Bloodline is Everything - Chapter 160

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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【Bloodline is a Thug Chapter 160】

160. The Past (2)

Damn old fool.
Kwon Han-ul cursed inwardly. To him, Kwon Seon-woo spoke.
“What’s wrong? You look uncertain. I’m not asking you to lay a hand on my body. All you need to do is endure. Can’t you even manage that?”
Kwon Seon-woo added as if it were inevitable.
“I won’t use mana or skills. I’ll even limit my physical abilities. I’ll match your level exactly.”
The moment he heard those words, Kwon Han-ul’s eyebrows twitched.
“In exchange, you’re free to use all your abilities. Don’t hold back your strength. You can even destroy this ship. Are you satisfied with these conditions?”
Before the words even finished, Kwon Han-ul’s momentum crashed down like a storm.
“Getting irritable because I’m going easy on you? I’ve never seen such an arrogant brat.”
But contrary to his words, the corners of Kwon Seon-woo’s mouth lifted.
“Yes, this is how Heukcheon should be.”
“I won’t be responsible if you get hurt.”
“Come at me, you little punk.”
Kwon Seon-woo flicked his hand. Kwon Han-ul kicked off the ground without hesitation.

* * *

The world Kwon Han-ul perceived was fundamentally different from that of ordinary men.
The bloodlines he possessed each granted him distinct abilities.
The Asura Bloodline bestowed martial talent.
The Genius Bloodline expanded cognitive capacity.
The Black Dragon Bloodline granted him the instincts of a dragon.
And through the convergence of these three abilities, Kwon Han-ul had become capable of reading his opponent’s movements with an accuracy bordering on precognition.
Kwon Seon-woo had declared he would forgo magic and skills entirely, matching Kwon Han-ul’s physical capabilities exactly.
In other words, Kwon Seon-woo intended to face Kwon Han-ul through pure technique alone.
There was no way Kwon Han-ul could lose under such conditions.
“Don’t get angry after taking a hit.”
“You talk too much.”
Kwon Han-ul immediately lunged at Kwon Seon-woo, throwing a punch at his face without hesitation.
It was a sudden attack, but Kwon Seon-woo deflected the fist with the back of his hand just as quickly. Yet that was precisely what Kwon Han-ul had anticipated.
The moment their fists and hand collided, Kwon Seon-woo’s vision was momentarily obscured. Seizing that opening, Kwon Han-ul drove his heel toward the abdomen.
But just before contact, Kwon Seon-woo’s palm descended. The heel was redirected downward instead—the very hand that had blocked Kwon Han-ul’s initial punch simply swept downward in a continuous motion.
“Is that all you have?”
“Hardly.”
Kwon Han-ul pushed off the ground, raising his leg high.
With the resolve to shatter the defense, he drove his heel downward. In that instant, Kwon Seon-woo’s palm wrapped around the heel.
The heel slipped away, glancing off and embedding itself into the ground beside Kwon Seon-woo.
Kwon Han-ul stared at his heel stuck in the earth, his expression one of shock.
“Pathetic.”
Kwon Han-ul gritted his teeth and unleashed a barrage of rapid strikes at Kwon Seon-woo.
Yet Kwon Seon-woo parried every single attack with just one hand.
‘This madman.’
Kwon Han-ul could only gasp in astonishment. He was being completely overwhelmed in close combat—the proof being that both his hands couldn’t match one of Kwon Seon-woo’s.
“What’s wrong?”
Kwon Seon-woo spoke. Though considerable time had passed since the battle began, he remained in the exact same position, his stance unchanged.
“Are you already exhausted?”
Meanwhile, Kwon Han-ul was breathing heavily, having unleashed a relentless torrent of attacks until moments ago.
“…How did you block everything?”
Kwon Han-ul possessed multiple bloodlines. Thanks to them, he had acquired a reading ability that bordered on future prediction.
Yet none of those abilities were effective against Kwon Seon-woo now.
“You ask a simple question.”
Kwon Seon-woo answered his inquiry with complete indifference.
“Your skill simply falls short of mine.”
Kwon Han-ul let out a hollow laugh.
It was absurd. Yet on the other hand, it made perfect sense.
Kwon Seon-woo was regarded as the strongest in East Asia, and perhaps even the strongest in the world.
Was it not natural that such a gap would exist when facing such a being?
“If you’re frustrated, why not use magic and skills?”
“I don’t like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it wounds my pride.”
At this honest confession, Kwon Seon-woo burst into hearty laughter.
“Quite the confidence. But that means you’ll fall to me in an instant, won’t it?”
“Even if you are the Chairman, that would be difficult….”
That was when it happened.
Kwon Seon-woo pushed off the ground. He closed the distance in a single breath and drove his elbow into Kwon Han-ul’s solar plexus.
It was an unexpected attack. Caught off guard, Kwon Han-ul had no time to prepare a defense.
The elbow struck Kwon Han-ul’s solar plexus with tremendous force. The impact sent his body sliding backward. It was a perfectly executed blow.
“Hmm.”
Yet Kwon Seon-woo’s expression was far from satisfied. The sensation felt wrong.
Sure enough, Kwon Han-ul quickly got back on his feet.
“Heh.”
Kwon Seon-woo spoke as if bewildered.
