The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 159

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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 159

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“Hmmmmm….”
Gu Gunbaek sat before the Formation of Truth, groaning softly as he scratched at his head.
Nine days had already passed since those two entered within.
Yet despite this, the Formation of Truth showed no signs of breaking or anyone emerging, which made him wonder if something had gone terribly wrong.
But it was none other than Jin Cheon-u.
My disciple—I thought he might die if things went poorly, but that is precisely why I sent Jin Cheon-u in.
That cunning bastard will succeed without fail.
He will breach this hellscape and reach the Training Ground, and in doing so, he will cleanly eliminate any filth that defiles the Forbidden Zone.
“Hehehehe, are you worried?”
“Worried? He’ll manage just fine on his own.”
“Then why are you fidgeting over there?”
At those words, Gu Gunbaek’s expression darkened menacingly.
He turned his head to regard the man.
At the sharpness of that gaze, the man averted his eyes.
“And what of you? Why did you just stand there gawking while those wretches entered the Forbidden Zone?”
“Well, the Gung-ju said he’d return soon, and besides, if I went in, I’d just become a meal anyway, so what does it matter?”
“Good grief! And this fool is the second-in-command of the Beast Palace….”
“If it displeases you, make me first-in-command instead. Ahahaha! The Gung-ju is always gallivanting about anyway, so I’ll manage things as I see fit.”
“One more word from that mouth of yours and I’ll rip your jaw clean off.”
At Gu Gunbaek’s blunt threat, the man fell silent.
Gu Gunbaek never spoke in jest.
He was certain that if he continued his prattle, his jaw would indeed be torn away. So, pressing his lips firmly together, he merely smiled at Gu Gunbaek with his eyes, as if conveying something wordlessly.
This only deepened Gu Gunbaek’s scowl.
“He will return! He’s coming back, I tell you! Do not worry. It is him, after all. When he emerges, he will be unmistakably transformed from when he entered.”
….
“What? My disciple? That one… if he obtains something and comes out, fine. If not, so be it.”
In truth, I know that with Chu Hyeongi’s current strength, there is no way he could survive this place.
Yet I sent him in nonetheless, hoping that he might obtain something alongside Jin Cheon-u and emerge with it.
Jin Cheon-u will obtain something. He always does.
And soon he will understand.
How immense is what one gains in this place.
One must abandon every preconceived notion one possesses and think from the perspective of a beast—not merely the five senses, but the scents carried on the wind, the minute movements in the grass and the trembling of the air itself.
Without mastering such things, survival is impossible.
That Jin Cheon-u will surely comprehend this.
And I am certain he will master it.
As I thought about it, I found myself already anticipating the moment that bastard would appear.
Having settled my mind thus, Gu Gunbaek exhaled and turned his head once more.
“Regardless, did you find them?”
“…Am I allowed to speak now?”
“You damn fool. Did you find them or not?”
“Ah, that? Well, I’ve definitely caught their scent. But strangely enough, I can’t see them.”
“It’s not just one, is it? There are two familiar scents, and quite a few others besides.”
“That’s right. But they’re hiding so damn well. Why not release Baek Gu? He seems like he’d be a bit faster.”
At those words, Gu Gunbaek shook his head.
Certainly, using Baek Gu would make things somewhat easier, but it had been several years since I’d seen his face, and whether he was sulking or not, he rarely showed himself.
“You should have treated him better.”
“Hahaha! Don’t worry. He’ll come out soon. How long can that bastard stay sulky?”
“Don’t tell me he’s in there?”
“Well… I suppose so.”
Gu Gunbaek nodded with a smile.
Baek Gu’s scent unmistakably drifted from within.
He’d wandered about marking his territory, but apparently grew tired of even that and returned to his den.
Perhaps he would meet Jin Cheon-u.
The thought of that amused me.
“Enough. Search a bit more. He’s definitely nearby. We can’t afford to suffer like last time, can we?”
“Hahahaha! Of course not! I’ve already said I’ll tear him to shreds this time. Everyone’s been sharpening their blades, so don’t worry.”
At the loud laughter of the man, Gu Gunbaek nodded with a satisfied expression.
This time would be different from before.
There was a palpable determination to make the Namman Yasugun understand what kind of force they were, and against whom they had drawn their blades.
The same was true for Gu Gunbaek.
I calmed my wildly racing heart and settled my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I suppressed the urge to charge forward.
“This time, there will be no escape.”
Recalling the hunchbacked bastard’s face from the past, I curled my lips into a smile.

