Hyun-Ah. Some even claimed that Mu-Gun welcomed the gisaeng because he was already tired of Hyun-Ah.
Mu-Gun paid the rumors no heed at all, however. The best way to get rid of rumors had always been to ignore them. Hyun-Ah did not really care about the rumors either since they were all false.
As Mu-Gun and Seol-Youngs wedding approached, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang once again visited the Baek Sword Sect to congratulate Mu-Gun on his marriage. They also thought that Mu-Guns decision to hold a second marriage despite having married Namgung Hyun-Ah less than three months ago was strange.
They were also worried about the Great Namgung Familys reaction. Namgung Hyun-Ah was the daughter of Namgung Jo, the Great Namgung Family Patriarch. The Great Namgung Family was bound to disapprove of Mu-Guns second marriage, especially when considering he would be marrying a gisaeng. Considering there was no way they would just watch that happen, they would most likely try to prevent the marriage from happening somehow.
The Baek Sword Sect pushing ahead with the marriage despite the Great Namgung Familys demands could create a conflict between the two factions. Hence, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang couldnt help but be worried. After all, that conflict would needlessly cause harm to the Zhejiang Martial Alliance.
They naturally informed Baek Cheon-Sang of their concerns. However, although he understood where they were coming from, he showed no intention to call off the marriage just because they feared the Great Namgung Family. More importantly, Cheon-Sang made it clear to them that the Baek Sword Sect would never back down if the Great Namgung Family pressured them due to this marriage.
1. Formal-lateral speech is used to acknowledge respect for the addressee while also emphasizing one's own status.
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Chapter 132
Following Baek Mu-Guns will, the Qiankun qi surged toward Cho Woo-Kyungs chong-maek point and soared straight into his Mud Pill Palace, the powerful impact causing an ear-splitting roar to ring in Woo-Kyungs head. Woo-Kyung barely managed to hold himself back from screaming due to the pain that seemed to be breaking his head apart. Fortunately, he instinctively knew that this was the most important crisis that he had to persevere through.
Failing to burrow through the Mud Pill Palace, Mu-Gun once again condensed the Qiankun qi that had been deflected out. This was their last chance. If Mu-Gun failed to break through again, Woo-Kyung would not be able to withstand the backlash.
Mu-Gun compressed the condensed Qiankun qi as much as he could, then directed it to the Mud Pill Palace all at once. The Qiankun qi soared toward the Mud Pill Palace incomparably faster than their first attempt. Woo-Kyung shut his eyes as he waited for the impending shock that was about to hit him.
Having already been dented by the first impact, the Mid Pill Palace failed to withstand the second impact, which was much more powerful than the first one. With Woo-Kyungs Life and Death Gateway now opened, the Qiankun qi became one with the world. A blue aura soared through the top of Woo-Kyungs head and enveloped him as if it was trying to protect him, pushing even Mu-Gun back.
Mu-Gun had done everything he could for Woo-Kyung. From this moment forward, everything would be all up to Woo-Kyung.
Enveloped in the blue aura, Woo-Kyung entered the Floating Samadhi state, causing him to float about three inches from the floor. If he had a high level of enlightenment, he would have been able to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, which he could then use to open up his middle dantian and achieve metamorphosis.
However, Woo-Kyungs enlightenment had yet to reach that point. From the Floating Samadhi state, he dropped down to the floor as the blue aura enveloping him quickly permeated the top of his head. Unable to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, all he could do now was end the process by properly putting the energy above him away, which he should be more than capable of doing.
Mu-Gun stood up and took a few steps back.
Well done, and thank you so much. Youre the reason Woo-Kyung managed to reach the Absolute Realm.Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.
I would also like to thank you, Young Patriarch Baek. If it werent for you, he would not have been able to advance into the Absolute Realm.
Seok Gang and Geom Woo-Saeng, who were both watching from behind, expressed their gratitude toward Mu-Gun. As Absolute-Realm masters themselves, they knew that Woo-Kyung had advanced into the Absolute Realm as soon as he entered the Floating Samadhi state.
It would have been nice for him to have achieved metamorphosis too since we have already come this far. Its a shame, Mu-Gun said.
We have made enough progress for now. If we press our luck and overdo it, we could find ourselves in harms way instead, Woo-Saeng replied.
As Woo-Saeng said, if Woo-Kyung kept going without proper enlightenment, he could have faced a dangerous situation.
Thats right. Even if he is only half-baked right now, its great enough that he was able to reach the Absolute Realm at that age. That brat will have to handle the rest of whats to come himself, Seok-Gang added.
