Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 110

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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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Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 110
Near Baek Su-san flows a river called the White Water, its currents winding around the mountain’s slopes.
Suddenly, the center of the river erupted upward like a fountain.
Shwoooooosh!
What burst forth was far more than mere water.
Within it were the silhouettes of dozens, perhaps hundreds of people.
“Cough! Cough!”
Elder Cheongseo of the Shaman sect, having dragged several disciples to the riverbank, remained sprawled on the ground, continuously expelling water from his lungs.
‘I thought I was going to die….’
Not only Cheong-so, but the Shaman’s disciples scattered about the riverbank were all either retching or lying prone, greedily gulping in the sweet air.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
“We… we survived…!”
Warriors collapsed along the riverbank in various states. Even those possessing the greatest martial prowess required a full hour to recover their strength.
The first task undertaken by those who had regained minimal energy was.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Elder, these creatures show no resistance.”
“It appears they’ve lost consciousness.”
“No matter. Kill them all. We have someone else to interrogate anyway.”
They proceeded to slaughter all the half-human monsters scattered about.
On one side, a demon with abnormally elongated arms resembling a praying mantis was being attacked by multiple warriors simultaneously.
“Bishop! Bishop…!”
The Hogyodaejoo was a supreme master capable of wielding numerous demonic arts, yet it was impossible to face all the enraged warriors alone.
“You killed plenty inside, didn’t you!”
“We shall make you pay the price of your sins.”
The Hogyodaejoo was subdued and forced to kneel in merely half an hour.
Elder Cheongseo stood before the Hogyodaejoo.
“Demon. Reveal your identity.”
“…I have nothing to say to unbelievers.”
Under normal circumstances, he would have responded with stern authority, maximizing the Shaman sect’s dignity before numerous witnesses.
Yet Elder Cheongseo simply turned away, pressing his throbbing temples.
He lacked the mental energy to bicker with a mere lackey at this moment.
‘Still, having that one here allows me to maintain at least minimal face.’
Geom Wang’s fortress was entirely a trap laid by the demonic forces’ secret organization.
The Shaman sect had led other warriors through and successfully bypassed the trap, capturing the second-in-command among the demons that swarmed forth.
Elder Cheongseo had instantly fabricated an excuse.
‘And moreover….’
He spotted Namgung Cheon-hu and a Sang-dan-jeon swordmaster lying among the Shaman’s disciples.
Having seen them swept away by the current, he had deliberately rescued them.
“Wake them.”
“Yes, Elder.”
As I infused vital energy to stimulate them, Namgung Cheon-hu and the Changcheon Sword Master opened their eyes.
Their first action was the same—expelling water from their lungs.
“Hack!”
“Cough! Cough!”
“Soga-joonim of Namgung. Are you regaining consciousness?”
“Where… am I?”
“We’re on the riverbank near Baek Su-san. More importantly, do you remember what happened?”
Namgung Cheon-hu’s body went rigid.
The memories before losing consciousness surfaced in response to the question.
He had brutally slaughtered his own subordinates with his own hands.
‘I… I must eliminate the witnesses.’
“Soga-joonim of Namgung.”
Namgung Cheon-hu snapped back to awareness.
Since all the Shaman’s disciples were witnesses, eliminating them was impossible.
He couldn’t even kill the single remaining subordinate.
Because doing so would change nothing.
“What we experienced at Geom Wang’s Fortress was a tragedy so grotesque it defies description. Our Shaman intends to use the captured Demon as evidence and report this matter to the Nine Factions, proposing countermeasures.”
“Countermeasures, you say…?”
“The demonic forces have been exposed to be operating in secret! Of course we must unite our strength to eradicate them! Isn’t that the duty of us righteous faction members!”
Understanding Elder Cheongseo’s intent, despair settled across Namgung Cheon-hu’s face.
That old fox would undoubtedly make Namgung Cheon-hu’s own actions a topic of discussion as well.
Only then could Cheongseo himself escape blame.
‘I… I…’
To solidify his standing within the family, he had gathered clues about Geom Wang’s Fortress without informing anyone.
This was the result of those efforts.
Having lost all but one of his sworn subordinates, he had effectively lost half his accumulated power base.
Moreover, the main family would certainly hold him accountable, meaning he stood to lose even more.
“Damn it…!”
“If you have the strength to curse, then return home. The Five Great Families must also coordinate with the Nine Factions. I trust you understand my meaning.”
The Nine Factions and the Five Great Families were the twin pillars of the Baekdo martial world, locked in a relationship of neither closeness nor distance.
