Chapter 239: The Emperor (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 239: The Emperor (2)
Accompanied by Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah, Seo-jun headed toward the pavilion where the Green Forest Unit usually resided.
In the martial world, the term "Green Forest" was synonymous with bandits.
Naming a combat unit of the prestigious Namgung Clan the "Green Forest Unit" felt like a glaring contradiction, but the title had been bestowed by none other than Namgung Jin-cheon himself.
Furthermore, the leader of this unit was the former bandit, Jang-geuk. Because he was a remarkably talented martial artist—even in Seo-jun’s eyes—the Green Forest Unit had earned quite a reputation within the Namgung Clan.
"Isn't it surprising that people only ever have good things to say about them?"
Chun-bong nodded at Seo-jun’s remark. "I thought everyone was just being polite because you brought them here, but they actually fit in perfectly."
"Really?"
"Yeah. If you didn't know, you'd never even guess they used to be bandits."
"Oho."
Satisfied, Seo-jun playfully bounced Chun-bong, whom he was currently carrying tucked under his arm.
"Ugh, eh, ack..."
Chun-bong let out a weak groan. Chuckling, Seo-jun continued walking until they reached the training ground. This was where the members of the Green Forest Unit usually practiced.
"One!"
"Hah...!"
The members were hard at work today, just as usual.
"My, my. They look like a bunch o' bandits, but they sure are workin' hard."
The Emperor, who had seamlessly tagged along with their group, clapped his hands. Seo-jun looked at him with an exasperated expression.
"Aren't you going home? Ryung already left."
Hwangbo Ryung had returned to the Hwangbo Clan immediately after Namgung Jin-cheon’s funeral procession ended. It seemed he felt burdened by leaving his clan unattended for too long.
Of course, Hwangbo Hye-ji had remained at the Namgung Clan. Word was that it was on Hwangbo Ryung’s direct orders.
He had apparently told her to get used to the estate, since it was where she would be living from now on. For someone who had initially opposed the marriage, he didn't seem to have much of a problem with it anymore.
"What would I even do back at the Imperial Palace? I’d just be killin’ time all day anyway."
"Ugh, you idiot."
When Seo-jun clicked his tongue, the Emperor grinned.
"Don't you worry none, I ain't got no plans to cause trouble in Namgung. I won't pick on that tiny little sprout neither, so don't look at me like that."
The "tiny little sprout," Geum Chun-bong, glared at him. Her lips twitched as if she wanted to fire back a harsh retort, but since her opponent was the Emperor, she ended up just pouting.
"Hey, Geum Chun-bong. Don't hold back."
"I-it's fine."
"Your brother can take responsibility for anything you say now."
"If I just run my mouth because of that, I'd be no better than a fox borrowing a tiger's might. I'd look pathetic."
The Emperor burst into laughter at Chun-bong’s grumbling.
"Haha...! This little sprout is better than my imperial consorts!"
"Wow, look at this guy badmouthing his own wives."
Seo-jun clicked his tongue in disapproval.
An imperial consort was... a position like a concubine, right? The primary wife would be the Empress.
Hmm?
Wait. Consorts? Plural?
"You bastard, just how many wives do you have to be talking like that?"
"I ain't never counted the concubines, so I couldn't tell ya. But I only got three Empresses."
"Wow."
As Seo-jun let out a hollow laugh, a presence approached. It was Jang-geuk.
"What brings you here, Lord?"
"Mister, this guy says he doesn't even know how many wives he has because there are too many."
The Emperor quickly countered. "Concubines ain't wives."
"I told you to stop using that damn dialect!"
"Concubines are not wives."
Jang-geuk let out a dry chuckle. "Isn't this man... that person? The Emperor."
Seo-jun nodded. "Yeah, so?"
"Well, if he's the Emperor, I suppose that's to be expected."
"My father-in-law wasn't like that, though."
"To be fair, that gentleman is a bit of a special case."
"My father-in-law is indeed quite special."
After all, he was a man who had beaten up Yama of the Underworld and ascended to the Celestial Realm.
As Seo-jun puffed out his chest with pride, Jang-geuk looked at him with a confused expression.
"Well, anyway. What brings you here? The boys keep glancing over here instead of focusing on their training."
Just as Jang-geuk said, Seo-jun could feel the gazes of the Green Forest Unit fixed on them. Seo-jun grinned and waved his hand.
"Hey, uncles! Take it easy!"
