I Became the Namgung Clan’s Omnipotent Item-Powered Martial God - Chapter 80

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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 80
Episode 80 – A Shift in Perception
#1
The incident had come to an end, and the attack concluded without casualties.
The problem was the unkind gaze directed at a certain someone.
In truth, there were many questions about why he had survived at all.
“It seems Young Master Yeon has a soft heart.”
“Who wouldn’t? I’d have cut his head clean off and been done a hero.”
“Still…… it’s all rather puzzling. Why did he let that wretch live…….”
The murmurs of the Sword Guard Unit drifted across the deck.
Namgung’s Law.
Had it not been understood that the strong earned respect, the questions would have only multiplied.
Jin Mueik stood at the bow of the ship, blank-faced as the wind off the Yangtze River swept past him.
Of course, he heard their voices too, but he paid them no mind.
Since the moment he had sworn vengeance, words like those had come countless times.
When he had barely survived and returned to his old comrades, he had heard far worse.
‘How strange…… my feelings have changed.’
With the malice and poison drained away, emptiness came crashing down.
What had he been seeking vengeance for, truly?
He had not trained to survive so miserably like this…….
The wind caught his lapels, revealing the scar that marked him like a brand.
Yes.
That was what Young Master Namgung Yeon had called himself.
Had he not mentioned the scar, Jin Mueik would have simply lurched forward and stopped his heart.
That was how empty life had been for him.
But…….
“A person who remembers a scar that no one else ever mentioned, that no one else ever cared about…….”
That scar was the brand Namgung had left on him, and it was left by his enemies.
A scar he had touched every night, every morning, forcing himself to rekindle his resolve.
It had been his very purpose: to one day carve an identical wound into them.
‘Did he tell me to watch?’
Jin Mueik caressed his sword, lost in thought.
The next generation responsible members.
Those who would shoulder the burden of the next generation.
If the next generation of Namgung looked like that, then even living to pay for his sins seemed acceptable.
Yet his heart had not fully turned around.
Since he had shamefully incurred a debt of life, if things did not unfold as he wished…… he would leave his name and perish in glorious flame whenever he chose.
Jin Mueik stood facing the Yangtze River as daylight faded, the wind caressing him.
“……Hmm?”
Then, strange things began to register in his perception.
The waters they were now passing through were flanked by sheer cliffs on both sides.
It was a passage through a very narrow channel, one that had to be crossed slowly.
Naturally, the convoy would stretch out in single file, and the positioning made for ideal conditions to leap down and strike.
That was why most convoys either passed through at night with their lanterns extinguished, or else took the direct route in broad daylight.
Only then could an ambush be avoided…….
The world around them had fallen into complete darkness.
And…… it seemed those above already knew what was coming.
“As expected, Namgung has many enemies. Like myself.”
He drew forth his weapon, the O-Eo-Chi.
At that same moment, someone emerged from within.
It was the boy who had dealt him a humiliating defeat—Namgung Yeon.
“You’ve already sensed it.”
“……Yes.”
“Your senses are sharp indeed.”
With those words, Namgung Yeon stamped his foot with a Boom—!
His Internal Power traveled through the ship’s wood and spread downward.
“What is happening!?”
The first to emerge was O Gwangseok, his eyes barely open as if he had been in deep sleep.
Namgung Yeon regarded him for a moment.
‘Mm. As I thought…….’
He seemed to notice something, tilting his head slightly.
The next to emerge was Gwang Min, who looked as though he’d been dozing.
“We’re under attack. Everyone, prepare for combat.”
“……Understood.”
The moment Namgung Yeon finished speaking, it began.
Boom—!
Bang! Boom! Boom!
Figures began raining down onto the deck from all directions, accompanied by the thunder of impact.
Despite strict light control measures, the attackers landed with precision directly on their position.
Their eyes began to glow a sickly red.
‘Demons……’
Jingle—.
A sinister chime rang out from Namgung Yeon’s waist.
That’s right.
It’s time for you to shine.
Namgung Yeon drew the Maryeong Sword.
At the same moment, he felt a shift emanating from the blade itself.
The time had come.
Time for this Demonic Sword—this sacred instrument—to evolve.
“……How is this supposed to be a low-rank mission?”
With someone’s complaint as a signal, combat erupted.
No discussion, no hesitation.
Without a word, they began wielding their weapons.
In moments, the deck became a silent battlefield.
#2
Who were these attackers?
As Namgung Yeon deployed the Chakram Technique, he studied his opponents with keen attention to their coordinated assault.
These were professionally trained warriors.
They were a different caliber of enemy than the demons he’d faced in Hefei.
‘Can I narrow it down to two organizations?’
If they were a disciplined, trained collective, it had to be one of two.
One was the Ghost Demon Squad.
The other was the Cruel Demon Squad.
Both were organizations that received professional military training in the Western Region.
But…… why would operatives who should be active in the West have come all the way here?
This was the middle of the Yangtze River.
And specifically, the eastern reaches of the Murim Central Plains.
There had to be a reason they’d come this far.
Namgung Yeon decided to find out what it was.
‘Perhaps this time I can uncover their inner workings even faster.’
Squelch—!
The Maryeong Sword drove deep into the enemy’s vital point.
The greedily consumed Demonic Energy swiftly converted into pure Internal Power, replenishing Namgung Yeon’s own strength.
A blade forged solely for combat against demons.
In the next breath, he sensed danger as an attack aimed at his back came rushing in.
