A bustling district lay southwest of Baek Family Manor, near the center of Agan County.
The area was controlled by the Suho Association, one of the four factions that had dominated Agan County until recently. A carriage carrying Baek Muryang and his children, along with Jegal Seon and Jegal Seolha, was rolling down its main thoroughfare.
“Brother, from what you told me, the Black Path should hold considerable power in Agan County. Yet I see fewer strutting louts than I expected.”
Baek Muryang looked proud as he answered Jegal Seon, who had been gazing out the window.
“The number of Black Path fighters in Agan County has fallen substantially of late, Younger Brother.”
“Come to think of it, some of the stories you told me about Yanghwi involved Black Path fighters.”
As they spoke, the carriage reached the largest restaurant on the southwestern shore of Yuhang Lake.
Reclining Current Pavilion—a restaurant whose name meant a place where the flowing waters curved and lay at rest.
Several sect masters who led the factions belonging to the Suho Association were lined up outside.
“Welcome. I am Yang Garyung, Leader of the Suho Association. You must be Clan Head Baek Muryang of Baek Family Manor, and...”
The man standing at the front paused briefly before continuing.
“Are you indeed Jegal Seon, Young Clan Head of the great Jegal Clan, the martial hero known as Peerless Crouching Dragon?”
Whatever the difference in their families’ power and status, Baek Muryang was indisputably the one leading those who had arrived in the carriage.
Yet Association Leader Yang Garyung was treating Jegal Seon as their representative.
Jegal Seon’s eyebrows twitched before he declared heartily,
“That is correct, Association Leader Yang Garyung. Brother had business here, so I shamelessly tagged along for an outing. I hope my presence will not prove a burden.”
On the surface, it sounded like a polite greeting.
Yet his words carried a barb, firmly establishing who was the principal guest and who had merely accompanied him.
Yang Garyung had no choice but to introduce himself to Baek Muryang first.
“Although we live in the same county, we have had few opportunities to interact. I am Yang Garyung of the Yangjo Sect, Leader of the Suho Association.”
Neither Yang Garyung’s status nor his age required him to address Baek Muryang with the utmost deference.
However, he had shown such deference to Jegal Seon, who in turn called Baek Muryang Brother. That left Yang Garyung no choice but to afford Baek Muryang the same formal courtesy.
“A pleasure to meet you, Association Leader.”
Baek Muryang, who had seen through the intentions behind Yang Garyung’s initial greeting, responded with noticeably less deference.
The first contest of wills between the Suho Association and Baek Family Manor ended in a clear victory for the Baek Family.
Yanghwi chuckled when he saw Yang Garyung briefly look as though he had bitten into something foul.
Uncle is rather skilled at hiding barbs in courteous words.
The entire situation had been reversed by a single remark from Jegal Seon.
So despite being enough of a martial fanatic to earn the name Peerless Crouching Dragon, he is still the Young Clan Head of the Crouching Dragon Jegal Clan, famed for its divine ingenuity.
“This way, please. Ah, will the children be accompanying you? The children from our association who will participate in the martial competition have gathered separately to prepare.”
Baek Muryang looked at his three children and then at Jegal Seon.
“Younger Brother, I believe we should keep Seolha and Yeon with us. Hwi and So can go separately since they will be participating in the martial competition.”
“Father, Yeon wants to...”
Baek Yeonyeon began whining, about to insist that she wanted to accompany her brothers, but Yanghwi stopped her.
He had already realized that Baek Muryang wanted Yeonyeon to remain with them so Jegal Seon would not attract unnecessary questions by being the only one carrying a young girl.
—Yeon, if you stay quietly with Father, I’ll buy you something tasty later.
Baek Yeonyeon’s eyes widened when she heard Yanghwi’s voice transmission. She soon smiled brightly and nodded.
Then she silently mouthed,
“Promise!”
Yanghwi and Baek Heonso parted from Baek Muryang and Jegal Seon and were guided elsewhere.
“Young Masters, the other participants are all gathered here.”
Nearly a hundred children were warming up in the rear courtyard indicated by the guide, each holding a wooden sword or spear.
The Suho Association might contain more than ten factions, but a hundred children still seemed excessive.
Some of the boys even appeared to be nearly fifteen.
Come to think of it, the Suho Association also has martial academies. Did they bring their students too? Let’s see what their level is like...
