Chapter 29: Jaseung, Accepts the Deal

The woman Lee Jaseung had pointed out was none other than the Head of the Golden Ants herself. This was the first time her identity as a woman had been revealed to the outside world.

“I want to know. How did you know my identity?”

She asked politely, and Lee Jaseung answered.

“The way the other three courtesans treated you was overly cautious. They couldn’t even meet your eyes properly.”

Lee Jaseung had encountered countless types of people on his path to becoming the Leader of the Black Way Alliance. He was especially well aware of how those wary of power tended to behave.

“Also, the scent from your body was different. Unlike theirs, it was very luxurious.”

The woman nodded. She hadn’t expected anyone to notice such a detail.

“But isn’t it possible for a courtesan to use an unusually expensive fragrance?”

“Your ring.”

The woman’s eyes widened in realization when he pointed it out. Her expression was filled with shock.

“You know this?”

“Just wearing the ring slowly restores your Qi.”

As Lee Jaseung said, it was an artifact called the Merit Jade Ring.

‘There’s someone who recognizes this?’

The woman responded firmly with a look of doubt.

“That much isn’t enough. Perhaps a courtesan might’ve received the ring from a lovesick nobleman. There’s no rule that says that courtesans can’t wear such treasures.”

“Indeed.”

“Then how?”

“Because you also made a critical mistake.”

Her gaze seemed very serious.

Recognizing the Merit Jade Ring was impressive already, but distinguishing her fragrance was even more surprising. The three courtesans that came in the room with her all had different scents.

On top of that, the smell of food only made it more difficult for one to distinguish her scent from others. It was a crazy sense of smell and observation.

“What mistake?”

“Did you forget? You sent a voice transmission to that old man. There’s no way an ordinary courtesan can do that.”

The woman was shocked.

There were levels to transmitting sound through Qi. Most people had to move their lips slightly, which was enough for careful observers to catch them.

But this woman had mastered the art of voice transmission, so she was able to do it without moving her lips at all.

Yet Lee Jaseung noticed this as well.

She was far more skilled than he expected. He noticed that the air around was different.

Perhaps it would’ve been different if it was in an open space, but inside a small room, it was easy for Lee Jaseung to detect her voice transmission no matter how skilled she was at it.

Lee Jaseung stared at her and spoke.

“You knew who I was from the beginning. That’s why you disguised yourself as a courtesan and came here to see what kind of person I am.”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

A cold smile started to curl on Lee Jaseung’s face when the woman played dumb.

“Then I’ll make it clear for you.”

Lee Jaseung stood up from his seat, radiating kill intent.

The old man quickly stepped in between to protect her. At the same time, the door burst open and martial artists started to pour in. Like Lee Jaseung said earlier, there were exactly eighteen people.

One supreme master and seventeen Peak Realm martial artists. The pressure they emitted was unbelievable. The old man in front of the woman was also a supreme master as well.

Despite this, Lee Jaseung was calm.

“So this is your answer?”

His tone was soft, but his gaze was ice cold. She knew that this was his final warning.

Right as Lee Jaseung reached for his dagger, the woman shouted.

“Wait. Everyone, leave now.”

At her command, the martial artists silently withdrew. Their obedience showed they would risk their lives for her without hesitation.

The woman stood and deeply bowed on the spot.

“I am Nam Seohyang, Head of the Golden Ants. I greet the Lord of the Black Way Alliance.”

As expected, she knew Lee Jaseung’s true identity.

The old man behind her bowed, following her.

“I am Dae Nobaek of the Golden Ants.”

Lee Jaseung’s gaze gleamed coldly as he looked down at Nam Seohyang. The fact that the Head of the powerful organization that spread its roots to all of Central Plains to kneel so easily, meant that she was no ordinary woman.

“Do you know why I came here?”

Nam Seohyang remained silent. She was struggling with how honest she should be.

She knew. Depending on how she answers, it would change the course of their fate.

