The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 57

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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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Chapter 57
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The Hidden Blade that had been spinning around Yun Han embedded itself in the ground, signaling the end of the match.
Dang Shan, at the far end of the arena, was grinning with unbridled delight.
“Dang Shan of the Sichuan Dang Family emerges victorious!”
“Uwaaaaaa!”
Roars and applause thundered through the crowd.
“It seems the Dang Clan continues to excel beyond the preliminary rounds.”
“Wasn’t Hae Mu-young someone we expected to see in the semi-finals? Showing restraint and revealing one’s true strength at the right moment—that’s a skill in itself.”
Seo Mun-hyun spoke softly.
Yet anyone could tell he was grinding his teeth beneath that composure.
“Our youth is certainly talented, but the martial prowess of the Blue Sword School boy is formidable as well. His progress never ceases to astound me.”
“Ha ha ha. Zhongnan seems blessed with such talent. I confess I’m envious.”
“The sword forms he displayed today were unlike anything I’ve seen before. For one so young, his stance was remarkably solid.”
“Truly, it’s an outstanding achievement.”
Everyone contributed their measured praise in the name of harmony, yet none disputed that this match had become a model for all to witness.
Though the principals themselves would hardly appreciate such binary judgments.
Yun Han picked up the Hidden Blade that had embedded itself nearby and handed it to Dang Shan.
“Ah, I’m going to catch hell from the sect leader later.”
“I’m sorry. But this time I had to win.”
“For your brother?”
Dang Shan answered with a nod.
At that, Yun Han let out a stifled laugh.
“You’re utterly hopeless when it comes to that boy.”
“I hear that often.”
“You never back down with anyone else.”
“Only with you.”
Yun Han tapped Dang Shan’s shoulder with his fist.
“Do well in the matches ahead. Since your precious brother is here, you might as well aim for the championship. If you beat me only to lose next time, I won’t forgive you.”
“You focus on your own matches. If you’re injured, I’ll send medicine—just make sure you send word.”
“Understood.”
They stepped back and bowed respectfully to each other.
“I learned much from you.”
“I learned much from you.”
* * *
Dang Shan returned to his seat with a faint smile.
It was a smile much like any other, yet Dang Youxuan caught the subtle excitement beneath it.
‘Meeting an old friend, perhaps. Still a child at heart, after all.’
Dang Shan noticed the gaze and tilted his head.
“Something on your mind?”
“……No, sir.”
Dang Youxuan shook his head.
Even if he were curious about what had been said on the platform, it served him better to pretend he hadn’t heard.
‘How could I know if he’s the type to slip poison or plant a blade in one’s back?’
When doubt existed, retreat was the wiser course.
“I was merely concerned for your next match.”
“Hmm?”
“Perhaps I misheard.”
‘Such charming descendants.’
While Dang Shan’s expression flickered with skepticism but remained silent, Dang Eun-ho and Dang Young reacted at once.
‘Father. Have we truly failed so badly in raising our children?’
Dang Youxuan let out a soft laugh.
But that was all.
The concern had been a lie, after all.
“Not enjoying yourself?”
Dang Shan inclined his head.
His gaze settled on a familiar face across the way.
‘Ah. That Jeom Chang fellow.’
It was Wei Zhijing.
“An obvious opponent. There’s no pleasure in that.”
“It seems the other side has different thoughts?”
Wei Zhijing snorted, glaring at Dang Youxuan before the Martial Competition had even begun.
“Wasting strength on pointless things.”
“Everyone that age does the same.”
“I see.”
Dang Youxuan nodded calmly.
Then he spotted a monk walking in from the distance and rose from his seat.
“Well. I’ll make it quick.”
“Go on, then.”
“You don’t need to watch—just end it swiftly.”
“Don’t spare anyone who distorts history! They need to taste the Dang Clan’s poison!”
Dang Youxuan chuckled softly and headed toward the arena.
“The tenth Martial Competition: Young Master Dang Youxuan of the Sichuan Dang Family versus Young Master Wei Zhijing of Jeom Chang!”
