Bang Clan of Liaoning.

A once-prestigious clan in Liaoning.

No, even calling it “prestigious” is funny in itself. We just had so much money we bought reputation and honor with it; in reality, there was never a time we were truly some great noble clan.

If we’d really been a great clan, we should’ve produced at least one or two outstanding martial artists, but Bang Clan had no such representative martial artist.

Ah, if you’re nitpicking, I guess my father would be the representative? The most famous person in Bang Clan history is my father, after all.

‘Not in a good way, though. Not ever.’

The famous lecher of Liaoning.

He was so infamous that word was all over among women that if you saw a handsome middle-aged man with the surname Bang, you should run.

I couldn’t show my face in public for the shame of it.

Now that I think about it, there were a lot of times I was too embarrassed to reveal my name anywhere and lied about my surname.

A martial clan that wasn’t treated like a martial clan, just something looked down on and treated like trash.

The place was a joke.

The house was nothing, the so-called Young Lord wasn’t any better than my father.

My older sister, the only real hope, ran away from home, and as the youngest, I spent my time quietly looking for the first chance to bolt.

That was the Bang Clan as I knew it.

‘...What “true nature,” my ass?’

So when Yoo Cheongil suddenly came out with stuff like that, it just felt awkward. I’d never even heard that Bang Clan’s internal art had that kind of power.

Was it just me? I figured no one else knew either.

‘How could anyone know?’

There’s no way that vain bastard who lives exactly the way he wants, my father, didn’t know about this.

If he had known—

‘He’d have sold the internal art off somewhere ages ago.’

I don’t have an ounce of faith in my father. I’m completely sure about that.

Besides—

‘Normally, there’s no way anyone would know.’

By Central Plains common sense, nobody in their right mind who’s already learned one internal art goes and learns another internal art on top of it.

To find this out, you’d have to learn two internal arts in the first place.

‘What lunatic in the world would try that?’

What kind of maniac would attempt this? Even I find myself amazing for having done it.

Which is why. Which is why I was also looking at myself like I was some freak right now.

“...So you’re saying Bang Clan’s internal art is what’s doing the tuning?”

[Yeah.]

Tang Clan’s qi and Blue Moon Sect’s qi.

He said Bang Clan’s internal art was tuning things so those two didn’t tangle and explode.

What the hell is this supposed to be.

‘...What is this, really?’

Our family’s internal art had that kind of power?

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

‘Why the hell would this third-rate internal art have that kind of power...?’

Ever since I learned it, it had never once been useful. And now suddenly it’s useful?

‘...Is this for real?’

Was this really some power that existed without anyone knowing?

Seriously—

‘Not even my father or my brother know about this... right?’

I was sure they didn’t, but at the same time it still snagged at me a little.

If it was enough to shock Yoo Cheongil like that, it meant it was an incredible power.

The idea that Bang Clan had gone on not knowing about this felt... off.

‘Ah. Should I tell them?’

Now that I knew, should I report it to the family? I hesitated for a moment over that.

‘No... I need to keep my mouth shut about this.’

I shook my head right away. Absolutely not.

The moment this got anywhere near my father’s ears—

‘He’d sell off the family’s internal art and everything else in a heartbeat.’

If that happened—

‘...Even if it got sold, the house itself would be blown to pieces in no time.’

An internal art that lets you have another internal art in your body without exploding.

Even if I don’t know all that much about the Central Plains, there’s no way I could miss how valuable this is.

This is a straight-up scam-level power. Even I can see that. So what would it look like to other people?

‘...It’s going to bring a real bloodstorm.’

What rose up in me wasn’t admiration or being moved, but fear and a cold chill.

Inside our family’s dogshit internal art, there’d been a jewel worth tens of millions of gold hidden away.

The moment word got out that someone wanted to sell this—

‘People would come running from all directions to seize the internal art.’

To get their hands on our clan’s internal art, the Five Great Clans, the Ten Great Sects, the Black Path, whoever—you name it—they’d all show up and tear the place apart. Obviously.

