The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 121

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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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The Youngest Son of the Nakhyang Jin Family — Chapter 121

“Geomcheon, Mu Heo?”
“Yes, he’s disappeared, they say?”
Baek Jin-hwa regarded me with a peculiar expression, her question hanging in the air.
Mu Heo was a figure whose whereabouts had been shrouded in mystery for over a decade—a name that lingered, nothing more.
She seemed unable to comprehend why I would seek information about such a person.
“An intriguing request indeed. Are you now attempting to locate Geomcheon as well?”
“If he’s alive, I’d like to see him once.”
The Divine—the entity revered and upheld by the Singyeo.
Learning that he had an elder brother naturally piqued my curiosity.
If he lived, I genuinely wished to meet him and hear his story.
“Given that you’re willing to offer such a substantial sum, it seems quite urgent. However, we don’t possess much information regarding Mu Heo, so it may take time.”
“That’s fine. As long as the information is accurate.”
“Understood. And regarding the Priest you mentioned earlier—are you saying Geomcheon has a Priest?”
“As far as I know, yes. But it’s not certain, so if you have no information, there’s no need to dig into it.”
“…You need information about the Priest, yet if there’s nothing, there’s no need to dig into it?”
“That’s right.”
“Ah—.”
At my response, Baek Jin-hwa let out a small exclamation and nodded. From her expression alone, I could see she had grasped that such information could endanger either Hao Gate or the Nakhyang Jin Family.
“I understand. We won’t ‘deliberately’ touch on the Priest matter. So, is that all?”
“Nothing else. And… if you need assistance with anything, feel free to mention it. I’ll help if I can.”
“Is this an apology for Dowon Village? Or is it because of information that shouldn’t be delved into?”
“Both.”
“Hehe— understood. Should I ever need your assistance, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded at her words and rose from my seat.
With this, Hao Gate would bring me information about Mu Heo. Though it might take some time, this was the only way to obtain the most reliable and certain intelligence.
Thus, I departed the Hwaseon Guesthouse and returned home.
I continued to receive warm welcomes from countless people, and the constant smiling and greeting with each step proved far more exhausting than I had anticipated.
Yet I could not simply ignore it, as this situation could further elevate the Jin Family’s standing.
Normally, a journey of this duration would have taken only a quarter hour, but today it seemed to have stretched beyond half an hour.
The moment I crossed the Jin Family’s main gate, I exhaled deeply and let my shoulders droop.
I was exhausted and weary.
Even more so than embarking on a journey.
Yet returning home did not make the gazes disappear.
Every person working within the Sega whispered among themselves as I passed, their eyes gleaming with intrigue. The only consolation was that they refrained from approaching me.
I offered a bitter smile and hastened into my residence.
“Puhaha— so, you’ve finally revealed yourself.”
At that moment, a voice suddenly reached my ears, and I turned my head.
In the courtyard pond before the residence, I caught sight of Gu Gunbaek feeding the carp.
It was a sight that seemed utterly incongruous.
“You shouldn’t eat those.”
“I’m not eating them, you fool. Do I look like someone who devours carp?”
Gu Gunbaek clicked his tongue dismissively, tossed all the remaining feed into the pond, and approached me.
He suddenly thrust his head forward, staring intently at me, then broke into a grin, baring his teeth.
“How does it feel to be famous?”
“Not particularly pleasant.”
“Hehehehe! Given your abilities, this was bound to happen eventually. It’s just arrived a bit sooner than expected.”
My skills had already been revealed to the Sword Emperor, the Death Emperor, and several others, so there was no point in continuing to conceal them.
If someone possessed exceptional abilities yet kept hiding them, everyone would find it suspicious.
Once such an incident occurred, simply demonstrating one’s strength and asserting one’s presence was enough to evade suspicion.
Moreover, as a member of the Merchant Guild, I could cultivate the impression of being “powerful but restrained in using force.”
Conversely, I could also create a distinction between myself and Demon Face.