I hope you can teach him many things as he serves you, Young Patriarch, Woo-Saeng said, implying that there was still a lot for Woo-Kyung to learn.
He already has two outstanding masters, so what else is there for me to teach him?
You are far more outstanding than the two of us combined. Didnt you just easily accomplish what we could not even dare do? More importantly, wouldnt properly raising that brat also be a great help to you?
Well, that could certainly prove true if Young Master Cho decides to follow me. It will be all for naught otherwise, Mu-Gun stated the obvious.
All you have to do is make him follow you. Im sure youre more than capable of doing that, Young Patriarch Baek.
Haha, you two venerable elders are fueling my competitive spirit. Alright then. Ill teach Young Master Cho as much as he desires. Mu-Gun finally gave in.
Mu-Gun had to win Woo-Kyung over to make him truly one of their own. However, instead of using any tricks, he hoped teaching him with all his heart would be enough to do that. Interestingly enough, Woo-Kyungs tone toward Mu-Gun had changed. Though the former used formal-lateral speech[1] all the time, he spoke formally to Mu-Gun today. That evidenced that he now recognized Mu-Gun as his superior and could also be interpreted as Woo-Kyungs decision to put his trust in the Baek Sword Sect to some extent.
* * *
In various parts of the Central Plains, the Heavenly Secret Halls informants put up posters advertising the Baek Sword Sects intention to recruit martial artists who used to be in the army. Many people would have ignored the Baek Sword Sects advertisement in the past, but times had changed. Since becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader and recruiting the Four Peerless Wanderers, the Qiankun Hands, and the Daybreak Swordmaster, the Baek Sword Sects status and authority had grown to incomparable heights.
Above all, the Baek Sword Sect also offered extraordinary monthly salaries, having doubled the armys offer, and that was just the basic rate. The higher ones skills were, the higher their monthly salary. Attracted by the Baek Sword Sects status and the monthly salary that was greater than those offered by decent-sized clans, the ex-army martial artists scrambled to visit the Baek Sword Sect. In response, instead of setting a particular examination date, the Baek Sword Sect verified their abilities as soon as they arrived and hired those who were talented on the spot. Applicants began to flock one month after the Baek Sword Sect posted the recruitment notice.
The Baek Sword Sect conducted the basic physical assessment test first. Those who passed then went through a sparring session to gauge their martial arts. Mu-Gun and the six venerable elders themselves handled the martial arts verification test, so the applicants did not dare disagree with the martial arts rank they were granted.
The Baek Sword Sects recruitment event lasted for a whole month. In that span of time, over five hundred ex-army martial artists applied. Among them, about four hundred passed the basic physical assessment test and reached the martial arts verification test. Through the second test, Baek Sword Sect identified twenty-eight Special-ranked, fifty-nine Advanced-ranked, and one hundred thirty-six Intermediate-ranked. The rest were Low-ranked. The Baek Sword Sect could not take them all in since there were too many of them, so the upper brass decided to recruit only those ranked Intermediate or higher. In total, they recruited two hundred twenty-three martial artists.
After the recruitment phase, the Baek Sword Sect reorganized its combat division. To begin with, the name Baek Sword Corps five sword squads had become ambiguous, so they combined all squads to form the White Dragon Corps. White Dragon Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Gi was appointed as its Commander, and White Wolf Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ung was appointed as Vice Commander.
Moreover, they also created a new Corps, which was named White Tiger Corps, and assigned the two hundred twenty-three new recruits to it. White Tiger Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ho was appointed as the White Tiger Corps Commander, and White Leopard Squad Leader Baek Soo-Kwang was appointed Vice Commander.
With their new recruits, the Baek Sword Sect now had four hundred martial artists. Including the Heavenly Martial Hall members, they could mobilize up to five hundred warriors. It would take considerable time and effort to convert the Baek Sword Corps new recruits into loyal members. Nevertheless, things were still looking optimistic for the Baek Sword Sect since they had just further increased their power by recruiting talented warriors with military backgrounds en masse.
The over two hundred martial artists who did not qualify for the Baek Sword Sects recruitment were recruited by the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. Since those two sects had also been planning to increase their combat forces, they willingly recruited the former soldiers when the Baek Sword Sect explained the situation to them. The two sects could have refused to recruit them because they were not competent enough for the Baek Sword Sect to recruit, but it was important to note that they all passed the martial arts verification test. More than half of the Baek Sword Corps were expelled for failing it in the past.
