#9

Chapter 3

The Qi-Heart Method (1)

Having finished what he came to do, Gwi-hyeok did not linger. He immediately began preparations to leave Hojang city.

Hyeong-un truly only needed to bring himself. He had nothing that could really be called luggage—just a few sets of worn-out clothes and a few coins he had meagerly scraped together.

Soon, Gwi-hyeok’s subordinate procured a carriage. Hyeong-un’s eyes went wide when he saw the carriage drawn by two horses.

“Uh, Master? That carriage is…”

“It’s ours.”

“What?”

“I had my people prepare it. We have a long road ahead of us; you didn’t think we were going to walk the whole way, did you?”

Hyeong-un, who had always believed carriages were a luxurious means of transport only for the wealthy, stood there with his jaw dropped. He still couldn’t get a grasp on what kind of person Gwi-hyeok actually was.

“Get in.”

Gwi-hyeok said.

“Yes, sir.”

“It might not be the most comfortable ride, but well, we’ll have something better waiting at our next stop, so just bear with it for now.”

‘Wait, you mean we’re not even taking this carriage the whole way?’

Having never ridden in a carriage before, Hyeong-un had no standard by which to judge how “comfortable” one was supposed to be. Still, judging by Gwi-hyeok’s reaction, it clearly did not meet his expectations.

But then again—weren’t carriages expensive things? Were they really something you could just replace on a whim?

“Then, let us depart.”

“Yes, sir. But will it be alright? There are quite a few tails following us.”

“You can leave them be. If they follow us out [of the city], we’ll clean them up then.”

“Understood.”

The man sitting in the driver’s seat replied and started the carriage.

“Are you surprised?”

“Honestly, yes.”

“What exactly is so surprising? If you’re curious about something, ask.”

“Uh, well…”

Hyeong-un stammered for a moment before asking.

“Master, are you… by any chance, rich?”

“I am.”

“……”

“So you don’t need to worry about food or clothes from now on.”

From the perspective of Hyeong-un, who had lived as nothing more than an errand boy at an inn, these words sounded like a dream.

As Hyeong-un stood there speechless and hesitating to ask further, Gwi-hyeok chuckled.

“Is that all you wanted to ask? You could afford to be curious about other things. Well, for starters, I’ll tell you about my identity. I am known as Yeong-seong (Spirit Star), the leader of the warriors within the ‘Guardians of the Star.’ And I do not travel alone; I am accompanied by my subordinates. They usually follow at a distance, so you’ll rarely see them all at once, but keep that in mind.”

“If it’s the Guardians of the Star… do you mean that organization made up of Alchemists?”

It was a name Hyeong-un had occasionally heard mentioned in the tales of the Jianghu while working at the inn.

They were not a group of warriors who took center stage to resolve conflicts. Rather, they were known as an organization of the finest alchemists recognized by the Imperial Court, famous for creating countless Miraculous Elixirs renowned throughout the Murim.

If Hyeong-un had been more worldly-wise, he would have been shocked to learn he was joining this group. Though not widely known to commoners, the Guardians of the Star was one of the most powerful entities on the continent.

An organization of Alchemists who had reached the pinnacle of their craft—that was the Guardians of the Star. Not only did they generate profit by selling various medicinal pills created through alchemy, but they were also a massive Merchant Guild that leveraged its capital to expand into various fields, reaping immense wealth.

“To put it simply, we are one of the wealthiest groups on the continent. Based on collective wealth, you’d be hard-pressed to find any power that rivals us, save for the Golden Dragon Merchant Guild and the Baek-ri Clan. Excluding the Imperial Family, of course.”

At those words, Hyeong-un’s mouth fell open. He had always known that Gwi-hyeok was an extraordinary person—but he had never imagined he held such a status. Not a renowned noble house, nor a colossal martial sect, but an organization of Alchemists?

He had never imagined that an alchemist organization could be such a prestigious group. He had merely assumed they were a sub-set of Phantom illusory or support-type practitioners who happened to make medicine.

It was a natural assumption. There are countless heroic epics in the world, but none of them feature an alchemist as the protagonist.

“I suppose so. In the stories kids your age enjoy, alchemists are just supporting characters who provide the protagonist with mysterious medicines, right?”

“Yes. Like giving a miraculous elixir to a hero in a crisis to help them gain even greater power…”

“That perception isn’t wrong. And it’s precisely because alchemists are that kind of people that they’ve amassed colossal wealth.”

Alchemists did not merely create medicines that saved lives—they also produced drugs with a vast array of extraordinary effects.

Among those were elixirs that amplified the power of warriors. If one could accumulate in a single year the strength that would normally take ten years of training, wouldn’t everyone naturally crave such a medicine?

Because of that, the Guardians of the Star were constantly selling enormous quantities of elixirs across the land, amassing staggering wealth wherever they went.

“I’ll tell you the rest bit by bit. We’ve got plenty of time until we reach the Main Headquarters.”

“Yes…”

Hyeong-un nodded, still looking completely dazed.

Initially, Hyeong-un had been flustered by the unexpected situation. But as the confusion subsided, he felt a surge of excitement at the fact that he was embarking on a journey to a distant place.

“Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever ridden in a carriage.”

“I imagine so.”

“It’s also my first time leaving Hojang.”

From the moment he was born until now, Hyeong-un had never once left the city of Hojang. Though he was an orphan who had lived a hard life, he had been born in the city and had lived only there. Of course, Hojang alone was such a vast world to the young Hyeong-un that he had never even grasped where its boundaries ended.

