The Ghost Girl Joins the Armryongdae
Upon Tang Cheonwi’s return from Jeokryeongak, the Armryongdae appeared before him.
They were brimming with confidence.
“Young Master, are you busy?”
Tang Jo, now the leader of the Armryongdae, asked with extreme deference.
“I’ve got an outing to prepare for. Why?”
“We wish to show you our progress, Young Master.”
Their inner energy had transformed.
All thanks to the Six Poison Heart Formula, the Three Yang Hand, and the Three Yang Finger.
They had grown incomparably stronger than before.
“You want to learn the Three Yang Divine Palm, don’t you?”
“If you would teach us, we will devote ourselves completely!”
Tang Jo burned with enthusiasm.
The others were no different.
Choeun had somehow appeared at the Armryongdae’s side as well. She seemed to have a vague sense of what results would come from adding the Three Yang Divine Palm to the Six Poison Heart Formula.
“You looked at the martial manual for the Three Yang Divine Palm and still couldn’t grasp it, right?”
Tang Jo’s expression hardened.
“Dull as we are, we cannot comprehend the true meaning of the Three Yang Divine Palm. Please instruct us.”
“You’re still far from ready. Master the Three Yang Finger and Three Yang Hand first.”
These were known as the Three Yang martial arts—or simply the Three Yang System.
The Three Yang Finger was the beginner stage, the Three Yang Hand the intermediate, and the Three Yang Divine Palm the advanced.
They had to climb the ranks in order.
Simply achieving a certain level of proficiency in the beginner Three Yang Finger or intermediate Three Yang Hand did not mean one was ready for the advanced Three Yang Divine Palm.
“Ah…”
Disappointment washed over Tang Jo’s face.
The others looked the same.
“Do you think the Three Yang Finger and Three Yang Hand are worthless techniques?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’ve only reached the third star and second star in those two arts, yet you have the gall to ask me to teach you the Three Yang Divine Palm? That’s overreaching.”
The once-proud Armryongdae slumped their shoulders.
“How did the levels of Three Yang Finger and Three Yang Hand I showed you look?”
After a brief pause, Tang Jo answered.
“They surpassed the eighth star, did they not?”
“First star. When I demonstrated for you, I used only the first-star level.”
“What?!”
“And yet that was the destructive power you saw?”
“I’ve seen others use the Three Yang Finger, but no first-star practitioner could ever match the force Young Master displayed.”
A single remark silenced the stir among them.
“That’s because they don’t have the Six Poison Heart Formula. Bring a wooden training dummy from the practice yard—the one made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.”
There was only one such training dummy in his private practice yard.
It was forged from the precious Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
Even most high-level masters could not leave a scratch on it.
Several Armryongdae members grunted and strained as they hauled the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron dummy over.
“I’ll show you just how strong the Three Yang Finger becomes when driven by the Six Poison Heart Formula.”
Everyone stepped back.
“Hoo.”
He suppressed his Tyrant Blood Poison Qi and drew forth the Six Poison Heart Formula he had created himself.
Kuuung!
The inner energy roared even louder than the Tyrant Blood Poison Qi.
To any onlooker, its destructive potential seemed a full step higher.
Lesser Yang Meridian Severance
Pook!
The moment his finger touched it, the solar plexus of the dummy caved inward.
A dummy of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
A finger should never have sunk into it so lightly.
He withdrew his hand and turned away.
Barely three seconds passed.
Kwaaaaaang!
The dummy exploded, scattering fragments in every direction.
“T-Take cover!”
“Uwaaagh!”
The Armryongdae scrambled backward in panic.
The blast was so fierce that they nearly took wounds from the flying shards.
“That is the result of executing it at the twelfth-star extreme.”
Tang Jo and the Armryongdae were left speechless.
Destructive power beyond imagination.
A result that shattered every scrap of common sense they possessed.
Pure shock.
They could not free themselves from the scene they had just witnessed.
“And you want me to teach you the Three Yang Divine Palm when you can’t even imitate this?”
“……”
They fell silent as if honey had sealed their mouths.
Shame flooded them.
They could not lift their faces from sheer mortification.
They had received a precious martial art, yet in their greed and lack of self-awareness they had only disappointed the Young Master.
“Forgive our dullness, Young Master.”
“We were blinded by desire.”
“……Until we fully master the Three Yang Finger and Three Yang Hand, we will not even dream of the Three Yang Divine Palm.”
They berated themselves.
They regretted ever asking the Young Master to teach them the Three Yang Divine Palm.
