The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 9

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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 9
“The last class is swordsmanship.”
Swordsmanship at the Sacheon Dang Clan?
That’s right. Swordsmanship.
Though it wasn’t his first time learning it, he could see the doubt plainly written across many faces.
Some of them looked like they were thinking: why waste time on sword technique when he could be studying assassination arts instead?
‘When you’re young, learn everything. It all becomes blood and flesh.’
Though the Sacheon Dang Clan was renowned for poison and assassination, they did not despise sword technique.
However, unlike other clans and sects that had made their names with the blade, the Sacheon Dang possessed no elaborate, intricate sword forms or complex sword paths.
What the clan emphasized was striking vital points efficiently.
Thus they employed relatively light swords, and many of their sword techniques specialized in piercing the heart.
‘I’ve benefited greatly from that.’
Dang Yoo-hyeon recalled the Maghyo follower he’d cut down and the heart he’d pierced cleanly with that precision.
If he could refine that accuracy and skill further, he could still strike even with broken fingers.
‘Now that I have this young body, I should train with all my effort.’
Sword technique was nothing to worry about — a few pointers on stance and the students would learn naturally.
Wasn’t sword technique the foundation of any martial artist?
“I’ll distribute wooden swords. Take one each, and spend a quarter hour loosening up on your own.”
Dang Yoo-hyeon accepted a wooden sword, far lighter than a real blade, just as the others did.
‘Hmm. How did I do it again…….’
As he twirled the sword back and forth, the familiar sensation gradually returned.
Dang Yoo-hyeon closed his eyes and assumed the upper guard stance.
Tap.
He stepped forward one pace.
Whoosh—
He slashed horizontally.
Shriek!
He thrust upward in a diagonal arc.
Tap.
Dang Yoo-hyeon stepped back one pace and repeated the same sequence.
The movements continued in slow, fluid succession, as if painting with a brush.
And then—
Screeeech!
He thrust.
“Hah——”
Dang Yoo-hyeon exhaled deeply and brought the sword to his waist.
Tap. Tap.
Right. No scabbard.
He made a few awkward, empty motions before lowering his arm sheepishly.
When he turned his head, every elderly instructor had their jaw hanging open.
‘What now—what in the world—’
The old men with beards reaching their chests forgot their aching joints and came rushing over in a flurry.
Snatch.
Before he could blink, hands seized him.
Dang Yoo-hyeon immediately shot a pleading look at Dang Jong-cheon.
‘You stopped me just fine earlier. Can’t you hold them back this time too?’
But when Dang Jong-cheon’s eyes met his, he startled and quickly looked away.
The fact that he, an Elder Council member, found these people difficult to handle said volumes.
‘Are you serious? You’re a thirteen-rank master and you can’t hold back a few instructors? And you call yourself a Yeonhakgak instructor?’
As Dang Yoo-hyeon ground his teeth, the old instructors stared down at him with eyes grown enormous.
The whites showed so starkly against the dark pupils that it was downright frightening.
“What was that just now?”
“Pardon? I was just loosening up lightly?”
“Lightly? Loosening up?”
“Yes. You instructed us to loosen up, so I obliged?”
“You call that merely loosening up?”
“If you’re lying to us, we’ll confine you to Chamhoe-dong!”
‘This crazy old fool! Does this look like a lie to you?’
“The Patriarch will hear of this!”
‘I am that Patriarch, you idiot.’
“Oh! Heavens and Earth, divine spirits…!”
Did they really need to call on the gods for this?
As someone seriously considered whether hallucination poison had been slipped into their meal, one instructor’s eyes glistened with tears.
“What you’ve just displayed is the Piercing Heart Sword Flash.”
‘Have they all gone senile?’
Dang Yoo-hyeon shook his head.
What he’d just demonstrated was the Disjoint Dual Sword, one of the Sacheon Dang Clan’s external martial arts.
It was supposed to be a basic sword technique that even collateral branch members knew.
‘…Or was it not?’
