I was watching a guy laugh happily—despite having lost an internal energy battle, getting slapped in the face by me, and even shitting himself after drinking laxative wine—and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly irritated.

“Wipe that stupid grin off your face.”

The Left Guardian laughed as he answered,

“Your master praised you so much, I thought you were something special. Turns out you’re just a clueless country bumpkin. Got it. I’ll stop laughing.”

“Pants-pooper, sweet-talking women into bed isn’t some amazing skill. Anyone can do it. There’s no reason to be proud of how many you’ve bedded.”

The Left Guardian responded in a serious tone.

“Sure, anyone can do it—but you definitely can’t. I bet you’d slap a woman after just a few sentences. Probably scream at her, grab her hair, throw her aside, and tell her to get lost. Am I wrong?”

“……”

“I’m right, aren’t I? Hahahahaha!”

This lunatic even pounded the table while laughing. I let out a small laugh too. Thinking back, maybe I was like that in my past life.

No.

Actually, I can’t really remember. That’s who I am—a man whose past is a blur.

As I called the jomsoi over to settle the bill and stood up, the Left Guardian asked,

“Leaving already? Where to? Off to find true love? Where do you even look for something like that? Hey, forget it—just settle down in Baek Eung-ji. This place has more beauties than most, even compared to where those famous Nangong bastards hang out.”

The jomsoi, who’d been listening while ringing up the bill, cut in.

“I hope you do find true love, sir.”

The Left Guardian burst out laughing again.

“Pahahahahaha…”

I looked at him with a blank expression and said,

“If I run into something I need to ask your master about while training, I’ll stop by.”

The Left Guardian nodded.

“Don’t go showing off just because you won one internal battle. Train hard. Oh, if Master comes looking for you, where should I send him?”

“I’m at Black Cat Pavilion. Tell him to go there.”

“Wait—aren’t you the Haomun Lord?”

“I’ve been beating the shit out of all the Dark Path trash hanging around me—killing them, recruiting them, absorbing them. So yeah, I’m the Black Cat Pavilion Lord now.”

“Oh, really?”

He seemed like he had more to say, but I had no business left with him, so I headed out. From behind me, the Left Guardian called out a farewell.

“Go on, bumpkin. Go find your true love and come back.”

I nodded.

The lonely, solitary road of a man.

A life that a lecher like him could never understand.

Suddenly, the women of my past life crossed my mind—Middle Plains’ greatest beauty, the most beautiful woman of the Orthodox Faction, the so-called top beauties of every region. Female masters more known for their looks than their skills.

It meant nothing.

It just crossed my mind.

Now that I think about it, I verbally abused or scolded at least half of them.

But it’s fine.

This time, I didn’t scold anyone.

Not yet, anyway.

My steps felt a little lighter.

On the way back, I deliberately chose mountain paths, hilly roads, secluded trails—places where bandits usually popped up. I walked along without my guard up, but not a single bandit appeared.

‘No luck today.’

Even though I was returning from Baek Eung-ji, still young, and dressed in full white like a scholar—no one showed up.

I arrived at Black Cat Pavilion without incident.

***

Nothing happened at Black Cat Pavilion either.

I had wiped out all nearby Dark Path factions, so peaceful days followed. Luckily, the internal atmosphere was stable—So Gunpyeong was holding things down well, and Cha Seong-tae was training like a madman, so the mood wasn’t bad.

I usually meditated beneath the plum tree.

If I wanted to use Thunder Sword Style or Plum Blossom Sword Style, I had to accumulate more internal power. Sure, I could force it right now if I wanted, but in real combat, you need reserves for it to mean anything.

On top of that, Hyeon-cheol—whom I sent to Dragon Head Forge—hadn’t returned with the finished sword yet.

So I trained while waiting for my sword.

And while training, I watched the plum blossoms fall.

The one who broke this monotonous routine was a visitor I’d expected to show up sooner or later.

Byeok, the General Overseer, reported.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Pavilion Lord, there’s a man who introduced himself as the Namyeonghui’s leader. He’s currently waiting in the outer courtyard. He came alone, but brought quite a few subordinates.”

I opened my eyes and replied,

“Bring him to the main hall.”

He came earlier than I expected.

It probably wasn’t because there was already a clash with the assassination group Ilwido River Crossing. Most likely, someone threatened to hire them soon, and he came to consult with me about it.

Of course, Nam Garak—leader of the Namyeonghui—would never know who actually hired Ilwido River Crossing. He only figured it out the moment he died.

