The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 64

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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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Episode 64
“He removed the Satnow Hat!?”
“He never took it off during the entire match… What’s he planning?”
“Is he acknowledging Gae-sim Dok-rang as a worthy opponent, something like that?”
Clean, well-defined features that suited his deep blue robes.
Youth clung to his face as much as it did to his voice.
Yet the absence of expression stripped away any sense of innocence.
So there was no doubt—he belonged to the Evil Faction, not the Orthodox.
“Idle speculation abounds, I see.”
“This is the first time you’re laying eyes on my face.”
“Well. That much is certain, I suppose.”
Hae Muyoung shrugged as though it were of little consequence.
“I hope this match proves satisfying to you.”
“As you wish.”
Dang Youxuan answered without inflection and clasped his fist in salute.
“I am honored to learn from you.”
“I am honored to learn from you.”
As Dang Youxuan drew his hands into his sleeves, Hae Muyoung assumed the Stance of Haebuk Peng.
‘That’s unmistakably from the Haebuk Peng Clan…?’
It was no simple task to absorb a sect’s martial arts so completely—stance and all—merely from proximity.
But he had no time to dwell on the puzzle.
“The match begins!”
Snap!
Dang Youxuan immediately created distance between them.
Against an opponent whose depths remained hidden, observation was paramount.
Tap-tap-tap!
Hae Muyoung’s footwork carried him forward at once, closing the gap.
Whoosh!
A lateral slash—the blade sweeping sideways.
Its character resembled a saber far more than a sword.
‘Again, it mirrors the Haebuk Peng Clan’s techniques.’
Dang Youxuan gripped the Hidden Blade and launched himself skyward.
Then Hae Muyoung twisted his sword.
Whoooom!
The blade, infused with Internal Energy, hummed with power.
Crash!
He swung left and right in rapid succession, unleashing a tidal wave of Sword Energy that crashed down upon Dang Youxuan.
Still suspended in mid-air, there was nowhere to escape.
It was then that Dang Youxuan deployed the Hidden Blade.
Shrill-shrill-shrill!
His blade-work was born more of inquiry than assault.
Hae Muyoung countered with fresh Sword Energy, striking the technique away.
“Excellent! Your swordwork is remarkably clean!”
“The Qinghai Sword Sect has true talent indeed. The Orthodox Faction’s finest pride!”
Pride of the Orthodox?
It would be pride of the Evil Faction.
Dang Youxuan smiled, lifting his cheeks.
The martial arts Hae Muyoung had displayed were unmistakably Orthodox in origin.
‘He’s grafted the Haebuk Peng Clan’s techniques onto it—there’s no mistaking that.’
But the crude Internal Energy was without question from the Evil Faction.
‘He hasn’t mastered these techniques long, it seems.’
Where Orthodox martial arts were slow to mature, Evil Faction techniques bore fruit immediately.
Yet a tower built only high crumbles easily in the wind.
Such was the nature of Evil Faction martial arts.
They blossomed brilliantly in youth, but inevitably were overtaken in time.
‘Beyond that, those who haven’t properly mastered their arts carry Internal Energy as crude as crude can be.’
Yes. Much like Hae Muyoung himself.
“Hmm.”
Dang Youxuan scattered the Hidden Blade forward like seeds, testing Hae Muyoung’s Martial Prowess.
Whoosh—!
Ten Jade Knives shot forth in two volleys, each traveling at a different speed.
Without timely defense, even one would embed itself in joint or muscle, leaving a fatal wound.
Hae Muyoung lowered his stance and swept his blade in a wide arc.
Whoooosh!
Pale violet sword energy radiated outward in all directions.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The deflected knives embedded themselves in the arena walls.
Hae Muyoung reset his posture, his sword tip once again leveled at Dang Youxuan.
‘But that wasn’t the end of it.’
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Dang Youxuan immediately drew and hurled Poison Needles.
“Poison Needles! Is this their debut at this Yongbong Gathering?”
“Indeed. The Dang Clan and poison are inseparable. Finish him now!”
Hae Muyoung watched calmly for a moment, then let his body slip sideways.
The needles, robbed of their target, fell harmlessly to the ground.
“Huh. He evaded all of them.”
“What will the Dang Clan manage now?”
Murmurs of concern rippled through the crowd—the decisive strike had failed.
Yet Dang Youxuan’s smile never wavered.
‘That’s right. You’re not just some fighter rolling through the years, are you?’
Hae Muyoung hadn’t merely dodged the attacks.
He’d read the trajectory of both the knives and needles, predicting and avoiding each one.
Such awareness of unconventional weapons was rare among Orthodox Faction martial artists, who trained almost exclusively with blades.
‘But I’m not limited to poison and knives alone.’
Without retrieving his Jade Knives, Dang Youxuan drew the Moonlight Shadow Sword.
Shhhhink.
“There it is! That blade from the preliminary round!”
“The Dang Clan with a sword? Surely just decoration?”
“With no other options left, they’ve resorted to steel. His victory is assured.”
“Come now. Would they truly lose to someone without even an alias?”
As the blade fully emerged, the crowd’s disappointment outweighed their anticipation.
But Hae Muyoung, standing closest to Dang Youxuan, lifted the corners of his mouth in a peculiar smile.
Why? Did he find this pleasing?
Yet what could be done about it?
No matter how hard you struggle, you’ll never draw out more than a third of my power.
