Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 35

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 035
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom (蓋天百八劍).
A sword technique I created myself after nearly eighteen years in my previous life, wandering the realm and witnessing countless martial arts.
It’s somewhat embarrassing to boast, but objectively speaking.
It possesses the profundity to be called an unparalleled sword art and a divine technique of supreme mastery.
There was one reason why I thought this way.
Because Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom is a sword technique that wields sword force and conceptual will—the evidence and symbol of the absolute pinnacle.
Gae-cheon (蓋天). To cover the heavens.
The fundamental visualization passed down since the Baek Family Estate was the Baek Family—the foundation of all martial arts within our house.
In my previous life, as I created martial arts for the family, I constantly pondered and deliberated.
‘What must one possess to bring forth a sword that covers the heavens?’
A conclusion reached after countless years of contemplation.
The Main Family’s sword must become that which covers the heavens.
For this, one requires weight and durability—an unwavering solidity.
And a speed so extreme that lines appear as surfaces.
‘Like the wings of a hawk soaring through the Heavenly Blue Sky.’
The visualization I reached for Gae-cheon was none other than a hawk.
Wings that tear through the heavens faster than anything else.
Talons that seize with overwhelming strength and ferocity.
Swift (快) and Heavy (重).
Fast and unyielding.
A sword as swift as light and as heavy as a thousand-pound stone collides with a sword as vast as the heavens, looking down upon all things.
Kiiiieeee—!
The hawk, having thrown itself into the Heavenly Blue Sky, releases a piercing cry.
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom (蓋天百八劍). The Secret Art (奧義).
Eagle’s Roar Covering Heaven (鷹吼蓋天).
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom consists of six primary techniques, each with eight variations, totaling fifty-four techniques.
Yet the reason I named the sword art Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom.
Fifty-four techniques compressed into half a breath.
‘Faster. Even faster.’
Fifty-four twice. In one breath, one strike—one hundred and eight techniques unfold.
Then comes a sharp resonance. A sword cry that evokes the hawk’s call.
Kiiiieeee—!
Sound is vibration and the transmission of vibration. The faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.
Executing fifty-four techniques twice in a single breath—the sword cry that resonates is proof of achieving mastery of Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom.
In Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom, surpassing Bee’s Wing and Hundred Bee’s Wing, reaching the final and ultimate realm—I named this realm the Eagle’s Roar Realm (鷹吼之境).
“Well then, we need to finish this quickly, so let’s go all out from the start.”
Against the hawk’s cry that continuously echoed, Namgung Cheon-yeong also deployed his visualization and conceptual will at full power.
An illusion unfolds in an instant. A boundless, towering sky of brilliant blue without a single cloud.
In that moment.
Kee-aah, kee-aaaaah—!
A massive hawk with pristine white plumage descended, its wings blotting out the Heavenly Blue Sky itself.
A piercing cry that tore through the very fabric of space, shredding the air around us.
The cascade of one hundred and eight strikes unleashed in a single motion shattered everything beyond Namgung Cheon-yeong into fragments.
‘…It’s over.’
The visions of my past life dissolved, and the darkness of the Inner Sanctum came back into focus.
My child’s body had returned. My meager inner energy. The lower and upper dantian—I couldn’t even feel them, let alone pain.
I smacked my lips with regret.
Since I’d already experienced the memories of my past life, I should have savored it a bit longer.
‘Where is Seolha?’
I found her immediately—the sound of sobbing echoed from nearby.
“Ugh, Father. Please don’t. Please, please… Sob…!”
Jegal Seol-ha lay collapsed on the ground, weeping desperately and pleading.
She was still trapped in the illusion woven by the musicality and the formation array.
I was about to offer help, but I reconsidered and simply sat down on the ground.
‘She needs to overcome this final trial on her own.’
Weeds grow strong through hardship, and steel becomes a finer blade the more it is struck.
This trial would become nourishment for Jegal Seol-ha’s growth.
And I was certain of it.
‘You can do this, Seolha.’
With the determination and spirit she had shown since entering the Jeongeum-ogwan, she would surely overcome the pain of her past.

