My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 117

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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 117. How Dare You Insult My Daughter?
A low, resonant hum filled the air.
The atmosphere around them grew unbearably heavy.
Peng Mugang, at the heart of this oppressive energy, rose slowly from his seat and walked toward Dan Mok-cheol.
Each step radiated a pressure so overwhelming it seemed to bend the very air.
It was no ordinary aura—more like a colossal tiger, the size of a house, prowling forward with a menacing growl.
Peng Mugang’s eyes gleamed with killing intent.
Dan Mok-cheol had touched upon something that should never be spoken before him—his Inverse Scale.
Threats to raid the Hebei Peng Clan in his absence, insults toward his daughter Peng Seryeon calling her a woman of no virtue.
He had more than enough reason to end his patience.
A strangled gasp escaped Dan Mok-cheol’s throat.
Under the crushing weight of that presence, his face contorted, and he found himself involuntarily holding his breath.
It was all he could do not to stumble backward.
Peng Mugang… to this degree?
For all that Peng Mugang counted among the Ten Great Masters alongside a handful of others from the Five Great Clans, Dan Mok-cheol had himself mastered the Galaxy Meteor Sword Technique, pride of the Danmok Clan, all the way to Peak Mastery.
The Galaxy Meteor Sword Technique was among the finest blade arts in all the Martial World.
Having reached Peak Mastery in such a technique, Dan Mok-cheol had every reason for confidence.
He believed his failure to earn a place among the Ten Great Masters was simply a matter of circumstance, of opportunity denied.
His courage thus restored, Dan Mok-cheol tensed, ready to draw steel at a moment’s notice, and watched as Peng Mugang advanced toward him.
‘Hmph, come on then. Today I’ll scratch your name from the Ten Great Masters and carve mine in its place!’
Just as a massive confrontation was about to erupt,
A figure slipped between them.
Someone moved to block Peng Mugang’s path.
It was Namgung Hwan, the Patriarch of the Namgung Clan—the Sovereign Sword King.
Peng Mugang glared at Namgung Hwan, his growl feral.
“Step aside.”
“Wait. Settle yourself for a moment. There’s something we need to clarify first. For everyone’s sake.”
Even under the ferocity of Peng Mugang’s presence, Namgung Hwan’s bearing remained unmoved.
For a moment, their gazes locked in the empty space between them.
And then,
…….
It was Peng Mugang who yielded first.
Though his eyes still burned with rage as they turned back toward Dan Mok-cheol, he made no move to advance further.
He understood Namgung Hwan’s intent in blocking his path.
Though no words were spoken, Namgung Hwan recognized this as Peng Mugang’s way of showing restraint and forbearance, and without hesitation, he turned to Dan Mok-cheol.
“Patriarch Dan. Everything you said to us all just now—you swear it contains not a shred of falsehood?”
“What do you mean?”
Dan Mok-cheol, who had been bracing for combat, furrowed his brow at this unexpected question.
“That the Peng Clan forced your daughter into a Martial Duel and used some scheme to make her lose.”
“Ha! My own daughter testified to this herself—so how is it not an undeniable fact? Surely you’re not suggesting my daughter is a liar?!”
“Well. Those who were present seem to hold a different view.”
“What?”
At that moment, Dang Mu-jun and Hwangbo Cheon-u, who had been watching with expressions of disbelief, stepped forward.
“What you claim now, Patriarch Dan, is simply not true.”
“That’s right. It was Dan Mok-hwaryeon who first demanded the Martial Duel.”
“And the duel itself proceeded entirely fairly and without any impropriety.”
“…What?”
Dan Mok-cheol glanced at his daughter, Dan Mok-hwaryeon.
But the very one who had orchestrated all this turmoil stood trembling, her entire body quaking with an expression of wounded betrayal.
How could this be? How could it possibly be?!
They were taking Peng Seryeon’s side—her who had been absent for so long!
To Dan Mok-hwaryeon, right and wrong mattered little.
Only her own feelings held importance.
Dan Mok-hwaryeon’s voice pierced the air, her eyes bloodshot.
