Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 304

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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 304
Corpses lay scattered everywhere.
Bodies dressed in the uniforms of countless martial forces belonging to the Namgung Family.
Among them, the garb of the Changcheon Sword Brigade was particularly conspicuous.
‘They’re killing each other quite thoroughly.’
It was unsettling, though hardly surprising.
The Blood Sect’s true power was this horrifying.
‘Led by Namgung Sa-geom, the core consisted of fools who lacked talent and felt ostracized, only to defect to the Blood Sect.’
In terms of numbers, they represented merely a tenth of the entire Namgung Family.
Yet it should be said not merely a tenth, but a full tenth—a terrifying tenth at that.
Merely months. In just a few months, a tenth of the Namgung Family among the Five Great Families had been infected by the Blood Sect.
This was why the Blood Sect was the most fearsome of the Three Great Demonic Sects.
They dispensed power easily and multiplied like cockroaches.
‘Though Namgung Cheon-hu’s involvement was certainly a factor.’
Even though Namgung Cheon-hu had lost his position as Soga-joonim and become a criminal, there would surely be forces that followed him still.
Approaching those suddenly cut adrift and persuading them wouldn’t have been particularly difficult.
‘Did he intend to elevate Namgung Sa-geom as Family Head and work from the shadows? Or did he plan to act directly himself?’
Well, I’d find out when we met.
As I pondered this and walked further, I spotted figures engaged in frenzied combat.
“How dare you betray the great Namgung!”
“It’s not betrayal! We merely follow the true lineage of Namgung!”
“You dare speak after accepting that filthy demonic energy!”
“Strength reigns supreme! What crime is there in adhering to Namgung’s laws!”
I considered passing them by, but instead I drew my blade.
Feathers scattered as the warrior wreathed in blood energy crumpled.
“B-Baek Gong-ja.”
“Tsk.”
My original objective was clearly the mutual destruction of the Blood Sect and Namgung.
Yet Adu’s words kept echoing in my mind.
‘Don’t be bound by delusion? Me, of all people?’
Since my return, I had raced down a single straight path, thinking of nothing else.
But ever since meeting Cheonma, the path seemed to wind and curve endlessly.
Now even a fork in the road had appeared, and I had to make a choice.
‘Won-woo. From above, can you see the path that is the right answer?’
-Kiiiiiaaaaaa!
My eyes widened. I had certainly left Won-woo at the main residence.
Yet somehow, a white hawk was circling through the high sky above.
As if saying it would support whatever choice I made.
Suddenly, the corners of my mouth lifted.
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom, Second Secret.
Heavenly Wings Suppress All Under Heaven!
Hundreds and thousands of feathers swirled in pristine white.
Each individual feather was composed of Primordial Qi, sufficient in itself to steal a person’s life.
‘Devour them.’
The feathers shot forth according to my will.
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
“The feathers!”
“S-save me… Kraaagh!”
The feathers gnawed and carved away at flesh.
Thus, Feather Shaving.
A flock of feathers that scraped away everything.
In my previous life, this was a mental image born from the Transcendent realm I reached while dancing the blade before Dang-gun’s death.
‘I cannot wield it as freely as I did in my past life.’
That was only natural. It was merely an imitation, after all.
I had obtained the Qi in my hands, yet the realm itself was still only at the peak.
But I could feel it.
My mental image was changing.
‘What a curious sensation.’
Seolha once said her heart was a scarred rock.
Pitted and scratched in places, yet an unyielding stone.
Her mental image was equally immovable.
Firm as rock, unchanging.
The single path inherited from Father in my childhood of my previous life.
‘Delusion. Is this also delusion?’
My current mental image was from my past life. Even as time flowed backward, it remained unchanged.
But if it were to change, what form would it take?
‘I’ll know if I observe.’
I lifted the corners of my mouth and launched my body forward.
Toward the fiercest battleground where the most violent clash was unfolding.
Namgung Cheon-hu wrapped in blood energy. A single sword opposing him, bending like reeds in the wind.
“There! The Young Master has arrived!”
With the cry, I descended in a flutter of robes.
Before Adu and Seolha, who stood back to back.
“Yang Hwi!”
“Older brother!”
“Good.”
They were holding their ground just as I had instructed beforehand.
“Elder of the Namgung Family. Don’t you have something to say?”
“…I am grateful. My life was saved thanks to you and your companions.”
Though his expression didn’t seem particularly grateful.
Well, since his tone of speech has changed to half-respectful, he at least understands the situation.
