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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: cyno
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“Mister~.”
Jin Gayoung calls out to me.
Her words are slurred, as if she’s had a bit too much to drink.
“Yes.”
“On such a happy day like today, won’t you share a drink with meee?”
She leans into me.
She looks incredibly cheerful.
It wouldn’t be right to ruin that mood.
“If that’s what the young lady wishes.”
“Hehe, here.”
*Slurp—*
As I take the drink she offers, I ask her a question.
“What do you plan to do from now on?”
“Talking about work at a drinking party??”
“…My apologies.”
I take the cup and drink. She answers with a satisfied smile.
She acted like she wouldn’t respond, but—
“There’s a lot to do. I have to deal with the corrupt elders who’ve been hoarding all the power, and to be officially recognized as one of the Seven Blossoms, I’ll have to participate in the Seven Blossoms Tournament… It’ll take a long time, but… someday, I want to elevate the Taiyuan Jin Clan to the ranks of the Five Great Families. Of course, that last part is just wishful thinking.”
The Five Great Families, huh? So Jin Gayoung is aiming that high.
Given the current state of internal affairs, it might be a bit difficult, but—
Perhaps thinking along the same lines as me, a shadow falls over Jin Gayoung’s face as she chatters about her dreams.
“Mister.”
“Yes.”
“Just… what if we went somewhere quiet, just the two of us, and lived in the countryside?”
Out of nowhere, she throws me an unexpected question.
“You mean just the two of us?”
Jin Gayoung’s expression is serious.
It might be the alcohol talking, but in a way, it could also be a genuine sentiment slipping through.
“Yes. Somewhere no one would interfere. Just the two of us.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I think I’d be happier than anything if that happened.”
“If that’s what the young lady wishes.”
“……Just kidding. If I really wanted that, I wouldn’t have become the family head in the first place. I have so many people to take care of now—where would I find the luxury for that?”
“I see.”
It didn’t seem like a joke, though.
But if she says it’s a joke, I won’t press further.
“Mister, you’re way too serious! Why do you take everything I say so literally?! Did you really think I meant it? That you’d actually live alone with a young, pretty girl like me?”
“My apologies.”
“Ahahaha… Just drink. Today’s a day to celebrate, after all. There’s so much to do from now on! It’s going to be crazy busy! But still, today’s the day I officially became the family head, right?”
“Yes.”
I can’t get completely drunk.
The internal energy rooted in my body makes it impossible.
I can let myself get slightly tipsy without using my internal energy, but that’s the limit.
Is there even any meaning in me drinking?
“……You’re not having weird thoughts again, are you?”
“Ahem.”
“Stop that and drink. Alcohol isn’t just for getting drunk, you know.”
“Yes.”
After that, I drank with Jin Gayoung for a long time.
Already heavily intoxicated, she eventually reached the point of being completely wasted.
I’ve seen it before, but when she’s drunk, she has a habit of clinging to others.
Unlike her usual self—bearing the weight of being the leader of the Taiyuan Jin Clan and forcing herself to appear strong—she’s actually just a fragile girl who wants to lean on someone.
Like right now.
“Mnngh…”
Jin Gayoung presses her cheek against my thigh, nuzzling.
The attendant beside her looks flustered, unsure what to do.
I try to gently pry her off to spare the attendant the trouble, but she only clings tighter.
“Mister… don’t go…”
Still saying that?
Even though I’ve already assured her I won’t leave, she’s still like this.
I guess the promise I made with Namgung Soso back then must have hurt her deeply.
“Mister…”
Jin Gayoung speaks again.
Maybe because her drunken, spoiled behavior is endearing, my ears naturally perk up.
“You’ve changed…”
My ears twitch.
I’ve changed?
“Just a little…”
*****
“GAAAAAH!!”
A piercing scream spreads far and wide.
Did it reach the entire Taiyuan Jin Clan?
I hope so.
The less bloodshed, the better.
“White Blade Vagrant! What is the meaning of this?! Are you betraying the main family?!”
The reputation of my new title, *White Blade*, earned through lightning-fast executions, only seems to grow.
I wanted to stay in a low position, avoiding the higher ranks, but I’ve already failed at that.
Well, it doesn’t matter. If climbing higher means I can help Jin Gayoung, I’ll ascend as many times as needed.
I’ve done it thousands of times before—what’s one more climb?
