A Dragon Bows
The Yo-ryeong Bang Family Estate.
A clan located in Yoryeong that was once considered prestigious.
Actually, calling them prestigious is a bit of a joke. They simply had so much money that they bought their reputation and honor. In reality, they had never truly been a great family.
If they were a true martial family, they should have produced at least one or two outstanding martial artists, but the Bang Clan had no such representative.
Oh, wait. If I had to pick one, wouldn't it be my father? He was, after all, the most famous person in the history of the Bang family.
Though definitely not in a good way.
He was a notorious womanizer in Yoryeong.
He was so infamous that women far and wide were warned to run away the moment they saw a handsome, middle-aged man with the surname Bang.
It was so embarrassing I could barely hold my head up.
To be honest, there were more than a few times I lied about my surname because I was too ashamed to reveal my identity.
Despite being a martial family, we were never treated as one. We were looked down upon, a pathetic excuse for a clan.
In this worthless household, my older brother, the young clan leader, was no different from our father.
My older sister, our only shred of hope, had run away from home, and I, the youngest, was constantly looking for the perfect moment to escape.
That was the Bang family I knew.
...What do you mean, identity?
It felt incredibly awkward for Yoo Chun-gil to suddenly act like this. I had no idea the Bang family's cultivation method possessed such power.
Was it just me? No, I was certain no one else knew either.
There's no way they knew.
There was no way my vain, self-indulgent father would have kept quiet if he knew.
If he had known...
Wouldn't he have sold the cultivation method off a long time ago?
I didn't have a shred of trust in my father. I was absolutely sure of it.
Besides.
Under normal circumstances, there's no way to find out.
By the common sense of the Murim, no one would be crazy enough to learn another cultivation method when they had already mastered one.
To discover this trait, one would have to practice two different cultivation methods simultaneously.
Who on earth would be mad enough to do that?
What kind of lunatic would even try? Honestly, I found myself baffling.
That was why. That was why he was looking at me with such fascination right now.
"...So you're saying the Bang family's cultivation method is acting as a mediator?"
["Indeed."]
The energy of the Dang Clan and the energy of Cheongwol Gate.
He said the Bang family's cultivation method was balancing them so they wouldn't clash and explode inside me.
What in the world was going on?
...Seriously, what is this?
Our family's cultivation method had that kind of power?
No matter how much I thought about it, it made no sense.
Why would a third-rate cultivation method have such a ridiculous ability...?
It had been utterly useless ever since I learned it. And now, out of nowhere, it suddenly had a purpose?
...Is this for real?
Was this a hidden power that truly no one knew about?
Really...
Neither my father nor my brother knew about this, right...?
While I was confident they didn't know, a small part of me felt uneasy.
If even Yoo Chun-gil was this shocked, it had to be an incredible power.
The fact that the Bang family had remained completely ignorant of this was bizarre.
Ah. Should I tell them?
Now that I knew, should I report it to the family? I pondered it for a moment, but...
No... I need to keep my mouth shut.
I immediately shook my head. Absolutely not.
The moment this reached my father's ears...
He'd sell off the family's cultivation method without a second thought.
And if that happened...
...Even if he managed to sell it, the family would be ruined in an instant.
A cultivation method that allows you to learn other techniques without your internal energy exploding.
No matter how little I knew about the Murim, I couldn't possibly ignore the value of such a thing.
This was an absolute cheat code. If it looked that way to me, how would others see it?
...A bloodbath would surely follow.
Instead of admiration or awe, a chill of anxiety washed over me.
A priceless gem was hidden inside our family's trash-tier cultivation method.
The moment word got out that we were selling it...
Everyone would swarm us to get their hands on it.
The Five Great Clans, the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, the Unorthodox Factions—everyone would show up to tear our house apart to steal it.
And...
My father isn't smart enough to think about those consequences before acting.
That incompetent, thoughtless old man would never consider the repercussions.
It was a conviction born of absolute certainty.
I had absolute faith in my father's incompetence.
["...That is impressive in a completely different way. Just what on earth has he been doing...?"]
"What else? It's exhausting just talking about it."
Not only did every beautiful woman in the county know my father's name.
Some of them probably knew more than just his name—they probably knew exactly how many moles he had on his back.
From what I heard, even the matriarch of a famous merchant group in the county had ties with him.
That's probably why our family hasn't gone bankrupt yet, despite throwing away fortunes on gambling and luxury.
He always managed to bring in money from somewhere.
Despite being a martial family, we did absolutely nothing to earn it, yet the money kept flowing.
I didn't even want to ask where it came from. It was just going to disappear the moment it arrived anyway.
["How strange. Didn't you say bad rumors about him had spread far and wide?"]
How could that be, when people were warned to stay away from him?
"That's why he's amazing."
["Ah!"]
Yoo Chun-gil clapped his hands as if he had just realized something.
Making people approach even when they know it's filth.
A talent so great it completely bypassed the urge to avoid something dirty.
My father was undoubtedly the World's Greatest in that particular field.
He was a man who knew exactly how handsome he was and knew how to exploit it to the fullest.
However, he was utterly incompetent at everything else, making him the perfect disaster for everyone around him.
That was my father in my eyes.
"...So, we have to protect this cultivation method no matter what."
My father must never find out about the power hidden within the Bang family's cultivation method.
I had to hide it at all costs. I frowned, hardening my resolve.
["Hmm."]
Yoo Chun-gil nodded at my words.
["A wise choice."]
