Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 361

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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 361
“The betrothal and its dissolution. Now that I think about it, neither my brother nor I ever had our true wishes considered in any of it.”
Seolha’s voice rang out with crystalline clarity.
As if to say she harbored no regrets, having thought it through sufficiently.
“So now it seems the time has come for me to make my own will known! The family’s wishes cannot take precedence over my own!”
Even if it were the Jegal Family among the Five Great Families, they could not force upon me something I did not desire.
Perhaps it was a sentiment many heirs and heiresses of prestigious clans harbored in their hearts.
“Jegal Seol-ha. You speak such words despite having grown up receiving the family’s beneficence?”
Seolha countered without the slightest hesitation.
“That is precisely why I say this, Grandfather. The person who has contributed most to making me who I am today is my brother!”
It was not an untrue statement.
Seolha genuinely believed it with all her heart.
Becoming the Master’s disciple, transforming her lonely childhood into one filled with companionship, always finding solutions whenever she faced troubles—
And most importantly, when it came time to determine the path she must walk alone, he played the greatest role.
It was all Yang Hwi.
“So my brother and I will be leaving.”
Yang Hwi, who had been standing dazed until now, snapped back to attention.
“Wait… Seol-ha? If we leave now, Mu-han’s grain stores…”
Seolha smiled softly and grasped Yang Hwi’s hand.
Though she was smiling, a deep anger and irritation radiated from her.
Because of it, his words naturally ceased.
‘S-so scary.’
By instinct, his hand reached out and grasped something.
It was Chu Dal’s collar from behind.
“Brother?”
Chu Dal, having his collar grabbed unexpectedly, wore a bewildered expression.
“I am not ungrateful, so I will return. However, it seems now is the time for us to step back and organize our thoughts and positions.”
Wind swept through.
Wind that spiraled around the three of them in a circle—Seolha, Yang Hwi, and Chu Dal.
“Grandfather. Father. I will repay this present unfilial conduct with greater filial devotion in the future! This young girl takes her leave!”
The wind became a gale, and Seolha’s figure shot upward rapidly.
Along with Yang Hwi, whose hand she held, and Chu Dal, whose collar she gripped.
“Then, farewell! Take care of yourselves! Ahahaha!”
Seolha’s clear laughter.
And.
“Ahhhhh, why me toooooo~”
Chu Dal’s fading cry as the last echo.
The three vanished.

