Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 148

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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 148
“Boom!”
Instead of swinging my sword at Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, I had to block a sudden ambush.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
I barely managed to defend, but the impact shattered my insides, and blood surged forth.
Watching the peak masters unleashing explosive momentum, I couldn’t help but mutter with frustration.
“Damn it.”
Look at him—I told him to use his original energy, but instead he sacrifices his subordinates.
The sudden eruption of the four peak masters who served as his guards was enough to force Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol to retreat.
“Yang Hwi, I’m sorry!”
Adu rushed over, unable to stop those he was fighting from interfering, but Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol was already fleeing with his tail between his legs.
Charging into the black formation to catch him now would be nothing short of suicide.
“It’s fine. He threw away four peak masters just to escape—there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Next time, I’ll have to weave a more perfect net before attempting to fish.
“Kill them all.”
Though the four created a temporary power gap with their sudden eruption, the moment Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol fled, they were already dead men.
It took time, but I eliminated every single warrior Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol brought with him without losing a single one of mine.
‘Well, I suppose this counts as a major victory.’
The battle was coming to an end. It was inevitable once the leader, Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, had fled.
Roughly forty white-robed warriors clashed against one hundred twenty black-robed warriors.
Victory belonged to the white-robed side.
‘Letting Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol escape is somewhat regrettable, but… no.’
I realized I wasn’t as disappointed as I expected, so I quickly understood why.
‘What I regretted was not killing him in one blow.’
In my past life, Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol had humiliated my father.
I felt it insufficient to simply kill such a man cleanly without inflicting deep regret or searing remorse upon him.
‘There will be plenty of opportunities ahead. Besides, I’ve already obtained what I needed.’
Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol would witness everything he had built over a lifetime crumble piece by piece before meeting a terrible end.
It would certainly happen that way.
After all, I had made a ten-year pact with the Dang Family with this very future in mind from the moment of my regression.
‘Building up the main family while taking revenge—killing two birds with one stone. Speaking of revenge…’
Another target of my vengeance: Namgung.
I looked toward Namgung Cheon-hu, and he was turning his gaze toward me at that very moment.
Our eyes met for a brief instant.
I let a smirk play across my lips.
‘So it was Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol’s side.’
The reason for my certainty was simple: I had noticed Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol sending a desperate transmission like a man desperately in love.
Judging from how Namgung Cheon-hu responded with strange sounds instead of answering, he may have anticipated this, but in any case, I can detect others’ transmissions.
It was impossible even in my past life, but it resulted from my extremely refined energy perception combined with the understanding of energy and sound that Eum Hu had taught me.
Though I still cannot discern the actual content of the messages.
‘The sound transmission I shared with my subordinate. The sound transmission sent by Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol. Adding these to the other circumstances…’
There was still no conclusive evidence.
Yet even circumstantial evidence of this magnitude was as good as a confession.
And once I saw how Namgung Cheon-hu responded going forward, it would become even more certain.
‘He killed about seventy of the Black Bandits but lost half of the Changcheon Sword Sect Members. That must sting quite a bit.’
The Changcheon Sword Sect Members were all masters at the pinnacle of martial arts.
So Namgung Cheon-hu had just lost ten pinnacle masters today!
Considering that a master at the pinnacle realm could easily become the supreme expert of an entire province, this was truly a catastrophic loss.
‘Now if he wants to harm the main family, he’ll need to forge an even deeper alliance with those Black Bandit bastards.’
There was the option of the Namgung main family sending additional forces, but the likelihood was slim.
Would a massive prestigious clan like the Namgung lose more than ten pinnacle masters just squabbling with the Gangseong Black Bandits?
Even if they could claim victory by accepting ten losses once everything was finished, to send more martial artists after suffering losses from the start would be a loss of face.
‘I’ve truly obtained everything I could. I’ve prevented Namgung’s interference from growing, dealt a poisoned blow to the Honam faction, and even created circumstances that would make it easy to secure evidence of future collusion.’
