I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 72

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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 72
72 – The Commission
#1
Contracts.
Design blueprints.
Recruiting suitable laborers, setting their wages, and so forth.
Park Moo-sung resolved it all with efficient competence.
Namgung Yeon, too, had completed his own preparations.
Items he’d gathered to accelerate the workers’ pace.
Among them were the Qing Yuan Water he’d brought out before, and other supplies.
[Qing Yuan Water]
[Chanlryeok Pill]

Chanlryeok Pill.
A very simple medicinal pill.
A single-effect elixir that purely elevated the strength of those who consumed it.
Its effect was marginal for Martial Realm practitioners, but for ordinary people it was an excellent tonic.
The reason for creating it was simple enough.
In wartime, even civilians had to be mobilized for labor—it was necessary for survival.
Among the things essential for the people living here to endure.
‘With this, the work pace should improve meaningfully.’
He’d brought out a wooden crate, filled it with Chanlryeok Pills, and arranged the Qing Yuan Water beside it.
The cadets who witnessed this couldn’t contain their curiosity and asked.
“Can we eat these too?”
“It doesn’t matter, but you won’t see much effect. After all, these are pills made for ordinary people.”
“But where do you even get things like this?”
“That’s a secret.”
When and where had he prepared all these things anyway….
When you thought about it, there were more than a few odd things.
Even if everything had been loaded into carriages on the first day of training, the quantity simply didn’t make sense.
But Namgung Yeon had been out before, and Man-ho and Ho Ho had also left the training grounds.
So the others were letting it pass without much concern.
“Tch. If he says it’s none of our business, then what….”
“Besides, we’re eating plenty of medicine ourselves. He probably got them the same way.”
Whether the fate of the world was guiding things this way, or whether they simply trusted him because he was a direct descendant of the Namgung Family, no one could say.
Either way, since the children weren’t making a fuss, there was nothing for it but to accept.
“Anyway, I still don’t understand why you’re being so good to them. Isn’t it enough to just pay them?”
“Stop complaining and get back to training.”
“Yes, yes. How could I presume to understand the Phoenix’s will. I’m going, I’m going.”
Yi Hyeon muttered his complaints as he left with the cadets for their practice.
Meanwhile, Bang Ya and Park Moo-sung finally arrived with the laborers they’d gathered.
“They’re trustworthy men. They’ll do well while you’re away, sir.”
“Mm.”
“We chose them carefully. Please don’t worry.”
Namgung Yeon nodded.
It mattered little to him what character these men possessed.
He had no interest in such things.
Only.
“Just see that the final result is clean. The process, of course, must be cleaner still.”
……
“Remember—this is the Namgung Family.”
Namgung Yeon’s weighty words settled into their hearts like a great stone.
This place was the Namgung Family.
The eastern overlords of the Martial Realm.
Those called the kings of Zhejiang and Anhui.
Who among men would dare to work carelessly before them?
Every laborer present nodded with grim resolve.
“We’ll not disappoint you, young master.”
“We’ll give our utmost.”
Namgung Yeon nodded readily in return.
And he made a firm promise to them.
“I will pay you handsomely so that you never even think of cutting corners. So work faithfully, without deceit.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Even if they were uncertain, they would have to nod along.
Their employer was the Namgung Family, after all.
And so the expansion work began in earnest.
#2
Bang Ya began sketching rapidly, drawing something out line by line.
The complete architectural blueprint of the sealed training hall.
Today he bore no strange stench about him, nor did he carry himself like a vagabond.
He was a skilled craftsman who had dressed neatly and performed ritual purification before arriving.
‘The books the young master gave me….’
He had received texts concerning formation methods.
Though he was told they did not belong to the Namgung Family, he had understood within moments of reading a few pages.
These were no ordinary documents.
The Golden Time Formation Method