As Dang Youxuan provoked him with his gaze, Hae Muyoung surged his Internal Energy.
What he’d perceived as violet transformed—now a vivid crimson sword energy wrapped around his form.
“Haaaaagh!”
Hae Muyoung released a battle cry and drove his blade forward.
“That battle cry—might I suggest you stop using it?”
Dang Youxuan stepped forward sharply and swept his blade horizontally.
Clang!
The impact sent Hae Muyoung’s sword reeling.
Dang Youxuan seized the moment and slashed diagonally upward.
An impeccable, flawless Earth-Tearing Sword strike.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
But this time, Hae Muyoung tilted his blade and deflected Dang Youxuan’s attack.
“That battle cry?”
“Yes. You’re not used to using it. It shows.”
“I see.”
Hae Muyoung twisted his wrist and flicked Dang Youxuan’s blade outward.
‘Not a chance.’
Rather than yield to the push, Dang Youxuan pivoted his body and thrust his blade toward Hae Muyoung’s upper arm.
“Tch!”
Hae Muyoung urgently ducked his upper body, then launched a horizontal slash.
His target: the heart.
A fitting objective for a One Strike Fatal Kill.
‘Desperation makes people sloppy. And for that, I’m grateful.’
Ching!
Dang Youxuan swept his blade up, intercepting Hae Muyoung’s strike.
In his grip on the sword, his arm had drifted far from his body.
Even as he exposed such an opening to his opponent, Hae Muyoung’s face remained composed.
“Have you forgotten that carelessness invites disaster?”
Rather than folding his arm, Hae Muyoung spun his whole body in a smooth arc.
Then he unleashed a furious barrage of slashes, sweeping left and right.
Slash! Slash!
The sword strikes came crashing in like waves.
Though it was Orthodox Faction technique, channeled through Evil Faction Internal Energy, its power was vastly magnified.
‘I thought he was moving only for information gathering, but his real strength lies here.’
Dang Youxuan parried fiercely, meeting each strike with his own blade.
Clash!
But one slash he failed to fully deflect carved through his sleeve as it passed.
“If you’d rather not be injured, now would be a good time to concede.”
“I haven’t even drawn half my strength—what concession are you talking about?”
“……Then you’ve chosen that path.”
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
An uncompromising exchange of attacks and counters continued.
Hae Muyoung, who had been pressing forward relentlessly, suddenly eased his momentum.
“I’m curious about something—has the Dang Clan Secret Techniques ever been displayed here?”
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“Not once.”
An odd question.
Yet it wasn’t difficult to guess why he would ask it.
‘His body has finally grown tired.’
There was only one reason Dang Youxuan hadn’t ended the Martial Match immediately, though he could have.
To discern Hae Muyoung’s true intent.
And now it was certain.
The Jeokhaebang was after the Dang Clan Secret Techniques for some reason.
“Why the sudden curiosity about such a thing?”
“There’s something I need.”
Revealing his own hand so openly?
Suspicious.
Yet a thought had come to him even before that.
‘You’re connected to Jamwol Temple, aren’t you?’
He still hadn’t managed to decipher the characters on the other Stone Tablet found at Jamwol Temple.
But what else could possibly link the Dang Clan Secret Techniques, something needed, and the Jeokhaebang?
‘The Dang Clan Secret Techniques must be hidden in Jamwol Temple.’
Or perhaps he was searching for something he’d already taken from there.
‘Then I’ll show you.’
Dang Youxuan gripped his sword tighter and poured Internal Energy into it.
Sensing the shift in momentum, Hae Muyoung stopped his attack and widened the distance between them.
Swoosh!
In the instant he tried to retreat, a Sword Energy like a beam of light glanced across the space before Hae Muyoung’s eyes.
“You’ve been hiding your true strength all this time?”
“That works both ways, doesn’t it?”
Hiss!
Dang Youxuan dropped his stance low and drove his blade upward from beneath Hae Muyoung’s jaw.
‘No! I have to block this—!’
Hae Muyoung lifted his chin to evade the attack.
If Dang Youxuan swung his sword now, it would pierce straight through his torso.
Yet the blade that should have appeared before his eyes remained invisible.
“What are you looking at?”
“……!”
The blade he’d thought would come straight had slanted at an angle.
Hae Muyoung arched his upper body back as if falling and reversed his grip on his sword.
If he couldn’t parry the attack, he would strike first through the opening and end this.
Clang!
Yet unexpectedly, the metallic ring came not from his hands, but from his sword—his blade alone.
“How is your sword already there……?”
The sword path that had been rising suddenly shifted sideways?
It was impossible by any logic.
Yet that impossible thing unfolded before his eyes.
“You said you wanted to see it.”
Clang!
Dang Youxuan twisted his wrist and knocked Hae Muyoung’s sword away.
The blade slipped from his grip and clattered to the ground.
Hae Muyoung stared at Dang Youxuan in stunned disbelief.
Dang Youxuan wore an arrogant, exhilarating smile.
“The Dang Clan Secret Techniques.”
If you want to see them, I’ll show you.
No matter how hard you struggle, you’ll never take them from me.
It was then.
An emotion other than bewilderment crossed his previously unchanging face.
“……How interesting.”
Sichuan Dang Family Prodigal’s Redemption
Author |
Lee Il-yeong
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsaro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260615052
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
Without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books, no part of this book may be used in any form or by any means.

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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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