Chapter 3
Chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Unexpected Training
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Secluded training is no easy feat.
And it’s not something just anyone can undertake.
It is a training method born from the obsession of masters who, having hit a great wall, seek to break through it.
But how much training could a boy of only thirteen possibly do?
Namgung Yul felt as though he was being played by his nephew, Namgung Urin, yet again.
He knew his nephew had always been a quirky child, different from the rest.
But he wasn't so foolish as to not even know what secluded training was.
Not his nephew, Namgung Urin.
“You heard me correctly.”
Namgung Yul’s brow furrowed.
“Urin, did you come all this way just to trade jokes with your uncle? At a time like this? Huh?”
“No, Uncle. Of course not. Not when my grandfather and father fell into a trap and met such a wrongful end.”
And yet, his nephew’s face remained impassive.
For one so young, secluded training could certainly be poison.
Especially for a nephew already brimming with madness.
“I, too, am filled with resentment and rage. But it’s not as if I can just run off to the Murong Family or the Martial Alliance right now, is it?”
He was the type who just might.
Fortunately, it seemed the deaths of his grandfather and father were holding him in check.
“No, perhaps I could go. But even if I did, there’s nothing I could accomplish. Should I go and stab one of the Murong Family’s maids? For me—the one who will lead the future of the Namgung—to kill a single maid from the Murong Family only to die a dog’s death, would that truly be the right thing to do? It wouldn’t, would it, Uncle?”
Yes, no matter how detached his nephew seemed, how difficult must it have been for the young boy?
How could it not be?
Under the pretext of caring for others, Namgung Yul had failed to properly console his own nephew, Namgung Urin.
Of course, it wasn't as if any consolation would have worked on him anyway.
“Our Namgung is only just now crawling out from the jaws of hell. As am I. I’m sure it’s no different for you, Uncle. I know that much.”
The nephew’s words stabbed at his uncle’s heart.
*Right, you must have had a hard time too.*
At least his nephew wasn't thoughtless. Wasn't he even sharper than his own father?
“So, would I really come all this way at a time like this just to jest with you, Uncle? I was being completely serious.”
*Is he really serious?*
If he was, what a welcome development this would be.
Still, secluded training seemed too extreme.
Not only was he too young, but did he really intend to train in such a suffocating place?
While eating those bland grain abstinence pills?
An endless period of secluded training?
My troublemaker of a nephew, Urin?
Namgung Yul couldn't help but be skeptical.
“If it’s not a joke, then why would you speak of such absurd secluded training at your age?”
“Uncle. I am truly serious. I want to become strong. I want to grow strong quickly and restore the Namgung to its rightful place. I believe your wishes are no different, are they?”
How could they be?
He just couldn't fathom his nephew's true intentions.
Moreover…
“Don’t you have a private training ground at your residence?”
He did, but…
Namgung Urin had his reasons.
How could a direct descendant of the Namgung Family possibly practice martial arts other than their own?
That was why secluded training was essential for mastering the Primordial Chaos Art.
“It’s to focus better.”
“Why? Can’t you focus in your own training ground?”
“Uncle.”
It was a threat, a demand to shut up and accept his will.
As if to say there was no telling what else he might do otherwise.
“You brat. You think you’ll train so well in a seclusion chamber when you don’t even train in your own training ground? That’s enough. Leave now. It won't be too late to speak of secluded training after you've shown me you can train diligently. You’re only thirteen, you brat.”
“What must I do for you to believe my sincerity?”
He showed no sign of backing down.
Then again, that was the kind of nephew he was.
Which made him all the more anxious, especially at a time like this.
His nephew’s eyes seemed to speak of sincerity.
Though he wasn’t entirely convinced.
But if, by some chance, his nephew was being truthful, it could yield results beyond Namgung Yul’s wildest expectations.
That's what gave him pause.
The dilemma of whether he should push his troublemaking nephew into a lion's den conflicted with the desire to see how much his nephew could grow if he finally got his act together and devoted himself to training.
“Fine. Then try convincing your mother.”
His father, who had once looked down upon the entire martial world, and his elder brother, a genius said to appear only once a century…
Both were nothing more than fish before a cat in front of his sister-in-law.
As was the nephew standing before him.
“...My mother?”
“Yes. If you can convince your mother, I will accept it.”
He might as well give up. Not if it involved convincing his mother.
However…
“Understood. If I convince my mother, you will not go back on your word.”
My resolve is true.
And no one knows.
The reason why I haven't been training diligently.
No, the reason why I couldn't.
“I won’t go back on my word.”
But she would never accept it.
How would a woman who had just lost her husband react to the idea of not seeing her son due to secluded training?
Cases of qi deviation during secluded training, while rare, did occur in the martial world.
There was no mother under the heavens who would approve of her son, especially one who was only thirteen, undertaking such dangerous training.
Moreover, she was a mother who was well aware of her son's exceptional nature.
The answer was already decided.
***
*Thud, thud.*
Namgung Urin’s footsteps were heavy with deliberation.
“My mother…”
Persuading her would be no simple task.
