Those Who Will Never Betray
Once he entered the Tang Clan estate, Jegal Gwang found his heart racing with urgency.
“That guy better not be causing trouble.”
Unlike him, his twin sister was the blunt, headstrong type.
She was surely already raising hell with Tang Cheonwi.
Tracing memories of a childhood visit, he searched for the Poison Dragon Pavilion.
“There it is, Uncle!”
“Let’s go.”
They had found the Poison Dragon Pavilion where Tang Cheonwi stayed.
Just as they quickened their steps toward it—
His twin sister came walking out from inside.
“Jegal Rin!”
Jegal Gwang called to his sister.
Startled, she broke into a sheepish grin.
“You’re here?”
“I told you not to act on your own.”
At her brother’s scolding, she clapped her hands over her ears.
“Ah, I don’t care.”
“That little—! Uncle, don’t just stand there. Discipline her!”
“Uncle never scolds me.”
Jegal Rin stuck out her tongue in a teasing flash.
Then she turned sparkling eyes on Jegal Gyeong.
“Right, Lord of Chilryeongak?”
It was the affectionate title she used whenever she wanted to act cute.
The elders of the Jegal Clan were helpless against her charms.
“We were worried when you vanished.”
“I won’t do it again.”
Jegal Gyeong soothed the still-simmering Jegal Gwang.
“Rin seems to be reflecting, so let’s let it go this time.”
“Haa. It’s because you spoil her that she acts so recklessly.”
Jegal Gwang heaved a heavy sigh.
“Next time, this uncle will discipline you properly.”
“We’ve delayed long enough. Let’s first pay our respects to the Tang Clan head.”
He strode ahead, still clearly unappeased.
Jegal Rin muttered as she watched him go.
“We were born only a little apart, yet he pretends to be such an adult. And Uncle is our escort, you know.”
At her grumbling, Jegal Gyeong laughed softly.
“Isn’t it good that he’s mature? He’s so sharp you can entrust him with anything. But… how did Tang Cheonwi seem to you?”
Jegal Gyeong’s gaze changed in an instant.
No longer the gentle eyes of a doting uncle—
They were honed sharp as a blade.
“He’s a strange person.”
“Oh? Different from your first impression.”
“And he’s strong.”
“Strong? He’s known to have no talent for hidden weapons or the Poison Use Technique.”
“I thought he was a third-class martial artist too, but he isn’t. He’s a monster hiding his true self.”
“Th-that much?!”
Jegal Gyeong’s mouth fell open.
What kind of child was his niece Jegal Rin?
A genius who possessed the Heavenly Eye.
She had eyes that could pierce the world itself.
That was why ordinary people never even registered in her sight.
She had even gone around saying that the Six Dragons and Four Flowers who would lead the next generation were nothing special.
Her niece’s eye for talent reached the heavens.
And yet—
The word “monster” had come from her lips.
A word she had only ever used when looking upon the Ten Great Masters.
“The Tang Clan was hiding a deadly poison.”
“Unexpected information. Without you we never would have known.”
Jegal Rin grinned bashfully.
“Tang Cheonwi has his poison thorns fully raised, but like Oppa Gwang said, he seems like he’d treat his own people well.”
“This is the first time you’ve given such an evaluation. It’s rather startling.”
It bordered on high praise.
She even seemed to like him.
“Perhaps… a storm will sweep through the Tang Clan. There’s already a small movement like that, see?”
Jegal Rin pointed to a group approaching the Poison Dragon Pavilion.
Seeing them, Jegal Gyeong tilted his head.
“Mostly second-class, with one or two first-class mixed in.”
“They have something in common.”
“What is it?”
“Abysmal internal arts and outstanding potential.”
“Meaning they have great potential but never received proper support.”
“Yes. And they have quite the rebellious streak as well.”
At her words, Jegal Gyeong answered as if understanding at last.
“The Sichuan Tang Clan centers on bloodline, and everyone holds high loyalty to the clan head. But precisely because the bloodline is so precious, their vigilance toward the household retainers is extreme.”
