Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 292

—————
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 292
“You bastards! Leave Seolha alone!”
With a roar, Adu swung his arm wrapped in golden light.
However, the mercenaries maintaining their formation simply chuckled, evading or blocking his assault before countering to strike at Adu’s openings.
Clang!
As a harpoon wrapped in thick qi bounced off Adu’s chest, one of the mercenaries clicked his tongue.
“Truly, Shaolin’s greatest prodigy. The boy’s body already rivals the Indestructible Diamond Body.”
Seizing the moment, Adu tried to throw himself toward Jegal Seol-ha, but the mercenaries’ encirclement would not yield easily.
“You bastard! I’ll headbutt you!”
Adu charged forward as if the water surface were solid ground.
But water was still water.
“We can’t let him reach there.”
As the mercenaries stomped in unison, the water surface moved of its own accord.
No matter how hard Adu kicked off the water, the distance between him and Jegal Seol-ha only grew.
“Grrrgh!”
“Looking at him snorting in frustration, he’s just like a wild boar caught in a forest fire.”
“They say his nickname is Iron Tower Fist Dragon? We should change it to Iron-Skinned Dullard.”
Adu charged again. But once more, his assault proved futile.
Unfortunately, Adu lacked the intellect to break through the mercenaries’ cunning combined assault.
At least not on water.
Then came a deafening sound.
Crash!
“You damn bastards!”
Jegal Seol-ha unleashed a plucking strike while spewing curses unbecoming of her face.
Of course, she had inherited the mysteries of the Heavenly Harmony String Formation from Yang Hwi.
However, as one who did not wield a sword, she could not withstand mercenaries on water.
It was due to the chronic weakness of sound martial arts—against enemies of equal cultivation, the power did not manifest properly.
Especially when their numbers exceeded hers and their realms were equal or superior.
‘They’re all protecting their entire bodies with qi barriers.’
With qi wrapped around not just their ears but their entire forms, no matter how much spiritual energy I infused into my sound waves, they would not penetrate.
‘Damn it! All or nothing!’
She plucked every string of the Heavenly Sound Lute at once.
Flying Immortal Jade Sound Single Path Method—Ten Thousand Sounds as One!
Accepting the backlash to her inner qi, she unleashed an absolute technique in one breath.
Sound waves erupted toward the mercenaries and even the water surface beneath her feet, launching her body high into the air.
Thanks to this, she gained a fleeting moment to assess the situation.
Dang-gun and Neung-o. And Adu.
None of them held advantage.
‘The Dang Soga-ju is in the same predicament as me, damn it.’
Like a sound master, the Dang Family’s warriors grew stronger when allies covered their flanks.
Her true strength lay in striking enemies from a distance while positioned in the rear.
‘If only my brother were here… or if we at least had comparable numbers, I could have hidden behind Adu and unleashed volleys of strikes.’
But for now, dividing into three separate fronts was the best strategy available.
Adu alone couldn’t hold back five or six Sugu simultaneously.
‘Where in the world did Chu Dal disappear to?’
Now I understood why my brother constantly criticized Chu Dal.
This was exactly why he deserved it!
With such thoughts, I evaded the harpoons hurled by the Sugu emerging from the spray.
For her, who had trained in Ilcheon-pung for so long, twisting her body mid-fall to change direction was nothing.
‘Should I use lightness technique to escape and create distance?’
I had confidence, but if they pursued Adu or Neung-o instead of me, it would be certain defeat.
Numerical disadvantage was truly this crippling.
If Jegal Seol-ha had possessed even slightly more combat experience, she could have found a breakthrough.
But no matter how strong for her age, she remained in the early stages of mastery.
“Hehehehe, how much longer do you plan to struggle?”
“How cunning. They say your beauty rivals the greatest under heaven—your spirit truly doesn’t diminish.”
“Won’t you surrender? I’ll treat you well.”
It was nauseating enough to retch.
Such blatant depravity.
I wanted to cleanse my eyes of the horrific sight they reflected.
‘Just once, if only a brief opening appeared…!’
I could gouge out all three of those bastards’ eyes.
It was as Seol-ha harbored such murderous intent.
Light flashed brilliantly.
Sail Swordplay—Hou Yi Shoots the Sun.
An undeniable momentum. Everyone’s heads snapped around in an instant.
Neung-o, transformed into a sword, had pierced through one Sugu’s throat.
