Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 49

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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 049
Nearly two months had passed since my return to the family, counting all the time away.
Despite having traveled far and slept rough, Yang Hwi was immediately dragged into a meeting with the family’s core members.
‘Ugh, my body is itching to bathe, and I wanted to see how much my younger siblings have grown. But I suppose it can’t be helped.’
However, there was no choice. The moment Han Supervisor heard the figure of twenty thousand taels, his eyes transformed into the shape of gold coins, and he lifted Yang Hwi up bodily, rushing toward the Family Head’s office.
“Family Head! Young Master Hwi has brought in money again this time!”
“Hwi, you’ve returned.”
Yang Hwi gazed at his father with slightly widened eyes.
I thought he was still in closed-door cultivation. Already finished?
Now that I looked closer, his momentum was extraordinary. The quantity of his accumulated inner energy hadn’t increased dramatically, but there was a clear qualitative change.
‘He’s reached the first-rate realm.’
Indeed, Baek Moo-ryang had broken through the limitations of the third-rate family martial arts and ascended to the second-rate realm, but now, after remaining stagnant for long years, he had finally become a first-rate master.
“I congratulate you on your achievement, Father!”
“Ha ha, you truly see it at a glance.”
Baek Moo-ryang, displaying a satisfied smile, continued speaking.
“Hwi, it’s all thanks to you. I was able to achieve this breakthrough because you first mastered the Hwa-cheon-i-won-gong and Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom and provided annotations for them.”
“That cannot be, Father. It was all thanks to your talent.”
“No. With the understanding of martial arts I possess, I could not have comprehended even half of these two divine techniques. Regardless of realm, I genuinely admired your five-star aptitude and the way you perceive martial arts.”
“I am merely grateful that you speak so kindly of me.”
Baek Moo-ryang, chuckling warmly, posed a question.
“So, did your journey abroad go well? Did you accomplish all your objectives?”
“Of course, Father. Elder Brother Gu! Bring Chu Dal here!”
Gu Ak and Chu Dal entered the Family Head’s office together.
“Baek Ik-gak-ju Gu Ak pays respects to the Family Head. And Chu Dal… no, Lee Hu. You should greet him as well.”
“Greetings! I am not Chu Dal… but Lee Hu!”
Baek Moo-ryang, with a puzzled expression, asked Chu Dal.
“So is your name Chu Dal, or is it Lee Hu?”
Before Chu Dal could answer, Yang Hwi beat him to it.
“His name is Lee Hu, but I call him Chu Dal.”
“Why?”
“Because his face resembles an ugly otter.”
“Hmm?”
Objectively speaking, Chu Dal was a child with quite adorable features to be said to resemble an ugly otter.
‘He acts strangely sometimes, and it seems that quirk has surfaced again.’
Seeing Baek Moo-ryang nod in apparent acceptance without asking further, I felt slightly odd.
Yang Hwi proceeded to explain the results of his journey.
“On the way back, I stopped by Nanchang to check on the Baek Bookstore. There was interference from other trading companies preventing the sale of novels, so I resolved that matter. As for the payment, I expect it to arrive about a month from now.”
Han Supervisor raised his hand, requesting the floor.
“Young Master Hwi. Then the twenty thousand taels you mentioned… that’s money coming in only after two months?”
Han Supervisor’s face bore expressions of earnestness and anxious concern.
The current Baek Family Head’s financial situation was truly dire—the immediate funds needed exceeded five thousand silver taels by a considerable margin.
“That couldn’t possibly be, Supervisor.”
Yang Hwi’s lips curled upward as he looked at Han Supervisor, and he personally unfurled the bundle.
Instantly, the office filled with a brilliant golden radiance.
“My goodness! Young Master Hwi is truly a financial genius! Hehehehe!”
“Well then. How much is it exactly?”
“The precise value would require appraisal, but it appears to be approximately two hundred gold taels.”
Two hundred gold taels—a full four times the five thousand silver taels urgently needed.
This amount far exceeded merely covering the financial shortfall; it could even fund an entirely new enterprise.
‘Even after distributing half to the people near the Namgeum Trading Company, we still have this much. I wonder how much interest he charged.’
