I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 35

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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 35
Chapter 35 – Mock Battle
#1
All night long, the sound of hammering steel echoed through the darkness.
Some complained it was so loud they couldn’t sleep at all.
Crisis begets opportunity, they say.
The discomfort bordering on sleeplessness had become a crucible for martial progress.
The trainees of Squad 3 had to learn to weave True Qi around their bodies before they could ever manifest Sword Qi.
The nights were unforgiving—without earplugs and willful sleep, one had to spend them awake and vigilant.
And there was one person.
Someone standing quietly alongside that metallic percussion, night after night.
“Sigh… you’re not sleeping either?”
“I don’t sleep much to begin with.”
“Still, you’ll need to head back to the main house tomorrow, won’t you?”
“It’s fine. And aren’t you the one pushing yourself too hard?”
Namgung Sewun.
As the eldest son of the Chief Instructor, his passion for metal and arms was truly extraordinary.
He wore that look every time he came here.
To stand beside him was driven by more than mere friendship.
Namgung Yeon too held an interest in crafting weapons.
Though lacking talent and having produced no remarkable results thus far.
This was a world suffused with mystery.
Treasure Artifacts appeared with uncanny frequency—devices that twisted common causality and shattered the world’s natural laws.
‘If I could craft such weapons alone, it would be of tremendous value.’
He would be overjoyed if Namgung Sewun survived, but he had to account for the probability that he would not.
Namgung Yeon watched his friend’s actions quietly and methodically.
That man operated on pure instinct, but Namgung Yeon was different.
‘I calculate everything and file it away as theory.’
He knew well that such an approach was ill-suited to breaking through bottlenecks.
Yet layer upon layer of accumulated theory might one day become the cornerstone that illuminates a path once hidden from sight.
For him, time was the only wealth that mattered.
Every experience was being quantified and methodically stored in Namgung Yeon’s mind.
The force of each hammer blow.
Its speed.
And the form taken when crafting the weapons…….
‘So that’s how Cold Steel must be handled.’
Namgung Yeon built his understanding of Cold Steel with each rough, clanging note.
Sizzle—!
Namgung Sewun began the quenching and spoke again.
“Father always says there is no day or night when working with steel.”
“…….”
“Once you start bowing to time, the metal ceases to answer you……. I think that’s right, at least to some degree.”
Clang—!
Bang—!
The iron continued to sing beneath the hammer.
Being Cold Steel, it spent little time in water but long hours in the flames.
The Namgung Family passed down secret manuals on this Blacksmithing Art.
Only the house of the Chief Instructor held those texts, and each generation trained to master the craft in succession.
Namgung Sewun was now in the process of embodying that knowledge through direct practice.
“The mere fact that I can touch such precious materials with my own hands is a profound privilege. That’s why I’m grateful to you.”
“Then I’m glad.”
“And I intend to teach the other trainees as well.”
Namgung Sewun’s eyes changed.
They were no longer the eyes of a craftsman, but those of a warrior.
The deep desire within him surfaced at last.
“I want to shatter the prejudice that blacksmiths are weak fighters.”
They treated armorers like servants, these people.
Perhaps it was the inescapable fate of those who made things for others.
Customers saw even the craftsmen themselves as beneath them.
Namgung Yeon knew the wish of this old friend, this man who had spent his life pouring body and soul into the inferno for his sake.
In all those years, they had never spoken to each other so directly, not once.
“Then as Squad Leader, I ought to listen.”
Namgung Yeon said this.
The two of them remained at the forge, crafting the blade until dawn broke.
That day, Namgung Yeon received the sword his friend had made.
“Let’s show them what we’re made of with this.”
“Agreed.”
A sword forged from Cold Steel.
With this, the disadvantage in numbers would mean nothing at all.
#2
The carriage arrived.
Descending the mountain without the Golden Dragon Chain felt impossibly light.
They still didn’t realize it.
How much they had grown, what results they would achieve in the Mock Battle.
Even as they chattered among themselves, the tension never quite lifted.
In Namgung, every moment fed directly into evaluation.
And so, if one hoped to reach a higher position, visible results were absolutely necessary.
“Each of you, take one.”
“What is this?”
“Your weapons. While you were all whining about not being able to sleep, Sewun here made them for you.”
……
Swords were distributed to them, one each.
Something only possible because they were Squad 3.
Something made possible because only Namgung Yeon could procure the necessary materials.
They were not Cold Steel swords.
Sewun’s skill was still far too lacking to work with such a blade.
But the blades that fell into their hands were far superior to ordinary training swords.
“My thanks. I was deeply worried that the other squads must have likewise procured fine weapons.”
“Oh, excellent work. I wondered how much longer we’d have to wield those worthless things, so I’m glad. Thanks, friend.”
“I’m relieved you’re pleased with them.”
Namgung Sewun offered a warm smile.
