Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 172

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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 172
The Chaos of the Heretical Sects.
An unprecedented blood calamity brought forth by the three great heretical sects—Singyeo, the Bright Teachings, and the Blood Sect.
I first met Dang-gun when the chaos of the heretical sects was at its peak.
“Are you Baek Yang-hwi?”
“Yes, Dang Soga-ju.”
“To meet the renowned Nangjoong Jeil-geom. What an honor. I hear you committed insubordination and had your employment contract terminated.”
“No matter how skilled an assassin one might be, there are principles one cannot compromise. Surely someone of your renowned reputation, Dang-gun, would understand such things?”
“What? Puhahahaha!”
Our initial relationship was merely that of employer and employee.
Yet we grew close with remarkable speed.
Dang-gun, whose reputation for ruthlessness was well-earned—showing no mercy in his methods and governing his subordinates with an iron hand.
I was an assassin from a third-rate martial family, yet I never hesitated to confront my superior when he acted foolishly.
Surprisingly, we possessed a common ground.
“To elevate your family to one of the great clans. You’ve chosen a treacherous path.”
“How could I compare to you, Soga-ju? I don’t merely wish to make it a great family—I aspire to claim one of the Five Great Families’ positions.”
The desire we both harbored was the revitalization of our respective families.
“To overhaul the family martial arts and step onto the front lines yourself. Baek Sohyeop, you are truly a courageous man.”
“Coming from someone who serves as the Dang Family’s Soga-ju and yet chooses the front lines himself, such praise only embarrasses me.”
We were consumed by the urgency of our aspirations—willing to stake our very lives on the front lines to reconstruct our families’ martial techniques.
“You are truly remarkable. Had Baek Sohyeop been born into a prestigious family… I believe much would have changed.”
“I share that sentiment.”
“…Though it’s rather unfortunate to say such things. Haha.”
We admired each other deeply.
For our character, our innate talents, and the convictions we held.
That we soon swore the oath of sworn brothers was, in retrospect, inevitable.
“Younger Brother Hwi. My sole desire, as the head of the main family, is to break free from the fate imposed upon us.”
We would often confide in each other about the burdens we carried.
Through this, I came to understand much about the Dang Family.
A family that originated from blacksmiths and physicians, eventually coming to master poisons and secret weapons.
They received aid from Gu-pa and the Five Great Families, yet became bound by those very chains.
“Elder Dang. What kind of place is the Dang Family?”
“Haha, it seems the more time passes, the more questions you have about the main family?”
“Well, when our Baek Family rises to join the great clans, there will be much to prepare. I’m simply gathering knowledge for future reference.”
“The Dang Family is… truly a wonderful place. A gathering of good people standing together.”
After speaking of the Dang Family with such affection for a time.
Dang-gun looked into my eyes.
“Younger Brother Hwi. Shall we make a promise to each other?”
“What kind?”
“A simple one.”
Hearing the continued words, I nodded, and Dang-gun flashed a bright smile.
“Hahaha, what do you think about calling today’s pact the Dang-Baek Accord, taking each of our family names? Dang comes first because I’m the elder brother!”
Even if Dang came first because the Dang Family’s influence was greater, there would be nothing to say against it.
It was these small considerations that made me regard Dang-gun as an elder brother.
“Whether it’s the Baek-Dang Accord or the Dang-Baek Accord, it’s all the same anyway.”
“Thank you for understanding. So we’re now bound by this accord?”
“Hearing it put that way makes me a bit embarrassed.”
“I feel the same way, honestly. In any case, a day like this can’t go without wine. Wait just a moment!”
Dang-gun’s figure rushing off with a hearty laugh.
At that time, I had such a thought.
One of the Dang Family’s principles was ‘repay kindness twofold, repay enmity tenfold,’ wasn’t it?
Then it would be fitting for me to return what I had received in equal measure.

