The Faltang Amulet of Restoration

Roh Ki sat silently, reading the book in his hands as he supervised over his students' studies. For the first time, Yong Kyubok sat up front with the rest of his core disciples, as they copied scriptures on the scrolls Roh Ki made them memorize.

He was in a good mood, with the jade pendant hung around his neck and tucked behind his clothes, so he allowed them to self-study as he quietly watched them.

Breaking the silence that filled the room, a disciple from Manrai mountain peak entered urgently. "Peak leader Roh Ki, Sect Leader Heo Kwan-Ah has requested your presence immediately. The elders from Raishu mountain cultivation sect have come again."

Raishu mountain cultivation sect was the sect that was currently threatening a war between them as they insisted on greedily claiming more rewards from the raid on the demonic cultivation sect five months ago.

Roh Ki exhaled as his eyebrows furrowed into a frown, before he stood up and arranged his clothes. "Continue your work. When you finish, continue with your sword training. I'll be back."

His eyes unintentionally met with Yong Kyubok's before he left the room. A sigh passed his lips as he followed the disciple to the grand hall, where the rest of the peak leaders and Heo Kwan-Ah stood, discussing with a group of people with the Raishu sect uniform.

"Like we've said before, we won't leave this place without the Amulet of Restoration," One of the elders said, stroking his long beard.

Elder Bu Jee, one of the great elders of the sect retorted. "That is absurd. Without a valid reason why you insist on having it, how can you think we can just give it to you like that?!"

"How can you...!"

"Greetings elder Gah Joon. It has been a long time. Sect leader. What seems to be the matter?" Roh Ki interrupted, bowing to the elders of Raishu and the peak leaders of Tian-Zhi Ai, feigning ignorance to quell the situation.

Elder Gah Joon cleared his throat before responding. "Ah, Peak leader Roh Ki. Indeed it has been a long time. I heard you were bedridden the last time I visited. It is good to see that you are in good health now."

Roh Ki forced a smile as he replied. "Thank you for your concern. Your visits, is there something you need?"

Peak leader Ryu Man-Dang folded his arms as he remarked. "They keep insisting that they deserve to keep one of the high grade items that were brought back from the raid on the demonic cultivation sects we eliminated."

"I see," Roh Ki said, turning to the elders of Raishu sect. "And what item is it that they are requesting for?"

Roh Ki already knew they were aiming for the Faltang Amulet of restoration. An object heavily drenched in negative energy that allowed the wearer to use and unimaginable amount of qi. The amulet had the ability to circulate and store qi from the surroundings, but because it was a demonic item, it attracted evil and demonic creatures to it if it wasn't sealed properly.

The sect held three demonic items like this. The Faltang Amulet, the snow fan, and the sky breaking sword, Taehan. Among all these items, Roh Ki wasn't sure why the Raishu mountain sect was so fixated on obtaining the Faltang amulet. He knew they would go to any lengths to get it, but couldn't quite remember why they wanted it so badly. But he knew they couldn't be allowed to have it.

Elder Beom Hajoon let out a small sigh as he answered, "They have requested for the Faltang Amulet."

Roh Ki took a minute, before he responded, "I'm sorry, but if it is the Faltang amulet, I will have to agree with elder Bu Jee. Without a good reason, it will be hard to just give it to you."

A frown formed on elder Gah Joon's face as he replied. "Yes. I understand your concern, however, Raishu mountain sect participated in the raid as well, and played an important roll. I think we at least deserve this much compensation. As it is now, your sect is merely greedily hogging all the high grade items."

'Tsk! Even if we gave you the Amulet, you would only get it stolen from you later on.' Roh Ki thought to himself.

"Don't be ridiculous! We shared the loot we obtained from the raid equally. Didn't Raishu mountain sect receive six hundred binding nets as compensation? Why are you turning back to spout nonsense now?" Another elder sneered.

"That's enough." Sect leader Heo Kwan-Ah exclaimed, stopping any argument from rising.

Roh Ki sighed then forced another smile before stating, "If you would like more compensation, I'm sure we can arrange something, but to give you high grade demonic items is out of the question. As you know, it was decided that our Tian-Zhi Ai sect would keep the three demonic high grade items because we have a safe place to store it. We have kept them sealed in the Ashar Vault were they can't be used to cause any harm. If we give them to your sect, there is a high possibility a curse will spread. To avoid that, they have been kept in the vault. If it is your concern that they will not be safe, then it should bring you comfort to know they are under my protection and strict observation. Only I have access to them, so there is no need to worry. I will not let even one leave the vault."

The Ashar vault was a secret space inside a cave in Salanghe-ai mountain peak. He maintained it with his qi and strong talismans, so it was powerful enough to be used to seal high grade demonic items. As such, only Roh Ki was able to enter the vault.

In the novel, their sect had given in and released the Faltang Amulet to Raishu mountain sect after a long argument, but later on in the story, the amulet was stolen from them, leading to a disastrous incident. Roh Ki was mostly trying to prevent this incident from happening.

Sect leader Heo Kwan-Ah allowed a small smile to spread on his lips as he exhaled out a bit of air. "Peak leader Roh Ki is right. I can assure you no one else can access the vault but him. If you insist on having the amulet given to your sect, you will have to discuss it with the other sects involved since it was a joint agreement that we would safe keep them."

"Ugh!" Elder Gah Joon flinched, not having any words to retort with. "W-We understand. It's not like we're that desperate for it. We will accept another form of compensation and entrust the rest with you then."

"Yes, thank you for your understanding."

"I didn't think they would accept so easily," Peak leader Pyeong Dayoon said, as they watched elder Beom Hajoon escort the members of Raishu mountain sect off.

Sect leader Heo Kwan-Ah let out a sigh as he agreed. "Me neither. It is probably because peak leader Roh Ki raised a solid argument. It is suspicious how they are desperate to obtain the amulet. I hope it ends with this."

Peak leader Ryu Man-Dang squeezed his brows as he asked, "Should we investigate into the matter?"

Heo Kwan-Ah rubbed his chin for a moment in thought before answering. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. It may be something dangerous."

Peak leader Ryu Man-Dang nodded his head slightly, before bowing then excusing himself.

"I should be going as well." Roh Ki said, joining his hands together to bow before leaving.

"Mn." Sect leader Heo Kwan-Ah hummed with a slight wave.

Roh Ki was still suspicious. He greatly distrusted the members of the Raishu sect, and didn't believe that they would just give up on the Faltang Amulet so easily after threatening to start a war just to obtain it, but he wasn't sure what they would plan to do. The path had strayed a bit from the novel, so he didn't know what to expect, but he knew it wouldn't be anything good.