Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 251

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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 251
A large, pristine white bud.
That’s quite a thought-provoking answer.
“Seolha, what kind of people usually show flower buds?”
“Those striving toward a goal, or enduring and persevering through something.”
The mental imagery Seolha perceived was literally the shape of a person’s inner heart.
Those who had sworn vengeance with bone-deep resolve would radiate blood-red flames, while those who spent their lives aiding others would shimmer with unblemished light.
“Usually, people with white-toned imagery tend to possess good hearts, don’t they?”
“Yes. Brother, you’re a scarred rock as well, but at least your color is white-toned.”
My shoulders rose slightly.
“Though it’s gotten tainted in places, showing hints of gray.”
Hearing the rest, they fell back down.
This brat always had to mention the taint, didn’t she.
‘A pristine white bud…’
Someone waiting and enduring with patience, whose essence is fundamentally good—was that it?
Yet why did I feel such an unsettling chill.
Looking at Nang Hon alone, there was no reason for this.
“Why does this rejection feel so strong?”
“That person, Nang Hon?”
“Yes.”
“I feel it too.”
“You do?”
“Didn’t I say it? I don’t know what might be hidden inside.”
Was she speaking of what comes after the bud blooms?
“If the bud itself is pristine white, then the possibility of dark intentions within isn’t impossible.”
“That’s true. But brother, you know this about me—I prefer people whose inside and outside match.”
Growing up observing people’s true hearts and desires nakedly from childhood, it was inevitable to become this way.
“Yang Hwi, are you talking about that guy?”
Adu pointed at Nang Hon while chewing his rice cake.
“Yeah. Do you feel anything? Like, does he seem simply good or bad to you?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“What is it?”
“A bad person!”
My eyes sharpened.
“Why does it feel that way?”
“Um… just?”
“…”
Now that I think about it, this bastard had no basis even when he clung to me calling me a good person.
Should I trust this or not.
“So basically, he seems like a bad person, is that it?”
“Hmm!”
I tilted my head. Though there was no real basis for it….
‘They said I was a good person, and I really am a good person, aren’t I?’
Then wouldn’t Nang Hon, who’s been called a bad person, actually be a bad person?
Miracle logic established!
‘Whatever, whether it’s true or not, let’s just shoot first and ask questions later.’
Still, I should probably lay some groundwork just in case.
“If I’m wrong, you’ll have to take responsibility later, right?”
“Responsibility?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure!”
‘This way, after I cause trouble, I can quietly ask Lakbul to handle the aftermath.’
My disciple said he’d take responsibility, so surely he won’t back out?
As I was thinking such things, the Referee raised his voice.
“Next match: Swordsman Jegal Hwa-un versus Swordsman Kyung Yeon-joong!”
After several hundred seconds of combat, Jegal Hwa-un claimed victory over the disciple of Kunlun Sect.
With this, he became one of the top eight in the True Dragon Tournament, meaning he’d eliminated half the competition when considering only Gupaeilbang and the Five Great Families as rivals.
“That was an excellent match, Swordsman Kyung.”
“I learned much from you as well, Swordsman Jegal.”
The next match featured Okcheon of Hwasan and Yeong Geol Gae of Gaebang.
‘That Yeong Geol Gae will make quite a name for himself later too… but he can’t compare to Okcheon.’
However, the conversations I heard from those around me contradicted my thoughts.
“Yeong Geol Gae will probably win, right?”
“Of course. He’s one of Gaebang’s disciples.”
“Hwasan… well, it used to be different, but they’ve been in decline for quite some time now.”
Hwasan, once called the Greatest Sword Sect Under Heaven, was a thing of the past—before the Geom Wang Bloodshed occurred.
During that bloodshed decades ago, Hwasan lost the latter half of their Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Techniques.
For Namgung, it would be equivalent to losing the Spear of Unobstructed Heaven in actual combat.
‘Still, Okcheon is Okcheon.’
“Let the two contenders test their skills!”
The victor was Okcheon as expected, and the two of them displayed such a brilliant match that most spectators erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
“Hahahaha! Truly, Gaebang’s Eighteen Palms of the Soaring Dragon live up to their reputation! This Okcheon, before being a Taoist, is a swordsman! I’ve learned much! Hahahaha!”
“This Yeong Geol Gae shares the same sentiment! I hear many of Hwasan’s Plum Blossom Techniques were lost, but in this generation, we shall restore their former glory!”
