Winner Takes All
"I-I'm sure... he was right in front of me..."
Dan Myeongjin's pupils trembled.
A chill crept up from behind him.
Tang Yuhyeon's blade rested against his throat.
"It seems you've forgotten my moniker—the Dark Dragon."
Dark Dragon.
It was not a name that simply meant darkness.
Poison, hidden weapons, stealth, information—everything that defined the Sichuan Tang Clan had been forged into that single title.
"The idea that I received the title of Dragon merely because of my background is a mistake. The world is not so soft a place."
Being lectured by a mere child made Dan Myeongjin's face flush crimson.
"How dare you lecture me!"
Dan Myeongjin spun around.
The internal energy of the Danjuk Clan's Sincere Iron Bamboo Formula gathered into his staff.
The weapon came crashing down with force enough to pulp Tang Yuhyeon where he stood.
Whoosh!
The hereditary spear art of the Danjuk Clan unfurled.
Or rather—it tried to.
It never reached Tang Yuhyeon.
"My older brother once told me that the word 'dare' is only used when you are stronger than your opponent. You are weaker than me, so you have no right to speak it."
Tang Yuhyeon flicked his sword once more.
Silent. Stealthy.
Speed that the eye could scarcely track, laced with deception that twisted the vision itself.
The very essence of the present-day Sichuan Tang Clan unfolded and swallowed the space around them, only to fade away again in the next breath.
Click.
By the time anyone noticed, Tang Yuhyeon's sword was already back in its scabbard.
"You will have to apologize later for the crime of mocking my older brother."
The moment the words ended—
Thud!
Dan Myeongjin's knees folded.
His face was utterly vacant. The staff in his hands had been sliced into several neat pieces.
The strange part was that he was barely hurt—only a shallow cut marked one knee.
Tang Yuhyeon ignored him completely and returned to the pavilion, stopping before his brother Tang Cheonwi with the hopeful face of a puppy waiting for praise.
"Hyun-ah, I told you not to go easy."
Tang Yuhyeon's expression immediately fell when the words he wanted never came.
"What if I couldn't control my strength and killed him?"
The surrounding crowd erupted.
"He never even thought he could lose in the first place, did he?"
"As expected of Sichuan Tang Clan blood. The Dragon title isn't handed out for free—only the greatest rising talents receive it."
"Where does his realm even sit?"
"Young Master Dan was only at the entrance of First-class, so that boy has to be higher."
"To have already soared past First-class at that age... truly terrifying."
Awe painted every face.
The young masters of the minor sects had all shared Dan Myeongjin's earlier assumption—that the moniker Dark Dragon was nothing more than the Tang Clan's heavy influence at work. Now every one of them revised that opinion.
"When he reaches adulthood, won't he easily leap past Peak?"
"They say the Demonic Cult's Young Heavenly Demon reached Transcendence at fifteen. The Dark Dragon might do the same."
"A genius among geniuses—that's Tang Yuhyeon, the Dark Dragon..."
Reverent gazes began to gather on the boy.
"Even if Young Master Tang hadn't been born into the clan, he would have still become a great master."
"Agreed. How many children his age could defeat Dan Myeongjin? Only a born martial genius could pull that off."
The praise for Tang Yuhyeon continued without end.
No one any longer doubted his martial prowess.
Except one.
There was still a single man who remained thoroughly displeased.
Dan Myeongjin got wrecked without even landing a single hit.
Gang Unso ground his molars.
The Dark Dragon was far stronger than he had expected.
Damn it, this wasn't part of the plan.
Dan Myeongjin was supposed to crush the Dark Dragon so that he himself could then trample Tang Cheonwi.
Instead Dan Myeongjin hadn't even managed a proper fight before being dismantled by the Dark Dragon.
And now everyone was singing the boy's praises.
Worse still—
"If little Yuhyeon is already this strong, enough to leave everyone speechless, then how strong must Brother Cheonwi—whom he praises without end—actually be?"
"Trash like that isn't even worth my brother's time."
"I'd love to see his skill for myself."
Jegal Rin was showing clear interest in the Tang brothers.
This gathering's true protagonist was supposed to be him—Gang Unso. The Tang brothers were nothing more than props meant to make him shine.
No! I absolutely cannot let those two brothers steal Young Lady Jegal's attention.
He could accept the Dark Dragon's strength. It had long been known that the Tang Clan's successor, Tang Yuhyeon, was a martial genius by birth. The rumors had simply proven true.
But the rumors about Tang Cheonwi were supposed to be true as well.
A tyrant who relied solely on his background. A third-rate wastrel.
That fact, he believed, remained unchanged.
I'll show everyone just how worthless you really are.
Gang Unso clapped his hands to draw every eye, then filled a cup and offered it to Tang Yuhyeon.
"A celebratory toast, if you will."
Tang Cheonwi snatched the cup before it could reach his brother.
"Why are you giving wine to a kid? Hyun only drinks the good stuff. He can't put something this cheap in his mouth."
He casually dumped the wine onto the ground.
It was an open insult.
Sure enough, the muscle beside Gang Unso's eye twitched.
This damned bastard!
Disgust twisted his features, but he forced it down and poured another cup.
"Young Master, allow me to pour again as apology for my earlier rudeness."
The moment he gripped the cup, internal energy thrummed through the porcelain—then settled.
He offered the quieted cup back to Tang Cheonwi.
"When someone offers a toast of apology, you can't exactly refuse."
Tang Cheonwi brought the cup toward his lips.
A tiny smile curved Gang Unso's mouth.
He doesn't even notice I poured my internal energy into the cup. Stupid bastard.
He had filled the vessel with enough force to make it explode. All that remained was for it to burst.
