Chapter 211: Namgung Jin-cheon (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 211: Namgung Jin-cheon (1)
So-nam, the last remaining Super Peak expert of the Black Lotus Union, finally realized the sheer gravity of the situation.
He had lost contact with the other two Super Peak experts some time ago. It was highly likely their lives had already been extinguished.
He had expected the Righteous Faction to send reinforcements, but they had arrived far sooner than anticipated.
‘It’s probably those Namgung bastards.’
According to the intelligence he received before coming to Hangzhou, the Namgung Clan wasn't supposed to have many experts left at their estate.
He never expected those few remaining experts to provide backup so quickly. Above all, he never imagined his comrades would be slaughtered in the blink of an eye.
No matter how skilled the enemy was, it made no sense for his allies to be defeated so helplessly without him even noticing!
‘I have to gamble.’
The ship they arrived on had surely been destroyed or seized. The sea route was completely blocked.
Fleeing overland through Righteous Faction territory to reach the Black Lotus Union was just as reckless. It wasn't completely impossible, but the odds of a successful escape were ridiculously low.
‘A hostage situation is my best bet.’
Yeo Un-jeok of the Haebyeok Sect would have to answer to the reinforcements, and those reinforcements were almost certainly from the Namgung Clan. Given their reputation, one thing was certain: they wouldn't dare attack recklessly if he held commoners hostage.
‘They’re fools who care far too much about their precious reputation.’
The answer was simple. Take hostages and demand a ship.
If a Super Peak expert went on a rampage in the middle of a populated city, the casualties would be catastrophic. There was a very real chance they would let him walk just to prevent a bloodbath.
So-nam immediately put his plan into action.
"Prepare a ship right now! If you let us leave peacefully, I swear I won't lay a finger on these people!"
So-nam scanned the perimeter tensely. How will they respond? As his eyes darted around, the surrounding encirclement suddenly parted.
A solitary figure walked calmly through the gap.
The man approached with a blunt expression, staring blankly at So-nam. Then, as if bothered by a minor nuisance, he scratched the back of his head.
"I mean, seriously. Are you an idiot?"
"...What?"
"Who even are those people?"
So-nam’s eyes wavered. It was a completely unexpected response.
The surrounding crowd seemed equally stunned as a shocked murmur rippled through the area.
"Y-You... can you not see these innocent civilians right in front of your eyes?!"
"You're the one holding them hostage, so why are you spouting nonsense at me?"
The man let out a short, scoffing laugh. His expression was tinged with genuine annoyance. It was abundantly clear he didn't care about the civilians' lives at all.
Panic began to set in for So-nam.
"Do you have no heart?!"
This time, the man didn't even bother answering. He simply drew his sword in silence.
Screee—
The chilling rasp of the blade leaving its scabbard made the surrounding martial artists flinch. In fact, it was Yeo Un-jeok who hurriedly tried to stop the man.
"W-Wait a moment...! Let's talk first...!"
"Got you."
Got him? Got what?
Thwack—!
The sickening sound of something piercing wet meat echoed through the night.
Simultaneously, So-nam’s body was launched into the air. His knees, which he had instinctively brought together to cover his groin, throbbed with agonizing pain.
"Urgh...!"
He had barely managed to block the strike.
Terrified, So-nam looked down while still suspended in midair. Something had skewered his subordinates clean through, from their crotches straight up to their heads.
‘Stone pillars...?’
The moment he realized what had happened, the man appeared right before his eyes. So-nam frantically tried to pull the hostages in front of him as human shields, but they were already gone.
"Huh?"
Grab—
The situation had completely reversed. The man’s hand was now clamped like a vice around So-nam’s throat.
"I was going to save you as a teaching aid for the day after tomorrow, but I really don't like your attitude."
"W-Wait...!"
Snap—!
So-nam’s neck twisted at a grotesque angle. His body, now a cold corpse, was slammed mercilessly into the ground.
Standing atop a torch pole that lit up the night, Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
"It's all over now, right?"
At Seo-jun’s question, Yeo Un-jeok nodded tensely.
"...It is."
"Tomorrow... I have one teaching aid left. It’ll be perfect if we leave the day after tomorrow."
"...I shall keep that in mind."
Having received his answer, Seo-jun strolled leisurely through the air, intending to head back to the Haebyeok Sect's quarters.
Yeo Un-jeok called out to his retreating back.
"Were you serious?"
"About what?"
"About... not caring what happened to the civilians."
Seo-jun turned his head. His eyes, completely devoid of emotion, met Yeo Un-jeok's gaze. Yeo Un-jeok reflexively swallowed hard.
Seo-jun gave a small smirk.
"Of course not. It was all an act."