When my abilities were hidden, no one could discern what martial techniques I employed. But now that I had fully revealed one side, people would realize that Demon Face and Jin Cheon-u wielded entirely different martial arts.
That’s why I employed completely different swordplay in my match against Cheon-yul.
The foundation remained the Water-Moon Sword Strike, but whereas I had used the Water aspect against those opponents, I had used the Moon aspect against Cheon-yul.
Since it was a crude secret technique from the Nakhyang Jin Family that I had dismantled and reconstructed, it was impossible to find or obtain information about it anywhere else.
Therefore, no one would suspect that I and Demon Face were the same person.
To solidify this distinction, I had needed to reveal my abilities at some point, and Cheon Gong-hak had conveniently provided the perfect opportunity.
Thanks to the Hyang-un Sega’s meddlesome antics, this journey had yielded far more than I had anticipated.
When I let out a soft chuckle, Gu Gunbaek patted my back.
“Hahahaha! So you crushed the Junior Heavenly Lord—did you catch a glimpse of his techniques?”
“Of course. They’re more threatening and sharper than anything the Paeng Clan possesses.”
“That’s not all. The old man’s martial arts involve illusion techniques woven into combat. What you see isn’t necessarily what’s real. You didn’t catch that?”
“No, I attempted to steal a glimpse, but I was caught red-handed.”
“Huh? Hahahaha! You crazy bastard! You tried to steal from that old man? It’s a miracle you’re still alive, you son of a bitch.”
At Gu Gunbaek’s words, I absently rubbed the back of my neck. Though it had been quite some time, I still couldn’t shake the sensation of Cheon Gong-hak’s dagger pressing against my throat.
“What? What did the old man do to you?”
“Well, you could say I received a warning. He pressed a dagger to my throat.”
“Huh? That’s strange. That old man doesn’t use daggers.”
“No, but that was definitely… a dagger.”
The memory remains vivid even now.
What pressed against my throat was unmistakably a dagger.
I even felt the sensation of blood trickling, so there’s no way I could have been mistaken.
Yet Gu Gunbaek’s expression suggested he found this strange.
After pondering for a long moment, he burst into loud laughter again.
“Puhahahaha! Ah, that’s it! That’s it exactly. That was the old man’s illusion technique. I told you, didn’t I? What you’re seeing isn’t necessarily what it appears to be.”
“…”
“But that’s odd, isn’t it? The old man made his move, so why is your neck still intact?”
“Must I not be alive?”
“That’s right. That old man doesn’t make threats. When he makes a move, it means he’s killing you.”
Gu Gunbaek regarded me silently.
Then he reached out and began touching me here and there.
Startled, I stepped backward and furrowed my brow.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, given what that old man does, I can’t tell if what I’m looking at is really you or some impostor wearing your face.”
“It’s me.”
“So why are you alive?”
Gu Gunbaek, unable to comprehend it, approached again and began examining my body.
Still unconvinced, he scrutinized my face piece by piece, then even began pinching and pulling at it, suspecting it might be a Demon Face mask.
The pain made me frown deeper and retreat.
“That hurts.”
“Strange. It’s definitely Young Master So, but how did you survive?”
“Perhaps I was fortunate. I’ll go inside now.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Unable to accept my explanation, Gu Gunbaek continued watching me with a peculiar expression.
But only for a moment.
Having lost interest just as quickly, he hummed to himself and approached the pond once more.
From the look of it, he seemed to have taken a liking to feeding the carp.
I shook my head and hurried into my residence.
Leaving behind the comfort I felt for the first time in ages, I sat upon the bedchamber.
“What I saw was an illusion?”
If Gu Gunbaek’s words were true, the short blade I witnessed was nothing but illusion. Yet everything I felt and saw was so vivid, so tangible.
All of it was illusion?
Then was it only the blade that was illusion?
I closed my eyes tightly and recalled what had happened.
Heavenly Emperor Cheon Gong-hak’s movements as he regarded me.
The moment I looked, he was before my eyes and the blade hung at my throat.
Blood flowed. I felt pain.
And then I remembered again.
The moment the blade’s sensation vanished from my nape.
