Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 22

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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 22. The Sword Demon Cuts Down Thieves
“…… Is the brat insane?”
Mak Cheon Ak watched the man in blue robes approaching with light steps, his brow furrowed.
Seeing him wear two swords at his waist for no good reason, he was clearly some pampered young master playing at elegance.
“Khehehe! Well then, the pretty one will fetch a decent price.”
“And you look just like a mackerel. I’d bet you stink. Ugh.”
“W-what did you say?!”
“Pffft!”
“Hehehehe!”
As Ho Yeon held his nose and made a retching gesture, laughter erupted from all directions.
“You…… little rat!”
Mak Cheon Ak’s face flushed crimson as the young boy insulted him before his men.
“Seize that brat! Bring him in alive! I’ll pay ten gold coins to whoever captures him!”
“Uooooh!”
“Charge!”
“The gold is mine!”
Thud-thud-thud! Thud-a-thud-thud!
At Mak Cheon Ak’s shout, the bandits rushed at Ho Yeon in a wave.
Ten gold coins was a fortune—enough to carouse comfortably in town for months.
Ho Yeon muttered disdainfully as he watched their scramble.
“Moths to a flame, all of them.”
—Don’t use me, fool. I’d rather not be soiled with dirty blood.
“What? A sword that hates being bloodied? That’s grounds for dismissal, surely?”
—Ahem! I’m no ordinary blade—I’m the Gon Dae Geom. The elderly deserve proper respect, after all.
“Well, I was planning to use the Yu Ae Geom anyway. You’re too sharp, old one—no finesse.”
—Excuse me?
After finishing his conversation with the Cheon Roe Geom, Ho Yeon drew the Yu Ae Geom with a faint smile.
Whoosh!
‘It’s been a while.’
Though they called him the Great Killing Star, he’d never been fond of murder for its own sake.
But after more than a year drowning in peace, he sometimes craved this kind of air.
‘Returning to the Murim. It was necessary. It’s been over two months since I last used the Yeom Ryeok Heup Hoe.’
The Yeom Ryeok Heup Hoe left scars on the surroundings, so it couldn’t be carelessly overused.
That’s why he’d stopped after draining all the Earth Force from the Northern Fields.
‘Yet even so, I’ve reached the First Jiapzi Level of Inner Energy. An insane achievement at this age.’
Back when he was the Geom Gwi, he’d developed the Yeom Ryeok Heup Hoe and built First Jiapzi Level Inner Energy around thirty years old.
Achieving it at roughly half that age was an almost unbelievable feat.
It was proof of how abundant the Earth Force had been in the Northern Fields.
‘And Spirit Power grows sharply in extreme circumstances. Though these buffoons hardly qualify as such.’
Ho Yeon watched the bandits rushing toward him in disarray, without technique or footwork, and licked his lips.
“Hmm, yes. Footwork first—that’s the right way to begin.”
Crack!
Ho Yeon kicked off the ground and began a lecture, just as he had at the Se Family.
“Among the countless footwork techniques of this family, mastering the Infinite Step alone will ensure you’re never outmatched.”
“Ha! The gold is mine!”
“Infinity is Heaven, Earth, and All Things—the Supreme Ultimate, Primal Moment, Primal Time, Primal Void, Yellow Extreme, Non-Extreme, Supreme Ultimate, Two Forms, Four Aspects, Eight Trigrams, sixty-four hexagrams, three hundred eighty-four lines. The Infinite Step concerns the transformations of the Eight Trigrams.”
Whoosh!
Even as an axe fell toward his head, Ho Yeon moved with effortless grace, utterly untroubled.
Swish!
“The Kan Step, in particular, symbolizes the fluidity of water—you must move continuously, like water that never ceases to flow.”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
As Ho Yeon moved like flowing water, his form wavered with changing heights, undulating like a tidal wave.
“H-huh? Wh-what…?!”
Thunk!
The bandit wielding the axe had no chance—his throat was pierced cleanly by the Yu Ae Geom.
Dead in an instant.
“Y-you bastard!”
A bandit standing nearby, having witnessed his comrade’s death, hefted a massive dao high.
“The Son Step is a variety of Gyeong Gong—it lightens the body and allows swift penetration like the wind.”
Whoosh! Crash!