‘The Shaman achieved the success of capturing a Demon. But if I return empty-handed…!’
“…The Demonic Sword. Where is the Demonic Sword?”
“You were the last to hold it, so why ask me? It’s probably been swept away by the current and sunk somewhere on the riverbed.”
If it appeared in the mortal realm, it would be a demonic artifact capable of unleashing a blood storm.
Thus it would need to be found, sealed, or destroyed.
This too would undoubtedly become an excuse for the Shaman to cover his tracks.
Or perhaps…
Namgung Cheon-hu stared intently at Cheongseo’s eyes.
Then he realized.
The Baek Su-san range marked the boundary between Henan and Anhui.
It’s just a stone’s throw from where the Shaman resides.
“Elder Cheongseo. I’ll contact the main family and dispatch martial artists to search for the Demon Blade.”
“And cause another bloodbath? The Shaman will handle this personally!”
Namgung Cheon-hu clenched his teeth.
What he feared had come to pass.
‘This cunning fox!’
The martial world is merciless. It’s a place where showing weakness means being torn apart, where exposing a flaw invites a blade through the gap.
Elder Cheongseo and the Shaman clearly intended to use the Demon Blade as a pretext to expand their influence into Anhui.
The Shaman was already an organization that staked its very existence on expanding its power.
With a good opportunity and justification now in hand, they were pouncing like beasts.
“You seem to understand. Then take care of yourself.”
Namgung Cheon-hu watched blankly as the Shaman’s disciples departed.
If the Namgung Family hadn’t declined, they could never have acted so brazenly, no matter what opportunity or justification arose.
‘If the main family had only maintained its position as the foremost of the Five Great Families as it once did…!’
Dark emotions swirled endlessly in Namgung Cheon-hu’s eyes.

* * *
At the same moment.
I and my companions climbed through a drainage hole and lay our bodies in a rocky crevice on the ceiling of the first cavern of the Sword King’s Vault.
“Ahhhhh!”
“We’re alive!”
“Truly, we’ve experienced everything imaginable in this place.”
“And then suddenly a flood burst forth.”
“We nearly got swept away and washed downstream, haha.”
“Oh, that. I caused it.”
“Huh?”
“…”
“…”
Seeing all eyes turn toward me, I subtly lifted the corners of my mouth.
“But thanks to that, we got plenty of gold.”
Adu and I, swept along by the rapids, encountered the Tang Siblings, Gu Ak, and Chu Dal, who had been searching for us from the drainage hole.
Thanks to the group forming a human chain and reaching out their hands, both Adu and I, along with the golden boat, were all pulled up.
The golden boat had to be completely destroyed since its size prevented it from passing through the drainage hole.
But as a result, our clothes and the luggage were packed full of gold.
“Hehehehe! Hehehehe!”
Krrrrumble! Krrrrumble!
The sinister laughter and the sound of rushing rapids echoed alternately as if in harmony.
“Little brother. You’ve rested enough now—tell us what happened beyond the stone gate.”
I gave a brief summary of what had transpired.
“We monopolized all the treasures in the Sword King’s Vault and killed Hyeolanra.”
“…It seems rather short.”
Chu Dal suddenly reached toward the blade gripped in Yang Hwi’s hand.
“Is this crimson sword also a relic of Geom Wang?”
“Smack!”
Chu Dal, who had thoughtlessly tried to touch it and received a strike on the back of his hand, wore an aggrieved expression.
“Why did you hit me! It’s not like touching it will wear it down!”
“It won’t wear down, but you’ll become a crazed murderer.”
“What?”
“A malevolent spirit dwells within the blade. Touch it and you’ll lose your reason, going berserk.”
“Eeeek…!”
“Hmm. Truly a demonic blade, as the name suggests.”
“So such a demonic blade actually exists in this world.”
In the current martial world, it was something that existed only in legends.
Well, it was one of the sacred treasures of the Hyeol Shin Hyeol Gyo after all, so it was legend itself.
“There are quite a few such items. Even the Jegal Family’s Wa-ryong Gwan is one of the sacred weapons.”
“Really?”
The Tang Family, when you think about it, had only about a hundred years of history, so they possessed no relics from the past.
Because of this, seeing a sacred weapon like the Hyeol Shin Demonic Blade—a demonic weapon—for the first time, it seemed fascinating.
“But how does Young Master So remain unharmed while wielding a demonic blade?”
“I’m an unparalleled genius, after all.”
“….”
