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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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The Eight-Foot Tall Monster’s friend, the Eight-Foot Tall Monster’s disciple.
Lao Rouxin and Sima Mancheon.
Though there was a great age difference between them,
they spoke freely, with no one to judge them, about their common interests.
“I had hoped that Confucius, that friend of mine, would succeed me as the Beggar King. That’s why I taught him the Dog Beating Staff Technique.”
“But do you know what he did after he mastered it?”
Lao Rouxin leaned on his staff and burst into laughter, as if recalling the memory.
“He said he couldn’t settle down in one place until he had collected all the martial arts in the world, and he ran away before his inauguration ceremony.”
“That friend of mine has a cunning side to him.”
He pictured his master running away with his huge frame, leaving only a letter behind, and a small laugh escaped his lips.
“That’s just like him.”
“Hmm… come to think of it, the Dog Beating Staff Technique is passed down from the previous Beggar King to the new one.”
Lao Rouxin joked, a playful smile on his face.
“In a way, you could say you’re the new Beggar King. What do you think? Want to be the Beggar King?”
“Thank you for saving me, but I’ll pass.”
He declined politely, knowing it was a joke.
“I have parents and a cute younger sister to support. Being a beggar is a bit…”
As he had said before, he planned to learn his father’s business, live a comfortable life, and practice martial arts.
Of course, not all beggars were poor.
The Clean Clothes Faction: martial artists who had joined the Beggar’s Sect, drawn by its freedom and chivalry. They weren’t real beggars and lived like ordinary people.
The Dirty Clothes Faction: real beggars who begged for a living. Some were powerful martial artists in disguise.
The Beggar’s Sect was divided into these two factions, but it was still a beggar’s organization.
If he joined the Beggar’s Sect and became a beggar, his mother might collapse from a heart attack.
“Haha! You’re right! What’s so great about being a beggar!”
Lao Rouxin laughed heartily, not at all offended by the blunt refusal. He then prepared to leave.
“It’s time. You must be tired of talking to an old man.”
“Thank you so much for today. I won’t forget your kindness.”
He bowed respectfully, preparing to see him off.
“It’s nothing. I helped you because I wanted to. But I have one piece of advice.”
Lao Rouxin waved his hand and helped him up.
“In the martial world, fame is a double-edged sword. And today, you showed your prowess in front of many people…”
Was it an old man’s worry, or a prediction based on experience?
“And made a name for yourself, Sima Mancheon.”
He advised the young martial artist with a serious, poker face.
“From now on, regardless of your intentions, various factions will try to recruit you as an ally, or consider you an enemy who stands in their way.”
“And since I officially helped you, those who dislike me will also dislike and slander you.”
His weary black eyes, a stark contrast to his youthful face, were filled with a hint of bitterness, but they also held a strong, unwavering conviction as he looked at Mancheon.
“But even so…”
As the Beggar King of one of the Nine Great Sects, he imparted his teachings.
“…as one who has learned the Dog Beating Staff Technique, you may be broken, but you must not bend.”
With those words, Lao Rouxin turned and walked away, leaning on his staff, disappearing as suddenly as he had appeared.
‘Did you hear that, Taegu-zzang? He was subtly telling you to get broken.’
‘Taegu… Taegu… Taegu… Taegu…’ (He’s the one who couldn’t use me properly… He has no conscience… Taegu…)
He ignored Taegu-zzang’s voice, which was probably complaining on the Taegu-zzang gallery forum, and took a deep breath.
Anyway, they could have at least had a meal together before he left.
He had left without any lingering attachments…
He had felt it before, but martial artists were too cool about greetings and farewells.
“……”
He stared at Lao Rouxin’s back, which was no longer visible, hidden by the red sunset, leaving only a single piece of advice.
“Is the old man gone?”
Zi Lu, who had finished his conversation with the elders, approached him casually.
“He just left. …I owe you one.”
He had been the one who had caused all the trouble, but others had cleaned up his mess. Feeling ashamed.
“Thank you for helping me.”
he said, his voice a little dejected.
“It’s nothing. It’s natural for a senior brother to look after his junior brother.”
Zi Lu took out a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled, a faint smile on his face.
“And it was satisfying to see that brat Mudan get sent flying.”
He must have wanted to teach Mudan a lesson, but couldn’t because of his position as the Martial Alliance leader and various other reasons.
In a way, since Zi Lu, Mancheon, and Mudan were all senior and junior martial brothers, had he just disciplined his junior?
As he was thinking this, something came to mind.
“Ah, speaking of that brat, I have a question.”
He hadn’t been able to ask before because of the chaos, but now that things had settled down, he asked his senior brother the question that had been on his mind.
“Why did our master tell Mudan about me, but not me about his other disciples?”
He wasn’t upset or anything, just genuinely curious.
“That old man isn’t a prophet, but he’s a man who believes in personalized education.”
