Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 2

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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 002
As I was led by my father toward Baek Manor, I could finally confront the reality of my situation.
‘Reverse the heavens, restore clarity, return and fulfill your desires.’
An unidentifiable voice that echoed from the heavens immediately after I reversed the flow of time.
Since reversing the current of fate had altered the predetermined destiny, I must correct the disrupted heavenly mandate.
Had some celestial realm or divine court issued this command?
For something of that nature, there was little instruction beyond “return and fulfill your desires.”
At present, I had no way of understanding what had transpired.
Yet despite this, I smiled with genuine joy.
I didn’t know how it happened or how it was possible.
‘But one thing is certain—I’ve returned to the past.’
Underdeveloped muscles. Small, delicate hands.
My body was so small and light that Baek Moo-ryang could carry me on his back while running at full speed.
I had been adopted into the Baek Family at eight years old, meaning I had reversed thirty years of time.
In other words—an opportunity.
An extraordinary opportunity at that.
Despite wandering the Martial Arts World for over a decade, I had never encountered a single stroke of fortune.
And now that I’m dead, such an incredible opportunity appears?
‘Thank you, Primordial Celestial Worthy, Supreme Old Lord.’
No, wait—if this feels like reincarnation, should I thank the Buddha instead?
Whoever reversed time for me remains unknown, but I’ll need to find some Daoist or Buddhist monk soon and make generous donations.
While I entertained these thoughts,
Baek Moo-ryang rushed down the main road and arrived at Wuzhou Agan County, where the Baek Family was located.
Wuzhou Agan County was not comparable to Nanchang, the provincial capital of Gangwon, but it was a city large enough to house dozens of martial sects, including the Baek Family.
“We’ve arrived, Hwi. Look, you can see the main house in the distance.”
A spacious manor located in the heart of Agan County, old but meticulously maintained.
A grand gate bearing a plaque inscribed with the four characters “Baek Family” came into view.
Notably, it was crafted not from ordinary wood but from sturdy black steel wood, adorned with hundreds of intricately carved clouds.
“The gate is distinctive, isn’t it? Our family’s founder carved and crafted it with his own hands.”
I hadn’t looked at it because it was distinctive.
I had merely paused my gaze, recalling the fate that gate would soon meet.
“I am aware of it.”
“Hmm? Have you been here before?”
“How could I not know? The Baek Family’s generosity has saved hundreds of beggars, and I am one of them.”
It was not a lie. In truth, before becoming an adopted son, I had begged for meals at Baek Manor several times.
“Is that so? Then our connection runs deeper than I thought. Come, let us enter.”
There was no gatekeeper. The Baek Family was not prosperous enough to maintain a gatekeeper who would stand idle when there were no visitors.
Baek Moo-ryang opened the gate himself and stepped inside.
“My lady! Han Supervisor! I have returned!”
As Baek Moo-ryang called out loudly, the doors of the main hall opened and the household servants began filing out.
One supervisor, Baek Moo-ryang’s wife, and two children. Along with roughly a dozen household servants.
These comprised the entire membership of the Baek Family.
“Master, you’ve arrived. Who is the child behind you?”
Baek Moo-ryang offered a slightly awkward smile.
Even as the family head, he had to speak words that would invite considerable resistance.
Yet Baek Moo-ryang had no intention of changing his mind, and so he placed a hand on Yang Hwi’s shoulder and answered.
“From today onward, he is my son. His name is Baek Yang-hwi!”
The eyes of the gathered servants widened, their gazes converging on Yang Hwi, who wore filthy, tattered rags.
Yang Hwi, in turn, gazed at each of the servants with a distant longing.
Mother Jeong In-hwa. Younger brother Baek Heon-so and younger sister Baek Yeon-yeon. Supervisor Han Seok-eon and roughly a dozen household servants.
In that moment, Han Seok-eon, the supervisor who oversaw both internal and external affairs of the family, posed a question on behalf of the servants.
“If I may ask, Master—do you mean to formally register him as an adopted son?”
Baek Moo-ryang averted his gaze slightly as he replied.
“Correct, Supervisor Han.”
….
Han Supervisor’s expression grew troubled.
His face seemed to say that the family head’s compassionate nature, which occasionally brought complications to the household, had once again veered in an unusual direction.
Of course, Han Supervisor held deep respect for Baek Moo-ryang and honored the authority of the family head.
Therefore, he chose his words carefully.
“Master, if you intend to formally register him as an adopted son rather than merely providing care, should you not consult with the lady of the house first?”
Having finished speaking, Han Supervisor turned his gaze toward Jeong In-hwa, the matriarch of the Baek Family and Baek Moo-ryang’s consort.