Truthfully, whether Namgung Yeon-ha lived or died was of no concern to me, but I decided to observe for now.
“All the spectators have gathered. Fight again, you bastards.”
Namgung Cheon-hu and Namgung Cheon-yeong both turned their gaze toward me.
“Baek Yang-hwi. I’m sure I warned you. Don’t interfere.”
“Did you really think I’d listen to a blood-soaked brat?”
Namgung Cheon-hu’s expression was cold. The corners of his mouth lifted.
“Of course not. I knew it would come to this. It had to come to this.”
“Oh? I see. So you were on this side from the beginning?”
No wonder it seemed so full of holes.
So he intended to make the Namgung Family itself a part of the Blood Sect, since someone tainted with blood could never become the Family Head of such a prestigious clan?
To desire it so badly that he’d corrupt and destroy it—tsk.
“This is why you can’t let the older ones run wild. A real man doesn’t struggle to seize what he wants; he makes others want to give it to him.”
Of course, someone who held the position of Soga-joonim would know nothing of how to seduce a woman.
He probably assumed his own wife would be decided through a political marriage anyway.
“Since your curiosity is satisfied, finish fighting.”
“That’s impossible. The man I must kill has appeared. How could I waste time on my brother?”
Namgung Cheon-yeong’s face contorted.
His expression was so complex that the emotion behind it was incomprehensible.
“Brother! How can you do this? Brother!”
“You still call me brother, Cheon-yeong.”
Namgung Cheon-hu smiled gently.
“I too regard you as my brother. Even though you are the one who stole everything from me, you remain my precious younger brother.”
Contrary to his words, a vicious aura of blood energy lashed out at Namgung Cheon-yeong.
Namgung Cheon-yeong’s body flew backward rapidly, crashing through a stone wall.
“Now then, Baek Yang-hwi. Shall we test our skills? I’ve always wanted to fight you.”
It was an intriguing proposal, but I shook my head.
“That’s not possible. The affairs of the Namgung Family cannot involve outsiders.”
I said this to Namgung Cheon-hu, but a response came from elsewhere.
It was Elder Namgung Yeon-ha.
“Young Master Baek! You say such things after witnessing the energy that criminal wields? As a member of the Baek clan, you must pass judgment at once!”
I deliberately made a blank expression.
“Pardon? Pass judgment? Me?”
I extended my finger and pointed directly at the Elder.
“Namgung.”
Then I turned my finger toward Namgung Cheon-hu.
“Namgung.”
I pointed at numerous others as well.
“Namgung. Namgung. Namgung. How is this not the affair of the Namgung Family?”
“Young Master Baek!”
“To begin with, how many Transcendent Masters does the Namgung Family truly possess? You’re asking me to punish a mere late-stage master?”
Namgung Yeon-ha clenched his teeth.
Including himself, all the Transcendent Masters of the Namgung Family were currently unable to display their full strength.
Of course, I, Yang Hwi, was fully aware of this as well.
‘This wasn’t done thoughtlessly. He snuck in, built up his forces in secret, and neutralized the poison.’
To be precise, it seemed he’d employed tactics similar to the aura I’d sensed from Namgung Cheon-yeong.
If a Transcendent Master were present, victory would be impossible without mobilizing masters from the Blood Sect.
Well, it seemed there wasn’t enough time to kill a Transcendent Master with demonic energy so faint it was hard to detect.
But it did appear possible to incapacitate them for several hours.
“Elder, who did this to you?”
“…It was a grandson I cherished.”
Looking in the direction of his gaze, I saw a corpse sprawled on the ground.
“A grandson you cherished because he lacked talent but had a good heart—something like that?”
“….”
That was it.
“So in the Namgung Family, grandsons try to harm their grandfathers.”
“….”
Ever since losing the position of greatest family under heaven to the Peng Family, the Namgung Family had pursued martial power with brutal intensity.
Such an atmosphere within the clan had created the very opening the Blood Sect needed to infiltrate.
“Baek Gong-ja.”
Elder Namgung Yeon-ha clenched his teeth and lowered his head.
His entire posture radiated desperation.
“Please, I beg you to step forward. The Namgung Family will never forget this debt.”
Seeing an old man with hair and beard completely white bow so deeply, my resolve wavered.
“I cannot.”
“Baek Gong-ja. I would even offer this old man’s life. So please….”
“It’s not that I won’t—I cannot.”
That bastard Namgung Cheon-hu seemed to be quite favored by the Blood Sect.
Just how much blood essence had he consumed?
