Chapter 112: Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 112: Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art (2)
Namgung Hyeok couldn't tell if they were mocking him or being completely serious.
He had clearly heard that this fellow, Lee Seo-jun, had been with the Namgung Clan for less than a year.
And yet, what was all this nonsense?
He had supposedly created two Human-grade divine arts and one Earth-grade divine art? He had achieved distinguished military merit by stalling the Giryeon Sect Leader? And as if that wasn't enough, he played a major role in developing a new spirit herb?
It was pure nonsense.
And what about this martial art that supposedly made overcoming the Life-Death Barrier easy? Such a technique had never appeared even once in the long history of the Murim.
If the boy had been babbling alone, it would be one thing, but with the Family Head playing along, Namgung Hyeok couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.
Was there any reason for the Family Head to lie? Did that mean those words were true? But even so, it defied all logic.
He couldn't accept it with his head, nor could he accept it with his heart. No matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible. Even Ju Un-cheon, the legendary Martial God, couldn't have achieved such a thing.
Creating three divine arts in such a short period? No, even if he somehow conceded the martial arts, where did this sudden mastery of alchemy come from?
Hah...
He could only assume they were trying to humiliate him. Perhaps, since he had been away from the clan for so long, they were treating him like a complete outsider...
Namgung Hyeok squeezed his eyes shut.
Having been holed up deep in the mountains to focus on his training, he knew almost nothing about the current state of the Namgung Clan.
If he hadn't heard rumors about the Emperor Sword Form while passing through Anhui, he wouldn't have even stopped by the estate.
Was this not an act of complete disregard for the Namgung traditions that had endured for thousands of years?
He had acted immediately out of sheer outrage, but now that things had turned out like this, he was utterly bewildered.
While he was lost in thought, Seo-jun and Namgung Jin-cheon continued to converse casually.
"Father-in-law, what's the other Human-grade divine art? I don't think I made any other new martial arts."
"Is there not the Heaven-Man Divine Elixir Art...?"
"Huh? That? No, why is that a divine art?"
"If it is a technique that can create a divine elixir, would it not naturally be classified as a divine art...?"
"Aha. Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
Unable to listen any longer, Namgung Hyeok let out a furious roar.
"Family Head! You must take responsibility for these words!"
"I shall do so..."
Namgung Jin-cheon nodded nonchalantly. Since it was all the truth, he had absolutely nothing to hide.
Watching them, Chun-bong thought to herself.
Wait, this guy. Just what has he been doing while I wasn't around?
She had heard the stories, but hearing them listed out like this was absurd.
All of that was achieved by one person in less than a year?
If the current Seo-jun had been in the Divine Sword Geum Family before its fall...
Slap!
Chun-bong shook her head after slapping her own cheeks to snap out of it. Seo-jun reacted instantly.
"My cheeks...!"
His large hands grabbed Chun-bong's reddened cheeks and rubbed them affectionately.
Chun-bong let out a sigh.
"I think that old man is absolutely livid. Is this really okay?"
"Who cares? What could be more important than this?"
Only after confirming that Chun-bong's cheeks weren't bruised did Seo-jun smile broadly. He then straightened his back and looked at Namgung Hyeok.
"I know what you're worried about, but I won't do anything to harm the Namgung Clan."
"And how can I trust those words? Furthermore, the Emperor Sword Form is not something that can be taught so easily to just anyone simply because you claim you won't harm the Namgung."
"Then I just have to prove it."
"Prove what?"
"My qualifications."
Seo-jun tilted his head, clasping his hands behind his back.
It was an incredibly arrogant posture. Namgung Hyeok's brow furrowed, but he couldn't disregard Seo-jun's presence anymore.
As if his previous lack of aura had been a complete lie, Seo-jun's presence suddenly manifested, heavily filling the Family Head's hall.
Namgung Hyeok immediately countered.
Rumble!
A heavy pressure rose from the elder, pushing back against Seo-jun's aura. However, it couldn't advance past the halfway point of the room. If anything, it was being steadily pushed back.
"What in the..."
Namgung Hyeok's eyes trembled violently in shock.
While an aura clash wasn't everything to a martial artist, how could this young boy stand against his presence like this?
Seo-jun stepped toward him and looked him straight in the eye.
"That should do it, right?"
Behind the grinning Seo-jun, a faint image flickered—an emperor looking down upon the earth from high above the heavens.
Namgung Hyeok's face turned beet red.
"Those words... I will make you regret them."
"Oh, really?"
