Chapter 165

Chapter 165
# Chapter 165: Third-Rate Martial Family Becomes World’s Best

By the time Yang-hui reached the Baek Clan Manor, crowds had gathered in the surrounding area, rising like mountains as expected.

“It isn’t just the summoned experts—onlookers who heard the news have flocked here in droves.”

Moments like this drove home the truth of the old saying: rumors travel faster than an arrow loosed from a bow.

The great battle against the forces of the Black Faction had taken place in the dead of night, and only half a day—six hours—had passed since then.

Yang-hui glanced over at Namgung Cheon-hu, who stood encircled by his former subordinates. This was no guard of honor; the men were escorting him, bound as he was.

Tethered with ropes, Namgung Cheon-hu gazed out at the assembled masses. His eyes seemed at times utterly empty, or perhaps so brimming with something that they appeared hollow instead.

“A blank sheet of paper dyed pitch black… is no different from a black sheet with nothing written on it.”

He stood before the grand main gate, beautifully adorned with embroidered patterns carved by the clan’s ancestors. Baek Mu-ryang caught sight of Yang-hui and bounded forward at once.

“Hui-ya.”

“Father… haha.” Yang-hui offered an awkward chuckle in reply to the call.

“Well, then. It is time to face the consequences.”

He had acted behind his father’s back on so many occasions. He had no doubt his father would at the very least sentence him to solitary confinement and set him to copying the Three Bonds and Five Morals ten thousand times over.

“But who am I, truly?” No one else knew it, but he was, in name, the greatest prodigy under heaven—one who had even defied the passage of time. He had prepared safeguards for every eventuality.

“Strike first. No one can bring themselves to spit in the face of someone who smiles at them!”

He deliberately broadened his grin and called out clearly, “Your son has returned!”

Baek Mu-ryang remained silent. Much like Namgung Cheon-hu, he simply looked on steadily, his eyes seeming both empty and full all at once.

“Uh… this is not the reaction I had anticipated.” He had expected a mixture of concern and anger, but this calm, unshaken composure…

“Father and son may speak privately later. It appears you have something to say to all present.”

“Ah—yes, that is true.” Yang-hui turned toward Monk Beop-gak and continued, “Venerable Monk, this is my father, the head of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan. Father, this is Elder Monk Beop-gak of Shaolin.”

“Your presence honors us greatly. I am Baek Mu-ryang, known as the Twin Moon Sword Hero.”

“Amitabha. I am Beop-gak; the people have graciously bestowed upon me the title Pure Heart Arhat.”

After these brief introductions, he glanced out over the assembled experts, onlookers, and Namgung Cheon-hu as well, before turning back to Baek Mu-ryang, seeking his approval.

*Go ahead and carry out what you have planned.*

The message had come through his father’s spiritual transmission. He had intended to explain matters privately first, but clearly that was no longer necessary.

“Whew. This makes me all the more uneasy. Does he give his blessing because he trusts me, or because he means for me to see this through to whatever end awaits?”

Spilled water cannot be gathered back into the vessel. Yang-hui drew upon his inner energy and spoke in a ringing voice.

“To all fellow martial artists gathered here, I speak—I am the Soaring Sword Dragon of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan!”

A murmur rippled through the bustling crowd.

“The Soaring Sword Dragon… I have heard the tales lately, but he is so young. No—’young’ scarcely does it justice; he is little more than a boy.”

“And yet it was this boy who defeated the dreaded Hyeongsan Blood Fiend!”

“Nonsense—he must have had other warriors aiding him!”

“Come now! More than a hundred people saw and heard what transpired last night!”

“They seem to know nearly everything. There is no question that word travels fast indeed.”

“Last night, our clan faced a terrible calamity!”

After recounting the events that had followed the Baek Clan’s declaration of all-out war against the Jiangxi Black Factions, and the lingering doubts that had surrounded the affair, Yang-hui pointed dramatically toward Namgung Cheon-hu, bound as he was.

