Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 66

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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 66
The water bandits deployed their underwater concealment technique, converging on Namgung Geom from all directions.
They moved without hesitation even in the Yangtze’s fierce current.
Approaching to encircle him, they thrust their harpoons forward.
Underwater, the severe resistance made it difficult to wield conventional weapons.
But the harpoon’s long, slender, streamlined design dramatically reduced water friction.
Specialized solely for straight thrusts, it maintained vicious speed and penetrating power even in water.
Once embedded, the barbs ensured it would never pull free unless the flesh tore away wholesale.
A single thrust could inflict a mortal wound.
It was no accident that the Yangtze Water Route Alliance favored harpoons.
Dozens of harpoons drove at Namgung Geom in unison.
Submerged, Namgung Geom swung the Frost Dragon Sword.
Underwater, resistance made wielding weapons difficult.
But that applied only to the unskilled.
For a master like Namgung Geom, water’s resistance meant nothing.
Crack!
The frigid Qi erupting from his blade froze the river itself, scattering shards of ice in all directions.
It was not a specialized technique—an application of Heaven and Earth Freezing.
Yet the effect was perfect.
The water bandits rushing toward Namgung Geom were skewered by ice shards, blood gushing from their wounds.
The surrounding water turned crimson in an instant.
And then—a powerful presence closing in behind Namgung Geom.
He pivoted swiftly.
A harpoon streaked through the reddened water with blinding speed.
Namgung Geom raised the Frost Dragon Sword to intercept it.
Crash!
With the impact, both Namgung Geom and the figure who had thrown the harpoon were driven backward simultaneously.
The figure flipped with the grace of a shark, charging at Namgung Geom once more.
A pale blue Qi blazed from his harpoon, tearing toward his opponent.
The Harpoon Qi splitting the water parted both high and low, targeting Namgung Geom’s head and waist.
It felt like the teeth of a shark descending upon him.
The Fish Dragon Bleeding Harpoon.
A martial art wielding the harpoon that proved far more potent in water than on land.
The signature technique of Hwang Jin-woong, master of the Black Water Sect—a vicious art that, the moment it pierced the body, would tear open blood vessels wholesale and induce catastrophic hemorrhage.
Namgung Geom did not recognize the Fish Dragon Bleeding Harpoon.
Yet he could read the sinister momentum contained within it.
‘I’m at a disadvantage underwater.’
Namgung Geom grasped at once that the Fish Dragon Bleeding Harpoon was a technique tailored to underwater combat.
With his martial arts, he could still hold his own in the depths.
But there was no reason to play into his opponent’s strength.
Namgung Geom resolved to exit the water.
He extended the Frost Dragon Sword to block Hwang Jin-woong’s harpoon, which had bored in almost close enough to touch.
Water surged around the blade and froze solid.
Boom!
Hwang Jin-woong’s harpoon struck the wall of ice the Frost Dragon Sword had created, and a column of water erupted skyward.
Namgung Geom used the recoil to launch himself from the water.
He landed on an oil barrel that had drifted away from a half-sunken vessel.
Dozens of oil barrels floated across the Yangtze’s surface.
Treading them made it possible to stand above the water indefinitely.
Maintaining balance atop a barrel swaying wildly in the Yangtze’s fierce current was no simple feat.
Yet Namgung Geom stood as easily as if on solid ground.
Splash!
From the opposite shore of water, Hwang Jin-woong emerged.
He too planted himself atop one of the drifting barrels.
“Are you the master of the Black Water Sect?”
Namgung Geom called across to him.
“That I am. I am Hwang Jin-woong, master of the Black Water Sect.”
“Did the sect send you to kill me?”
Namgung Geom posed the question as if testing him.
But Hwang Jin-woong did not take the bait.
“I don’t know which sect you speak of, but this has nothing to do with them. It is merely retaliation for the harm your people inflicted on our main branch’s elite unit last time.”
“You strike us first, then claim retaliation? That’s rich.”
“You were the one blinded by ambition and struck first! What nonsense are you spouting?”
