Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 150

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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 150. Sword Demon Shatters the Glow
‘Lucky. Or perhaps the opponent was simply foolish?’
Hak Gyeong, ascending the Arena with his Red Haze Sword, wore a thin smile.
He observed Namgung Ho Yeon, who carried three blades at his waist.
The youth’s pale skin—as if it had never known sunlight—and his long, unkempt hair carelessly tied back gave him the appearance of a scholar rather than a warrior.
Yet the split pectoral muscles visible between the loose martial robes and the perfect balance he maintained despite leaning lazily on one leg spoke of a trained fighter.
And above all—the eyes.
Those arrogant eyes that gazed at him while seeming to look through him betrayed the youth’s confidence.
‘Your scheme is transparent. You want to stand out by taking the Ranking Examination before anyone else. A contemptible calculation.’
Throwing aside the pride of a Prestigious Orthodox Sect for practicality?
Mingling among third and second-rate talents and volunteering to become a spectacle?
Truly, his audacity was no small matter.
‘But your blind spot is equally clear. If you stumble even slightly in this gamble, the scandal will follow you through every day of your time here!’
Hak Gyeong mocked Namgung Ho Yeon’s inexperience—knowing one thing but not two.
The more one’s reputation grew, the more one had to calculate losses rather than gains.
The reckless youth had no idea that his youthful blood would cost him the Student Council President position.
‘Here, I shall expose Namgung Ho Yeon’s hollow fame. Thunderous Dragon Crushing Palm? The prestige he gained through Dan Ri Sega’s assistance has made him cocky.’
And he was currently among the most watched Later Generation Disciples.
If this Namgung Ho Yeon stumbled, the odds increased ever so slightly that Hong So—the Cheong Seong Sect’s finest prodigy and second-generation disciple—would become Student Council President.
A sound escaped his lips.
Despite these thoughts, Hak Gyeong arrived before Namgung Ho Yeon and smiled with apparent warmth.
“What an honor to meet the hero of the Martial World. I am Hak Gyeong of the Cheong Seong Sect.”
“Namgung Ho Yeon.”
“Ah, circumstances have brought about this unexpected Ranking Examination for me.”
“It matters not. Let us begin at once.”
A soft whisper of sound.
As Ho Yeon drew the Cheonrae Geom, the air that had shimmered gently like a breeze transformed in an instant.
Whiiiip! Whiiiip!
The wind of the blade swept past his neck, a chill that felt like the shadow of some cold ghost pressing heavily upon the Arena.
‘Hmm. How much longer can he maintain that self-assured manner?’
Slash!
Hak Gyeong drew his blade with explosive speed.
His sword bore a peculiar reddish light dancing along its edge, the entire blade tinted as if steeped in sunset.
In Sichuan, there was a saying that wearing a Blue Cloud Sword marked one as a regular disciple of Cheong Seong, while carrying a Red Haze Sword marked one as a true disciple—swords famous enough to carry such weight.
Crack!
As the blade tip, raised high overhead, descended in a diagonal slash, gasps erupted from the onlookers.
“Ah! That stance—he has refined technique! The Cheong Seong Sect’s supreme sword art, the Cheong Un Jeok Ha Sword!”
“What! The very technique that requires mastery of both the supple Blue Cloud Sword and the rigid Red Haze Sword!”
“True to his name, Jeok Ha Sword Demon! Today we shall witness something rare indeed!”
Hearing the crowd’s admiration, Ho Yeon’s eyes narrowed.
‘This bastard.’
When that caterpillar-browed Daoist first approached, he’d thought little of it, but the moment the man drew his blade, everything changed.
He had not lived a soft enough life to miss the malice needling across his entire body.
“I’m coming!”
A thunderous crack split the air!
As expected.
From Hak Gyeong’s Red Haze Sword, a crimson Qi Force suddenly erupted.
Bang!
Hak Gyeong launched himself from the Arena floor using the Floating Cloud Leaping Drift technique, flowing like drifting clouds as he rapidly closed in on Ho Yeon’s left flank.
Whooom!
Ho Yeon drew a cyan Spear Bow Qi Force from his Cheonrae Geom, dropping into a mid-level stance.
A weighty presence erupted forth, pressing down upon the Arena floor.
‘A heavy sword? The Spear Bow Unobstructed Sword Method?’
Recognizing Ho Yeon’s Qi technique, Hak Gyeong’s eyes gleamed.
So the man intended to remain hunched like a turtle, committed entirely to defense?
‘Then—!’
Whishhh! Whishhh! Whishhh!
Hak Gyeong’s blade moved like a soft breeze, fluttering gently before suddenly transforming, striking downward in relentless succession.
Against the Sunset Remnant Sentiment, descending at an ever-lowering angle to menace the entire body, Ho Yeon’s blade swept across the space, moving with deliberate, unhurried grace.
Clang—!
“Heave!”
Hak Gyeong’s eyes widened as he felt an extraordinary rebound force surge through his grip.
‘What kind of monstrous Nae Gong is this! He must have swallowed elixirs like rice!’
