Chapter 327

The Martial Alliance isn’t some top-tier organization that unconditionally accepts every mission letter that comes flying in.

However, stepping up right after the Martial World Tournament for the first mission isn’t as easy as one might think.

In the Central Plain, reputation is as good as life itself.

Of course, if you’re put in a position to choose between life and reputation, you’d definitely choose life every single time, but that’s just how things are said.

So if someone were to say, right after the Martial World Tournament, “Nah, I don’t want to do this mission,” it would basically be spitting on the Martial Alliance’s face.

And let’s not forget that Qing is the champion of the sleep-inducing Martial Arts conference.

As the leading representative of the orthodox martial arts circle, if Qing ignores her mission, who’s going to follow any missions thereafter?

Moreover, it’s not like the mission is about going out and risking your life in a fight.

It’s just to go to some far-off land and stay there for this winter.

And to top it off, it’s not like she’ll have any hardships—she’ll be treated like royalty.

So, what can be done? She has to go.

Especially since there are certain individuals who absolutely cannot avoid this mission.

Among them is Seoliri, dispatched as the representative from the Ice Palace to the Martial Alliance and has mostly been loafing around until now.

The Martial Alliance has no way to track Seoliri’s position.

However, Sama Chun-bong, her Deputy Commander, is quirky but gets things done efficiently, so every mission letter comes with an attached document stating that if anyone sees Seoliri’s name, they should pass the mission along.

So our Seoliri, who’s like a hormonal teenager now or acting rebellious, suddenly turns into a training maniac clinging to Qing’s hand.

“Lady Seomun, I’ll definitely come back.”

Seoliri’s gaze is intense.

From just her expression, it’s like someone stepping out into a life-threatening situation swearing they’ll come back.

“Didn’t you just say ‘Suzhou’? Ah, I suddenly feel like having a drink. Hitting up the defense meeting for a drink would be great.”

Nope, this won’t do. I can’t hold back.

Qing boosted her inner strength and started rummaging around in her insides, almost like a treasure hunt.

Stirred by that, the life inside began to struggle, and a warm, intoxicating vitality surged up, heating her insides.

Ah, the wine bottle is really quite effective.

While the Salamander Gisaeng, who took a hit from the True Energy, feels a bit unjust about the situation.

Isn’t it kind of like an internal pet detoxing her accumulated toxins?

“Ah, this is it. But, isn’t Suzhou a nice place? They say the food there is delicious. Ah, does Gunyongi need some pocket money?”

“Yes. No, well… um. And I don’t like being called Gunyongi.”

She said ‘Suzhou’? Yes indeed.

Aren’t we going to a nice place? Nope.

Need some pocket money? Hmm.

Thinking about it, even if Seoliri is poor or in a beggar-like state, would she really just jump at the chance and say, ‘Yes, please, give me pocket money’?

Sure, she might accept it if offered, but still, she subtly glances around whenever Qing asks.

“Oh. I’ve been thoughtless. Wait a minute, I’ll get something for you, so hang on.”

What Qing hurriedly pulled out was a silk money bag.

“Don’t go spending it all just because you got some money. You need to save; that’s the way to live well. But don’t act too stingy, either. Just having a money bag gives you the confidence to walk anywhere.”

After Seoliri accepted the money bag and bowed her head, she looked back at Qing and said.

“I’ll get a lot stronger and protect you.”

“Sure, sure. Hearing that from my little darling just warms my heart; such heartfelt words from our Gunyongi.”

To which Seoliri tilted her head, puzzled.

“Why ‘dad’?”

“Eh? Then should I say ‘mom’?”

“…?”

“…?”

They exchanged glances, equally baffled.

Seoliri pondered for a moment but decided to brush it off as just another one of those random comments before saying her goodbyes again.

“I’ll definitely come back.”

“Didn’t you already say that? But why come to the Divine Maiden Sect? Isn’t it the Martial Alliance you’re headed to?”

“Yeah. I said I’d protect you. Right?”

“Sure, sure. Now, you better catch that boat on time. Go.”

“I’ll definitely, definitely come back.”

Qing chuckled at Seoliri’s intense gaze.

The journey from the Divine Maiden Sect to Suzhou won’t be difficult or dangerous; it’ll actually be a free ride of a journey.

Just board a boat and drift along until you reach Suzhou; it’s practically right in front of you.

This was actually due to Sama Chun-bong’s consideration, placing her in a spot where she wouldn’t lose her way, assuming she wouldn’t be familiar with the lands of the Central Plain.

Then she had to pass on the message that she had to descend and take care of business with the Empress.

Hmm, that’ll be difficult to say.

What if she insists on staying?

Just two weeks until the rituals end, and what if she grabs hold of me, saying, “Why aren’t you leaving?”

I wouldn’t have the heart to flat out refuse.

However, the Empress was surprisingly straightforward.

“Sure. It makes more sense for a child to see their mother off than the other way around. Take care, don’t eat just anything you find, don’t fall asleep just anywhere, don’t wash yourself haphazardly because there’s no bath, don’t follow strangers, and don’t go chasing cute little animals you see.”

“Am I a child or something?”

“If a twenty-year-old woman isn’t a child, then what is she? Above all, take care of yourself. If you ever think you’re in danger, think of your mother. If I hear of something wrong happening to you, I’ll end my own life right there with you.”

“Please don’t say that.”

“The reason I haven’t taken my own life when losing you is that I wanted to wait until I saw your corpse. Just in case you were still alive. You might live as a warrior and die as a warrior, but if you do die, don’t be too afraid. Just think of it as me accompanying you to the afterlife. Realize that another life is tied to yours, and cherish it.”

She meant that she’d die if Seoliri did.

