Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 303
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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 303
“Uncle! Namgung Sa-geom, Uncle!”
Namgung Cheon-yeong’s voice filled the entire hall.
Yet Namgung Sa-geom remained composed and continued speaking.
“What is it, Soga-joonim? I’m not stabbing him. This is a decision for the greater Namgung.”
‘He shifts his stance quickly. His tone and manner of address changed in an instant.’
It made no difference. Every bastard gathered here carried demonic energy within them.
Including Namgung Sa-geom himself. All of them.
‘Was the demonic energy I planted in Namgung Cheon-yeong meant for hypnotic suggestion?’
When Namgung Cheon-yeong didn’t respond, he immediately acted as if giving a direct command—it was almost laughable.
“Why must we stab the Baek Young Master?”
“Simple. He desires the division of the Namgung Family.”
“No, that’s insufficient. Explain it properly…”
Yang Hwi cut off their conversation.
He had no intention of listening to this drawn-out exchange.
“I’ve already erased the demonic energy planted in Namgung Cheon-yeong’s body. The change in my relationship with him that he conveyed yesterday was also a lie.”
Namgung Cheon-yeong was clearly inferior to me in skill.
The reason he ordered the ambush so brazenly was because I had planted the illusion that he could trust me and let my guard down.
‘To believe that after a bout of sword dancing and sincere conversation, we had sworn brotherhood. As if that were possible with the Namgung Family.’
Well, he couldn’t have suspected it was a lie.
He must have been absolutely certain he was still under hypnotic suggestion.
That was the real reason Namgung Sa-geom ordered such a foolish ambush.
“Listen here, you talentless trash.”
Everyone, including Namgung Sa-geom, simultaneously unleashed their killing intent.
Hiss—how many people got scratched by just one sentence?
I continued without hesitation.
“Where did you get the demonic energy?”
“I don’t understand what you mean. Demonic energy?”
“Your talent isn’t enough to fool my perception. Is it Namgung Cheon-hu?”
Even now, Namgung Sa-geom couldn’t hide the subtle tremor beneath his eyelids.
So he didn’t know that Namgung Cheon-hu had joined the Blood Sect?
“There we go. See, Namgung Cheon-yeong? Namgung Cheon-hu has entered the Blood Sect.”
“…”
His jaw muscles twitched violently. Flames of fury blazed in Namgung Cheon-yeong’s eyes.
That provocation was enough. Time for the next move.
“Here’s a proposal. I won’t expose your identities, so make it so the Family Head can be treated tonight as you said.”
Namgung Sa-geom responded immediately, as if he had the cunning of a strategist.
“Do you desire the division of the Namgung Family?”
“Tch. Not the division of the Namgung Family, but rather mutual destruction between the Blood Sect followers and the Namgung Family.”
The Blood Sect bastards deserved to be crushed whenever I saw them, but I could tolerate them for one night.
There was only one fish left to draw out.
“Don’t waste time with long-winded words. What will you do?”
“I accept.”
“Quick judgment, befitting someone who once schemed for power.”
Namgung Sa-geom rose silently and strode away with long steps.
The other senior members followed in his wake.
“Elder brother. What if they flee?”
“It’s fine. That works better for us.”
I was about to explain further.
“Baek Yang-hwi.”
Namgung Cheon-yeong’s face churned with violent emotions.
Yet his aura remained eerily calm.
Like the stillness before a storm.
“Everyone lies to me. You as well—you deceived me.”
“Deceived? If you don’t listen to me, the Namgung will face annihilation. If you join hands with me, I’ll heal the Namgung Family Head. I’ve told you only two things—what exactly is the lie?”
….
Namgung Cheon-yeong couldn’t refute it.
Even if he raged, he would understand—when faced with truth, one accepts it.
‘A hothouse flower, perhaps, but the Namgung have certainly forged one proper blade.’
Why did someone so upright resort to ambushes in his past life?
The question flickered briefly, but it hardly mattered.