"Yes, sir!!"
The moment he told them to take it easy, they immediately dropped their stances and stopped their training.
They might not listen to anyone else, but they sure listen to me.
Seo-jun smirked as the Green Forest members slunk closer.
"Well, this works out. There was something I wanted to see."
"Something you wanted to see?"
At Jang-geuk’s question, Seo-jun wore a mysterious smile.
*
"So, you're going to watch the boys practice their martial arts and create something called 'The Namgung Lineage'?"
"I'm not exactly creating it from scratch; I'm just using them as a reference to make some adjustments. I'm planning to make the rounds through the other combat units as well."
"I don't quite follow..."
Jang-geuk leaned his chin on his hand, lost in thought. Seo-jun summarized it simply.
"Every combat unit has a different inclination. Even if they learn the exact same martial arts, the feel of it will be different."
"I understand that much."
"So, I'm trying to identify the exact point before those inclinations diverge. Later on, I might even create different martial arts tailored to those specific inclinations."
"Uh, well..."
Jang-geuk scratched his head and just laughed. "Well, if the Lord says so, then that's how it is."
He wondered if martial arts were really something that could be whipped up so easily, but then again, his Lord had always been the type to just casually whip things up. Given everything he had already witnessed, it was far too late to start questioning things now.
"Oho, that sounds interesting."
"Aren't you leaving yet? Where do you think you're going, trying to peek at someone else's martial arts?"
"Now, don't be so cold."
"Ugh, seriously. Get lost already!"
After chasing the Emperor away, Seo-jun stood before the Green Forest Unit.
"You heard the gist of it, right? Alright, begin!"
The members of the Green Forest Unit immediately began to perform their martial arts.
"Is it alright if I don't participate?"
"I'll have to observe you separately, Uncle Jang-geuk."
Once a martial artist reached the Absolute Peak Realm, they tended to forge their own unique path. In Jang-geuk’s case, Seo-jun planned to just observe and offer a bit of advice.
After watching the Green Forest members for a while, Seo-jun raised his hand.
"You can stop now."
"Yes, sir!"
The members halted their movements and stared blankly at Seo-jun.
The texture is definitely different from the other units.
The Green Forest Unit had also learned the Azure Lightning Heart Method and the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. However, they had also separately learned the Giant Spirit Divine Art, and perhaps because of their past lives as bandits, there was a subtle, unique ruggedness to their movements.
"Then, next..."
Seo-jun traveled all over the Namgung Clan estate, observing the martial arts of the various combat units.
There were some techniques among them that Seo-jun didn't know, but it wasn't a major problem. Martial arts exclusive to a specific unit were not a consideration for The Namgung Lineage anyway.
And if I'm curious, I can just ask.
Such was the power of authority.
Seo-jun smiled contentedly as he mentally deconstructed the martial arts performed by the Namgung units one by one.
The Green Forest is rough, and the Vast Heaven Unit is heavy. The Bi-yeon Unit has a light, cheerful feel to it.
He mentally stripped away all those specific characteristics. What remained was the pure essence.
After a moment of contemplation, Seo-jun scanned the mental imagery of The Namgung Lineage, visualizing it from the roots to the branches of a towering tree.
Not bad.
To put it simply, The Namgung Lineage was the Namgung Clan's ultimate martial arts curriculum.
You can do it too! From Third-rate to Absolute Peak!
It was designed to present a clear path that any disciple could follow until they eventually found their own unique color.
Thud—
Closing the sixth manual, Seo-jun stretched his arms wide.
"Ugh...! That's about half of it done."
The first four manuals contained the path leading up to the Absolute Peak Realm.
He had slightly modified the Azure Lightning Heart Method and the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms based on the combat units he observed today, adding in supplemental martial arts to build foundational skills before a cultivator reached the Absolute Peak.
Of course, nothing was set in stone yet. There was plenty of room for revisions in the first four manuals. He might even end up merging the unnamed martial arts of the two manuals into a single volume.
But from here on out, it's mostly fixed.
The fifth manual was the Life and Death Breakthrough Art, the ultimate hurdle through which a Namgung martial artist would reach the Absolute Peak Realm.
Since one had to walk their own path from the Absolute Peak onward, it was impossible to include every single variation within The Namgung Lineage.
However, there was one technique that almost all of them had to master in common...
That was Astral Qi, the undisputed symbol of the Absolute Peak.
