“Damn bastard.”

It had been a while since I got on the carriage, facing the cold dawn wind of midwinter.

The day had not only brightened but was already turning to evening when we arrived at the Baek family’s villa on the border of Hubei and Shaanxi.

The only problem was that the building, which was supposed to be a place to stay for the night, was completely destroyed.

“What kind of invitation is this? It’s completely wrecked.”

“This isn’t the main house. By the way, who on earth did this?”

“It was done by the Seohwi family.”

An old man walked out from beyond the ruins.

Seeing the opponent who was limping with a crutch, Baek Hasin ran over.

“Old man Ju-ho!”

It seemed they had known each other since childhood, as he was the caretaker of the Baek family’s villa.

“Who did this?”

“The Seohwi family.”

“What? They’re an orthodox faction family, aren’t they? No matter how bad our relationship is, why…!”

“It’s war! They’ve declared war on us!”

Ju-ho delivered the shocking news.

The Seohwi family was a family that had been competing with the Baek family over the southwestern region of Shaanxi.

Although not as much as the Huashan Sect and the Zhongnan Sect, who were competing over the central part of Shaanxi, they were a pretty famous family.

“It hasn’t been long since the war with the unorthodox faction ended. Why at this time of all times?”

“That’s why! Because our Baek family has secured testimony that the Seohwi family colluded with the unorthodox faction this time!”

When they were suspected of being involved with the unorthodox faction. To cover it up, the Seohwi family had hired an assassin and burned all the captured witnesses and evidence.

Naturally, the Baek family also retaliated. After exchanging sharp letters, a battle began, starting with a clash in the border area.

“Normally, the family heads would have resolved it, but they didn’t yield to each other because of the interests in the area where the unorthodox factions had withdrawn. In that process, the family head was also seriously injured…”

“So things have blown up.”

With the summary, I looked at the ruined site.

If it was just a warning, they would have only dealt with the easy-to-break things and made it look like an abandoned house. This was destroyed to the point where its shape was hard to recognize.

‘A conflict with the Seohwi family.’

This kind of development sometimes happened in the original story. An episode where you confront the suspicious Seohwi family and uncover their secrets.

‘If I do it well, I can get a good haul.’

I stealthily brushed the ladybug attached to my collar. Just then, I heard Baek Hasin’s voice.

“Then, what about the other orthodox faction forces? Huashan and Zhongnan would have mediated.”

“Zhongnan has made a non-interference pact with the Seohwi family, so they are silent, and Huashan is also busy chasing the remnants of the Heretic Alliance, so they can’t send any actual martial artists.”

It was because the Seohwi family had given various interests to Zhongnan.

“This is troublesome.”

And then I examined Baek Hasin’s intentions.

Although it was unlikely, I needed to figure out if he had invited me to borrow my strength.

“I’m sorry. You came all this way… I didn’t know it would be like this. I’ll get a room at a nearby inn for now, so you take this carriage and return to the academy tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll go alone. I can’t abandon my family. Old man Ju-ho, please take care of Cheonwu.”

He then ran towards the darkened village. Leaving the carriage to me.

‘He’s not the type to pull a stunt like this.’

If it was a real war between families, there was no time to rest. So Baek Hasin must have rushed out alone in the middle of the night.

“I guess I have no choice.”

I immediately started to pull the carriage with Ju-ho. Baek Hasin, who had been running, turned to this side as he felt a presence.

He made a surprised face.

“Huh?”

“You think it’s okay to just leave after coming all this way?”

I added, putting him on the carriage with psychokinesis.

“Instead, lend me some strength when I need help later.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“To think the young master has such a reliable friend… I’m touched!”

I could hear Ju-ho’s sniffling voice from the coachman’s seat.

And so, the carriage ran through the darkness.

***

The appearance of the Baek family, which we arrived at the next morning, was disastrous.

“Wh-what is this?”

From the shattered nameplate and the collapsed walls to the outer buildings that had been turned to ashes by flames.

“This is something only unorthodox faction bastards would do.”

