Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 53

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 53.
“Training. From sunrise to sunset. If any of you dislike it, pack your things and leave now. I won’t stop you.”
Yun Cheon’s cold declaration cut through the heavy atmosphere of the Training Ground.
Just as Bang Do’s men swallowed hard and exchanged nervous glances, a bedraggled group appeared beyond the shattered Main Gate.
“Wh… what? Lord So Ryong!”
The Bang Do members screamed and rushed out.
The man entering with their support—So Ryong—was a sight almost too painful to behold.
His once-pristine white ceremonial robes hung in tatters, and his meticulously styled hair was matted with sweat and dust, completely disheveled.
He bore the appearance of one who had endured countless challengers, bearing the marks of grueling trials.
“Get… get out of the way, you fools!”
So Ryong roughly shoved away the Bang Do members who had been supporting him.
Then, dragging his unsteady body forward, he crawled toward Yun Cheon.
“Lord… huff, huff… As you commanded… I have processed all of them and returned.”
So Ryong wiped his split lip with his sleeve, then deliberately adjusted his tattered clothes with dignity.
He bowed deeply with exaggerated formality.
Like a loyal retainer who had served his lord for years, his posture was impeccably respectful.
“This So Ryong, having endured dozens of fists outside, has come to feel it keenly. A hundred punches from those bastards cannot compare to even one of your kicks, Lord—far more… weighty, I must say.”
“Well done. You’ve worked hard.”
Then So Ryong, with a subtle flourish, positioned himself behind Yun Cheon, maintaining a half-step distance.
Not too close, not too far.
It was a masterfully calculated position that unmistakably proclaimed him as the Lord’s closest confidant.
That was when it happened.
So Ryong’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Bang Do members attempting to slip away from the corner of the Training Ground caught his gaze.
“Hold it! Stop right there.”
The voice that had been whimpering moments before turned ice-cold in an instant.
So Ryong dashed forward, grabbed the scruff of a Bang Do member trying to sneak away, and hurled him to the ground.
Crash!
“You… you tactless bastards!”
Smack! Thud!
“Ow! Lord So Ryong!”
“Stop! Please stop!”
“The Lord said to leave—why are you doing this!”
So Ryong dragged them to the center of the Training Ground and threw them down.
Then, with a stern expression, he rebuked the terrified Bang Do members.
“Listen up, all of you! Why have we been treated like street rabble all this time? Because we lacked any real martial skill, didn’t we!”
So Ryong spread both hands toward Yun Cheon and launched into an impassioned speech.
“But who stands before us now! The rising dragon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect—Lord Yun Cheon himself! His arrival means that we wretches of the Black Dragon Gang finally have the chance to learn ‘real martial arts’!”
The Bang Do members’ eyes widened in astonishment.
“Don’t you see the calculation yet? If you leave now, you’re just third-rate thugs! But if you stay here?”
So Ryong’s incitement caused the gang members’ eyes to waver.
“Listen well! If I exert my full strength, I can face dozens of challengers! Yet, Lord Yun Cheon defeated me with a single strike.”
So Ryong seized the moment and drove his point home.
“I swore my loyalty to Lord Yun Cheon not merely because of the Black Dragon Gang’s discipline, but because I was captivated by his strength! Lord Yun Cheon is far too formidable to remain at a mere hundredth rank in the Feng Yun Ranking! Do not regret this later!”
Hope began to crystallize in the eyes of the gang members who had moments before thought only of escape.
Yun Cheon, arms crossed, let out a soft chuckle as he watched So Ryong orchestrate the scene with surprising finesse.
‘Having him around will make managing these men far more convenient.’
Then So Ryong bowed deeply toward Yun Cheon once more and cried out.
“Lord Yun Cheon! I have gathered all these rabble for you. Now, please mold us as you see fit! Break our bones if you must—just make us worthy of the name!”
The former gang leader, who had ruled the Black Dragon Gang until recently, stepped forward to elevate his authority.
‘He looks like a bear, yet acts like a fox.’
Yun Cheon recognized that So Ryong’s loyalty was rooted in ‘fear’ and ‘pragmatism’.
Yun Cheon’s gaze sweeping across the gang members was that of a cold, calculating trainer.
‘I must mold and refine these rabble, transforming them so they will not falter even when facing the Demonic Cult’s forces. To accomplish this….’
With everyone watching, the moment was perfect.
“Now that I am the gang leader, the Black Dragon Gang will be reborn not as street thugs or vagabonds, but as a true faction of the martial world.”
“…?”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Doubt.
The gang members’ response to Yun Cheon’s declaration was lukewarm at best.
Vagabonds who had been rolling in the gutters yesterday becoming a true faction of the martial world overnight?
It was only natural that it sounded like grasping at clouds.
But Yun Cheon had no intention of persuading them with words.