Hwang Jin-woong’s rebuke drew a contemptuous snort from Namgung Geom.
“Do you truly believe that insisting will obscure the truth?”
“The truth I know is that you attacked our main branch’s elite unit to seize merit.”
“The truth I know is that you are a spy for the sect, attempting to incite conflict between the Namgung Clan and the Yangtze Water Route Alliance.”
Namgung Geom threw Hwang Jin-woong’s own words back at him.
When Hwang Jin-woong heard Namgung Geom strike so precisely at the sect’s intentions, a chill ran through his chest.
But outwardly, he feigned indignation.
“You keep invoking this sect—seems to me you’re using it as an excuse to find justification for attacking the Yangtze Water Route Alliance.”
“Your acting is passable. We can settle the question of whether you’re a sect spy later. For now, let’s end this fight.”
There was no point in talking further.
It would be far more efficient to capture Hwang Jin-woong and interrogate him afterward.
Above all, the men aboard the two vessels that had been caught in the explosion were now under assault from the Black Water Sect’s aquatic fighters.
Individual martial prowess clearly favored the Namgung Clan’s warriors.
But underwater, the advantage reversed.
Struggling merely to endure the Yangtze’s violent current, the men had little defense against the aquatic fighters who slipped silently through the water and hurled harpoons from below.
And once a harpoon pierced flesh, the barbs tore the wound wider while rupturing blood vessels, causing catastrophic hemorrhage.
For now, martial superiority allowed them to hold their ground, but if the battle dragged on, casualties would mount swiftly.
Some of the flagship’s crew had avoided the explosion, but they were powerless to help.
The Black Water Sect’s vessel was drawing near, raining arrows upon them.
They had no capacity to rescue or aid the men struggling in the water while fending off those attackers.
He had to subdue Hwang Jin-woong as quickly as possible, then deal with the Black Water Sect’s aquatic fighters conducting their underwater assault.
Namgung Geom used an oil barrel as a springboard and launched himself at Hwang Jin-woong.
Hwang Jin-woong’s face hardened as he extended his harpoon.
From the weapon, Harpoon Qi shot forth in a straight line.
With the water’s resistance gone, the Harpoon Qi moved even faster.
Simple in form, but overwhelming in speed—such was the essence of this technique.
It was the Fish Dragon Bleeding Harpoon.
Had his opponent matched Hwang Jin-woong’s level, the speed would have been devastating.
But his opponent was Namgung Geom.
No matter how swift the Fish Dragon Bleeding Harpoon, it could not compare to the Thirteen Lightning Harpoon Strikes.
From Namgung Geom’s Frost Dragon Sword, an icy Lightning Qi surged forth, intercepting Hwang Jin-woong’s harpoon.
Crack!
Splash!
The collision sent Hwang Jin-woong flying backward, slamming hard against the river’s surface.
He plunged into the water with a violent ripple, sucked beneath the current.
He stifled a groan.
The impact of Namgung Geom’s Lightning Qi reverberated through his whole body.
His insides jolted and spun.
Hwang Jin-woong had suspected it, but now, after a single exchange, he knew for certain.
A direct confrontation offered no hope of victory.
He had to strike from ambush underwater.
But a simple dive and ambush would not suffice.
He had to deceive Namgung Geom’s eyes and senses.
The Water Ghost Illusion Art.
If he wielded this secret technique of his, it was possible.
Steadying himself beneath the surface, he deployed the Water Ghost Illusion Art.
A strange energy emanated from his body, and water spirits materialized all around him.
Each water ghost wore the exact face of Hwang Jin-woong.
It was a method of combat: creating water spirits in one’s own image—water demons—to launch an assault.
That was the Water Ghost Illusion Art.
The water ghosts bearing Hwang Jin-woong’s likeness burst upward from the river.
A deafening roar!
Water pillars erupted as ghosts exploded from all sides, descending upon Namgung Geom.
Namgung Geom, searching for Hwang Jin-woong’s true presence, was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden onslaught.
