Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 156

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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 156
“Sniff, sniff! I endured that hellish ordeal to help my brother. How could you be so cruel to this younger brother!”
Chu Dal wept pitifully, his sobs filling the spacious guest room.
It was the kind of sorrowful display that would move even a stranger to pity and sympathy.
But.
“Chu Dal, Chu Dal—written with the character for ‘ugly’ and ‘mole rat.’ The more you cry, the uglier you become.”
The weeping ceased. Chu Dal stared at Yang Hwi with a blank, bewildered expression.
What? He was crying so pitifully, and that’s what he says?
It was then that Chu Dal realized something.
Setting aside his master Yeo Un-hyeok, even Jegal Seol-ha and Adu showed no sympathy on their faces.
Adu was too busy eating the rice cakes on the table.
Jegal Seol-ha wore an expression full of curiosity rather than concern.
‘Even if the monk is like that, but Jegal too?’
Could it be that his sworn brother’s disciples were all cold-blooded to the bone?
“Seolha can read people’s emotions. You’ve been caught red-handed.”
“…Tch.”
Chu Dal instantly stopped his tears and glared at Yang Hwi while standing on one leg.
“So when we meet after all this time, you show no joy or emotion whatsoever? You’re just as coldly rational as always?”
“My boy, don’t I know you?”
After all, wasn’t it strange for someone with Chu Dal’s tragic past—losing his father and being kidnapped by the Salsoo sect—to cry just from a bit of teasing?
Yang Hwi chuckled and continued.
“If you’re going to scheme, at least do it carefully. Now you’ve become someone who sheds false tears before a lady you’ve just met, trying to win her sympathy and favor.”
“No, that’s not it! My only goal was to deceive my brother!”
Chu Dal rubbed his hands together like the innkeeper as he looked at Jegal Seol-ha.
“Hehe, Jegal Miss… no wait, Jegal Sister! Lee Hu, the younger brother of my sworn brother, greets you once more. I hope you’re not displeased?”
Surprisingly, Jegal Seol-ha accepted the title Chu Dal had given her.
“Unlike some people, I have a generous heart, so don’t worry.”
“Ah yes, indeed. Someone in particular does seem rather narrow-minded. Living in such a spacious house and yet acting like that, tsk.”
“Aha! You’re as entertaining as I heard!”
“Did my brother praise me? That seems unlikely?”
“It was all insults really, but listening to them was quite amusing.”
“No matter how much one twists words or tries to sow discord, sincerity always comes through. Anyway, since I’m your sister, speak comfortably!”
“Then shall I? I’ll call you Chu Dal from now on.”
“Yes, Sister!”
Hmm. Both Seolha and Chu Dal weren’t the type to open their hearts easily to others.
‘Why do they get along so well?’
Well, from Seolha’s perspective, it made sense to view Chu Dal favorably.
Though I hadn’t directly examined his inner nature, Chu Dal was someone overflowing with loyalty and admirable character—someone who had walked beside me until the very end of my previous life.
As for Chu Dal… hmm. It was impossible for any man to keep his distance from Seolha.
A wave of unease suddenly surged within me.
‘What if later on, the two of them team up and gang up on me during arguments?’
Teasing Chu Dal and those around me was one of life’s pleasures, but if I had to face combined attacks, the fun would diminish considerably.
I felt the need to steer the conversation in a more serious direction.
“Still, that was impressive. How did you manage it? Making someone cry that instantly would require a lot of practice.”
“It’s one of our sect’s secret techniques. If you can control your facial muscles, squeezing out tears is nothing at all.”
I watched Chu Dal’s shoulders rise slightly and threw another compliment his way.
“Your concealment technique is quite refined too. I could overlook it with Yeo Un-hyeok, but I never expected to fail to sense your presence.”
It was a forced compliment, but it wasn’t a lie.
Despite my confidence in my sensitivity to qi, I could only detect the qi signatures of the two people in the room.
Which meant I couldn’t discern their identities from their qi signatures.
“For Chu Dal not to recognize your qi signature—your concealment technique has reached the pinnacle.”
