The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 134

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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 134

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Several days after entering the Allied Faction.
Gam Cheong-un officially ascended to the position of Master.
The solemn ceremony concluded the moment the new Master’s tediously lengthy speech drew to a close.
—Roooaarrr!
Thunderous cheers erupted from the assembled masses.
Though most were disciples of the Allied Faction, hearing such fervent voices was enough to suggest that the new Master’s resolve was far from ordinary.
Following this, the Allied Faction hosted a grand martial tournament.
The purpose was straightforward.
While it served to bolster morale among the younger generation, more precisely, it was to measure the gap between the Allied Faction’s disciples and the Martial Arts Alliance’s most elite younger generation—those gathered in the Changryongdan.
Only by understanding the extent of this disparity could we establish benchmarks for how to cultivate their growth.
The Allied Faction’s new Master appeared far more calculating than I had anticipated.
Such cunning was only natural for a leader guiding an entire organization.
I sat perched in a high vantage point overlooking the training hall.
Only those of considerable standing could occupy such a place, and around me sat primarily the renowned masters of the Martial Arts Alliance whose names alone commanded respect.
The most striking figure was surely Hoyeon Munchu?
Merely by being the Master of the Taoist Priests—one of the two pillars of the Righteous Path alongside the thousand-year Shaolin—his status transcended all comparison.
Thus he sat beside Gam Cheong-un, who had become the Allied Faction’s Master, and I occupied the seat beside Hoyeon Munchu.
As a result, the renowned masters cast sidelong glances in my direction.
How bitter their hearts must be, seeing someone from the Merchant Guild occupying a seat of such importance that should belong to them?
I ignored their scrutiny and gazed calmly at the training hall.
Clang-clang-clang-clang—!
The cascade of blade strikes rang out sharply, assaulting the ears with acrid intensity.
The two individuals locked in combat below displayed perfect equilibrium.
Because of this, the match appeared all the more fierce.
“What is your assessment of those two?”
At that moment, the voice of Hoyeon Munchu reached my ears.
I glanced toward him and replied.
“I am hardly in a position to evaluate others.”
“Ha ha, spare me the modesty. Are you not the one who defeated Cheon Yul and faced both the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and the Chonnam Ten Swords? I suspect you know the strengths and weaknesses of those two quite well, do you not?”
“I beg your pardon, but as a merchant, I do not evaluate martial artists.”
“Infinite Buddha—what an amusing tale. Not a martial artist, you say? Ha ha, you?”
Hoyeon Munchu slapped his thigh and burst into hearty laughter.
Because of this, the gazes of those around us turned even more in our direction.
Of course, had I truly been merely a merchant, I should never have faced Cheon Yul, Jin Ja-geom, and others in the first place.
I could understand Hoyeon’s amusement.
He stroked the whiskers on his upper lip, and as if a thought had struck him, his eyes gleamed with interest as he opened his mouth.
“Then what if we were to regard them as merchandise? Yes, from a merchant’s perspective, which commodity holds the higher grade?”
A remark that conveyed an unwillingness to back down.
He was deliberately attempting to assign value to martial artists.
A disagreeable disposition.
I exhaled a short sigh and turned my gaze back to the Training Hall. I could see the two individuals with their blades locked, gritting their teeth as they fought desperately for victory.
Were both of them disciples of the Allied Faction?
I observed their forms and opened my mouth.
“If I were to distinguish between them, neither would qualify as superior-grade merchandise.”
Kaang—!
In that instant, a violent clash of blades rang out, and the two individuals were sent flying out of the Training Hall. The way they tumbled outward without clear precedence made it impossible to determine a victor.
Yet one had to rise.
The referee’s gaze favored the woman, who fell slightly later than her opponent.
—Waaah!
“Not superior-grade, you say… A merchant’s eye is quite amusing. Haha.”
I watched the woman as she rose unsteadily to her feet.
She too seemed aware that no clear victor had been determined, and her frustration was evident.
Yet no matter what transpired, the outcome would not have changed.
From the beginning, the man had been accommodating his opponent.
Did Hoyeon not realize this?
