A Matter of Conviction
Had he provoked him a bit too much?
Well, it couldn't be helped. Namgung Seong was already moving, which meant this single exchange would bring the spar to an end. In that case, Yun had no choice but to hammer in all seven remaining debts in one go.
Namgung In raised his sword high, the heavy, oppressive aura unique to the Daeyeon Sword Art rolling off him in waves. Namgung Yun swung his blade in answer, guiding it along the subtle, fluid principles of the Hyocheon Sword Art.
Namgung In scoffed internally.
With nothing more than the Hyocheon Sword Art?!
Both were introductory martial arts of the Namgung Clan, but even within foundational arts, there existed a clear hierarchy. There was no conceivable way the Hyocheon Sword Art could overcome the Daeyeon Sword Art. Yet his sneer morphed into sheer horror in the very next breath.
The Sword Energy that surged across Namgung Yun's blade suddenly condensed, drawn tight until it transformed into razor-thin filaments.
Sword Thread?!
It made no sense. There was no way this pathetic excuse of a man could have surpassed him and stepped into the First-rate realm.
He must be bluffing! That can't possibly be Sword Thread!
In the end, Namgung In rejected reality entirely.
Whatever trick that is, the forms are still the Hyocheon Sword Art. I can break it!
Desperately tracking the trajectory of Yun's blade, his eyes went wide.
What... in the world...?
Something was horribly wrong. Those weren't the movements of the Hyocheon Sword Art—or rather, not the Hyocheon Sword Art he knew. It looked almost like...
The demonstration the Clan Head gave us?
A hollow laugh nearly escaped his lips. How could this disgrace of the clan possess an attainment so profound that, even with a basic sword art, it evoked the image of the great Clan Head himself?
Sword Thread. And a level of mastery that mirrored the patriarch.
Ah. I see.
Watching blankly as Yun's sword shattered his own strike into pieces, Namgung In arrived at the exact same conclusion that Namgung Geol had reached days before—the very conclusion he had so mercilessly mocked.
It's a nightmare.
The last thing he saw was Namgung Yun's fist hurtling toward him, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.
Crash!
Namgung In's body rolled across the dirt in a pitiful heap.
"In!"
Namgung Seong dashed over in a panic, checking the boy's breathing before pressing his fingers to his pulse. Fortunately, the injuries were not life-threatening. There was minor internal damage, but a few doses of medicine and several days of rest would suffice to heal it.
His outward appearance, however, was ghastly.
Both his eyes and cheeks were swollen purple, blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and it was a miracle he hadn't lost half his teeth. Dark bruises mottled every inch of exposed skin. To anyone looking, it was the unmistakable portrait of someone who had suffered a brutal, one-sided thrashing. And yet, remarkably, there were no fractured bones or ruptured viscera.
It bore the clear, meticulous malice of an attack designed entirely to inflict maximum pain and utter humiliation.
Namgung Seong glared up at the culprit.
"Ptoo!"
Namgung Yun spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground. The final clash had rattled his own vitals as well.
Tsk. Trying to pay back seven blows at once was pushing it.
Worse, he hadn't even managed to settle the full tally; he had fallen about two strikes short.
Not like I can walk over and punch him while he's down, either.
He had to let it go. Still, this should be enough to stop anyone from picking pointless fights with him from now on—both this fool and the rest of the peanut gallery.
Yun swept his gaze across the onlookers. Some stood with their jaws slack, others stared with trembling pupils, while a few were simply frozen stiff, each processing the shock in their own way.
"...Was that Sword Thread?" Namgung Seong asked, his voice strained.
"What else did it look like?"
"Have you... stepped into the First-rate realm?"
"Not completely. My physical body is lagging far behind."
To truly advance to the next realm, one's enlightenment, internal qi, and physical vessel had to harmonize as one. Yun's enlightenment transcended the First-rate realm by an insurmountable margin, but his internal energy had barely crossed the threshold, while his physical body had yet to even shed the limits of a Third-rate martial artist. He had simply forced the technique through using sheer comprehension and decent skeletal structure.
