Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 167

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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 167. The Sword Specter’s Passion and the Arm King
A colossal explosion, nearly a hundred zhang in height, seized the attention of all eyes upon the Yangtze River.
The festival of flames, arriving at the ghosts’ season, illuminated the darkened surroundings as though the Gate of Ghosts itself had swung open.
Whoosh! Crackle-crackle!
On the river, dozens of vessels brought by the Yangtze Waterway Alliance burned all at once.
They resembled floating lanterns guiding lost souls to their final rest.
Splash! Splash!
“Hack—hack—! Urgh!”
As a result, deep shadows fell across Mo Yong Hak’s face as he waded toward the shore.
Those shadows seemed to foretell that his life ahead would be anything but smooth.
“Argh! Damn it all!”
Mo Yong Hak, who had barely survived the explosion through Fire Element Qi Manipulation, let out a howl of anguish.
The organization tolerates no mistakes.
Moreover, this operation had been planned by the Chief Strategist himself, invested with great expectations.
“Hehehe! It’s over now…! I’ve lost everything again…!”
Third son of the Mo Yong Family and former master of Cheongmun, now a fugitive on the run.
Having scraped together the remnants of Cheongmun’s scattered forces and threw himself into the organization, clawing his way up through sheer desperation.
Only to plummet from the cliff once more.
Now there remained not even a spark of rekindling.
What burned within him was not the flames of Hell itself, but pure, consuming vengeance.
“Namgung Ho Yeon! Namgung Ho Yeooooon!”
Capillaries ruptured, tears of blood streaming down his face as Mo Yong Hak screamed the name of his enemy.
Now only one force drove him forward.
Revenge against Namgung Ho Yeon.
“I’ll make you know the pain of losing everything! Your family! Your friends! Your lover! I’ll slaughter them all!”
As former master of Cheongmun, Mo Yong Hak possessed access to countless extreme poisons.
He would stop at nothing to poison Namgung Ho Yeon’s loved ones, letting them wither away in agony.
Then Namgung Ho Yeon would despair, and watching his suffering might ease his own bitter anguish.
“Kekekeke! Despair! I swear I’ll wring tears of blood from your eyes…!”
“Insignificant Insect—that’s you.”
“Huh?!”
At the sudden voice, Mo Yong Hak’s head snapped around.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
A man emerged from the Yangtze, dripping wet as a drowned rat—Namgung Ho Yeon.
He regarded the astounded Mo Yong Hak and spoke.
“Hey, you dried fish peddler. Do I have to shed bloody tears again? Getting tired of this?”
“Y-you bastard!”
“Now I remember. You’re Mo Yong Hak, aren’t you? Surprising you’re still alive.”
Ho Yeon recognized him and let out a soft laugh.
During the Baekga Geom-hoe, he’d captured the master of Baeknyak Sanjang, but Mo Yong Hak had vanished without a trace.
Given that he’d received Jiseon’s Secret Art, Ho Yeon knew a connection to the organization existed, yet it seemed the man had been living as their pawn all this while.
“I heard you’d been designated a Martial World Public Enemy. Well, well—even the Mo Yong Family can be decisive. Still, he’s blood.”
“Because of you! If you hadn’t existed! I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
“Blaming the victim—you’ve got nerve.”
At Mo Yong Hak’s outcry, Ho Yeon smirked.
“Whining over a mere couple years as a public enemy? You’re in no position to talk after more than twenty years on the run, senior.”
“You damned bastard!”
Clang!
Taking Ho Yeon’s words as mockery, Mo Yong Hak drew his sword in a burst of speed.
‘From the blood spilled on the deck, he’s clearly not in peak condition. I can take him!’
Hope flickered like flame in the eyes of Mo Yong Hak, who moments before had known only despair.
If he could capture this man.
He could rise again.
Whoosh!
Treading the Blue Snake Smoke Step, Mo Yong Hak’s form undulated like a serpent woven from smoke as he closed in on Ho Yeon.
Simultaneously, he spun the Red Flame Heaven Dao Divine Technique at full force, and as he unleashed Fire Element Qi Manipulation, scorching true qi erupted along his blade.
“Argh!”
Slash!
Sweeping the flaming blade horizontally at blinding speed, fire tore through the air—the Red Flame Breaking Void Strike cleaved toward Ho Yeon’s waist.
Crash!
Clang!
Namgung Ho Yeon drew the Cheonrae Geom in response, and a flash of blue light erupted, sending Mo Yong Hak sprawling beyond one zhang away.
“Hyaaaah!”
Crack! Crackle-crackle-crack!
Mo Yong Hak engulfed his entire body in flames using the Flame Avatar Transformation technique, then charged at Namgung Ho Yeon once more.
The heat was scorching enough to melt bone—ordinarily, one couldn’t even approach it—yet Namgung Ho Yeon’s expression remained maddeningly indifferent.
“Hmph. That all you’ve got?”
“Die!”
Whistle-whistle-whistle-whoosh!
As Mo Yong Hak unleashed a barrage of thrusts, the Hot Flame Penetrating Infusion technique erupted in succession like a phoenix’s beating wings.
This method, if even a single strike landed, would drive scorching true qi through the meridians and cause internal burns—it carried a penetrating technique mixed within.
‘I’ll scorch him slowly to death.’
The instant a cruel smile flickered across Mo Yong Hak’s lips, Namgung Ho Yeon’s expression went cold.
“Tsk. I was a fool to expect anything.”
Boom!
At that same moment, the raging phoenix-like flames engulfing Mo Yong Hak shrank to sparrow size.
“What—what is this!”
Whistle!
In the horrified Mo Yong Hak’s vision, a beautiful circular sword arc appeared—like washing the moon in a sea of clouds—engulfing the Hot Flame Penetrating Infusion.
Ring!
Following the Cloud Sea Cleansing Moon technique, which dissolved the momentum through the subtlety of rotation, came the diagonal slice of the Azure Heaven Single Stroke technique.
Whistle-crack!
That motion—drawing a single line across the blue sky—resembled a master calligrapher pouring all their heart into painting orchids.
“Ugh!”
Thud-thud-thud!
As Mo Yong Hak stumbled backward, blood streaming from his chest, Namgung Ho Yeon’s voice reached his ears.
“You stole Spirit Energy from kids and awakened Fire Element Qi Manipulation—at least use it properly. Is this it? All you can do is mix true qi with it to expand your strike range?”
“Nngh!”
“If Dou-il had seen this, he’d have laughed in your face. That’s not how you play with fire. You need at least this much.”
As Namgung Ho Yeon spoke with contempt, he flicked his finger.
Snap!
Boom!
Then sparks burst forth directly before Mo Yong Hak, blazing with white-hot brilliance.
“Aaaagh!”
Blinded by the brilliant flash, Mo Yong Hak gasped, but Namgung Ho Yeon—eyes already closed—advanced rapidly, closing the distance.
Tap-tap-tap!
Whoosh!
Then a clenched fist rose as if to split the heavens, and the violent wind pressure stripped away Mo Yong Hak’s Flame Avatar Transformation.
Crash! Crunch!
The Heavenly Divine Splitting Strike, rising together with the Dragon Fist Wind, struck Mo Yong Hak’s jaw dead on, shattering the bone to powder.
Thud!
“Gack… hack…”
Looking down at Mo Yong Hak sprawled flat, eyes rolled back, Namgung Ho Yeon muttered to himself.
“Can’t kill him—that would be troublesome. Just broke the jaw. I’ll drag him to the Academy for a proper interrogation… what?!”
Crackle-crack-crack—!
Just as Namgung Ho Yeon approached the fallen Mo Yong Hak.
Something tore through the air with devastating force and shot toward him.
Thunk!
“Damn! Tsk!”
Namgung Ho Yeon reflexively dodged, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
Crackle-crackle!
A Trident Spear carrying Revolving Silk Strength embedded itself in the fallen Mo Yong Hak, grinding his upper body to pulp.
Instant death.
“Kheh-heh-heh! Tricked by that damned bastard—what mess have I been dragged into!”
