Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: Anxiety Among the Elders
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The elders of the Nine Great Sects seated in the VIP stands let out groans.
‘Th-that’s…….’
‘The Dragon Horse of Jeomchang Sect has been broken!’
‘Two from the Nangong Family advancing to the final four!’
‘This can’t be! Emergency, it’s an emergency!’
With Jong Baek, known as the Dragon of Jeomchang, defeated, it felt like the prestige of the Nine Great Sects had crumbled alongside him.
The shock was even greater because his opponent wasn’t Nangong Hyeok, but the relatively overlooked Nangong Ryong.
Nangong Ryong, who had been rated one step below, had snapped Jeomchang Sect’s sword and torn apart the Nine Great Sects’ prestige.
‘What are we to do? Now even a win doesn’t feel like a win.’
‘Can we even make it to the finals?’
‘How on earth do we stop those guys!’
‘Can Huashan and Shaolin hold them back?’
The elders’ faces darkened. The momentum of the martial tournament had already shifted toward the Nangong Family.
No, it wasn’t just a shift in momentum—it had reached the point where it was questionable whether the remaining disciples of the Nine Sects could even block Nangong Hyeok and Nangong Ryong.
The Nine Great Sects having to block the Nangong Family!
The anxiety that their once-assumed victory might slip away flooded in.
What about their tarnished honor? What about the disciples who would lose their pride over this!
And above all……
‘The Azure Spirit Oil! What do we do about that bastard!’
‘We might end up feeding the dog with our rice.’
‘Ugh!’
The Azure Spirit Oil, put up as a prize to boost the tournament’s attention, was about to fall into the hands of those unexpected foes.
Even the elders of the Nine Great Sects, who had cultivated virtue and discipline, couldn’t manage their expressions.
Someone spat out in frustration.
“Ah, the matches aren’t over yet.”
Who didn’t know that?
Only four remained, and among them was the Shaolin Prodigy.
The Shaolin Prodigy……
……But looking at Nangong Hyeok cackling in front of the arena, it hardly seemed reliable.
‘We need to come up with some countermeasures…… but what countermeasures could there be?’
They had already exhausted every possible measure.
All they could do was hope the remaining disciples of the Nine Great Sects would defeat the Nangong brothers.
Every time Nangong Ryong’s name was cheered deafeningly across the arena, their chests tightened.
As the Nine Great Sects sank into gloom,
“Uhahaha! Well done! A strike worthy of our family’s eldest young master! That’s right, that’s the Nangong Family! That’s the Imperial Sword Form, the Imperial Sword Form! Yes! Oh, well done!”
The Nine Great Sects’ elders couldn’t dare restrain Nangong Wi-gyeong, who was shaking the railing from across the way.
They could only clench their fists and endure the humiliation.
Paeng Cheon-wi chuckled dryly, pretending to calm Nangong Wi-gyeong.
But that damned Paeng Family Head wasn’t even looking at the one he was supposedly calming—instead, staring straight at them with a sly grin.
“Heh heh! Nangong Elder, that’s enough. They’re watching from across, you know?”
“Heh heh heh, let them watch. Heh heh heh, isn’t that right? Why are your faces all like that? Smile, smile! It’s a victory for the Five Great Families, heh heh heh heh! I don’t know why only Paeng Family Head is laughing, heh heh heh!”
“Because they keep looking over from across at good moments? The Nine Great Sects, that is—the Nine Great Sects.”
“So we Five Great Families can laugh together, right? Heh heh heh heh!”
Paeng Cheon-wi mentioned the Nine Great Sects, while Nangong Wi-gyeong spoke only of the Five Great Families.
Thanks to them, the faces of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families elders on both sides crumpled simultaneously.
‘Th-that shameless……!’
‘Kuhum!’
‘How can a sect elder be so frivolous, ugh!’
They glared at the two eccentrics(?) bickering amiably in front of the railing, trembling with clenched fists.
They only wished this martial display would end quickly so they could escape Nangong Wi-gyeong’s disgrace sooner.
As everyone suppressed their anger,
The only one smiling meaningfully was Cheonunja, the elder of the Cheongsung Sect.
Watching Nangong Ryong descend from the arena amid cheers, Geon Cheon-hwi’s mouth fell open.
‘The eldest young master…… won!’
The sight of lightning walls crashing from the sky shattering the beams of light shooting toward the sun was thrilling in itself.
