Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 366

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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 366
Legend has it that there once existed an Immortal whose gestures flowed like dragons, commanding the very harmony of heaven and earth.
The Divine Dragon Immortal.
The oldest among the ten Cheonmu-sip-jon, an unparalleled master who had been regarded as one of ten absolute beings since ancient times—so ancient that no living person could even remember it.
“So, you wanted to see me?”
A rosy-cheeked face broke into a gentle smile.
A legendary eccentric of the martial world appeared as a young man with rosy cheeks who looked barely past twenty.
My impression of this was simple.
‘Still better than my Master, though. Even I, his disciple, think… appearing as a fifteen-year-old girl is a bit much.’
One thing became certain.
This Divine Dragon Immortal fellow seemed like quite the eccentric for someone called an Immortal.
‘The probability that he doesn’t have his head on straight is high. I need to be cautious.’
“Divine Immortal.”
“Divine Immortal.”
“You have graced us with your presence.”
“We are unworthy, Divine Immortal.”
With five supreme masters simultaneously showing utmost respect, it was confirmed—he was indeed the Divine Dragon Immortal.
“All of you, straighten your backs. I simply sensed a connection and came forth.”
“By connection, do you refer to the disciple of Venerable Pacheon Eumhu?”
“That is also a connection, but an older one at that.”
The Divine Dragon Immortal placed his hand on my shoulder.
The Daoists gasped in unison.
“A mere Demon Head possessing a connection worthy of the Immortal’s personal intervention…”
In that moment, solidified true energy probed through my chest.
Suddenly competitive spirit surged, and I attempted to resist.
Yet the Divine Dragon Immortal effortlessly extracted a card using the subtle technique of grasping objects from empty air.
‘Hmm, I cannot resist yet.’
Even after ascending, I had continued my cultivation and severed the neck of Susa Jaeseol among the Cheonmu-sip-jon, yet I still had far to go.
To match a Cheonmu-sip-jon one-on-one, the distance seemed like ninety thousand li.
‘How will I ever capture Cheonma at this rate? Am I right?’
I glanced briefly at the sky, then shifted my gaze to the Divine Dragon Immortal.
“Divine Immortal. Did you come to see me because of the Dou card?”
“We shall discuss the details at my dwelling.”
The rosy-cheeked young man smiled and nodded, then called out to the Daoists.
“This child has inherited the lineage. Though he currently leaks demonic energy due to circumstances, Bin-do shall personally examine and guide him. So the rest of you should head inside and rest. You must be busy enough as it is.”
Among the Daoists, two wore expressions of concern, but none dared to object.
It was only natural—these were the words of the Divine Dragon Immortal himself.
“Divine Immortal. I apologize for causing you concern during your cultivation.”
“Think nothing of it. This too seems to be my cultivation.”
Cultivation, he said.
He certainly wasn’t referring to accumulating inner strength.
‘It must be the kind of accumulated power spoken of when people say a water serpent ascends to heaven as a dragon after gathering power for a thousand years.’
Suddenly, I grew curious.
The Divine Dragon Immortal. The oldest of the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
What was this old master accumulating power for?
Ascension to immortality?

* * *
The Divine Dragon Immortal’s dwelling was situated deep within the Kunlun Mountains.
Though the sun shone brightly in the sky above, clouds and mist clung to the peaks below.
A modest thatched cottage and a wide field sat upon what appeared to be a plateau carved from the mountainside itself.
‘Now that I think about it, the Immortal was dressed as a farmer.’
Perhaps due to the aura of mystique surrounding him, I only now noticed the hoe he held in his hands.
“It seems you tend the field as a pastime, Venerable One. Ah, forgive my late introduction. I am Jegal Seol-ha, successor to the Seongyeum Okryeong Sect.”
Following Seol-ha, the entire group introduced themselves.
“What lovely children. Four of you even bear the mark of connection.”
Four out of five.
Likely everyone except Chu Dal bore the mark of connection.
Neung-o was from the same sect as Adu, and Adu was a disciple of Yeoilrakbul.
“Bin-do is my secular name. In the mortal realm, I am known as the Divine Dragon Immortal Taoist. Feel free to call me simply Taoist.”
“May I call you Divine Dragon Immortal instead?”
“Whatever feels more comfortable will suffice. To answer your question, the field is Bin-do’s accumulated power.”
Tending a field was accumulated power?
Elders from prestigious sects often pretended to be dignified while working fields, but hearing it called accumulated power sparked my curiosity all the more.
“Self-sufficiency?”
A glimmer of light appeared in the Divine Dragon Immortal’s eyes.
“Clever.”
“Thank you.”