Han Supervisor, unable to contain his elation and forgetting they were in the middle of a meeting, suddenly sprang to his feet and danced with unbridled joy.
“Two hundred taels! And in gold, not silver! That’s twenty thousand in silver taels! Twenty thousand~”
Rather than immediately stopping him, Baek Moo-ryang waited for Han Supervisor to exercise restraint on his own.
He understood the Supervisor’s heart—the man had struggled tirelessly to patch the countless holes in their finances.
“It couldn’t have come from the Baek Bookstore. Where exactly did you obtain such a sum?”
Yang Hwi suddenly panicked. He had intended to deliberately obscure the source, but of all things, his father asked precisely that.
Yang Hwi and Gu Ak’s eyes shifted toward each other, their gazes crossing.
‘I can’t tell him the truth! Find an excuse, Elder Brother!’
‘Trust me, younger brother.’
Gu Ak opened his mouth with confident certainty.
“In truth, we annihilated the Salsoo sect and seized their wealth, Family Head.”
Yang Hwi pressed his forehead with his palm.
Of all the excuses to make, why did he have to say that?
Well, much of the middle was omitted, but if one only looked at the parts about annihilating the Salsoo sect and seizing their wealth, it wasn’t entirely false.
The problem was his father’s reaction.
“What! You took Yang Hwi along on such a perilous venture!”
In that moment, Gu Ak realized that the Yang Hwi he knew was vastly different from the Yang Hwi that others in the Baek Manor knew.
“How could you commit such a reckless act, Baek Ik-gak!”
“Taking Young Master Hwi with you—what were you thinking! If something had happened and we lost our precious financial genius… no, our eldest son, what then!”
“….”
I didn’t do it. That brat took the lead and handled everything himself.
Gu Ak felt deeply wronged.
In fact, when he fought against Moo-myeong Moo-sal-gok, he hadn’t killed a single member of the Salsoo sect.
It was Yang Hwi who slaughtered Gok Ju’s subordinates, and Yang Hwi who killed Gok Ju himself.
“What I mean to say, Family Head, is actually—”
“Father!”
Yang Hwi raised his voice to cut off Gu Ak’s words.
“I actually have a confession to make regarding this matter….”
“What is it?”
Yang Hwi first explained Chu Dal’s situation.
“Born to an assassin, losing my father to assassins, kidnapped by assassins, and raised as an assassin—that is precisely who Chu Dal is.”
The atmosphere in the hall grew heavy in an instant.
Chu Dal’s past was as weighty and burdensome as it was tragic.
“That is why I was determined to save him at all costs. Father, though my opponent was an assassin, I committed murder. I felt I must confess this to you.”
Baek Moo-ryang’s eyes widened in shock. More than that, he rose from his seat and hurried toward Yang Hwi.
“Are you unharmed, Hwi? You’ve suffered no emotional trauma?”
“I am fine. However, I have accumulated the karma of killing, and I have no words to offer regarding that.”
Yang Hwi bowed his head deeply. Simultaneously, he thought to himself.
‘With a performance this convincing, Father will surely overlook the matter of the wealth.’
The father he knew would never condemn him for slaying assassins.
For that was the very essence of righteousness that the Baek Family pursued.
“Karma of killing? How can one speak of karma when you have liberated those who murdered for coin? You are without guilt, Hwi, and you have accumulated no karma. If such a thing were karma, then I, your father, would bear it in your stead.”
“Father…!”
“All is well. Everything is well.”
Just as Yang Hwi intended, the matter of the wealth’s origin was allowed to pass without further inquiry.
To drive the point home decisively, Yang Hwi cast out his next bait.
“In truth, there is something more I must tell you.”
“More? Speak freely.”
He withdrew a wrapped bundle from his travel pack.
“This is it.”
“What could be so precious that you’ve wrapped it so carefully?”
As he slowly unwrapped the cloth, a mystical fragrance filled the study.
Not only Baek Moo-ryang but everyone present widened their eyes.
“This fragrance…!”
“Could it be a spirit elixir!”
