Chapter 340

It’s an obvious word game – surely Baek Li-jung wouldn’t recommend himself. If he recommends someone else, they’ll say he’s pushing that person, and if he nominates himself, they’ll curse him saying they expected as much.

Sensing Namgung family’s intentions, Hwangbo family and Zhuge family immediately objected.

“Where are you causing trouble!”

“Hey! These people!”

Wudang Sect also sided with Namgung family.

“No, let’s hear it once. If it’s someone Hero Baek Li recommends, we’ll also seriously consider it. If you can’t speak, then you must have other schemes, right?”

Then Baek Li-jung stood up with a thud, pressing his hand on the table.

“There’s nothing I can’t say.”

“Hero Baek Li!”

Baek Li-jung smiled slightly and said.

“But isn’t it too early to talk about such things? Come to think of it, it’s almost dinner time. Let’s eat first. People shouldn’t live skipping meals.”

To suggest eating in the middle of such an important discussion…!

But this wasn’t the first time. It was already several times. Whenever there were difficult questions, he would slip away using meals as an excuse.

The expressions of Namgung family and Wudang Sect elders crumpled.

Those belonging to Baek Li-jung’s opposition got up angrily.

“Ah, if meals are so important, then you should eat.”

“But let’s see how long you can run away using food as an excuse. We’ll be watching.”

“Next time we’ll have to pack lunch boxes and wait for several days. Then we can at least hear a different answer.”

All the opposition forces left the great hall.

The sect elders on Baek Li-jung’s side clicked their tongues and cursed those who left.

But Baek Li-jung turned his head as if neither side mattered.

“What a nice smell. Is tonight’s dinner pheasant?”

Zhuge family’s elder admired.

“Sword Pavilion Lord’s realm seems to have deepened even further than before. We can’t smell anything at all.”

Baek Li-jung smiled with a face somewhat more gaunt than when the meeting started a couple of hours earlier.

“It’s all about having a full stomach. If you think you can eat anything to survive, there’s nothing you can’t do, right?”

Though the analogy was somewhat strange, the elders nodded with smiles to please Baek Li-jung.

“Well, that’s true.”

“Then we should also eat heartily without skipping meals like the Sword Pavilion Lord to build up our stomach strength. Hehe.”

The corners of Baek Li-jung’s lips, who had been laughing, twisted slightly. Something didn’t please him.

For others it was a late dinner after lunch, but from Baek Li-jung’s perspective, it had been a very long time… he had been starving continuously since Master Woo-am.

* * *

Tang Qing welcomed Mang Ryo like meeting an old friend.

“Come in! Come in!”

“You’ve been well.”

In the secluded room, a feast prepared only for Mang Ryo was ready. There was enough food for twenty people. Thanks to this, the distance between Mang Ryo and Tang Qing was separated by a long table.

“My, I’m impressed.”

Tang Qing clapped his hands while stretching his mouth torn to his ears in a long smile.

“You’re truly a person who does what you say. A righteous person rare to see in times like these.”

“You’re too kind.”

“I never thought you’d actually execute the plan to split Taoist Haewol and Baek Li-jung. And going even further, you turned Taoist Haewol into an enemy?”

Tang Qing laughed delightedly.

“Hehehe! Hehehe! I haven’t felt this exhilarated in a long time! It was truly amazing.”

Tang Qing raised his hand to point at the liquor placed in front of Mang Ryo.

“I’ve prepared Sichuan’s finest liquors – Five Grain Liquid, Crystal Palace, and Sword South Spring Wine all for you, so drink as you please! The food too – five cooks made it solely for you!”

But Mang Ryo didn’t eat or drink anything and just stared at Tang Qing. Tang Qing was puzzled.

“Why?”

Mang Ryo’s eyes were cold.

“Why are you looking at me with those eyes? Is there some problem?”

Mang Ryo said.

“I kept my promise, but didn’t King of Hell keep his promise?”

“Hmm?”

Tang Qing’s eyes narrowed.

“I attacked the Martial Alliance Leader alone to keep my promise and nearly died being branded a public enemy of the martial world. But… King of Hell treated our promise like an old shoe?”

Tang Qing’s small eyes smiled.

“Ah, you mean Poison Dragon?”

“Ah, Poison Dragon?”

Mang Ryo took out the King of Hell plaque from his chest, placed it on the table, then picked up the wine bottle in front of him. Then he threw the wine bottle directly at Tang Qing.

Crash!

Unexpectedly, Tang Qing didn’t block it. The wine bottle hit Tang Qing’s head, broke, and wine poured out.

Mang Ryo said coldly.

“My condition was for the Tang family to take in Poison Dragon. But instead of taking him in, you mobilized the Six Poison Cliques to try to kill him?”

Tang Qing’s head and front were completely soaked with wine.

If someone had been watching, they might have rushed to kill Mang Ryo.

But Tang Qing didn’t get angry and laughed.

“Look here. I told you. This is precious wine.”

Tang Qing stuck out his long tongue and licked the wine on his face. Mang Ryo snorted.

“Hmph. Seeing you leave me alone, the King of Hell Tablet must still be valid.”

“It’s valid. I’m not someone who takes promises lightly once made.”

“Then why did you try to kill Poison Dragon?”

“My promise with you was precisely to bind our Ha-ran with Poison Dragon. With Ha-ran conceiving Poison Dragon’s child, our deal was essentially finished.”

“The Tang family takes in sons-in-law. But if Poison Dragon isn’t accepted and is still wandering outside, that’s not keeping the promise.”

“There was some misunderstanding there.”

Tang Qing’s eyes became serious. But because of his torn mouth, his expression still seemed to be smiling.

