I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 5
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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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Episode 5
Episode 5 – Throwing Money Around
#1
Knock-knock.
A timid rap sounded at the door.
The door swung open, and a boy stepped through.
Nam Hoho swallowed hard, his throat tight, and bowed deeply.
Snap.
He drew himself up with what dignity he could muster and spoke in a loud, clear voice.
“I, I have the honor of meeting Master Namgung Yeon! My name is Nam Hoho—”
“Ah, you’ve come. Welcome. Go unpack your things inside, then come straight back out. We have somewhere to be.”
“…Pardon?”
“Unpack and come back out.”
Though Namgung Yeon had said nothing harsh, his bearing overwhelmed Nam Hoho completely.
His round, bun-like face bobbed up and down.
“Y-yes, right away, sir!”
“Park Manho, help him.”
“As you command.”
Park Manho appeared from nowhere and helped with the luggage as well.
The unpacking was finished in moments.
Nam Hoho stood before Namgung Yeon, trembling slightly.
“I-I’ve finished the basics. What should I do now…?”
“We’re going to place some orders.”
“Orders, sir?”
“What would a Martial Hall need?”
“Well, wouldn’t it need weapons and equipment for training?”
Nam Hoho answered quite simply.
And yet, he was right.
A Martial Hall needed equipment for training.
What his mother So Yeon had provided was mostly medicinal herbs to brew and vital elixirs to fortify the body.
She had also packed the basic necessities for daily life.
Not a single piece of training equipment.
Perhaps she was being considerate, trying to help him manage his body.
‘That kind of kindness isn’t what I need.’
Harshness was necessary.
In this cycle alone, he would live with a severity and coldness that surpassed all others.
Namgung Yeon renewed his resolve and stepped out into the street.
Park Manho on the right, Nam Hoho on the left.
Leading those who would one day become his twin wings, he headed for the Marketplace.
The place where Hapbi’s finest craftsmen gathered.
Upon arriving there, Namgung Yeon began purchasing everything he needed.
“Everything from here to here—I’ll take it all.”
“All of it, sir?”
“Yes.”
First, he stopped at a shop selling Martial Robes and bought every garment on one side of the display.
Since they couldn’t carry everything, he arranged for a cart to deliver it all to the Martial Hall.
Next came the swordsmith’s forge.
“Welcome, welcome! A distinguished guest has graced us with his presence.”
“The pleasure is mine. I’ve come to place an order.”
“Of course, of course! Whatever you wish, leave it to us!”
The goods that could be made here were all much the same anyway.
Since Hapbi was the domain of the Namgung Clan, competition in metalworking was fierce.
Namgung Yeon turned to the Blacksmith.
“Three iron dummies, and a twenty-pound iron sword. I’m placing an order for those.”
“…I beg your pardon!?”
“Can you do it?”
What kind of madman places an order like this?
The Blacksmith asked again.
More specifically this time.
“You mean… dummies reinforced with iron plating?”
“No, just make it all solid steel. Why—is that impossible?”
“No! Not at all! It’s only that the cost…….”
Namgung Yeon extended a sheaf of vouchers with an indifferent expression.
Money was hardly in short supply anyway.
What else would he do with the change?
“…….”
“Not enough?”
“N-n-not at all! This should be more than sufficient!”
“Then make it. Don’t tell me your skills are lacking.”
That was a jab at the craftsman’s pride.
The Blacksmith thumped his chest boldly and declared with confidence.
“If I can’t do it for this amount of money, I’ll leave Hapbi altogether!”
“I’m counting on you.”
Namgung Yeon turned and left with those words.
The Blacksmith bowed deeply, watching his retreating figure.
“Thank you, sir!”
Just as they say—the Namgung Clan’s presence revives the entire economy here.
There’s no such thing as a bad person when it comes to someone who spends money.
Into the Blacksmith’s dreary life, a fortune had fallen like rain.
That day, a rumor began to spread through the Marketplace of Hapbi.
The young master of the Namgung Clan, who’d come for recuperation, was throwing money around lavishly.
Naturally, word of this reached others within the Namgung Clan as well.
What consequences that rumor would bring remained yet to be seen.
#2
“Chonggwan, have you heard?”
“The rumors circulating in the Marketplace, sir?”
“Quite so. In all my days…….”
The office that managed the Namgung Clan’s finances.
The Geumryongjon.
Someone who’d caught wind of the rumors had come seeking out Chonggwan.
No matter how high one’s station, even the family head couldn’t spend the Namgung Clan’s money recklessly.
Then what could explain these rumors spreading through the Marketplace?
The answer was simple: the money’s source was here, at the Geumryongjon.
The visitor posed a question to Chonggwan.
“Why would you release such a large sum?”
“Well, there was proper justification for it.”
Chonggwan answered plainly.
Proper justification?
Was scattering money about the Marketplace really what constituted proper justification?
Moreover, according to the rumors, it wasn’t recuperation at all—he’d commissioned weapons and purchased martial robes in bulk…….
“I cannot fathom why the young Patriarch Gyeong Hap would permit a sickly child to run a fever like this. Can you?”
“Hmm……. Truthfully, I share that view, but if a bit of squandered coin brings him vicarious satisfaction…….”
“I fear it may provoke others and invite calamity.”
“Do you speak with sincere heart?”
That was hardly likely.
This was merely roundabout speech—why harbour such vain hopes in the first place?
In a sense, it was an affront to the direct bloodline of the family head.
Yet no one took issue with it.
The Namgung Clan had always been this way.
“Heh heh heh, how could I deceive you? It’s only that I feel compassion watching the unqualified scramble about so desperately.”