Seo-jun replied flippantly with a bright smile.
"I don't think you will."
* * *
Namgung Hyeok stormed off, leaving behind a promise to return soon.
Seo-jun secretly flicked his middle finger at the old man's back and spoke to Namgung Myeong.
"Aigo, little brother. You worked hard."
"Huh? No. It wasn't really that much work..."
"Eyy, you worked hard. He wouldn't even let you get a word in. Who is that guy anyway?"
He had heard the man was his father-in-law's great-uncle, but he didn't know if the geezer had just crawled out from some hole to try and break the Young Master's spirit.
Of course, given the strict hierarchy of the clan, he was a senior elder and deserved a certain level of respect. But still, to act so haughty in front of the Family Head?
Hmm, has he lost his mind?
In a way, you could call it brave. Whether his outburst was born from a genuine affection for the Namgung Clan or a deep-seated inferiority complex regarding the Emperor Sword Form, it was hard to say.
Wait. Considering his seniority, is Namgung Hyeok actually in a position where he doesn't need to be intimidated?
Since the Murim placed great importance on seniority and generational rank, perhaps his attitude wasn't actually that impudent.
Even if he had lived in seclusion, he hadn't been struck from the family registry.
Even his father-in-law had consistently used polite, formal speech with Namgung Hyeok.
...Well, complicated things weren't his forte.
Seo-jun gave up on thinking about it and grinned.
"By the way, that was unexpected. Little brother, you really know how to speak your mind! That was so refreshing!"
— We are the Namgung Clan, not the Namgung Sect or the Namgung School.
When Seo-jun mimicked him, striking a solemn posture, Namgung Myeong laughed awkwardly.
"It's the truth. The Namgung Clan is not a sect gathered around a single teaching or martial art; it is a bloodline clan that stands tall in the Central Plains by the name of Namgung itself. If we forget that, our foundation will crumble."
"Oh..."
As expected of the Young Master. His convictions were firm.
It seemed slightly different from Namgung Jin-cheon's perspective, but it was clearly a philosophy heavily influenced by him.
"More importantly, will you really be alright, Brother? There's no telling what kind of conditions my great-granduncle might set to prove your qualifications..."
"It doesn't really matter."
Seo-jun grinned.
"What's he going to do if I can't prove it?"
He had never said a single word about crippling his own Dantian or anything crazy if he failed to prove his qualifications.
Of course, his reputation would take a hit one way or another, but he didn't live his life worrying about things like reputation in the first place.
"Uh... I see?"
"And well... I don't think proving it will be that hard anyway."
He wasn't sure what the qualification to learn the Emperor Sword Form entailed, but it would surely be something related to martial arts.
As long as it wasn't a demand to win a duel against his father-in-law, he was confident in almost anything.
"If my great-uncle goes too far, I will step in, so do not worry about that part, son-in-law..."
"Ayy, of course. I'm counting on you, Father-in-law."
Even his father-in-law was on his side.
And not just anyone—the Azure Heaven Sword Venerable, Namgung Jin-cheon, was in his corner. He felt so reassured that he wasn't afraid of anything.
Still, just in case, should I prepare?
The Heavenly Medicine Hall Master said he would contact him as soon as he was ready, but it wouldn't be a problem to go see him now.
"Then for now, I think I'll head to the Heavenly Medicine Hall..."
"You brat! What about my martial art!?"
"Ah."
He had briefly forgotten about him because the man had been completely quiet while Namgung Hyeok was there. It seemed he hadn't intervened because it was another family's internal business.
As Seo-jun looked over at Pae Jin-gwang, Namgung Jin-cheon raised an eyebrow.
"Senior, do you intend to teach my son-in-law your martial art...? The Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art...?"
"Is there a problem?"
"It is not that... but is it really alright...?"
Pae Jin-gwang nodded coolly.
"The Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art was tailored specifically for me anyway, so there's no one suitable to learn it. But since this brat heals instantly even if his body gets completely trashed, learning it should be quite easy for him. Most others wouldn't even be able to learn the basics, let alone master it."
"I see... Thank you..."
"Good grief, why are you the one thanking me for teaching him?"
Namgung Jin-cheon simply smiled without a word.
"Strange fellow."
Pae Jin-gwang chuckled.
* * *
Postponing the creation of the spirit herb—tentatively named the Heavenly Demon Pill or the Heaven-Man Demon Pill—Seo-jun headed back to the training grounds.
On the way, he asked Namgung Su-ah about Namgung Hyeok, but she shook her head, saying she knew almost nothing.