It was not as if the blade fell away from my neck, but rather as though it dispersed into nothing—and in that same instant, Heavenly Emperor Cheon Gong-hak remained seated in the exact same position, in the exact same posture.
Yes, it was illusion.
From beginning to end.
By whatever means, he deceived not only my eyes but all my senses.
Had the blade truly pierced my throat, I would have died believing in the pain, my breath stolen away despite the illusion’s nature.
Such is the martial art of the Death Emperor Cheon Gong-hak.
“Indeed, he deserves the title of closest to Cheon.”
Among those called the Ten Emperors, three stand foremost.
These individuals were indeed being called threats to the position of the Three Heavens, and now that I observed them firsthand, that assessment did not seem inaccurate in the slightest.
They possessed something that transcended mere strength.
Without even displaying their aura as a threat, using only illusion techniques whose mechanics remained a mystery, they could deceive all of a person’s senses and end their life—was that not absurdly unfair?
That is why I desired it.
To ascend to an even greater height.
To gain even a slight advantage in confrontations with them.
I immediately recalled the movements of two individuals.
The first was Cheon-yul, who became the Junior Heavenly Lord following Cheon Gong-hak. Though I had not witnessed much, I had committed their movements to memory with sufficient clarity to interpret them.
The second was Namgung Yeon.
Not as formidable as Cheon-yul, but the swordsmanship of the Namgung Family—once called the Number One Sword Sect under heaven. Passed down through generations across countless ages, I could not fathom the essence contained within, yet I could absorb the precision and technique of the blade itself.
I analyzed the martial arts of both individuals, dissecting and extracting each component piece by piece.
Countless fragments swirled chaotically through my mind.
The sheer volume of information, so overwhelming that even organizing it proved agonizing, made it feel as though my skull might shatter at any moment.
Yet I persisted.
Losing all sense of time’s passage, I delved deeper, devoting myself entirely to interpreting the martial arts of these two masters.
Then, at some point—
I was able to extract every necessary component.
But the true work was only beginning.
I recalled the Suwol Sword Art once more and deconstructed everything. Then, one by one, I began fusing the extracted martial techniques of both individuals with the Suwol Sword Art, discarding the superfluous and grafting on what was essential.
This was the most arduous task.
There existed no difficulty greater than seamlessly merging martial arts that were nearly contradictory in nature, allowing them to dissolve into one another naturally.
My mind became tangled once more in complexity.
Pain flooded through me with such intensity that a severe headache threatened to overwhelm my senses.
Gritting my teeth and enduring it, I pressed forward relentlessly with the remaining work.
And then, as the final piece dissolved into place and everything crystallized—
A flash—!
My eyes snapped open.
“Oh my!”
In that instant, the first thing to enter my vision was none other than Chaeseoha. Startled by my sudden awakening, she stumbled backward, landing hard on her rear with a gasp.
Her expression of alarm was unmistakable.
I slowly gathered my spiritual energy and shifted my gaze toward the window. I distinctly remembered it being dusk when I had begun, yet now the sun blazed brilliantly in a clear sky.
My eyes naturally turned toward Chaeseoha.
“How long was I like that?”
“…A full ten days. Are you alright? The elder said to just leave you be….”
“Ten days?”
Chaeseoha nodded in response to my question.
She then cautiously approached and checked my pulse, before reaching out once more to touch my forehead.
Apparently finding nothing amiss, a sigh of relief escaped her lips.
“Fortunately, there seems to be no abnormality.”
“No, there is.”
“You’re saying there is one?”
In that instant, Chaeseoha’s eyes widened in surprise as she reached out to check my pulse again.
Yet nothing seemed to emerge from her examination, and instead she tilted her head with a peculiar expression, studying me intently.
Unable to help myself, laughter spilled from my lips at her bewildered face.
“Hearing you mention ten days has made me realize I’m famished. I think I need to eat something first.”
“What on earth.”
I rose from my seat upon hearing her disappointed remark.
First, I needed to satisfy my ravenous hunger.
After that, I intended to examine the completed result.

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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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