I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 42

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Chapter 42
Chapter 42 – Father and Son
#1
The next day.
The children headed toward Bigo with excitement thrumming through their veins.
Now they could take another step forward.
Though it was only a junior clan selection, it was also a crucible that would determine their futures.
Mastering diverse martial arts and growing stronger—this was something they had to do if they ever hoped to rise in the world.
The Third Group.
And the other group that had won the mock battle emerged into view.
Namgung Yeon recognized most of their faces, but they wouldn’t know these others.
Each time he looked at them, glimpses of past and future visages flickered through his mind.
“Has everyone assembled?”
“Yes.”
At the gathering point stood the administrator of Bigo.
The one called Yeon Noya.
His weathered face was etched with wrinkles, yet his spine remained ramrod straight, and his frame was as imposing as two grown men combined.
So long as he stood here, no one would dare set foot in Bigo without permission.
His snow-white brows twitched above his eyes, and then he spoke again.
He seemed concerned that the children might cause trouble once they entered Bigo.
“I shall explain the rules simply. An escort will be assigned to each group, and there will be a brief description of the martial arts.”
…….
“The moment you touch a Secret Manual, you must take it with you. If you’ve already decided what you want, we can guide you to it at once.”
Kind enough.
Yet it was also a rule designed to stoke competitive fire.
Once you chose, you had to commit.
And all information was disclosed publicly, audible to everyone.
This was the ultimate psychological warfare—a test that forced everyone to read each other’s intentions.
“You will enter at the sixth hour of the day.”
“Understood.”
“And one last thing…… This is a personal request of mine.”
A low, resonant hum filled the air.
An overwhelming force emanated from Yeon Noya.
All but a few began to go pale.
It was a moment that revealed just how formidable his martial prowess truly was.
Yeon Noya’s lips parted slowly.
“Do not fight inside Bigo, nor disturb its order. Should you do so…… I cannot answer for what will happen to you.”
…….
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!”
Yeon Noya, seizing control of the moment from the very outset.
Even so, he was a man who held great affection for these children.
Namgung Yeon held onto that memory for a moment, then turned his gaze away.
“Move as I have instructed. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
The discussion of martial arts had already been completed the night before.
Some would doubt; others would believe.
As time passed and they witnessed the fruits of his guidance, the Third Group would only deepen their trust in him.
Those who had not listened…… well.
One of two things would happen.
Either they would resent him, or they would cling to him all the more.
There was a brief window of time before they entered Bigo.
‘It’s about time he arrived.’
The moment Namgung Yeon had that thought.
“Jinjin, come here for a moment.”
“Hyeon! Look this way!”
Jackals came swarming in.
The true test had already begun.
In this harsh world, sometimes a choice mattered more than martial prowess itself.
The children would come to learn that.
One choice stacks upon another, until there comes a moment that cannot be undone.
Just as it had been for him.
#2
Namgung Jinjin faced the one who looked upon him.
Baekryong Daeju.
His own father.
On one hand, he felt a glimmer of joy.
The fact that his father had come looking for him.
It was a mistake of a moment, but he had forgotten it and come back to him.
A son craves his father’s approval.
And so relief washed over him.
Until he heard his father speak.
“Still haven’t claimed the Group Leader position, I see. Your martial skill has improved, though… but that’s to be expected.”
“…….”
“Have you decided on a martial art?”
“Yes, Father.”
At his father’s sharp, cold words, Namgung Jinjin’s expression stiffened like stone.
The corners of his mouth, about to curve into a smile, fell.
The light in his eyes, which had begun to gleam, dimmed and clouded over.
Was a single word of praise truly so difficult to give?
How far must he go to satisfy his father’s expectations?
The bar set for him seemed to have risen impossibly high; Namgung Jinjin felt as though something heavy were crushing down upon him.
“The Daeyeon Jeonggeom.”
“Pardon?”
“Bring me the Secret Manual of the Daeyeon Jeonggeom.”
“I was—”
His father was already not listening to his son.
Instead, he began to speak of his own past.
Why he had been able to claim only the position of Baekryong Daeju, and nothing higher.
His father’s story of the past had begun.
“Had I only mastered the Daeyeon Jeonggeom, I too could have risen to a higher rank. Do you know who learned the Daeyeon Jeonggeom in those days?”
“…….”
“It was the Seventh Elder as he is now. We were in the same group, and after he mastered the Daeyeon Jeonggeom, he defeated all comers in the Group Leader Competition. Such is that swordsmanship—you must master it without fail.”
“But…….”
Namgung Jinjin recalled the martial art that Namgung Yeon had recommended to him the night before.
He had spoken to Namgung Jinjin thus:

Namgung Yeon had emphasized the mastery of inner power through endless circulation.
He himself had thought that path was better, yet suddenly the Daeyeon Jeonggeom……?
Of course, he knew well enough that it was an outstanding sword technique.
But…….
“Do not disappoint me any further. Do you understand?”
“I was, in fact, considering a different martial art…….”
“What did you say?”
Baekryong Daeju.
He had barely summoned the courage to speak before that towering name.
Every ounce of his will had been spent uttering those few words.
But what came back was a frigid rebuke.
A voice dripping with disappointment.
His father’s sigh came deep and heavy.
Behind that breath that pierced like a blade to the lungs came his father’s voice, cold and cutting as a dagger.
“I told you not to disappoint me any further.”
“…….”
“Is this the repayment for the faith I had in you as I raised you?”
“I, I can—”
I can do better.
I’ve thought it through carefully and made this decision to do even better.
That is what he wanted to say, but the words would not leave his lips.
“Tch, it seems I have misjudged you.”
