Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 40

—————
This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
—————

Chapter 40.
The instructor’s quarters of Qian Mo Cave, shrouded in darkness.
The Iron Fist Ga Cheon Ak’s residence bore the mark of its master—heavy, austere, stripped of all excess.
Creak—
The silence shattered at the arrival of an uninvited guest.
“Who goes there?”
From the darkness emerged a masked figure—In Young.
“I come from the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family. I hear Instructor Ga Cheon Ak has taken on the task of investigating Yun Cheon’s background. Hand over the records from his admission and his weaknesses.”
The man dispensed with pleasantries and cut straight to business, placing a heavy pouch upon the table.
Clink.
The dull ring of metal.
It brimmed with silver coins.
“This should be sufficient compensation for your trouble.”
Ga Cheon Ak stood with arms crossed, his stone-like face gazing down upon the man.
Indeed, he had been tasked with investigating Yun Cheon’s background.
The Snake and Scorpion Ink Family had seized upon this opening to attempt bribing Ga Cheon Ak.
“….”
As Ga Cheon Ak fell silent, the man mistook it for assent.
A contemptible smile spread across his face as he continued.
“I hear you’re in competition with Instructor Chuk Mu Gwang? Tsk tsk, isn’t Instructor Chuk quite pathetic? Defeated and humiliated by such a mere stripling.”
Ga Cheon Ak’s thick brows twitched.
“Pathetic?”
“Is it not? I even approached him to offer vengeance, yet he grew angry instead.”
The man prattled on, oblivious to how the air in the room had grown as heavy as lead.
Moments later, Ga Cheon Ak’s lips parted.
“Merely grew angry, you say….”
Ga Cheon Ak rose slowly to his feet.
Whoooosh—
An oppressive force crashed down upon the man like a colossal mountain awakening.
“That bastard Chuk Mu Gwang has grown soft. It’s a mercy he didn’t tear you apart on the spot.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
“You wretches hold Instructor Chuk—and Qian Mo Cave itself—in contempt.”
Crack!
Ga Cheon Ak’s hands shot forward like lightning.
His massive grip seized both the money pouch upon the table and the man’s entire head.
“Ugh, gaaah?!”
“Yun Cheon—that boy is no one for serpents like you to slander with your forked tongues. Chuk Mu Gwang, proud as he is, acknowledged his defeat to a true martial master.”
Crunch.
Ga Cheon Ak’s grip tightened with lethal force.
The Iron Fist’s crushing strength—capable of kneading steel like dough.
The silver coins in his pocket shrieked against one another, and the man’s skull twisted under the mounting pressure.
“You dare approach me with such filthy bribes? Insulting an instructor of my station crosses every line. Let these coins serve as your passage fee to the afterlife.”
“P-please… spare me…!”
Crack—! Squelch!
A horrific sound of rupture echoed through the chamber.
“Grrk…!”
Beneath Ga Cheon Ak’s terrifying grip, bone and gold mingled together, crushed like dough.
The man’s head burst apart before he could even scream properly.
Blood cascaded across the table, staining the scattered silver coins crimson.
Ga Cheon Ak wiped his blood-soaked hand with indifference, his voice turning glacial.
“…How insulting. Did you truly believe a mere purse could purchase me? Do I appear so easily swayed?”
A shadow materialized in his otherwise empty quarters and answered.
“Surely not, sir.”
Ga Cheon Ak gazed down at the mangled remains scattered across the floor, issuing his command with cold precision.
“Deputy, return this wretch to the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family along with his filthy coins. I have a message to convey.”
* * *
“…Ugh!”
Dok A Dang Ju recoiled in horror at the ‘gift’ delivered before him.
His trusted subordinate had returned as a mangled heap of flesh intermingled with silver coins.
Beside it lay a letter written in blood.
[Consider this a warning. Qian Mo Cave nurtures the future of this sect. Do not let your filthy tongue wag again.]
“Grrr…!”
The armrest of the chair Dok A Dang Ju gripped emitted a sharp crack as black smoke rose from it.
The wood was dissolving under toxic poison.
“How dare a mere instructor of Qian Mo Cave!”
The prestige of the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family—one of the Twelve Orthodox Families—had crumbled to dust.
Their promising disciples had been defeated, their elder had become a cripple, and now an instructor from Qian Mo Cave was openly humiliating the entire clan.
“Both the investigation and the recruitment failed? All of this because of a single student?”
Then, a shadow prostrate in the darkness urgently raised its head.
“Not everything has failed, my lord!”
“What do you mean?”
“While we failed with major figures like Ga Cheon Ak and Chuk Mu Gwang… we succeeded in recruiting one of Qian Mo Cave’s instructors—one without backing and driven by greed!”
