Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 349

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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 349
Within pitch-black darkness, an unidentifiable space infiltrated by the Cheonma’s consciousness.
Hyeol-hyeol-nyeo’s eyes widened in shock.
“Highest One…!”
The Cheonma rose to his feet without thinking, gazing upon the scene his consciousness conjured.
The moment Yang Hwi swallowed the pearl that Seon had created.
[Hahahaha. Hahahaha!]
The low laughter grew louder and louder.
A seed cultivated over two hundred years.
The inner elixir that should have naturally flowed toward the Cheonma himself now resided within another’s essence.
It would have been natural to express rage, yet the Cheonma merely laughed.
“Highest One. Has something gone wrong with the great work…?”
[Things have become interesting.]
“Highest One….”
While bestowing teachings and power upon Seon, the Cheonma had arranged two contingencies.
Since Seon ultimately failed to stand alone, one lost its meaning—but the remaining one was the inner elixir.
[More than half of the effort I invested has come to naught.]
Hyeol-hyeol-nyeo trembled in fear.
Perhaps she would have to bear the brunt of the Highest One’s wrath.
Yet the Cheonma extended his energy and gently caressed her.
[Do not worry. Enough blood has been spilled to call this anything but a failure.]
The Jang Gang War. While not comparable to the original plan of the Jeong Sa War, sufficient blood had been shed.
There were still many cards to play, and the Baek Family’s martial realm would need time to recover.
[Move the Blood Sect, Hyeol-nyeo.]
“Yes, Highest One. I shall make all the spilled blood into our strength.”
Everything was for the Highest One.
Hyeol-hyeol-nyeo disappeared into the darkness.
[Yang Hwi, this existence. Heaven itself. Can you truly bear it?]
With a final whisper of laughter, the Cheonma’s form too sank into darkness.