“Jang Chu-jung!”
“Chu-jung fell in a single strike!”
The opening I’d been waiting for!
Jegal Seol-ha ignited her latent power, preparing the most exquisite technique she could unleash.
With blood pooling at the corner of her mouth, she channeled force into her fingers when suddenly a transmission reached her ears.
-Sister.
-Chu Dal, you bastard! You were hiding?
-That’s not it. I’m about to connect the heavenly silkworm threads I’ve laid.
‘Three immortals join as one!’
Delight bloomed across Jegal Seol-ha’s face.
‘This clever boy! He was hidden away executing his strategy!’
Because he inherited the pulse of divine combat, Chu Dal’s martial prowess itself was merely mediocre.
So even if he revealed himself to help, it wouldn’t make much difference.
Chu Dal was equally aware of this and had been preparing a devastating blow while remaining hidden.
-This time it’s not three strands. I’ve spread all ten, so please handle them well!
-Got it!
Ten strands of heavenly silkworm thread registered in Seolha’s senses.
Soon the strands of heavenly silkworm thread bloomed with a transparent luminescence.
She seized them roughly and threaded them onto the strings of the Heavenly Sound Pipa.
“You bastards!”
The attention that had turned toward Neung-o shifted back toward Jegal Seol-ha.
But it was already too late.
“Die, all of you!”
A sound so sharp and grating it could tear eardrums struck the mercenaries with devastating force.
Rather than simply traveling through the air, the sound permeated all directions through the heavenly silkworm threads that coiled around the mercenaries and spread widely.
The mercenaries still protected their entire bodies with their inner qi barriers.
Hidden Shadow Silk Binding, Cat’s Tail Piercing Gate!
Like a cat’s tail boring through paper, ten strands of heavenly silkworm thread curved viciously and drove their tips into the mercenaries.
Simultaneously, the melody transmitted.
No, the noise.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!
A single strike mobilizing Jegal Seol-ha’s zither mastery and all her remaining inner qi.
All three mercenaries simultaneously vomited blood from their seven apertures and collapsed, and at that same moment Jegal Seol-ha fell into the water.
Splash!
She lacked the strength to swim back to the surface, but Chu Dal swam toward her like a fish and pulled her up.
“Phew. Chu Dal, when did you learn to swim like that?”
“Why would you think the Divine Path Sect wouldn’t have water techniques?”
“Fair point. You don’t discriminate between land and water when escaping.”
“Exactly right, Sister.”
Three killed in one stroke.
So six remained.
No, since Neung-o had killed one, five.
“Monk Adu doesn’t need to worry about holding his ground. So let’s go help Neung-o and Soga-ju Dang.”
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Chu Dal turned his head.
Dang-gun was already rushing toward Adu, and Neung-o was piercing another mercenary to death.
“Come.”
Neung-o spoke calmly toward the last mercenary.
The mercenary with a weary expression slowly retreated.
“You, do you not even value your own life!”
Even if one had embodied sword-self unity through a moment of enlightenment, Neung-o’s opponents were all three transcendent masters who had mastered sword-self unity.
Yet the reason he could kill two in a single stroke.
“If death comes, so be it. Come.”
Neung-o did not spare his own life.
With each opponent, he unleashed only a single technique—a sword strike of mutual destruction where he wagered his very existence.
“Silence! Do you truly believe I would perish alongside the likes of you?”
Even the elite Sugu of the Suromeng were merely mercenaries.
No mercenary in this world possessed the resolve to die together when they could escape and survive.
He dove beneath the water’s surface and fled toward his surviving comrades—toward where Adu was positioned.
“Fool.”
Two people desperately wanted to create distance, yet he willingly provided it himself?
Dang-gun’s feathered needle barrage pierced through the water’s surface, while Seolha wielded her drumsticks, submerging the Heavenly Sound Lute within the depths.
“Glub-glub-glub-glub…!”
A corpse with feathered needles embedded across its entire body surfaced, spewing blood from seven orifices.
Three remained.
No—counting again, there were only two.
When Dang-gun joined and issued his command, Adu succeeded in seizing one in an instant.
“Wicked creature! You deceived me!”
Adu snorted fiercely, pouring strength into both his hands.
Thus, one of the Sugu perished, crushed.
“Split up! Flee!”
“East and west! We must rejoin the commander!”