He merely gestured with his chin toward So Ryong.
“So Ryong, come closer.”
“Yes, Lord Yun Cheon! I await your command!”
So Ryong scurried over like a wagging dog and bowed his head.
Yun Cheon examined his body from top to bottom.
His muscles were overdeveloped, yet his inner energy flowed turbidly.
“The Black Dragon Gang’s secret technique—the Black Dragon Iron Body. Show me what you can do.”
“Of course, I shall! This is the pride of our gang!”
So Ryong tore off his upper garment with a shout.
“Hah.”
His muscles bulged and his skin darkened to a crimson hue.
A considerable external force emanated from him, yet Yun Cheon clicked his tongue mercilessly.
“Tsk… mere shell.”
Yun Cheon’s criticism struck at the heart of the matter.
So Ryong’s shoulders visibly sagged.
“External force without internal cultivation to support it will always reach its limits. You know this yourself, surely. What of the inner cultivation that should complement the Black Dragon Iron Body?”
“That… how did you know? The truth is, the secret manual my father left behind was severely damaged, and I could not master it….”
So Ryong withdrew a tattered manual from his bosom, its pages stained with blood and sweat, the characters smudged beyond recognition.
It was an object imbued with longing for his father and the regret of a martial artist unfulfilled.
“Bring it here.”
“Y-yes, here it is.”
The secret manual was indeed severely damaged, just as So Ryong had said.
‘Is this… blood?’
Stained with someone’s blood, the characters were nearly impossible to discern.
“You… taught yourself this alone?”
“Yes. I at least internalized the external cultivation in my childhood, but… I never learned the internal cultivation. Is there… any way?”
So Ryong’s voice trembled.
So the wretch I’d taken for a mere materialist harbored his own sorrows.
Yun Cheon nodded.
“There is a way, though not without cost.”
“R-really? The characters are so smudged… I never dared hope I could even read the manual!”
“However… you must choose between two paths. Will you preserve the form of the manual, or will you inherit its essence?”
It was an unexpected question.
The final remnant of his missing father.
The manual itself mattered, but what truly mattered was the knowledge it contained.
So Ryong pondered briefly before reaching his conclusion.
“…I will inherit its essence!”
“Then step back.”
A chill emanated from Yun Cheon’s palm.
Uuuuung—
The Limitless Glacial Heart Scripture.
As his hand touched the manual, white frost began to crystallize over the dark crimson bloodstains covering it.
‘Freezing the blood to separate it from the paper.’
The frozen blood cracked and fell away from the pages with soft tapping sounds.
In that instant, the hidden ink characters revealed themselves.
Yun Cheon’s eyes moved rapidly as I turned the pages.
With the determination to miss not a single character.
But the ancient paper could not withstand my domineering chill.
Crackle.
“N-no… no… B-Patriarch! Stop!”
With So Ryong’s cry, the manual crumbled into ash.
A fleeting moment.
The goal of inheriting its essence had become impossible to achieve.
So Ryong clawed at the ground, wailing at the thought that he had completely lost his father’s manual.
“Father’s manual…!”
But Yun Cheon calmly brushed away the ashes and spoke.
“Don’t blubber like a child… I’ve already committed every formula to memory.”
“What? That… is that even possible? In such a short time…?”
“Bring me paper.”
So Ryong hurried to fetch paper, and Yun Cheon transcribed the secret manual’s incantations without hesitation.
“Here. This is the incantation restored exactly as it appeared in the secret manual. It is yours.”
So Ryong accepted it with trembling hands.
From the paper still wet with ink, he felt both his father’s presence and a new hope simultaneously.
“Is… is this truly real? I… I am eternally grateful!”
So Ryong shook his head repeatedly, his expression one of disbelief.
But Yun Cheon’s brush did not stop.
He rapidly inscribed something onto fresh paper.
“However, the original cultivation method had its limits in handling the tyrannical force of the Black Dragon Physique. Had you trained with it as written, you would have fallen into demonic possession nine times out of ten.”
“Surely not…! Then… is that why Father…?!”
So Ryong’s eyes widened.
The reason his father’s eyes had suddenly grown dim and he had vanished.
He had never once suspected it stemmed from the secret manual itself.
Yun Cheon handed over another completed secret manual.
“If you compare the incantations of both manuals yourself, you will understand. This is the ‘Black Dragon Dynamic Art’—the original incantation reinforced with the profound mysteries of Heaven and Earth. Combined with the Black Dragon Physique, you should achieve considerable mastery.”
It was a martial art of ascension that, if external and internal cultivation harmonized, could even glimpse the pinnacle.
“M… My Lord…!”
“Your inner cultivation will accumulate slowly, but with solid foundations, you will never fall into demonic possession. If you do not wish to live and die as a street thug, engrave this into your very bones.”
Hearing this, So Ryong prostrated himself on the ground without hesitation.
To restore his father’s damaged secret manual in an instant and reinforce it besides.
Thud!
He struck his forehead against the ground once more.
“This So Ryong swears, even if my bones turn to dust, I shall offer my loyalty! I shall never forget this grace for as long as I live!”
So Ryong was sincere.
‘This man is the real deal! Serving the Lord was the best choice of my entire life!’
Yun Cheon observed the fervent light burning in So Ryong’s eyes and nodded.
“Good. Master this Black Dragon Dynamic Art and teach it to the Bang Do members.”
“You honor me with this command! I shall perfect the Black Dragon Dynamic Art and rebuild the Black Dragon Gang!”
The flames of determination blazed in So Ryong’s eyes.
‘The atmosphere has shifted. I can leave the training of the Bang Do members to that one.’
Yun Cheon stopped So Ryong as he moved to leave.
“Do so. Ah, and one more thing.”
So Ryong’s shoulders flinched in that instant.
“Upon reviewing the ledgers, I found many gaps in the accounts….”
Yun Cheon’s gaze turned cold.
He had already seen through So Ryong’s schemes completely.
“You’ve been skimming quite nicely from the gambling dens, haven’t you? That entire sum will go toward the Black Dragon Gang’s operating expenses. Bring it now, while I’m asking nicely.”
“H-huh?! How did you…!”
So Ryong’s face drained of all color.
Yun Cheon chuckled softly and drove the final nail into the coffin.
“If you skim even a single coin, I’ll tear up the incantation I just wrote for you. Remember that.”
“Y-yes, understood! I’ll bring it all right away! Not a single copper left behind!”
So Ryong’s face twisted in anguish as he bolted away.
Martial prowess terrified him more than money ever could—and the gang leader’s intelligence network even more so.
Yet his retreating figure carried a peculiar lightness.
Though stripped bare of wealth, his heart now cradled a far greater treasure: hope.
“What will you do?”
Yun Cheon had demonstrated his incredible power repeatedly before their very eyes.
From the moment he shattered the Main Gate and sent the gang members flying.
His duel with So Ryong.
And the miraculous technique he had just revealed.
With even the gang leader himself pledging such loyalty, there was no reason for them to resist.
“We pledge our loyalty!”
“We will follow the gang leader!”
A strange fervor rippled through the gang members in an instant.
Riding the wave of this contagious enthusiasm, Yun Cheon seized control of the Black Dragon Gang in moments.
“Good. Not a single one will leave? Your resolve is confirmed. Then… beginning tomorrow, everyone enters training. For now… clean and restore this wrecked Black Dragon Gang.”
Shortly after, So Ryong returned breathlessly, carrying every last coin of the emergency funds and profits.
With the gang’s discipline established and the Black Dragon Heavenly Art bestowed, he was certain the position of second-in-command was his to claim.
‘Now I need to solidify the hierarchy.’
So Ryong cautiously raised his hand, his gaze probing.
“I… have a question for you, gang leader.”
His eyes fixed upon the woman standing beside Yun Cheon with arms crossed, watching the entire spectacle with keen interest.
“What is it?”
“That… beautiful lady beside you, gang leader—who exactly is she? Could she perhaps be the mistress of our gang?”
At those words, Yun Cheon’s brow furrowed slightly.
But before he could speak, Yalü Hee stepped forward.
“Beautiful, you say? At least you have eyes. But unfortunately, I’m no mistress.”
“Uh… uh…?”
“She is a guest of this gang. My classmate from the Demonic Way Hall. When I’m absent, treat her as my proxy.”
Yun Cheon added matter-of-factly.
‘What does that mean…?’
In that instant, So Ryong’s expression twisted grotesquely.
The certainty he had felt moments before—when granted the Black Dragon Heavenly Art and convinced of his unshakeable position as second-in-command—crumbled in an instant.
‘Not even the mistress, just a guest! Some outsider ranks above me? If I’m not second-in-command, then who am I…!’
So Ryong tried to hide his sense of injustice, but it could not escape Yalü Hee’s eyes.
Her pupils narrowed like a wildcat’s, blazing with a fierce, penetrating light.
“You. Why are your eyes so wide? Can’t accept it?”
“Ah, no! How could I ever question the Faction Leader’s decision…!”
“If a man has grievances, he should voice them. Right now you’re thinking, ‘Is this woman stronger than me?’ aren’t you?”
Yalü Hee was accustomed to that gaze.
The suspicious looks she had endured her entire life—from her clan and from the outside world alike.
Yalü Hee slowly grasped the hilt of her blade.
In that fleeting instant, a chill swept across the entire Training Ground.
The momentum of a howling tempest.
The air touching So Ryong’s skin was sharp as a blade.
“Shall we have a martial match? If you win, I’ll serve under you.”

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