I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 28

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

Episode 28
Episode 28 – Money Silences Evil
#1
“Sir, it’s all finished.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Thanks to that mysterious water, we were able to labor without rest. The value alone…….”
“Think nothing of it. That water is just as drinkable as ordinary water.”
The construction had finally ended.
The laborers, sustained by the Pure Spring Water, had worked without exhaustion.
They’d toiled with genuine enthusiasm, buoyed by an employer who treated them well and fed them adequately.
Though they might have cut corners, they’d genuinely delivered.
Namgoong Yeon recognized this quality and resolved to remember their names.
If he heard favorably of any of them later, he’d decided to promote them.
Workers with such skill deserved to be cultivated as valuable connections.
“What is your name?”
“M-my name? My name is Park Moo-sung.”
He’d heard of him before.
An architect who would later make great contributions to constructing a makeshift fortress.
Thanks to the fortress he designed, martial artists would endure a fifteen-year siege.
He was from Anhui, if memory served.
‘I hadn’t known that.’
So he was working here during this period.
Even after countless cycles of return, he still didn’t understand this world perfectly.
Namgoong Yeon felt the weight of his own ignorance as he spoke.
“From now on, this place will become a secret training ground for the Namgoong Clan—a place where elite warriors are forged. You can take pride in that wherever you go.”
“Th-thank you so much!”
“If I need anything else, I’ll call on you again. Here, the promised payment. I’ve been generous.”
A heavy purse dropped onto Park Moo-sung’s palm.
Peeking inside, he saw it was brimming with silver coins.
It looked like he’d been given twice, no—three times the contracted amount.
It seemed almost reckless, spending money like this.
But why should a servant worry about his master’s wealth?
They simply did as instructed, did good work, took their pay, and went home.
He bowed repeatedly.
“With this, the men working under me will have better circumstances. Truly, I cannot thank you enough.”
“You may not be able to spend it all.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
Park Moo-sung’s chest sank in an instant.
After receiving so much money……could he be about to abuse his power?
Or……?
Just as strange thoughts began to swirl, Namgoong Yeon’s cheerful voice broke through.
“The commissions won’t stop coming, so you won’t have time to squander all that money.”
“Haha! I do hope that’s true. Truly, it feels like a dream.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t be a dream any longer.”
With that, Namgoong Yeon called for Ho-ho.
Today happened to be the day for procuring provisions.
If he sent Ho-ho on a small errand, word-of-mouth would spread quickly enough.
Namgoong Yeon glanced toward the instructor who’d been watching the entire exchange.
What would they feel seeing the completed quarters now?
They’d surely wonder where all this money came from.
Suspicions might arise, but ultimately these people would hold their tongues.
‘Immediate comfort has always loosened people’s lips more than loosened their jaws—no, made them clamp shut their mouths.’
The expanded structure included quarters for the instructors as well.
Comfortable beds had been installed, with wardrobes and chests of drawers arranged throughout—perfect private rooms.
Normally instructors either slept outside or in cramped, poorly-maintained communal dormitories.
“The facilities are killing us.”
“This clan has so much money—why don’t they pay attention to things like this……”
Not a single cycle had passed without hearing the instructors, the junior martial artists, voice these complaints.
Namgoong Yeon knew their modest yet fervent desires.
They would grow suspicious, but soon they’d hush and keep quiet.
As long as they held their tongues, they could savor this comfort in full.
Human selfishness, more often than not, reveals itself in the simplest of places.
#2
Today marked exactly one month and two days since they’d entered the training grounds.
In that month, the Third Group had transformed beyond recognition.
They simply hadn’t noticed it themselves, but from the instructor’s perspective, their progress had been steep and steady.
Whether other groups had fared better or worse, one thing was certain: they’d surpassed what they’d accomplished during his own training days.
Every dawn, they carried heavy weights and hauled water.
With proper nutrition, they trained until sunset.
Afterward, they’d complete each day with adequate rest and Internal Energy Circulation.
Day after day, simple yet diligent, they marched forward—each in their own direction.
“Today, we’ll conduct a practical assessment.”
The moment had come to verify their progress and report the findings.
Man-ho, who had quietly returned, now regarded Ma Cheol-wi steadily.
Blackwind had mentioned that there were indeed a few suspects among them.
‘If this one is a Demon Cultist……’
He’d surely target Namgoong Yeon, the master Man-ho served.
Why?
Because his value ran highest.
Crippling him—or at the very least, returning him to his sickbed—would be tantamount to breaking one Promising Talent, to snuffing out a future of the Namgoong Clan itself.
For a martial artist at that age, an injury carried that kind of weight.
Every time he tried to reach a higher realm, that old wound would hobble him.
It would gnaw away at his nascent promise, year by year.
‘Certainly…… there’s much I see now that I didn’t before.’
His life until now had been nothing but training and missions.
Those few months following Namgoong Yeon seemed to carry far greater weight than all of that time combined.
The density of experience made such a difference.
“Namgoong Yeon will spar with me.”
“Understood.”
As expected, Instructor Ma Cheol-wi had singled out Namgoong Yeon.
Namgoong Yeon accepted the match calmly, as if he’d already known.
Ma Cheol-wi stood as though unmoved, yet the malice he exuded couldn’t be hidden.
Now he was showing his enmity openly.
Namgoong Yeon harbored one curiosity, then as now.
The will of the Demon Cultists.
Why did they display their malice so blatantly toward Righteous Sect martial artists?
‘I’ve looked into it somewhat over the past cycles…… but always reached a dead end.’
He couldn’t understand why.
What grievance drove them to harbor such enmity toward ordinary people?
Ma Cheol-wi was the same.
He seemed merely to be watching, yet the malice that seeped from him felt repugnant.
It would have been impossible for an ordinary martial artist, much less Namgoong Jin-jin, to best Ma Cheol-wi in a straightforward match.
His body remained unfinished, and more importantly, he couldn’t match the Internal Power output of an instructor lunging at him with intent.
But if he used what was stashed away, the story changed entirely.
‘Honestly, I think I hold a significant edge in technique as well.’
He’d begun to grow concerned for those in the other groups.
There were a few he’d been keeping an eye on, and he didn’t know how far the Demon Cultists might go.
Time would tell.
Eventually, he’d reach the truth.
If he smashed them all to pieces, even hidden truths would come tumbling out.
Namgoong Yeon’s eyes grew darker still.
It was time to make preparations.
“The match begins at noon. Prepare yourself by then.”
“As you wish.”
“You seem quite at ease. You could end up crippled, you know.”
“That’s fine with me.”
With a meaningful smile, Namgoong Yeon turned toward the newly completed quarters.
He had a bit of time. A bath would do him good.
And while he was at it, he’d indulge in some preparations to crush Ma Cheol-wi’s baseless arrogance.

