35 A troubled day.
- Murim Alliance - Zen -
Entering the murim alliance building Zen took some time to rever in the details of the place, it was indeed beautiful but It can't compare to his [Jade Palace]. With spring on his steps, Zen went to the counter to talk with the receptionist.
"Hello. My name is Zen I am here on behalf of china [Jade Palace], My presence is expected."(Zen).
"Certainly sir. Just give me a minute and I will inform someone."(Secretary).
"It will certainly not be needed. I was already expecting mister Zen."(Alliance Chief).
"Hello Alliance chief, It's a pleasure to meet you."(Zen).
"The pleasure is all mine. After all, is not every day you talk with the successor of the White Tiger."(Alliance chief).
"You flatter me, I am but a student. I have a lot to learn."(Zen).
"And don't we all? Life is simply a never-ending flow of learning and adapting."(Alliance Chief).
"I humbly accept the Alliance Chief words."(Zen).
"Now, now. Better end with the formalities or we would be here all day, come with me, my office is a better place to talk."(Alliance Chief).
"Sure, lead the way."(Zen).
Both Zen and the chief slowly walked towards the office, on the way Zen kept looking around seemly admiring the visual of the place and finding some art pieces fascinating.
But the Alliance chief knew better, China sends their deterrent successor to see how the murim alliance is doing, like it or not his relentless persecution of the Goomoonryong would inevitably slip up to the outside world.
But in his advanced age, he is well versed in politics, spend too much time on something and you can get at least proficient in it. His brief tour of the alliance is also a message, on his way to the office Zen would be able to see and feel a bunch of fairly strong cultivators thus still boosting the image on the young man's mind. Zen barely arrived and the political game already started.
Reaching the office both zen and the chief took a seat. A secretary poured some tea to both of them and exited the room, the discussions started.
"So, I am here on behalf of the [Jade Palace] and my master to improve the international relationship with Korea, we spent too much time disliking each other and everyone thought it was time to change that."(Zen).
Bullshit, The chief alliance knows very well that the rift between Korea and China is something that will never be mended, it permeated and grew with each generation and it has been going for years. China basically just wants an excuse to invade Korea right now.
Zen could easily be that excuse, he is important enough that if he is targeted by the alliance china would immediately retaliate, while Zen is also smart enough to see and report what is happening here. A good plan that would yield results independent of the alliance's actions.
"Most certainly, we of the [Murim Alliance] would love to improve our international relations. Principally in one of the places that can be considered the birthplace of martial arts."(Alliance Chief)
Also bullshit, Chief knows very well that Ki is as old as the universe itself, so the most probable birthplace of any martial arts would be Africa, or some other random places close to there. And chief also wants this to en as fast as possible, the more other countries attention is drawn to Korea the worse it is for the alliance.
"Sure we can start by discussing an exchange program? Maybe your current successor with some of my junior brothers?"(Zen).
"An excellent idea. An exchange program is sure to better our understanding of our respective cultures."(Alliance Chief).
That is bad, for all chief know Goomoonryong don't have a student and there is no way he is teaching someone. Maybe the user of the [Crimson Flesh And Diamond Technique] could teach someone? no that won't do it, he is literally our secret weapon. And if other countries knew we have two [Origin techniques] they would mostly certain ally against us, WW2 was there to prove that accumulating techniques is a very and idea, why did you think Hitler's body was never found?
The guy was a megalomaniacal maniac that wanted to accumulate the max number of [Origin Techniques], He was a shitty bastard and almost got what he wanted, but most organizations of that time allied together and put an end to him, the normies only found the charred remains.
"Excellent. Can we discuss some more details about it?"(Zen).
"We can, but I am afraid the current successor is in closed-door seclusion for a year. So unfortunately the exchange would have to wait a little."(Alliance Chief).
"What a pity..."(Zen).
The closed-door training excuse is kinda suspicious, but it will t leas give more time for Chief to search and finally give an end to the Goomoonryong situation, one year isn't that far fetched time for a cultivator.
"But that doesn't mean that your stay here needs to be distasteful. We have some of the better hotels and restaurants in Korea at our back and call, so I can comfortably say you will be pretty satisfied with them."(Alliance Chief).
"Well, I guess it would be a good time to know more about Korea and give some feedback to my junior brothers."(Zen).
"I will make sure that you have some incredible things to tell them. But our talk didn't need to end here, there are many more things we can talk about. How is the situation on the [Jade Palace] for example? I heard some of the princes were fighting a lot."(Alliance chief).
Of course, not only Korea has internal problems, recently some of the princes of the palace started fighting between themselves. Thankfully for the Chinese their deterrent while also being part of the [Jade Palace] can't technically become a prince. The Chinese deterrent besides being under the [Jade Palace] is also somewhat of a separated faction the [Cardinal Temple], the temple is where the deterrent and its student's train. Rarely they were chosen for a mission like this one right here, either he made someone incredibly pissed or it was just a well-thought plan like I imagined.
"It was a simple misunderstanding followed by a disagreement. the princes are very passionate about their decisions after all, so it's not a surprise this happened. The [Jade Palace] stood strong, and will continue to do so for many future generations."(Zen).
"That I have no doubt."(Alliance Chief)
"I heard your successor participated in the Nine Dragons Martial arts tournament and won every dragon acquiring the title of Goomoonryong. Quite the prodigy him, if I am mistaken no one in history has ever acquired such a title, I would like to know and congratulate him. Do you know his location?"(Zen).
Chief had to exert all of his willpower to not destroy the room and kill the Chinese bastard right now, but years of experience dealing with silver tongue politicians gave him enough experience to deal with it. Calmly the chief replied.
"Unfortunately the Goomoonryong is unavailable at the moment. As is aid his student is in closed-door training, so how could his master abandon him right now?"(Alliance Chief).
"Ah I understand... sorry for my carelessness"(Zen).
"No problem. Even I slip sometimes..."(Alliance Chief).
For some reason or the other Zen knows about the Goomoonryong, which is not a good sign. It could mean there is a spy in their rankings and the chief doesn't tolerate spies. Maybe it would be prudent to call his reserve the [Crimson Flesh And Diamond Technique] user? It would be prudent to do it now principally since Zen has just arrived and is probably itching to find some juicy gossip, or simply hide him in a far away island? Cheif knows this is the precursor of a heavy headache.
