Chapter 1

Thwack!

The sound of a wooden sword hitting the wooden training post echoed across the training ground in the early morning. The sun hadn’t come up, and yet while most people were still sleeping, the same sound could be heard over and over again.

Thwack!

“Haa… Haa…”

The same sound could be heard again, accompanied by the sound of my ragged breathing. I was drenched in sweat. I sighed and tried to calm my breathing as sweat dripped down onto the stone flooring of the training ground. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked at my trembling hand, full of calluses that showed my years of training.

While I took a brief rest, I looked around the training ground. My surroundings were so dark, I could barely see anything. The air was still cold, but I barely felt it. My early morning training had properly warmed up my body.

Once my breathing had calmed down, I tightened my hand around the hilt of the wooden sword and started taking my stance again.

Thwack!

I continued my training for some time.

…

The pale light of the sun had risen, marking the start of the day. Many servants of the Cheon Clan, a prestigious orthodox martial family based in Anhui Province that was known for its swordsmanship, had started running around the estate doing their tasks. I had just finished cleaning myself of all the sweat and dirt from my early morning training. I wore a white robe with dark blue trim, the customary clothing of the clan’s main family.

After I made sure I was presentable, I made my way to the dining room to have breakfast with both of my parents.

On the way to the dining room, I passed through the clan’s main hall. The giant oak pillars carved with the motifs of dragons coiling around a sword were made to inspire awe and to be a reminder of the Cheon Clan’s generational wish, the wish that the founder of the Cheon Clan martial family had, which had been passed down for over 200 years.

I thought differently.

To me, the clan’s main hall felt more like an arena. It was a place where the main and branch families met whenever the main family hosted an event and where the clan’s internal political fights began.

I quickened my pace. I didn’t want to keep my parents waiting, and I’d rather not stay in the main hall for too long.

Not long after, I arrived right in front of the door to the dining room. I straightened my robes and then slid open the door to the side and walked in as I greeted my parents.

“Good morning, Father, Mother.”

My father, Cheon Hyeon-Seok, the head of the clan, sat with his back straight. Even when he was having breakfast and maintaining proper manners, the aura around him made it obvious that he wasn’t a man who could be underestimated.

He was someone who got the nickname Eastern Dragon during his youth after he annihilated a battalion of the Blood Sect during the war 25 years ago.

“Hm.”

My father acknowledged my greeting with a light hum as I took a seat. Plates of hot steaming dishes were laid out on the table. My mother, Lady Baek, the wife of the patriarch, slid over a plate of freshly steamed meat dumplings.

“You were up early again, Hwi.”

My mother said softly, a look of concern on her face. Her eyes moved towards my hands that already had new scars.

“Don’t you think you’re training too hard, Hwi? Rest is an important part of training too. If you don’t take care of yourself first you will collapse.”

“I understand, mother. But don’t worry, I still take proper rest between training.”

My father, who had been quiet since the start, began to speak.

“How’s the progress of your training?”

The question set a subtle heavy feeling around the table, especially on me. It was a very normal question and the tone my father asked me in was devoid of any displeasure. The weight I felt on my shoulders was the weight of expectation my father had on me as his son and also the heir of the clan.

“It’s still the same, father. I had no problem doing the movement, but my inner energy just doesn’t flow properly.”

“Hm.”

My father still maintained his composed look on his face, but there was a slight worry in his eyes.

“I wonder what’s wrong? Hwi always practiced properly and we even have called famous physicians to examine his body, to find if there was anything wrong, but even the Divine Physician doesn’t know what the problem is.”

My mother said while sighing. She was worried about her son who trained himself so hard every day but saw no improvement in his condition.

My father opened his mouth again.

“How old are you right now, Hwi?”

“I just turned twelve the other day, father.”

“Hm…”

The look of worry in his eyes became even more obvious as my father stopped talking.

“What about it, dear? You look like you have something to say. Is there a problem?”

My mother asked. Seeing my father, who always looked stoic, show his worried face made her worry too, especially because it was something about me.

“The elders are restless. Most of them think that Hwi is not suitable to be the heir of the clan and some of them have started to nominate Seolhwa to replace Hwi as the heir of the clan.”

Hearing that, both my mother and I looked at my father. My mother was the first to speak out.

“What!? What right do those old men have to push a child from the branch family to replace Hwi!? For 200 years, it’s always been the son of the clan’s Patriarch who succeeds the Patriarch!”

“Their justification is because Hwi has not shown any improvement in his martial arts and also because of the clan’s wish that has been passed down for generations.”

My father looked over at me and asked.

“Hwi, what is the wish of the Cheon Clan?”

I had been keeping quiet until then, but I began to speak.

“To surpass the Namgung family and become the best sword family in Murim.”

Hearing my answer, my father nodded.

“That’s right. It’s a wish that our founder, the Sword King Cheon Mu-Jin, had. To defeat his lifetime rival, Namgung Tae-Hyun. That wish had been passed down for over 200 years all the way to this generation.”

My father paused for a bit, letting that sink in before continuing.

“To realize that wish, we need strength and naturally, the leader of the clan must be the strongest. That’s the justification of the elders.”

I could only bite down my lips. I knew that the elders were right. But because I understood their logic, I felt even more frustrated by my own lack of talent.

My mother still protested to my father. She told him that she would talk to the elders herself, but my father managed to stop her.

Seeing the frustrated look on my face, my father could only sigh quietly and spoke.

“Not all of the elders agreed to have Seolhwa replace Hwi. The elders’ opinions are split in half. Half of them support it while the other supports Hwi.”

My father looked me in the eye and continued.

“To solve this problem, the elders decided that a duel between Hwi and Seolhwa must take place. If Hwi wins then he keeps his position and if Seolhwa wins…”

My father paused a little bit.

“…then Seolhwa will replace Hwi and become the heir of the Cheon Clan.”

…

That night, after I finished with my training and cleaned up, I laid down on my bed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the announcement my father made this morning.

The fact that I could lose the position I had held since birth, losing the goal I had been striving for my entire life, felt like some kind of a nightmare. But what I couldn’t stand the most was the idea that my parents would be disappointed in me if I lost.

I tried to remember who Seolhwa was. She was a girl two years younger than me from the branch family of the Cheon Clan. She was the daughter of my uncle, Cheon Seong-Ho.

In the Cheon Clan, if the patriarch has two sons, then one will become the patriarch and the other one will become a part of the branch family. After Cheon Seong-Ho lost the succession right to my father, he left the main family, got married and had a daughter, Cheon Seolhwa.

Cheon Seolhwa was a very talented girl. She learned what others needed a year to learn in only a week. When she was being taught one thing, she could figure out twenty other things. Her understanding of martial arts was much more advanced than kids her age, and her control over her internal energy was impeccable.

Even the speed at which she grew her dantian was unreal. While normally kids her age only have a dantian that can hold 3 years of internal energy, her dantian can hold 5 years of internal energy.

Simply put, Cheon Seolhwa was a genius.

And now, I, who was the complete opposite of her, had to somehow win in a duel with her.

I looked back to what my father had said after breakfast.

“The duel will happen in a week. Make thorough preparations. Hwi.”

My father said that as he stood up and walked out of the dining room to his own office.

“A week, huh?”

“There’s no other choice I have other than doing my best…”

“That’s all I can do anyway.”