Splash! Splash! Splash!
A man emerged from the Yangtze River, half-naked, his hair and eyebrows completely singed, cut a pathetic figure.
Beholding the man, whose entire body was covered in blistering sores in a hideous state, Namgung Ho Yeon let out a whistle.
“Whistle! Impressive—farming barnacles on your body now, are we?”
“Kraaagh! You lousy bastard! Having fun? Your turn’s next, you son of a bitch!”
Ping—!
Snap!
As Chu Taek pulled hard on his right hand, the Trident Spear lodged in Mo Yong Hak’s body was wrenched free and seized firmly in his grip.
‘Heavenly Silkworm Thread?’
Namgung Ho Yeon’s brow twitched.
It was a thin thread barely visible to the naked eye.
Mere thread surviving that massive explosion and remaining intact after being shot with Revolving Silk Strength? Impossible.
It was undoubtedly Heavenly Silkworm Thread—extracted from a Heavenly Silkworm, a creature of the spirit realm.
“How dare you blast my naval fleet to pieces? Don’t think you’ll walk away from this alive!”
Crash-crash-crash!
Three tendrils of energy force erupted from Chu Taek’s Trident Spear.
He was clearly a warrior standing at the threshold of a great wall.
‘This isn’t good.’
The man had taken external wounds, but none that dealt internal injury.
By contrast, Ho Yeon had rushed straight to the Three Gorge Barrier after his fierce exchange with the two disciples and spent himself deactivating the True Heavenly Thunder, leaving himself exhausted.
His Spirit Energy had been depleted long ago, and the true qi remaining in his Qi Sea Acupoint was less than half full.
That was precisely why he’d refrained from using the Cheonrae Gi—a technique that consumed vast quantities of qi—when facing Mo Yong Hak. Now this toad-faced creature had to show up.
“Heh, fine by me. Constraints like these are what make it fair.”
Clang!
Ho Yeon raised the Cheonrae Geom and took his stance.
‘That man can use the Heavenly Silkworm Thread to repeat his throws again and again. The trident’s three prongs widen the strike radius while allowing him to catch an opponent’s weapon between the tines and twist. If that’s the case…….’
Ho Yeon’s eyes gleamed with spirited awareness as he worked through his countermeasure.
“Harmony without contention, harmony begets enlightenment, may compassion guide us all in harmonious accord.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With the quiet Buddha’s words, a Buddhist nun in a white monastic robe walked forth.
Her wrinkled face and white hair, the white prayer beads around her neck and the long sword at her waist—she approached with a compassionate smile.
“Patrons, I beg you to cease this conflict. Fighting is the root of all evil. All quarrels and discord spring from the greed, anger, and delusion dwelling within the human heart. Combat begets only endless suffering.”
“……what?”
“Who the hell is this old bitch? Stop spouting nonsense and get lost! Before I strip that shriveled hide and use it as a rag!”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
The nun’s smile deepened at Chu Taek’s coarse profanities.
“Speech is the mirror of the mind. Those who demean others through harsh words and curses possess clouded hearts, destroy their relations, and compound their karmic burden.”
“Ha! Go preach at your temple! Keep up this tedious droning and I’ll strip you bare and flog you till you beg for mercy! I can almost hear it now—kahahaha!”
The nun’s smile remained radiant as she regarded Chu Taek.
Yet Ho Yeon sensed something unsettling beneath it and spoke swiftly.
“You’re absolutely right. One should speak beautifully. That fellow……no, that gentleman was in the wrong.”
“Hoho, still the Ho Yeon I know. You understand the Buddha’s teachings well.”
“What? You know each other? Ha, so reinforcements arrived in the form of a decrepit nun. Kahahaha! I’ll open both of you up!”
Clang!
As Chu Taek raised the energy-laden Trident Spear, golden light flashed in the nun’s eyes.
The Ami Sect’s divine skill—the Avalokiteshvara Golden Peak Divine Technique was being activated.
“A person may stumble. Yet to remain fallen is folly. If you would repent of your errors now…….”
