Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 348

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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 348
The Leaf Salsoo Dragon Formation centered on six formation pillars.
Though not dead, those who had lost consciousness could not function as formation pillars.
With Neung-o and Adu knocked out of commission, I could no longer rely on the formation’s support.
‘Still, I must see this through. I absolutely will.’
Fortunately, I was not alone. Besides Seolha, two others remained among the six.
-Taeryang! Eui Suk-bu!
-Right!
-I’ll go first! Follow up with a consecutive strike, Soga-joonim!
Long words were unnecessary among three Transcendent Masters.
Seon, wrapped in a torrent of blood-red inner force so thick his form was invisible.
Taeryang’s Broad Blade sang out fiercely, targeting the center of the blood-red maelstrom.
“Kshaa!”
A powerful strike, yet it failed to even scratch the force vortex.
That was fine. Taeryang’s blow was never meant to inflict significant damage.
To put it plainly, it was a setup—groundwork for Jegal Seon’s follow-up strike.
“Taste this!”
The sword technique of the Jegal Family’s prized secret art, the Great Heaven Star Sword Method, bombarded Seon.
True to his name, Waryong Musang—his combative spirit was fierce. Each strike deserved to be called supreme technique.
“Hhhhnnnngh!”
With a bestial groan, the force vortex split into two crescents and stretched outward.
As it extended, the blood-red center split apart, and Seon’s face briefly became visible.
That was when I made my move.
‘Dapcheon. It will definitely connect.’
Inner force concentrated in both my left and right blades.
Burning so white it transcended into a pale blue luminescence.
Like a hawk beating its wings to take flight, both swords shot forward simultaneously.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening explosion echoed as dark-red and pale-blue forces intertwined.
‘Tch, not quite enough. But that’s fine. We can repeat this as many times as needed.’
After one exchange, our roles became implicitly clear.
A form of feint strategy. When Taeryang and Jegal Seon created openings, I would drive my strike home.
Considering inner force, will, and even Seolha’s support, my strike was the most powerful among the three.
-Same thing, one more time!
-This time I’ll go first!
As Jegal Seon scattered sword techniques reminiscent of starlight, I wove Seonran once more.
Crunch!
As I consumed the concentrated pale-white force, power surged from within my body.
Seonran. When you think about it, it’s a secret art for unleashing latent potential.
Like other latent potential release techniques, overuse would bring tremendous backlash.
‘There’s no turning back.’
A dizzying sensation.
Energy surging so violently it made my mind reel.
I gathered the torrential current like a cascading waterfall and refined it into a blade at the critical moment.
‘The same way… no, this time even deeper.’
Flap, flap! Pages turned frantically inside my mind.
Each page bore the martial secrets I had learned and mastered over time.
‘Twin-Born Wing Swords.’
The Taeguk Beneficent Blade and Taeguk Opposing Blade that I had made into both wings when carving the mental image of the Shattering Heavenly Divine Condor.
The torso was Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom. I infused the beneficent blade into my left sword and the opposing blade into my right.
‘To cover the heavens, I need wings to drape down.’
The Taeguk Blade itself manipulates yin and yang.
The beneficent blade of mutual generation, the opposing blade of mutual restraint.
If measured only by the depth of enlightenment contained within, the Taeguk Sword Master’s beneficent blade ran deeper.
Yet the opposing blade passed down by the first Family Head of the Namgung Family was sufficient as a foundation.
That was why I could transform into the Twin-Born Wing Swords.
‘Harmonize with the left blade, maximize the repulsion of the right blade.’
-Kiiiiiiiii!
-Kiiiiiiiii!
The opening that Taeryang and Jegal Seon had created once more.
The sword auras from both left and right blades struck simultaneously with perfect precision.
A dual strike yet a single blow. The center of the crimson energy—Seon’s chest—split open in a long gash.
‘It worked!’
I let out a cry of triumph before hastily dodging away.
“Hrrrrgh! Taeguk! Blade Lineage!”
Seon had gone mad. Already bereft of reason, he now abandoned all defense and began pursuing only me.
“Ugh!”
By a hair’s breadth, I evaded the crimson-tinged strong energy and let out a response sound while kicking at empty air.
“Blade Master!”
Why was this bastard so obsessed with the Blade Master even after winning?
Regardless, this was an opportunity.
-Change of plans! I’ll be the bait, so you two attack!
“Hrraaaaaah!”
The situation had become dire. The torrent of mixed strong energy had intensified further. Taeryang and Jegal Seon could not break through.
-Baek brother! You must take on the attack!
-But this bastard is only chasing me!
I quickly turned my mind to the problem.
If this was how it had to be, I would play the bait properly.
-Elder Dang! Three stages! I’ll lure him away!
The Leaf Salsoo Dragon Formation had stopped operating, but if Seon chased me this blindly, I could still use it effectively.
