Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 3

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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 3
The Bing Baek Qi rising from Namgung Geom’s Danjeon surged toward the heat of the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi.
The Bing Baek Qi, now entering the third stage of the Bing Baek Shin Gong, was fundamentally different from before.
Moreover, the Cheon Bing Ji Chae resonated with the Bing Baek Qi, lending it greater force.
‘Now I can extinguish the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi entirely.’
Feeling the surge in power, Namgung Geom grew certain of it.
Soon the Bing Baek Qi clashed with the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat.
Crackle!
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat cooled in an instant and scattered.
But considerable heat remained scattered throughout his body.
Namgung Geom did not pause—he drove the Bing Baek Qi forward.
He suppressed the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat that radiated across his entire frame, section by section.
The agony that had felt like drowning in scalding water began to fade rapidly.
But the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s surface heat was merely a shadow.
The true threat lay in the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi rooted deep within nine Hyeolmaeks.
To heal the Guyang Jeolmaek, he had to eliminate the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi entirely.
Namgung Geom concentrated his consciousness, drawing the Bing Baek Qi into a tight focus.
The Bing Baek Qi honed itself into sharpness and hardness, like tempered steel.
He sent the Bing Baek Qi into one of the nine Hyeolmaeks where the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi had taken root.
Layers upon layers of Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat blocked the Hyeolmaek.
But nothing could withstand the Bing Baek Qi, now refined like a blade.
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat could not overcome the Bing Baek Qi’s cold and scattered.
The Bing Baek Qi pierced through the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s defenses and bored relentlessly forward.
Boom!
The Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi collided, sending a tremendous shock through his internal channels.
Namgung Geom’s consciousness wavered, and for an instant, his connection with the Bing Baek Qi severed.
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi surged down upon the Bing Baek Qi, now losing its cohesion and beginning to scatter.
The Bing Baek Qi seemed about to melt away in the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s flames.
But Namgung Geom’s experience and insight had not come cheaply.
He snapped back to alertness and swiftly reconnected his consciousness with the Bing Baek Qi.
Synchronized with his consciousness once more, the Bing Baek Qi unleashed an intense cold that snuffed out the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s flames.
Then it surged ferociously forward against the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi.
Boom!
Another impact followed.
But this time, Namgung Geom was prepared.
He held his consciousness firm and steady, unbuffeted by the shock.
Whoosh!
Crackle!
The Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi tangled together, freezing and burning one another.
Two currents of Giyun locked in perfect tension.
Victory seemed distant for either side.
‘Then I’ll call in reinforcements.’
Namgung Geom drew forth additional Bing Baek Qi from his Danjeon.
He sent it through the opposite side of his Hyeolmaeks.
Operating two separate streams of Naegong simultaneously was a feat only possible for those who had reached the realm of ascension.
Yet Namgung Geom achieved it through the insight of his past life.
The additional Bing Baek Qi bored into the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi from behind.
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi, caught in the Bing Baek Qi’s pincer from both sides, was forced back sharply.
But the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi did not yield helplessly.
It expelled searing heat in both directions, straining with all its might to push back the Bing Baek Qi.
Yet it was insufficient.
The Bing Baek Qi froze and shattered the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi’s heat, then pressed it from both sides relentlessly.
Locked in the Bing Baek Qi’s cold embrace, the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi flickered as though on the verge of extinguishing.
If this continued, he would soon freeze and shatter the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi entirely.
Then a single thought struck him.
‘Must I truly destroy the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi?’
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi was itself a form of Giyun.
If he could absorb it as Naegong, it would be akin to consuming a miraculous elixir.
The problem was that Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi were fundamentally opposed.
Could those two forces truly coexist?
‘The Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong might make it possible.’
The Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong.
The supreme Naegong Shimbeop, encompassing the vastness of heaven and the principles of the universe.
Since heaven embraces all things, even the extreme yang and extreme yin might become one beneath its expanse.
Namgung Geom recalled the secret formulae of the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong.
The Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong was a divine technique passed only to direct bloodline members of the clan.
Namgung Geom had also received the transmission of the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong.
Though the Guyang Jeolmaek had prevented him from practicing it, he understood the formulae perfectly.
He had studied the secret formulae of the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong so he could master it whenever the moment came.
Namgung Geom had never once deployed the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong in his life.
Yet he possessed the realm and enlightenment from his previous existence.
And he understood the formulae with absolute clarity.
Deploying the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong was effortless.
Namgung Geom recalled the Changgoong Gyeol, the heart-formula of the Changgoong Dae Yeon Shin Gong, and began to circulate his Ungong.
