Namgung Yeon looked at those climbing up, short of breath.
THUD—!
Seeing them set down the Dragon-Sealing Chains and the huge water jars, they wore confident expressions.
Two group members stood there with proud faces.
As he looked at them, he barely held back the chuckle that was about to slip out.
Really…….
How should he explain it?
Should he call them sloppy?
“You brought it up in one trip.”
“That we did. Young Hero Jinjin taught us the trick.”
“You have less greed than I expected.”
“What does that mean?”
“We are merely people who know how to pick up the crumbs well, Group Leader.”
Namgung Yeon nodded after hearing their words.
No one knew what the faint smile hanging on his lips meant.
“You worked hard.”
Namgung Yeon sent them away without saying much.
It was truly strange.
Those who had panted so hard on the way to Hapsan Training Ground were now so lively.
Even if one called it training, not even a week had passed yet.
Had their skills suddenly increased in that time?
Humans could accomplish many things in a short period of time.
However, paradoxically, they did not change so drastically in a day or two that one had to rub one’s eyes and look again.
‘By nature, humans were animals of forgetfulness and adaptation.’
Before they knew it, they must have also grown comfortable.
Without even knowing what kind of place this was, they had started moving for their own ambitions.
Through countless regressions, Namgung Yeon knew the psychology of such people well.
Soon, they would receive orders and reveal their true colors.
Judging by the timing…….
“The first attack will happen during the Group Leader Challenge.”
He murmured that while looking at the backs of those who had disappeared into the distance.
It was said to be dark beneath the lamp.
The Namgung Clan boasted tremendous prestige, but when a body grew large, it could not easily tell even when mosquitoes bit it.
Like barnacles growing on a giant whale, cancerous existences must have slowly grown their strength from unseen places.
The Namgung Clan would collapse miserably from within.
If he had not been here.
‘The effects should begin to appear soon.’
If they took it steadily, the effects of the Clear Origin Water would slowly begin to appear around the fifteenth day.
You will never obtain what you desire……
Thinking that, he turned his head and saw Hoho and Jinjin training on one side.
The problem began when Namgung Jinjin started talking to Hoho.
The son of the White Dragon Unit Captain, already sensitive about everything.
Buried in his desire to be recognized by his father, he was in an extremely sensitive state.
“Hey.”
“Yes, what is it? Is there something you need me to do……?”
“You are not even a participant in the competition, so why are you swinging a sword here?”
Hoho looked for a moment at Namgung Jinjin, who had asked sharply.
Then he recalled the conversation he had had with the young master he served.
<There is no need to be intimidated.>
<You must have gone through many thoughts, and you must have acted after reaching a reasonable conclusion.>
<No matter what anyone says, tell them I ordered it.>
And so, he spoke confidently.
“I am training because the Young Master permitted it. The meal will come out on time.”
“Ha……. Insolent. If you are a cleaner, then sweep and scrub like one. Martial arts……?”
A lowly thing like you dares think you can learn the Namgung Clan’s martial arts?
Can you even imitate that supreme martial study?
Namgung Jinjin snapped at the cleaner named Nam Hoho.
“Do not get in the way and go make food. What martial study do you think someone like you can learn? You are an illiterate fool.”
“Hoho.”
It was then.
A dry voice, yet one carrying a strange sense of expectation, was heard.
The two turned their heads.
At the end of their gazes stood Namgung Yeon, wearing the faintest smile.
“Remove the Dragon-Suppressing Shackles.”
“Yes!”
Hoho, show them.
Show those who looked down on you for being lowborn.
Show them how much you have grown.
***
He disliked everything from beginning to end.
Why was he protecting that cleaner bastard so much?
What……?
Teaching him martial arts?
Namgung Jinjin thought it was utter nonsense.
What were Namgung’s martial studies?
This was a place where children were made to hold swords from the time they toddled, and to learn language from the time their eyes opened.
They had studied things that a mere cleaner could never catch up to.
“Hey, Group Leader. Are you saying sparring with this bastard is training?”
“That is right.”
“You are not joking, are you? Or else…… how lightly do you think of me?”
“That is simply the level of your skill.”
GRIND—.
Namgung Jinjin clenched his teeth at the unbearable insult.
He wanted to charge at him immediately, but instinct stopped him.
On top of that, here, the instructor was watching every situation.
Defying the group leader was grounds for losing points.
Namgung Jinjin was a typical model student.
There was no reason to create grounds for a penalty for nothing.
“Do you think I am looking down on you?”
“If that is not what this is, there is no reason to make me spar with something like him.”
“It seems you are the one looking down on him.”
Namgung Yeon chuckled.
Just who did he think was looking down on whom?
This was precisely the arrogance and elitism held by the martial artists of the Namgung Clan.
They lived without even knowing how much this was eating away at them.
“I command you as group leader. Spar with Hoho right now.”
“…….”
“If you defeat him within ten exchanges, I will hand over the group leader position.”
“Truly?”
Namgung Jinjin asked with a suspicious expression.
Because he wondered if Yeon might go back on his word.
Namgung Yeon gave him a firm answer.
There would be no falsehood.
“Would a man say two things with one mouth? Go ahead.”
“I will make you regret those words.”
“Young Master, can I really beat that person?”
Hoho quietly approached and asked.
Namgung Yeon answered without changing expression.
“Of course not. How could you defeat someone who learned under the White Dragon Unit Captain?”
