Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Blood Ties
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A brief silence fell.
Then, Baek-myeon suddenly clapped his hands and burst into laughter.
“Truly remarkable. Your insight is extraordinary for one so young!”
Nodding several times, he gave Bu Eun-seol a thumbs-up.
“A martial treasure like the Yeong-sa-sin-geom must be given to a master with the discernment to match. That is why I unintentionally tested you.”
Clasping his hands, Baek-myeon smiled and took the sword from the box.
“This sword cannot be used in actual combat, but as a work of Master Yong of Mount Qilian, it has considerable artistic value. The jewels on this sword alone are worth a thousand taels of gold.”
Baek-myeon offered the sword to Bu Eun-seol.
“This is a supplementary prize from the Jeon-ju, in addition to the victor's prize.”
Bu Eun-seol merely stared down at the sword.
“Uh, please… take it.”
Looking at Baek-myeon's face, Bu Eun-seol uncharacteristically curved his eyes into crescents.
“If I don't accept this, there'll be no justification.”
“Pardon?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol took the sword Baek-myeon offered.
At that moment,
*Pshhhh.*
The instant he gripped the hilt, white smoke billowed from within it. At the same time,
*Click!*
Extremely sharp, thin needles shot out from the hilt. Judging by the foul odor, they were coated in a potent poison.
“Is this also a test?”
As Bu Eun-seol slowly removed the needles embedded in the hilt, Baek-myeon smiled faintly and said,
“Seeing as you're not surprised, it seems you anticipated everything.”
Then Hwa-ran, who was beside him, smiled brightly and said,
“But you were too relaxed. You may not know of the Blood Yin Poison on the needles, but the Cloud Mist Snow Lung you drank cannot be expelled by circulating your energy.”
Cloud Mist Snow Lung.
A special gaseous poison, a skill-scattering toxin created in Sahyang, a place where masters of hidden weapons gather.
A single breath was enough to instantly halve one's internal energy level.
“Hehehe.”
Just then, a low laugh was heard as a middle-aged man in ornate clothes walked into the training hall.
His features were distinct, but he was fleshy and his skin was oily. It was Ok Ho-bang, the current manager of the Dong-pyo-seo-rang.
Behind him followed Hyeol-chu and Gwi-gyeom, two of the Eight Great Nang-in and his trusted subordinates.
“He's definitely been poisoned by the Cloud Mist Snow Lung.”
Confirming that Bu Eun-seol's complexion had turned pale, Ok Ho-bang revealed his true colors with a sinister smile.
“The brat gave me quite a bit of trouble.”
Bu Eun-seol stared at Ok Ho-bang and asked,
“You're Jeon-ju Ok?”
“That's right.”
“Is killing the victor a tradition of the Jeong-mu Tournament?”
At Bu Eun-seol's words, who glanced at the Nang-in drawing their weapons, Ok Ho-bang sighed.
“To be honest, I hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this. If you had just drunk the tea, it would have all ended there.”
Ok Ho-bang let out a low laugh and said,
“Hehehe. If the victor had committed a lewd act against one of our Nang-in, we naturally couldn't give him the divine sword.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
As Bu Eun-seol nodded leisurely, Hwa-ran spoke in a sharp voice.
“He's really putting on a calm act, that one.”
“It must mean he's confident in his martial arts.”
Gwi-gyeom, who had approached at some point, had a glint in his eyes.
“But with his power halved, he can't defeat the four of us.”
Their individual skills were no match for Yang Myeong, the master of the Blood Demon Hall, but the four of them together were as strong as him.
Moreover, they were all experts in hidden weapons and poisons, and above all, the Dong-pyo-seo-rang was their home turf.
Even if Bu Eun-seol had the talent to pull off a miracle, he would never be able to escape.
“This should be interesting.”
Bu Eun-seol lightly extended his arm to the side.
*Whoosh!*
Then, one of the old iron swords lined up in the armory flew into his hand. It was a formidable display of Telekinesis.
“His internal energy… hasn't diminished?”
The armory was a full thirty feet from where Bu Eun-seol stood. Yet he moved an iron sword just by extending his hand?
“It has.”
“What did you say?”
Bu Eun-seol glared at them coldly.
“But it won't stop me from taking your heads.”
Bu Eun-seol's Ban-geuk-sim-beop had already reached the pinnacle of the third stage, and his energy level was nearly two sixty-year cycles.
Aside from the grandmasters of the previous generation, his internal energy was second to none.
