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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Reverse Scale (1)
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Cheon Muryang had finished his training early for once.
Of course, that still meant he'd trained nonstop from morning until noon.
"What's going on?"
The Eldest Young Master leaving early felt so unfamiliar that the others began murmuring among themselves.
"Hmph. He's finally run out of patience. Just watch—he'll go back to his wastrel ways any moment now!"
Yi Seok-gi threw a tantrum.
But even those who harbored grudges against Cheon Muryang ignored Yi Seok-gi's words.
At some point, Cheon Muryang had unknowingly become the benchmark for everyone's daily training volume.
"Somehow, it feels empty without him."
Not that they were fond of him, but still.
His absence was palpable.
It was truly strange.
Meanwhile, Cheon Muryang himself was oblivious to the winds of change blowing around him.
"I should at least eat something today."
Combining physical training with his cultivation made him ravenously hungry more often than not.
Until now, he'd followed Wol Yeong's strict diet to avoid overeating and upsetting his stomach, but even that had reached its limit.
Tadak.
Maids rushed by in a hurry.
He could see them carrying armfuls of cleaning tools.
They were probably getting an earful from the head maid.
"The clan is definitely bustling because the Patriarch is returning."
That was when it happened.
A maid with lips turned pale as ice dashed straight toward Cheon Muryang.
"E-Eldest Young Master!"
"Hm?"
Cheon Muryang stopped in his tracks at the sound of her voice calling him.
"Ah, you're...?"
She was a servant girl close to Wol Yeong.
Her name was Hwa Hong, he recalled.
"Hwa Hong, right?"
"Y-Yes! Th-This isn't the time to be standing around here! Wol, Wol Yeong! Wol Yeong right now!"
Hwa Hong stammered incoherently.
But Cheon Muryang clearly caught the name Wol Yeong amid the jumble.
"What's wrong with Wol Yeong? What happened?"
"W-Well, that is... Your fiancée, the lady from the Tang Clan..."
Cheon Muryang's brow furrowed.
"Fiancée? Did you just say fiancée?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Ha, so it's around this time already?"
Nameless had been Cheon Muryang's bodyguard, but at this point in time, he was deep in his own training.
As such, he didn't remember every detail of the events unfolding around then.
'Certainly... to fix this idiot Eldest Young Master, the Patriarch sought an alliance with the Tang Clan.'
He'd judged that the Tang Clan, experts in poison, might know a way to resolve Cheon Muryang's imbalances.
For that reason, the Patriarch proposed marriage to the Tang Clan.
'And the Tang Clan accepted readily...'
The Tang Clan had accepted.
They might have even devised their plans the moment they received the proposal.
'So, the Tang Clan's young lady came to visit the clan.'
The sight that greeted her was Cheon Muryang passed out drunk.
With a first impression like that, any fondness she might have had would have evaporated instantly, yet the Tang Clan's young lady declared she would marry him anyway.
'That was the mistake.'
The Patriarch, naturally in the weaker position, prepared everything posthaste, and just like that, Cheon Muryang gained a wife from the Tang Clan.
That became the starting point of the Cheon Clan's downfall.
'At least, that's how I see it.'
The Tang Clan fulfilled their promise and treated Cheon Muryang's body.
Over the course of a full decade, no less.
In any case, as he watched Cheon Muryang's condition improve, the Patriarch grew unusually lenient toward the Tang Clan.
'It started with minor interests...'
The Tang Clan's demands began small.
But as time passed, they grew increasingly outrageous.
'Eventually, the Tang Clan tried to advance into the Zhejiang region.'
They aimed to use the Cheon Clan as a stepping stone to expand into Zhejiang.
'And they succeeded...'
Crunch.
Cheon Muryang ground his teeth.
'This marriage should never have happened.'
Yet, something felt off. He realized he was overlooking something crucial.
Why was his fiancée's name coming up alongside Wol Yeong's?
"But why would my fiancée have anything to do with her?"
"H-Hurry! There's no time to explain!"
Hwa Hong grabbed Cheon Muryang's arm and dragged him along.
It wasn't far.
"S-Sorry! I'm so sorry!"