That was precisely why a move like 'Seven Blows in One' had inflicted internal recoil upon himself. Thus, even if he had set foot into the First-rate realm, Yun didn't think much of it. In fact, even if all the conditions had been met perfectly, his reaction would have been the same.
What's the big deal about reaching First-rate, anyway?
For everyone else, however, it was an entirely different story.
"First-rate? Namgung Yun is First-rate?!"
"I-Is that for real?"
"That's insane..."
Every disciple gathered in the Intermediate Training Ground was a Second-rate martial artist. The barrier to the First-rate realm was not something one could overcome simply by grinding away mindlessly over time. Naturally, most of the youths here harbored the quiet dread that they might never breach that wall at all. Yet here was Namgung Yun—someone who had trailed pathetically behind them for years—stepping into the First-rate realm before any of them.
"When did this happen?" Namgung Seong pressed.
"Not long ago."
"Just how on earth did you—"
Namgung Seong caught himself and clamped his mouth shut. He realized he was in no position to interrogate Namgung Yun like this. While asking such questions was not entirely out of place for a clan elder, Namgung Yun occupied an exceedingly delicate position within the family.
Abandoning his line of inquiry, Namgung Seong designated one of the disciples to carry Namgung In to the Medical Pavilion, then turned to restore order to the grounds.
"The spar is over! Return to your training at once!"
The gathered disciples slowly dispersed back to their posts, though the atmosphere remained profoundly unsettled. When even seasoned masters would have had their composure rattled by such a display, it was only natural that these green youths could not focus. Namgung Seong was no exception.
"...Should you not visit the Medical Pavilion as well?"
"No need."
The bruises ached fiercely, but they were hardly severe enough to warrant bed rest. Claiming a corner of the grounds for himself, Namgung Yun began swinging his blade once more.
Not a single soul dared to disturb him.
Finally, some peace and quiet to train.
Basking in the awkward silence, Namgung Yun calmly continued his practice.
Namgung Yun had defeated Namgung In.
The news took almost no time to sweep through the entire Namgung Clan, throwing the clan estate into absolute turmoil.
"What? In lost to who?!"
"Namgung Yun?"
"Not from an ambush, but in a formal spar?"
"He even used Sword Thread?!"
This was fundamentally different from his victory over Namgung Geol. For someone of Yun's age, beating Geol was within the realm of possibility, but Namgung In was another matter entirely.
Who was Namgung In? He was a prodigy who had stood out from the moment he first touched martial arts, blowing past the Third-rate realm in the blink of an eye to stand at the very threshold of First-rate. High as the barrier was, no one in the clan doubted that he would cross it in due time. Among the youth who had yet to come of age, he carried the clan's highest expectations.
And that very Namgung In had lost to Namgung Yun. By all accounts, he had been thoroughly toyed with from start to finish.
"Nonsense."
"We ought to tighten discipline around the estate. To think such absurd rumors could spread unchecked."
That had been the immediate reaction of anyone hearing the tale for the first time. Not a single person believed it. But their disbelief did nothing to alter the truth, and driven by either irritation or sheer curiosity, people began digging into the matter. It wasn't difficult to uncover the facts, given the sheer number of witnesses.
The one who suffered most from this was Namgung Seong. As the supervisor of the training ground, the referee of the match, and the strongest martial artist present, he was the person best equipped to provide an accurate account. As a result, he spent the better part of the day being dragged from one elder's quarters to another.
When the truth was laid bare, the clan fell dead silent.
"So... it wasn't a rumor?"
"In truly lost?"
"Yun reached First-rate? He actually manifested Sword Thread?"
"How could that half-wit possibly...?"
"Wasn't he the pathetic fool who couldn't even break out of the Third-rate realm at his age?"
"How could anyone leap to the First-rate realm in such a short span of time?!"
Far from dying down, the commotion surrounding Namgung Yun swelled by the hour. And before long, a summons was issued.
"Bring Yun to me."
It was an order directly from the Patriarch of the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Yun stood calmly, studying the master of the clan.