Two of the Sugu launched their bodies in opposite directions.
Yet they did so before the master of lightness kung fu—Pacheon Eumhu’s disciple—and the Dang Family Head, master of the Baek Do concealment technique.
“Krraaaagh!”
“Kugh! Gack, glub-glub-glub!”
A battle that had raged for nearly two hours ended in mere moments after Neung-o’s awakening.
“Everyone! Are you unharmed?”
Victory was theirs, yet it had not come without cost.
Jegal Seol-ha, who had unleashed her latent power, still had blood staining the corners of her mouth, and Neung-o had sustained two grievous wounds.
The price paid for exchanging blows with two Sugu and mutual destruction techniques.
“Your injuries are severe, Neung-o!”
“It matters not. Rescuing Baek Dou is the priority.”
“If you continue as you are, you will walk the path to the afterlife before we even arrive.”
After brief consideration, Neung-o accepted Dang-gun’s treatment.
“Make haste, I beg you. We must go to his aid.”
More than two hours had already elapsed.
The fact that the Transcendent Master had not yet returned suggested Yang Hwi was still fighting, but his opponent was a Transcendent Master of the Suromeng itself.
It would be no surprise if he fell at any moment.
“Chu Dal! Take Adu and go to my brother first!”
“Yes! Understood!”
Chu Dal swiftly mounted Adu and gazed skyward.
Won-woo, who had been circling rapidly, immediately surged in one direction.
Won-woo was already becoming a white speck in the distance, moving with such incredible speed.
“Monk! It’s over there!”
“Got it!”
Adu, wrapped in golden light, kicked off the water’s surface.
‘Brother! Hold onto that long rope tightly!’

* * *
Seonran Hwayong-sul. Or rather, now that it had merged with Seop-dan Pok-sin-sul, should it be called Seop-ran Hwi-seon-ji-sul?
‘That’s a good name. Let’s go with that.’
Just moments ago I was struggling as if I would die, yet now my entire body overflowed with strength.
But I could not afford to be careless.
This current power was merely a flash of reflected light born from burning my latent reserves.
Even if I had obtained several times greater strength by consuming it in the form of a Seonran.
‘The Hwa-cheon Seon-gi of the lower dantian. And the Primordial Qi of the middle dantian on top of that.’
The Seonran of Seop-ran Hwi-seon-ji-sul, kneaded from gathering both together.
The moment Yang Hwi chewed and swallowed the Seonran, I could grasp one truth.
Enlightenment had truly arrived.
Living Intent Qi, Void Grasping of Objects, Sword-Body Unity.
Living Intent Qi had long since been embodied, and Void Grasping of Objects was being wielded with proficiency.
The final piece was Sword-Body Unity.
‘The reason I still haven’t attained Sword-Body Unity must be because my sword has changed.’
Unlike my previous life when I wielded only one blade, I was now handling two.
Since it had changed, I needed to obtain a different enlightenment.
And I had obtained it.
Simply by consuming the Seonran.
‘Sword-Body Unity is me transforming into the sword itself.’
‘Me’ and ‘the sword’.
The Inner Qi of the lower dantian and the Primordial Qi of the middle dantian.
Upon consuming the Seonran, the unity of these two energies was achieved.
As a result, the missing piece fell into place, leading to Sword-Body Unity.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. If I were to reach the Transcendent realm and consume a Seonran containing even the Spiritual Qi of the upper dantian.
What would truly happen then?
That was something I could not know at present.
There was no time to continue such thoughts anyway.
Crash!
Two swords and one trident collided.
In terms of the caliber of intent, I could not overcome Sim Su-chimrang, a Transcendent Master.
“Is this all the inner power you’ve accumulated in a lifetime?”
The Primordial Qi of the middle dantian possessed a higher caliber compared to Inner Qi.
Moreover, the Hwa-cheon Seon-gi of the lower dantian itself possessed a higher caliber than ordinary Inner Qi, so my Primordial Qi was of a level that even surpassed the energy of a Transcendent Master.
I smirked as I observed Sim Su-chimrang’s contorted face.
“Fascinating, isn’t it? You’re swinging your spear through intent itself, yet every strike gets blocked.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Sim Su-chimrang’s face no longer bore the composure from before.
To be precise, he was consumed by a jealousy so intense he could barely contain it.