“I thought that blow would finish it… I didn’t expect you to launch yourself away.”
Kwon Han-ul hadn’t tried to withstand Kwon Seon-woo’s attack. He’d instinctively sensed it was impossible.
So he’d thrown his body backward instead, dispersing the impact as much as possible.
“Once.”
Kwon Han-ul spoke while rubbing his solar plexus.
“I’ve endured once.”
So speak about my father.
Kwon Seon-woo accepted the demand.
“Have you ever heard of the method for selecting the patriarch of Heukcheon?”
Kwon Han-ul shook his head. It was information he’d never encountered before.
“To become the patriarch of Heukcheon, one must prove their qualifications. Whether direct bloodline or collateral matters not. Anyone could become patriarch if they simply proved themselves worthy.”
This was because the Kwon Family possessed the Black Dragon Bloodline.
The pure bloodline manifests regardless of whether one is direct or collateral. Therefore, there was no need to insist on direct lineage.
“Even if all direct descendants fail to prove their qualifications, the current patriarch must not intervene. One cannot grant the position to someone without merit.”
The strong take everything.
It was an ideology that no member of the Heukcheon Bloodline was ignorant of. And the direct descendants were no exception to this rule.
“Do you know the best method for proving one’s qualifications? It is through competition.”
It wasn’t unfamiliar. It was no different from the proof of worth that Kwon Seon-woo had spoken of ad nauseam.
“The direct descendants of Heukcheon must compete from the moment of birth. They must prove they are the most superior among their siblings. Even considering the collateral branches, they must demonstrate they are the most exceptional.”
Then.
Saying so, Kwon Seon-woo looked at Kwon Han-ul.
“What do you think happens to direct descendants who fall behind in the competition?”
“Do they die?”
“Direct descendants who fall behind in the competition lose their lives.”
It was a chilling statement.
In other words, it meant that bloodline members would slaughter each other, and whoever survived would be made the family head.
“I myself rose to the position of family head through such competition. My father had quite the fondness for women. That’s why I had to fight against dozens of siblings.”
“Did you also fight against Grandfather Kwon Myung-woo?”
“Myung-woo submitted to me from the very beginning. He volunteered to be my subordinate, saying he would dedicate his life to placing me as family head.”
It was a hard story to believe.
That someone as proud as Kwon Myung-woo would have submitted to Kwon Seon-woo from the start.
“But my other siblings were different. They didn’t want to miss their chance to become family head. So Myung-woo and I had to kill our siblings with our own hands.”
Of the siblings who numbered in the dozens, only two remained now.
I could roughly imagine how much blood had stained Kwon Seon-woo’s hands.
“And so I became family head. And like my father before me, I reached a time when I had to consider a successor.”
Kwon Seon-woo’s gaze turned toward the distant sky.
“My father… of course, he had serious womanizing tendencies, but he tried to perfect the next family head of Heukcheon by pitting as many children as possible against each other. But my thinking was different.”
Kwon Seon-woo believed that he didn’t need so many children to obtain a perfected successor.
“I had only three children. Kwon Hyuk, Kwon Cheon, and Kwon Mi. Since I obtained Kwon Mi late, I had to wait to confirm her qualifications as a successor. But your uncles were not like that.”
Kwon Hyuk, already grown.
Kwon Cheon, younger than him but still an adult.
Kwon Seon-woo wanted to test the qualifications of these two children.
“Kwon Hyuk was successful. He met my expectations perfectly. But your father, Kwon Cheon, was not.”
Kwon Cheon’s talent was extraordinary. Especially remarkable even among the purebloods.
But Kwon Cheon had a fatal flaw.
“His temperament was too weak. He had no ambition for the position of family head. He would be satisfied if he could merely assist his older brother.”
“Like Grandfather and Uncle, you mean?”
“No, no.”
Kwon Seon-woo immediately denied it.
“Myung-woo had ambition. He realized early on that he could not become family head because I existed, and he suggested we reach the top through a different method. That’s why he came under me.”
But Kwon Cheon was different. He had no ambition, nothing at all.
“Your father simply had no interest. That’s the only reason he supported his brother.”
Anger filled Kwon Seon-woo’s voice.
“No ambition to be family head? A man born into Heukcheon speaks such nonsense?”
From Kwon Seon-woo’s perspective, this was utterly unforgivable.
“Fine. If you don’t want to be family head, then don’t be. But you should at least serve as fertilizer for the soil.”
Kwon Han-ul’s face hardened at the word “fertilizer.”
“I dragged your father out by force. At minimum, to serve as a tool to stimulate Kwon Hyuk. But your father couldn’t even complete that role.”
“So.”
Kwon Han-ul opened his mouth. His throat was parched in a way that even surprised him.
“You… ordered my father’s execution?”
“Yes.”
Kwon Seon-woo spoke without hesitation.
“I couldn’t carry out the execution because your father fled.”

