CLS-Chapter 271

Chapter 271

“So that’s how it ended up.”

“That’s right.”

The Historian looked at Guangqushen with a hardened expression and asked.

“So what did Great Hero Wei Yan-ho do?”

“What do you mean, what did he do?”

“He must have realized that his sect was Baekgeomseong.”

“He didn’t really seem to think about it that way?”

“Pardon?”

Guangqushen scratched his head vigorously.

Seeing dandruff falling like snow, The Historian subtly shuffled backward.

“Of course, Wei Yan-ho had ears, so he must have heard Baekgeomyeong talking about Ten Thousand Swords. And he’d heard from his master several times that the Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families was his family’s lineage, so he couldn’t have been unaware.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. He knew his master’s family background. So he could have thought that Baekgeomseong was his sect.”

“That’s the thing…”

“Yes.”

“Think about it the other way around. If someone came to you one day and said, ‘I learned from your ancestor from 300 years ago, so your house belongs to our sect,’ what would you think?”

“I’d think they were talking nonsense.”

“Exactly.”

Guangqushen nodded vigorously.

“There was no way to prove it even if he tried, and no reason to prove it either. Besides, from Baekgeomseong’s perspective, it wouldn’t be a welcome story. If you think about generational hierarchy, Wei Yan-ho would become the highest elder of their family. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be?”

“…That’s truly frightening.”

“So…”

Guangqushen picked at his ear.

“I don’t know what Wei Yan-ho was thinking at the time, but anyway, Wei Yan-ho didn’t seem to have any intention of making his existence known to them. There were probably various reasons, but the biggest one was probably…”

“It would have been bothersome.”

“You can now confidently say you understand Wei Yan-ho. That’s right. It was just bothersome.”

“But that’s not an ordinary matter.”

“Well, with conventional thinking, that would be true. But Wei Yan-ho wasn’t properly taught by a martial world master. Great Hero Wei Jeong-han, who should have instilled that awareness, was away from home when Wei Yan-ho was growing up, and the Sword Emperor who taught Wei Yan-ho was… as you know, that kind of person.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“So Wei Yan-ho’s awareness of sects was probably just ‘the place where the master was.’ The Sword Emperor did pass down his sword to Wei Yan-ho on the condition that he would someday pass it to his descendants, but that got complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“He didn’t pass down the sword.”

“Ah…”

The Historian understood what Guangqushen’s words meant.

“That’s right. The Sword Emperor didn’t pass down his Light Sword Style, but a sword meant only for Wei Yan-ho.”

“Right. If he didn’t receive what he was supposed to pass down, he couldn’t very well pass it on. Well, it could also be that he simply didn’t pass it down because it was bothersome.”

It was like magic.

When you attach ‘because it was bothersome’ to any reason, you end up thinking ‘that could be possible.’ It was magic that only worked with Wei Yan-ho.

“And well, it might sound like an excuse, but it’s also true that there wasn’t time to pass it down.”

“Pardon?”

“The incident happened right away.”

“Ah…”

“That day was the beginning of that incident.”

Guangqushen’s eyes gazed into the distance. Regret began to fill his eyes.

***

“We can go home now.”

“Wait.”

“But there’s nothing left to do…”

“Please!”

Wei Jeong-han snapped.

“Didn’t I tell you to rest! You usually make a fuss about wanting to rest, so why won’t you rest when I tell you to, and instead torment people! Did you eat a boiled tree frog!”

“We can go home but we’re not going!”

“How can we leave early when the event isn’t over! Have you forgotten that we came as representatives of the Orthodox Alliance? I’m also sick of it, and it turns my stomach to watch that guy get congratulated as the winner! But your injured brother is quietly keeping his seat, so why are you making more of a fuss!”

“Tch.”

Wei Yan-ho pouted.

‘That kid.’

Although Wei Jeong-han was scolding Wei Yan-ho, he didn’t say anything harsh. He knew that Wei Yan-ho’s fussing about going home before the awards ceremony was even over contained worry about the injured Wei San-ho keeping his seat in this blazing sun.

‘At least their brotherly affection is deep.’

Cheongyeongja had said, “Wei Yan-ho looked ready to jump off the martial arts stage, so please watch him carefully so he doesn’t cause trouble,” before leaving.

Wei Jeong-han had thought Wei Yan-ho wouldn’t do such a thing just because it would be bothersome…

‘Would he do that for me if I came back beaten up?’

Wei Jeong-han shook his head.

This was a kid who would roll on the floor laughing at the sight of his father coming home with black eyes. Seeing such a kid worry about his brother felt strange somehow.

Should he praise the good brotherly affection, or scold the lack of filial piety?

‘Well, even when he does something good, he does it ambiguously so I can’t praise him.’

Making a cold assessment of his son, Wei Jeong-han sighed.

“It’ll be over soon, so wait.”

“Still…”

“Little troublemaker!”

Wei Yan-ho’s lips jutted out, but Wei Jeong-han ignored such complaints. If he started listening to them, there would be no end with Wei Yan-ho.

“Brother, are you okay?”

“Mm, I’m fine.”

Unlike Wei Yan-ho who only spouted useless complaints, Wei Su-ryeon was stuck close to Wei San-ho’s side, nursing him.

Wei San-ho wasn’t particularly complaining of pain or anything, so there wasn’t much to do, but she was worried sick that he might be uncomfortable somewhere.

‘Their affection really is good.’

