A Clan With Roots (11)

Kwaang!

Startled by the exploding force wave, Han Cheol-sang quickly moved to block the space in front of Gyeong Hang.

But Oh Gyeong, who had already moved faster than him, was lighting his pipe. He looked so relaxed it was hard to believe he was the same person who had fought such a dynamic battle.

“You’re fast.”

“You’re no ordinary man either, Steward Han.”

Han Cheol-sang signaled to Im Yeo-wol and Do Il-gang with his eyes. The two then stood behind Gyeong Hang. They were standing guard in preparation for any unexpected situation.

Oh Gyeong exhaled smoke and spoke.

“There’ll be no problem with the Supreme Patriarch.”

“Even so.”

“Well, as Steward, that is how you should be.”

Gyeong Hang carefully asked.

“Old Master Oh.”

Even Oh Gyeong himself was courteous before Gyeong Hang.

“Please address me comfortably, Supreme Patriarch.”

“I cannot do that. You are someone the Patriarch treats with courtesy.”

“In exactly what part does he do that?”

Oh Gyeong knew how to make people laugh in a way unbefitting his age.

Gyeong Hang, who had laughed softly, quickly grew somber. It was because he saw Jin-hyeon fighting in the distance.

To the old man’s eyes, he could not properly see how Jin-hyeon was moving. But since his opponent was an elder of the Hengshan Sect, he was certainly a rare and formidable enemy.

“Can the Patriarch win?”

“He will win.”

“Are you certain?”

“No fight in the world can be guaranteed. Even so, I am confident the Patriarch will win.”

“Why do you think so?”

Oh Gyeong’s eyes shone.

“It has been some time since he became aware of his position as Patriarch, but this is the first time he is fighting in front of all his clan members. When there are many people cheering for him, it is hard to lose because of the pressure.”

They were encouraging words, but even so, Gyeong Hang could not help but worry. In his heart, he wanted to ask why they did not all help the Patriarch defeat this formidable enemy together.

But he couldn’t do that.

Gyeong Hang, who had once led a clan, clearly recognized that Jin-hyeon’s fight right now was a duel between leaders. Interfering in such a situation would instead be an insult to the leader.

‘You must win.’

The responsibility of a Patriarch bearing everyone’s wishes on his back.

Jin-hyeon’s iron sword grew half a beat faster.

Flash!

When a streak of light flashed, blue flames followed behind it.

Those flames were like moonlight reflected on a lake that raised waves. They were shadows of moonlight that distorted and spread again and again, and despite holding the power of Extreme Yang, they gave off a strangely cold energy.

‘How can this be?’

Sang-eon, who had been facing Jin-hyeon half-mad with rage, was now in a position where he could no longer entrust everything to his anger.

‘He is this strong?!’

Jjeojeong! Jjeojeong!

From the two sword strikes swung as if crossing, four streams of sword force swept out. It was a chained strike of Cross Soul-Slash.

He had clearly swung twice, yet the sword force that poured out was double that number. Upon reaching the Moonlit Pack-Wolf Path, the War-Sword Three Arts had also fully bloomed. Without needing to swing twice, he was unfolding the divine skill of One-Swing Chained Strike through greater output and a transformation of the formula.

Sang-eon felt his wrist ache.

It was not an especially profound sword strike. But it was intuitive and practical. On top of that, it came in ignoring rhythm, and compared to when it had been unleashed a moment ago, everything from speed to power was different.

His control over the power of his sword was entirely free. Controlling sword power to this degree was proof that his ability to control internal energy was also tremendous.

‘He isn’t simply strong. Even after crossing the wall, he trained for quite some time. With this level of martial force, he is not greatly inferior even compared to the senior elders of the Nine Sects!’

He remembered Heo Do saying that it would be difficult to win with his own strength.

‘That damned bastard!’

It was not merely difficult to win. In a head-on battle, Heo Do’s skill would make it difficult to touch even a hair of this tremendous master.

With this one man alone, half of the White Tiger Unit, including the Unit Leader, would be annihilated. If he devised a good strategy or targeted only their openings, it didn’t seem difficult for him to wipe out the White Tiger Unit alone.

Of course, if the White Tiger Unit fought with its formation established, the situation would be different, but the fact that a one-against-one-hundred fight could even be established in the first place meant this wasn’t normal.

‘He spat out such reckless words before an opponent like this?!’

Only now did he understand why Heo Do had praised him to the skies, asking if he would give them the chance to witness Hengshan’s martial arts.

