I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
A Martial Artist Need Not Be a Sage
#1
Step after heavy step along the path.
Everyone moved in silence toward the designated training grounds.
Namgung Jin, who had clashed with Namgung Yeon.
Someone spoke to him.
“You held back well. If it were me, I’d have thrashed him—brother or not.”
…….
Namgung Jin could offer no reply.
He had not yet emerged from the shock of it all.
He had always thought of his younger brother as immature and frail.
So he’d believed that was why their mother favored him……
‘What on earth……’
He stared down at his wrist, still throbbing with pain.
Red marks had risen across the skin.
Even though he’d been released with deliberate slowness, he’d been unable to respond.
It was as if someone had bound his mind itself, leaving him blank.
How could he describe such a feeling?
Lost in his own thoughts, he couldn’t even react when Jo Won addressed him.
Early First-Class Realm.
This was when he should display movements so graceful that they could no longer be called human.
And yet he—couldn’t even respond.
What on earth had happened?
“Team Leader? Are you listening?”
“Hm?”
“Ha, were you thinking about how you’d have beaten him?”
“……I suppose so.”
Perhaps he should have struck back then.
Namgung Jin thought this, but he couldn’t picture himself throwing Namgung Yeon to the ground—and that bewildered him.
A true martial artist can discern an opponent’s strength from their sword stance alone.
Namgung Jin had grown up watching the greatest martial artists of the age.
His eye for such things, at the very least, was sharp.
Namgung Yeon’s strength……was it equal to his own, or perhaps even greater?
Though not absolutely overwhelming, perhaps.
But one never knows how two years might change a person.
‘I must grow stronger by any means necessary.’
These two years wouldn’t be spent locked away in mere training.
There would be Team Leader Competitions in between, and countless sparring matches besides.
Namgung Jin resolved to seize those opportunities and show his mettle.
Unaware that his hands trembled slightly, he headed toward the training grounds deep in the mountains.
He did not know.
A seed of fear had already taken root in the depths of his heart.
In that hidden place, it would slowly begin to sprout.
When the vines of that emotion had wound so tightly around his heart that he could not breathe, he would understand at last.
It had all begun the moment he felt his collar seized and stared into eyes devoid of feeling.
The seed’s name was Submission.
#2
Rattle-rattle.
He still hadn’t grown accustomed to the carriage’s motion.
Though it was a coach of the finest quality, it couldn’t entirely dampen the tremor rising from the earth.
Namgung Yeon gazed silently out the window.
He was picturing what lay ahead.
At the same time, he was taking inventory—through his spiritual vision—of the items he could draw from the Infinite Treasury.
Now he stood at the threshold of the First-Class Realm.
The season when the human body ripens into something more.
‘Within two years, I must reach the Peak Realm.’
Only then could he draw forth more of its treasures.
Once a Peak Realm martial artist, he thought he’d be able to retrieve far more Heavenly Poison Pills.
And if he reached the Super-Peak Realm?
Perhaps he could withdraw something like the Shaolin Temple’s miraculous pill, a Summon Pill or so.
Beyond that, he could also freely produce materials for the finest weapons.
While turning such thoughts over in his mind, the carriage came to a halt.
“Young master, we’ve arrived.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“We’ll carry the supplies and head up from here.”
The coachman descended from his seat and spoke with Namgung Yeon.
Namgung Jinzin, who had been watching intently, suddenly cut in.
“What are you doing? Why drop us off in the middle of a mountain?”
“What use is a martial artist who doesn’t train?”
“……?”
What nonsense was this?
After riding in a carriage all this way, he suddenly wanted them to get out and talk about training?
Namgung Jinzin’s face darkened with exasperation.
Nothing he said matched up from one moment to the next.
Arbitrary, contradictory, incomprehensible moves.
On what grounds were they supposed to follow this man?
Namgung Jinzin was not alone in thinking this.
Namgung Geon-ho, son of the Fifth Elder, also voiced his objection.
“Team Leader, does it matter whether we walk to the Hapsan Training Ground now or arrive quickly to prepare and train?”
“Who said anything about simply walking?”
Infinite Treasury.
Golden Dragon Chain.

A deep rumble echoed—whoosh!
Those chains, said to suppress a dragon, came pouring out.
The chains that had actually been suppressing some dragon somewhere were melted down and reformed—and those items cascaded onto the ground.
Though more precisely, they were items he’d already loaded onto the carriage and now simply unloaded.
As the others stared with baffled expressions, Namgung Yeon hefted one of them onto his shoulders.
The first to move upon seeing this was none other than Ho-ho.
Ho-ho, who showed such loyalty he would feign death itself if Namgung Yeon commanded it, lifted a Golden Dragon Chain in identical fashion.
“Hngh……. This really is heavy.”
“Breathe deeply. If you grow weary halfway, tell me.”
“Yes, sir!”
“…….”
There was only one path anyway; all they needed to do was climb straight up it.
Without complaint, Ho-ho began ascending step by laborious step.
Haah—!
His ragged breathing began to echo.
“What in the……”
“When on earth did you load this?”
“Don’t worry about it. If you don’t want to grow stronger, just head up.”
“…….”
He offered no further explanation.
Him offering no explanation?
That could be dismissed as simple rudeness.
Perhaps the Team Leader had prepared this in advance.
But the words “grow stronger”—those were unbearable.
Everything else could be overlooked with a clouded eye.
But weakness.
You will become weak.
Born a martial artist of the Namgung Clan, there was no insult quite like that.
“A thing like this, you dare——”
Grrrgh——!
One by one, they hoisted the Golden Dragon Chains onto their shoulders and began climbing Hapsan.
The instructors watching this scene clicked their tongues.
‘When and where did he prepare something like that?’
