Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 410

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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 410
-Kiiiiaaaa!
Won-woo’s cry echoed down from the sky.
Yang Hwi extended his arm while sitting atop a small hill.
“Well done, Won-woo.”
-Kia.
The letter had been sent by Sect Leader Namgung Cheon-yeong, as evidenced by the use of Won-woo as a messenger.
Besides, the Blood Sect’s communication system relied on blood techniques, making it impossible to send Won-woo there anyway.
[The Injoong Sinma’s notoriety has risen far too quickly, creating a difficult situation…]
“This bastard’s whining from the start.”
The letter’s opening section essentially stated that because Injoong Sinma had defeated Gae-cheon-sin-eung of the Cheonmu-sip-jon, the Blood Sa-ryeon found it difficult to dispatch a subjugation force.
“Well, that was unavoidable.”
Originally, the plan had been to build notoriety gradually.
But upon learning of the mysterious Ak-in-gok faction, I had no choice but to fabricate a life-or-death duel to protect the main family.
[Within the organization, consensus has formed that eastern Honam belongs to Injoong Sinma’s territory and should not be touched.]
In other words, they would still send Blood Demons to kill those in western Honam.
So I’d just need to make occasional expeditions westward, collect some heads, and return.
Since I couldn’t bring all the Blood Demons with me, it would be somewhat problematic for blood qi supply.
While I was reading, groaning sounds came from below.
“Shut up, you bastards. Do you want to die more painfully?”
The hill I sat upon was constructed from stacked people.
Not corpses, mind you—all living humans.
Though their dantians were shattered and their limbs’ meridians severed.
The more skilled ones were stacked carefully at the bottom so none would die.
“If you came for subjugation, you should have gone straight to the leader. Where were you looting—”
Wait, doesn’t that sound too much like something Gae-cheon-sin-eung would say?
“This is the price for disrespecting the leader’s domain. Wait quietly for death.”
“P-please spare us…”
Thud!
“The leader has a peculiar hobby of killing those who beg for mercy first.”
The hill finally fell silent. I could focus on the letter again.
[Your status within the organization has risen significantly.]
“Impressive, my son.”
A sect leader should rank around fifth even when including the three sworn brothers of the organization’s leader.
[Still, if we continue as we have been, I believe we can send one or two more.]
Namgung Cheon-yeong, who had originally planned to seduce other disciples into becoming subjugation force commanders.
The method he chose was greed.
He pretended to oppose the subjugation force formation while secretly attempting to become the commander himself, then feigned being exposed and pushed back.
He deliberately let other disciples discover his scheme, creating a situation where he lost the opportunity to gain credit.
‘He even openly used our alliance as backing.’
The other disciples had continued to volunteer as the subjugation commander precisely because they’d witnessed Namgung Cheon-yeong’s repeated actions.
They’d mistaken him for having obtained intelligence from Baek Do’s faction.
“Brother, this bastard is quite cunning.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly why he’s useful.”
Chu Dal suddenly posed a question.
“Wouldn’t this become problematic? The Sect Leader would be treated as a gray figure and a bat within the Hyeol Sa-ryeon.”
“It’s fine.”
In the end, the Hyeol Sa-ryeon was a heterodox sect—a collective of those who brazenly pursued strength and power, willing to stab others in the back to climb higher.
It meant that regardless of one’s color, having backing would inevitably elevate one’s standing.
“Besides, the heterodox sects don’t particularly hate Baek Do.”
To Baek Do, the heterodox sects were evil enemies to be eliminated.
But to the heterodox sects, Baek Do was merely distasteful for pretending to be righteous—no different from any other martial faction.
“Those heterodox bastards fight amongst themselves and view each other as potential enemies anyway.”
In any case, I continued reading the letter.
[The problem is that there are still five more disciples with more solid standing than this Sect Leader.]
‘Here comes the whining again.’
Among the hundreds of disciples of the Hyeol Sa-ryeon Master, only five could truly be called real disciples.