There, Wol Yeong was bowing her head repeatedly, apologizing profusely.
At her feet lay the special meal she'd prepared with care since morning, now scattered on the ground.
"..."
"A mere apology won't clean this soiled dress of mine."
Her voice was like polished jade beads.
That alone drew everyone's attention.
Swipe.
Cheon Muryang turned his head.
There stood a woman enveloped in an aura of untouchable nobility, looking down at Wol Yeong.
'Like a block of ice.'
Her eyes were as beautiful as crystal, yet as cold as ice.
"Handle it yourself."
She spoke as if she were a judge passing sentence, holding Wol Yeong's life in her hands.
And since she had the power to back it up, her words were as good as a death warrant.
The verdict was in, and plenty were eager to carry it out.
Shing.
Her attendants drew their swords.
Clang!
The blade tips pressed against Wol Yeong's throat.
Wol Yeong squeezed her eyes shut, trembling violently as she bit her lip.
"That's far enough."
Unable to hold back any longer, Cheon Muryang stepped forward.
The Tang Clan lady, who had turned away without a backward glance, pivoted back toward him.
"..."
Her cold eyes scanned him from head to toe.
A smile tinged with mockery and disdain curved her lips as she asked,
"And who might you be?"
"Cheon Muryang, Eldest Young Master of the Cheon Clan."
"Ah, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dang So-hye of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"Right, Dang So-hye. What is this about?"
"Oh, nothing much. My dress got soiled, so I was just having her dealt with."
Nod.
Dang So-hye gave a slight nod.
The bodyguard who received her signal swung his sword without hesitation.
Swoosh!
A sharp blade hurtled toward Wol Yeong.
Dang So-hye anticipated a fountain of blood.
Clang!
But her expectation was thwarted.
A single sword blocked its path.
It was Cheon Muryang's sword, Cheon-gwang, known as the wastrel's blade of the Cheon Clan.
Whoosh!
Cheon-gwang's edge gleamed menacingly.
In tandem, Cheon Muryang's aura pressed down heavily.
"I asked what this is about."
"Compensation for soiling my dress."
"You're trying to kill a Cheon Clan servant over something so trivial?"
"Trivial? What if what she spilled was poison? What if she's an assassin disguised as a servant?"
Dang So-hye unleashed a murderous intent.
"This is proper procedure under Tang Clan law."
Even without drawing her sword, her sharp aura was palpable.
Yet Cheon Muryang did not yield.
"This is the Cheon Clan. We don't play those games. Besides, this girl is mine. Don't touch her."
Smirk.
A seductive smile spread across Dang So-hye's lips.
But it felt somehow unsettling.
Her upturned mouth didn't match her eyes, which weren't smiling at all.
"How intriguing. To think my fiancé is the type to protect his own like this. I was right to come along."
"..."
"See you at the banquet tonight. Farewell."
She gave a slight bow and departed.
The man who had held his sword to Wol Yeong's throat brushed past Cheon Muryang.
"Oh, and do be a little more courteous next time."
Dang So-hye's words carried a meaningful undertone.
At that moment, Wol Yeong convulsed.
"Y-Young Master...?"
"Wol Yeong?"
"My body... it feels strange."
Thud!
Wol Yeong collapsed.
Her consciousness faded.
Hwa Hong screamed beside her.
Cheon Muryang rushed to her side and checked her pulse.
Crunch!
'Poison...!'
The Tang Clan were masters of poison.
Their poison arts could fool even ghosts, or so they said.
Grind!
But that was no excuse.
He'd overlooked it himself.
Cheon Muryang burned with rage.
'Failing to protect Wol Yeong is my weakness.'
He'd thought it was enough.
That he was heading in the right direction.
But no.
He needed to grow stronger than anyone.
"Young Master..."
Hwa Hong cautiously called out to him.
But upon seeing his eyes sunk into abyssal coldness, she lost her words.
Anger could blaze red like molten lava, or sometimes flicker quietly blue.
Chill!
Hwa Hong knew full well that this anger wasn't directed at her, yet she shivered anyway.
"Hwa Hong, look after Wol Yeong."
