Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 1

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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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Episode 1. The Dull Talent of the Yuk Clan
Ganglim Castle

had fallen into winter.
A blade-sharp north wind swept across the Plaza, yet no one left their place. Boys and girls no older than eighteen kept their eyes fixed on the Black Stone standing in the center of the square.
A Black Stone two stories high.

The words “Martial Way” carved into its surface

emanated a weighty oppression beneath the winter sun.
Today was the day the Martial Arts Academy of Muan Kingdom

selected new trainees. Those who passed the judgment of the Black Stone would have the chance to train at the Academy for three years and become true Martial Artists.

“Next, Yuk Beom.”

At the examiner’s call, a boy stepped forward from among the crowd.
Yuk Beom.

At seventeen, his frame was lean, his complexion pallid. The white martial robes bore the crest of the Yuk Clan,

but those who looked upon him felt mockery rise in their faces before any sense of expectation.

“Here he comes again.”
“Wasn’t he at Yeon Che Gong Third Stage last year?”

Whispers clung to his back.
Yuk Beom stood before the Black Stone as though he heard nothing. Not a single day in the past year had he abandoned his training. When he fell, he rose again; when his knuckles split, he wrapped them in cloth and continued striking the Training Stone.
Effort did not always yield results.
Yet this time had to be different.
Yuk Beom steadied his breathing and drove his fist forward with all his strength.
Thud!
A faint glow spread across the surface of the Black Stone, and clear characters soon emerged.
――――――――――
【Black Stone Judgment】
Realm: Yeon Che Gong

Third Stage
Grade: Low
――――――――――
Yuk Beom’s fist went rigid atop the Black Stone.
After a brief silence, laughter erupted.

“He thinks he can enter the Martial Arts Academy at Yeon Che Gong Third Stage?”
“He’s been stuck in place for years. At that level, he’s clearly taken a wrong path.”
“Isn’t he almost eighteen? He’ll never so much as catch a glimpse of Strong Energy

in his lifetime.”
“Come down already. You’re bringing enough shame on your family as it is.”

Even the Academy instructor, who had been observing Yuk Beom’s gaze intently, narrowed his brows in disappointment.
Yuk Beom slowly withdrew his fist. His nails dug into his palm, but what hurt more was the sigh that drifted from the guest seats.
His father, Yuk Ho,

sat with a hardened face, his head bowed.
The martial pride of the Yuk Clan
Gangjing Tiger
—the son of a martial artist known by that name—had spent years unable to break past the third stage of the Yeon Che Gong. He would have preferred if people mocked only him.
Yuk Beom descended from the testing platform, his lips pressed thin.

“Next, Yuk Myeong.”

His cousin Yuk Myeong

stepped forward with the swagger of a man who knew his own worth. He was already being discussed as a candidate for the next head of the Yuk Clan.
As Yuk Myeong passed, he drove his shoulder deliberately into Yuk Beom’s path. Yuk Beom staggered sideways.

“Get out of the way. Your stumbling is making the whole family look ridiculous.”

Yuk Myeong sneered, his voice dropping low.

“Watch and learn. Cultivation isn’t just about burning effort—there’s a skill to it.”

Yuk Beom said nothing. Any response would only sound like an excuse from someone who had failed to produce results.
Yuk Myeong took his stance before the Black Stone and drove his fist forward.
Bang!
A thunderous boom shook the plaza, and brilliant light erupted in a blaze.
――――――――――
【Black Stone Reading】
Realm: Yeon Che Gong Stage Eight
Grade: Superior
――――――――――

“Stage Eight of the Yeon Che Gong!”
“Of course—it’s Yuk Myeong!”
“The next head of the Yuk Clan is as good as decided.”

The plaza erupted in cheers.
Yuk Myeong spread his arms wide, drinking in the praise. In Ganglim Castle, such a performance was enough to earn the title of prodigy.
As he stepped down from the platform, he found Yuk Beom in the crowd and smiled at him pointedly.

“Next, Jang Wol Ham.”