No.
He wanted to know whether I possessed the discerning eye of a true martial artist.
Merely from the way he worked his jaw, it was evident that he found my answer somewhat at odds with his expectations, and his displeasure was unmistakable.
“By the way, how fares the Family Head? I haven’t encountered him since seeing him at the Shrine years ago.”
“Thanks to the troublesome matters that arose recently being settled to some degree, he has been well of late.”
“Troublesome matters, you say? Does the Family Head have worries that plague him?”
“Though the Jin Family appears peaceful, it is perpetually embroiled in hidden struggles. We simply handle such matters more discreetly than others, which is why they remain unknown.”
“Is that so?”
Ho Yeon-jin answered without apparent concern, yet his eyes gleamed with interest. Perhaps believing this to be an opportunity to learn what he desired, he held back a concealed smile and was about to speak again when—
“Now that I think of it, I had reason to visit Beijing recently, and fortunately obtained an opportunity to enter the Imperial Palace.”
I struck first.
“Is that so….”
“There I met someone named Chungho.”
“…!”
“He was said to be your disciple….”
“Ah— yes, indeed. A child of exceptional talent and abundant righteousness. I regard his fate with regret.”
Startled by the name Chungho, Hoyeon turned his head with a bitter smile.
To him, that would be a presence he wished not to recall.
Though he had raised his disciple well, ultimately the boy had fallen short of expectations, forcing him to sever the meridians and cast him out.
Thereafter, in the natural course of events, the boy would have quietly breathed his last somewhere beyond the Shrine.
This situation wasn’t merely a matter of falling short of Hoyeon’s expectations.
I suspected something had transpired between Hoyeon and Chungho—something significant.
Perhaps Chungho had discovered Hoyeon’s true identity.
Yet with the Emperor’s unexpected arrival, all of that had crumbled to dust. How bitter must his heart feel?
“How have you been faring?”
“I’ve become the Current Emperor’s right hand. Even ‘faring well’ seems insufficient to describe it.”
As he spoke with a slight smirk, Hoyeon’s brow twitched.
He had become an increasingly unreachable figure.
No matter what schemes Hoyeon might attempt, against someone wielding the power and influence of the Emperor’s right hand, success would never come easily.
Murmur, murmur—
Then.
The surroundings suddenly grew loud.
Turning my gaze toward the training hall to see what the commotion was about, I spotted an unfamiliar woman standing beside Eon Garyeo of the Changryongdan.
“That girl is….”
“Namgung Yeon.”
“The Namgung Family?!”
Everyone erupted into chatter at the sudden appearance of the Namgung Family.
Moreover, her opponent was from the Jinju Eon Family of Hebei.
Given that she ranked among the top five martial artists within the Changryongdan itself, she naturally commanded everyone’s attention.
I smiled faintly and glanced at Hoyeon.
“What do you make of it?”
“Ha, returning the question, are you? Then I suppose I must answer.”
Hoyeon smiled and observed Eon Garyeo and Namgung Yeon, who had assumed their stances. Soon he stroked his chin and offered a subtle smile.
“The Namgung girl seems reasonably skilled, but she still appears quite inexperienced.”
“I see.”
I nodded in agreement.
Certainly, anyone unfamiliar with Namgung Yeon’s swordwork would reach the same conclusion.
One could discern it simply from her stance.
Namgung Yeon’s face was filled with tension—someone who had never wielded a blade before so many spectators—while Eon Garyeo exuded composure, having experienced this countless times.
Her gaze, expression, and momentum were all overwhelmingly dominant.
“So this is what they mean by the faded Namgung. Tsk, tsk.”
Hoyeon clicked his tongue.
It seemed most of the other martial artists shared the same sentiment.
Though not a single exchange had yet occurred, Namgung Yeon’s spirit was already visibly broken.
Even with unexpected skill, such nervousness suggested she couldn’t last more than twenty exchanges.
“You call her your guard? How did you end up with such a girl?”
“She possesses more drive than one might expect. She’ll charge forward with determination—who knows? She might even win.”
“Ha ha ha, that’s a fantasy. Shall we wager on it?”
