A Man's Promise Is Worth More Than Gold
The road from Jeongcheon Hall to the Family Head Hall was one he had walked many times now.
Somehow the sun had already begun its descent, and a red evening glow was washing the entire Namgung estate in a faint crimson.
The air brushing past his cheeks was rather chilly, yet to Namgung Cheon even that coldness felt refreshing.
The Great Method of Rectifying Heaven and Sinew Transformation.
The reward for enduring that hellish, bone-carving agony was nothing short of sweet.
The world looked different now.
The countless scents carried on the wind, the footsteps of his household members drifting over from afar, even the energy of the earth he could feel through the soles of his feet as they pressed against the ground.
Every sense in his body had grown so keen that he felt connected to every living, breathing thing around him.
Excellent.
Beyond that, every single muscle from head to toe obeyed his will perfectly, and the internal energy settled in his dantian surged upward without end, like a spring that would never run dry.
It could hardly be compared to the body he had possessed in his previous life as the Heavenly Demon, but for his current age and realm, it was an achievement that could justly be called unrivaled.
Immersed in the feel of his transformed body, he walked on, and before he knew it he had arrived at the Family Head Hall.
The guards stationed at the door bowed deeply at the waist when they saw him approach.
"The Patriarch is waiting for you."
Namgung Cheon gave a small nod and opened the door.
Creeeeak―.
As the heavy doors swung open, a familiar energy reached him.
At the far end of the vast hall, in a space where the darkness was just beginning to settle, Namgung Mugang sat in the seat of honor, silently reading a book.
He did not lift his gaze even at the sound of the door opening, and only slowly raised his head once Namgung Cheon had come to a stop a short distance away.
"……"
Namgung Mugang's gaze turned toward his son.
His eyes sank deep.
It lasted only an instant, but Namgung Cheon felt it.
Felt his father's gaze sweep over his entire body, and then pass all the way down into the depths of his dantian.
He had even controlled the aura of the Great Void Heart-Protecting Art and his internal energy alike, and yet.
So it truly wasn't something that could be hidden, no matter how he tried.
Namgung Cheon calmly accepted that gaze.
Namgung Mugang's eyes narrowed to slits.
He had already received the report from Namgung Dan, Master of Jeongcheon Hall.
That the Great Method had succeeded, and that the body had been reconstructed to perfection.
But what he confirmed with his own eyes far exceeded the contents of that report.
The refinement of the body aside……
Namgung Mugang's gaze came to rest on his son's dantian.
The pulsing of the energy he felt there.
Savage and violent, and yet of remarkably high purity.
Coarse as an unrefined gemstone, and yet its essence was deeper and more pristine than anything else.
A flicker of intrigue crossed Namgung Mugang's face.
So he gained a great deal of internal energy.
He had known it from the report, but seeing it with his own two eyes was an entirely different matter.
He circulated his qi even amid that unspeakable agony.
The word "tenacious" hardly did it justice.
Madness was the better word — the same madness Namgung Dan carried within him.
And yet Namgung Mugang did not dislike that madness.
Thanks to it, his son had climbed one step higher.
Namgung Mugang closed his book and spoke.
"How is the body?"
"Not bad."
It was a deadpan answer.
Namgung Mugang let out a short laugh.
Not bad, he says.
How many people in all the world could say such a thing of a body in this state?
He had attained a physique and internal energy that an ordinary warrior might fail to win in a lifetime of striving — and he dismissed it all with nothing more than a dry "not bad."
"The Master of Jeongcheon Hall sang your praises until his mouth ran dry."
"He flatters me."
Namgung Mugang rose from his seat.
He stepped down from the seat of honor and came right up before Namgung Cheon, then raised a hand and gripped his son's shoulder firmly.
The strong yet supple bone and muscle, and the heavy current of internal energy flowing within them — all of it transmitted straight through his palm.
"You've grown strong."
There was genuine acknowledgment in Namgung Mugang's voice.
"The will you carry, and the sword you will wield — I see nothing in you now that falls short of bearing them."
"Thank you, Father."
Namgung Cheon answered briefly.
No lengthy explanation was needed.
After all, Namgung Mugang had already seen through everything, and he was clearly satisfied with what he had found.
A silence settled between the father and son.
Before long, Namgung Mugang withdrew his hand from the shoulder, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked to the window.
The blazing red glow of sunset carved deep shadows into his profile.
"You heard it from the Master of Jeongcheon Hall, I take it."
Namgung Mugang spoke quietly as he stared out beyond the window.
"What it is you immersed yourself in."
"……Yes, I did."
"The Great Method is the deepest wish of Jeongcheon Hall, and the crystallization of the blood and sweat of countless souls — the Changcheon Sword Unit chief among them."
Namgung Mugang slowly turned his head to look at his son.
His eyes were more earnest than they had ever been.
"You now carry the weight of proving all their effort. Never, not even for a single moment, forget that the tip of your sword is bound to their striving — and beyond them, to the name of Namgung itself."
It was a charge delivered both as the Patriarch and as a father.
Namgung Cheon did not turn away from that gaze, and nodded silently.
"I will keep it in mind."
A short answer, but an unshakable one.
Namgung Mugang felt the weight packed into those few words, and said nothing more about it.
Instead, with the faintest of smiles, he changed the subject.
"More importantly — there is someone waiting for you, and waiting rather anxiously."
