“Everyone, make way and bow your heads! The Eldest Young Master of the main family is passing through!”
The shout of a Wongak Pavilion maid, infused with inner energy, resounded widely.
“The Sword Houses Eldest Young Master…?”
At the mention of the Eldest Young Master’s procession, the Deputy Chief Nun of Emei Sect stepped forward.
As Sanggwan Nanhwa said, it was probably to directly meet the Eldest Young Master and arrange a conversation.
However, what greeted the Deputy Chief Nun wasn’t the Eldest Young Master.
“Step back!”
The heavy warning energy released by the special task force members shook the entire area.
Just the warning energy they released was enough to blow away the dust that had settled on the ground overnight like a wave.
“…Masters?!”The nuns of Emei Sect didn’t even have time to be shocked.
All the special task force members stationed at the main gate’s sentry post came out and practically pushed the members of Emei Sect to the side of the main gate in unison.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
“This old nun just wants to meet the Eldest Young Master…!”
No matter how much they protested, there was no response.
They just firmly raised their hands and blocked their way with a resolute attitude.
Unlike the Emei Sect nuns who were pushed back with a surprisingly coercive atmosphere, Daseollang, who had obediently stepped aside from the beginning, quietly straightened their posture.
The first to appear from the main gate of Wongak Pavilion was Hyang, the head of the maid group of Wongak Pavilion.
Instead of her usual maid uniform with a sword, she was in full armor over her maid uniform.
“Maid group, advance! Take defensive positions on the main road!”
As soon as her order was given, maids from the maid group began pouring out of the main gate in unison.
At first, the martial arts level of the maids seemed similar to or below that of Emei Sect’s warrior monks, and the Emei Sect nuns showed a subtle hint of disdain, but their expressions soon changed.
‘…There are many.’
The Deputy Chief Nun’s face twitched slightly.
The maid group, consisting of fifty warriors, had a strength comparable to a decent-sized Sword Troops of the Luoyang Sword House.
[Their level of armament is extremely high. Even the leather light armor they’re wearing isn’t ordinary.]
[The armament is burdensome for martial artists of that level to use.]
Ten Thousand Tempers, Ten Thousand Forgings.
The weapons workshop in the Luoyang Sword House that forges steel through a strict custom-made system only for elite warriors, Ten Thousand Tempers, Ten Thousand Forgings.
All the equipment worn by the entire maid group was from that Ten Thousand Tempers, Ten Thousand Forgings.
Basically, two swords each.
Depending on the number of people, daggers or flying knives were firmly fixed to leather belts, and there were a few who had bows on their backs and quivers on their waists.
Another notable detail was that everyone was wearing combat boots with spikes on the shin guards, and even leather helmets.
[They’re the Eldest Young Master’s maids…?]
No one responded to that sound transmission.
Because anyone could see that they were martial artists who had undergone advanced group combat training and would undoubtedly perform greatly if deployed to any front line right away.
Among the Nine Great Sects that have maintained their lineage until now, which sect could dare to employ such individuals as maids?
No.
Excluding the Imperial family, how many forces in the world could organize and operate such a maid group?
‘There’s no waste like this…’
The Deputy Chief Nun clicked her tongue inwardly.
Certainly, the individual level of Emei Sect’s warrior monks was higher, but what was the point of that in the face of this sight?
“Make way!”
However, the events that made the Emei Sect nuns look pitiful were only just beginning.
“Make way!”
Along with a shout infused with inner energy, what appeared along the main road cleared by the maid group was a group of mounted warriors.
They were warriors in much lighter attire than the armored cavalry led by Elder Yeom before.
However, their individual level of armament and realm could be called worlds apart.
What would it mean for these individuals to have nothing in common, not even their weapons or attire, except for the uniform innermost martial robes?
[It seems safe to say that each of them is equivalent to a first-generation disciple of our Emei Sect…]
A master who had clearly surpassed the bottleneck, evident from the faint energy flowing from his eyes, spoke to the head of the maid group.
“Reporting the arrival of ten guardian warriors under the command of the Guardian Captain as requested by Wongak Pavilion.”
“I am currently the head of the maid group of Wongak Pavilion in charge of controlling the area in front of the main gate. Please stand by as you are.”
“Hmm.”
The warriors dispatched from the Guardian Pavilion scattered in groups without any small talk and waited on their horses.
Contrary to their seemingly relaxed demeanor, they constantly monitored their surroundings while blocking key directions.
A few of them who were close by briefly examined the Emei Sect nuns, then turned their gazes away as if uninterested.
“…”
Although their inner thoughts were unknown, it seemed they had judged that the nuns posed no threat at all.
The Emei Sect nuns trembled with a sense of humiliation that rose for no reason.
And finally, what appeared were six pitch-black four-horse armored carriages and dozens of escort troops marching alongside them.
As soon as the armored carriages took their positions in front of the main road, the escort troops that arrived afterward replaced the maid group and blocked the gazes of the people who had gathered at some point.
[Deputy Chief Nun. Please take a look at those carriages.]
At that sound transmission, a gasp unconsciously escaped from the mouth of the Deputy Chief Nun who looked at the armored carriages.
The roofs of the carriages were designed to open upward, and in the center surrounded by armored steel plates, there were ballistas that could only be seen on fortress walls.
[…Could it be that the reason those carriages are black is because they’re made of solid black iron?]
Someone transmitted a message, but again, no one responded.