“If you stake the Jaso Sect, I’ll take the bet. My body’s been feeling a bit weak lately.”
“…!”
At the mention of Jaso Sect, Ho Yeon-jin’s complexion hardened.
And he was not alone in this reaction.
The Myeongsuk of the Martial Arts Alliance who had been listening to the conversation all turned their gazes toward me with expressions of utter disbelief.
The Jaso Sect of the Taoist Priests.
This was the first time I’d seen anyone mad enough to wager something comparable to Shaolin’s Great Elixir Pill—a madman indeed.
Yet it was hardly an unreasonable proposition.
If one stakes a wager, one must stake something of equal worth.
“I hear you carry one with you at all times—is that correct?”
“Ha… haha, if I were to stake this, what would you stake in return?”
“Hmm… I shall stake the Yunlong Inn in Wuhan.”
“…!”
“Huh?!”
“W… what?! Are you insane?”
Small disturbances erupted throughout the hall.
The commotion that arose amid the solemn atmosphere was so pronounced that even the two women preparing for their match turned to regard me with expressions of bewilderment.
I responded to their stares with a smile.
“Should you wish to reconsider, please speak. We shall suspend matters until then.”
“Hahaha, you truly are a fellow who defies all expectations.”
Hoyeon laughed off the absurdity with an incredulous expression.
Yet his eyes had grown considerably sharper.
As he exhaled a brief sigh and turned his head away.
Pap-pap-pat—!
At last, the match commenced.
The Jinju Eon Family, renowned for their bare-handed combat mastery.
They employ swift and agile movements to pressure their opponents, seizing fleeting openings with precision to deliver devastating strikes.
Indeed, befitting a clan that had secured a position among the Eight Great Families through bare-handed combat, Eon Garyeo’s martial prowess was nearly flawless, offering scarcely any opening to exploit.
Naturally, the situation was entirely one-sided.
Namgung Yeon found herself wholly occupied with evading and blocking the torrential assault.
The voices of the spectators echoing throughout seemed to predict Eon Garyeo’s victory.
I rested my chin in my palm, regarding the match with a crooked expression.
Time elapsed.
Move after move, the relentless bare-handed strikes poured down like rain, seemingly destined to break Namgung Yeon utterly—yet the situation was beginning to flow in an unexpectedly strange direction.
More than twenty exchanges had already transpired, and Eon Garyeo’s previously composed expression had grown rigid, her eyes trembling visibly.
Moreover, from some point onward, she had begun sweating profusely, as though drenched by rain.
Conversely, Namgung Yeon was gradually, yet unmistakably, releasing her tension.
Her rigid expression began to ease, and her previously sluggish sword regained its sharpness.
All present regarded this development with expressions of disbelief.
Did she sense the concentration of all eyes upon her?
Namgung Yeon’s expression seemed to stiffen once more, yet in that brief moment of composure, I caught her eyes darting swiftly toward me.
Meeting her gaze, I offered her a smile.
In that instant, Namgung Yeon tightened her grip on the sword’s hilt with renewed force.
A brilliant flash erupted.
Whoosh—whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh crack!
“That… what is that?!”
“The Thirteen Lightning Strikes of Flash!”
“I never thought I’d witness that technique with my own eyes!”
Namgung Yeon’s extended blade carved through Eon Garyeo in a heartbeat.
Shallow though it was, the wound could only be described as lethal.
The precision with which Namgung Yeon delivered that shallow cut—restraining herself to inflict minimal damage—made it painfully clear who held dominion and who did not.
Bleeding, Eon Garyeo collapsed, yet immediately pushed off the ground to rise again.
But faster still, Namgung Yeon’s blade point found its mark, pressing against Eon Garyeo’s throat.
“I… I yield.”
At last, the words of surrender escaped Eon Garyeo’s lips, and silence descended upon the gathering.
Every eye turned toward Namgung Yeon.
Sheath—
As she withdrew her blade with effortless grace, not a soul dared speak.
The shock was simply too profound.
And in that moment, all understood.
The Namgung had returned.
None could deny it.

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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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