Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 85

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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 085
The moment Jamryongdo appeared atop the Mountain Hideout’s palisade, I had already completed all my calculations.
‘At least dozens in number. The leader is first-rate caliber.’
My forces consist of three first-rate masters and one second-rate.
Three of the four wield mystical weapons, so accounting for that advantage, I’d estimate roughly double the effective strength.
A coordinated assault would put me at a disadvantage, so I need to finish the leader first.
Whoooosh!
Gae-cheon-bak-pal-geom’s new ultimate technique.
Bee-wing Resonant Tremor.
My inner-middle-tier sword strike, manifested through the subtleties of sound resonance, collides with Jamryongdo’s eight-foot broadsword.
In that instant, Jamryongdo’s expression shifts dramatically.
‘It’s all perfectly clear to him, isn’t it?’
Just from his face, I can read his thoughts effortlessly.
He’s realized he cannot win in a one-on-one life-or-death duel.
Like the cowardly bandit he is, he’s already considering a coordinated assault.
“Too late, you bastard.”
I channeled my full power through the contact between sword and blade, driving it forward.
“Cough!”
The brilliance of inner-middle-tier lies in inflicting grave internal injuries through the lightest contact.
Rather than cutting and piercing to cause external wounds, the true objective is internal damage through penetrating force.
His body, pulled by gravity, plummets downward.
In my previous life’s realm, I could have delivered consecutive strikes through void-stepping with no gap between them, but that’s impossible now.
“D-damn it! Stop him! Block that bastard!”
Jamryongdo, his chest soaked with blood, shoves his subordinate bandits aside frantically to hide himself.
I saw no need to rush. Whether I killed him now or later made no difference—he would die regardless.
Whoooosh!
One sword strike, one bandit.
In an instant, I cut through the bandits.
The cascade of blades was deflected in a single technique.
Clang clang clang clang!
Whoooosh!
“Aaagh!”
“Grrgh!”
“Cough!”
For me, defense was also offense.
The force transmitted through the tremor of Bee-wing Resonant Tremor shook the bandits’ insides.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After finishing cleanly with a final thrust, I gazed at the Mountain Hideout’s palisade and leaped over it.
‘Destroying it comes later.’
It was meant as a defensive barrier, but I had already cleared it.
From this moment forward, this wooden palisade is nothing but a cage for bandits.
“Chu Dal.”
“Y-yes, brother.”
His face had gone deathly pale at the sight of blood and corpses.
I spoke quietly.
“Don’t stiffen up. If you get hurt, I won’t let it slide.”
“Understood.”
A stiff reply. Yes, it would be difficult to ease his tension with mere words.
“From here on, you take the lead. I’ll cover the rear.”
Since we were already committed to raiding this mountain hideout, it seemed fitting to use it as nourishment for Chu Dal’s growth.
“Ah, understood.”
Five or six bandits came charging with drawn blades.
Chu Dal took a deep breath and extended both hands.
The Yeong-gwi Gate—a martial technique passed down through generations.
The signature technique of Yeong-gwi Gate was founded upon ten strands of silk threads.
Hidden Shadow Silk Binding, Returning Flow Bundle Leaf.
From Chu Dal’s palms, two strands of heavenly silkworm thread extended forth.
At the end of each gossamer-thin, transparent filament hung a hidden blade and a grappling hook.
The hook embedded itself into a nearby rock, while the blade aimed for the lower bodies of the approaching bandits.
“Gaaahhh!”
“What is this!”
“Threads! Jump over them! Kill him!”
Screams pierced the air.
And murderous shouts rang out in response.
Chu Dal trembled as he continued extending his hands.
His cultivation was too shallow to manifest more than two of the ten strands, and he failed to subdue all the bandits.
“Die!”
Two bandits who had closed the distance swung their broad swords simultaneously.
Blades descended toward his head.
In that instant, Chu Dal glanced at me, and through my expression, he understood.
