Chapter 176

Chapter 176
**Chapter 176: Tang-Baek Oath**

In the head of the Tang Clan’s private study, Clan Leader Tang Seong spoke up once more. “I must say this again, Young Master Baek. You are the Tang Clan’s savior. We offer you our deepest gratitude, benefactor.”

“We thank you, our benefactor!” the assembled group echoed in unison.

Clan Leader Tang Seong, Young Clan Leader Tang Gun, and the many Tang Clan elders all bowed low toward Yang-hui, their hands clasped respectfully before them. Standing just beside him, Baek Heon-so felt his cheeks warm with embarrassment and a rush of overwhelming feeling at the sheer solemnity of their display.

*It is all calculated*, he thought. However genuine their gratitude might be, this public gesture served to diminish the Tang Clan’s own standing. It felt deliberate—a performance staged for all to witness.

*So long as there is something to be gained, they will humble themselves without hesitation*, he mused. *Far more politically astute than I had realized.*

Yet he felt no resentment toward them. Favors he would repay doubly; wrongs, tenfold. Their choice to take this path instead of a simpler one laid bare the true nature of the Tang Clan. Even so…

*They need not have gone to such lengths.*

He turned his gaze toward Tang Gun. The younger leader was a man of upright character and warm demeanor, one who would laugh off even his own younger brother’s occasional impoliteness. And more than that—he was the sworn brother Yang-hui had lost in another life.

“Hui, my brother… I beg of you… please, do what you can for the main clan…”

Yang-hui spoke in a quiet, steady tone. “The energy I have drawn from this opportunity granted by the Baek Clan is pure qi. As its name suggests, it carries the inherent quality of banishing evil and subduing wickedness, and possesses the power to guide all things toward what is right. Furthermore, the Harmonious Heaven Principle Origin Art practiced by the Baek Clan embodies the very enlightenment of bringing every energy under heaven into perfect accord.”

He went on to explain the nature of pure qi and the properties of Harmonious Heaven qi, focusing particularly on how this Harmonious Heaven Pure Qi interacted with the Tang Clan’s unique poison-based arts.

“That is the essence of it all,” he concluded. “I believe everything that has come to pass today is rooted in the power of Harmonious Heaven Pure Qi.”

Tang Seong regarded Yang-hui with a glint of keen interest in his eyes. He understood well what it meant to lay out the fundamental nature of one’s inner energy with such thoroughness.

“My brother So and I came to the Tang Clan as allies come to exchange knowledge. It appears our arrival is most timely—there is much we ought to discuss together.”

“To be frank, this is quite unexpected,” Tang Seong admitted.

“Is it?”

“Indeed. I had heard your nature was one of utmost calculation.”

Yang-hui needed no guess to know who had spread such a description. Tang Gun shifted his gaze away, looking distinctly awkward, before another voice chimed in.

“Is it not true, though, little brother Hui? I have never known you to be at a loss in any situation.”

Yang-hui found himself momentarily at a loss for words. *After helping me reach the peak of my power, is this how he speaks of me?* It felt strangely unjust.

“What has occurred today is of the utmost importance and urgency to our entire clan,” Tang Seong said earnestly. “It is inextricably bound to the dearest wish our family has cherished for generations.”

That was Tang Seong’s true point: You hold the Tang Clan’s very future in your hands. And yet you offer to share it freely, without asking for recompense or binding agreement?

Yang-hui gave his answer simply. “I have eyes and ears; I know how things stand. Would it not be petty to do otherwise?”

Tang Seong’s eyes widened slightly. “Petty? In what way?”

“When a friend stands in need of what you possess, and you haggle over the price as a merchant might—this may be acceptable between strangers, but between friends? That is what it means to be petty.”

“Friends…” Tang Gun’s voice trembled, emotion rising bright in his eyes. For all his bold and open nature, Yang-hui was so thoughtful and deep in his thinking that even his most generous gestures could seem like part of a larger design. To hear him speak this way touched something deep within Tang Gun’s heart.

“Little brother Hui…” He was moved, yet another thought crossed his mind: could the Yang-hui he knew be performing this very kindness as part of some grander scheme?

*But what would be gained by extracting promises from the Tang Clan?* Yang-hui asked himself, and truly believed the answer was nothing. *With others, perhaps I might wonder. But with the Tang Clan? I have no such concern.*

Of course, should they accept what he offered and then turn their backs without giving anything in return, he would feel hurt. But was that not the way of friendship? To feel slighted when someone you have treated well fails to show you the same consideration in return? He trusted the friends he had chosen would never be so ungenerous.

“Let this mark the beginning of a true and enduring bond,” he said warmly. “If this humble form of mine can serve to help the Tang Clan flourish, that alone shall be honor enough for me.”

Tang Seong met Yang-hui’s gaze steadily and returned the gesture, bowing with hands clasped. “The Tang Clan was born of exchange. When physicians and masters of poisons were wronged by the great sects and the Five Great Clans, an offer was extended to us: *We shall grant you power. We shall teach you the martial ways. In return, bear the shame of us all, and stand as our shields against venom and hidden blade.*”

“Favors and wrongs are not always repaid in neat multiples—but we have always held that kindness shall be returned doubly, and injury tenfold. We made calculation itself our creed; such was our way. If all the world sees us as nothing more than profit and loss, then we shall meet them on those terms. Every kindness we receive, we shall repay twice over. Those who swore this vow came together to form the Tang Clan.”

