Chapter 543: Lee So-ran, Insulted.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 543: Lee So-ran, Insulted.
"Sigh."
Lee So-ran, who had been waiting endlessly in front of Sun-woo’s quarters, let out a heavy sigh.
It weighed heavily on her mind that she had left after a fight with her mother. She was someone who had never truly rebelled against her mother before. Since her mother had always embraced her with love, there had never been any reason to push back.
But today, she had.
She had raised her voice and even shouted.
Guilt began to wash over her.
No, Mother was wrong this time!
However, she quickly shook her head from side to side, denying the guilt. She felt that, this time, her mother was clearly in the wrong.
She couldn't understand her mother’s way of thinking. Telling her to cut ties with someone just because they weren't on the same side was such a narrow-minded perspective. If one chose their companions that way, they would eventually have no one left.
How could she force such a narrow-minded mindset on her?
She thought that while her mother was usually wise, she was definitely wrong this time.
I’m absolutely not going to apologize!
She made a firm resolution to herself. She wouldn't say a single word to her until her mother admitted her mistake and apologized first.
"Oh my, look who it is. Isn't this the Bear Girl of the Hwangbo Clan?"
It was just as she was making that firm resolution.
Suddenly, an elegant yet obnoxious voice drifted toward her from somewhere. Startled, Lee So-ran whipped her head toward the source of the voice.
And there she saw it.
The face of that insufferable girl who acted all noble, elegant, and refined—putting on every possible air of superiority.
"…Lee Hwa-young."
Lee So-ran scowled deeply as she spat out the name.
"It’s been a while, Bear Girl of the Hwangbo Clan," Lee Hwa-young continued with a radiant smile.
"I told you not to call me that…"
So-ran stared at Lee Hwa-young with a stiff expression.
"Then should I call you something else? How about 'The Illiterate'?" Hwa-young asked, her voice dripping with mockery.
"Call me by my name… Lee Hwa-young."
"That’s such a difficult request. It’s ten years too early for me to treat you like a human being."
"Do you want to die?"
Lee So-ran glared at her.
"Who in the world would want to die?" Lee Hwa-young replied with a playful smirk.
"Looking at you, it seems like you’re struggling desperately for me to beat you to death."
Lee So-ran’s fine eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Hehehe… Do you really think you have the ability? When you’re only at the Peak Middle Stage?"
Hwa-young let out a derisive laugh. Unlike herself, who had reached the Peak Upper Stage, Lee So-ran was still only at the Middle Stage. Hearing such a person talk about beating her up naturally made her snort in amusement.
Where did she get such confidence?
"Hmph. A fake bitch like you? I can just beat the sense into you with pure grit."
"That 'grit' theory of yours is truly hopeless. Martial arts must be learned efficiently. Grit, which demands nothing but meaningless effort, is such an outdated way of thinking."
Lee Hwa-young spoke as if she were disgusted. She took great pride in her family’s martial arts, which had been constantly refined for hundreds of years since the Yan Dynasty. To her, the concept of "grit" was nothing more than an illusion. She believed it was merely the desperate struggle and self-consolation of those who failed to learn efficient martial arts.
And yet, Lee So-ran, a descendant of a prestigious family—even if her status had dropped—was prattling on about grit. How could she be so vulgar?
"That’s why you’re stuck at the Peak Middle Stage. Isn't that the most pathetic level among the successors?"
Grit.
Lee So-ran ground her teeth at those words. Irritation surged within her at the girl's obnoxious remarks. As Lee Hwa-young said, her realm was indeed pathetic compared to the other successors. Every other candidate besides herself had reached the Peak Upper Stage.
She had no choice but to remain silent. It was an undeniable fact that her level was lower than that of this insufferable woman.
"Did you… come here… to pick a fight?"
Lee So-ran glared at Lee Hwa-young with eyes full of hostility.
"Pick a fight? I am simply correcting your stupid and ignorant behavior."
Lee Hwa-young spoke slowly, her expression arrogant.
"Correcting me?"
