Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 35

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 35
Ordinarily, a Spirit Pill was not meant to be consumed in haste.
One needed to spend at least several days devoted to cultivation, fully absorbing the pill’s essence.
Many martial artists entered Closed Meditation when taking a Spirit Pill for precisely this reason.
They sought to absorb the pill’s energy completely, undisturbed by anyone.
Few warriors consumed a Spirit Pill as impulsively as Namgung Geom did.
But Namgung Geom was not like ordinary martial artists.
He possessed the enlightenment of having achieved the Absolute Realm in his past life, and he had experience consuming the Ice Jade Pill before.
A single night of cultivation was enough to fully absorb the Ice Jade Pill’s essence.
Though it appeared reckless to swallow the Ice Jade Pill so suddenly, he had that much confidence.
As he consumed the Ice Jade Pill, it melted like ice on his tongue.
Namgung Geom swallowed it whole.
The moment the Ice Jade Pill slid down his throat, a piercing cold spread through his entire body.
It was an extreme chill, as if a colossal glacier had exploded within him.
White frost crystallized across his entire frame, and his body felt as though it were freezing solid.
Thousands of ice shards seemed to pierce his body, and Namgung Geom gritted his teeth against the agony.
With superhuman endurance, he bore the pain and unleashed the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
As the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art swept through his body, the extreme cold receded and the pain lessened.
But Namgung Geom did not stop there; he drew the Ice Jade Pill’s cold into his Dantian.
The Ice Jade Pill’s cold resisted his Qi, thrashing about violently.
‘How dare you resist.’
Namgung Geom laughed as if amused and infused his will into the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
As his formidable will merged with his Qi, the Ice Jade Pill’s cold—which had been raging fiercely—faltered.
Namgung Geom seized the moment and took command of the Ice Jade Pill’s cold.
Then he drew it into his Dantian.
The Ice Jade Pill’s cold tried to resist, but it could not overcome Namgung Geom’s will.
Having pulled the Ice Jade Pill’s cold into his Dantian, Namgung Geom encircled it with the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
The Ice Jade Pill’s cold strained with all its might to escape.
But trapped within the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art, it could not break free.
Namgung Geom at once began to cultivate the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
The Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art, which contained the Ice Jade Pill’s cold, circulated through his meridians and intermingled with the cold.
And just as river water merges with the sea, the Ice Jade Pill’s cold fused with the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
Namgung Geom wasted not a shred of energy and absorbed every last bit of the Ice Jade Pill’s cold, continuing his Meridian Circulation.
And after thirty-two cycles of Meridian Circulation, the Ice Jade Pill’s cold was completely absorbed into the Internal Energy of the Changgung Ice Flower Divine Art.
Namgung Geom’s Dantian swelled with abundant Internal Energy.
It felt as though he had gained three full cycles worth.
‘Now I can complete the Grand Meridian Circulation.’
Namgung Geom had opened the meridian pathways of the Grand Meridian Circulation, but he had not yet mastered it completely.
The reason was simple: he lacked sufficient Internal Energy.
But now, with three cycles of Internal Energy at his disposal, it was possible.
Namgung Geom channeled the three cycles of Internal Energy through the meridian pathways of the Grand Meridian Circulation.
The meridian pathways of the Grand Meridian Circulation could not withstand the three cycles of Internal Energy and opened cleanly.
As he achieved the Grand Meridian Circulation, his Internal Energy swelled so greatly that his Dantian could not contain it.
Internal Energy exceeding the Dantian’s capacity risked runaway, a danger he could not ignore.
So what should he do?
There were two methods.
The first was to open the middle Dantian and divide the excess Internal Energy between them.
But that method was impossible at his current stage.
The second was to compress his Dantian’s Qi to high density.
That required profound enlightenment regarding Internal Energy.
For Namgung Geom, it was entirely possible.
Without hesitation, he compressed his Internal Energy.
The Internal Energy that had filled his Dantian condensed to high density, and its volume halved.
While the absolute amount of Internal Energy decreased, high-density compressed Internal Energy exerted several times the force of unconcentrated Qi.
With far less Internal Energy, he could now unleash far greater power.
Moreover, the efficiency of his Internal Energy improved dramatically.
Namgung Geom’s Internal Energy had become one stage stronger.
And his realm advanced by one step.
The True Martial Realm.
A superhuman stage beyond the Master Realm.
To achieve the True Martial Realm in his early twenties—Namgung Geom was the only one in history to accomplish it.
It was something unprecedented, unheard of.
“The True Martial Realm in his early twenties? Even thinking about it now, it’s extraordinary.”
