I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 25

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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 25
Chapter 25 – Obscurity Under the Lamp
#1
Namgung Yeon watched as the two climbed toward him, breathing hard.
Thud!
He observed them setting down the Golden Dragon Chain and the enormous water bucket, their faces brimming with self-satisfaction.
Two squad members standing with proud expressions.
Looking at them, he barely suppressed a smile that threatened to escape.
Well…….
How was he supposed to explain this?
Should he call it sloppy?
“You brought it all in one trip.”
“Indeed. Young Namgung Jinzin taught us the trick.”
“You two have less ambition than I expected.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“We’re just people who pick up the crumbs left behind, sir.”
Namgung Yeon nodded at their words.
No one could tell what the faint smile playing at his lips meant.
“You worked hard.”
Without further comment, Namgung Yeon dismissed them.
It was a strange thing, really.
On the way up to the Hapsan Training Ground, they’d been gasping for breath—yet now they seemed so lively. How was that possible?
Training had only begun less than a week ago.
Had their skills improved that much in between?
Humans could accomplish much in a short time, certainly.
But paradoxically, they did not transform so drastically in a day or two—not enough to warrant a dramatic transformation.
‘By nature, humans are creatures of forgetting and adaptation.’
They’d simply grown comfortable here by now.
Without understanding what this place truly was, they’d begun to act for their own ambitions.
Namgung Yeon knew the psychology of such people well from his many regressions.
Soon enough, they would receive orders and show their true colors.
Judging by timing…….
“The first attack in the Squad Leader Seizure War will come.”
He murmured thus, watching their figures disappear into the distance.
This was what they called Obscurity Under the Lamp.
The Namgung Clan displayed enormous prestige, yet when something grows large enough, even a mosquito’s bite goes unnoticed.
Like barnacles growing on a great whale, corrupted beings in the shadows would quietly accumulate power.
The Namgung Clan would crumble miserably from within.
If he had not been here.
‘Soon, the effects will begin to show.’
If taken consistently, the effects of the Pure Spring Water would gradually appear in about two weeks.
You will never obtain what you desire…….
As he turned his head with that thought, he caught sight of Hoho and Namgung Jinzin training together on one side.
The problem began when Namgung Jinzin spoke to Hoho.
The White Dragon Lord’s son, already sensitive to everything.
He was in an exceptionally volatile state, consumed by the desire for his father’s recognition.
“Hey.”
“Yes? Is there something you need? An order, perhaps……?”
“You’re not even a competition participant—so why are you swinging a sword here?”
Hoho regarded Namgung Jinzin, who’d asked so sharply, for a moment.
Then she recalled a conversation she’d had with her master.
“There’s no need to be intimidated.”
“You will have thought through much and reached a fair conclusion before acting.”
“No matter what anyone says, tell them I permitted it.”
With that in mind, she answered confidently.
“My master gave me permission, so I train. Meals will come at their proper time.”
“Ha……. How presumptuous. If you’re a servant, then be a servant and sweep and clean, not practice martial arts……?”
How could someone as lowborn as you possibly learn the martial arts of the Namgung Clan?
How could you hope to follow such lofty teachings?
Namgung Jinzin lashed out at Hoho, the cleaning servant.
“Stop interfering and just cook. What do you think you’re doing, studying martial arts? A girl who can’t even read or write.”
“Hoho.”
That was when it happened.
A dry voice carried a peculiar note of expectation.
Both of them turned their heads.
At the end of their gaze stood Namgung Yeon, wearing the faintest smile.
“Unlock the Chain Dragon Lock.”
“Yes!”
Hoho, show them.
Show those you thought beneath you.
How much you’ve grown.
#2
Everything about this rubbed him the wrong way.
What in heaven’s name was that janitor going on about?
What…?
Teaching martial arts?
Namgung Jinzin thought it was nonsense.
What was the martial study of the Namgung Clan?
A place where children learned to wield swords before they could even walk properly, and learned to speak before their eyes had even opened to the world.
A mere janitor could never reach the standard of training they had undergone.
“Look, Squad Leader. You’re telling me to spar with this bastard? That’s training?”
“It is.”
“You’re not joking, are you? Or are you saying you hold me in that little regard?”
“That’s exactly your level of skill.”
A low growl escaped his throat.
Namgung Jinzin clenched his teeth against the unbearable insult.
He wanted to lunge at him immediately, but instinct held him back.
Besides, the instructor was watching every move from where they stood.
Defying the Squad Leader was grounds for a penalty.
Namgung Jinzin was a model student through and through.
There was no reason to invite a penalty unnecessarily.
“Do you think I’m the one being disrespected?”
“If that weren’t the case, there’d be no reason to make me spar with something like that.”
“It sounds like you’re the one being disrespectful.”
Namgung Yeon let out a soft laugh.
He was curious who thought they were disrespecting whom.
This was the arrogance and sense of chosen superiority that the Namgung Clan’s warriors carried with them.
They lived without knowing how much these attitudes gnawed away at them from within.
“As Squad Leader, I command you. Spar with Hoho right now.”
“…….”
“If you defeat her in ten moves, I’ll give you the Squad Leader position.”
“Truly?”
Namgung Jinzin asked with a suspicious expression.
He wondered if the man might go back on his word.
Namgung Yeon answered with conviction.
There would be no deception.
“A man does not speak twice from one mouth. Give it a try.”
“I’ll make you regret those words.”
“Young Master, do you really think I can defeat that person?”
Hoho approached quietly and asked.
Namgung Yeon answered without changing his expression.
“Of course not. How could you overcome what you learned under the White Dragon Lord?”
“…….”
“But ten moves? That’s entirely within your reach.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Don’t worry, Hoho.
Without knowing it yourself, you’ve already become a warrior rivaling a prodigy.
Today’s spar was her awakening—not as the janitor Hoho, but as a warrior.
‘And I need to grow stronger myself.’
Watching the match unfold, he prepared to move to the next stage.
This time, he intended to use medicinal herbs that could be applied with fresh water.
Calculated in silver…… yes.
Medicinal herbs worth about one tael of gold per bath.
A luxury befitting such expense, and a refinement that would render her constitution and various poisons ineffective against her.
Having fortified what lay within, it was now time to strengthen the outer defenses.
While Namgung Yeon watched with hands clasped behind his back, Namgung Jinzin arrived with two wooden swords and tossed them to Hoho.
“Ten rounds, you say? Three rounds and you’ll be rolling in the dirt.”
“…….”
“The senior will show restraint.”
The two took their positions at a distance from each other.
Hoho was visibly tensed, folded in on herself.
At a glance, she had no presence, no momentum to speak of.
Namgung Yeon decided to remake Hoho’s spirit.
“Hoho.”
“Y-yes, sir!?”
“You have killed more people than he has.”
“…….”
“So do not be afraid. You are a warrior who has endured even death itself.”
A mere handful of words, yet the momentum reversed entirely.
No—more precisely, Namgung Jinzin’s momentum crumbled at once.
Murder is a thing far too great for children to bear.
Naturally, hearing the word “murder,” Namgung Jinzin could only stand slack-jawed and bewildered.
Countless thoughts must have rushed through his mind.
Though he had trained martial arts systematically, these children were still hothouse flowers.
Hoho, who had faced actual Corrupted Beings, who had killed, who had learned martial arts amid the agony of torn bone and muscle—her depth of experience was simply incomparable to his.
“Have confidence. You are not weak.”
“……Yes.”
Hoho’s eyes changed.
Yes.
Even if she could not win, she desperately wanted to keep the promise she had made with him.
A vow to grow stronger herself, to become a help to him.
There was no way she could always step forward only before the weak.
Right now, Hoho was also learning how to face the strong with the proper spirit.
She gripped her sword and recalled the forms Namgung Yeon had taught her, the martial teachings he had imparted.
<Keep your feet light.>
<Keep your body fluid.>
<And when you strike downward, empty yourself of force. Yet pour all your strength into it.>
‘Let me try.’
“Coming!”
“…….”
She would show those who looked upon her as vermin what she truly was.
I, Hoho, am a warrior.
#3
“Haaah-!”
The forms and techniques Namgung Yeon had taught were nothing remarkable.
The most fundamental Internal Energy Cultivation.
And the most basic Sword Method.
One might well say how could such a thing possibly overcome the martial arts of the Namgung Clan—the difference in level was unmistakably clear.
Yet despite this evident disparity in skill, Hoho launched a barrage of vicious attacks at Namgung Jinzin.
The principle of martial arts was deceptively simple.
How does one strike a person down?
‘In the end, martial arts change depending on the understanding of the one who wields them. Even with a three-stage sword method, one can readily contend for dominion over all.’
Martial arts are the aggregate of all knowledge accumulated through history.
The blood they spilled, what was built up across the ages they lived through—that was the martial heritage of Namgung.
Yet what good is such layer-upon-layer accumulated knowledge if the one who receives it remains immature?
All things have their season.
“The Iron Sword Ten Forms—with merely such a sword method, to this degree!?”
The sword Hoho wielded was swift.
It was heavy, and she knew how to find the gaps in his defense.

