Chapter 10: I Blocked Three Moves

The Dancheon Clan Head had two sons.

The eldest son, Dancheon Hak, from his legal wife Baek Yeo-hae.

And me, the second son Dancheon Myeong, who was born from a different mother but was adopted under Baek Yeo-hae.

The eldest son, Dancheon Hak, was two years older than me, so he was the hope of the Dancheon Clan who had reached adulthood this year.

Under the full support of our mother Baek Yeo-hae, he had established his position in both name and reality at an early age, so the memory of the confident smile that was always on his face was vivid.

“It’s been a while, Brother.”

“Indeed.”

He, whom I faced for the first time after regressing, still had a confident smile.

“Why did you call for me?”

“Must there be business for a brother to call for his brother?”

“It has always been so, hasn't it.”

He called when there was business.

It had always been that way.

I, at least, had no memory of facing him without business.

It would be difficult to say we were close brothers, even as a joke.

I understood.

It was as natural as the laws of nature for him to be wary of me.

If my existence was a past that the woman Baek Yeo-hae wanted to erase, then to Dancheon Hak, I was an unstable future.

But I, who had returned after living the life of Myeong-gae, knew.

It was not my fault.

I was a person who could be proud.

Therefore, I straightened my shoulders and spoke.

“I can come to see you even if you call for me politely, so please don’t do that from now on.”

Saying so, I gave a glance to the household servant standing behind Dancheon Hak.

The man’s cheek, which had been perfectly fine when he had come to get me, was red and swollen.

It was not difficult to guess what had happened in the short time it took for me to walk here.

“And please be a little more considerate of the household servants.”

Saying so, I gave him a smile.

“I will.”

Dancheon Hak also smiled back at me.

Since his appearance was handsome, his smile was also refreshing.

Although she always looked at me with a sour expression, our mother Baek Yeo-hae was also a woman of outstanding beauty in her youth, so he must have resembled her.

I was not one to resent the mother who had given me life, but sometimes I had been envious of Dancheon Hak’s appearance.

Back in my childhood.

“You’re learning martial arts from Uncle Yeo Baek?”

“It just happened that way.”

It was the first time I knew that my brother was so interested in me.

This was because while the fact that I was learning martial arts from Uncle Yeo Baek was not a big secret, it was also not a publicly known fact within the clan.

“The Third Elder seemed very displeased.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

The Third Elder was the one who had trained me from the age of eight to seventeen.

Since I had entered the First-Rate realm under his guidance, it was fitting to call him a master, but he was someone I did not want to call so.

In fact, I believed that my reaching the First-Rate realm at a young age was thanks to my innate physical constitution and insight.

That was how indifferent he was to teaching me.

Look at him now.

Didn't Dancheon Hak, who was being taught by the First Elder, know the Third Elder’s intentions better than I did?

I wasn't disappointed.

I knew very well that the Council of Elders, made up of the elders of the Dancheon Clan, was entirely on my brother’s side.

“You, have you by any chance become interested in the position of Clan Head?”

My brother asked me, as if testing me.

I shook my head.

“You’re mistaken.”

Before he could misunderstand, I quickly continued.

“I didn't become interested; I always was.”

It was just that back then, I was the inferior younger brother, so I couldn't express it.

“Don’t I also have the right to that position?”

Even if I was an illegitimate son.

“Ha! Hahahaha.”

Dancheon Hak burst out laughing, as if he had heard a funny joke.

Seeing the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, it didn't seem like he was acting.

And at the same time as his laughter stopped.

“Someone like you?”

He asked.

I knew that that expression and that question were his true nature.

He had not been a very good person since childhood.

I understood why he was mocking me.

In my past life, I had not reached the Peak even when I reached adulthood.

It was a realm I had barely reached during my Myeong-gae days.

But this was not due to my lack, but due to the Third Elder’s teachings.

On the other hand, Dancheon Hak had reached the Peak before he even reached adulthood, and at the time of the heir competition, he was a mature master of the Peak at the age of twenty-two.