* * *
When I asked Dang-gun in detail about the Dang Family on the way here, he said something like this.
The Dang Family Head was truly a warm and affectionate person.
What was it he said—that despite being merely a distant cousin, he was appointed to the position of Soga-ju, surpassing the Family Head’s own children, yet was accepted warmly by this fair and just person?
‘Elder Dang. That doesn’t seem quite right.’
What warm and affectionate person in this world administers poison from the very first meeting?
If he had administered poison to everyone he met, then perhaps he could be called fair and just.
And then a marriage proposal out of nowhere?
Not even an ordinary betrothal, but forcing me to become a son-in-law.
‘Unless he’s a madman, there’s always a reason behind every action.’
The Dang Family and the Baek Family share one thing in common.
If the Baek Family proclaimed an unyielding righteousness,
The Dang Family simply dislikes yielding.
More precisely, they show a hostile attitude toward all external pressure.
‘This is also a test.’
In the martial world, seniors testing juniors is a sort of convention.
But such tests aren’t limited to martial prowess alone.
That’s why I smiled wryly and spoke words of refusal.
“I must decline, Family Head.”
“….”
Dang Seong fell silent and gazed at me.
His eyes were emotionless and piercing, but this much was nothing.
If I now seized the initiative in conversation by saying I had realized this was a test….
“I don’t want to, Family Head!”
A statement that broke the game. The owner of that voice was Dang-yeon.
She was not the Dang Family Head’s daughter, but the younger sister of Dang-gun, who would become the future Family Head.
If a strategic marriage were to be arranged, Dang-yeon would inevitably be the first choice.
“Yang Hwi is a good younger brother, but he’s always acting so superior! Living together is impossible!”
My mouth fell open involuntarily.
Wait, she thought of me that way?
This I cannot tolerate.
“I don’t like you either? Spending a hundred years together with someone who looks like she’d poison my rice whenever we quarrel!”
“What? That’s a relief! We dislike each other!”
It was Dang Seong who cut short the staring contest between Yang Hwi and Dang-yeon.
“Both of you, stop. It was just a joke anyway.”
“A joke? Family Head, what kind of joke is that…!”
“Yeon-a, enough! We’ll talk later!”
“Ow! Brother, my lips hurt!”
“That’s enough, come with me!”
Dang-gun, pinching Dang-yeon’s protruding lips, walked straight out.
“….”
“….”
“My apologies. We raised her hearing nothing but praise.”
“…I understand.”
Thank goodness our Yeon-yeon isn’t like that.
Truly.
“By the way, it’s as I heard. When did you first notice?”
“If you ask it that way, I should say from the very beginning.”
“Hmm.”
Dang Seong’s eyes gleamed with intrigue once more.
“Tell me then.”
“What would you like me to speak of?”
“What you noticed.”
“If I do, I should offer my respects anew.”
I rose to my feet and turned to the side.
-Seo. Get up and follow my lead.
Together with Baek Heon-so, I performed a respectful fist salute toward the front.
“Yang Hwi of the Baek Family greets the esteemed elders of the Dang Family.”
“Heon-so of the Baek Family greets the esteemed elders of the Dang Family.”
As Dang Seong raised his hand, the painting behind began to move.
‘It wasn’t a wall—it was a folding door.’
I had thought they were listening to the conversation from a conference room beyond the thin wall.
But perhaps it had been one space from the beginning.
“How did you know?”
“My sensitivity to qi is exceptionally keen.”
“So you didn’t notice—you sensed it from the start.”
Watching Yang Hwi offer a subtle smile instead of answering, Dang Seong felt genuine admiration stir within him.
‘Indeed, talent is talent. This is no ordinary gift.’
Dang Seong’s expression hardened slightly as he composed himself.
“Why didn’t you say anything? Do you find it amusing to make an elder into the Monkey King trapped in Buddha’s palm?”
“Yes. It’s amusing.”
Rather than feeling pressured, Yang Hwi broke into another grin.
Dang Seong’s lips curled upward as he turned to look behind him.
“I think this will suffice. What do you all think?”
“I agree as well.”
“The young master certainly possesses remarkable audacity.”
Overall, they appeared satisfied.
It was as I had anticipated.
‘The Dang Family favors those with backbone.’
A clan born from blacksmiths and physicians who had lost precious things to martial artists.
From their very origin, they were the weak who refused to be trampled by the strong, and such people had gathered to form the Dang Family.
Everything had been a test.
Even the sudden display of momentum.
When pointing out rudeness by comparing it to the spicy Sichuan cuisine, going so far as to mention a son-in-law arrangement.
And finally, composing himself once more to ask if it was amusing.
“A martial artist must possess spirit!”
“Observing the character of your young masters, I can well imagine the Baek Family’s traditions.”
“They say an unyielding spirit was proclaimed—indeed, unyielding it is.”
At last satisfied, Dang Seong clapped his palm against his fist.
“I apologize for the rudeness, young masters. We Dang folk have one troublesome habit, you see.”
“It’s no matter. Isn’t this merely the convention of the martial world?”
“I’m grateful you see it that way. Welcome to the Dang Family!”
His demeanor was now warm and full of affection, unlike before.
To the degree that I could understand what Dang-gun had said of the Dang Family Head.
However.
“I would prefer an apology to hospitality.”
The noisy hall fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
“Say that again.”
“I said I would prefer an apology for the rudeness rather than hospitality.”
“….”
The atmosphere grew cold enough that even Baek Heon-so felt the tension, but Yang Hwi continued undeterred.
“To the Sichuan Poison King Dang Seong, my younger brother and I are certainly juniors of the martial world.”
Therefore, the treatment Dang Seong had shown earlier could not be deemed greatly improper.
However.
“To the Dang Family Head, my younger brother and I are also envoys of the Baek Family.”
Juniors and seniors of the martial world. And, envoys of an alliance.
Depending on which position takes precedence, his recent actions could be considered either rude or not.
‘To the Dang Family, the Baek Family must feel like an unexpected windfall.’
And wasn’t that the truth?
A third-rate martial clan that had sought to forge relations by even offering portions of ancestral estates as branch family lands while expanding beyond Sichuan.
That was precisely what the Baek Family represented to the Dang Family.
At least, that was certainly how it had begun.
‘They’re grateful that the Dang Mun Jeon changed their perception of the Dang Family through those scattered tales and obscure writings….’
Still, the Dang Family had done much for the Baek Family in return.
They had thrown their full weight behind the purge of the Black Blade bandits in Gangseong without hesitation.
Since they had given and received equally, the debt was settled.
What remained now was the proof of worthiness.
‘So this too is a test.’
The Dang Family, while not among the Five Great Families of the realm, ranked within the top ten martial clans across all the land.
To be regarded as an equal ally by such a house, the Baek Family had to prove itself.
‘In truth, we still have far to go to become true equals.’
Though we had come to be counted as the foremost martial clan in Gangseong, we remained weak compared to the Dang Family.
Had it been any other great house instead of the Dang Family, they would have quietly absorbed the Baek Family or kept us subordinate and used us as tools.
‘But they did not. The Dang Family showed integrity.’
The Dang Family had clearly supported us greatly in reaching this point, and had even honored the ten-year covenant.
Then what did the Dang Family expect from us?
“As the representative of the Baek Family, I demand an apology for your rudeness.”
“….”
“….”
A silence so profound it felt glacial.
Dang Seong rose to his feet without a word.
And then, immediately after.
“Dang Family Head Dang Seong offers his apologies to the representative of the Baek Family.”
In Dang Seong’s expression as he spoke lay a quiet satisfaction—the kind one extends to those who honor their trust.

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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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