Their ancestor, a man named Cheol Yong-bi who first learned the sect’s secret arts from a Kongtong Taoist, was a master formidable enough to have once been ranked among the Ten Great Masters of the Central Plains.
He was a righteous warrior who garnered much attention for his novel-like tale of a fateful encounter with the man known as the Eccentric of Kongtong, Taoist Dohwan.
With his outstanding sense of justice and having learned the secret arts from Taoist Dohwan—the most senior figure among the Kongtong Taoists of the previous generation—he became the sect leader’s senior, drawing interest from all corners.
After making a name for himself through countless heroic deeds while roaming the Central Plains, he settled in Anhui, marking the beginning of what was now the Iron Family.
And so, it had been for thirteen generations.
For over three hundred years, the Iron Family had been rooted in Anhui.
As the inheritors of one of the martial lineages from Kongtong’s secret arts, the Iron Family was the most influential of all the secular families.
Strangely enough, the Iron Family experienced its greatest growth during the fifteen years when the Nine Great Sects were sealed away.
This was because the Namgung Family, once one of the Central Plains’ greatest families and unrivaled in Anhui, had secluded themselves along with the Nine Great Sects, leaving the numerous interests in Anhui up for the taking.
The Iron Family had split all these interests with the Unorthodox Faction.
Now boasting a power so immense that it could rightfully be called a great family, the Iron Family commanded a presence in Anhui that rivaled even the Namgung Family.
Furthermore, they were the sole inheritors of the Wall-Shattering Sword, a technique that was considered lost within the Kongtong Sect itself. Though a secular family of Kongtong, they were a martial house with considerable influence, one that even the Kongtong Sect could not treat lightly.
Cheol Dong-ho, the youngest son of the Iron Family, who had lived like a king with nothing to fear in Anhui, felt an instinctual dislike for the child before him.
Wherever he went in Anhui, children his age always treated him the same way.
It made no difference whether they were common children from the neighborhood or the scions of martial or scholarly families.
Accustomed to others approaching him with fawning subservience, trying to curry his favor and build a connection without ever offending him, encountering someone who held their head high and presented him with logic was a foreign experience.
That unfamiliar feeling, one he had never experienced before, was by no means pleasant.
Something hot churned in his stomach, and though he couldn’t explain it logically, he felt intensely irritated.
“How fortunate. However, I fail to see why your older brother is being brought up now.”
At the remark from a child who looked two or three years younger than him, a thick, unchildlike vein bulged on Cheol Dong-ho’s forehead.
“So! Just get on your knees and say, ‘I’m sorry!’ properly!”
At the command to kneel, No-sak nearly lost his reason for a moment.
To a warrior, kneeling was a matter of pride.
If Soyeon had spoken just a fraction of a second later, No-sak’s iron staff would have smashed the head of the Iron Family’s ugly, loud-mouthed youngest son.
“I think he’s a little slow. We can’t reason with him, let’s just go.”
Dojin nodded at Soyeon’s words.
“You seem to be quite upset. Let’s talk when you’ve cleared your head. We’re staying in the guest hall over there. You should have no trouble finding us if you look for the Yeomhwa Family.”
The moment Dojin and Soyeon turned to leave after saying this.
-Ah!
-That, that!
Cheol Dong-ho charged at the back of the retreating Dojin.
-Whoosh!
Cheol Dong-ho’s fist cut through the air with a sound belying a child’s punch, heading straight for the back of Dojin’s head.
Just as No-sak, who had turned back, was about to thrust his iron staff.
Dojin lightly bent at the waist, dodging his opponent’s fist.
“You little!”
Simultaneously, Soyeon shot out her leg and lunged at Cheol Dong-ho.
She elegantly executed the kicking arts she had learned while building her foundation with Elder Jo.
-Pababat! Pabat!
After a brief exchange of two moves, the two children separated.
Cheol Dong-ho scowled at Soyeon, his arm tingling from her kicks, and glared at her.
Seeing Cheol Dong-ho glare at Soyeon with his narrow, freckle-dusted eyes, No-sak found it difficult to suppress the urge to beat the boy to death.
‘Family Head. Must I really endure this?’
“The, the Seven Wounds Fist?! Young Master! Are you alright?!!!”
Masok had somehow recognized the technique unleashed from Cheol Dong-ho’s hands.
It was no easy feat for an ordinary person with no knowledge of martial arts to identify a technique from just a few movements.
But for Masok, the first three moves of the Seven Wounds Fist were absolutely unforgettable.
After all, they were the demonic techniques that had shattered Mujin’s once-bright future long ago.
The image of the Seven Wounds Fist, unleashed by Cheong Bo-do’s hands and striking Mujin’s head, was still vivid in Masok’s mind.
“I wasn’t hit, so I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”
Unlike before, Dojin’s brow was furrowed and his eyes had narrowed. His voice, like his expression, had changed completely.