‘If I don’t block it myself, I die!’
He seized the heavenly silkworm thread and thrust it forward.
The heavenly silkworm thread was a mystical artifact drawn from the cocoon of a thousand-year-old spirit moth.
The bandit’s blade could not sever the thread and was stopped, allowing Chu Dal to immediately deliver a kick that sent the man sprawling.
But.
Another blade came at him from a different angle.
‘I’m going to die…!’
Chu Dal squeezed his eyes shut.
Thwack!
“Gack, gurggle…!”
Chu Dal’s eyes snapped open only after the sound of blood rushing filled his ears.
A bandit pierced through the throat by Yang Hwi’s blade was collapsing.
“Well done. For your first time, that’s not bad at all.”
“Huff, huff. Elder brother….”
“What about finishing them?”
Among the six bandits who had rushed at us, only one—the one whose throat Yang Hwi had pierced—was dead.
The other five lay wounded on the ground.
“F-finishing….”
“Thieves are irredeemable trash. They can be treated like insects and killed without hesitation. Death alone is the only way to benefit them.”
“K-kill….”
Chu Dal’s breathing began to tremble violently.
-My son. Do not live as I did.
“B-brother. Couldn’t we rehabilitate them and use them? Like the guest cultivators the Main Residence has accepted….”
“The Heuk-do-pa can be rehabilitated and used. But Sapa is different.”
Yang Hwi continued in a low voice.
“Orthodox and White Path are used interchangeably, but Sapa and Black Island are distinctly different. Bandits belong to Sapa.”
“B-but….”
I regarded Chu Dal for a moment.
‘Chu Dal. Your hesitation may one day be the death of you.’
But.
-Elder brother! If I can’t kill a man, how can I protect your life!
A hazy memory from my past life surfaced.
Unlike now, Chu Dal’s voice had carried no youthful innocence, only cunning and scheming.
Well, I suppose that’s enough for today.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Exactly five sword strikes.
Five heads fell.
“Chu Dal.”
“Y-yes… elder brother….”
“It’s alright.”
“Yes…?”
“If killing frightens you, then do not do it.”
I swung my blade to shake off the blood.
The bond carried over from my past life. I looked at my younger brother, one whose blood did not run through my veins.
“I will do it instead.”
That is what I shall do.
That is why I walk a different path than in my past life.
Though saying it out loud feels a bit awkward.
“No, well, what I need from you is to handle the information side of things. There’s no need for you to kill directly.”
After all, the leader of an intelligence organization’s duty is to provide support from the rear.
Standing at the forefront and cutting down enemies—that was something I could manage well enough on my own.
“Let’s go. There are still more enemies.”
I moved forward without waiting for a response.
Chu Dal stared blankly at my back.
My sworn brother was usually relentless in his teasing and pranks.
But today he seemed remarkably dependable.
“Yes, brother!”
As we advanced, a sinister aura became palpable.
“Chu Dal, look around. Elder Dang and his sister seem quite furious.”
Fallen bandits lay scattered everywhere.
All of them writhed in agony, their life threads still intact but poisoned.
‘The Tang family really does have something terrifying about them.’
The Tang family showed no hesitation whatsoever when dealing with the Sapa.
Driven by their compulsive pursuit of cooperation, they became ruthlessly cruel toward the Sapa.
The rumors about the Tang family’s toxins were hardly baseless.
‘But when they’re on your side, they’re incredibly reliable.’
Just as it was now.
Poisoned bandits lay strewn about in all directions.
Without the Tang siblings, could we have cleared a mountain hideout of dozens this quickly?
‘When facing superior numbers with few, poison is unmatched.’
But where did that bastard Jamryongdo slip off to?
“Hey, Jamryongdo! Where are you hiding!”
I shouted for effect and began swinging my blade, demolishing the hideout structures.
With severe internal injuries, he couldn’t possibly use lightness technique. He had to be nearby.