With those words, Seo-jun’s figure vanished into the night.
Yeo Un-jeok stood frozen for a long time. Seo-jun’s final words echoed in his mind.
‘It was all an act...’
Was he being sincere?
There was no way to know. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Yeo Un-jeok shouted, "Everyone, disperse! Gather the wounded in one place and treat the most critical cases first!"
And so, the short night passed.
*
The last surviving martial artist—the so-called "teaching aid for tomorrow"—did his absolute best.
Perhaps he had gained some sort of enlightenment during the life-or-death battle, as he showed incredible spirit by lasting a full thirty-four exchanges.
Though they had taken turns facing the human teaching aid, Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah had still endured a grueling schedule.
Before they knew it, their skills had grown by leaps and bounds. They were now able to manipulate their Astral Qi quite freely.
Their progress was much faster than expected.
The fact that their internal energy had increased to an absurd degree after consuming the Divine Deer Pills likely played a major role in this explosive growth. Because of their expanded reserves, they could maintain their Astral Qi for much longer, naturally leading to a steep rise in their proficiency.
After all, practice makes perfect.
With vast internal energy, the sheer amount of time they could spend practicing with Astral Qi increased accordingly, creating the ideal conditions for rapid improvement. Add in training that bordered on actual life-or-death combat, and it was only natural that their skills had transformed to an unrecognizable degree.
"Shall we get going?"
The day after finishing their intense training with the teaching aid, the group departed from the Haebyeok Sect.
Chun-bong, having enjoyed her fill of fresh fish during their stay, was in excellent spirits.
"The Sea of Sword Blades was definitely... somewhere between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, right?"
She hummed to herself the entire time they traveled using their Lightness Skills.
"You'll be amazed when you see it. My memory isn't perfect since I went when I was a kid, but it’s really... Wow...!"
Seo-jun chuckled at the sight of the excited Chun-bong.
A sword mark left by the legendary Sword God...
Seo-jun was quite looking forward to it himself. Even if his reliability had dipped slightly lately, the Sword God’s feat of cutting the sun was the real deal.
What would the sword mark he left behind before his Ascension look like? Would he gain some sort of enlightenment just by seeing it?
He pondered this for a moment before simply playing along with Chun-bong's excitement. Since he was spending his time traveling with a carefree mindset, no other worries entered his head.
The group traveled for about three days, taking in the sights and enjoying the journey.
They eventually arrived at a bustling city. Surprisingly, the name of the county itself, including the city, was Geomin-hyeon.
The county had been named directly after the sword mark left by the Sword God.
"Since martial artists visit so often, it’s become something of a tourist attraction. The nearby cities have developed quite a bit because of it."
This explanation came from Namgung Su-ah. It seemed she had also seen the Sea of Sword Blades before. Apparently, she had visited out of curiosity while wandering the Murim in the past.
"Ah, that's enough. No spoilers."
"Spoilers?"
"It’s no fun if I hear all about it beforehand."
Seo-jun grinned and made his way toward the Sea of Sword Blades.
The closer they got to the coast, the more crowded it became. It wasn't exactly a sea of people, but they still had to weave their way through the busy throngs.
"Hmm."
After a moment of thought, Seo-jun firmly grabbed Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah by their waists.
"Oh my?"
Namgung Su-ah widened her eyes slightly and leaned into Seo-jun. Chun-bong just dangled there limply.
Seo-jun kicked off the ground.
Thump—
As he stepped through the air, leaping effortlessly over people's heads, all eyes turned toward him.
"An expert...!"
"Who is that? Is it someone famous?"
Ignoring the murmurs, Seo-jun leaped onto a high cliff. Because the rock face was quite steep, there were significantly fewer people gathered at the top.
Tak—
Landing lightly on the cliff edge, Seo-jun set Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah down and stretched his back.
"Mmm...! The smell of the sea."
The salty scent carried by the ocean breeze accompanied the view of an endless horizon.
After taking in the high sun, the massive clouds, and the gentle rolling waves, Seo-jun looked around.
"So, where is this sword mark?"
If someone had carved something with a sword, it would likely be on one of the nearby rock faces. As Seo-jun scanned the cliffs, Chun-bong giggled.
"Heehee, dummy."
"What?"
"Look over there."
Chun-bong pointed directly toward the ocean. Naturally, there was nothing but the vast blue sea out there.
"I'm looking?"
When Seo-jun gave her a blank look, Chun-bong scratched her head.
"I mean, can't you see that?"
He looked more closely. There were two endless horizons. As he stared blankly, it suddenly clicked.
Wait, how can there be two horizons?
"Huh?"
Startled, Seo-jun kicked off the ground.
