Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 75

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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 075
I found myself dangling in mid-air, suspended by Gu Ak’s grip.
Actually, it wasn’t even that long ago—more accurately, this might be the first time I’ve been suspended like this in a good way.
“Elder Brother Gu, my sincere congratulations.”
“Ahahaha! Ahahaha!”
“You are certain of the pregnancy?”
“Ahahaha! Ahahaha!”
“At least he’s still functioning.”
“Ahahaha! Ahahaha!”
It seemed Gu Ak couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying at the moment.
And who could blame him?
Despite being in the position most likely to inherit Red Bridge Hall, Gu Ak had abandoned everything to become a member of the Baek Family Estate.
His reason for doing so was singular—his beloved, Rang-rang.
How could anyone maintain composure upon witnessing the fruit of such profound love?
‘This means our Baek Family will soon have a youngest member.’
Not just I, but everyone in the Baek Family Estate offered their congratulations to Gu Ak.
Gifts sent by visitors accumulated daily in the White Wing Pavilion, where Gu Ak and the Woman and her daughter resided.
“Thank you all so much! Ahahaha! Ahahaha!”
From the time Rang-rang’s belly began to swell, Gu Ak walked about perpetually smiling.
One would scarcely believe this was the man once known by the epithet “Blood Father.”
So constant was his laughter that he earned the new nickname “Perpetually Smiling Father.”
‘Does becoming a father truly transform a person so completely?’
The question suddenly stirred within me.
Throughout my entire previous life, I had never even become a husband to a woman, let alone a father to a child.
‘But this isn’t the time for such thoughts.’
I turned my gaze toward the training grounds.
The Tang siblings were visible, warming up and preparing for practice.
Young Master Dang-gun and his younger sister by one year, Dang-yeon.
Nearly a year had passed since the Tang Family established their branch at the Baek Family Estate.
By now, I had become close with both Dang-gun and Dang-yeon, addressing them as older and younger siblings respectively.
Since the Yang Family actively encouraged the children to train together and deepen their bonds, Baek Heon-so and Baek Yeon-yeon had also become quite close with the Tang siblings.
‘Though we haven’t reached the point of sharing our secret techniques.’
Secret techniques—observing another family’s secrets was taboo.
Yet I held considerable interest in the Tang Family’s hereditary martial arts.
The reason was simple.
‘I need to find an opportunity to create an opening for improvement.’
The Sichuan Tang Sect—a heterodox family established as a countermeasure against the unscrupulous methods of evil path practitioners who wielded poison and hidden weapons.
The Tang Family, established under the support of the Nine Sects and Five Great Families, traced the origins of their hereditary martial arts to those very powers.
In other words.
‘Both the Nine Sects and Five Great Families possess methods to counter the Tang Family’s martial arts.’
By employing the strategies of the Dang Family’s poison and dark techniques, I had planted restrictions to control the dangers inherent in their specialized methods.
To speak bluntly, they were like dogs on a leash.
Now that the Dang Family had become allies of the Baek Family, I couldn’t simply leave them as they were.
‘But there was no opportunity yet.’
Beyond martial arts, there was another matter I needed to address for the Dang Family.
Since the Dang Family had adopted poison and dark techniques as their signature martial arts, they were scorned and despised wherever they went in the world.
The common perception among martial artists was that all members of the Dang Family were treacherous poison users.
Because of this, the Dang Family pursued righteousness and loyalty with obsessive zeal, clinging to propriety and decorum.
‘Well, it was precisely because they were like this that I decided to make them allies of the main family.’
“Brother Dang. You’ve arrived.”
“Yes, Elder Dang.”
Despite his youth, Dang-gun always maintained an adult-like and upright demeanor.
Considering the difference in scale between the Dang Family and the Baek Family, as well as the disparity in status and age between the two of us, he could have treated me far more casually without it being strange.
Yet Dang-gun always showed me proper courtesy.
‘With such a difference in standing, it would be normal—even expected—for him to ignore and slight the main family.’
The Dang Family did no such thing.
That’s why I had chosen them, and I intended to give them a different fate than in my previous life.