Therefore, even after inhaling the Cloud Mist Snow Lung, he still possessed a fearsome amount of power equivalent to one sixty-year cycle.
“Don't be ridiculous!”
Gwi-gyeom swung the sickles in his hands like lightning.
The Twelve Forms of the Shattering Twin Sickles he had mastered was a dual sickle technique derived from the martial arts of assassins; once he seized the initiative, a relentless series of follow-up attacks would ensue.
“Sickles.”
A sharp light glinted in Bu Eun-seol's eyes as he watched the cascade of sickle shadows and drew the iron sword.
*Trrrrr.*
A sound like raindrops tapping on a window suddenly emanated from the iron sword in Bu Eun-seol's grip.
At the same time, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Geuk-sok-mu-yeong, his body swiftly brushing past Gwi-gyeom's.
“Ugh-ack!”
A terrible scream erupted at the same time.
He had merely brushed past him, yet a fountain of blood spurted from Gwi-gyeom's neck.
“What in the world…”
The watching Nang-in and Ok Ho-bang gaped at the sight.
The sword move was so fast that they hadn't even been able to properly see how Bu Eun-seol had executed his swordsmanship.
*Crack.*
At that moment, cracks began to form on the iron sword Bu Eun-seol was holding, and it started to crumble like a cracker.
“Not this again.”
“Th-that's…”
Seeing this, Baek-myeon's mouth fell open.
Only then did a terrifying fact flash through his mind.
“The sword broke… not because it clashed with Yang Myeong's, but…”
“That's right.”
At Bu Eun-seol's answer, the faces of the remaining Nang-in and Ok Ho-bang turned deathly pale.
They had thought Yang Myeong had forfeited the match for some reason… but in truth, Bu Eun-seol had defeated him with a single sword move.
“Breaking a sword with the aftershock of a sword technique?”
The moment Baek-myeon muttered under his breath,
*Shwoop.*
Bu Eun-seol once again used Telekinesis to grasp an old greatsword from the armory.
“It doesn't matter if it breaks hundreds of times. There are plenty of weapons here.”
Bu Eun-seol bared his teeth in a smile, as if amused by something.
At this sight, Ok Ho-bang and the Nang-in felt a terror as if the grim reaper from hell had appeared.
“What are you all staring blankly for!”
The first to regain his senses was Baek-myeon.
Not only did he possess the best martial arts among the remaining Nang-in, but he also had great courage.
The moment Bu Eun-seol picked up the greatsword, an opening was revealed, and he immediately fired the hidden weapon mechanism concealed in his clothes.
*Pyupyupyupyupyu!*
Activating the needle launcher, dozens of poisoned needles swarmed toward Bu Eun-seol's body.
*Whirrrrr!*
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol's body became a whirlwind.
Unleashing the Geuk-sok-mu-yeong to instantly evade the needles, he appeared behind Baek-myeon and said in a low voice,
“You're not even worthy of my swordsmanship.”
*Fwaat!*
No one saw when the greatsword in his hand was drawn.
A sharp light flashed horizontally through the air, and a faint line of blood appeared on the neck of Baek-myeon, who was holding the needle launcher.
*Pshooo!*
The ownerless head fell to the floor, and blood splattered in all directions.
“Let's end this quickly.”
Reflected in the oil lamp, Bu Eun-seol's eyes burned like charcoal embers.
The moment his long, white hand moved again, another life in this place would be senselessly extinguished.
“Y-Young Master Bu!”
Just then, Ok Ho-bang rushed forward, knelt before Bu Eun-seol, and spoke in a trembling voice.
“I'll give you the Yeong-sa-sin-geom! Please forgive me!”
“I don't need it.”
“Y-you don't need it…”
Bu Eun-seol smiled coldly and said,
“I'll find it myself after I've destroyed the entire Dong-pyo-seo-rang.”
At those words, Ok Ho-bang's eyes widened and his body trembled.
The grim reaper.
Before the Nang-in's eyes now stood the god of death, dangling the threads of human life from his fingers.
“I was wrong! Young Master!”
Then, Hwa-ran let out a scream-like cry and fell to her knees.
Hyeol-chu, who was standing beside her, also knelt.
“We were wrong!”
“Wrong? What did you do wrong?”
Bu Eun-seol looked at the blood dripping from his greatsword and said nonchalantly,
“Killing someone in the martial world is just a part of daily life.”
“A-are you forgiving us?”
