“My lord, the three great merchant clans sent a letter stating that they will not pay the alliance’s taxes anymore. They request for you to come to their estate to negotiate.”

It had now been a few weeks after Shin Yong had left Jong Shin and Seul Gi. A couple days later, the couple returned to the palace together and Jong Shin continued with his tasks (PR note: bet he was a bit distracted though...if ya know what I mean) as the Sect’s strategist. At that moment, Jong Shin was reporting to Shin Yong about the letter which had arrived that morning from the three great merchant clans within the Gray Shadow Sect.

When he heard the contents of the letter, the tips of Shin Yong’s lips lifted into a cruel smile.

“Oh ho… not only do they have the guts to refuse to pay taxes; they even want me to go to their place, huh?”

At the sight of Shin Yong’s sinister smile, shivers ran through Tae Yang’s body.

“Oh shit, the lord’s really mad. They’re fucked.”

Right beside him, Sung Woo slightly nodded his head in agreement. Jong Shin slightly panicked at the expression and tried to calm Shin Yong.

“My lord, you mustn’t be hasty about how you handle this situation! The three great merchant clans are a vital part of our alliance’s economy. If we just destroy them, the economy will be ruined, and it will be a major blow to us!”

“Hu hu hu… don’t worry I won’t take such ridiculous actions. Since they asked us to go, we will. Jong Shin, be prepared to head out this afternoon, we’ll go see what those damn old geezers have to say.”

Jong Shin visibly showed a relieved expression at Shin Yong’s word. After saying those words, he stood up and headed toward the exit. Just as everyone in the chamber breathed a sigh of relief, Shin Yong stopped and without even turning around, said words that made Tae Yang and Sung Woo shiver.

“Oh yeah, it’s been a while since I sparred with you two. Let’s have a light warm up in the training ground.”

After saying those lines, a smirk appeared on Shin Yong’s face as he left the chamber. In contrast, Tae Yang’s face paled and became panicked.

“Oi! The lord is planning on bullying us and beating us up to release his anger, isn’t he?!?! Hey Sung Woo, say something!”

“I’ve always wanted to spar with the lord. I was always envious that he sparred with you.”

When he heard Sung Woo reply with an expressionless face, Tae Yang’s face seemed to be asking if he was on crack.

“That’s just because you’ve never been on the receiving end of his bullying! You don’t understand how much that shit hurts!”

******

After he had ranted for over ten minutes, Tae Yang finally resigned himself to his fate and the three of them went to Shin Yong’s training ground. When they arrived, they saw Shin Yong sitting down on the platform floor and meditating. Not wanting to disturb him, the three silently waited for him to complete his meditation.

A few minutes later, Shin Yong slowly opened his eyes and stood up. When they saw him stand up, Sung Woo and Tae Yang walked onto the platform. Sung Woo looked somewhat excited while Tae Yang looked like he was being forcefully pushed forward and had a dejected expression. Once they got onto the platform, Shin Yong nodded his head.

“Alright then. The two of you come at me with everything you got. Don’t even think about going easy because if you do, I can’t guarantee your lives.”

While he said that, he reached inside his shirt and pulled Behemoth and a regular dagger out. At that sight, Sung Woo got into a fighting position with his halberd while Tae Yang let one more depressed sigh out before he drew his sword from behind his back and also got serious. Without a signal, the two rushed forward at the exact same moment.

Sung Woo went left and when Shin Yong was in range, he immediately swung his halberd in an arch aiming for his legs. Tae Yang, on the other hand went right and leapt forward to stab at Shin Yong’s chest. Even though the two hadn’t practiced synchronization together, they attacked at the same time, leaving no room for Shin Yong to dodge.

When he saw their combination, a smirk appeared on Shin Yong’s face as he deflected the sword with Behemoth while also stomping down with his right foot onto the halberd and caused it to slam into the ground. Using the force, he jumped backward with a back spin and jumped forward to counter attack.

Jong Shin, who stayed off to the side and watched the spar, wasn’t able to help but sigh in admiration at the fight. Not only were both Sung Woo and Tae Yang very strong on their own, but their combination was almost perfect even though they had never practiced it. Their attacks always overlapped and the vast majority of martial artists would have fallen within the five turns no matter how strong they were.

Shin Yong, on the other hand, was one of the few who could cope with those attacks. Not only that, he was counterattacking and leaving bruises all over the two of them as he hit them with the flat of the dagger blades and hilts.

’Yeah, this is the strength of the lord I serve. Even though there are still a select few stronger than him, he’s only twenty eight while those people are all old. In the near future he will surpass them all and stand alone at the top.’

After the spar had gone on for around ten minutes, Tae Yang finally wasn’t able to handle it and flopped down onto the ground all battered and exhausted while loudly yelling.

“I can’t take it anymore! Lord, don’t you think it’s too petty of you to bully the weak?!”

When Tae Yang plopped down to the ground, Sung Woo and Shin Yong also stopped. Sung Woo was breathing heavily while there were visible bruises all over his body. Shin Yong, on the other hand, seemed fine and was only breathing a little more heavily than normal. When he saw Tae Yang who threw a tantrum, a smile appeared on his face and he spoke.

“We’ll be heading over to the merchant clan’s house shortly so get ready. Tae Yang, you’ll also be coming so get ready.”

After saying those words, he turned and went toward his residence. When he saw Shin Yong leave, Tae Yang stood back up and looked furious as he grinded his teeth and spoke.

