Chapter 253
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: Is That the Emperor's Sword Form?
Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-rin stared at each other.
A smile played at the corners of Namgung Ji-rin's mouth.
It was mockery toward Namgung Ji-hu.
And utter confidence in his own victory.
That was why he had begged his father to arrange this sparring match in the first place.
Shring.
Namgung Ji-rin drew his sword first.
A masterwork blade forged with painstaking care by a renowned smith.
Its sharp blue edge gleamed coldly.
Shring.
Namgung Ji-hu drew his sword as well.
A blade commissioned from a smithy in Muchang.
It was an ordinary steel longsword.
No razor-sharp edge, no extraordinary aura.
But it fit perfectly in Namgung Ji-hu's hand, wrapping around it snugly.
The smith might not have been a master craftsman, but he had spent years forging swords.
And he had made one that suited Namgung Ji-hu to a tee.
Namgung Ji-rin's sneer deepened as he eyed Namgung Ji-hu's sword.
The great young master of the Namgung Clan.
Wielding a cheap hunk of junk like that.
What a disgrace.
Today, he would prove that the bastard didn't deserve even to be called young master, let alone heir.
With that resolve, Namgung Ji-rin moved first.
He stepped forward and unleashed the first stance of the Emperor's Sword Form's first section.
It was still a bit clumsy, but unmistakably the Emperor's Sword Form.
"Ooh!"
A few direct descendants let out gasps of admiration.
It had only been three or four months since he started training.
Yet he had already reached that level. Astonishing.
And what of Namgung Ji-hu, by contrast?
The way his sword moved to block the first stance of the Emperor's Sword Form...
"Isn't that the Great Ocean Sword Technique?"
Someone tilted their head and muttered.
Indeed.
In a spar where they were supposed to use only the Emperor's Sword Form, he pulls out the Great Ocean Sword Technique out of nowhere.
A few frowned.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon frowned as well.
But.
His mouth was smiling.
A smile that seemed pleased with Namgung Ji-hu's display.
'Of course. No matter how talented the boy is, without anyone to guide him...'
Namgung Hwa-hyeon was satisfied with the sight.
He relished the murmurs rippling through the crowd as they watched Namgung Ji-hu's sword.
He never imagined Namgung Ji-rin's half-baked Emperor's Sword Form would please him this much.
Clang!
The first clash rang out loudly.
Even after striking Namgung Ji-rin's masterwork blade, Namgung Ji-hu's plain steel longsword remained unscathed.
"You were supposed to use the Emperor's Sword Form?"
Namgung Ji-rin had recognized it too. That was why he sneered as he spoke.
"It was the Emperor's Sword Form."
Namgung Ji-hu's calm reply.
But at those words, Namgung Ji-rin's sneer spread across his entire face.
"Puhahaha! Namgung Ji-hu, the clan's greatest prodigy, spouting such pathetic nonsense. The sun will rise in the west tomorrow. Calling the Great Ocean Sword Technique the Emperor's Sword Form? Kahahaha."
Namgung Ji-rin burst into loud laughter.
He didn't care that honored guests and clan elders were present.
Namgung Ji-hu.
As long as he could humiliate that bastard as much as possible, he didn't mind looking a bit rude.
"Keep making your lame excuses, then!"
With that, Namgung Ji-rin unleashed the second stance and charged at Namgung Ji-hu.
Once again, Namgung Ji-hu countered with the Great Ocean Sword Technique.
Namgung Ji-rin smirked, dodging the predictable path and pressing his Emperor's Sword Form—
But then Namgung Ji-hu's sword changed.
The Great Ocean Sword Technique.
Undeniably.
Yet a vast sea unfurled before his eyes.
An enormous tidal wave crashing over his entire body.
The ocean was swallowing Namgung Ji-rin whole.
He poured every ounce of strength into his Emperor's Sword Form, but his opponent reacted as if he knew exactly where the blade was headed.
He gritted his teeth and swung, but.
A mere sword couldn't pierce the sea before him.
Now that he looked closely.
It wasn't the Great Ocean Sword Technique.
The Emperor's Sword Form.
Undoubtedly the Emperor's Sword Form.
How could this be...
He couldn't believe it.
The bastard had only seen it once.
The patriarch had given him a transcribed manual, sure.
But without guidance, what could he do?
Yet this Emperor's Sword Form.
If his own was just mimicking what he'd been taught.