Dang Yoo-hyeon stopped mid-shake and went completely still.
What he’d demonstrated first was indeed the Disjoint Dual Sword.
But what he’d performed at the end.
That sword form—the one that thrust toward the enemy’s heart like a flash—was different.
Dang Yoo-hyeon bit down hard.
‘That’s right.’
It was definitely the Piercing Heart Sword Flash.
“Part of the sword technique manual was burned long ago, so no one has known the final form until now.”
“You mean I…?”
“Yes. You’ve completed that sword technique!”
“Ha ha ha! What great fortune for the Sacheon Dang Clan!”
The instructors seized Dang Yoo-hyeon’s hands all at once, shaking them enthusiastically.
Several of them wrapped their arms around him and tossed him high into the air.
‘At my age, I can’t exactly refuse this.’
Dang Yoo-hyeon let himself be shaken along with their excitement.
Yes, completing a sword technique was certainly fortunate.
Very fortunate, except—
‘When am I supposed to see the children?’
His carefully laid plans were being ripped to shreds beneath the instructors’ laughter.
‘Think of it positively.’
This was a chance to build a good reputation.
The perfect opportunity to shape that hopeless ruffian of a boy into a proper person.
Though changing Dang Yoo-hyeon alone wouldn’t be enough….
‘When am I ever going to raise the Sacheon Dang Clan?’
His head throbbed.
* * *
Only after being put through a gauntlet by the instructors could Dang Yoo-hyeon finally attend a lesson.
Show us the sword technique.
We’ll write it down—show it once more.
This time we’ll draw it—show it one more time.
The endless “one more time” finally ended after ten repetitions.
Dang Yoo-hyeon ruffled his disheveled hair and joined the children who were scattered about in small groups, taking their rest.
“Yoo-hyeon. You’re here?”
“Yes.”
“Demonstrating the same sword technique over and over must have been exhausting. You did well.”
“Thank you.”
As he staggered over, Dang San reached out and tidied his hair for him.
Sprawled on the ground gazing blankly at the sky, he suddenly found finely chopped Dang Gwa thrust before his eyes.
“Elder brother! Please have some of this candy.”
“Ah. Yes, thank you.”
“You should thank our third brother instead. I only held the cloth.”
“Hey! Why did you have to say that!”
“It’s the truth—there’s no reason to lie about it.”
Dang Young stuck his tongue out impudently.
Dang Eun-ho flicked Dang Young on the forehead and spoke in an indifferent tone.
“No poison in it. When you’re tired, something sweet is best.”
“Thank you.”
Dang Yoo-hyeon, surrounded by his brothers, finally took a moment to rest.
In the old days, he would have been grateful just if they hadn’t laced the candy with poison or tried to stab a hidden blade into his throat.
Suddenly he felt tears of gratitude welling up.
With his heart at ease, the sounds around him became clearer.
“Piercing Heart Sword Flash—and Dang Yoo-hyeon mastered it? That makes no sense.”
“Isn’t he just being given a boost? He was flying all over the place during the conference. Maybe they’re finally throwing some weight behind him, late as it is.”
“But completing a secret technique? That’s nonsense. All he did was swing a sword around a bit.”
“Right. He just swung a sword around a bit.”
As they spun out theories and possibilities behind him, a glossy-faced boy appeared.
His hair swept back sharply, eyes curved in a sly smile, thick lips that crossed the line from confident into sinister.
Dang Han-su—grandson of the Third Elder.
Among the collateral branches, he stood closest to the direct line, his influence ran deep, and his characteristic smooth-talking manner had won him admirers.
Accomplished in both martial and scholarly arts, faultlessly the undisputed fifth rank in Yeonhakgak’s standings.
The Dang brothers maintained the top three positions without fail, and even excluding the reckless Dang Yoo-hyeon, why fifth? Simple.
Because among the collateral branches, there existed one genius none could catch up to.
‘He must harbor considerable inferiority.’
