In an instant, the balance of power shifted.
Mr. Heuk tried to recall what demand the highborn lord from the Namgung Clan had made.
He had told him to bring everyone......?
What could be the reason?
However, rather than running his mouth for nothing, he chose to move.
When one lived flattened to the ground in a place like this, one came to see and hear many things.
Especially when highborn guests came, there were plenty of cases where one wrong word sent a head flying.
‘Bastards like us live by crawling and trembling anyway, don’t we?’
Mr. Heuk knew his own position well.
At best, they were second-rate warriors.
Every now and then, a first-rate warrior appeared, but people like that did not remain long in places like the Black Wind Gang.
So it was better to abandon any thought of attacking them early.
‘It’s the Namgung Clan. Even clashing with some half-baked sect would make me uneasy, so if it’s the Namgung Clan, I should crawl without question.’
Thinking that, Mr. Heuk moved busily.
During the brief lull, Manho asked Namgung Yeon a question.
“What was it you gave that fellow?”
“Ingredients for drugs.”
“......Pardon!?”
He had taken them out from the storehouse in advance.
Stone chunks from which one could extract powder that caused hallucinations and mild pain.
Just a few of them had enough value to buy an entire small village.
He had given an entire handful of such things, so the man must have thought it was sufficient.
However, Manho was so shocked that he asked again.
He had no idea where Namgung Yeon had obtained such dangerous items, nor how he had transported them all the way here.
“H-how in the world did you obtain such things?”
“Think of it as a secret art I possess.”
“Like...... that elixir from last time.”
“That is right. Do not worry too much.”
There was nothing to hide, and it did not matter even if other people learned of it.
How many people had tried to make use of him?
There had even been those who cut off all his limbs, tortured him, and ordered him to spit out items.
But all of them had failed.
‘No matter how many people know the truth, it has already been proven that they can never take it from me unless I will it.’
So, at some point, he had begun using the storehouse openly.
Dozens of lives.
Hundreds of years.
By now, even paying attention to every little thing like this had become a bother.
Watching the people swarm in from afar, Namgung Yeon opened his mouth.
Manho was certainly an outstanding martial artist, but he was still a young man with far too much left to learn.
Therefore, if Namgung Yeon intended to use him for important matters, he could not afford to spare him advice.
And so he decided to advise him.
Manho, too, gripped his sword firmly and answered.
“I feel things like this will happen often from now on, so I will add one word.”
“Give your command. This humble subject will engrave anything deep into my heart.”
Namgung Yeon gave Manho a firm warning.
If Manho wanted to become his true hands and feet from now on, a few more conditions would be necessary.
Just like now.
“No matter what situation comes upon us from now on, keep your mouth heavy, and draw your sword without hesitation. Only then will we be able to survive.”
“......”
“Watch closely what I do from now on. We...... will have to become more ruthless than anyone.”
Manho could not understand such words coming from a young master so young.
During that long stretch of time when no one had paid him any attention, what had Young Master Namgung Yeon experienced?
Why had a young master who had not even reached adulthood come to possess such a cruel and cold nature?
‘He is a frightening person. And he will also be the light that illuminates my path.’
Thinking so, Manho nodded.
Whether Young Master Yeon saw that nod or not, Manho did not know, but it was like a vow he made to himself.
From the moment Namgung Yeon had swept away the demonic cultivators at the martial hall, Manho had sensed that he was anything but ordinary......
“Do not worry. I swear on my name and honor that I will not disappoint you.”
“......Good.”
Namgung Yeon answered with a faint smile.
Disappointment......
There was already nothing left for him to be disappointed in when it came to the race called humanity.
So there would be no reason for disappointment.
The moment their brief conversation ended, Mr. Heuk brought the people over.
“I have brought everyone, my lord.”
“Who among you brought others here after capturing them?”
“......”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Who the hell are you to order us around? Huh!?”
Yes.
This was how they should act.
Namgung Yeon smiled, white and cold.
He was smiling, yet his expression was devoid of emotion.
Seeing that directly, Mr. Heuk hurriedly tried to stop the slave hunters.
“Hey! Hey! Have you bastards lost your minds?! Do you know who this person is—!”
“Manho.”
“Yes.”
“These gentlemen say they do not know us.”
Namgung Yeon’s cold words rang out.
Slave hunters.
Human traffickers.
Drug distributors and manufacturers.
They were all gathered in one place.
In the future, they would scatter in all directions and commit every wicked act there was.
When he traced their deeds backward, he had reached the conclusion that they operated around several bases.
“Then we must inform them. Who we are.”
“Ha! Are you saying the two of you alone can face all of us?!”
“You look like some highborn brat, but if we strip you of everything you have and throw you to the wild beasts, we won’t have killed you, will we?”
Yes.
Bark even more.
That way, I can take you away without feeling the slightest guilt.
Namgung Yeon spoke to Manho.
“They must be alive when we leave. These things are gifts for Hoho.”
“As you command.”
A first-rate warrior.
Not just any first-rate warrior, but a first-rate warrior who had consumed plenty of elixirs and learned the martial arts of the Namgung Clan, drew his sword.
‘This worked out perfectly.’
Namgung Yeon also drew the Demonic Spirit Sword.
The humming blade seemed to urge him on, as though it wanted to see blood as soon as possible.
No, no.
Your role is not to absorb blood, but to spit out to your master what you have eaten until now.
“The best time to absorb internal energy is, of course, when someone is operating an internal cultivation method, is it not?”
“What the hell are you babbling about?! Get them!”
[Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Origin Divine Art]
Jingle, jingle!
The bells of the Demonic Spirit Sword rang violently.
***
Into what form is the energy of the world refined and accumulated as a martial artist’s true energy?
The secret lay in the internal cultivation method.
An internal cultivation method was used to refine and purify the external qi , then accumulate it as one’s own true energy.
In addition, it was also a device for using the true energy one had accumulated.
Ordinary martial artists tended to separate these two acts.
Using true energy and accumulating internal energy.
Though they were clearly both performed through a single internal cultivation method, the two processes were entirely different.
‘But that is only at the level of an ordinary martial artist.’
Namgung Yeon was different.
He had reached a level where he could perform energy accumulation, energy circulation, and the emission of internal energy all at once.
This was a level that had nothing whatsoever to do with the rank of one’s martial arts.
It was an extreme technique determined by one’s understanding of internal energy and how well one handled true energy.
SLASH—!
The Demonic Spirit Sword cut down whatever blocked it.
The Demonic Spirit Sword hummed as it emitted the demonic energy it had absorbed from demonic cultivators.
To ordinary martial artists, it was energy like poison, but not to Namgung Yeon.
The demonic energy accumulated inside the Demonic Spirit Sword supplied true energy like a water vein .
Namgung Yeon absorbed that true energy without reservation and swung his sword.
There was no one who could block his blade.
“Kraaaagh!”
“Surround them all at once, you idiots—!”
The noisy screams and shouts grew muffled and distant.
He could never get used to the sensation of battle.
The senses that awakened for survival.
The repulsive emotions of others flowing in through sharpened five senses.
He hated so much the moment when he had to force himself to ignore all of it.
“Huuu—!”
Every time he inhaled, the stream of internal energy circulating through his entire body grew larger.
CREAK, CREEEAK.
The Dragon-Suppressing Shackles constricting his whole body twisted this way and that under the power of his internal cultivation method.
By now, Manho must also have been experiencing similar pain.
However, neither of them showed the slightest sign of it as they silently swung their swords.
They planted their feet firmly on the ground and swung their blades like bolts of lightning.
The sword of Namgung swept through the Black Wind Gang.
“Ugh......”
“M-monsters......”
“Wh-who, who are you people?!”
Why had they come here out of nowhere in the middle of the night to persecute them?
That was how they cried out, bleeding from their arms and legs.
However, Namgung Yeon’s gaze as he looked down at them did not waver by even an inch.
He had lived too long to be shaken by sentiment, had seen too many scenes, and had experienced how they ended.
Everyone collapsed.
It had never been a fight from the beginning.
At best, these people were third-rate rabble.
In other words, they were bastards who could only flaunt their force against fleeing civilians.
By contrast, the two standing here were nobles even among those who made their living by the blade.
“M-my lord! Please, just spare my life......”
“I gave you such a large sum, yet you cannot even manage your own people.”
“S-spare—”
SLASH.
Namgung Yeon swung the Demonic Spirit Sword lightly.
Mr. Heuk’s head dropped off.
At the same time, the pouch Namgung Yeon himself had given him popped out from his robes.
After retrieving the pouch, Namgung Yeon turned his head to the other side.
There, he saw civilians trembling, unable to do anything.
A scene of slaughter.
At this moment, when everything was stained with fear, Namgung Yeon’s eyes looked like those of a death god.
However, contrary to their fears, the voice they heard was endlessly gentle.
“Were you unjustly captured and brought here?”
“......”
“There is no need to be afraid. I intend to propose an important role to you.”
“Wh-what is it, Great Hero?”
They would have two choices.
Those with hometowns, homes, and families would be able to return to them.
And those with nowhere to go would be helped to settle here, in the Black Wind Gang.
“Those who have somewhere to go should rest well for now. We will take these sinners and go to downtown Hefei.”
“R-really?”
“I will prepare travel expenses so that you can reach your homes.”
“Truly...... thank you, Great Hero.”
In an instant, color returned to their faces.
Then what about those who had nowhere to go?
Namgung Yeon spoke.
“Other than Mr. Heuk, who holds the highest position?”
“P-probably the madam......”
“Call her here.”
From now on, you will become my eyes and ears in this place.
At a crucial moment, this Black Wind Gang will become a dagger and stab the enemy’s heart.
Namgung Yeon had always wondered how he should make use of this troublesome place.
‘If it is a dagger that will be revealed someday, then I will be the one to hold its hilt.’
For that, new wine would have to be poured.
Into a new wineskin , through a new administrator and enormous funds.
“D-did you call for me, Great Hero?”
Having heard the news, the madam hurried out and bowed her head .
She was a woman who remained clearly in Namgung Yeon’s memory.
‘This worked out perfectly.’
If it was this woman, he could trust her with this place, the Black Wind Gang.
A very fine talent was here.