Jeong In-hwa wore thick garments despite the height of summer, as though her health was not robust.
“Surely the master has his reasons, *cough*, for this decision.”
Jeong In-hwa smiled even as she coughed. As the old saying goes, a wife should follow her husband’s lead. Jeong In-hwa possessed a temperament similar to Baek Moo-ryang’s.
“Lady of the house! This is hardly a matter to smile about!”
“*Cough*, but it is a joyous occasion to welcome another family member. How could I not smile, Supervisor Han?”
As Baek Moo-ryang’s expression brightened, Han Supervisor’s darkened in contrast.
Yet Han Supervisor could not retreat here.
As supervisor, he bore the duty of upholding the family’s laws and dignity.
Han Supervisor exhaled a sigh and performed a respectful bow toward Baek Moo-ryang.
“The Han family, who have served as supervisors for centuries in the Baek Family that has endured for centuries, humbly asks: Master, do you have a reason for proclaiming this child’s adoption?”
“To show compassion.”
I believe that every word and deed of a family head must be grounded in righteous intent and proper justification. I understand your intent, but what justification exists for binding him through familial ties, beyond merely accepting him as a servant?”
“That… his eyes spoke to me. They told me his compassion stems from the fate of an orphan abandoned by heaven and earth.”
“Then perhaps it should be another, not the master himself who—”
Baek Moo-ryang responds, and Han Supervisor, speaking for all, poses another question.
Yang Hwi listened and observed this exchange in silence for some time.
‘I truly have returned to the past. The servants’ reluctance to accept the adoption is exactly as it was in my previous life.’
This was only natural, for Baek Moo-ryang was no mere commoner but the head of a family, however modest.
Moreover, he already had an eldest son, Baek Heon-so, and a second daughter, Baek Yeon-yeon.
In my past life, I hid behind Father’s back and waited for him to resolve every situation. Even after that, for a long time, all the family retainers despised my very existence.
I could not allow this life to unfold identically to my previous one.
With that resolve, I took a bold step forward.
Naturally, I drew everyone’s attention, and I performed a formal fist salute with proper etiquette as all eyes turned toward me.
“The ancients said that acquaintance begins with exchanging names. Forgive my late introduction—I am but a wanderer who has made the sky my roof and grass my bed.”
I performed another fist salute toward Baek Moo-ryang and continued.
“It was the Sword Saint Baek, the Great Swordmaster, who bestowed upon me the name Yang Hwi. I ask that you call me by this name. Han Supervisor, would you hear me out for a moment?”
“Speak, Young Master.”
“You said that I cannot become the Family Head’s son because there is insufficient justification, only the greater cause. Then, would it not suffice if I were to create that justification?”
Han Supervisor’s expression grew puzzled.
“Create justification? What do you mean?”
“What if I were to render such a great service that the entire Baek Family would acknowledge it?”
Han Supervisor nearly cried out in agreement and almost struck his knee in approval.
Just when he had been troubled over how to change the Family Head’s mind, a rope had descended from heaven itself.
This child possessed shame and honor after all! What a blessing!
“With such justification, the entire family would consent. Family Head, would you not agree?”
Baek Moo-ryang gazed at me silently.
“Hwi. It was my will to make you my son. There is no need to hesitate or decline out of courtesy.”
Both Han Supervisor and Baek Moo-ryang believed I had made this proposal to politely refuse the adoption.
But just as in my past life, I intended to live in this life as Father’s son.
It was time. Yes, now was the moment.
A commotion erupted outside, and suddenly the great gate of Baek Manor was torn from its hinges.
Crash!
Though the sturdy black steel wood did not shatter, the gate was wrenched from its frame.
Through the gaping entrance came a dozen members of the Black Island gang and two men who led them.
Hyeol Bu Gu-ak. Heuk-gwi Buk-ak-sin. Exactly as it had been in my past life.
Hyeol Bu Gu-ak, the leader of the group, bellowed in a thunderous voice.
“Sword Saint Baek Moo-ryang! We have come to collect the blood debt!”
A family’s gate symbolizes the family’s dignity and honor.
Though the gate lay destroyed, Baek Moo-ryang did not explode in rage; instead, his face turned cold and rigid.
The aura emanating from the two men at the front was undoubtedly not beneath his own.
“You are Hyeol Bu Gu-ak, then?”
“You have heard of this humble one’s name. Indeed, that is correct.”
“I have never made an enemy of your Hong Gyo-bang. What is the meaning of this rudeness?”
“Rudeness? You have made an enemy of the great Hong Gyo-bang, yet you did not expect even this much courtesy?”
