Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 211

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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 211. The Geom-gwi Falls, the Sword Emperor Trapped
Bang! Bang! Crash!
“Ah…….”
Namgung Baek watched the display of superhuman martial prowess unfolding before him with admiration.
“When did he grow so formidable?”
Once a child as fair and delicate as a blossom.
His youngest, who had given him endless worry with frequent illness.
It seemed only yesterday that he swung his sword with such fervent determination to revive the Namgung Clan.
“He has surpassed his father.”
Namgung Baek murmured to himself.
His voice carried the weight of conflicted emotion.
There was joy, there was pride, there was satisfaction—but beneath them all lay a wistful, inexplicable pang of loss.
He wished to keep his son longer in his arms, to dry his tears and offer comfort, yet already the boy had dried his own wings and spread them toward the vast open sky, soaring with his own strength.
Watching him take flight, Namgung Baek felt his chest swell with a torrent of mingled feelings.
“Go then, fly high and far. This father will follow soon enough.”
Clench!
Namgung Baek clenched his fists with grim resolve.
The world of the Martial World was far too treacherous to let his son soar alone.
“Wait a little longer. I will catch up to you somehow, and we shall face the wind together.”
“Squeak!”
Baek Seol O cried out from Namgung Baek’s shoulder in what seemed a cheer of encouragement.
When the fierce surge of force erupted, the beast had retreated to the safety of the man’s side.
The duel rushed toward its conclusion.
“White Tiger Kill!”
A piercing wail split the air—
As Ho Yeon brought down his Thunder Lightning blade in a wide arc, Peng Hwan seized the great sword across his back.
Roooaaargh—!
“Nngh!”
“Yipe!”
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
A colossal explosion erupted, and a violent gust thick with dust and debris swept across the arena.
Namgung Baek shielded himself with both arms, eyes narrowed against the onslaught, while Baek Seol O burrowed into his embrace.
Thrum.
With one final faint tremor, the dust slowly began to settle.
The Yeon Gong Sil lay devastated beyond any further use.
“Hah! Hah! Hah!”
Thunk!
Ho Yeon, his exhaustion evident, planted the Heukya Tae Geom into the ground to lean upon it like a staff.
Before him stood Peng Hwan, his expression one of dismay, who muttered in a voice as rigid as stone.
“…… Extraordinary.”
Crackle! Spark-spark-spark!
White Cheonrae Gi gnawed at Peng Hwan’s entire body, the lightning’s fangs searching relentlessly for any weakness to exploit.
Yet the only marks left upon Peng Hwan were scorched skin, disheveled hair, and a singed beard.
“Huff…… I won, didn’t I?”
Ho Yeon steadied his breathing, his gaze fixed on Peng Hwan’s right hand.
Grrring!
Peng Hwan’s war blade, the Myeol Jeol Do, weighing over a hundred pounds, howled with a heavy, ominous presence.
Thud!
Peng Hwan, slinging the Myeol Jeol Do across his shoulder, looked down at Ho Yeon and asked.
“Hmm, you seem to have strength left, I’d say?”
“No, no—I’m spent. Truly. My insides feel like they’re splitting.”
Thump!
Ho Yeon collapsed to the ground, and Peng Hwan’s lips twitched as a thought crossed his mind.
‘There is something. That uncanny sensation creeping across my skin. This is not the end.’
Hiding strength?
Could it be that he held back reserve power in this contest against this master of the blade?
“Heh, heheheh.”
Peng Hwan broke into a broad laugh, studying Ho Yeon intently.
A lovely child with fair skin and rosy lips, high cheekbones and a sharp jawline—features that reminded him of his daughter in her youth.
Though the boy appeared frail, as if he had never tasted meat, Peng Hwan smiled with satisfaction and nodded slowly.
“Excellent. You are truly a person of the Martial World.”
“Pardon?”
“At any moment, one must keep a card hidden, a contingency for the future. I don’t know what you’re concealing, but sharpen it well.”
……
Ho Yeon neither confirmed nor denied Peng Hwan’s words, spoken with such conviction.
Peng Hwan chuckled at that stance and secured the Myeol Jeol Do across his back as he spoke.
Click!
“Seeing our grandson, I’m certain now. The Namgung Clan has indeed inherited the Gangi Essential Doctrine.”