Whenever a match began, the crowd erupted with excited cheers.
But this time was different.
“Jeom Chang? Ah. That Jeom Chang?”
“They passed the preliminaries, but Jeom Chang isn’t what it used to be. How far will they really go?”
“Still, I heard they’ve been visiting Sichuan frequently of late. Seems like they’re in contact with the Dang Clan, but to meet like this is unfortunate.”
“You haven’t heard yet? It’s not contact—they’re going to pay reparations! If they were on good terms, would they be bringing stacks of gold and jewels every time they visited?”
There are no eternal secrets in this world.
Jeom Chang could hide its mistakes, but not its movements.
The distant, cool relationship between the Dang Clan and Jeom Chang suddenly filled with frequent visits?
Carrying vast treasures at that?
There was more than enough reason to suspect something lay between them.
And if one let rumors slip through intermediaries, a most delicious tale would form.
This was the result.
Jeom Chang in decline, the Dang Clan on the rise.
The common folk could feel that contrast keenly.
‘That’s why the cheers are sparse.’
In any case, it was none of his concern.
‘Though it certainly concerns him.’
Unaccustomed to hostility or contempt directed at himself, Wei Zhijing’s face flushed as if he might weep.
“Last time I won easily, but this time will be different.”
“Anyone can talk.”
“Still so arrogant! This time I’ll flatten that nose of yours!”
At Dang Youxuan’s provocation, Wei Zhijing clenched his fists tightly.
Dang Youxuan stared at him, then clasped his fists in salute before Won So even gave the signal.
“I think it’s best we exchange courtesies first. I look forward to learning from you.”
“…I look forward to learning from you.”
Surprised by the unexpected gesture, Wei Zhijing returned the salute with lingering suspicion.
‘What’s his intention?’
But before the match, doubt dissolved quickly.
‘No—actually, moving first means I have the advantage. No loss there.’
Jeom Chang was a school that pursued the subtlety of swiftness.
If one seized the high ground in speed first, Jeom Chang held the advantage.
‘That judgment will cost you.’
Wei Zhijing stepped back from center, settling into his stance with practiced ease.
Meanwhile, Dang Youxuan strolled forward casually, hands at his sides.
“Begin the Martial Competition!”
Snap!
At Won So’s signal, Wei Zhijing planted his feet firmly with a True Strike.
“Haaah!”
Bunlight Thirty-Six Sword, Ilguang Slash!
Sword Energy sliced through the air like a shaft of light.
Dang Youxuan hadn’t even drawn the Hidden Blade.
This was the perfect moment to employ a sword technique that granted no opening for defense.
“Is it only the sword that pursues swiftness?”
Dang Youxuan flicked his wrist lightly.
Silver flashed from within his sleeve, then drew a line through the air.
Clang! Ring-ring!
Two Hidden Blades alone weren’t enough to stop the assault—it crumbled.
“Tch! I knew it wouldn’t be simple!”
Wei Zhijing stomped his foot and lunged forward again.
Bunlight Thirty-Six Sword—Samseo Light!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
The blade energy split into three strands, burrowing toward his True Strike.
Dang Youxuan studied the traces with an unmoved gaze, then sent his Hidden Blades flying.
Five Hidden Blades launched at different velocities—the Five Thunder Chain Link.
The Hidden Blades, wrapped in Internal Energy, flicked the sword energy away effortlessly.
Screech-screech-screech-screech!
Immediately followed by the Spirit-Severing Seven Stars.
Just as Wei Zhijing had thrown everything into a decisive blow, so too did Dang Youxuan press in from all sides, intent on finishing it.
“You haven’t changed a bit. Was the beating I gave you last time not enough?”
“Not enough? If you stand in my way, I’ll break through!”
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!
Wei Zhijing angled his sword to match the rotating trajectory of the Hidden Blades, deflecting the assault.
“What swordwork is that?”
“Ah! It’s the White Gold Sword…!”
“What? The White Gold Sword is a basic technique, isn’t it? You’re telling me such a refined sword art is the White Gold Sword?”
