Translator: Nox
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Echoes of the Fallen
#1
Word of Peng Hyeon-do’s duel spread like wildfire.
Not just through Hubei — but across the central plains.
A young martial artist, mastering lost techniques.
Defeating elites.
Drawing in wanderers.
The name Peng was being whispered again.
With awe — and with fear.
In a smoky teahouse far from the Peng Sect, two men sipped quietly.
One wore white robes. The other, a tattered hood.
“Is it true?” the hooded one asked.
“The Thunderforce has returned?”
The other nodded slowly.
“And the boy?”
“Alive. Growing.”
The hooded man chuckled.
“Well then. I suppose it’s time I paid him a visit.”
#2
Meanwhile, at the Peng Sect—
Hyeon-do stood before the archive vault.
The Clan Head had granted him access to the **Sealed Techniques Room**.
A chamber reserved for only the most trusted elders.
Inside were scrolls thought lost.
Manuals too dangerous to be practiced.
And secrets buried in dust.
He stepped inside.
Rows of shelves. Sealed boxes.
Aura thick with old qi.
[“Pick carefully,”] Mu-hyeok whispered. [“Some of these arts carry curses.”]
“I’m not interested in arts.”
“No?”
“I’m looking for records.”
Historical scrolls.
Maps.
Mentions of sects and enemies long forgotten.
He found one.
A faded journal bound in black silk.
Its title:
**Records of the Five Fallen Clans.**
#3
Later that evening, Hyeon-do laid it out under lamplight.
The journal spoke of five clans once on par with the Wudang and Shaolin.
Each destroyed over the last century.
Not by war.
But by betrayal.
Sabotage.
Internal collapse.
Among them — one stood out.
**Baek Clan of the Western Peaks.**
The author described it as unmatched in medicinal knowledge.
Capable of restoring meridians.
Reversing poison.
Even regenerating lost limbs.
But they were erased.
Poisoned from within.
Their art lost.
Or maybe not.
Hyeon-do closed the journal.
“I’m going west.”
【To be continued in Chapter 24】
