Chapter 216
“Oh my, sorry to interrupt your meeting! Yul-i, let’s go with Mom. The grandpas are busy.”
“Okay!”
“Ahem, um……”
“Yes?”
“It’s not as though you’re disrupting us, so you don’t really need to take Yul-i away……”
“What are you saying? You’re in the middle of an important meeting.”
“It’s not exactly an important meeting.”
“Come now. That won’t do. Then please continue your discussion. Come on, Yul-i.”
“No, I said you don’t need to take Yul-i……”
“Goodbye, Grandpas!”
“……”
Thus, the atmosphere in the Clan Head’s Hall, which had grown noisy because of Yul-i’s appearance, eventually settled down after Peng Seo-yeon arrived and took Yul-i away.
Thanks to that, Peng Mugang heaved a sigh of relief, while Huangbo Gyun and the other Clan Heads looked disappointed.
Why did they all dote on Yul-i so much when none of them were without grandchildren?
The reason was that, in their own clans, they were stern Clan Heads who placed great importance on clan rules; not only their children but even their grandchildren hardly dared approach them casually.
So even though they secretly wanted to be as close to their grandchildren as Peng Mugang was to Yul-i, they could no longer easily create that kind of atmosphere.
So how could Yul-i, who cheerfully burst into the Clan Head’s Hall and adorably threw themself into Peng Mugang’s arms, not look lovely to them?
In any case, the grandfathers had become completely captivated by Yul-i’s charm.
“Ahem. By the way, where is that fellow?”
The Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Family, Tang Jinwoo, who had remained silent until then, asked.
Peng Mugang tilted his head.
“Hmm? Who do you mean?”
“Who else? Your son-in-law, who leaves a major incident in his wake wherever he goes.”
“Ah, you mean him?”
With an exasperated look, Huangbo Gyun explained, and Peng Mugang let out a hearty laugh.
“Good grief. I already knew he was an extraordinary fellow, but I never dreamed he’d topple the entire Martial Alliance like that.”
Huangbo Gyun gave a hollow chuckle.
The other Clan Heads also nodded at his words.
The entire Martial Alliance brought down by a single person.
It was something none of them had ever even considered before.
But none of them blamed Yeo Un-hwi for it.
They already knew that the Martial Alliance had more than its share of problems, and above all, they trusted him.
The man named Yeo Un-hwi.
They all believed that if he had caused such an incident, there must have been a good reason for it.
Although they had known him for only a short time, they had already built that much trust in Yeo Un-hwi.
Trust was not proportional to the length of time one had spent with someone.
“We’ve strayed from the subject. So where is your son-in-law now?”
“Well, at this hour, he’s probably training the White Wolf Unit.”
When Peng Mugang answered Tang Jinwoo’s question casually, Zhuge Seung nodded.
“Then they must all have gone there.”
“That must be so.”
“Huh? Who?”
“Who else? Our sons.”
“Well, after seeing something like that(?), it’s perfectly understandable that the boys are acting that way.”
“Hmm.”
Well, well.
This time, even Namgung Hwan said something incomprehensible.
Everyone nodded, but Peng Mugang alone couldn’t make heads or tails of the conversation.
“No, what are you talking about? Seriously.”
It wasn’t as if they had coordinated it.
As they watched Peng Mugang grow intensely curious, the other Clan Heads merely exchanged mysterious smiles.
“It’s just one of those things.”
“No, you old men, seriously……”
Maybe I should just kick them all out!
***
“Hryaaah!”
“Haaaaaah!”
“Uweeeeeek?”
Today, too, the training grounds where the White Wolf Unit trained were filled with a mixture of thunderous battle cries and the sounds of vomiting.
Munho was also vomiting right along with them, as though he had been there with them from the very beginning.
And amid them, Yeo Un-hwi was sitting on a mat and reading a book, just as he always did.
It was a scene that unfolded every day, yet it was truly a study in contrasts.
But today, the Four Guardians were nowhere to be seen around Yeo Un-hwi.
In fact, after the brutal sparring match, with demonic qi still hanging thickly in the air, they had belatedly realized their mistake—oh, no.