His Danjeon became a boundless sky according to the mysteries of the Changgoong Gyeol.
And from the Danjeon, a tremendous gravitational force arose, drawing the Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi toward it.
The Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi tangled with each other as they were sucked into the Danjeon.
The two Giyun repelled each other like water and oil.
Namgung Geom began to circulate the two Giyun according to the Changgoong Gyeol.
The two Giyun strained with all their might to break free from the binding force of the Changgoong Gyeol.
Namgung Geom focused his consciousness to prevent the binding force of the Changgoong Gyeol from shattering.
Two Giyun that repelled each other and struggled to escape the Changgoong Gyeol.
Namgung Geom holding them fast, attempting to merge them into one.
Time passed as an intense battle unfolded within him.
Namgung Geom circulated the two Giyun again and again.
How much time had passed?
The two Giyun that had been straining outward were now drawn by the force of the Changgoong Gyeol, gathering inward bit by bit.
And at last, the two Giyun merged into one beneath the Changgoong Gyeol.
The Changgoong Qi was born—a unique force that only Namgung Geom possessed, embracing both Bing Baek Qi and Geuk Yang Hwa Qi.
“Since the Giyun has changed, the name must change as well.”
Namgung Geom pondered what name would suit it.
And soon, a name came to him.
“The Changgoong Bing Hwa Shin Gong—that would be fitting.”
It was the moment a Naegong Shimbeop uniquely his own was born.
Namgung Geom examined the Naegong dwelling in his Danjeon.
The Changgoong Qi, which embraced two disparate and extreme Giyun, was far more powerful than the conventional Changgoong Qi.
His total Naegong had increased dramatically.
He had absorbed the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi that once threatened his life, gained a new Naegong Shimbeop, and his Naegong had risen.
Nothing could be better than this.
A smile bloomed naturally at the corners of Namgung Geom’s lips.
But the Guyang Jeolmaek was not yet fully healed.
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi still remained in eight of his Hyeolmaek.
“It would be best to absorb the rest gradually.”
Eating too quickly causes indigestion.
If he absorbed all the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi at once, there was a risk of his Naegong losing balance.
It was better to absorb the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi over time.
The problem was the seizures brought on by the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi, but the function of the Changgoong Bing Hwa Shin Gong would make it easy to calm them.
That is to say, he no longer needed to fear the seizures of the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi.
And that meant he could train in Mugong as much as he wished.
All of this had unfolded in a single night.
That night.
Namgung Geom fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while.
And the next day, he began training immediately.
“First, I need to build up my body.”
His body, which had lain in the room because of the Guyang Jeolmaek, was not in a state to learn Mugong.
First, he needed to develop his muscular strength and stamina.
Namgung Geom decided to temper his body with the Bing Baek Yeon Shin Gong from his previous life.
The Bing Baek Yeon Shin Gong was a Giyun practice that used Bing Baek Qi to develop and refine the bones and Hyeolmaek.
Upon reaching mastery, the entire body becomes as hard as ten-thousand-year-old ice, impervious to any attack.
Namgung Geom planned to train in the Bing Baek Yeon Shin Gong by adding Geuk Yang Hwa Qi to his existing Bing Baek Qi.
If he tempered his body with both extreme yang and extreme yin energy, the effect would be far greater.
The Bing Baek Yeon Shin Gong consisted of dozens of movements.
Each one stimulated the muscles and meridians to their utmost, and all of them were bizarre and cryptic.
In his past life, Namgung Geom had mastered the Bing Baek Yeon Shin Gong to near perfection.
But with this body, he was performing it for the first time.
Moreover, Namgung Geom’s body had never undergone any training at all.
As a result, his body refused to obey his commands.
To an observer, it looked like nothing more than violent thrashing.
A servant passing through the Training Ground caught sight of Namgung Geom and tilted her head in confusion.
“What on earth is he doing?”
No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t seem like cultivation at all.
* * *
The Patriarch’s Hall of the Namgung Clan.
A middle-aged man with a serene countenance sat upon the high seat.
Namgung Pae, the Sword King.
Patriarch of the Namgung Clan and one of the Six Venerable Ones and Five Demons, the most powerful masters currently in the Murim.
His bearing, as though it contained the very heavens, was more than enough to be called absolute.
“Geom is training?”
Namgung Pae frowned slightly upon hearing the report from Namgung Yu, the head of the Secretary’s Bureau.
“He began martial cultivation four days ago, I’m told.”
Namgung Yu nodded and replied.
He was a collateral branch member of the Namgung Clan and had served alongside Namgung Pae for decades.
