Chapter 261
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: Shall We Have a Drink?
Exploding the internal energy in his dantian.
If he burst his own dantian.
An enormous power would erupt in an instant.
It was several times the might of drawing out his true energy at full force, all exploding in a single moment.
If it came to this.
Even that damned monster might not be able to handle it.
But those wretched bitches? He could take them down with him for sure.
Namgung Hyeon-cheol sacrificed his life, unleashing the tremendous rampaging energy to execute the final stance of the Emperor King Sword Form.
A massive form of the Emperor King Sword in deep navy hue rose up as if manifesting.
Ku-ku-ku-ku-kwang!!!
The moment Namgung Hyeon-cheol's body exploded, the deep navy Emperor King Sword burst outward in all directions.
A power beyond words!
Namgung Hwa-hyun shuddered from head to toe at the explosion.
Even he, stripped of his internal energy, felt the aftershocks.
And it wasn't just him.
The Namgung Clan warriors scattered on the ground were swept up too.
There was no specific target.
It was just a savage flood of explosion raging in all directions.
This wasn't just about Namgung Ji-yu and Namgung Ji-hu anymore.
They were the goal, but the blast's range was vast.
It seemed ready to devour everything around.
"Hoo. A real pain right to the end."
Ha Mu-baek muttered calmly and drew his sword.
Then he swung it lightly.
Truly lightly.
Like child's play.
As if it were nothing.
No one knew.
That light motion.
Was actually the fourth stance of the Infinite Free Eightfold Sword Sea, Soul Shatter.
The energy flowing lightly from the sword like a ripple spread out like a net in an instant, enveloping the entirety of Namgung Hyeon-cheol's explosion.
Then it gathered into a single point.
Pa-sa-sak.
And shattered it without a trace.
A perfect annihilation, as if crushing the soul itself.
It happened in a split second.
That enormous explosion vanished in one go.
What the hell...
Ha Mu-baek sheathed his sword as if nothing had happened.
Now it was all over.
There was no need for Ha Mu-baek to swing his sword anymore.
He had slain or neutralized everyone who tried to attack them.
One by one, the Namgung Clan warriors freed themselves from their agony.
A few whose pressure points were released staggered to their feet.
But none dared charge at Ha Mu-baek again.
They just slumped to the ground, staring blankly at Ha Mu-baek and his group.
Namgung Hwa-u blinked in disbelief.
No way.
The Namgung Clan.
Defeated by a single warrior.
And it wasn't even a guerrilla skirmish like with the Pang Clan.
A head-on clash.
Namgung Clan versus Ha Mu-baek, head-on.
The Namgung Clan utterly crushed.
A complete defeat.
To one man.
Ha Mu-baek.
Was he even human?
A monster?
Even "monster" didn't suffice.
But he couldn't find words to describe it.
Such a being stood right before them.
His own three-inch tongue meant nothing.
The moment Ha Mu-baek declared he'd aid Namgung Hwi, it was all over.
No, it ended right then.
Namgung Hwa-u swallowed dryly.
The words and promises he'd made before Ha Mu-baek and Namgung Hwi came back to him.
Suddenly, his throat felt cold.
"I must keep it, no matter what."
Namgung Hwa-u reaffirmed his resolve.
Thud. Thud.
Swallowing dryly, Namgung Hwa-u stepped forward steadily.
"I trust you've all witnessed Namgung Hwa-hyun's pathetic display. Even after losing the life-or-death duel, he refused to accept it and invoked the Emperor King Pure Heaven Sword decree, plunging the clan into crisis!"
Namgung Hwa-u's voice boomed.
The people just listened.
"Though everything is settled, there's one thing we must confirm beyond doubt: the father of Namgung Ji-yu and Namgung Ji-hu!"
"Shut up! That's impossible! Impossible! Even that bastard Chudong said it's not possible!"
Namgung Hwa-hyun raged desperately to the bitter end.
Even admitting his initial contact with Chudong, whom he'd denied at first.
"No, there is a way! So we must prove it definitively!"
Namgung Ji-yu stepped forward and shouted.
Namgung Hwa-hyun glared at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Shut your mouth! You insolent girl, daring to humiliate your father like this!"
"Whether you're my father or not, we need to confirm it! Once and for all!"
Namgung Ji-yu stood her ground.
