Chapter 241
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 241
Chapter Title: Congratulations
Namgung Hwi's sword began to shift its movements bit by bit.
Namgung Ji-yu gaped at the sight.
'H-how is this possible...'
She could tell at a glance.
Both of them had entered a trance.
It was shocking enough that Namgung Ji-hu, who had experienced a trance during his recent spar with Ha Mu-baek, had fallen into one again.
But even Namgung Hwi, who had guided him into the spar, had entered a trance as well.
Was there ever such a bizarre tale in the martial world?
Her eyes trembled faintly.
The two swords seemed to tangle chaotically at first, then gradually began to blend in harmony.
It was as if they weren't sparring, but performing a meticulously choreographed sword dance together.
An overwhelming, majestic sword dance that perfectly dominated every inch of space between them.
Their sword movements were similar yet different.
Each was finding their own path.
'Ah, so beautiful...'
Namgung Ji-yu couldn't tear her eyes away.
A tickling sensation stirred in one corner of her mind and one side of her chest.
Watching them, she felt some kind of breakthrough stirring within her own martial arts.
'I want to pick up a sword too.'
But she couldn't.
The training ground was already their exclusive domain.
She couldn't dare intrude.
It would be good to organize her insights through meditation, but she chose to watch their sword dance instead.
It would surely inspire her even more.
"Huh..."
Ha Mu-baek let out a sigh of admiration.
It was because of Namgung Hwi.
"Impressive," Wi Ji-gun said with a nod.
"Indeed. It's not easy to find a breakthrough like that at their level."
"The Imperial Sword Form became the trigger."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Wi Ji-gun's words.
Imperial Sword Form.
The pinnacle, the ultimate sword art that synthesized all of the Namgung Clan's sword techniques.
Ha Mu-baek had recognized from the manual that its foundation lay in the Great Chain Sword Method and the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword.
He hadn't seen the latter half, but the first half alone was enough to make a solid guess.
The latter half must be what forged a new path for the sword.
It was a matter of talent.
Ha Mu-baek thought it a tragic sword art, restricted to the clan head alone, which had stunted its development.
After all, the clan head wasn't chosen for being the most talented.
The position was determined by bloodline.
"Where do you think he'll reach at this rate?"
Wi Ji-gun asked Ha Mu-baek.
"Probably the very edge of the Absolute Realm."
"In one go?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded at the question.
"With that level of talent, yes. He'll hit the wall at the edge of the Absolute Realm this time and stop there."
Both of them had long since surpassed that wall.
Yet few in the current martial world even recognized its existence.
Namgung Hwi was on the verge of joining that rare few.
In the meantime, their swords unfolded every sword path and then came to a halt.
Focus slowly returned to Namgung Ji-hu's eyes.
"Wh-what the hell..."
Everything he had unleashed in the trance remained vividly etched in his memory.
A torrent of sword paths swirled chaotically in his mind.
He had no idea what to do with it all.
[Enter meditation quickly and organize your insights.]
Ha Mu-baek's transmission rang in his ears.
Namgung Ji-hu instinctively followed the instruction, sitting cross-legged and closing his eyes.
He had been told to meditate, but he had no clue where to start.
There was no need to agonize over it.
His recent movements replayed in his mind, allowing him to review them.
And from those movements, he gained insights one by one.
After that.
Focus returned to Namgung Hwi's eyes.
But having experience, he didn't panic.
He simply stood still, closed his eyes again, and sorted through the whirlwind of insights.
How much time passed like that?
Namgung Ji-hu slowly opened his eyes.
A clear light flashed in them.
As he unfolded his legs to stand, he flinched upon seeing Namgung Hwi standing with eyes closed.
Namgung Ji-yu pressed a finger to her lips, signaling him to stay quiet.
[Wh-what?]
Namgung Ji-hu asked cautiously via transmission.
[He entered a trance during your spar. And right after coming out of it, he went like that.]
Namgung Ji-hu nodded at her response.
He had been lost in his own trance and hadn't noticed Namgung Hwi at all.
But for Namgung Hwi to enter a trance too...
[How did that happen...]
Namgung Ji-hu tilted his head in transmission.
[Probably because of the Imperial Sword Form?]
Her reply.
[Ah...!]
A tingle ran through his fingertips at the memory.
The pride of properly unleashing a fragment of the Imperial Sword Form.
'Instructor Ha was right that training the Great Chain Sword Method and Vast Sky Unfettered Sword first was key.'
The fusion of the Great Chain Sword Method and Vast Sky Unfettered Sword.
Who would have thought that was the path to the Imperial Sword Form?
In the meantime, Namgung Hwi slowly opened his eyes.
And immediately swung his sword.
A blade tracing a beautiful arc.
Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu watched.
It resembled the Great Chain Sword Method, but it wasn't.
It was deeper, more profound, more mysterious even.
"I-Imperial Sword Form...!!!"
Namgung Ji-hu was startled.
It differed from what he had comprehended, but it was undoubtedly the Imperial Sword Form.
He knew because he had trained it too.
If Namgung Ji-hu's Imperial Sword Form was like the horizon where sky met sea.
Namgung Hwi's was like the depths of the ocean.
"How..."
An unbelievable sight.
How could Namgung Hwi, who knew not a single character of the Imperial Sword Form manual, unleash it like this?
Even by visible realm alone, it surpassed Namgung Ji-hu's.
Despite all his poring over the manual and training.
Amid Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu's shock, Namgung Hwi completed the full form.
"Hoo..."
As he exhaled deeply and sheathed his sword.
A brilliant light erupted from his body.
Crack. Crack.
Cracks appeared across his skin.
Whoosh.