Everything Hyeong-un knew about the world beyond the city walls had come second-hand from the tales of travelers passing through the tavern. Behind the sturdy fortress ramparts and the watchful gaze of the imperial garrison lay a realm of unimaginable perils.

“Are there really that many bandits?”

“There aren’t that many. You’d have to have particularly bad luck to run into them while passing through places far from the cities.”

“Are there really Demonic Beasts as big as houses that eat people?”

“There are. Though they are a rare sight.”

There were still many places in the world untouched by human hands, and such places were bound to harbor all sorts of sinister entities. Cults of the Demonic Way hid themselves in those wilds, and in a sense, those regions overflowed with the Goeryeok-nansin (Strange, Violent, Chaotic powers and God-like beings) that bordered on the non-human.

This was exactly why, in this era, martial artists were held in high esteem. To travel such a world, one required enough strength to defend oneself. This was also the reason why the escort agency business flourished.

Once Hyeong-un’s excitement about his first long journey had subsided a bit, Gwi-hyeok brought up the topic he had put aside.

“We should discuss what comes next. I imagine you have a lot of questions.”

“I do.”

At those words, Hyeong-un straightened his posture and looked at Gwi-hyeok. There were countless things he wanted to ask his master.

How could there not be, when it concerned his own future?

However, what Hyeong-un had learned while working at the inn was that people who live in the shadows do not appreciate others prying into their business. Thus, he had been patiently waiting for Gwi-hyeok to break the ice first.

“First, it would be best to tell you where we are headed. Our destination is the city of Jinhae .”

“Ah, you mentioned that last time.”

Hyeong-un recalled Gwi-hyeok telling the Family Guard of the Cheon Estate that he hailed from Jinhae province. Though he had said his affiliation with the Cloud Divination Sect was a cover identity, it seemed his claim of being from Jinhae was the truth.

Gwi-hyeok asked,

“Do you know where Jinhae-seong is located?”

“No.”

“You know that Ha-un, Our Kingdom comprises twelve great Fortress-cities, right?”

“Yes.”

The Ha-un Kingdom—one of the Three Kingdoms of the Central Plains, the trio of dominant powers spanning the vast continent. It is made up of twelve Fortress-cities. Each of these Fortress-cities is. comparable in size to a small border nation, so most people lived and died in the cities where they were born, never venturing to another.

Gwi-hyeok continued.

“This city, Hojang province, is in the southwest. Jinhae province is in the northwest. It will likely take about a month to get there.”

“That far?”

Hyeong-un’s eyes widened. Traveling by carriage was far faster than going on foot—yet even so, a whole month? Just how vast was the distance between them?

Gwi-hyeok added,

“And that’s even considering our current rate of speed. We’ll also be making use of the Waterways along the way.”

“We’ll go by boat?”

“Indeed. I take it you’ve never been on one?”

“No, Master.”

“Then it will be a fine new experience for you.”

Hyeong-un’s cheeks flushed with eager anticipation. With every word his master spoke, his heart beat a little faster.

“The city of Jinhae is where the Main Headquarters of the Guardians of the Star—the organization your Master belongs to—is located. However, even while we are en route, you’ll come to understand what kind of organization we truly are.”

He was able grasp the truth of those words before the day was even over. In a village they reached just before sunset, Hyeong-un followed Gwi-hyeok and was led towards building of grand opulence. It was a six-story structure called the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, it was a place where no one would even dare enter unless they were exceptionally wealthy.

“W-we’re staying… in a place like this?”

Once inside the lavish building, Hyeong-un felt deeply uncomfortable, as though he had stepped somewhere he didn’t belong. In all his life, he had never once imagined himself setting foot in a place like this.

Gwi-hyeok spoke.

“This is one of our businesses.”

“This place?”

“Didn’t I tell you that the business of the Guardians of the Star spans the entire continent? Our fields of operation are incredibly vast as well.”

As he explained, Gwi-hyeok suddenly became aware of the stares around them. The impeccably polite staff who had escorted him in were now shooting unpleasant looks of disapproval at Hyeong-un.

“Ah. Of course.”

For a moment, a flash of anger surged in Gwi-hyeok at their judgment of his disciple. But he quickly realized there was a perfectly understandable reason for it.

“Hyeong-un.”

“Yes Master?”

“We’ll have to buy you some new clothes.”

“New…clothes?”

“To be honest, what you’re wearing doesn’t suit a place like this, so it can’t be helped. That was my oversight. I should have paid more attention.”

Normally, Gwi-hyeok didn’t care much about his own appearance. If he put his mind to it, he could live changing into luxurious silk garments every single day, but he settled for wearing just enough to ensure he wasn’t looked down upon wherever he went. Even that wasn’t because he personally cared; it was because his subordinates looked after his wardrobe for him.

Because of that, it never occurred to him that Hyeong-un would need new clothes. Hyeong-un was still wearing the old, dirty rags he had worn since they first set out—the same ones he wore while serving as an errand boy in the inn.

Gwi-hyeok turned around and clicked his tongue.

“You could have said something.”

“My apologies. Since the Spirit Star didn’t say anything, I… well.”

Hyeong-un was startled by the reply coming from behind him. It was only natural; even as they had entered this place, the only ones following them were the pavilion’s staff. Yet, out of nowhere, a stony-faced man had appeared and was now answering.

{TL Note for thought: Masu(Demonic or magical beasts) are animals that have mutated or evolved by absorbing the energy(Qi) of the world. They often possess “internal cores” and supernatural abilities.}