Which means that if Nam Garak came to talk now, the issue at hand likely involved the person who would hire Ilwido River Crossing.

Was it the Sword-Breaking Society? Or Nam Cheon-yeong?

I took my seat in the main hall first, and soon Nam Garak entered alone, guided by Byeok.

How did I speak to this bastard last time?

I couldn’t remember, but Nam Garak opened first.

“Lord Zaha, I’m here.”

“You came?”

Unless someone was of Sword Demon level, I didn’t bother using honorifics. Nam Garak shared his impression of the place as he passed through the courtyard.

“Your men seem to be training hard.”

“They’re weaklings. If they want to survive, they have to.”

Seeing that Nam Garak looked calm, I asked,

“Something going on nearby?”

“I only got word recently, but apparently Nam Cheon-yeong and the Sword-Breaking Society clashed pretty hard a little while ago. They already shared overlapping territory, so it wasn’t exactly surprising.”

“And?”

“This time, the casualties were significant. It started with thirty or forty people fighting in Ok-yang, but as reinforcements came in, it escalated. Both Nam Cheon-yeong and the Sword-Breaking Society Leader showed up, and it turned into an all-out brawl.”

“Who won?”

“Both sides took heavy losses—it was a war of attrition. If one leader had died, people could say who won, but that didn’t happen. And since the fight broke out in neutral territory, they both withdrew.”

What happened next was pretty obvious.

“They say Nam Cheon-yeong went berserk. He reached out to every nearby Dark Path faction—even ones not under his influence—telling them to join Nam Cheon-yeong immediately. And if they refused, he threatened to wipe them out once the war with the Sword-Breaking Society was over.”

Nam Garak pointed at himself with a finger.

“He contacted me too.”

I nodded once.

“I see.”

Nam Garak continued.

“But then a day later, the Sword-Breaking Society reached out too. Said almost the same thing. Basically, every nearby faction like mine is being forced to pick a side.”

“What’s your decision, Nam Leader?”

“Of course I plan to refuse both.”

Leaning my chin on one hand, I asked Nam Garak,

“I don’t know the deeper ins and outs of Nam Cheon-yeong or the Sword-Breaking Society. I only created Haomun to try and protect the lives of those doing the work. I get that both are Dark Path groups. But between the two, surely you know which one’s worse?”

Nam Garak explained.

“The Sword-Breaking Society grew by forcibly absorbing merchant guilds. They’re rich. And merchant guilds are notorious for being ruthless—so most had no choice but to join.”

“What kind of tactics did the Sword-Breaking Society use?”

“For example, say a certain good sells for two silver in a region. They’d send in a merchant group and crash the price to one silver, destabilize the market, and then negotiate with the other side. They rake in tons of money this way. If money doesn’t work, they send fighters. If that fails, they hire assassins. That’s their pattern.”

Hearing Nam Garak say that, I figured the one behind Ilwido River Crossing was most likely the Sword-Breaking Society.

“What about Nam Cheon-yeong?”

"Nam Cheon-ryeon is, quite literally, the Dark Path. Every black faction in the Namcheon region was forcefully merged under Nam Cheon-ryeon’s Lord, Sa Do-haeng. He charged in alone in his late teens and formed Nam Cheon-ryeon himself. He’s the most well-known man in Namcheon and completely immune to the mountains of money the Sword-Breaking Society throws around."

“Just from the sound of it, Nam Cheon-ryeon seems like the better option.”

Nam Garak answered like the situation was complicated.

“That may be true, but Sa Do-haeng is the king of Namcheon. If you introduced yourself as the Lord of Haomun, he’d probably tell you to get on your knees first. That’s why I never intended to submit to either faction.”

I crossed my arms and replied.

“Where I stand, I’m the king. And there can’t be two kings.”

“Hah. So you’re not much different from Sa Do-haeng.”

Before anything was decided, the main hall doors opened and So Gunpyeong reported in.

“Pavilion Lord, someone from the Sword-Breaking Society is here.”

“The Sword-Breaking Society?”

Come to think of it, I’m also the Lord of the Black Cat Pavilion now. Still, I found it amusing they’d extend their reach all the way here. It seemed they were desperate to go all in against Nam Cheon-ryeon. The Sword-Breaking Society had so much money that I figured they were gathering forces like hiring assassins.

I watched Nam Garak’s expression, then answered So Gunpyeong.

“Let them in.”

Nam Garak scoffed.

“They actually came all the way here? Ridiculous.”