‘Thorough preparation. Ah—so he’s chosen this efficient method instead.’
‘Dramatically reducing travel speed and beginning high-intensity training. This is……’
Fascinating.
And yet it was something fresh and new.
The instructors’ hands began to move busily.
Their role was to observe and protect the candidates.
If there was any new promise worth noting, they would report it at once, and if the entire clan could absorb them, they would gladly do so.
Strength was the Namgung Clan’s oldest ambition, after all.
The instructors’ eyes gleamed as they eagerly recorded Namgung Yeon’s methods.
Yes.
We don’t lack the strength—it’s not as if we’re short on coin.
‘This is worth commending. And subtly, it exerts a kind of command over the candidates, drawing them to follow.’
Making people move of their own will was harder than one might think.
Motivation.
And a situation they could understand.
Only when several conditions aligned just right could proud young lords be moved to action of their own accord.
Over the years, they had watched countless juniors as instructors and as warriors.
Those born outside who had registered as martial artists in the Namgung Clan’s records.
The children of Namgung Clan martial artists themselves.
The children of the collateral and direct branches of the Namgung family.
“Certainly different.”
“Hmm. I agree.”
Strength.
The candidates were advancing with eyes fixed only on that single word.
Even candidates with no prior connection were following Namgung Yeon’s lead without hesitation.
They did not know.
That from this very moment, Namgung Yeon’s ‘culling of people’ and ‘lavish spending’ had already begun.
An unidentifiable powder began to drift through the air.
#3
Huff—!
Huff-huff—!
Only the sound of ragged breathing echoed across Hapsan.
From the point where they had stepped down from the carriage to Hapsan Training Ground was roughly a two-hour walk.
Hapsan was not, in fact, an established place name.
It referred to one of the mountains the Namgung Clan used as a secluded retreat.
This mountain’s true name was Eunbyeong Mountain.
Known in Namgung Clan parlance as Hapsan, it was a relatively nearby place.
Though it sat near Hefei, the mountain’s presence was quite formidable.
In other words, carrying something as heavy as the Golden Dragon Chain up its slopes was enormously taxing.
“Uaaagh!”
“No more—can’t go on!”
Crash!
Those who had burned through every scrap of Internal Energy within them, only to fail in reaching the training ground.
They were the ones Namgung Yeon had marked.
The director of the Weapons Authority, which oversaw the Namgung Clan’s armaments.
His son and those who had not appeared for the Team Leader Competition.
In the end, they had collapsed, their legs giving out when they were still half a section away.
As they lay sprawled in their sweat-soaked clothes, gasping roughly, Team Leader Namgung Yeon stood before them.
“Is this the extent of it.”
“Huff…. We’ll, we’ll rest just a bit and keep going, Team Leader. That’s fine, yes?”
“Do as you please.”
Namgung Yeon’s eyes fell upon those whose skin had begun to flush crimson.
Two of the three….
Demonic Forces had already infiltrated their meridians to a considerable depth.
Should he end them here, or wait a while longer.
Namgung Yeon’s darkened, lifeless gaze fixed upon them with hollow intensity.
Perhaps sensing that chill.
One of them carefully opened his mouth.
“You, you go ahead. We’ll catch up soon.”
“Hmm. Go ahead.”
Namgung Yeon’s decision was to defer judgment.
The first reason was the possibility of unforeseen connections and surveillance.
The second reason was to make use of the Black Wind Method.
The Namgung Clan was vast.
And with each cycle, the Demonic Forces’ methods of control shifted.
They too were adaptive beings, so they waged various strategies against him in endless contest.
Their fates would be determined by their own choices.
Who could say.
‘Now and then, there were those who escaped the Demonic Forces’ grasp.’
Very occasionally, there were those who repented their wrongs and pledged themselves anew to the Martial World.
Those who discovered shocking truths and changed their allegiance.
Those who finally grasped that the Martial World’s future did not lie with the Demonic Forces.
It might be a glimmer of hope.
Or it might be mere foolish delusion.
But the Martial World…… the world under Heaven is a place where people live.
If even one more could be saved.
Or if one piece of filth could be burned away to redeem the many.
‘For now, I’ll watch and wait.’
Namgung Yeon, breathing hard, crested the ridge of Hapsan.
Sounds of bustling activity reached his ears.
Those who had arrived early were constructing something with rapid, rhythmic taps.
The instructor who had been tracking Namgung Yeon likewise heard the strange commotion and hurried up in confusion.
Hapsan Training Ground was fundamentally a secluded place.
Outsiders could not enter.
Yet how could it be so loud?
“An intruder?”
“Doesn’t seem to be one.”
“Let’s check it out, at least.”
The youngest instructor said this to his senior and dashed forward.
Honestly, he’d come all the way here comfortably enough by carriage.
Then it was time to do his duty.
He rushed forward using a Movement Technique, and there he found people engaged in even stranger work.
“What in….”
“Welcome! I’m Hwang, overseeing the renovation work!”
“…….”
The instructor stood speechless.
What could a martial artist’s training ground possibly be?
Ramshackle facilities.
Deep in the mountains, supplies were scarcely manageable, that was the reality.
“Ah. You’ve arrived, Instructor.”
“Who are you……?”
“I am Park Man-ho, a martial escort to Young Master Namgung Yeon.”
“Ah yes, the Third Elder’s…… that’s right, isn’t it?”
Man-ho, who had arrived earlier, bowed respectfully.
Behind him unfolded the sight of craftsmen and technicians installing state-of-the-art facilities.
Man-ho spoke with pride.
“The Young Master said this: must a martial artist truly train like a recluse in the mountains?”
It was a fair point, so the instructors all fell silent.
They had not known the Young Master would pour money into a place like this without hesitation.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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