Episode 071
Sleeping Dragon Residence, the private residence of the Head of the Jegal Family.
Steam rose in gentle wisps from two teacups.
Jegal Pa, having lifted his cup and taken a quiet, soundless sip, was the first to speak.
“Seon.”
Sitting across from him, Jegal Seon looked up at his father.
“Yes, Father.”
“That child. He is quite intriguing.”
“I thought so as well, Father. He stands out, and he is a talent I would love to take under my wing.”
As Jegal Seon finished speaking, a look of genuine pleasure crossed his face. He was delighted that his father viewed a member of the Baek Family Village in a positive light. The reason for his joy was simple.
“You know as well as I do how greatly displeased I was when you swore sworn brotherhood with the patriarch of a mere third-rate martial family.”
“…Yes. I am aware, Father.”
Jegal Seon had been captivated by Baek Muryang’s righteousness and noble character, transcending the gap in their social standing to become his sworn younger brother.
However, this was an act unbecoming of the Young Master of the Jegal Family, a clan that stood as one of the pillars of the Five Great Noble Martial Families.
“Because of that, you became unable to form sworn brotherhoods with those of equal status. In other words, you lost a vital means to bring prosperity to our main family.”
“…It is indeed true that we lack a solid, pragmatic network to exchange mutual benefits. Even so, I do not regret my choice.”
Jegal Pa stared intently at his son.
Unlike Jegal Pa, who had been forced to compete against numerous brothers, Jegal Seon was an only child. That meant he had no siblings to contend with for the position of Young Master. For that very reason, he lacked a certain harsh edge and possessed a generous disposition, a spirit capable of embracing everyone around him.
‘When you lose one thing, you gain another.’
Therefore, the Jegal Family led by his son might turn out very different from his own Jegal Family. No, it was bound to be different.
However, for now, the Jegal Family was still advancing under Jegal Pa’s command. Offering advice to his heir as both a father and the Family Head was part of that duty.
“Indeed. Perhaps, just for this once, your decision might turn into a blessing. But, Seon, are you prepared to grasp that blessing in your hands?”
It sounded like a cryptic puzzle, but Jegal Seon was well accustomed to his father’s manner of speaking.
“Blessings are things that roll in on their own. If one tries too hard to grasp them, they may slip through one’s fingers like sand.”
“That may be true for general blessings, but profit is a fruit that can only be picked by those who reach out for it.”
“That fruit has also rolled right into our hands. Have we not formed a connection with one of the Ten Sovereigns of the Heavenly Martial Realm?”
Not even the Jegal Family, one of the Five Great Noble Martial Families, had been able to produce a master among the Ten Sovereigns of the Heavenly Martial Realm. In truth, these absolute supreme masters were independent entities whose power rivaled that of an entire noble family.
For a direct descendant of the Jegal Family to form a master-disciple bond with the Heaven-Shattering Sound Empress was by no means a small matter.
And yet, Jegal Pa could not bring himself to be fully satisfied.
“This is what you gained with a loosely woven net. If you cast a fine, tightly woven one, you could reap far sweeter results.”
“Father.”
Calling out to his father with a firm voice, Jegal Seon paused briefly to choose his next words carefully.
“I do not wish to swallow up the Baek Family Village.”
“And why is that?”
“Because refraining from doing so will bring us far greater profits in the end.”
An expression of curiosity washed over Jegal Pa’s face. Known by the moniker ‘Unrivaled Sleeping Dragon,’ Jegal Seon possessed a fierce and upright temperament, yet he had always yielded to his father. That very same son was now speaking with such determination, making Jegal Pa quite intrigued.
“Explain yourself.”
“I wish to distinguish between those who should be dealt with through profit and those who should be treated with righteousness.”
“Many believe that merchants are the only ones who pursue profit, but that is not true. All men live their lives in pursuit of gain.”
“Even if everyone pursues profit, that does not mean they can all be moved by profit alone.”
Stroking his beard, Jegal Pa downed the slightly cooled tea. It was a sign of his satisfaction.
“I shall not intervene or look into the matter separately. That child, Yanghwi, is a talent we must never lose. Are you confident?”
“Of course, Father. Just as Liu Bei made three visits to the thatched cottage to recruit Jegal Ryang, I shall win the Baek Family over to our side through sincerity and righteousness.”
Such was the conversation shared between the father and son of the Jegal Family inside Sleeping Dragon Residence.
“Why is this sword manual here?”
The Number One Sword Among Vagrants. A moniker meaning the one who possessed the absolute finest sword skills among all masterless wanderers.
In his past life, after living as a vagrant for nearly twenty years, Baek Yanghwi had finally risen to the position of the Number One Sword Among Vagrants. However, it wasn’t as if he had lacked rivals who fought over the title.