“Friends…” Tang Seong repeated the word softly. “I shall not forget it.”

*What is an alliance?* he wondered. A pact to step in unison for mutual benefit; a relationship built on gain. *This lays the second stone firmly upon the first*, he thought. His true aim was to go beyond mere alliance, and stand together as true friends do. Between friends there must be faith—trust that each will stand true. He trusted the Tang Clan would never accept what a friend had given and then turn away as if nothing had passed. Why? Because they were friends of the Baek Clan. There was no cause to feel one had given too much. Strictly speaking, it was the Tang Clan who had reached out first.

*Brother Tang… you spoke of returning favors doubly and wrongs tenfold? No—kindness shall be repaid a hundredfold.* This was the fulfillment of the Tang-Baek Oath, and the repayment of a sworn brother’s devotion and affection.

“Little brother Hui… I place my trust in you. The Tang-Baek Oath… with you here, I may depart this world without fear…”

In his past life, Yang-hui had but one sworn brother: Chui-dal. That was all. And he had failed to protect him.

The Great Calamity of the Demonic Church was remembered as the bloodiest, most terrible conflict in the history of the martial world. One might share a meal with a companion in the morning, and by evening be laying offerings upon their grave. Tears of those who lost loved ones flowed like rivers. In the midst of such chaos, to swear brotherhood with Tang Gun might have seemed a blessing—but Yang-hui knew better. Tang Gun possessed the very kind of nature that so often meets an early end.

“Brother Tang… you must rise now.”

“Just a moment longer.”

“What purpose does it serve to linger over the fallen? Better to spend that time striking down one more foe and avenging them.”

“Even so… grant me but a little while more.”

Tang Gun was a man of simple, generous heart. The young leader of the Tang Clan, feared far and wide for his clan’s ruthless reputation, yet himself the kindest soul Yang-hui had ever known. After every battle, he would bid his men rest while he himself saw to burying the dead. Watching him, Yang-hui would think: *With such a tender heart, he will not live long. We ought never to have sworn this bond.*

The Tang-Baek Oath was meant to protect the one who departed first, yet in this way it was Yang-hui who stood to lose the most.

“Little brother Hui, most of our clan’s most profound arts are founded upon the Three Yang Return Origin Art.”

“Why do you tell me this? Is it not forbidden to share such knowledge beyond the clan?”

“You are my brother, are you not? Surely an elder brother may pass along lessons to his younger kin.”

They had always shared observations and insights freely regarding their respective arts, but one day Tang Gun began setting aside long-held prohibitions. He began sharing the very core of his understanding—not complete manuals, but the foundational truths that lay beneath them. To reveal such secrets was punishable by the severing of one’s meridians, and nowhere was this enforced more strictly than within the Tang Clan. This was no small matter.

“Little brother Hui… I am grateful to you always. Without you… I would have lost so many more.”

“This is work I have undertaken; there is no cause to thank me.”

Tang Gun laughed warmly. “Are you feeling shy, then?”

“Brother Tang, enough talk. Let us refine our skills further.”

“Indeed! We must both perfect our family’s arts if we are ever to see our greatest dreams fulfilled!”

Tang Gun continued to teach him, and in time Yang-hui came to feel almost like a member of the Tang Clan himself, so thoroughly did he understand their ways. With his extraordinary insight, he could see the limits, the flaws, and the means to mend them.

“The Three Yang Return Origin Art draws upon the principle of the Three Talents within the Semi-Taiji. That is where the difficulty lies, Brother Tang.”

“What makes you say so?”

“To attain Super Peak, just as to reach the Peak realm, one must seek a new unity—a single, perfect whole. If red and blue are to merge into purple, they must come together in equal measure.”

“I see,” Tang Gun nodded slowly. “Add but a single drop of red to a vat of blue dye, and the water remains blue still.”

“True enough—and there are masters who have reached the highest realms wielding pure Yang True Qi or chilling Yin inner force. The problem lies elsewhere.”

The core of the Three Yang Return Origin Art was the consumption of poison qi by the power of yang qi. And that, Yang-hui realized, was why no one in the Tang Clan had ever ascended to Super Peak.

“How can you speak with such certainty?” Tang Gun asked gently. “You have not reached Super Peak yourself, nor studied the arts that lead to it.”

“Ah—touching upon my shortcomings, are we?”

“Forgive me,” Tang Gun smiled.

“A genius such as myself can see what others cannot, without ever needing to walk the path.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

“I shall attain Super Peak soon enough—then you shall see. I shall look down from the heights and laugh at all those who remain stuck at the Peak.”

Every day was a trial, walking the very edge between life and death, yet it was filled with joy. The time spent in Tang Gun’s company was among the happiest Yang-hui had known, calling to mind another dear friend he had lost.

“Little brother Hui… why not join our clan in time? I would gladly take you as my brother-in-law!”