"Yes. For you, who possesses neither dignity nor etiquette."
"Get lost. I don't need your 'correction.'"
Lee So-ran scowled in displeasure.
"It’s not like I enjoy this either. Do you have any idea how much it lowers my dignity to even speak with someone as lacking as you? If the same blood didn't flow through your veins, I wouldn't even look at you."
"If you hate it so much, then don't do it!"
"But I can't do that. As long as we share the same bloodline, every single one of your vulgar and inferior actions directly affects my honor."
Lee Hwa-young spoke with a look of pity.
"So, consider it the glory of three lifetimes and follow my words carefully."
She spoke in a calm, detached tone.
"Hmph, as if."
Lee So-ran snorted.
Woooooom.
She began to gather her internal energy, radiating a powerful aura.
"Are you trying to resist me now?"
"I have no intention or will to listen to you. So, if you don't want to get hurt, go back."
Lee So-ran spoke as she let her energy flare.
"Do you really think you can defeat me?"
Lee Hwa-young asked mockingly. Compared to herself at the Peak Upper Stage, So-ran was at the lowly Middle Stage. Seeing her try to threaten her with such energy made her want to laugh.
"There’s a difference in our realms, but it’s not so much that I’ll just be one-sidedly beaten."
Lee So-ran looked at her with eyes full of conviction. Though her realm was lower, it wasn't an insurmountable gap. It was a difference that could be overcome through improvisation and combat experience.
"To not even be able to grasp the difference in our levels… you really are stupid."
Lee Hwa-young shook her head.
"I suppose the foolish blood of the Hwangbo Clan doesn't go anywhere."
"Don't insult my clan!"
Lee So-ran flared up, her voice rising. She didn't care if Hwa-young insulted her. She knew better than anyone that she was lacking in her studies. But she could not tolerate an insult directed at her family.
"Oh my, did I say something wrong? Isn't the Hwangbo Clan just a group of idiots who acted up without knowing their place and got themselves forced into Sect Seclusion?"
Seeing her flare up, Lee Hwa-young began to insult the Hwangbo Clan even more bitingly.
"Watch your mouth! The Hwangbo Clan is my mother’s family! It’s your aunt’s family!"
"Well, I’ve never once thought of Madam Hwangbo as my mother."
"What!?"
"We don't even share the same blood, do we? And it’s not like she has any qualities worthy of respect."
Lee Hwa-young began to ruthlessly disparage Hwangbo Yu-yeon.
"Don't insult my mother!"
"If she doesn't want to be insulted, shouldn't she have at least one outstanding quality? Madam Hwangbo has nothing special about her, does she? She doesn't possess overwhelming martial arts like the Great Matriarch or Madam Kang, she doesn't hold a position as the head of an organization like Madam Pang or Madam Un, she isn't well-versed in Poison Arts like Madam Tang, and she isn't intellectual like Madam Zhuge, is she?"
"Isn't that the same for Madam Moyong!?" Lee So-ran snapped back sharply.
"Oh, my mother doesn't need to be outstanding. She is a noble and dignified lady just as she is."
"That’s just sophistry!"
"It’s not sophistry. I’m sure many others think the same as I do."
Hwa-young continued with a playful smile.
"That she is a woman in whom one truly cannot find a single merit."
"Stop… it…"
Lee So-ran’s face turned beet red as she glared at Lee Hwa-young.
"How could I call a woman with not a single respectable trait 'mother'? Calling her Madam Hwangbo is the most appropriate. It makes her feel like a stranger, which is quite nice, don't you think?"
"Stop… Shut… your mouth."
"Ah, now that I think about it, she does have one merit. She came to my mother to borrow money recently. When my mother told her she’d lend her ten thousand nyang if she knelt, she knelt right then and there. That shamelessness that knows no disgrace and that boldness that knows no shame is truly admirable. Though, of course, I have no desire to emulate it."
Lee Hwa-young smiled brightly as she relentlessly insulted Hwangbo Yu-yeon.
Snap.
