I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 27

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

Obtaining the martial prowess of Gwan Hui 027
Gwan Family Estate (2)
“These bastards…… Why the hell haven’t they reported back!”
Jo Gwi, an elder of the Heuk Yeom Bang, paced anxiously in front of the entrance to the Underground Martial Arena.
The assassins he’d dispatched the night before still hadn’t sent word.
“Damn it…… I deliberately sent more than enough men. How is there not a single response!”
Originally he’d planned to send five or six, but to be safe, he’d sent more than half his available force.
More than enough strength to not only deal with that cursed wielder of the Bun Gol Chak Gwon, but to exterminate his entire paltry clan.
Yet not one of them had shown his face.
In fact, they hadn’t even sent a proper report.
These worthless dogs should have at least sent word when the job was done, but instead they’d vanished as if they’d all died somewhere.
“There’s no way they all got killed.”
That didn’t make sense.
He’d sent twenty-three men for a nighttime ambush.
It was overkill for crushing a mere family with a Second-class Warrior as its patriarch—there was no way they could all have failed.
“Where the hell are they……!”
That was when Jo Gwi’s temper flared.
Tap.
Someone discreetly placed a small slip of paper into his hand and vanished.
“……?”
As a First-class Master, Jo Gwi had sharp eyes and tried to catch a glimpse of the young man’s face, but he’d already slipped into the crowd.
‘Hao Mun?’
This method of delivering messages was typical of the Hao Mun organization, so Jo Gwi opened the slip without suspicion.
—We have exterminated the family. However, we were unable to kill the target.
“These fucking morons……!”
Jo Gwi’s face twisted into a grotesque mask of fury.
But when he read what was written below, his expression softened somewhat.
—However, we succeeded in inflicting severe wounds upon him. We ourselves sustained grave injuries and are currently recovering. We will return by tomorrow noon.
“Tsk.”
Jo Gwi frowned after reading the rest of the message.
That a mere Second-class Warrior serving as patriarch could wound them so badly that they needed recovery time—it was pathetic.
“Useless bastards.”
They were utterly worthless.
“Tsk. Still, they completed the mission well enough. I’ll let it slide this time.”
Jo Gwi’s expression brightened, the deep furrows in his brow easing.
He’d spotted the limping figure of Gwan Hui, wielder of the Bun Gol Chak Gwon, approaching from a distance.
“Heh heh. All his limbs are crippled, it seems.”
The man was barely putting weight on one leg, using his Yan Wol Blade like a walking stick, tapping it against the ground.
His opposite arm was hidden inside his sleeve, and the awkward way it moved with each step suggested the bones were broken or dislocated.
“At this rate, he’s as good as dead.”
He might not be dead yet, but at this state, he’d certainly die today in the Underground Martial Arena.
No matter how skilled the man was, how could he possibly fight as a cripple?
“Heh heh. How did you get so badly wounded? Did you perhaps tumble down the stairs all night? Or was it a rather strenuous evening?”
Jo Gwi approached Gwan Hui with a friendly smile on his face.
‘This bastard ordered it.’
The moment Gwan Hui saw the rat-like smile spreading across the man’s face, eyes narrowing with malicious intent, he knew for certain who was behind last night’s attack.
‘Is the An Mun Jang Family backing him?’
The greasy face of that man Jang Ryuu flashed through his mind.
‘They actually dared target the Gwan Family.’
A surge of killing intent coiled within his chest.
If they’d only targeted him alone, he wouldn’t have raged like this.
But they’d gone after his entire family.
They’d actually tried to murder the members of the Gwan Family.
Crack.
His uncontrollable fury clenched his jaw so hard he thought it might break.
Images of his father and grandfather, cut down so pointlessly, flashed through his mind.
How many times had he sworn never to endure such a tragedy again?
‘Control yourself for now.’
Everything in him screamed to tear this man apart immediately, but now was the time to restrain himself.
Now he had to play the injured man and go along with the act.
‘I’ll just have to play along.’
Gwan Hui arranged his face into an affable smile, ready to respond to Jo Gwi’s words.
But then.
“Wipe that rat-faced expression off. It’s making me sick.”
‘Ha. My night vision isn’t quite what it should be—a small accident occurred.’
His true thoughts and his prepared words had switched places by mistake.
It was a habitual affliction cropping up again.
“…….”
Jo Gwi’s expression turned icy.
Wasn’t there a saying that you don’t even spit in the face of someone smiling at you?
But this bastard didn’t just spit—he hocked a loogie and gouged at your eyes.
What madman would speak so brazenly to someone he’d only just met?!
“I apologize. Your face is… familiar, so I spoke without thinking.”
Jo Gwi forced down the rage boiling inside him and smiled back, composing himself.
The man would be dead soon anyway.
There was no point escalating things here.
‘We’ll see about this.’
For just a moment, Jo Gwi’s eyes grew sharp as a blade as he fixed Gwan Hui with a killing stare, then he stepped back and led him down to the Underground Martial Arena.
“Get out of my sight. I’ll walk on my own.”
Having already stumbled, Gwan Hui simply pressed forward with stubborn honesty.
The plan had shifted slightly, but his chest felt far lighter.
‘Actually, this is better.’
Gwan Hui was satisfied.