And on top of that—

‘My father isn’t smart enough to think through these kinds of angles and move accordingly.’

That incompetent, thoughtless bastard is not the type to think that far ahead about anything.

Absolute certainty and faith.

I believed in my father’s incompetence with absolute conviction.

[...In its own way, that’s impressive. Just what the hell has that guy been doing with his life...?]

“What else? Talking about it would just be a waste of breath.”

Every beautiful woman in the county knew my father’s name.

Some of them probably knew not just his name but how many moles are on his back.

From what I’d heard, even the madam of a famous local merchant group had some kind of tie with him.

‘That’s also why our house hasn’t gone under yet despite all the money he blows on gambling and luxury, just barely scraping by.’

The money keeps coming from somewhere.

He doesn’t do anything befitting a martial clan, but money still comes in.

I don’t even want to ask where it comes from. It all vanishes the moment it comes in anyway.

[That’s strange. Didn’t you say there are bad rumors about him everywhere?]

He meant, how can that be when there’ve long been rumors saying you have to be careful around my father?

“That’s exactly why it’s impressive.”

[Ah—!]

At my words, Yoo Cheongil clapped his hands like he’d just realized something.

‘He makes people come to the shit even though they know it’s shit.’

A level of charm that erases the very concept of “it’s dirty so stay away.”

In that sense, my father really is number one under heaven.

A man who knows all too well that he’s attractive and knows exactly how to use that to his advantage.

It’s just that in every other respect, he’s so useless he’s the perfect type to wreck everyone around him.

That’s the father I saw.

“...Which means I need to protect this internal art no matter what.”

If nothing else, this power inside Bang Clan’s internal art is something my father must never know about.

I have to hide it somehow. I frowned as I hardened that resolve.

[Hmm.]

At my words, Yoo Cheongil nodded as well.

[Good choice.]

Luckily, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) he reacted like he agreed I was right.

[With a power like this, even the old monsters who’ve gone into hiding might take an interest. If it comes to it, there’ll be a mountain of people who’d take you away and tear your limbs off to study you. So keeping your mouth shut is the right call.]

“...Tear my limbs off, what...?”

I’d never thought about it going that far. His words snapped me fully awake.

[Of course they would. Once word gets out that you’ve got some unheard-of internal art like this, how many maniacs do you think are going to lose their minds over it?]

That... their losing their minds is a bit more extreme than I’d imagined, huh...? And on top of that—

‘Heaven-Beyond-Heaven would move?’

Yoo Cheongil’s warning was that even those people, whose whereabouts are unknown now, would move.

I was thinking I really needed to keep my mouth shut about this no matter what, when—

[However.]

He spoke again, like something still caught at him.

[Do you really think your clan didn’t know about this?]

“Yes. They didn’t know. Those people couldn’t possibly know.”

How the hell would they know.

If they knew, how could we still be stuck as some third-rate martial house.

I was utterly convinced the family had no idea.

[Hmm... Is that so?]

At my reaction, Yoo Cheongil tilted his head, then nodded anyway.

[If you say so, then that’s how it is.]

He let it pass like it wasn’t some hugely important point. And besides—

[Either way, what matters right now is the Poison King’s side, isn’t it?]

There was something more urgent on the table; that made it easier to move on.

“...Yes. Even I think so.”

If I want to hide this matter, the one who gets in the way is going to be the Poison King.

‘Of all people, I used it right in front of the Poison King...’

I used Myriad-Flowers Rain right in front of him.

The Poison King isn’t an idiot. There’s no way he doesn’t know that you can’t use Myriad-Flowers Rain without Tang Clan’s internal art.

Right now there’s got to be a question bouncing around in his head.

Just how did that brat use it?

He’s probably wracking his brain like crazy about it.

‘Tsk.’

What do I do?

My head was starting to ache. If the Poison King presses me on it like this, how the hell am I supposed to talk my way out?

‘...Should I just play dumb and run?’

If the Poison King comes at me about it, should I just pretend to know nothing and bolt? That thought crossed my mind.

