Chapter 240
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: The Sea, the Great Ocean
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong.
He quietly gazed down at the document placed before him.
It wasn't just any paper.
It was a vacation request from the Hocheon Corps Leader.
Yes.
The Hocheon Corps Leader was human too, after all, and entitled to guaranteed leave.
Even so, it felt utterly unfamiliar.
As far as he could recall, the previous Hocheon Corps Leader had scarcely ever taken any vacation.
'Maybe just once?'
Yet the current one, not even a full year into his tenure, had submitted a request.
And for quite a lengthy extended leave, at that.
Well, it wasn't a big deal either way.
He was a puppet leader, after all.
Even So Hwi-woong himself handled all important matters through Vice Corps Leader Dam Mu-hyeon.
There had to be some purpose for him to mobilize his clan's power just to become Hocheon Corps Leader.
What had been strangely quiet all this time was the odd part.
And now, suddenly, a long vacation.
So Hwi-woong tapped one corner of his desk.
"Perhaps this is the very reason he became Hocheon Corps Leader."
It was only natural to think so, given this was the first move from someone who'd been so still until now.
"In that case."
So Hwi-woong decisively stamped his approval on the request.
The man didn't matter whether he was there or not anyway.
Then he quietly summoned Dam Mu-hyeon.
"What is it?"
A voice echoed softly in the Alliance Leader's office.
But Dam Mu-hyeon's form was nowhere to be seen.
Only his voice lingered.
"The Hocheon Corps Leader has requested extended leave."
"Yes."
Dam Mu-hyeon replied curtly.
"Any idea what this is about?"
"It seems he's found what he was after."
So Hwi-woong nodded faintly at the response.
"He's been coming and going from Manbak Merchant Guild like it was his own home. He visited them not long ago and requested leave right after, so it's likely related."
An obvious deduction.
"Follow him."
So Hwi-woong commanded briefly.
"Understood."
Dam Mu-hyeon answered shortly, and his presence vanished just as quickly.
"I hope something like what happened at Zhongnan unfolds."
So Hwi-woong murmured with a sly smile.
The face of Hocheon Corps Leader Namgung Hwa-u he'd seen didn't look like one content with just that position.
So Hwi-woong rose from his seat and approached the window.
Alliance Leader's Hall.
The top-floor office.
No place in the vast Righteous Heaven Alliance stood higher.
He quite liked the view of the Alliance from here.
"Who would've thought things would flow this way."
A deeper smile spread across So Hwi-woong's face.
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
When he was demoted for an absurd reason, it felt like both arms had been severed.
Ha Mu-baek wasn't merely a right-hand man to So Hwi-woong.
If anything, likening him to a body part, he was more vital than both arms combined.
Yet.
After he went to the Dragon Training Pavilion, events had strangely turned in his favor.
The Pang Clan suffered devastating blows, and the Yeon Clan's young master died.
Zhongnan's sect leader had changed.
All of them—the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans forming the Orthodox Alliance—were the opposition to So Hwi-woong's supported New Eight Schools.
The Orthodox Alliance had ousted Ha Mu-baek to weaken So Hwi-woong, but the result had instead enfeebled them.
"That's why the world's affairs are unpredictable and so amusing. Heh heh."
So Hwi-woong chuckled pleasantly.
At first, he'd tried every way to quickly recall Ha Mu-baek to headquarters.
But after that incident with the Pang Clan, he'd decided to watch and wait—and it had been the right call.
This time, he had a hunch something would brew with the Namgung Clan too.
And that hunch proved correct soon enough.
Dam Mu-hyeon had secretly reported that Namgung Hwa-u was heading to Wuchang.
Late at night.
Yet it was still quite warm.
They'd passed mid-May, after all.
Summer was approaching.
Only about a month remained until the Summer Combat Festival at the summer solstice.
The twenty squads of Wa Dragon Corps cadets were immersed in their training without respite.
And one more person.
Namgung Ji-hu was also lost in training.
In a month.
Once the Dragon Training Pavilion's first semester ended, he'd return to the clan to compete for the young master's seat.