His pride had been wounded, and he had to capture Jin-hyeon, but when it came time to actually fight, he was not confident he could win. That was why he had dragged Sang-eon here.

‘That bastard deserves death!’

His anger toward Heo Do grew like a mound of snow.

Jin-hyeon’s eyes flashed.

Kwaang!

Sang-eon’s body was driven backward madly.

He would have rather thrown himself backward to disperse the shockwave, but if he did, Jin-hyeon would immediately follow and unleash all kinds of killing moves.

Once he lost the initiative, he would continue to be pushed back unless heavenly luck intervened. That was why Sang-eon accepted Jin-hyeon’s power even while enduring the loss.

And now.

Sang-eon forgot all his anger and burned only with killing intent toward Jin-hyeon.

‘I’ll kill him!’

Huk!

Sang-eon became a streak of shadow, approached Jin-hyeon’s side, and swung his sword.

Pishyuk!

A small sword wound was carved into Jin-hyeon’s shoulder.

But that wasn’t the end. Sang-eon’s sword had multiplied into five before anyone knew it and unfolded winding paths, like a single road through some twisting canyon.

It was the Five Paths Sword Art, which the Hengshan Sect took pride in. Though it lacked profundity, it was a practical illusion sword art and excelled at counterattacks.

Sang-eon’s sword twisted like a snake and aimed for Jin-hyeon’s neck to the very end.

Jin-hyeon retreated in a zigzag through several movements, then immediately gripped the iron sword in reverse and drove it into the ground.

Kaaaaang!

Sang-eon’s eyes widened.

The sword that should have pierced his neck precisely had been blocked by phantom-like sword shadows.

And yet the rebounding force was tremendous. It was so strong that if he had not held his sword properly, he would have lost it from his hand.

It was Ten Swords, Twin Walls of the War-Sword Three Arts mixed with the Rebound Art. It was a sword technique so powerful that an ordinary peak master would have had their entire body thrown away or their wrist dislocated.

Huk!

Before Ten Swords, Twin Walls had even disappeared, Heavenly Evasion Steps unfolded.

In terms of short-range speed alone, Heavenly Evasion Steps could boldly be discussed as the finest under heaven. On top of that, Heavenly Wolf True Qi had the ability to disturb an enemy’s senses, so most could not follow Jin-hyeon’s movements.

The same was true of Sang-eon. Seeing Jin-hyeon appear above his head before he knew it, he had to focus on defense rather than attack.

Jin-hyeon swung the iron sword like lightning.

Jjeoooooong!!

A savage sword strike, with enough force to split even a mountain peak. Against the sword technique of One Sword Cuts a Hundred, Sang-eon retreated once again.

‘Impossible.’

He was strong.

He was far too strong an opponent. In power and even speed, the other man surpassed him.

‘How, at this age?!’

The moment he became aware of his opponent’s age, Sang-eon’s eyes grew bloodshot.

“How dare you!”

Kwareureung!

Opening the power of the Condensed Origin Art he had cultivated all his life to its limit, he unfolded Hengshan’s secret art, Returning Wind Ten Swords.

Buaaaaang! Kwang!

Jin-hyeon flew backward before the swirling sword qi.

Sang-eon’s martial art, now finally bringing out everything he had, was different from before. His character might not be good, but his martial arts were real. The Returning Wind Ten Swords, fully imbued with the power of the Condensed Origin Art, unfolded from the First Sword to the Fourth Sword in an instant.

Jjeojeojeojeojeong!

Terrifying sparks flew from Jin-hyeon’s iron sword.

It did not break because it was filled with Moonlit Pack-Wolf True Qi. If its power had been even a little weaker, a third of the blade would have been sent flying.

“Where did some nameless bastard no one has ever heard of come from to make such a fuss!”

Jjeojeojeong! Kwaaaang!

The chained attacks from the Fifth Sword to the Eighth Sword rushed in without leaving him room to breathe.

A deeper blue energy than ever surged from Jin-hyeon’s body. It was proof of how fierce Sang-eon’s attacks were.

“I am Sang-eon of the Hengshan Sect! Before the greatness of the Nine Sects’ martial arts, some stray like you…!”

That was when it happened.

Jjeojeojeojeojeong!!

The Returning Wind sword qi, about to move into the Ninth Sword, flared wildly and burst out with a tremendous metallic sound.

‘What?’

Sang-eon’s eyes widened as if they would split.