“Namgung Cheon-hu! Though I harbored suspicions, I wished to believe otherwise and tried to convince myself I was wrong! Yet he stood behind every last mystery that has befallen us!”

It was a lie. In truth, Namgung Cheon-hu had scarcely carried out any of those deeds; every scheme had been foreseen, intercepted, or undone in advance—just as he had crushed the two hundred Black Faction fighters under the Hyeongsan Blood Fiend who had sought to wipe out the Baek Clan the night before.

“Namgung Cheon-hu colluded with the Black Factions, pulling strings from the shadows as their hidden mastermind, and even sought to take my life at dawn today!”

He deliberately omitted the reasoning behind Namgung Cheon-hu’s actions, letting curiosity and doubt take root among the onlookers. Only once the tension had fully settled did he turn to Namgung Seong-il and continue.

“Namgung Seong-il—tell them why your young clan leader acted as he did.”

There was a clear purpose in having Namgung Seong-il speak instead. Seemingly having expected this, Namgung Seong-il opened his mouth, his expression darkening further.

“Our young clan leader… was consumed by inner demons, clouding his judgment. And so—”

“Everything was the work of those inner demons alone!” Yang-hui cut in smoothly. There was no need to leave room for excuses about the clan having known all along, having posted watchers, or having intervened to keep him from crossing certain lines.

“Every last action was driven solely by his own heart demons!”

A hush fell over the crowd; not a single onlooker spoke. None dared even whisper. The Namgung Clan commanded immense respect, and to speak out of turn could well invite censure.

*Elder Monk Beop-gak—might I trouble you for a word? Heh heh heh.*

Receiving Yang-hui’s spiritual message, Monk Beop-gak stepped forward.

“Every word the young hero has spoken is the truth. I, Beop-gak, stand as witness to it all.”

With Shaolin’s endorsement given, the silence broke, and the crowd’s pent-up emotion erupted louder than before.

“Heart demons? A warrior of the White Path—the young leader of the Namgung Clan—allying with the Black Factions because of heart demons?”

“Heart demons indeed?”

“Fallen to the influence of heart demons, betraying his own kin and even turning on his own people…”

“That is surely a step too far—”

“Shh!”

“Even if heart demons did plague him, such treachery goes beyond all bounds! He must have been corrupt at heart from the very beginning!”

“To think the young master of the Namgung Clan would sink so low!”

“The Namgung Clan must make amends for this!”

“Of course—are they not counted among the most esteemed righteous clans?”

Namgung Cheon-hu closed his eyes, listening to the murmurs swirling around him. Today’s events would spread across the realm as swiftly as a rumor on wings, growing ever more embellished as it went, tarnishing the Namgung Clan’s good name.

*The clan head has obtained exactly what he sought.* Namgung Il-geom had wanted his son to sully his own hands, and sully them he had.

*Black is not merely the color of ink.* Charcoal, too, is black. The moment Baek Mu-ryang’s voice rang out, Namgung Cheon-hu understood: the tale would become kindling, and the Baek Clan would burn bright in its flames.

“To all martial artists of the realm, I have this to say—Baek Mu-ryang, head of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan, speaks.”

Baek Mu-ryang swept his gaze across the packed gathering. There was a heaviness to it—not merely in his eyes, but in the very presence of the man himself. This, people would come to realize, was true dignity.

“The Baek Clan long ago vowed to stamp out the Black Factions. It may sound bold to speak so soon, yet I declare it now: our vow is fulfilled.”

The crowd fell quiet, waiting with bated breath—much as they had before, moved by the gravity of his words. *Father has grown so strong, too.* With a single look, Baek Mu-ryang commanded the respect of all assembled; he was the very image of a perfect leader.

“The five gangs of the Black Factions under the Corridor Lords, and the forces sent from the Hunan Black Factions under the Hyeongsan Sect—” Baek Mu-ryang’s voice rose, carrying across the entire clearing. “Our Baek Clan! The main lineage, upholding the righteousness of Heaven-Covering—we have won!”

At that moment, a roar went up that shook the very air.

