Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 179

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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 179
Reputation—one’s name and standing—guarantees far more than one might think.
Because such is the nature of this era.
Just as I experienced not long ago, depending on who speaks, one could render even the Soga-joonim of the Five Great Families a worthless hand to be discarded.
‘A disciple of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven!’
‘If you’re going to impersonate someone, why did it have to be such a towering figure…!’
Despite Chu Dal and Baek Heon-so’s worries and unease, I followed the gatekeeper’s guidance with remarkable shamelessness.
“Namgung Cheon-yeong. Are you truly a disciple of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven?”
“Yes, I am! I don’t expect you to believe my word alone—go ahead and test me on anything once we’re inside.”
“Hmm… If it turns out to be false, you will face severe punishment.”
“Goodness, people really don’t trust anyone.”
Chu Dal and Baek Heon-so cried out inwardly once more.
‘No one would believe this no matter who came!’
‘Brother should have gone alone!’
Setting aside cultivation level, the three of us still bore the unmistakable marks of youth when one looked at our faces.
Three large boys arriving together and spouting claims about the Greatest Physician Under Heaven—naturally anyone would be suspicious.
Had our clothing not been of fine quality, we would have been beaten with a rod and cast out without question.
“Tsk, and here I am, a disciple of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven no less, receiving such shabby treatment?”
“For now it’s merely words, Namgung Cheon-yeong. Once the facts are verified, the Young Master will regard you with proper respect.”
“That’s how it must be. Ahem, ahem.”
We were shown to an elegant guest chamber within the reception hall.
“My, the reception hall here is no trivial matter.”
“Isn’t this better than the main residence of most estates?”
“Truly befitting the estate of one of the Three Greatest Wealthy Merchants Under Heaven.”
As we chatted and waited briefly, a man appeared.
His attire was as refined and ornate as the guest chamber itself, yet his face was filled with displeasure.
“Namgung Cheon-yeong. You claim to be a disciple of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven?”
He fired the question without even exchanging names first.
And with such a sour expression on his face, no less.
This was precisely the way to miss out on a distinguished guest.
What if a truly genuine disciple of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven—or someone of comparable importance—had come to visit?
‘Of course, I am committing fraud here.’
In any case, to avoid being cursed when my deception is eventually exposed, I should smooth things over a bit.
With that thought, I deliberately raised the corners of my mouth into a smile.
“How many times have you received a Young Master?”
At this unexpected question, the man—clearly the Young Master—showed a flicker of interest across his face.
“I ask because there seem to have been several who have claimed to be disciples of the Greatest Physician Under Heaven and visited this estate.”
“…You are the fourth. Two of them were beaten with a rod and cast out.”
There was a subtle pressure in his words: if you don’t want to become the fourth, you must absolutely prove you are his disciple.
Yet the corners of my mouth showed no sign of falling.
“The greatest physician under heaven, Seong Su-sin-ui Ami Seong. That person is indeed my master.”
That’s not true. I’ve never even seen her face.
But what does it matter? As long as I treat the merchant lord Jin Yeong-gil, everything will be resolved.
“May I ask a few simple questions to verify you’re truly a disciple of Seong Su-sin-ui?”
“Of course!”
The Soga-joonim, who had brought the physician into the guest quarters, began asking various questions.
Nearly all of them concerned medical arts.
I answered without difficulty and even added supplementary explanations, openly demonstrating that my knowledge ran deeper than the accompanying physician’s.
‘As the saying goes, even a dog at a village school can recite poetry after three years.’
The time I spent with the Dang Family’s Soga-joonim siblings amounted to nearly a decade.
The Dang Family’s medical knowledge was among the finest in all the realm, and my memory never forgot anything I heard once, so pretending to be a physician was not difficult at all.
“Soga-joonim. From our exchange of questions, it’s clear that I possess deep knowledge of medical arts.”
“Hmm. So you’re not some third-rate charlatan spouting lies to make a quick profit.”
“Of course not.”
I spoke as if stating the obvious. While I remained composed, Chu Dal and Baek Heon-so broke into cold sweat.
‘He’s right. Everything checks out from start to finish….’
