Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Sword King, Namgung San (1)
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Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
A gathering of dragons and phoenixes.
It was a time-honored tradition of the Orthodox martial world, passed down through the ages.
“This is truly a festival.”
In Anhui, there was a freshwater lake called Soho.
Not far from Hefei, where the Namgung Family was located, the area had been enjoying an unexpected boom ever since it was chosen as the venue for the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
“Wow!”
Festivals were always exciting.
Woryeong marveled at the brilliantly decorated streets around Soho.
“This is amazing!”
“Enjoy it while you can. Starting tomorrow, you won't have the time.”
“Yes!”
Walking with the excited Woryeong, Cheon Muryang's group suddenly had to stop.
“Stand back!”
“……?”
Not far away, a gaudily decorated carriage was rushing forward.
To clear the way, a few men who appeared to be attendants stepped forward.
“The Great Young Lord of the Blue Sky Sect, the Blue Sky Sword Ha Dojin, is here! Make way!”
“Oof!”
“Oh my!”
They were utterly arrogant.
Despite several people falling as they forcibly cleared the path, they took no action.
“Hmph, didn't I tell you to move!”
“S-Sorry!”
“You think sorry is the end of it?!”
Instead, they pressed the fallen with a high-handed attitude.
Watching this, Cheon Muryang stared at them with cold, sunken eyes.
“My lord, just give the order.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Woryeong, Neung Ryeoun, and Cha Myeonghak were ready to step forward.
“No. There's no need.”
Cheon Muryang simply stared at them with cold eyes.
Shaaaaaa…
The surrounding air rapidly cooled.
Flinch!
Those at the receiving end of his gaze trembled involuntarily.
Their fearful eyes darting around made them look like terrified rats.
“Tsk.”
Their behavior, strong only against the weak, was nauseating.
Just as he was about to apply more pressure, someone in the carriage gestured.
“That's enough. Let's go.”
“Yes, yes!”
They departed in a hurry.
However, similar scenes were occurring simultaneously all around.
“The great disciple of the Free Wanderer's Gang, Gal Sa-pyeong, has arrived!”
“Move! I said, move!”
Cheon Muryang could only watch their antics with a look of pity in his eyes.
He applied unspoken pressure to those who seemed about to cross a line, but he didn't intervene directly.
“Why not step in and crush them?”
“Too troublesome.”
“I suppose so.”
The moment he did, he would become an enemy to everyone flocking here.
“But, are those people famous?”
“Not a chance.”
The Wandering King scoffed.
He was confident he wouldn't recognize a single one even if a hundred of them were gathered.
“They're trash not even worth remembering.”
“I see. So even people like them come to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly?”
“Heheheh. It seems you still don't understand the true purpose of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.”
“True purpose?”
“Yes. Why do you think they invited every last one of these people?”
The Wandering King stared at the lights of Soho with an inexplicably contemptuous gaze.
“What's the reason?”
“To show them.”
“Show them what?”
“A wall they can never overcome.”
“……”
“Why do you think the invitations were divided into gold, silver, and bronze in the first place?”
“Ah, so that's what it meant.”
Invitations to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly were sent to nearly every clan within the Orthodox faction's sphere of influence.
However, only a very small number received golden invitations.
“The Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Families. Or only a select few with comparable prestige would have received golden invitations.”
A bronze invitation had been sent to Cheon Muryang personally, but hadn't a golden one been sent to the Cheon Family?
In other words, what the Wandering King meant to say was the significance of that division.
“How childish.”
“But, there's no clearer way.”
That color would not change.
Like an immutable law, gold would remain gold, silver would remain silver, and bronze would only ever repeat as bronze.
“Among them, some might certainly change from bronze to silver, or silver to bronze, but…”
The Wandering King didn't bother to finish his sentence.
He knew it was meaningless.
“In the end, the ruling class doesn't change. That is…”
“The true purpose of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.”
“Correct.”
After hearing all of the Wandering King's words, the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, seen anew, felt incredibly bleak and cold, contrary to its brilliant exterior.