-Preparations complete! This way!
Yang Hwi twisted his body through the air, evading the barrage of energy, and surged forward at breakneck speed.
Seon pursued him relentlessly.
-Now!
Kwaaaaaaang!
The sudden explosion carried with it a vicious, suffocating toxin.
The poisonous qi of every Dang Family poison master who had reached the pinnacle.
And beyond that, the heart poison of Dang-gun and the Dang Family Head, both transcendent masters.
“Krraaaaaaah!”
Seon howled in agony yet did not cease his pursuit.
Yang Hwi, his forearm slashed by the energy barrage, spat out curses.
“You mad bastard, if it hurts, at least stop and pretend to lick it!”
“Sword Master!”
He was reckless and blind to reason. Having lost his sanity, he spared no thought for his own body, driven by an obsession to devour at least one of them, even if it meant mutual destruction.
“Master! I will prove it without fail!”
‘Damn it, this old bastard—what kind of master am I to this lunatic!’
I could feel the efficacy of the Seonran gradually diminishing.
The reason I had resolved to take half measures moments ago.
Meanwhile, the rampaging Seon showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.
-Yang Hwi! To inflict meaningful damage, you must take the offensive!
-But I also need time to prepare!
While being pursued, I could not concentrate my energy and will to produce the ultimate technique.
No matter how bestial Seon appeared, he was still one of the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
-Damn it, we’ve no choice! Soga-joonim, let us create an opening!
-Understood, Taeryang!
-Baek brother! I’ll create a moment—prepare your final strike!
-A single strike! You must subdue Seon with one blow!
‘One strike? But….’
I had already expended all the ultimate techniques I had created.
As I am now, I cannot kill Seon with a single strike.
Damn it, yet I had to succeed.
As I had resolved from the beginning, failure meant only death.
‘But how?’
I could see Taeryang and Jegal Seon pooling their strength.
For this final strike, they were even detonating their latent power to create a longer moment.
In other words, if I failed, this last opportunity would slip away as well.
‘Damn it. Think. Think it through!’
Concentration upon concentration. Time slowed. The speed of thought accelerated.
‘Do it, you bastard! Remember!’
I call myself the greatest martial artist under heaven—could I not overcome this crisis?
Stop your whining, you brat! Come up with a new technique right now!
But… nothing comes to mind…
That was when it happened.
-Taeguk is duality.
A sudden transmission of sound. The Taeguk Sword Master, whom I thought was dead.
-Master!
-Focus. Simply listen.
With the six harmonies and complete perfection, the Sword Master’s transmission reached me at the speed of thought itself.
-What is Eum Hu’s Wave Heaven?
-What is Yongwang-do’s Great Sea?
Eum Hu’s Wave Heaven. The ultimate expression of her sound technique, making even the heavens ripple.
Yongwang-do’s Great Sea. The ultimate expression of amplification, where a mere tiger transforms into a vast ocean.
-You have also obtained it. What is Geom Seon’s Heaven Escape?
A whisper echoed from within my inner world.
‘First technique: Cheon-ap. The mystery of weight, where heaven presses down upon all things. Second technique: Dancheon. The mystery of severance, cutting even the heavens.’
That was not all. The whisper continued.
‘Eum Hu’s sound technique. Yongwang-do’s Great Sea. Interference and amplification. And my Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom. A steadfast sword that would cover even the heavens.’
Wave Heaven. Great Sea. Taeguk. Heaven Escape.
With Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom at the center.
-Yang Hwi of the Baek Family. You possess sufficient pieces. So, create mutual generation and mutual restraint.
It was but an instant.
I had to gather what I had obtained and bring it forth, shaping it anew.
Only by completing a new technique within that instant could I kill Seon.
Yet I cast aside all urgency.
Relying on the Sword Master’s guidance, I carefully filtered and refined everything I had gained.
-Seolha.
-Yes, brother.
As if waiting, her melody supports my back.
Yucheon Divine Wind. Her inner image seeped into my mind.
A wind that yearns to roam the heavens.
Wind as technique, yet wind as heart.
‘Inner image: Shatter Heaven Divine Sword. At its center lies Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom.’
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom.
Yet in truth, the Gae-cheon sword could not be the center.
Because it was the end.
‘I reached transcendence, created it, and elevated it to divine technique. But that was as far as it went.’
Though both transcendent, Seolha’s current Shatter Heaven Divine Sword surpassed my past life’s Sak-u.
In other words, I had already transcended my past life’s realm.
So this is a crossroads.
A path to advance further.
A new path.
The Gae-cheon Sword could not be the center of Shatter Heaven Divine Technique.
Then, if I abandon the Gae-cheon Sword and seek a new center?
‘No. No matter what path I walk, Gae-cheon is my center.’
Flutter, flutter, flutter!
The pages in my mind turned frantically.