* * *
Seolha’s lightness skill was nearly unparalleled under heaven.
She had mastered the secret divine technique of the Seongeumok Ryungmun—the Ilcheon Wind—and her own engraved mental image was wind itself.
“At this pace, they won’t be able to pursue me.”
A time measure based on Seolha’s stride.
By the time an ordinary warrior could follow, she had already traveled a distance that would take them a full day or two.
“Well. Come here, brother.”
Seolha descended onto the cliff of a shallow mountain.
She furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.
The sight was quite threatening.
“We have things to discuss between us, don’t we? Yes? How could you… huh?”
Seolha’s eyes widened.
A violet shimmer. Her Peach Blossom Eyes gazed upon Yang Hwi’s mental image.
“Oh, brother…?”
Until now, Seolha had never seen Yang Hwi’s mental image shake like this.
When she first saw it, it was a scarred boulder.
The boulder shattered and transformed into Wuyun Hui.
And now, the Shattered Heaven Divine Condor.
It had always been steadfast, without the slightest tremor.
But now it was different.
It shook fiercely as if a violent wind were blowing through it, and with each tremor, emotion leaked out.
And the name of that leaking emotion was.
“Brother…”
To be honest, Seolha had planned to beat Yang Hwi first before anything else.
Lost your martial arts and kept it secret?
Even taking dozens of blows would be a light punishment for such a sin.
“Seolha.”
“…”
Seolha’s heart also began to waver.
It couldn’t be helped.
The Peach Blossom Eyes had the weakness of being swayed by others’ emotions when reading them.
And if that person was the most precious one in the world, all the more so.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
“Losing your martial arts was a lie, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
There was no need to explain the reason, nor any need to hear it.
Seolha was also a possessor of brilliant talent.
“You should have told me. I feel hurt.”
“I considered it, but I think not telling you was the right call.”
Just as she was about to ask why…
Seolha recalled something Yang Hwi had said not long ago.
“A child abandoned by their parents at birth cannot trust people. If even parents cast them aside, how could they trust a stranger who shares no blood?”
To be honest, I had entertained such thoughts.
Direct descendant of a prestigious clan, the most beautiful under heaven, disciple of Cheonmu-sip-jon.
How could a woman with nothing to be ashamed of, who followed him around devotedly, not shake his resolve even for a moment?
Could my brother possibly be impotent?
I only learned the reason, his true feelings, not long ago.
“Seolha. I will probably live my entire life alone. I… cannot be with any woman unless she is one who will not abandon me no matter what circumstances befall me.”
Only then did Seolha understand.
How her actions, driven by anger and irritation, must have felt to Yang Hwi.
‘Without question, I am the most captivating woman in all the realm.’
And such a woman had shown him this behavior toward her betrothed who had lost his martial prowess.
‘Ah, ah, ah!’
The reason Yang Hwi’s, her brother’s, composure was shaken so deeply.
The reason his emotions were suddenly so readable, unlike his usual self.
‘It was me. The reason was me.’
Turbulent emotions surged through Seolha’s heart.
“Thank you, Seolha.”
“…It’s only natural. You would have done the same for me if our positions were reversed, brother.”
“Mm.”
“What, hesitating?”
“No. I’ve only just realized you were right.”
“…”
Seolha remained silent and felt Yang Hwi’s emotions.
She had always known.
That Yang Hwi had never once looked at her as a woman.
He had been startled and shaken by her beauty, but it had never developed into romantic interest and affection.
She had always been his friend and companion.
‘Now it is different.’
The man before her had not suddenly developed romantic feelings for her.
Rather, a possibility had emerged.
Unlike before, he was now clearly seeing her as a woman.
In all the realm, only Seolha herself had become someone who could be a woman to this man, his equal and partner.
‘Now I have finally stepped onto the starting line.’
There was no disappointment. Both of them were only now in their mid-twenties, after all.
To roam the heavens together—a shared desire to play among the skies.
There remained so many years ahead for them to spend together.
“Brother. Let us go together. For all the years to come.”
A girl who had given up on living because of an inborn curse.
A boy who had no will to live from the moment of his abandonment at birth.
The two of them stared at each other.
Then….
“Excuse me, but I’m here too, aren’t I?”
“Ah.”
“What?”
“Damn it. I shouldn’t have brought her along in the first place.”
Chu Dal grumbled under his breath.
“So what do we do now? If things have come to this, doesn’t that mean all the work the family was supposed to handle has gone completely to waste?”
That was true.
Among the countless interests that arose from the collapse of the Jang Gang-su Ro-maeng, the Baek Family’s share in this matter.
In other words, it meant there was truly an enormous amount of work the family needed to accomplish.
“I was even planning to make a move in Mu-han right away, but this is rather troublesome.”
The Jegal Family intends to restore Mu-han as a vital hub for water route commerce, just as it once was.
As the overlord of Kangso, the Baek Family must sell countless grains throughout the realm.
“I’m sorry, Brother. I’ve really made a mess of things.”
“No. If we’re being fair, it’s my fault for keeping secrets from you.”
Still, regardless of blame, the situation was genuinely difficult.
Especially since the Jegal Family would certainly use Seolha’s actions as justification to demand something more from the Baek Family.
“Brother. Perhaps… we could ask the Jegal Family to concede more of their interests.”
“Do you really think Grandfather would do that?”
“Sister, forgive my bluntness… but seeing how Grandfather broke the engagement the moment Brother lost his martial arts, it seems quite likely….”
Seolha fell silent.
Even thinking about it herself, she could see Jegal Pae doing exactly that.