“Hehehehe! Our sect’s concealment technique is the finest under heaven, so of course even you, Elder Brother, wouldn’t notice!”
Now Chu Dal’s nose was raised high along with his shoulders.
My boy, even after all that hellish training and whatnot, you’re still just a child.
Why is this so easy?
Let me punctuate this with a touch of sincerity.
“Well, well, you’ve worked hard and suffered much. I mean that sincerely.”
Speaking with a solemn expression, Chu Dal’s eyes glistened with genuine emotion, unlike before.
“…Thank you. Though I’m still just a second-rate novice.”
“That’s true enough.”
“Tch, in this atmosphere, I thought even you, Elder Brother, would fall for it and apologize for teasing me.”
“Your intentions are crystal clear—why would I fall for that? Anyway.”
I turned to Yeo Un-hyeok, who had been watching my banter with Chu Dal warmly.
“I take it you heard from Baek Ri-chudal that I would be visiting?”
“Indeed. I was waiting to give you a surprise.”
Good. That meant Yeo Un-hyeok and Chu Dal remained hidden cards I hadn’t played yet.
If Namgung Cheon-hu didn’t know of their return, I could use them.
‘And fortunately, their progress seems far better than expected.’
“I apologize for asking this right away, but there’s something I’d like you to help with. Let’s discuss it while we eat.”
I explained the current situation of the Baek Family while enjoying the still-warm meal.
“Though you’ve likely heard from Baek Ri-chudal, our family’s immediate enemy isn’t the Black Blade—it’s the Namgung Guys.”
“For this old man and his disciple to return at such a time, and for you to speak of this… you want us to conduct surveillance?”
“Exactly right.”
To bring down Namgung Cheon-hu, I need evidence of his collusion with the Black Blade above all else.
To move against the Family Head of the Namgung Family, one of the Five Great Families under heaven, I need that much justification.
“If you step forward directly, you could monitor Namgung Cheon-hu’s every move, could you not?”
Yeo Un-hyeok gazed at Chu Dal with a warm expression.
“For such a task, my disciple would be better suited than this old man.”
I looked at Chu Dal with a puzzled expression.
Namgung Cheon-hu and the Changcheon Sword Sect Members were all masters at the peak level.
I thought it would be more appropriate for Yeo Un-hyeok, who had reached the pinnacle of mastery, to step forward rather than Chu Dal, who was merely a second-rate martial artist.
“My martial prowess may be superior, but it is my disciple who has properly inherited the progression of the Spiritual Qi Meridian, Young Master.”
Chu Dal thumped his chest.
“Didn’t I tell you? Once I return from my training journey, things will be very different from before.”
“Your words are correct. Though still young in age, your achievements have surpassed mine. At least in spiritual martial techniques such as the Silver Concealment Art.”
Yeo Un-hyeok had become a disciple of the Younggwi Sect too late in life and failed to properly inherit the progression of the Spiritual Qi Meridian.
In contrast, Chu Dal, though still young, possessed such exceptional talent in that field that in his past life he had been called Baek Ri-chudal.
‘For now, he’s only at five li… hmm.’
“Very well. Let me see the abilities of Five-li Chu Dal then.”
“Ah, seriously! Why did the epithet ‘five li’ suddenly get attached to my name! I’m already sick of just hearing ‘Chu Dal’!”
“If it bothers you, train hard and ascend to ten li, a hundred li, even a thousand li.”
“Tch. We’ll see about that, brother.”
The banter ended there. I shifted my gaze and asked Chu Dal seriously.
“Chu Dal. If you get caught, you die without question. Are you confident?”
Chu Dal matched my resolve.
“Of course. Trust me, brother.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Hmm? Brother, when did you start believing so purely like this?”
I chuckled in response.
“That’s not it, Chu Dal.”
‘From my past life until now, I have never doubted you for a single moment.’
Jegal Seol-ha gazed quietly at Yang Hwi and Chu Dal.
A sudden pang of jealousy stirred within her.
‘Would my senior brother trust me like that?’
It seemed I would have to forgo sleep tonight.
I intended to devote myself more earnestly to the work I had been conducting alongside my training over the past three months.
‘Senior brother, I am the one who should be your disciple.’