The Deputy Chief Nun looked somewhat dumbfounded.
Emei Sect was a sect that had achieved far greater success than any of the declining Nine Great Sects.
Their businesses, their profits, their influence—there was nothing they lacked in the land of Sichuan except for the Sichuan Dan family.
Nevertheless, behold the immense, unbridgeable gap.
Was there anyone here who didn’t know that the Luoyang Sword House was the greatest family in the world?
They were a force that couldn’t even be considered a single family, and they knew that very well too.
They also knew well that they couldn’t even be compared.
However, the difference between knowing and seeing directly was indeed stark.
Every time she directly confirmed these differences one by one, the Deputy Chief Nun could only feel a sense of distance.
[The preparation of carriages and horses means that the Sword Houses Eldest Young Master is heading somewhere, right…?]
At a nun’s sound transmission, the Deputy Chief Nun’s mind snapped to attention.
“Today is the day our lord, the Eldest Young Master, ends his seclusion and performs his first official schedule outside!”
Even if it wasn’t a shout infused with the inner energy of the head of the maid group, the morale and spirit of the maid group members were already soaring to the sky.
“Let no one in the maid group do anything that would tarnish the honor of our lord!”
“Loyalty!”
The shouts of the maid group members resounded with a force that seemed to scatter the morning mist.
And he appeared.
What revealed its majesty from the main gate were two ‘oxen’.
However, it seemed inappropriate to dismiss them as mere livestock.
Black and yellow oxen with shoulder heights surpassing adult males, their entire bodies covered in steel-like muscles.
Those two spirit beasts were pulling a steel carriage while snorting fiercely.
The carriage that the Grand Elder of the Luoyang Sword House had personally ordered to be made for his wife, who always visited dangerous places.
The armored fortress, also known as Yak Seonnyeo’s carriage, was revealing itself to the outside world for the first time in over a decade.
And on that armored fortress, a huge flag symbolizing the Luoyang Sword House and an equally splendid and massive flag of the Eldest Young Master were fluttering.
The steel wheels of the armored fortress, despite their low speed, completely passed through the main gate, sparking flames as if they would shatter the flagstones.
“Close the main gate of Wongak Pavilion!”
“Close it!”
At the order of the Eldest Young Master, the head of the maid group who had control shouted, and the special task force members locked the huge main gate of Wongak Pavilion.
From now on, only a very small number of pre-approved personnel could enter and exit Wongak Pavilion using the side gate.
At some point, no one from Emei Sect was speaking, and even sound transmissions had ceased.
The one who broke that silence was Sanggwan Nanhwa of Daseollang, who had been standing quietly beside them.
“Do you realize now?”
“…”
The Deputy Chief Nun looked at Sanggwan Nanhwa without a word.
“Now, at least in Luoyang, there’s no reason for us Daseollang and Emei Sect to engage in a battle of nerves.”
Sanggwan Nanhwa looked at the middle-aged nun, who was engulfed in a misconception, with eyes that seemed to pity her.
“Do you still think we can dare to ask the Eldest Young Master to meet Emei Sect?”
“…”
Despite the lack of a response, Sanggwan Nanhwa continued her words in a gentle tone.
“The letters from our parents or the justification for protecting students that you possess are of no use.”
The Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword House.
The Eldest Young Master, sitting in the steel carriage, his face not even visible.
But with just the name that carried the weight of a mountain, he was crushing the shoulders of the Emei Sect nuns.
“But don’t worry, we have no intention of doing anything rash either. We also cherish the lives of our families.”
“…”
If that was the only consolation, it might be a consolation.
Emei Sect had completely lost control over Daseollang, at least in Luoyang.
“…”
At that moment, the Deputy Chief Nun realized.
Why the Grand Preceptor, who was so proud and cursed the Luoyang Sword House more than anyone else,
was still going around borrowing the strength of others.
“…”
To the Deputy Chief Nun who had lost her words, Sanggwan Nanhwa slightly bowed her head and greeted her.
“Then.”
Daseollang boarded the four-horse carriage assigned to them, following Cheongsu who had been quietly waiting behind.
In the mind of the Deputy Chief Nun, who was blankly staring at their backs, the voice of the Grand Preceptor she had heard last night flashed by.
‘Remember. No matter what happens, you must stick close to those girls.’
The Grand Preceptor had ordered her to stick close to Daseollang no matter what.
‘The Grand Preceptor had predicted that I would be on the verge of losing heart in this situation…!’
Then, there must be a meaning beyond what she understood in the Grand Preceptor’s words to stick with Daseollang no matter what.
“Eldest Young Master!”
Everyone’s attention focused on the Deputy Chief Nun who had impulsively shouted.
Immediately, a rebuke flew from the head of the maid group.
“How dare you! A monk who doesn’t know her place calls out to the Eldest Young Master of the main family so casually?!”
The Deputy Chief Nun ignored the head of the maid group and shouted even louder.
“Please! Please allow us, Emei Sect, to assist in the Eldest Young Master’s business alongside Daseollang!”
She didn’t even know what she was shouting now.
It seemed unlikely that the Eldest Young Master would accept the merger upon hearing such words.
But nonetheless, she had an ominous conviction that if she didn’t say something right now, she would forever drift away from Daseollang.
“Eldest Young Master!”
At that moment, the window of the carriage opened, and the voice of the Head Maid came from outside.
“The Young Master has granted permission for the merger. Give those nuns a spot in the carriage.”
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