The clan warriors watched.
"All we have now are testimonies from those who were there—no hard evidence. That's why even the clan head resists. We need solid proof. If there were no method, fine, but there is one!"
The Namgung Clan members nodded unwittingly at Namgung Ji-yu's cry.
They yearned for irrefutable clarity.
Her gaze turned to one spot.
There stood Gongson Mu-oe.
Gongson Mu-oe nodded at her look and stepped forward.
"Allow this valley lord to interject briefly. Fortunately, we have a diviner in our valley who can perform a rite to discern blood relations."
Gongson Mu-oe's eyes shifted to the last figure wearing a bamboo hat.
Ma Jingi removed his hat.
"I am Ma Jingi."
Namgung Hwa-hyun's eyes trembled violently at the sight.
"You're all in cahoots. All of you. Damn you all."
His rage-filled voice leaked out, but no one listened.
Instead, eyes turned to Ma Jingi.
He swiftly formed the ritual array.
An array with two small grooves.
"Place the blood of the presumed father and child here. Anyone wish to test it? We can verify as many times as needed until satisfied."
Ma Jingi's question.
Two men with strikingly similar looks stepped forward from those whose pressure points were freed.
Anyone could see they looked like parent and child.
They each dripped their blood.
Ma Jingi chanted a simple incantation.
The drops flowed from separate spots and merged.
But nothing happened.
"Not blood kin."
A result contrary to their looks. Ma Jingi stated with certainty.
The two nodded.
"Ha ha. Indeed. This boy's my nephew."
The middle-aged warrior who'd volunteered marveled.
Next pair.
Same process.
Their blood merged.
The array glowed faintly.
"Father and child."
A murmur of admiration rippled as Ma Jingi nodded.
They didn't look alike at all.
"My son takes after his mother."
The father chuckled.
Now eyes turned to Namgung Ji-yu, Namgung Ji-hu, and Namgung Hwa-hyun.
Namgung Hwa-hyun, who'd watched it all.
"Impossible! Nonsense! Sorcery! Heavenly Eye Valley dabbles in evil arts!"
He spewed whatever came to mind.
His low conduct made one question if he truly was the clan head.
But no one heeded him.
Ha Mu-baek strode toward him steadily.
Namgung Hwa-hyun froze, unable to move.
Ha Mu-baek simply drew blood from his arm.
Sprinkled lightly into the array.
Namgung Ji-hu dripped his.
The array activated, but no reaction.
Same for Namgung Ji-yu.
No reaction.
Not blood kin.
The air grew icy.
"Ugh... Uuugh."
Namgung Hwa-hyun shuddered, groaning.
Now Namgung Hwi's turn.
The mood already accepted him as the father of Namgung Ji-hu and Ji-yu.
Yet Namgung Hwi's face showed clear tension as he dripped his blood.
Namgung Ji-hu was tense too.
He was certain, but.
Even Chudong's word made it obvious, but.
Still, this final verification.
Namgung Ji-hu dripped his blood.
The array glowed.
All watched the light clearly.
Namgung Ji-hu's body trembled. Namgung Hwi's too.
They'd been certain.
But the array's light confirmed it.
"Ah, Father..."
The words slipped from Namgung Ji-hu's lips.
"Ji-hu, my Ji-hu."
The two embraced tightly.
Next, Namgung Ji-yu.
She too, visibly tense, dripped her blood.
Again, the array glowed.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Tears fell from her eyes.
Tears washing away years of bitterness.
"Father... Sob..."
Her pent-up sobs burst forth.
Namgung Hwi hugged her tight.
"Ji-yu..."
Namgung Ji-hu joined them.
At last, the confirmed family embraced fiercely.
Sobs multiplied from one to three.
The three wept.
Even onlookers' eyes stung; some turned away discreetly.
The moonlight bathed the trio warmly.
All was proven.
Impregnating wives with another's seed for heirs.
Deceiving the entire clan.
That alone stripped Namgung Hwa-hyun of clan head qualifications.
The elders were all dead.
Save six.
Branch family, but still elders.
Under their approval, Namgung Hwa-hyun lost his seat.
The vacant Namgung Clan head position.
It would find an owner in time.
This night.
Too great an event.
Too many happenings.
Had struck the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Hwa-hyun was confined.