He was wearing a triumphant little smile when—
"Ah, right. Yuhyeon said I shouldn't drink wine."
Tang Cheonwi dumped the wine onto the ground exactly as he had before.
It should have exploded!
Gang Unso's eyes went wide with panic.
"I accepted the wine, so failing to return the toast would be improper."
Tang Cheonwi refilled the cup and held it out toward Gang Unso as if offering reconciliation.
"Here. Take it."
Gang Unso accepted it in a daze.
"Drink up. Tell me how it tastes in my place."
The moment Gang Unso raised the cup to his lips—
Crack!
The cup shattered.
Wine and porcelain shards sprayed across Gang Unso's face.
"Agh!"
"Young Master Gang, are you all right?"
"What on earth just happened?!"
Shards of the cup were embedded in his face, but they had only cut him—nothing life-threatening.
Tang Cheonwi clicked his tongue at the sight.
"Ah, what a waste. That looked like expensive wine."
He seemed genuinely regretful, as though he had completely forgotten the cups he himself had just emptied onto the floor.
"When your family's so rich, why are you using such shoddy cups? That's how you end up with cuts on your face."
One corner of Tang Cheonwi's mouth curled upward.
It was a blatant taunt.
"You—!"
Gang Unso ground his teeth.
"Drop it. Keep going and you'll only humiliate yourself further."
Tang Cheonwi had already seen through the man's petty scheme and simply returned it in kind. That was why Gang Unso could only stand there gnashing his teeth. Had he truly been innocent, he would have lunged in immediately.
"You bastard..."
"If you want to mess with me, try something else. Did you really think the Cheongang Clan's internal energy could overcome the Tang Clan's?"
Another clear provocation.
"I will correct that insolent attitude of yours."
Gang Unso swallowed the bait whole.
His mind held only one thought: he had been humiliated in front of Jegal Rin. He wanted nothing but revenge against Tang Cheonwi. The question of how Tang Cheonwi had made the cup explode never even crossed his mind.
"Come out at once! I'll make you taste the Cheongang Clan's fury!"
"Drop it. Keep this up and you'll die."
Tang Cheonwi waved a hand as if the whole thing were too bothersome.
Gang Unso decided Tang Cheonwi was only backing out because he feared losing a public spar.
"Your little brother won his match. Are you just scared of embarrassing yourself?"
"Heh."
Tang Cheonwi couldn't hold back a laugh.
"I'm simply too strong to raise a hand against a brat."
"Brother..."
Tang Yuhyeon called out to him.
"What? It's not like I said anything untrue."
"..."
Tang Yuhyeon looked his brother straight in the eyes, then finally opened his tightly shut mouth.
"I want to try saying cool lines like you, Brother!"
"What?"
Now it was Tang Cheonwi's turn to be startled.
He had expected a scolding about manners, not this.
"Only someone as strong as you can say things like that. I'm still nowhere near that level."
Just as Tang Cheonwi only ever yielded to his younger brother, Tang Yuhyeon was a complete brother-worshipper who had eyes for no one else.
Jegal Rin burst out laughing at the sight.
"Pfft!"
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because the two of you are so alike."
"Me and this kid? That's an insult to my little brother."
"What's wrong with Brother Cheonwi? He looks cold, but he takes such good care of his own."
It was high praise from Jegal Rin—praise she had never freely offered anyone before, least of all peers or rising talents. Everyone who knew her nature looked stunned.
Gang Unso, who harbored feelings for her, roared to cut the conversation short.
"Tang Cheonwi! Today we settle this with the honor of our clans on the line!"
"Why's he getting angry all by himself?"
Tang Cheonwi muttered under his breath, and Hwancheonjihwan answered.
Everything had unfolded exactly as planned.
Tang Cheonwi judged the moment ripe and made his proposal.
"If you insist on sparring with me, then let's make it a wager. Winner-takes-all—the victor gets whatever he wants from the loser. How about it?"
Hwancheonjihwan silently wished Gang Unso luck.
Tang Cheonwi was a man who had received the aura of the Poison God itself. Beating someone like that was impossible. Walking away without being completely fleeced would already be a miracle.
But the foolish, jealousy-blinded Gang Unso accepted the proposal without a second thought.
"Don't come crying with excuses after you lose."
Gang Unso had just tied the noose around his own ankle.
Tang Cheonwi was never one to miss such an opening.
"Everyone here is a witness. Do you really think excuses will work?"
"Haha, I like that line."
"When you lose, admit it cleanly and cough up everything you own."
"That's my line."
"Who do you think will win?"
"This one's going to be tough."
"Even Tang blood can't beat Young Master Gang that easily."
"The reason Young Master Gang looks so confident is because he's a First-class expert."
"They say the eldest young master is only third-class. He probably won't last a single exchange."
Most of the crowd was skeptical.
"The real question is how long he can endure Young Master Gang's assault."
"Even at his absolute best, three moves, maybe?"
"First-class and third-class are heaven and earth."
"Where does that tyrant get the confidence to accept a spar with Young Master Gang?"
No—
The overwhelming majority simply assumed Gang Unso would win.
Yet not a single shadow of worry touched the faces of the Jegal siblings or Tang Yuhyeon.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Chusang of the Nakpung Sect finally asked,
"Lord Earth Dragon, who do you believe will win?"
"You'll see for yourself."
Jegal Gwang was looking forward to this.
Knowing his friend's personality, Tang Cheonwi would never end it as cleanly and quickly as Tang Yuhyeon had. He would toy with his opponent in the most irritating way possible.
I only hope Cheongunbi Gang Unso is strong enough to force Cheonwi to show his true skill.
He silently wished that Gang Unso would prove stronger than expected.
Only then would they finally get a proper look at Tang Cheonwi's martial arts.