At the sound of her name, the atmosphere in the plaza shifted once more.
Jang Wol Ham

rose and walked between the crowd. Black hair flowing past her waist and a composed bearing drew every gaze in an instant.
Yuk Beom could not look away from her.
When their eyes met, something flickered in hers—but she turned her head as though nothing had passed between them and moved toward the Black Stone.
That brief dismissal left an ominous mark on his chest.
Jang Wol Ham brought her palm down against the Black Stone.
Crack!
The sound of stone splitting echoed across the plaza, and a blinding radiance shot skyward.
――――――――――
【Black Stone Reading】
Realm: Yeon Che Gong Stage Nine
Grade: Superior
――――――――――
The Martial Arts Academy instructor bolted upright—a reaction that bore no comparison to his response for Yuk Myeong.
The head of the Jang Family could not hide his smile, and members of other great houses rushed forward with their congratulations.

“The Jang Family will produce a formidable figure indeed.”

In the flood of praise, Jang Wol Ham bowed lightly.
A smile spread unbidden across Yuk Beom’s lips.
For the past three years, Yuk Beom had given her most of the precious medicinal herbs that had come his way. He had gone without so she would not lack what she needed.
Jang Wol Ham thought that if she could only enter the Martial Arts Academy, that would be enough.
But when she descended from the examination platform, she did not approach Yuk Beom. She passed through the people offering congratulations and slipped straight out of the Plaza.
Yuk Beom hesitated for a moment, then followed her.
After turning through several alleyways and reaching a place where the crowds thinned, Jang Wol Ham stopped walking.

“Wol Ham. What’s wrong?”

Jang Wol Ham did not answer, her back still turned. She bit her lip, and at last, as if steeling herself, she turned to face him.

“Yuk Beom. Let’s stop seeing each other now.”

Yuk Beom could not answer at once.

“Why so suddenly?”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve been thinking about it all along.”

Jang Wol Ham continued, suppressing the tremor in her voice.

“I’m entering the Martial Arts Academy. If I train properly, I can become a true martial artist. But you—you don’t even know if you’ll be able to take the examination again next year.”
“So now it shames you to have me at your side?”

Jang Wol Ham did not answer.
That silence was answer enough.
Yuk Beom’s hands trembled.

“Do you remember how many medicinal herbs I gave you while you climbed to the ninth stage of Yeon Che Gong?”
“I know. Once I enter the Martial Arts Academy, I’ll procure better herbs and repay you. I can give back far more than what you gave me. Then we won’t have anything weighing on our consciences.”
“Weighing on our consciences?”

A hollow laugh escaped Yuk Beom’s lips.

“Was our time together just something to be settled by paying back herbs?”

Jang Wol Ham’s lips pressed into a tight line.
Those three years when they had planned to leave Ganglim Castle together—to her, they were nothing but a debt to be repaid and forgotten.
Jang Wol Ham reached into her robe and withdrew a small jade pendant.

It was the gift he had given her after scraping together money with such difficulty.

“And there’s one more thing I need to ask.”
“Tell me.”
“Please don’t tell anyone that we’ve met. I don’t want strange rumors spreading before I even enter the Martial Arts Academy.”

Yuk Beom clenched the jade pendant tightly. Its sharp edges cut into his palm.

“Don’t worry. We never met.”

He hurled the pendant to the ground.
Clang!
With a bright, clear ring, the pendant shattered into two pieces.
Jang Wol Ham’s eyes flickered, but she did not pick up the broken pieces.

“Yuk Beom, please accept it now. Clinging any longer will only make things harder for us both.”

Jang Wol Ham left the alleyway.
Yuk Beom stood frozen for a long time. Snowflakes fell silently onto the two shattered halves of the pendant.
When he returned to the Plaza, the examinations were still underway.
Then he heard a familiar laugh.
Jang Wol Ham was standing beside Yuk Myeong.
Yuk Myeong unfastened the long sword at his waist and offered it to her. Jang Wol Ham’s face flushed, but she did not refuse—she took the sword from his hands.
The Yuk Clan members around them watched the pair with approving murmurs, saying how well they suited each other.
Only then did Yuk Beom understand everything.
It wasn’t that he’d grown distant after passing the Martial Arts Academy entrance exam. A better option had simply appeared.
Yuk Beom didn’t approach them. There was no point in demanding explanations or losing his temper—nothing would change.
He simply turned away in silence.

‘Someday you’ll remember this moment.’

It was a promise he made to himself: no matter what came, he would survive the path of a martial artist.
Yuk Beom picked his way through the winding alleys and entered a shabby tavern with no sign above the door.
The rotting tables gave off a damp reek, and rats rustled in the dust-caked corners. But here, no one mocked Yuk Beom’s lack of talent.
The owner, Old Man O,

lay passed out as always, cradling an alcohol jar.