As expected, it seemed the Baek family was at a disadvantage. Since the main camp was in this state, it would be difficult to hold out for long.

Normally, that is.

“Let’s go in.”

As I pushed open a half-broken door and entered, sword blades were aimed from all directions.

“What a boisterous welcome.”

“Who are you!!”

The one who came out with a tense expression was Baek Pung-mo, the deputy leader of the Baek family’s elite, the Baekrangdae.

“It’s me! This is my guest.”

“I see. Tsk, at a time like this.”

Only then did Baek Pung-mo withdraw his sword with a displeased face. The guy’s attitude was quite annoying.

“You’re a bit short-spoken. Are you naturally rude?”

So I stepped up instead. No matter how tense the situation was, Baek Hasin was also one of the heir candidates.

It was a problem for him to be rude to me, but to do this to him was wrong.

“What? You little…?!”

“To talk about seniority when you can’t even distinguish right from wrong. Do you still not know your place?”

“You bastard!”

As he got angry, Baek Hasin stepped between us.

“Cheonwu, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. I don’t want to help ungrateful people.”

“Get out of the way! I won’t go easy on you even if you’re his acquaintance!”

Then Baek Pung-mo roared.

The guy’s behavior now was not seeing Baek Hasin as one of the pillars of the succession structure, but as if facing a subordinate of the family.

“There’s no minimum hierarchy or respect. Are you really going to save a family like this?”

“Do you dare to insult our Baek family?”

“The insult to the family is your existence itself. It’s an eyesore to be rude when you have no skills.”

“You bastard!”

Baek Pung-mo thrust his sword with anger. I also drew the Demon-Slaying Sword and countered.

Kaang!

A sword strike that twisted in the air for a moment. Aiming for that gap, I immediately brought my sword to the opponent’s neck.

“You’re all talk.”

“You…!”

I had suppressed him in just one move.

The opponent was at the peak level at best. He was no match for me.

“This is why you’re being pushed back by the Seohwi family. Do you only have the energy to be stiff when you’re losing to me too?”

“The deputy leader has been defeated!”

The Baek family martial artists who surrounded us again with their swords drawn.

“Stop it.”

The guys who were flustered when Baek Hasin blocked them.

“B-but this person…!”

“So can you move?”

I put a psychokinetic lock on the ends of the swords aimed at this side and then asked.

“What?! The sword won’t move!”

“This can’t be…!”

They all seemed surprised that their swords wouldn’t move.

Since they were at the first-rate level at best, they had no choice but to be flustered.

“What is this commotion!”

Just then, a sharp voice was heard from the inner quarters.

“Master Baek Do-gyeong!”

The Baekrangdae members who paid their respects at the same time. He was Baek Do-gyeong, the eldest son of the Baek family and the leading candidate for the family head.

“Why did you come back? Baek Hasin.”

“The family is in crisis, so I had to come.”

Baek Do-gyeong’s brow narrowed. Even though the family was in crisis, he wasn’t happy that a master had joined, but was displeased that a competitor had appeared.

‘He’s a narrow-minded guy.’

Baek Hasin said as he entered.

“I need to hear what happened.”

“Don’t order me around! I’m the acting family head!”

Since the current family head, Baek Tae-jung, was seriously injured, it seemed the eldest son, Baek Do-gyeong, was acting as the head.

“Is this a time to be stubborn? The situation shouldn’t be that relaxed.”

Since I had no intention of playing along with the farce, when I casually intervened, gazes poured in from all directions.

“Who are you?!”

“I am Zhuge Cheonwu.”

As soon as I revealed my identity, the people began to murmur.

“Zhuge Cheonwu?! Don’t tell me, from the Zhuge family…”

“The Great Mage! The rising star who made a name for himself in the recent war with the Blood Cult and the Heretic Alliance!”

With this type of person, it was better to come on strong.

“Come to think of it, you guys pointed your swords at me, a member of the Zhuge family, without hesitation. Choose whether you will obediently ask for help or be hostile to me.”

Then, when I drew the Demon-Slaying Sword and wrapped it with powerful qi, Baek Do-gyeong’s face turned pale.