The oldest had been a disciple for roughly forty years, and all of them were Transcendent Masters.
This was one reason Namgung Cheon-yeong had long considered the Sect Leader a mere figurehead.
[Therefore, to solidify this Sect Leader’s position, your assistance is….]
I crumpled the letter without reading further.
Then my gaze suddenly fell upon Won-woo.
Won-woo was perched motionlessly atop a Hyeol Sa-ryeon disciple’s head.
Inside his spread beak lay a mouse, stretched out comfortably.
‘What kind of mouse uses a hawk’s beak as a bed?’
Won-woo, who had been Geom Seon’s companion spirit beast, was completely submissive to Heuk-seo, the rat spirit beast.
It was a sight that never ceased to baffle me.
“Chu Dal, tell someone to look after Won-woo. He just flew a long distance—isn’t he pitiful?”
At Chu Dal’s gesture, Heuk-seo leaped down and climbed onto his shoulder, settling there.
“That good?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Hehehehe.”
“By the way, why did you come?”
“Ah, there’s something to report. A message came from the Blood Sect headquarters.”
“Is that so?”
Chu Dal oversaw all communications with the Blood Sect headquarters.
Though Chu Dal possessed barely a trace of blood qi, it didn’t matter since the communication method itself involved sacrificing a single Blood Demon as an intermediary.
“They said to attempt persuading the Injoong Sinma if possible.”
“Hmm, so that’s how it is.”
Yang Hwi chuckled softly, recalling the response he’d received when he first sent word.
“They said to prioritize quantity over quality, but it seems Transcendent-grade Demon servants are quite rare.”
“Indeed. When they said to have the Blood Sect cultists devour each other like a Lonely Devouring Technique to raise their standards, they never said anything like that.”
At the time, the Blood Sect’s main headquarters had instructed not to deliberately reduce numbers but to let them grow naturally.
The number of Blood Sect cultists. It meant they valued the sheer quantity itself.
‘The true objective is having more beings with blood qi rather than rapidly cultivating masters. The Hyeol-ma-gong truly has hidden secrets.’
“In any case, tell them they’re sufficiently persuadable. Or rather, say I’ve already persuaded them—maybe I’ll earn some praise for it.”
Currently, the Blood Sect believed Injoong Sinma, this mysterious eccentric, belonged to the Ak-in-gok faction.
‘But what if I—no, what if the Blood Oath Ascetic, whom I made believe I was still alive, reports that he persuaded me—no, Injoong Sinma?’
Whether it brought them peace or threw them into chaos, the Blood Sect’s headquarters wouldn’t send additional masters to Honam.
In other words, I’d bought myself plenty of time.
The scheme was rolling along exactly as intended.
‘This is why I love playing the role of a Demon servant. Quite satisfying.’

* * *
“Satisfying my ass.”
Not much time had passed, yet my thoughts had completely reversed.
Yang Hwi crumpled the new letter I’d received from Chu Dal, his expression darkening.
Summarized, it said this:
[There are still two disciples with considerable power within the sect. None of them have any intention of being dispatched to Honam. If you don’t help, my head will be on the chopping block.]
“Useless bastard.”
“You said he was useful just recently.”
“Chu Dal, I eliminated three of the five for him, and he can’t even handle the remaining two? And now you’re going to nitpick the situation?”
“…My apologies.”
The situation had shifted dramatically. More precisely, it had reversed entirely.
Honam was now regarded as the territory of Injoong Sinma, the new Cheonmu-sip-jon.
The Hyeol Sa-ryeon respected Injoong Sinma and would send no more subjugation forces, even dispatching envoys to deepen their relations.
That meant I could now cultivate the Hyeol-ma-dae in Honam to the point of not just restraining but breaking the Hyeol Sa-ryeon’s legs.
…Just days ago, everything had been proceeding so smoothly.
[Zan Shin-ak-do, the sworn brother of the Sect Leader, has been assassinated.]
[The murder scene was saturated with demonic qi, and from other traces, the Sect Leader has concluded that you, Injoong Sinma, are the culprit.]
The assassination of the Hyeol Sa-ryeon’s sworn brother. Yes, that had been part of the original plan.
But now there was no reason to carry it out.
The scheme was rolling along as desired—why would I need to do something like that?
[The Sect Leader has gone mad and declared he will kill you. With my position and power, I cannot possibly stop him.]
“Brother. You didn’t actually do it, did you?”
“Would I have?”
“Fair point.”
A sowing discord scheme. Someone was making moves.
It was obvious. Without question, it had to be the Ak-in-gok.
“One thing is now certain, Chu Dal.”
I should have seen through it from the moment the Blood Sect mistook Injoong Sinma for someone belonging to Ak-in-gok.
“There’s definitely a Cheonmu-sip-jon level master in the Unnamed Valley.”
To assassinate Ryeon Ju’s sworn brother, a Cheonmu-sip-jon level master would be necessary.
Or perhaps the greatest assassin under heaven had made a move.
Unless they possessed assassination abilities that transcended their realm, it had to be a Cheonmu-sip-jon level master who stepped forward.
‘Either way, it means Ak-in-gok’s true strength is no laughing matter.’
“Ak-in-gok. Ak-in-gok, indeed.”
If the name meant a gathering of villains, they were clearly a heterodox faction.
“I thought their actual combat strength was lacking, so they operated from the shadows. But that wasn’t it.”
“If the leader is Cheonmu-sip-jon level, the subordinates’ capabilities couldn’t possibly be low.”
“Right. That would make sense.”
Was it an existing Cheonmu-sip-jon, or a hidden master?
Chu Dal, quick-witted as always, recited the names of the Cheonmu-sip-jon.
“Yeoilrakbul, Pacheon Eumhu, Hyeol Sa-ryeon, Daehaeyongwangdo, Divine Dragon Immortal, Jeol Ak-gwi Nyeo, Saengsa Shin-ui, Baek Heon-nang-wang, and the Taeguk Sword Master—with Susa Jaeseol’s death, three seats have become vacant, and you’ve claimed two of them, brother.”
Gae-cheon-sin-eung and Injoong Sinma. One seat remains empty, but it will soon be filled.
Whether it’s Adu or Seolha, it feels imminent.
“If the culprit is among the existing Cheonmu-sip-jon, it would be Jeol Ak-gwi Nyeo. Saengsa Shin-ui is essentially dead.”
However, Jeol Ak-gwi Nyeo’s last appearance in the martial world was decades ago.
“Still, we can’t rule out Jeol Ak-gwi Nyeo. The Cheonmu-sip-jon transcend human lifespan limits.”
Just look at Eum Hu—she’s lived well over a hundred years.
With the Divine Dragon Immortal, who has lived for centuries, still bearing the title, there’s nothing more to say.
“However, we also can’t exclude the possibility that it’s a known master.”
When Yang Hwi fell silent, Chu Dal continued.
“Brother, we need to choose one of two paths.”
We stood at a crossroads.
Contact the Il-ik Alliance to accelerate the invasion of Hyeol Sa-ryeon, and simultaneously engage Hyeol Sa-ryeon with our current Blood Demon forces to at least slow them down.
Or.
Feed most of the Blood Demon forces to Hyeol Sa-ryeon as bait, hide the elite, and operate in secret under the guise of a Blood Sect splinter faction.
“Either way, we lose.”
“That’s… unavoidable, isn’t it? An unexpected variable has suddenly emerged.”
“No, I’ve decided.”
Ak-in-gok. These bastards dare to inflict losses on me?
They’ve been irritating me constantly, and now I’m fed up.
“If the path doesn’t suit me, I’ll create one. Just as I always have.”
Whoever their leader is, I need to expose these bastards’ true identity first.
“Chu Dal, bring Seolha here.”
I needed Seolha’s power—specifically, the abilities of the Blank Canvas Body.

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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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