Third-Rate Warrior Who Greets an Uninvited Guest (3)
Gye Cheolyeong tried to enter the annex while carrying a wooden box containing a golden toad.
“It’s better not to go in right now.”
Hong Saryeon, who had peeked her head toward the inside from outside the annex’s outer gate, spoke.
“What do you mean?”
“Senior Brother Jin went in, but the atmosphere seems unusual.”
“That fellow Jin Sowoon came?”
“Yes. He is inside right now.”
“But what do you mean the atmosphere is not good?”
“I don’t know. It feels like walking on thin ice.”
He knew Namgung San had come here because he had business with Jin Sowoon.
But why would the atmosphere between the two of them be bad? Surely, Jin Sowoon, who lacked proper judgment, was making a mistake.
Once that thought came to him, Gye Cheolyeong’s heart grew urgent.
“I said the atmosphere is bad.”
“That is exactly why I should go in. What if that fellow Sowoon makes a mistake?”
“No…”
Before Saryeon could stop him, Gye Cheolyeong went inside.
#
I hate the Murim Alliance.
I especially hate the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families that form the core of the Murim Alliance.
I hate seeing them commit rudeness so naturally, as if they themselves are justice.
They and we do not exist on the same line from the very beginning.
That is why such rude behavior is possible.
“What do you want?”
Namgung San, who had been staring silently for a long while, opened his mouth after a long thought, and I shook my head.
“Nothing.”
“There is no one who wants nothing. I simply do not know what it is that you want.”
“I sincerely hope the entrance pass does not fall into your hands, Great Hero.”
Namgung San had no use for the entrance pass.
He was already an officer of the Murim Alliance who had graduated from the Martial Academy with excellent grades.
Furthermore, he was an elite among elites, belonging to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
The reason he was clinging to the entrance pass this much was probably because of his younger sister, Namgung Seonhwa, who had to enter the Martial Academy this time.
Because of Namgung Sangwon and the branch family, the power of the direct line had weakened, and he must have felt desperate in this situation where he could not use the family’s strength to enter the Martial Academy as he had done in his own time.
That was why I hated him even more.
Because the sight of them cherishing their own family so terribly much gave me chills.
Because seeing them shed tears over wounds on their own palms while caring nothing for our hearts being torn out was utterly disgusting.
“Then…”
Just as Namgung San was about to open his mouth,
“Great Hero Namgung! Are you inside?”
Gye Cheolyeong shouted loudly and entered.
“Great Hero Namgung! I, Gye, have come to pay my respects.”
“…The situation is not very good right now. Let us talk later.”
“Hahaha! What could be bad? Did you have a good conversation with our Sowoon? You! You did not make any mistake toward Great Hero Namgung, did you?”
If Gye Cheolyeong had a tail, it probably would have been moving so fast that it could not be seen.
“Could you step out for a moment?”
“If the words are not getting through to him, please tell me. I will give him a thorough scolding…”
“Listen. Did I not just ask you to leave?”
When that cold gaze pierced Gye Cheolyeong, his expression became like that of a dog abandoned by its master.
“Ah, ah… yes. Th-This is something my father told me to deliver… I will leave. Please continue your conversation.”
Even in the midst of that, Gye Cheolyeong opened the wooden box and showed the golden toad, and I could not help but admire him.
What kind of expression would he make if he found out that even after fawning so much, he would eventually be abandoned by the Murim Alliance?
“Did you see just now? I could have spoken to Gye Cheolyeong. I am being considerate of you like this.”
“Do you call hiding your own weakness consideration?”
“…”
“The moment it becomes known that the entrance pass is in Namgung Seonhwa’s hands, Young Lady Namgung Seonhwa will also become a target of the murim world. Does the Namgung Family currently have the strength to protect the entrance pass?”
“!!!”
For the first time, Namgung San’s face cracked severely.
“How did you…”
“Is there anything more we need to discuss?”
Only then did Namgung San’s face become serious.
I waited for him at ease.
#
After leaving the annex, Gye Cheolyeong huffed and could not hide his frustration.
Hong Saryeon, who knew what must have happened without even seeing it, snorted as if satisfied.
“I told you not to go in.”
“…What is that Jin Sowoon even worth, that he would treat me…”
“Ehew.”
Unable to hold back his anger, Gye Cheolyeong kicked the stones on the ground, then suddenly raised his head as if struck by lightning.
“I must go see the sect leader right now.”
“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
“What is happening inside is not ordinary. Perhaps Jin Sowoon has made a mistake toward the Namgung Family, and the Taeul Sect may fall into danger.”
“Is Senior Brother Jin someone who cannot even make that level of judgment?”
“This is not the time!”
As if something had suddenly become urgent, Gye Cheolyeong began running toward Daehyeon Hall in haste.