The materials were sufficient at this point. Now, how should I prepare them to make the finest dish?
While thinking such thoughts, I looked upon my allies—Adu, Jegal Seol-ha, and the others.
“Brother Seo. A great victory.”
Gu Ak, his twin axes drenched in blood, approached me.
After Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol’s escape, the Black Bandits had lost their morale and were scattering in all directions, so Gu Ak had no more opponents to fight.
“You’ve worked hard, Elder Brother Gu.”
Indeed, Gu Ak had demonstrated remarkable prowess.
When he was raging like a madman earlier, it was like seeing his old self from his Black Bandit days.
Thanks to that, I was able to fight more safely in the situation where I had offered myself as bait against Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol.
“Adu also worked hard. I’m truly grateful to both of you.”
Adu had also done his part solidly.
Now that I thought about it, meeting Adu on the way to Geom Wang’s Fortress was fortune among fortunes.
How much help had he provided since then?
And without any compensation at that!
‘A pinnacle master you can command with just a pound of rice cakes? This is absolutely insane.’
Moreover, he wasn’t just any pinnacle master—he was capable of fighting one-against-three or even one-against-four against ordinary pinnacle masters.
“No, I’m sorry, Yang Hwi. I made a mistake.”
Adu seemed dejected, perhaps because the guards had triggered their latent power and allowed Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol to escape.
“I won’t take the rice cakes. I need to reflect.”
“It’s fine. We’ll just kill him next time. I’ll give you double the rice cakes.”
“Really?!”
Color returned to his dejected face.
I chuckled softly and looked toward Jegal Seol-ha.
“I’m grateful to you as well today, Seol-ha.”
“…No, I’m not.”
Jegal Seol-ha seemed dejected in a different way.
I immediately understood what emotion she was experiencing.
“Seolha. This was your first real battle today. It’s extremely rare for someone to perform at their usual level when swords are clashing all around them and people are dying.”
“But Elder Brother fought well from the very beginning.”
‘That’s because I’ve spent twenty years eating sword rice.’
It wasn’t something I could excuse myself with in front of Seolha.
“Today, you accomplished more than your fair share. So don’t blame yourself.”
Jegal Seol-ha looked down at the ground and kicked away a pebble with her foot.
The picture she had first imagined was not like this.
She had become the direct disciple of Pacheon Eumhu, one of the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
Yet today, she had failed to properly demonstrate her abilities.
Despite having trained in sound martial arts specialized for large-scale battlefield engagements.
All she had done was send out a few sound waves at the ragtag soldiers scraped together from here and there according to orders.
‘No matter how much I’m still only at the first-rate level… I was far too rigid.’
At her age, first-rate level would be counted among the finest martial artists in all the realm, but the standard for comparison was Yang Hwi, making such positive thoughts difficult.
He had reached first-rate level years ago, and despite being the same age, he was already a supreme master capable of matching the leaders and subordinates of major factions.
Not merely counted among the finest in all the realm, but undoubtedly the greatest martial artist under heaven in anyone’s eyes.
Not only Yang Hwi but even Adu was a master incomparable to Jegal Seol-ha herself.
“What Elder Brother meant by my share was not as a first-rate sound martial artist, but as a member of the Jegal Family, wasn’t it?”
“….”
I couldn’t answer immediately. Honestly, her words were correct.
“I see. It’s fine.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, I say. I just need to work harder, haha.”
Yang Hwi looked at Jegal Seol-ha with admiring eyes.
Reflection on her shortcomings and the drive for improvement that arose from it.
It was never easy to possess such a mindset.
‘When we return, I should give her something more. Seolha truly played a significant role today.’
“Everyone, let’s return!”
It was time to return to the main family and discuss the distribution of rewards and future strategy.

* * *
“Our forces suffered approximately twenty casualties. The Honam Heuk-gyeong Bang-ju retreated after losing over seventy men.”
As I finished my report, the war council chamber erupted in cheers.
“A magnificent victory!”