Those with outstanding potential who had been excluded because of their rebellious nature.
Even without them, the Tang Clan overflowed with talented people.
“They preemptively exclude those whose loyalty is suspect to prevent any leakage of strength. It’s a measure only the greatest clan under heaven, the Tang Clan, can afford.”
“And those people are heading to Tang Cheonwi. You know what that means, right?”
“As you say, the winds will change within the Tang Clan.”
“This is going to be interesting.”
Jegal Rin gazed at the Poison Dragon Pavilion with an intrigued expression.
A group entered the Poison Dragon Pavilion.
A rough-looking bunch.
Every one of them carried a surly, insolent air.
“You’re here.”
Tang Cheonwi’s eyes were full of goodwill.
You can make a face like that? Their talent is decent enough, but not enough for you to show this much interest.
Hwancheonjihwan was puzzled.
The Tang Cheonwi he had seen so far was a hedgehog.
Cold and distant to anyone who was not Tang Yuhyeon or his uncle Tang Ho.
A personality cold to the point of ruthlessness.
Yet he was sending a warm gaze toward these men.
They may have been excluded from the Tang Clan for their high rebellious streak, but they are the martial artists who remained loyal to Yuhyeon until the end. These are the ones who suit Yuhyeon the most.
He planned to raise them.
Into the Tang Clan’s strongest military force, no less.
He would create it himself.
“Choeun.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Bring food.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I plan to talk with them over a meal.”
“I’ll prepare it at once.”
A short while later, Choeun brought out various dishes.
Food laid out in an instant—a feast of delicacies and expensive liquor.
“Don’t just stand there blankly. Sit.”
Without tables or chairs, Tang Cheonwi simply sat on the floor.
The summoned martial artists stared in a daze.
“We came because we have something to say to the Young Master separately.”
“Didn’t you come to me because you want to serve under Yuhyeon?”
The relationship between him and Yuhyeon was famous even within the Tang Clan—that the notorious scoundrel Tang Cheonwi doted on his younger brother to an extreme degree, and that Tang Yuhyeon also followed his older brother well.
“That’s not it.”
“Then?”
“We came to request that you not cause trouble for the Second Young Master.”
“You’re saying I’m using Yuhyeon’s name to mess with you?”
Tang Cheonwi grabbed a chicken leg and tore into it roughly.
These guys are done for again. Of all things, they poked this guy’s reverse scale.
But things did not unfold as Hwancheonjihwan predicted.
Instead, Tang Cheonwi wore a satisfied expression.
The one who seemed to be their representative continued boldly.
“Isn’t that the case? We know you’re using the good relationship between brothers to play tricks on us.”
His name was Tang Jo.
The man who would later catch Tang Yuhyeon’s eye and become the leader of the Armryongdae.
Even among the side branches, he was extremely distant—he only shared the Tang surname; calling him blood was almost embarrassing.
“I truly intend to make you Yuhyeon’s guard unit.”
“Forgive my bluntness, but the Young Master does not yet possess that kind of influence.”
Creating a unit involved several procedures.
Being the master of a hall or pavilion—Tang Cheonwi already qualified for that.
The problem was what came after.
First-class or higher skill, and experience as a military unit leader.
These two conditions had to be met.
Even blood relatives were no exception.
Finally, one needed the authority to access the Tang Clan’s martial arts library.
Only then could the unit members also access the martial arts library.
“That bloodline you complain about so much—I have that legitimacy.”
He was right.
The true bloodline of the Tang Clan was free from all these conditions.
“That makes it even more unacceptable. If you abuse your power to stand on the Second Young Master’s side, the backlash from those around will be severe.”
Oh? This guy has his head screwed on straight. A complete principle-and-rules type.
Hwancheonjihwan praised Tang Jo’s attitude.
“That’s why I plan to fulfill the conditions for founding a unit.”
“How so?”
“I just need to achieve a great enough merit to crush all those conditions.”
Tang Jo squeezed his eyes shut.