With the First Elder as his master, and having practically received teachings from all the elders, I could understand why he would find me laughable.

It was not difficult to understand his confidence.

In fact, for me at that time to defeat Dancheon Hak and win the heir competition would have been like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

But.

“You won’t know until you try, will you?”

What about now?

Now that I too had already set foot in the realm of the Peak.

“Do you really have to try to know?”

“It seems there isn’t much of a difference. In that case, we’ll have to try to know.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

The sneer on his face turned into displeasure.

If he had our mother Baek Yeo-hae and the Council of Elders at his back, I would have Uncle Yeo Baek and the guard at my back.

“Do I still look like the snot-nosed Dancheon Myeong to you?”

If he had attained the martial prowess of the Peak, I would attain a martial prowess even greater than that.

At my appearance, which was quite different from what he had perceived, Dancheon Hak’s expression hardened.

“By the way, Brother, isn’t the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly coming up soon?”

The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was an event for the prodigies of the righteous faction who had entered the realm of the Peak before the age of thirty.

That event, which was held once every three years, was being held this year in Henan.

I remembered the majestic appearance of Dancheon Hak, who had been recognized at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly and returned like a triumphant general.

That event, which I couldn't even step foot in at that time because I hadn't reached the Peak.

“Why are you interested in it?”

My brother asked, forcing a crooked smile.

“Well, since I’m also eligible, I would be interested, wouldn’t I?”

This year would be different.

“Because I have also reached the Peak.”

The protagonist of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly will not be you, but me.

***

“You fought with Young Master Hak?”

“I have no such memory.”

I played dumb and received Uncle Yeo Baek’s words.

“There are rumors all over the family, you know? That Young Master Myeong declared war on Young Master Hak.”

It seemed the clan was full of people with loose lips.

However, I needed to correct the false facts.

“Isn’t it not a declaration of war, but something that has already been foreseen?”

“Hmm.”

Since the Dancheon Clan had maintained the tradition of primogeniture by merit for more than a day or two, the heir competition was a foreseen future.

“Are you confident?”

He asked, as if gauging me.

“I am.”

I answered confidently.

This was now, after I had returned with countless arrangements made.

Hadn't I already gained too much to fall in a mere young clan head competition?

However, if one could easily become the Clan Head just by being ahead in martial arts, who would go through all this trouble?

The Murim Alliance Leader, and the Dancheon Clan Head as well.

I knew that in the end, a support base was necessary.

“What will you do, Uncle?”

I threw a question to Uncle Yeo Baek.

This time, it was my turn to gauge him.

“When Young Master Myeong blocks my three moves, I’ll think about it then.”

This must mean that he had sufficient goodwill towards me.

“In that case, you’ll have to think about it today.”

Saying so, I gripped my sword.

He let out a hearty laugh at my audacity.

“Well, not bad.”

Uncle Yeo Baek took a starting stance in response.

“I never really liked that Hak fellow anyway.”

That was precisely the reason I sought you out.

***

The Dancheon Sword Clan, which dominated Anhui Province, was composed of three pillars.

One was the absolute ruler who controlled everything in the clan, the Clan Head.

The Dancheon Clan Head was the focal point of the clan and a pillar that supported it.

The second was the Council of Elders, composed of the elders of the Dancheon Sword Clan.

A proverb that was jokingly passed around in the jianghu was ‘to be old is to be strong’, and the Council of Elders was the proof of that.

To have survived until old age in the Jianghu Murim, where sword fights were rampant, meant that he was a person with a hidden ace up his sleeve, and also because most orthodox martial arts increased in power with age.

And the third was the guard.

The very Dancheon Guard where Bang Yeo-baek was the Captain of the Guard.

The guard was the organization where the largest number of martial artists in the clan were recruited.

In particular, it was a training ground where hot-blooded young martial artists who disliked the stubborn elders of the Council of Elders gathered.

The reason Bang Yeo-baek was regarded as the de facto second-in-command of the Dancheon Clan was not simply because he was the person who received the greatest trust from the Dancheon Clan Head.