#
“…Did you know everything, from the reason I came to what situation I am in?”
“Is that important to you, Great Hero?”
“…No. What matters to me is the entrance pass.”
“I will say it again, but I will not hand over the entrance pass.”
Namgung San shook his head and let out a sigh.
“Then how about this? Let us have a sparring match.”
What on earth was Namgung San talking about?
No matter what was wagered, did he think I would accept that bet?
“You only have to wager one entrance pass. I will wager the Seven-Colored Jewel, this heavenly silk…”
His hand, which had been coming out of his robe, paused for a moment.
Then, in the end, he took out a wooden box.
“And this Great Transformation Pill.”
The Great Transformation Pill was an elixir bestowed only upon direct descendants of the Namgung Family, just like the Steel Guardian Pill.
Its effect was similar to the Snow Plum Pill.
It was that precious, but it could not persuade me.
“Even if you wagered the entire Namgung Family, Senior, do you think I would accept this unreasonable bet?”
“That would depend on the conditions.”
“…”
“You have already refused my offer several times. And yet you kept sitting here. If you truly meant to refuse, should you not have left?”
“Keep talking.”
“I will only use the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art. As for internal energy… how about if I use only three-star internal energy? If you win, I will give you not only the Seven-Colored Jewel, but also the heavenly silk and the Great Transformation Pill.”
If Namgung San’s internal energy was estimated at the highest, it would probably be around sixty years.
That should be similar to the level of heirs of prominent sects.
Three-star of sixty years meant around twenty years.
And the martial art he would use was limited to the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art.
He probably thought he had thrown out a very appetizing bait in his own way.
“You will keep this bet secret, correct?”
As if my answer was completely unexpected, Namgung San opened his eyes wide like a rabbit.
“Even if it is secret, you and I will know, so there must be no breaking it. Because I will collect the price in blood.”
My current internal energy was forty-five years, and recently, through the Secret Palace Unit of the Changgung Merchant Guild, I had proven that the sword-breaking form of the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art was effective.
If I let such a good opportunity slip by, I would be the bigger fool.
“Your answer?”
#
“What does that mean?”
Jin Taesan and Hong Mungi could not understand Gye Cheolyeong’s words as he suddenly burst into Daehyeon Hall and rattled them off.
He was saying something strange, about how Jin Sowoon was somehow provoking Namgung San’s mood, and if things went wrong, a life-and-death enmity might occur, which would harm the Taeul Sect, so they had to hurry and stop them.
To begin with, why would Jin Sowoon provoke Namgung San’s mood, and why would the two of them engage in a life-and-death enmity?
It would be more believable if Jin Sowoon were simply beaten one-sidedly by Namgung San.
His opponent was Namgung San, the Divine Dragon of Creation.
One of the rising experts of the murim world who belonged to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
Even a hundred Jin Sowoons would not be a match for him.
However, Gye Cheolyeong’s protest seemed truly desperate.
“I tried somehow to stop things between the two of them. I even gave him the gift my father told me to deliver, but Great Hero Namgung did not even glance at it and was glaring at Jin Sowoon as if he would kill him. At this rate, something terrible may happen.”
Hong Mungi and Jin Taesan looked at each other and seriously wondered whether they should believe this or not.
It was too dangerous to simply ignore, because if even one thing Gye Cheolyeong said was true, a thunderbolt would fall upon the Taeul Sect.
But to believe it outright, everything from beginning to end was absurd.
“The meeting has gone on for a while, so let us go take a look as if we are taking a walk.”
“Let us do that. In any case, he came as a guest, so we should pay him some attention.”
So Hong Mungi and Jin Taesan walked ahead, with Gye Cheolyeong trailing behind them.
At that moment,
two men were walking from the annex side while giving off an icy air.
Just as Gye Cheolyeong had said, the atmosphere between the two did not look very good.
Amid that, Namgung San met their eyes and gave a slight nod, while Jin Sowoon respectfully gave a fist-and-palm salute.
Jin Taesan hurriedly went to his son and asked,
“Where are you going?”
“To the training ground.”
“The training ground? Why there?”
“Senior Namgung suggested we have a match, so we are on our way.”
Not only Jin Taesan and Hong Mungi, but even Gye Cheolyeong opened their mouths wide.
#
The children who had been practicing individually in the training ground were the first to learn of it and emptied the training ground.
The children who came down from the training ground scattered throughout the Taeul Sect and told their friends the news of the sparring match, and the hall masters and deputy hall masters who heard it beside them passed the word on to others. Eventually, the words reached the Elders’ Hall, and it took less than two quarters of an hour for all the people of the Taeul Sect to gather at the training ground.
“Wow.”
“They said he is the eldest young master of the Namgung Family, right?”
“That person is the Divine Dragon of Creation.”