Just as Dang Yoo-hyeon had predicted, Dang Han-su spoke in a playful tone while making no effort to hide his resentment.
“What’s so impressive about that? You would have seen it all in the Seogo anyway. We all know what’s in there—why pretend otherwise?”
“Hey, hey. Keep it down. They’ll hear you. Hehehehe.”
‘They already have. You idiots.’
The way they laughed and chattered, one would think they were trying to be heard.
Of course, they were deliberately performing for an audience.
“Ahem. Hmm.”
After all that noisy bombast, they glanced sideways at Dang Yoo-hyeon, wary of the direct line’s authority.
‘Don’t mind me. Keep talking. It’s been ages since I heard such entertainment.’
When he remained silent, Dang Han-su grew bolder and raised his voice.
Apparently he thought the insults had cowed him.
“Didn’t I speak the truth? I mean, isn’t there a special collection—one that you noble direct-line folks are permitted to see, while us lowly collateral branches can’t even approach?”
‘What are you babbling about, you bastard.’
In the past he’d spent whole seasons locked away in the Seogo, and he’d been there again recently, yet he’d seen no such thing.
If anything resembled what he described, it might be the collection in Gajujeon.
‘Surely he’s not referring to that.’
He hoped he wasn’t.
There was a limit to how far you could stretch a bluff.
Dang Yoo-hyeon tapped his knee with his finger.
‘Looking at him, barely first-rate. How am I supposed to deal with this….’
Crack!
‘Crack?’
Dang Yoo-hyeon turned his head toward the sound.
“How am I supposed to kill this thing?”
Dang Young was muttering as he bit savagely into a moon cake.
Tch.
The thing hadn’t even crumbled easily between his own teeth before.
Seeing the murderous expression on his face, Dang Yoo-hyeon glanced away, and beside him Dang Eun-han chimed in.
“What’s the problem? Give him a few doses of your poison. He’d probably offer up his arm or his backside gladly, just to receive it from you.”
“Why should I look at that creature’s body? My eyes aren’t meant to be wasted like that.”
“Both of you, calm yourselves. We are three gentlemen of position. There’s no need for crude methods.”
‘Right. You two stay put. I’ll handle the rest.’
That scholar-like face certainly concealed a calculating heart, he thought at that moment.
“Don’t soil your hands with such a trivial matter. Hire someone to dispose of him, then destroy the evidence. That’s all there is to it.”
“Wow! As expected, even Yeonhakgak’s top scholar is on another level!”
“You really are the best, brother!”
Dang Yoo-hyeon dropped the Dang Gwa he’d been eating.
Calm my ass.
The way he pretended to restrain his brothers while going a step further himself—it was a well-practiced routine.
“Brother, I’ll do it.”
“Ahaha. No, no need. Your hands are precious.”
“That’s not the point. We should use whatever tools are available.”
If anyone still existed who tried to demean him, wouldn’t direct demonstration serve as more effective proof?
Fortunately, Dang San understood Dang Yoo-hyeon’s intent without need for further words.
“Then do as you wish.”
Dang Yoo-hyeon smiled faintly and rose from his seat in one fluid motion.
“Hey.”
He knew the name but saw no reason to speak it aloud.
He had no need for that.
“Did you see it yourself?”
The gaze fixed upon him clouded with bewilderment.
“No, I… I didn’t….”
“Without having witnessed it directly, how could you be so certain that the Sacheon Dang Clan maintains a separate library for its direct bloodline, that I obtained a forbidden Secret Art that vanished from there through improper means, and that I sought attention in class with it?”
“That, that is…!”
“Speak plainly. Why have you suddenly lost your tongue? Or will you find your words on the Bimudae?”
Dang Yoo-hyeon smiled wickedly.
‘You’ve walked right into this, haven’t you.’
So you’re that confident?
Then come up here.
Let’s have a conversation the way martial artists do—through Martial Art.
Sacheon Dang Clan: Redemption of a Prodigy
Author |
Lee Il-young
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(주) Samyang C&C
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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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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