In other words, the sixth manual was the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Extinguishing Art. If a martial artist had reached the Absolute Peak, shouldn't they be able to handle Astral Qi to some extent?
Of course, there were exceptions, but those were rare cases; the vast majority would learn to wield Astral Qi.
The Heavenly Thunder Demon-Extinguishing Art was a technique specifically designed for manipulating Astral Qi. As long as one could master this much, they could properly fulfill their role as an Absolute Peak master.
"Fulfill their role? Aren't your standards a little too high? I feel like anyone who masters this properly would be stronger than most Absolute Peak masters."
Chun-bong, who had been skimming through the six volumes of The Namgung Lineage series, tilted her head in confusion. But Seo-jun was firm.
"Because this is Namgung."
"What."
In fact, even Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah had not yet reached the sixth... that is, the 6th-star level of The Namgung Lineage.
Chun-bong hadn't learned Namgung martial arts to begin with, so the scaling was a bit vague for her, but Namgung Su-ah was exactly at the 5th-star level.
Meaning, she had finished the Life and Death Breakthrough Art and was now at the stage of learning the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Extinguishing Art.
"Devote yourself, Geum Chun-bong."
"Hmph..."
Chun-bong pouted. Seo-jun leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips before scanning The Namgung Lineage once more.
"Okay."
It definitely connected. Although the curriculum included various martial arts, they all harmonized into one unified system. It wasn't just a haphazard collection of separate techniques.
Even I think this is insane.
If the martial artists of Namgung grew based on The Namgung Lineage?
He could guarantee it. As time passed, the Namgung Clan would become the undisputed number one clan in the world.
While The Namgung Lineage could only guide them up to the Absolute Peak, because the foundation was so flawlessly laid, reaching the Transcendent Realm would also become relatively easier (relatively being the keyword—it was impossible to mass-produce Transcendent Realm masters).
Maybe this...
Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.
Seo-jun had created many divine arts like the Azure Lightning Heart Method, Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms, and Heaven-Man Divine Elixir Art, but by the Namgung Clan's standards, Earth-grade divine arts were his limit so far. (The Namgung Clan's divine arts were divided into three grades: Heaven, Earth, and Man.)
Currently, the only Heaven-grade divine art in the Namgung Clan was the Emperor Sword Form.
But if The Namgung Lineage were completed... perhaps another Heaven-grade divine art would be added to the Namgung Clan's arsenal.
He would be creating the second Heaven-grade divine art in the long history of the Namgung Clan with his very own hands.
Besides, I've gained a lot myself while organizing The Namgung Lineage.
By approaching martial arts from a completely different perspective than usual, he had gained various insights, both large and small. He had started this project for his family in Namgung, but perhaps through this process, he too could take another step forward in his own cultivation.
If things went as planned, the very path Seo-jun would walk in the future could change significantly.
"Anyway, that's it for today's work!"
He could continue the rest tomorrow. Seo-jun jumped up from his seat.
"Let's go for a walk, Chun-bong."
"Uh, yeah, just let me finish this."
After carefully placing a sugar-coated Tanghulu on the drying rack, Chun-bong tightly gripped Seo-jun’s hand.
As they left the room and wandered around the estate, quite a few unfamiliar faces caught their eyes. They were mourners who hadn't departed yet.
From their perspective, they had finally gained a justification to visit the Namgung Clan, so they likely wanted to forge a connection through this opportunity by any means necessary.
"Great Hero, Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord."
"Yes?"
"It is an honor to meet you. I am..."
Naturally, there were many people looking for Seo-jun.
They would approach him hesitantly, like a shy maiden about to confess her love, and cautiously invite him to a meal. However, Seo-jun had no intention of letting his dinner time with his future brides be interrupted.
"Yep, sorry!"
Was it a relief that most people backed off immediately the moment Seo-jun expressed his refusal?
However, even Seo-jun didn't skip out on meals with people from other sects entirely. These were mainly dinner gatherings hosted by Namgung Myeong.
Since there was a banquet with representatives from the Sixteen Major Sects and Clans today, Seo-jun also attended with Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah.
While he was comfortably conversing with several familiar faces, a man identified as an Elder of the Jongnam Sect leaned in and asked:
"I heard that Jo Chung, who was an Elder of the Murim Alliance, died at your hands. Could we hear the full story behind that?"
"Jo Chung?"
As Seo-jun searched his memory for a moment, his eyebrows twitched.
"Ah, that vermin."