“But why is he sparring with our Senior Brother Jin?”
The chattering voices of young disciples could be heard from every direction.
To them, he was an existence like a hero flying through the sky.
Since they were seeing a person they might not meet even once in their entire lives, it was only natural that they found it fascinating and were curious.
“Taesan, what happened?”
“They say they agreed to a sparring match. Under the condition that Namgung San only uses the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art and part of his internal energy.”
“Why?”
“I do not know.”
“Will the children not end up greatly disappointed at this rate?”
There was no way the Taeul Sect’s martial arts could withstand the martial arts of the Namgung Family.
The wall of reality was that high, but when young children learned that, did they not become even more disappointed than adults?
Shrrrng.
When Namgung San’s sword was drawn, the noisy training ground fell silent in an instant.
I also drew my sword after him and unfolded the opening stance.
“Since I have placed restrictions on myself, there is no need for me to yield, right?”
“Begin.”
Before I could even finish speaking, a refreshing breeze tickled the tip of my nose.
I quickly lowered my head and dodged Namgung San’s sword. At the same time, I unfolded the Small Heaven Sword Art.
Clang!
“““Waaah!”””
Having only seen the dry and plain sword of the Taeul Sect, the children burst into exclamations on their own when they saw the dazzling Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art, and the adults restrained those children.
Clang, clang, clang.
In an instant, we exchanged three techniques.
The Small Heaven Sword Art was clearly faster, yet Namgung San’s Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art had no opening to dig into.
“You seem to have gathered… quite a bit of internal energy. But is that all there is to your sword art? It is a sword art insufficient for pouring out internal energy.”
“Are you relaxed enough to give advice?”
Namgung San’s sword rushed in again.
The sword split into three branches and came in sharply, aiming only for vital points.
I quickly unfolded the sword-breaking form.
Clang!
In that instant, Namgung San’s eyes shook violently, and his technique was cut off midway.
“!!!”
After briefly glancing at his own sword, Namgung San began unfolding his sword art again.
Perhaps he had already realized sword energy, because a faint blue-green sword energy dwelled in his sword.
I poured plenty of energy into my blue steel sword so that I would not be pushed back by the sword energy.
Clang! Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Fragments of the blue steel sword flew in all directions.
Namgung San’s sword did not budge.
After exchanging another dozen or so moves, the sword that had been cutting toward my waist was blocked by the sword-breaking form and turned back just like that.
“…”
The moment Namgung San stopped, once again puzzled,
I took two steps forward and began driving Namgung San back.
Clang, clang, clang.
Namgung San struck away the sword at a speed barely visible to the eye.
Though he blocked all of the Small Heaven Sword Art, a swift sword art, Namgung San had been pushed back seven steps from where he had first stood.
“Waaah!”
“Waaah!”
The adults were so absorbed in the sparring that they did not even think to restrain the children.
“What on earth…”
Namgung San wore a look of disbelief, just like the adults of the Taeul Sect.
To begin with, it was a technique meant to attack the weakness of that martial art, so unless Namgung San had reinterpreted the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art into his own sword art, there was no way for him to block it.
Namgung San had achieved accomplishments far superior to his peers, but he was not yet at that level.
Slice.
The first one to allow a sword strike was Namgung San.
His sleeve was cut off and fell onto the training ground.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
“Waaaaah!”
When the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art did not work, Namgung San launched attacks without fixed techniques.
Even if the Small Heaven Sword Art was a basic sword art, it was not so weak that it would be pushed back by the formless attacks of someone who had not even surpassed the peak level.
Then, when he used the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art, I unfolded the sword-breaking form.
As if there was nothing else he could do, he tried to push forward with internal energy, but could forty-five years of internal energy possibly be pushed back by twenty years of internal energy?
“…Just what trick are you pulling?”
“Are you saying the same thing as Seong Mohyeon, Senior?”
“…”
“Is it absolutely impossible that your own skill is lacking?”
I began unfolding the breaking form of the Small Heaven Sword Art.
My momentum grew stronger, and killing intent surged.
Shhk, slice.
At last, Namgung San’s sword began to fail to keep up with the Small Heaven Sword Art.
The hems of Namgung San’s clothes were torn here and there, and his once neat appearance began to fall apart.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—
After we exchanged more than twenty moves in an instant, Namgung San had been pushed to the edge of the training ground.
I swung my sword desperately, as though I were standing in the middle of a battlefield facing a demonic practitioner.
The difference from back then was that my dantian was pouring out internal energy without pause, and because of that, my sword was being swung more powerfully than ever before.
Tang! Tang!
Each time Namgung San’s sword and my sword collided, a dull sound rang out like a hammer striking an anvil.
Tang!
Then, in one instant, Namgung San’s sword was pushed back, and his body was left wide open.