“…….”
“However, you can endure ten exchanges well enough.”
“U-understood.”
Hoho, do not worry.
Without even realizing it, you have become a martial artist comparable to a talented student.
Today’s spar would be his awakening not as Cleaner Hoho, but as Martial Artist Hoho.
‘And soon, I also need to become stronger.’
While watching the spar, he would have to prepare to move to the next stage.
This time, he intended to use medicinal ingredients that could be used together with fresh water.
If converted into money…… yes.
It was medicinal ingredients worth about one tael of gold for a single bath.
That was how extravagant it was, and it was a process to make his constitution less affected by various poisons.
He had filled the inside, so now it was time to harden the outer barrier.
While he watched with his hands clasped behind his back, Namgung Jinjin brought over two wooden swords and tossed one to Hoho.
“Ten exchanges? In three exchanges, you will be rolling on the ground.”
“…….”
“I will yield the first move.”
The two stood far apart and took their stances.
Hoho was heavily hunched in on himself.
At a glance, he looked as though he had no momentum at all.
Namgung Yeon decided to change Hoho’s mindset.
“Hoho.”
“Y-yes, sir!?”
“You have killed more people than that bastard.”
“…….”
He had only said a single sentence, but the momentum reversed.
No, to be precise, Namgung Jinjin’s momentum broke sharply.
Killing was something far too great for young children to bear yet.
Naturally, when Namgung Jinjin heard the word killing, he could only be dumbfounded.
Countless thoughts must have flashed through his mind.
Though these children had trained in martial arts systematically, they were still flowers in a greenhouse.
The density of their experience differed from Hoho, who had faced actual demonic cultivators, experienced killing, and learned martial arts amid the pain of bone and muscle tearing.
“Have confidence. You are not weak.”
“……Yes.”
Hoho’s gaze changed.
Yes.
Even if he could not win, he wanted to keep the promise he had made with the Young Master.
The vow that he, too, would become strong and be of help to the Young Master.
One could not always step forward only before the weak.
Hoho was now learning the mindset needed to face the strong as well.
He held his sword and recalled the forms and martial studies he had learned from Namgung Yeon until now.
<And when you strike down, remove your strength. But put all your strength into it.>
‘Let’s do this.’
“I’m coming!”
“…….”
He would show those who regarded him as a worm.
I, Nam Hoho, am a martial artist.
***
“Haaaaap-!”
The forms and heart art Namgung Yeon had taught him were nothing special.
The most basic heart art.
And the most basic sword art.
To some, it would seem absurd to ask how he could defeat the Namgung Clan’s martial studies with only that much.
It was clear that there was an obvious difference in level.
However, surprisingly, Hoho was pouring fierce attacks toward Namgung Jinjin.
The principle of martial study was very simple.
How could one attack a person?
‘In the end, martial study changes according to the understanding of the person using it. Even with the Three Powers Sword Art, one can certainly aim for all under heaven.’
Martial study was the aggregate of knowledge built up by history.
The blood they had shed, and what had accumulated over the years they had lived, was precisely Namgung’s martial study.
However, even if martial study had accumulated layer upon layer like that, what use was it if the one receiving it was immature?
Everything had its proper time.
“Ten Forms of the Iron Sword . With only that sword art, how are you doing this!?”
Hoho’s sword was fast.
It was heavy, and it knew how to aim for openings.
Over the past three months.
Even by generous standards, Namgung Yeon had not gone easy on Hoho’s training.
‘The Young Master’s sword was much faster than this!’
He could see it.
The sword swung by the rising talent named Namgung Jinjin.
His own skill clearly could not keep up, but he also realized that until Jinjin recovered his momentum, he could press forward.
At the same time, he saw just how lacking he himself was.
‘I’m still, still far away.’
“You bastard-!”
No unexpected change occurred.
Namgung Jinjin quickly regained his senses and brought out his own flow.
A rising talent who had become calm was truly frightening.
In the end, Hoho was struck in the elbow, stabbed in the shoulder and knee, and had to collapse to the ground.
It was truly a sword art like a flash of lightning.
It was the power of the ‘Heavenly Wind Sword Art .’
“Haaah, haaah…….”
“Goodness……. I’m dying…….”
“…….”
Namgung Jinjin gasped for breath and looked at Hoho with an expression of disbelief.
He had thought Hoho was simply a good-natured cleaner and cook…….
Just how far did common sense apply, and how far did abnormality go, when it came to those connected to Namgung Yeon?
“It seems you passed ten exchanges long ago. Is that not so?”
“…….”
“Hoho, you need to practice footwork a little more. You are still poor at reading moves.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
He was clearly the one who had won, so why did he feel this miserable?
Namgung Jinjin dropped the wooden sword and left.
After watching his back for a moment, Namgung Yeon opened his mouth.
“You will have to abandon your arrogance first.”
“…….”
No answer came.
He would need at least enough time to gather his heart.
Namgung Yeon knew all too well what kind of pain Jinjin was experiencing now.
Because he, too, had once suffered a similar kind of pain.
‘In the end, he will overcome it well.’
Because Namgung Jinjin was a talent no less valuable than Hoho.
After praising Hoho for doing well, Namgung Yeon headed toward the bath.
“I will go wash, so prepare the meal.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Do not forget to review the fight either.”
Hoho cupped his fist and bowed his head.
Now, it was time to pour money into his body.