Jin-hyeon had temporarily sealed the Returning Wind sword qi with the silk-reeling force of Air-Shattering Shock.

At last, the martial art of the North Wind, filled with realization, burst from his sword as well.

Whiiiiiiing!!

The sharp wind of winter became a storm in an instant and surrounded the iron sword.

Jin-hyeon rushed in with Heavenly Evasion Steps and thrust his sword straight forward. It was the first technique of the North Wind Sword, which had not yet even been named.

Jjeojeojeojeojeong!!

Not only was the Returning Wind sword qi completely smashed apart and scattered, but the shockwave swept through Sang-eon’s body.

Sang-eon’s face immediately turned pale. The shockwave flowing along the sword qi stimulated his dantian in one stroke. His five viscera and six bowels were trembling madly.

Huuung!

When he withdrew the sword he had thrust straight out, the rushing blade wind rotated and, following Jin-hyeon’s will, split into two directions, heaven and earth, creating the path for the next sword art to unfold.

Flash!

A lightning-like sword strike split through the storm.

As the second technique of the North Wind Sword advanced with the force to tear the world apart, the blade wind that had opened paths through heaven and earth poured down like a tidal wave and swept over Sang-eon’s body.

‘No!’

He wanted to dodge, but he could not. He wanted to block, but he had no martial art capable of blocking it.

Sang-eon, driven into a crisis of death in only two techniques, swung his sword madly. From Returning Wind Ten Swords to Lotus Palm, he poured every martial art he had learned until now into the span of a single moment.

It was as if he were releasing the life he had lived as a disciple of Hengshan. Astonishing superior martial arts emerged all at once.

But Jin-hyeon’s North Wind Sword ground down every attack as if such a life had no value whatsoever, then brought judgment down upon Sang-eon.

Kwareureureung! Peooook!

With a chilling sound, a large amount of fresh blood embroidered the air.

The dark iron sword did not touch Sang-eon’s body. But the merciless silk-reeling force pouring from the sword tip ground up a handful of flesh from Sang-eon’s side and scattered it, then penetrated inside and churned his organs.

Drip.

Blood spread from Sang-eon’s nose and mouth.

It was the martial art of the North Wind overwhelming the martial arts of Hengshan. Even if Sang-eon’s learning had not reached the ultimate, this gap was considerable.

Chiring!

On Sang-eon’s face as he dropped his sword were engraved anger, fear, and deep shock.

“…Just who are you?”

“You came to capture me without even knowing who I am?”

“I-I have never heard there was a master like you in Sichuan.”

“Now you know. Though you will forget again.”

Kwadudeuk!

Jin-hyeon drove the iron sword he held upside down into the ground and spoke in a dignified tone.

“I entered the Divine Iron Merchant House as an adopted son and lived with the Gyeong family name, but after the betrayal of the brother I regarded as blood, I cast aside that name and my past and came back into the world.”

His clear voice spreading outward held strong power, certainty, and astonishing dignity.

“By heavenly luck, I met many people, and every one of them was a benefactor who taught me the light of life. Some of those benefactors entered my household, intending to overcome the waves of the world with me and punish the lawless. Only then did I finally regain the place where I should be.”

Jin-hyeon glared at Sang-eon.

Through Sang-eon, he was looking at the Nine Great Sects, the Five Great Families, and the Heavenly Will Alliance.

“The Gyeong (庚) family name, which I abandoned but which did not abandon me, looks up at me from below, and the mouths (口) of my people face me at the same eye level. How, then, could I live only for personal glory as Patriarch?”

Hwaaaak!

His grandly spreading spirit and the pride of an awakened one who had entered a new world combined, scattering boundless majesty.

“Here, where I stand and where we stand, we will put down roots. As Patriarch, guided by the realization I gained from my grandfather, that I should value the Gyeong (庚) name that did not abandon me and the mouths (口) of my family, I will join the two characters and reclaim this household’s identity.”

Gyeong Hang, Han Cheol-sang, Oh Gyeong, Im Yeo-wol, and Do Il-gang.

And the smiths who would become the clan’s firm foundation all looked at Jin-hyeon with trembling eyes.

Jin-hyeon’s low voice rode the wind upward.

“From this day on, I will take Tang (唐) as my family name.”

The voice rising on the wind climbed high into the sky and looked down upon all under heaven.

“This clan will be the Tang Clan of Sichuan, and I myself will become the progenitor of the Tang lineage.”