“To defeat two hundred and forty with merely forty is extraordinary, but such an overwhelming triumph!”
“When the Crown Prince suddenly changed his course, I wondered what was happening—so he was bringing us such excellent news!”
Then Baek Moo-ryang spoke.
“What of the casualties among our main family’s warriors?”
A sudden hush fell over the chamber. All eyes turned to me once more.
“Six. Primarily those who had recently joined the main family and had not yet fully mastered our formation techniques.”
By “casualties,” he meant those who had lost their lives.
In the martial world where blades were constant companions, injuries were rarely counted as casualties unless they were severe.
“I see. First, let us honor them.”
“….”
“….”
Baek Moo-ryang closed his eyes first.
The war council chamber held not only warriors from the Baek Ui-mun faction, but also the newly inducted Jeongwol Gakzhu and Gae-cheon Mu-gwan-ju.
In their eyes shone admiration for Baek Moo-ryang and awe at his character.
‘He is truly a father. Rather than intoxicated by the glory of victory, he does not overlook even the smallest sacrifice.’
In the martial world, death was never distant.
Thus, achieving victory with minimal sacrifice was cause for celebration, and there existed an unspoken convention to deliberately refrain from mentioning those who had fallen.
Baek Moo-ryang declared he would not follow such custom.
“Now speak, Hwi. Tell us the full extent of your sudden movements.”
Baek Moo-ryang already knew that I had met with Heuk-gyeong Bang-ju.
But the other senior members of the family had not yet learned this fact.
I explained the matter to them.
“How extraordinary…!”
“You undertook such a dangerous endeavor?”
“To enter enemy lines and request a private audience with their commander—the Crown Prince’s boldness is truly commendable.”
“I appreciate your words. In any case, after obtaining that intelligence, I judged that we could not simply wait. So I acted accordingly.”
The reason I could speak so openly was because Namgung Cheon-hu was not present in the chamber.
These were all trustworthy individuals, so there was no need for caution—I laid everything bare. That was how they would interpret it.
‘People repay loyalty when they feel trusted.’
In truth, the time we had spent together was short for such trust.
Yet it mattered not.
Should someone report this information to Namgung Cheon-hu, that would be even better.
I could use that to my advantage and discover who among them needed to be eliminated.
“By the way, why has Namgung Soga-joonim not returned?”
“The Changcheon Sword Sect fought at the forefront, so there are those among them with severe injuries. He said he would tend to them before returning.”
On the surface, it seemed a reasonable decision.
It was a judgment befitting the head of a clan and the leader of his forces.
However.
“Well, even if that weren’t the case, you’d certainly be busy.”
It was a truly meaningful statement.

* * *
A manor situated not far from where the battle had taken place.
This was one of the strongholds of the black path faction that Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol had painstakingly gathered.
“Damn it!”
The armrest of the chair was crushed to powder.
It was because it had been gripped in the hands of Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, a master of martial technique.
Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, venting his rage in a terrifying manner, still had his hair disheveled.
Yang Hwi had sliced through his hair along with his crown, leaving him unable to tie it back and arrange it properly.
“Namgung Cheon-hu… I will kill you without fail…!”
The target of Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol’s fury was not Yang Hwi.
He certainly intended to disembowel that arrogant brat and crush his insides, but first came Namgung Cheon-hu.
‘How dare you betray me? Set such a trap?’
He had naturally never fully trusted him.
Yet because of that, this defeat was all the more bitter.
If he had been backstabbed after trusting someone, the fault could be mitigated, but since he hadn’t trusted him and still ended up in this situation, it was the leader’s mistake.
Then it happened.
“Sect Leader.”
“Didn’t I say I wished to be alone!”
“…A guest has arrived.”
“A guest?”
Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, sensing something in that instant, launched himself out like a beast.
His worst suspicion had proven correct.
“Namgung Cheon-hu!”
Even as Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol’s lion’s roar struck him full force, Namgung Cheon-hu maintained his expressionless composure.
“Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol. Let’s talk.”

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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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