Without delay, I cut in as if severing the neck of a demonic practitioner.
Bang!
The moment my sword cut in, with a tremendous impact sound, my body floated into the air and fell into the center of the training ground.
-------!
----------!!
The arena, which had been filled with cheers, cooled as if cold water had been poured over it.
Namgung San’s eyes were shaking violently, as if he himself was flustered by what he had done.
“Did you not clearly say you would only use the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art?”
The final strike had been the Imperial Sword Art.
The strongest sword art of the Namgung Family, passed down only to the direct line.
And it was not a strike containing three-star power, but probably a strike containing power of five-star or more.
“H-He won!”
“He won!”
Someone began shouting that, and the children, who had been confused, also began cheering together.
“Haha…”
Namgung San laughed hollowly.
“I lost.”
Namgung San shook his head and said,
“The entrance pass is yours.”
“And the heavenly silk, the Great Transformation Pill, and the Seven-Colored Jewel as well.”
Namgung San let out an empty laugh.
“Fine.”
Using the entrance pass as bait, I had obtained the Great Transformation Pill, followed by the heavenly silk and the Seven-Colored Jewel.
Heavenly silk was a precious item no less rare than the Great Transformation Pill. My blue steel sword was also nearing the end of its lifespan, and it was about time to visit Old Man Wang, the craftsman, so I had obtained a good item.
While I was making pleasant plans for the future, Namgung San spoke.
“But the sparring will continue.”
“Pardon?”
“I should have realized it when the chief strategist told me. That you were not an ordinary person. It was probably not a coincidence that I was taken from like this either, was it?”
I could not tell what Namgung San wanted at all.
“Even if I lost the bet, I must not lose the sparring. That is the reason I am Namgung Family.”
A lofty pride was not maintained by itself.
It was maintained only by clinging to it and striving endlessly to uphold it.
Namgung San began swinging his sword again as if it were only natural.
Now, as if the restriction on internal energy no longer mattered, Namgung San poured out even more internal energy.
“Now that I see it, you were hiding quite a lot of internal energy.”
As his internal energy became overwhelmingly greater, Namgung San’s movements grew even faster.
I unfolded the sword-breaking form of the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art with all my strength.
Swaeek!
Boom!
Namgung San’s internal energy was overwhelming, but the sword-breaking form definitely worked.
This time as well, Namgung San looked quite surprised, but he soon began swinging the Imperial Sword Art.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each time the Imperial Sword Art was swung, my body floated up from the ground.
It was heavier and sharper than the heavy sword I had endured from the Iron Sword Sect.
‘Damn it.’
Jegal Cheon’s converted Jegal’s Three Forms had been the murim world’s final choice to respond to the Demonic Cult, but not all of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families agreed with that idea.
They thought that whenever the Demonic Cult disappeared and the time came for the Murim Alliance to rule the murim world, Jegal’s Three Forms would soon become a shackle around their own ankles. So aside from their major martial arts, they did not convert lethal martial arts like the Imperial Sword Art into Jegal’s Three Forms.
“This is getting more and more interesting. Can you not receive the Imperial Sword Art?”
“Say something that makes sense. How am I supposed to block the Namgung Family’s secret art, which is not even well known to the world, without any internal energy restriction?”
“For that, you block the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art far too well. Do you perhaps know its weakness?”
“If I knew that, would I be getting beaten around like this?”
Namgung San did not seem to accept my excuse easily.
The way he alternated between testing the Imperial Sword Art and the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art as if testing something brought me a sense of crisis that my bottom might be exposed at this rate.
‘I need to end this quickly.’
Fortunately, the Imperial Sword Art was slowly beginning to become familiar to my eyes.
I kicked off the ground and rushed toward him.
“—!”
At my sudden momentum, he hurriedly withdrew the Boundless Blue Sky Sword Art and tried to unfold the Imperial Sword Art.
At that moment,
I poured all the internal energy I had scraped up from the very bottom into my left hand. My left hand trembled under the surging energy.
‘After thrusting toward the vital point, it returns to the lower left again.’
After desperately letting the sword flow along the Imperial Sword Art technique I had memorized in my head, I grabbed with my hand the blade of his sword that was trying to return to its original position.
Puk! Pshhh!
Namgung San’s sword was instantly stained with blood.
The blood bursting from my palm soaked Namgung San’s clothes and mine.
“…Madman!”
While Namgung San was so flustered that he could not even pull out his sword, I placed my sword against his neck.
Drip. Drip.
The blood flowing from my hand ran down Namgung San’s sword and fell to the ground.
“Will you continue?”
“…”
Namgung San did not answer.
For the first time, his face had turned pale as if he could not believe it.
Instead, the young disciples shouted cheers as if they might faint.
This time, the hall masters joined them as well.
Waaaaah!
Waaaaah!
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