‘Brother… their intuition seems quite sharp….’
“Soga-joonim. Can you trust me now?”
“Assuming you are indeed a disciple of Seong Su-sin-ui. What brings you to our estate?”
The Soga-joonim asked a counter-question instead of answering.
Clearly, he didn’t believe me yet.
“Why, to treat the merchant lord Jin Yeong-gil, of course.”
“And you’ll be collecting a fee for your services?”
“Ahem. If offered, I won’t refuse.”
“I see. I’ll provide you with guest quarters. Stay for several days.”
“Several days?”
A somewhat bewildered response came back.
“Did you think you could examine someone of the merchant lord’s stature immediately? I intend to thoroughly investigate your identity and recent activities over several days, so don’t take offense.”
The moment the Soga-joonim left and shut the guest room door with a sharp sound.
My eardrums rang loudly.
-Brother!! You stepped forward so confidently, but what is all this?!
-Won’t we be exposed? What do we do?
I glanced around the guest quarters. As expected of a merchant lord’s estate, guards were hidden in various places.
Well, they were quite obvious though.
-Since there are many ears listening, use sound transmission for anything we need to keep hidden from now on. Anyway, everything is going according to plan, so don’t worry.
Though I spoke reasonably, my words didn’t inspire much confidence in my two younger brothers.
-According to plan? You were clearly improvising and got stuck!
-Ah, Chu Dal, Chu Dal, you crude fellow.
-Wow, now you’re calling me strangely again?
-I’m just too lazy to speak at length today. Anyway, it really is all going according to plan.
-Produce your evidence!
-Well. We’re inside the Jang Estate right now. That’s the evidence.
“….”
“….”
I grinned at the two of them as they fell silent.
This wasn’t an excuse—everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.
After all, the whole “greatest physician under heaven” claim was merely a means to gain entry into the Jang Estate.
‘A disciple of Seong Su-sin-ui, who declared himself a recluse nearly a decade ago? Even if common folk wouldn’t know, a household of the caliber of the Three Great Magnates would find it difficult to believe on mere words.’
-Brother. But is it really… all right to impersonate someone? If problems arise later, Father might become angry.
-It’s fine, it’s fine. There won’t be any problems whatsoever.
Because Seong Su-sin-ui is already dead.
After about ten years passed, it became known in the martial world that someone had collected his remains and secret techniques. Probably.
There’s no one to scold or question me for impersonating his disciple. What problem could arise from borrowing his name for a few days?
All’s well that ends well.
“Now then, since we’re already inside the estate, let’s look around and gather some information. Let’s go.”
Jin Yeong-gil’s illness had spread quite widely as gossip.
So there would surely be plenty of quack physicians gathered at the reception hall, offering to treat his condition.
‘If someone has already taken his pulse, I can gather information about his symptoms from casual conversation.’
Since I knew the illness and its treatment, I was confident I could cure him within days if I simply attempted treatment, but there was no harm in learning more details beforehand.
As I was thinking such thoughts and heading toward the assembly hall where those staying at the reception quarters gathered,
‘Indeed, there are quite a few people dressed as physicians.’
“Greetings to you all! This young master is a disciple who has inherited the medical legacy of Seong Su-sin-ui, the greatest physician under heaven! I am Baek, and I offer my respects!”
Since I had invoked the name of a physician who had earned the title “greatest under heaven,” there should be at least some reaction.
Curiosity, perhaps. Or bewilderment.
Or even suspicion, at best.
But the reaction was rather muted.
“You are… a disciple of that physician, you say.”
The one who spoke was a nun with verdant hair, wearing a small straw hat.
In other words, a Buddhist nun.
When one thinks of Sichuan and nuns, one sect immediately comes to mind.
“Ami Sect?”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
Now that I looked, beside the nun sat a Daoist in robes embroidered with a sunset-hued blue cloud, sipping tea.
Red clouds below, blue clouds above. And Sichuan.
‘It’s Cheongseng. Two of the Gu-pa sects of Sichuan are both staying as guests here.’
“Infinite Buddha. How amusing this is.”
Black robes, pitch-dark. Upon them, white mist embroidered.
No, not mist—a pattern depicting light itself.
