Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Beginning of Revival (2)
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The crowd's mouths gaped wide open.
The fight had unfolded so chaotically and fiercely that no one could even tell who had been on the back foot or who had seized the momentum.
If they had to guess, Murong Bi had looked reckless in their eyes. Hwang Gyu's sword had been faster, and Murong Bi had seemed subtly sluggish by comparison.
But the result was different.
"He... he won."
Someone's mutter snapped the crowd back to reality.
"What? Young Master Murong won?"
"Gasp! He beat the Ten Sword Sect Leader? That scrawny young lord?!"
"N-No way!"
The murmurs swelled in an instant.
They weren't the only ones shocked.
Go Cheok and the White Dragon Squad members were all equally dumbfounded.
It was inevitable. Hwang Gyu, the Ten Sword Sect Leader, had vied for the title of unrivaled in Wuhan alongside the head of the Hong Sword Clan.
Some said that though Wuhan was a bustling commercial hub, it lacked any true powerhouses.
It wasn't wrong if you considered the entire martial world. At least around Wuhan, there were no major sects recognized nationwide.
Still, as the master of a faction that split the city's trade routes, his martial prowess couldn't possibly be weak. Even if all four elders of the Ten Sword Sect attacked him at once, could they win? Hwang Gyu was that kind of powerhouse.
But the Murong clansmen's shock was even greater.
"...He won."
Her mouth had been hanging open so wide she hadn't even noticed the drool leaking out.
She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, but the astonishment lingered.
"Th-That idiot actually won?!"
It was a shock.
She had seen him take down Lady Hwang Inhwa, Yi Jeong, and three guards at once.
She hadn't said it aloud, but the impact from that had been tremendous too. The mad killing intent from her fool of a brother had been so overwhelming it overshadowed it, but the martial arts he'd displayed then were staggeringly impressive.
But now?
'He toyed with him completely.'
Power, speed, internal energy—his opponent had the edge in everything.
Yet that idiot had dominated the superior master like he was a ten-year-old street punk swinging a stick.
How was that even possible? She couldn't believe it even after seeing it. It was as if he'd read every weakness, every movement precise and efficient to the extreme.
'Impossible! Even mastering the main family's arts, fighting that well...!'
At that moment, Jin Gwang's booming voice rang out.
"A victory for the young master!"
"Woooaaah!!"
The shock quickly turned to excitement.
The retainers shouted at the top of their lungs.
"The young master won!"
"Young Master Murong Bi defeated the Ten Sword Sect Leader!"
"Fuck! Fuuuuck!!"
The hyped-up retainers bellowed curses.
Whether they harbored prejudices against Murong Bi, looked down on him, or even hated him, he was still the clan's firstborn son.
And that firstborn had outright crushed the Ten Sword Sect Leader, who contended for supremacy in Wuhan. How could they not get fired up?
Clap clap clap!
The Flower Sword Squad's excited cheers must have spread to the crowd.
Someone started clapping, and the sound rapidly echoed through every corner of the market.
"Young Master Murong beat the Ten Sword Sect Leader!"
"No way! What did I just witness?!"
"Young Master Murong defeated Sect Leader Hwang? For real?"
"Oh my god! Is this real?!"
"Woooaaah!!"
It was a cauldron of frenzy.
The exploding noise from all directions made it so you had to yell just to talk to the person next to you.
Was it that atmosphere and momentum?
Hwang Gyu, sprawled on the ground, regained consciousness quickly.
"You awake?"
"Hurk!"
Hwang Gyu instinctively tried to rise, but his upper body suddenly stiffened.
Murong Bi's sword hovered at his chest, pressing on a single acupoint.
'Pressure point!'
Hwang Gyu's face drained of color.
Infusing true energy into the sword tip to seal an acupoint?
'Th-This is insane!'
It was a realm he'd never even heard of. Acupoint strikes weren't easy to learn in the first place.
Much less using energy from a sword tip—not a finger or rod—to precisely paralyze the desired spot?
"You... what the hell are you?!"
Even amid the deafening noise, Murong Bi caught his voice.
His senses, sharpened by the blazing Mixed Origin True Energy, were under his fluid control.
"The firstborn son of House Murong."
"No way..."
"What, you think I'm your firstborn?"
"H-House Murong is finished! Weren't you all done for already?!"
Murong Bi's eyes flashed with change.
Seeing that gaze, Hwang Gyu felt chills erupt across his skin.
"Who told you that? That the main house is done?"
"...!"
"You underestimate Murong blood too much. The main house won't fall even without me."
"...Gulp."
"But now that I've returned to this land, this wretched world will witness the main house's potential to dominate the realm once more."
Returned to this land?
"What nonsense is that?!"
"Do you know what the martial world once called the main house?"
His piercing eyes curved like a crescent moon.
Murong Bi's smiling face looked unusually mature and composed, unlike his usual self.
"The Ascendant Martial God Clan."
"...!"
"Even if we're buried in the mud, reduced to a pathetic state, we will one day soar and make the world tremble—the clan of the Martial God."
These were the words of Grandmaster Gwang Beop, a legendary Shaolin monk revered as a divine sage, once respected by all.
Gwang Beop, one of the greatest masters in Shaolin's thousand-year history, counted among the top five.
His praise illustrated just how exalted House Murong had been back then.
"The main house does not perish. Even without money or power, even if our numbers dwindle and our plaques vanish, Murong blood never fades."