A layer of skin crumbled into dust and scattered.
The revealed form beneath.
His skin gleamed even whiter, and the scar on his face had faded slightly.
"Sh-shedding the mortal shell!!!"
Namgung Ji-hu cried out in shock without realizing it.
Shedding bones and discarding the shell.
The supreme miracle of rebirth.
He had only heard tales of it.
Never witnessed it himself.
Namgung Hwi's gaze turned to Namgung Ji-hu.
He cupped his fists and bowed deeply.
"Thanks to you, Young Master Namgung, I achieved a tremendous breakthrough. My deepest gratitude."
"Congratulations, Senior Brother. I too made great progress thanks to you. Thank you."
"Then..."
Namgung Hwi bowed once more and left the spot.
The Namgung siblings were left alone.
"Why would someone like that vanish from the clan without any records?"
Namgung Ji-yu muttered, her face full of incomprehension.
He still called himself Nam Hwi.
Even when everyone knew he was Namgung Hwi.
"No idea. We'll look into it when we return to the clan."
Namgung Ji-yu nodded firmly at Namgung Ji-hu's words, her resolve set.
"More importantly, what realm did he reach after even shedding his shell?"
Namgung Ji-hu muttered, genuinely curious.
"Shouldn't you be more curious about your realm?"
Namgung Ji-hu whipped his head around at Ha Mu-baek's sudden question.
Ha Mu-baek stood there, his face plainly annoyed.
"Don't just stand there. Swing your sword once. You saw how earlier."
"Ah..."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Namgung Ji-hu drew his sword again.
And unleashed the Imperial Sword Form.
It was clearly different from Namgung Hwi's.
Namgung Hwi's Imperial Sword Form was based solely on the Great Chain Sword Method; Namgung Ji-hu's fused the Great Chain Sword Method and Vast Sky Unfettered Sword.
Neither could be called superior.
It depended entirely on the wielder's capabilities.
Namgung Ji-hu's Imperial Sword Form gradually revealed itself.
As the forms progressed.
Namgung Ji-hu became ever more immersed in the sword art.
When he completed the first half of the Imperial Sword Form.
The heavens dwelled in his sword.
Vast Sky.
A brilliant sword aura of deep blue, like the highest heavens, shone radiantly.
Namgung Ji-hu stared at his own sword in a daze.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"Congratulations. You've entered the Peak Realm."
With that, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
Only Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu remained, dumbfounded.
The sword aura slowly faded.
The pure white blade reemerged.
"Th-this isn't a dream, right?"
Namgung Ji-hu spoke, still out of it.
'C-can you do it again?'
Namgung Ji-yu's voice trembled too.
Namgung Ji-hu recalled the final sensation and infused his internal energy into the sword.
The deep blue sword aura manifested once more.
"Huh..."
"Ha..."
Sighs escaped them simultaneously.
Sword aura.
Peak Realm.
A realm they had dreamed of even in sleep, a place they never knew when they'd reach.
And now they had attained it.
Their eyes met.
Bright smiles bloomed on both their faces simultaneously.
Ha Mu-baek, departing from the two, hopped over the Dragon Training Pavilion's wall.
He was following Namgung Hwi's presence.
The man, who had reached the edge of the Absolute Realm, headed unexpectedly to a rundown tavern in an alley behind the outer city.
It stayed open late into the night, yet had no customers.
Who knew he'd find a place like this?
Ha Mu-baek didn't conceal his aura.
He revealed enough for Namgung Hwi to sense and approached the tavern slowly.
Opening the door, he saw Namgung Hwi sitting alone, pouring himself a drink with an enigmatic expression.
"You've come."
Namgung Hwi glanced at Ha Mu-baek and spoke.
Ha Mu-baek plopped down in front of him.
The owner appeared from somewhere with chopsticks and a cup.
"One roast duck, please."
The owner vanished into the kitchen at Ha Mu-baek's order.
"It's been a while. Nameless."
"Indeed, a long time. Hocheon Corps Leader."
It was their first greeting.
They had crossed paths multiple times at the Dragon Training Pavilion but always pretended not to know each other.
This was the first time they faced each other properly.
"Have a drink."
Namgung Hwi lifted the bottle with his left hand.
Ha Mu-baek held out his cup, downed the pour in one gulp.
The cheap liquor burned down his throat into his stomach.
"Congratulations."
Ha Mu-baek's single remark.
"To what heights has the Hocheon Corps Leader's realm reached? Even now, I can't see the end."
Namgung Hwi gave a wry smile at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"I'm merely an instructor at the Dragon Training Pavilion."
Ha Mu-baek's response deepened Namgung Hwi's wry smile.
"This shakes my resolve all of a sudden. I thought it was time to reclaim what's mine... but facing a sky beyond the sky right away saps my confidence."
Pour.
Namgung Hwi refilled his own cup.
He downed the liquor in one go.
"What did you lose?"
Ha Mu-baek asked.
Namgung Hwi gazed silently at the ceiling.
What should he say?
He seemed to be organizing his thoughts.
"Well, all I lost was one arm, but..."
He shrugged his right shoulder, glancing at the spot where his arm once was.
"Looking back now, it feels like I lost my very existence. The existence of Namgung Hwi."
Namgung Hwi refilled his cup again.
This time, he left it untouched.
"What happened to make you say that?"
Ha Mu-baek asked.
In the past.
When they met in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, he hadn't asked anything.
Nor cared.
But now, he had to ask.
The way he had shown at the Dragon Training Pavilion, and today.
It naturally compelled Ha Mu-baek to inquire.
Perhaps his master Wi Ji-gun's prodding played a part too.
"Care to hear it?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Namgung Hwi's words.
"The night is still young."