Even combined, those ten factions had only possessed enough power to rival the Red Bridge Gang alone.
None of the children displayed particularly noteworthy martial arts. Judging solely by natural talent, however, there was one child Yanghwi thought might be useful enough to recruit into the Baek Family later.
Just then, someone spoke.
“Are you the ones from Baek Family Manor?”
Four boys had approached and surrounded Yanghwi and Baek Heonso.
Faint sneers curled their lips.
It was obvious at a glance that they considered Yanghwi and Baek Heonso beneath them.
These brats must have heard something about Baek Family Manor from their parents.
“Why don’t we introduce ourselves? What’s your name?”
Unlike Yanghwi, who remained still, the young, innocent Baek Heonso energetically offered a formal fist-and-palm salute.
“Baek Heonso of the Baek Family! It’s good to meet you!”
“I’m Yang Hak of the Yangjo Sect.”
Unlike Baek Heonso, Yang Hak did not return the formal fist-and-palm salute.
The meaning of that omission was unmistakable, and Baek Heonso’s face flushed crimson.
Before Baek Heonso could lose his temper, Yanghwi placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
“So, the martial competition will begin shortly.”
“Brother...”
This is the problem with children. You have to establish the hierarchy immediately, or they’ll keep pestering you.
Yanghwi remembered how Baek Heonso had behaved only a few months ago.
Back then, he had been an ill-mannered little brat who kept shouting that he could never accept Yanghwi as his brother.
Now that Yanghwi had firmly taught him his place and offered him the occasional reward, he had become a lovable, obedient younger brother.
Dealing with them now would be a nuisance. I’ll straighten them out properly during the martial competition.
Before long, a guide entered the rear courtyard and called out loudly,
“The elders have concluded their discussion! Young Masters participating in the martial competition, please follow me!”
The banquet hall of Reclining Current Pavilion stood on the shore of Yuhang Lake.
A feast was underway atop a hastily erected dais, while two martial platforms had been constructed below it.
So we’re literally drinking snacks and entertainment for the adults. Well, that’s what children’s martial competitions are always like.
“The martial competition will be divided into a children’s division and a youth division. Participants may challenge any opponent they wish, and whoever accumulates the most victories will become the champion.”
One of the boys raised his hand and asked,
“If we want to fight the first match, do we simply step onto the platform?”
“That is correct, Young Master.”
Yanghwi was thinking that he liked the simplicity of the rules when Baek Heonso suddenly climbed onto one of the martial platforms.
He shouted,
“Yang Hak of the Yangjo Sect! I challenge you!”
Apparently, he wanted to repay Yang Hak for his earlier disrespect.
That opponent is still too much for So.
Baek Heonso might have trained in martial arts for more than two years, but most of that time had been spent practicing third-rate martial arts. He had trained in the divine art for only a few days.
Moreover, Yang Hak was three or four years older than Baek Heonso.
There was no chance they were evenly matched.
Nevertheless, Yanghwi did not stop him.
Defeat can also be excellent nourishment.
At the referee’s signal, the match began.
“Haaah!”
Clack! Clack-clack!
As Yanghwi expected, Baek Heonso did not emerge victorious.
However...
“Enough! Young Master Baek Heonso has dropped his wooden sword. He loses!”
Baek Heonso had not gone down easily.
He had fought hard enough to put a troubled expression on Yang Hak’s face despite the boy’s initial contempt, and he had at least forced Yang Hak to expend a fair amount of stamina.
He really has grown quite a bit over the past few months.
Compared to his previous life...
No, there was simply no comparison.
Yanghwi turned toward the seats of honor and saw Baek Muryang watching Baek Heonso with a satisfied expression.
Baek Heonso, on the other hand, looked dejected when he retrieved his wooden sword and returned to Yanghwi’s side.
“I’m sorry, Brother...”
“Hmm? For what?”
“I confidently stepped forward for the first match, only to lose and disgrace our family’s name.”
“Before the adults think you disgraced our family, they will admire the courage of a young boy who challenged someone three or four years older than himself. Besides...”
Yanghwi chuckled and stroked Baek Heonso’s head.
“So, what does it matter if you smear mud on our family’s name? I need only pour water over it and wash it clean.”
Yanghwi rested his wooden sword on his shoulder and pushed off the ground with the tips of his toes.
