The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 94

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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 Nakhyang – Chapter 155

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“My Lord! Where did that Jin Family brat go? I’ve been searching everywhere to ask him about the Central Plains, but I can’t find him anywhere?”
Gu Gunbaek, who had been lounging inside the cave, turned his head at the sudden voice.
Several men and women stood before him.
All of them were influential figures within the Demon Palace.
Seeing the confused expressions on their faces, Gu Gunbaek yawned and casually gestured with his chin.
“Over there.”
“…Over there?”
“Yeah, over there.”
In an instant, everyone’s heads turned in the direction of his gesture. Yet even after looking, they found it difficult to believe and turned back to Gu Gunbaek.
“Is that really where you mean, my Lord?”
“What kind of nonsense is that? I’m so damn tired right now, would I spout lies?”
At that moment, the faces of everyone present turned pale.
Some broke out in cold sweat, while others’ eyes filled with doubt.
“Wait, then where is your disciple, my Lord?!”
“I told you, over there.”
Gu Gunbaek gestured toward the same spot again with his chin and smiled.
This meant he had thrown not only Jin Cheon-u but also Jang Chuchyeong into that place.
Everyone was shocked by this unbelievable revelation.
“But isn’t that where the Frenzy Oblivion Formation is located?!”
“That’s right.”

The Frenzy Oblivion Formation.

There was only one place where the forbidden ground of the Namman Demon Palace—the training grounds of the legendary strongest Demon King—lay exposed.
Because of this, countless Demon Kings throughout the history of the Namman Demon Palace upheld a tradition: they would examine the traces left by the strongest Demon King of old, and leave their own marks for comparison.
The mere fact of entering that place and returning alive was a tremendous achievement for whoever ascended to the position of current Demon King, and they were worthy of receiving the respect and loyalty of the Demon Palace’s warriors.
However, because the martial techniques within were so formidable and exquisite, more often than not, the Demon Kings who entered never returned alive. Consequently, fewer and fewer dared to venture inside, until three hundred years ago it became a forbidden zone.
The very fact that even the freewheeling denizens of the Demon Palace absolutely refused to approach its vicinity spoke volumes about its danger.
“Ugh… looks like we’ll be collecting corpses because of our Demon King.”
“Will we even be able to recover a body?”
“Baek Gu will bring it back, I suppose. The real problem is… whether the Jin Family of Nakhyang will just sit idle.”
Was it the sighs and reproachful glances echoing from every corner? Gu Gunbaek, who had been lying quietly, suddenly furrowed his brow and shouted.
“Ah, do these fools really want to dig their own graves? He’ll come back safely. Don’t worry.”
“Only the Demon King could manage that, no?”
For three hundred years, every Demon King who had held the position had not even dared set foot in that place. Yet only one person had broken that rule, entered, and returned alive.
The being standing before them.
Demon King Gu Gunbaek.
This was why the countless free-spirited Namman people would obey his every command without question, bow when told to bow, and simply accept his absence as natural.
Because he had entered the forbidden zone that no Demon King had survived for three hundred years, and he had returned alive.
Despite their grumbling, every warrior of the Demon Palace present harbored absolute loyalty to Gu Gunbaek in their hearts.
They did not believe that anyone less than Gu Gunbaek could set foot in the forbidden zone and survive.
However, Gu Gunbaek’s thoughts were different.
He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, a smile playing at his lips.
“There’s no need to worry. That one will earn his keep and return.”

