I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 55

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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 55
Episode 55 — Conviction is powerless before money
#1
The place they’d reached by employing the Lightness Skill.
It was an indistinct point on the Mountain Slope.
There was a modest clearing, with steep rocky cliffs looming behind it.
Namgung Yeon and the Instructor arrived at this spot.
“Wait here and defeat any intruders who come. That’s all.”
“Understood.”
“After five duels, take the Flag and return to the Main Estate. Then the test is finished.”
“I have one question, if I may.”
Namgung Yeon knew one trap hidden within this test.
He’d deliberately spoken up to ask about it.
The Instructor gestured his chin, inviting the question.
As much as to say: go ahead.
“If I’m attacked while moving the Flag and it’s stolen from me—does that count as a failure?”
…….
“Since you’re not answering, I suppose I have my reply. I’ll just have to guard it well.”
Namgung Yeon chuckled softly and answered his own question, leaving the bewildered Instructor behind.
Soon enough, those who’d caught the scent would come running.
The students’ feelings ran shallower than one might think.
But when shallow sentiment soaked long in time’s murky swamp, it carved itself deep and jagged.
Once a rift grew that deep, ordinary means could never fill it again.
The human heart was truly an unknowable thing.
‘There were those I once despised without reason, and those I’d tried to kill without reason.’
Or rather, to be precise—things began over trivial causes and escalated to murderous intent.
Those who’d forgotten the origin entirely, leaving only blind enmity and hatred in its place.
Namgung Yeon had cut down every last one of those people.
He believed humans never changed.
That was why he’d come to that conviction.
“There! Is it there!?”
“Something’s written here!”
“That’s it! Here! Let’s climb!”
Some time had passed.
The sounds of approaching footsteps disturbed the silence around Namgung Yeon, who sat with eyes closed, searching for answers.
When he opened his eyes, he saw them rushing up the slope in disarray.
Hmm.
They’d found their way without being caught by the Demons—impressive.
He’d already known they would come first.
It was his Martial Uniform, after all.
‘They’d dusted it with Tracking Scent. So the Instructor’s been in on it too. Not that I paid much mind to it.’
This uniform had been issued fresh that morning.
With clear eyes open, Namgung Yeon had noticed the foreign substance clinging to it.
But he’d simply chosen not to care.
“It’s a shame they didn’t mark it with Demon essence instead.”
Had they done so, the Demon Spirit Sword would have fed once more.
Watching them rush forward all at once, Namgung Yeon gripped the Cold Iron Sword in his hand.
Far inferior to that peerless treasure blade he’d once seized, yet its cool edge held a certain appeal.
“We finally found you.”
“So you’ve come. Faster than expected.”
“Enough of your bluster. Have you rested well all this time? Now we’ll take your place for ourselves.”
They spoke like ruffians spouting hollow bravado.
Namgung Yeon smiled faintly and nodded.
Then he tossed something to them.
……?
“A pouch?”
It was a pouch filled with Spirit Medicine.
Namgung Yeon had long been curious about one thing.
Those who’d sworn such devotion to his brother, Namgung Jinjin.
Were they truly serving him out of True Loyalty?
I’ll test it here and now.
Whether your meaningless hatred is real.
Whether your murderous intent and enmity are genuine.
Or perhaps they spring from true loyalty after all.
Or maybe…… they’re just the reckless impulse of foolish children.
“That is Spirit Medicine.”
“What……?”
“Only one of you can fight me. The rest……—well, you’ll receive these Spirit Medicines instead.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“If you wish, you’re welcome to verify it.”
No one dared step forward hastily.
The duel had already begun in essence; if this were a feint to lower their guard……?
The Instructor wasn’t intervening either, which made it all the more bewildering.
“What, what are you standing around for? Just beat this bastard down and take those medicines—problem solved!”
“Yeah, that’s right. Come on, let’s rush him all at once.”
“Petty tricks…….”
He sensed their wavering.
Then Namgung Yeon cast yet another lure into the water.
Go on. Bite.
Let’s see if your convictions crumble before money.
I want to test that.
“If you withdraw from here and cooperate with me, I’ll continue to provide medicines like these.”
“What……?”
“What did Namgung Jinjin give you? Martial techniques? Or Spirit Medicine? Did he make you any promises?”
“…….”
Namgung Yeon smiled coldly.
That smile was contemptuous, certainly—but it radiated an overwhelming ease.
As if it were obvious.
As if they should be serving him, not Namgung Jinjin.
“It seemed wrong to let him play the leader while giving nothing in return.”
“I find the second option more appealing.”
Someone said it aloud.
The others glared at him, but the crack had already formed.
Namgung Yeon watched their fracturing with delighted eyes and fanned the flames further.
“If anyone’s family is struggling, speak up. I can help with that much.”
There are many ways to win without fighting.
The easiest of all was simply to throw money at the problem.
#2
To search for the Group Leaders scattered throughout Anhui, the cadets hurried forth.
All they’d been given was a single Map.
Some of them had sponsors who’d revealed the locations beforehand, but most remained in the dark.
The members of Group Three were no exception.
“……Is this the right place?”
“The map clearly says to go this way…….”
“Ugh! Give it here!”
Namgung Jinjin, who had quietly come to be recognized as their leader.
He took the Map in hand, but even as considerable time passed, he couldn’t find Namgung Yeon.
Not that it mattered if he didn’t find him—but they had made a promise, hadn’t they?
As Namgung Jinjin faltered, Yi Hyeon, unable to bear it any longer, snatched the Map from his hands.
Then his brow furrowed sharply and he cried out.
“You were holding it backwards, you fool! We’ve been going completely the wrong way!?”
