Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 287

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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 287
Several days had passed.
Whether one called it a long time or a short time, in that span the henchmen had become Yang Hwi’s obedient slaves.
“Baek Dou’s spiritual essence is truly wondrous.”
“Indeed. Hwi’s younger brother, you called it Seon-gi, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a somewhat special quality, but truthfully, cases where different essences have opposing affinities are quite common.”
Just look at the Shamans or Shaolin—thanks to their pure essence, they gain elemental advantage against corrupted forces.
Conversely, when invaded by thick, dense demonic qi, they weaken rapidly.
Though Seon-gi is said to be special, its fundamental nature could be considered the same.
“Remarkable that merely possessing a primordial essence can make them so obedient.”
“It is impressive, that much is certain.”
Well, Seon-gi, by its nature of guiding all things toward their proper course, could inflict tremendous suffering upon beings harboring distorted qi.
“Sigh. The problem is we’ve gained almost nothing from it.”
For days I thoroughly searched Il-ik-chae’s territory and its surroundings, yet found nothing.
Considering the scale of Lake Payang, I’d searched perhaps a tenth of it, so the result was inevitable.
Still, the emptiness of it all was undeniable.
“We’ve done enough blind searching. Why not make some educated guesses?”
I’d told the group that the Geom Seon technique reacted to my special essence, Seon-gi, revealing hidden characters.
“Guessing is fine. But there’s too little basis for it.”
“True enough. Hmm, if it belonged to an ancestor, it would be from the Geom Seon lineage’s previous or previous-previous generation.”
Neither Yeo Dong-bin nor Jang Sam-bong had any connection to Lake Payang.
Even if the ancestor referred to the Baek Family’s ancestor, the Heavenly Sword Deity Baek Cheon was not a figure with much recorded history.
‘And if there’s hidden meaning in “Jeomp’ayang” itself…’
With so many variables, no certain deduction could be made.
So I had no choice but to search everything indiscriminately.
“At this rate, searching all of Lake Payang will take months, Elder. And that’s assuming the henchmen grit their teeth and endure rather than collapse from exhaustion before then.”
Hmm. That’s true.
In situations like this, there’s one good solution.
“The search takes long because we lack numbers. So we increase our numbers.”
“…?”
“Let’s go. Time to do some recruiting.”
Thus Il-ik-chae’s first plundering expedition was decided.

* * *
Lake Payang was vast enough to harbor multiple mercenary strongholds.
By sheer scale, it was the widest in all the realm, so more than ten mercenary bases were scattered across its waters.
Though a major trading hub called Gugang lay at some distance, preventing the emergence of a single colossal stronghold like those on Dongting Lake, the number of mercenaries was far from insignificant.
“Kill them all and take everything!”
The first mercenary stronghold targeted was Young Suchae, positioned slightly to the north.
For the first time in their lives, the mercenaries of Young Suchae experienced not conducting a raid, but suffering one.
“Scrape together every last coin! If you find more by searching, that’s one beating per child!”
The slaves—or rather, Il-ik-chae’s mercenaries—attacked Young Suchae with tears streaming down their faces.
“You bastards! This is betrayal!”
“How dare you abandon the Water Bandit Alliance! Have you all lost your minds!”
Young Suchae’s mercenaries were consumed by rage and a sense of betrayal, while Il-ik-chae’s slaves fought in silence, swallowing their grievances.
After all, it would be strange to explain that they’d become enslaved due to some mysterious grand technique while fighting for their very lives.
‘Watching men of similar martial skill clash against each other is oddly entertaining.’
Yet there was one minor problem.
When taking over Il-ik-chae, I’d killed all the strong ones, leaving the battle situation disadvantageous.
‘If I step in directly with the others, that would settle it… but there are limits to that approach.’
For now, we could manage somehow, but considering the numbers would only grow and battles would escalate, the slaves themselves needed to hold their own at least fifty-fifty.
We needed some method.
I shared this concern with my companions.
“We should capture the strong ones alive as well.”
“Couldn’t we simply have Dang-gun spray poison to paralyze them first, then take them captive?”
“Poisoning those underwater is beyond my current capabilities. But filling the air with toxic vapor so they inhale it when surfacing to breathe? That’s child’s play.”
Poison arts and assassination techniques were the weapons of war. The Dang Family was the decisive instrument cultivated by Baek Do to counter poison and assassination.
In the current situation, Dang-gun, the Dang Family Head, was reassuring simply by his presence.
“Still, there are problems. My poison supply isn’t infinite. Even accounting for antidotes, my internal energy has its limits.”
Had I brought the Dang Family’s poison arsenal, the Muryeok-dae, it would be different, but alone I couldn’t poison every single mercenary each time.
We still needed a way to strengthen the slaves.
“Hmm. Baek Dou.”
“Speak, Elder.”
“These mercenaries are disposable anyway, are they not?”
“Isn’t that an odd thing for a sage to say?”
“Life is like an arrow once shot. That is the way.”
…An arrow is indeed a consumable, used once and discarded.
So others’ lives are treated the same way.
Should I call that fair?
“If we trigger their latent potential, they’ll become far stronger in an instant.”
“Oh!”
It was a brilliant idea.
Drawing out Primordial Qi would make them more than twice as strong immediately!
…except for the inhumane methods that only the Demonic Path would employ.
‘Wait. Forcing someone to exhaust their latent potential and letting them die—that’s inhumane. But if they don’t die, it’s not really that terrible, is it?’
“There’s something worth testing here.”
Most warriors either perish after their Qi erupts or require prolonged recovery.
But thanks to the Spiritual Qi—the purest and most righteous force—I could be back on my feet within days.
If I could somehow replicate this same phenomenon using the Spiritual Seed I’ve implanted in those henchmen…
“I should rapidly subjugate the mercenary forces while searching for this possibility.”

