Chapter 10

The monkfish troupe leader Huang Tianhou is a determined man.
I can still see the dignified and defeating way he struck the battlefield with tens of thousands of troops.
And only today did I feel it once more.
If Huang Tianhu was a storm in the middle of the desert that would consume everything.
An Baek was a storm over the great ocean of ruin, with thunder and lightning.
With an incomplete body and an incomplete history, it was difficult to face An Bai and the countless energies behind him.
“……I.”
Nevertheless, I was not deterred by the force.
It was powerful, of course, and a difficult force to face.
I, too, was a battlefield ghost who had survived hundreds of battles.
If my spirit could be broken this easily, I should have laid it all down and turned to dust.
“……I am!”
I open my mouth to speak.
Ouch.
The pressure that had been weighing down my body was gone in an instant.
“Half a year.”
My aunt’s gaze on me.
“Half a year left. You must acknowledge me in half a year, or I will not rescind the declaration of guardianship, nor will I answer the question I just asked.”
With that, An Baek turned and left.
When I saw his backside, I fell backwards onto the stage. The encounter and confrontation with Anbaek resulted in nothing, except that I felt that I was back in reality again.
I looked up at the spinning sky.
I could still smell the blood on the battlefield, but the world I was facing was different.
I must mend a broken family.
I’m taking care of the South Palace walls and Mrs. Baek.
I also have to fulfill my duty to my brother, the South Palace half of my previous life, who died before me.
Such is the world.
“It’s hard.”
But what can I do?
You just have to do what you have to do.
Otherwise, I will only have regrets again.
* * *
A tick, and a tick again.
What difference does it make if we’re all the same?
When I fought the Black Tiger, my mindset was never one of harshness.
Thanks to that, the size of the short circuit was slightly larger, and the amount of internal power was greatly increased accordingly.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
He unfolded the Iron Sword Cross.
“Is it working?”
I couldn’t utilize even a tenth of it.
I realized once again that it was the same Iron Sword Sigil that had shone on the battlefield, the same crude Iron Sword Sigil that I had cultivated to survive when I had just entered the battlefield.
That’s exactly how I had utilized it.
I failed to control the distance, was not concise, and did not utilize any practicality.
It was unacceptable, unacceptable swordplay.
Once I had shed the excess weight, I focused on gripping and wielding the wooden sword properly. Only then was I officially recognized by my uncle and given permission to work on my swordsmanship.
Every swing of the sword cleared his mind. After performing the Iron Sword Sixty-Six from the solar eclipse to the thermal eclipse, his back was damp with cold sweat.
In addition to his intense swordsmanship training, he didn’t sleep and accumulated the energy of a great master.
Of course, every time he did, his uncle would ask. With a frustrated expression.
“Why do you continue to cultivate the Broken Great Yan Gong?”
“It’s my homework, my reason for living.”
“Then I won’t stop you from mastering it. But it won’t be easy to climb higher with it.”
The Broken Great Duke. A lowly junior kung fu master who is only as good as his uncle makes him seem.
I shook my head at my uncle’s comment that I shouldn’t keep practicing a technique that twisted my qi so that I couldn’t advance to the next level.
“I know why you’re saying that, and you’ve already told me what’s wrong, so don’t worry. I’ll make it right, and when the time comes, I’ll grab him by the throat and demand to know the inner core.”
It was a twisted fate from his previous life. It was something that needed to be corrected. It was a problem that would be solved sooner or later.
Anyway, I let An Baek’s worries fly away, and I ran by day and practiced swordsmanship by night. Before I slept, I trained in the great arts.
As I gained momentum from training day in and day out, it was not uncommon for the walls of the Southern Palace to come to me with wooden swords in imitation, swinging them, only to be scolded by Mr. Bai and sent back.
In between, whenever I had time, I would try to get out of the mess I was in, but with the exception of the nannies and servants, I only became more wary.
Oh well. It’s all my karma.
Thinking so, the month of Dalpo passed once again, like a cog in a wheel. Three months passed.
No matter how hard I ran, the cold air made it hard to break out in a sweat, and then the first signs of spring came.
I turned fifteen.
And that year, I realized once again.
I realized that I had accomplished in just over a year what had taken me decades to accomplish in my previous life.
And a twisted one at that.
* * *
“What are you doing here?”
“Training alone has become meaningless.”
At those words, the old man’s eyes turned fierce. I opened my mouth to say something in case he misunderstood.
“Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying this because I’m overconfident or arrogant.”
The uncle looked at me with a softened expression, as if my quick explanation had worked.
“Then tell me.”
“I didn’t say it, sir. Why do you keep risking your life for a broken grand duke?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll have to fix that. Perhaps that’s where the sickness begins.”
