I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 25

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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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Never mind joining the Murim League — Episode 25
In the starlit night, the Grand Patriarch of the Sacheon Dang Family, Dang Mo-jun, along with Sa U-rin, the Family Head Dang Mo-jun, the second son Dang I-su, the third son Dang I-ryeong, Jang Hye-in of the Suneung-hyeon branch, and the eleven Section Leaders gathered around a wine table arranged in the Family Head’s study.
And they all waited. For Dang Mo-jun—the Sovereign King—to speak.
“Everyone have a drink.”
The Sovereign King poured a fine but potent liquor into his mouth.
“Hmph. Bitter tonight, more than usual.”
Then he looked at Sa U-rin.
“What are you doing? Come on, drink up. All of you, drink.”
So they all drank in the moonlight, and from the Sovereign King’s lips flowed the tale of how his bond with Sa Cheol-gang, Sa U-rin’s father, had begun.
“The exact details escape me, but it was roughly thirty-five years ago.”
Thirty-five years prior, while the Sovereign King was traveling through Kangho, he became entranced with a woman and, without thinking, began following her—only to get swept up in a fight. But it was no ordinary brawl.
He had become entangled in a succession struggle within the Jang Clan, one of the Sapha’s seven great families.
The woman who had captivated the Sovereign King at first sight was Jang Ryeo, the second daughter of the Jang Clan. Of course, at the time, the Sovereign King knew nothing of this.
The second daughter of the Jang Clan was not widely known outside the family. She had almost no activities beyond the clan.
The Sovereign King was on the verge of losing his life in that struggle. Jang Ryeo, the second daughter of the Jang Clan, was in the same peril.
It was then that Sa Cheol-gang appeared and saved both their lives.
And so their bond began.
“He was strong—ten years younger than me, yet formidable.”
At that moment, everyone in the room grew curious. Dang Won-hu, the Family Head, asked the question on their minds.
“Father. Then, this Jang Ryeo you speak of, is she now…….”
“That’s right. The Witch of the Sapha—Jang Ryeo.”
Everyone’s jaws fell slack.
“Then that means……, Jang Ryeo also received a kindness from Sa Cheol-gang, this man’s father.”
“Well, you could say that. But you all know, don’t you—that woman Jang Ryeo is completely mad.”
That was true.
Why else would the epithet “Witch” have attached itself to her? Though, admittedly, the title “Witch” came partly because she was far too beautiful to be called merely mad.
And in the blade.
In love.
In her actions.
In her thoughts.
Once she fixated on something, she pursued it to the point of madness. And it wasn’t merely that she differed from others—she had stepped entirely outside the bounds of convention.
Not knowing any of this, she had fallen for him at first sight. And of course, being of the Sapha, nothing good could come of it.
“Without knowing it……, aye.”
The Sovereign King paused, his expression grave.
“U-rin.”
“Yes, Grand Patriarch.”
“No matter what debt you feel toward your father, you must never harbor any expectations of that mad woman.”
“I understand, and I shall take it to heart.”
It wasn’t in his nature anyway, and he had no desire to do so.
“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t say Jang Ryeo is mad because of her nature.”
Dang Won-hu asked.
“What do you mean, Father?”
“Jang Ryeo……, Cheol-gang loved her.”
“What……? Then surely……, she appeared before the Murim League…….”
“Yes. It was because of Cheol-gang.”
There was a truly famous and extraordinary tale about Jang Ryeo.
At the time, thanks to Sa Cheol-gang and the Sovereign King, Jang Ryeo emerged victorious from the succession struggle and became a subsidiary heir of the Jang Clan within the Sapha.
In such a position, Jang Ryeo suddenly appeared before the Murim League, calling out the name Sa Cheol-gang and causing an uproar.
Of course, there was no one within the Murim League who knew of Sa Cheol-gang’s existence, so they could not find him.
Naturally, those at the highest levels of the Murim League would have known, but they did not reveal a member of the secretive Cheoksal-mae.
Fortunately, no matter how mad Jang Ryeo might be, she had neither killed nor seriously wounded anyone during her time at the Murim League, so she was able to return safely to the Jang Clan.