“Backwards……? I was holding it backwards?”
“You’ve learned martial techniques and nothing else? Not even basic sense?”
“…….”
Namgung Jinjin, at Yi Hyeon’s words, found himself recalling his past for a moment.
Common sense…….
After he’d learned his characters, all he’d done was train in martial techniques.
Even the characters he’d learned had been focused almost entirely on martial texts.
Seeing that, Yi Hyeon was stricken with an odd guilt and quickly changed the subject.
After all, he had some vague sense that Namgung Jinjin was suffering because of his father.
“I’ll teach you, so keep up with me. Once you’ve learned these martial skills, use them when the time comes.”
“……All right.”
With that settled, the three Group Members turned toward where Namgung Yeon was waiting.
Of course, Namgung Geon-ho was not among them.
He had been the first to split off, deciding to move alone.
‘I’ll operate separately. As for the Demons…… I’ll have to investigate on my own.’
With those words left behind, Namgung Geon-ho departed ahead of the others.
When asked where he’d get a Map, he’d simply said he could catch a passing Demon and ask.
The freedom to move as one pleased was theirs, but it still left a hollow feeling.
Those who formed groups always harbored suspicion toward those who went their own way.
In any case, they pressed onward in their new direction.
That was when they entered the forest.
“Stop right there.”
“……?”
Figures emerged from the tall grass.
Their presence carried an unmistakable aura of menace.
There were six of them.
Too few to constitute an entire group, yet too many to be a mere patrol.
Some time had passed since they’d been exposed to the Arsenic Powder.
Their skin bore the telltale blotched flush of poisoning, mottled and discolored.
Namgung Jinjin and the other Group Members recognized them instantly.
‘Demons.’
‘Were they waiting for us?’
Yi Hyeon’s animal instincts swept across the surroundings, and his sharpened senses caught the scent rising from them.
A metallic, sickening reek.
Unmistakably the smell of blood on someone’s hands.
“Out hunting, are we?”
“Hunting? Us? That hardly seems likely.”
When Yi Hyeon asked with deliberate casualness, they responded with confused looks.
Then, slowly—very slowly—they began to close the distance.
Namgung Jinjin and Yi Hyeon tensed in turn.
“Where are you headed? If it’s not the same direction we are, we’d prefer to avoid unnecessary conflict.”
“And where exactly are you headed?”
“We asked first. We’d appreciate an answer.”
He could sense their tactics already.
They’d learn where he was going first, then claim they were heading the same way before attacking.
It was merely verbal sparring, but that very fact demanded caution.
Their expressions grew increasingly savage.
This shift occurred partly thanks to Namgung Yeon’s counsel.
‘If you suspect someone is a Demon, first refrain from engaging and probe their mind with words.’
‘If you skillfully touch their pride, they’ll reveal their true nature of their own accord.’
He’d taught them this was the nature of lesser Demons.
Namgung Jinjin resolved to follow that advice precisely.
“If you don’t block our path, we’ll leave without conflict.”
“How can we trust that?”
“You never intended to trust us in the first place, did you?”
The tension coiled tighter.
And it was Yi Hyeon who poured oil on the fire.
“Swarming about in packs, striking cowardly blows from behind—surely even filthy, disgusting Demons wouldn’t stoop so low as that. Heh…… what vile and revolting creatures.”
A smirk played across his lips.
A taunting stance.
And above all.
Calling them vile and disgusting became the decisive fuse.
A low, rumbling growl tore from their throats.
Unable to restrain their ferocity, they shed all pretense.
A killing intent spread unchecked through the air.
In response, all three Group Members drew their blades with grim resolve.
‘Can we do this?’
At the far left, Ho Ho’s mind flashed back to that day’s horrors.
The terror in the Slums.
Though the Ten Thousand Tiger Martial Masters and the Young Masters had supposedly captured and killed them all…… those memories were a wall Ho Ho could never scale.
“You dogs, how dare you sully our great purpose……?”
“I’ll kill you all.”
“At last you show your true colors.”
Yi Hyeon and Namgung Jinjin.
The others too had tensed, raising their blades.
Ordinary martial artists would have watched for an opening.
But Demons were not the type to wait for such things.
“I’ll kill you!”
“Go join your friends!”
Six figures rushed forward in an instant, and the momentum shattered.
Yet their bodies had survived the cruelest of training.
Namgung Jinjin reacted first.
Yeon Qi Circulation Art

Great Yeon Sword Technique
Vigorous qi flowed like a swift current, clearing his mind.
Sharp consciousness let him catch every movement of the Demons without miss.
The Great Yeon Sword Technique was one that could oppose even Demon cadres.
‘I can do this too.’
Namgung Jinjin held fast to that day’s memory.
The image of Namgung Yeon severing a Demon in a single stroke.
One day, to surpass that realm himself, he gritted his teeth and trained.
Moreover, the Spirit Medicine the Group Leader had given him had settled perfectly into his frame.
Crack—!
His blade struck without hesitation, without obstruction, severing the Demon’s neck.
The weight of the Golden Dragon Chain he’d endured each dawn.
The instability of the water buckets that had spilled over and tormented him—none of it remained now.
His body moved with perfect precision and speed, claiming the enemy’s life.
Splash—!
Scarlet blood fountained into the air.
‘That’s all there was?’
The wide-eyed stare of the Demons.
He felt the shocked gaze of the Group Members all at once.
Namgung Jinjin instinctively knew which words needed to be spoken now.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“That’s right! Let’s go—!”
His words became the spark, and all three squads’ members surged forward against the Demons.
Now was the moment to show the fruits of their training.

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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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