Those insulting words were enough to snap the final thread of Lee So-ran’s reason. Lee So-ran was a filial daughter who loved her mother more than anyone. For her, insults toward her mother triggered an uncontrollable rage.
"STOP IIIIIIIT!"
Whoosh!
Unable to contain her fury, Lee So-ran threw a punch filled with internal energy at Lee Hwa-young. She intended to smash that hateful mouth of hers.
Swaaaaaaaak!
With the sound of piercing wind, her fist flew straight toward Lee Hwa-young’s face.
Grab.
Suddenly, someone caught Lee So-ran’s wrist. Then, her body began to flip over on the spot.
"Huh… Wha-!?"
As her body was suddenly inverted, Lee So-ran’s expression turned to one of bewilderment. She was completely caught off guard by the sudden turn of events.
Whiririririk!
Her body, now flipped, spun several times in mid-air. It was as if something was forcibly rotating her.
Boom!
After spinning several times in the air, Lee So-ran was slammed into the ground with a tremendous roar.
"Ugh… Argh…"
Cratered into the ground, Lee So-ran began to groan repeatedly. The impact made it feel as if every bone in her body had been fractured.
"…Kh… Who… are you…"
She barely swallowed the tears pricking her eyes and looked up at the person who had thrown her.
"I am Moyong Sang."
The indifferent-looking man spoke in a calm tone.
"…Yuri-geom (Glass Sword)?!"
Lee So-ran looked up at him with a look of horror. It was not a name she didn't know.
Yuri-geom Moyong Sang.
He was from a branch family of the Moyong Clan, but his exceptional talent was recognized, allowing him to overcome the limitations of his birth. He was one of the Moyong Clan’s greatest masters, having been entrusted with the family’s secret techniques, Douzhuan Xingyi and the Yuri-geom.
Mainly using a sword as thin and transparent as glass, he had gained fame by using his Glass Sword to suppress the Twin Demons of Heaven and Earth—monsters who had once shaken the lands of Liaoning—without sustaining a single scratch. Since then, he had become a legendary figure who, for decades, had brought death to all practitioners of the demonic path in Liaoning under the banner of eradicating evil.
And now, such a legendary figure had suddenly appeared and blocked her path. How could she not be horrified?
"You recognize me."
Moyong Sang spoke calmly.
"Why… did you… do this to me…!?"
She spoke with a bewildered expression.
"Did you not try to harm Yeong-ah? How could I let my precious niece be injured?"
He replied in a detached voice.
"Ugh… This is… between me… and Lee Hwa-young…"
Lee So-ran continued to groan. The agonizing pain throughout her body was overwhelming.
"If you had settled it with words, I would not have stepped in. But you threw a punch filled with killing intent, and I had no choice but to intervene and mediate."
"You call… this… mediation? After inflicting such heavy injuries?"
Lee So-ran glared at Moyong Sang, who was looking down at her. Every joint in her body ached, and breathing was difficult. She had sustained significant injuries. How could he speak of mediation after doing this to her? It was preposterous.
"The Douzhuan Xingyi I have mastered has the effect of redirecting all external forces. Your heavy injuries are a result of you trying to strike Yeong-ah with that much force."
Moyong Sang spoke calmly, his attitude suggesting he had done absolutely nothing wrong.
"This is… a fight between successors!"
"Before she is a successor, Yeong-ah is my niece."
"Did you not see her insulting my clan and my mother?"
Lee So-ran shouted, her expression full of grievance. It was unfair. Lee Hwa-young was the one who picked the fight first. Lee Hwa-young was the one who insulted her first. So why did she have to be the one sprawled pathetically on the ground in pain?
"It’s not as if Yeong-ah said anything false, is it?"
Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. Moyong Sang naturally took Lee Hwa-young’s side, maintaining a perfectly composed expression.
"Wha… What did you say!?"
"Wasn't the reason you threw a punch instead of a rebuttal because her words hit too close to home?"
"How… could you…!?"
Lee So-ran’s eyes slowly began to well up with tears.