Sa Do-gwang, the First Ship Master of the Black Water Stronghold, let out a scornful laugh at Namgung Geom's words.
"Some brat running his mouth. You got a death wish?"
"You're the one who doesn't seem to fear the Namgung Family."
Sa Do-gwang snorted at Namgung Geom's reply.
"Why would I fear the Namgung Family, all the way out there?"
"Are you so sure about that?"
Sa Do-gwang faltered for an instant at Namgung Geom's loaded words.
His eyes caught something he had failed to notice—Namgung Geom's martial arts uniform.
White fabric, with an Azure Dragon embroidered on the sleeves.
The Azure Dragon White Garb.
It was unmistakably the Namgung Family's martial arts uniform.
Sa Do-gwang's gaze wavered.
"Don't tell me you're a Namgung Family martial artist?"
"That's right. So unless you want to fight the main family, I'd suggest you turn around."
Sa Do-gwang looked past Namgung Geom.
Behind him stood the Azure Dragon Pavilion cadets, dressed in the same attire.
He counted their number—fewer than thirty.
And every one of them barely past the Age of Twenty.
How strong could they be at that age?
More importantly, given their youth, they most likely had little to no real combat experience.
And experience fighting on ships upon the Yangtze—even less so.
Fighting on a ship that pitched and swayed with the Yangtze's currents was no easy feat, even for a seasoned martial artist.
If they lacked that experience on top of everything, they would struggle to bring their full skill to bear.
Aside from the Namgung Family martial artists, no other fighters were in sight.
'Against them, we can definitely win.'
The Black Water Stronghold had deployed two warships for this operation.
The two warships carried a hundred pirates between them.
There was no way they could lose against fewer than thirty young Namgung Family martial artists.
The problem was the Namgung Family's retaliation afterward.
If the Namgung Family committed to attacking the Black Water Stronghold, annihilation would be unavoidable.
Ordinarily, the right choice was to avoid a fight and let the Yi Family Manor's ship pass.
But Sa Do-gwang had received direct orders from the Black Water Stronghold Chief.
The order was to attack the Yi Family Manor's ship and seize its cargo.
Sa Do-gwang could only guess that something important was on board.
In any case, having received the chief's orders, Sa Do-gwang had no choice but to follow them.
Even if Namgung Family martial artists were present.
"You think I'll be scared just because you say Namgung Family? I'll make this clear—if you want to pass through these waters, you pay a hundred silver taels. Otherwise, hand over what's in the ship."
Sa Do-gwang spoke in a tone that left no room for alternatives.
Namgung Geom furrowed his brow.
For them to act this way even after seeing the Namgung Family martial artists—this was not something to take lightly.
"Are you saying you intend to stand against the main family?"
"If I have to, I won't shy away."
"Even if it means the Black Water Stronghold is wiped out?"
Sa Do-gwang flinched at Namgung Geom's words.
But he quickly steeled himself and pushed back.
"You'll be the ones dying first."
"Is this the will of the Yangtze Waterway Alliance? Or is this the Black Water Stronghold acting on its own?"
"It's neither the Alliance nor the stronghold. This is my decision."
"I see."
Namgung Geom nodded, then drove his foot hard into the bow.
The ship lurched violently, and Namgung Geom's form shot skyward.
He caught the wind and soared across the gap.
Sa Do-gwang's eyes went wide at the sight.
The distance between the two ships was over ten lengths.
Even a Pinnacle-level master would find it difficult to clear in a single leap.
Yet Namgung Geom was crossing it with ease.
That meant Namgung Geom's realm was, at minimum, at the Pinnacle.
'Pinnacle realm at the Age of Twenty?!'
Sa Do-gwang wore a look of disbelief.
But he could not stand there gaping forever.
Namgung Geom was flying straight toward the bow.
"I'll send you to the bottom of the Yangtze!"
Sa Do-gwang hurled a harpoon at Namgung Geom.
A harpoon thrown at close range was difficult to dodge, even for a master.
And Namgung Geom was suspended in midair, with limited room to maneuver.
Sa Do-gwang was certain Namgung Geom would not be able to avoid it.
But Namgung Geom surpassed his expectations.
Namgung Geom deflected the harpoon flying at his chest with his sword.
Using the rebound, he launched himself upward and dropped down behind Sa Do-gwang.
Sa Do-gwang whirled around in shock to attack, but Namgung Geom's hands were faster.
THWACK!
Namgung Geom sealed Sa Do-gwang's paralysis point in an instant.
Then he pressed his sword to the man's throat.
"If anyone moves, this man's head comes off."
At Namgung Geom's threat, the pirates aboard the ship held back and watched nervously.
"Don't mind me—kill him now!"
Sa Do-gwang snarled through gritted teeth.
At his order, the pirates charged at Namgung Geom and launched their harpoons.
Namgung Geom furrowed his brow and hurled Sa Do-gwang backward.
CRASH—!
Sa Do-gwang slammed into the bow, let out a scream, and fell unconscious.
Namgung Geom paid him no further mind and swung his sword toward the incoming harpoons.
The Sword Wind from his blade deflected every last harpoon.
The pirates' jaws dropped at the sight.
"F-Fire again!"
The pirates launched another volley of harpoons.
Namgung Geom once more sent out a Sword Wind to knock them aside.
But this time, he did not merely deflect them—he reversed the harpoons' trajectory and sent them flying back at the pirates.
The pirates were stunned to see their own harpoons coming right back at them and threw themselves sideways.
THUD-THUD!
Those who could not dodge in time were struck by the harpoons and went down.