Namgung Ji-hu's had become his own.
No matter the talent gap.
How was this possible?
"Uwaaaah!!!"
Letting out a roar of pent-up fury, Namgung Ji-rin forced out the third stance.
Drawing up every last drop of his internal energy.
He swung with killing intent, aiming to end Namgung Ji-hu right there.
The blade flew toward Namgung Ji-hu's throat.
Namgung Ji-hu continued his sword path with a serene expression.
This time, it looked like the Vaulting Sky Carefree Sword.
No, it appeared so, but it was the Emperor's Sword Form.
The sky unfolding before his eyes.
And from the blade, a profoundly blue sword aura blooming.
Sword aura.
No, wait?!
Sword aura?!
How!
How could sword aura manifest on that cheap sword of his...
An unbelievable sight unfolded before him.
A brilliant blue sword aura mimicking the heavens.
An ever-shifting sword path mimicking the sky.
Slash.
It sheared straight through Namgung Ji-rin's sword, sliced open the front of his robes, and halted at his throat.
Namgung Ji-rin stared blankly down at Namgung Ji-hu's blade.
The sword aura still gleamed fiercely.
One more inch, and it would have cut into his skin.
"......"
Silence descended.
Not a sound echoed in the vast banquet hall.
It had to be that way.
What Namgung Ji-hu had shown silenced everything.
Namgung Ji-hu, nineteen years old this year.
A fresh-faced youth not yet in his twenties.
Sword aura clung to his blade.
Reaching the peak realm before twenty.
It was shock beyond astonishment.
Common sense shattered.
Thus, no one could utter a word or make a sound.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon gaped, eyes bulging.
His mouth hung open, frozen.
He had witnessed the impossible with his own eyes.
Talent aside, this went too far.
Even that damned bastard hadn't been this much.
No, if that one had been born direct lineage and received the clan's support, would he have shown this?
"Ha, haha. Sword aura, the peak realm. You've truly broadened my horizons today. Achieving such a level before twenty. As expected of the Namgung Clan. Haha."
Then, a hearty laugh broke the silence.
It was Gongson Mu-oe.
As if on cue, people snapped out of it one by one.
"Whoa."
"Incredible. As expected of Ji-hu."
"Indeed, indeed."
"That Emperor's Sword Form was something else too, right? At first I thought it was the Great Ocean Sword Technique... but no. I saw the sea, the sky. I've never seen the Emperor's Sword Form like that before. Haha."
Praise erupted from all sides.
Namgung Ji-hu sheathed his sword, offered a courteous fist salute with a bow, and returned to his seat.
Namgung Ji-rin, frozen in place, unable to do anything until then.
Even after the blade left his throat, his body trembled.
The chilling sharpness of the sword aura on his skin.
It had been real.
He had dismissed it as a cheap sword, but the terrifying energy radiating from the sword aura...
He barely steadied his shaking.
People's eyes were still on him.
He had made a fool of himself.
Biting his lip hard, he bowed at the waist and tried to return to his seat.
As he took his first step.
Wobble.
His legs buckled, his steps unsteady like wading through water.
He dragged his quivering legs and somehow made it back.
At least he hadn't wet himself. Small mercies.
Namgung Ji-rin's face flushed crimson with humiliation.
He bit his lip, bowed, and returned to his seat.
A cold glare toward such a Namgung Ji-rin.
From his father, Namgung Hwa-yeong.
He had begged so confidently, only to put on this pathetic show.
Perhaps thanks to Namgung Ji-hu's transcendent display.
The banquet hall's atmosphere grew even more lively.
Amid that fine mood.
Only Namgung Hwa-hyeon swallowed his rage inwardly.
Showing off like that before so many people.
Even now, it was clear: on the day he had set, Namgung Ji-hu would wield the Emperor's Sword Form most superbly.
In the end, he would have to seat Namgung Ji-hu as young master.
A collateral bloodline becoming young master? Unthinkable.
Then, his thoughts drifted to the Emperor's Sword Form Namgung Ji-hu had displayed.
Emperor's Sword Form.
Not what he had taught.
"Namgung Ji-hu."
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's stern voice echoed through the banquet hall.
The hall fell silent again at his call.
"Yes, Father."
"This is an official gathering."
"Yes, Patriarch."
Namgung Ji-hu changed his form of address at Namgung Hwa-hyeon's correction.