Dok A Dang Ju’s eyes gleamed with renewed interest.
“Is that so?”
“A newly appointed instructor with a weak position, harboring resentment after being humiliated by that Yun Cheon bastard.”
The shadow continued its report with a sinister smile.
“According to our intelligence, Yun Cheon regularly travels between the Inner Library and the Demonic Physician Hall. Using the recruited instructor as bait, if we strike when he drops his guard, victory is within reach.”
A cruel smile finally spread across Dok A Dang Ju’s lips.
The root of all this suffering was singular.
With Saengsa Jjon now in seclusion, this was the only opportunity that would ever come.
“Hm, excellent. Deploy the elite forces of Poison Fang Hall. With an insider already in place, failure is not an option.”
Dok A Dang Ju stretched his hand as if grasping at empty air.
“While Saengsa Jjon is secluded in meditation, bring that bastard before my eyes! I’ll pry his mouth open myself!”
“Your will…!”
* * *
“Huff… huff….”
Within the Stone Chamber for cultivation, nestled in a secluded corner of the Inner Library where thousands of ancient tomes exhaled the fragrance of ink.
Ragged breathing echoed at regular intervals.
Baek Ri Hyeon, the Archive Keeper, clicked his tongue as he observed the sight.
‘…Madness. Is this even human training?’
At the end of his gaze stood Yun Cheon.
Yun Cheon was performing push-ups bare-chested.
Not ordinary push-ups, but in a handstand position.
Supporting his entire body weight—no, the weight of his limbs laden with pitch-black iron bands—on his hands alone.
‘Even without the weights, that would be grueling… yet he bears that burden…?’
Baek Ri Hyeon could sense the change in Yun Cheon the moment he returned to the Inner Library.
The cold, chilling aura emanating from his body was unmistakably the mark of inner cultivation.
Yet now, in Yun Cheon’s movements, only the scorching heat of a body crying out in agony could be felt.
‘It seems he’s not even using his inner strength….’
Baek Ri Hyeon’s eye for detail was sharp.
For Yun Cheon was deliberately restraining his inner cultivation.
Bearing that absurd weight through nothing but pure muscle, bone, and willpower alone.
Crack.
The muscles of Yun Cheon’s back twisted like rope, screaming under the strain.
Sweat poured from his entire body, drenching the floor until it resembled a puddle of rainwater.
‘The agony of physical extremity….’
Yet Yun Cheon’s expression showed no sign of suffering.
Rather, it was serene.
He was executing the forms of the Heaven and Earth Flowing Method while regulating his ragged breathing through the Life-Extension Breathing Technique.
‘Excluding inner strength, nurturing the body’s vitality to hone bone and flesh to their absolute limit.’
It was a desperate struggle to endure the Heaven-Defying Secret Art, and simultaneously the path of the warrior that Yun Cheon had chosen for himself.
‘I forge a steel vessel capable of bearing the yin and yang corrupting forces coiled within my body… the Yin-Yang Supreme Meridian Severance.’
His arms, trained since dawn, trembled violently, and his veins swelled as if ready to burst.
Sweat flowed from his entire body, soaking the floor.
He had reached his limit.
“Hnngh!”
Yun Cheon pushed off the ground one final time, launching himself upright.
Boom—!
The Stone Chamber trembled under the impact of Yun Cheon’s weight, amplified by the iron bands.
“Huff….”
Hot steam billowed from Yun Cheon’s lips.
Every muscle in my body screamed in protest, yet the sensation was exhilarating.
Ever since the rotating dantian had formed, my body’s recovery speed had accelerated dramatically.
In the past, such exertion would have left me bedridden for days, but now a few moments of steady breathing restored me completely.
‘…There’s a certain pleasure in this cultivation.’
It was then, as I wiped away the sweat and steadied my breathing.
“Why don’t you take it easier? Haven’t you already mastered your inner cultivation? How much longer do you intend to train your external strength?”
Baek Ri Hyeon emerged from behind the shelves with an expression of feigned displeasure.
Yun Cheon chuckled softly and wiped down his sweat-soaked body.
“Were you watching?”
“Not intentionally. It’s just that your barbaric shouts shatter the Library Archive’s silence.”
Baek Ri Hyeon grumbled while stealing glances at Yun Cheon’s hardened physique.
It was scarcely believable—the body of a severed meridian patient from half a year ago when I first arrived at the Inner Library.
“More importantly, isn’t today that day?”
“…That day?”
“Tsk, as expected. Did the blood rush to your head so much you forgot the schedule?”
Baek Ri Hyeon crossed his arms and gestured outward with his chin.
“The sun is already high. Today is when you have the joint research with Miss Seol Young at the Demonic Physician Hall.”
“Ah… has it already come to that?”