Nangong Ryong had shown just how heavy, oppressive, and fiercely powerful the Nangong Family’s sword was.
It felt like he was proclaiming that the Nangong Family’s sword still lived.
The dignity of the Imperial Sword School that Nangong Ryong displayed rekindled the pride Geon Cheon-hwi had forgotten since joining the Thunder Dragon Squad in the Nangong Family.
The figure of Nangong Ryong properly demonstrating the Nangong Family’s swordsmanship stirred ripples in Geon Cheon-hwi’s heart.
It was a completely different feeling from Nangong Hyeok’s overwhelming might.
It felt like hatching from an egg.
Perfectly smashing the Jeomchang swordsman who had humiliated him three years ago gave him a thrill and emotion entirely different from Nangong Hyeok’s.
‘So distant!’
For a moment, he’d thought he might catch up to Nangong Ryong’s heels, but now he realized how arrogant that was.
It felt like confirming that the person he wanted to emulate and surpass stood even higher than he’d imagined.
The sense of distance he felt toward Nangong Ryong brought Geon Cheon-hwi a pleasant possibility.
Because he knew exactly why Nangong Ryong had grown this far.
‘……You expected it, didn’t you?’
His gaze turned to Nangong Hyeok.
‘I can get better than I am now. Definitely.’
Geon Cheon-hwi’s eyes, looking at Nangong Hyeok, changed slightly.
In contrast to his pride, the faces of the Five Great Families’ later-generation prodigies darkened.
The Nangong brothers, with whom they would tangle in the future, had become an insurmountable wall.
Paeng Jung-hyeok’s eyes shook nonstop as he rubbed the head Nangong Hyeok had struck.
‘Crazy! What the hell are they doing?’
The growth speed defied common sense.
‘Am I slow? Me?’
No?
Absolutely not?
Getting better than yesterday, and tomorrow better than today had its limits.
This was like becoming a completely different person!
At this point, he didn’t even know what was real.
Paeng Jung-hyeok let out a deep sigh, staring at Nangong Hyeok’s back.
His emotions tangled in complex subtlety.
Step by step!
Nangong Ryong, descending from the arena, looked at Nangong Hyeok with a slightly pale face.
He looked tired and fatigued, but his expression and eyes brimmed with confidence and pride.
Nangong Hyeok smirked.
A smile crept onto Nangong Ryong’s lips as well.
Their gazes crossed briefly in the air, and Nangong Ryong murmured lowly.
“……Did it.”
“You did well.”
“……Did it.”
“I said you did well?”
At Nangong Hyeok’s lukewarm response, Geum Cheom-sang spoke excitedly from the side.
“He says he did it! And that he knocked out some teeth too.”
“Oh?”
That “did it”?
Nangong Hyeok looked at him incredulously before bursting into laughter.
“Yeah, you did well! Kuhahaha!”
Yes, now that’s more like a descendant of the Sword King.
“My limb…… no, as the Nangong Family’s eldest son, that’s the least you should do! Well done, you knocked out the teeth well too! Those sparkling ones over there—are those teeth?”
“Yeah!”
“From now on, that punk’ll have to chew with his gums when eating? Ruins the appetite!”
People shook their heads at Nangong Hyeok cackling.
Even the unorthodox would shake their heads at that personality.
Geum Cheom-sang cautiously tugged Nangong Hyeok’s sleeve.
“Y-Young master. Jeomchang Sect is glaring.”
“So what if they glare? Should I knock their teeth out too?”
He takes it just like that?
Sensing Nangong Hyeok wouldn’t stop at words, Geum Cheom-sang gave up.
“……Never mind. Just laugh it off.”
Having protected Jeomchang Sect disciples’ teeth, Geum Cheom-sang quietly hid behind Nangong Hyeok.
Nangong Hyeok burst into wild laughter.
“Puhahaha!”
Seeing Nangong Hyeok’s booming laugh, a pleased smile formed on Nangong Ryong’s lips.
He looked at his hand, still tingling with thrill.
The lingering sensation wouldn’t fade easily.
A subtle feeling, like gripping it or not.
‘……I’ll grasp it.’
The path Nangong Hyeok had shown.
He would see what that path was.
He would reach it.
As Nangong Ryong reaffirmed his resolve,
Nangong Hyeok, who had been chuckling heartily, suddenly turned serious.