* * *
“Will he show up today? The one who racked up five consecutive wins yesterday with Bun Gol Chak Gwon?”
“Yeah. Damn it. His strength will still be fresh—if we jump in now, we might die.”
“The ninth match is best. When his stamina’s worn down enough.”
“No, the seventh is fine. The Heuk Yeom Bang thugs will definitely send a strong one to stop him.”
Those who’d arrived early at the Underground Martial Arena threw out their opinions freely.
The overwhelming force Gwan Hui had displayed the night before had cast a heavy pall over the crowd.
From the perspective of Baek Do fighters aiming for the championship purse, the arrival of a powerful newcomer was never welcome.
And yet.
Thud—
The moment Gwan Hui stepped onto the dueling platform, everyone’s eyes shifted.
Light kindled in eyes that had been dull, and lips that had hung slack began to salivate.
To a man, they sensed victory the instant they glimpsed the considerable injuries covering Gwan Hui.
‘That’s manageable, isn’t it?’
‘What? The cripple can’t even use his arms and legs?’
‘This is just handing us a free victory.’
‘Those Heuk Yeom Bang bastards made their move again, didn’t they? Well, that’s good luck for me.’
With hungry, drooling eyes, they all stared at Gwan Hui when—
“Krahaha. A cripple actually dares to climb up here? Gutsy fool!”
Ak Hu Seong, the Blood Claw, strode onto the dueling platform.
With a long, nail-shaped blade weapon stretched thin between his hands, Ak Hu Seong possessed a distinctive appearance: flared nostrils and short, unkempt hair.
“So one leg and one arm are useless, is that it? And still you crawl into the Underground Martial Arena like this…….”
Ak Hu Seong curled his lips in a sneer, his smile thin and cold as blood.
“You’re positively begging to die. Let Ak Hu Seong oblige you.”
“…….”
Instead of answering, Gwan Hui studied the black Wind Robe his opponent wore.
On the chest of the cheap silk black robe, the characters “Heuk Yeom” were embroidered in white thread.
This pig-nosed warrior was also from the Heuk Yeom Bang—the same organization that had raided the Gwan Family residence last night.
‘Good that I brought the Yan Wol Blade.’
Gwan Hui hadn’t brought the Yan Wol Blade merely as a walking stick or to keep up appearances of being wounded.
‘I’ll kill every last one of them.’
Before, he’d entered the duels with the spirit of a contest.
Now, that had changed entirely.
From this day forward, every duel would be a duel to death.
That’s why he’d brought the Yan Wol Blade—because these Heuk Yeom Bang dogs had dared assault the Gwan Family manor, threatening the patriarch and the household.
Gwan Hui would see their crime answered with immediate execution.
“Kekekek. Come now, let’s begin, boy. My Blood Claw is thirsty for more. Hurry and—”
Slice!—
A silver flash traced a single stroke through the darkness of the Underground Martial Arena below.
A cut, perfectly controlled and pristine.
The line, closer to a masterwork painted by a brush than any martial technique, drew itself precisely across Ak Hu Seong’s neck.
“…….”
Thump—
Ak Hu Seong didn’t even have time to scream. His head and body separated cleanly, falling to the ground.
Whoosh!—
Blood sprayed like a fountain from the body that still stood upright on two legs, not yet accepting its own death.
“H-huh!”
“I-impossible……!”
“What……! Such overwhelming——!”
The martial artists watching the duel from the upper floor gasped in shock, their faces draining of all color.
Not because of the brutality of cutting a body in two with a single stroke.
It was because no one in that place had actually seen Gwan Hui’s technique.
A speed that transcended human vision.
The strike Gwan Hui had just unleashed with the Yan Wol Blade was nothing short of a flash of lightning.
Like those among the arrogant Baek Do who had mastered Sang Seung’s Martial Learning and earned the title of master.
“…….”
Gwan Hui did not revel in victory or savor revenge—only gazed down at them all with vacant eyes.
His stare was like that of an absolute master seated upon the throne of martial arts, looking down upon all existence.
“Who’s the next insect?”
“…….”
Those who met his gaze felt their hearts freeze. They hastily looked away.
Click—
And Jo Gwi, the elder of Heuk Yeom Bang who watched it all, twisted his face into a mask of malice.
‘The bastard…… he was faking injury the whole time.’
Jo Gwi cursed his subordinates for failing to see through the deception.
He never imagined that the letter sent by Hao Mun just moments before was itself Gwan Hui’s stratagem.
“Summon him.”
“Who…… do you mean, Elder?”
“The king of the Underground Martial Arena. Bring me Mak Goong!”