That motion was like the flapping of wings striving to soar higher.
‘The current Gae-cheon cannot be the center.’
Then I need only advance toward a new Gae-cheon.
The first technique, created to span from entry to peak mastery.
The second technique, handling the perfected peak through transcendence.
‘The Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom. No, I discard it. What remains then.’
Only the path.
My father’s will from a past life—to walk the Way of Covering Heaven.
“The Gae-cheon Sword Path.”
To reach the essence of Gae-cheon, the way I polish with my blade.
“The First Path.”
Within me, the divine technique cried out.
As the first two characters modulated it, the meaning it held was Shatter Heaven.
The ability gained as the first step of Shatter Heaven—Answering Heaven—revealed its purpose.
Thus the first path could only be Answering Heaven.
The Gae-cheon Sword Path, the First Path.
Step by Step Treading Heaven.
Shatter Heaven. Great Ocean. Taeguk. Heavenly Escape.
I advance, making each principle I gained into steps.
Simply moving forward, reaching toward what I sought.
Thus Step by Step Treading Heaven.
-Brother…!
Seolha’s cry. With it came an intense vision.
Now was the moment.
The final critical strikes released by Jegal Seon and Taeryang were carving the path forward.
Everything was one step, one step.
Step by step, I advanced.
Moving along the winding path with each stride, yet in an instant.
Suddenly, my body stood before Seon.
“Now die, you bastard.”
My blade fluttered.
The third technique of Gae-cheon Sword Method.
No—the first path of Gae-cheon’s singular way.
For something remolded by restructuring everything, it was a remarkably light strike.
However.
‘Step forward with all things as stepping stones, and you shall surely reach it.’
This was a single moment optimized for Dap-cheon, the first function of the Shattered Heavenly Divine Technique.
While grounded in the Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom created for the family, it was also a path forged solely for myself.
“Huh, ah, ah, ah, ah!”
Bo-bo Dap-cheon reached the essence of Seon.
The Five Elements Qi. No—a single center that had existed separated by the Five Elements Qi.
‘I’ve reached it…!’
I had reached it, and severed it.
Unlike before, I could be certain now.
Seon could not escape death, and the victory of this prolonged battle had been decided.
That was the moment.
“The power I gave you appears as five, yet is truly one. The intention you harbor must also be singular.”
A voice echoing from somewhere.
Seon’s inner vision was flowing backward.
“Child, someday you shall understand. Why I gave you this power. What the singular intention I harbored truly is.”
Overlapping with the voice from memory came Seon’s murmuring.
“Master… I understand now. I was a vessel, wasn’t I?”
Seon’s eyes had grown clear.
Or rather, they had become so densely dark that they appeared clear.
The only emotion contained within was despair so profound it was unbearable.
A sense of crisis rushed forward like a torch.
“Master….”
Regret. Betrayal. Despair. Resignation.
In that moment, eight characters from the Geom Seon’s Decree surfaced in Yang Hwi’s mind.
Water Dragon’s Reverse Scale, Sound Blade Path.
The Sound Blade Path did not refer only to Ju Ja-bang.
‘Perhaps this very moment is the true reverse scale the Directive meant. The Sound Blade Path.’
Seon’s face split open. His entire body shattered into dozens of fragments.
The colors of the Five Elements surging forth from every direction.
In addition to this, six crimson soul essences.
Simultaneously, Yang Hwi understood.
I felt it instinctively.
That is a pearl.
‘Seon was, in himself, solitude.’
And also a seed.
Having planted and nurtured it, what remained was the time of harvest.
All of Seon was transforming into a single pearl.
The pearl would fly away, and someone would harvest everything.
If I had to guess, the harvester was Seon’s master… no, the Cheonma.
‘Damn it all! We’ve done all the grueling work, and now you’re going to hide in the shadows and reap the rewards?!’
I couldn’t allow that.
A sphere gleaming with six intertwined colors, radiant and iridescent.
I attempted to seize it by manifesting the Void Grasping technique.
‘Curse it, it won’t work.’
The sphere began flying in a single direction.
No matter what methods I employed, I couldn’t stop it.
Given how its speed accelerated with each passing moment, even the slightest delay would send it flying away somewhere.
And then it would reach someone else, becoming the fruit of their harvest.
‘Did you think I’d just stand here and watch?!’
A sudden thought struck me.
I would have to mold the sphere—the Immortal Pearl—into submission.
Drawing together everything beneath the heavens into one.
The Immortal Pearl Heavenly Transformation Force—the name I had given to my own formidable energy.
…And conveniently, the size looked perfect for swallowing.
After consuming so much Immortal Orchid Essence, I was well-practiced at it.
‘Rather than let it slip away… to hell with it! I’ll die eating it if I must!’
Gulp!
I swallowed the sphere in a single bite.
Better to become a beautiful ghost than to let someone else profit from this.

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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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