Lifting her head, she looked up at Lee Jaseung. Their gazes met in between the empty space between them.

Nam Seohyang had observed Lee Jaseung for a long time. She watched the young man who aimed to unify the Black Way. At first, she thought he would die after stirring up the Black Way a few times.

But she was wrong.

Lee Jaseung continued to advance. It sometimes left her in awe, or it made her afraid at times.

Because of that, she believed that she knew Lee Jaseung better than anyone.

But Lee Jaseung was different from the cold, ruthless man described in reports. She had expected him to be far more tyrannical so steeped in dark Qi that it would be hard to even breathe in his presence.

However, the man in front of her seemed much softer than she expected. This was the person in the reports that made her shake in fear?

It was hard to believe, and only made it more terrifying.

She realized now that she was standing at the edge between life and death.

He was the Lord of the Unorthodox Faction. Countless had died by his hand. If she tried anything foolish, she’d die without a trace.

Lee Jaseung gave her plenty of time to think. Now was the time to wait, not push her.

At last, a flicker of resolve passed through her eyes.

“I have a guess as to why you came.”

“Speak.”

“It’s about the Northern Sky Clan, right?”

Dan Woobin’s expression stiffened immediately after hearing her.

The fact that she knew of their involvement with the Northern Sky Clan didn’t just mean their activities had been exposed. It meant their entire plan might have been leaked.

Nam Seohyang turned to Dan Woobin and spoke.

“Don’t worry. We couldn’t plant a spy in the Three-Eyed Pavilion. No matter how hard we tried, it wasn’t possible.”

Dan Woobin asked coldly.

“Then how did you know?”

She calmly replied.

“We’ve long observed the Lord’s movement, so we know a great deal. We even know that the Lord entered the tournament under the name Seop Mu-pyeong.”

A cold silence settled over the room.

But she instead seemed calmer than before.

“We also know that you’re planning something bigger, my Lord.”

She continued with dangerous words.

“And to that, I’ve come to a conclusion.”

Nam Seohyang paused for a moment. What she would say next was crucial for both her and the Golden Ants.

“When you achieve that dream, we’ll be the first you eliminate.”

Lee Jaseung showed no change in expression. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

But Dan Woobin was shocked. She was right. Lee Jaseung wouldn’t target them first, but Dan Woobin himself would make the suggestion.

Even after unifying the world, many would resist. Organizations like the Golden Ants would become their eyes and ears. After all, they would do anything for money.

“I know I may have dug my own grave with what I just said…”

Dan Woobin cut her off and spoke.

“But you’ve also revealed your capabilities.”

His gaze was colder than ever.

“You’ve probably tried to find a way to kill our Lord. But no matter how much you studied, you couldn’t find an answer.”

Nam Seohyang’s pupils shook for an instant. He was right.

Dan Woobin turned to Lee Jaseung and continued.

“I give you my advice as a strategist. You should eliminate them all.”

As soon as she heard his words, Nam Seohyang cried out. It was a plea with her life at stake.

“I wish to make a deal with the Black Way Alliance.”

Lee Jaseung’s hand froze above his dagger, but a cold smile curled on his lips.

“A deal?”

She remained composed.

“Yes, a deal.”

Lee Jaseung gazed at her for a moment. His hand let go of the Asura soon after.

“Clear the room.”

He said this whenever he wanted to have a one on one conversation with someone. Lee Jaseung nodded, gazing at the three men.

His order couldn’t be disobeyed, and they had to leave for now. The details of the deal would be revealed later.

Mujin spoke with a smile.

“We’ll be having a drink in the next room. Those poor girls must’ve been very scared because of our Lord.”

The three men and the old man left the room.

With only the two of them left alone, Nam Seohyang let out a sigh.

“May I have a drink?”

Lee Jaseung nodded.

She stood up from her seat and emptied the cup of liquor quickly.

“I have three pieces of information. First, Gwak Pil isn’t the one planted by Yang Sebang. It’s this person.”

