Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 314

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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 314
“It has been done, Master.”
The Taeguk Sword Master closed his eyes in contemplation upon hearing the report from the Mudang Jangmun.
“Baek Yang-hwi. So that boy will ultimately stand against us in the Mudang.”
Hesitation and regret were evident in his voice.
From the absolute authority of this age—the Cheonmu-sip-jon himself.
The Mudang Jangmun honestly could not fathom why the Taeguk Sword Master took such keen interest in Baek Yang-hwi.
Even at the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly alone, he had considered accepting him as a disciple while discussing the transmission of Hyeon Geom’s techniques.
…The Taeguk Hyeon Geom, which even he himself, the Jangmun of the Mudang, had not received.
“What are your thoughts on our chances of victory?”
“Not worth discussing. The Mudang will surely triumph.”
It was not arrogant confidence. The world’s perception aligned with this assessment.
The Mudang disciples cultivated with such devotion by the Taeguk Sword Master could never lose to the Jegal Family, known as the House of Strategy.
“Even with the variables of Gae-cheon Jeil-ryong and Hap-gyeok Jin included?”
“Of course, Master.”
Gae-cheon Jeil-ryong? A formidable one indeed.
In a few decades, he would likely claim a seat among the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
But for now, he remains an unripe fruit.
A tiger cub still too young to be called a beast—more kitten than predator.
“Hap-gyeok Jin. It is merely a form of formation technique. The Mudang’s power is more than sufficient to shatter it.”
They had agreed to select three representatives from each generation’s leading figures.
The Mudang Jangmun had already decided on the selections.
“One of the Mudang’s Seven Swords—the most exceptional of the First Disciples, the one who earned the epithet Yun-un Shin-geom—and I intend to send Hyeon Geom, Master, as well.”
“So Hyeon Geom and that boy will face each other once more.”
The Taeguk Sword Master fell silent again.
‘Why is this? Why does Master continue to hesitate?’
Did he perhaps think that Hyeon Geom, who possessed such talent as to be accepted despite disregarding propriety, and whom he had personally cultivated, would actually lose?
For the Mudang Jangmun, this was incomprehensible.
“I shall take the field myself.”
“Pardon? Master, please reconsider!”
It was preposterous.
Like an adult stepping into a children’s quarrel.
Even in victory, the world would mock the Mudang.
Simultaneously, shame would be felt.
“Please trust your disciples, Master!”
This is the Mudang cultivated directly by the Taeguk Sword Master.
The Mudang’s disciples could easily defeat even the Five Great Families without the Taeguk Sword Master.
Especially if the opponent were the Jegal Family, masters of formation techniques.
For the Mudang’s martial arts are the natural counter to formations.
“Jangmun. Your resistance is quite fierce.”
“My apologies. However, if you step forward directly, the disciples’ morale will plummet considerably. Is that not a blunder before war?”
“….”
The Mudang Jangmun’s words held no flaw.
The disciples lack faith, so the Taeguk Sword Master must intervene personally?
The moment such doubt took root, some disciples could fall into Sim Ma’s grasp.
That was how paramount the Taeguk Sword Master’s standing was within the Mudang.
“We shall achieve victory, Jangmun. The winds blow in favor of our Mudang. Trust us.”
The Mudang Jangmun truly believed this.
Formation arrays, after all, could only be methods that followed the principles of heaven and earth.

* * *
“Formation arrays ultimately distort the principles governing the world, do they not?”
Yang Hwi continued with confident expression.
“And the Mudang’s martial arts take the circulation of heaven and earth as their subtlety.”
Therefore, the Jegal Family’s strength could seize superiority against the Mudang!
Such was Yang Hwi’s logic.
“….”
“….”
The Jegal father and daughter could never accept such words.
“…Seol-ha, you explain it.”
“Yes… Brother, I keep saying this—formation arrays utilize the principles of heaven and earth, they don’t distort them.”
Distort the principles of heaven and earth?
If formation arrays could do that, the Jegal would have conquered the greatest family under heaven long ago.
All formation arrays in the world, from the Primordial Taiji and Three Realms to the Ten Heavenly Stems, are methods that calculate and utilize the principles by which the world operates.
They cannot make the impossible possible.
“Utilizing or distorting—it’s all the same.”
“It’s not!”