—a formation treatise for seizing and holding fast the moments and seasons of time.
The formation contained principles of remarkable subtlety and mystery.
His aptitude was not exceptional enough to master it as quickly as those legendary genius artificers, but he did not despair.
Still, if he devoted himself for only a few days, he could certainly meet the conditions that Young Master Yeon demanded.
‘No, that level of understanding won’t suffice.’
Young Master Namgung Yeon had told him as much.
If he proved himself to the Namgung Family, he need no longer delay in search of a true master worthy of his full devotion.
Yes.
All these years he had played the eccentric to find a genuine patron.
He had lived his entire life waiting for the moment to commit himself wholly to a place worthy of his talents.
Twenty years had passed in refining his skills and incorporating new techniques into his craft.
Though called a master artificer, no renowned family or sect had ever truly recognized him.
‘They saw me only as a fool….’
His appearance and manner had always denied him the chance to prove himself.
He was celebrated as a craftsman, but only among common folk.
The place where he truly wished to display his abilities was altogether different.
“My goal is to one day build with these hands a pavilion that endures for a thousand years.”
To achieve that, he had to complete this commission flawlessly.
Beside him lay the books.
Before him spread a large sheet of paper.
Namgung Yeon watched as Bang Ya crumpled and recommenced his work several times over.
‘By the look of things, he’ll do well.’
In that case, there was no need to worry—he could set out with confidence.
Given Bang Ya’s temperament, the workers would not dare slack in their duties under his watch.
His reputation would only grow with time.
The rumor was that whatever Bang Ya built stood sturdier and more functionally than any other structure.
Because of this, Martial Realm families and sects had rushed to seek his services, yet he had settled nowhere.
From the beginning, for the single reason that they had failed to recognize his talent.
When one considered it that way, an eccentric was indeed an eccentric.
Meanwhile.
“Third Squad, you’ll be deployed on a mission starting tomorrow. We move to the Main Estate this evening.”
“Yes.”
“Prepare yourselves thoroughly.”
Gwang-min, the head instructor of Third Squad, gathered the trainees and addressed them.
Tomorrow they would finally see their first real combat.
Some of them had trained in martial halls before, but the Namgung Martial Hall never conducted actual engagements during the season when the young masters’ competitions were held.
It was merely a place to learn the fundamentals of martial arts.
True experience of the Martial Realm began now.
Beyond Anhui lay rival sects, desperate vagabonds seeking survival, and others each pursuing their own gain.
Facing these directly, seeing them with their own eyes—they would learn far more here than in any training ground.
“There is no need to be overly anxious, but neither should you be reckless. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Your head instructor will accompany you on all forthcoming missions, so there is no cause for excessive worry.”
The Third Squad trainees nodded in agreement.
Namgung Yeon surveyed them with a composed expression.
They were, for all practical purposes, already seasoned by real combat.
They were the ones who had wielded swords to cut down opponents, who had run and fought to protect themselves.
Gangho.
A term that meant an unstable world—another name for the world of the Martial Realm.
The place where people, animals, and countless living things drew breath was infinitely cruel.
Yet even so, these young people had already bloodied their hands, had already stepped into that savage world.
‘Their resolve will be different. There should be no problems.’
Countless others would fall along the way, but at least these—at least the ones standing before him now—he would not lose.
It was a promise he had made to himself countless times before.
The word “last” pressed heavy upon his shoulders, as always.
#3
The next day.
Namgung Yeon and the Third Squad arrived at the Main Estate.
Still grand, still displaying all its magnificence—the Namgung Family’s main compound.
What the Third Squad saw were massive cargo carts and martial masters from the Dragon Guard, maintained directly by the elders.
The Namgung Family’s direct martial contingent is called the Dragon Guard.
Any martial unit bearing the name of a dragon has its operational control held by the Namgung Family Head himself.
Conversely, the private soldiers cultivated by each elder were called the Pajeomdae.
‘The Pajeomdae, if I recall.’
The Pajeomdae—
a unit bearing a most arrogant name, claiming they were supreme with the blade.
They were also the direct guard unit of the Fourth Elder, Namgung Gyeong-rin.
What business did they have coming here?
“A pleasure to meet you, Chief Instructor. I am O Gwang-seok, Third Commander of the Pajeomdae.”
“I am Gwang-min. Though I have much to learn, I serve as instructor to the Third Squad.”
“You are all promising young talents with distinguished accomplishments, I hear. I trust this shall prove excellent experience for you.”
O Gwang-seok—
a martial master whose sharp aura was matched only by the impressive broad sword slung horizontally across his back.
His specialty was a sword technique that crushed with overwhelming weight, and he possessed monstrous strength besides.
As for his temperament…… well.
From what Namgung Yeon could recall, it was the typical contempt for the weak.
A capable subordinate, but no leader worth following.
Always thirsting for power and authority.
So he would be eager to make a good impression on these trainees here.
“Greetings, young masters. I am O Gwang-seok.”
“We look forward to working with you.”
“Rest assured. Even without lifting a single finger, I shall see that our mission is completed successfully.”
What are you all doing standing there!
Come, offer your greetings at once!
The way he barked orders at his Pajeomdae members afterward was the very picture of a tyrannical superior.
What was one to make of it.
It called to mind Zhang Fei from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Yet Namgung Yeon found himself thinking it was rather fortunate.
Fengyun Escort House.
There was no better instrument for exposing the corruption festering at its heart than someone like him.
Even dung could serve as medicine if one knew how to use it.
‘Even excrement has its place in the apothecary.’
So it would be well if he played his part thoroughly.
At least in the Namgung that he would build, such talent would be unnecessary.
Fengyun Escort House.
One of those places that remained unchanged even as history turned.
By Namgung Family standards, it was a small escort house, but for others it was a predator riding on the Namgung name, wielding unchecked tyranny.
How many had suffered at its hands and continued to live with those wounds?
‘The name Namgung must never be used in such a way.’
“We depart now. Everyone, board the carts!”
A voice cut through Namgung Yeon’s contemplation.
They all climbed into the carts, filled with tension and anticipation, and something else besides.

Looking up at the sky, he saw messenger birds flitting back and forth in great numbers.
‘So it begins. The others are making their moves at last.’
Namgung Yeon’s eyes grew cold.
Finally, the mission was underway.

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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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