And there was another truly astounding tale that had set the entire Righteous Faction, the Sapha, the Demonic Cult—indeed, all of Kangho—ablaze.
Was it twenty years ago?
“I believe it was around the time Cheol-gang lost his arm and left the League.”
“Ah, you speak of that incident.”
Jang Hye-in asked the Sovereign King with eyes wide in astonishment.
“……Was that truly what happened?”
She had thought it merely an exaggerated rumor. It made no sense. Even madness had limits—there were things that shouldn’t be done, even for the mad.
“Somehow, Cheol-gang learned that her arm was lost because of the Demonic Cult.”
And so she must have committed such mad acts in response.
The witch Jang Ryeo had gone alone to the gates of the Demonic Cult, screaming, “You bastard Heavenly Demon, I’ll cut off one of your arms someday!” She smashed through the main gate and destroyed the Asura statue erected there before departing.
So there was an absurd tale that she’d been pursued all the way to Sacheon Province by the entire Demonic Cult.
All because of Sa Cheol-gang.
“If Cheol-gang ever learned that this man had fathered U-rin through another woman…….”
Jang Ryeo would surely go mad.
And that wouldn’t be all.
She would move heaven and earth to erase Sa U-rin from existence.
“……This won’t do.”
“Indeed.”
The Sovereign’s story continued without pause.
After that incident, the Sovereign and Sa Cheol-gang had grown close. Given the Sovereign’s position at the time, he’d been able to discover Sa Cheol-gang’s existence—and to find him.
But then…….
“Cheol-gang disappeared suddenly. I didn’t learn of it until much later.”
That he had left the Murim League with one arm severed. That had been twenty years ago—when the witch learned of Sa Cheol-gang’s whereabouts.
“If only I’d learned of it a little sooner……. No, that wouldn’t have mattered. That man was stubborn and rigid; he wouldn’t have accepted my help anyway. Yes. Cheol-gang was that sort. U-rin, you must have suffered greatly.”
“That is not so.”
Far from it. If anything, Sa Cheol-gang had been lonelier still because of a son so taciturn and emotionally distant.
“But how did Cheol-gang come to turn his back on the world?”
“I was too young to know the full truth, but he drank far too much. I suspect drink was the cause.”
“Ah, yes.”
How much he must have suffered…….
Sorrow pooled in the Sovereign’s eyes. After a moment lost in that grief, he smiled again and spoke.
“U-rin, the martial art you have learned…….”
He paused mid-sentence and turned instead toward Jang Hye-in and the eleven disciples.
“From this point forward, you will listen to what I say, but you must not breathe a word of it anywhere. Do you understand?”
“……Yes, I understand.”
“If such a thing were to happen—if even one of you spoke—your imagination would fall short of what I would do. If anyone here lacks the resolve for that, you should leave now.”
‘……How am I supposed to listen when I’m this frightened……?’
And yet they wanted to hear it all the same.
As long as it didn’t leave these walls, what harm was there?
Besides.
Had they not been stunned speechless multiple times by what they’d heard in the training grounds and here in the study?
Moreover.
The youngest disciple had ceased to be the youngest and had somehow become their superior.
Had he not?
He had ties to the Sovereign himself, was said to be a benefactor of the Sacheon Dang Family, and was even connected to Jang Ryeo, the supreme leader of the Sapha sect.
True, they’d already found him intimidatingly strong for a junior member, but not to this degree—now he was someone they dared not approach carelessly.
Of course, one could view it positively: the Eleven Disciples had gained wings.
But those wings were so vast and heavy that they could barely stand upright, much less fly.
“Please, do not concern yourself. Speak freely.”
Difficult though it might be, I wish to see those wings unfold at last.
“If you insist.”
The Sovereign’s gaze returned to Sa U-rin.
“U-rin.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The martial art you have learned—it is Honwon-gong, is it not?”
It was half question, half certainty.
“……Yes. How did you know?”
“Ah, this is remarkable. To think a person could actually master such an art. How extraordinary.”
