Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 198

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 198
I fingered the golden token resting in my palm.
Twenty years old.
The feelings were fresh and new.
In my past life, at this very age, I had left my family and begun wandering the realm.
In this life, though the circumstances differed somewhat, I was embarking upon a new journey all the same.
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering would become a pivotal turning point.
I would ensure it became exactly that.
As I smiled with that thought, Chu Dal was offering his respects to Dang-gun.
“My apologies for the late introduction, Soga-joonim. I am Lee Hu, known as the Ghostly Vanishing Hawk Chivalrous One!”
Dang-gun wore a puzzled expression as he watched Chu Dal formally introduce himself.
“Chu Dal, was your name Lee Hu?”
“Pardon?”
“Wasn’t it Chu Dal?”
“My birth name is Lee Hu…”
“Wow, I truly had no idea.”
…
As Chu Dal shot me an aggrieved look, Dang-gun continued.
“In any case, why the sudden formal introduction? As you know, I am Dang-gun.”
“I see. What might your epithet be, Soga-joonim? Mine is the Ghostly Vanishing Hawk Chivalrous One!”
Chu Dal repeated what he had just said. Only then did Dang-gun understand his behavior.
“Ah, I see. I heard you recently obtained your first epithet. My congratulations.”
Ghostly Vanishing Hawk Chivalrous One—a name meaning one who moves with spectral elusiveness and strikes with the swiftness of a hawk.
To earn such a fine epithet before even reaching twenty was certainly cause for pride.
“Thank you. From now on, please call me the Hawk Chivalrous One rather than Chu Dal.”
It was a reasonable request, but I could hardly let it pass without comment.
“Chu Dal, Chu Dal—you with the character for ‘pursue’ and ‘moon’—Chu Dal. You’re not even ten li away from your starting point, and you dare claim such a grand epithet?”
In the past, Chu Dal would have burst out with something like “Don’t call me that!” but his reaction now was quite different.
“Hehehehe. Call me whatever you wish.”
Dang-gun felt puzzled once more.
“Has the epithet changed you so? Your demeanor seems quite different from before.”
“Ah. I simply realized that complaints change nothing. Hehehehe…”
It was a laugh that carried something deeply twisted.
Now that I looked at him, the man himself seemed quite altered.
“Younger brother Chu Dal. Why do you seem so…”
“Hehehehe…”
“…It’s as if you’ve darkened somehow.”
It wasn’t a matter of sun-darkened skin.
The man simply seemed… rotted.
“Hehehehe… There have been… many things.”
“Tsk. Hwi’s younger brother. Just how hard have you been pushing him these past three years?”
Baek Yeon-yeon answered in his stead.
“I’ve heard him say he wants to die over a hundred times!”
“…A man is not steel. You’ve been merciless with him.”
“But he should be able to do what’s naturally expected. How could I hold back, Elder Dang?”
Chu Dal, and even Baek Heon-so standing beside him, shot Yang Hwi looks that burned with intensity.
This was an attitude unimaginable from Baek Heon-so, who had always revered Yang Hwi.
“It’s only possible because you’re his older brother! Only because you’re his older brother!”
“You’re angry because he can’t accomplish what even an ordinary genius couldn’t manage?”
“Hmm. I understand Hwi’s younger brother’s feelings. It is frustrating when someone can’t keep up with instruction.”
A statement that shattered the empathy formed by Dang-gun, who had never been surpassed by talent in any place.
Baek Heon-so and Chu Dal’s heads turned toward Dang-gun.
‘Heaven! Why did you not grant me talent!!!’
‘If only I could hit him just once…I’d have no other wishes.’
“Anyway, now that I think about it, it’s rather unexpected that your younger sister Yeon is accompanying you. I heard she chose the path of the literary arts over martial cultivation.”
“Brother, you don’t like going with our Yeon? That’s too much.”
“That’s right. Young Girl, I feel hurt!”
As Dang-yeon and Baek Yeon-yeon spoke playfully, Dang-gun fumbled for words.
“Yeon-yeon wanted to see the Yongbong Assembly. How could I, as her older brother, refuse when my cute sister asked?”
“…I can’t relate to that.”
“What? Brother, are you trying to get addicted?”
Yang Hwi chuckled as he watched Dang-yeon bristle.
In truth, there was another reason for bringing Yeon-yeon along.
‘I should eliminate the cause of Yeon-yeon’s death in this life as well.’
Much had changed from my previous life.