Lost in the trance of cultivation, I had forgotten the passage of time.
As Yun Cheon hurriedly reached for his clothes, Baek Ri Hyeon cleared his throat and added quietly.
“Ahem. And… I’ll be going with you today.”
“You? I thought you’d already finished organizing the medical texts needed from the Inner Library.”
At Yun Cheon’s puzzled question, Baek Ri Hyeon’s face flushed.
“That is… it seems Miss Seol Young may have overlooked some medical texts.”
His true intentions were transparent to anyone.
Baek Ri Hyeon had taken a peculiar interest in Seol Young.
Upon hearing that she had improved thanks to Yun Cheon, he secretly wished to see her condition with his own eyes.
Yun Cheon did not press further and offered a faint smile.
Though his motives were mixed, as a physician himself, his presence would aid the research rather than hinder it.
“Well then, go ahead. Miss Seol Young will be delighted as well.”
“Hmm. I’m simply providing support as the person in charge of the medical text section! Don’t misunderstand!”
He continued clearing his throat, attempting to conceal his emotions, yet his ready acceptance betrayed his eagerness.
Baek Ri Hyeon affected an air of dignity, but his footsteps were far quicker and lighter than usual.
Most tellingly, his smile stretched from ear to ear.
The two departed the Inner Library and headed toward the Demonic Physician Hall.
Baek Ri Hyeon, who had been leading, suddenly slowed his pace.
“Hmm…? It’s the same path we always take… yet today the area around the Inner Library feels strangely off.”
Yun Cheon did not answer immediately.
Instead, I brushed my wrist, feeling the dark iron bracelet that bound it.
“I thought the time had come.”
“…!”
Four months had passed since Saengsa Jjon entered seclusion.
As my collaborative research with Seol Young accumulated, the path between the Inner Library and the Demonic Physician Hall became increasingly predictable.
If someone was watching, now was the most opportune moment.
Yet I still could not be certain whether the bait had been taken by the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family themselves, or by the dogs beneath them.
“Still, I need to see how many come. And whether they move directly.”
Baek Ri Hyeon’s face hardened.
“What… surely not?!”
“If anything happens, stay half a step behind my left side. Do not stray.”
It was no jest.
Baek Ri Hyeon swallowed dryly.
Yun Cheon’s voice was far too composed.
That very composure felt all the more chilling.
The moment the two entered the Forest Path.
Whish—!
A short, thin whistle of displaced air tore through the darkness.
Yun Cheon’s eyes flashed with brilliance.
Snatch.
He seized Baek Ri Hyeon’s collar roughly and yanked.
“Gasp!”
Half a beat too late, a pitch-black needle streaked past where Baek Ri Hyeon’s throat had been, embedding itself deep into the trunk of a tree.
Sizzle—!
In an instant, the bark blackened and melted away.
Baek Ri Hyeon’s complexion drained to a sickly pallor.
“A… a poison needle…!”
Before the shock could even fade, the forest’s silence shattered and killing intent flooded forth.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Black shadows erupted from all directions of the forest.
Cloaked in night robes and face coverings despite the daylight hour.
They spread in a semicircle to cut off retreat, maintaining precise intervals as they completed the encirclement in a heartbeat.
A formation without the slightest flaw.
At a glance, they were assassins trained to lethal perfection.
“Krkrkr… I’ve been waiting, you whelp.”
From among the shadows, the leader revealed himself.
His voice was suppressed and low, yet the barely concealed excitement within it could not be hidden.
“Saengsa Jjon is in seclusion, and Gal Mu Heun is buried in his office. Who will save you this time?”
Yun Cheon slowly placed his hand upon his sword hilt.
“There is no time to wait for salvation.”
He stepped back half a pace toward Baek Ri Hyeon, his voice dropping low.
“Don’t panic. The more flustered you become, the sooner they’ll run you through.”
Baek Ri Hyeon’s pride was wounded, yet he could not refute the words.
‘…Damn it, but he’s right.’
Had it not been for Yun Cheon, the poison needle that came hurtling down would have severed my lifeline.
“The companion can be killed without consequence.”
The leader laughed with brutal cruelty.
“Strike him! Capture him alive, but if he resists, you may sever his limbs!”
The moment the command fell, the assailants surged toward Yun Cheon.
At the sight of this, Baek Ri Hyeon cried out in alarm.
“Y-Yun Cheon! You have to evade!”
But Yun Cheon did not retreat.
“No—turning your back to assassins is the height of foolishness.”
A sharp crack echoed.
Instead, he lightly rotated his wrist, the heavy iron staff gleaming in his grip, and stepped forward toward the approaching shadows.
Yun Cheon’s gaze turned glacial.
“Stay close behind me. There are more of them than anticipated.”

—————
This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
—————