Seeing Dojin begin to exude the aura of a martial artist, Masok clutched his chest in relief.
For a moment, his vision had gone yellow, terrified that Dojin might follow in Mujin’s footsteps.
“Attacking from behind… Are you even a man of the righteous path?”
Soyeon lifted her throbbing ankle, which felt like it had kicked a stone, up to her face and massaged it as she spoke.
“Step back. I’ll handle him.”
Seeing Dojin’s voice drop low, Soyeon frowned.
‘This blockhead gets reckless when he’s angry.’
Unlike the inflexible Dojin, Soyeon was quick-witted.
It was obvious that their opponent had come looking for a fight.
Believing that nothing good would come from engaging in this fight, win or lose, she grabbed the hem of Dojin’s clothes and spoke.
“Hold back. For now. Big Brother and Master aren’t here. We can’t fight recklessly in the middle of the Shaolin Temple. Big Brother could get into trouble if we’re not careful.”
Her words brought the irrational Dojin back to his senses.
He could handle anything else, but he couldn’t create a situation that would trouble his brother.
“Hmph. Using your fists from behind is not the act of a righteous man! There are many eyes watching. You should be ashamed!”
With that, the two children turned their bodies to avoid Cheol Dong-ho.
No-sak kept his eyes fixed on the boy, in case he decided to attack again.
‘If you charge this time, I’ll be sure to crack that skull of yours.’
Just as his deeply suppressed killing intent was about to leak out, Cheol Dong-ho spoke.
“To think a nobody who got lucky and became a master overnight is the Family Head! My father is far greater than some Mad Arts practitioner…”
Cheol Dong-ho’s words were cut short.
Before No-sak could move, Dojin and Soyeon had already sprung into action.
To the two children, Mujin was an absolute existence.
When Cheol Dong-ho crossed that line and insulted Mujin, the two children saw nothing else.
Even if this was the Shaolin Temple, or somewhere even more sacred, they could not tolerate an insult to Mujin—the Head of the Yeomhwa Family, their older brother.
Soyeon lunged forward, a step faster than Dojin. Cheol Dong-ho, wary of her kicks, lowered his stance.
But contrary to his expectation, Soyeon thrust out a palm and closed in on him.
‘A palm technique?’
Just as he parried Soyeon’s palm with both hands and prepared to unleash the Seven Wounds Fist, Soyeon’s form had already circled to his side.
-Papak! Pshk!
“Keuk!”
Though she used no internal energy, Soyeon’s swift palm strikes, delivered as she rapidly circled to his flank, struck Cheol Dong-ho in the chest, causing him to stagger backward.
-Ooh!
-Is that the Floating Snow Heavenly Cloud Palm of Emei?
-Why is a child of the Yeomhwa Family using an Emei Sect technique?
Before the surprised murmurs of the crowd could even fade, Dojin leaped toward the retreating Cheol Dong-ho.
-Pabat!
Having deflected all the incoming paths of the Seven Wounds Fist beforehand, Dojin thrust his leg deep between his opponent’s legs, closing the distance completely.
Cheol Dong-ho panicked as Dojin stuck to him at point-blank range.
-Pak!
The moment he panicked, Cheol Dong-ho staggered.
Dojin had tapped both of Cheol Dong-ho’s knees with his own.
To the onlookers, it looked like a light tap, but to the one whose inner knees were struck, the pain was like being hit with a steel hammer, as if his kneecaps were shattering.
‘Wh-what kind of knees are these…’
Deciding he couldn’t be pushed back like this, Cheol Dong-ho tried to throw the Seven Wounds Fist again.
But with an unstable lower body, there was no way his fist could carry any real power.
-Crack! Crack!
“Kuaaack!”
A scream erupted from Cheol Dong-ho’s mouth as Dojin precisely smashed his incoming fist with his own.
As Cheol Dong-ho screamed and collapsed, the index and middle fingers that formed the core of his fist now broken, Soyeon and Dojin looked down on him.
“There are some things people should never say.”
“Big Brother said so. Things that aren’t human don’t need to be treated like humans.”
Cheol Dong-ho looked up tearfully at the two children staring down at him with cold expressions.
In his vision, he saw the soles of the two children’s shoes as they lifted their feet.
-Oh my.
-Goodness.
-Heavens!
Lifting their feet, Soyeon and Dojin began to mercilessly stomp on Cheol Dong-ho like common thugs.
All reason had already vanished from the two children’s minds.
Just as the bodyguards were about to leap forward to save Cheol Dong-ho from the two children.
-Thud.
“When a kids’ fight becomes a grown-ups’ fight, you all could die.”
The bodyguards couldn’t move a single step as No-sak, who had approached at some point, draped an arm over their shoulders and pressed down firmly.
No-sak was casually slinging his arms around their shoulders, playfully twirling his iron staff with his fingers.
Each time his staff grazed the tips of the bodyguards’ chins, cold sweat trickled down their backs.