“But the Guyang Jeolmaek should make martial cultivation impossible. How is he training at all?”
Namgung Pae asked, his tone one of genuine bewilderment.
“All I know is that Young Master Namgung Geom has been conducting martial cultivation for the past four days.”
Namgung Pae nodded and pressed further.
“Then do you know what martial art he’s been training?”
“A Shin Gong technique of unknown origin, according to what I’ve heard.”
Namgung Pae’s brow creased.
“Unknown origin?”
“It may well be one of the martial texts from the Changcheon Archive.”
The Changcheon Archive was where the Namgung Clan kept martial texts collected from across the Murim.
Borrowing and reading texts from the Changcheon Archive was Namgung Geom’s only source of joy.
“Well, that boy has probably read through more than ten cartloads of martial texts by now.”
Namgung Pae dismissed the matter without much concern.
What mattered now was not the origin of the technique.
“Has there been no flare-up of his Geuk Yang Hwa Qi during training?”
“He completed his training without any problems, I’m told.”
“So his Geuk Yang Hwa Qi didn’t flare up even while he was conditioning his body……”
Namgung Pae stroked his chin in puzzlement.
When one exerts the body, heat rises.
When heat rises, the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi from the Guyang Jeolmaek becomes stimulated and releases its scorching energy.
That’s why he had been unable to train in martial arts all this time.
Yet despite training for the past four days, the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi had not flared up.
The Geuk Yang Hwa Qi would have no reason to take pity on Namgung Geom’s circumstances.
‘Could he have found some way to suppress the Geuk Yang Hwa Qi?’
But how could he?
There was no way Namgung Geom could have found a method that even he himself had not discovered.
“Wouldn’t it be best to summon Young Master Namgung Geom and investigate the matter directly?”
“That does seem like the right course of action. Bring Geom here at once.”
“Very good, sir.”
Namgung Yu immediately called for one of the servants stationed outside the Patriarch’s Hall to bring Namgung Geom.
“Has Geom been meeting anyone in particular of late?”
Namgung Pae asked, as though the thought had just occurred to him.
“Young Master Namgung Geom has remained in his Private Quarters the entire time. No one has visited his quarters except for the First Lady.”
“And his mother’s family sent nothing to him?”
“Not that I’m aware of, sir.”
At Namgung Yu’s response, Namgung Pae’s expression grew suspicious.
“So there’s a possibility something was passed to him while evading the Secretary’s Bureau’s eyes.”
In that moment, Namgung Yu’s eyes flickered.
“But that’s highly unlikely to happen.”
Anywhere else, perhaps—but within the Clan, there was no escaping the Secretary’s Bureau’s watchful eye.
Namgung Pae, well aware of the Bureau’s capabilities, simply nodded without further objection.
Meanwhile, the martial artist who had received Namgung Yu’s orders went directly to Namgung Geom’s Private Quarters.
There he delivered Namgung Pae’s command to come to the Patriarch’s Hall.
Namgung Geom was not startled by the sudden summons.
He had already anticipated being called.
Namgung Geom set out at once for the Patriarch’s Hall.
The distance from his quarters to the hall was considerable.
After passing through several gates and corridors, he arrived at the Patriarch’s Hall and entered immediately.
Following the columns carved with leaping dragons deeper inside, he saw Namgung Pae seated upon the high seat.
Namgung Pae was simply sitting.
Yet Namgung Geom felt a crushing pressure, as though the heavens themselves were bearing down upon him.
‘Remarkable.’
Before Namgung Pae’s immense presence, Namgung Geom found himself clenching his fists without thinking.
Even the master of the Northern Sea Ice Palace—the supreme authority of the frozen north—could not present his credentials before Namgung Pae.
Namgung Geom bowed his head, newly aware of the power wielded by one of the Six Masters.
“Namgung Geom greets the Patriarch.”
“Today I have called you not as patriarch, but as your grandfather. Speak freely.”
“Understood.”
Namgung Geom answered and relaxed his posture.
Namgung Pae gazed at him without particular thought until he sensed the boy’s Giyun—and then his eyes widened in shock.
Changgoong Qi.
Yet there was something alien about it.
This was no ordinary Giyun.
The kind of Giyun one would expect from someone who had reached the First-class realm.
Namgung Geom, unable to cultivate martial arts through the Guyang Jeolmaek, had somehow become a First-class Gosu overnight.
To any observer, the situation reeked of suspicion.
Namgung Pae’s eyes grew sharp.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Namgung Bing-ryong
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Baek Wol Geom
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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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