* * *
After Seolha departed with Yang Hwi and Chu Dal.
The victory banquet ended in a disorderly atmosphere.
“Jegal Family Head. Shall we finish the conversation we couldn’t complete earlier?”
It was Baek Moo-ryang speaking, approaching Jegal Pae after wrapping up the banquet alongside the Namgung Family Head.
The breaking of the engagement, and the adjustment of relations between the Baek and Jegal families.
There remained much still to discuss.
However.
“Ah, it is settled.”
Jegal Pae waved his hand dismissively.
“Settled? What do you mean by that?”
“For the sake of our Seolha’s reputation, let us maintain the engagement. We shall announce it as being maintained in consideration of the passionate affections of the two Hu Gi-jisus… no, that’s not right.”
Jegal Pae’s eyes gleamed.
“Let us make no announcement. Rather, it would be better to express regret. We shall even send out search parties on the surface, as if pursuing them.”
For Baek Moo-ryang, this could only be bewildering.
“Then wouldn’t Seolha’s reputation suffer? There’s a risk her marriage prospects could be blocked.”
“If her marriage prospects are blocked, then we simply arrange her marriage to Eung-hyo Je-il.”
Baek Moo-ryang’s bewilderment transformed into confusion.
He couldn’t understand at all why Jegal Pae was saying this now, when he’d insisted on breaking the engagement.
“Losing his martial prowess—that was a lie, wasn’t it?”
“Hmm? You misunderstand. Yang Hwi truly did lose his inner power.”
Jegal Pae’s expression showed he now understood.
“Ah yes, I see. It matters not. If Seolha’s marriage prospects are blocked, I shall marry her into the Baek family. Remember that.”
“…For now, I shall take note of that.”
After exchanging various words for some time, and after Baek Moo-ryang departed.
“Grandfather. It seems things have gone well.”
“I think so too.”
Jegal Pae and Jegal Hwa-un stood side by side, gazing in the direction Seolha had vanished.
“If Baek Yang-hwi had truly lost his martial prowess given his nature, there’s no way he would have orchestrated such a scheme.”
“Judging by the fact that even the Baek Family Head doesn’t know, it seems he concealed it thoroughly.”
“And yet our Seolha made such a choice.”
It was a secret no one else knew.
However, it was somewhat insufficient to deceive the Family Head of the Jegal family, which had entered the Five Great Families through strategic brilliance.
From the moment Yang Hwi feigned defeat, Jegal Pae had already seen through it and quickly issued instructions through sound transmission.
“To be honest, I was somewhat anxious.”
“Though our sister is said to be the finest bride candidate under heaven, the other party is none other than Eung-hyo Je-il.”
Considering the connection between the two, the marriage was already determined.
However, Jegal Pae didn’t want to allow even the slightest variable.
“With this, Eung-hyo Je-il cannot take another woman as a concubine.”
“He wouldn’t wish to disappoint a woman who chose to flee with him after losing her martial prowess and becoming a cripple.”
Jegal Pae chuckled softly.
Jegal Hwa-un laughed along with him.
“Go now, and return once the rice has ripened into a meal, Seol Ha-ya.”

* * *
“So what do we do now?”
Seolha couldn’t answer Chu Dal’s question.
She simply hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Why don’t we wander the realm and enjoy ourselves for a while? We’ve been living such hectic lives.”
Hectic was certainly the word for it.
The proof lay in the mountains of accomplishments I’d achieved by merely twenty-three years of age.
“You’re suggesting we take it easy? Just have fun?”
“Yes. It would be nice, the three of us.”
“Sister, don’t you actually wish it were just the two of you?”
Seolha snapped her fingers with a smile on her face, and Chu Dal went flying backward.
“That’s too much. Always just me…”
Yang Hwi continued, ignoring Chu Dal’s complaint.
“Seolha. If you possess talent, you should always aim for two birds with one stone. How about this? Since we’re wandering anyway, let’s make it more interesting.”
Seeing the curious expression on Seolha’s face, Yang Hwi lifted his gaze.
A distant spiritual connection was drawing steadily closer.
-Kyiaaaah!
A white speck. Won-woo was flying toward them, grasping the Geom Seon’s Decisive Strike.
[Gain companion, merge sword paths, pierce the heavens.]
[Wander the realm, seek the strange, obtain true desire.]
“Besides, it seems the elders also wish for us to wander the realm.”
A smirk played at the corners of Yang Hwi’s mouth.
“While we’re out having fun, wouldn’t you like to search for the legacy of the greatest under heaven?”
Seolha’s lips curved upward as well.
Having grown up together, she possessed a temperament much like Yang Hwi’s.
“That does sound interesting. Do we have any clues?”
“Of course we do.”
The greatest under heaven of old—Gwigyoe Jungok-gun.
There was one famous legend about him.
“If we’re going to wander anyway, we should see something exotic and foreign as well.”
And so our destination was decided.
“Let’s head to the Outer Realm. We’ll ride camels and see the foreign peoples while we’re at it.”

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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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