‘So in the end, the core never changes.’
It was just the Wandering King's perspective, but it was persuasive.
The Nine Sects One Gang was the Nine Sects One Gang, then and now.
Even the rise of the Five Great Families and the Ten Great Families, which was thought to be a new wind, had only solidified them as the ruling class just below the Nine Sects One Gang.
“Ridiculous.”
Who was to say who ruled whom?
Cheon Muryang felt he could somehow understand the Wandering King's heart, which sneered at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
“Of course, it's a matter of perspective. While there are those who think like me, there are surely others who see it as a field of opportunity.”
“The same kind as before?”
“Yes. How excited must they be? To be invited to a gathering where dragons and phoenixes meet.”
“Is that so.”
Those who failed to realize its true meaning.
Especially for newly established sects like the Blue Sky Sect or the Free Wanderer's Gang, they would surely think of it as a chance to make a name for themselves.
“So, they too will change once they learn the reason for the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly. Just like them.”
The mediocre ones.
They too were from prestigious Orthodox sects with long histories, but they belonged to that middling position, never able to receive a golden invitation.
Among them were many from sects even more famous than the Blue Sky Sect or the Free Wanderer's Gang.
On the contrary, they didn't act coercively.
They simply looked like people who had come for a tour.
“Yes. Just like them.”
“They seem better, at least.”
“Heheheh. Do you really think so?”
“……Ah, I was wrong.”
Their eyes were completely lifeless.
The eyes of those who had realized they could climb no higher.
“The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly…”
It was a colder, more cruel place than he had thought.
Since that was the true face of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, the Wandering King asked.
“The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly is, in the end, just a game for them. So, what can you possibly hope to change?”
He was pessimistic.
As far as the Wandering King knew, many had tried to shatter this wall of the Orthodox martial world, but none had succeeded.
‘The Green Forest Fighting King was the best they could do.’
And even he would have been unable to do so if the Divine Monk hadn't acknowledged him as the Fighting King.
Therefore, while thinking that the wall could never be broken, the Wandering King held a glimmer of expectation.
Because it felt like Cheon Muryang might be able to change something.
‘What will you do? How will you shatter this suffocating reality?’
Perhaps that was why the Wandering King had followed Cheon Muryang.
Cheon Muryang, who had been silent, smiled.
“First, by upsetting the hierarchy.”
“Upsetting the hierarchy?”
“I received a bronze invitation too, did I not?”
The Cheon Family, gold.
But the invitation that came to Cheon Muryang personally was bronze.
“I came not in my capacity as a member of the Cheon Family, but as the Cheon Family's infamous scoundrel.”
Cheon Muryang took the bronze invitation from his robes.
“First, I'll have to prove that bronze can shatter gold.”
Grin.
Cheon Muryang smiled.
“I see. I shall watch and see.”
“Please do. It should be quite an interesting sight.”
At that moment, fireworks exploded, embroidering the sky.
Boom!
Swoooosh!
“Waaaaah!”
In the sky, a dragon and a phoenix met and became one.
It was the flame signaling the start of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, meaning the festival had begun.
“They say sightseeing is best after a meal, so let's eat and enjoy ourselves first.”
“Alright.”
“Young Lord! Let's go over there!”
Woryeong had an incredible talent for finding delicious inns by smell alone.
“Alright. Let's.”
“It would be wise to eat in moderation. Training will continue this evening as well.”
“Elder! Do you really have to talk about that while we're eating?”
“If not while we're eating, then when should I say it?”
“……Tch.”
* * *
The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was long.
Banquets were held from the very first day, so those seeking to forge connections with the Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Families, or the Ten Great Families had arrived even before the assembly began.
“This is problematic.”
A long, drawn-out line.
It was a procession of people all wishing to attend the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
“Now I see why even the likes of the Blue Sky Sect and the Free Wanderer's Gang were in such a rush.”
Of course, they probably wouldn't be very far ahead in the line either.
It seemed to be the line for those who had received bronze invitations.