But he quickly understood—they were illusions.
Namgung Geom immediately swung his Frost Dragon Sword, cleaving through one of the water ghosts.
Yet something was wrong.
The water ghosts passed straight through the Frost Dragon Sword and clung to Namgung Geom.
Held fast by the water ghosts, Namgung Geom found himself unable to move.
In that instant, Hwang Jin-woong surged up from directly behind him, thrusting out his harpoon.
“Die!”
The harpoon flashed toward him at close range, seeming certain to pierce through his back.
Hwang Jin-woong was confident his attack would succeed.
But in that very moment—
Crack!
The water ghosts holding Namgung Geom froze solid, and a wall of ice materialized behind his back.
Boom!
Hwang Jin-woong’s harpoon smashed against the ice barrier with a deafening roar.
“Ughhh!”
Namgung Geom choked back a cry and rocketed forward.
He had blocked the harpoon with an ice wall conjured from a variation of Heaven and Earth Freezing, but the hastily erected barrier had not fully absorbed the impact.
Still, at least his back remained unpierced—small mercy though it was.
‘I blocked that!’
Hwang Jin-woong, meanwhile, could scarcely believe his attack had been stopped.
In that brief span of time, the man had shattered the water ghosts’ binding with a freezing force.
Moreover, he had conjured an ice wall to defend against the strike itself—it was astonishing.
Yet the attack had not been entirely without effect.
Though blocked, Namgung Geom had clearly absorbed the shock.
This moment—while Namgung Geom reeled from the impact—was Hwang Jin-woong’s golden opportunity.
Hwang Jin-woong hurled himself forward at once, thrusting his harpoon at Namgung Geom.
The Harpoon Qi spiraling from his weapon shot in a straight line, targeting the heart.
Namgung Geom kicked at an oil barrel beneath his feet.
Boom!
The barrel was struck by the harpoon’s qi and shattered.
Whoosh!
Oil sprayed from the barrel, momentarily blinding Hwang Jin-woong.
Namgung Geom drove forward, shoving another barrel toward him and charging.
Flash!
Brilliant freezing lightning erupted from his blade.
Hwang Jin-woong gasped and thrust out his harpoon.
Crash!
The freezing lightning struck his harpoon at the instant he raised the Harpoon Qi.
“Argh!”
The impact sent Hwang Jin-woong flying backward violently.
The force of the collision was severe enough, but the freezing force that burrowed inward at the moment of impact magnified the pain.
Hwang Jin-woong hastily summoned his Inner Power to drive out the freezing force.
But Namgung Geom had no intention of allowing that.
Namgung Geom stepped on an oil barrel in front of him and threw himself toward Hwang Jin-woong.
With Namgung Geom bearing down on him, Hwang Jin-woong had no mind to spare for the freezing force.
Hwang Jin-woong gritted his teeth and glared at his opponent.
In his current state, he could not withstand Namgung Geom’s assault.
If he were to be subdued by Namgung Geom now, the man would surely demand to know about the Sect.
He would sooner die than reveal its existence, but the world was unpredictable.
Under torture, overwhelmed by pain, he might betray the Sect’s existence.
Better to die here than be captured by Namgung Geom and face interrogation.
But he would not die alone.
He would drag Namgung Geom down to the grave with him.
An oil barrel floating on the river caught Hwang Jin-woong’s eye.
Hwang Jin-woong immediately kicked the barrel toward Namgung Geom, then drew a Fire Tinder Box from his robes and kindled a spark.
Then he chased after the barrel, hurling himself forward and thrusting his harpoon.
Boom!
The qi from his harpoon pulverized the barrel.
As the barrel burst apart and oil poured out, Hwang Jin-woong held the spark from his Fire Tinder Box aloft and leaped into the spreading pool of oil.
Kaboom!
Whoosh!
The moment the spark touched the oil, an explosion erupted and a massive inferno engulfed Namgung Geom.
Namgung Frost Dragon—
Author |
Baek Wol-geom
Publisher |
(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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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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