* * *
Slice!—
Another Heuk Yeom Bang disciple fell as a cold corpse to the ground.
This one, too, hadn’t even managed to swing his blade once before his body was severed in half alongside it, and he died.
Three Heuk Yeom Bang disciples had fallen dead.
Besides Ak Hu Seong, who had grown arrogant thinking him wounded, even the two exceptional disciples Gap Chul and Eul Myeong had become lifeless bodies.
“Waaaaah!”
“Gwan Hui! Gwan Hui!”
“Incredible! Bun Gol Chak Gwon!”
With Gwan Hui’s overwhelming display of martial prowess, the Underground Martial Arena now burned with fervent heat.
Though he was born of Baek Do, his crushing superiority—felling all opponents in a single stroke—set the crowd ablaze with enthusiasm.
Moreover, the arrival of such an overpowering master meant it became far easier to make money through gambling.
For those outside Heuk Yeom Bang, there was every reason to celebrate.
Place a bet on Gwan Hui and you were guaranteed to profit—unless you were a fool, the money would come.
“Damn it…… lost again!”
Of course, as always, not everyone profited.
Ju Ho, an skilled pickpocket, was once again losing all his stolen money at the gambling tables.
“Ugh…… I know in my head I should bet on him, but——!”
He had never imagined Gwan Hui would lose.
Honestly, given the overwhelming martial might Gwan Hui had displayed last night, no one in the Underground Martial Arena could match him—except perhaps Mak Goong, the king they called by the title of the Blade of the Waning Moon.
But knowing this, some instinct still drove him.
The moment he saw the monstrous odds stacked against Gwan Hui’s opponent, his eyes were seduced and his hands moved to place a bet without thought.
“Hell! This time, absolutely! I’m betting on him!”
He had already lost six silver taels in total.
Considering an ordinary family spent one silver tael per month on food, he had essentially squandered half a year’s provisions.
Though of course, it wasn’t his money.
“Hear me! I’m putting three silver pieces on Gwan Hui…….”
Just as Ju Ho, deliberately squeezing his eyes shut to resist the lure of the payout odds, was about to place his bet.
Thud-thud-
Someone descended slowly toward the martial duel platform, each footfall heavy as a bear’s tread.
“……!”
At that weighty sound, Ju Ho’s eyes snapped open involuntarily, wide as saucers.
A frame like Mount Tai itself, muscles rippling across his massive form.
And strapped to his back was a Tae Blade so enormous it rivaled the height of a full-grown man.
“No—Mak Goong!”
Ju Ho’s jaw went slack the instant he recognized him.
Mak Goong, the king of the Underground Martial Arena and one of the three supreme masters of Heuk Yeom Bang.
The moment the elder had summoned him, he stepped into view in the arena.

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