“Move! You bastards! Do you know who I am!”
“Shut your mouth. I don't know where you crawled out from, but can't you see the people waiting here?”
They might be from prestigious Orthodox sects, but not all of them possessed the spirit of a great hero.
Moreover, with people gathered together who would never have met otherwise, it was inevitable that squabbles would break out.
“What did you just say?”
“You bastard! You want to go?!”
“Bring it on!”
Shing!
The sound of a sword being drawn was heard.
Sword fights broke out here and there quite frequently.
Although they had only received bronze invitations, the parties involved in the fights were all great disciples or young lords of sects and gangs that were prominent in their respective regions.
Naturally, clashes were bound to occur among their attendants as well.
“Worse than a bunch of heretics. Heh heh heh.”
The Wandering King cackled.
After a battle between masters, wasn't the most entertaining thing a fight between novices?
“Ha, this is driving me crazy.”
“Why not use the Cheon Family's name now? Then you wouldn't have to see this filthy mess.”
“I have no intention of doing so. I am here purely in my personal capacity as Cheon Muryang.”
“Hmm…”
“If you don't like it, why don't you go in under the name of the Wandering King?”
At those words, Woryeong, Neung Ryeoun, and Cha Myeonghak's faces lit up.
The Wandering King shook his head.
“If I go? Who will oversee these brats' training?”
“……”
“Forget it. I'm not one to do favors for others.”
It was then.
One of the people arguing nearby kicked up a stone as he landed from a leap.
Thwack!
The stone flew in a perfect arc and struck the back of the Wandering King's head.
Thud.
The stone fell to the ground.
At the same time.
“Pfft!”
Woryeong's laugh was heard.
Twitch!
An ominous sound was heard.
The Wandering King's brow furrowed, and his expression twisted into that of a fearsome demon.
“These bastards…”
Gwoooooooh!
A strange vortex swirled at the Wandering King's feet.
“I'll kill them right now…!”
His fury suffused his greatsword.
That alone was enough to shake the very earth.
But the Wandering King didn't stop there; he swung his greatsword.
A violent gale followed its trajectory, sweeping across heaven and earth.
SWOOOOOOSH!
Everyone was aghast.
Then, a stillness bordering on silence descended upon the place.
“Which whelp dares to cause a disturbance before me?”
Gulp!
Even the sound of someone swallowing their saliva sounded like a scream.
“The, the Wandering King…!”
“The, the Wandering King… you say?”
Someone recognized the Wandering King.
How could the Wandering King be here?
Before they could even ponder that question.
A sharp sword strike flew in from somewhere.
Shhhk!
“Stop!”
Kaaang!
Having easily deflected the sword strike, the Wandering King faced a group that rushed in right after.
The people who had appeared in a hurry.
They were the elders of the Namgung Family, the hosts of this Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
“Hmph. You've got some nerve showing up.”
“Why is the Wandering King causing a disturbance here?”
“A disturbance?”
Twitch.
The Wandering King grew even more enraged at those words.
However, upon seeing the person who appeared next, the Wandering King did not unleash his anger.
“He is my guest. Show him respect.”
Flinch!
Even the haughty elders of the Namgung Family hurriedly showed their respects.
“Sword Emperor.”
The pinnacle of the Namgung Family, the man who symbolized the current prestige of the Namgung Family.
That man was the Sword Emperor, Namgung San.
“Will you come with me?”
The Wandering King did not answer.
He knew the question was not directed at him.
“Great Young Lord of the Cheon Family.”
“……”
It felt as if Mount Tai was pressing down on his shoulders.
But Cheon Muryang faced Namgung San without the slightest waver.
“It is an honor, Sword King.”
Twitch!
The nearby Namgung Family elders flinched.
Because he had addressed Namgung San as Sword King, not Sword Emperor.
“Follow me.”
But, instead of anger, Namgung San…
…wore a peculiar smile as he personally guided the Wandering King and Cheon Muryang's group.
It was a relief not to have to wait in the long line.