“P-powerful qi!”

“He’s a super-peak master! Be careful!”

The Baek family was a mid-sized sect that couldn’t even be included in the next candidate group of the Nine Great Sects. It was difficult to be hostile to a super-peak master.

Even more so in the current situation where they were experiencing a conflict between families.

While the family’s martial artists were in a panic, Baek Hasin stood in front of me and drew his sword. A clear powerful qi formed on the Black Moon Sword.

“I’ll block that. I can’t just watch a fight with my family.”

“Is that so? To think you’d draw your sword for a family that treats a master like you this way. If it were me, I would have abandoned such a weak family right away.”

It seemed he had noticed my intention.

The reason I had been so confrontational was to become a villain. To be precise, to create a hero who confronts a villain.

When I scanned the surroundings with my qi sense, the only master in this place who could protect the family against a super-peak master was Baek Hasin.

‘Until now, they had looked down on him, superimposing the Baek Hasin of the past on him, but now it’s different.’

Because his skills, guts, and fame were incomparable to before.

I slowly raised my sword, wrapped in sword qi.

With this, I was planning to show the guys of the Baek family clearly. Who was the one worthy of being the real family head.

Kaaaaang!

Their figures disappeared for a moment, and then a heavy sword cry echoed in front of the Baek family’s estate.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

To the point where a gust of wind blew in the area due to the shockwave.

Of course, it was a scene produced by magic, but from the perspective of someone at the peak level at best, it would look as if the surroundings had been blown away by just the sword wind.

What unfolded soon was a feast of sword paths that clashed brilliantly.

In the battle between the super-masters, no one dared to intervene and just watched in a daze.

In the face of a clear gap in power, there was nothing they could do.

Kaang!

Soon, as if by promise, we clashed with a big technique and widened the distance.

A silence that came with the sword wind.

Surrounded by all the members of the Baek family, I asked.

“Why are you doing this? Look at their attitude. Isn’t this a place that has discriminated against you all this time?”

“Because this is my family.”

Everyone fell silent at the honest answer. They were the ones who knew better than anyone the appearance of Baek Hasin, who had been discriminated against since childhood.

And they were the ones who had agreed and neglected him.

They had been cruel to a child who was just a boy.

But he, whom they had thought would resent them, was now protecting the family. Facing a super-master alone.

It was quiet all around.

It was different from the previous silence, which was overwhelmed by the battle. It was a silence filled with shame.

Baek Hasin’s answer continued.

“It doesn’t matter what they think of me. I’m just doing what I have to do. Is that wrong?”

“No. You’re not wrong. At least I think so.”

I had conveyed everything I wanted to show.

In the open space, which was now filled with different gazes, I withdrew the Demon-Slaying Sword. If the family didn’t change even after this, it wasn’t even worth becoming the family head.

That’s why I drove in the final wedge.

“I, Zhuge Cheonwu, as a friend of Baek Hasin, will respect and support his choice in this conflict! I also support Baek Hasin’s position as the heir. If anyone looks down on him, they will have to have a life-and-death duel with me, staking their honor!”

A declaration of support that was openly made. It was a shout that was bound to work now that public opinion had moved.

They would have no choice but to know. Who had saved the family from a crisis just now, and who had just stood by, unable to even think of confronting them.

If you bring in an equal succession structure, in the end, they have no choice but to compare.

Who is the vessel more suitable for the family head.

‘With this, the groundwork is finished.’

Now all that was left was the conflict with the Seohwi family.

At the center of the estate, where the goodwill and wariness of the family members were mixed half and half, Baek Hasin opened his mouth.

“I’d like to talk about the conflict with the Seohwi family soon. As a candidate for the family head.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a moron who would refuse such a force because of your pride?”

When I scratched him openly, Baek Do-gyeong’s expression contorted.

He must be keenly feeling that he was not in a position to talk about etiquette after seeing this side’s skills.

Finally, the guy’s answer, which seemed to be mixed with a sigh, came back.

“…Follow me to the conference room. If you want, I’ll tell you, the situation we’re in right now.”

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep