Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 94: The Namgung Clan Is Obsessed With Me (3)

“...I apologize. Hidden Sword in Darkness has refused the request.”

“Even after a proper explanation?”

“Yes. I explained the plan to lure out Heavenly True Qi, but she wouldn’t even listen. She said the risk was too great without enough information.”

The man snorted at his subordinate’s words. Thick smoke puffed out of his nose.

His frightened subordinate continued.

“Should we... deal with Hidden Sword in Darkness?”

“Forget it. Leave her be. She’s so elusive that catching her would be a task in itself. I’d rather use that energy for something else.”

Tsk. The man clicked his tongue and commanded.

“Send some half-decent assassins. Even if he just becomes cautious, that’s half a success.”

“As you command!”

The subordinate quickly disappeared. The man briefly gazed at the scenery outside the window before putting a pipe in his mouth.

The smoke filled his chest, strangely sharpening his mind.

“The one called Heavenly True Qi...”

Whoosh. He exhaled the smoke and turned his eyes to the desk. Some information about Heavenly True Qi was written there.

A Transcendent Realm expert of the Namgung Clan. Martial arts unknown. All we know is his physical appearance.

His past activities were briefly listed, but they weren’t much help.

A rising star of a hidden master who came out of nowhere. Even his strength remained unknown.

Hwangbo Jun doesn’t have the skill to defeat Geom Biyeong and Baek Yuryeon.

If the Fort Commander had indeed betrayed them, it would have been a three-against-two situation. As such, it was not easy to gauge Heavenly True Qi’s skill.

His name had only been circulating for a few months at most. Given that martial artists are tempered through blood and flesh, it seemed unlikely that this recently emerged Heavenly True Qi would be such an extraordinary martial artist, but...

“It would be better to confirm at least.”

The man closed his eyes. If everything went according to plan, he wouldn’t have to face him, but for some reason, he had a feeling that they would meet face to face in the not-too-distant future.

*Namgung Baek, the Heavenly Martial Pavilion Lord who managed most of the Namgung Clan’s martial arts, classified the Azure Lightning Thunderlight Cultivation Art as a Man-grade divine art and the Thirteen Stormflash Swords as an Earth-grade divine art.

In the Namgung Clan, martial arts that reached the level of divine arts were assigned grades of Heaven, Earth, or Man according to their properties, with the Azure Lightning Thunderlight Cultivation Art being Man-grade and the Thirteen Stormflash Swords being Earth-grade.

For reference, Sword of the Boundless Azure Sky was Heaven-grade, while the Sword Form of the Emperor was beyond grading.

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like that big a deal to me.”

Seojun scratched his head after hearing the news.

While Man-grade, the lowest level of divine arts, might not sound like much, the title of divine art was never given lightly (except for the Giant Spirit Divine Art used by the Green Forest bandits).

Aside from the fact that martial arts were difficult to categorize simply by rank, the word divine wasn’t attached just anywhere.

Given that, despite having put some effort into creating them, it seemed strange that martial arts made merely to complement the basic arts would be treated as divine arts.

Of course, the Commander-in-chief looked at him strangely when he said this.

“That’s because your talent is too exceptional, Young Master.”

“What?”

“The two martial arts you created can dramatically increase the growth rate of martial artists below the Peak Realm, truly deserving to be called divine arts. It’s difficult to explain... Talented martial artists often make this mistake, but it normally takes considerable time to reach the Peak Realm.”

“Ah, really?”

“They’re martial arts which allows one to quickly advance to the Peak Realm which is when you can truly be considered part of the fighting force. Furthermore being able to reach the Peak Realm so rapidly means the time needed to reach the Transcendent Realm is also shortened. If such martial arts were to emerge in the middle of the Central Plains, it would cause a bloodbath.”

“Oh...”

Though he didn’t fully understand, it sounded impressive when put that way. It was a compliment anyway.

Seojun took a sip of tea, laughing a bunch.

“Sure, all good then. Anyways, I heard you wanted to ask me something?”

“Ah, indeed.”

The Commander-in-chief suddenly bowed.

“I apologize for burdening you again after the Fort Commander incident.”

He hadn’t even properly rewarded him yet.

Of course, the Namgung Clan hadn’t forgotten, they just postponed it because Seojun didn’t want anything.

Martial arts? There were no martial arts he particularly wanted right now.

Money? He already had too much.

Spirit pills? Did he really need those? If he felt the need later, he could always ask then.

All he wanted was to touch Chunbong’s chubby cheeks once.

But that was something the Namgung Clan couldn’t provide...

“Well, don’t worry about it. Since you’re coming to me, it must be urgent. Let me hear what it is first.”

So Seojun just smiled and urged him to explain.

To summarize the Commander-in-chief’s explanation:

The Black Serpent bastards turned their offensive towards Shanxi after failing to drive out the Hebei Peng Clan in Beijing.

A great battle was currently raging in northern Shanxi where forces from various sects including the Namgung Clan were present.

The current situation was unfavorable. Many orthodox faction martial artists had died, and the Namgung Clan members were also in danger of being wiped out.

“We had originally planned to entrust this to Elder Namgung Yeon, but... she headed towards Shaanxi where a special force of Transcendent Realm martial artists is rampaging.”

“Ah, auntie? I was wondering why I suddenly couldn’t find her.”

“I apologize once again...”

“No, don’t worry about it. Naturally, I should help.”

Seojun accepted a scroll from the bowing Commander-in-chief.

“Shanxi...”

“Will you go with the Heavenly Wind Squad this time as well?”

“No, I think I need to move faster.”

The Heavenly Wind Squad may be elite, but even they would struggle to keep up with Seojun’s full-speed light body art.

“I’ll go with old man Jang Geuk, I suppose.”

“With the Green Forest Squad?”

“No. Just old man Jang Geuk. The others aren’t at that level yet.”

Seojun put the scroll in his chest and stood up. The Commander-in-chief looked at him and jumped to his feet.

“Young Master, are you truly feeling well? If you’re even slightly unwell, I’ll find another solution by any means necessary.”

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Perfectly healthy.”

“I heard you returned last time being carried on the back of a Heavenly Wind Squad member.”

“Right... I did something pretty extreme at the time... I’m seriously better than ever though.”

“...I see. Please take care of yourself.”

“Yes, sir.”

*Seojun set out with Jang Geuk and handed the map over needless to say.

“My Lord, a bandit wouldn’t have learned how to read maps.”

“I’m not very good at reading them either.”

“Hmm... Are you sure we’re heading to Datong County in northern Shanxi?”

“Yep.”

“That’s fortunate. I know the way there.”

“Mm. Good.”

“Guud?”

“Means great.”

How fast can a group of two Transcendent Realm martial artists travel?

The answer is very fast.

They reached the Yellow River in only a few days, and Jang Geuk scratched his head as he looked at the vast river.

“I’ll arrange for a boat. Let’s wait here for a while...”

“Oh my, this old man doesn’t know. Listen up, who are we?”

“Who?”

“TRANSCENDENT REALM MASTERS...!”

Seojun jumped into the Yellow River using water walking. As he hopped across the river, he suddenly turned around and tilted his head.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

“Well... I’ve never tried water walking before...”

“This won’t do.”

Seojun clicked his tongue, returned to shore, and lifted Jang Geuk up.

“Wh-What? My Lord?”

“We’re in a hurry. Let’s go!”

“No! Do you know how wide the Yellow River...! Waaaaahhh...!”

An incredible sight: a person carrying another person across the Yellow River. Many people rubbed their eyes upon seeing this.

“What is that...?”

“Are they immortals?”

“Good heavens! In that case, we shouldn’t just stand here!”

Commoners who had never seen proper martial world experts bowed and prayed for a safe year.

But they weren’t the most at a loss for words.

“...”

The assassins exchanged glances.

They had already bribed the boatmen, set up mechanisms, and made all sorts of preparations, but watching the target running across the Yellow River, all sorts of thoughts crossed their minds.

“First... change of plans.”

The subordinates nodded. Their leader whose vocal cords had been removed and left unable to make a sound, quickly examined the map.

There were a few routes that must be passed through to reach Datong County.

Judging by the target’s light body arts speed, they couldn’t catch up normally.

They had to make haste with a message to Team 2 via carrier pigeon, and Team 1 had to travel through the night to rendezvous.

A success rate of near zero. The purpose was merely to instill caution in a Transcendent Realm expert through the sacrifice of the assassins’ lives.

The leader’s eyes sank into darkness.

“...Let’s go.”

*Namgung Suah swung her greatsword.

She swung her sword without rest until her Peak Realm tough skin was torn and the handle of the greatsword was soaked with blood, leaving a lingering stench.

After swinging until she could barely stand, she suddenly realized the sky had already turned dark.

The moon and stars in the sky above. As she lay there staring at them blankly, footsteps approached.

“Suah...”

“...Father.”

Namgung Suah rose. Namgung Jincheon was looking at her.

“Are you worried about my son-in-law...”

“...Yes. I know he’s strong, but I can’t help it.”

“It is only natural... Do not forget that feeling... The Sword of Namgung does not break, yet should it lose its purpose, it will only dull and rust away...”

As he sat down beside her, she calmed her breathing, feeling a strange tension.

Father. Family. Though she recognized her father’s awkward way of showing affection, an uncomfortable tension remained between them, born from their uncertain emotional distance.

“Can you still continue...”

After sitting beside her for a while, he stood up.

Watching his empty eyes, Namgung Suah struggled to her feet as well.

“Yes...”

With his daughter, silently looking at him, Namgung Jincheon drew his sword.

“The realm becomes ever distant the more you desire it... Only when you let go of what needs to be released does the path finally reveal itself...”

Namgung Jincheon pointed his sword at his daughter who resembled his wife. Standing before her like this flooded his mind with ghosts from the past.

Yet should he avoid facing her because of painful memories?

However difficult it was, he had to continue. Because that is what it means to be a parent, and that is what his wife would have wanted.

All he wished for was a single fragment of a dream from those days, a dream forever incomplete.

“Show me... your sword...”

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His fingers stiffening like a corpse moved for one purpose—to spare his daughter the same pain he had suffered.

“May you protect what you hold dear with your own hands...”

Father and daughter’s swords clashed.

*Crack—

The ice fractured with a sharp sound.

“Ssss—”

Chunbong drew a sharp breath as ice fragments penetrated her body.

Having overcome her greatest challenge, a small smile touched her lips.

Soon...

The descendant of the Divine Sword Geum Clan would rise up.