Chapter 75
Chapter 75: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
Yanghwi suddenly hung suspended off the ground, lifted clean into the air by Gu Ak for the first time in what felt like forever.
Strictly speaking, describing it as the first time in ages was not entirely accurate. In truth, it was probably the first occasion he had ever been picked up out of pure joy.
“Brother Gu. You have my heartfelt congratulations.”
“BWAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHA!”
“So it’s true, then? She is expecting?”
“BWAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHA!”
“Turns out you are useful after all.”
“BWAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHA!”
Gu Ak was utterly oblivious, incapable of registering a single word spoken to him.
Still, hardly anyone could fault the man.
Despite having stood in line as the prime heir to the Honggyo Gang, Gu Ak had abandoned all of his standing and authority simply to join the Baek Estate. He had cast everything aside for a solitary purpose: the woman he cherished, Yeo Arang.
Now that their devotion was finally bearing fruit, retaining any semblance of composure was out of the question.
At this rate, our Baek house will soon welcome its newest, youngest member.
It was not merely Yanghwi offering praise; the entire Baek Estate joined together to shower Gu Ak with well-wishes. Within Baekik Pavilion—the courtyard residence occupied by Gu Ak, Yeo Arang, and her father—congratulatory tokens and presents brought by the estate’s staff grew into towering heaps with each passing sunrise.
“My thanks to you all! BWAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHA!”
Ever since Yeo Arang’s midriff began showing signs of her pregnancy, an unshakable beam settled across Gu Ak’s features. Seeing him now, no observer could ever suspect he had once terrorized the realm under the dreaded title of Blood Axe.
The transformation was so total that the household staff began referring to him as the Ever-Smiling Dad.
A child, is it? Can stepping into fatherhood truly remake a man from the ground up?
A sudden spark of wonder stirred in his chest. In neither his prior lifetime nor his present one had Yanghwi ever taken a wife, much less raised a child of his own flesh and blood.
Well, this is hardly the moment to lose myself in such musings.
Shifting his focus, he looked out across the training grounds. Standing there were the young scions of the Tang Clan finishing their preparatory drills: the young lord, Tang Gun, accompanied by his sister, Tang Yeon, who trailed him by a single year.
An entire year had elapsed since the Tang Clan formally established its local branch within the Baek Estate. By this point, Yanghwi had formed an easy bond with both brother and sister, addressing them informally as kin. Because both clans actively promoted joint practice among the younger generation to cultivate lasting bonds, Baek Heonso and Baek Yeonyeon had likewise forged deep friendships with the Tang siblings.
Even so, neither clan is about to start handing over its guarded arts just yet.
Esoteric martial arts. Digging into the ancestral heritage of an outside clan was an absolute taboo, yet Yanghwi kept a vigilant eye on the inner workings of the Tang Clan’s heritage.
His rationale was straightforward.
Phew. I have to manufacture the right opening to slip them the key to unraveling their flaw.
Historically, the Tang Clan of Sichuan had been cultivated as a deliberate shield against the treacherous poisons and covert projectiles wielded by the unorthodox factions. Because they were established with direct patronage from the Nine Sects and the Five Great Houses, the lineage of their core techniques stemmed straight from those very bastions of the orthodox path. This carried a stark implication:
The Nine Sects and the Five Great Houses possess the specific counters to neutralize the Tang Clan’s techniques.
Acting on the doctrine of fighting venom with venom, they had nurtured the Tang Clan while deliberately weaving in limitations to restrain their lethal arts. To put it bluntly, the Tang Clan was kept on a tight leash, akin to a hunting hound that could never run free. Now that they stood aligned with the Baek house, Yanghwi had no intention of allowing that leash to remain.
The real trick lies in engineering the right moment.
Beyond their martial heritage, there remained another pressing complication he needed to resolve on their behalf.
Because their signature strengths were rooted in toxic concoctions and hidden weaponry, the Tang Clan encountered deep distrust and disdain wherever their disciples traveled. The wider martial realm held an entrenched prejudice that every disciple carrying the Tang name was innately deceitful and cruel. Consequently, members of their clan went to extreme lengths to demonstrate honor and chivalry, clinging to decorum and etiquette with near-fanatical zeal.
Well, it was that very uncompromising uprightness that made me seek them out as our allies to begin with.
“Ah, Brother Hwi. Good to see you.”
“Likewise, Brother Tang.”
Though chronologically still a youth, Tang Gun consistently carried himself with gravity and dignified restraint. Given the staggering gulf in stature between the Tang Clan and the Baek house, to say nothing of their disparity in hierarchy and age, it would hardly have raised eyebrows if Tang Gun treated him with condescension. Yet without fail, he engaged Yanghwi with immaculate respect.
With a divide as wide as ours, looking down their noses at our estate and treating us as beneath notice would be the standard response. Most people would view it as only natural.
Yet the Tang Clan never displayed even a hint of such arrogance. That very humility was the reason Yanghwi had selected them, and why he resolved to guide their future down a radically different path than the one they met in his previous life.