Namgung Urin knew why his uncle, Namgung Yul, had been so confident.
The situation being what it was.
Holding someone's weakness would typically make things easier, but with his mother, that could be the worst possible move.
Not that anyone was without weaknesses, but she wasn't someone who could be swayed by such things.
On the contrary, his mother was the type to wield the fact that he'd tried to exploit her weakness like a forceful aura.
That was Namgung Urin’s mother.
“Huu.”
A sigh, heavy as a thousand pounds of iron, escaped the lips of the thirteen-year-old boy.
Soon, he arrived before the door to his mother Yeonhwa’s room.
“Mother, it is Urin.”
“Come in.”
His mother’s gentle and lovely voice welcomed him.
Namgung Urin carefully opened the door, entered his mother’s room, and sat in a chair.
His mother, Yeonhwa, gazed at her son with a pleased expression.
She was incredibly proud of how her young son was enduring a hardship that even she found difficult to bear, far better than she had worried he would.
“Have you settled your heart?”
She had given her husband's belongings to their son, hoping he would sort out his feelings, rise above the grief, and work for the sake of the Namgung.
“Yes, Mother.”
“Did you gain anything from it?”
“I gained something very great.”
“I see. That is wonderful.”
His mother didn't ask what it was.
Like his father, his mother never interfered with his affairs.
If anything, she encouraged him.
“That is why I have come to see you, Mother.”
“Yes, it’s good you came. I have something to tell you as well.”
Yeonhwa’s expression turned somewhat serious.
His mother's expressions were usually simple.
Either a smiling face or an angry one. He didn't see her angry face often, but when he did, the best course of action was to stay far away from her.
But now… this was an expression he had never seen before.
She looked exceedingly serious.
“Then I will listen.”
“No. I would like to hear what you have to say first.”
“No, Mother. Please, you speak first.”
“Very well, then I shall speak first.”
“Yes.”
“I have never said this to you before, but I must say it now. Your grandfather and your father are no longer in the Namgung Family. Of course, your uncle is here, but you will have to lead this family in the future, will you not?”
“Yes, I know, and I have taken it to heart.”
“I am glad to hear that, Urin.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Yeonhwa gazed deeply into her son Namgung Urin’s eyes.
She was struck anew by how brilliant her son was.
And she also thought how nice it would have been if he were just a little more ordinary.
He looked so much more mature.
This incident had brought immense pain and suffering to the Namgung and to herself, but it also seemed to be an opportunity for a new change in her son, Urin, which was a small comfort.
So she steeled her heart.
For her son's success, and for the Namgung to rise again.
Yeonhwa continued.
“Son, it is time you started training, don't you think?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I have made a resolution myself.”
“I am so proud of you, my son. That is why I am saying this. It may be a little—no, far too early, and it will be difficult, but I wish for you to enter secluded training.”
“…”
Namgung Urin’s eyes widened.
Though usually impassive, Namgung Urin smiled more readily and expressed his emotions quite well in front of his grandfather, father, and mother.
“Are you surprised?”
“Ah, yes. For you to, Mother…”
Yeonhwa cut her son off.
“Am I not also a person of the Namgung? It pains my heart that your grandfather, your father, and so many of our people fell to the schemes of those evil men. That is why. I want to repay them. For my sake, and for the sake of the Namgung, can you do this?”
He could feel the deep-seated resentment in his mother’s eyes.
She who had always been so bright.
“Yes, Mother. That is why I came to see you. I, too, came to speak to you about secluded training.”
Yeonhwa’s face brightened.
“Yes, thank you.”
Her pupils had been trembling slightly, but soon, tears began to fall.
Her bright expression returning, Yeonhwa looked at her son with pride.
He had always been a child who stood out because of his exceptional personality, but now he was becoming a respectable young man who thought of his family. Yeonhwa felt her heart swell with emotion once more.
“You’re all grown up, my son.”
Namgung Urin smiled brightly back at his mother.
“Son.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“I do not wish for you to be cooped up in that suffocating place for a long time just because you are in secluded training. So, I have decided on five years.”
“What?”
Namgung Urin was very surprised, but his expression remained unchanged.
Five years?
That was far from what Namgung Urin had in mind.
“You are surprised.”
Despite his expressionless face, his mother Yeonhwa could read her son’s thoughts.
“Still, no. I do not wish to keep you locked away in there for more than five years.”
“...Mother. That is… well…”
Five years was too burdensome a period.
“No! Let us be clear on this. I will not permit any longer. You will understand it as such.”
Hah.
What an unexpected bolt from the blue.
He had been thinking a year to a year and a half at most.
He wasn't entering seclusion to master the Primordial Chaos Art to its end, but merely to lay its foundation.
If he could just build a solid foundation, training secretly at night would be enough.
His mother, Yeonhwa, had surpassed the exceptional Namgung Urin’s expectations.
“Let us go.”
“Do you mean right now?”
“Yes.”
His mother was not one to say things twice.
“Yes…”
Yeonhwa was already leaving the room.
Namgung Urin had no choice but to follow.