* * *

A long silence fell between us.
Kwon Han-ul and I stood facing each other, our gazes locked in an unspoken confrontation.
“The story is finished.”
I spread both arms wide.
“So what will you do? Will you take your revenge for your father right here, right now?”
Because I had suppressed all my magical power, I was utterly defenseless in this moment.
Kwon Han-ul could have easily taken my life if he so chose.
“No.”
Yet Kwon Han-ul lowered his fist.
“Do you take me for a fool? If I harm you here, what would happen? The entire Heukcheon Group would become my enemy.”
The outcome was already predetermined. How could I make any real choice?
“What if I transferred the position of family head to you right here?”
It was then that I added this.
“Then you could kill me without making the Heukcheon Group your enemy. So what will you do?”
I posed the question once more.
“Will you kill me and take your revenge for your father?”
Kwon Han-ul studied my face carefully, suspicious that this entire exchange might be some test of his character.
But the moment he saw the darkness that had settled into my eyes, he abandoned that suspicion.
I wasn’t testing him. I was asking out of genuine curiosity.
“I won’t.”
And so Kwon Han-ul spoke with sincerity.
“Do you truly mean that?”
“Yes, I mean it sincerely.”
Kwon Han-ul scratched his head as he spoke.
“To be honest, I don’t feel much of anything.”
A father whose face I never saw in life. I’ve never felt even a shred of affection for him. How could I possibly harbor thoughts of revenge?
“I can’t bear the burden of danger for a father I don’t even remember.”
Kwon Han-ul spoke without much thought.
“…Words carry weight.”
It was then that I opened my mouth.
“The words you speak may become daggers that turn back upon you.”
I turned away, heading toward the cabin as I added:
“So always be careful with your words.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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