Chapter 75
The Golden Core Breakthrough Celebration that had continued for several days finally came to an end.
Only a few remained to discuss political affairs for the sake of their interests, while most of the guests were leaving as soon as they finished preparing for their return.
The Yeonha Baek Clan, which had been bustling and noisy throughout the banquet, finally regained its usual tranquility.
“Ah, right.”
Freed from the boring banquet, Baek-Cheong was rolling around in her Abode.
She was about to connect to the Nameless Forum to reward herself for enduring the tedious event.
She remembered something she had forgotten and reluctantly got up from her bed to leave her Abode.
There was a much more important goal she needed to address right now.
Her destination was the study of her uncle, who was busily handling affairs as the Guild Master of the Baek Clan Merchant Guild.
“This time, for sure.”
She had been looking for an opportunity throughout the banquet, but her uncle had shown no openings while dealing with Rogue Cultivators and various Factions.
The only chance to have a private Audience with her uncle, who had been incredibly busy securing the Clan’s interests, was then, after all the guests had left.
If she missed this chance, she didn’t know how many days she would have to wait.
“Uncle.”
“Come in.”
When she called out carefully from outside the study, her uncle’s voice came from within.
Pushing the door open with a creak, she saw her uncle rapidly calculating something with a mountain of Jade Slips piled up on his wide desk.
He seemed to be organizing the rare Arts and commercial agreements gathered from the Rogue Cultivators one by one into a ledger.
Even in the midst of his busy calculations, her uncle with his head still bowed asked for her business.
“Oh, Cheong-A. You must be tired, yet you came all the way here as soon as the banquet ended. You must have some urgent business?”
“That’s right.”
Baek-Cheong answered honestly as she plopped down on the chair opposite him.
Beating around the bush was not a good way to deal with her uncle, the Guild Master of the Merchant Guild.
“Could you ask senior Yuk-Muk to make a puppet for me?”
Baek Mu-Yeong raised his head as soon as he heard her words.
He met his Niece’s eyes and spoke in confusion.
“Make a puppet? Is one puppet not enough for you?”
“Not a Plaything Puppet for children like the one he gave me last time. I need a puppet that can be used for Pill Refining.”
A brief silence fell within the study.
One of Baek Mu-Yeong’s eyebrows also rose at a subtle angle.
“A puppet… for Pill Refining?”
No matter how much one thought about it with common sense, these were Arts that did not overlap in the slightest.
Pill Refining was an Art that delicately handled energy, while Puppetry was an Art where handling Divine Sense was relatively more important than energy.
The very idea of combining these Arts was quite extraordinary.
“I can’t ask a puppet to concoct pills, but I figured it would save me some trouble if I had it trim spirit herbs or handle simple tasks.”
Baek-Cheong spoke as if it were no big deal.
In reality, the most time-consuming part of Pill Refining was the preparation process.
Her underlying calculation was that if she could just shorten this process, she could cut her Pill Refining time in half and use the remaining time to connect to the Nameless Forum and leisurely enjoy browsing.
“Where in the world do such bizarre ideas keep popping out of your head?”
Baek Mu-Yeong slowly set down the Jade Slip he was holding.
A deep sigh, indistinguishable between Admiration and lamentation, escaped his lips.
It had only been a few days since she received the Introductory Jade Slip for Puppetry Art from Yuk-Muk, yet she was already scheming to completely overhaul this heretical Art and graft it onto Pill Refining.
He was at the point of clicking his tongue at his Niece’s way of thinking, which defied the mold of a normal Cultivator.
“I’ve run the calculations in my head several times, and I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. It’s just a matter of controlling the energy properly, anyway.”
Looking into his Niece’s eyes, which were sparkling with unfounded confidence, Baek Mu-Yeong swallowed his Admiration once again.
“It wouldn’t be too difficult for this uncle to make a separate request to Cultivator Yuk-Muk and order the puppet you want.”
“Really?”
Baek-Cheong’s eyes widened, and a bright complexion returned to her face.
However, a layer of warmth faded from the benevolent smile lingering on Baek Mu-Yeong’s lips.
He then held up his index finger stiffly.
“But there is something you must keep in mind. Puppets are inherently expensive items that require a lot of effort, and commissioning a completely new puppet that has never existed before is not a matter that can be solved with a few Spirit Stones. Furthermore, if it’s a puppet specialized for Pill Refining, it will have to handle energy as well, meaning a massive amount of precious materials will go into it.”
“Roughly how much will it cost…?”
“The cost is just a matter of the Merchant Guild covering it at our discretion. The real issue we need to address lies elsewhere.”