‘After all, thinking of the future, it’s advantageous in many ways to put the Dang Family forward.’
As the main family grew stronger, the surrounding forces would begin to check us.
Especially the Namgung Clan in Anhui—those bastards. It was best to delay drawing their attention as long as possible.
So for the next several years, until the main family had the strength and influence to stand openly at the forefront, it would be beneficial to appear as though we were riding on the Dang Family’s prestige.
‘I would nurture the Dang Family. And in doing so, the main family would grow alongside them.’
To accomplish this, the first priority was to change public perception of the Dang Family.
Fortunately, I had a good method in mind.
“Brother Dang. I’ll skip training today.”
“Hmm? It’s unexpected to hear you skip training. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”
“There’s something more urgent I need to attend to.”
Returning to my quarters, I picked up a brush and faced a blank manuscript for the first time in a while.
A method to benefit the Dang Family while simultaneously reaping gains for the Baek Family.
‘To change perception, one must have it discussed among many people.’
Fortunately, I had an excellent means to accomplish this.
It was Il-pil-hwi-seo’s novels.
‘The Baek Merchant Guild has been pestering me for a new novel anyway. And more money is always better.’
I chuckled as I began to play with my brush.
‘The content should be something that showcases the Dang Family as much as possible.’
Among the novels written by Il-pil-hwi-seo, there was one titled “The Tale of the Peng Family.”
In summary, it told of a young man of the Peng clan who obtained a fortunate opportunity, traveled the Martial Arts World building various connections, and ultimately established the greatest family under heaven.
The narrative was so compelling and entertaining that it ranked among the top three most famous works by Il-pil-hwi-seo.
‘All I need to do is change the Peng Family to the Dang Family.’
“The Tale of the Peng Family” was fundamentally a novel that Il-pil-hwi-seo had written to seduce the mistress of the Peng Family.
In the end, he succeeds in seduction, gets caught, and is torn to pieces by Peng Jia until he dies.
Anyway.
Because of that, I gilded Peng Jia in every possible way throughout the content.
Simply substituting Peng Jia with the Dang family would make it perfectly suited to elevate the Dang family.
‘Preserve as much of the original’s charm as possible while elevating the Dang family. If possible, it would be nice to incorporate the actual appearance of the Dang family as well.’
As I wrote, there were more parts to change than expected, so it took several days to complete the manuscript.
Still, the final product turned out to be just as entertaining as the original.
“If things flow as expected, it should be quite amusing.”
I chuckled softly, set down my brush, and gazed at the blank cover of the book.
[Tales of the Dang Family]
[Dang Mu-jin, a young physician of the Dang family’s medical hall in Sichuan Province, had a peculiar dream.]
[A dream of becoming Gu Yaja, the first divine physician.]

* * *
The Dang family’s identity consists of two things.
The control of poison and secret techniques cultivated by the Nine Sects and Five Great Families for the purpose of poison antidote mastery.
Simultaneously, a family that originated from the livelihood branches of the Iron Hall and Medical Hall—blacksmiths and physicians.
Why specifically blacksmiths and physicians?
The reason is simple.
[The number of blacksmiths coerced by martial artists seeking divine weapons is as countless as grains of sand,]
[And how can one even count the physicians who became sacrifices to vengeance for the crime of treating sworn enemies?]
The two groups of commoners who suffered the most damage and lost their lives from involvement in martial arts affairs were precisely blacksmiths and physicians.
“…Ah.”
After reading all of Tales of the Dang Family, Dang-gun gazed at the sky with tears streaming down his face.
Beside him, Dang-yeon stood with reddened eyes as well.
“How can such a novel exist in this world?”
Tales of the Dang Family was a novel that stirred the hearts of all Dang family members.
It soothed all their accumulated sorrow, pain, and humiliation.
Truly, it was like rain in a drought…!
“Is it truly the case that Elder Brother Hwi wrote this piece?”
“Yes, well, you must keep it secret.”
Yang Hwi kept his activities as Il-pil-hwi-seo under contract with the Baek Family bookstore completely confidential from the outside world.