“……what are you talking about.”
I shrugged. Then I opened my mouth to speak. It had been a long time coming.
“I will join the annual Sword Family Reunion at the Southern Palace.”
The Sword Supporters’ Meeting.
It was one of the most important tournaments of the Southern Palace and a major event in Anhui Province. Not only were the later generations of the Anhui family invited to attend and enjoy the event, but invitations were also sent to the top, the capital, and the neighboring clans.
The once-a-year sword festival was not only to showcase the power of the Southern Palace, which represented Anhui Province, but also to demonstrate that the Zheng Clan was still strong.
“You’re too young.”
“It’s not a feast just for the later generations. Even if it’s three years earlier, it’s not that big a deal.”
The Late Exponent.
It was a sword tournament for young, promising swordsmen, designed to show how bright Anhui’s future was.
When I told her that I was participating in a tournament that was supposed to be held at the age of seventeen, she said, “That’s a big deal.
“You’re arrogant and conceited, and what do you expect to accomplish there?”
“Just proving that you’re not an asshole would be a pretty good accomplishment.”
With that, my uncle’s jaw dropped. As I said, I was a total mess right now.
I’ve been cultivating for nearly a year, but there are only a handful of people who truly see it. There were quite a few people who were glad to see that the rumored Grand Duke’s ridiculous antics had stopped, but there were also many who looked at him with wariness.
“Isn’t he hiding somewhere, secretly doing something illegal?”
“Maybe he’s already made too much of a mess and the gazoo has covered it up.”
“There are quite a few people who say that you’ve been practicing hard these days and have become different……. ”
“Have you forgotten that when my mother died, she was kicking the altar, drinking and going on a rampage, and that was less than two years ago?”
“You can’t spoil a dog ……. ”
The ugly gaze was still there. The ugly hairs were hard to get out.
“I can’t support someone who’s trying to make a good life, unless they’ve done something to deserve it.”
“……that mouth. Shut up.”
“Inhale.”
Shut up.
“Get involved.”
“But I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“Please let all of the Confuciuses over the age of ten participate.”
The sword club at the South Palace was limited to members of families over the age of fifteen. The reasoning behind this was that even if you picked up a sword early on, you could still get seriously injured if you practiced before your strength was properly established.
But I ignored that part and asked.
“What do you have in mind?”
I smiled brightly at my uncle, who raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
“Nothing. Brothers don’t grow up fighting. I’m just trying to grow up and be treated like a big brother.”
This is not how he intends to repay the debt from his previous life.
No way.
I’m not that kind of asshole.
* * *
“Are you sure you can afford to have all of the Confuciuses participate in the sword circle?”
“Yes.”
Nangong Mu Bai nodded in agreement with the first elder’s words. The expressions of the other elders changed.
“The Confuciuses’ bodies are not yet strong enough to cross swords, so let’s delay it for a bit, Jia Zhu.”
“This might give him a chance to bloom.”
“What if you get injured along the way?”
“That is also beyond my capabilities.”
The elders looked fed up. How dare he talk to my children like that.
“I’ll say it again, the decision has been made, and there is no going back.”
“Mmmm.”
“……Hmm!”
“Confucius to the Sword Council…….”
Still, most of the elders exchanged glances with each other rather than actually criticizing Nan Gongmu Bai. After a few moments, amidst the many crossed gazes, Nangong Mu Bai finally spoke up.
“Your favorite bickering. I don’t mind if you engage in it to your heart’s content, but I command you to keep it out of my sight. I am speaking to you as the master of the Southern Palace, so remember that.”
The elders coughed in disbelief.
“……what kind of words do you speak?”
“Gao Zhu, we are only speaking for the future of the Southern Palace Family…….”
“Let’s end this meeting now.”
With a sweeping wave of his hand, he gave an unmistakable decree of congratulations, and the elders hastily left. Their faces and expressions were filled with urgency as they cried out for the future of the Southern Palace. Each one of them gestured at what was keeping them so busy.
Looking at the back of their heads, the Southern Palace’s Mu Baek sighed with an impassive expression.
“Why don’t you go out.”
“I didn’t expect you to accept this so easily, Jia Zhu.”
With a calm voice, Nan Gongmu Bai seemed unconcerned.
“I only did it out of …… necessity.”
“If you think this will make you feel better, you’re mistaken.”
“It won’t.”
“Well, in that case, I’m glad. I’ll see you next at the sword club.”
It was none other than An Baek who stood up to leave. As he looked at An Baek, he felt a throbbing pain from the cut on his left cheek.
“Do you really intend to take him under your guardianship?”
An Bai tugged at the door knob and froze.