Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 54

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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 54.
“How about we have a match? If you win, I’ll serve under you.”
At Yalü Hee’s proposal, the Training Ground froze in an instant.
The gang members held their breath, their eyes fixed on the lips of So Ryong, the Feng Yun Ranking’s 100th-ranked master who had been the Black Dragon Gang’s strongest until yesterday.
So Ryong swallowed hard.
‘This doesn’t feel right….’
The aura radiating from the woman before me resembled something about Yun Cheon, who had crushed me yesterday.
Yalü Hee let out a soft laugh and walked toward the center of the Training Ground, her saber in hand.
‘No matter… even if she’s the Patriarch’s guest…!’
I couldn’t back down like this.
Before Yun Cheon had flattened me, I had clawed my way up from the depths of Qinghai and maintained my position as the 100th-ranked master of the Feng Yun Ranking.
I couldn’t show my subordinates the shameful sight of tucking tail before a woman I’d never seen before.
“…Then… forgive my rudeness! Haaah!”
So Ryong drew upon the Black Dragon Body Technique.
Crack, crackle.
My skin darkened as muscles like iron ingots swelled with power.
I kicked off the ground and hurled a weighty fist forward.
I had no intention of holding back because she was a woman.
No—my opponent was a companion of a monster like Yun Cheon.
Anything less than full power would be disrespectful.
Whoosh!
Yet Yalü Hee didn’t even draw her blade.
A gentle breeze slipped past my heavy fist wind.
Then came a sharp impact that assaulted the eardrums.
Thwack!
“What good is strength alone? You’re full of openings.”
Thwack! Crack!
“Ugh!”
Yalü Hee’s saber struck precisely at my ribs and solar plexus.
Though my external techniques had been honed through the Black Dragon Body Technique, I was helpless against such keen strikes that targeted only the meridian points where qi gathered.
“Tch, damn!”
Humiliated before my subordinates, So Ryong gritted my teeth and charged forward.
In response, Yalü Hee’s form spun like a top.
It was a footwork technique infused with the subtleties of the Wind God’s Dance that I had obtained from the Inner Library.
So Ryong’s heavy strike cleaved through empty air.
Meanwhile, Yalü Hee brushed past and lightly tapped my calf with her saber.
Had she drawn her blade fully, my leg would have been severed cleanly.
“Wh… what?”
Losing my center of gravity, So Ryong couldn’t overcome my own momentum and crashed into the dirt outside the Training Ground.
“….”
Silence fell over the courtyard.
The eyes of the Black Dragon Gang members widened with awe bordering on shock.
A master strong enough to join the Feng Yun Ranking had just been toyed with by a woman who hadn’t even drawn her blade.
“Ugh…”
“Frustrated?”
At Yun Cheon’s indifferent voice, So Ryong scrambled to his feet, brushing dust from his clothes.
With eyes brimming with grievance, he cried out as if wailing.
“To be honest… yes, I’m frustrated! Who exactly is that woman?”
“…You have some drive in you, at least. Pay your respects. She is Yalü Hee.”
So Ryong’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
“Yalü… Hee? You don’t mean… one of the Twelve Orthodox Families, the Guang Feng Yalü Family…!”
Yalü Hee nodded indifferently, and So Ryong’s heart sank in understanding.
Had he known from the start that she was from the Yalü Family, he would never have rushed in so recklessly.
‘…Second-in-command is out of reach. I’ll settle for third.’
Just then, a hoarse laugh echoed from atop the Black Dragon Gang’s wall.
“Hehehehe, now that’s worth watching! My appetite for drink has returned! Especially that footwork—or is it a dance?”
It was Chui Geom Yi Mok, who had somehow perched himself on the wall, tilting a wine bottle as he observed the match.
“Master Yi Mok. You’ve arrived.”
“Hehe… surely you’ve prepared wine, haven’t you?”
With a master of Yi Mok’s seniority joining their ranks, it would be a tremendous asset.
“We have more than enough. From this moment on, I’m imposing a drinking ban on the gang members for a while.”
“…!”
At the new gang leader’s declaration of prohibition, the members gasped in dismay.
Conversely, Yi Mok’s eyes lit up brilliantly.
“Keke… what should this old man do?”
“I would like to invite you as a guest of the Black Dragon Gang. It would be enough if you simply observed these fellows’ training when you have time to spare.”
“If you promise to show me your martial prowess properly one day, then training these ruffians is nothing!”
“I shall do so.”
Thus, Chui Geom Yi Mok also joined the Black Dragon Gang as a guest.
‘Even Master Chui Geom…?’
So Ryong rewrote the hierarchy in his mind once more.
Yun Cheon, the gang leader, stood at the unrivaled apex, with the daughter of the Guang Feng Family and the venerable old master beneath him.
‘Which of the two comes first?’
The order between second and third place remained unclear.
But one thing was certain.
Regardless of who ranked higher, two more monsters had appeared above So Ryong himself.
So Ryong swallowed bitter tears inwardly.
‘So I’m… fourth-in-command of the Black Dragon Gang now? I was first just yesterday…’
So Ryong’s ranking had plummeted in a single day.
Yet So Ryong’s eyes suddenly gleamed with determination.
I vowed to master the Black Dragon Technique that Yun Cheon had taught me long ago, and to reclaim my position as second-in-command no matter what it took.
* * *
The next morning at dawn.
In the hour when mist still clung to the earth.
It was not the crow of a rooster that shattered the silence of the Black Dragon Gang.
Clang, crash—!
Yun Cheon stamped his foot firmly into the Training Ground, the iron chains of his weighted garment clanking.
The Training Ground trembled as though an earthquake had struck.
What followed was a cold, cutting command that opened the morning of the Black Dragon Gang.
“Everyone up!”
The moment the order fell, So Ryong blazed through the corridors, kicking doors open.
“You brainless bastards! Get up now!”
“The leader has awakened and you’re still sleeping?!”
The gang members who followed emerged with faces drained of color.
Yalü Hee, whose body had absorbed the habits of Zamadong, appeared early with a look of contempt.
Chui Geom Yi Mok, reeking of alcohol, also appeared with a yawn.
With even the guest disciples already gathered at the Training Ground, the gang members had no choice but to emerge.
Yun Cheon’s threat to expel any gang member who lacked resolve was no idle boast.
However, waking up was merely the beginning.
“Everyone, run to the mountain peak. Those who fall behind get no breakfast.”
Thus began the Black Dragon Gang’s new daily routine that would repeat endlessly.
From dawn, a dark mass surged up the treacherous slopes of Qinghai, renowned for their ruggedness.
Yun Cheon led the way at the front.
Even with iron weights hanging from his body, he ascended the mountain path with long, powerful strides as though walking on level ground.
I had run these mountains every morning back at Kunlun as well.
Behind Yun Cheon, lost in nostalgia, the anguished cries of the gang members echoed through the mountain range.
“You bastards! Don’t slow your pace!”
“The leader is running—don’t you dare lag behind!”
“Do you want to die?!”
So Ryong, foaming at the mouth, drove the gang members relentlessly forward.
Since mastering the Black Dragon Technique, his body had become remarkably lighter, and intoxicated by his own progress, he pushed his subordinates even harder.
But that was not all.
There was In Young, moving like a phantom between them.
It was Yalü Hee.
She glided like wind itself, treading the footwork of the Wind God’s Dance.
Each time she passed by the formation, sharp cracking sounds rang out against the gang members whose posture had faltered.
Crack!
“Straighten your back. Next time I’ll strike your bones.”
Smack!
“Why aren’t you putting strength in your legs?”
Bang Do’s men trembled before the frost-like cruelty concealed behind her graceful form.
The stragglers at the rear were even more pathetic.
“Hehehehe, already gasping for breath, are we?”
Chui Geom Yi Mok staggered toward them, blowing into an empty wine bottle, yet even the Bang Do members running at full speed couldn’t shake him off.
Every time Yi Mok tapped their backsides with the empty bottle, they shrieked and tumbled forward.
“Tsk tsk, you young brats are slower than an old man who can barely walk. Come on, give it one more push!”
Tormented by So Ryong, Yalü Hee, and even Yi Mok during their morning run, the Bang Do members were suffering beyond measure.
The villagers opened their windows and whispered as they watched the Black Dragon Gang members shouting from dawn and scaling the mountain.
“Aren’t those the Black Dragon Gang thugs?”
“Why are those ruffians running up the mountain with such intensity?”
The villagers had once trembled at the mere sight of a Black Dragon Gang warrior.
But now curiosity gleamed in their eyes instead of fear.
“They say a real dragon has made its nest in the Black Dragon Gang—the rumors must be true.”
“My goodness… at least we can breathe easier now that they’re occupied.”
When the morning run ended and the Bang Do members returned to the Training Ground, a large cauldron with steam rising from it awaited them.
“Line up, everyone! This is medicinal cuisine prepared by the gang leader for vermin like you!”
It was a nourishing herbal dish filled with meat and medicinal ingredients procured from So Ryong’s private funds.
“Chew it! Chew every bone and swallow it, so that the gang leader’s grace is carved into your very marrow!”
Under So Ryong’s roar, the Bang Do members chewed their meat with tears streaming down their faces.
After being driven like beasts, a warm and nourishing meal had arrived.
The Bang Do members, once indistinguishable from common thugs, were growing accustomed to their transformed daily lives.
Their bodies felt lighter than yesterday.
The certainty that each passing day brought improvement.
It was a sense of achievement as a martial artist—something they had never experienced in their lives spent crawling at the bottom.
Yun Cheon gazed down at them impassively.
‘Creating a vessel to hold the Way is ultimately nothing but relentless repetition and the small achievements granted at its end.’
Transform the environment, eliminate alcohol, fill every moment with training.
Then humans change swiftly.
Even the young disciples of Kunlun weren’t born as Daoists.
I am confident I can turn thugs into martial artists.
‘Well… this much is simple. It’s not about becoming a Daoist, just… creating martial artists.’
* * *
In the office of the Ilwol Trading Company shrouded in darkness.
A carrier pigeon broke the silence as it arrived.