Sa U-rin’s chest clenched. The way it was phrased made it sound as though this were a martial art no mortal should ever learn.
“……What do you mean by that?”
“I taught Honwon-gong to your father. He was so curious about many martial arts that I mentioned it in passing, thinking little of it. Clearly, he took it with him when he left. According to what I’ve heard, that martial art has been in the Murim League’s archives for more than five hundred years.”
It was true.
In those days, numerous masters and scholars had actively researched how Honwon-gong could be mastered. Of course, it was unknown in Kangho, but among the upper echelons of the Murim League, it was a very famous work in their archives.
Ten years passed, then twenty, and Honwon-gong was deemed a martial art that no human could learn.
It was said that only celestial beings, if the heavens existed at all, could ever master such an art.
It was spoken of as a jest.
The premise was too absurd: how could one master a martial art while simultaneously sensing the breath of nature and transcending it?
In simple terms, the claim was that within a year of beginning to study it, one could execute techniques that only an Absolute Master could perform—and surely this was beyond all reason.
Theoretically it might have been possible, but in reality, it was utterly impossible.
And so Honwon-gong had been abandoned in a corner of the Murim League’s archive for hundreds of years.
By now, even the records of it had vanished.
“It seems Cheol-gang must have taken that Honwon-gong and destroyed the records along with it. That way, the future would be safer.”
That was the truth.
“……I see.”
It was then.
Crash!
Crash!
Suddenly, U-chan and Hyung-u among the eleven members flew backward.
It went beyond mere shock—it was incomprehensible.
‘……The youngest surpassed his superior…….’
‘……Not human…….’
‘……Did heaven itself birth this creature……?’
‘……Curse it…….’
‘Why did we get tangled up with such a monster……?’
……Indeed.
‘This is all……, because of the squad leader…….’
‘Yes, it’s all because of the squad leader!’
Jang Hye-in, unlike the others, wore not shock but a beaming smile.
‘Ah……, how unsettling…….’
U-chan and Hyung-u scrambled to their feet and bowed their heads.
“……We apologize.”
“……We were simply too startled…….”
Dang Won-hu, the head of the Sacheon Dang Family, chimed in as well.
“It’s understandable. Even I am this astonished. Father, does this mean this young man has truly mastered that Honwon-gong?”
“Would it not appear so?”
A martial art that mortals cannot master…….
Even Sa U-rin himself could only marvel. That he had mastered such a thing.
What confidence had his father possessed to teach him such a martial art?
Had he merely stumbled upon it by chance, having begun with a faint hope?
If Father were still alive, there would be so much he wished to ask. Or perhaps Sa U-rin had failed to heed his father’s words closely, letting much slip through his fingers.
He let in through one ear and out the other—ninety percent of it—so it would not be an exaggeration to say he had truly grasped nothing.
He knew that regretting now served no purpose, yet the weight of regret crashed down upon him nonetheless.
Dang Mo-jun continued, turning his gaze back to Sa U-rin.
“Therefore, U-rin, you must never reveal your martial arts so openly. Was that not plain today? Had you not been Cheol-gang’s son, you would have truly met your end by my hand. Remember this well.”
“……I understand.”
He felt anew how terrifying Kangho could be.
“And thinking on it, both your father and you have become benefactors to the Sacheon Dang Family. Ha, what strange fate this is. Did heaven, finding Cheol-gang alone insufficient, send you down as well to aid our family? Hehehehe. U-rin.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there anything you desire?”
Had he not already obtained what he truly wanted?
“There is nothing.”
“Ha. Like father, like son—Cheol-gang’s blood shows itself. But you need not inherit such things, boy. Do you truly desire nothing?”
“Yes, sir. I truly desire nothing.”
At Sa U-rin’s words, the squad members shifted in their seats.
‘Insane!’
‘That bastard really isn’t human.’
‘No mortal could say such a thing.’
‘But……, how can he want nothing?!’
‘At the very least, ask for some elixir or something!’
For the eleven squad members, Sa U-rin was utterly incomprehensible.
Perhaps…….
Because he had mastered a martial art that humans cannot master?
Or perhaps not.

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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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