“Father, don’t believe them! They all ostracized me and shamed me!”
“Hwaryeon, what on earth are you saying?”
Dang Mu-jun stared at Dan Mok-hwaryeon with utter bewilderment.
He could make no sense of it.
Pride? Jealousy? Whatever the emotion, how could she carry it to such extremes?
“I’m the one asking—how could you do this to me? How could you?!”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon glared at Dang Mu-jun and Hwangbo Cheon-u with an expression of profound injustice.
Anyone observing would have thought the two men were framing her with some false accusation.
Everything in her world revolved around herself.
There had been a time when Dang Mu-jun saw such behavior as mere vanity, nothing more—but now Dan Mok-hwaryeon appeared to him like something warped, a creature twisted beyond reason.
“Enough! Cease this at once! Why has this become a matter for debate in the first place? How could a daughter of the Peng Clan—one who neglected her martial arts after laying eyes on some scholar and abandoning her home long ago—possibly win fairly in a martial duel against my daughter, who has devoted herself to rigorous training every single day? Does that make any sense to you?!”
“Then, what evidence do you have that underhanded methods were employed?”
“Evidence? If someone who cannot win actually triumphs in a martial duel, then of course they must have used underhanded methods!”
“So you’re saying you have no evidence whatsoever?”
Namgung Hwan exhaled a deep sigh, and in that instant, his presence shifted.
Boom.
“Without evidence, without truth—and yet you come here, acting on nothing but your daughter’s words, causing a disturbance. Is that what this is?”
Namgung Hwan’s power poured forth, commanding the entire space around him.
Razor-sharp and utterly chilling.
Nor was he alone.
The other patriarchs, who had been observing the situation in silence, stepped forward with faces gone cold as ice.
“Ha. It seems the Five Great Clans appeared rather amusing to you.”
“This is something we simply cannot overlook.”
“Quite so. Now that I think about it, this is rather vexing.”
Even Jegal Seung, who would normally have counseled restraint, added his voice with a frigid gaze.
Indeed—had Dan Mok-cheol been a man of proper judgment from the start, he would never have let his daughter’s falsehood drive him to such fury, nor would he have entertained the thought of barging into a gathering of the Five Great Clans.
He knew the man’s temperament was hotheaded and arrogant beyond measure, but he had not expected it to reach such extremes.
There was no longer any reason to tolerate or overlook Dan Mok-cheol.
Ugh.
Dan Mok-cheol suddenly faltered, his face flooding with panic as he stumbled backward.
The combined pressure released by all the patriarchs of the Five Great Clans at once was simply too much to bear.
Something—something was unfolding not at all as he had envisioned.
He had imagined that once he publicly declared his daughter’s grievance, the others would naturally point their fingers at the Peng Patriarch.
That was the sequence of events he had anticipated.
But now, it was he who stood accused.
Worse still, every patriarch of the Five Great Clans had turned their hostility upon him.
Yet he could not retreat—not like this.
“Ha… ha! So you are all in league, are you?! How shameful! These so-called patriarchs of the Five Great Clans have no honor! How can you side with that vulgar daughter of the Peng Clan without even bothering to discern the plain truth of the matter?!”
Dan Mok-cheol shrieked, thrashing about like a cornered beast.
Yet now it was clear to all who watched.
It was plain as day exactly who was behaving unreasonably, who was acting the villain. His own words had made it abundantly manifest.
The high ground was now theirs.
This was precisely what Namgung Hwan had aimed for when he held back Peng Mugang.
“I’ve waited long enough.”
Namgung Hwan then stepped aside from before Peng Mugang and spoke.
At that, Peng Mugang—who had been holding himself in check until now—stepped forward.
“You will not do.”
“Y-you? ‘You will not do’? Peng Patriarch, are you truly suggesting we fight… Gack!”
No one could react.
No one could move against the assault of a colossal tiger.
In an instant, Peng Mugang closed the distance and seized Dan Mok-cheol’s jaw with a single hand, lifting him clean off the ground.
Dan Mok-cheol, clinging to Peng Mugang’s arm with both hands, thrashed his legs uselessly in the air.