* * *
A young child is an object of affection, care, and tenderness.
Surely it must be so. They should never become the object of any other emotion.
…Jegal Seol-ha was once like that too.
Once.
“Seol-ha, the time has come for you to enter the martial arts as a member of the Waryong Clan.”
“Yes, Father!”
Even as I answered brightly, something strange washed over me at five years old.
A sensation as though something within me was shrinking, bristling with an icy chill.
‘What is this? I don’t understand.’
“The Main Family’s Hyeonwon Dantae Divine Art is an ascending martial technique that manipulates the upper dantian. Practice it carefully.”
A voice whispered within my mind.
No!
Fierce rejection surged through me. Yet as though possessed, I activated the Hyeonwon Dantae Divine Art.
And the runaway inferno—the air around me blazed with uncontrollable energy.
“Urrghhhh!”
“Kyaaaah, no! Father!”
Thwack!
Father pierced his own palm with a blade.
I screamed like a madwoman.
“Kyaaaah! Kyaaaah!”
Blood dripping. A pool of crimson spreading across the floor.
“Seol-ha. I’m sorry.”
No, Father. I’m the one who’s sorry.
For being a daughter cursed with a heavenly calamity, for causing you suffering, for making you feel such anguish—I’m truly sorry.
In that moment.
I returned to the opening scene once more.
“Seol-ha, the time has come for you to enter the martial arts as a member of the Waryong Clan.”
“Yes, Father!”
Unlike Yang Hwi, I could not perceive the melody dominating my mind nor the artificial flow of energy that conjured these illusions.
Thus my spirit was forced to endure the same fresh agony and sense of loss with each endless repetition.
Thwack!
A blade piercing through a palm.
Father, drenched in blood from head to toe, his sleeves soaked through.
“Kyaaaah, sob, no! No!”
Back to the beginning.
Thwack!
“Seol-ha, to feel such desire for my own daughter as a father—you are not at fault. This is all my failure as a man.”
“No! No, Father! Sob, sobbing…”
I am a being that wounds those around me.
My father and older brother both harbored desires they should never have felt because of my inborn nature, and they suffered terribly from that fact, consumed by self-loathing.
The family elders and children my age alike saw me as a curse—an existence that inspired disappointment and contempt within themselves.
Thump!
‘I cannot be with others.’
Thump!
‘I am destined to live alone forever. My very existence brings suffering to those around me.’
Thump!
So then… so then… let me disappear.
It was at that moment when Jegal Seol-ha felt such a desire.
—Jegal Seol-ha.
—No matter what happens, do not hide behind it.
Back to the beginning.
“Seol-ha, as a member of the Waryong Clan, the time has come for you to enter the martial arts. From today onward, you shall learn the Hyeonwon-jeondan Divine Art.”
“…Father.”
I see my father every day, yet why do I miss him so much and feel such joy at his presence?
“The Main Family’s Hyeonwon-jeondan Divine Art is an ascending martial technique that governs the Sang-dan-jeon. Practice it with great care.”
“Yes, Father!”
I begin to practice the Hyeonwon-jeondan Divine Art. Despite his warning to be careful, I cannot focus at all.
Stray thoughts flood my mind.
‘I will not give up. I will not run away.’
Why do such thoughts arise when I face neither a difficult task nor an enemy?
The moment I sensed this strangeness, my Sang-dan-jeon, stimulated by the Hyeonwon-jeondan Divine Art, began to run rampant.
The Eum-ha spreads with explosive force, and the qi surges with heat.
‘Dohwa-gi. Yes, I am a Dohwa-jiche.’
The Dohwa-gi temperament is not the type that feels desire upon seeing something vulgar.
Rather, it is closer to being captivated and enchanted by beauty itself—much like how bees and butterflies are drawn to flowers, causing one’s heart to waver and become intoxicated.
Therefore, all possessors of the Dohwa-jiche are born with the most exquisite beauty under heaven.
A truth I discovered over three years of extreme caution…
‘How do I know this fact?’