He had given Namgung Yeon the Cold Steel sword.
With the justification that, even so, as Squad Leader, certain standards had to be met.
‘Might as well grow accustomed to it.’
Namgung Yeon had decided to use this blade instead of the Demon Spirit Sword.
The subtle coldness that radiated from it was quite striking.
The Demon Spirit Sword would be saved for encounters with demons alone.
This was… also a promise he’d made with himself.
The Main House came into view in the distance.
No matter how many times he saw it, the Namgung Family Main House remained magnificent—the very seat and heart of their power.
A pillar of the martial realm, an impregnable fortress that no invader had ever breached.
Yet now that edifice was beginning to crumble from within.
‘This is the last chance……’
Namgung Yeon recalled the woman’s mocking laughter as he arrived at the Namgung Family Main House for the first time in a long while.
A serious competition conducted at the squad level—the moment to prove his ability to cultivate his subordinates.
And.
A chance to demonstrate that he could unite squad members who had only ever known how to squabble with one another.
What would the elders of the family think as they watched him?
Some would marvel. Others would dissent.
Yet none of it mattered.
Securing control of Namgung was merely the first step of the plan.
‘First, I need to show them how much our squad has grown.’
This would be a moment to face each member’s pain.
A first assessment, a chance to display years of training undertaken without parental support for the very first time.
He felt the weight of countless eyes upon those who descended from the carriage.
Some shrank back, their tension plainly visible.
Others threw their shoulders back with deliberate confidence, as if masking their fear.
Either way, they would appear as mere youngsters to the eyes of the elders.
Rather, those who stood motionless and expressionless would likely earn the higher praise.
‘There—I can see familiar faces.’
Each of them had their guardian standing there.
Each of them had their patron looking down from that place.
Did those standing here understand?
That these exalted figures were, in the end, trials they would have to overcome.
“Welcome, all of you.”
The Chief Instructor’s voice rang out.
Regardless of status, everyone here was simply a trainee, nothing more.
There were six squads gathered today.
The remaining half would hold their Mock Battle tomorrow.
All the Mock Battles held in rotation this way would be reflected in their evaluations.
And at the very end, during the elder’s personal interview, those scores could even be overturned.
They hid their true nature and spoke as though only sheer martial power ruled Namgung.
‘You too will realize the truth soon enough.’
But they had to understand.
What was written in Namgung’s law as “sheer martial power” was merely the foundation, nothing more.
The Namgung Family Main House was a place where the strong dominated everything.
They would learn that there were many ways to become strong.
Before obtaining those methods, they would witness how petty and contemptible such struggles could become.
“Now, the Mock Battle begins.”
The first fight had started.
What could be gained this time was intermediate Martial Arts of the Namgung Family.
It was one method of becoming stronger.
#3
Namgung Jinjin gazed at the White Dragon Lord, who stood with his arms crossed.
His own father.
A man once brimming with pride in him, now left with nothing but disappointment.
Fear welled up in his chest, but he quickly turned his head away.
If he kept staring into that cold gaze, he felt he would retch.
When had it started?
“You are destined to become great.”
“Someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the elders’ children and the clan leader’s heirs! That is the White Dragon Lord’s firstborn!”
“You have enough potential!”
That was how his father had always spoken.
Though he was stern, Namgung Jinjin felt acutely how much affection he had poured into him.
But that trust had vanished in a single moment of defeat.
Would there be a chance to recover it?
For reasons he couldn’t explain, merely knowing his father was watching made his body tense and rigid.
He tried to rouse his Internal Force to calm the turbulent emotions, but it was no use.
His breathing grew ragged, and terrible memories seemed to expand and engulf him.
“Nervous?”
At that moment, the dreadful feeling washed away as if rinsed clean.
A hand settled on his shoulder.
And a steady voice descended upon him.
“I know your father is here.”
……
“Just show yourself naturally. That alone is enough for now.”
Namgung Yeon’s voice, penetrating quietly into his chest, carried a strange power to instill calm.
Then something was quietly placed into his hand, and a voice reached him through transmission.
-It will help if you eat it before the match.
……?
Namgung Jinjin carefully turned his hand over to see what it was.
What was this…?
“Wait, if I do this—”
“Why, do the others look like they won’t?”
“You can’t mean you’re serious?”
Namgung Yeon chuckled softly and left to draw the squad assignments.
Namgung Jinjin carefully opened his hand, his expression tense with anxiety.
Very carefully.
“Huh?”
What lay in his palm was a small piece of candy.
It was a confection—taffy cut into small pieces and shaped into rounds.
“That’s actually—”
Had he meant to ease the tension?
Or was it an unspoken warning?
The moment his rigid body went slack, all the frozen stiffness draining away.
“First match! Squad 3 versus Squad 7!”
The first bout had been drawn.
And with numbers severely depleted on both sides.

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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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