I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 33

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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 33
33 – Changcheon Widae
#1
Time passed in a peculiar haze, as though the chaos had never fully settled.
The gap in numbers was significant, yet the trainees of Group 3 pressed forward with their training, unflinching and methodical.
Days rolled past like a hamster wheel—routine, seemingly pointless—and yet their strength grew at a pace that defied expectation.
Fetching water at dawn.
Tumbling across the ground after a thorough beating from Namgung Yeon.
By now, the rhythmic thuds echoing through the night had become the ordinary pulse of their world.
“Attention.”
The Instructor called Group 3 to gather.
They obeyed as though the two empty positions meant nothing at all, continuing without hesitation.
“Tomorrow morning, Changcheon Widae will visit. You are to answer their questions with complete honesty—not a shred of deception. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Their inquiry falls beyond my protection. Should you falter or contradict yourselves, a far greater danger awaits. Remember this well.”
All responded with silence, their assent absolute.
Even Yi Hyeon, who usually brimmed with restless energy, held his tongue this time.
They all understood.
If asked to name the most feared faction in Anhui, the answer could only be the Namgung Clan.
Within that Clan, there existed those most elusive and brutal of all.
Under the guise of serving Bright Heaven, they committed atrocities without hesitation.
A faction that ruthlessly excised anyone deemed a threat to the Namgung.
‘This is Changcheon Widae.’
At word of their arrival, Namgung Yeon fell into thought.
Fragments of the past flickered through his mind unbidden.
Had they truly ever acted in the name of justice?
Some perhaps still carried untainted hearts, yet others had been corrupted by power, their lives now stained and base.
‘This time, I must turn their madness toward enemies of the Namgung, not the Clan itself.’
Changcheon Widae was a double-edged blade.
Sharp and unguarded as a sword without a crossguard.
In skilled hands, it would carve through any enemy, a blade of finest temper.
But in clumsy ones, it would sever its own fingers.
Namgung Yeon pondered.
Whom to cultivate, and how.
And which persons already stood entangled with them.
In truth, the method was remarkably simple.
‘Poor zealots, the lot of them……’
Though they wielded boundless authority, they were desperately impoverished.
The reason was plain.
What would become of inspectors tasked with policing their own ranks if they were suddenly granted vast wealth?
Since ancient times, all power corrupts the moment it touches money.
But Namgung Yeon intended to corrupt them.
With an immense fortune.
More precisely, with the enormous treasures hidden at Bigo.
‘Delicious.’
The image of those proud, chin-raised figures bowing their heads to him.
Having lived through countless trials, Namgung Yeon had already grasped them entirely.
Once Changcheon Widae fell into his palm, the purge would proceed smoothly.
After that……
First, he would need to secure Anhui and the Murim Alliance Headquarters.
Becoming the Young Master of the Clan was merely the natural course.
#2
The next day.
From the crack of dawn, Namgung Yeon had begun fetching water.
He scaled the mountain, heavy breathing torn from his lips, the Basket sloshing and the Golden Dragon Chain dragging at his grip.
Midway up, he exhaled and broke the silence.
“Would you offer some assistance?”
“…….”
No answer came.
Namgung Yeon continued his climb, speaking again.
The water he was now carrying was also meant to steep the finest tea to be gifted to them.
“I had planned to present you all with premium tea steeped in this water.”
“How presumptuous.”
A figure materialized without sound or warning.
Masked, with only his eyes visible, there was something unsettling about his appearance.
What of the martial power he possessed?
Namgung Yeon’s body, still too physically weak to resist, nearly buckled.
An extraordinarily keen understanding of Qi.
Without it, he would have nearly spilled all the water he was carrying.
A man walked over with heavy steps and lifted the weighty bucket with one hand.
“Hmm…….”
He regarded Namgung Yeon with curious eyes.
Then he asked.
“Your name?”
“Namgung Yeon.”
“So you’re the Patriarch’s son. I don’t recall ever seeing your face.”
You’ve grown quite a bit.
The man’s gaze softened somewhat.
The pressure of Qi bearing down on Namgung Yeon eased as well.
Regardless of what others might think, Namgung Yeon was different.
Even Bright Heaven had heard the rumors.
It was the boy standing before him who had eliminated the Demon Master disguised as an Instructor.
Eyes that seemed hollow and vacant—an arresting sight.
Yet he also knew that this youth had emerged as a formidable variable in this present competition.
“Fascinating. I’ll hear this from you directly.”
“Thank you.”
“Is it really true that you killed the Demon Master with a single stroke?”
“To be precise, it was not a single stroke.”
Namgung Yeon spoke slowly, acutely aware of the far more formidable presence before him.
Everyone would be listening to what he said.
So he offered a brief explanation.
A sparring match.
And the explosion of the Inauspicious Star and Demonic Energy.
Finally, the killing blow delivered with the Dae-yeon Swordsmanship.
The man listened in silence, then let out a soft snort.
“Unbelievable.”
“It was the only way I could survive.”
“Yes, that account rings true as well.”
He seemed satisfied.
They were those who moved solely for Bright Heaven.
And moreover.
They were among those capable of creating ‘miracles’ and ‘variables’ such as what Namgung Yeon had demonstrated.
‘This boy…… possesses capabilities on par with ours.’
No.
Perhaps he might prove even more exceptional.