‘This… this is definitely the technique used by that Heavenly Peak Sword bastard.’
Even though the guy was merely a peak master, he kept persistently annoying Yanghwi, claiming that the title of Number One Sword Among Vagrants belonged to him. Although Yanghwi had kept it a secret at the time that he had already reached the ultra-peak realm, every time the Heavenly Peak Sword challenged him to a duel, Yanghwi had beaten him to a pulp.
[Seamless Sword Manual]
Seamless, derived from the idiom ‘heavenly robes are seamless,’ meaning that the clothes of celestial beings show no seams or stitches. In other words, it referred to something so perfectly natural that it was completely flawless and absolute.
The Seamless Sword Manual was a sword art that embodied the profound principle of creating a complete plane from the lines of sword stances, much like weaving cloth out of warp and weft threads.
‘It really is the one that bastard used, isn’t it?’
Having finished reading the sword manual, Yanghwi felt entirely certain.
It was roughly five years from now when the Heavenly Peak Sword would start making a real name for himself. Come to think of it, his main sphere of activity had been right here in Hubei.
The general picture began to take shape in Yanghwi’s mind. Somehow, the guy must have managed to gain access to the Crane’s Feather Library, discovered the Seamless Sword Manual, and adopted it as his core martial art.
‘The Seamless Sword Manual… The depth of enlightenment contained within it is only around the second-rate martial art level, but the core principle itself is properly established.’
In other words, if it fell into the hands of someone with exceptional talent, it was a martial art that could advance to the first-rate level, or even higher. The Heavenly Peak Sword, who had reached the peak realm through this very sword manual in Yanghwi’s past life, was living proof of that.
‘I ended up getting an unexpected windfall, didn’t I?’
For now, it was merely a second-rate martial art, but Yanghwi knew down to the finest detail what form this sword manual would take once fully developed. After all, the number of duels that Heavenly Peak Sword bastard had challenged him to was far too many to count on ten fingers.
Knowing both the manual itself and its ultimate evolved form… meant that an entire peak-level martial art had just rolled straight into his hands, didn’t it?
“Bwahaha!”
As expected, a lucky guy could trip and still find a bar of gold right in front of his nose. He had only intended to grab a bunch of decent second-rate martial arts to expand the Baek Family’s repository, but this was a literal bonanza.
‘The level of the Seamless Sword Manual is just right to pass down to our family’s core martial force.’
All that was left was to infuse the enlightenment of the peak realm into the current second-rate version of the Seamless Sword Manual. That wouldn’t be difficult at all; it would take less time than cooking a bowl of rice, roughly the time it took to travel from the Jegal Family back to his home.
‘With this, I have one peak martial art and twenty second-rate martial arts.’
Man, he would have to ask his father to convene a senior council meeting the moment he got back home. He could hardly wait to report his achievements.
With a smug grin, Yanghwi began committing every single selected book to memory.
“Hah! Hah!”
The training ground stood at the center of the Baek Family Village manor.
Children ranging from seven to fifteen years of age were sweating profusely as they practiced their forms in unison. Baek Muryang watched the scene with a deeply gratified expression.
These were the future retainers who would bear the burden of the Baek Family Village’s tomorrow, promising talents carefully vetted and brought into the fold.
‘Until recently, a sight like this was something I couldn’t even dream of.’
In just one short year, so much had changed. And moving forward, the Baek Family Village was set to transform even faster and grow even grander.
‘The only problem is… we have no martial arts to teach them next.’
Currently, the children were conditioning their bodies based on the Six-Harmonies Two-Element Art, the foundational martial art of the Baek Family Village. Since a few months had already passed, they would soon need to properly initiate their martial studies.
Yet, there were no martial arts to teach them.
‘Passing down the first half of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords is an option, but…’
That was hardly the best solution. Each child possessed different talents, temperaments, and natural strengths and weaknesses, so teaching them all the exact same martial art was simply out of the question.
If they were a proper martial family, they wouldn’t have to worry about such things, as they would possess countless martial arts alongside the main family’s hereditary arts. This was the exact limitation of the Baek Family Village that had been weighing most heavily on Baek Muryang’s mind lately.
“Phew. If only martial arts would suddenly fall straight from the sky.”
“Do not worry, Family Head. They will drop right down.”
The one who answered was Chief Manager Han, who was standing at attention by Baek Muryang’s side.
“Hmm? What do you mean by that, Chief Manager Han?”
“Because the problem you are worrying about will be resolved once the Young Master returns.”
“What makes you think that?”
Chief Manager Han’s reply was simple.
“I just feel like that is how it will turn out.”
“…?”
“Has it not always been that way? Whenever he goes somewhere and comes back, he magically brings back something that immensely helps the family.”
Chief Manager Han let out a chuckle and continued.
