The Genius Martial Artist Who Remembers Everything [Novel] Chapter 216

Chapter 216: An Unwanted Invitation (5)

Moyong Gang.

In the golden age of the martial world, when peerless masters were as numerous as grains of sand on a beach, his name had stood proudly among the Ten Venerables, a ranking that transcended both the Black and White Paths.

During the chaotic war between the Righteous and Demonic Paths, while the Martial Alliance was tearing itself apart, he had rallied the warriors and defended the lands north of the river. He had even made the Moyong Clan’s martial arts public to encourage others to resist the Demonic Path.

The Moyong Clan had vanished after the war, but in people’s memories he remained a figure worthy of respect for generations to come.

*He was definitely the kind of man whose merits overshadowed his faults.*

Unpredictable thought processes. An emotional maelstrom he had no intention of controlling. The power to openly direct his short-tempered rage at anyone he pleased, and the backing of the mighty Moyong Clan. That was his true face: an all-powerful thug.

*If people had known the truth about him, would they have respected him so much? And all because of that old geezer’s words…*

“Why aren’t you answering? Is the Moyong Clan’s name not good enough for you?”

I stopped thinking and sighed.

“Sigh… How could that be?”

*Honestly, me, a son-in-law of the Moyong Clan when I’m from the Taeeul Sect? Even if it were written as a novel, readers would complain that the story made no sense.*

It was such an absurd opportunity that there was no way I could be dissatisfied. But just as with the Namgung Clan before, I couldn’t marry a woman from a collateral branch and become bound to her family. I had too many people to protect, including the Taeeul Sect and the Sojeong Unit.

*Besides, the Moyong Clan had Miss Seol…*

Moyong Seol had been a very special person to me in my previous life, too. Keeping her close while marrying someone else wouldn’t be right—to me, or to the woman who married me. Just then, Moyong Gang’s voice pierced my ears.

“Or do you think Seol is ugly?”

“What?”

*What is he…? Oh my god, he means Moyong Seol?*

“Matchmakers have come and gone so often that we had to reinforce the gate. We use the marriage proposals that arrive every day as kindling.”

Moyong Gang narrowed his eyes and gave me a slight nod.

“If you’re a man, you’ve heard of our Seol, haven’t you?”

*Moyong Seol… Moyong Seol… Moyong Seol… S-So… She’d be my wife? And I’d be her husband? Good heavens… That would make my wife the Sword Empress, wouldn’t it?*

I imagined marrying Moyong Seol, having children, living to see those children’s children, and finally holding her hand as I drew my last breath… Then I remembered her voice.

*You want to live like that. So survive…*

She had said that to me when I fled the Sojeong Unit and ran to the mountains. I could still vividly recall the disappointment on her face, the coldness in her eyes, and the way she had turned away. Then I remembered her approaching me, exhausted after a battle, and speaking about her father. I remembered her longing for her younger brother, who had lost the clan and died as the Bowbreaker. One memory after another came back with perfect clarity.

*Heh.*

A scoff slipped from my lips before I knew it.

*What sort of fantasy was I indulging in? Hadn’t I desperately hoped the past would never repeat itself?*

If she didn’t lose everything and join the Sojeong Unit, it would take longer for her to earn the title of Sword Empress. If she didn’t lose her clan, she would have no reason to join the Sojeong Unit at all. And, above all— I didn’t want to infringe on her free will. I only hoped she could meet someone she truly loved in a peaceful world. Yes. That was what I wanted. After sorting out my thoughts, I tilted my head at an angle.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“……?”

“Arranged marriage in this day and age? Don’t you feel sorry for your granddaughter?”

“What? How dare you!”

I hurriedly cut him off.

“I meant something else.”

“Something else?”

Moyong Gang was impossible to reason with. If logic wouldn’t work on someone like him… I only had to stir his emotions.

“To begin with, is the Moyong Clan a sword sect?”

“Are you insulting my clan?”

I casually ignored him and looked him up and down.

“Then where is your sword, Senior?”

Moyong Gang was obsessed with martial arts. His spirit of experimentation in martial arts was as extreme as his bizarre temper. The strange martial art he had just used to warp space was proof enough. When it came to martial arts, his emotions weren’t sealed shut like a fortress. Moyong Gang snorted.

“A petty brat like you wouldn’t understand. Once you reach my level, everything I hold and everything I do is—”

“If all of the Moyong Clan’s sword arts disappeared, would the Moyong Clan no longer be the Moyong Clan?”

“……?”

He had probably never considered it. Before the war between the Righteous and Demonic Paths, none of the Martial Alliance’s sects or clans had imagined that they could be wiped out. Least of all the mighty Moyong Clan… I took another step toward him and asked again.

