The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 70

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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 70
Dang Youxuan’s victory.
Hyedo’s defeat.
Immediately after, silence descended over the spectators and the area below the Martial Arena alike.
Everyone knew the Dang Clan’s poison was potent, but today they felt its true power firsthand.
“What in the world was that…?”
“When did he deploy the poison…? I saw nothing, I’m certain of it.”
“Neither did I.”
Cheonghui and Myungjin were the first to recover from the shock.
“Just as expected of the Dang Clan child. Seizing an opening in a single breath—remarkable.”
“Kha-ha-ha! Outstanding martial prowess. Well worthy of being called a dormant dragon of this Dragon Phoenix Assembly!”
With the first voice offering praise, others hastily followed suit with their own compliments.
But Beopgye felt no pleasure in offering even the most common of accolades.
‘Victory and honor alike belonged entirely to Shaolin.’
The shock of overwhelming martial prowess should have been credited not to crude poison techniques, but to Shaolin’s fist methods.
Yet what was this result?
‘Dare a mere declining house presume so…!’
Beopgye clenched his fist and shot a look at Seol Cheongyun.
“……!”
Seol Cheongyun caught the meaning at once and gave a small nod.
The reason Beopgye had not immediately struck him down in the chaos earlier was precisely this—
The man was quick to understand and moved as directed without question.
‘Without even that, he’d be useless.’
Click. Click.
Beopgye adjusted his posture and fingered his prayer beads.
“This match is void!”
The moment Seol Cheongyun had wanted him to speak, and the very words he wished to hear—a relaxed smile played at the corners of Beopgye’s mouth.
‘He defeated Hyedo, so he wouldn’t have used a lower-grade poison.’
The victory was already under question.
An ordinary youth would have burned with indignation and protest, overwhelmed by doubt and grievance.
And that would naturally provoke resentment from those watching.
The Dang Clan remains unchanged. With such a temperament, his methods are predictable enough—that’s what people would say.
Won So stepped between Dang Youxuan and Hyedo, bowing in cupped-fist salute toward Seol Cheongyun.
“I humbly ask what prompted Seol Cheongyun to raise this objection.”
“During the bout, I witnessed something rather curious—the Vajra Fist suddenly collapsed. Of course, if it was a poison permitted by the Dragon Phoenix Assembly, no rules were broken. Yet as one familiar with the Vajra Fist’s martial prowess, I wish to understand the circumstances. If you would simply reveal which poison was used, surely all suspicion would naturally dispel itself, would it not?”
Perhaps from bitter experience, his phrasing had become far more measured.
Though ill rumors circulated about him, a sect leader carried the dignity and honor befitting his station.
Such a man’s words carried considerable weight.
“True enough. Even if they’re both talents of their sect, the Vajra Fist is older and far more experienced—his sudden collapse is strange.”
“Could he have used an extreme poison?”
“Then he should be detoxified at once, shouldn’t he?”
“Answer quickly!”
Won So waited until the crowd had voiced enough speculation, then turned his gaze to Dang Youxuan.
“Young Master Dang. Could you explain what method you employed?”
“Of course.”
As if that were any difficulty.
Dang Youxuan let out a small snort.
“The poison I used was the Fengyang Poison—a lower-grade variety you all know well. Naturally, this was confirmed upon my entry.”
The message was clear: even if there were fault to find, it lay with them for failing to verify properly.
“I merely applied it to a fine needle and used it. But now that I think of it—”
Dang Youxuan tilted his head and looked down at Hyedo.
“It seems Hyedo may have an unfavorable compatibility with the poison.”
“……!”
“Ginseng, coptis, turmeric—these three are the primary examples. Does anything come to mind?”
“Hmm……”
Won So tilted his head, puzzled.
Of course he did. He was simply carrying out his duties as judge, knowing nothing at all.
So every bit of this was the work of Beopgye alone.
Dang Youxuan’s eyes moved slightly.
Beopgye watched from below the platform with a sinister glare fixed on Dang Youxuan.
Yet his eyes were unmistakably different from before.
Self-reproach weighed heavier than hatred for Dang Youxuan.
‘How could I have known that the Three Pure Pill I gave him would lead to defeat?’
Beopgye closed his eyes slowly.
Rage twisted his qi and blood; crimson welled up in his throat.
He swallowed it down and exhaled deeply, in silence.
“Exhale.”
Sometimes seeing nothing at all was the only way to master emotions in chaos.
‘Could I have foreseen how I would respond to last night’s council? ……At the very least, I didn’t anticipate this far.’
Still, since the Dang Clan excelled in poison, they would have found a breakthrough readily enough.
And the result was Hyedo’s defeat.
‘That child—a fearsome one indeed.’
Beopgye clenched his fist to contain his rage.