‘He’s a master.’
‘One we can’t handle.’
-Thwack! Thump! Whack! Whack!
The two children stomped on Cheol Dong-ho without mercy.
None of the martial artists watching from the sidelines could intervene in the ruthless display of the two children, who had clearly been influenced by the Four Demons.
In the first place, even if it was a children’s fight, it was a matter between the powerhouse of Anhui, the Iron Family, and the rising phoenix of Xichang, the Yeomhwa Family.
The world of martial arts was a place where meddling carelessly could get one caught in the crossfire.
The onlookers could only think that the hands of the two young children from the Yeomhwa Family were surprisingly fierce.
The eldest son of the Iron Family, who had been watching from a distance, shook his head and walked away.
“St-stop! I-I was wrong! No! I apologize!”
Only after the words of apology left Cheol Dong-ho’s mouth did the two children’s feet stop.
Soyeon dusted off her hands and looked down at the battered Cheol Dong-ho, then spoke.
“Don’t you ever mention our big brother with that mouth of yours again!”
With a bloody nose and badly swollen eyes, Cheol Dong-ho nodded his head vigorously.
It was the first time in his life he had suffered such pain at the hands of another.
The boy, who thought he was accustomed to physical pain from his training, had his illusion shattered that day.
Experiencing the pain and terror of violence for the very first time, Cheol Dong-ho couldn’t escape the overwhelming shock. Even after Soyeon and Dojin had turned away, he continued to tremble, tears streaming down his face.
“It’s over.”
With those words, No-sak, who had been pinning them down, stepped aside, and the heavy pressure on the bodyguards vanished.
“Hah! Hah!”
“Haa… haa…”
Freed from the pressure, they gasped for breath, finally able to move properly.
With the commotion over, the children turned their steps toward the Yijo Hermitage, which they had planned to visit.
No-sak followed behind them.
“We’re going to get scolded by Big Brother, aren’t we?”
“He was the one who crossed the line, so I don’t think we’ll be scolded. Master said so too. As walkers of the righteous path, there are lines that must never be crossed. He said we must always be careful about speaking carelessly about other families or sects.”
“Still, there were a lot of people watching, and the place wasn’t good.”
As the two children and No-sak walked and talked, a voice stopped them.
“Where do you think you’re going after beating someone up like that?”
At the cold voice, the three of them stopped in their tracks once more.
Cheol Yong-un, the eldest son of the Iron Family and a renowned warrior in Anhui known by the title Single Sword of Anhui, clicked his tongue as he looked at his younger brother, who was a mess of tears and snot.
“Tsk, tsk.”
He never imagined his youngest brother, the darling of the family, would end up in such a state at the hands of some children from the baseless Yeomhwa Family.
“A son of the Iron Family, showing tears? Get up.”
As he spoke, he glared at Cheol Dong-ho’s bodyguards, who finally started to help the boy up and tend to him.
No-sak looked at Cheol Yong-un, who was clearly emitting a sharp aura, and tightened his grip on his iron staff.
He could tell just from the aura.
‘He’s no weaker than me.’
Looking down at Mujin’s two young siblings for a moment, No-sak grit his teeth and prepared to fight.
If the worst were to happen, he had to protect Mujin’s siblings.
“We did nothing wrong.”
Dojin took a step forward and said confidently.
“To beat someone into that state and claim you did nothing wrong. How amusing. Does that mean it’s only wrong if you kill them?”
At Cheol Yong-un’s words, Soyeon spoke up this time.
“That boy insulted our family first, so he got what he deserved!”
“So a couple of verbal missteps would justify murder, is that it? I thought the Yeomhwa Family was a family of the righteous path.”
He called his own brother’s actions a mistake while harping on the excessive force used by his opponents, leaving the two children, who had little experience in the martial world, speechless.
Looking at the children, Cheol Yong-un raised his voice.
“To gang up on one person and then, knowing no shame, continue to strike a defeated opponent. Tsk, tsk, tsk. What kind of upbringing did you have? For a family of the righteous path, your education is in shambles! I must go and take this up with the Head of the Yeomhwa Family myself!”
The original plan was for his younger brother to defeat the Yeomhwa Family’s children in front of a large crowd. If the Head of the Yeomhwa Family came to complain, he would provoke him by asking if he was going to make a big deal out of a children’s fight.
But now that things had gone awry, he still had to wrap things up properly.
‘In any case, as long as I defeat the Hidden Dragon of Sichuan, people will only remember his defeat.’
No sooner had he finished that thought than a voice was heard.
“Go ahead and take it up with me.”
At the low, heavy voice, Cheol Yong-un turned his gaze to see a man with a handsome face in worn martial arts attire.
Mujin, who had been enjoying a nap, had been dragged here by a frantic Masok, only to find someone lecturing his siblings on their upbringing. He was now considerably enraged.
“I said, take it up with me!”