“If the Moyong Clan could no longer use swords, would it stop being the Moyong Clan?”

Ironically, the person who had made the Moyong Clan most famous in my previous life was the Bowbreaker. People praised the Moyong Clan, even though it had already been destroyed, saying the grandson took after his grandfather.

“What are you talking about?”

Moyong Gang’s eyes turned ominous. The thug-like expression he had worn until now was gone. That meant I had finally touched his feelings in earnest. It was exactly what I wanted.

*If I pushed him once more here—*

“What is the Moyong Clan’s true martial principle? Is it Swordbreaker?”

“……!”

Swordbreaker was an epithet given to the heads of the Moyong Clan throughout its history. The Moyong Clan took immense pride in preserving the name of Swordbreaker. That pride would make it impossible for him to endure my mocking provocation. Just as I expected. Trembling, Moyong Gang lowered his head and stared at me with reddened eyes.

“I misjudged you. To conceal a minor flaw, you would commit a grave wrong.”

The same distortion in space I had seen while fleeing now began to squeeze my entire body with tremendous pressure.

“I treated you kindly, and now you think you can say anything. I’ve already repaid the Taeeul Sect’s favors in full, so I have the right to punish you.”

*Crack. Crack. Crrk.*

It felt as though the blood in my entire body had stopped circulating; my skin began to swell. Blood threatened to gush from my seven orifices, and my eyes felt ready to burst. Even so, I forced myself to stay calm.

“Do you truly believe the Moyong Clan’s principle is… Swordbreaker?”

“Hah? You’re still trying to wag that wicked tongue of yours? Yes. Swordbreaker. That is what our clan has preserved through all these long years.”

I could barely catch my breath, but I forced the words out clearly.

“……I-I don’t think so.”

“What?”

The image of Bowbreaker charging across the battlefield like Iron Eagle in my previous life was as vivid as if I’d seen him yesterday. Watching Bowbreaker display his might as he held back the Demonic Cult, I had thought:

*He could shatter even the heavens…!*

I forced my head up to meet Moyong Gang’s gaze and spoke.

“The Moyong Clan’s true martial principle… is… ngh… Heavenbreaker, isn’t it?”

“……!”

The pressure that had been tightening around me stopped all at once. It still hurt, but I no longer felt as if I were about to die. I managed to exhale a hot breath.

“Do you think the Taeeul Sect’s principle is… the Ten Thousand Swords?”

……

“For five hundred years, the Taeeul Sect hasn’t passed down the Ten Thousand Swords. Even so, the sect has continued to endure.”

After catching my breath, I looked straight at Moyong Gang and continued.

“From the first moment I picked up a sword as a child, I have never once forgotten the Taeeul Sect’s principle.”

*The Taeeul Sect’s principle is change.*

Though Hong Mungi had remained a second-rate martial artist for lack of talent, he had never lost sight of the sect’s roots. Nor had he ever forgotten to pass that teaching on to his disciples. That was why the Taeeul Sect had been able to carry its name forward for five hundred years.

……

After a brief silence passed through the room, Moyong Gang slowly nodded, his expression strange.

“Heavenbreaker… Heavenbreaker… Heavenbreaker…”

As if the word had been branded into his mind, he repeated it over and over. He couldn’t help it. There was a world you couldn’t see through Swordbreaker alone. A world you could see only by becoming Heavenbreaker.

“Does it matter whether you use a sword or a fist to shatter the heavens? What if it’s a bow?”

The hostility in Moyong Gang’s gaze slowly faded. Only a profound light remained, as he stared at me intently.

“Jaehwa made the Blood Cult tremble with fear using nothing but a bow. His fellow martial artists even gave him the title One Arrow Against a Thousand.”

And rightly so. The feat he performed in Sichuan with that bow had been astonishing.

“If Jaehwa uses the clan’s martial arts to shatter the heavens someday, what does it matter if he does it with a bow instead of a sword?”

“Hah! You’re certain, aren’t you?”

I could be certain. Bowbreaker had already been born in my previous life, in circumstances far worse than these. In this life, just as Jaehwa had said, he could become the Divine Bow that Shatters the Heavens. I nodded firmly.

“I’m certain Jaehwa will surpass the title Swordbreaker and earn the title Heavenbreaker.”

“……Heavenbreaker.”

“Then can you really say the Moyong Clan’s bloodline has ended?”

I looked at Moyong Gang and gave him a broad grin.

“……A new martial art has been born.”

Moyong Gang gazed at me with a complicated look.

“You truly are…”

I couldn’t tell whether he looked sad or pleased. But one thing was certain: his anger had subsided. The word Heavenbreaker must have made his heart race.

“Could you let me go now? If you keep this up much longer, I think I’ll die.”

“……Ah. I’m sorry.”