The fact that those martial artists passed the martial arts verification test, which was much stricter than before, was enough to prove that their martial arts skills had surpassed the basic level. The Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would have had to spend a lot of time and money to recruit such skilled warriors on their own.
From the two sects point of view, it was much more beneficial for them to recruit the martial artists who were eliminated from the Baek Sword Sects recruitment process. The problem was whether those people would accept the recruitment offers of the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. After all, compared to the Baek Sword Sect, they were nothing but trifle forces. Hence, their prospects might not be willing to join them.
As expected, more than thirty percent of the ex-army martial artists rejected the Justice Martial Sect and Flying Lance Sects recruitment offers. However, the remaining seventy percent willingly joined because the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were pivotal forces of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance along with the Baek Sword Sect. They judged that in the future, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance would grow rapidly due to the status of the Baek Sword Sect. Since the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were close to the Baek Sword Sect, that possibility was even higher for them.
Hence, although it would be incomparable to being a member of the Baek Sword Sect, the ex-army martial artists concluded that joining the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would give them promising futures. Thanks to that, the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were able to reinforce their combat forces with over sixty martial artists each.
After the whole recruitment event, the Baek Sword Sect prepared for the marriage between Baek Mu-Gun and Dan Seol-Young. Many rumors about Mu-Gun spread because he was about to marry a Flower Honor Manor gisaeng just three months after marrying Namgung Hyun-Ah. Some even claimed that Mu-Gun welcomed the gisaeng because he was already tired of Hyun-Ah.
Mu-Gun paid the rumors no heed at all, however. The best way to get rid of rumors had always been to ignore them. Hyun-Ah did not really care about the rumors either since they were all false.
As Mu-Gun and Seol-Youngs wedding approached, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang once again visited the Baek Sword Sect to congratulate Mu-Gun on his marriage. They also thought that Mu-Guns decision to hold a second marriage despite having married Namgung Hyun-Ah less than three months ago was strange.
They were also worried about the Great Namgung Familys reaction. Namgung Hyun-Ah was the daughter of Namgung Jo, the Great Namgung Family Patriarch. The Great Namgung Family was bound to disapprove of Mu-Guns second marriage, especially when considering he would be marrying a gisaeng. Considering there was no way they would just watch that happen, they would most likely try to prevent the marriage from happening somehow.
The Baek Sword Sect pushing ahead with the marriage despite the Great Namgung Familys demands could create a conflict between the two factions. Hence, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang couldnt help but be worried. After all, that conflict would needlessly cause harm to the Zhejiang Martial Alliance.
They naturally informed Baek Cheon-Sang of their concerns. However, although he understood where they were coming from, he showed no intention to call off the marriage just because they feared the Great Namgung Family. More importantly, Cheon-Sang made it clear to them that the Baek Sword Sect would never back down if the Great Namgung Family pressured them due to this marriage.
1. Formal-lateral speech is used to acknowledge respect for the addressee while also emphasizing one's own status.
Chapter 132Following Baek Mu-Guns will, the Qiankun qi surged toward Cho Woo-Kyungs chong-maek point and soared straight into his Mud Pill Palace, the powerful impact causing an ear-splitting roar to ring in Woo-Kyungs head. Woo-Kyung barely managed to hold himself back from screaming due to the pain that seemed to be breaking his head apart. Fortunately, he instinctively knew that this was the most important crisis that he had to persevere through.Failing to burrow through the Mud Pill Palace, Mu-Gun once again condensed the Qiankun qi that had been deflected out. This was their last chance. If Mu-Gun failed to break through again, Woo-Kyung would not be able to withstand the backlash.Mu-Gun compressed the condensed Qiankun qi as much as he could, then directed it to the Mud Pill Palace all at once. The Qiankun qi soared toward the Mud Pill Palace incomparably faster than their first attempt. Woo-Kyung shut his eyes as he waited for the impending shock that was about to hit him.Having already been dented by the first impact, the Mid Pill Palace failed to withstand the second impact, which was much more powerful than the first one. With Woo-Kyungs Life and Death Gateway now opened, the Qiankun qi became one with the world. A blue aura soared through the top of Woo-Kyungs head and enveloped him as if it was trying to protect him, pushing even Mu-Gun back.Mu-Gun had done everything he could for Woo-Kyung. From this moment forward, everything would be all up to Woo-Kyung.Enveloped in the blue aura, Woo-Kyung entered the Floating Samadhi state, causing him to float about three inches