“I keep my word. Through my intervention, the Namgung will avoid annihilation, and the Namgung Family Head will regain his senses.”
….
“Decide now, you brat. Will you accept or refuse?”
….
“Namgung Cheon-hu will come. The Blood Sect followers embedded in the Namgung Family intend to dye tonight in blood.”
“How can you be certain?”
Namgung Cheon-yeong’s barely squeezed words were parched and hollow.
“Seolha. Will you answer for him?”
“It’s obvious. The Blood Sect wants to swallow the Namgung Family whole, but now that their identity is exposed, they must kill us and the Namgung Family Head. Yet they’ll be discovered before they can ambush.”
A correct answer. The Namgung Family was no gathering of fools.
Someone from the Elder faction would notice, and a great battle would erupt.
In such moments, the Blood Sect always makes the same choice.
If they cannot possess it, they destroy it.
And they drink the blood spilled in the process.
“If you are a direct descendant of the Five Great Families, if you are a Soga-joonim, then cultivate at least this much discernment in reading the situation.”
I left the reception hall behind, leaving Namgung Cheon-yeong standing rigid.
As I walked to return to the guest quarters.
“Yang Hwi.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m curious about something.”
“Tell me.”
Adu pointed toward Namgung Cheon-yeong.
“Why do you hate him?”
“Namgung Cheon-yeong.”
“Yeah. Yang Hwi really hates him. Why?”
“….”
Because he killed Chu Dal. Because my long-cherished desire was shattered because of him.
The fury in my chest remains vivid even now.
Yet I could not voice it.
It was a matter from my past life, which no longer existed.
“I just hate him. Isn’t that enough?”
I glanced subtly at Seolha.
At least it seemed sufficient for her.
An unwavering trust existed between us.
But Adu shook his head.
“Yang Hwi.”
“Why do you keep asking?”
“Master said so. Don’t be consumed by delusion.”
I stopped walking without realizing it.
Delusion. Delusion, he said.
As if I were wandering without grasping my bearings?
Namgung Cheon-yeong deserves to die.
The Namgung Family as well.
Setting aside my past life, even in this present one, didn’t they attempt to annihilate the Baek Family under the leadership of Namgung Cheon-hu?
So I will not fully restore Namgung Il-geom.
In the first place, all that was possible tonight was merely to restore his senses.
So I would only kindle the embers and watch.
Watch those bastards and the Namgung clan burn in raging flames.
That was when it happened.
“Yang Hwi. You’re a good person.”
I closed my eyes, turning over Adu’s words in my mind.
‘A good person. A good person, he says.’
Adu had always called me that.
The reason remains unknown.
What does he see that makes him call me good?
‘A being that shines in the light. Adu. And me. Perhaps even Hyeon Geom and Geom-ong.’
Yet Adu calls only me a good person.
“….”
After the silence, I opened my eyes, and white and blue light flashed within them.
“I understand, Adu. If it seems to you that I’m wandering lost, then I should climb higher and verify we’re heading the right way.”
In that instant.
Jegal Seol-ha witnessed it clearly.
‘My brother’s inner world…?’
A boulder whose rounded surface was scarred everywhere, yet because of those very scars, appeared all the more unyielding.
The boulder moved.
* * *
A vast, sprawling chamber. With keen spiritual perception, I detected the presence of masters concealed throughout.
Vigilance as severe as it was thorough. Upon the bed lay a weakened middle-aged man.
Namgung Il-geom, Family Head of the Namgung Family. I placed my hand above his solar plexus.
‘The condition is… hmm. I’ve merely halted the deterioration.’
Even this much would have required one of the realm’s most renowned physicians to step forward without hesitation.
Namgung Il-geom’s injuries were that severe.
But.
‘It will take considerable time, yet restoring consciousness should not be difficult at this level.’
I imbued intention into the Hwa-cheon Seon-gi, and the spiritually-infused Seon-hwa Kanggi seeped into Namgung Il-geom.
The vital force of life—qi moves with will, and thus life is obtained.
“I’m suddenly curious.”