But the bandit raising his blade was cut down in an instant—Ho Yeon plunged into his chest and severed his carotid artery.
“The Jin Step is an extraordinarily swift footwork that shifts direction as lightning changes course, using explosive momentum.”
Crack! Splinter!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Ho Yeon’s thighs swelled as though ready to burst, his ankles and knees bending at impossible angles.
In the next breath, he moved like lightning in a jagged zigzag, cutting down three bandits before their eyes could even blink.
“Ah—ahhh!”
“What—what in the hell!”
“The boy’s a master!”
Five men dead in mere moments—blinded by greed for ten taels of gold, the surviving bandits turned pale and bolted.
“The Li Step rises intensely like roaring flame, carrying the body skyward in a leap.”
Bang!
But with just one push of his feet, Ho Yeon dropped straight down into the center of the fleeing bandits.
“Kill them all!”
“Damn it!”
“Hyaaaah!”
Caught off guard, the bandits formed an encirclement, swinging swords, sabres, spears, and axes at him.
“The Gon Step maintains a low, stable stance that yields and absorbs—it channels the shock through Yong Cheon Hyeol and disperses it, the footwork of earth itself.”
Clang! Ding-ding-ding!
Yet Ho Yeon stood firm against every blow, as though fused with the earth itself—not a single tremor ran through him.
“The Gan Step harnesses the principle of the Thousand-Jin Weight, drawing rebound force from the ground itself and driving it through the blade—each step must land heavy and immovable, like a mountain’s weight.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Then Ho Yeon stamped with Jin Gak, his feet thundering into the earth, channeling all that rebound force and his body’s mass into his blade.
Screech!
Clang!
The bandits’ weapons shattered like cheap pottery under the full force of his strike.
“Ah—aahhh! Hack!”
“Please—spare me…… Gagh!”
“I—I beg……!”
Thump-thump-thump!
Disarmed and frozen in terror, the bandits fell with tiny pinpricks of blood blooming between their brows.
It was as though Death itself had reached out a finger and claimed their lives in judgment.
“You bastard!”
Then a man charged toward Ho Yeon, both fists raised and ready.
Whoosh!
His massive fist, large as a boulder, crackled with yellow Fist Energy.
“Master Gam Ram Pyeong!”
“Thousand Peak Iron Fist!”
“Crush that whelp for us!”
The man was one of the top-tier masters among Wa Ho Chae’s subsidiary lords—a master of First-Class Realm.
Gam Ram Pyeong, the Thousand Peak Iron Fist.
“Hyaaaah!”
Gam Ram Pyeong, undeceived by his opponent’s youthful appearance, unleashed his full power from the start—a single devastating punch.
‘Iron Fist Breaks the Mountain!’
A strike of such overwhelming force that it felt like a thousand arms shattering stone itself.
‘The boy lacks the strength to withstand it—I’ll crush him with this blow!’
Gam Ram Pyeong was certain his Iron Fist Breaks the Mountain would be unstoppable.
But.
“The Tae Step destabilizes an enemy’s balance, trapping them as though in a marsh—combined with the principles of Blossom-Grafting, its power doubles.”
Whirl! Click!
Moving like a serpent in a winding pattern, Ho Yeon drew the flat of his blade around Gam Ram Pyeong’s fist, spinning it in a lazy circle.
“Wh—what?”
Whoosh!
Stripped of his balance, Gam Ram Pyeong’s fist sailed uselessly through empty air.
“Argh!”
‘Ten Thousand Stone Torrential Rain!’
Pound-pound-pound-pound!
Gam Ram Pyeong gritted his teeth and unleashed a barrage of wild punches.
But each time he entered Ho Yeon’s sphere, the rhythm of his technique stuttered and broke.
Having stretched his limbs for the first time in ages, Ho Yeon smiled with satisfaction, and continued his words.
“And lastly, the Geon Step is the walk of an emperor who commands Heaven, Earth, and All Things, just as the sky expands in all directions.”
Whoom—!
Ho Yeon’s will resonated with the Chang Goong Dae Yeon Sin Gong, and azure light began to bloom outward from his presence.
‘I, I can’t move……!’
Gam Ram Pyeong felt his body stiffen in that instant.
Like a rabbit before a tiger, his knees buckled, and his mind went blank.