Besides, as the years unfold, having the Tang Clan serve as our forward shield grants us immense strategic benefits.
As the Baek Estate expanded, adjacent factions were inevitably going to take notice and plot to crush their rise. That was especially true regarding the Namgung noble house in Anhui. Every month they could keep those wretches looking the other way was a precious victory. Until the estate built sufficient muscle and influence over the coming years to stand tall without fear, presenting the illusion that they were merely sheltering beneath the Tang Clan’s umbrella was the wisest course.
We build up the Tang Clan, and our family prospers in their shadow.
To make that vision a reality, the most immediate priority was radically altering how the public perceived the Tang Clan. Fortunately, an ideal instrument rested squarely within his grasp.
“Brother Tang, I will be stepping away from our drills today.”
“Oh? Missing practice, Brother Hwi? That comes as quite a surprise. If I recall correctly, this is the first time you have ever skipped.”
“An urgent obligation has presented itself.”
Returning to his chambers, Yanghwi spread out a clean sheaf of parchment and dipped his writing brush into ink for the first time in quite a while. The moment had arrived to launch a ploy that would bolster the Tang Clan while reaping immense wealth for the Baek house.
If you desire to reshape public opinion, you must craft something that captures every tongue.
Conveniently, Yanghwi possessed the ultimate vehicle: the stories penned by Ilpilhwiseo.
The Baekseo Merchant Guild has been clamoring for a fresh manuscript regardless. And extra wealth is never a burden.
Chuckling under his breath, Yanghwi set the brush dancing across the paper.
I need a narrative that elevates the Tang Clan in the most glorious light imaginable.
Among the books written by Ilpilhwiseo in his past existence, there was a work titled The Tale of the Peng. In essence, it detailed the journey of a young disciple of the Peng bloodline who stumbled upon a miraculous destiny, traveled the martial world forging profound alliances, and eventually established the foremost power under the heavens. The plot was so intoxicating and gripping that it was revered as one of Ilpilhwiseo’s three crowning masterpieces.
All that is required is substituting the Peng family with the Tang Clan.
In reality, The Tale of the Peng was a piece Ilpilhwiseo had concocted purely to woo a young lady of the Peng household. In the end, his courtship succeeded, only for him to be caught red-handed and dismembered by the Lord of the Peng house. Even so, the text was overflowing with every conceivable form of praise for their clan. Replacing the Peng family with the Tang Clan turned it into the ultimate vehicle to elevate their public reputation.
I will preserve all the thrill of the narrative while placing the Tang Clan front and center. If possible, I should also weave in the authentic foundation of their heritage.
As the ink flowed, he realized far more passages required comprehensive restructuring than he had anticipated, demanding several full days of labor to bring the scroll to completion. Nevertheless, the finished draft proved every bit as captivating as the work from his memories.
“If this unfolds the way I envision… the spectacle will be extraordinary.”
With a confident smirk, he rested his brush on the stand and inspected the title inscribed upon what had previously been blank sheets.
[The Tang Sect Chronicle]
[Tang Mujin, a fledgling healer hailing from the Poison and Medicine Hall of Sichuan’s Tang Clan, experienced a bizarre vision in his slumber.]
[A revelation wherein his spirit merged with Gu Yezi, the ancient forefather of supreme smithing.]
The Tang Clan carried a twofold origin: they were both the masters of venom and concealed arms nurtured by the Nine Sects and the Five Great Houses to counter poison with poison, and a household fundamentally built upon the craft of metalworkers and healers.
Why forge an alliance between smiths and medicine masters of all trades? The truth was plain.
[Vast as the desert sands are the iron-smiths coerced and murdered by martial vagabonds seeking legendary blades,]
[and who could fathom the toll of healers butchered in senseless vendettas simply for tending to an enemy’s wounds?]
Among common folk trampled in the chaos of the martial world, the two groups that suffered and perished most frequently were none other than those very two: craftsmen of the forge and masters of the medical arts.
“…Ah.”
Having finished reading The Tang Sect Chronicle, Tang Gun lifted his chin toward the open sky as tears spilled down his cheeks. Tang Yeon lingered by his shoulder, her eyes equally swollen and red.
“To think… to think such a tale could truly exist under heaven.”
The Tang Sect Chronicle struck a deep, trembling chord in the spirit of every Tang Clan disciple. It was as though a gentle, healing rain had swept down upon a long-parched desert, washing away every ounce of shame, sorrow, and humiliation they had silently shouldered over generations.
“Did you… did you truly pen every word of this yourself, Brother Hwi?”
“Indeed, though… I must ask that you keep my role strictly between us.”
Per his arrangement with the Baekseo Merchant Guild, Yanghwi kept his identity as Ilpilhwiseo entirely hidden from the outside world. Since he was deliberately keeping the Baek house’s true might masked behind the Tang Clan’s rising star, drawing premature scrutiny was the last thing he desired.