I continued speaking, whether the concealed masters heard or not.
“What choice will you make, Namgung Il-geom?”
In my past life, Namgung Il-geom was as good as nonexistent in my world.
He was destined to die suddenly three years hence.
“You sought to annihilate the Baek Family. So you deserve this fate. You should thank me for not letting you die.”
But.
The final moments of my past life kept surfacing.
“Forgive me, Nangjoong Jeil-geom.”
“You raised your son poorly. Or perhaps you raised him well—I suppose we’ll know which tonight. Let us watch together.”
The Hwa-cheon-i-won-gong, which harmonizes all things beneath heaven through its subtle principles.
The function of Seon-gi, which guides all things correctly.
The Seon-ju Hwa-cheon Kanggi, even bearing spirituality.
As time passed, the outside grew increasingly turbulent.
Yet I focused solely on guiding qi into Namgung Il-geom’s interior.
How much time had elapsed thus?
Namgung Il-geom’s eyes opened.
“….”
The first face he sees is a son of another family, yet he shows no surprise.
Namgung Il-geom gazed in silence. I thought to explain the situation, but rose to my feet instead.
My involvement ends here. From now on, I too must ration my time carefully.
‘Ah, still, I should say one thing.’
“I look forward to your choice.”
Without hesitation, I rose to my feet and slipped out of the building.
The silence was deafening, yet the scent of blood and violent qi permeated the air from all directions.
“Namgung Sa-geom.”
The broad stone steps, vast enough to evoke those of an imperial palace.
Namgung Sa-geom stood alone on the main road below.
“So you kept him alive?”
“He was never dead to begin with. Why not celebrate your brother’s recovery a bit more?”
“Baek Yang-hwi. The Gae-cheon Jeil-ryong of the Brilliant Moon Breaking the Wall. Do you remember what you said to me before?”
“Well, I don’t usually pay much attention to trash.”
“I see. To one blessed with such radiant talent, I suppose this Namgung Sa-geom is truly nothing but trash.”
Namgung Sa-geom’s eyes blazed crimson.
A sickly emotion clung to them, making his gaze appear blood-red.
“You told me this: there exists a world of masters that those below the Peak cannot comprehend.”
Yang Hwi shrugged as if to say, “So what?”
“Ah, that. I was going to call you worthless trash who hasn’t even reached the Peak, but I softened it given the circumstances.”
A savage laugh tore through the silence.
“Hahahaha! Yes, that’s right! This Namgung Sa-geom was worthless trash. Certainly so.”
Namgung Sa-geom’s feet left the ground.
Violent qi surged forth, lifting his body effortlessly into the air.
“So I wonder—can you still spout such nonsense even as your belly splits and blood spills?”
A repulsive blood qi began to take tangible form.
The current Namgung Sa-geom was a master at the Peak realm, or perhaps even beyond.
“Tsk. You’ve consumed quite a few. How many was it?”
The terrifying aspect of the Blood Sect was that it could transform a commoner into a master in merely a single day.
By extracting and pouring in blood and vitality.
‘If one desperately desires strength… they cannot resist the temptation of blood qi.’
The Blood Sect was a place that could grant strength far too easily to those who craved it.
“Hahahaha! Heaven! I have obtained talent to touch the heavens! Now I too am part of the world of the strong, a true member of this martial realm!”
Namgung Sa-geom’s eyes grew even more crimson.
“So give me your blood! Your talent!”
Namgung Sa-geom rushed forward at a speed even arrows could not match.
Yet Yang Hwi stood with an indifferent expression, leaning on one leg.
Simultaneously, I flicked my thumb against the sword hilt.
With a sharp sound, sword light illuminated the night in an instant.
And Namgung Sa-geom fell.
“Worthless trash remains worthless trash, no matter what it consumes.”
Clicking my tongue, I sent the severed head flying through the air with the subtle technique of empty-hand manipulation, all the way to Namgung Il-geom’s bedchamber.
Now it was time to examine the blade that the Namgung Family had so painstakingly forged.
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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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