Yu Ha unfolded the note tied to its leg beneath the moonlight.
[Yun Cheon enters the top 100 rankings. Ascends as Black Dragon Gang leader.]
The sentence was brief, yet its weight was far from light.
A subtle smile played across Yu Ha’s lips.
“Hehehehe… the sleeping dragon has finally emerged from the water. To devour an entire faction at once. A bold opening move indeed.”
Yu Ha picked up his brush himself.
A brush tip stained with crimson ink crossed over the name of So Ryong, the gang leader of the Black Dragon Gang listed at the bottom of the Feng Yun Ranking.
A vivid red line was drawn.
Then Yu Ha inscribed a new name in neat yet sharp calligraphy.
[Rank 100. Black Dragon Yun Cheon]
Yu Ha deliberately omitted the title of “gang leader.”
He emphasized only that name—the two characters of Black Dragon.
“Dragon? Isn’t that epithet far too weighty?”
Il No, standing in the shadows, voiced his concern quietly.
The Feng Yun Ranking did not speak merely through rankings.
An epithet revealed far more about a person than numbers alone.
Traditionally in the martial world, the title of dragon was bestowed upon late-stage masters who had made their names resound.
The hungry wolves watching the Feng Yun Ranking would not let this pass without notice.
“No, it suits him perfectly. That boy is still a dormant dragon hiding behind the clouds. Shouldn’t I provoke and draw him out? That way, those watching will have something worth seeing.”
“Could it be… you intend to test that child?”
Wol No carefully divined his master’s true intentions.
Instead of answering, Yu Ha unfolded a map of the Central Plains beside the Feng Yun Ranking.
“A test? No, I’m looking much further ahead.”
Yu Ha’s finger pointed to the location where the Black Dragon Gang was situated.
“Acquire as much land as possible near the Black Dragon Gang. We’ll establish a branch of the trading company there.”
“Young Master, no matter how great your expectations, simply establishing a branch of the company for someone like Yun Cheon alone seems…”
“No, it’s not for Yun Cheon.”
Yu Ha drew the line firmly.
“It’s purely a matter of commerce. The location of the Black Dragon Gang is like a vital artery for our main sect’s expansion into the Central Plains. Until now, it merely lay dormant because its master was incompetent.”
Yu Ha’s finger traced a straight line connecting Tianshan, the Demonic Way Hall, and the Black Dragon Gang.
“But now that boy has made his nest there. Before long, our sect’s martial experts will flock to Qinghai chasing his reputation. We should be the ones sweeping up that wealth, shouldn’t we?”
A strategic and commercial stronghold—he was seizing the vital point with remarkable foresight.
The Ilwol Twin Wheels trembled as they finally grasped the scale of the chessboard Yu Ha was playing on.
“…We shall obey the Young Master’s command.”
“Understood.”
The wind stirred. The black and white pair, having received Yu Ha’s orders, vanished without a trace into the night mist.
Yu Ha gazed at the moon beyond the window and raised his cup alone.
“Well then, Yun Cheon. I’ve laid the board for you. Let’s see how brilliantly you can play.”
* * *
Along a path where the harsh sandy winds of Qinghai drummed against the paper windows.
Inside a desolate tavern, easily seven or eight li away from the Black Dragon Gang’s territory, the air buzzed with rumors that had just arrived.
Amid the ripe stench of alcohol from the clamoring men, there was one table where an oddly serene silence lingered.
Upon it lay only a teacup with wisps of steam rising from it instead of a wine bottle, and a single sheet of paper folded neatly.
The fingers of a woman who did not hold the teacup slowly traced across the paper.
[Rank 100. Black Dragon Yun Cheon]
A voice low yet chilling flowed from between the woman’s lips.
“…Black Dragon Gang?”
Crackle.
As the woman’s grip tightened, the tough mulberry paper shrieked and crumpled in her fist.
In her eyes, the characters of the Feng Yun Ranking dissolved into memories of the past.
‘The name that the Lord devoted his entire life to protecting….’
Her father had been a retainer of the Black Dragon Gang.
He had preserved his life under the grace of the previous Lord, and that same grace had extended to his daughter.
For Jin So Wol, the name “Black Dragon” was not merely a gang’s designation—it was a pride and legacy that must be upheld.
“So Ryong, it was a mistake to let that fool run free. Not content with calling himself the Young Lord and playing merchant, now he’s handing over the Black Dragon Gang to someone with no roots at all?”
Tap.
She set down her teacup and grasped the weapon she had leaned against the table’s edge.
A jet-black spear shaft.
Etched upon it with exquisite precision was the majestic form of a black dragon cleaving through clouds.
She swept her gaze coldly across the tavern reeking of alcohol and contempt, then rose to her feet.
“A counterfeit has stolen the name of the true. Now it is time to set things right.”
She hurled the crumpled scrap of the Feng Yun Ranking to the floor, her eyes fixed with lethal intent upon the Black Dragon Gang shrouded in darkness.
The black spear tassel hanging from the spear’s tip danced wildly in the night breeze as if possessed.
“I will pierce through the throat of the one who usurps the Black Dragon’s name, and reclaim that legacy my father once served.”

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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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