The disappointment was about to deepen further.
Then a presence made itself known from one side.
It was Namgung Yeon, who effectively led Namgung Jinjin.
“I pay my respects to you, Baekryong Daeju.”
“You’re not the Fourth Young Master.”
“It’s about time. I’ve come to fetch him.”
“Young Master, I have one question.”
Namgung Yeon offered a light greeting and was about to lead Jinjin away.
But the voice of Jinjin’s father stopped him in his tracks.
When Namgung Yeon turned to face Baekryong Daeju, he saw eyes brimming with dissatisfaction.
‘Baekryong Daeju. You fathered a lion’s cub, yet you yourself are nothing but a one-day pup.’
He had always been this way, and today was no exception.
That strange obsession of his—trying to accomplish something through his son—was to Namgung Yeon nothing but revolting filth.
“Did you perhaps recommend a martial art to our Jinjin?”
“Yes. It was my duty as Group Leader.”
“Stop this at once. I know my son’s abilities better than anyone, being his father. And furthermore……”
Namgung Yeon continued to listen to Baekryong Daeju.
He was curious to hear what more the man had to say.
“While I acknowledge that you are the Clan Head’s child, your learning cannot run shallower than mine, can it?”
……
“So cease your meddling henceforth.”
Eyes knotted with stubbornness and pride, sharp words spilling from that mouth.
Having witnessed this across many encounters, Namgung Yeon knew this man, too, was beyond redemption.
The Namgung Yeon of old would have let it pass.
‘Back then, I thought talent was abundant, and failure merely part of the process.’
For him, everything had been merely a passing moment, a mechanism for gathering experience.
He believed it was better to treasure his own mental strength than to waste it persuading those who would never change.
But now.
That was no longer true.
The word “final.”
Those three characters pressed down upon him with crushing weight and dread, driving him forward with terrible urgency.
Until now, he had charted efficient routes.
Discarding what was expendable, taking what was useful.
‘No. That approach will not suffice.’
Efficiency, in the end, was nothing but coercion wrapped in another name.
Overflowing.
Excessive.
He had to seize everything within his grasp.
“You farm your children with such carelessness—no wonder Jinjin remains in this pitiful state.”
“What did you just say?”
“Shall we make a wager? In two years’ time, Jinjin will look down upon you from above.”
“Young Master, there are limits to what one ought to say.”
Anger stirred his inner power, beginning to churn the very air.
Yet Namgung Yeon’s eyes, fathomless as an abyss, did not waver in the slightest.
Namgung Yeon laughed softly.
“Is that the extent of your skill, Baekryong Daeju? Mere intimidation through inner power?”
……
Do not forget.
I am the Clan Head of the Great Namgung Clan.
I am the son of Namgung Mu.
You are not permitted to treat me so carelessly.
There was weight behind Namgung Yeon’s words—layers of meaning.
He placed a true wager.
“Two years hence, if I face you and Jinjin loses, I will abandon everything and leave Namgung. I will even discard my name.”
“You will regret those words.”
“Is that so? Then there is no reason for you to refuse.”
Baekryong Daeju’s eyes blazed.
Yes.
There was no reason to refuse.
Still, the wager ought to be properly witnessed.
“Write out a contract. If you do, I’ll consent to it.”
“That’s simple enough. But you’ll have to wager everything as well.”
“…….”
Namgung Yeon’s eyes blazed.
A hunger to possess all things.
Not the hollow gaze of one who watched events drift past with idle detachment, but a ravenous desire that could swallow the world whole—it surfaced now in full measure.
It was a beast of such magnitude that even Baekryong Daeju dared not speak.
A hunger for the world itself that rendered his small paternal ambitions mere dust.
It was a scale of desire only Namgung Yeon could possess.
“Group Leader, perhaps it’s better to simply follow Father’s wishes…….”
“Enough. You are the Clan Head’s son, yes, but you are also a precious talent to the Namgung. How could I stand idle and watch someone ruin you?”
Could he truly do nothing?
At Namgung Yeon’s words, Namgung Jinjin’s resolve hardened.
Two years.
During that time at the Habsan Training Ground, he would devote all his strength to becoming stronger.
“Father.”
“What!”
“I’ll give it a try.”
“…….”
Baekryong Daeju exhaled heavily, as though displeased.
But he was a father nonetheless.
A sigh that seemed to acknowledge his son.
After that glimmer of expectation, something far more shocking came to pass.
“This old man worries. Will you drive the Young Lord himself from the Namgung with your own hands?”
Insulting words.
A tone that made plain his disdain.
The son’s gaze upon his father grew steadily colder.
Namgung Jinjin clenched his teeth and strengthened his resolve.
Strangely, the mere fact that his Group Leader stood beside him transformed his heart.
“Now you’ll disappoint not just your father, but the Young Lord as well.”
“That won’t happen.”
“I’ll come for the contract tomorrow.”
The answer came not from Namgung Jinjin, but from Namgung Yeon.
Baekryong Daeju departed without so much as a farewell.
Then Namgung Jinjin spoke, watching Namgung Yeon.
“Why not go back now and withdraw? Even so…….”
“What are you saying?”
“There was no need for you to stand up like that because of me.”
Namgung Yeon laughed softly.
He understood too well what troubled Namgung Jinjin.
But there was no cause for worry.
“Don’t be concerned. There’s simply no way I could lose.”
“…….”
Why was he so certain?
Namgung Jinjin stood motionless, watching the retreating figure of Namgung Yeon.
‘Don’t worry at all.’
If I pour the things I have in Bigo into this, I could make even a third-rate martial artist defeat Baekryong Daeju.
A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“One piece captured. Mine now.”