No matter how you looked at it, that wasn’t just joking around.

It was really heavy! So heavy!

Anyway, the Empress surprisingly let Qing go without much fuss.

Seomun Sulin was as stoic as ever.

“Travel well. Since you’ll be in lands by the sea, make sure to eat plenty of seafood that you like. I hear you’ve been itching to taste the ocean’s fish sashimi, so this is your chance to indulge.”

“Hehe. Oh, right. Now that I’ve reached Supreme Martial Artist level, can I put off learning the Taiji Sword and the Saily Sword? Is there any martial art that’s easy to learn?”

“Hmmm.”

I wondered where she kept snatching other people’s visions from, only to find out that it’s the Princess.

Sulin thought it made sense after all.

With countless martial arts in the Imperial Palace, it seems there’s someone who’s fetching what’s needed.

But since she still hasn’t learned the two styles she was told to master earlier, it seems it doesn’t come easy.

The process of stealing may be challenging or time-consuming.

“It’s time for you to refine your own martial way since you’ve become a Supreme Martial Artist. So now would there even be a need to covet what others have? However, if you really want to learn, it wouldn’t hurt to study difficult techniques focused on inner strength, as more is always better.”

“Difficult techniques, yes.”

Seomun Sulin chuckled.

How could stealing another’s martial art be something a master should say?

But since her disciple is now also a merchant, it might not be so strange.

Thinking of the merchant side of her, Seomun Sulin said.

“Why don’t you write a letter to Hall of Literature? Explain your situation and let them know you might not make it this winter. Isn’t that your second master?”

“Ah. Now that you mention it, it’s true.”

“If you’re planning to stay in Nannyeong until winter, you should be back by spring. So send them a letter asking if it’s okay to arrive a bit later in spring. Didn’t you say you had training planned?”

“Oh, right. Master, if I get permission and can go, can Jang Myung take me? After the Martial World Tournament, we promised to explore the martial world together, and this is how it turned out.”

“If it’s Taiyuan, that wouldn’t be bad.”

After the Hall of Literature had stepped back from direct politics, they hadn’t relocated to Taiyuan, which was further from Beijing.

Thanks to that, Taiyuan remains the stronghold of the scholars, so there’s bound to be things you can learn there.

And on the merchant side, while it may be seen as a thief, the scholar of the Hall of Literature could be a giant in charge of educating the literati.

The reason Seomun Sulin readily accepted her second master was due to the principles of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.

Indeed, while she read the Buddhist and Daoist texts, the Confucian ones felt somewhat foreign and distant to her.

Their rigorous treatment of women in Confucianism, after all, made it quite unappealing, and she had even burned all her remaining Confucian texts in frustration.

Having finished greeting her master, Jin Jangmyung, despite Qing mentioning she was leaving, still sported a sulky face like the little hoodlum he once was, but when he heard she’d be spending a season in Taiyuan after the trip, his expression suddenly brightened.

“It’s a promise. You can’t be late.”

“How far can it be that I’d be late?”

“Isn’t it far?”

“Isn’t it just a little shorter than round trip to Luoyang?”

“……?”

Judging purely by the distance, yes.

However, between the Divine Maiden Sect and Luoyang, which has no particular treacherous barriers, it’s actually not that hard to ride straight there.

Though it might annoy the locals by trampling over their fields, it’s hardly impossible.

But the road to Guangxi Province is different.

In the geography of the Central Plain, the west is quite high, while the east is lower, and the north is high, and the south is also high.

When heights overlap, they don’t disappear but rather stack higher.

So, heading to Guangxi Province, one must first go straight east to reach Dongjing Lake, then circle down through the eastern part of Hunan Province to get to Guangdong Province.

Only upon reaching Guangdong does the path stretch westward.

This essentially doubles the distance.

“That’s only if you’re going by cart.”

Of course, Qing didn’t plan to take that detour.

If she takes the mountain paths, she can get there fast, right?

Why flip around on flat paths when it’s unnecessary?

Just running straight south should get her there—getting lost along the way doesn’t really matter as long as she’s heading south, right?

With her all-encompassing lightness skills, and her incredible digestive capabilities that let her eat anything, plus her penchant for sleeping anywhere, Qing is quite adaptable.

And I’ve heard there’s no road at all, either. What a world…

—-

The administrative boundaries of the Central Plain are all over the place, being long on one side and short on the other, with Gansu Province having the most bizarre shape, resembling a snake stretched out long.

So why do the boundaries end up like this?

Well, that’s because of obstacles.

Surprisingly, there was an era even more primitive and barbaric than today, when people were incapable of conquering high mountains, deep forests, and swamps.

The primitive people of that time shied away from those natural hurdles, which could’ve led them to destruction.

In other words, the boundaries of the Central Plain were formed by the mountain ridges and the dense forests and swamps.

Out of those, the swamps have been subdued.

Originally, the southern Central Plain was a swampy wasteland where no one could live, but now it has become fertile and prized, so much so that the country’s capital moved eastward to become Beijing.

But the straight path Qing has her sights on isn’t in current Central Plain territory—it’s in the remote areas of the future.

However, there’s just one location along this straight route that’ll eventually see development.

That is, Qing’s homeland and heart’s home, the sacred land of the Han people, the beginning and end of filial piety trips: Zhangjiajie!

Of course, the day Zhangjiajie is conquered by the Han people is still a distant future.

Currently, it’s being held by another power.

To put it simply, Zhangjiajie is not even a famous tiny town nearby; in current Central Plain terms, it’s known as Tianzishan, a very exalted name.

And there, a large bandit gang resided.

The Green Forest. A labor union for forest bandits dealing in murder, kidnapping, and pillaging.

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