He thought of Tang Cheonwi as a flower grown in a greenhouse—stuck only in this Sichuan Tang Clan, ignorant of the ways of the world.
“To achieve the merit the Young Master speaks of, you would need to capture a first-class demonic cultivator. Do you know what kind of skill a first-class demonic cultivator possesses?”
How would he not know?
Had he only been stuck in a cave training?
His main area of activity had been the Kunlun Mountains—Kunlun, where the Magyo’s forward bases were located.
The demonic cultivators who had died by his hand numbered in the thousands.
He had fought demonic cultivators until he was sick of them.
“You think a third-class like me can’t even handle a demonic grunt?”
“Honestly, yes.”
“Then how about a bet with me?”
At the word “bet,” Hwancheonjihwan had a seizure.
This guy wants to bet every time something happens. Hey, are you related to the Gambling God or something?
He had lost both previous bets—completely crushed, at that.
Thanks to that, just hearing the word “bet” made Hwancheonjihwan furious.
“What kind of bet?”
“If I capture a demonic cultivator and achieve the merit, you’ll follow my will without any more complaints.”
“And if we win?”
“I’ll cut off my relationship with Yuhyeon. And I’ll open the Spirit Weapon Library with my authority.”
It was an outrageous proposal.
What was the Spirit Weapon Library?
A library that only direct lineage members, unit leaders of a certain rank, and household retainers who had achieved great merit could enter—a place that side-branch members would go crazy over.
“You know what happens to me if I use this authority, right? You lose nothing by accepting the bet, but for me, it’s the loss of my position as heir.”
It was the opening of the Spirit Weapon Library, no less.
Opening it to side-branch members meant stepping down from every post.
Even the true bloodline was no exception.
“Why go this far?”
“Yuhyeon needs people like you. You who possess loyalty that will never betray.”
Gratitude toward those who had willingly died for Yuhyeon.
In this life, he wanted to show them the light a little sooner.
“I have one request.”
“Speak.”
“I wish to see the Young Master’s skill.”
“If I show my power, you might die. Are you fine with that?”
“I would die with honor.”
“Good. Let’s exchange a move.”
Tang Jo stood in the training ground.
He was a first-class martial artist—a man who had risen to first-class with the side-branch martial art, the Shadow Snake Sword Art.
Standing in the training ground, he wore an incredulous expression.
“Do you truly intend to face me bare-handed?”
“Swords don’t suit me, you see.”
Facing a sword bare-handed.
Was he in his right mind?
And his attitude was far too leisurely—a posture as if looking down on his opponent, an extremely arrogant appearance.
“Then I shall face you with a wooden sword.”
As Tang Jo moved to take a wooden sword…
“You said you wanted to see my skill? If you face me with that wooden sword, you’ll die without even getting a look at my skill. Are you okay with that?”
Tang Cheonwi curled up the corners of his mouth—a smile that looked down on his opponent.
“You might get injured.”
“Even if you injure me, I’ll cut off my relationship with Yuhyeon.”
“If you put it that way, I’ll go with a real sword.”
Tang Jo adjusted his grip on the sword.
The internal art he cultivated was Returning Origin Qi—this too was an internal art that side branches could learn.
That Returning Origin Qi wrapped around his sword.
Seeing that, Tang Cheonwi shook his head.
“What a truly trash internal art. How is anyone supposed to get strong with martial arts like that? Tsk tsk.”
He clicked his tongue and disparaged Returning Origin Qi.
“It is a martial art of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Underestimate it and you’ll pay the price.”
“If I get hurt by something like that, I should seal my dantian, hole up in the mountains, and prepare to die.”
The muscles beside Tang Jo’s eyes twitched.
He could not tolerate insults to his martial arts.
They were the precious arts that had raised him this far.
Without this Shadow Snake Sword Art and Returning Origin Qi, he would not even have been able to remain in the Tang Clan.
“I will show the Young Master just how decent the martial arts you insult are.”
Tang Jo’s sword thrust forward.