Crack! Whoooosh!
Shock gave way to instinct—Hak Gyeong’s right hand seized the end of the sword wave, broadening his strike range to deliver a sweeping horizontal cut.
Crash!
In that instant, the crimson glow expanded like wildfire, and the Red Haze Single Sweep seemed to engulf the world itself.
“Hm!”
Yet Namgung Ho Yeon, a faint smile playing at his lips, merely expanded the blue Spear Bow Qi Force from his Qi Sea.
Clink! Whoosh!
The Cheon Rae Sword rose skyward next, piercing downward like a hand plucking stars from the heavens.
Thang!
The crimson wave was arrested by the blue sky’s sharp strike, unable to advance further.
‘He… stopped the continuous with a point? This is madness!’
As though a master were toying with a novice, Hak Gyeong’s gaze burned upon Namgung Ho Yeon.
“Hehe.”
“You—!”
The smile spreading across Ho Yeon’s lips confirmed to Hak Gyeong that it was no illusion—his sword form changed in an instant.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Gentle flowing swordplay streamed forth like drifting clouds in an unbroken sequence.
Against the Blue Cloud Flowing Departure, Ho Yeon countered with the Nine Heaven Limitless, striking nine times in succession.
Bang! Bang! Crash!
“Gah!”
As though struck by a giant hammer, the force reverberated through Hak Gyeong’s entire body, drawing him into Ho Yeon’s rhythm.
Whoosh!
‘This—!’
Seizing the opening, Ho Yeon thrust toward his chest—Hak Gyeong quickly wrapped himself in Self-Protection Qi and twisted his body to evade.
He twisted desperately, shifting the strike zone from his chest to his ribs, lessening the damage.
But then.
He stopped.
Ho Yeon halted his thrust midway.
Which left Hak Gyeong writhing alone in empty air.
“Oh, is that the latest dance craze from Sichuan? How fascinating.”
“I… you…!”
As Hak Gyeong’s face flushed redder than the sunset itself, whispers rippled through the crowd.
“Ha! So the Thunder God Dragon truly dominates the Red Haze Sword? Remarkable.”
“And he hasn’t even drawn the Cheonroe Jewang Singong yet!”
“Fool. Would you use an ox-killing blade to butcher a chicken? The Dragon is clearly already a commander-class master.”
Silence fell.
Experiencing shame for the first time, Killing Intent erupted from every pore of Hak Gyeong’s body.
‘I only meant to correct his manners! But since it’s come to this, I’ll break at least one of his limbs!’
The moment Killing Intent took root in Hak Gyeong’s heart, Ho Yeon’s blue eyes sank into fathomless depths.
“A mistake.”
“Krraaah!”
Hak Gyeong unleashed the Heaven Earth Unity Qi Work at maximum force.
Zing!
The red Sword Force shimmering on the Jeok Ha Sword blazed ever brighter, casting a dense crimson veil across the Arena.
Whoooosh!
Then, like drizzle falling from within the red haze, sword strands descended, ravaging the entire Arena in all directions.
Bang! Crash!
Having sealed the retreat with Sparse Rain Lingering Affection, Hak Gyeong vanished, cloaked in the illusory steps of the Illusion Ring Lost Trace Step.
Pop!
He materialized in Ho Yeon’s left blind spot, his Red Haze Ghost form unleashing the Heaven End Sole Illumination—a decisive diagonal slash aimed at the kill.
‘His left shoulder will take the blow—’
Hak Gyeong’s smile was one of certainty.
Bang! Crunch!
“Hgk—!”
A force of entirely different magnitude sent him flying backward, tumbling across the Arena floor for nearly a zhang.
‘What… what just happened…?’
He scrambled to his feet, raising his head in that same instant.
He could see it.
Roooaaaarrr—!
The blade in Namgung Ho Yeon’s hand had materialized the blue sky itself.
A brilliance so dazzling and pure that it blazed across not merely the Arena, but the whole world itself.
‘Sword Force? No… a layering of Qi Force?’
Hak Gyeong’s jaw fell slack at the technique he’d never witnessed before.
How much Nae Gong would a person need to even pull off such a thing?
No—even with sufficient Nae Gong, stacking Qi Force upon Qi Force was an entirely different dimension of mastery.
‘The control of perfect Qi manipulation. Unity of Will. Transcendent mental fortitude and focus……’
Every single prerequisite was impossibly demanding.
The single blade itself bore a comprehension so profound he couldn’t fathom why the man wasn’t already an Ascended Master.
“You meant to hurt others, so you won’t complain about taking it, then?”
“……What?!”
Snap!
Ho Yeon, who’d been watching Hak Gyeong, vanished from his seat with a chilling smile.
Boom! Crash!
Ho Yeon rushed in like lightning on his forward stance, planted his feet firmly on the ground with his rear stance, and unleashed a vertical slash with the Cloud Path Thousand Weights technique.
Boom!
“Agh!”
Hak Gyeong barely twisted the Jeok Ha Sword to deflect the blow, but the Thousand Pound Force embedded in that single slash turned his insides completely upside down.