In martial arts, the warrior himself is a more important factor than the techniques he has mastered.
Okcheon possessed enough capability to compensate for and surpass the flaws in his inherited martial arts.
With such prowess, he could resolve in his previous life to personally restore the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Techniques and accomplish a considerable portion of that goal.
“Next: Eun Su-dokryong Dang-gun! His opponent: Nang Joong-il-ryong Nang Hon!”
“Waaaaaaaa!”
Once again, the spectators began predicting the outcome.
“I think Eun Su-dokryong will win.”
“I disagree. Nang Hon is an assassin. It means he’ll be strong in trivial arts like poison and concealment techniques.”
“Tsk. You know nothing. The Dang Family’s poison arts and concealment techniques are far beyond the level of trivial skills.”
“You make a fair point. And since he’s the Soga-joonim of the Dang Family, he must possess considerable capability.”
Nang Hon had shown nothing particularly outstanding throughout the matches so far.
So it was only natural that most spectators predicted Dang-gun’s victory.
“Come to think of it, that bastard Nang Hon is infuriating. He’s enjoying himself while pretending to be weak.”
The blunt remark escaped my lips before I could stop myself.
Jegal Seol-ha immediately countered.
“Why didn’t you reveal that you’re Master’s secret disciple, brother?”
“….”
‘Because I wanted to show myself crushing everything from the bottom up… Damn it!’
“Seol-ha. Whose side are you even on?”
“Hehe, obviously my brother’s side, of course?”
The spectators around us fell into a daze as they witnessed the most beautiful woman under heaven displaying her charms.
“Yang Hwi! Everyone around us just turned into idiots! Ahahaha, this is hilarious!”
As Adu cheerfully shouted, the spectators turned their heads away with awkward coughs.
“Hey, hey. This isn’t the time to make noise. The match is starting.”
On the arena, Dang-gun was bowing respectfully toward Nang Hon.
“Nang Hon, Namgung Cheon-yeong. In this match, I, Eun Su-dokryong, shall employ poison arts.”
The poison arts and concealment techniques that represent the Sichuan Tang Family.
Both martial arts are treated as forbidden techniques in the Hundred Paths.
Therefore, it was the Dang Family tradition to announce this beforehand at tournaments.
However, the spectators began to stir.
“Eun Su-dokryong using poison arts?”
“Hasn’t he never used them even once until now?”
One of the reasons spectators predicted Dang-gun’s victory.
Dang-gun had never displayed his true full strength even once.
He had only used concealment techniques, one of the two supreme arts representing the Dang Family.
“Does he hold Nang Joong-il-ryong in such high regard?”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“His previous opponent wasn’t even a disciple of a Heavenly-class martial sect.”
In other words, Dang-gun was revealing that he considered Nang Hon stronger than disciples of the Thirty-Six Great Sects under heaven.
“As you wish, Soga-joonim. It matters not to this Nang Hon regardless.”
“….”
Dang-gun fell silent, observing Nang Hon.
‘He appears ordinary at first glance… but Hwi’s younger brother was right. His inner qi is no ordinary thing. I can’t find any openings.’
He wasn’t even in a martial stance. He simply stood there holding his sword in an ordinary manner.
Yet I couldn’t figure out how to exploit Nang Hon’s weaknesses.
‘If my cultivation were only slightly lower, I would have mistaken this for being full of openings.’
“Have you reached the natural state?”
Natural Body—a state transcending the need for prescribed stances, capable of executing techniques efficiently from any posture.
Nang Hon shrugged and replied.
“Having rolled through the gutters as a mere assassin, I simply trained to wield my blade from any position imaginable.”
The words were humble, yet they did not sound so.
Dang-gun recalled the conversation he’d had with Yang Hwi.
“Elder Dang. Don’t let your guard down. This Nang Hon is no ordinary man. Assume he’s at least on the level of Adu or Hyeon Geom when you face him.”
“A mere assassin at that level? Even coming from Hwi’s younger brother, it’s hard to believe.”
“I don’t think he’s just an assassin to begin with. In any case, something feels off about him, so it’s best to go all out from the start.”
‘Hwi’s younger brother’s eyes have never been wrong.’
Indeed, Dang-gun’s own instincts were sending him strong warnings as well.
The opponent before him was certainly no inferior.
‘But… the martial arts of the main family are different from before.’
The poison technique that had transcended its limits with Yang Hwi’s aid.
