The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 160

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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 160

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The road was treacherous, and the surroundings teemed with creatures hungry for blood.
Relaxing one’s guard was unimaginable under such circumstances.
I steadied my breathing and surveyed the area around me.
Seven monkeys.
One leopard that had been stalking an opportunity.
The count of beasts I’d subdued after more than half a shichen of fierce combat.
The battle had been so intense that my grip on the sword trembled, and both Jang Chuchyeong and I were breathing heavily, clearly exhausted.
“Does it really exist? That training ground or whatever?”
“It must. I’m not the type to claim something exists when it doesn’t.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Jang Chuchyeong nodded despite his dubious expression. Gu Gunbaek was unconventional to a fault, but he wasn’t someone who dealt in lies.
Which meant the training ground absolutely existed.
But where could it be?
We seemed to have wandered this place for quite some time already.
The fact that we still hadn’t found it made me suspect the influence of the Jin Formation itself.
I swallowed a groan.
I turned my head and surveyed the surroundings once more.
“Is there anywhere we haven’t explored?”
“A place like that? I don’t think so.”
“Right.”
I nodded.
There wasn’t a single place we hadn’t searched.
Whether we traveled half a shichen or a full shichen, the landscape before my eyes had become so familiar that I’d grown weary of it.
This meant I’d thoroughly explored every inch of land under the Formation’s influence.
I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully.
“Actually, there is one place I haven’t properly examined.”
“Where?!”
“That cave.”
“Huh?! The one with the corpse?”
I nodded at Jang Chuchyeong’s question.
Certainly, I’d confirmed every other location.
But that one place—so ominous that it seemed inhabited by a threatening presence—I hadn’t examined it properly.
In our current situation, it was the most suspicious.
“Still, there was nothing but the cave and the cliff that formed it.”
“….”
At Jang Chuchyeong’s meaningful words, I rose from my seat.
I then patted his shoulder and moved with urgency.
Our destination was already decided.
Suppressing my presence as much as possible, I deployed my lightness technique at full speed toward that cave I hadn’t properly examined before.
The anguished cries I heard during my movement were undoubtedly the Sect Members speaking of sacrifice.
As time passed, their numbers would only dwindle further.
With such thoughts, I smiled and after advancing for some distance, I stopped and extended my hand.
At last, the cave came into view.
It looked no different from the last time.
Outside the cave, countless bones still scattered about, and from within, a foul stench wafted out, assaulting my nostrils.
As I surveyed the surroundings, struggling to breathe in the acrid odor, Jang Chuchyeong pinched his nose and shouted.
“Ugh, what could possibly be here? There’s nothing at all! Let’s leave! Blegh! This stench is killing me. Really….”
“Perhaps the creature that makes this place its lair is the sovereign of this hell.”
“That’s… well, we’d know if we looked….”
Even Jang Chuchyeong couldn’t deny it.
Despite the cave being empty, there were no traces of the beasts that had swarmed from all directions.
Not even the sound of insects could be heard.
This suggested a creature threatening enough to inhabit such a place, and such a lair was always the most suspicious.
I surveyed the area once more.
Pure white fur lay scattered here and there, and bones filled the exterior.
Though I ventured into the cave, the fact that it was blocked off not far in suggested it was merely a suitable animal’s nest.
But one thing.
I lifted my gaze upward.
Long claw marks carved into the wall.
They gave the impression of something having leaped upward.
Confirming this, I licked my lips.
Soon after, I launched myself upward.
Gathering maximum force, I soared to the peak, then drew my Sword and drove it into the wall.
Thunk—!
“Y-Young Master?!”
“What are you doing? Come up.”
“What’s up there?”
“Verification. But the highest probability is certainly clear.”
Jang Chuchyeong nodded and launched himself upward.
The moment he reached the peak, he grasped the wall with his hand.
Crunch—!
The wall crumbled to dust, revealing a handhold.
Truly a man who lives by sheer strength, whoever taught him.
I shook my head slightly and continued climbing upward.
The higher I climbed, the more my thoughts transformed into certainty.
“It’s here too!”
Claw marks continued to appear on the cliff face, left by something climbing upward.
This unmistakably meant it had ascended higher.
I found myself smiling as I continued climbing toward the summit.
But the cliff was far higher than I had anticipated.
Despite climbing for over an hour, the top still seemed nowhere in sight.
Only after another half hour of climbing did I finally reach the summit.
“This… what is this…?”
In that instant, an entirely different landscape revealed itself before my eyes.
The dense forest stretched on as before, but a vast open space lay to one side, and a colossal wall of iron stood imposingly in place.
I approached slowly to examine it more closely.
This was no ordinary wall.
It was forged from metal, yet not from steel.
It was ore that could only be obtained from Namman.
Its hardness surpassed steel, making it extraordinarily expensive to acquire.
To construct such an enormous wall from this material…
With this much wealth, one could have built the Demon Palace and still had a fortune remaining.
“What is this…? Why is it so hard?”
“It’s Gon-cheol.”
“Gon-cheol? What is that?”
“It’s a mineral from Namman. While not quite as durable as eternal iron, it’s renowned for its considerable hardness.”
“…Hard, you say? But there are fist marks on it.”
Jang Chuchyeong was right.
These were no mere fist impressions.
They were traces of martial techniques unleashed upon this Gon-cheol wall.
As if someone had been making comparisons.
I understood the reason immediately.
In the center of the Gon-cheol wall lay a single enormous fist mark, carved deeply.
The sheer depth and magnitude of it made me suspect it belonged to Gung-ju, whom Gu Gunbaek had called the strongest in Namman’s history.
It was overwhelmingly impressive.
Simply by observing it, one could instantly comprehend the extraordinary level of those who had inscribed their martial prowess upon this wall.