The Demon Master’s skill was roughly that of a seasoned First-class Master.
No matter how the outcome of martial arts was not determined solely by prowess, the odds of victory would have been nearly as fixed as a constant.
Creating variables in a situation where the future seemed already determined.
Twisting fate toward a new outcome.
A dangerous individual.
That is how the man perceived him—a boy whose eyes appeared devoid of all light.
‘I’ll need to assign a watcher to him.’
Having made this decision, the man turned his head again and arrived at the Hapsan Training Grounds.
And he was taken aback.
No…….
Why…….
“Hm…….”
He set down the bucket with a dull thud, his eyes trembling as they swept across the training grounds.
They were men who boasted of fanatical faith, yet they remained human nonetheless.
And their greatest discontent of late was none other than their quarters.
Men living cramped together in lodgings no one could quite locate on a map.
That was precisely what the Changcheon Widae was.
A faction wielding absolute power, yet living under such absurd conditions?
That, too, was the work of the Namgung Clan.
“Why does this training ground seem nicer than our quarters?”
……
Namgung Yeon suppressed a smile.
He would reveal it only now, but the splendor of those quarters served a purpose—and this was part of it.
Fine dwellings.
Fine food.
And fine clothes.
Provide them with what humans crave, exploit their hunger, corrupt them through want.
Namgung Yeon had made this his foundation for claiming the Namgung Clan.
For only he could fill the void they felt.
‘From this moment forward, you will worship me—slowly, inexorably.’
Namgung Yeon smiled, though no one could see it.
#3
The interrogation was mercifully brief.
There were moments when they pressed him with pointed questions, but he slipped through them without arousing suspicion.
They never even asked where the funds for the quarters came from.
They already knew the clan lord, Namgung Mu, had given his fourth son an allowance.
What they hadn’t foreseen was that he would spend it like this.
Once the interrogation ended, they gathered in small clusters, murmuring among themselves.
“What do you make of it?”
“Of what?”
“These training grounds, sir. Quite impressive, wouldn’t you say?”
“Mere excess.”
So spoke the commander of the Changcheon Widae, though all his men knew better.
He harbored considerable grievance over the quarters where he now resided.
He’d submitted requests for improvement countless times, yet nothing had changed.
And yet, look at this place.
Modern construction, individual chambers for each man—immaculate and orderly.
The bathing house was spotless, and the dining hall meticulously maintained.
He had always labored faithfully for the Namgung Clan.
‘I’ve never seen the commander waver like this before.’
“Sir, your heart is stirred by this sight, isn’t it?”
“We’ll need to post watchers anyway—why not settle in here yourself?”
“Exactly. We’ll turn a blind eye, gladly.”
Namgung Pae, the commander, scowled deeply.
These fools, coming this far and——
“You think I can be swayed by such trinkets?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Of course, sir.”
“We hear you griping every day, after all.”
……
‘Burn this whole wretched place down, that’s what I should do. Build it anew from ash.’
‘Keeping these insects at bay is exhausting. If I don’t wrap Internal Energy around my ears, their noise seeps in endlessly. What a headache.’
Fragments of memory, glancing past.
Namgung Pae growled back at his men.
“And you lot—all you think about is betraying your true commander and transferring to another department.”
“No, that’s not——”
“In all honesty, sir, even quarters this modest would make the Changcheon Widae’s name ring across the realm.”
“That’s right. The only reason we’re worth so little is because our welfare has been neglected.”
The commander sighed.
Here he was, refusing to give them their reports, and——
Bang!
He struck the desk sharply, eager to change the subject.
Wait—this desk is fine quality too.
“Enough chatter. Make your report. You—what was your impression of the young lord?”
“Honestly, I was amazed. Looking at the light in his eyes and the bearing of him, there’s no falsehood in that.”
“What’s the likelihood he committed some other transgression?”
Here, “other transgression” meant betraying the Namgung Clan—defecting, in other words.
Taking power through some aberrant force, for instance.
Or learning martial arts outside the Namgung Clan’s discipline.
“Ah, but we did uncover one peculiarity.”
“What is it.”
At his subordinate’s words, the Lord’s eyes flashed with sharp intensity.
He had been given orders to investigate exhaustively.
Not a single grain of dust could be overlooked—such was the mission of Changcheon Widae.
Namgung Pae waited for the agent to continue.
“It appears he has mastered the Sacheon Dang Family Martial Arts in addition to the Namgung Clan techniques.”
“Wait—the Sacheon Dang Family Martial Arts?”
“Yes, my Lord. I sensed a serpentine keenness to his energy—sharp and cold. Combined with the Namgung Clan Channeling Technique, it would be formidable indeed.”
Namgung Pae nodded, genuinely impressed.
He had mastered the Sacheon Dang Family Martial Arts.
Certainly a departure from the path his direct predecessors had walked.
Perhaps, constrained by a late start, he had resorted to unconventional methods.
‘This much I can accept. Even his rising from a severed meridian.’
A creator of variables.
Was this, then, Namgung Yeon?
The Lord stroked his chin, contemplative.
“My Lord, why don’t we just stay here a few more days?”
“Yes, we ought to enjoy proper lodgings for once.”
Perhaps.
Corruption had already begun.
The Lord could no longer contain himself and rose to his feet.
“I’ll go and ask him myself.”
What the secret was.
He felt compelled to learn it, or he would find no peace.

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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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