It was more due to the fact that he was the captain of the guard, one of the three pillars of the Dancheon Clan, and his lofty martial arts that had reached the state of harmony.

The three pillars that supported the Dancheon Clan checked and balanced each other, and through this, the clan developed.

In a martial family, the position of the Clan Head was sacred and inviolable, so no one challenged its authority, but things were a little different below that.

It meant that the Council of Elders and the guard were fated to always keep each other in check.

But an organization was bound to follow the disposition of its leader.

The head of the Council of Elders and the master of the eldest son Dancheon Hak, the First Elder, was an ambitious man.

He actively intervened in clan politics.

He was currently working hard to push Dancheon Hak as the Clan Head, holding hands with the mistress of the Dancheon Clan, Baek Yeo-hae.

It was with the intention of regaining the trust of the Clan Head, which had been taken away by the guard, by establishing Dancheon Hak as the Clan Head in the future.

On the other hand, Bang Yeo-baek had no interest in clan politics whatsoever.

He was a person who believed that the duty of a martial artist was self-cultivation, to train one's martial arts with a righteous mindset.

-If you need my help, tell Young Master Hak to come himself.

-What?

A conversation with Baek Yeo-hae.

-Please help me, Uncle.

-Young Master Hak is already lacking for nothing, so why would he need my help?

-That is…….

-It seems you have nothing more to say, so I will be leaving.

And a conversation with the eldest son Dancheon Hak.

Those two anecdotes were one of the legends that were still talked about in the family.

Perhaps the reason my father Dancheon Gang kept Uncle Yeo Baek by his side was because of this disposition of his.

But even so.

No, that was why I had to make Uncle Yeo Baek my ally even more.

If I dreamed of becoming the head of the Dancheon Clan.

This was because he was the only card that could stand against the Council of Elders, which had already completely tilted in favor of my brother Dancheon Hak.

The easiest way would be to catch the eye of the Clan Head, but my father would never intervene in the heir competition.

I knew his disposition well.

“You look confident, so let’s start right away.”

The most stubborn swordsman in the Dancheon Clan said.

“Come.”

Unlike usual, I provoked him.

I had to show this much spirit for him to even consider it, right?

Of course, spirit alone was not enough.

I would have to show a corresponding level of skill.

Today was that day.

Tap.

Uncle Yeo Baek moved with a lighter footwork than usual.

Perhaps because he no longer underestimated me, he did not try to deceive my eyes with his movement art like in the past training sessions.

His martial art was entirely focused on the movement of his sword.

-This is called Heart as Action.

The voice of Healing Sage, which I had never heard before, echoed in my ears.

The will became the circulation of inner qi, and the circulation of inner qi created movement.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In an instant, three exchanges took place.

Although I knew that Uncle Yeo Baek was not using his full strength, I thrilled at the pleasure of deciphering the sublime techniques that blossomed from his fingertips.

“Chat!”

For the first time, I thrust my sword at him.

Clack.

As if in response, the uncle’s sword stuck to my sword.

It was Diversion.

There was no time to be flustered.

Knowing that if I left it like this, I would drop my sword, I quickly responded.

Whoosh!

Even though I swung my sword widely, his sword was still stuck to mine.

Tap!

I loaded my inner qi into the Dragon Spring Point and soared into the air.

I thought I had shaken him off, but the uncle was still flying in front of me with his sword attached.

“It is dangerous to have both feet in the air against a superior. Remember that.”

As soon as those words ended.

Thud!

My feet, which had just landed on the ground again, were tripped by his sweeping kick.

Although I avoided the unsightly sight of a swordsman dropping his sword, it didn't make much of a difference as I had ended up rolling on the ground.

When I quickly got up, his sword was already aimed at my forehead.

“That’s enough.”

“……Thank you.”

Feeling a mix of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, I bowed my head to the uncle.

“Excellent.”

Saying so, Uncle Yeo Baek lowered his sword.

“After you return from the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, you can begin training the second half of the Dancheon Sword Art.”

Nevertheless, it was right to be satisfied today.

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