“The ones who betrayed the main family were the elders. What were you thinking, offering bribes to the Huashan Sect in Shanxi?”
“F-Family Head!”
Jin Gayoung steps forward, her face half-hidden behind a fan.
She now carries herself with the full dignity of a family head.
When I first met her, I thought she was just a chivalrous late-stage practitioner, but now she’s more cunning than a fox.
Not that I dislike it. In fact, it’s better—she won’t be foolishly taken advantage of like I was.
……Though, if we’re talking about elixirs, haven’t I taken more than Jin Gayoung?
“Family Head! You cannot do this to us! How do you plan to handle the aftermath?!”
“What aftermath? The aftermath of dealing with Huashan’s lackeys?”
“We only did what was necessary to sustain the main family! How many times must we say it?!”
“Is that so? And in return, you received elixirs and martial techniques, didn’t you? Am I wrong?”
“Guh…!”
The Great Elder, an old man, falls silent like a mute who’s eaten honey.
The other elders lined up behind him grit their teeth and resist, but—
*Whoosh—!*
A massive sword energy sweeps horizontally, shattering the blades they rely on, leaving them kneeling in shock.
True to their nature as men who took bribes from Huashan in exchange for benefits, their willpower is nonexistent.
“Family Head! Spare our lives, we beg you!”
“Have mercy!”
With their support gone, the elders cling to Jin Gayoung’s robes one by one, pleading for their lives.
Only the Great Elder stubbornly holds out.
And yet, laughably, the Huashan Sect’s internal energy, *Taiqing Gangqi*, flows from his body.
How amusing that so-called orthodox sects are no different from the Blood Cult.
Back when I was actively opposing the Blood Cult, I used to eliminate scum like this in every cycle, but at some point, even that felt pointless, so I stopped.
Yet here he is, still alive—only to die by my hand now.
Guess he was fated to end like this.
“What’s this, Great Elder? Giving up?”
“Don’t be absurd. I’ll slaughter all of you and flee to Huashan.”
“Do you know what happens when someone who’s mastered our family’s *Sacred Name Sword Art* learns another sect’s techniques? Huashan won’t take you kindly either.”
“That’s none of your concern. The *Plum Blossom Sword Art* is incomparable to the barbaric techniques of the Jin Clan. It’s pitiful that a brat like you can’t see that.”
“Are you disrespecting the *Frozen Flame Sword* right now?! How *dare* you?!”
“Hmph, so what if it’s a peak-tier technique? Can it stand against the Namgung’s *Imperial Sword Form*, Wudang’s *Taiji Wisdom Sword*, or the *Solitary Ancient Sword* of Dugu?”
“It’s not like you’d be taught the *Solitary Ancient Sword* even if you went to Huashan.”
“The *Fourteen Plum Blossom Sword Art* I’ve learned now is already far superior to the *Frozen Flame Sword*.”
“……Oh really? You won’t know which is stronger until you try, right?”
Jin Gayoung takes an aggressive step forward, fuming.
Wait, is she—?
“Young Lady, no matter how angry you are, fighting him directly is too dangerous—”
“Let me handle this. This old man is pissing me off. How dare he look down on the *Frozen Flame Sword*?”
Having used the *Imperial Sword Form* myself, I’ve never been on the receiving end of such disrespect, but is it really that infuriating?
Even if she’s angry, Jin Gayoung isn’t the type to act purely on emotion.
Unless… she’s doing this deliberately?
“Oh? Does this milk-fed brat really think she can face me?”
“Come at me. I’ll make you pay for disrespecting our family’s techniques.”
“You want a one-on-one duel? Have you lost your mind?”
Though he taunts, the Great Elder glances nervously at me.
For all his big talk about slaughtering everyone, he’s still scared of me.
As if reading his mind, Jin Gayoung adds—directed at me.
“Don’t interfere, Mister. This is about the family’s pride.”
“……Understood.”
Even with the gap in experience and internal energy, I reassure myself remembering that Jin Gayoung once defeated Namgung Soso.
After all, battles aren’t decided solely by the level of one’s internal energy or techniques.
“Since I’m your junior, won’t you give me a handicap or something?”
…Despite her bold stance, she must still be nervous.
“Fine. I’ll give you three seconds.”
“Really? Then I’ll make the first—”
*Swish!*
“Of course I’m lying!”
“Eek…!”