from the floor. If he had a high level of enlightenment, he would have been able to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, which he could then use to open up his middle dantian and achieve metamorphosis.However, Woo-Kyungs enlightenment had yet to reach that point. From the Floating Samadhi state, he dropped down to the floor as the blue aura enveloping him quickly permeated the top of his head. Unable to absorb the energy of all creations in the world, all he could do now was end the process by properly putting the energy above him away, which he should be more than capable of doing.Mu-Gun stood up and took a few steps back.Well done, and thank you so much. Youre the reason Woo-Kyung managed to reach the Absolute Realm.Nvl-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.I would also like to thank you, Young Patriarch Baek. If it werent for you, he would not have been able to advance into the Absolute Realm.Seok Gang and Geom Woo-Saeng, who were both watching from behind, expressed their gratitude toward Mu-Gun. As Absolute-Realm masters themselves, they knew that Woo-Kyung had advanced into the Absolute Realm as soon as he entered the Floating Samadhi state.It would have been nice for him to have achieved metamorphosis too since we have already come this far. Its a shame, Mu-Gun said.We have made enough progress for now. If we press our luck and overdo it, we could find ourselves in harms way instead, Woo-Saeng replied.As Woo-Saeng said, if Woo-Kyung kept going without proper enlightenment, he could have faced a dangerous situation.Thats right. Even if he is only half-baked right now, its great enough that he was able to reach the Absolute Realm at that age. That brat will have to handle the rest of whats to come himself, Seok-Gang added.I hope you can teach him many things as he serves you, Young Patriarch, Woo-Saeng said, implying that there was still a lot for Woo-Kyung to learn.He already has two outstanding masters, so what else is there for me to teach him?You are far more outstanding than the two of us combined. Didnt you just easily accomplish what we could not even dare do? More importantly, wouldnt properly raising that brat also be a great help to you?Well, that could certainly prove true if Young Master Cho decides to follow me. It will be all for naught otherwise, Mu-Gun stated the obvious.All you have to do is make him follow you. Im sure youre more than capable of doing that, Young Patriarch Baek.Haha, you two venerable elders are fueling my competitive spirit. Alright then. Ill teach Young Master Cho as much as he desires. Mu-Gun finally gave in.Mu-Gun had to win Woo-Kyung over to make him truly one of their own. However, instead of using any tricks, he hoped teaching him with all his heart would be enough to do that. Interestingly enough, Woo-Kyungs tone toward Mu-Gun had changed. Though the former used formal-lateral speech1 all the time, he spoke formally to Mu-Gun today. That evidenced that he now recognized Mu-Gun as his superior and could also be interpreted as Woo-Kyungs decision to put his trust in the Baek Sword Sect to some extent.* * *In various parts of the Central Plains, the Heavenly Secret Halls informants put up posters advertising the Baek Sword Sects intention to recruit martial artists who used to be in the army. Many people would have ignored the Baek Sword Sects advertisement in the past, but times had changed. Since becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader and recruiting the Four Peerless Wanderers, the Qiankun Hands, and the Daybreak Swordmaster, the Baek Sword Sects status and authority had grown to incomparable heights.Above all, the Baek Sword Sect also offered extraordinary monthly salaries, having doubled the armys offer, and that was just the basic rate. The higher ones skills were, the higher their monthly salary. Attracted by the Baek Sword Sects status and the monthly salary that was greater than those offered by decent-sized clans, the ex-army martial artists scrambled to visit the Baek Sword Sect. In response, instead of setting a particular examination date, the Baek Sword Sect verified their abilities as soon as they arrived and hired those who were talented on the spot. Applicants began to flock one month after the Baek Sword Sect posted the recruitment notice.The Baek Sword Sect conducted the basic physical assessment test first. Those who passed then went through a sparring session to gauge their martial arts. Mu-Gun and the six venerable elders themselves handled the martial arts verification test, so the applicants did not dare disagree with the martial arts rank they were granted.The Baek Sword Sects recruitment event lasted for a whole month. In that span of time, over five hundred ex-army martial artists applied. Among them, about four hundred passed the basic physical assessment test and reached the martial arts verification test. Through the second test, Baek Sword Sect identified twenty-eight Special-ranked, fifty-nine Advanced-ranked, and one hundred thirty-six Intermediate-ranked. The rest were Low-ranked. The Baek Sword Sect could not take them all in since there were too many of them, so the upper brass decided to recruit only those ranked Intermediate or higher. In total, they recruited two hundred twenty-three martial artists.After the recruitment phase, the Baek Sword Sect reorganized its combat division. To begin with, the name Baek Sword Corps five sword squads had become ambiguous, so they combined all squads to form the White Dragon Corps. White