* * *
Il-ik-chae began expanding his power from the southernmost point of Poyang Lake, advancing toward the northeastern border.
Having subjugated four mercenary strongholds in the past month, his speed was nothing short of earth-shattering.
“Perhaps I truly possess unparalleled talent in this mercenary business?”
As he boasted to himself, criticism came flying as expected.
“You shouldn’t be so shameless, speaking of the slaves’ desperate fighting as your own achievement, Elder.”
“Boy, who do you think made them fight so desperately in the first place?”
In proper warfare, sufficient intervals between battles are necessary.
Without them, injuries and fatigue cannot be recovered, causing combat effectiveness to plummet.
But there was no need to treat these henchmen with such courtesy.
As a result, the conquest speed was unprecedented.
Of course, problems had arisen.
“Elder, that seems to be reaching its limit now. They look like they’re about to rebel soon.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
I stood at a high vantage point and surveyed the slaves thoroughly.
Seeing their emaciated frames and bandages wrapped here and there, they had certainly been pushed to their limits.
Even if they rose up, I could suppress them with a flick of my finger… but their combat efficiency would drop significantly.
‘The most efficient way to move people is through reward.’
A full month had passed since I first began contemplating this.
With so many cultivators scattered about, there had been plenty of opportunities to experiment.
And that wasn’t all.
“Elder Dang. Seolha. Let’s try it.”
The Dang Family Head, renowned in medicine throughout the realm.
Having mastered the Hyeonwon Jeondan Divine Art from the beginning—which manipulates the Upper Dantian—and with Jegal Seol-ha, who can perceive the heart with her eyes.
With their assistance, I had managed to create a new grand technique.
“Chu Dal, gather all the slaves in one place.”
“Yes, sir!”
Shortly after, nearly a hundred mercenaries gathered, limping.
“Esteemed members of Il-ik-chae! I, your leader, wish to commend your efforts!”
A small voice came from one corner.
“Could it be you’re releasing us?”
“Are you insane? Chu Dal, drag that one out.”
“Aaahhhhh! Please! Spare me!”
The slaves’ eyes reflected a sense of resignation.
Over the past hours, they had learned well enough about my ruthlessness—or rather, my strict justice.
“You’ve all worked hard. You’ve exerted yourselves for Il-ik-chae’s expansion, even pushing your latent potential to its limits.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Not a single one of them had done it willingly.
They’d fought with tears streaming down their faces, bursting their latent potential because they thought death was imminent.
“I am a leader who dispenses both punishment and reward with clarity. Therefore, I must bestow rewards upon you as well.”
At my signal, Adu lifted one of the henchmen effortlessly into the air.
“Ahhhhh! Please spare me! I haven’t said anything!”
“Hey, I’m not killing you. Stay quiet.”
“Please! My rabbit-like wife is waiting for me!”
“I said I’m not killing you.”
As I placed my hand on my dantian, Dang-gun inserted needles into vital points throughout the mercenary’s body, and Seolha began plucking her pipa.
The Great Ocean Primordial Truth—the innate spiritual essence dwelling within resonated with the newly infused Spiritual Qi, amplifying and concentrating it according to the ocean’s mysteries to a degree that surpassed the limits of true energy.
Without a unified mind and body optimized by Spiritual Qi, one cannot trigger the phenomenon of supplementing Primordial Qi. But through Medical Poison Meridian Opening and Transformation—
The Dang Family’s medical poison techniques forcibly opened and altered the body’s meridians, fulfilling the insufficient conditions.
Of course, even so, it still fell short of triggering the phenomenon of supplementing Primordial Qi.