“Once I judge that you’ve reached a suitable level, I’ll teach it to you myself. So stop fretting.”
“We will keep that firmly in mind.”
Even so, their respect for the Young Master only deepened.
“You’ll have to train yourselves half to death just to manage an imitation.”
He was about to leave the Armryongdae behind when the gates of the Poison Dragon Pavilion opened and visitors arrived.
The moment Choeun saw the newcomers…
“These are the ones Young Master selected as Armryongdae candidates.”
“I’m busy enough to die—why now?”
He spat the words with open irritation.
Tang Jo stepped forward at once.
“I will send them away.”
“Since they’re already here, I might as well meet them.”
He needed to draw these people into the Armryongdae as well.
The Armryongdae currently numbered only twenty.
To form a proper unit, they needed at least a hundred.
Their ranks were still woefully thin.
“So you’re over here.”
A woman with a firm, well-honed physique strode forward with long steps.
Then she dropped to her knees before him.
Those who had followed her did the same.
“Young Master, please accept us.”
“What?!”
“Ghost Girl Tang Somi is kneeling?!”
“That high-nosed woman actually bowed her head to the Young Master.”
Her name was Tang Somi.
She bore the moniker Ghost Girl.
Her uncle was Tang Hyeonrok, the Blood-Eyed Ghost and steward of the Ghost King Manor.
She was the granddaughter of Grandfather Blood Slave.
“When I first offered to recruit you, you ignored me. What changed your mind?”
“I’ll be honest. I ignored you because I couldn’t trust you, Young Master.”
“And now you can?”
“I saw you drive out the lord of Yuhongak. That told me you’d been hiding your true face behind a mask all this time.”
“And so?”
“I judged that the Young Master of today can set the Tang Clan straight without caring whose eyes he has to ignore.”
“You’ve misread me. I’m not trying to set the Tang Clan straight.”
The Tang Clan?
It was of no concern to him.
He was merely purging those who had betrayed Yuhyeon.
Cleansing the clan itself held no interest for him.
“What?”
Tang Somi faltered.
It was an answer she had never expected.
“I’m looking for people who will never betray my brother—people who will serve and protect him with lifelong loyalty.”
“Is that what the Armryongdae is…?”
“Yes.”
“Not a unit that serves you, Young Master?”
“No.”
Tang Somi bit her lip.
I thought he was the one who would set the Tang Clan right… was I wrong?
Just then, Tang Jo spoke with absolute confidence.
“Serving the Second Young Master is the same as serving the Eldest Young Master. Since the Eldest Young Master is the Tang Clan itself, everything he does is for the Tang Clan, is it not?”
Tang Jo displayed boundless trust and loyalty.
Ignoring the man’s words, Cheonwi addressed Tang Somi.
“If you’re willing to devote lifelong loyalty to Yuhyeon and serve him, I’ll take you into the Armryongdae.”
Tang Somi’s deliberation deepened.
Then, as if she had reached a decision, she answered.
“I will follow.”
“Then from now on, regard this man as your captain and obey him.”
He pointed at Tang Jo, and she immediately objected.
“That is impossible.”
“Why?”
“I cannot acknowledge someone weaker than myself as captain.”
The entire Armryongdae agreed with her.
Moreover, Tang Somi was the niece of Steward Tang Hyeonrok.
Though both came from side branches, Tang Somi’s line stood far closer to power.
With Grandfather Blood Slave as her maternal grandfather, she was Cheonwi’s sixth cousin—a distant cousin by marriage.
She would be an older sister-figure, yet Cheonwi was of the direct main bloodline.
Anyone of cousin rank or lower was expected to use only informal speech toward him.
“Then settle it with a match.”
“Pardon?”
“Whoever’s stronger becomes captain, right?”
It was the simplest solution.
Tang Somi sighed.
“I know the Armryongdae has been practicing the Three Yang System these past months, but that alone will never be enough to face me.”
“No one knows until the fight is over. Tang Jo.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
“You confident?”
“I will simply give my utmost.”
“Everyone, step back.”
At his word the Armryongdae became spectators.
“Will the captain win?”
“Word is the Ghost Girl sits at the peak of first-class. The captain’s outmatched.”
“Probably.”
The Armryongdae expected Tang Jo to lose the spar.
His opponent was simply too strong.
Even with the Six Poison Heart Formula and the Three Yang System, Tang Somi herself had mastered arts no weaker than the Three Yang.
Ssaaak!