Dragon Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Gi was appointed as its Commander, and White Wolf Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ung was appointed as Vice Commander.Moreover, they also created a new Corps, which was named White Tiger Corps, and assigned the two hundred twenty-three new recruits to it. White Tiger Squad Leader Baek Cheon-Ho was appointed as the White Tiger Corps Commander, and White Leopard Squad Leader Baek Soo-Kwang was appointed Vice Commander.With their new recruits, the Baek Sword Sect now had four hundred martial artists. Including the Heavenly Martial Hall members, they could mobilize up to five hundred warriors. It would take considerable time and effort to convert the Baek Sword Corps new recruits into loyal members. Nevertheless, things were still looking optimistic for the Baek Sword Sect since they had just further increased their power by recruiting talented warriors with military backgrounds en masse.The over two hundred martial artists who did not qualify for the Baek Sword Sects recruitment were recruited by the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. Since those two sects had also been planning to increase their combat forces, they willingly recruited the former soldiers when the Baek Sword Sect explained the situation to them. The two sects could have refused to recruit them because they were not competent enough for the Baek Sword Sect to recruit, but it was important to note that they all passed the martial arts verification test. More than half of the Baek Sword Corps were expelled for failing it in the past.The fact that those martial artists passed the martial arts verification test, which was much stricter than before, was enough to prove that their martial arts skills had surpassed the basic level. The Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would have had to spend a lot of time and money to recruit such skilled warriors on their own.From the two sects point of view, it was much more beneficial for them to recruit the martial artists who were eliminated from the Baek Sword Sects recruitment process. The problem was whether those people would accept the recruitment offers of the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect. After all, compared to the Baek Sword Sect, they were nothing but trifle forces. Hence, their prospects might not be willing to join them.As expected, more than thirty percent of the ex-army martial artists rejected the Justice Martial Sect and Flying Lance Sects recruitment offers. However, the remaining seventy percent willingly joined because the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were pivotal forces of the Zhejiang Martial Alliance along with the Baek Sword Sect. They judged that in the future, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance would grow rapidly due to the status of the Baek Sword Sect. Since the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were close to the Baek Sword Sect, that possibility was even higher for them.Hence, although it would be incomparable to being a member of the Baek Sword Sect, the ex-army martial artists concluded that joining the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect would give them promising futures. Thanks to that, the Justice Martial Sect and the Flying Lance Sect were able to reinforce their combat forces with over sixty martial artists each.After the whole recruitment event, the Baek Sword Sect prepared for the marriage between Baek Mu-Gun and Dan Seol-Young. Many rumors about Mu-Gun spread because he was about to marry a Flower Honor Manor gisaeng just three months after marrying Namgung Hyun-Ah. Some even claimed that Mu-Gun welcomed the gisaeng because he was already tired of Hyun-Ah.Mu-Gun paid the rumors no heed at all, however. The best way to get rid of rumors had always been to ignore them. Hyun-Ah did not really care about the rumors either since they were all false.As Mu-Gun and Seol-Youngs wedding approached, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang once again visited the Baek Sword Sect to congratulate Mu-Gun on his marriage. They also thought that Mu-Guns decision to hold a second marriage despite having married Namgung Hyun-Ah less than three months ago was strange.They were also worried about the Great Namgung Familys reaction. Namgung Hyun-Ah was the daughter of Namgung Jo, the Great Namgung Family Patriarch. The Great Namgung Family was bound to disapprove of Mu-Guns second marriage, especially when considering he would be marrying a gisaeng. Considering there was no way they would just watch that happen, they would most likely try to prevent the marriage from happening somehow.The Baek Sword Sect pushing ahead with the marriage despite the Great Namgung Familys demands could create a conflict between the two factions. Hence, the patriarchs of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang couldnt help but be worried. After all, that conflict would needlessly cause harm to the Zhejiang Martial Alliance.They naturally informed Baek Cheon-Sang of their concerns. However, although he understood where they were coming from, he showed no intention to call off the marriage just because they feared the Great Namgung Family. More importantly, Cheon-Sang made it clear to them that the Baek Sword Sect would never back down if the Great Namgung Family pressured them due to this marriage.1. Formal-lateral speech is used to acknowledge respect for the addressee while also emphasizing one's own status.