“Those god damn merchant bastards. I got bullied by the lord because they made him angry. Just wait till I get my hands on them.”

Beside him, the emotionless Sung Woo nodded his head.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

*****

“Master, the Gray Shadow Sect Lord has come.”

“Oh ho, that youngling has finally came, huh? Bring them over here.”

When the servant heard what the Merchant clan head said, he momentarily thought that he heard wrong.

“You said to bring them here, master? You’re not going to go greet them?”

“Why should I go greet some young hatchling? This is a good time to show him who is more superior.”

The servant was shocked when he heard what his master said. Still, it was his command after all so he went back out and passed the message along.

“My lord, master said that he will greet you all in the audience hall.”

“What?! The clan head dares to not only refuse to come out and greet us but to make us go meet him in the audience hall?”

Jong Shin was shocked at how audacious the merchant clan leader was being. Even if he wanted to break ties with them by not paying taxes, Shin Yong was still the lord of the Gray Shadow Sect. When he saw that Jong Shin was about to continue on, Shin Yong raised his hand and stopped him from continuing on before he motioned for the servant to lead them forward. As they walked toward the audience hall, a vicious smile slowly formed on his face.

When the entourage arrived at the audience hall, they saw that the clan leader was laying sideways on a fluffy blanket. On his left side stood a well-built middle aged man that had a scar on the right side of his face. He wore a sleeveless vest from which his thick arms protruded out. On the opposite side stood two elder figures who wore white robes. The both of them were twins and were very difficult to distinguish.

Shin Yong instantly recognized those people as they were well known. A smirk appeared for an instant before disappearing just as quickly.

’Ho… so that’s the reason you acted so cocky, huh?’

“Lord Shin Yong, I thank you for coming to my humble abode. As my back has been acting up lately. I have to lay down like this to comfort it. I ask for your understanding of this.”

An arrogant smile was on the clan leader’s face as he spoke to Shin Yong. Shortly after, he began to introduce the people beside him.

“I’d like to introduce you to some of my guests my lord. The two people on my right are famous swordsman known as the Devil Twins. I’m sure you have heard of their great exploits before. To my left, is the famous “Close Quarter” King, Ryu Won.”

The Devil Twins were two swordsman who roamed the lands without being affiliated with any of the three alliances. They were rumored to be very skilled with the flexible sword and defeated countless foes. They were given the nickname “Devil Twins” because of their ruthlessness and dirty tricks.

The Close Quarter King was even more renown than the previous two. Using only his fists and legs, he was rumored to be the strongest mercenary. Some people even believed he was the leader of all the mercenaries.

While Shin Yong remember all the information about the three, the clan leader continued on.

“Lord, the reason I called you hear is to discuss a certain matter. We, the three great merchant clans, believe that the taxes on us are too heavy. We can’t afford to pay the taxes anymore.”

When he heard what the clan leader said, his expression became cold.

“You’re trying to tell us to lower the tax?”

When he saw Shin Yong’s expression, the clan leader laughed.”

“No, that’s not exactly it. What I’m trying to say is that we won’t pay the Gray Shadow Sect taxes anymore. We also want full autonomy for our sections.”

“Clan leader! Don’t you think you are asking for too much?”

When Jong Shin heard what the clan leader said, he exclaimed out loud in anger. In response, the clan leader dropped all pretense of formality and replied back in anger.

“You stinking brat, shut up! If I say we’re not going to pay taxes, and we will receive autonomy for our section, we will!”

“Do you think you can just threaten us because you brought those three here?”

“Of course I do! But not only do I have these three people who can easily dispatch of you all, I still have my soldiers!”

With those words, people started to pour into the audience hall. In total fifty martial artist appeared in the hall in the space between the two groups and all faced toward them.

“What can you do but accept my terms with this type of force?”

As the clan leader said that and started to laugh wildly, Shin Yong finally spoke up..

“Don’t you think you’re putting way too much confidence in these people?”

“Huh?”

At those sudden words, the clan leader stopped laughing and looked at Shin Yong with a confused face. Jong Shin, on the other hand, sighed in relief.

’Ah, the lord is still calm and confident in this situation. Of course just this force wouldn’t be able to scare the lord.’

While Jong Shin thought like that, the ground started to rumble. Startled, the people in the hall thought at first it was a minor earthquake, but the ground rumbled more loudly as time went on and the sound of horse hoofs slowly became louder. Soon, the sounds were thunderous as numerous people on horseback surrounded the estate.

Jong Shin, startled, looked out the window and saw several soldiers who wore the special army armor provided to the soldiers of the Gray Shadow Sect and who carried spears. Surprised by their sudden appearance, he looked over to Shin Yong and spoke.

“My lord, when did you call the Speared Cavalry over? Wait a second, you were planning on destroying the merchant clan from the start?! Also, I thought just now you were confident because you could take them on yourself!”

Shin Yong turned around and looked at Jong Shin with a confused face while he replied.

“When did I say I was confident I could take them on? Sung Woo.”

“Yes, my lord!”

When Shin Yong shouted out loud, one of the horseman went forward. It was the leader of the Speared Cavalry and one of his closest aides, Sung Woo. While he was viciously smiling at the clan leader, Shin Yong gave a quick command.

“Destroy them.”

“I obey the lord’s command. Speared Cavalry division! Charge!”