“Too clever, which is precisely why you’ve ended up in such a state.”
The Divine Dragon Immortal pointed directly at the demonic energy flowing from me.
Well, given my circumstances, I couldn’t deny the word “state.”
“Do you know of the Dodo Tablet, Immortal?”
The Dodo Tablet. One of the things I received when I first met Swordmaster Yeo Dong-bin.
It was heavier than an ordinary sword, and since I didn’t know what it was used for, I’d simply carried it around as a burden.
“I know of it. You covet it. Won’t you give it to Bin-do?”
“What exactly is it?”
“A pass.”
He surely wasn’t referring to an old person.
He must mean a travel permit.
‘A travel pass. For going where?’
“Carrying that means you’re connected to Swordmaster Yeo Dong-bin. Might your name be Yang Hwi?”
I felt caught off guard.
How did he know? Well, my companions were far too famous for their own good.
“Yes, that’s correct. But when you say ‘friend’…?”
“In my younger days, I crossed blades with Yeon several times.”
Wait a moment.
Let me calculate this.
The great-great-grandfather, Taeguk Sword Master, was easily over two hundred years old.
His disciple, Taeguk Swordmaster Jang Sam-bong, lived two hundred years before that.
And Swordmaster Yeo Dong-bin was said to have ascended even further back…
“Could it be that the legendary herb of immortality that even Emperor Qin coveted actually exists?”
The Divine Dragon Immortal smiled faintly.
“Even a mere imoogi that cultivates spiritual energy can live for countless ages and be called a ten-thousand-year python. Why should humans be any different? As for my age, I stopped counting after five hundred years.”
Red Cultivation. This wasn’t mere metaphor—he was genuinely practicing it.
Just as an imoogi ascends to become a dragon.
‘With someone of this caliber, it should certainly be possible.’
“Divine Immortal. Following the will left by Swordmaster Yeo Dong-bin, I’ve reached Kunlun. Is there perhaps a way to resolve my current condition?”
I explained the circumstances briefly.
Even for someone as thick-skinned as Eum Hu, there was no avoiding embarrassment when recounting the incident with the Susa Jaeseol.
“So… when it flew away, I got angry and swallowed it.”
“And afterward, you couldn’t leave it alone and kept tampering with it until disaster struck?”
“…Yes.”
The Divine Dragon Immortal laughed as if he’d expected exactly this.
“The solution is simple.”
“Really? Truly?”
My lips curved upward involuntarily.
I hadn’t voiced it, but this had been weighing on me terribly.
The greatest martial artist of the Baek Family and future number one under heaven leaking demonic energy everywhere?
Designation as a martial arts criminal was certain, and the Baek Family would very likely be dragged into it as well.
“What must I do?”
“Undergo a complete rebirth.”
“…Pardon?”
But you said it was simple.
I couldn’t achieve a complete rebirth even at the peak of the supreme realm. How could I do it now?
“However, I cannot undergo a complete rebirth. The Venerable Daehaeyongwang told me that my body is already perfect, so I would never experience such a transformation.”
“So that boy Peng said something like that.”
For a moment, I didn’t understand.
This was the first time I’d heard anyone call Daehaeyongwangdo Peng Beom—a member of the Cheonmu-sip-jon and easily over a hundred years old—a “boy.”
‘To this elder… or rather, this spiritual being, he really would be a child.’
“You said it was simple. Does Kunlun perhaps possess a secret method to achieve a complete rebirth?”
“Do you know what the dozens of martial lineages embraced by Kunlun have in common?”
Even if they dwell in the same place, when their pursuits differ, martial lineages splinter into a thousand, ten thousand paths—such is their nature.
Yet to speak of commonalities among dozens of them, not merely one or two.
‘It’s not something like sword techniques being passed down. Then… ah.’
“Dragons?”
“Clever indeed.”
Kunlun is not a single sect, but dozens of martial lineages.
Yet the reason they can be bound as one faction is.
“All martial lineages and all martial arts embraced by Kunlun originate from the secret of ascension. We are humans who aspire to become dragons.”
For instance, there was the Qiankun Great Shift.
Methods of grafting heterogeneous techniques, like the Shaman’s Four Directions Breaking Heaven Root.
These truly began as desperate attempts to emulate dragons who command the harmony of heaven and earth.
“Bin-do’s Flexible Divine Meridian seeks to ascend by crafting the Flexible Pearl. In the art of elixir refinement, he yields to none.”
Suddenly, the moment when I named the Immortal Pearl Heavenly River Technique came to mind.
A clue that had brushed through my thoughts for no apparent reason.
I must craft the Immortal Pearl.
Even if I had to gather all things in this world.