Lifting his feet from the ground by pure survival instinct was the right call.
Otherwise he’d have been unable to disperse the recoil and his whole body would have shattered.
Whoooosh!
‘This man… surely not……!’
While flying backward, Hak Gyeong caught sight of a frenzied Killing Intent blazing in Namgung Ho Yeon’s eyes.
‘No, it can’t be! This is Baekmu Academy, I’m a direct disciple of Cheong Seong Sect……!’
Snap!
Namgung Ho Yeon had vanished.
A chilling sensation.
He saw a phantasm—a red ghost smiling with delight, reaching out a hand toward him.
“No, stop—!”
“Too late.”
Crack!
Crunch!
A single fist strike from the Forest Spirit Fold, embodying the mystery of severance, shattered Hak Gyeong’s left ribs completely.
“Ughhhh!”
Crash!
Tumbling across the Arena, Hak Gyeong’s mind went white as he watched the blue sky descend toward him.
Namgung Ho Yeon’s emotionless blue eyes—glimmering with icy indifference—told him the man truly meant to go through with it.
“P-please… spare me……”
Crash!
Squelch!
With the phantom of the red ghost wrenching and tearing away his left arm as his final image, Hak Gyeong lost consciousness.
But the reality was different.
Boom!
Ho Yeon had to slash away the translucent fist hurtling toward him just as his strike meant to take Hak Gyeong’s arm passed through empty air.
Zzzzzt!
The force packed into that unidentified blow was so tremendous that Ho Yeon was driven back about a yard, leaving furrows in the ground beneath his feet.
“Hmm?”
Ho Yeon’s eyes narrowed with interest as he turned his head toward the direction the Hundred Step Divine Fist had come from.
“……Namgung benefactor. That is enough.”
Standing there was a monk in a yellow robe, fists still raised, his hardened expression fixed upon Ho Yeon.
‘Indeed. A Strike Mountain Pound Cow of that caliber! A Shaolin Hundred Step Divine Fist—is it?’
The momentum radiating from that small monk was easily a tier above even Jin Heuk Cheon’s formidable presence.
Ho Yeon felt his competitive spirit ignite as he began releasing his murderous energy in a torrent.
Roooooaaaarr!
“Heheheh! A fist master after a sword master? Now this was worth the trip to Baekmu Academy!”
“……Amitabha Buddha.”
“Venerable One, come down then! My body’s warmed up nicely now—please, grace this humble student with your instruction.”
Crackle! Zzzzt!
A faint Cheonrae Gi began to swirl across Namgung Ho Yeon’s entire body, weaving through a white radiance.
His hair ribbon had snapped, and his long hair rippled like a living creature in the wind.
Whoosh! Tap!
A powerfully built middle-aged man—no frail Shaolin monk—descended onto the Arena.
‘A saber-user?’
Namgung Ho Yeon nodded when he spotted the blade hanging at the man’s waist.
“Of course. Even water flows downward in layers, doesn’t it? There are stages to all things?”
“Sigh…….”
“Hah! I would be honored to learn from you.”
“Learn? The examination is concluded.”
“Pardon?”
“I am Peng Man Do.”
“Peng Man Do? But……?”
Namgung Ho Yeon blinked rapidly, staring at the man.
The fierce momentum that had been unleashed from him dissipated as he asked with sudden courtesy.
“Could you possibly be…… my uncle?”
“Yes, you troublemaking nephew.”
“Oh…… greetings to you?”
“Greetings cannot be had. How on earth am I to clean up this mess…… ugh.”
Peng Man Do released a sigh so heavy it seemed the ground might collapse, then surveyed the surroundings.
Nearly a thousand spectators stood motionless, watching Namgung Ho Yeon in stunned silence—not a pin could be heard dropping.
‘Too much attention has been drawn. Or is this a blessing in disguise? So many people witnessed Hak Gyeong’s assassination technique.’
Even the Cheong Seong Sect would find it difficult to manipulate public opinion on such a scale.
There seemed to be a way forward, however.
“How is So Hwa doing?”
“My mother is doing well enough, I suppose.”
“Tell her that I am faring poorly because of you.”
“…….”
“Nephew. Sheathe your blade.”
“……Yes.”
With a soft sound, Namgung Ho Yeon reluctantly sheathed the Cheonrae Geom, glancing at it with visible regret. Peng Man Do sighed again and gestured dismissively.
“Stop dwelling on it and go inside quietly.”
“Yes, understood!”
“What is it?”
“About the Ranking Examination…….”
Namgung Ho Yeon scratched the back of his head as he asked. Peng Man Do let out a hollow laugh and spoke.
“Go on. Disappear with the evening crowd.”
“Right.”
Tap!
Watching Namgung Ho Yeon descend from the Arena as if in flight, Peng Man Do muttered in exasperation.
“So Hwa, where exactly is the charm in that boy? Is he truly your son? What kind of fighting cock is he…….”
The boy was incomprehensible in many ways, but one thing was certain.
A young wave had crashed into Baekmu Academy.

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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
—————