She wrote a name on the table with her hand.

Lee Jaseung noted the name down in his mind.

It was an unexpected name.

Gwak Pil was only a bait for Baek Seolyoung to bite into. It was just as Dan Woobin predicted. He had read the situation perfectly.

“Second, I have a way for you to make a great fortune.”

“How much?”

“It depends on your will. It could be a hundred silver coins, or millions.”

“That’s a wide range.”

“Because it requires gambling.”

“Gamble?”

“Yes. Secret gambling dens have opened, and they are betting on the outcome of this tournament. Even now, the wagers are still pouring in.”

“I’m aware.”

Such gambling always followed tournaments. There were bets on winners of each round, or the grand victor.

It was likely that even underlings of the Black Way Alliance operated such dens.

“But the one I’m talking about is a high-stakes den. A minimum bet would be a thousand silver coins.

It was a fortune beyond what most would ever see.

“Who’s behind it?”

Nam Seohyang answered with a question.

“Do you know why Hae Cheon-in was so against his son joining the tournament?”

Her question was the answer.

“So it’s the Righteous Chivalrous Sword Clan.”

“Correct.”

One of the three great clans of the Orthodox Faction, Hae Ryang’s clan had opened the den.

“All the wealthy people of the Orthodox Faction have joined. Bets from tens of thousands to millions of silver coins.”

Since the Righteous Chivalrous Sword clan guaranteed the bets, the sakes must have skyrocketed. At the very least, no one had to worry about getting cheated out of their money.

Their commission alone would be hundreds of thousands of silver coins.

“Until now, those were just warm-up bets. The real gamble is on guessing the winner. The amount of money at stake is truly unimaginable.”

She took a piece of paper out and handed it to Lee Jaseung.

“This is the location and the code to enter. They were only given to trusted people by the Righteous Chivalrous Sword Clan. We managed to steal one of them.”

Lee Jaseung was able to guess why they used a code. It was essentially an access pass.

They couldn’t openly operate gambling dens as they were the Orthodox Faction, so they only shared the location and code with trusted individuals to hold these events.

In other words, proxies could be sent on behalf of others.

After all, who would want rumors spreading about how much they won?

Everyone would send proxies, so no one would know who won or lost how much.

That’s why the code was a key factor allowing bets of enormous sums.

Of course, there was the risk of the code leaking out. Though the Righteous Chivalrous Sword Clan likely believed that they could handle that.

In any case, these two pieces of information alone were huge.

Nam Seohyang spoke carefully.

“The third piece of information concerns the Limitless Iron Chest.”

Lee Jaseung was shocked on the inside after hearing that name. He instinctively knew that the metal box he had obtained that day was this one exactly.

So Limitless was its name.

“It is said to contain the greatest martial art in the world. I will tell you its whereabouts.”

“Where is it?”

“The Lord of the Northern Sky Clan has it.”

It was as Lee Jaseung expected. The chest she mentioned was indeed the one he opened.

“Tell me more about the chest.”

“I don’t know the details either. I don’t know who made it or what martial art it contains, but I do know where it originally comes from.”

“Where?”

“Hainan Island.”

Hainan Island is located to the south of the Central Plains. It was quite far from here.

Knowing the name, Limitless Iron Chest and its origin was truly valuable and significant information.

With this, Nam Seohyang had laid out all three of her cards to Lee Jaseung.

She tried to act composed, but she was trembling slightly. There was still the possibility of Lee Jaseung killing her after taking the information.

Fortunately, her gamble paid off. Lee Jaseung highly regarded her choice to risk everything.

Yes, this is how one should negotiate a deal.

Had she hesitated, calculated back and forth, or tried to gain more advantage by probing, he might have eliminated her. After all, she knew too much.

But with such guts like hers, he was willing to make a deal.

At last, the words Nam Seohyang had been desperately waiting for came from Lee Jaseung’s mouth.

“What’s your demand?”

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