“Wei Zhijing of Jeom Chang. He’s not someone to take lightly.”
Fluid exchanges between offense and defense.
That was the hallmark of the White Gold Sword.
Moreover, the way he was gradually closing distance while parrying the Hidden Blades spoke of far more than a few practice sessions.
‘He’s definitely grown since last time.’
But he was still a level below.
‘Time to end this.’
Dang Youxuan channeled Internal Energy into his Hidden Blade and drove it through an opening.
“Huph!”
Wei Zhijing twisted his body to evade, then swept across horizontally.
‘No matter how skilled you are, close quarters favor me!’
Whoooosh!
Bang!
The impact of something colliding sent up a cloud of dust.
‘He used wind to block my blade—of course this is the result.’
Though visibility was gone, Wei Zhijing was certain of his victory.
He couldn’t sense Dang Youxuan’s movements.
Then his own strike, aimed at the vital point, must have struck true.
Wei Zhijing waited for his vision to clear, a confident smile on his face.
But then.
“What—!”
As the dust settled, an unexpected result awaited him.
The blade had definitely stopped in front of Dang Youxuan’s throat.
No—it had been stopped.
Not by wind.
Dang Youxuan had caught the blade between two fingers.
“Did you already forget what I taught you then?”
……
And with his other hand, he aimed at Wei Zhijing’s throat.
A dark green aura shimmered at his fingertips, wreathed in Internal Energy.
“When did you master the Finger Technique…!”
“Shall I give you another friendly remedial lesson?”
He shuddered.
The old nightmare resurfaced, and Wei Zhijing trembled.
“That’s enough. I concede.”
“Good attitude.”
Wei Zhijing sheathed his sword first, and Dang Youxuan withdrew his fingers.
“Young Master Dang Youxuan of the Sichuan Dang Family is victorious!”
“Woooahhh! The emergence of a sleeping dragon!”
“Such Martial Prowess at that age! The Finger Technique—I never expected it!”
“But wait—even in the Main Round, he didn’t use poison? I thought the Dang Clan was all about poison, but it seems that’s not the case?”
“Quite right.”
Words have power—as one voice spoke, others nodded in agreement, and the sentiment took root naturally among them all.
The Dang Clan was far more than poison.
The image of the Dang Clan that had flooded their minds—that of poison-sowers—dissolved, replaced now by the sight of warriors unleashing their true power.
No one welcomed this shift less than Beopgye.
“Hmm…….”
Though his face remained composed, the emergence of this unforeseen variable gnawed at him relentlessly.
Through the several Martial Competitions that followed Dang Youxuan’s bout, he found himself utterly unable to focus.
‘I never imagined the Dang Clan could be so formidable.’
He had been aware that the rumors surrounding Dang Youxuan of late were extraordinary.
Yet such talk was common enough among promising younger generation martial artists.
Nothing that demanded his particular attention.
But the moment he witnessed Dang Youxuan’s Martial Prowess with his own eyes, certainty crystallized within him.
‘That boy cannot be left as he is.’
Dang Youxuan would inevitably grow into a threat against Shaolin itself.
‘The order of the martial world will crumble.’
Beopgye’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The object of that cold regard, Dang Youxuan, was meanwhile applauding inwardly as he watched his brothers’ bouts unfold.
“Haaaah!”
“Haaaaaih!”
‘My boys are doing brilliantly!’
Dang Eun-ho and Dang Young swept through their matches without difficulty.
Though their techniques still bore rough edges, in Dang Youxuan’s eyes those imperfections only endeared them further—his descendants, carrying his blood.
“The next Martial Competition is between Young Master Jeong Yeon of Kunlun and Young Master Hae Mu-young of the Blue Sword School!”
A man with his face veiled by a wide-brimmed hat ascended the martial platform.
The subtle smile that had played across Dang Youxuan’s lips at his brothers’ success vanished in an instant.
His gaze sharpened as it fell upon Hae Mu-young.
Eyes shadowed in darkness met his own.
Sichuan Dang Family Turns Over a New Leaf
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Lee Il-young
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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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