Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: What Am I? (2)
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"What am I?"
To a question packed with so many meanings, Bukgung Baek answered, his eyes filled with deep emotion.
"The successor who will raise the Bukgung Clan."
"..."
An utterly dumbfounding answer.
Who decided to make me the successor of the Bukgung Clan?
"By whose authority?"
He raised a finger and pointed to the sky.
"Heaven's."
"What kind of bullshit is...?"
"You think not?"
At Bukgung Baek's retort, I raised my voice to press him.
"Isn't it obvious? You might as well tell me one of my ancestors was from the Bukgung Clan."
"..."
His silence gave me an ominous premonition.
"Don't tell me...?"
"To learn the War King Arts, one must first master the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes. And those strikes cannot be learned by anyone without the blood of the Bukgung family."
"What kind of nonsense is...?"
It was a biologically absurd claim.
All humans are the same. How could the ability to learn martial arts be divided by bloodline?
"You don't seem to believe it."
"..."
Bukgung Baek poured wine into his empty cup and continued.
"There was a manor in Anhui called the Jin Manor. The wife of its last lord was my great-great-grandfather's sister."
"You must be mistaken. I was a street beggar. If I were a descendant of such a family, why would I have lived like that?"
"Because of the Lion's Alliance—the Namgung Clan, once known as the Eastern Hegemon's Sword, which represented the Righteous Path."
"…?"
"In the process of establishing the Lion's Alliance, they took everything that existed in Anhui. Money, people, and even martial arts. The Jin Manor could not escape their grasp either."
The Eastern Hegemon's Sword. One of the four great martial lineages that vied for supremacy before the era of the Five Hegemons.
To think they were the Namgung Clan, and their successors, the Lion's Alliance, had united the Unorthodox Faction to rise to the rank of the Five Hegemons of the world.
My eyes widened at the unbelievable truth.
"The Eastern Hegemon's Sword, so the successors of the Namgung Clan are the Lion's Alliance?"
"Do you know the surname of the Lion's Alliance Lord?"
"I know it uses the character 'Gung'."
"It is 'Gung' (穹), meaning 'sky'. The same as the Bukgung Clan."
"Are you saying they share the same roots?"
"That's right."
Bukgung Baek smiled bitterly and tossed back the wine.
"In the process of founding the Lion's Alliance, the Namgung reclaimed their original name. With the Bukgung Clan having fallen to the Ten Demon Alliance, they must have thought they were the only true 'sky'."
I was simply dumbfounded, having suddenly learned a hidden secret of the martial world.
It was shocking, but that wasn't the important thing right now.
"...Fine. I can understand how a descendant of the Jin Manor could end up a beggar after its fall. But how can you be so sure I'm a descendant of the Jin Manor? It's possible I'm not, isn't it?"
"When an outsider enters the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, their background and history are thoroughly investigated."
It was one of the duties of the Red Dragon Hall. The original purpose was to prevent outside spies from entering the Nine Dragons Fortress's top educational institution, but it seemed to have the additional function of verifying bloodlines.
"Most importantly, didn't you master the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes without any trouble?"
"Isn't it possible to learn it without Bukgung blood? Just look at the Dragon-Slaying Gate in Hanzhong..."
"What they learned is the Dragon-Slaying Strike, a mere imitation of the form. The Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes you learned is the only path to the War King Arts."
"...That could just be because the true art was lost to them. Wouldn't it be the same if someone else learned it?"
"Impossible."
"Why?"
Bukgung Baek threw a punch from his seat.
It was a single fist strike containing the essence of the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
However, one peculiar thing was that after extending his arm, his hand was trembling slightly.
"Instead of using ki as energy, it is detonated inside the body to generate a power we call Explosive Force. We call a body that can withstand such force an Invaluable Physique."
"...How is that possible?"
"No one knows the exact reason. However, a story has been passed down that the founder of the Gung family consumed a dragon's orb, and his descendants inherited the dragon's traits."
It was a ridiculous claim, but this was the world of martial arts.
A world where spiritual beasts actually existed, so it wasn't entirely impossible.
"...Fine. Let's concede a hundred times and assume everything you've said is true. But even if I am a descendant of the Jin Manor of Anhui, by your own account, I'm just from a distant branch family. Shouldn't you, the direct descendant, be the one to raise the Bukgung Clan, not me?"
That's right.
From a common-sense perspective, the one to restore the Bukgung Clan should be Bukgung Baek, a martial artist who had reached the Divine Realm and was a direct descendant of the Bukgung family.
It was absurd for me, whose degree of relation was hard to even calculate, to step forward.
However, despite my argument, Bukgung Baek firmly shook his head.
"It has to be you."
"Why?"
"Because as of now, you are the one who has inherited the purest Bukgung blood."
"That's bullshit. If your great-great-grandfather's sister was the wife of the Jin Manor's lord, do you have any idea how distantly related we are?"
To my question, Bukgung Baek gave a completely unrelated answer—no, a completely unrelated question.
"Have you heard the former name of the Bukgung Clan?"
"...I heard it was the War King Gate."
"It was named after the War King Arts. The one and only martial art that allows one to transcend humanity beyond the Master Realm. Only when the War King Arts are perfected can the Bukgung family rise again."
"…!"
"How many successors of the War King Arts do you think are left?"
"How would I know? But since there's me and you, Hall Master, wouldn't there be at least two?"
*Pfft.*
He said with a scornful smile.
"What I learned is the Black Dragon Hand. Not the War King Arts."
"What do you mean?"
Bukgung Baek raised a finger and pointed at me.