Gaaahhh! Hack!
“Left alone, and you just keep running your mouth, don’t you? Hmm?”
Dan Mok-cheol felt his jaw about to shatter under the tremendous pressure of Peng Mugang’s grip.
Unngh!
Unable to endure it, Dan Mok-cheol lashed out with a kick aimed at Peng Mugang’s ribs.
But Peng Mugang brushed the attack aside effortlessly with a single hand, then drove his massive fist directly into Dan Mok-cheol’s ribs.
Boom!
Dan Mok-cheol’s mouth fell open wide.
Coughhhhh!
A punch the likes of which he had never experienced before, and from his throat poured forth a scream of unbearable agony.
‘This mad tiger of a beast!’
This would not do.
He knew full well that he could never match Peng Mugang with bare hands.
The Danmok Clan’s greatest strength lay in their swordcraft.
Dan Mok-cheol moved to draw the sword at his waist.
But Peng Mugang was faster.
Sensing what Dan Mok-cheol intended, Peng Mugang tore the scabbard clean from his belt and hurled it aside.
Dan Mok-cheol’s face went white.
This was a turn of events he hadn’t anticipated.
“Wait, just wait! Let me at least take up a sword—”
“Did you think I’d engage in some genteel martial duel with the likes of you? Dream on. You should be grateful I waited this long. From now on, you’re going to take a beating from me until the day you die.”
“This—this isn’t how things are done—”
Crack!
Peng Mugang unleashed his overwhelming strength, driving his fists into Dan Mok-cheol’s face and body without restraint.
With each devastating blow, Dan Mok-cheol shrieked in agony.
“Aaahhhhh!”
Dan Mok-cheol had believed they were of similar strength.
He’d felt confident that even if he provoked matters this far, the other patriarchs of the Five Great Clans wouldn’t descend on him in a mob.
But that confidence was misplaced.
The gap between his power and Peng Mugang’s was far too vast.
The beating continued—utterly one-sided, relentless.
“I won’t say anything about your son-in-law!”
Thud! Crack! Crack!
“But you dare insult my daughter? And my granddaughter too? Huh?”
Crack! Thud! Thud! Crack!
He wanted to wave his hands and protest that he’d never insulted his granddaughter, but Peng Mugang’s fists were already raining down on his face relentlessly, leaving him with nothing to do but scream.
“Ghhheeergh! St—stop… p-please…”
Though shameful to endure, there was no defense against such a beating—each punch was unbearably painful.
So Dan Mok-cheol found himself flailing his arms and begging without even thinking.
But nothing could appease Peng Mugang’s fury now that it had erupted.
“P-Patriarch!”
The Danmok Clan’s warriors, shocked at how swiftly it all unfolded, finally gathered their wits and tried to intervene—
“Now, now. What are you thinking? Put those blades away, there’s good fellows.”
Not just the Baeklang Dae, but all the armed retainers present at the banquet bared their weapons and pressed their swords toward the Danmok warriors.
“Nngh.”
In numbers and in skill, they were helpless.
And it wasn’t only the Danmok Clan’s warriors who were thrown into confusion.
“No… this can’t…”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon.
Even she could only watch as her father suffered before everyone’s eyes.
‘Why? How did it come to this?’
This wasn’t what she’d envisioned at all.
When her father stepped in like this, she’d expected Peng Mugang—unwilling to suffer further shame in front of everyone—to apologize and move past it.
The rumors had been that relations between him and Peng Seryeon were strained since her return.
So she’d believed her deception, her stubbornness, would hold sway.
But against all her expectations, Peng Mugang showed himself willing to stop at nothing for Peng Seryeon’s sake.
As if he could forgive nothing in all the world that insulted her.
That was where everything had unraveled.
‘Someone—anyone—help me!’
Dan Mok-hwaryeon trembled, turning her head desperately in all directions.
But no one came to her aid.
The heirs of the Five Great Clans whom she knew—including Peng Sejin—regarded her and her father with nothing but cold eyes.
Even Dang Mu-jun, who had always been kind to her.