It occurred to me that those who had carved their techniques here were likely the ones who had hollowed out the cave where Gu Gunbaek now dwelled.
Such a feat would be impossible for anyone of lesser caliber.
Then, suddenly, I discovered a new mark.
The impression of a single punch.
While not as expansive as the central mark, its depth was comparable, if not equal.
Judging solely by its appearance as the most recently carved mark, I suspected it was Gu Gunbaek’s handiwork.
“A fist technique… extraordinarily refined.”
Though it appeared to lack the destructive force of the central mark—which showed rough, jagged fractures from the sheer power of its execution—Gu Gunbaek’s fist mark was refined and remarkably clean.
I ran my fingers slowly across it, examining the traces once more.
Next, I painted a picture in my mind.
The palace lords of the Demon Palace standing tall in this place, unleashing their martial prowess without restraint toward Gon-cheol.
Their movements seemed to materialize before my eyes.
Soon those images faded one by one from my mind, and two other figures blurred into view.
One was a figure who had thrown a punch in the center, and the other was unmistakably Gu Gunbaek.
Unlike the successive palace lords who had displayed their martial arts in the middle of the training hall, these two merely stood in one spot, gazing at Gon-cheol and delivering a single punch.
The overwhelming spectacle dominated my entire consciousness and nerves.
The moment the cascading fist force struck with unmistakable clarity.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Suddenly, the sound of swords being drawn came from behind.
Before I could witness the conclusion, I furrowed my brow and turned around, only to see Sect Members climbing up the cliff one by one.
At last, they too had found our location.
I stepped forward slightly, revealing my displeasure.
“I didn’t invite you here.”
“Who are you bastards?”
I quietly observed the one who had stepped forward.
His face was somehow familiar.
I struggled to recall the details, but eventually managed to dredge up the memory.
At the same time, a sneer crossed my lips.
“So Makjan?”
“…!?”
So Makjan.
A figure under Chu Won’s command in Shin Gak, not quite at Hoyeon’s level, but possessing considerable martial skill nonetheless.
From his appearance, I grasped one crucial fact.
The Sect Members who had infiltrated this place were certainly unremarkable in terms of raw power, but they were first-rate when it came to formations.
In other words, these men were an advance force for dismantling the formation.
But the problem was their numbers.
The ones crawling up were far more numerous than I had anticipated.
I had hoped at least half would be eliminated, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
I nudged Jang Chuchyeong’s side.
“From now on, keep your wits about you.”
“Yes! We just need to kill those bastards, right? Leave it to me!”
Jang Chuchyeong clenched both fists, steeling his resolve.
He seemed determined to show a different side of himself than before.
I smiled and drew my sword.
“I apologize, but this does appear to be the place you were looking for. However, it seems what you desire isn’t here.”
“…Do you know what we’re after?”
“You think I wouldn’t?”
“…!”
“But unfortunately, it’s not here. If you don’t believe me, search all you like. Of course…that’s only possible if you stay alive.”
I watched as the eyes of those gathered narrowed in unison.
I could see that a singular thought had taken root in the gaze of every person fixed upon me.
They were undoubtedly connecting me to the Imperial Regent.
Then, suddenly, someone cried out.
“The Young Master of the Jin Family?!”
“What?”
“Now that you mention it…!”
The moment one person shouted while confirming my face, several others widened their eyes in surprise and examined my appearance.
Of course.
There was no way they wouldn’t recognize me with my face exposed.
Since they had gone to such lengths to devour the Nakhyang Jin Family, it was hardly surprising that all the members of the Twelve Sects possessed information about me.
So Makjan’s startled gaze turned toward me.
“Are you truly the Young Master of the Jin Family?”
“If I am, what of it? If I’m not, what then?”
“Well… either way, it seems unlikely you’ll survive this. But if you truly are the Young Master of the Jin Family, before you die, you’ll spill everything you know for the sake of your family.”
Confidence gleamed in So Makjan’s expression.
It stemmed partly from their overwhelming numbers, but primarily from their faith in their own strength.
The moment I smiled faintly and adjusted my grip on my sword.
Whoosh—!
At So Makjan’s signal, they came flying at me.
The sight of them rushing forward in an instant was utterly overwhelming.
But this was far from enough.
I extended my hand.
Thwip—!
Crack!
The Ohdok Needle shot forth and pierced through someone’s brow, and they collapsed limply like a puppet without strength.
Witnessing this, I too launched my body forward.
I did not retreat.
Instead, I rushed in and seized the initiative with the first strike.
No matter how great their numbers, if I could overwhelm them, I would have already secured half the victory.
Like birds struck by arrows and falling, those pierced through collapsed to the ground with their final gasps.
I swung my sword.
Screech—!
The brilliant flash descended as gently as moonlight, yet its speed far surpassed anything they could muster.
I severed flesh and bone.
That sensation was felt distinctly at my fingertips.
I cut through necks and split heads.
I pierced hearts and cleaved bodies in two.
Torrents of blood rushed forth and screams struck my ears with force.
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
With a martial artist exploiting the opening perfectly, the sight before my eyes was nothing short of autumn leaves scattering in the wind—a cascade of falling bodies.
And beyond that.
“Hiyah!”
Boom—!
Jang Chuchyeong’s fist erupted with fire as it detonated.
Swung with overwhelming force and momentum, that fist was nothing short of lethal.
Moreover, such tremendous power could not be easily broken, making it the worst possible scenario for those crowded against him.
As one opponent flew back, those following behind became entangled with him, leaving them unable to mount proper attacks and forced to tumble helplessly.
I observed this unfolding chaos while fixing my gaze upon So Makjan.
I could see his pupils trembling violently.
“If you wish to survive, you must give your absolute best.”
My voice struck his ears with forceful clarity.

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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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