* * *

My sense of direction had completely abandoned me.
I heard a sound from the right and turned to look, only to have a venomous insect crawl out from the left instead.
It felt as though everything was twisted and inverted.
It wasn’t merely my sense of direction that was affected.
All five senses were distinctly different from their normal state.
I furrowed my brow and walked slowly forward.
Slash!
In an instant, a leaf caught on my collar and was cleanly severed.
Even a leaf that fluttered gently in the breeze could become a lethal weapon in this place.
Was that all?
Thud!
At the sound from somewhere, I turned my gaze and watched as a crimson monkey that had been perched in a tree plummeted straight down.
Screeeech!
It thrashed about with agonized shrieks for some reason, but unable to shake off whatever had claimed it, it eventually collapsed to the ground.
As the creature convulsed through its final moments, black ants swarmed around it and began devouring it whole.
Watching tiny ants hunt down a monkey of overwhelming size, I quickly retreated and checked the ground beneath my feet.
Several ants were attempting to climb up my shoes.
I brushed them off with quick taps, but as if refusing to lose their prey, they rushed at me again, and before I knew it, the number of ants—which had been merely a dozen—began to multiply rapidly.
Was one monkey not enough for them?
I furrowed my brow and quickly fled the area.
My movements as I deployed my lightness technique were extraordinarily cautious.
Leaves were blades, and the ground was infested with ants that hunted beasts.
It wouldn’t be just the ants.
I advanced with certainty that this ecosystem was a peculiar place that could not be found anywhere else in Namman, no matter how thoroughly one searched.
Slash!
In that very moment.
Something flew at me.
I twisted my body quickly and barely evaded it, then confirmed that a plant which had been holding its bud-like mouth closed suddenly opened wide to swallow me the instant it detected my presence.
Swish!
My drawn blade severed its stem.
As it fell, it seemed like an ordinary flower, but from within its gaping maw flowed a strange liquid, and when an insect that had been passing by touched it, the creature dissolved away in an absurd spectacle.
It was enough to make one’s teeth chatter just from witnessing it.
From this, I understood one truth.
Whether plant or insect, everything visible became a threat to human life.
Moreover, the intense gazes I felt emanating from all directions were undoubtedly those of beasts.
Yet the fact that I could not find even a single bone of a dead beast anywhere around me meant that there existed countless creatures capable of grinding bones to dust or dissolving them entirely.
“They say even the smallest things in Namman are dangerous, and it seems they’ve all gathered here.”
I recalled Gu Gunbaek and let out a hollow laugh.
It seemed unlikely that an ordinary person could survive here. No, even those trained in martial arts would likely collapse both mentally and physically in such a place.
There was no trace of human presence, my senses were bizarrely distorted, and everything in all directions regarded me as prey.
I pressed forward without even knowing where I was going, yet I couldn’t afford to let my guard down for a single moment.
Scritch-scritch-!
Then.
A peculiar sound reached my ears from somewhere.
Under normal circumstances, I could have pinpointed its location instantly, but things were different now—I had to quickly scan my surroundings to trace the source of the sound.
Soon, something caught my eye.
But I couldn’t trust even what I saw with my own eyes.
I approached slowly, sensing its presence and aura clearly as I gazed upon it.
“A monkey?”
No.
A frame several times larger than any monkey.
A dark, shadowy creature with muscles so overwhelming it reminded me of Gu Gunbaek.
That being, which wouldn’t be out of place being called a Black-Haired Savage Beast, was devouring a corpse sprawled across the ground.
Crunch-!
Slurp-slurp-!
It clawed at the body with its massive hands, tearing bones and gnawing on them. In mere moments, the corpse was rendered so grotesquely mangled that no intact form remained.
Watching this, I furrowed my brow.
At a glance, I could tell it was unmistakably a human corpse.
Then there were others here besides me?
To find out, I would need to deal with this creature first.
I launched myself forward, pushing off the ground with explosive force.
Whoosh-!
My blade aimed for the Black-Haired Savage Beast’s neck.
Kuwaaaaang-!
But its overwhelming musculature blocked the blade, and it unleashed a bestial roar, thrashing its massive arms about and pounding its chest with savage abandon.
Drip-drip-
The oppressive force emanating from it was no laughing matter.
Kerking-kerking-!
It bared its hideous fangs and emitted a grotesque sound, its eyes gleaming with recognition of me as an enemy, widening with vicious intent.
“Too wild to tame.”
I found myself smiling bitterly as I repositioned my stance once more.
Whoosh-whoosh-!
The creature exhaled a strange, guttural breath and charged at me.
Crack-crack-!
With its overwhelming bulk, it trampled and tore through every shrub and tree in its path, yet it seemed driven solely by the will to crush and devour me.
Soon, a massive fist came hurtling toward me.
Whooom-!
It wasn’t trying to strike me down.
It intended to seize and tear me to shreds.
I evaded it and moved my blade once more.
Scrape—!
My blade pierced true toward its heart, but it only carved a wound into the creature’s muscle without penetrating deeper.
Despite the attack being infused with inner energy.
I narrowed my eyes sharply and focused my concentration.
Then, catching the sound from my right, I pushed off the ground and leaped upward.
The massive creature’s arm had aimed for my legs instead of my right side.
As I soared into the air, its gaze followed me.
As if its distorted senses were of no consequence whatsoever.
Seeing this alone made me wonder—were the creatures in this place truly unaffected by this strange formation, or was that not the case?
Perhaps it actually knew the method to counter it.
At that moment, the Black-Haired Savage Beast watching me moved and seized something from the ground.
The instant I saw what it held, my expression twisted involuntarily.
Whoosh—!
As the object flew at me with brutal speed and grazed my cheek, a foul stench pierced my nostrils.
Its feces.
Unable to smooth away my grimace, I tightened my grip on my sword.
At this rate, I had no idea when this fight would end.
I had no desire to engage in a prolonged battle with a creature that threw excrement.
I sharpened my focus further and released my momentum.
If my swung blade couldn’t pierce through muscle, I would either cut through it with greater force, or I could draw upon my Sword Essence—the power capable of cleaving even diamond.
I had only one choice left.
I closed the distance in a single breath and swung my blade toward its chest.
Scrape-scrape-scrape—!
The moment my blade embedded itself in the muscle, I poured in greater force and drove it deeper. Gripping the sword with both hands, I carved through the muscle and pushed inward.
Kuwaaaaang—!
The instant my blade tore free from its body, a horrific shriek erupted as blood gushed forth.
The creature that seemed as though it would never fall thrashed about, and finally collapsed to the ground with a thunderous impact.
Yet it was not dead, for it still writhed, as if proving its continued existence.
Its tenacity was so repulsive it made my skin crawl.
I exhaled a sigh and approached, driving my blade through its skull.
Thud—!
Only then did its movements cease, and the light faded from its eyes.
I could feel its breath had stopped, yet unease lingered, so I pierced its heart once more.
“So creatures like this swarm this place?”
I retrieved my blood-stained blade, my eyes gleaming sharply.
Merely facing a single one had drained me considerably.
If multiple creatures like this were to attack together, I suspected the battle would be quite grueling.
Huff—
I exhaled another sigh and turned my head.
Now at last I could examine the corpse—my true objective.
“…What is this?”
The corpse, with bones and flesh scattered in all directions, was so grotesquely mangled that identification seemed impossible, yet I discerned a peculiar serpent insignia etched upon a torn fragment of clothing.
Unmistakably, the emblem of the Snake Clan.
Which meant.
“They are here.”
Though I could not fathom the circumstances, it was abundantly clear that members of the Snake Clan were present in this place.

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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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