Feeling awkward, they had thereafter reined themselves in and spent their time quietly.
As always, Zhuque guarded Yul-i, while the other Guardians wandered around together, apparently just amusing themselves.
From what I overheard a little while ago, they were planning to visit the market today.
More precisely, Bai Hu had stubbornly insisted that he had dreamed of the meat noodle soup they had all eaten with Yeo Un-hwi last time, so Azure Dragon and Xuanwu appeared to be getting dragged along.
Interestingly, Azure Dragon and Xuanwu seemed very accustomed to indulging Bai Hu’s impulsive whims.
In any case, it was another day no different from usual.
At least, for now.
“Mmmngh. The weather is lovely today, too.”
After reading for a while, Yeo Un-hwi lightly stretched.
Just then,
“Hyung.”
Someone called to Yeo Un-hwi as they approached.
It was Peng Seo-jin.
And he was not alone.
“Oh, you all?”
Tang Mujun, Huangbo Cheonwoo, Namgung Sanghyeok, and even Zhuge Ujin.
They were the heirs of the Five Great Families.
Yeo Un-hwi welcomed them warmly.
Most of all, he was especially glad to see Tang Mujun and Huangbo Cheonwoo, since he had seen them quite a few times by now.
“Welcome.”
Since they had all pestered him to speak informally with them before, Yeo Un-hwi had dropped the formal speech.
“Have you been well?”
“Me? I’ve been about the same as always.”
“Haha. I-I see.”
They all smiled awkwardly.
It was an ordinary remark that anyone else could have made without a second thought, but when Yeo Un-hwi said it, it somehow sounded terrifying.
‘I’ve been turning the martial world upside down everywhere I go, just as usual. Whenever I spot a villain, I cut off every last head.’
That was more or less how it sounded.
In the meantime,
“Wow.”
Zhuge Ujin spotted the White Wolf Unit training behind Yeo Un-hwi and opened his eyes wide.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Yes……”
Zhuge Ujin nodded at Tang Mujun’s words.
At a glance, it was obvious that this was an extremely intense and fierce training regimen that drove them to their absolute limits.
They did this every day?
What on earth were they training for? What kind of battle were they preparing for?
Countless questions arose in Zhuge Ujin’s mind, but knowing this was not the time to pursue them, he quietly swallowed the questions.
“By the way, what brings you all the way here?”
Yeo Un-hwi looked puzzled.
They could have met in the Clan Head’s Hall or somewhere else as soon as training ended, so he was curious why they had gone out of their way to visit this training ground tucked away in a corner of the Peng Clan.
“Well, the thing is……”
It was a strange sight.
They always carried themselves boldly wherever they went and were the objects of people’s envy and admiration, yet in front of Yeo Un-hwi, they were strangely hesitant and awkward.
The reason was obvious.
Just as they had seemed to others like people from an unreachable world, Yeo Un-hwi now looked that way to them.
They were geniuses among geniuses—the Six Dragons, talents ranked among the greatest in the world and praised as the future of the martial world.
But on the day the Demonic Cult attacked the Peng Clan, they had felt the full extent of their own powerlessness.
And the moment they saw Yeo Un-hwi descend from the heavens like a god and wipe out every one of those terrifying Demonic Cult leaders, they realized how they had spent all those years swaggering through life on talents that were truly insignificant and worthless.
They were ashamed.
So ashamed that they could hardly bear it.
After returning to their families, they did not even leave their rooms for several days.
But the reason they were called geniuses was not simply their extraordinary talent for martial arts.
They quickly acknowledged their shortcomings.
And they wanted to become stronger.
They could all keenly feel that a new era was approaching.
They realized they could not remain as they were if they wanted to avoid being left behind by that era.
Interestingly, they weren’t alone in thinking this.
As soon as they arrived at the Peng Clan, they saw the heirs of the other families and felt the same thing.
Ah. You’re just like me.
That was why they had come here with Peng Seo-jin.
Naturally, they had only one thing to say to Yeo Un-hwi.
“…You want to become stronger?”
They all nodded.
