Chapter 185

Chapter 185
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**Chapter 185: Tang Clan’s Full Commitment**

The Tang Clan’s most senior figures gathered in continuous session for three full days, without a single pause. No one slept; they snatched only quick bites of rice balls to sustain themselves, and even set aside their most basic needs to focus entirely on one matter.

*“All of this is well and good—but why must I be trapped here too?”*

The meal I had asked Baek Heon-so to prepare sat completely untouched. Still, I could understand their reasoning. It would have been strange indeed to hold such a meeting without the very person who had devised the new martial theory at its heart.

*“Tri-Origin Return to Origin Art.* *Young Master Baek—my recognition is yours.”*

The speaker was Tang Seok, one of the Tang Clan’s elders. He had been the most conservative voice of all, placing utmost faith in long-held tradition. Even after the theory of the poison technique had been laid out, and most of the clan had embraced closer cooperation with the Baek Clan in martial exchange, he had stood apart. He had opposed sharing even the incantations of the Three Yangs Return to Origin Art—yet now, he looked toward Yang-hui with unfeigned admiration.

*“I once thought handing over the core of our clan’s secret arts a reckless, foolish choice. This old man was mistaken.”*

To be exact, Grand Elder Tang Seok had led the opposition. For him to speak so openly meant no one within the Tang Clan held anything but goodwill toward Yang-hui now.

*“Replacing the Three Disasters of the Half Taiji with the Six Harmonies of the Three Taijis… easy enough to say, but how did you even conceive such a thing?”*

*“It aligns seamlessly with all our existing practices, not a single detail out of step. How could it be otherwise? Its foundation rests on the harmony of the Six Unions.”*

*“To form Taiji from three distinct extreme qi energies, then weave the Dao of Six Harmonies through it… truly brilliant!”*

This was a theory of martial principles, not a finished style to practice. In other words, while the profound logic of the Tri-Origin Return to Origin had been established, it was not yet ready to be applied as a working art. For now, they had only laid the earliest groundwork and drafted the opening incantations.

*“We have not even settled which elements correspond to Earth and Yin among the three origins.”*

Even so, this much progress alone was more than enough reason to share the latter half of the Three Yangs Return to Origin Art’s verses. They had seen with their own eyes, and felt in their own bones, that whatever Yang-hui was given, he turned it to extraordinary achievement.

*“As Grand Elder, I make this proposal.”* Tang Seok turned to the clan leader. *“Let us entrust the latter half of the Three Yangs Return to Origin Art to Young Master Baek.”*

He was not alone. Every elder lent their voice to the same request, speaking as one.

*“Feels rather fine, doesn’t it.”*

It was no small thing to yield the innermost teachings of one of the ten most powerful clans under heaven. That they would take such a risk spoke clearly of how highly they valued him.

*“Silence, all of you.”*

Tang Seong looked at Yang-hui, his gaze heavy with gravity and respect.

*“Young Master Baek.”*

*“Clan Leader—please speak.”*

Slowly, Tang Seong bowed his head. *“I am deeply moved, and I thank you from my heart.”*

*“You are too gracious; there is no need.”*

*“Not too gracious at all. With what you have given, our Tang Clan will be reborn.”*

He spoke true. With the framework already in place, and every talented member of the clan applying themselves fully, the new style could be forged in short order. Well… perhaps twenty years or so.

*“I cannot wait that long.”*

That was exactly why he needed the rest of the incantations. He intended to stand beside them and help, so that the Tang Clan’s signature art might rise to the level of a divine art as swiftly as possible.

Tang Seong did not turn at once to the matter of the verses. Instead, he said something else.

*“Our clan has long been renowned for wisdom in poisons and medicine. Elixirs fall under that same path—we hold methods for refining the rarest of pills.”*

There was clear purpose in his words. *“Every last one shall be yours. Nothing held back. And should you seek new formulations, our entire Hall of Medicine will serve you to create them.”*

I understood then what he perceived most clearly: what the Baek Clan needed above all else.

The Baek Clan was newly ascendant, yet it lacked one vital thing: seasoned masters. Huashan had its Plum Blossom Swordsmen; Namgung its Sky-Soaring Sword Squadron; Shaolin its One Hundred and Eight Arhats. Every great, established school had an elite force to call its own.

The Baek Vanguard Unit, whom the Baek Clan had raised as their pride, were still young—wanting in experience, depth of cultivation, and all else that comes only with time.

*“The surest remedy for lack of skill is internal energy.”*

Yet short was their history, and young their members; they had little power built up over generations. That was where elixirs proved their worth—and in making them, few could match the Tang Clan. Their products might not rival Wudang’s Supreme Purity Pill or Shaolin’s Great Return Pill, but they had more than ten recipes that could add ten, even twenty years of cultivated strength to whoever took them. This was the very secret by which the Tang Clan had risen to the highest ranks in barely a century.

He was offering exactly what we lacked most. To a martial artist, nothing was more precious than internal power—and methods of refining such treasures were guarded as jealously as any secret technique. With these, the Baek Clan could surge forward faster than ever.

*“In three years… perhaps even sooner, all will acknowledge us as a great clan.”*

And there was more besides. Tang Seong continued.

*“That is not all. We have called ourselves friends—and as friends, our Tang Clan will be your hall of healing and your forge.”*

Life-saving remedies and weapons forged to the highest standard—these were as essential to those who walked the martial path as life itself. The Baek Clan had fallen far and was rising still; there was much they lacked. Baek Cheol, their skilled smith, was one of us, yet even so, demand outpaced supply. Medicine was an even greater need.

Elixirs to strengthen their base, poisons and remedies, mastery of the forge—he was offering the innermost secrets of his house.