Three months had passed.
Namgung Yeon had not taken Hoho’s training lightly, not even for a moment.
‘The Young Master’s sword was far quicker than this.’
She could see it now.
The blade wielded by this later generation, Namgung Jinzin.
Though her skill clearly fell short, she’d learned that she could press forward before he recovered his momentum.
At the same time, she saw her own limitations.
‘Still so far to go.’
“This bastard—!”
No upset occurred.
Namgung Jinzin quickly regained his composure and brought his own rhythm to bear.
A younger generation who’d gone cold like that was truly terrifying.
In the end, Hoho took an elbow strike to the ribs, had her shoulder and knee stabbed, and collapsed in a heap.
A sword method as flawless as an island fortress.
The power of the Heavenly Wind Sword Method.
“Huff, huff…….”
“Ah… I’m dying…….”
“…….”
Namgung Jinzin looked down at Hoho, breathing hard, his expression one of disbelief.
He’d thought her nothing but a good-natured cleaner, a cook…….
Just how far did common sense extend among those connected to Namgung Yeon, and where did the extraordinary begin?
“You must have already exceeded ten exchanges. Have you not?”
“…….”
“Hoho, you need more footwork practice. Your ability to read an opponent’s movements is still rough.”
“Yes, sir.”
He’d clearly won, so why did it feel this bitter?
Namgung Jinzin tossed down his wooden sword and left.
Namgung Yeon watched his retreating figure for a moment, then spoke.
“You’ll need to shed your arrogance first.”
“…….”
No reply came.
He deserved time to compose himself.
Namgung Yeon understood well what suffering Jinzin was enduring now.
He himself had tasted pain of a similar kind.
‘In the end, he’ll overcome it, though.’
Namgung Jinzin was no less a talent than Hoho.
Namgung Yeon praised Hoho for her effort, then headed to the bathhouse.
“I’ll wash and return, so prepare the meal.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Don’t forget to recover your energy as well.”
Hoho bowed, her fist clasped respectfully.
Now it was time to pour Internal Energy Cultivation into his body.

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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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