Ha Mu-baek's group returned to their quarters.
Namgung Ji-yu and Ji-hu with them.
Thus passed a new night for the Namgung Clan.
A night when all slept deeply from exhaustion.
Ha Mu-baek slipped quietly from his room.
He headed to the roof of the clan head's quarters.
There, he met a man.
"Picked up a peeping habit now?"
The man smiled faintly at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Peeping? You've known I was here all along, haven't you?"
His reply.
Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"The kids must be frantic looking for the Alliance Leader."
The man grinned again at the question.
Moonlight revealed his face.
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong.
He was at the Namgung Clan.
Secretly, unknown to any.
"With you around, I'd never dream of sneaking like this. Gotta find some fun."
So Hwi-woong plopped down on the roof.
Ha Mu-baek sat opposite.
"Shall we have a drink?"
A small bottle emerged from his bosom.
"You seem in high spirits."
"Of course. Feeling great."
His expression was the polar opposite of the Namgung Clan's mood—pure brightness.
"Tch. Mu-hyeon must be pissed."
"As if. That guy's more loyal to Ha Mu-baek than me."
"Yeah, right."
Ha Mu-baek muttered in disbelief.
"Looks like the Namgung Clan's smash-up has you thrilled."
At Ha Mu-baek's jab, So Hwi-woong nodded vigorously.
"You bet. Obviously. I told you it'd come to this—should've just smashed 'em then."
So Hwi-woong spoke with glee tinged with regret.
"To keep the Alliance Leader from tripping? Then you'd be no better than the White Path Society."
Ha Mu-baek's question.
So Hwi-woong declared boldly.
"It's saving the rotting martial world. Not the same as them."
He shook his head calmly.
"So the New Eight Sects aren't rotten?"
So Hwi-woong nodded firmly at Ha Mu-baek's query.
"Who knows. What I saw was different."
Ha Mu-baek recalled leaving the Righteous Heaven Alliance, what he'd seen at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
At first.
The bastard who toyed with and molested Yeon Ha-min.
Han Pyeong.
He was an instructor dispatched from Dorim Sect to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Even mastered the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade.
Not just New Eight Sects—So Hwi-woong's own sect.
Its disciple acting like some filthy unorthodox thug there.
"A guy who'd mastered Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade, as instructor, harassing and molesting female students."
Ha Mu-baek stated flatly.
So Hwi-woong's face hardened.
"To achieve great cause, minor flaws must be overlooked."
"And those minor flaws are how the rot starts?"
"So getting demoted unjustly for no reason was fine?"
So Hwi-woong countered question with question.
Ha Mu-baek stared at him.
How could it be fine?
That's why he fabricated the reason.
"I don't know anymore. What the Alliance Leader envisions for the martial world."
So Hwi-woong just smirked and took the bottle to his lips at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"Doesn't matter. I'll shape the martial world I want. You're not planning to return to the Alliance anyway, right?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded faintly.
"You wouldn't know. The feelings of the man placed as Alliance Leader to charge the vanguard and die in war. Think the White Path Society would've let me take the seat unchallenged?"
And So Hwi-woong shattered their expectations, leading two wars to victory and surviving.
With the prestige of world's greatest.
The moment their calculations failed.
Thus began So Hwi-woong's war with the White Path Society.
They tried using Ha Mu-baek to overwhelm by force.
But he didn't budge.
His sword aimed only at the Demonic Cult and Blood Cult.
Amid grueling shadow struggles, Ha Mu-baek got demoted.
Who'd have thought it'd turn into a blessing.
After Ha Mu-baek went to Dragon Training Pavilion.
Pang Clan.
Yeon Clan.
Zhongnan Sect.
All took heavy blows from his hand.
Pang and Zhongnan even changed clan heads and sect leaders.
Today, Namgung Clan too.
The White Path Society's power greatly weakened.
"Anyway, thanks to you, big time. Count on you going forward."
So Hwi-woong dusted off and stood.
Ha Mu-baek frowned.
"Since you've left the Alliance. Live for the martial world you want. I'll make mine."
With that, So Hwi-woong vanished.
Motion worthy of the Alliance Leader.
No one in Namgung Clan sensed his coming or going.
Ha Mu-baek gazed silently in the direction he'd vanished.
"The martial world I want..."