The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 204

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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 Jin Family of Luoyang – Chapter 204

Traveling on horseback always leaves traces behind.
Especially since the depth of footprints varies depending on a person’s weight, if one can properly track them, they can be found even after disappearing from sight.
From the moment I left the inn until now.
I had been following a single trail.
Undoubtedly Mo Yong-cheon’s.
In crowded places, one cannot erase their traces, and given that the Sword Emperor possessed such formidable skill, he didn’t even seem to consider that someone might be pursuing him.
Even if he suspected a tail, he likely wouldn’t believe he could fail to notice it.
But if one tracks only the traces from a great distance, even Mo Yong-cheon himself cannot detect it.
The only problem is an annoying fly that has attached itself to me.
“Where are we going anyway? Huh?”
Cheon Yul, who had been following without any intention of staying silent, voiced his frustration toward me as I moved ahead tracking the trail.
Was he frustrated because I hadn’t even told him our destination?
I furrowed my brow and spoke.
“You need not follow. It would be better if you returned to Shanxi.”
“Then let’s fight!”
I ignored his words and began accelerating my pace even further.
Mo Yong-cheon was traveling on horseback, so I couldn’t afford to waste time leisurely.
The distance would widen in an instant.
I deployed my lightness technique at maximum speed while tracking the trail.
Unless he took rest, the distance wouldn’t close easily, but at least I could pursue him before the traces disappeared.
“I have no idea what you’re trying to do.”
Cheon Yul grumbled again with a disgruntled tone.
Without thinking, I glanced at him briefly.
In that instant, startled by my narrow gaze, Cheon Yul quickly turned his head away and looked elsewhere.
“Be quiet.”
“Ah….”
Hearing his subdued voice, I turned my gaze forward again.
The spacing between the traces was growing wider.
It meant he had run faster from this point onward.
I continued running without stopping.
I couldn’t even tell how much time had passed.
I had departed when the sun was directly overhead, but before I knew it, the sun had set, and then the sun rose again to hang above my head.
“Huff, huff… huff…!”
That was when I heard Cheon Yul’s ragged breathing from behind. Turning to look back, Cheon Yul’s pallid complexion made it seem as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Are you alright?”
“Ha, ha, how are you… fine?”
“I’ve grown accustomed to it.”
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
Cheon Yul let out a hollow laugh, as if utterly exasperated.
I had sprinted at full speed for an entire day without eating or drinking.
An ordinary person would have collapsed and lost consciousness long ago, and even someone trained in martial arts should have been exhausted like Cheon Yul was now.
Yet there was no sign of such fatigue in my appearance, so I understood why Cheon Yul was bewildered.
I found myself smiling.
“Do not neglect your foundational training. It is of utmost importance.”
“…Damn it, really. Where does such a, huff, huff… monster come from.”
Though he desperately wanted to collapse right there, the sight of me continuing forward without pause caused Cheon Yul to grit his teeth even harder.
I could clearly feel his determination not to fall behind.
Confirming this, I increased my pace further.
“Hey— you bastard!”
A fierce shout rang out, but I did not stop.
I continued forward while examining the traces of the horse.
The depth of the hoofprints carved into the earth and the texture of the soil.
By carefully observing such details, I could sufficiently estimate the distance between myself and Mo Yong-cheon.
I pressed on while maintaining maximum control.
Only after two more days had passed did I finally come to a halt.
By now, even I was sweating and breathing heavily, so only then could I catch my breath, drink water, and take a meal.
Meanwhile, Cheon Yul, who had finally caught up after resting for quite some time, looked even more pitiful.
He could barely breathe, looking as though he might collapse at any moment, and his clothes and hair were drenched with sweat as if he had been caught in a downpour.
His face had turned a sickly pale color, and he had lost so much weight in such a short time that his sunken cheeks made him look like a skeleton.
I tossed a waterskin toward him.
Cheon Yul caught the water, hastily wetted his throat, and then scrambled over to stuff dried meat into his mouth from what I had placed nearby.
“Ah— I feel alive again.”
“You reek. Please keep your distance.”
“You think only I smell? You’re the same.”
Sigh—
As if this brief moment of rest was incredibly sweet, Cheon Yul lay down with a peaceful expression. Having run without proper sleep, even the hard ground beneath him seemed unable to compete with his drowsiness.
Watching him naturally begin to snore and drift off to sleep, I let out an amused laugh and turned my gaze away.
Where was this place?
Having ridden northeast from Jeongdo for four days straight, I suspected we were somewhere around Bokyang.
We had come quite far.
Simply by observing how Mo Yong-cheon moved while perfectly concealing his identity and traveling in secret, I could roughly discern his destination.
The inner sanctum of the Divine Cult.
Considering the timing of his movements coinciding with Hye-myeong’s descent from the mountain, it seemed certain he intended to borrow the power of the new Divine Envoy.
Moreover, he had suffered humiliation before many witnesses.
Being more prideful than Moyong Hyeok, he would not be able to bear the shame and would have devised a plan to eliminate Hye-myeong.
Furthermore, if Hye-myeong were to die along with Hobeop, the fury of the Jeongdo faction would reach its peak, and if he could gently appease them while positioning himself at the center, he could gain overwhelming support.
Additionally, he could identify the location of their branch or inner sanctum, and if fortune favored him, perhaps discover who had become the new Divine Envoy.
“Is it more likely to be a branch leader than a regional division?”
If I could locate the branch and discern which direction the Divine Cult’s current flows, that would be ideal, but discovering the face of the new regional leader takes priority.
If someone I don’t know becomes a regional leader, I’ll need to remain vigilant against everyone approaching until I identify them.
Therefore, even if the situation becomes somewhat dangerous, observing the regional leader first is the best course of action for me.
I rose quietly from my seat and examined the traces.
The spacing between Mo Yong-cheon’s horse hoofbeats had narrowed as he galloped.
This meant his destination wasn’t far, and since his speed had slowed, my rapid deployment of lightness technique had closed the distance considerably.
From the traces, he hadn’t gone far.
Was it a branch or a secret residence?
Who exactly would be there?
My curiosity continued to surge endlessly, but one fact remained clear.
Regardless of which it was, things would not unfold as Mo Yong-cheon desired.