Namgung Geom couldn’t help but smile wryly at his own achievement.
No matter how much cultivation and enlightenment he’d carried from his past life, that alone would never have been enough to reach this stage.
It was only by absorbing Gu Yang’s Extreme Yang Transformative Qi as his own Internal Energy that he’d managed to attain this realm.
Namgung Geom examined his body, now standing in the True Martial Realm.
The power flowing through every inch of him felt as though it could split mountains and cleave seas.
His senses had sharpened by several times compared to before.
He could hear the footsteps of someone passing dozens of paces away.
His Qi Perception, though his body remained in the room, blazed as clearly as if he were surveying the entire grounds of the Seo Moon Family Estate.
Through his transformed body, Namgung Geom could truly feel that he had entered the True Martial Realm.
Whoosh!
That was when it happened.
In Namgung Geom’s hyperacute Qi Perception, he caught a stealthy presence vaulting over the wall of the Seo Moon Family Estate.
It was not alone.
More than a hundred individuals registered in his Qi Perception.
Those who come first do not stay; those who come later will not be first.
Men creeping into another’s estate in the dead of night could harbor no benign purpose.
Whether he knew who they were or not, one thing was certain—they were enemies of the Seo Moon Family.
Namgung Geom immediately woke the four experts of the Changryang Sword Brigade.
“Everyone up! Enemies have infiltrated the Seo Moon Family Estate.”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
For the four experts, being roused in the middle of the night without warning was no light matter.
“Take it literally. We don’t have time for explanations—alert the Seo Moon Family immediately that intruders have breached the estate.”
“What are you going to do?”
Namgung Cheol-ung asked.
“I’m going to stop them.”
“You’re going alone?”
“Don’t worry about me—move quickly!”
Before the four could even respond, Namgung Geom had drawn his sword and rushed out.
“There he goes again—a true lone wolf, that one.”
Namgung Chang furrowed his brow.
“What should we do?”
Namgung Cheol-ung asked.
“What else? Do as we’re told.”
“Should we not help him?”
Namgung Seol asked with concern.
Namgung Chang shook his head.
“If we rush in carelessly, we’ll only get in his way. For now, let’s make sure the Seo Moon Family knows the enemy is coming.”
The four experts of the Changryang Sword Brigade moved to raise the alarm.
* * *
Namgung Geom moved toward the intruders’ position within the Seo Moon Family Estate.
His movements, now in the True Martial Realm, were incomparably swifter than before.
Treading across the roofs of pavilions, he moved with speed—then suddenly halted.
He quickly concealed himself and observed what lay ahead.
He saw figures moving in stealth, employing the Stealth Art to veil their presence.
Without a sound, they moved past the guards of the Seo Moon Family Estate and struck them down.
The Seo Moon Family’s martial experts fell in an instant, never even knowing their attackers had come.
Assassins of the Heuk Sal Mun.
Namgung Geom recognized them at once.
They were three in total, with comparable skill to the assassins he’d encountered at the front lines of the Baek Ryong Brigade.
‘The assassins of the Heuk Sal Mun that supported the Four Seas Faction?’
It seemed that once the Namgung Family’s intervention made direct attacks through the Four Seas Faction difficult, they had changed their approach.
But then, who were the hundred or so martial experts that had infiltrated the Seo Moon Family Estate alongside them?
They were certainly not pirates of the Four Seas Faction.
Their auras were different.
Unlike the Four Seas Faction’s pirates, these were formally trained martial artists.
And their power surpassed that of the Four Seas Faction’s members.
Yet it was not beyond the capability of the Seo Moon Family’s martial forces to repel them.
The real problem was the Heuk Sal Mun assassins.
If they launched a coordinated ambush using their Stealth Art, the damage to the Seo Moon Family Estate would be catastrophic.
‘First, I dispose of the Heuk Sal Mun assassins.’
Namgung Geom hurled himself toward one of the Heuk Sal Mun assassins.
Deploying the Heavenly Wind Divine Method, his form became a single ribbon of wind.
In an instant, Namgung Geom closed behind one of the assassins and extended his blade.
Flash!
A brilliant shimmer cut through the darkness—and the Heuk Sal Mun assassin’s chest was pierced clean through.
The assassin collapsed forward, never knowing whose hand had struck him down.
Without hesitation, Namgung Geom turned toward the second assassin.
The second assassin moved to block him.
Flash!
But the moment Namgung Geom’s sword glimmered, a hole opened in the man’s chest and he fell.
The last assassin dove swiftly into the shadows.
He had watched his two companions fall and understood at once: Namgung Geom was no ordinary master—not one to be faced head-on.