At those words, a trace of puzzlement flashed across Namgung Cheon's eyes.
Waiting for me?
No one in particular came to mind.
Just then—
Fwoosh―.
Beyond the doors of the Family Head Hall, a familiar and yet intensely powerful energy made itself known.
Namgung Cheon's head turned toward the door.
An energy both razor-sharp and endlessly upright.
It was as if a masterfully forged sword were pushing out of its scabbard, pouring forth its spirit.
And at the same time, a warmth wrapped around him like a gentle breeze.
This energy……
There was no mistaking it.
Their first meeting had been that intense.
Creeeak―.
The doors of the Family Head Hall swung wide open.
A man stood there, backlit by the brilliant afternoon sun.
White martial robes, hair neatly bound, and strikingly handsome features.
The First Young Master — Namgung Hwi.
"May I come in?"
"Enter."
Namgung Hwi strode inside with long, easy steps.
His gaze settled naturally on Namgung Cheon.
And in that instant, his eyes wavered deeply.
He was the Sword Dragon, standing at the very summit of the late-blooming talents of the current murim.
That was precisely why he knew at a single glance.
His younger brother had transformed yet again.
The energy that had once been like a keenly honed dagger back at the River-Along Martial Assembly had now grown heavy and deep, like a great mountain.
"Truly…… remarkable."
Namgung Hwi let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
Envy would have been only natural — and yet there was nothing in his eyes but pure admiration.
"I look away for a moment and you've sprinted this far ahead. It's rather hard on an older brother's pride, you know."
At that, Namgung Cheon simply studied Namgung Hwi in silence.
Since the River-Along Martial Assembly, he himself had made a meteoric leap.
He had naturally assumed that a considerable gap had opened between them.
But—
No. That's not it.
The Namgung Hwi before him had grown far deeper than the man he remembered.
If Namgung Cheon had made a sudden bound forward, Namgung Hwi had taken the tower he had built one steady brick at a time and raised it higher, more solid than ever.
He never once stood still.
If anything, he seemed even more keenly honed than before.
The corner of Namgung Cheon's mouth quietly curled upward.
Yes — this was what made it worth watching.
"It seems I'm not the only one running ahead."
At Namgung Cheon's words, Namgung Hwi gave a short laugh.
"Well, I can hardly fall behind my little brother, can I? More to the point — the moniker Azure Sky Sword Hero has swept across all of Hunan, I hear. Your exploits even reached the Alliance Leader's ears."
Namgung Hwi's eyes glowed with warmth.
"I'm proud of you. My little brother, shaking the world with his name."
"It was mere chance, nothing more."
"Chance? Without ability, even opportunity arrives and slips through your fingers. What shone was the strength you spent all this time building."
Namgung Hwi brushed aside his brother's modesty.
Then, as though something had just occurred to him, his eyes lit up and he asked,
"Ah — but do you know why I came rushing back like this?"
Namgung Cheon tilted his head.
Had some grave matter arisen within the clan?
Or had he come to deliver an urgent message from the Wulin Alliance?
Anything that set the First Young Master in motion could hardly be a trifling affair.
But the words that left Namgung Hwi's mouth were nothing he could have imagined.
"I've come to keep a promise I made to you."
"……A promise?"
Namgung Cheon's brow furrowed.
He searched his memory.
Had he ever made some kind of promise with Namgung Hwi?
Nothing came to mind with any clarity.
When Namgung Cheon only stared at him in bewilderment, Namgung Hwi put on a deliberately wounded look.
"Goodness. You've already forgotten?"
"……I don't remember."
When Namgung Cheon answered honestly, Namgung Hwi chuckled.
"Well, a great deal did happen that day. But a promise between men must weigh heavier than gold."
"A promise, you say……"
Namgung Cheon was about to say something, still looking utterly lost, when—
"May I come in?"
A voice sounded from beyond the door.
"Come in."
At Namgung Mugang's word the door opened, and another man stepped inside.
"You've timed it well, Jin."
It was the Second Young Master, Namgung Jin.
At Namgung Hwi's words, Namgung Jin gave a light nod, paid his respects to Namgung Mugang, and then stole a glance at Namgung Cheon.
In that moment, a tangle of complicated emotions flickered across his face.
But he buried it almost at once and spoke in a calm, level voice.
"Everything is ready."
"You've worked hard."
Namgung Hwi clapped Namgung Jin on the shoulder.
Namgung Cheon, unable to make sense of this strange scene, frowned.
What on earth was ready?
Just then, Namgung Hwi broke into a bright smile and looked at him.
"Now do you remember?"
"……?"
Nothing but question marks filled Namgung Cheon's eyes.
Besides, Namgung Hwi had not been off on a mere errand — he had gone all the way to Gansu and back.
There were still matters from that affair left to settle, surely.
No matter how far he searched his memory, there was no promise so momentous that Namgung Hwi would cast all of that aside and come sprinting home to the clan.
As Namgung Cheon continued to wear his puzzled expression, Namgung Hwi put on a look of exaggerated hurt and went on.
"You really did forget…… You wound me. Didn't I tell you?"
Namgung Hwi curled his thumb and forefinger together and raised the gesture to his lips, miming a cup.
The moment that familiar motion registered, Namgung Cheon's eyes flickered — and Namgung Hwi flashed him a radiant grin.
"A drink. Between brothers."