After all, aside from myself and those already adapted to the innate essence, no one could fill their reserves with Spiritual Qi.
However, there was the Sacred Sound Resonant Vibration.
Chara-rang, chara-rang.
Seolha released her voice.
The vibration of sound transformed into the vibration of energy, and Spiritual Qi became the strings of an instrument.
The vibrations transmitted along the strings reached my dantian, extending to the innate essence and the soul essence that originally dwelled there.
‘Soul essence. An unsettlingly wondrous energy.’
The soul essence born from demonic energy was certainly opposed to Spiritual Qi.
Yet how was such a thing possible?
No matter how much I utilized the secret transmissions of the Sacred Sound Jade Spirit Method, Spiritual Qi and soul essence resonating together was extraordinary.
The vibrations transmitted.
Spiritual Qi and soul essence oscillated at the same rhythm, resonating in harmony.
Through this, a miraculous phenomenon was born.
“Huuuhhhhh….”
The quantity of soul essence diminished.
More precisely, the Spiritual Qi resonating with the soul essence grew increasingly fierce, pushing the soul essence back.
In the empty space created, true energy filled like water droplets accumulating in a pool.
The true energy flowed toward my middle dantian, transforming into Primordial Qi and increasing my depleted reserves.
“Phew….”
As I withdrew my hand, Adu threw the henchman he’d been holding to the ground.
Just moments ago, his face had been gaunt and skeletal, but now it gleamed with vitality.
“Do you feel it?”
“This is… how is this possible…?”
“Now do you understand the greatness of the Baek Family Head and the Deputy Heads?”
Spiritual Qi grows exponentially more powerful when it encounters Primordial Qi strong enough to suppress it.
Just as adding water to a raging fire makes the flames burn fiercer.
Just as pouring water into boiling oil sends the fire soaring to great heights.
“Let me speak plainly. You all must have thought yourselves already dead.”
I demonstrated my power. Now came the turn to transform their despair into hope.
“I won’t promise to spare all of you. But I swear this one thing: fight according to my command. Repent for your own sins. Those who survive to the end will find life waiting for them.”
Plainly speaking, I was promising nothing at all.
Yet the mercenaries were gathered in great numbers, and the atmosphere born from my carefully chosen words and tone was more than enough to kindle hope within them.
“Yes!”
“We swear our oath!”
“We shall fight to the death for the Family Head!”
“Good, good. And don’t neglect searching for ruins and such in the vicinity either.”
“We obey!”
Chu Dal gazed at Yang Hwi, who wore a satisfied smile, and marveled.
‘Brother, I dare say you’re the most cunning among all the Baek Family members!’

* * *
Several days later.
Upon receiving a report from one of the mercenaries, Yang Hwi chuckled and summoned Chu Dal.
“Hope truly does make people work, doesn’t it?”
“Did something good happen?”
“Yes. The mercenaries discovered a secret chamber.”
Perhaps the possessions of the ancestor lay dormant within.
“Couldn’t it just be some forgotten tomb or something?”
“I don’t think so. The entrance is sealed by a stone wall that won’t break, no matter what they try.”
“Hmm. Then the odds are considerably higher.”
An ordinary stone wall that refuses to shatter even under sustained assault with tools?
That meant some kind of mechanism was at work.
For instance, mechanical devices that reinforce the stone wall itself.
“Even if it’s not what we’re looking for, there’s bound to be something valuable. Let’s go take a look.”
After ordering the bandits to prepare themselves, our entire party set out.

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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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