And Zi Lu answered his question casually, lighting a cigarette.
“He probably thought Mudan needed a senior brother, and you didn’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“Considering his pride, he would have kept searching for you, the one his respected master praised, to surpass you.”
Zi Lu grinned, as if he had figured out his master’s intentions.
“They would have met eventually. …What a troublesome old man.”
He exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“In short, he probably thought you would set that brat straight in his place, as a senior brother, while he was away on his travels.”
In other words, he had expected Mudan to stray from the path, but not Mancheon, so he hadn’t bothered to tell him about his senior brother.
At his master’s unexpected faith in him, that he would walk his own path, Mancheon looked up at the sky.
‘That old man… he’s always been like this, overestimating people.’
His ears turned red, perhaps because of the sunset. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Anyway, let’s stop talking about that old man. We’re in the Martial Alliance headquarters, so it’s not a topic we should discuss for long.”
And having answered his junior brother’s question, Zi Lu changed the subject and got to the main point.
“The council has decided to give you a title.”
“Huh? They’re giving me one? I thought they would just bury the matter.”
He tilted his head at the unexpected outcome of the meeting, and Zi Lu snorted.
“Too many people saw what happened, so they have no choice. If they don’t, they’ll be seen as a pathetic sect that was beaten by a nobody.”
Normally, they would have tried to silence Mancheon, but since Lao Rouxin, a great elder of the righteous martial world, had openly defended him,
they had decided to give him a suitable title to save face, to make it seem like they hadn’t been defeated by a nobody.
“So… I’m getting the title of ‘Dragon’?”
He hoped they would give him a cool name, like the Dragon Who Deceives Even the Heavens, or Osiris’s Sky Dragon.
“You weren’t an official participant, so no. But they’ve decided on a decent one.”
Just as Zi Lu was about to tell Mancheon his title,
“Mancheon!”
“Young Master Sima?!”
two girls, Gwahae and Xiaoshao, approached him from different directions.
They had been waiting for him since he had been summoned to the Martial Alliance meeting hall, and they had rushed to him as soon as they heard he had been released.
“……”
They noticed each other and paused, frowning.
And for some reason, Mancheon was reminded of a quote from a character in The Little Prince, a book he had read in his previous life.
‘You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.’
He also remembered Muk-gang’s words.
‘You must always take responsibility for your words and actions.’
The blue eyes of the girl who had received a name and
the gaze of the girl who had been relieved of the heavy burden of fate were fixed on Mancheon.
Nothing was over yet.
This was the real beginning. It was time to take responsibility for what he had tamed.
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Inside the Nangong Family’s mansion,
the man who brazenly used the title of Emperor, the Thunder Emperor, one of the Ten Great Masters,
Nangong Tian, read the report sent by his spies in the Martial Alliance and chuckled quietly.
“They acknowledged him… but they really didn’t want to give him the title of ‘Dragon.'”
A newcomer to the martial world, who had emerged from the mountains and defeated the phoenix and the dragon.
A being comparable to a dragon.
A master of the fallen Emei Sect’s martial arts, the Beggar’s Sect’s staff techniques, and esoteric Buddhist fist and foot techniques.
A clever tiger.
“The Clever Tiger, Sima Mancheon.”
Nangong Tian reached for another document and read it.
“Sima… his surname is the same. I looked into it, and… he’s Sima Bu’s son.”
Now he understood.
Why he had gone to the trouble of establishing a merchant guild and venturing into the open. Why he had brought his daughter, who carried the blood of the Bai Hua Sect Saintess, a daughter he had kept hidden.
Like a wolf,
he recalled Sima Bu’s ambitious, sharp gaze.
He had a rough idea of Sima Bu’s plan.
He was trying to get his son into the righteous martial world by having him join the Emei Sect, a sect that no longer had any influence.
For the wealthy Sima Family, it was easier to rebuild a fallen sect than to join an existing one.
And since he had recently been teaching his daughter the Sima Family’s martial arts,
he planned to have his son extend his influence in the righteous martial world and his daughter take over the Sima Family.
“He’s trying to control both the light and the dark.”
His blue eyes, filled with lightning, flashed as he muttered the name of the man who could become his enemy in the chaotic times ahead.
“Sima Bu… a fearsome man.”
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And at that moment, the fearsome man, Sima Bu,
“Ah?! Look! A cloud that looks like my brother!”
looked at the cloud Yeonhwa was pointing at and nodded.
“You’re right. Good eye.”
He recalled the face of his precious child who had run away from home.
‘That brat… is he hurt… is he eating well…’
Yeonhwa’s eyes, looking at the clouds, also turned red as she thought of Mancheon.
‘Brother… wait for me. I’m coming.’
She clasped her hands and prayed to the sun, for her beloved brother and husband.
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Time to see your husbrondo?😏