The prayer beads in his grip left marks upon his palm.
……
Beopgye slowly lifted his eyelids.
He had wished it a dream, but reality remained unchanged.
Ui Cheondeuk noticed something unusual in the way Beopgye’s eyes fixed upon the Martial Arena and approached with hands rubbing nervously.
“Abbot, are you unwell?”
“I am fine.”
“But……”
“It is nothing. Do not worry.”
Beopgye waved his hand.
Not to Ui Cheondeuk.
It was a signal sent to Won So, who would declare the victor.
“From what the Young Master has told me, I see nothing amiss.”
As Beopgye lowered his hand, Won So declared at once:
“The victory goes to Dang Youxuan of the Sichuan Dang Family!”
“Roooaaaar!”
A cheer burst forth, all the louder for having been held back.
As the ovation dissolved into murmurs of those forming lines, Beopgye spoke softly.
“Young Master. I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Hyedo is a valued disciple of this temple. I would hope no lingering effects remain. What would be the best way to cure the poison?”
There it was.
The intent behind the question was transparent.
He feigned concern for his disciple while salvaging his wounded dignity, all the while fishing for the Dang Clan’s pharmaceutical knowledge.
‘You show disdain for the Dang Clan, yet covet our poisons and remedies? Your appetite grows too large.’
Dang Youxuan laughed freely and shrugged.
“You have the Hunyuan Pill, yes? One of those should do it.”
* * *
“Puhahahaha! In all my days, I’ve never seen such a face!”
Beside Dang Eunho, who was thumping Dang Youxuan’s shoulder with a laugh, Dang Young beat his arm with delight.
“I swear, I thought you were an octopus. Your head shaved smooth, your eyes bulging wide, your mouth stuck out like that. Hehehehe.”
“I was sincere.”
“I know.”
“There’s nothing false in what I said.”
“That’s right. You said it all true.”
“You understand, then.”
“I understand. But the Abbot’s face when he heard your answer—it was too funny for words.”
‘This one’s so unchanged in expression and tone, I can’t even tell if he’s actually joking.’
Dang Youxuan pushed Dang Eunho away and turned his head completely.
It had irked him that the abbot meant to extract the Dang Clan’s knowledge, so he’d offered an appropriately vague solution instead.
‘He probably took it to mean: if an antidote is needed, just have him take a Hunyuan Pill, or something like that.’
The one saving grace was that only Beopgye had interpreted it that way.
‘Thank heaven the others simply laughed or accepted it without question.’
Had they done otherwise, Shaolin and the Dang Clan would have clashed in earnest.
‘Then I wouldn’t be sitting here now—I’d be fighting a life-or-death duel for the honor of my house.’
His own victory was certain, so that posed no problem.
But what would come after, who could say?
‘Yes. Those who preach emptiness the loudest are always the greediest—and the best at spreading rumors.’
The mere thought of it was sickening.
Dang Youxuan shook his head and turned his attention back to the Martial Arena.
Huashan’s third-ranked disciple, Baek Yeong of the Flowing Flower Sword.
She was competing against Namgung Hyuk, the young lord of the Namgung Clan and the so-called Heavenly Sword Prince.
As he watched quietly, Dang San spoke softly beside him.
“Interested?”
“In Baek Yeong, you mean. Her swordwork is clean, and she wears a smile throughout—it’s striking.”
“It does seem that way. She looks like she genuinely enjoys the contest.”
“Yes.”
Doing something well, liking it, and truly enjoying it—these were three different things.
No wonder the old saying went: talent could not overcome effort, and effort could not overcome joy.
That was why Dang Youxuan envied Baek Yeong’s purity—so different from Hyedo’s.
His gaze kept returning to her.
But he could not sink into deeper appreciation.
“Hyaaaaaaa!”
Namgung Hyuk let out a cry that bordered on bestial.
Hic.
Dang Youxuan jumped, choking on his breath.
He glanced around; disciples from several other sects reacted the same way.
“What is wrong with him?”
Was he a bandit? They asked him to cry out with spirit, and instead he makes a noise like that.
“He is always like this.”
Dang Eunho replied matter-of-factly.
“Is he very famous?”
“Quite so.”
“As famous as I was when I was a rogue?”
“Far more. And he is ten years your senior, so naturally so.”
“I see.”
Clang!
The match ended swiftly.
“Victory to Baek Yeong of Huashan!”
Dang Youxuan’s gaze never left her until she returned to the Huashan section.
“Your next opponent, then?”
“So it seems.”
Dang Youxuan answered placidly.
Indeed, Baek Yeong would be his opponent in the upcoming fifth round of the Main Tournament—the semi-final.
The Sichuan Dang Family’s Prodigy Who Turned Over a New Leaf
Author |
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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