Chapter 355
Chapter 355
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 364
Chapter Title: The Demonic Sword's Rampage
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The Iron God Sect's workshop was of an enormous size.
Centered around the massive smelting furnace in the middle, countless blacksmiths were busily hammering away at iron.
Sizzle!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of metal being struck rang out endlessly amid the scorching heat.
The rhythmic intensity overwhelmed everyone.
Arriving at the Iron God Sect's workshop following(?) the Namgung family's younger generation, Sage Hyeonwon immediately sought out the sect leader, Ban Ho-jung.
“Where is the sect leader...?”
Before he could finish speaking, Ban Ho-jung, a burly man, came rushing over from one side of the workshop, panting heavily.
His sweat-soaked face, flushed red, showed he had been working just moments ago.
Ban Ho-jung cupped his fists toward Sage Hyeonwon.
Sage Hyeonwon chuckled inwardly.
‘That's right!’
He nodded in satisfaction at Ban Ho-jung's attitude of coming to Wudang first.
“Sect Leader Ban!”
“Sage! You've come a long way.”
“Hahaha, it's right next door—what hardship is there?”
“Ah, my apologies. I have an urgent matter right now, so I won't be able to greet you properly.”
Sage Hyeonwon smiled faintly as Ban Ho-jung spoke with anxious eyes.
“With your duties keeping you so busy, it's only natural! Don't worry about me. I've come to inspect the Songmun superior swords.”
As he spoke, he subtly glanced toward Namgung Hyeok.
This was the reality between Wudang and the Namgung family.
It was childish, but it felt refreshing, like some long-stagnant resentment was washing away.
Ban Ho-jung bowed his head deeply and said,
“The Songmun superior swords are already prepared. I'm confident in their quality, but please inspect them first.”
“Of course.”
“Sage, I'm truly sorry, but I have this urgent matter I must handle first.”
Sage Hyeonwon tilted his head at Ban Ho-jung, whose eyes shook with unease as sweat poured down.
He nodded at Ban Ho-jung's appearance, which went beyond urgency into desperation.
“Yes, of course, handle that first...”
“Yes!”
Was the urgent matter perhaps the privy?
He hadn't even finished speaking yet...
It was then that Sage Hyeonwon's expression turned awkward.
“Young Master Namgung!”
Seeing Ban Ho-jung rush toward Namgung Hyeok with a frantic voice, Sage Hyeonwon's face hardened.
‘...!’
Young Master Namgung?
The urgent matter was the Namgung family?
With Wudang right there in front of him, the Namgung family?
Sage Hyeonwon turned his head.
In his line of sight, someone was fawning before Namgung Hyeok...
Fawning...?
Seeing the Iron God Sect's sect leader standing before Namgung Hyeok with an apologetic expression, Sage Hyeonwon's eyes widened.
In the brief moment of his bewilderment at this unprecedented sight of Ban Ho-jung,
Namgung Hyeok grinned and said,
“Why rush over barefoot like that?”
“Well... I should have come myself, but it was a bit...”
“It's done, right?”
“Well... it is done. It is done, but...”
Ban Ho-jung looked at Namgung Hyeok with a flustered expression.
Namgung Hyeok lightly patted his shoulder and turned his head toward Sage Hyeonwon.
“Aigoo, with your duties so pressing, let's head over there. We can check it out. Time for the inspection!”
He flashed his canines.
Sage Hyeonwon's face flushed red at the sight.
That punk?
“Martial Uncle!”
“T-That...”
Sage Hyeonwon clenched his jaw tightly and balled his fists.
“Inspection!”
“Yes?”
“We'll do the inspection first!”
Hearing the outburst from behind, Namgung Hyeok chuckled.
Pang Jung-hyeok cautiously said,
“Aren't you provoking him unnecessarily?”
“What?”
“Looks like the sage is pissed...”
“So what?”
He's old.
High in seniority.
‘Words like that won't work on him.’
Who was Namgung Hyeok?
Yeah, better not rile him up.
Pang Jung-hyeok stopped there and shut his mouth.
But there was one fool who couldn't read the room and opened his mouth anyway.
“Even if you pick a fight, Wudang's right here. Die alone if you want to die.”
Isn't the sage like a grandfather figure?