“But you know.”
“…….”
“You did well just like I taught, so why’d you get internal injuries?”
“……Hm?”
“Getting internal injuries from the immature Four-Day Sword Technique? Huh? Isn’t that just a bruise, a bruise?”
Nangong Hyeok glared at the bruises on Nangong Ryong’s chest and arm.
Nangong Ryong flinched.
“This is…….”
“What I taught you—what kind of thing is it? It’s something even Sword King level couldn’t be taught…….”
“……You did it.”
“Yeah, I did it. I hit you so hard you got bruises…… Eh?”
Me?
Nangong Ryong nodded calmly.
Ah, I did hit him.
Nangong Hyeok furrowed his brow.
“It’s part of training! You can get hit during training! Got a complaint?”
“You asked.”
“……I asked because I was worried about the bruise. How painful is getting hit by the Four-Day Sword Technique?”
……His tone’s a bit off?
And you say I hit you?
Nangong Hyeok glanced at the distant mountains before whipping his head toward Geum Cheom-sang.
“Hey! Who’s next in the matches? Huh? Gotta know the opponent to plan our eldest young master’s strategy!”
Geum Cheom-sang’s eyes narrowed.
“Your expression’s weird?”
“……You look ugly, young master.”
“What?”
“Next match is Cheongsung Sect versus Shaolin.”
Geum Cheom-sang answered quickly and looked away.
Nangong Hyeok scoffed, then shrugged.
“That Shaolin Prodigy kid?”
“Yes!”
“Versus Cheongsung Sect? Who from Cheongsung?”
“Says he’s a second-generation disciple.”
“A generation above, huh?”
“Yes! But he’s very young. Not even thirty yet, they say?”
“Ah, messed-up family tree? Then he’s third-generation level?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Obvious without watching. Shaolin monk wins then. Top later-generation prodigy, right?”
“Probably.”
The Shaolin Prodigy was called the foremost among the Four Holy Children.
The Shaolin’s top genius, said to have mastered over half of the Seventy-Two Shaolin Supreme Arts.
Only someone like Nangong Hyeok would call the Shaolin Prodigy “monk”—his prestige was beyond imagination.
In Shaolin, where even kitchen monks were experts, being called the hope of Shaolin’s future was no small feat.
Nangong Hyeok stretched and leaned back in his chair.
“Hmm, next opponent is the Shaolin Prodigy, Shaolin Prodigy…….”
Nangong Hyeok rubbed his chin, scanning Nangong Ryong’s condition.
‘……Still a bit tough? Roll him a few more days?’
He himself had no worries, but Nangong Ryong did.
Still, it was Shaolin.
The Shaolin Prodigy wouldn’t be weaker than the Wudang Holy Child, and if he was on par with or above Jeomchang’s Jong Baek, he’d be quite tricky.
‘Might as well go to the finals now that we’re here?’
Of course.
Nangong Ryong was evolving from limb…… no, into a true comrade worthy of him.
Losing to Nine Great Sects rabble was absurd.
Nangong Hyeok nodded and said to Nangong Ryong.
“First, take some tonic pills, then let’s do some special training.”
“……I’ll wait.”
“Good. For now, let’s watch the matches and map out the bracket. The championship’s mine anyway.”
Nangong Hyeok chuckled, looking at the arena.
Just then, Shaolin’s monk and Cheongsung’s blue-robed long-nosed disciple climbed onto the arena.
“Oh, monk. Look at that sturdy build. Right, Shaolin always has solid bodies. But can that wooden sword pierce it? Will blood come out?”
“……Why would blood come out in a match.”
“In my day, we’d lop off heads.”
“…….”
“Seriously?”
Geum Cheom-sang sighed deeply at Nangong Hyeok’s insane talk.
Meanwhile, the Shaolin Prodigy and Cheongsung Sect’s second-generation disciple Hyeonwon faced each other in the center of the arena.
A few warnings were given, and the match began immediately.
Flash!
The moment the match started.
Cheongsung Sect’s Hyeonwon drew his wooden sword and lunged forward in an instant.
“Huh?”
Nangong Hyeok, who had been chuckling, widened his eyes and shot to his feet.
“What the hell is that bastard doing?”
His gaze rapidly followed Cheongsung Sect’s Hyeonwon charging straight at the Shaolin Prodigy.