“Seven branches with three fruits! It must be the Chilji Samgwa Sam that we’ve only heard rumors of, Family Head!”
Yang Hwi, wearing a satisfied expression, nodded.
“I harvested this Chilji Samgwa Sam from a mountain on my return journey. Each root is said to grant approximately twenty to thirty years of cultivation, and I wish to present it to you, Father.”
Baek Moo-ryang was moved beyond words.
A blessing. Truly, a blessing incarnate.
How does he manage to select only those deeds that bring such fortune to the family?
“Hwi, how could I, as both your father and family head, covet what belongs to my household? You must consume at least one root yourself.”
“No, Father. I have already consumed one spirit elixir.”
An even greater shock swept through the study.
“You consumed a spirit elixir? Where did you obtain it?”
“Remarkable, Young Master Hwi. In less than two months abroad, how have you acquired so many treasures?”
As Yang Hwi explained what had transpired at Yu Family Manor, everyone marveled once more.
“Extraordinary. Truly, the fortune of heaven itself.”
“It is clear that destiny and the will of heaven favor Young Master Hwi.”
“We were puzzled when we heard that you and Baek Ik-gak had annihilated the assassin sect, but now the circumstances are clear.”
Baek Moo-ryang gazed at Yang Hwi with warm eyes, then picked up a single root of the Chilji Samgwa Sam and turned his attention to Gu Ak.
“Baek Ik-gak. I am grateful for protecting my son. It may seem odd to present something I obtained myself as a reward, but this is my gift to you.”
“Ah, Family Head! Thank you—wait, sir?”
It was Yang Hwi who had seized the Chilji Samgwa Sam before Gu Ak.
“Father. Would it not be better to postpone granting the spirit herb to Baek Ik-gak for now?”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Yes. The Chilji Samgwa Sam is renowned as a material used in many spirit elixirs. I thought we might attempt to maximize its medicinal and spiritual properties through alchemical refinement.”
Baek Moo-ryang and Han Supervisor’s faces clouded with difficulty.
“But our main house lacks a physician skilled in alchemical arts. We cannot entrust something this precious to another.”
“We could trust a renowned physician or major sect if we had to, but then we might have to surrender half of it as payment.”
I nodded in agreement. Father and Han Supervisor’s words held no flaw.
However.
“I believe a solution will present itself soon. Please trust me and wait a little longer.”
I turned to look at Gu Ak.
“Elder Brother Gu. I will provide you with a superior spirit elixir rather than simply consuming the herb. Can you wait for that?”
“Hmm. If the young master speaks with such conviction, then so be it.”
With the matter of the spirit herb settled, it was time to bring up the next matter.
Yang Hwi turned to look at Yeo Un-hyeok.
“Old Master… Elder. I have a request.”
Yeo Un-hyeok chuckled softly and responded.
“Speak freely. If it is not too difficult, I shall grant it.”
“Have you not been feeling bored lately?”
Yeo Un-hyeok and his daughter Rang-rang were staying as guests at the Baek Manor.
However, while Rang-rang managed the affairs of Ho-yeong-ru alongside Gu Ak, Yeo Un-hyeok did nothing but spend his time reading books.
“Hmm. I am indeed resting comfortably, though I confess it grows somewhat lonely.”
“As I thought?”
It is natural that as one ages, they need something to occupy their time.
For instance, training a disciple.
Yang Hwi grinned and gave Chu Dal a gentle push forward.
“Would you perhaps consider taking on a disciple?”
Chu Dal was a fellow who had experienced many twists and turns in his previous life, earning the epithet Baek Ri-chudal.
This meant his natural talent was far from ordinary.
Moreover, Chu Dal possessed extraordinary talent in the arts of spirit perception and pursuit techniques.
If this fellow were to inherit the lineage of the Divine Pursuit Sect…
I was certain he would soon surpass even the Old Master.
‘Chu Dal, this life, let us see how far we can go together.’
With such thoughts, I awaited Yeo Un-hyeok’s response.
Yeo Un-hyeok stroked his beard, examining Chu Dal from every angle, and smiled gently.
“Is that all you wish to ask of this old man, young master?”

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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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