I had already cured Mother’s illness and slain Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, who had been Father’s enemy.
Perhaps Yeon-yeon’s future had already changed as well.
But rather than thinking about it ambiguously in a positive light, it was more comforting to nip the problem in the bud from the start.
‘The problem is that it happened after leaving the family in my previous life, so there are no precise clues.’
There was only one thing I knew. A son of an influential family in Xinzhou met Yeon-yeon, who attended Yangshui Academy, and harbored dark intentions, which led to disaster.
‘In the end, it was Yeon-yeon’s beauty that was the problem.’
It was only natural. Beautiful flowers attract bees, after all.
In this life, Yeon-a had grown into a beautiful young lady, so there was a high probability the same problem would arise.
While I was at it, I might as well discover that man’s identity and uproot both the root of the problem and its cause.
“Yeon-a. You mentioned there was also a son of an influential family from Xinzhou attending Yangshui Academy. What was the name again?”
“Huh? Did I say something like that? The Ju family of Xinzhou!”
They were not a martial sect, but a family that had been counted among the most prominent in wealth and power in Xinzhou, Jiangxi Province for generations.
Local gentry and landed nobility, one might say.
“It would be good to stay with them tonight.”
“Sure. If we visit, they won’t refuse.”
That was when it happened. The bushes some distance away rustled violently, and over a dozen men burst forth.
“Hahahaha! You lot!”
“Who gave you permission to pass through here!”
The bandits, who had been laughing heartily as they went about their livelihood, paused for a moment.
“You fools! Why are you frozen!”
“Seems like you’re meeting mountain heroes for the first time!”
“Young ones, don’t be too frightened. If you show proper sincerity, we won’t kill you!”
Yang Hwi and his companions stared blankly at the bandits.
Chu Dal was the first to speak.
“Wow, bandits.”
Baek Heon-so continued.
“Yeah, bandits indeed.”
“How long has it been since we last encountered bandits?”
“There are no bandits in the Baek Family’s territory… so it must be at least a year?”
“After so long, even bandits feel nostalgic.”
Yang Hwi, with an indifferent expression, snapped his fingers.
“Tsk. As soon as we cross into Shinzhou, insects swarm. One incense stick. Execute.”

* * *
The most prosperous city in Shinzhou was Sangyeo County.
The group walked through the bustling streets of Sangyeo County, glancing around.
“Sigh. We arrived late because of those unnecessary insects.”
“Indeed. Visiting at this hour wouldn’t be proper, so let’s stay at an inn or tavern for now.”
The plan had gone awry. We intended to storm the Juga Estate immediately upon arriving in Shinzhou and uproot the trouble… or rather, the source of discord.
Dang-gun also wore a troubled expression.
“Hmm. Since it’s gotten quite late, visiting the Juga Estate wouldn’t be proper. Rather than searching for separate lodging, wouldn’t sleeping rough nearby be better? We’re practically without travel funds.”
The bandits we’d swept away were quite vicious for small-time thugs.
After distributing our travel funds to the suffering common folk of the nearby mountain villages, our purse had become so empty that even shaking it produced nothing but dust.
“It’s awkward to sleep rough with an inn right ahead. I don’t mind, but there’s Yeon-yeon.”
“Hwi’s younger sibling, are you looking out for me?”
“Not that other family’s Yeon-yeon. Our Yeon-yeon.”
“Ha!”
Then Chu Dal stepped forward confidently.
“Let’s just find a tavern and stay there. The best one around.”
“Chu Dal, we don’t have money.”
“I do.”
“…?”
Chu Dal produced his purse. I could have sworn I saw him empty it in the mountain village, yet the purse was plump again.
Moreover, its color seemed different too…?
“Come on, just trust me! Hahahaha, shall we have a drink?”
“….”
Dang-gun stared blankly at Chu Dal, who walked ahead with an exaggerated swagger.
People really do change. In the past, he was rather moral and kept to his principles.
“Hwi’s younger brother. Your sworn sibling seems a bit corrupted. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Isn’t that how people grow—breaking down and fixing themselves? Abnormality is merely the mark of the extraordinary!”
Watching Yang Hwi follow Chu Dal with a foolish grin, Dang-gun suddenly grasped something.
‘Hwi’s younger brother was always like that, come to think of it.’
In many ways, he was extraordinary. Ha.
“Innkeeper! We have guests!”
He monopolized one large table and ordered an abundance of lavish dishes.