‘Should I just stab him?’
Huh?
Yeah?
Should he run to the righteous Wudang Taoists right now and beg them to beat up these vicious Namgung family bastards?
“Sh-...”
Thwack!
“Ow!”
Huang Bo-chung's eyes widened at the sudden flick to his forehead.
Namgung Hyeok was wagging his index finger from way ahead.
‘C-Crazy! Flicking with finger wind?!’
This madman, wasting his internal energy like that?
“What are you muttering?”
“Ah, nothing at all.”
Geum Cheom-sang suddenly interjected.
“He said he'd stab the Wudang Taoists?”
...This damned servant punk?
“N-No, absolutely not! I meant if anyone talks smack to Young Master, I'll lead the charge and stab them first. H-Haha!”
Namgung Hyeok narrowed his eyes and said,
“Hurry up and sharpen it into a divine sword. The furnace here is huge.”
Gulp!
Huang Bo-chung swallowed hard as he eyed the massive smelting furnace in the center of the Iron God Sect's workshop.
Then he frantically rubbed his palms together.
‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Damn this rotten mouth! Why'd I blab about how even a tree branch from the Iron God Sect makes a divine sword!’
Damn it, why'd I say that nonsense!
Ban Ho-jung blankly gaped at the sight before snapping back to his senses.
“T-This way.”
Namgung Hyeok looked beamingly at the spot he indicated.
There was a separate forge room within the workshop.
Inside, five blacksmiths were drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted.
Namgung Hyeok's gaze passed over them toward the cloth covering the anvil.
“R-Right there.”
Namgung Hyeok stood before the anvil, eyes gleaming.
Even just the hilt peeking out from under the cloth shone brilliantly, feeling somehow different.
“Oh!”
He smiled faintly.
“Looks like you really pulled it off.”
“We did, but...”
“If you did it, it's done. It's not broken, right?”
“No way, of course not.”
Ban Ho-jung made an awkward face at Namgung Hyeok's words.
Then he clamped his mouth shut.
As if telling him to check it himself, Namgung Hyeok gave him a curious look.
The artisans gathered around the demon sword also stepped back.
“Well, the Iron God Sect isn't just any ordinary smithy.”
Namgung Hyeok smiled faintly and grasped the cloth over the demon sword.
In that instant, everyone's eyes focused.
Especially the Pang siblings and Tang siblings, their eyes flashing with anticipation.
‘What has it become?’
‘With the Iron God Sect's skills...’
‘With the artisans clinging to it like that, it might really be a divine sword.’
Ban Ho-jung and the Iron God Sect's master smiths had hammered the demon sword without rest for five days—what incredible creation must have emerged?
As that anticipation peaked,
Whoosh!
Namgung Hyeok yanked the cloth away vigorously.
And in that moment, a brilliant sword gleam bathed in the furnace light enveloped the forge room.
Flash!
A sharpness beyond chill, enough to freeze everything around it, burst forth. It was an edge that seemed it would slice through anything it merely brushed.
“Whoa!”
“Ooooh!”
“Wow!”
People exhaled held breaths and burst into admiration.
Namgung Hyeok also stared at the sword in astonishment.
The demon sword's sharpness was incomparably keener than before, and the red aura that had cloaked the blade was nowhere to be found.
“Wow!”
Namgung Hyeok exclaimed in admiration as he gripped the demon sword.
In that instant,
Shwaaaaa!
“Whoaaa...?”
Wriggle! Wriggle!
A pitch-black energy surged up along the blade, roiling.
Twitch! Twitch!
The black energy stretched out like tentacles in all directions, flicking more viciously than a serpent's tongue.
Madly...
“W-What the hell is that?!”
“Fuck, what is that?!”
“R-Run!”
“Why is it doing that?! What the hell?!”
“Eek! It's even more fucked up now!”
The people who had peeked in to see the divine sword(?) recoiled in horror.
Meanwhile, the black energy bursting from the demon sword whipped through every corner of the forge room.
Namgung Hyeok blankly stared at the black energy spewing from the drawn sword before turning his gaze to Ban Ho-jung.
Ban Ho-jung groaned and lowered his head.
Twitch! Twitch!
Wriggle! Wriggle!
Shwaaaaa-!