“The Heaven-Covering Baek Clan!” came the cry from every side, mingled with praise.

“When was the last time a house truly cared for common folk such as we?”

“Not since the days of Baek Cheon, the Heaven-Defying Sword God!”

“Baek Cheon himself was of the Baek Clan!”

“He was our clan’s founding father!”

“To see his legacy carried forward with such strength—Jiangxi is truly blessed!”

“Twin Moon Sword Hero! Twin Moon Sword Hero!”

The crowd chanted the name in unison, and as their fervor settled, it found a new focus.

“Soaring Sword Dragon! Soaring Sword Dragon!”

“Only sixteen years old and bearing himself like a true hero—what a boon for Jiangxi!”

“He had not yet reached twenty when he defeated the Hyeongsan Blood Fiend!”

“To be honest, when I first heard the title ‘Soaring Sword Dragon,’ I thought one so young could be no dragon—scarcely even a serpent!”

“I thought the tales must be greatly exaggerated!”

“And yet he has proven himself a dragon in truth!”

“He will surely be numbered among those great figures who move the very world!”

In the martial world, the title of “dragon” carries special weight. Like “phoenix,” it is reserved for those rare, gifted youths who rise far above what their years would suggest. Today, Yang-hui had earned that name in every sense.

“Is the Soaring Sword Dragon the only hero to rise from the Baek Clan? There is another—One Day One Hero!”

Gu-ak, who had been listening with quiet delight, started in surprise.

“He once walked among the Black Factions, yet turned his life around and now stands as a paragon of virtue!”

“It is far harder to cleanse a soul born in darkness than one that has always known light!”

“The Baek Clan began taking in former Black Faction members because of Great Hero Gu-ak—they saw the goodness within him!”

“One Day One Hero! One Day One Hero!”

Just then, a voice rang out: “Friends, is ‘One Day One Hero’ not something of a mouthful?” It came from a man well known in Jiangxi for his love of memorable nicknames.

“You have a point!”

“It lacks a certain ring!”

“If I may offer a suggestion—he turned from darkness to light, upholding righteousness in all things! How does ‘White Transformation Great Hero’ sound from now on?”

“That is excellent! Simple to say and easy to remember!”

“White Transformation Great Hero! White Transformation Great Hero!”

Gu-ak beamed from ear to ear. Yang-hui did not let the moment slip, sending a quiet message through spiritual transmission.

*Brother Gu—you are truly pleased with it, are you not? You are no longer a lad; must you be so delighted over a mere title?*

He had meant it in jest, but Gu-ak nodded earnestly in reply.

*It suits me perfectly. And besides—young friend—thank you, for inviting me to join the Baek Clan when you did. It was… truly the best decision I have ever made.*

Yang-hui fell silent. Gu-ak’s sincerity touched him deeply.

*I had meant to tease you, yet you speak so earnestly—how am I to respond?*

*You? You are the one who never lets time or place stand in the way of a good jest.*

The remark struck home, yet it did not sting; he felt no urge to retort, only smiled. This was the moment he had worked toward for more than a year—the fruits of every plan and effort finally ripening.

*Everything is falling into place.*

And yet, it grew even better.

“The elder of the Gyeongju-san Clan from the Corridor seeks to address the head of the Heaven-Covering Baek Clan!”

All eyes turned toward the speaker. Baek Mu-ryang recognized him at once, his face lighting up.

“Is that not the leader of the Gyeongju-san Clan?”

Yang-hui sent a quick message to Chui-dal. *Who is he?*

*The guest clans live scattered across the Corridor, yet they maintain ties to their kin. Gyeongju-san is one such leader.*

“Head of the Baek Clan—first, we offer you our deepest gratitude for ridding the Corridor of the Black Factions.” Hearing these words, Yang-hui realized the truth: the guest clans had once refused the Baek Clan’s protection. Yet judging by Gyeongju-san’s manner…

*The timing could not be better, as though it were all fated to be.*

It truly felt as though heaven itself smiled upon this day.