“Old Man O, pour me a drink.”

When Yuk Beom tapped the counter, the old man opened his bleary eyes and thrust out his hand before saying a word.
Old Man O pocketed the coins and handed over the alcohol jar he’d been hugging.

“Half of it’s left. I’ll give you a good price—return whatever you can’t finish.”
“What kind of tavern keeper sells liquor someone else was drinking from and expects payment?”
“Then go to a respectable place if you don’t like it.”

Yuk Beom chuckled and settled into a corner with a chipped bowl and the alcohol jar.
As the liquor went down, a harsh heat traced from his throat to his belly. Though it was rough, crude liquor, he felt strangely at ease after drinking it.

“This place really does have the best liquor.”
“So you’re finally learning to appreciate it.”

Old Man O studied him with half-lidded eyes.

“What happened today?”
“Failed the exam.”
“That’s hardly anything new.”
“And I got rejected by the girl I liked.”

Old Man O’s eyes narrowed.

“That one has poor judgment in people.”
“You don’t need to console me.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”

Yuk Beom laughed bitterly and poured himself more liquor.
As a child, his life energy had been so weak that doctors said he’d be fortunate to live past twelve. But after he began drinking Old Man O’s liquor, his body gradually recovered, and before long he’d reached seventeen.

“Now that I think about it, my survival all this time might be thanks to your liquor.”
“So you’re only just realizing now. Did you think my liquor was just ordinary stuff?”

A strange light flickered in Old Man O’s eyes, but Yuk Beom didn’t notice.

“I won’t be able to come often from now on.”
“Why? Are you going somewhere?”
“After this year’s memorial service ends, I’ll be sent out of the city. I’ll probably end up managing the clan’s business instead. The family won’t wait for me to take the exam again next year.”

Old Man O suddenly sat down across from him.

“Then you’ll give up martial training too?”

Yuk Beom’s hand stilled. The haze of drink cleared from his eyes, sharpening them once more.

“No. Wherever they send me, I’ll keep training.”
“You might never generate Strong Energy.”
“I don’t care.”

Yuk Beom looked down at his scarred knuckles.

“Martial skill is all I have. Even if I never become a true martial artist, that’s better than living as someone who gave up.”

The old innkeeper’s smile faded.
After studying Yuk Beom for a long moment, he reached behind the counter and withdrew a small alcohol jar thick with dust.

“I’ve kept this sealed for twenty years.”

When he broke the seal, a fragrance unlike anything Yuk Beom had ever encountered flooded the tavern.
He narrowed his eyes at the liquid poured into the cup.

“Why is the alcohol green?”
“You’re drunk. That’s why it looks that way.”

Already well into his cups, Yuk Beom harbored no suspicion. He lifted the cup to his lips.
The moment the liquid passed his throat, fire cascaded into his body.

“Gahhh!”

Scorching force tore through his chest and abdomen, radiating outward to his limbs and joints. Heat flooded his face; sharp pain needled through to his fingertips.
The innkeeper calmly filled a second cup.

“Drink more.”
“This is… actually alcohol?”
“You’re still talking sense, so it’s not poison.”

Yuk Beom gritted his teeth and drained the second cup.
Crack-crack.
A sound like bones colliding thundered through his body. As his life energy boiled and his vision swam, he braced himself against the table to stand.

“I can’t stay. I’m leaving tonight.”
“I’ll keep the rest for you. Come back in a few days.”

Yuk Beom waved vaguely and stumbled out of the tavern.
The moment the door shut behind him, the intoxication vanished completely from the old man’s eyes.
He flicked a finger, and the alcohol jar rose from the table, drifting through the air to settle behind the counter.

“He’ll come back, naturally.”

Outside, the north wind howled.
Snow stung his face, but Yuk Beom felt no cold. The raging heat inside him consumed even the winter air.
When the Yuk Clan’s gate came into view, at last his legs gave way.
He collapsed into the snowdrift.
He couldn’t move a finger. Though his consciousness wavered, the searing force continued to rage through his body without pause.
Snow accumulated slowly, burying him.
Then a faint light flickered beneath his skin.
Every pore burst open at once, and the air spiraled in a perfect vortex around him. His muscles and bones twisted violently as the impurities accumulated within his body surged outward in a torrent of black sweat.
Rebirth of Flesh and Bone.

The transformation that lived as legend in the Martial Way was beginning in an empty snowfield where no one watched.

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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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