In that instant, Baek Moo-ryang’s face hardened like stone.
“Made an enemy of Hong Gyo-bang? What nonsense is this?”
Hong Gyo-bang—a Black Island faction boasting power ranked among the top three in Wuzhou Agan County, where the Baek Family dwelled.
They were particularly known for their aggressive expansion of influence.
The reason they had suddenly attacked Baek Manor was simple enough.
“Today, those from Na Heuk-pa that you swept away were under the banner of Hong Gyo-bang! You understand what that means, do you not?”
Baek Moo-ryang swallowed hard. Na Heuk-pa itself was a third-rate rabble I could have eliminated alone, but Hong Gyo-bang was different.
Simply put, the Baek Family’s military strength did not even reach one-tenth of Hong Gyo-bang’s.
“I merely punished those who abandoned their humanity. Were you not aware that Na Heuk-pa was trafficking in human lives and peddling narcotics?”
“Whether they abandoned humanity or the heavens themselves, they were under Hong Gyo-bang’s banner. Any punishment must be Hong Gyo-bang’s prerogative! You have crossed the line, First Sword.”
His words were not wrong. Had Na Heuk-pa truly been under Hong Gyo-bang’s command, I had indeed struck first.
“I merely followed the Way of the Wanderer. When I discovered those who had committed wrongs, how could I simply pass them by?”
“Truly, words befitting the First Sword Among Wanderers.”
As Gu Ak responded, Bukak-sin, who stood behind him, burst into laughter.
“First Sword! So the rumors of you never overlooking injustice were true, were they? Bahahaha!”
“Restrain yourself, Bukak-sin.”
“My apologies, Leader. Seeing the First Sword live up to his epithet as the finest under heaven, I simply could not help myself.”
Watching Bukak-sin respond with a shrug, Yang Hwi ground his teeth in secret.
‘That insolent bastard dares mock me.’
First Sword Among Wanderers, Baek Moo-ryang. Master of the Baek Family and a second-rate expert.
The character for “First” carries meanings beyond “to bestow”—it also means “to flaunt.”
Bukak-sin had just mocked me as one who flaunted his righteousness while possessing unremarkable martial prowess.
‘I was uncertain which path to take, but this works perfectly. Heuk-gwi Bukak-sin. You die today.’
With such thoughts, Yang Hwi performed an act that would have been impossible before my return.
“Shhhhh… Huuuuu.”
With a single breath, I perceived the qi filling all directions of heaven and earth.
In that moment, the world transformed. My qi perception had awakened.
‘The rabble average around ten years, Bukak-sin around thirty, and Gu Ak perhaps forty.’
Had others known, it would have shaken heaven and earth.
Even with exceptional qi perception, estimating another martial artist’s dantian size without the aid of specialized techniques was impossible.
Terrifyingly acute qi perception. It was one of the talents heaven had granted Yang Hwi without asking.
‘In comparison, the main family… the household members all possess mediocre internal cultivation, and Father has perhaps thirty years of cultivation. Indeed, the main family’s strength cannot overcome this.’
It was unavoidable. To earn money maintaining the family’s status, there was insufficient time for martial training.
Though bearing the name of a martial family for generations, in truth we fell far short—a humble, declining household.
A family master of merely second-rate skill and most household members of only third-rate ability—truly a Third-rate Martial Arts Family.
That was the Baek Family, now more commonly called Baek Manor.
‘In my previous life, today was when the main family had to suffer an irredeemable wound.’
In my previous life, today Baek Moo-ryang sustained injuries requiring months of recovery, and even lost the family assets.
Incidentally, from Hong Gyo-bang’s perspective, seizing the meager family assets was meant as humiliation.
An intention to spread word among the martial community that none under Hong Gyo-bang’s banner should ever be touched again.
‘Would I simply stand by and watch Father and the family suffer that humiliation once more?’
Fortunately, among the thirty years of memories I possessed, there was knowledge of Hong Gyo-bang.
And among them was something I could use immediately.
Yang Hwi quickly whispered into Baek Moo-ryang’s ear.
“Father.”
“Yang Hwi, stay still.”
“I have a way to escape this situation.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It would take too long to explain, but I intend to use something I’ve picked up while living in the marketplace as my home.”
The situation was urgent. Though it breached propriety, I didn’t wait for permission and rushed forward immediately.
Then I offered a fist salute toward Gu Ak.
“Brother Gu! How do you do?”
In that instant, Gu Ak’s fierce face contorted into an expression of utter bewilderment.
Not only Gu Ak, but everyone within the manor felt taken aback.
“Br… brother…?”
For reference, Gu Ak was roughly twenty years older than Yang Hwi.

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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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