“Haha.”
Namgung Hyeok gaped at the demonic qi wrapping around his hand.
“Hahaha.”
“...”
“Ehehehehehe!”
Namgung Hyeok, who had burst into mad laughter, suddenly stopped.
Then he bellowed,
“You madman! How am I supposed to carry this thing around?!”
Namgung Hyeok screamed and charged at Ban Ho-jung.
Ban Ho-jung flinched in shock.
“C-Calm down, calm down!”
“Does this look calm-down-able?! What is this?! What the hell is this?!”
Swing! Swing! Swing! Whoosh! Whoosh!
“P-Put the sword down!”
“Crazy, why is the demonic qi going berserk like this?! Why?!”
Does this make any sense?
He asked them to suppress the energy, and it comes back amplified?!
Fuck.
It's wriggling like it's alive, thrashing about.
“How am I supposed to carry this?!”
“Calm down, calm down! Hear me out...”
“You try calming this thing down! Fuck, it's wrapping my arm now!”
Namgung Hyeok thrashed about wildly.
Swing! Swing! Swing!
Shwaaaa!
“St-Stop him!”
“I-I'll get sliced grabbing it!”
“F-Fuck!”
“Isn't this like when the Light Dragon went berserk? Uh, ugh!”
It was a shocking sight.
The pitch-black darkness flowing from the sword was coiling around Namgung Hyeok's body!
“W-What happened to it?”
Ban Ho-jung broke out in cold sweat.
“W-Why is it like that? It wasn't this bad! It wasn't this crazy!”
Pang Jung-hyeok screamed.
“A d-demonic item is a demonic item for a reason! It's acting up because its owner is!”
Damn, can't deny that.
Geum Cheom-sang gulped dryly.
“H-Hey, it's getting closer and closer...”
“Fuck...”
“Whoa.”
Pang Jung-hyeok screamed.
“Ruuuunnnn!”
* * *
Even as Sage Hyeonwon inspected the Songmun superior swords, he ground his teeth.
‘Ugh! This is infuriating! My insides are boiling!’
He felt played by someone young enough to be his grand-disciple, and his stomach had been churning ever since.
Naturally, the sword inspection wasn't registering at all.
‘To be ignored like this!’
It felt like the Namgung family had gotten the jump on him.
He was already displeased that the Iron God Sect prioritized the Namgung family, but getting one-upped by their brat made it feel like his face was lost.
‘I oughta just...’
He gnashed his teeth and glared toward the forge room where Namgung Hyeok and the others had disappeared.
Cheongsong and Cheongu watched the tense Sage Hyeonwon.
“Martial Uncle, the inspection is done. All one hundred swords are flawless...”
“...”
“Martial Uncle?”
At Cheongsong's call, Sage Hyeonwon took a breath.
‘No. What good does starting trouble do?’
It's flowing smoothly.
Smoothly, but...
Crash! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crash!
“What the hell is all that racket?!”
“R-Right? Did something happen?”
“Hah! I told them I was inspecting the Songmun superior swords!”
It's too noisy.
He had planned to leave quietly, but whatever they're doing is shaking the whole workshop with screams.
Hold on, screams?
Not only that—the blacksmiths who had been vigorously swinging their hammers had stopped and were staring at the forge room.
“What a racket, what a racket.”
What the...
Boom!
“...Huh.”
The forge room door exploded outward as people came tumbling out.
“Waaaah!”
“You damned thiiiing!”
“Run, ruuun!”
What the hell are they doing?
Sage Hyeonwon blinked in confusion as he stared blankly at the people bursting from the forge room.
Aren't those the Namgung family's younger generation who followed the Iron God Sect leader?
What on earth?
Huh?
Even Ban Ho-jung and the blacksmiths are running out?
Did an explosion go off inside?
It was then.
From the open doorway gap, something pitch-black writhed and stretched out.
Shwaaaaa!
Shwaaaaa!
Twitch, twitch! Wriggle, wriggle!
Sage Hyeonwon's pupils shook as he saw Namgung Hyeok charging out amid flashing sword light within the black darkness.
Drip. Drip! Drip drip!
Sage Hyeonwon's eyes widened as if they might burst.
“D-Demonic qi!”
The words burst from his throat like a groan.