That slight movement alone sent him through an elegant somersault before he landed atop the martial platform.
“Oh, that was quite a display.”
“The child’s movement technique is rather impressive.”
“He appears young enough for the children’s division. Has he trained primarily in movement techniques?”
Listening to the onlookers murmur, Yanghwi swung the wooden sword down from his shoulder.
“Yang Hak, was it?”
Yanghwi had grown noticeably taller and more distinguished over the past few months, but he had once been a beggar.
As a result, he was still rather small for his age. Yang Hak, by contrast, was larger than most boys his own age.
When Yanghwi, who looked at least two years younger, addressed him so casually, Yang Hak scowled.
“What an insolent little brat.”
“We’ll find out whether I’m insolent once we cross swords.”
“So the ignorant pup truly has no fear of the tiger.”
Yang Hak sneered and lowered his voice so the adults in the seats of honor could not hear him.
“You’d better expect at least one of your limbs to be broken. I’ll teach you some manners.”
Yanghwi merely smiled, wholly unconcerned.
How much should I reveal?
He had two objectives in this martial competition.
The first was to win and claim his reward from Jegal Seon.
The second was...
To raise the Baek Family’s standing and reputation. There is a limit to how quickly we can expand our forces, but if rumors begin to spread that a hidden dragon lies coiled within our manor...
“Young Masters, prepare yourselves. The match will begin the moment the coin strikes the ground.”
Upon hearing the referee, Yanghwi decided how much of his ability he would display.
The coin soared high into the air.
The instant it struck the ground with a metallic ring—
Vmmmm!
A sound like an enraged bee beating its wings rang beneath the clear sky.
Thud!
And with that, the match was over.
“Uh... Young Master Yang Hak has lost consciousness, so... Young Master Baek Yanghwi is the victor.”
Neither the children clustered around the platform nor the adults in the seats of honor had fully understood what had happened.
No applause or cheers followed.
Amid the silence, Baek Muryang murmured in astonishment,
“The Bee-Wing Realm...!”
Among the annotations in the Record of the Heaven-Covering Sword, the manual Yeo Hyeok had given him, was the following passage:
[When the first three of the fifty-four moves are contained within a single stroke, the sword hums like the beating of a bee’s wings. This is known as the Bee-Wing Realm.]
Have you already achieved the third level of the Hundred and Eight Heaven-Covering Swords, Hwi?
Only about two weeks had passed since Yanghwi said he had reached the first level of mastery.
Yet he had already reached the third.
Baek Muryang could only marvel at such martial talent.
“How can that child move so quickly at his age?”
“Did you see his sword move? Such speed that the blade itself began to hum!”
“How could an eight-year-old defeat a fifteen-year-old?”
Following Baek Muryang’s exclamation, the onlookers began voicing their amazement one after another.
Jegal Seon stared at Yanghwi with shining eyes.
With everyone’s attention focused upon him, Yanghwi grinned and launched himself through the air.
His feet soon landed on the neighboring platform—the one reserved for the youth division.
“There appears to be no one in the children’s division capable of matching me. Would the older Young Masters, as my seniors, care to offer me some instruction?”
The age dividing the children’s and youth divisions was twelve.
That was the age when significant physical development usually began.
The crowd erupted into murmurs again when an eight-year-old boy declared his intention to face opponents as old as fifteen.
“He displayed impressive martial prowess, but...”
“He means to fight someone as much as seven years older? That is mere bravado.”
“Seven years may not sound like much, but that is almost twice his age! Hahaha!”
Yanghwi ignored them and pointed at one of the boys below.
“Young Master over there—the large one. Shall we cross swords?”
The boy snorted.
“You defeated Hak easily, and now your arrogance knows no bounds!”
“Hmm. What is your relationship with Young Master Yang Hak?”
“I am Yang Yeom of the Yangjo Sect. Hak is my younger brother.”
His brother again? What a strange coincidence.
With that thought, Yanghwi replied simply,
“Young Master Yang Yeom, if you don’t come up here, I’ll assume you’re frightened of an eight-year-old.”
“Ha!”
Yang Yeom launched himself onto the martial platform.
“This works out perfectly. I’ll avenge Hak.”
The moment the referee gave the signal, Yang Yeom charged at a speed incomparable to Yang Hak’s and swung his wooden sword.
“Haaah!”