Baek Mu-Yeong paused for a moment and cast a meaningful glance.
“If you want it that badly, I have one condition.”
“…A condition?”
An ominous premonition lightly ran down Baek-Cheong’s spine.
She knew well enough that the uncle in front of her was not the type of person to grant a favor without any price.
The problem was that his openly mentioning a condition didn’t bode well.
“Just what kind of annoying task is he trying to make me do?”
Her craving for forum browsing and her wariness of the unknown condition weighed against each other in her mind.
However, she absolutely did not want to miss the opportunity right in front of her to drastically shorten her Cultivation and Pill Refining time.
“…What is the condition?”
In the end, her craving for forum browsing suppressed her wariness as she asked.
“Soon, a very special guest is scheduled to visit our Baek Clan.”
“A special guest?”
“Yes, a very noble and esteemed person.”
Baek Mu-Yeong did not reveal the guest’s specific identity or affiliation.
“When that person arrives at the Main Clan, please behave yourself properly. Show proper respect to an elder, and if that person asks you anything, just answer sincerely. That is my only condition.”
“…Is that really all?”
Baek-Cheong blinked with a puzzled expression.
It was a vague story, but the condition itself was a much simpler and more trivial request than she had expected.
Showing courtesy and greeting a guest politely was the most basic etiquette she naturally had to observe.
“Yes, that is all. It’s not exactly a physically demanding or difficult task, is it?”
“No, well… But if it’s such a special guest, is it really okay for me to be present?”
“It’s because they are such a precious guest that we must show the utmost devotion.”
His continued secrecy about the identity was suspicious.
However, since the guests visiting the Baek Clan were so diverse, it was hard to even guess.
She reluctantly nodded and spoke.
“All right.”
“Good. Since you’ve promised, you must absolutely keep it.”
Baek Mu-Yeong laughed heartily with a satisfied expression.
“Now go back and get some good rest. As for the puppet order you mentioned, I will make a separate request to Cultivator Yuk-Muk early tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, uncle!”
Baek-Cheong jumped up from her chair, made a deep bow, and swiftly slipped out of the study.
Having achieved her goal, she walked with steps as light as if she were flying.
However, as she walked down the hallway with her back to the closed study door, a corner of her heart grew strangely uneasy.
“Behave myself properly…”
She was very glad that the condition her uncle proposed was as simple as eating a meal.
But his attitude of glossing over the special guest’s identity without clearly revealing it bothered her.
If the Guild Master of the Baek Clan Merchant Guild was hyping them up so grandiosely, praising them effusively as a very noble and esteemed person, there was a high chance they were at least a Grand Cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage.
A subtle worry bloomed that perhaps some picky and foul-tempered Old Monster would come and urge her to become its Disciple.
‘Well, what’s the worst that could happen?’
Baek-Cheong brushed aside her uneasiness and quickened her steps to return to her Abode.
She wanted to lie down quickly on her bed, savor her freedom, and enjoy the Nameless Forum.
“Hehe.”
Meanwhile, left alone in the study, Baek Mu-Yeong quietly gazed in the direction his Niece had disappeared.
The corners of his mouth, which had been stiff from holding back his suppressed laughter, rose to draw an arc.
He then carefully picked up a sealed letter from among the pile of Jade Slips stacked on one side of the table.
The seal of the Heavenly Sword Sect was stamped on the surface of the letter, depicting a sword soaring toward the sky.
It was a reply that had arrived for him during the banquet.
‘The Pacheon Sword Venerable has accepted our Yeonha Baek Clan’s invitation.’
The prominent Sword Cultivator Great Sect that overwhelmingly dominated the Central Continent.
If they could even obtain the patronage of the Heavenly Sword Sect, which symbolized martial might, the Yeonha Baek Clan’s Ten Thousand Year Grand Plan would lay the foundation for an impregnable fortress, following the Biun Sect, whose patronage they had secured through the supply of Five Elements Pills.
‘To think he is still traversing the Continent because he hasn’t found a Disciple. No matter how distracted Cheong-Yi’s mind may be, she is the only Prodigy who unraveled the Sword Art Diagram. Nine times out of ten, he will be lamenting that there is no one as suitable as Cheong-Yi.’
It was tantamount to proudly dangling the Clan’s Lucky Charm, the apple of their eye, as bait.
If his elder brother found out the inside story later, he would receive a thunderous scolding, and he would surely hear an earful.
However, for the Clan’s endless prosperity and a great leap forward, he could gladly endure that much of his elder brother’s nagging by tuning it out.
Baek Mu-Yeong carefully tucked the letter away, unknowingly revealing a wicked smile.