He had succeeded in obtaining the crucial foundation he desperately needed, and through a chain reaction, a newly blooming hidden technique had emerged.
Dang-gun now stood incomparably stronger than he had been years ago.
Even Dang-gun himself, who was more modest than Yang Hwi, recognized this truth.
“I hope this becomes a time where we both gain understanding.”
Six types of hidden techniques: needle, sand, spike, blade, butterfly, and marker.
The Flower Rain Technique and the Soul-Chasing Technique, divided by type and method.
The inner qi of the Samyang-gwiwon-gong surged like an active volcano, born from the three origins of the Taeguk.
‘For Hwi’s younger brother’s sake, I cannot afford to end this halfheartedly.’
Yang Hwi of the Baek Family had fulfilled the long-cherished wish of his house, passed down since Gu-pa’s time.
He had torn apart the very foundation of the Dang Family’s martial arts, freeing them from the bridle and bit.
Having received such grace, I must surely repay it by showing my true strength.
“Nang Hon. Allow me to make the first move.”
The moment he finished speaking, Dang-gun manifested the mysteries of the Samyang-gwiwon within his body.
Originally, the Dang Family’s inner cultivation method was based on the Samyang-gwiwon-gong—that is, the lineage of Yang-gang-ji-gong.
To this was added the yin-cold qi of ice and frost for the completion of Samyang-gwiwon, thus creating the perfected Samyang-gwiwon-gong.
Now the Dang Family could manipulate both yang and yin qi.
‘Though this does not mean I can simultaneously wield both yang-strong force and yin-cold force…’
The reason was simple.
It was impossible to simultaneously manipulate qi of completely opposing natures.
This was possible only for those who possessed the Yin-Yang Divine Art based on the Yin-Yang principle, like the Shaman.
‘Yet still! There is a way!’
A problem that remained solely the Dang Family’s burden after Yang Hwi’s departure.
To this, Dang-gun had devised his own independent solution.
‘If they cannot be simultaneously wielded without colliding, then let them collide!’
What happens when water is poured onto a raging fire?
The water boils away and vanishes, while the fire loses its heat and dies down.
In other words, yin and yang annihilate each other and disappear.
But.
If you pour water onto oil boiling above a roaring flame, what happens?
The answer is simple.
It explodes.
‘Between yin and yang qi, inject toxic qi.’
Centered on this foreign force, yin and yang collide instead of canceling each other out.
Samyang-gwiwon-gong, Yin-Yang Reverse Extreme Path.
A new direction that Dang-gun had personally devised for the Dang Family’s martial arts to advance.
“This is… not a martial technique I can face as lightly as before.”
Nang Hon muttered to himself and took his stance.
For the first time in the Dragon-Phoenix Contention that extended through the sixteenth level of the True Dragon Hall.
Along with it came a single hidden blade.
Soul-Chasing Technique, One Blade Pierces Life Steals Hundred!

* * *
I rose from my seat without realizing it.
‘Hah, he’s really showing his true colors!’
Dang-gun’s hidden blade was not merely launched.
Intense toxic qi spread along its trajectory, completely engulfing the martial arena.
And then came the collision.
BOOM!
‘If it were me… no, even I couldn’t block this without taking damage.’
My spirits soared naturally. This was a level of martial prowess that the previous Dang-gun could never have displayed.
The path I walked after reversing time had created this present result.
‘These Gupaeilbang bastards… their reactions are delicious.’
The elders of Gupaeilbang and the Five Great Families seated in the upper section.
The Taeguk Sword Master’s eyes twitched.
The faces of Cheongseng and Amipa, who had their base in Sichuan along with the Dang Family, were equally grave.
‘I knew he’d escaped his heavenly fate, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.’
At this rate, I regretted that the Namgung Family Head left right after Namgung Cheon-yeong withdrew.
His expression would have been priceless if he were here.
“Elder Dang, show them properly. Make everyone truly astonished.”
Nang Hon’s true identity? Hidden strength? The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering beginning and the rapidly shifting circumstances?
I forgot everything. None of it mattered now.
Displaying everything in a contest.
That was the true essence of a warrior.
I took in the warrior called Dang-gun with both eyes.
Soon the aftershock cleared.
Nang Hon’s figure was revealed.
“Hmm. Unexpected.”
Nang Hon’s blade blocked the center of my body.
The hidden dagger that had been lodged midway slowly withdrew.
At the same moment, the upper half of the severed sword also fell downward.
Clang!

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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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