"In the spar just now, was what you used truly the Emperor's Sword Form?"
"Yes, it was."
Namgung Hwa-hyeon stared at Namgung Ji-hu, who answered firmly.
No, he glared.
The sudden shift in mood left everyone watching the father and son pair.
"That's not what I taught you."
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's question.
The cold voice chilled the air.
He was declaring it different from what he had taught.
He had only demonstrated the first section of the Emperor's Sword Form once before Namgung Ji-hu.
Could that even be called teaching?
"I studied the manual and figured it out on my own."
Namgung Ji-hu met Namgung Hwa-hyeon's eyes calmly as he replied.
Asked if it differed from what was taught, he answered that he had learned it himself.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's eyebrow twitched.
"Why did you learn it differently from what I taught? Or is that even the Emperor's Sword Form? Not some heretical deviation?"
It was an interrogation.
No, he was trying to paint it as heresy.
A frown-inducing display.
Tension now gripped the banquet hall.
The lord of Seon Yu Valley was an honored guest, yet the patriarch acted this way.
"The Emperor's Sword Form, true to its name, is a form, not a rigid law. It doesn't exist in just one mold. I simply found the path that suits me best."
"Insolent whelp! You dare deny the sword form handed down from our ancestors?!"
Namgung Hwa-hyeon roared as if he had caught him red-handed.
"Ji-rin may have lost the spar, but he was the one who executed the true form!"
He was denying Namgung Ji-hu's Emperor's Sword Form.
The Namgung Clan members fell into confusion at his words.
Hadn't they seen it with their own eyes?
The sea and sky painted by Namgung Ji-hu's Emperor's Sword Form.
For that magnificent display to be called wrong?
They couldn't easily accept it.
But those unfamiliar with the Emperor's Sword Form tilted their heads, eyeing Namgung Ji-hu suspiciously.
The patriarch had mentioned heresy.
Namgung Ji-hu bit his lip and clenched his fist.
Ha Mu-baek had said showing a superior Emperor's Sword Form would resolve it.
But the patriarch refused to acknowledge any form different from his own.
"Patriarch. I see it differently."
The one who stepped forward then.
Was Namgung Hwa-u.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's sharp gaze turned to him.
"This is no place for you."
"No. As someone who has also learned the first section of the Emperor's Sword Form, I must speak up."
With that, Namgung Hwa-u strode to the center of the banquet hall.
Shring.
He slowly drew his sword.
And without a word, moved it to demonstrate the Emperor's Sword Form.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Namgung Hwa-hyeon bellowed.
But Namgung Hwa-u ignored him, continuing his sword movements.
"Stop him!"
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's command.
Yet no one moved rashly.
How could they?
A frost-like sharp sword aura clung to Namgung Hwa-u's blade.
No one could approach lightly.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon ground his teeth, glaring at Namgung Hwa-u.
Meanwhile.
Namgung Hwa-u completed the entire first section of the Emperor's Sword Form.
He didn't know the second section either.
As a direct descendant, he was only permitted the first.
"What did you think of my little brother's Emperor's Sword Form, Patriarch? No, Elder Brother. Was it the same as yours? Or different?"
A question directed at Namgung Hwa-hyeon.
But also at everyone present.
No one knew Namgung Hwa-hyeon's Emperor's Sword Form.
But they had seen Namgung Ji-rin's. And Namgung Hwa-hyeon had deemed it correct. Compare to that.
It was different.
Namgung Hwa-u's Emperor's Sword Form resembled Namgung Ji-hu's even more.
"Elder Brother. Father said your Emperor's Sword Form was the Emperor's Sword Form, and my little brother's was too. So why call Ji-hu's wrong? Are you denying Father's words?"
Namgung Hwa-u's question.
Grind.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon gnashed his teeth.
The guy stuck by the Alliance Leader in the Righteous Heaven Alliance suddenly returns home.
And pulls this sabotage.
"Father also said the sword form is a form, not a law, and seeking the strongest form is the Namgung Clan's duty."
Namgung Hwa-u continued.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon could neither affirm nor deny.
Affirming would deny himself.
Denying would deny their late father.
"Quiet! This is no place for you!"
Namgung Hwa-hyeon bellowed.
But Namgung Hwa-u didn't flinch.
That was why he had stepped forward.
The mood was ripe now.
Time to strike.
The moment to take his first step toward becoming patriarch.