Knock, knock.
A timid knock sounded at the door.
The door flew open, and a boy appeared.
Nam Hoho gulped, swallowed, and bowed his head deeply.
Snap!
He cupped his fist in a way that looked somewhat impressive and shouted loudly.
“I-I greet Young Master Namgung Yeon! My name is Nam Hoho-.”
“Oh, you’re here. Good to see you. Go inside, unpack, and come right back out. We have somewhere to go.”
“......Pardon?”
“I said unpack and come back out.”
Though Namgung Yeon had not said anything particularly special, Nam Hoho was overwhelmed by his presence.
His distinctive steamed-bun-like face bobbed up and down.
“I-I’ll be right back!”
“Manho, help him.”
“As commanded.”
Manho, who had appeared from who knew where, helped organize the luggage as well.
The unpacking ended in an instant.
With a trembling heart, Nam Hoho stood before Namgung Yeon.
“T-The basics are all done. Now, what should I do......?”
“Let’s go order some items.”
“Yes?”
“What should a martial hall have?”
“Well, shouldn’t it have weapons or equipment you can train with?”
Nam Hoho answered very simply.
And yet, it was the correct answer.
What a martial hall needed was equipment one could train with.
What his mother Soyeon had packed for him was mostly medicinal ingredients to decoct and drink, or elixirs that would improve his health.
She had also packed things needed for basic living.
There was nothing needed for training.
Had she been considerate in her own way, telling him to take care of his body?
‘I don’t need that kind of concern.’
He had to be harsh.
In this round, more than any other, he had to live coldly and harshly.
Namgung Yeon reminded himself of that mindset and stepped out into the street.
Manho on his right, Hoho on his left.
Taking with him the people who would one day become Namgung Yeon’s two wings, he headed to the marketplace.
It was the place where the finest artisans in Hefei had gathered.
Once Namgung Yeon arrived there, he began buying everything he needed.
“Give me everything from here to here.”
“A-All of it, you mean?”
“That is right.”
First, he stopped by a martial uniform shop and bought all the clothes laid out on one side.
Since he could not carry them all, he even placed an order to load them onto a cart and send them to the martial hall.
Next was a place that made swords.
“Welcome. An honored guest has come.”
“Good to meet you. I’d like to place an order.”
“Yes. Just leave anything to me!”
In any case, the items that could be made here were more or less the same.
Since Hefei was within the Namgung Clan’s territory, competition in fields that handled iron was extremely fierce.
Namgung Yeon gave his request to the blacksmith.
“I’ll order three iron scarecrows, and an iron sword weighing roughly twelve kilograms.”
“......Pardon!?”
“Can you do it?”
What madman places an order like this?
The blacksmith asked again.
A little more specifically.
“Do you mean...... scarecrows reinforced with iron plates?”
“No, ones made entirely of solid iron. Why, is it impossible?”
“No! No, sir! It is not! However, the cost......”
With an indifferent expression, Namgung Yeon held out a bundle of bank drafts.
He had plenty of money anyway.
What should he do with the change?
“......”
“Is it not enough?”
“N-N-N-Not at all! This much is more than enough to make them!”
“Then make them. You will not say you lack the skill, will you?”
Those words scratched at an artisan’s pride.
The blacksmith thumped his own chest and shouted proudly.
“If I took this much money and still said I could not do it, I would have to leave Hefei!”
“I leave it to you.”
Namgung Yeon left those words behind and walked away.
Watching his retreating back, the blacksmith bowed his head deeply.
“Thank you, my lord!”
As expected, the economy here came alive because the Namgung Clan existed!
No one who gave money could be a bad person.
A massive sum of money had fallen into the blacksmith’s tedious life.
That day, a rumor spread through the marketplace of Hefei.
The Young Master of the Namgung Clan, who had come out to recuperate, was spending money hand over fist.
Naturally, this story reached others in the Namgung Clan as well.
As for what result that rumor would produce, that was still unknown.
***
“Chief Steward, have you heard?”
“Do you mean the rumor going around the marketplace?”
“That is right. In all my life......”
The place responsible for the finances of the Namgung Clan.
[Golden Dragon Hall].
Someone who had heard the rumor had come to see the chief steward.
No matter how much of a clan head he was, even he could not use the Namgung Clan’s money recklessly.
Then what would be the reason such a rumor had spread through the marketplace?
It must have been because the source of that money was this place, the Golden Dragon Hall.
The one who had come to see the chief steward asked, “Why did you give him such a large sum of money?”
“Because there was a legitimate reason.”
The chief steward answered simply.
A legitimate reason?
Was scattering money around the marketplace like that a legitimate reason?
Moreover, according to the rumors, he was not recuperating, but ordering things like weapons and buying martial uniforms in bulk......
“What is the Young Clan Head Competition worth, that even a sick child is getting worked up over it? Is that not so?”
“Hmm...... To be honest, I think so as well, but if a few coins can at least give him some vicarious satisfaction, then why not?”
“I am concerned that he may provoke the others and invite trouble.”
“Are you saying that sincerely?”
Of course he was not.
This was simply a roundabout way of asking why the boy was pointlessly holding on to false hope.
Depending on how one looked at it, it was an insult toward a direct descendant of the clan head.
But no one cared.
Because Namgung was originally this kind of place.
“Ha ha ha, how could I possibly lie? It is merely that seeing those who are not even capable strut about for no reason stirs my compassion.”