“Now that I think about it, I forgot something.”
Dang-gun retrieved something from his robes and handed it to Baek Heon-so and Yang Hwi.
“Invitation tokens. To attend the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, you must carry an invitation token. Ah, wait. Now that I think about it, didn’t Chu Dal’s younger brother request a token?”
“No. What would be the point of going? It’s not my path.”
“What is your path then?”
“The Way of Theft.”
…Technically, it does end with “way,” but…
Isn’t that the character for “way” as in path…?
“Why are you spouting nonsense all of a sudden, Chu Dal? Elder Dang, Chu Dal has other matters to attend to, so he’s decided not to go. There’s no need for everyone to participate anyway.”
“What do you mean? Even if we overlook the martial tournament, without an invitation token, one cannot attend any of the gathering’s events.”
“Oh? I didn’t know that. Then Yeon-yeon will need an invitation token too.”
Well, it didn’t matter.
Yang Hwi let out a scoff after reading the token.
“It’s a Human-grade token.”
“Indeed. To receive an Earth-grade token, one must be listed among the hundred greatest sects under heaven.”
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering’s invitation tokens were divided into three grades: Heaven, Earth, and Human.
Among them, Human-grade was the lowest and most widely distributed. Needless to say, the reception and treatment of those who attended varied drastically depending on the grade of their token.
“A Human-grade token is practically worthless. Well, actually, the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is more fun when you start without a token anyway.”
The reason was simple. The very purpose of grading the tokens was to make the rising talents compete before the gathering itself.
‘The token itself serves as the first preliminary round of the martial tournament.’
If all the rising talents under heaven were gathered, there would easily be tens of thousands.
Even after careful selection, the number of rising talents who wished to compete on the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering’s martial stage exceeded ten thousand every time.
Naturally, to select three hundred sixty finalists, multiple preliminary rounds had to be held.
‘Human-grade meant the first preliminary, Earth-grade meant the second preliminary, and Heaven-grade went straight to the finals, I believe.’
Since I despised tedious matters, whenever an opportunity arose, I would take it directly….
As I was thinking such thoughts, someone beside me spoke up.
“Greetings. Might you be of the Baek surname, sir?”
“Ah, yes. Who might you be?”
“Ohhh! Are you the Gaecheon Geomryong?”
As I nodded, the man’s face brightened considerably as he exclaimed loudly.
“Unbelievable! To think I’d lay eyes upon the Young Master of the Baek Family, whose reputation has spread far and wide in recent times! What an honor to meet the Gaecheon Geomryong!”
Sinjoo was not Baek Family territory. I had never traveled the martial world in Sinjoo before.
Yet it was more than enough to stir the excitement of everyone seated on the first floor of Juru.
“The Gaecheon Geomryong is here?”
“Where, where… Oh! It’s true! I’ve seen him at a banquet held by the Baek Family!”
“Ah! Truly the bearing of a heroic swordsman! His physique is remarkably impressive!”
In truth, when measured by reputation alone, Eundok-ryong Dangun and Cheondok-bong Dangyeon held far greater standing.
But at least within Gangseong, only the four characters “Gaecheon Geomryong” could be called the greatest of the younger generation.
“I’m hardly embarrassed by such praise—rather, my shoulders feel quite proud! Allow me to buy a round of drinks for everyone here as a token of my gratitude!”
As I raised my fist in salute and shouted, cheers erupted from all around.
My travel funds were hardly sufficient, but it mattered not.
It had been quite some time since that blackhearted fool Chu Dal accepted the Money Replication Divine Art.
“Hehehehe, we’ll drink well!”
“Gaecheon Geomryong! Much obliged!”
I was simply responding to those approaching to accept the free drinks when—
“I pay my respects to the Young Master and Second Young Master of the Baek Family, as well as the Soga-joonim of the Dang Family and his sister.”
A man offering courteous greetings with precise titles.
His refined attire and delicate features spoke clearly of noble upbringing.
He continued speaking.
“And finally, Miss Baek. It has been a while.”
“Young Master Ju. Indeed, it has been some time.”
The Ju clan. I could sense it instinctively.
This bastard was the one who harbored dark intentions toward Yeon-yeon at the academy.
At the same time, I found it amusing.
‘This bastard studied martial arts while attending the academy seriously enough to refine his skills.’
And quite well at that.
Even demonic techniques.
It seemed Yeon-yeon’s beauty wasn’t the sole source of his dark designs after all.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————