"P-Pardon? What are you going to do?"
"There's a banquet, right? I have to go. Can't have the star of the show missing."
"...!"
With that, Cheon Muryang picked up the special dish from the ground.
It was dongpo pork, his favorite.
Covered in dirt, but he ate it without a care.
"Delicious as always."
"Y-Young Master?"
"If Wol Yeong wakes up, tell her for me. Thank her for the special dish—it was really good."
"Ah... Yes!"
"Good. Thanks."
Eerie.
Right after expressing his gratitude, Cheon Muryang's face hardened coldly once more.
Step, step.
He strode off purposefully, and Hwa Hong watched his back, sensing impending trouble.
"Please..."
The wastrel antics of the Eldest Young Master, which she would have dreaded any other day, were what she desperately hoped for today.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Cheon Clan's Patriarch had returned.
Bearing the shocking news of Cheon Muryang and Dang So-hye's marriage, no less.
"Hm. Marriage, is it."
Cheon Seon-hak, who had been away on clan business, also returned that day.
"Bringing in the Tang Clan—what were you thinking, brother?"
Cheon Seon-hak felt uneasy.
The Tang Clan was no mere fox or wolf.
They were a tiger that could devour the Cheon Clan whole.
"Tch."
Cheon Seon-hak changed into fresh robes, intending to meet the Patriarch.
But a thick killing intent from somewhere snagged his ankle.
'The training grounds?'
Its source was the training grounds.
Drawn by it, Cheon Seon-hak headed there.
The banquet for the Patriarch's return should have included even the trainees, so the grounds ought to be empty.
"..."
Yet in the center of the training grounds stood Cheon Muryang, swinging his sword as expected.
But this sword carried a killing intent unlike any before.
'Such intense bloodlust.'
It wasn't the Heaven-Severing Sword that cleaved the skies.
This was a sword meant to cleave men.
Cheon Seon-hak halted and watched Cheon Muryang's swordplay.
Whoosh!
A clear sword cry rang out.
Contrasting sharply with that pure tone.
Cheon Muryang's face twisted like a ferocious demon.
'Dangerous.'
He was on the razor's edge.
His rage could consume his body at any moment.
Thus, Cheon Seon-hak intervened.
Shing!
A clear ring as his sword was drawn.
But Cheon Muryang wanted no interference.
Grind!
Cheon-gwang's trajectory shifted subtly.
The bloodthirsty blade fell toward Cheon Seon-hak.
Boom!
The two swords clashed at a point in midair.
Cheon Muryang's body was flung back forcefully.
Drip.
Blood trickled.
Ptoo!
Cheon Muryang spat roughly and stood firm despite the surging pain.
"What has you so enraged?"
"I am weak."
"..."
"I must grow strong."
"For what?"
"To protect what's mine."
"And what is that?"
"The Cheon Clan."
Roooar!
Cheon Seon-hak's aura erupted.
It enveloped Cheon Muryang in an instant.
Pinned immobile by the pressure, Cheon Muryang still refused to bow his head.
"Can you take responsibility for those words?"
Cheon Muryang replied without a flicker of hesitation.
"Yes."
"Good. Now you sound like my nephew for once."
"..."
Cheon Seon-hak smiled faintly.
Whoosh!
With a pure sword cry.
His sword slowly rose.
"Behold. If you're to harbor rage, turn it not into a worm's fury, but into a dragon's reverse scale."
The reverse scale was the dragon's rage.
Rage had its own levels.
"A dragon is like water. Even a benevolent one will return as a typhoon if its reverse scale is touched."
Cheon Seon-hak's sword tore through the heavens in ascent.
The whirlwinds swirling around it became the dragon's fury, ripping and tearing at foes with abandon.
"..."
That monstrous sword was more than enough to contain Cheon Muryang's rage.
Cheon Seon-hak said with a smile,
"Well? Shall you learn it?"
"What is that sword's name?"
"A name... It holds the dragon's reverse scale, so Reverse Scale Slash, perhaps?"
"Please teach me."
By now, Cheon Muryang had freed himself from Cheon Seon-hak's aura.
"Very well."