“In any case, there must be some purpose to it. What harm if he indulges in a child’s game?”
That much justification would suffice.
He’d come to face reality soon enough.
At fifteen, one was already very late to begin studying the martial arts.
Perhaps elsewhere it mattered less, but here in the Namgung Clan, it was doubly so.
Why else would the Namgung Clan hold claim to being an Orthodox Sect and the supreme power of the Kangho?
They placed a sword in a child’s hand as soon as it could walk, and had them master martial techniques once consciousness took hold.
A hell where those so carefully raised were then set upon one another in endless competition.
That was the Namgung Clan.
“Heh heh, how delightful. Less than three months remain—let him dream his happy dreams until then.”
“…….”
Chonggwan merely smiled faintly and made no move to interfere.
Those who handled money had learned never to waver before anyone, never to let emotion cloud their judgment.
After the guest had gone, Chonggwan exhaled softly.
“The steward of the great Namgung Clan did not part with such a sum for the sake of Young Master Yeon.”
Chonggwan had seen it.
The patriarch of Namgung, who ordinarily spent money only where necessity demanded, untouched by personal sentiment.
But this time was different.
“I’d like to give him some pocket money.”
He had never heard the patriarch speak those words before.
Pocket money, pocket money… .
Chonggwan chuckled softly.
Perhaps, he thought, things were going to unfold in a most amusing way with the young master Gyeong Hap.
#3
Boom—
The Iron Dummy had arrived.
So impossibly heavy that it took five strong men straining together just to carry it.
At the sight of it, Nam Hoho’s jaw went slack.
What in the world did he intend to do with that thing?
Moreover, could it even be used as training equipment?
One, two, three.
One Iron Dummy appeared for each person currently staying in the Martial Hall.
‘And the swords have arrived too.’
The blades of the Namgung Clan differed somewhat from those of other martial families.
Other schools crafted their swords thin and long, to channel True Qi with ease.
But the Namgung blade was sturdy and thick.
Most schools forged their swords to roughly two and a half hand-spans in length.
Yet the Namgung sword exceeded three hand-spans.
In modern measure, it was a broadsword over a meter long.
‘Solid craftsmanship. The weight is well-balanced. I’m relieved the Blacksmith didn’t cut corners.’
There was no way one could have handled a Namgung Clan commission carelessly.
Namgung Yeon lifted the heavy blade slowly, testing its heft.
It was impossibly heavy.
A sword of twenty catties seemed as though merely grasping and raising it would twist the wrist and tear the muscles.
‘Roughly twelve kilograms. Far too heavy. And yet… .’
True Qi stirred in his Dantian, roused to sustain its master.
It reinforced the muscles, granting strength beyond mortal limits.
Even holding it with both hands, his forearms burned and his wrists felt as though they might shatter.
“Hnngh… .”
But he had to endure.
To prevent the destruction of both the Namgung Clan and Kangho itself, he would not shy from madness.
His inner strength raced wildly, teetering on the brink of exhaustion.
Then the Bell Strike.
When he raised the blade overhead, he nearly toppled, but his body—reinforced by the power of the Celestial Spirit Pill—barely held firm.
Crash—!
Just once.
A single blow against the dummy and his inner strength was utterly depleted.
Crack—!
He felt the muscles near his wrist shatter entirely.
Terrible pain crashed over him, but it was bearable.
This degree of suffering had long since become familiar.
Nam Hoho and Park Manho, watching from the side, gasped in horror.
“Y-Young Master! What in heaven’s name are you doing!?”
“Training like that is inefficient at best. Young Master, please mind your health!”
Namgung Yeon did not so much as blink, even as his wrist hung limp.
The two men swallowed hard, their throats dry.
Had they not been told the young master was frail?
“You two, do the same.”
“……Yes?”
“As many times as you can manage each day. Increase the repetitions gradually.”
“One—”
“Recovery? That’s no problem.”
[Infinite Inventory]
[Elixir: Hundred Toxin Elixir]
[Stock: 999,999,999 units]
Items retrieved from inventory.
The Sacheon Tang Clan’s legendary elixir, crafted from a hundred toxins, had accumulated in his storage over the countless regressions.
Poison and poison neutralizing each other to create beneficial essence—an elixir forged from contradiction itself.
It dramatically increased recovery, instilled immunity, and built resistance even against deadly toxins.
“From now on, I’ll train while taking this.”
His mother had been the Sacheon Tang Clan’s greatest beauty, and her gift lay in the manufacture of toxins and medicines.
Across dozens of regressions, would he have neglected to stockpile elixirs of this caliber?
Namgung Yeon’s trembling hands shoved the elixir into his mouth.
‘I’ll be sick of these before long.’
Nam Hoho and Park Manho stood slack-jawed.
A whole basket of the unmistakably extraordinary elixir had just appeared.
How in the world was this possible?
‘I have to stick with him. No matter what, he can’t find out I know about this.’
Park Manho thought to himself.
The moment you share something good, it becomes half as valuable.
He absolutely could not let anyone else learn of this.
He turned to Nam Hoho beside him with a threatening look.
“Listen.”
“…Yes?”
“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll personally wring your neck.”
“O-of course!”
Nam Hoho was no fool either.
The thought of countless people rushing in with greedy eyes sent a chill down his spine.
Namgung Yeon felt the elixir’s essence beginning to circulate through him and spoke.
“It’s best you say nothing. We mean to keep this fortune among ourselves.”
“Y-yes, absolutely!”
“Then do your part well.”
You two will need to move and scheme your way into positions of real consequence.
Ting.
The bell on the Demonic Spirit Sword chimed where it was planted in the ground.
At the same moment, Namgung Yeon’s body grew stronger still.
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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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