Patriarch Namgung Jeongcheon was a stern-faced, middle-aged man who gave the impression of solid iron—someone from whom not a single drop of blood would flow if pricked, and upon whom flattery or bribes would never leave a mark.
He carries an impression quite similar to the old Namgung patriarch of my past life.
Namgung Jeongcheon was not alone in the room.
The senior leaders of the clan, I take it.
Whether it was because he was growing more accustomed to this body or because the duel with Namgung In had dredged up a vast swathe of memories, his recollection of the past was returning at an accelerated pace. Why these clan elders were gathered here, Yun neither knew nor cared.
The heavy gazes of every man in the room bore down on him. Seeing him stand there with absolute nonchalance, a flicker of intrigue surfaced in their eyes.
Say what you will, the boy certainly grew some spine.
Has he truly changed?
To possess the talent to leap from Third-rate straight to First-rate in such a short window...
Countless thoughts raced through their minds.
"I was told you summoned me," Namgung Yun addressed him casually.
Namgung Jeongcheon's tightly shut lips finally parted.
"I heard you caused an incident."
"That is news to me."
At Yun's brazen response, the elders' expressions twisted.
"You insolent wretch! What you did has spread throughout the entire estate, and yet you dare utter such lies?!"
The voice had not come from Namgung Jeongcheon, but from the man seated to his left.
Namgung Myeongcheon.
The younger brother of the patriarch and the father of Namgung In. While the other elders looked on with mixed curiosity and distaste, Myeongcheon's eyes burned with undisguised fury. Clearly, he was nursing a personal grudge.
"I have spoken no lies."
"You dare persist?! Are you claiming it is a lie that you beat In into that wretched state?!"
"Oh, that part is true."
"Then you finally admit the tr—"
"But how does that constitute an incident?"
"What?"
"I was invited to a spar, and I accepted," Yun said smoothly. "The supervisor of the training grounds even acted as our referee. How does that make it an incident? Since when has an ordinary spar—not even an official duel—been treated as a misconduct in the Namgung Clan?"
"...!"
Namgung Myeongcheon's face flushed crimson. Yun didn't give him room to breathe.
"I admit my final strike carried a bit too much weight, but that was only because I was startled when Brother In suddenly unleashed Sword Energy during a friendly match. Who could have imagined he would pull out Sword Energy in an intermediate training spar? To be frank, I was rather disappointed."
"D-Disappointed?!"
Furious qi rolled off Namgung Myeongcheon in waves.
"Are you daring to imply that In resorted to cowardly methods?!"
Well, that's what a normal person would think.
Yun, however, was addressing a far more fundamental flaw.
"No, I was disappointed that he failed to uphold his own convictions."
"In failed to uphold his convictions?!"
"Brother In has always told me that in the Jianghu, might makes right. The strong are always in the right. If that is true..."
Namgung Yun offered a faint, chilling smile.
"The moment he realized he was the weaker one, he should have dropped his sword and yielded on the spot. He had no business flailing about and pulling out clumsy Sword Energy."
"...!"
"...!"
"...!"
A collective gasp seized the chamber. Not just Namgung Myeongcheon, but every elder present stared in disbelief.
Namgung Yun remained completely unfazed.
"What was all that, anyway? Unable to accept his own weakness, he threw an ugly tantrum only to suffer a humiliating defeat. Was that truly the essence of the creed Brother In preached so proudly? Looking back, it seems his grand philosophy of 'might makes right' was nothing more than a convenient excuse he cooked up to bully the weak."
"You insolent bastard! Did you not babble about righteousness and chivalry with that worthless mouth of yours?!"
"Indeed I did. I have no excuses to make for that," Yun conceded smoothly. "That was why I was branded a coward, a fraud, and a blowhard. I was undeniably a small-minded fool. But to compare Brother In to the likes of my past self? Mind your words, Uncle. You speak as though Brother In is also a cowardly, deceitful, grandstanding hypocrite. It pains my heart to hear you insult him so."
"You little—!"