“The Gangi Essential Doctrine?”
“The fundamental principles of Gangi—the process of moving from Indirect Gangi to Direct Gangi, and the Three-Origin Gangi spanning Plain Weave, Warp Weave, and Twill Weave. It’s the Gangi Doctrine itself.”
“How did grandfather know about that?”
Ho Yeon’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
‘Those were just terms I coined back then, weren’t they?’
The Three-Origin Gangi had been inspired by the Three-Origin Organization that he’d learned from Cheon Gyeol Jik Nyeo.
How could Peng Hwan possibly know about such a makeshift terminology?
At Ho Yeon’s reaction, Peng Hwan burst into hearty laughter.
“Ha-ha! Of course I know. Three hundred years ago, the greatest master under heaven—Geom-gwi Dan Wee Myeong established those very terms.”
……Wait, what?”
“Back in those days, different schools called their Gangi-weaving methods by different names, but Geom-gwi spread his enlightenment far and wide by likening it to the Thousand Weave, and it solidified into a unified system of martial study.”
……
“I don’t know what he was thinking, spreading his secrets about like that, but thanks to him, rumors about the Gangi Essential Doctrine spread quietly and became established as a complete martial philosophy.”
Sigh……
As Ho Yeon exhaled in disbelief, a memory of a certain audacious child flickered through his mind.
“Master!”
“Who’s your master? Get lost.”
“I’ll be sure to spread word of your greatness to future generations!”
“Is this brat insane?”
“The world knows so little about you! Geom-gwi? No, you’re the Sword Saint! Obscured only by Uigi Yeondong, but you—you are truly one beloved by the sword itself!”
“Should I kill you?”
The orphan boy who had dogged his every step came to mind.
Come to think of it, out of sheer boredom, he’d lectured that brat on what Gangi was, this way and that……
‘Dancheon Hun! Was this your doing?!’
Grit!
Ho Yeon gnashed his teeth.
What in the blazes did that madman do?
He went around broadcasting every detail of it?
Peng Hwan shook his head and spoke.
“Either way, Geom-gwi. A man without his wits.”
“……I’m the one wronged here.”
“This old man thinks the same. Of all people, for Geom-gwi to be elevated as a patriarch of martial learning. Tsk tsk, the saying ‘first to move, sure to win’ is a hundred times right.”
While Peng Hwan and Ho Yeon each lamented for their own reasons,
Namgung Baek, who had been listening to the conversation, tilted his head.
‘Wait, then something doesn’t add up. The 『Gangi Compendium』 that Ho Yeon handed me—that’s the enlightenment of our patriarch, Namgung Cheon Gang, the Sword Sage of Heaven. How could the patriarch’s enlightenment be identical to Geom-gwi’s?’
Namgung Baek found himself caught in this puzzle.
He could stretch his understanding to allow that their enlightenments were the same—there was the principle of All Rivers Return to the Sea, after all.
But the fact that even their terminology matched was harder to comprehend.
Could there have been some sort of connection between the patriarch and Geom-gwi?
‘I’ll have to search through the 『Record of the Azure Sky』.’
As Namgung Baek pondered this, Peng Hwan asked Ho Yeon,
“So, what does our grandson wish to ask this grandfather for? If there’s someone causing trouble, shall I teach them a lesson?”
“I’m curious about something.”
“Curious? Speak then.”
“Well, it’s like this……”
As Ho Yeon smiled meaningfully, Heuk Ya cried out in alarm.
―Hey! Surely you’re not……!
‘I asked you to tell me. If I keep stalling like this, even rice will turn to porridge.’
―No way! Better not to know! Besides, you already……!
‘Hmph, enough. Knowledge is power.’
Cutting off Heuk Ya’s protests, Ho Yeon turned to Peng Hwan with eager anticipation in his expression.
“Please teach me about All Phenomena Are Mind-Only.”
“……!”
The moment Namgung Ho Yeon finished speaking.
Peng Hwan’s face contorted like a demon’s mask, and he shot out his hand with lightning speed, seizing Namgung Ho Yeon by the collar and yanking him upward.
Thud! Crack!
“Who are you!”
“Hack! Hack!”
“Who did you hear this from!”