*“Is this payment for service?”*

*“No. It is gratitude, in return for kindness received.”*

Payment was a transaction; gratitude came from the heart. That was the difference.

He was not asking for the rest of the incantations in exchange. Allies or no, if one side always gave while the other always received, resentment would take root. Small rifts grew into deep divides.

*“If there is anything else you would ask, speak freely—it shall be yours.”*

Judging by the mood, I might have asked for a million nyang and received it joyfully. I might even have asked to take the name Tang and stand as heir ahead of Tang Gun, and it might well have been granted. It was an opportunity to advance the Baek Clan’s cause immeasurably—yet…

*“I do have one request.”*

*“Name it.”*

*“I would learn the latter half of the Three Yangs Return to Origin Art’s incantations.”*

Tang Seong’s eyes lit up; he saw the meaning behind the words. Yang-hui smiled.

*“And to fill the remaining origin among the three, I would meet and discuss with your people, and work alongside them.”*

He did not wish to receive as a right what they might hesitate to give; he offered partnership instead. Between our clans, he hoped for a bond where each gave freely what the other needed, before it was even asked.

*“…Thank you. Truly, thank you.”*

*“Hui… you…”*

To see Clan Leader Tang Seong and Young Clan Leader Tang Gun so moved filled my heart. It felt like reward enough in itself.

—

Tang Seong moved at once to send an envoy to the Baek Clan, but Yang-hui persuaded him to delay.

Even with new methods in hand, they could not turn them to use straight away—there was no hurry. The Baek Clan had expanded its holdings too quickly; every resource must go toward securing what they had already gained. Before coming here, he had feared they might soon run short of funds. There was no use for precious recipes if they could not afford the rare herbs to put them to work.

*“We need funds… and for that, Lord Jin’s help will be essential.”*

It was as if he had been thinking the very same thing—Jin Young-gil sent his son, heir to the great merchant house. Yang-hui received the young man in the guest hall, with Tang Gun beside him.

*“Young Merchant Leader. It has been some time.”*

*“Three months and eight days, to be exact. Arrangements took longer than expected—forgive the delay.”*

They had spoken of engaging the Geom Pole Clan before, but only after Jin Young-gil had recovered from his grave illness and set his affairs in order. Three months was, in truth, remarkably prompt.

*“Your father lay gravely ill for some while; we understood there would be much to see to. There is no need to apologize.”*

*“Your kindness is appreciated.”*

*“Still—your coming in person… there is something you propose?”*

*“There is.”*

Jin Dal-bong met his gaze directly. His resolve was plain; he sought to uncover and strike down those who had brought his father so near to death.

*“My father and I have laid the groundwork. Will you join us?”*

*“It sounds interesting.”*

*“A game of chance? Dice? Three-card monte?”*

He named games of skill and luck—cards tested mind and nerve, dice depended on fortune, monte on calculation.

*“Cards, to be precise.”*

*“I should enjoy that. I play well.”*

*“Then let me explain the plan in full.”*

*“First, an update. The man who falsely claimed to be one of our Geom Pole Clan’s disciples has visited another wealthy patron.”*

Yang-hui and Tang Gun leaned forward.

*“If he makes his living as a healer, the wealthy are the natural choice—they can pay well.”*

*“Did he present himself as one of the Geom Pole Clan again?”*

*“He did—and the clan stood as guarantee to his identity.”*

It might be that certain within the Geom Pole Clan sought only a share of the profits—but suspicion was deepening, and with good reason.

*“So I have proposed engaging the Geom Pole Clan: one disciple of the first rank, three of the second, six of the third.”*

The purpose was twofold: to draw the shadowy faction into the open, and if the Geom Pole Clan stood innocent, to forge a bond with a respected school beyond the borders of Sichuan. A first-rank disciple stood just below the elders—well suited to both ends.

*“And what reason shall we give?”*

*“The Merchant Leader has survived great peril; we shall make offering before the Immeasurable Buddha to turn aside ill fortune and invoke blessing.”*

*“The offering itself is the true matter, then.”*

*“Exactly. The offering shall be the Sichuan Wolf Stronghold.”*

Tang Gun’s eyes widened. *“The Sichuan Wolf Stronghold? One of the Seventy-Two Bandit Lairs of the Green Forest?”*

To make them the target might invite serious consequence—but Jin Dal-bong spoke with absolute confidence.

*“We have called upon Qingcheng and Ami as well. And now we ask the Tang Clan to stand with us.”*

Qingcheng, Ami, the Tang Clan—Sichuan’s three great righteous schools—together with the Geom Pole Clan from Yunnan. With such force behind them, there would be no backlash, even if they swept the stronghold from the map.

In short:

*“You wish us to stand watch, to see what the Geom Pole Clan does while we move against the bandits.”*

*“Precisely. Will you join us? And as for recompense…”*

They would have agreed regardless; to be offered payment besides was all the better. Yang-hui accepted at once. Jin Dal-bong placed a pouch upon the table and emptied its contents: tallies of wood, marked in counting. One hundred… two hundred… five hundred…

*“Generous terms.”*

*“We accept.”*

*“Generous?”* The young heir looked briefly disappointed, then brightened. *“Ah—turn them over. Each bears the mark ‘ten.’ Ten taels per tally.”*

*“So the total is multiplied by ten?”*

*“It is.”*

Yang-hui and Tang Gun stared at him in astonishment.

*“Then you will do it?”* Jin Dal-bong smiled—proud, assured, heir to one of the three greatest merchant houses under heaven.

*“Consider it done. We shall serve you with all that we have.”*

They would lay bare whatever connection lay between the Geom Pole Clan and the Ming Cult—and stand to gain greatly in the doing. Two birds with one stone, indeed.
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