"You are the only one in this world who has learned the War King Arts."
"...How can that be?"
He poured wine with a bitter smile.
"The blood must be thinning."
"...Is that why you brought me to the Nine Dragons Fortress? By asking my grandfather?"
Bukgung Baek shook his head.
"What use would a nine-year-old brat be? Until you learned the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes, nothing could be guaranteed."
"Then why did I come to the Nine Dragons Fortress?"
"Didn't I tell you? It was the will of heaven."
"A coincidence?"
"Yes. A result created by a coincidence no one could have predicted."
A wandering Taoist picks up a starving kid, who happens to be a descendant of the Bukgung Clan and has inherited the purest blood?
If you calculated the odds, they were probably lower than winning the Powerball.
I shook my head.
"I can't believe it."
"What would I gain by deceiving you?"
"..."
He was right. There was nothing for him to gain by deceiving me.
But it was a truth so hard to believe that I couldn't let go of my suspicion.
Bukgung Baek met my gaze calmly and drained his cup.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
As I stared at Bukgung Baek for a while, my grandfather's face suddenly came to mind.
That was it.
My grandfather had shown me more love than a real grandfather would have.
If my grandfather had ulterior motives like I suspected, he wouldn't have tried to make me a Taoist.
That was the conclusion I reached after looking back at the memories of a nine-year-old boy from an adult's perspective.
I gave a small nod and asked my next question.
"So, did you guide me to learn the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes? To see how purely I inherited the Bukgung blood?"
"Yes. It wasn't long before I could confirm you were learning the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes."
He continued in a slightly excited tone.
"And I couldn't help but be thrilled. I had found the successor to the War King Arts, someone I couldn't find even after scouring the world. And to think you stumbled into the Nine Dragons Fortress on your own—if that isn't the will of heaven, how else could it be explained?"
"Were the War King Arts also part of your plan?"
"I asked the Fortress Lord. It was easy to pass on since you happened to graduate at the top of your class."
"What would you have done if I had gone to a different hall instead of the Outer Hall?"
"I was certain you would come to the Outer Hall."
"Why?"
"Because I couldn't imagine you, who has no sense of belonging, going to another hall where you'd have to risk your life on missions for the Nine Dragons Fortress."
He had seen right through me.
That was the very reason I had applied to the Outer Hall. Because I knew how futile it was to risk one's life for others.
When I looked up, Bukgung Baek had a smile on his lips.
'What is this?'
He looked somewhat relieved, perhaps because he had laid all the facts bare.
Also, he was looking at me not with his usual mocking gaze, but with a warm one.
If I had to describe it, it felt like a master looking at his disciple with satisfaction.
"Why are you telling me this only now?"
It was my fourth year in the Outer Hall, three full years to be exact.
Bukgung Baek could have revealed the truth at any point during that time, but he hadn't.
In fact, considering he hadn't even spoken to me for nearly the first year, I couldn't understand why he was revealing it now.
"Because you have earned the right."
"The right... you say?"
Bukgung Baek met my eyes.
His eyes were as dark as the pre-dawn sky, but his gaze held a power as intense as the sun.
"Yes. The right to be the head of the family who will rebuild the Bukgung Clan."
"...Hall Master, you may not know this, but I'm not the type to lead people."
"For someone like that, you handled the Hanzhong problem quite cleanly. I gave you the meager Bukgung inheritance to see how you would solve it, but to think you'd use it to seize control of the entire city's finances. I was surprised."
Bukgung Baek continued, looking quite excited.
"And was that all? You took care of the powerless in Hanzhong, sorted out internal problems, and took the initiative to eliminate external enemies. Thanks to that, I judged further tests to be meaningless."
"...Tests? What else was there before?"
"With the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes, I confirmed your Bukgung blood. In the Class C mission to rescue the key figure, I saw the War King Arts. In the war with the Southern Heaven Palace, your martial skill and wit to overcome crises. On Mount Diancang, your strategy and valor as a commander. And finally, in Hanzhong, where I sent you to test your wisdom."
"..."
"Now that I have also confirmed the magnanimity a family head must possess, what further tests are needed?"
Hearing all this, I tried to sort through my dizzying thoughts.
The debt for being taught martial arts is as heavy as one's life—no, heavier.
That is why martial artists fight to the death for their sects.
However, this case was a little different.
It was by Bukgung Baek's will, not my own, that I came to learn the martial arts of the Bukgung Clan.
'Still...'
But thanks to him, a parentless street urchin had amassed enough wealth to live in comfort for the rest of his life.
And that wasn't all.
Thanks to the divine art known as the War King Arts, I had been able to protect my life and could now pass as a master who wouldn't be looked down upon anywhere.
'The only person I can call a master is him.'
I had to admit it.
To me, Bukgung Baek was no different from a master.
Whatever his intentions, there had been no falsehood in his actions so far.
After neatly organizing my thoughts, I looked up.
Eyes filled with a warmth I had never felt before were looking at me.
I met his gaze and spoke.
"Hall Master, do you wish for me to raise the Bukgung Clan?"
"I do. But I have no intention of forcing you."
He lifted the wine bottle in front of him and filled his cup.
"Just live your life without forgetting that you are a descendant of the Bukgung family. That alone is enough."
"Are you serious? You might never find another successor to the War King Arts."
"I made you learn the Bukgung martial arts on my own whim. I have no right to decide your future as well."
"...I need time. A lot of it."
He let out a hearty laugh and downed his cup in one go.
"Take as much as you need. I don't care if it takes years, so think it over slowly."
Truly, a self-willed master from beginning to end.