*Huh? He apologized?*

As I heard a word I’d never expected to hear from him, the pressure squeezing my body vanished in an instant. The blood began circulating again, and a tingling sensation ran through me as if an electric current were passing over my whole body.

“Ow… My body…”

“A-Are you all right?”

With his reason restored, Moyong Gang’s manner had become strangely cautious.

*The word Heavenbreaker must have made him realize how badly he’d messed up.*

I deliberately patted my throbbing shoulder and said,

“What was that? I was trying to make a choice for the Moyong Clan, and you didn’t even listen to me…”

“W-Well, you should’ve said so from the start.”

“Did you give me a chance to speak? And what was that pressure squeezing me as if you were going to kill me while I was trying to talk?”

Moyong Gang subtly avoided my eyes.

“Ahem… I wanted to let you witness the martial art I’ve devoted my life to…”

“Don’t give me that nonsense. I nearly died!”

Moyong Gang’s face suddenly stiffened.

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

*This old man was back to acting like a thug.*

His expression grew even more shameless.

“You want to hit me back for every blow?”

Other people might have cowered at that, but I wasn’t one of them.

“Forget it. How much could my fist hurt you? Just pay for the damage.”

“What?”

“Why? If you hit me, of course you have to pay compensation.”

Moyong Gang gaped at me, staring in disbelief.

*And what was he going to do about it?*

Besides, I’d taken Jaehwa’s beating for him, so of course I’d charge double. That was only fair.

#

The rumor that Moyong Gang would attend the Murim Academy’s Distinguished Guests Event sent the students into a frenzy.

“No way! Swordbreaker himself?”

“I never thought I’d get to see him in person!”

“D-Does that mean Miss Moyong Seol will come, too?”

“Hey! I told you not to hang around with that guy. Why are you so clueless?”

“Didn’t you hate Jin Soun because he belonged to the Righteous Path Society?”

“……What are you talking about? After I saw him save the White Path Society members, I decided he was a true hero of chivalry.”

For the first time, academy students submitted applications to attend the event for one reason alone: they wanted to go, regardless of their affiliation or sect. As a result, almost everyone participated, except for those who couldn’t attend because of private lessons.

The news reached the nearby Martial Alliance as well. As the fighting in Sichuan dragged on and the tension within the Alliance began to ease, some members wanted to attend the academy’s event, but the academy refused to let them.

This led to complaints within the Alliance that the academy was playing favorites by inviting such a big shot.

“Tsk, tsk. Just like the man who’s lived his whole life as he pleased, you’re causing trouble for people again.”

At Jegal Somyeong’s remark, Moyong Gang furrowed his brow.

“What are you talking about, you small-minded man? What trouble have I caused?”

As their voices rose, Hyeok Mugang stepped in to mediate.

“Now, now. Let’s stop. The children outside will hear you.”

“Hmph! Seeing you sit in the Alliance Lord’s seat and act like a dignified old man is more awkward than anything.”

When Moyong Gang’s attack turned toward him, Hyeok Mugang’s eyes twitched. The fact that a man who rarely showed emotion had let it slip proved that old bonds from their youth did not fade easily.

“What made you suddenly change your mind and attend the event? And you say Jin Soun asked you?”

At Jegal Somyeong’s question, Moyong Gang looked startled and hurriedly brought his tea to his lips.

“Ahem. Considering my relationship with the boy, I can certainly grant him a small favor.”

“……” Suspicion lingered in Jegal Somyeong’s eyes.

“You didn’t even attend your grandson’s entrance ceremony, yet you came all this way to grant a request from a disciple of another sect?”

“Ahem! C-Cough!”

“And why is your hand so swollen?”

It wasn’t only his hand. There were small scratches on his neck and face, and bruises showed here and there along his arms. Jegal Somyeong shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. At your age, are you still running around fighting?”

“Who said I was fighting? Th-This is… Right. It happened while I was teaching someone.”

“Teaching? Moyong Jaehwa?”

Moyong Gang frowned.

“That damned grandson… No, not that damned brat. Someone else.”

“Jin Soun?”

“That’s right.”

At Moyong Gang’s answer, Jegal Somyeong and Hyeok Mugang exchanged a strange look. What sort of relationship did Swordbreaker and Jin Soun have, that they were giving each other instruction and doing favors? As if to answer their question, Moyong Gang added,

“He’s the one I’m taking as my son-in-law.”

“Your son-in-law?”

……!

Moyong Gang raised his chin, looking satisfied.

“He’ll build the Moyong Clan into something great. Wahahaha!”

Hyeok Mugang and Jegal Somyeong barely managed to stop themselves from spitting out their tea. They had never seen the arrogant, high-and-mighty Moyong Gang acknowledge anyone like that.

