The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 73

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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 134

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Several days after entering the Gongtong Sect.
Gam Cheong-un officially ascended to the position of Sect Leader.
The solemn ceremony concluded the moment Gam Cheong-un finished his tediously lengthy speech.
-Roooaaarrr!
Thunderous cheers erupted from the assembled crowd.
Though most were disciples of the Gongtong Sect, merely hearing such voices would instill considerable resolve in any new sect leader.
Following this, the Gongtong Sect hosted a martial arts tournament.
The reason for holding such a tournament was straightforward.
While it served to boost morale among the younger generation, the deeper purpose was to gauge the disparity between the Gongtong Sect’s disciples and the Changrong Unit—which had assembled the Martial Alliance’s finest young talents.
Only by understanding the extent of this gap could we establish benchmarks for how to cultivate their growth.
The Gongtong Sect’s new leader appeared far more calculating than I had anticipated.
Such strategic thinking was natural for one destined to lead an organization.
I sat in an elevated position with an excellent view of the arena.
Only those of considerable status could occupy such a place, and around me sat renowned masters of the Martial Alliance whose names alone commanded respect.
The most striking figure was surely Hoyeon Munchu?
As the sect leader of the Wudang—one of the two pillars of the righteous path alongside the thousand-year Shaolin—his status was incomparably elevated.
Thus, he sat beside Gam Cheong-un, the newly appointed Gongtong Sect Leader, and I occupied the seat beside Hoyeon Munchu.
Consequently, the glances of the assembled masters kept darting toward me.
How bitter their hearts must be, seeing someone from the merchant world occupying a seat they should rightfully hold?
I ignored their scrutiny and gazed calmly at the arena.
Clang-clang-clang-crash!
The cascading sound of sword strikes rang sharply against the ears.
The battle between the two fighters visible below was truly evenly matched.
Because of this, the duel appeared increasingly intense.
“What is your assessment of those two?”
At that moment, the voice of Ho Yeon-jin beside me reached my ears.
I glanced at him and replied.
“I am not in a position to evaluate martial artists.”
“Ha ha, spare me the modesty. Are you not the one who defeated Cheon Yul and faced both the Plum Blossom Sword Master and the Ten Swordsmen of Zhongnan? Surely you must understand their strengths and weaknesses?”
“I apologize, but as a merchant, I do not evaluate martial artists.”
“Amitabha Buddha—how amusing. Not a martial artist, you say? Ha ha, is that so?”
Hoyeon Munchu slapped his thigh and burst into hearty laughter.
Because of this, the gazes of those around us seemed to turn 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 understood Hoyeon’s laughter well enough.
He stroked the whiskers on his upper lip, and as if remembering something, his eyes gleamed as he opened his mouth.
“Then what if we consider them as merchandise? Yes, from a merchant’s perspective, which goods hold a higher grade?”
A single phrase that conveyed an unwillingness to back down.
He was determined to assign value to these martial artists.
A nasty disposition.
I exhaled a short sigh and gazed back at the training grounds. I could see the man and woman with their blades locked together, gritting their teeth even harder as they fought to seize victory.
Were they both disciples of the same sect?
As I observed their forms, I opened my mouth.
“If I must distinguish between them, neither would qualify as superior grade merchandise.”
Clang—!
In that instant, a fierce blade strike rang out, and both the man and woman were sent flying out of the training grounds. The way they fell without clear precedence made it impossible to determine a victor.
Yet someone had to rise.
The referee’s gaze favored the woman who fell slightly later.
—Roaaaaar!
“Not superior grade, you say… Quite the amusing merchant’s eye you have. Haha.”
I watched the woman rise unsteadily.
She too seemed to realize the match had ended without a clear victor, and her frustration was evident.
Yet no matter what happened, the outcome would not have changed.
From the start, the man had been holding back to match the woman’s level.
Did Hoyeon not know this?
No.
He wanted to know whether I possessed a martial artist’s eye capable of discerning truth.
From the way he smacked his lips, it was clear he found my answer somewhat different from his expectations, and his expression showed displeasure.
“By the way, how is the Family Head faring? I haven’t seen him since that encounter at the Martial Artist’s temple years ago.”
“Thanks to recent troublesome matters being resolved to some degree, he has been well of late.”
“Troublesome matters? Does the Family Head have worries that weigh on him?”
“Even in apparent peace, the Jin Family is always caught in hidden struggles. We simply handle such matters more quietly than elsewhere, so they remain unknown.”
“Is that so?”
Ho Yeon-jin answered casually, yet his pupils gleamed. Perhaps thinking this was an opportunity to learn what he desired, he held back an invisible smile and was about to speak again when—
“Come to think of it, I had reason to travel to Beijing recently, and fortunately gained an opportunity to enter the palace.”
I made my move first.
“I see….”
“There I met someone named Chungho.”
“…!”
“He said he was your disciple.”
“Ah—yes, that’s right. He was a talented child with great sense of justice. I regard it as unfortunate.”
Startled by the name Chungho, Hoyeon turned his head with a bitter smile.
Chungho must be an existence he wished not to recall.
Though he had raised him well as a disciple, ultimately the boy had fallen short of expectations, forcing him to shatter his dantian and cast him out.
After that, he would have naturally breathed his last in secret, away from the Martial Artist’s temple.
This situation surely didn’t arise merely because I fell short of Hoyeon’s expectations.
I suspected there must have been something between Hoyeon and Chungho.
Perhaps Chungho had discovered Hoyeon’s true identity.