“Spare me, please!”

“I could give you my sister as well!”

“That is quite enough, thank you!”

He feared growing closer still to Tang Gun. The more precious the bond, the more painful the loss when it broke. It was like losing the father who had taken him in when he was an orphan. He had sent Chui-dal, his sworn brother, to safety—and yet here he had sworn another bond. To one who dreaded loss, why keep forming attachments that would only be taken away?

*Perhaps this is simply what it means to be human*, he told himself. Between heaven, earth, and all living things, this is how we live. And so he resolved to protect them. Perhaps to care for others is the truest mark of humanity. Yet everything comes to an end.

That day arrived.

*Kreeee-ah!* His sword shrieked like a hunting hawk, cutting down another servant of the Demonic Church.

*Gasp… gasp…* Bodies lay scattered across the ground—fallen foes, and those who still lived.

“Reverse Heaven Blood Sword Baek Yang-hui… your reputation is well earned.”

“Reverse Heaven Blood Sword indeed. Keep that title for yourselves.”

“You still have spirit in you, even now.”

“A man must keep his pride.”

He cut down another attacker and called out to the leader of the band. “This was all a trap?”

“Indeed. A stage has been set for you, Reverse Heaven Blood Sword.”

Yang-hui stood at the peak of his power, a wandering swordsman without equal, felling master after master of the Demonic Church. Perhaps he had drawn too much attention to himself.

“I did not expect the Vice Leader herself to come for a single wanderer.”

The ranks parted, and the Blood Church Vice Leader stepped forward—the Blood-Faced Sorceress, clad all in crimson, her skin pale as death.

“You slew Blood-Eyes with nothing more than a Peak-level body. Your blood must taste divine—and so I have come myself.” Her voice was soft, terrible in its gentleness. “Surrender now, and come with me.”

“Silence.”

“Your name ends today. Would you not prefer it to be quick?”

“Says who?”

“No one is coming to save you. We have taken every precaution.”

“NO!!”

The cry rang out clear and strong. It was Tang Gun. He had fought his way through hell to reach him; barely a third of his men remained alive. Yet his voice did not waver.

“Little brother Hui… I have come for you!”

“Ah—so there are others. Enough to wipe out this nest of Tang whelps, it would seem. You have survived well enough.”

“Do not underestimate the Tang Clan, sorceress!”

She laughed, a cold, clear sound. “You have unleashed your inner potential—but it is not enough. Does the Tang Clan possess a secret art akin to the Reverse Blood Great Law?”

Just as she had said, Tang Gun had ignited the very depths of his life force. His warriors had done the same—not merely drawing upon hidden reserves, but wielding forbidden arts that consumed their life force as fuel. They had known this would be their final day.

“The Tang Clan shall never bow to the servants of darkness!”

“Then you shall all perish together.”

“Even so—we shall do what we can to frustrate your plans!”

The battle raged, and when it was over, all lay fallen. They had not slain the Vice Leader—but they had held her long enough for the Baek Clan to arrive.

“What a disappointment,” the Sorceress sighed as she withdrew. “I had so looked forward to tasting the Reverse Heaven Blood Sword. Another time, perhaps.”

Reinforcements came—but only Yang-hui survived.

“Brother Tang…”

Tang Gun lay upon the ground, grievously wounded. His eyes met Yang-hui’s, and his voice was faint but clear.

“Little brother Hui… I beg you… protect the main clan…”

“The Tang-Baek Oath… with you here… I may depart in peace…”

“Walking this path with you… brought me such joy…”

Tang Gun could have fled. He could have sent his men to die and escaped himself. That was what others would have done. Yet he had come. Yang-hui did not wonder why—he knew.

“Let us call our vow the Tang-Baek Oath,” Tang Gun had said with a smile. “My family name comes first, as I am the elder brother!”

The Tang-Baek Oath: he who survived would raise up the clan of the one who fell, and fulfill all their cherished dreams. Yang-hui had feared exactly this—that Tang Gun’s gentle heart would lead him to sacrifice himself, and that he would be left behind to bear the loss.

*And so it has come to pass.*

He rose slowly and looked toward the moon. He shed no tear—not since the day his father had died. Yet his sword sang out, a long, piercing cry of grief. It was not only the sword that mourned—the whole world seemed to weep.

*I have lost them again. I could not protect him. If only I had been stronger…*

He reached out, and weapons rose from the hands of the fallen: a mercenary’s blade, a hero’s straight sword, and Tang Gun’s hidden daggers.

*Brother Tang… I told you it was folly to linger over the dead. Sentimentality is what brings men to ruin.* Yet there he stood, beneath the moonlight, weaving a requiem with his blade. It was a waste of time, perhaps.

*If only I had been stronger… if only…*

He felt the pulse of the world itself. Among heaven, earth, and all creation, it is humanity alone that possesses will. His own will rose up, terrible and unbroken, reaching between earth and sky. And in that moment, he broke through to Super Peak.

Beneath the keening of his sword, he swore: *I shall honor the Tang-Baek Oath.*

—

“Brother Tang… I am late… but I shall keep my word.”

The Tang Clan and the Baek Clan would advance together, side by side, as one.