“We’re facing a great undertaking we’ve been preparing for over several decades. We fought a great battle with medicine sects and corrupted officials over a long period to ruin water management projects. The time and cost spent developing extreme poisons was also considerable.”

“That’s not my concern.”

“No, this is important. If we’re not just going to bring him in and assign him some Soul Seizing Hall.”

Gasp.

Mang Ryo felt his and Tang Qing’s perspectives were different. Tang Qing was talking about one ‘possibility’ now.

“Though there are many excellent people in our family, there’s no clear successor right now. But bringing in Poison Dragon at this point… that would cause great internal chaos. Instead of the great undertaking, we’d just fight over succession and everything would end. At the very least, would the Six Poison Cliques accept and acknowledge him?”

“Surely not…”

“You see…”

What came from Tang Qing’s mouth next was enough to surprise Mang Ryo.

“I’ve already decided to bring him in. And it’s in progress now. Of course, if he dies, there’s nothing we can do. His luck ends there. But if he survives until after this great undertaking ends and survives the Six Poison Cliques’ pursuit to the end.”

Mang Ryo’s eyes flickered.

“Surely not…”

“He becomes the master of the Six Poison Cliques.”

Mang Ryo got goosebumps.

Tang Qing laughed madly.

“Hehehe! Hehehe! I’m going to make him the master of poison sects!”

Mang Ryo’s shoulders trembled with excitement.

“King of Hell, now I understand. You’re planning to replace even the Six Poison Cliques while you’re at it.”

“When the great undertaking ends and a new world comes, all traces of the old era must disappear! Power is better when concentrated, and things like the Six Cliques are no longer needed. Tang family! Only Tang family will become the sole power of the martial world!”

The Six Poison Cliques were the power that had controlled poison sects until now.

Tang Qing thought even that was unnecessary and planned to integrate it into one.

“So far so good. To the point where I don’t even need to help from behind. Poison Dragon is really doing better than I expected.”

Jin Ja-gang had already subdued Leper Mound and Funeral Parlor among the Six Poison Cliques. If Jin Ja-gang became the head of poison sects, at least those two couldn’t oppose him.

“I’ve never seen such a person in my life. Honestly, if my ideals and his ideals aligned, I could pass my position to him right now. Even if that would be strangling my own neck.”

“Mmm.”

Mang Ryo found himself getting excited without realizing it.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of such things. But there was a difference between him thinking and making various plans for it to happen, and King of Hell Tang Qing, the supreme head of poison sects, already making up his mind.

Of course, King of Hell would drive Jin Ja-gang even more harshly than Mang Ryo.

That was the way of a lion raising a successor.

“But.”

Tang Qing hardened his expression and narrowed his eyes.

“A serious problem has arisen.”

“A serious problem? Is there a problem that the great King of Hell calls serious?”

“There is. The most dangerous ones in the martial world have latched on. More dangerous than even Poison Dragon. Maybe our entire poison sects could be blown away before the great undertaking.”

“I’m curious… what would that be?”

“Shaolin Temple!”

Mang Ryo’s eyebrows shot up.

Tang Qing said.

“The Breaking Sect has awakened. You know what that means, right?”

“My, I heard there was trouble at Shaolin Temple…!”

“The Breaking Sect has suppressed the Embracing Sect and begun coming to the forefront. Soon there will be a huge bloodbath in the martial world. But that’s not the only problem.”

Tang Qing continued with a frowning face.

“Somehow catching the scent, a former Diamond Monk interfered in Funeral Parlor’s business. Zhongnan Sect’s mad dog Benevolent Hero Bulgi and Funeral Parlor’s death god Yeong Hyeon-sa! And even the merciless enforcer Beom-mong all met Poison Dragon on one ship and had a big fight.”

Mang Ryo’s lips tore sideways like Tang Qing’s as he smiled. Tang Qing also smiled with a frowning face.

“Even in the midst of that, Poison Dragon survived again? While all the others died. Hehehe! What a wonderful guy! The more I see him, the more I like him to death.”

Mang Ryo had to make quite an effort not to show his excited feelings outwardly.

“If the Breaking Sect has stepped forward, what happens to the great undertaking?”

“We can’t stop now. The great undertaking proceeds as planned.”

“Is there nothing for me to help with?”

“None. You’re doing very well even now. Cherry Blossom Corps was a very good idea. The more rioters increase, the more the martial world’s attention becomes blurred and the more work Shaolin Temple has. You’re sufficiently fulfilling your role.”

“To think I’m already becoming useless. It’s regrettable.”

“How could that be? You still have work remaining.”

Tang Qing looked at Mang Ryo and said meaningfully.

“Once you start something, you must see it through to the end.”

Mang Ryo understood the meaning of Tang Qing’s words.

Taoist Haewol.

“That’s not my job.”

“It would be best if Baek Li-jung did it. But we can’t let him do it.”

Tang Qing’s eyes became serious.

“If Indestructible Heavenly Sword devours Taoist Haewol and grows bigger, then we can’t catch him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just know this. We must not hand Taoist Haewol over to him.”

“Hmm.”

Tang Qing pointed to the roasted whole piglet placed in front of Mang Ryo.

“Split it open.”

Mang Ryo lifted the piglet with crispy roasted skin and tore it in half. A small lacquered box emerged from inside.

“This is…”

“Three Great Fatal Poisons. What you wanted, right?”

Mang Ryo’s eyes opened wide.

Three Great Fatal Poisons that surpassed the Eight Great Extreme Poisons. Absolute poison that could kill even great immortals.

It had finally come into Mang Ryo’s hands.

“Remember.”

Tang Qing said.

“Summer is not far away now.”