He immediately swapped positions with the falling body of his collapsed opponent.
Rip—!
“……!”
“Gack!”
Shock flashed across the attacker’s face at having severed his own comrade’s arm.
But before he could process it, the O-Eo-Chi’s strike passed through his neck.
The demon’s neck severed cleanly, his eyes wide with indignation as death claimed him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, thanks to you, I’m alive.”
“We’re dominating them, yet this feels…… orchestrated.”
“I had the same thought.”
The coordination was too precise.
The assault too accurate, as if they’d been briefed in advance.
And suspicious too—how they deliberately avoided the Sword Guard Unit while targeting only him and his three-person team.
From first point to last, everything reeked of calculation.
“Let’s deal with this first and sort things out later.”
“Agreed.”
“Here, take this.”
Namgung Yeon handed something to Jin Mueik, who had come to his aid.
With the assault still pressing in, he’d offered the man something to strengthen him for the fight ahead.
Jin Mueik accepted the small Energy Pill, his eyes narrowing with curiosity as he studied Namgung Yeon.
While parrying the crossed blades that came thrusting in from two directions, Namgung Yeon spoke.
Judging by the martial arts they were using… weren’t they from one of those two factions?
“We need to win this battle first.”
“…….”
Crunch.
Without a word, Jin Mueik bit down on the Energy Pill.
In that same moment, power surged through his entire body.
Slight though it was, his vision — which had seemed fogged — suddenly grew far clearer.
A type of Energy Pill he’d never once held or even glimpsed in his life.
No doubt only someone of Namgung’s standing could pull out such a pill and consume it like a snack.
With that thought, Jin Mueik wielded his weapon with ruthless intensity.
‘Demons, no less. What exactly is the Namgung Family…’
Even if they were Demons, they could never overcome him — a master at his peak — and the other Namgung masters.
Yet they could very well kill the essential crew needed to operate this vessel.
He claimed personal grudge as his motive, but why were these creatures…
The surging Demons seemed bent on targeting only the next generation responsible members of the Namgung Family.
Truly strange.
How could they possibly slip through the ranks of the strong like that…
‘It seems…’
Jin Mueik let out a stifled laugh.
Separate from the rush of power, he found the Namgung boy rather amusing.
And with it, he dimly grasped why that youth had spoken to him in such a way.
The Namgung Family was rotting far more deeply than he’d imagined.
#3
The members of Three Squad repelled the assault with remarkable ease.
It was a battle that proved just how far from wasted their training together had been.
The most crucial element was their versatile response to different weapons.
The Martial Realm is vast, and people survive by mastering their own methods of combat.
Naturally, there were many who wielded diverse weapons beyond the sword-users.
Just as it was now.
Clang!
Namgung Jinjin raised his sword to block the blade thrusting in from an odd angle.
With graceful yet disciplined movements, he probed for openings.
The most fundamental and orthodox of motions.
“What!?”
“…….”
Namgung Jinjin’s blade severed the Demon’s arm at the elbow.
Even now, seeing a sword stained with blood, he could maintain his composure.
What had it been like at the first battle?
After committing their first murders, the Three Squad members had struggled for a long time.
Of course, they hadn’t let on before their Group Leader, Namgung Yeon, but it had undoubtedly been a horrifying and anguished ordeal.
But what of now?
His eyes naturally sought out the next target, while his body moved along the most efficient path.
‘I’m glad we trained in how to counter spears and halberds.’
Spears and halberds.
Some even hurled chains into the fray.
Without that training up to now, surely someone would have been wounded.
Fighting here felt far easier than that brutal training had been.
Was this… the fruit of harsh discipline.
“Hey, this is doable—better than I thought?”
“Don’t let your guard down. There are plenty of others fighting alongside us.”
“Well, that’s true…”
“Though something does seem odd.”
Namgung Jinjin caught his breath and surveyed those surrounding them once more.
Though some were engaged with the Sword Guard Unit, far greater numbers surrounded them on all sides.
By any reasonable logic…… did this even make sense?
His eyes narrowed.
With no way of knowing when this assault would end, or what master might yet appear.
In that moment, someone landed with sudden grace among the cadets of Third Group.
“Grown adults bullying cadets—surely you can do better than that.”
……
Jin Mueik, stepping onto the battlefield with the O-Eo-Chi in hand.
And their Group Leader, Namgung Yeon, walking slowly toward them.
He regarded the Group Members, bearing their small wounds, and nodded with satisfaction.
“All that grinding has borne fruit.”
“You dare speak like that now……?”
“You’ll need to grow even more ruthless.”
With that, Namgung Yeon hurled something in quick succession.
There is a saying that survival demands whatever means and methods are necessary.
To put that teaching into practice, he gave the cadets something overflowing with vitality—Qingyuan Water.
Qingyuan Water
“Drink one measure each, then return to the fight.”
……
“And…….”
“Finish quickly. We have far to go.”
Jin Mueik, who had seemed like a villain.
He had become, now, a martial artist protecting the children of Namgung.
One who had lost his family to the Namgung’s hand, yet stood to shield the Namgung’s children.
That was how a change in heart came to pass.
Either all at once, dramatically.
Or very slowly.
Namgung Yeon lifted the Maryeong Sword with a faint smile.
Yes, good.
A feast lay spread before them, and it would not do to let the talking drag on.
Ting—!
The bell on the Maryeong Sword rang out urgently.

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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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