Even so, disclosing the truth to the Tang Clan was necessary. After pouring his energy into the work—even if it had only taken a few days—it would have been foolish not to secure the proper leverage and gratitude earned from crafting The Tang Sect Chronicle.
“You have our deepest gratitude, Brother Hwi!”
Tang Gun seized Yanghwi’s hands, gripping them with fierce emotion. Tang Yeon joined in, laying her own hands firmly atop theirs.
“Thank you, Brother Hwi! Truly, from the bottom of my heart!”
“I cannot fathom how we will ever settle such a profound debt.”
“Come now, restrain yourselves, both of you. It makes no sense to speak of debts and obligations between our two families over a simple piece of writing.”
Tang Gun’s expression hardened into deep solemnity.
“No. You have wiped clean the ancient grievances and heartache burdening every member of the Tang Clan. I give you my word, I will repay this grace without fail.”
A full year slipped away following the delivery of The Tang Sect Chronicle to the Baekseo Merchant Guild. Precisely as occurred with the two stories that preceded it, the manuscript ignited an unprecedented cultural whirlwind.
The shift was instantaneous.
Within Jiangxi Province at the very least, not a single soul continued to whisper that the Tang Clan was a nest of malicious vipers, nor did common folk shrink away in revulsion at their use of poisons and hidden projectiles.
“To think we would live to see the dawn where regular citizens offer warm smiles when they spot us walking the avenues in our clan robes.”
“I strolled through the markets just yesterday, and instead of fleeing in panic, shopkeepers were actively calling out just to strike up a friendly conversation!”
Within the pages of The Tang Sect Chronicle, the Tang Clan lived and died solely for the principles of honor and righteousness, depicted as the quintessential paragon of the orthodox path. True to the ancient adage, a three-inch tongue could carve deeper than a three-foot blade. The sheer, overwhelming popularity of the novel proved more than sufficient to revolutionize how society viewed their lineage.
“Think nothing of it. Isn’t that merely how the Tang Clan conducts itself in truth? I have never encountered anyone who embodies benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom quite like you, Brother Tang.”
When Yanghwi brushed the credit aside with measured modesty, Tang Gun shook his head firmly.
“Far from it. Foot traffic at the smithies and apothecaries run by our local branch has multiplied five times over. Every fraction of this blessing traces directly to you, Brother Hwi.”
The Tang Clan’s craft in metallurgy and the healing arts had always been peerless. The moment longstanding prejudice and unfounded fear were stripped away, patrons enchanted by their mastery crowded their establishments until bustling lines down the street became the daily norm.
“I intend to dispatch a formal petition to our main clan so they may reward your contribution with the utmost honor and material wealth. Furthermore, I give my word here and now.”
Tang Gun’s tone became intensely solemn.
“I declare this in my official capacity as young lord: our Tang Clan shall forever treat the Baek house as our cherished ally and lifelong companion.”
Having drawn out the very declaration he had orchestrated from the beginning, Yanghwi let a smile touch his lips.
“The Baek house stands by that same conviction.”
With those words, the primary goal behind penning The Tang Sect Chronicle was fulfilled: securing equal status and unwavering recognition from the Tang Clan. Earning their unreserved trust and loyalty while the Baek house was still gathering its strength was an immense victory in its own right.
To say nothing of the mountain of silver it hauled into their coffers.
Four years had now passed since Ilpilhwiseo released his debut work. By this era, the legendary author’s reputation sent ripples across the entirety of Jiangxi Province. Just as plotted from the beginning alongside the Baekseo Merchant Guild, Ilpilhwiseo’s published texts were treated as treasured heirlooms worthy of preservation. Consequently, the wealth pouring into the clan had swelled beyond anything seen in previous years.
“Young Master Hwiiii! Come, mount this old servant’s shoulders! Starting this very hour, I, Han Seok’eon, shall be your faithful steed!”
Steward Han could hardly be blamed for creating such an uproarious scene, practically attempting to carry Yanghwi across the courtyard on his back. Truth be told, when the Tang Clan delivered five hundred gold nyang as a formal tribute of thanks for The Tang Sect Chronicle, the steward had nearly dragged him up by force.
Good grief, Steward Han. It truly seems as though his bodily health is tethered directly to the total balance inside the family vault.
Chuckling quietly to himself, Yanghwi took to the air with a nimble leap, coming to rest upon the roof tiles as he gazed over the sprawling grounds of the Baek Estate.
Has it truly been three full years since my rebirth?
The ancients spoke of a single gak feeling like three long autumns, and these three years had indeed vanished like a released arrow. Throughout that span, the Baek house had undergone a transformation so profound that its former state was barely recognizable. Moving forward, that pace of evolution would only gather greater momentum.
I will ensure it.
And just like that…
In the space of another fleeting breath, three more years drifted away into time.
Comments for chapter "Chapter 75"
MANGA DISCUSSION
Madara Info
Madara stands as a beacon for those desiring to craft a captivating online comic and manga reading platform on WordPress
For custom work request, please send email to wpstylish(at)gmail(dot)com