A disciple who harbored competitive feelings toward her sworn brother.

* * *
The Cheongha Pavilion—a reception hall used by the Baek Family.
It was where Namgung Cheon-hu was staying.
‘Feels like I’m breaking into my own house to steal something.’
With that thought, Chu Dal vaulted over the wall and approached the Cheongha Pavilion.
Needless to say, I had already activated my shadow concealment technique, and none of the guards noticed my presence.
‘The Discipline Master is going to be furious with me later.’
The overall security chief of the estate was Gwak Moon, the Discipline Master.
Given his strict and principled nature, this incident would surely cause quite the uproar.
‘That should be entertaining.’
With a sly grin, Chu Dal scaled the pillar of the Cheongha Pavilion and climbed onto the roof.
‘According to the teachings in the manual, every building has three types of openings.’
Beyond the ordinary doors people used, there were windows and ventilation shafts.
Every building had ventilation shafts for air circulation. Without them, everything would rot.
Unless it was a place deliberately constructed by a major sect like the Treasure Chamber of Shaolin, where they stored their secret techniques.
Crawling through the ventilation shaft, Chu Dal was able to reach the ceiling of the guest room where Namgung Cheon-hu was staying without much difficulty.
Normally, it should have been impossible to move quickly through such narrow and winding passages.
Yet Chu Dal’s movements were faster than a sprint, and I navigated through widths that no ordinary person could pass through with ease.
‘The Body-Shifting Death-Erasing Technique. Truly the greatest skill for actual thievery.’
The Body-Shifting Death-Erasing Technique, the supreme secret art of the Shadow Ghost Gate, was a combined technique merging shadow concealment and bone-shifting methods—literally changing one’s form and erasing one’s presence.
With the Asura Hell Great Method added to such martial arts.
The current Chu Dal could slip through impossibly narrow gaps like a cat and crawl through dark crevices without a trace, like a cockroach.
“….”
A faint voice drifting up from below.
Infusing energy to sharpen my hearing, the words became clear.
“In four days.”
‘Four days?’
The ceiling was made of wooden planks joined together, so despite being extremely subtle, there were gaps.
I inserted a heaven-silk thread through one of these gaps and circulated my energy.
The Hidden Shadow Silk Technique—another supreme secret art of the Shadow Ghost Gate.
This martial technique, which could control up to ten strands of thread, actually had more uses outside of combat.
‘I can see it.’
Through the heaven-silk threads, I could observe the interior of the guest room.
Namgung Cheon-hu sat in a chair, holding a letter in his hand.
Suddenly, Chu Dal realized that Namgung Cheon-hu had changed greatly from when I’d seen him a few months ago.
How to describe it—the very aura he emanated had grown darker.
“I will kill them. I will surely kill them. Cheon-young. My brother. Baek Yang-hwi. How could he do such a thing. Father. Why have you done this to me. Heavens, why. Stain, yes, stain. If I can grasp it, what does filth matter. The Changcheon Sword Sect… The Namgung Family. The Dang Clan. I must deal with them. Baek Yang-hwi. Baek Yang-hwi. Baek Yang-hwi. Baek Yang-hwi…!”
Watching him mutter such fragmented words, it was clear he wasn’t conversing with anyone.
There was no coherence whatsoever to constitute a conversation.
Disjointed murmurings pouring forth without order.
While I could dismiss it as mere anxious rambling, there was something unnervingly ominous about it that I couldn’t ignore.
Had he been possessed by a ghost?
‘This is oddly unsettling.’
That was the moment.
Namgung Cheon-hu’s murmuring abruptly ceased.
“I will obtain it. Three days.”
‘Three days. This sounds like crucial information.’
Attempting anything further against a master of the highest caliber was somewhat reckless.
‘If I’m to boast before my brother, I need to uncover something far more decisive.’
I drew upon the Illusory Divine Killing Technique to its fullest extent, pushing the Heavenly Silkworm Thread deeper.
The Heavenly Silkworm Thread, extending to a foot’s distance above Namgung Cheon-hu’s head, curved and began reading the contents of the letter.
[Two hundred, three days, open gate, annihilation.]

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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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