‘I have to run…… but…….’
And that was Gam Ram Pyeong’s final thought.
Slice!
Splash!
Ho Yeon walked forward with such perfect ease, finding his target as naturally as returning to a forgotten possession—and severed Gam Ram Pyeong’s neck in a single motion.
Against the backdrop of the corpse spraying blood from its severed neck, Ho Yeon smiled brightly and spoke.
“Thus the Eight Trigrams converge into infinity. The Infinite Step is the very path that Nam Goong walks.”
Footwork lesson concluded.
Chul Geom Dae, all members.
Applause.
* * *
The surroundings had grown noticeably darker since an hour before.
Some twenty corpses strewn about appeared even redder in the torchlight.
The casualties amounted to less than a tenth of their total force, yet the bandits of Wa Ho Chae reacted with alarm.
The sheer overwhelming nature of the encounter was to blame.
“Wh, what kind of child…….”
“This can’t be real! Gam Ram Pyeong is a First-Class master!”
“……He toyed with him. Could it be…… Peak Realm?!”
While turbulent murmurs rippled through the Wa Ho Chae bandits.
The Chul Geom Dae clapped with admiration written across their faces.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
“What a lord you are! Simply magnificent!”
“My, and this your first real combat, if I’m not mistaken. Such decisiveness in every strike!”
“A natural martial artist indeed. That—that is Nam Goong! That is the Infinite Step!”
“Did you see that final Geon Step? It was like the Imperial Sword Form itself!”
“That can’t be. The Imperial Sword Form belongs to the Family Head’s Technique.”
From the start, the Chul Geom Dae had never doubted their youngest lord’s victory.
Yet they had not expected him to handle it so cleanly, with the practiced ease of someone who had done it hundreds, thousands of times.
“Heh, he employed no sword techniques to speak of. He merely thrust and cut. Surely he was demonstrating the Infinite Step for our instruction.”
Seo Seon Rim, listening to these words from Geuk Ji Ryang the Chul Geom Dae leader, found himself at a loss.
‘Demonstrating…… instruction?’
Seo Seon Rim glanced sideways at Geuk Ji Ryang.
He himself was a Peak Realm master with techniques even he would not stake his life upon.
What manner of being was this Ho Yeon, who could offer instruction to such a Geuk Ji Ryang?
‘The greatest genius of this age? Wasn’t that some fabrication by the Nam Goong Family to promote their name?’
Gulp.
Seo Seon Rim swallowed hard.
Meanwhile, near the carriage, Je Gal A Hyeon clutched her head.
“Nngh…….”
Throb! Throb! Throb!
Ever since Ho Yeon had left the carriage and begun his fight.
Her blocked Emotional Perception had returned, and her vision now flickered with a kaleidoscope of emotions.
“Ah, heh, hehehe.”
Though a sudden headache made it feel as though her skull might crack, Je Gal A Hyeon smiled, laughing quietly.
‘Ho Yeon. Ho Yeon…….’
Je Gal A Hyeon gazed at him.
“Ah, stop pestering me. Where am I supposed to find oil? Should I slather you with the grease from my nose?”
He was muttering some nonsense as he wiped the blood from his blade, his expression petulant and stubborn.
Ho Yeon grumbled and wore that sullen look, yet Je Gal A Hyeon knew his manner was false.
Because the emotions she sensed from him now were light excitement and joy, layered thick with anticipation and bashfulness.
“Heh, like a child—embarrassed over something so trivial.”
The emotion emanating from Ho Yeon was of such pure, crystalline quality.
And the reason for it was surely those clapping their hands in the Chul Geom Dae.
Crack!
The Chul Geom Dae members blazed with a single, brilliant white radiance—the light of reverence, awe, and devotion, all their hearts fixed upon Ho Yeon.
‘If you truly are the Divine Dragon…… if you can really save me……! If only, if only it were possible……!’
She had surrendered all hope, abandoned every last thought—and now a light so blazing appeared before her, tempting her to believe.
In that instant, hope flashed across Je Gal A Hyeon’s eyes.
Then a deafening boom erupted from the battlefield.
Crash—!
“No, no, no!”
Je Gal A Hyeon’s piercing scream scattered into the air with the spray of earth and dust.

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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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