Because all of this had been brought on by her and her father, Dan Mok-cheol, alone.
Their actions had been utterly unforgivable.
“P-please… stop… s-stooop!”
“Stop? This is just the beginning!”
Peng Mugang showed no sign of slowing his assault.
Dan Mok-cheol was rapidly becoming drenched in blood at Peng Mugang’s hands.
Finally, Dan Mok-hwaryeon sank to her knees.
She struck her head against the floor and cried out.
This was all that was left to her now.
“I was wrong! Please, I beg you—stop!”
In that instant, Peng Mugang’s fist froze.
His gaze turned toward Dan Mok-hwaryeon.
“I—I was blinded by jealousy and shame, and I spoke falsely. My father simply believed what I said. Please, please forgive me.”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon wept and apologized, tears and snot streaming down her face.
The surroundings fell silent in an instant.
And then,
“…Tsk.”
Peng Mugang brushed the blood from his fists.
The fury had drained from him.
Though by now Dan Mok-cheol was already drenched in blood and fading from consciousness.
Had Peng Mugang thought only of what the man deserved, he might have finished him. But he had no stomach to lay hands directly on a girl scarcely older than his own children.
“Take him and leave this place at once. And let me never set eyes on you again. Next time, there will be no mercy.”
“Yes. Understood. Thank you.”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon bowed her head in gratitude, then ordered her warriors to support Dan Mok-cheol as they fled from the Namgung Manor.
After the Danmok Clan departed, Hwangbo Gyun let out a hollow laugh.
“Well, that stirred things up nicely. Though you might’ve shown a bit more restraint—you nearly beat him to death.”
“Hmph! If that wretch hadn’t wept and begged for mercy, it would’ve gone far worse for him.”
“Fair enough. Fair enough. Well done. Ha!”
But Peng Mugang’s expression showed his rage was far from extinguished.
To dare slander his precious daughter before him.
The very thought set his teeth on edge.
“Now then, let’s clean this up and resume the feast. It’d be awkward to go back in as things stand—everyone have a drink.”
With his easy manner, Hwangbo Gyun smoothed over the chaos, and Namgung Hwan and the other Patriarchs nodded, returning to their seats.
They took turns pouring wine into Peng Mugang’s cup, well aware of his foul mood.
Soon the young heirs of each clan filed back to their places as well.
Peng Sejin’s eyes still glinted coldly.
Part of him had wanted to draw his sword and step in himself, but since Peng Mugang had already intervened, there was no need for him to act.
He was satisfied that Dan Mok-cheol, who had wagged his tongue so recklessly, had gotten what he deserved—but sending them off like this still left a bitter taste.
Though there was nothing more to be done about it now.
‘My brother must be absolutely seething right now.’
He imagined Yeo Un-hwi was thinking much the same.
Likely he was with Baeklang Dae by now, and Peng Sejin was already thinking he would slip away from the table shortly to find him.
In any case, because of that damned uninvited guest, the wine that had tasted sweet just moments before now turned bitter on his tongue.
Meanwhile,
“Whew. It’s like a storm just blew through here.”
O Chae-mu, Gu Tae-san, and the other Baeklang Dae members clicked their tongues.
They too had been thoroughly offended by the Danmok Clan Patriarch’s disrespect.
What? Insulting the Young Lord and Lady Peng Seryeon? How low and crude could one be?
By temperament, they would have drawn their weapons and rushed in themselves, but Peng Mugang had beaten the Danmok Clan Patriarch so thoroughly that there was no opening for them to intervene.
It had been deeply satisfying to watch him beaten into pulp like that.
“Still, it’s fortunate it ended well enough, wouldn’t you say?”
“It leaves a sour taste, but yes.”
“Even so, that ought to be enough. What more could we do? Come now, let’s all put those rude fools out of mind and have a drink.”
“Speaking of which, where’s the Young Lord?”
“Eh? He was here just a moment ago.”
Everyone looked around for Yeo Un-hwi, but he was nowhere to be found.
Their eyes widened.
“Could it be—”
Apparently, for someone, this had not been nearly enough.

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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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