‘Transcendent Master. And at a level I cannot defeat. I could barely break through only by risking my life and squeezing out my Primordial Qi.’
If one could become a master simply by possessing abundant inner strength, spiritual pills would cost ten times their current price.
But blood essence was different.
Blood essence—created by staining blood and vitality extracted from humans with intent.
A person having everything drained while still alive desperately yearns for life.
If there exists the most powerful will in this world, it is the desire for survival.
Therefore, blood essence carried will within it.
‘Why the Blood Sect possesses the most sorcery among the Three Demonic Sects. And why blood essence alone can cultivate masters.’
When a warrior with strong yearning for martial arts accepts blood essence, their martial prowess rises dramatically in a short time.
I don’t know the exact principle, but I suspect it’s the result of yearning meeting yearning and amplifying each other.
“Baek Yang-hwi. I see you tucking your tail between your legs.”
Crimson energy bloomed from Namgung Cheon-hu’s palm.
Red as the sunset, yet it was the sky itself.
“I reached the precipice of transcendence yet could not breach the wall. Now that I have crossed it, I see how low that barrier truly was. And you, too, have not crossed it.”
“You speak as though you crossed it alone.”
Yet the power Namgung Cheon-hu wielded was genuine.
That crimson sky—it didn’t seem to be his creation alone.
But it was undoubtedly manifestation of inner form.
A Transcendent Master capable of drawing their inner form into the external world.
And that wasn’t all….
‘He must surely be capable of devouring inner forms as well.’
“How I crossed it, this Namgung Cheon-hu has crossed. You have not. So I ask—can you draw your blade before me and face it? Do you have the confidence to inherit the name of Immortal Moon Wall Breaker?”
Was this bastard trying to vent everything he’d endured all at once?
Why was his tongue so long?
‘Using his direct challenge as an opportunity to sharpen my blade wouldn’t be bad, but….’
I had decided to observe today.
There was no rush to step forward until I saw the results.
There was someone waiting for their turn to come first.
“Unfortunately, that opportunity won’t come.”
“The night is long and time is abundant. I have given you the chance.”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant my turn likely won’t come.”
The reason was simple.
The strongest master of the Namgung Family had moved.
“Cheon-yeong. Cheon-hu.”
A quiet voice. Though not a trace of energy could be felt, it pierced everyone’s ears.
A gaunt middle-aged man was pulling Cheon-yeong free from the rubble.
“Ah, Father….”
“Family Head.”
Two brothers addressing him differently.
Namgung Il-geom lifted his gaze to the sky.
The night sky, stained red by the haze of blood energy.
“My son and I. Truly, it has been long since we gathered in one place.”
Suddenly, Yang Hwi recalled his father, Baek Moo-ryang.
Namgung Il-geom, both Family Head and father.
What was he thinking now?
Did he believe he had failed in his duty as a father to his children?
Or had he resolved, as Family Head, to punish the criminals who attacked the clan?
‘Namgung Il-geom. Show me a choice I did not see in my past life.’
Then Namgung Il-geom continued.
“I am proud of you, my son Cheon-hu.”
A tremor appeared in Namgung Cheon-hu’s eyes, which had been cold throughout.
spreading outward and becoming ripples.
“Family Head of Namgung.”
“Call me Father.”
“…Father.”
“I am proud. I misjudged you. I should not have cast you out. With poison of the heart this profound, you would have more than compensated for any lack of talent.”
Namgung Il-geom extended his right hand.
A sword that came flying from somewhere was caught.
‘Thousand Thunder Heavenly Sword.’
The blade that had been the Namgung Family’s treasure before the genius blacksmith Baek Cheol forged and presented the Piercing Heaven Divine Sword.
“My son. Take up the sword. Show your father your growth. Fulfill your filial duty.”
Momentum flowed forth from Namgung Il-geom.
What began as a gentle breeze soon became an aura like a tempest.
‘A Transcendent Master’s latent power unleashed. And without any regard for what comes after.’
Primordial Qi, which connects directly to life itself, carries something extraordinary within it.
Thus, even in Namgung Il-geom’s current state, he could display the martial prowess of his prime for a brief moment.
I sensed it instinctively.
Namgung Il-geom would die today.
It was a death he had chosen himself.
“Namgung Cheon-hu, Young Master of Greater Namgung. Prove yourself to Family Head Namgung Il-geom. If you win, you shall become the Family Head; if you lose, you shall die as a criminal.”
A crimson sky and a sky filled with thunder collided.

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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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