So he relied on his specialty, melting into the darkness with his Stealth Art.
He meant to use his concealment to strike Namgung Geom by surprise.
But his Stealth Art could not deceive Namgung Geom’s eyes.
Namgung Geom saw through his position without difficulty.
It was the fruit of his ascension to the True Martial Realm—his Qi Perception had become extraordinary.
In the past, he would have struggled to detect an assassin unless he moved; now it was different.
“Concealment means nothing to me.”
Namgung Geom spoke with a scornful smile and thrust his blade into the void.
Flash!
The brilliance from his sword split the darkness in an instant.
From the empty air, a dark shadow fell, bleeding, to the ground.
“How…?”
The Heuk Sal Mun assassin stared in disbelief before his head went slack.
Then, as if the earth itself had opened, nearly a hundred martial artists in black robes emerged.
They were warriors of the Taeho Sect, headquartered in Hu Zhou, Zhejiang Province.
The Taeho Sect competed with the Seo Moon Family for control of Taihu Lake’s waterways.
They had long waited for a chance to crush the Seo Moon Family so they could monopolize the lake’s trade routes.
Now fortune had smiled upon them.
The Seo Moon Family’s elite forces had marched out to confront the Four Seas Faction.
And when the Heuk Sal Mun had offered to lend support, how could they resist such an opportunity?
The Taeho Sect had immediately deployed the Taeho Brigade, their elite strike force, to assault the Seo Moon Family’s main estate.
They had moved easily through the estate’s interior, following the path the Heuk Sal Mun assassins had opened for them.
But then they found the assassins strewn across the ground.
And standing before them was a single young man.
It was Namgung Geom.
The Taeho Brigade warriors exchanged looks of shock at the sight of the fallen assassins and Namgung Geom.
“Who are you?”
One of the Taeho Brigade warriors called out to Namgung Geom.
He was Baek Gyeong-won, the commander of the Taeho Brigade.
Namgung Geom measured his aura.
‘Late Master Realm,’ he assessed.
Among all those who had invaded the estate, none radiated power greater than this man’s.
Namgung Geom could see that Baek Gyeong-won was their leader.
He spoke directly to him.
“Those who break into another’s home have no right to ask questions.”
Baek Gyeong-won furrowed his brow and gestured toward the fallen assassins.
“You brought down all of these men?”
“Who else would it be?”
Baek Gyeong-won found Namgung Geom’s claim difficult to believe.
The young man looked to be in his early twenties at most.
And yet he claimed to have defeated the Heuk Sal Mun assassins—masters capable of slaying those at the Master Realm?
Still, if not Namgung Geom, who else could have felled them?
“I’ve never heard of anyone like you in the Seo Moon Family.”
“So you know the Seo Moon Family well, then.”
“Regardless, you should withdraw. Don’t interfere in matters that aren’t your concern.”
If Namgung Geom truly had brought down the killers of Heuk Sal Mun, it meant he was at least a master of the Master Realm.
There was no need to clash with such a master if it could be avoided.
It was better to evade a fight when evasion was possible.
But Namgung Geom had no intention of retreating.
“I’m afraid that won’t do. I promised to protect the Seo Moon Family Estate, no matter what.”
Baek Gyeong-won’s expression hardened.
“We gave you a chance. It was you who rejected it. Do not blame us.”
“Don’t worry. I have nothing to blame you for.”
“Attack, all of you!”
At Baek Gyeong-won’s command, the warriors of Taeho Brigade rushed toward Namgung Geom.
Ten warriors at the vanguard extended their blades in unison.
Their swords drove at Namgung Geom from all directions.
The formation they wove—a net of sword auras—was not a bad execution.
But their opponent was the wrong one.
Namgung Geom did not fall back; instead, he thrust his sword toward them.
The sword wind born from his blade spread wide, ensnaring their weapons.
The force of the wind knocked their swords flying upward.
The impact sent the warriors who had formed the formation reeling backward.
The moment Namgung Geom moved to pursue them, he felt a presence approaching stealthily from behind.
‘Here it comes!’
Namgung Geom spun as if he had been waiting for this very moment and swept his blade in a wide arc.
Flash!
A sword aura that blazed like lightning split the space in two.
In that instant, a shadow burst from the darkness and blocked Namgung Geom’s blade.
Crash!
The shadow that collided with Namgung Geom’s sword was driven back violently.
Seeing the figure, Namgung Geom broke into a triumphant smile.
“I was waiting for you to make your move.”
Namgung Bing Ryong
Author |
Baek Wol Geom
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeun-sa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260511103
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————