“If you want to become stronger, couldn’t you return home, enter closed-door cultivation, or ask your Clan Heads to teach you? Why did you come to me?”
“……”
He was right.
It was the obvious, textbook answer.
But how could they possibly do that after witnessing Yeo Un-hwi’s overwhelming might that day?
Their fathers, who had been the goals they pursued all their lives, were no longer visible to them.
No, even their fathers—the Clan Heads—looked no different.
Everything had changed.
Yeo Un-hwi stood at the farthest end of everything they aspired to.
So they had summoned their courage and come to find him like this.
Casting aside every bit of their pride.
They sincerely wished for it.
They wanted to become strong like Yeo Un-hwi. No—even half as strong. Even a quarter of his strength.
They were no longer the Six Dragons they had once been called.
Only people who wanted to become stronger as martial artists—and who wanted to help those they would soon stand beside—remained.
Their eyes were utterly unlike those of the confident young men they had once been.
Yeo Un-hwi gave a faint chuckle as he watched them.
He did not bother asking, Why me?
After all, weren’t they the ones who had already risked their lives for the Peng Clan?
But one thing had to be made clear.
“You’d better give up on the idea of starting this halfheartedly. Your enthusiasm is commendable, but this path will never be easy. No, it may be a living hell. If you’re expecting me to go easy on you, quit right now. I’ll pretend I never heard this conversation.”
“We’ve already steeled ourselves.”
Yet despite Yeo Un-hwi’s warning, their eyes were full of passion.
“Really? Are you sure you’ll be all right? Things like that will become your daily routine.”
Yeo Un-hwi gestured behind him with a nod.
The White Wolf Unit came into view, training like mad, vomiting whatever they had in them, and then beginning to train again.
They would have to make that sort of training their daily baseline.
For a moment, the heirs were rendered speechless as they saw themselves in that scene.
“What? Are you thinking that you’re at a higher level than them, so surely I wouldn’t make you train like that? I’ll be honest with you. If a battle broke out right now, they would fight far better than you. I’m not saying this to hurt your pride. It’s simply the truth.”
“……”
Given what the White Wolf Unit had accomplished recently, it might not have been entirely wrong.
But Yeo Un-hwi’s words—and the reality behind them—hit so painfully close to home that they all bit their lips and couldn’t answer.
But then,
“I can do it. I’ll gladly see it through.”
Unexpectedly, Zhuge Ujin, who looked the most fragile among them, was the first to answer.
Yeo Un-hwi’s gaze turned toward Zhuge Ujin.
He had the same splendid gaze as the people from the Zhuge Family whom Yeo Un-hwi had met until now.
They also resembled the eyes of Zhuge Gil, who had stepped away to consider what he could do for the Taechon Alliance.
But he was not the only one.
“The same goes for us.”
“We can do it!”
They were all eager.
“Again, you should think first about being worked to the bone rather than about learning anything.”
“That’s fine.”
“There may be times when your pride gets hurt. You’ll have to blend in with them.”
“If we were hung up on such things, we wouldn’t have asked you in the first place.”
“Really? So that’s how it is.”
Zhuge Ujin, Tang Mujun, Huangbo Cheonwoo, Namgung Sanghyeok, and Peng Seo-jin.
Yeo Un-hwi looked at each of them one by one, then nodded.
“All right. Then let’s give it a shot.”
Their faces brightened at Yeo Un-hwi’s words.
“Please look after us!”
“All right.”
Yeo Un-hwi nodded.
He did not know how long they would last, but if they held on to their current resolve and endured to the very end, they would gain something beyond what they had imagined.
Would they know?
That the choices and decisions they made today would transform their futures and make them extraordinary.
No one knew that yet.
And just as a new group was added to the roster for hellish training,
“First Young Master!”
Someone came running over in a hurry.
It was one of the Peng Clan’s warriors.
He spoke with an urgent expression.
“So you were all here. The Clan Heads are looking for all of you.”
“All of us?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Well, there’s a visitor from the Righteous Alliance.”
“From the Righteous Alliance?”
Everyone’s faces hardened at the news.
A completely unexpected visitor had arrived.