I suddenly thought of the Left Guardian and muttered,

“I’ve been in a bad mood lately, and they just had to come now.”

The main hall doors slammed open, and some envoy-looking bastard from the Sword-Breaking Society walked in and stared at me and Nam Garak.

“Who’s the Lord of Black Cat Pavilion?”

The man, looking to be in his mid-twenties, asked while walking in and plopped himself across from Nam Garak.

I looked at him and replied,

“That’s me.”

The young man nodded and gestured at Nam Garak with his chin.

“Have your subordinate leave the room.”

I looked at Nam Garak, then responded to the Sword-Breaking Society envoy.

“He’s not a subordinate. Get to the point.”

“Is that so? Then allow me to introduce myself. I am from the Sword-Breaking Soc—”

“Hey.”

“…….”

I called to him and continued.

“I don’t care who you are. Just state your business.”

The envoy from the Sword-Breaking Society twisted his finger through his hair and glared at me.

“Lord of Black Cat Pavilion, you’re quite arrogant. I represent the Sword-Breaking Society.”

“Oh? My mistake.”

I grinned and looked over at Nam Garak, who also chuckled. The envoy, face stiff, finally got to the point.

“Three standard silver per Black Cat Pavilion warrior, per day. If the Lord joins personally, it’s ten gold coins per day. Even without doing anything, we’ll settle the pay from the day you join. And if the Great Rakshasa joins, we’ll pay fifty gold coins per day. Once everyone’s gathered, we plan to wipe Nam Cheon-ryeon out in one stroke. Refuse, and instead of money, you’ll have to endure the wrath of the Sword-Breaking Society’s Lord. So what’ll it be?”

Nam Garak burst out laughing and turned to me.

“They told me they’d pay five silver per warrior for my group. Looks like my guys are still worth more than yours, huh?”

I laughed too.

“Wow, getting treated like trash now. How embarrassing. Guess it makes sense if they don’t know the Great Rakshasa is already dead.”

The envoy frowned and replied with a sour expression.

“Ah, so you're a leader of another dark faction? These aren't my personal opinions—I’m just relaying the message to various dark factions as instructed. And… the Great Rakshasa is dead?”

Ignoring the envoy, Nam Garak turned to me and asked,

“What do you plan to do?”

“What do you think, Nam Leader?”

Nam Garak gave his honest opinion.

“To be blunt, I just wish the Sword-Breaking Society Leader and Nam Cheon-ryeon’s Leader would meet and settle this one-on-one. I don’t get why they’re so obsessed with getting their subordinates killed. I don’t get why they have to drag the surrounding factions into this mess either. Honestly, they’re both idiots. I don’t plan to follow either of them.”

I nodded.

“Fair enough. Makes sense. That’s how a man should think.”

The envoy stood up from his seat.

“That your final answer? Very well. We’ll see each other again once this is all over.”

I shouted.

“So Pavilion Lord!”

The main hall doors flew open, and So Gunpyeong responded.

“Yes, sir?”

As So Gunpyeong stepped in to block the doorway, the envoy stopped walking.

I gestured at the envoy with my chin.

“That’s the Sword-Breaking Society’s messenger we’ll be fighting soon. Have him face off in the inner courtyard. Gather the men and let them watch. I want to gauge the skill of a low-tier Sword-Breaking Society dog.”

The envoy glared at me.

“Are you insane?”

Ignoring him, I spoke to Nam Garak.

“Have your men come in too, Nam Leader. Let’s see what Namyeonghui’s got. I don’t like Nam Cheon-ryeon, and I don’t like the Sword-Breaking Society either. Might as well size up the enemy before we start fighting.”

Nam Garak grinned and replied,

“Sure. Let’s do it.”

I stood from my seat and said,

“Get ready for a spar, arrogant errand boy.”

As I exited the main hall, I slapped the envoy across the face just as he ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) opened his mouth like he was about to speak. Whap! With a loud smack, he tumbled to the floor. I looked down at him as he clutched his cheek.

“Can’t hear me? Get up. I’ve been in a foul mood lately, and now some no-name errand boy from the outer provinces dares test my patience?”

The envoy got up, looking pissed, and couldn’t help but let his pride flare again.

“Can you handle the consequences?”

I wasn’t the type to kill a messenger—but I could hit one. I slapped him again, harder. The envoy rolled on the ground several times.

“Get ready for the match, envoy. Unless you want to die just from getting slapped.”

Then I left the main hall with Nam Garak at my side.