To do that, he needed to perfect the Imperial Sword Form.
Even so, the sword art Namgung Ji-hu was currently demonstrating was the Great Ocean Sword Method.
After lightly warming up with the Three Talents Sword Method, he delved into the Great Ocean Sword Method in earnest.
It was unrecognizably different from the Great Ocean Sword Method he'd shown when first meeting Namgung Hwi.
Namgung Hwi watched Namgung Ji-hu's display with heartfelt satisfaction.
He was a genius beyond mere prodigy.
'Just one more step, and he'll surpass the wall.'
That's what Namgung Hwi could see.
Which made it all the more commendable—and regrettable.
But after this, there was nothing more he could teach.
The boy had already reached the limit of what instruction could achieve.
Thus, these midnight training sessions ended tonight.
From now on, it was solely up to Namgung Ji-hu himself.
Having completed one full cycle of the Great Ocean Sword Method, Namgung Ji-hu quietly regulated his breathing.
"Splendid. It seems there's nothing more for me to teach."
Namgung Hwi said with a smile.
But Namgung Ji-hu shook his head.
"No. It's not the sword Senior showed that day."
His ambition was vast too.
"That requires personal enlightenment to break through the wall. It can't be taught by another."
Namgung Ji-hu pondered Namgung Hwi's words deeply.
"Then..."
"It seems tonight is the last time I'll assist with your training."
At Namgung Hwi's words, Namgung Ji-hu wore an expression of profound regret.
It was a shock beyond what he'd imagined.
It felt like a chunk of his heart had been torn away.
'Why does it feel like this?'
Even Namgung Ji-hu himself was startled by the emotion.
It was utterly different from when receiving instruction from Ha Mu-baek.
Namgung Ji-yu, watching from the side, felt the same inexplicable pang.
She hadn't even received direct teaching.
She'd merely observed the two training.
Yet the thought of never doing so again made her chest ache.
It was a bewildering sentiment.
Why on earth?
And it wasn't just the two of them feeling this reluctance.
Namgung Hwi's own expression, as he spoke those words, wasn't good either.
"Then... may I ask for a spar?"
Until now, the two had never crossed swords even once.
They'd only demonstrated, observed, advised, and showcased forms.
His teaching style differed from Ha Mu-baek's.
At Namgung Ji-hu's request, the silent Namgung Hwi nodded.
"Since it's the last, that wouldn't be bad. Though I wonder how much help a one-armed left-handed sword can offer."
Even Namgung Hwi felt it was unfinished business.
He wanted to clash swords with the boy at least once.
But he'd held back, fearing it might overwhelm him too much to wield properly.
Tonight, being the finale, it should be fine.
He'd grown quite accustomed to the two youngsters by now.
The pair drew their swords and faced each other.
Namgung Ji-hu moved first.
His sword flowed seamlessly from the Great Ocean Sword Method's starting stance into its first technique.
Smooth and unhindered, grand and expansive.
It was worthy of being called a perfected Great Ocean Sword Method.
Namgung Hwi countered with his own swing.
His sword's motion resembled—and yet differed from—Namgung Ji-hu's.
Not merely because it was his left hand.
The intent infused in the blade was distinct.
Facing it directly, Namgung Ji-hu felt this keenly.
It was.
'The sea. The great ocean.'
He'd once seen the ocean firsthand in a village at the eastern edge of Jiangsu Province.
An endless expanse of water.
It held a majesty unlike vast lakes like Dongting or Taihu.
The boundless sea stretching to touch the sky.
That day, he'd first beheld the true meaning of "great ocean" with his own eyes.
And now, Namgung Hwi was showing it to him once more through his sword.
Having mastered the Great Ocean Sword Method perfectly, Namgung Ji-hu could finally perceive the great ocean within Namgung Hwi's blade.
What he'd seen before but failed to comprehend.
If the Vast Sky Unbound Sword was the sky, then the Great Ocean Sword Method was the sea.
Explosions of insight rocked Namgung Ji-hu's mind repeatedly.
Focus vanished from his eyes as he entered a trance.
Namgung Hwi noticed immediately.