“In any case, he must have some intention. Would it not be good if he at least played house?”
That much pretext was enough.
After all, he would soon realize reality.
Fifteen was a very late age to begin learning martial arts.
That might not be true elsewhere, but it was even more so here in Namgung.
Would the Namgung Clan reign as a prestigious righteous faction clan and the overlord of the murim for no reason?
They placed swords in children’s hands from the moment they first learned to walk, and once they began to develop intellect, they had them learn martial studies.
After cherishing and raising them that way, they made them compete again in hell.
That place was Namgung.
“Ha ha, I look forward to it. There are less than three months left, so I hope he can at least dream a happy dream until then.”
“......”
The chief steward merely smiled faintly and did not bother to stop him.
Those who handled money had been taught that they must not be swayed by anyone, and that they must never mix emotions into their work.
After the guest left, the chief steward let out a quiet sigh.
“The reason the chief steward of the great Namgung Clan handed out that much money was not because of Young Master Yeon.”
The chief steward had seen it.
The Namgung clan head had originally used money only where it was necessary, without private feelings.
But this time had been different.
It was the first time he had seen the clan head speak that way.
Pocket money. Pocket money, was it......
The chief steward smirked.
Perhaps the Young Clan Head Competition would unfold in a very interesting way.
***
THUD—.
The prepared iron scarecrows arrived.
They were scarecrows so heavy that five grown men had to cling to one just to lift it.
Seeing them, Hoho’s mouth fell open.
What on earth was he trying to do with those?
No, could those even be used for training?
One, two, three.
There was now one scarecrow for each person staying in this martial hall.
‘And the sword came too.’
The Namgung Clan’s swords were a little different from those of other martial clans.
The swords of other sects were made thin and long to make it easier to infuse them with true energy.
However, the Namgung Clan’s swords were sturdy and thick.
Ordinary swords were made with blades about two and a half feet long.
But Namgung Clan swords exceeded over three feet .
In modern measurements, they were longswords over one meter long.
‘It’s sturdy. The thickness is suitable too. Good thing the blacksmith didn’t skim off the money.’
He would not have dared handle a commission from the Namgung Clan that way.
Namgung Yeon slowly lifted the heavy sword.
It was heavy.
A sword of about roughly twelve kilograms seemed to twist his wrist and tear his muscles just by being gripped and lifted.
‘Around twelve kilograms. It’s too heavy. But......’
The true energy in his dantian began moving to save its master.
It strengthened his muscles and created power beyond human limits.
Just holding it tightly in both hands and lifting it made his forearms ache and his wrists feel as though they would snap.
“Huuu......”
But he had to do it.
To stop the destruction of Namgung and the murim, he would not hesitate even to do insane things.
His internal energy, raging like a storm, seemed as if it would soon run dry.
Then, a vertical slash.
When he raised the sword above his head, he nearly fell over, but the body that had begun strengthening through the power of the Heavenly Talent Spirit Pill barely managed to endure.
THUD—!
Only once.
Just one strike down upon the scarecrow was enough to deplete his internal energy.
Crunch—!
He felt every muscle near his wrist being destroyed.
Terrible agony surged in, but it was fine.
He was already far too familiar with this level of pain.
Watching from the side, Nam Hoho and Park Manho were horrified.
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Young Master!? What on earth are you doing!?”
“Training like that will only be inefficient. Young Master, please look after your body!”
Even as his own wrist hung in tatters, Namgung Yeon did not so much as blink.
The two of them gulped dryly at the sight.
Had Young Master Namgung Yeon not supposedly been weak?
“You two do it too.”
“......Pardon?”
“As many times a day as possible. Gradually increase the number.”
“But-.”
“Recovery? That is not a problem.”
[Infinite Storehouse]
[Elixir : Hundred Poisons Pill]
[Stock : 999,999,999]
The item he took from the storehouse.
The Tang Clan’s elixir, made from one hundred poisons, was piled up in his storehouse.
It was an elixir in which poison and poison neutralized one another and created a beneficial energy.
It greatly increased recovery and instilled immunity and resistance to lethal poisons.
“From now on, we train while eating this.”
His mother had been the greatest beauty of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and that mother’s skill had been in manufacturing poisons and medicines.
Could he have failed to stockpile even elixirs of this level over dozens of regressions?
With a trembling hand, Namgung Yeon shoved the elixir into his mouth.
‘From now on, I’m going to eat elixirs until I’m sick of them.’
Nam Hoho and Park Manho’s mouths fell open.
Because an entire basket of extraordinary-looking elixirs had appeared.
What on earth was going on here?
‘I have to stick with him no matter what. I must never let anyone know this secret!’
Park Manho thought.
Good things were halved the moment they were shared.
He absolutely must not tell anyone about this.
He also threatened Nam Hoho beside him.
“Hey.”
“......Yes?”
“If you go anywhere and talk about this, I will personally twist your neck.”
“O-Of course!”
Nam Hoho was no fool either.
When he imagined countless people rushing in with greed in their eyes, a chill ran down his spine.
Feeling the elixir’s energy slowly begin to circulate, Namgung Yeon said, “It would be better not to speak of it. I intend for only us to enjoy this good thing.”
“O-Of course! Obviously!”
“So do well.”
You two will roll and roll until you take on important roles.
Jingle-.
The bell of the Demonic Spirit Sword, which had been embedded to one side, rang.
At the same time, Namgung Yeon’s body began to grow even stronger.