‘...I don’t think he’ll just let me go if I do that, though.’

This isn’t just anything; it’s Tang Clan’s ultimate secret.

If someone who isn’t even his bloodline used something the Poison King has longed for that badly, there’s no way he’d just let me walk.

“Hmm.”

So then, how do I get through this. How do I get through it in a way where I can still get away in one piece?

I kept running through options in my head.

‘...They’re all iffy.’

Every one of them was iffy. If I counted them up, sure, I could think of five or six possible plays.

But every single one of them seemed impossible to resolve safely.

[You could just tell him to go ahead and cut you open.]

“And if he really does cut me open?”

[Well, obviously if he cuts you open, it’s going to be for real. He’s not going to cut you open as a joke.]

“...What kind of insane bullshit is that now?”

“Go ahead and cut me open,” my ass. That’s not even funny.

If he cuts my belly open, that’s going to be for real. The hell kind of nonsense is that.

When I stared at him like I couldn’t believe him, Yoo Cheongil burst out laughing. Just from the look of it, he was probably joking, but still—

“...I swear, I’m going to lose my mind. You’re cracking jokes at a time like this?”

[Kkulkulkul. It’s funny, isn’t it.]

“Damn it all...”

Easy for him to say. I feel like I’m about to lose my mind over here, and he’s that relaxed?

I swallowed back the sigh trying to escape and tried to calm my insides.

[Don’t think too deeply about it. There might not be as much of a fuss as you’re thinking.]

“How is that supposed to make sense?”

How could there not be a fuss.

He just finished telling me there would be a bloodbath over this internal art, that they’d tear my limbs off if I got caught. No way a few words now are going to make that worry vanish.

[Ah, that’s just because it’s a matter solely of Bang Clan.]

“...What is that supposed to mean?”

[This business doesn’t have anything to do with me, now does it.]

“What the... huh?”

I stopped mid-sentence and widened my eyes.

[Bang Clan’s internal art is a problem because it’s something only Bang Clan’s involved in.]

“Myriad-Flowers Rain, on the other hand... has the Sword Saint’s breath in it?”

[That’s right.]

I could use the Sword Saint as a convenient excuse.

Yoo Cheongil was telling me to use his own prestige as cover.

‘...Honestly?’

It wasn’t bad. This is the Sword Saint’s name we’re talking about.

On top of that, there’s already that old story that Yoo Cheongil personally got involved in the restoration of Myriad-Flowers Rain.

The secret book on Myriad-Flowers Rain that I brought over was, in the end, nothing more than something he made himself.

‘If I tie that in somehow...’

I could say he altered it so it can be used even without Tang Clan’s internal qi, something like that.

“Right...”

If that’s the case, then how such a thing is possible stops mattering.

The one who made it is the Sword Saint.

If the Sword Saint made it, then it’s possible.

If I push it that way, who’s going to argue?

Of course, there’ll still be some stuff he can try to press me on.

‘But the rest I can smooth over with my mouth.’

I felt like I could handle everything else with some fast talking.

Thinking that, I lightly curled my hand into a fist.

‘Good.’

I’ll go with this. I’ll slip out of this, quietly pick up what I can—

‘And then bolt straight back to Blue Moon Sect.’

Not a bad plan at all. I couldn’t help but smile.

‘Good.’

I immediately started putting the plan together.

I prepared possible responses for the different angles the Poison King might take.

I went over how I’d respond no matter what move he made and drew up my plans but...

*****

“...Huh...”

No sooner had I finished thinking all that—

The situation that unfolded the next day had me letting out a hollow laugh.

“...Good day.”

The young man in front of me.

Tang Clan’s pride, one of the Seven Prodigies once called Poison Sovereign reborn.

Poison Dragon Tang Cheonil.

“...From here on... I will be... serving Young Master Bang... with utmost sincerity... I am Tang Clan’s... Cheonil... It is an honor... to be in your care...”

He was kneeling in front of me and giving me a proper bow.

With an attitude completely different from yesterday.