Now that I think about it, something is strange. I am but a five-year-old child.
Yet somehow, this moment feels like a distant past.
As if… as if… no, that is not important right now.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
A scream bursts forth against my will.
A firm resolve crystallizes within Jegal Seol-ha’s heart.
‘I cannot allow Father to sink into self-loathing and anguish once more.’
If everything my mind is screaming is true.
Then I cannot simply stand here shrieking.
Thump!
A blade pierces through my palm.
However, the hand belonged not to Jegal Seon, but to Jegal Seol-ha.
“Seol, Seol-ha!!”
Her father stared at her in shock. Jegal Seol-ha could see her father’s inner state reflected in her mind’s eye.
Before this… previously? The Dohwa Engine had run wild for the first time today, but had there been a previous instance?
Regardless.
Unlike before, no desire was visible in her father’s inner state.
Only concern for his blood-soaked daughter could be felt.
Despite the extreme pain radiating from her hand, Jegal Seol-ha smiled.
“Seol-ha! What on earth are you doing! Why would you do such a thing!”
Feeling her father’s warm love, Jegal Seol-ha laughed softly.
“Father, I love you.”
In that moment, the illusion shattered.

* * *
Already two hours. Though it felt subjective, it was likely close to that.
Even after Yang Hwi awoke, Jegal Seol-ha had continued alternating between sobbing and losing consciousness for two hours.
‘Hmm. Perhaps I should intervene soon.’
According to Eum Hu, the Jeongeum-ogwan’s safety measures were not yet perfect.
In the case of the ogwan, the side effect was likely that illusions would continue endlessly.
If this continued, Jegal Seol-ha’s spirit might suffer grave damage.
‘But… if she can overcome this, she’ll gain a more solidly refined mental strength.’
Just a bit more, just a bit more patience.
It was then that Yang Hwi had such thoughts.
“….”
It stopped. The endless sobbing ceased.
Yang Hwi’s lips curved upward of their own accord.
‘That’s right. I knew you could do it, Seol-ha.’
Jegal Seol-ha’s face had grown calm. She slowly opened her eyes.
Yang Hwi dashed forward in a single bound and let out a shout.
“Wak!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Jegal Seol-ha shrieked in surprise, but upon spotting Yang Hwi, her eyes narrowed into slits.
“Th-this… Senior Brother! What are you doing!”
“What am I doing? You weren’t coming to your senses, so I woke you up using the most effective method.”
Yang Hwi chuckled in response, and Jegal Seol-ha couldn’t contain her indignation, huffing with frustration.
“If you weren’t my benefactor, I’d give you a piece of my mind…”
“Who said they’d let you?”
“… I swear, someday I really will…”
It was then.
Clang!
The iron gate, which I hadn’t even noticed in the darkness, swung open, and brilliant light flooded the inner sanctum.
“…It seems we’re finally done.”
“Indeed.”
Jegal Seol-ha’s expression was one of profound emotion. After being confined to the Jeongeum-ogwan for nearly ten days, it was only natural.
“Let’s get out of here quickly. I feel so grimy—I need to bathe and purify myself first.”
“I’d like to have some warm broth.”
Beyond the iron gate stretched a rugged mountain landscape.
“Senior, but which way is the Hu-gok Inn?”
“Follow me.”
Yang Hwi skillfully navigated the mountain path, gauging direction by the sun’s height and position.
After walking for about an hour, a single structure came into view standing at the foot of the mountain.
It was the Hu-gok Inn.
“We’ve arrived!”
Jegal Seol-ha, who had been following behind Yang Hwi, suddenly broke into a bright smile and began running toward the inn.
She immediately burst through the inn’s door.
“Father!”
“Se-Seol-ha! How are you already here… Wait, you’re speaking! You’re speaking even with the Peach Blossom Seal still active!?”
“So much has happened! Father, I love you!”
Listening to the voices echoing from inside the inn, Yang Hwi smiled.
The long and arduous initiation ceremony had ended—this was the moment I claimed the position as Eum Hu’s disciple.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————