Since he was also trying to hide the Baek family’s growth and strength as much as possible by appearing to rely on and support the Dang family, there was no need to draw unnecessary attention.
But.
He had to tell the Dang family.
After all the effort—though it only took a few days, still.
Since I had gone through the trouble of writing Tales of the Dang Family, it would be a loss not to receive proper credit.
“Thank you, Elder Brother Hwi!”
Dang-gun grasped Yang Hwi’s hands firmly and shook them with force.
Dang-yeon beside him added her hands as well.
“Thank you, Yang Hwi! I mean it sincerely!”
“I truly don’t know how to repay such kindness.”
“Please, both of you. Between the Dang Family and the Baek Family, it’s absurd to speak of debts over something like this.”
Dang-gun’s eyes grew serious.
“No. You’ve resolved the resentment that all of us in the Dang Family carried. I swear I will repay this debt.”
It had been nearly a year since I completed the Dang Family Chronicles and sent it to the Baek Publishing House.
Like the two novels I’d released before, the Dang Family Chronicles became an unprecedented sensation.
As a result.
At least throughout Jiangxi Province, those who viewed the Dang Family as eccentric or thought they should avoid them for their expertise in poison and antidotes had vanished.
“I never imagined I’d experience people greeting me with respect while wearing the family robes and walking through the streets.”
“I went out yesterday too, and instead of being afraid, people rushed to strike up conversations with me.”
The Dang Family depicted in the Dang Family Chronicles was a righteous martial sect that lived by justice and died by chivalry—a picture-perfect image of the white path.
As they say, a three-inch tongue defeats a three-foot sword.
The popularity of the Dang Family Chronicles was more than sufficient to transform public perception of the Dang Family.
“That’s not true. The Dang Family itself is exactly as I described. I’ve never met anyone who follows benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom as faithfully as Elder Dang.”
When Yang Hwi spoke with modesty, Dang-gun shook his head.
“No. The number of patients at the poison clinic and medical clinic operated by our Dang Family has increased fivefold. This is entirely thanks to you, younger brother.”
The Dang Family’s expertise in toxicology and medicine was second to none.
Once prejudice and bias disappeared, patients captivated by their skill came in droves, and now crowds were a daily sight.
“I’ll submit a report to the main family about this as well and ensure you receive proper compensation. Moreover, I swear to you here and now.”
Dang-gun continued solemnly.
“I speak as the head of the branch family. We of the Dang Family shall regard the Baek Family as a true ally and partner.”
Having heard the words I desired, I broke into a grin.
“The Baek Family feels the same way.”
With this, I had achieved the greatest purpose behind writing the Dang Family Chronicles.
To be recognized by the Dang Family as an equal and peer.
Even though our family still lacked much, drawing affection and goodwill was gain enough.
‘And I made a fortune on top of it all.’
It had been nearly four years since Il-pil-hwi-seo released the first novel.
The reputation of Il-pil-hwi-seo as a literary master was beginning to resonate throughout Jiangxi Province.
Just as I’d discussed with the Baek Publishing House initially, Il-pil-hwi-seo’s books themselves had begun to be recognized as collectible treasures worth preserving.
Accordingly, money was flowing in at a rate incomparable to before.
“Young Master Yang! Please, I beg you, climb upon this old man’s shoulders! From this day forward, I, Han Seok-eon, shall be your loyal steed!”
It was only natural that Han Supervisor made such a fuss, attempting to give me a piggyback ride.
When the Dang Family even sent five hundred taels of gold as a reward for the Dang Family Chronicles, he even tried to forcibly hoist me up.
‘The Supervisor really is something. It seems his temperament and financial situation are proportional.’
Chuckling, I leaped onto the roof and gazed down at the Baek Manor.
‘Has it already been three years since I returned?’
They say a moment is worth three autumns—these three years truly flew like arrows.
The Baek Family had changed so much that I could barely recall its former appearance.
And things would change even faster from here on out.
‘I will make it happen exactly as I envision.’
And so.
Another blink of an eye, and three years had passed.

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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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