* * *

I raised my sword with my eyes covered.
I couldn’t see anything, yet I knew it was there—certain and unmistakable.
I could sense that Jang Chuchyeong standing before me also had his eyes covered, and the distance between us seemed to be roughly three paces.
There was no question of who would move first.
Whoever sensed the flow would strike first.
Whoosh—
In that instant, I felt the air vibrate.
Simultaneously, the acrid stench of sweat reached me on the wind.
Screech—!
The moment I leaned my body back, I felt something graze past me, and at the same time, I grasped the trembling flow of air and thrust my sword toward it.
Thwack—!
“Ugh?!”
I felt Jang Chuchyeong cry out and fall forward. He rolled across the ground, gritted his teeth, and then unleashed his lightness technique.
The distance closed in an instant.
Swish-swish-swish-swish—!
Fists and kicks came flying like madness.
Feeling the strikes flash like lightning, I moved my body naturally with the flow.
Though attacks rained down like a downpour, not a single one touched me.
Soon, sensing his strength waning and his movements slowing with gaps appearing, I swung my sword.
“Argh?!”
Slash—!
I thought I had aimed perfectly, but Jang Chuchyeong read it and threw his body away to evade.
But it didn’t end there.
I stepped forward half a pace and swung my sword again.
Like the countless consecutive strikes Jang Chuchyeong had shown me earlier, I unleashed attacks that left no room to escape.
Swish-swish-slash—thwack! Slash! Thwack!
I felt the impact in my hands.
He was dodging to some extent, but not perfectly—I could feel it.
Yet the fact that he had grown to this level in just nine days was remarkable in itself.
I smiled slightly and removed my blindfold.
“Well done. You’ve reached a decent level.”
“…A decent level?! And why didn’t you get hit even once, Young Master?!”
“Well… your attacks lack refinement.”
“That’s absurd…”
Jang Chuchyeong stared at me with a bewildered expression.
At the same time, the situation was becoming clear—he still seemed lacking, while I hadn’t even had my clothes brushed, so perfect was my defense.
The difference was unmistakable.
It came down to whether one possessed memories of the past.
Thanks to the experience accumulated through countless life-and-death battles, I could learn and grow several times faster than others.
To an uninformed observer, it would seem almost like cheating.
I smiled as I looked at the creature.
“This should be sufficient. There’s no need to waste more time.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“We find the training ground or whatever it is. From what I can tell, that’s where the highest probability lies.”
These creatures were after the Jade Orb.
If it existed in this place, I believed it would be in the training ground that Gu Gunbaek had mentioned.
After nine days of training and exploring the surroundings, neither they nor we could find any path leading to the training ground.
That meant the path was hidden within the Formation of Truth itself.
Finding it had to be our priority.
Chu Hyeongi and I hurried to prepare.
We gathered only simple provisions and water, but since we didn’t know when we’d return, we were careful to conceal the entrance as much as possible.
We advanced cautiously.
Not knowing where threats might lurk, I moved with complete focus on the wind and tremors in the air.
Then.
Whooosh—!
A sudden sound accompanied by rustling reached my ears.
I threw myself to the side immediately.
Crash—!
Something massive revealed itself where I had been standing.
The moment I saw it, I understood what it was.
The brute I’d seen on my first day here, standing before the corpse of a Sect Member.
It resembled a monkey but was far larger and more powerful.
As I narrowed my eyes watching it beat its massive chest in a threatening display, Chu Hyeongi moved first.
“You bastard—!”
Chu Hyeongi charged forward like a beast.
He closed the distance faster than an arrow in flight and raised his fist.
For a moment, I wondered if I was seeing things correctly.
The muscles in Chu Hyeongi’s arm swelled terrifyingly.
The muscle mass seemed to have more than doubled in an instant.
Then he unleashed it.
Boom—!
“Gack?!”
The force pierced through the thick hide and burrowed deep inside.
The giant beast’s body was driven backward with such destructive power that I stood speechless, watching in disbelief as Chu Hyeongi launched himself again, striking the creature’s reeling head.
“Who do you think you’re attacking—!”
Crack—!
A sight I couldn’t believe even with my own eyes.
As his fist connected with the beast’s skull, the sound of shattering bone echoed out, and blood gushed from its nose and mouth.
Soon that overwhelming bulk collapsed.
Thud—!
Thinking back to those days when even wielding a sword felt impossibly difficult, the sight before me was utterly absurd.
Before such overwhelming power, thick and resilient hide meant nothing.
I let out a hollow laugh and approached Chu Hyeongi’s side, giving his back a few light pats before flashing him a grin.
“I’m counting on you going forward.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, when something like this happens again, you should step forward first.”
“Hehe! That’s obvious, isn’t it? Protecting Young Master is my job.”
Hearing those words spoken with genuine sincerity, I nodded readily in agreement.
As a bonus, I made a mental note that if any more troublesome creatures appeared, I should leave everything to this brute strength.
With such thoughts in mind, I continued forward cautiously.
Fortunately, no more beasts came attacking.
Yet something about this troubled me deeply.
From the first day until now, those creatures had appeared constantly, harassing us at every turn—but at some point, they vanished entirely, leaving no trace of their presence.
It was impossible not to feel uneasy about it.
That was when it happened.
“Over here—!”
A sudden voice rang out.
I suppressed my presence and crouched low, peering toward the source of the sound, and my eyes caught sight of a considerable number of people gathered together.
They were drenched in blood from head to toe, breathing heavily—a sight that made it clear they had endured something brutal.
“What of the others?”
“All dead. Only we remain.”
Damn it… things aren’t going as planned. The other teams have suffered heavy losses too. It seems we can’t afford to remain scattered.”
“I agree. Staying together and moving as one group would likely improve our survival rate.”
The gathered people were none other than members of Shin Gak and Snake Clan. They had divided into teams and dispersed to assess the situation, intending to dismantle the Formation of Truth and recover the Jade Orb, but this place was far too treacherous to operate scattered.
Their numbers had clearly dwindled enough to cause real concern.
Yet even so, they still possessed enough force to overwhelm us.
At minimum, there had to be fifty of them.
I couldn’t even fathom how many personnel they had deployed in total.
Observing them, I made my presence even more imperceptible.
I noticed Chu Hyeongi beside me tapping my shoulder and pointing at them.
It seemed as though he was asking—shouldn’t we wipe them out?
“No, not now.”
Killing them wasn’t the immediate priority.
First, I needed to find that training ground.
From the look of things, they too seemed to be prioritizing the dismantling of the Formation of Truth and locating the training ground.
Shouldn’t I reach it before they do?
Besides, considering the ecosystem of this place, even if they found it, their numbers would only decrease further—they wouldn’t remain the same.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
I quickened my pace and moved forward.

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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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