‘Found him.’
My keen energy sense caught the qi fluctuations emanating from deep within the hideout.
By its magnitude and trembling, it was unmistakably Jamryongdo’s, weakened by internal injuries.
“Jamryongdo, Jamryongdo, you worm—not even worthy of being called a dragon. Did you really think hiding would keep you safe?”
I shattered the sturdy log cabin with a single strike.
Through the scattering wood fragments, Jamryongdo’s face appeared.
“You brat! Aren’t you afraid of future consequences!”
It was worthless struggling, but the Tang siblings would handle things outside anyway.
I might as well hear him out for a moment.
“Future consequences? What consequences?”
“I am Jamryongdo, member of the Nok-lim Seventy Hideouts! If the mountain heroes take action, you’ll be sent straight to the underworld!”
I couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity.
“Mountain heroes? More like mountain vermin.”
Not loyal dogs, but insect dogs.
Meaning worms and bastards.
“Let’s end this nonsense. You’re young and ignorant, so I’ll treat you as such.”
Thud!
“Krraaaagh!”
I drove my blade into Jamryongdo’s dantian and continued speaking.
“You think Nok-lim would lift a finger over a worm like you?”
“Krraaaagh! I am, I am a member of Nok-lim! The Mountain Lord will, the Mountain Lord will send the Ten Heroes! You bastard!!!”
For reference, the Mountain Lord is the leader of Nok-lim’s seventy hideouts, and the Ten Heroes of Nok-lim is the title for ten elite warriors under the Mountain Lord’s direct command.
“Oh, really? Then let’s test it. I’ll carve my alias into the hideout with my blade for all to see. If they come find me, I’ll admit you were right.”
I kicked Jamryongdo’s head with my foot.
“Who do you take me for, a fool? I know exactly how Nok-lim operates, you bastard.”
Nok-lim appears unified, but it isn’t.
It means they aren’t a single sect.
In other words, they don’t seek revenge.
At least not unless you touch the core twelve hideouts at the top.
“Even if they did come, you’d already be dead, so it wouldn’t concern you.”
“P-please spare me. I beg you. I beg you…!”
A sudden change in attitude?
“Please… please…! More than half the families in the hideout depend on their members for survival! If I die, there’s no one to care for them!”
“Oh, really?”
Such a common excuse.
All that talk about rabbit-like children and fox-like wives.
“You know what?”
“W-what…?”
“A man capable of harming others to save himself is rarer than you’d think.”
Slash!
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
Jamryongdo clutched his severed forearm and wailed.
Regardless, I continued speaking.
“Your death is certain, worm. If you want to go to the afterlife without pain, give me useful information. A treasure vault, for example.”
“We’ve stored wealth underground here, kugh, all the valuables are here, kgh, and other plundered goods are in the adjacent storehouse, krhgh….”
Jamryongdo began weeping, tears streaming down his face like chicken droppings.
Emotions blooming across his face.
Fear and regret.
Two emotions that suited a bandit leader’s final moments perfectly.
“And what else? Is there more?”
“More… more… a w-way to contact Nok-lim….”
“Huh? Were you really a Nok-lim member?”
A glimmer of hope flickered in Jamryongdo’s eyes.
“I opened this hideout under orders from one of the Ten Heroes. If I die, the Ten Heroes will truly come. So please… please….”
How irritating—a Sapa bastard clinging to hope.
I cleanly severed the other forearm.
“Gaaaahhhhh!”
“Where is this method you speak of?”
The stump of an arm pointed toward one side.
I rummaged through scraps of paper scattered on the table and discovered a letter.
[Seal of the Great Nok-lim]
The letter contained a secret code for making contact with Nok-lim.
“Well, well? So it was real?”
“So spare me,”
Thwack!
Jamryongdo’s head fell to the floor.
Yang Hwi picked up the letter and smiled.
Hmm.
I’ve obtained something quite valuable.

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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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