“If possible, I hope he earns a mountain of money and buys martial arts with it, preferably in a way that leaves us with a nice profit on the side.”
Baek Muryang, unable to comprehend Chief Manager Han’s blind confidence, had no choice but to question him.
“…Chief Manager Han. Yanghwi went away to train, you know?”
“When has he ever gone out specifically to make money before bringing money back?”
“……”
Come to think of it, that’s true.
Baek Muryang, who found himself strangely persuaded, nodded his head before suddenly showing a startled expression.
‘Good grief, Chief Manager Han has really started joking a lot lately. Common sense dictates that such a thing is impossible.’
Indulging in vague expectations and failing to take proper measures would make him a failure as a Family Head. Therefore, Baek Muryang had to devise various ways to acquire martial arts to teach the children.
It was right when he was lost in thought over this issue.
“Father! I have returned!”
Baek Muryang greeted his son with a bright smile, welcoming him back after four long months.
“Yanghwi! You’re back! Hahaha, it really has been a while! You’ve grown so much taller, too!”
Looking at his father’s hand patting his shoulder, Yanghwi gave a broad grin and called out again.
“Uncle Jegal is waiting outside. Please go out and welcome him.”
“Hmm? Brother Jegal? For what reason did he come all the way to our family manor?”
Seeing the puzzled look on Baek Muryang’s face, Yanghwi grinned once more.
“It’s a long story to explain everything. So, Father, I would like you to convene a senior council meeting for our family.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Inside the meeting hall, where the senior officials of the Baek Family Village and Jegal Seon were seated together, everyone fell silent.
“……”
“…So, Yanghwi. You mean to tell us that you went to the Jegal Family, was granted access to their martial repository as a reward, and managed to memorize twenty whole martial arts?”
“And every single one of them is at least a second-rate martial art?”
Yanghwi nodded casually.
“Yup.”
“……”
“……”
Holy crap.
He actually brought them back.
Baek Muryang relapsed into silence and looked over at Chief Manager Han. Chief Manager Han was smiling with a proud, ‘I told you so’ look on his face.
‘To think there are as many as twenty second-rate martial arts.’
With this, there was absolutely no need to worry about what martial arts to teach the promising talents recently brought into the family. The very problem that had been giving Baek Muryang a headache lately had been solved in a single stroke.
“You really are… quite extraordinary.”
“Thank you for the praise, Father.”
“However… there seems to be a slight problem.”
Baek Muryang turned to look at Jegal Seon.
“My sworn brother’s father likely opened the martial repository expecting you to take two or three at most… Will this be alright, Brother?”
Jegal Seon still carried a look of utter disbelief on his face.
“I knew Yanghwi was extraordinarily clever, but haha… I never imagined he would sweep out the Crane’s Feather Library like this, Brother.”
Looking at Baek Muryang, who wore an apologetic expression for no fault of his own, Jegal Seon continued speaking.
“However, do not worry. Our Waryong Family will never break its word. Besides, Yanghwi simply made full use of the reward he was given.”
“I am truly grateful to hear you say that, Brother.”
Clearing his throat briefly, Baek Muryang asked a question.
“By the way, Brother, what brings you to our family manor?”
“Ah. Regarding that, there is a small matter.”
When Jegal Seon explained the situation regarding Jegal Seolha’s letter, Baek Muryang burst into hearty laughter.
“You really are a doting father, Brother.”
“You have a daughter of your own, Brother, so you surely understand how I feel.”
“That is true, but… Hahaha. Our Yeoni is indeed quite lovely.”
“Seolha is the same.”
The conversation between the two sworn brothers was beginning to veer toward doting fathers bragging about their daughters.
“Father. There is something I must tell you.”
Since there was still one more item on the agenda to address, Yanghwi quickly intervened to draw their attention back.
“Speak, Yanghwi.”
“Actually, before I left for my training, I asked Elder Yeo to look into a certain matter.”
“A request?”
“Allow me, Yeo, to explain that matter directly.”
Rising to his feet, Yeo Hyeok looked toward Baek Muryang.
“First, I apologize for not informing you in advance, Family Head, as the investigation took some time.”
“It is quite alright, Elder Yeo. Please speak freely.”
As Yeo Hyeok explained the full circumstances regarding the backers behind the Vanguard Sect, everyone present hardened their expressions.
“Indeed, the actions of the Vanguard Sect were quite suspicious.”
“You make a valid point. It was certainly something worth looking into. Thank you for your efforts, Elder Yeo.”
“Elder Yeo, so did you find out if they truly had a backer?”
Yeo Hyeok gave a slow nod.
“After purchasing and piecing together various bits of information, I managed to secure proof regarding their backer.”
It meant that the Vanguard Sect truly had a secret force backing them.
“Where is it?”
Yeo Hyeok continued speaking.
“The backer behind the Vanguard Sect is…”
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