True to the swift nature of Huashan’s swordsmanship, the Great Elder’s blade lunges at Jin Gayoung in a flash.
*Clang!*
Had she not hastily raised her sword to block, I would’ve stepped in immediately.
“Y-You blocked that…! Not bad…!”
“That’s dirty! What was that?!”
“Hah! In a life-or-death duel, there’s no such thing as ‘dirty’!”
“Tch…! Fine, if that’s how you want to play…!”
*BOOM—!*
Despite the sneak attack, Jin Gayoung quickly regains her stance and clashes with the Great Elder, who presses forward with the *Fourteen Plum Blossom Sword Art*.
There are too many witnesses. Is it really okay for the Taiyuan Jin Clan’s Great Elder to openly use Huashan techniques in front of so many people?
……Then again, the current martial world probably doesn’t care.
*Clang! Crash! Clink!*
The metallic echoes of their blades fill the hall.
Looking around, most of the Jin Clan members are murmuring among themselves about the Great Elder.
Even if he’s dealt with here, the shameful story will linger for years.
Perhaps aware of this, Jin Gayoung wields her sword with a speed unbefitting the Taiyuan Jin Clan’s typically heavy style.
What’s astonishing is that she’s overwhelming the Great Elder with it.
Despite her inferior internal energy and experience.
“H-How…?”
Does even the Great Elder find it hard to believe?
As he mutters in disbelief, Jin Gayoung withdraws her sword and smirks mockingly.
“Why so surprised? Don’t want to admit that our family’s techniques are superior to Huashan’s?”
“N-Nonsense…!”
Sophistry.
Jin Gayoung’s advantage comes from her mastery of the sword, not the superiority of her techniques.
She knows that, of course—she’s just provoking him.
Angry at his dismissal of the art she’s honed.
Or perhaps she’s deliberately stalling to humiliate him.
“Then how do you explain this? You have more internal energy and know more techniques, yet you’re losing to me?”
“Impossible… How could Huashan’s techniques lose to the Jin Clan’s barbaric swordplay…?”
The Great Elder mutters in self-derision.
Having already mastered the *Frozen Flame Sword*, learning another sword art with conflicting principles would only weaken him.
Does he not realize that?
Or did he think Huashan’s techniques were worth the trade-off?
Either way, it’s a one-dimensional judgment.
Technique matters, but what truly defines a martial artist is their foundational comprehension and enlightenment.
*Schlick!*
“GAAAH!!”
Look—now.
As Jin Gayoung swings her sword properly, the Great Elder’s legs are severed effortlessly.
No matter how much of a prodigy she is—an eighteen-year-old hailed as a Sword Blossom—this shouldn’t have been possible.
The Great Elder’s own greed eroded him.
“Will you admit it now? That our family’s *Frozen Flame Sword* is superior to Huashan’s?”
That aside, saying all this in front of so many people…
Jin Gayoung may seem emotional, but she’s actually ruthlessly logical.
Why is she going this far?
“Guh…! Don’t flatter yourself…! This is only because my body has aged…!”
“Oh? You think you could’ve beaten me in your prime?”
“I couldn’t, but Huashan can…! You’re not even fit to lick *Baihua*’s boots…!”
“Really? Can you back up that claim?”
“O-Of course! How could the likes of you and the Taiyuan Jin Clan ever compare to *Baihua* and the Huashan Sect?!”
“Wow, everyone heard that, right? The Great Elder’s treasonous words?”
Ah, so that’s it.
Jin Gayoung’s next target is *Baihua*.
I wondered why she was worrying about the Seven Blossoms Tournament before it even began—she’s aiming for *Baihua*, one of the Seven.
Her actions now… are a declaration of war against Huashan and *Baihua*, using the purge of traitors as justification.
“Though, you won’t need to take responsibility.”
“Guh…! Jin Gayoung, what are you scheming?!”
“Corpses don’t take responsibility. Just rest quietly in the ground.”
“W-What are you— GAK!”
Jin Gayoung’s blade flashes heavily—unlike before—and the Great Elder’s wrinkled head rolls across the floor.
She used him until he had no value left, then disposed of him immediately.
A commendable approach, leaving no loose ends.
But right now, something else bothers me more.
*‘The Seven Blossoms Tournament…’*
Even if I disregard the others, Namgung Sua will surely participate.
I should prepare a few more *White Blade Vagrant* masks.
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