"..."
"The main house will reclaim its past glory."
His words overwhelmed the listener.
Despite the noise everywhere, Murong Bi's solemn voice etched every syllable clearly into Hwang Gyu's ears.
'This guy...'
Fear surfaced on Hwang Gyu's face.
House Murong rising again? Absurd. A clan already shattered beyond recovery would need to overcome countless enemies and shatter prejudices and oppression to reach the pinnacle.
There were countless cases of powers rising from the bottom to shake the world.
But factions that had completely collapsed regaining their former glory? Rare indeed.
House Murong would be no different. No money, no power, only three blood kin, and even their warriors were nobodies.
Yet why?
Just listening to Murong Bi made it feel like House Murong really could shake the world again.
"Th..."
No words came.
Murong Bi scratched his head as he looked down at the trembling Hwang Gyu.
"Anyway, the match is decided. Remember the bet we made before the fight?"
"Wh-What?!"
"We both went all in. The Ten Sword Sect plaque—ring any bells?"
"...!"
"A sect barely thirty years old sucked the honey dry. Time to wake up from the dream."
Hwang Gyu's pale face flushed beet red.
Only now was he facing reality.
"Y-You mad bastard! How dare you, me?!"
His voice trembled with rage.
The fear of the master who'd overwhelmed him paled against the surging fury.
The greatest shock was his own defeat.
He'd believed no one in Wuhan could beat him head-on. The Hong Sword Clan head was a threat, but deep down, he'd prided himself as superior.
Yet he'd fallen to Murong Bi so easily.
Not even a close fight. He'd been toyed with.
The defeat's shock was so immense it even erased his fear of Murong Bi.
"You son of a bitch! Do you know what you've done?!"
"I beat you down?"
"Arrrgh!!"
Unable to contain his rage, Hwang Gyu bellowed and unleashed his internal energy.
"What are you doing?! Capture this lunatic now!!"
Hwang Gyu's voice sliced through the noise, reaching Go Cheok and the White Dragon Squad.
Go Cheok, who had been gaping blankly, panicked. The White Dragon Squad was the same.
Hwang Gyu shrieked again.
"This bastard practices demonic arts! If you don't seize him now, Wuhan will become a sea of blood! Go Cheok! Lead the White Dragon Squad and capture Murong Bi!"
Horror spread across the cheering crowd's faces.
Demonic arts? Murong Bi?
"...He doesn't look like it."
Someone's mutter voiced what everyone thought.
Murong Bi looked perfectly normal to anyone. He wasn't exuding ominous energy like the rumored demon, nor laughing maniacally as he slashed or reveling in blood.
The crowd's bewildered faces gradually cooled to icy disdain.
"Go Cheok!!"
Hwang Gyu's voice bordered on a desperate wail amid his fury.
Go Cheok, who had hesitated, steeled himself.
"White Dragon Squad, prepare for battle! Rescue the sect leader and bind Murong Bi!"
The White Dragon Squad members exchanged glances.
As the Ten Sword Sect's elites, they never questioned orders. But this one was too forced.
Go Cheok bellowed.
"What are you waiting for?! You refusing to save the sect leader?!"
No one could stand still after that.
Whoosh!
Go Cheok and the White Dragon Squad charged into the fray.
At that instant, Murong Suhyang shouted.
"Block them!"
The power gap was laughably one-sided, but Jin Gwang and the retainers moved without hesitation.
Then—
Boom!
A sudden explosion made both the Murong side and Ten Sword Sect side flinch in surprise.
"Honestly, I didn't think you'd honor the agreement so cleanly."
The sword slammed into the ground right beside Hwang Gyu's face.
Force Emission shattered stones that pelted Hwang Gyu's ear and face. His face became a bloody mess in an instant, and he screamed.
Murong Bi's cold eyes turned to Go Cheok.
"But this is too pathetic, isn't it?"
"Y-You bastard! Get away from the sect leader now!"
"I won the match. He's mine."
"You madman! Have you no honor as the victor? How can you do as you please with the loser...!"
"Don't you have any pride as righteous martial artists? You heard your sect leader stake the sect's very existence before the fight, right?"
Go Cheok bit his lip.
Embarrassed and flustered, he somehow recalled the two men's conversation.
"The sect leader said he'd stake everything, but not what exactly!"
Even he cringed at his own lame excuse.
Murong Suhyang and the Flower Sword Squad were dumbfounded. Was that really what to say now?
"So you're not even committing seppuku?"
"What?!"
"Don't you remember the elder was to take his own life if you lost?"
"That was..."
"You bastards really live entertaining lives. You honor agreements when they favor you, but deny them when they don't? What kind of righteous faction is this?"
Go Cheok ground his teeth.
The White Dragon Squad felt shame so deep they didn't know where to look.
Go Cheok, trembling with rage, shrieked.
"It was an absurd deal from the start! Staking an organization's survival on one fight—who does that?!"
"Insulting your superior? Your sect leader accepted the proposal."
"You bastard! Think you're on our level, you scraps not even worth the main house?!"
The moment he said it, Go Cheok realized his mistake.
"..."
The air turned frigid.
Those words insulted House Murong and exposed the Ten Sword Sect's elitist superiority complex.
Flustered, Go Cheok mumbled unwittingly.
"I didn't mean it like that..."
Then, an enraged voice boomed from the crowd.
"That's really disgustingly pathetic."