“Jeomchang as well?”
“Haha, to recognize our sect’s colors—it seems the Daoist truly knows much.”
How could I not know? No matter how isolated Yunnan is, it’s still one of the Gu-pa.
Even from such a distant place, it’s a faction powerful enough to have a name among the Gu-pa.
“It is an honor to meet the distinguished guests of the renowned Ami, Cheongseng, and Jeomchang.”
As I performed the fist salute, a Daoist from Jeomchang smiled faintly.
“It would be proper to exchange courtesies and introduce ourselves first. But before that, I have one question, friend.”
The Daoist placed his hand on the shoulder of the man standing beside him.
“Sosineui here. Does this friend have anything to say about claiming to be a disciple of the Great Physician?”
Sosineui shook his head as if it were absurd.
“My Master had only one disciple, and that was me, Nong-o Daoist.”
I had never lost my composure for even a moment until now.
But at this very instant, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
‘What? This wasn’t in the plan.’

* * *
To be honest, I had thought the Soga-joonim’s attitude toward me was unusually prickly and suspicious.
No matter how prestigious the Three Greatest Merchants of the realm were, the name of Seong Su-sin-ui, the greatest physician under heaven, would never yield to them.
But why treat me with such coldness when it hasn’t even been proven false?
‘So the coldness was justified.’
On this side, three young upstarts suddenly claiming to be disciples of Seong Su-sin-ui.
On that side, a disciple of Seong Su-sin-ui under the patronage of three Gu-pa.
‘Ah, the Soga-joonim is truly a deep person. He’ll become a great figure in the future. He didn’t even turn us away at the gate.’
At this point, I should apologize for not recognizing the situation sooner.
‘The problem is that both sides are frauds and fakes.’
Seong Su-sin-ui died without taking any disciples.
This much is certain.
Well, there could be some hidden history involved… but one thing is clear—he had no disciples.
While I was thinking this, Nong-o of Jeomchang smiled broadly and asked me.
“Well then, friend. It seems it’s time to introduce ourselves properly. I am called Nong-o of Jeomchang.”
In other words, stop spouting nonsense about being a disciple of the Great Physician and reveal your true identity.
-Brother, this has gotten way too big. Should we tell the truth now?
-Brother! This is a disaster! What do we do now? If anything goes wrong here, it will bring ruin to the Dang Family!
Ruin would be putting it mildly. The Dang Family is held by the leash of the Gu-pa, and before my eyes stand disciples from three of the Gu-pa.
‘This situation has become quite difficult.’
Three of the Gu-pa, and all three from the nearby regions, sent people?
Up to this point, it’s understandable.
Someone like Jin Yeong-gil, one of the Three Greatest Merchants, would send a disciple to investigate the details, and if they even managed a cure, the value as a connection would be immense.
The problem is why now of all times.
They investigated this side and sent people?
Even if Jegal Gongmyeong came back to life, he couldn’t have predicted this, so it’s purely coincidence.
‘Damn. My luck is absolutely rotten.’
“Nong-o Daoist. Why do you remain silent? Perhaps you have no name?”
I fixed my gaze upon the Nong-o Daoist’s face.
With that smiling expression, he truly excels at saying the most irritating things.
Is it because he’s a Daoist? Why is he so infuriating?
‘Tch. At this point, I’ll charge straight ahead.’
“For now, call me Baek Gong-ja. But before that, I have something to say to the members of Gu-pa. That man is a fraud.”
Sosineui, upon being singled out by Yang Hwi, felt his face stiffen rigidly.
Regardless, I straightened my shoulders and continued speaking.
“He is absolutely a fraud. Why? Because that man cannot possibly be Sosineui’s disciple! I’ll even wager on it! I’ll stake my wrist—no, my very neck!”
The desperate mental transmissions from Chu Dal and Baek Heon-so pierced my eardrums.
-Brother! How far are you planning to go!
-There’s no turning back now!
-Aaah! That’s not it! This doesn’t seem like the right path!
-Brother! I’m terrified! I’m genuinely scared!
Well now, my younger brothers.
It seems the time has come for me to impart wisdom upon you.
Crisis is opportunity, after all.

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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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