Fortunately, Yoo Chun-gil seemed to agree with my assessment.
["If word of this power gets out, even the old monsters currently in hiding might show interest. There are plenty of bastards who wouldn't hesitate to kidnap you and tear you limb from limb just to study you. Keeping your mouth shut is indeed the right call."]
"...Tear me limb from what...?"
I hadn't thought that far ahead. Yoo Chun-gil's words snapped me wide awake.
["Of course. If it becomes known that you possess an unprecedented cultivation method like this, do you think only a few would go wild over it?"]
That... 'going wild' sounded a lot worse than I expected. And on top of that...
The Heavens Beyond Heaven would move?
Yoo Chun-gil was warning me that even those legendary figures whose current whereabouts were unknown would come out of the woodwork.
I definitely needed to keep my mouth shut. Just as I was thinking that...
["However."]
Yoo Chun-gil spoke as if something was bothering him.
["Did your family truly not know about this?"]
"Yes. They didn't. There's no way those people knew."
How could they possibly know?
If they had known, why would they still be a third-rate martial family?
I firmly believed my family was completely clueless.
["Hmm... Is that so?"]
At my reaction, Yoo Chun-gil tilted his head slightly but eventually nodded.
["If you say so, then so be it."]
He brushed it off as if it weren't a major issue. Furthermore...
["In any case, isn't the Poison King the more pressing matter right now?"]
He was right. There was a much more immediate problem at hand.
"...Yes. I agree."
If I wanted to keep this a secret, the Poison King was the main obstacle.
Of all people, I had to use it right in front of the Poison King...
I had unleashed the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky right before his eyes.
The Poison King was no fool. He knew very well that the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky couldn't be executed without the Dang Clan's cultivation method.
Right now, his head must be spinning with questions.
How on earth did that brat use it?
He was probably racking his brain trying to figure it out.
Tsk.
What should I do?
My head began to ache. If the Poison King pressed me on this, how was I supposed to talk my way out of it?
...Should I just play dumb and run away?
The thought of feigning ignorance and fleeing crossed my mind.
...But I doubt he'd just let me go.
This wasn't just any technique; it was the ultimate secret of the Dang Clan. If someone who wasn't even of their bloodline used the very technique the Poison King had yearned for his entire life, there was no way he would let it slide.
"Hmm."
Then, how should I handle this? How could I make a clean break on relatively good terms?
I ran through the possibilities in my head, but...
...They're all so risky.
Every single option was half-baked. I could think of about five or six different moves, but...
None of them seemed capable of resolving this safely.
["Why not just tell him to rip your belly open if he wants?"]
"And what if he actually does it?"
["Well, of course he would. Do you think he'd do it metaphorically?"]
"...What kind of crazy nonsense is that?"
Tell him to actually rip my belly open? That was absurd.
When I stared at him in disbelief, Yoo Chun-gil burst into laughter. It was clearly a joke, but still.
"...I'm going crazy here. How can you joke at a time like this?"
["Tsk, tsk. It's amusing, isn't it?"]
"Dammit..."
Must be nice to be so carefree. Here I was, about to lose my mind, and he was just enjoying himself.
I swallowed a sigh and tried to calm my racing heart.
["Don't overthink it. It might not turn out to be as big of a deal as you think."]
"Does that make any sense?"
Not a big deal? He was just telling me a bloodbath would follow because of my cultivation method, and that people would tear me limb from limb. How could he expect me to stop worrying now?
["Well, that was solely regarding the Bang family's business."]
"...What do you mean by that?"
["I'm not involved in that matter, am I?"]
"What... Ah?"
I stopped mid-sentence, my eyes widening.
["The Bang family's cultivation method is a problem because it only concerns your family."]
"But the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky... has the Sword Saint's influence behind it?"
["Exactly."]
I could use the Sword Saint as a convenient excuse. Yoo Chun-gil was telling me to leverage his reputation.
...Actually, that works.
It wasn't a bad idea. The name value of the Sword Saint was unmatched.
There was even a past anecdote about Yoo Chun-gil directly intervening to restore the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky.
And the secret manual of the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky that I brought was, in the end, something Yoo Chun-gil had created.
If I can somehow tie this together...
I could make up an excuse, claiming he had modified the technique so it could be used without the Dang Clan's energy.
"Right..."
If I did that, the mechanics of how it was possible wouldn't matter anymore.
The creator was the Sword Saint.
If the Sword Saint made it, then of course it was possible.
Who would dare question it if I pushed that narrative?
Of course, there would still be some loose ends.
But I can handle the rest.
I could probably smooth over any other issues with a bit of fast-talking.
Thinking of this, I clenched my fist slightly.
Good.
I'll go with this. I'll slip through, take what I can get...
And then make a run for Cheongwol Gate.
I smiled at the decent plan.
Perfect.
I immediately began drafting the plan.
I prepared answers for any scenario the Poison King might throw at me.
I mapped out my defenses against whatever he might do, but...
"...Haha..."
As if mocking my preparations...
I could only let out a hollow laugh at the scene that unfolded the very next morning.
"...Greetings."
The young man standing before me.
One of the Seven Great Talents, hailed as the pride of the Dang Clan and the second coming of the Poison Sovereign.
The Poison Dragon, Dang Cheon-il.
"...Starting today... I am Dang Cheon-il of the Dang Clan... tasked with serving Young Master Bang with the utmost devotion... I look... look forward to working with you..."
He was kneeling before me, showing his respects.
With an attitude that was the complete polar opposite of yesterday.