‘Gae-cheon Jeil-ryong, Baek Yang-hwi. I must kill him here, no matter what.’
Sim Su-chimrang, at the Transcendent Master realm, naturally achieved weapon-spirit unity.
Yet Gae-cheon Jeil-ryong’s sword-spirit unity was on an entirely different level than his spear-spirit unity.
What is martial-body unity?
Literally, achieving perfect oneness between the martial techniques one has accumulated and one’s being.
To explain it concretely and intuitively: manifestation.
Gae-cheon Sword Method, Twin Hundred Eight Transformations of Heaven.
Technique transformation convergence, white feathers layered upon layered, sword cry resounds through heaven!
Dozens, hundreds of white feathers swirled through the air.
The hawk’s cries echoed in succession, consuming the heavens.
Sim Su-chimrang drew forth spiritual qi from his upper dantian and wrapped it in intent.
Only then could he withstand the strike of a Transcendent Master.
“Merely a sword. Merely sword-spirit unity at the Transcendent realm! How is it being manifested!”
Suppose there exists a martial technique modeled after a tiger’s pounce.
Upon achieving martial-spirit unity, a true tiger dwells within that technique.
Since ‘I’ and ‘martial technique’ have become one, the intent contained within the technique becomes manifest.
“I told you from the start. How could the enlightenment of a human and that of a water-drained cur possibly be of the same caliber?”
To be honest, the contribution of my primordial qi was considerable.
Now that I’ve consumed the Seonran Hwayong-sul, the amplified spiritual qi far surpasses the primordial qi he possesses.
Separate from the gap in martial prowess, I held the advantage in the clash of energies.
‘Even so, matching a Transcendent Master with a Transcendent-realm body is remarkable. I must finish this before the Seonran’s power wanes.’
Yet I already sensed it.
The true battle was only beginning now.
Though not yet fully awakened, I could perceive it well enough.
I felt my heightened senses and the turbulent mental imagery within.
“My resolve has changed. The entertainment ends here. The show ends here. Abandon any thoughts of capturing and interrogating me. You die today.”
Deep waters surged upward.
Though we stood upon the water’s surface, the pressure of the depths was palpably felt.
“I shall show you. My mental imagery, the deep waters.”
The ability of the Transcendent Master realm: mental imagery manifestation.
The true mental imagery battle had begun.
“Drown in the deep waters and perish!”
The water pressure grew ever stronger.
Yang Hwi watched the approaching currents in silence.
‘Vivid qi. Void-grasping physical form. Sword-spirit unity. I have obtained all three awakenings.’
All that remained now was to refine and unite them into one.
If I succeeded, I would live.
If I failed, I would die.
That was all.
‘Let’s go.’
—Kiiiiiii!
—Kiiiiiii!
The blades in both my hands began to sing with brilliant resonance.
“Gae-cheon Sword—Dual One-Hundred-Eight Transformation Heaven.”
The Dual One-Hundred-Eight Transformation Heaven, employing both right and left hands, represented the pinnacle technique of the Gae-cheon Sword Method.
Yet the initial move Yang Hwi unleashed was the very first of the one hundred and eight techniques.
“First move. Arrow Feather Pierces Stone.”
A feather shot forth with the momentum to penetrate rock.
It was insufficient to pierce through the water current’s wall or Sim Su-chimrang’s inner vision.
But then came the second move.
“Twin Wings Scissor Slash.”
Both wings moved like scissors, severing everything they caught.
Again, I could not sever the water current, but then came the third move.
“Hawk Wings Converge and Return.”
The hawk’s wings circled and spiraled, forming a blade barrier.
The moment it touched the water current, it shattered under overwhelming water pressure.
Fourth move.
“White Feather Suppresses the Point.”
I struck downward. It did not connect.
Hawk Feathers Scatter—I thrust in all directions, but it was merely cutting water with a blade.
Wind Swift Hawk Return—I struck upward, yet the result was the same as before.
‘The first cycle of six combinations has ended.’
Then back to the beginning, to the second variation of the first move.
The second cycle of six combinations completed its rotation.
And so to the third.
‘Still not connecting? That’s fine. There’s still so much left.’
Six combinations, plus variations, totaling nine techniques.
Combined, fifty-four. Repeated twice, one hundred and eight.
From beginning to end.
From start to now.
Reflecting on everything, I steadied my direction.
Finally, it was time to take one step further.

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