“I’m joking. The Hwa-cheon-i-won-gong has inherent resistance to demonic energy invasion, and my mental fortitude is strong enough to endure it.”
After offering a suitable explanation, I continued.
“Well, my energy has recovered enough now, so let’s head out.”
“Already? I wanted to rest more thoroughly.”
“Chu Dal, if you’re going to rest anyway, wouldn’t it be better to rest in a guest room at a high-class inn?”
“I think it’s best we leave soon too. Once the martial artists who were swept away regain consciousness, they’ll surely search Baek Su-san thoroughly and conduct investigations.”
Dang-yeon suddenly widened her eyes.
“Oh!”
“Yeon-a, what’s wrong?”
“The remnants of Hyeol Gyo. They were all swept away by the water, but won’t there be another bloody battle outside?”
Yang Hwi shook his head.
“That won’t happen. Since the leader is dead, most of them will be nothing but empty meat.”
After explaining roughly, I rose to my feet.
“The surviving Hyeol Gyo Followers, including Hogyodaejoo, will number only one or two. The Shaman’s people will handle that much on their own.”
I suspect they’ll capture a few alive to use as scapegoats.
“Ugh. My body feels heavy.”
“Hehehehe, it’s a pleasantly weighty feeling, though.”
“That’s true, hehehehe.”
Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.
“Once I return to the main family and report my achievements, I wonder if Han Supervisor will ascend to immortality again.”
“Ascension to immortality is a term used for ghosts. It would be more fitting to say he’s transcended to the celestial realm.”
The group’s minds conjured an image of Han Seok-eon dancing merrily in their thoughts.
“He’ll probably hold a memorial service again, claiming that the Celestial Immortal has graced us with a visit.”

* * *
Han Supervisor, who had been playing baduk with Yeo Un-hyeok, suddenly lifted his head and gazed at the sky.
“Lord Yeo. I sense it has arrived.”
“What are you suddenly talking about, Han Supervisor?”
It had been seven years since Yeo Un-hyeok became part of the Baek Family.
Han Seok-eon and Yeo Un-hyeok had become something like friends in the meantime.
They shared the distinction of being the only two in the Baek Family who could be called elderly.
“It has arrived strongly. Hiya, I’ve never felt such a powerful sensation before!”
“You continue to speak in riddles.”
Yeo Un-hyeok, wearing a puzzled expression, soon understood the meaning when he saw the gesture Han Seok-eon made.
“Hehehehe!”
Han Seok-eon curled his index and thumb into a circle shape like a coin and held it up to his eyes, laughing in a knowing manner.
This gesture meant only one thing.
“Young Master Yang Hwi is about to earn money again?”
“Not about to—he’s already earned it. I’m certain of it!”
Though they were like friends, it sometimes gave me chills.
Yang Hwi said he was going to Anwhui for his travels, so by now he should be over a thousand li away, yet what does he sense?
It’s literally divine energy. Perhaps the Sang-dan-jeon has opened within him.
“Han Supervisor’s intuition hasn’t dulled with age. The main family’s finances are becoming quite respectable now, aren’t they?”
“Bah! We’re still far from it! This old man’s dream is to bathe in a tub filled with gold before I die!”
“….”
That might be fitting for the leader of the Black Path, but not for the supervisor of the Baek Family.
“By the way, Han Supervisor. What do you intend to do about the matter from before?”
Han Seok-eon’s expression darkened instantly.
The change was so dramatic he looked as though he’d aged ten years.
“You must mean Young Master Soga. Sigh… I’m troubled by it. How should I handle this? I cannot even speak of it to the family head who has entered seclusion.”
When Baek Heon-so learned that Yang Hwi had departed for his travels without him, he fell into deep disappointment.
No matter how devoted he was to his training, Yang Hwi had taken Chu Dal, who was the same age, without even giving him notice.
“Running away from home, no less. He’s barely fourteen years old. I wonder when Young Master Soga will ever mature.”
“In my view, it’s not that he lacks maturity, but rather that he has too much of it, which is causing the problem.”
“What makes you say such a thing?”
“Young Master Soga simply wishes to earn Young Master Yang Hwi’s recognition.”
Yeo Un-hyeok stroked his beard as he continued.
“Perhaps he will return with great gains like Young Master Yang Hwi. Young Master Soga is his younger brother and the one who tries hardest to emulate him.”
However, Han Seok-eon and Yeo Un-hyeok did not know.
I never imagined that the runaway Baek Heon-so would actually return with something in his grasp.

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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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