Seeing how good the siblings’ affection was, it seemed the family would have no problems even after he died.

“Then we’ll begin the awards ceremony.”

At the center of the martial arts stage—or rather, what used to be the martial arts stage—Cheongyeongja raised his voice. Everyone turned their heads toward Cheongyeongja. Usually by this time, many people would have left. Martial world people who weren’t particularly attached to formalities didn’t linger at such events.

But seeing that almost no empty seats appeared, it meant Baekgeomyeong’s martial prowess had captivated the crowd that much.

‘Well, of course. There’s no way that guy’s affairs would go smoothly.’

Baekgeomyeong was sweeping up all the attention that Wei Yan-ho had gathered. Arguments were already breaking out in the venue about who was stronger between Wei Yan-ho and Baekgeomyeong.

Wei Jeong-han felt secretly irritated, but Wei Yan-ho seemed to have no attachment to such things. He was just focused on muttering complaints with his lips jutting out, just loud enough for Wei Jeong-han’s ears.

‘Right, let’s live with peace of mind.’

You can’t live thinking about and obsessing over every little thing. Wei Jeong-han smiled gently.

“Please say a few words.”

Meanwhile, the awards ceremony ended and Baekgeomyeong stood in the center, looking around.

Holding the ceremonial sword awarded to him in one hand and wearing white robes as he looked down at the crowd, Baekgeomyeong’s appearance was like a painting.

“Brother is more handsome.”

“…Yan-ho, you look petty. Be quiet.”

“Honestly, that guy looks a bit like a gisaeng house gigolo.”

‘You look similar too, you fool.’

Wei Jeong-han shook his head. With that level of martial prowess and recognition, a person should know how to be magnanimous.

Wei Yan-ho couldn’t stand it and was spouting insults about how Baekgeomyeong had dirt on his pants, how his face looked unlucky, how he was short, and so on.

He was petty beyond measure.

But regardless of Wei Yan-ho’s reactions, Baekgeomyeong didn’t seem to care. Looking around, Baekgeomyeong opened his mouth.

“Today is a very meaningful day.”

The crowd’s attention focused on Baekgeomyeong.

“Not because I won, but because today marks the time when our Baekgeomseong reclaims that great name of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families.”

The crowd began to murmur.

Some had already heard mention of the Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families name during the match, but many in the back hadn’t heard those words properly. In that context, Baekgeomyeong calling himself a descendant of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families was quite significant.

“Much has happened. And we have been holding our breath and working hard until now to reclaim the name of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families. And now we have finally gained confidence that we can proudly use the name Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families.”

Cheongyeongja’s brow furrowed.

‘Does being able to use the name Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families mean they’ve restored his sword techniques?’

The reason Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families fell was largely due to losing the Ten Thousand Swords after the Sword Emperor’s death. If the Ten Thousand Swords were still passed down and there was talent to master those Ten Thousand Swords, Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families would never have lost that name.

But now saying they would use that name again meant they had reclaimed the swords of the past.

‘A storm will blow through the martial world.’

Cheongyeongja unconsciously let out a deep sigh.

For sword sects, the name Ten Thousand Swords was both an object of admiration and hatred.

Why wouldn’t it be?

No matter how much Wudang was evaluated as the world’s greatest sword sect, they couldn’t declare in front of Namgung or Mount Hua, “Our swords are better than yours.” No matter how much Mount Hua’s swords were considered supreme, they couldn’t say they were better than Cheongseong or Jeomchang.

Because depending on who learned them and how they interpreted and embodied them, the situation could be reversed at any time.

But Ten Thousand Swords was different.

They shouted “Ten Thousand Swords Alone Supreme” and refused to acknowledge any swords other than Ten Thousand Swords. Wasn’t that exactly why the Sword Emperor, though called not only the world’s greatest but also the greatest of all time, was rarely mentioned?

If they started shouting “Ten Thousand Swords Alone Supreme” again, the world would be in uproar.

‘Infinite Buddha, is this the coming of a chaotic age…’

Cheongyeongja looked at Baekgeomyeong with sunken eyes.

“Now once again throughout the world…”

“The name will resound.”

Baekgeomyeong’s head turned.

A voice booming with internal energy.

This couldn’t happen unless there was intent to provoke. Following where the voice came from, there was a person sitting on the roof of a pavilion.

“Our name, that is.”

Seeing the man in black robes, Baekgeomyeong furrowed his brow.

“May I ask who you are?”

“It’s not difficult. That’s not a difficult thing.”

The man nodded and answered.

“I am called Gwangmuryang.”

“Gwangmuryang?”

Baekgeomyeong tilted his head.

It was a name he had never heard before.

The crowd also began murmuring. A complete stranger had suddenly appeared and interrupted while the winner was giving his victory speech, so they couldn’t look favorably upon it.

While watching to see if the organizers would take action, Gwangmuryang spoke again.

“Reclaiming a name is a good thing. I congratulate Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families on their celebration.”

“…Thank you.”

“Then can we also receive congratulations?”

Baekgeomyeong furrowed his brow.

“If there’s something worth congratulating, you should naturally receive congratulations, shouldn’t you? What do you have to be congratulated for?”

“We are the same as you.”

“…”

Just as Baekgeomyeong was about to ask again, Gwangmuryang opened his mouth.

“Reclaiming a name is a good thing. You reclaim your name, but we will reclaim our reputation. Not as legends passed down like fairy tales, but as living legends. From today, you will once again tremble and sleep at the name of the Demonic Cult.”