“Even if it’s not, let’s believe it is.”
Yang Hwi’s expression grew serious.
“To ascend higher, one must inscribe heaven and earth upon the heart. To believe that a mere human can distort even the world itself—that is the realm of intention.”
Though it might sound like he suddenly invoked martial philosophy while discussing formation subtleties.
Those of the Jegal Family must accept this.
For the divine art they cultivated was the Hyeonwon Jeondan Shen Gong.
Hyeonwon—the profound and mystical source.
Jeondan—a tree rooted wholly in the altar.
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Shen Gong was an inner qi cultivation method that nurtured and developed spiritual qi based on the upper dantian.
The secret to why all members of the Jegal Family were equally brilliant, gifted, and deeply versed in formation arrays and mechanical contraptions.
‘Other places may not be capable, but the Jegal can do this. I must alter the fundamental subtlety of the formation array with the Hyeonwon Jeondan Shen Gong.’
This was no mere stubborn insistence.
It was faith in the possibility the Jegal Family had demonstrated in his past life, during the Sakyeo Incident.
“Uncle, if I may ask. You’ve reached the Transcendent Master realm, haven’t you?”
“Yang Hwi, your senses are truly uncanny. How did you know? Yes, I broke through the barrier not long ago and am still stabilizing my cultivation.”
In other words, he had only just become a Transcendent Master.
It was truly astounding.
Fifteen years from now, when Jegal Seon awakened the ultimate mysteries of the Hyeonwon Cheondan Divine Art, he would be called one of the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
‘So in just fifteen years, he’ll grow from Transcendent Master to touching the heavens. That’s incredible.’
To be honest, the talent I’d sensed in Jegal Seon all this time was
certainly exceptional, but not enough to shake the entire martial world.
So there must have been another reason besides talent.
‘Come to think of it, if this were the previous timeline, Seob Hon-ma-hu would have appeared around this time.’
I glanced briefly at Seolha. When our eyes met, she widened her eyes slightly and rounded her lips.
Such a bright and innocent expression.
In the previous life, this child would have…
‘My uncle, who lost his daughter so unjustly, became one of the Cheonmu-sip-jon fifteen years later.’
After eliminating Seob Hon-ma-hu, he never stepped foot in the martial world again, yet he suddenly appeared at the realm of Cheonmu-sip-jon.
Should I have let Seolha become Seob Hon-ma-hu for the sake of the Jegal Family’s future?
‘Never. I’ll take responsibility for what I’ve changed and protect her.’
I continued with a serious expression.
“Making the impossible possible. That is the function of the Transcendent Master realm. So for the next four days, we will attempt to reach the Transcendent Master realm through the formation array.”
Jegal Seon, who had been silent, asked.
“…What if we fail?”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to clean up after the Mu-dang sect.”
“You speak so lightly of another family’s affairs, Yang Hwi.”
“Hehe, I’m now a prospective son-in-law of the Jegal Family.”
Jegal Seon’s face twisted.
Every time he heard about the betrothal and son-in-law arrangement, his insides churned.
How dare they speak of my precious daughter! No matter how Father proclaimed it!
“First, I’ll share the insights for breaking through the formation.”
The sword technique, principles, and insights left behind by the Namgung Family’s founding patriarch who broke formations.
The Taeguk Reverse Sword.
At first, I thought it was an insight for breaking the Hyeon Sword, but it wasn’t.
It meant a sword that goes against Taeguk.
“All of the Mu-dang sect’s martial arts are founded on the principles of Taeguk.”
Even movement techniques like Yun-un that don’t have Taeguk in their names are all fundamentally based on the circulation of yin and yang.
Yun-un, meaning flowing clouds, ultimately derives from the circulation of heaven and earth.
“Flow can actually be blocked or distorted by something trivial. Just as a small stone thrown into a stream warps the water’s current.”
The Taeguk Reverse Sword operated on the same principle.
Taeguk, in other words, interfering with circulation to twist the flow.
‘How much of a genius would one need to be to obtain such insights?’
It was an insight that could only be used against the Mu-dang sect, which was founded on circulation.
To obtain a profound technique that normally takes decades to master, and to use it exclusively against the Shaman—such ruthlessness, such cunning. Though I must admit, it’s worked out splendidly for me.