Thump—!
As he soared high into the sky and looked down at the ocean, the anomaly became painfully clear.
"What in the world..."
Two horizons. Seeing it from a high vantage point made it obvious. A single, colossal sword mark was cutting horizontally straight across the vast ocean.
Seo-jun descended back to the cliff, grabbed Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah once more, and kicked off the ground with explosive force.
BOOOOOOM──────────!!
The sea blurred into streaks of blue beneath his feet. Only after traveling a considerable distance out over the water did Seo-jun finally come to a stop, hovering directly above the sword mark.
"...This is honestly ridiculous."
The middle of the ocean was completely empty. It was a literal canyon carved out of seawater.
Lowering his altitude, Seo-jun carefully examined the empty void between the waves. There was no lingering sharp sword energy. He wouldn't be cut to ribbons just by approaching it.
"This is..."
As he descended into the canyon, he saw the seawater standing perfectly vertical, like sheer cliffs. It looked as if the ocean was being held back by invisible glass, but...
Splash—
When he reached out, his hand easily breached the surface. He could feel the wet, flowing water.
"So this is what it's like."
It was fundamentally different from when he had created walls of water using the Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Art. In that case, the walls would collapse the instant he withdrew the internal energy maintaining them.
"When was this made?"
Namgung Su-ah answered from his side.
"I believe it was about two hundred years ago."
Seo-jun let out a hollow laugh as he ascended back out of the canyon.
Standing atop the cliff made of water and looking down, he could see it clearly. The seawater simply refused to fall into the gap.
The sword mark and the sea existed in perfect harmony, as if this bizarre phenomenon was simply the natural order of the world.
‘It’s exactly the same as when he cut the sun.’
This time, he understood the mechanics a bit more clearly. This, too, was a strike that had severed the very concept of the target.
In other words, a manifestation of the Heart Sword.
He didn't know why the supreme experts of the Profound Realm stayed holed up in their secluded meditations, but he was suddenly very certain it was a good thing.
If monsters like this wandered the Central Plains as they pleased, the continent would have been shattered to pieces long ago.
Screee—
Acting on pure impulse, Seo-jun drew his sword.
As he tapped into the power of the Qi Spirit Scripture, a sudden, intoxicating sense of omnipotence made his head feel hot.
‘Cut the sea?’
Without hesitation, he swung his blade horizontally, perfectly tracing the path of the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword.
RIIIIIIIIIIIP───────────!
The distant horizon violently split in two. For a brief, terrifying moment, the very bottom of the sea was laid bare to the sky.
Since he applied no further conceptual power to maintain it, the sundered sea naturally crashed back together.
RUMBLE───────!!
The resulting tsunami was an unintended consequence. A colossal tidal wave surged upward, looking as if it might swallow the heavens themselves. Standing before the wall of water, Seo-jun felt a thrilling, tingling sensation in his mind.
‘A true Heart Sword is still a long way off, but...’
Seo-jun reached out his hand. The massive tsunami blotted out the sun, casting a sudden, terrifying shadow over the coast like the onset of night.
Absolute chaos broke out on the shore. People screamed in terror and scrambled to flee.
Seo-jun lightly placed his palm against the air facing the tsunami.
"Stop."
The apocalyptic tsunami instantly froze in place. As if time itself had stopped, there wasn't a single hint of movement from the towering wall of water.
Seeing this, Seo-jun gave a small, satisfied smirk.
"Traveling really is great."
It was these small, sudden realizations that gathered together to form a path to a higher realm.
To think his martial comprehension could rise simply by enjoying a vacation—how could he not love this?
Gaining profound enlightenment from the natural flow of life. That was the true essence of Righteous Faction martial arts.
*
"From the east, straight through the center, to the west?"
The sharp eyes of Chief Strategist Jegal Tong scanned the map spread out before him.
‘And they’re even placing a Transcendent Realm expert at the vanguard...’
It was an incredibly bold, almost suicidal move. One wrong step, and their entire formation would crumble.
With the North Sea Ice Palace already out of the picture, what could they possibly be aiming for to justify such a reckless gamble?
"Is there anything special about the route they are taking?"
A subordinate quickly replied.
"Nothing that we've been able to identify, sir. However, because their forces were heavily concentrated in the west, the martial artists guarding the eastern front have suffered catastrophic losses."
"And the key figures among them?"
"Cheong-ryeo of Mount Hua, Bo-jung of Emei, Heo-baek and Heo-ryang of Wudang, Peng Ju-hyeon of the Peng Clan, and Namgung Yeon of the Namgung Clan."
"Are they all dead?"
"Their deaths haven't been confirmed, but they are all currently reported as missing in action."