* * *
Seon rampaging. The final blow delivered upon him.
Amid the blooming crimson aura, the cyan-white energy cleaves through all.
The three pinnacles of the newly established Gaecheon Sword Technique, and the first manifestation of the Gaecheon Sword Path.
Seolha lost herself in the sight before her eyes.
‘Beautiful….’
Yang Hwi had caused her to marvel at his martial prowess countless times until now.
Yet never had she been so entranced as in this very moment.
How could I describe it?
The first steps of a bird breaking free from its shell?
Thoughts crystallize and transform into form.
The path my brother wished to walk.
My own desire to play and grow alongside him.
A feeling as though something becomes clear, as though the pieces fit into place.
‘Oh, this isn’t the time for that.’
The rampaging aura’s festive display was beginning to settle.
Seolha hurried toward the center alongside Taeryang and Jegal Seon.
Seon was nowhere to be found, and only Yang Hwi sat crouched, rubbing his belly.
“Brother! Are you alright?”
“Seon! Did we lose him? Yang Hwi, explain yourself!”
Unlike Jegal Seon, who asked about the situation, Taeryang had witnessed exactly what Yang Hwi had done.
Taeryang immediately struck the back of Yang Hwi’s head.
“You madman!”
“Ow! Why are you hitting me!”
“Do you even know what you just ate!”
Jegal Seon and Jegal Seolha wore bewildered expressions.
“Ate? Seon?”
“Ah, well. Seon’s aura was tearing Seon to shreds, and then it became a bead. It looked like it would definitely fly off somewhere and become someone’s power.”
“And then?”
“I ate it.”
“What!?”
As Jegal Seon gasped in shock, Jegal Seolha grasped the crux of the matter.
“How? Brother, you’ve never learned martial arts of the Supsungdaebeop lineage.”
Whether Chaeeumboyang or Supsungdaebeop, plundering another’s true energy is the sorcery of the Mado.
The Yang Hwi she knew would never have learned such a thing.
“Right? How did I even eat it?”
In that fleeting moment of extreme concentration, I had reached a state of selflessness.
As consciousness descended back into reality, Yang Hwi too felt the question.
“I just ate it, and it got absorbed.”
Snap!
“Ow! Why are you hitting me!”
“Do you look like someone who shouldn’t be hit? You’re going to die at this rate!”
Seolha struck Yang Hwi repeatedly, as if beating a child who had eaten something inedible.
“Seolha, ow! It hurts! You can’t make me spit it out that way!”
Even if I could spit it out, I wouldn’t.
If the orb flew away once I expelled it, my regret would be immeasurable.
But how did I swallow it in the first place?
‘My best guess is… Seon-ju Hwa-cheon Gang-gi.’
A fusion of Hwa-cheon-gi and Seon-gi, combined with the unified imagery of Swae-cheon and Dap-cheon—a force born from their convergence.
Hwa-cheon-gi seeks to harmonize all forces beneath the heavens.
Seon-gi is the force that guides all things toward righteousness and clarity.
Perhaps it was precisely these characteristics that allowed me to absorb the orb of Hun-gi.
‘My dantian feels heavy. It’s definitely settled within me.’
A question that arose naturally.
Seon’s orb was composed entirely of Hun-gi.
Moreover, its exterior was molded from the Five Elements’ force, making it itself a collection of heterogeneous true qi.
How was I unharmed?
‘Damn it… well, it was the only method available.’
I have no regrets. Even if I returned to the past, I would make the same choice.
The instinct that I couldn’t let the orb fly away as it was felt overwhelmingly strong.
Instead, I now carried a bomb inside my body that could detonate at any moment….
I’d just have to handle it carefully so I didn’t die in the future.
“Seolha. Help me up. Let’s go see the Geom-ong.”
If it hadn’t been for the Taeguk Sword Master’s transmission at the final moment, I would have been the one who died.
I owed him my gratitude.
“Honored Master.”
The Taeguk Sword Master leaned diagonally against a boulder, surrounded by Mudang Sect Disciples.
Yang Hwi unconsciously swallowed hard.
‘Recovery will… be difficult.’
The Geom-ong I thought was dead was alive.
However, that was all.
Though his exalted martial prowess kept him clinging to his lifeline, his fate was already sealed.
The Geom-ong would die soon.
“Child. You did well.”
“…It is thanks to you.”
The Geom-ong’s expression was utterly serene.
As if he had achieved enlightenment at the very end.
“A long life it was. A busy life as well. In the end, life proves futile. Yet it is not so, and that suffices.”
“Master…!”
It was Hyeon Geom. The Geom-ong grasped his disciple’s hand firmly one last time.
“Hyeon Geom. I have passed everything to you. Do you remember it well?”
“Master. Your disciple is still far from adequate. Why do you leave in such haste…!”
All the Mudang Sect disciples bit their lips, drowning in regret.
If only I had been stronger. If only I could have lent a hand in the fight against Seon.
If only I had sacrificed this one life to create an opening.
Then so much would have been different.
“Do not make such faces.”
Unlike his disciples, not a trace of lingering attachment remained on Geom-ong’s face.
“My entire life, I lived to fulfill my lifelong aspiration. The righteous cause inherited from my Master. With this inadequate body, I founded the Mudang Sect to achieve it by any means.”
From then until now, a hundred years had passed. Geom-ong reflected upon his own life.
Indeed, he harbored no regrets.
If forced to name one thing he found wanting…
“Hyeon Geom. Do not despair.”
Geom-ong grasped his young disciple’s hand firmly.
Though he had ultimately failed to create heavenly destiny, at least he had preserved human life.
“Successor of the Geom Seon lineage of this generation. My disciple. Promise me this. Vow that you will strive forward until the day you inherit the name of Geom Seon.”
“I swear it. I swear it, Master.”
At last, Hyeon Geom shed tears.
The Taeguk Sword Master regarded his disciple gently, then sent a glance toward Yang Hwi.
“Yang Hwi of the Baek Family.”
“I await your words, Honored One.”
“Still, I cannot discern. Are you heavenly destiny or human destiny?”
Yeo Dong-bin once said that heaven arranges beings who shine brightly in luminous places.
In this era, there had been four candidates, but now it seemed there were only two.
‘Myself. And Adu.’
“Either way, it matters not. I have one request of you. Since I have imparted the Taeguk, you must repay the Mudang Sect’s kindness in the future.”
The Taeguk Sword of Grace was the Mudang Sect’s supreme secret art.
In truth, Yang Hwi receiving this transmission was something that should never have happened.
“Yes. I shall repay it. Whether the debt is old or new, I will not forget it. Have no worry.”
The Taeguk Sword Master smiled gently.
“Withdraw now. I wish to spend these final moments with my disciples.”
“…May you find peace.”
Some time later. To be precise, after about half an hour had passed.
The great wailing began.
“Honored One! Honored One!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Sob, sobbing…!”
Cheonmu-sip-jon, the Taeguk Sword Master.
The moment a giant of the age departed from this world.
“Hwi.”
A hand rested upon my shoulder. It was Father.
“You did well.”
“Father.”
“You gave your all. There was nothing more you could have done.”
I turned my head and gazed at my surroundings.
Countless people, countless corpses lay before me.
Man proposes, heaven disposes.
I had done everything within my power as a human, and waited for the will of heaven.
Yet was it truly my best?
“Father. So many have fallen. Truly, so very many.”
Since my return, the Baek Family had achieved victory after victory.
Though death was the warrior’s fate, we had never suffered such grievous losses before.
“We have slain Cheonmu-sip-jon Su-sa-jae-seon. Yet I see no joy among our people.”
There could be no celebration—too many had fallen.
Family, brothers, friends, lovers.
All had stood here by their own choice.
Yet how could I not blame myself for that?
“It is not your fault, Hwi.”
Baek Moo-ryang spoke with a firm voice.
“I am the Family Head. I am also the leader of the Ilick Alliance. As both Family Head and Alliance leader, my strategy was flawed, and the sacrifice was great—yet we succeeded. So do not blame yourself. That burden is mine to bear.”
“Father…”
It was at that moment.
“Homage to Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”
A voice as clear and pure as a child’s.
Adu, who had regained consciousness, was chanting sutras.
A supreme master’s Buddhist chant. The profound intention within it soothed everyone’s hearts.
‘Adu…’
Many had died.
Yet the living must move forward.
“Homage to Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”
It was a scripture honoring the departed and a comfort soothing the hearts of the living.
‘Yes. Even if I bury this in my heart, I must not collapse.’
I drew my blade once more.
A sword is by nature a tool of slaughter, yet this moment was different.
A requiem. A sword dance of remembrance.
Ching, ching, ching.
Seolha had begun to play.
A melody that wept sorrowfully. A rhythm that seemed to break yet never did, achingly suspended.
A composition for the pacification and mourning of souls.
“Homage to Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”
Ting, ting, ting.
Adu’s chanting. Seolha’s music. Yang Hwi’s sword dance.
After rain, the earth hardens.
Within that three-beat rhythm that caressed the soul, everyone without exception gazed toward the heavens.
Though great sacrifices had been made.
Though families had been lost and companions had fallen.
The Jang Gang-su Ro-maeng, one of the two greatest sects under heaven, was annihilated this day.
Cheonmu-sip-jon Su-sa-jae-seon met an end with not a single person to honor his memory.
In other words, we had won.
We had triumphed.
Though we would bury the dead within our hearts, we could finally return home.
“Baek Family’s swordsmen. You have labored greatly.”
The long and arduous Jang Gang Great War.
The final flourish and conclusion.

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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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