“A perfectly flawless body? The Dragon King’s words aren’t wrong, but perfection is relative.”
In other words, the Divine Dragon Immortal was saying this.
Your body may have been perfect once, but it is no longer.
“What does it mean that energy leaks away? It means there are cracks in the vessel. Or perhaps it is simply too small to contain everything.”
I understood.
‘That’s what it was. At the pinnacle of transcendence, my body was perfect. That’s why I underwent no metamorphosis even as I ascended.’
But now, having consumed the Seon Elixir containing everything of the one who occupied the first seat of Cheonmu-sip-jon.
I cannot be a vessel capable of holding everything.
So after piercing a hole in the Seon Elixir that had been tightly sealed, the demonic energy escaped control and leaked profusely.
‘Like pouring wine endlessly into a full cup—it all spills out.’
Yet one question arose.
“You do not tell me to discard the demonic energy?”
He presented metamorphosis, enlarging the vessel, as the solution.
That statement was equivalent to telling me to carry the demonic energy with me.
“Clever. Truly clever. No wonder Yeo Dou chose you.”
I waited for the answer that would follow the praise.
But the Divine Dragon Immortal redirected the conversation instead of answering the question.
“Will you not give the Dodo Tablet to Bin-do? Then I shall conduct the elixir refinement for your metamorphosis.”
Not a bad proposal.
It had been years since I obtained the Dodo Tablet, yet I had found no use for it.
…To be honest, I even wondered if Swordmaster Yeo wouldn’t give me another if I pestered him.
“Or fulfill one request of Bin-do’s. Then afterward, I shall observe the results and bestow the elixir.”
A second proposal.
It was almost certainly related to the Kunlun Daoists, who normally scattered to cultivate separately, now traveling together in groups.
In other words, there was a high likelihood this would be an extremely troublesome request.
But.
‘Accepting the Dodo Tablet made my conscience sting, so offering a second option felt like the right move.’
“Before I answer, may I ask one more thing?”
“Ask whatever you wish.”
“If the Divine Dragon Immortal were to step forward personally, any problem could be solved. I’m curious why you’re asking me instead. It’s not as though you’re busy, after all.”
The Divine Dragon Immortal smiled faintly once more.
“For a water serpent to become a true dragon, it must hole up in a dragon’s pool and accumulate merit through cultivation.”
In other words, he wouldn’t step forward for the sake of his cultivation.
…Or put another way, he feared his accumulated merit might shatter.
The moment I thought this far.
“Now is not the time for Bin-do’s merit to shatter. So I cannot step forward.”
The Divine Dragon Immortal smiled faintly. They say old age brings fewer reasons to laugh, but this old man seemed to be an exception.
“I will accept your request. As for the Dodo Tablet, my Master gave it to me, so it feels awkward to return it.”
“Master?”
Seeing his eyes widen, I felt a mischievous impulse stir within me.
“He did call me his last disciple, at least.”
“Ah, is that so? I see. Then Bin-do’s request is simple. Go where you must go—go to Seojang.”
How did he even know Seojang was my destination?
“Kunlun is the boundary dividing the outside world from the Central Plains. Moreover, it is a convergence point of spiritual veins counted among the finest under heaven. Demons targeting the heavens are increasing exponentially.”
So that was why the Kunlun Daoists were traveling together.
Demons were flowing in from the outside world and stirring up trouble in Kunlun.
“Go to Seojang. Find the cause there, and if you could root it out completely, that would be ideal. If it proves beyond your strength, simply relay what you discover to Bin-do.”
Well, it was on my way anyway, so I figured I might as well handle it while I was at it.
Besides, my nature was such that I could only be satisfied by catching and crushing demons whenever I saw them.
Just as I was thinking this.
Vrrrrmmm!
A vibration from the Swordmaster’s Seal in my breast pocket.
I asked for a moment’s leave and quickly checked it.
[Tear it open.]
“….”
It probably wasn’t telling me to tear open the paper of the Swordmaster’s Seal.
‘Swordmaster. Or rather, Master. For the first time, we’re in perfect agreement!’
No matter how much this was the Divine Dragon Immortal’s request, and even if a reward would follow if I succeeded.
…It was still difficult to do this empty-handed, wasn’t it?
“I humbly accept, Divine Dragon Immortal. I shall perform this ‘request’ with utmost sincerity! However….”
“However?”
“Could you perhaps provide an advance payment?”
“….”
For the first time, the smile vanished from the Divine Dragon Immortal’s face.
A flicker of unease crossed his features.
“You may have sensed it just now, but your friend—the Immortal’s companion—commanded this. I wagered everything on it, truly.”

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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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