"To begin with, it's my first time meeting him in person too. I've only heard about him a few times in passing."
"Really? He wasn't in the clan?"
"Yeah. I heard he left the clan to live in seclusion long before I was even born."
After hearing the general story about Namgung Hyeok from Namgung Su-ah, Seo-jun furrowed his brow.
"Wait, then... how did he hear about the Emperor Sword Form? Did he come running as soon as he heard? It's not like he just happened to drop by because he was bored and overheard it."
"Who knows?"
Namgung Su-ah laughed awkwardly. At that, Pae Jin-gwang spoke up while casually picking his ear.
"Why bother worrying about it? You just need to do what you have to do. No matter what that old guy tries, Namgung Jin-cheon will block him, so it's better for your peace of mind to just focus on training."
"Old man, you can't live life with that kind of mindset. You'll get blindsided."
"Quiet. And didn't I tell you not to use those weird foreign words? It's hard to understand."
"If you don't know them, you should study."
Ignoring him completely, Pae Jin-gwang stood tall in the center of the training grounds.
The Fist King. His presence descended heavily, weighing down the entire area.
The fact that the character for 'King' was included in his title meant he possessed absolute, king-like authority in that field.
Usually, martial artists in the Super Peak Realm who were close to the Transcendent Realm, or those at the very beginning of the Transcendent Realm, were granted the title of 'King'. The reason Pae Jin-gwang was called the Fist King instead of the Hwangbo Clan Leader—who was also a Transcendent Realm martial artist—was simply because Pae Jin-gwang was better at using his fists.
There were rumors that the Hwangbo Clan Leader was quite displeased by that fact, but Pae Jin-gwang was still alive and well with all his limbs intact.
This was proof of why even the Hwangbo Clan, a prestigious member of the Six Great Clans, couldn't dare to touch Pae Jin-gwang recklessly.
As Pae Jin-gwang's aura settled over the training grounds, Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah's faces turned slightly pale.
"Whoa, whoa. Aren't you going to control your aura? Seriously."
Of course, Seo-jun didn't care about things like aura. With a casual wave of his hand, the pressure weighing down the area hastily scattered, completely bypassing Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah.
"Haa...!"
Chun-bong, gasping for breath, felt her eyes tremble. She acutely felt the massive gap in power once again—whether it was looking at the Fist King or her own brother.
As she watched them with trembling eyes, Pae Jin-gwang scratched his head.
"Uh... sorry. I was trying to look cool and let it out subconsciously."
"No, can a man called the Fist King really not even control his own aura?"
"I'm not very good at managing internal energy."
"That's just ridiculous."
Are these really the kind of people who are Super Peak experts?
Chun-bong felt dizzy and ended up letting out a long sigh.
"Sigh... Unni, this won't do. I have to get stronger than them quickly. Otherwise, I'll die from the sheer unfairness of it all!"
"Fufu, then I should work hard to catch up quickly too. If I become stronger than Seo-jun... yes. I'll handle all the dangerous work and let Seo-jun just act spoiled. That doesn't sound bad at all."
Chun-bong was horrified.
"You're going to confine him!?"
"Confine? He keeps doing dangerous things, so I'm just saying I'll do those things instead."
She said that, but the look in Namgung Su-ah's eyes was quite strange.
Subtly distancing herself from Namgung Su-ah, Chun-bong looked over at Seo-jun.
Confine...?
Making him look only at her, while she does everything he asks for...
If he tries to do something dangerous, she stops him with force and looks down at him with a cold, queen-like smile...
'Aigo, Empress Chun-bong! Shall I buy you a tanghulu?'
'Ohoho! Do so.'
'Yes, ma'am!'
That's actually not bad?
Chun-bong giggled as she let her imagination run wild.
What in the world is she thinking about now?
Watching Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah smiled warmly.
* * *
"The name 'Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art' was actually given by people who didn't know a damn thing. It just stuck, and that's what it's called now."
Pae Jin-gwang explained the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art to Seo-jun while reciting the oral chant via Voice Transmission.
"From the start, it's a martial art where I just threw in everything I could do without making clear distinctions, so it's hard to define. It's a fist technique, a training method, a footwork technique... it's all of those combined. You could say it contains my entire life."
"Your life..."
"Yes, I am teaching you my life."
He said it like that, but it honestly wasn't anything that grand.
While some cherished their martial arts like their own lives, others found simple fulfillment in lending a hand to the growth of a rising sprout.
Pae Jin-gwang grinned.
"Consider it an honor, brat."