As Ok Ho-bang forced a smile, Bu Eun-seol muttered indifferently,
“I told you. It's just a part of daily life in the martial world…”
People killing and being killed is a common occurrence in the martial world. In other words, Bu Eun-seol had nothing to forgive and nothing to hesitate about.
“Y-Young Master Bu!”
At those words, the eyes of Ok Ho-bang and the Nang-in filled with terror.
The moment that greatsword moved, their souls would be wandering the netherworld.
At that moment,
*Crack!*
The roof of the training hall half-collapsed,
“Young Master!”
and with a short cry, a black shadow dropped from the training hall's roof to Bu Eun-seol's feet.
It was a boy in black martial arts attire, Heuk-pyo.
“Please show mercy!”
Heuk-pyo knelt before Bu Eun-seol, who was holding the greatsword aloft.
“They were merely afraid of not being able to keep their promise to the Hell Blood Fortress.”
“…Move.”
“Y-Young Master!”
“I said, move.”
Bu Eun-seol looked down at Heuk-pyo and said in a cold voice,
“I have never once forgiven those who have aimed for my life.”
*Shudder.*
Hearing those words, Ok Ho-bang and the Nang-in trembled in fear.
They had a premonition that Bu Eun-seol would not forgive them, even if the heavens split in two.
“Young Master!”
*Thud, thud.*
Then Heuk-pyo, still kneeling, slammed his head on the ground and cried out.
“He may not have been a proud father… but he is still the only family I have left under the heavens!”
At that moment, the look in Bu Eun-seol's eyes changed.
He had never expected that Ok Ho-bang and Heuk-pyo were father and son.
“Although I was born illegitimate and lived as a wanderer… Jeon-ju Ok treated me very well after he learned the truth.”
Heuk-pyo looked at Bu Eun-seol with pleading eyes, and tears began to fall.
“Can't I bear a small part of my blood relative's sin?”
Bu Eun-seol said in a grim voice,
“Get up.”
“Pardon?”
When he raised his head, Bu Eun-seol had already sheathed the greatsword and turned away.
“From now on, do not cry or kneel. Such actions… change nothing.”
Quickly wiping away his tears, Heuk-pyo got to his feet and said forcefully,
“I understand. I will never cry or kneel again.”
“That is all that's needed.”
Bu Eun-seol and Heuk-pyo. The two of them looked almost like a young master and his disciple.
Having regained his composure, Heuk-pyo turned to Ok Ho-bang and the Nang-in.
“The Young Master has forgiven you, so it's all right. Please get up.”
“Th-thank you, Young Master Bu.”
Bu Eun-seol looked down at Ok Ho-bang and said coldly,
“Your son is the one who saved your life.”
Ok Ho-bang wore an expression of deep shame. He approached Heuk-pyo and took his hands.
“H-Ha-ya…”
Until now, he had always ignored Heuk-pyo's words and brought in unsavory Nang-in.
And by ignoring the warning to never touch Bu Eun-seol, he had endangered not only his own life but the lives of all the Nang-in in the Dong-pyo-seo-rang.
“This father of yours is ashamed. To think I never listened to you…”
For a moment, a light flashed in Heuk-pyo's eyes.
Because, except for when they were alone, he had never once referred to himself as 'father'.
“From now on, as you said, I will not bring any Nang-in who have committed serious crimes or have wicked hearts into this place.”
Ok Ho-bang also spoke to Hyeol-chu and Hwa-ran behind him.
“The same goes for you two. If you wish to remain in the Dong-pyo-seo-rang, you must refrain from doing evil deeds.”
“O-of course. There is no question.”
As Hyeol-chu nodded, Hwa-ran also bowed her head.
If Heuk-pyo hadn't appeared, Bu Eun-seol would have taken their heads. They would never do anything evil again.
“Ha-ya.”
Just then, Ok Ho-bang approached Heuk-pyo and said,
“Until now, I have been a father you could be ashamed of, but from now on, I will never do anything that would cause others to point fingers. I will make the Dong-pyo-seo-rang a place where good Nang-in gather, just as it was in the past.”
It is not easy for a person to turn over a new leaf.
But Ok Ho-bang, having been given a new lease on life thanks to Heuk-pyo, had become a new man in an instant.
“Hahaha!”
At that moment, laughter mixed with a low sigh was heard from all around.
“Was there no need for me to step in after all?”
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed with a sharp light.
Even after heightening his senses with the Ya-su-do, he could not locate the source of the voice.
*'Six Harmonies Sound Transmission?'*
A supreme technique that could not even be imitated without three sixty-year cycles of internal energy was unfolding before his very eyes.