“Damn you, you wretch!”
Crack!
The nun’s smile shattered.
In place of the Bodhisattva’s gentleness came the cold sneer of a Wisdom King.
“Thousand Hands Comfort All Beings’ Suffering.”
The nun’s declaration—that a thousand hands would soothe the suffering of all sentient beings—erupted forth.
Then came a sight beyond comprehension.
Boom!
From behind the nun’s form burst an auspicious golden radiance.
That brilliance took shape, forming forty-two arms and hands.
Each of the forty-two hands wielded an array of weapons, all bristling with sharp, terrible energy in great torrents.
“Wh……at?”
Whoosh!
While Chu Taek stood frozen, staring at the golden light, the nun’s form blurred before materializing suddenly before his eyes.
She had deployed a Different Form Encirclement Position using the supreme Immovable Wisdom King Step, embodying the mystery of Use Stillness to Control Movement.
“Ugh?!”
“Thousand Suffering Annihilated.”
With her declaration to obliterate a thousand sufferings, the forty-two arms moved as one.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-crash!
In one hand wielding a sword, she unfurled the Golden Peak Sword, Chaotic Wind-Scattering Sword, Great Luo Sumeru Wisdom Sword, Absolute Severance Sword, and more.
Screech! Screech-screech!
In the other hand wielding a blade, she deployed the Golden Light Blade, Subduing Tiger Blade, Thousand Buddhas Precept Blade, Demon-Subduing Buddha Blade, and the rest.
Boom! Crash-boom-boom!
Her bare hands unleashed the Golden Peak Cotton Palm, Grasping Cloud Palm, Green Jade Palm, Cutting Hand Palm, and other palm techniques in relentless succession.
All of this unfolded in the span of a heartbeat.
Shatter-crash-crash!
Whoosh-crack-crack!
The Trident Spear, having taken the brunt of these ultimate techniques, crumbled to dust.
Chu Taek vomited blood from all seven acupoints and collapsed to his knees, limp as a severed string.
Thud! Collapse!
“……Insane.”
Namgung Ho Yeon muttered upon seeing Chu Taek’s horrific state.
Every muscle meridian in his body had been severed, his Dan Tian shattered, and yet some thread of life remained.
Unless he received the blessing of the Great Luo Immortal himself, he would never again live as a martial artist.
“……So you’re called the King of Great Compassion.”
“Heh-heh, the tale has grown distorted over time, it seems. In truth, I was originally called by another name—one meaning ‘the Eight Arms that Chastise Folly.'”
“…….”
At Geumjeong’s words, Namgung Ho Yeon fell silent.
‘So it was the King of Arms, not the King of Compassion?’
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
He watched as the forty-two arms vanished into the darkness, then asked, “Is that your Myriad Forms from One Mind technique?”
“Ho, you’re familiar with it?”
“Well, not the details. I only know the name, really.”
“Heh-heh, as expected. It’s called the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva technique. Though I’ve still a long way to go before reaching the full thousand.”
Geumjeong smiled and tapped her lower back playfully.
“Would you help move him? Age has robbed me of my strength, I’m afraid.”
“……Yes.”
As Namgung Ho Yeon lifted the ruined Chu Taek with a grimace, Geumjeong nodded and spoke.
“Well done. You’ve saved Jegal Ahyeon.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I destroyed several gorges on my way here, you know.”
“Several? Why on earth did you do that?”
“Heh-heh, ask that girl Jegal Ahyeon—aren’t you two close? Remarkable child, truly. Brilliant wit.”
“Well……anyway. I trust you’ll keep your word.”
“Hmm?”
“The performance evaluation. You said you’d give me a perfect score.”
“Ah, that. How unexpected. I didn’t take you for one to fret over such things.”
“Don’t even get me started. My mother’s relentless about it. She contacts me once a week asking about my grades, without fail.”
“Ho?”
“Could you write her a letter? Just one line saying I’m doing well. That’s all I ask.”
“Ho-ho-ho, very well.”
Turning their backs on the dying flames,
the old and the young descended the hillside, conversing quietly together.

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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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