‘Vicious. Absolutely vicious. But thanks to that, I can reap the benefits.’
Jegal Seon, having absorbed all the techniques, furrowed his brow in contemplation.
“…This is difficult. I expected it would be challenging, but it’s far more complex than anticipated.”
It had to be that way, of course.
The Shaman’s martial arts were rooted in circulation—the very essence of heaven and earth itself.
Since the core principle was a mere human distorting the natural order, mastery could never come easily.
Even Yang Hwi couldn’t grasp it immediately.
But.
‘The Hyeonwon Transmutation Divine Art. The Hapgyeok Formation. And if I combine that with Seolha’s power… I should be able to manage a crude imitation. Perhaps.’
I may not be able to build a dam to stop a river, but I could become a stone cast into a stream.
This was also why I had specifically chosen Seolha as my opponent.
In truth, the weakest Seolha was the most critical piece of all.
“Seolha. Interfere with my mental imagery and share it with Uncle.”
Jegal Seon’s eyes widened.
“Seolha has such an ability?”
I hadn’t mentioned it yet.
Well, it was about time I addressed it anyway.
“When we faced the Blood Sect’s Bishop at the Namgung Family this time, Seolha newly awakened…”
Jegal Seon burst out with a cry, cutting off my words.
“The Blood Sect’s Bishop! You encountered such a formidable foe! And you took our Seolha with you!”
Ah. I’ve made a slip of the tongue.
“Father, that’s not the important part right now! Seolha has obtained an incredible ability! This is the fortune of the Jegal Family!”
“Father, I thought I was going to die. Sniff.”
Seolha, I provoked the Hyeol-nyeo so deliberately to keep attention away from you.
If you say things like that, you’re going to get me killed.
“Baek Yang-hwi, you wretch!”
Yang Hwi simply smiled contentedly.
My body still aches from the beating earlier—I wouldn’t mind if he mixed in some of the mysteries of Chugong and Hyeol this time.

* * *
Holding two eggs against my eyes and rubbing them, I declared boldly.
“Seolha can perceive the mind’s form! Thanks to the ability I’ve just awakened, I can even show that form to others!”
The mind’s form—the shape of one’s heart. For a Transcendent Master, martial arts are the mind’s form itself.
So the ability Seolha had awakened meant… she could actually share enlightenment with others!
“Wow, something like that is possible?”
The reason I knew what even Seolha didn’t was simple.
It was what Seob Hon-ma-hu had done in my past life.
‘I used to think it was because she had learned soul-binding demonic arts. But that wasn’t it.’
In my past life, those dominated by Seob Hon-ma-hu had grown abnormally fast.
That’s why an extermination force was organized and she was quickly eliminated.
‘If mind-form sharing was her innate ability… then perhaps the Seob Hon-ma-hu of my past life didn’t become a demon after learning soul-binding arts at all.’
What on earth had happened that Seolha became Seob Hon-ma-hu?
…Could it be related to Jegal Seon losing his daughter and secluding himself for fifteen years before rising to the position of Cheonmu-sip-jon?
‘That’s not important right now.’
“I will share through Seolha the insights I gained from observing the Taeguk Half-Sword. By fully manifesting the Hyeon Won Jeon-dan Divine Art to accept the principles and produce a harmonious formation—if we accomplish this within three days, victory is ours.”
Three days passed, and the day of the confrontation arrived.
The arena was filled with countless martial artists.
The Mudang Jangmun’s face was twisted in anguish.
“The Jegal Family’s representatives are Family Head Jegal Seon, direct descendant Jegal Seol-ha, and son-in-law Baek Yang-hwi.”
It was the Mudang who had announced the representatives first.
Meanwhile, the Jegal Family announced theirs only on the day of the confrontation.
Unlike the Mudang, who had filled their ranks with representatives of their generation, the Jegal included two late-stage masters.
This was an insult to the Mudang.
Even the Taeguk Sword Master, the founder of their sect, was seated in the place of honor at the arena.
“Jegal Family Head. You’re going to do this?”
Jegal Pae responded with an utterly composed expression.
“What is the problem?”
A short and simple counter-question.
Watching from the side, Jegal Seol-ha thought that Grandfather and Yang-hwi resembled each other in some way.
‘Grandfather, you certainly know how to provoke people…’

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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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