* * *

Mo Yong-cheon, riding his horse, came to a halt at one location. Surrounding him were mountains, with only trees, dense undergrowth, rocks, and stones visible.
The terrain was steep, and everything around looked identical.
Had someone unfamiliar with the path entered, they would surely grow exhausted circling the same area and collapse. Even an herbalist accustomed to mountain travel seemed unlikely to survive once stepping foot here.
The traces visible around bore witness to this.
Decomposing corpses and bleached bones were scattered throughout.
Those who had wandered in thoughtlessly, unable to find their way, had perished from beast attacks or poisonous plants and creatures.
Mo Yong-cheon gazed upon this and continued along the path.
After traveling the familiar route for quite some time, a large structure finally came into view—his desired destination.
An estate that appeared plain and unpretentious, lacking any ostentation. This was the Divine Cult’s secret residence hidden in Henan territory.
The moment Mo Yong-cheon stepped inside and observed the interior, an intensely satisfied smile spread across his face.
“You’ve arrived, Sword Emperor?”
“At last we meet. I thought my neck would snap from waiting.”
“Haha, my apologies. I was delayed attending to other urgent matters.”
The person before him was one of the Divine Cult’s protectors.
Auk.
As an executor of the Divine’s commands, he didn’t belong to the Twelve Angles, yet the intense presence he emanated made it clear he was far from ordinary.
But Mo Yong-cheon was not surprised by this.
He already knew their strength well, and he had labored ceaselessly to reach their level.
And now, the moment to achieve that had arrived.
Auk lifted a small wooden box before the eyes of countless observers.
In that instant, everyone standing nearby prostrated themselves.
Members of the Snake Angle.
As if displaying their loyalty to him who would soon ascend as the new regional leader, they bowed with their heads lowered.
“The moment you take this, you become Mo Yong-cheon, regional leader of the Snake Angle, one of the pillars of the Twelve Angles. We pray you use the power bestowed by the Divine for the Divine’s sake.”
Click—
After finishing those words, Auk opened the wooden box.
At the same moment, a single Gok Ok that emitted a soft glow came into view.
The instant I saw it, Mo Yong-cheon fell into ecstasy.
How desperately had I wanted that?
A power that even my ancestors across generations had strived for, yet never obtained.
The ability to transcend humanity and reach the realm of immortals.
Something I had yearned for more than anyone, something I absolutely had to possess.
I never imagined I would obtain it so quickly.
My trembling hand reached toward the Gok Ok.
As my hand drew closer, my heart pounded more fiercely, my spirit soared like the heavens, and the voices and expressions around me ceased to register in my eyes and ears.
I simply smiled.
Lost in euphoria, all my consciousness was directed toward it.
The same was true for the others present.
The gleam in everyone’s eyes fixed upon the Gok Ok.
The desire of those who wished to possess it.
By the mysterious power of the Gok Ok that drew one in merely by looking at it, everyone in the hall fell silent for a moment, their minds lost.
Then, just as Mo Yong-cheon’s hand was about to touch the Gok Ok.
Crash!
Suddenly, with a tremendous sound, a wall on one side shattered.
Those startled by the noise opened their eyes wide and looked toward that place.
Mo Yong-cheon was no exception.
What came into view was dust rising thickly through the collapsed wall, and the figure of a man standing there.
A masked man waved his hand to clear the air.
“Cough! Ah, the dust…”
Soon, a single utterance captured everyone’s attention.
And that was a fatal mistake.
“…!?”
Auk and Mo Yong-cheon were startled by the sudden presence.
It was from the opposite direction.
The complete opposite of where the commotion had sounded.
In the brief moment their attention was diverted, someone wearing a mask vaulted over the wall and approached at high speed, then swung a sword between Mo Yong-cheon and Auk.
Slash!
The instant the sword imbued with fierce blade energy was swung, Mo Yong-cheon and Auk retreated half a step, and the masked man did not miss that opening.
Before the two could even respond, the extended sword aimed for the wooden box.
“…!?”
The extended sword moved smoothly, placing the Gok Ok upon the blade before flicking it upward.
In the moment Auk and Mo Yong-cheon’s eyes widened dramatically.
The masked man’s hand seized the Gok Ok that flew through the air.
“No—!”
Mo Yong-cheon cried out in anguish and tried desperately to seize the man, but his hand could not reach the figure who had already retreated far back.
I merely grasped at empty air.
And in that same moment.
Whoosh—!
A torrent of pitch-black smoke erupted, consuming everything around me.

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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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