“Man-ho.”
“Yes.”
“Come, let’s talk for a moment.”
“Understood.”
Man-ho slipped away quietly to speak with his young master.
Ma Cheol-wi watched the two of them depart, then clicked his tongue.
“Not a single opening to exploit.”
Over the past month, he’d attempted various strategies to carry out his orders.
But there was simply no angle of attack.
He couldn’t poison them, and when he’d tried to exploit the servants—Three and Seven—they lived in such lockstep coordination that it proved impossible.
‘No help for it. I’ll have to step in directly myself.’
The Martial World had become corrupt.
That’s why he yearned for a freer world.
A world where Demon Cultists weren’t cast out, where everyone simply lived as they saw fit.
And what was needed to achieve that?
The collapse of the power structure held by the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families.
Only then could people like him—Demon Cultists—build anew.
Ma Cheol-wi’s eyes glinted with peril.
All of this… for the true resurrection of Shinkyou.
‘Anyway, did those two head to the outhouse again?’
Of course, his expectations for Three and Seven had already been shattered long ago.
#3
The new lodging was quite spacious.
A modest room with a bed and storage for clothes.
And there was even space to stretch and practice.
Twenty-first-century South Korea.
It was a place that reflected, in some small measure, the modern architecture Namgoong Yeon remembered.
Two people entered this space.
Man-ho, returning from his errand, and his master, Namgoong Yeon.
The two settled into a comfortable position and began to speak.
“The items you provided have proven quite useful, but… it seems the eyes watching us are beginning to multiply.”
“Yes, that would be expected. Soon the pressure will begin in earnest.”
The elders, the house heads and branch heads, even the collateral lines…
The leaders of each household and their networks would soon launch their covert struggles against one another.
It was an inevitable sequence—the same procedure that had always been followed, and how the Namgoong Clan had slowly crumbled each time.
‘I’ll need to seize control from the very start.’
So this time, I’ll also borrow the strength of the Sacheon Dang Clan.
I must do everything possible to solidify the Namgoong’s unity.
And what would be needed for that?
Overwhelming wealth.
Overwhelming financial power.
Overwhelming medicine and an overwhelming sphere of influence.
Namgoong Yeon spoke bluntly.
“Ma Cheol-wi is a Demon Cultist.”
“…What?”
“And among the Trial Competition participants, there are likely more Demon Cultists as well.”
“….”
Namgoong Yeon looked at the silent Man-ho and smiled with quiet satisfaction.
Yes, seeing him not overreact like this meant he was carefully taking in every word I speak.
A smile born of pleasure at such attentiveness.
Now it was time to broach the main matter.
“How long do we have?”
“One month should suffice, they say.”
“Then bring that information to your clan head and my grandfather.”
“Understood.”
“No, never mind—I already have a general sense of it. Bring it to them directly tomorrow.”
“…”
What is he talking about now?
At Namgoong Yeon’s cryptic words, Man-ho’s expression grew confused.
The time had simply arrived at last.
If we don’t prepare from now on, the damage will be unavoidable regardless.
So now you must understand.
Relations with other sects and other families matter, but in the end, the Namgoong Clan must be the priority.
Namgoong Yeon spoke to Man-ho.
Come here tomorrow at dawn, and let no one know.
“Then I shall take a look, since I belong to this place.”
“Don’t be reckless. Share this with Ho-ho and eat it.”
Baeknyeon Seolsam.
A ginseng that supplements yin energy and achieves harmony between yin and yang.
This too, if converted to coin, was precious enough to make even several gold pieces seem trivial.
A ginseng found only in the Northern Sea, that.
Man-ho received the seolsam with trembling hands.
Then he tucked it carefully into his robe and hurried away in quick steps.
So if I give away like this, what’s left?
Baeknyeon Seolsam: 93,291,111 pieces.
Very many seolsam remained.
“Well…… then should I try some for myself too?”
What should he take out to temporarily boost his Internal Power?
Namgoong Yeon began examining the items meant to temporarily supplement his insufficient Internal Power.
In terms familiar to a twenty-first century Korean…… yes.
It was time to dope.

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