But with the unexpected arrival of the Emperor, all of that came to nothing—how bitter must his heart be?
“How have you been?”
“I’ve become the right hand of the Current Emperor. To say I’m doing well would be an understatement.”
As he spoke with a faint smile, Hoyeon’s brow twitched.
He had become an existence increasingly beyond my reach.
No matter what schemes Hoyeon might attempt, if his opponent possessed the power and influence of the Emperor’s right hand, it would never be easy.
Murmur, murmur—
Then.
The surroundings suddenly grew noisy.
Turning my gaze toward the training grounds to see what was happening, I spotted an unfamiliar woman standing beside Eon Garyeo of the Changryong Unit.
“That girl is….”
“She is Namgung Yeon.”
“The Namgung Sect?!”
Everyone erupted in chatter at the sudden appearance of the Namgung Sect.
Moreover, the opponent was the pearl of Hebei.
As someone counted among the top five martial artists within the Changryong Unit itself, she had no choice but to draw everyone’s expectations upon herself.
I smiled faintly and looked at Hoyeon.
“What do you think?”
“Ha, returning the question? Then I must answer.”
Hoyeon smiled and gazed at Eon Garyeo and Namgung Yeon, who had assumed a ready stance. Soon he stroked his chin and offered a slight smile.
“The Namgung girl does seem to have considerable skill, but she still appears quite inexperienced.”
“I see.”
I nodded in agreement.
Certainly, anyone who had never seen Namgung Yeon’s swordsmanship would think the same.
One could tell simply by observing her ready stance.
Namgung Yeon’s face, having never wielded a blade before so many people, was filled with tension, while Eon Garyeo, who had experienced this countless times, exuded composure.
Her gaze, expression, and momentum—all were overwhelming.
“So this is what they mean by a faded Namgung. Tsk, tsk.”
Hoyeon clicked his tongue.
Most of the other masters seemed to share the same thought.
Though not a single exchange had yet occurred, Namgung Yeon’s spirit was already visibly broken.
Even if she possessed unexpected skill, appearing this nervous, she didn’t seem capable of lasting beyond twenty exchanges.
“You called her your guard? How did you come to employ such a girl?”
“She has more spirit than expected. She’ll charge forward with determination—who knows? She might even win.”
“Ha ha ha, that’s a dream. Shall we wager on it?”
“If you stake the Jasodан, I will. My body has been feeling a bit weak lately.”
“…!”
Ho Yeon-jin’s expression hardened at the mention of the Ja So Dan.
It wasn’t just him.
The renowned masters of the Murim Alliance who had been listening to the conversation all turned their gazes toward me with expressions of disbelief.
The Martial Artist’s Ja So Dan.
They had likely never seen a madman before who would wager something comparable to the Shaolin Temple’s Great Hwan Dan.
Yet it was hardly an unreasonable proposition.
If one stakes a wager, one must put forth something of equal value.
“I hear you carry one with you at all times—is that correct?”
“Ha… haha, if I stake this, what will you put forth?”
“Hmm… I shall wager the Unryong Inn located in Hebei.”
“…!”
“Huh?!”
“W… what?! Are you insane?”
Small disturbances erupted throughout the gathering.
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 bewildered expressions.
I responded to their stares with a smile.
“If you have any thoughts on the matter, do share them. We can postpone until then.”
“Hahaha, you truly are a fellow who exceeds all expectations.”
Hoyeon laughed it off with an expression of exasperation.
Yet his eyes had grown considerably sharper.
As he turned his head away with a brief sigh.
Pap pap pat—!
The match finally began.
Eon Garyeo, renowned for her bare-handed combat techniques.
She employed swift and agile movements primarily, pressuring her opponent and striking decisively at any momentary opening that revealed itself.
Indeed, befitting a clan that had claimed a position among the Eight Great Sects through bare-handed combat, Eon Garyeo’s martial prowess was nearly flawless and exquisitely refined.
Naturally, the situation was entirely one-sided.
Namgung Yeon found herself occupied solely with evading and blocking the torrential onslaught of attacks.
The voices of onlookers scattered throughout seemed to predict Eon Garyeo’s victory.
I rested my chin in my hand, observing the match with a skeptical expression.
Time passed.
Move after move, the relentless bare-handed combat poured down like rain, and it appeared certain to break Namgung Yeon—yet the situation was beginning to flow in a peculiar 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, sweat had begun pouring from her like rain.
Meanwhile, Namgung Yeon was gradually, yet unmistakably, releasing her tension.
Her rigid expression began to ease, and her previously sluggish blade was regaining its sharpness.
Everyone present regarded the unfolding scene with expressions of disbelief.
Did she sense the concentrated attention upon her?
Namgung Yeon’s expression seemed to stiffen once more, but in that brief moment of respite, I caught her eyes darting swiftly toward me.
I met her gaze and offered her a smile.
In that instant, Namgung Yeon tightened her grip on the sword’s hilt.
A brilliant gleam flashed across the blade.
Whoosh—whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh crack!
“That… what is that?!”
“The Thirteen Lightning Strikes of the 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, yet unmistakably lethal.
The precision with which Namgung Yeon delivered those shallow cuts—restraining her true power to minimize injury—made it painfully clear who held dominion and who did not.
Eon Garyeo, bleeding from the wound, tried to push herself up from the ground once more.
But faster than she could move, Namgung Yeon’s blade tip was already positioned at her 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 sword with effortless grace, not a soul dared to speak.
The shock was simply too profound.
And in that moment, all of them understood.
The Namgung had returned.
No one 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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