So did Namgung Ji-yu.
Namgung Hwi didn't halt his sword.
Instead, he unleashed the Great Ocean Sword Method with all his might.
He knew his art had given the boy a clue.
He had to aid him fully in surmounting that wall.
He even drew up the inner energy he'd kept hidden until now.
And matched blades calibrated to Namgung Ji-hu's power level.
"Hm?"
Ha Mu-baek, lounging idly on his dorm bed, shifted expression.
He sat up and exited the dorm.
His figure vanished in an instant.
He reappeared atop the schoolhouse roof.
Just after Ha Mu-baek arrived, Wi Ji-gun revealed himself too.
"You felt it too, Master?"
"How could I not, with energy leaking like that? Heh heh."
Ha Mu-baek and Wi Ji-gun quietly watched Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Hwi.
"If he breaks through tonight, no one left here will be able to match him."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Wi Ji-gun's words.
Baek Ri-pyeong or Ju Wu-myeong.
If those two didn't surpass the wall, Namgung Ji-hu was the clear favorite for next year's Eastward Tournament championship.
He was growing frighteningly strong.
Namgung Ji-hu's sword was increasingly resembling Namgung Hwi's.
He was beginning to infuse the sea into his Great Ocean Sword Method.
Namgung Hwi.
The village where he'd lived was near the sea.
Inevitably so.
It was east of Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, in southeastern Zhejiang Province.
Not far from the Zhejiang coast.
On the day he'd hit that wall.
He'd gazed at the ocean and broken through.
A fragment of that sea's image now dwelled in Namgung Ji-hu's sword.
'He's finally capturing the sea. I can see the great ocean.'
Watching Namgung Ji-hu's Great Ocean Sword Method, Namgung Hwi felt overwhelming emotion swell in his chest.
The turbulent waves of a stormy sea and the eternally calm expanse of the great ocean.
Both shone in Namgung Ji-hu's art.
Thus the Great Ocean Sword Method concluded.
And Namgung Ji-hu's sword art changed.
Contrary to expectations of another cycle.
An entirely different sword path.
'Vast Sky Unbound Sword!'
Namgung Hwi recognized it instantly.
He hadn't been taught it, but he'd seen it many times.
Namgung Ji-hu seamlessly transitioned from Great Ocean Sword Method to Vast Sky Unbound Sword.
And in that Vast Sky Unbound Sword.
'The sky... the true vast sky.'
Namgung Hwi met Namgung Ji-hu's blade with full power.
Though Vast Sky Unbound Sword clashed with Great Ocean Sword Method, Namgung Hwi had reached super peak realm.
Even as the superior art, it posed no challenge to parry.
No—Namgung Hwi's Great Ocean Sword Method was no inferior art to Vast Sky Unbound Sword.
Having fully executed Vast Sky Unbound Sword, Namgung Ji-hu's blade shifted once more.
Namgung Hwi couldn't identify this sword art.
It felt vaguely familiar, like something he'd seen before—yet he'd never witnessed such a sword.
The reason for that ambiguous sensation was simple.
The great ocean and vast sky had merged as one.
And only a single, transcendent sword remained, loftily piercing the world.
It was, without doubt.
The Emperor.
The Imperial Sword Form.
'Ah. The Imperial Sword Form!'
From its form alone, Namgung Hwi knew what sword Namgung Ji-hu was forging.
As a Namgung clansman.
Facing that blade's manifestation, he couldn't help but recall the Namgung Clan's supreme sword art.
The Imperial Sword Form.
'The Imperial Sword Form Namgung Hwa-hyeon displayed was fake. This is the true Imperial Sword Form!'
Namgung Hwi's heart trembled fiercely.
As a Namgung clansman, beholding the clan's true ultimate sword art filled him with awe.
The very art that had once driven him to the brink of death—but it had been counterfeit.
That's why, upon first seeing it, it felt familiar yet unseen.
What he'd witnessed was false.
Worthless to compare to the real thing.
Like a firefly before the full moon.
Overcome with emotion yet clashing swords, Namgung Hwi.
Slowly, focus faded from his eyes as well.