“Ugh! What are you talking about…….”
“Speak!”
Peng Hwan’s face flushed crimson as he roared like an enraged tiger.
“Who dared plant Heart Poison in my grandson!”
* * *
“Hehehehe, the moon is truly beautiful tonight.”
“It is, sir.”
“You’re like a piece of wood. Those who cannot perceive beauty in nature will find no radiance within themselves either.”
“Is that so, sir?”
“Of course. The world we behold is not some bare objective reality, but merely a representation reconstructed within the mind.”
Creak.
Mo Yong Sang Cheon turned with a smile.
Standing before him was Mo Yong Mu Gyeol, the head of the Moyong Clan—a neat-bearded middle-aged man dressed in perfectly tailored robes.
“For beauty is not an objective property inherent to things themselves, but merely something created in the process by which our consciousness receives and interprets it.”
“I see, sir.”
“My son, the world appears so beautiful to me. Do you know why?”
“I confess I do not, sir.”
“Tsk, tsk. You never listen to a word I say.”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon shook his head and continued.
“The method of perceiving beauty is very simple. One need only be prepared within to recognize beauty, and that suffices.”
“I shall endeavor to understand, sir.”
“Tut-tut, even when I impart wisdom, your ears will not hear it, so only this old fool grows senile.”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon clicked his tongue disapprovingly and nodded for him to proceed.
Thereupon Mo Yong Mu Gyeol delivered his report.
“Seom Mu Dan has invaded Yanggang, Ochen, and Leiju, reclaiming the southern reaches of Guangdong Province.”
“Hmm.”
“Consequently, Pae Cheon’s eastern advance has been checked, and Sipsamhaeng, seizing that opportunity, has cut off supply lines and brought the frontline to a stalemate.”
“I see.”
“Furthermore, they have persuaded the fortresses of the Xiamen Archipelago, the Fuzhou great houses, and most notably Wuyi Palace to commit to sending reinforcements.”
“Forces from Fujian Province, then. True enough—they too feel the heat. If Guangdong falls, they’re next.”
“I believe such achievements warrant clan-level support, sir.”
“Hmm…….”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon let out a long, contemplative sigh before shaking his head.
“Enough.”
“Father?”
“I won’t fertilize a puppet’s roots.”
“Sir?”
“Mo Yong Cheol. That worthless wretch failed my final test.”
A cold, mirthless smile played across Mo Yong Sang Cheon’s lips.
“Cut him down. He’s no longer needed.”
……
“Tut-tut, a failed harvest, truly. The eldest is too mediocre, the second is broken, the third and fourth are dead.”
……
“Had even one grandson performed as well as you, I’d have pushed him forward. Yet not a single one pleases me.”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon sighed, and Mo Yong Mu Gyeol regarded him with an unmoved expression.
Neither spoke of their grandson and son in any manner resembling normal affection.
Mo Yong Sang Cheon smacked his lips and spoke again.
“Pity. If that boy were my grandson, it would have been something indeed…….”
“Do you mean Namgung Ho Yeon, sir?”
“Yes—the one called the Thunder Divine General?”
“The very same. He drove Docheon completely from Anhui and even established countermeasures against him.”
“How strange that such a difference exists. Does the will of the master truly flower in later generations?”
Though his tone suggested lamentation, Mo Yong Sang Cheon’s wrinkled lips curled in a smile of unmistakable delight.
“Heh heh, so you’ve finally climbed onto the wall. I’ve waited such a long time for this.”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon wet his lips with his tongue.
A burning thirst filled him.
Can you quench this thirst of mine?
“What a clever child you are. That’s precisely why you’ll break more easily than others.”
Mo Yong Sang Cheon murmured the words with ominous weight.
Cleverness.
The first character means keen hearing, the second means keen sight.
Thus a clever person is one who hears well and sees well.
“Just as a person with overly sensitive nerves collapses of their own accord, so too do you stumble because you have heard and seen far too much.”
Grin!
Mo Yong Sang Cheon’s lips twisted into a grotesque smile.
“Heh heh, and now that you hear and see not through your own perception, but through what others have shown you, I wonder—can you maintain Mind-Only to the very end?”
Come now, child of Jang Hak.
Surprise me once more this time.

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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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