Namgung Geom charged at the panicked pirates with his sword extended.
The Sword Wind from his blade swept through them.
Pirates caught in the Sword Wind sprayed blood and were flung aside.
Namgung Geom's Sword Wind was far too powerful for the pirates to withstand.
It took just a single stroke for them to understand.
No matter how hard they tried, they could never block Namgung Geom's sword.
Their one advantage was numbers, but even that was meaningless.
To leverage numerical superiority, they needed to surround him, and the ship's layout made that impossible.
Above all, Namgung Geom's Sword Wind had a wide reach.
The Black Water Stronghold's pirates could not even get close to him.
They desperately threw harpoons, trying to create any opening they could.
But Namgung Geom sent every harpoon right back at them.
The pirates were driven back without recourse.
They looked like a flock of sheep being chased by a lone wolf.
Meanwhile, the moment Namgung Geom had leapt onto the forward warship, the Black Water Stronghold's rear warship immediately attacked the Yi Family Manor's vessel.
"We'll hold the rear warship!"
Namgung Chang and the others moved to the stern at once.
BOOM!
At that moment, the Black Water Stronghold's warship rammed straight into the Yi Family Manor's vessel.
The ship rocked violently, and the Azure Dragon Pavilion cadets staggered.
In that opening, the pirates threw gangplanks from their warship onto the Yi Family Manor's vessel.
The Black Water Stronghold pirates leapt aboard.
"Kill them all!"
The pirates hurled harpoons at the cadets.
The cadets quickly regained their footing and knocked the harpoons aside.
But not everyone managed to block them.
THUD—!
"Ngh!"
Harpoons struck a few who had been too slow to react.
They cried out and collapsed.
Namgung Chang checked on his fallen comrades.
Fortunately, they had avoided vital areas, but they would be unable to continue fighting.
All the while, the pirates kept throwing harpoons and boarding the ship.
"I'll block the harpoons!"
Namgung Cheol-ung appeared from somewhere with a massive wooden plank and planted himself in front of his comrades.
THUNK-THUNK!
The pirates' harpoons bounced off the plank without piercing through.
Namgung Cheol-ung charged straight at the pirates with the plank held before him.
"Everyone, get behind me!"
At Namgung Chang's shout, the cadets swiftly fell in behind Namgung Cheol-ung.
After deflecting every last harpoon, Namgung Cheol-ung closed the distance and rammed the pirates head-on.
CRASH—!
The pirates crumpled under Namgung Cheol-ung's raw strength.
Some who had been in the middle of boarding were shoved backward and plunged into the Yangtze.
Namgung Cheol-ung did not stop there. He swung the plank and bludgeoned the pirates.
Those struck by the plank spewed blood and went down.
Following Namgung Cheol-ung's lead, the Azure Dragon Pavilion cadets surged forward and attacked the pirates.
Enraged by their comrades' injuries, the cadets showed no mercy in their strikes.
The pirates fell before their attacks without recourse.
The cadets might have been no match for Namgung Geom, but they were all top students of the Namgung Family.
The pirates, mere third-rate fighters, were no match for them.
But the Yangtze's rough currents posed a problem.
Every time the ship lurched, the cadets momentarily lost their balance.
The pirates seized those moments to counter.
Their counterattack pushed the cadets back.
Yet even through it all, Namgung Chang and the three squad leaders held their ground.
In the meantime, the cadets who had regained their balance launched fresh attacks.
The Black Water Stronghold pirates were driven back once more.
While the cadets held the upper hand on the rear, the battle on the forward warship had already ended.
Namgung Geom had single-handedly taken down every pirate on the ship.
He brought the unconscious Sa Do-gwang and crossed back onto the Yi Family Manor's vessel.
The Yi Family Manor's transport crew stared at Namgung Geom with awe.
Namgung Geom leaping alone onto the Black Water Stronghold's warship and sweeping through the pirates—he was nothing short of a war god.
"I'll leave this man in your hands."
Namgung Geom handed the unconscious Sa Do-gwang to convoy leader Yi Hong-baek, then headed to the stern.
His comrades from the Azure Dragon Pavilion were still deep in the fight.
Despite the ship's rocking, the cadets were fighting well.
It did not seem as though Namgung Geom needed to step in.
He left the remaining pirates to his comrades.
Real combat experience like this was invaluable—the more, the better.
Above all, the confidence gained from defeating enemies with one's own hands was immense.
As Namgung Geom watched over them, his comrades toppled the pirates one by one.
And when the last remaining pirate fell to Namgung Seol's sword, the battle came to an end.
"Fighting on a rocking ship couldn't have been easy. Well done, everyone."
"Compared to the Class Leader who cleared an entire warship by himself, it was nothing."
Namgung Geom let out a chuckle at Namgung Cheol-ung's quip.
"Still, give us a heads-up next time. You nearly gave me a heart attack, jumping onto the Black Water Stronghold's warship out of nowhere."
"He's right. I know you're skilled, but stop trying to do everything alone. Unless you're just showing off."
Namgung Geom smiled at Namgung Chang's words.
"Are you worried about me right now?"
"Worried? I just can't stand watching you show off."
Namgung Chang scoffed.
"Even so, I never expected the Black Water Stronghold to attack with us on board."
At Namgung Cheon-sang's remark, Namgung Cheol-ung nodded.
"Are they really that bold?"
"Nobody gets that bold for no reason."
Namgung Cheon-sang spoke as if there was more to it.
"What do you think?"
Namgung Chang asked.
Namgung Geom looked at Sa Do-gwang, restrained nearby, and spoke.
"Time to find out."