A whip cracked against the ground and unfurled.
Tang Somi let the lash hang loose.
The art she had mastered was the Golden Dragon Whip Art.
It ranked above even the Three Yang Divine Palm.
It was also a technique favored by Blood Slave himself.
“I’ll give you three moves.”
“I won’t refuse.”
Pat!
Tang Jo stamped the earth.
Inner energy of the Six Poison Heart Formula gathered in his palm.
His glowing hand.
Scarlet yang-hard qi rose to its peak, edge honed, and sliced the air.
Shwiik!
The crimson force rode the wind.
It was the second form of the Three Yang Hand: Twin Pole Extreme Palm.
“Palm qi?”
Tang Somi swung her whip at the approaching force.
With a sharp clang the palm qi shattered.
She neutralized Tang Jo’s attack without difficulty.
Her whip stretched forward, shedding golden radiance.
Like a flood dragon coiling, it wove left and right, tightening the noose around Tang Jo’s breath.
Kang!
Tang Jo’s hands and Tang Somi’s whip clashed in rapid succession.
Kkagang-kkang-kkang!
The metallic ring of weapon meeting palm filled the air.
Sparks flew as the two fought with fierce intensity.
They were evenly matched.
Neither side yielded an inch.
Watching from a distance, Tang Cheonwi smiled inwardly.
She’s clearly flustered. The speed of her Golden Dragon Whip Art keeps climbing.
The Golden Dragon Whip Art was a technique meant to crush an opponent with leisurely dominance.
Swinging it in such haste robbed it of its true power.
Her goal is Grandfather Blood Slave, but her ambitions outstrip her skill, so she’s impatient.
It had been the same in his previous life.
She, too, had been one of the Tang Clan’s promising juniors.
Yet she had crumbled under the pressure.
One of those who loved the Tang Clan.
No—everyone gathered here loved the Tang Clan.
That was why they had remained loyal to Yuhyeon until the very end, the one who had tried to change the clan.
In the past I ignored that earnestness, but in this life I’ll repay their loyalty to Yuhyeon.
Tang Jo would win the spar.
Unlike the previous life, she would begin in the Armryongdae.
He intended to fill the very growth in realm and conviction she so desperately craved.
I still feel gratitude for the way she protected Yuhyeon to the end, even at the cost of her life.
In the previous life she had later entered the Ghost King Manor.
There she had stagnated until Yuhyeon became clan head, at which point she was absorbed into the Armryongdae.
That was why he remembered her.
It didn’t take as long as I expected.
Puk!
Tang Jo’s palm struck her shoulder dead-on.
“Ack!”
She skidded across the ground and toppled backward.
Tang Jo himself looked startled.
He was shocked that his martial art had actually landed on Tang Somi.
“Looks like we have a result.”
The Armryongdae stood dumbfounded.
An outcome no one had imagined.
Tang Jo had defeated Tang Somi, who stood at the peak of first-class.
“Saeng.”
At the call, Tang Saeng came sprinting from the rear courtyard.
“You called for me?”
“Heal her.”
“Hah—she’s hurt? The shoulder wound is one thing, but the internal injuries are considerable.”
“You can get her better quickly, right?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
The boy was skilled in acupuncture as well.
If the lord of the Poison Medical Hall ever saw Tang Saeng, he would take him as a disciple on the spot.
Tang Saeng’s talent was rare even within the Tang Clan.
While the boy fed Tang Somi a Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill and treated her wounds, Cheonwi spoke to her.
“If you want to enter the Armryongdae, you’ll start under Tang Jo. If that doesn’t sit well, you don’t have to join.”
“……I’ll do it.”
How could she refuse after witnessing the strengthened Tang Jo?
Conviction mattered, but more than anything she wanted to grow stronger.
That was why she had joined Yuhyeon’s Armryongdae in the first place.
“And the rest of you?”
“W-We will also follow the Young Master’s will.”
“Don’t forget you’re starting from the bottom. I won’t tolerate insubordination.”
“Yes, sir!”
And so the Armryongdae’s family grew.
“Tang Jo, teach the Three Yang System to the new arrivals.”
“I receive the Young Master’s command.”
“Choeun, pack my luggage.”
“Yes.”
He halted mid-step toward his quarters and turned his head.
His gaze fixed on the far side of a wall.
“At this point Ildo should have shown up. Why isn’t he here? That bastard—did he get caught spying on Aunt?”
When no response came, Tang Cheonwi’s face twisted into a scowl.
“Come out and answer my question already.”