“Can you believe he casually dodged my Void-Annihilating Fist? The boy’s barely twenty! And on top of that, he even thought about the future of our clan in a way I’d never considered. Where else could you find someone like that? Hahaha!”

Seeing Moyong Gang smile with delight just thinking about it, Jegal Somyeong tilted his head.

“You say he’s your son-in-law, and that he’ll build up the clan… Do you mean you’ll bring him in as a son-in-law who joins the wife’s family?”

“That’s right.”

“Pfft…!”

Jegal Somyeong and Hyeok Mugang finally spat out their tea. They knew how much Moyong Gang cherished Moyong Seol. More than that, they knew he was not someone who would so readily decide to bring an outsider into his clan. Then Jegal Somyeong noticed something odd in what Moyong Gang had said.

“……Do you know that the boy is the chief disciple of the Taeeul Sect?”

Moyong Gang nodded confidently.

“I heard that.”

“The Taeeul Sect usually has its chief disciple carry on the sect’s tradition.”

“……Huh?”

Jegal Somyeong sighed as if to say, “I knew it.”

“……You haven’t considered Jin Soun’s wishes or circumstances at all, have you?”

“Ahem… Well, he can hold both positions. This is the son-in-law position in the Moyong Clan, after all!”

Jegal Somyeong laughed at Moyong Gang.

“You really haven’t changed at all since the old days.”

“W-What are you talking about? When I brought it up, he was clearly happy!”

“Happy? You probably beat him up and threatened him with your fists again!”

Unable to contain his anger, Moyong Gang sprang to his feet.

“You bastard! Do you want me to persuade you with my fists, too?”

“Oh-ho! Maybe you need to be locked in the Eight Prohibitions Formation and starved for fifteen days like last time!”

Hyeok Mugang finally tried to intervene.

“You two, stop. The people outside will hear…”

“You stay out of this!”

“Alliance Lord, you stay out of it!”

His words fell on deaf ears. The men, now grand masters of the martial world, bared their teeth and growled at each other as if they had returned to their youth. After they had tussled for a while—

“By the way, I heard things are quite unsettled in Sichuan.”

At Moyong Gang’s words, Jegal Somyeong let out a long sigh.

“The peace lasted too long.”

“Shouldn’t you send more warriors?”

Jegal Somyeong lightly shook his head.

“The advantage is shifting our way. We’ll win the war eventually. It’ll just take time.”

“I hear those Black Path bastards are putting together an alliance. Want me to go stir things up?”

Jegal Somyeong’s eyes blazed at Moyong Gang’s shrugging attitude. The second round was about to begin.

“Just try it! I’ll take my warriors straight to your clan and pull up every last root!”

“What the hell? You’re cursing me out when I’m offering to help!”

Jegal Somyeong tapped his own head with a finger and taunted him.

“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to split the front into two? Is there anything in that head of yours besides air?”

“Hmph! Getting old has made you as timid as a mouse. So you’re just going to let them form an alliance?”

“You know about the demonic practitioners, don’t you?”

Jegal Somyeong brought up the attack on Moyong Sangwon. Only then did Moyong Gang’s voice grow serious.

“Are you taking this seriously?”

“Nothing that happened at the imperial examination or in Sichuan was ordinary. A darkness greater than the Black Path is probably coming.”

“Are you thinking of using one enemy to fight another?”

“No.”

“Hm?”

Moyong Gang turned his head toward the other side. Hyeok Mugang answered.

“When the darkness covers the world, I think both we and the Black Path will have to fight together.”

Moyong Gang stiffened for a moment, then gave a small laugh.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“We have to do our best. If we can’t, then that many more people will have to spill their blood.”

Since the martial world began, had there ever been a time when the Black and White Paths were not at war? Moyong Gang felt a strange anticipation that he might get to see many things he’d never witnessed before.

“The martial world is going to get interesting.”

With a peculiar smile, Moyong Gang said,

“If we’re considering an alliance, we’ll need to send an envoy.”

Moyong Gang turned his gaze to Jegal Somyeong again.

“Who are you going to send? Isn’t this a chance for you to deal with your political rivals? Are you going to send those disobedient Wudang bastards?”

……

The strange silence irritated Moyong Gang.

“……Don’t tell me you’re thinking of sending the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly?”

It was customary for the most symbolic figures to attend such an event. The problem was that Moyong Seol was part of the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly. And she would be attending right in the middle of the Black Path forces. Jegal Somyeong cleared his throat and answered.

“No…”

“Then who?”

“Jin Soun and the others…”

“Huh? You’re sending our Soun?”

Jegal Somyeong frowned at Moyong Gang’s words.

*Who did that guy think he was, calling him “our Soun”? Had this old man really lost his mind?*