The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 99

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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 160

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The path was treacherous, and the surroundings teemed with creatures that hungered for life itself.
Relaxing one’s guard was unimaginable in such a place.
I steadied my breathing and surveyed the area around me.
Seven monkeys.
One leopard that had been waiting for an opening.
These were the creatures I had captured after more than half a shichen of intense combat.
The battle had been so fierce 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?”
“Without a doubt. I’m not the kind of man to speak falsehoods.”
“I suppose that’s true…”
Jang Chuchyeong nodded despite his uneasy expression. Gu Gunbaek was carefree to a fault, but he was not a man to lie.
Which meant the training ground absolutely existed.
But where could it be?
It seemed we had been wandering this place for quite some time already.
The fact that we still hadn’t found it made me suspect the influence of this formation array.
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? It doesn’t seem like it…”
“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 was growing weary of it.
This also meant we had thoroughly searched every inch of land affected by the formation array.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
“Actually, there is one place we haven’t properly examined.”
“Where?!”
“That cave.”
“Gasp?! The one with the corpse?”
I nodded in response to Jang Chuchyeong’s question.
Certainly, I had verified everywhere else.
But that one place—so menacing that it seemed a dangerous creature must dwell there—I had not examined it properly.
In our current situation, it was the most suspicious.
“But then again, besides the cave and the cliff that formed it, there was nothing else…”
…
At Jang Chuchyeong’s meaningful words, I rose from my seat.
Then I 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 agonized cries I heard during my movement were undoubtedly the Divine Sect’s warriors speaking of sacrifice.
As time passed, their numbers would only dwindle further.
With such thoughts, I smiled, and after advancing for a while, I stopped and extended my hand.
Finally, the cave came into view.
It looked no different from last time.
Outside the cave, countless bones still scattered about, while the interior reeked with such a foul stench that it assaulted my nostrils.
As I surveyed my surroundings, barely able to breathe through the nauseating odor, Jang Chuchyeong covered his nose with his hand and shouted.
“Ugh, what’s supposed to be here anyway? There’s nothing! Let’s just go! Blegh! This smell is killing me. Seriously….”
“Perhaps, whatever makes this place its lair is the king of this hell.”
“That’s… well, we’d know if we saw it….”
Even Jang Chuchyeong couldn’t deny it.
Despite the cave being empty, there wasn’t a single trace of the beasts that had swarmed from all directions before.
Not even the sound of insects could be heard.
This meant something that threatening lived here, and such a place was always the most suspicious.
I surveyed this place once more.
Pure white fur lay scattered here and there, and bones filled the outside.
Though I ventured deeper into the cave, seeing it blocked off after not much distance, it felt like nothing more than the most suitable nest for an animal.
But one thing.
I lifted my head.
Long claw marks carved into the wall.
It gave the impression of something having leaped upward.
Confirming this, I licked my lips.
Soon, I launched my body.
Gathering maximum force, I soared upward to the peak, then drew my sword and drove it into the wall.
Thunk!
“M… Master?!”
“Come up here.”
“What’s up there?”
“Verification. But the probability is certainly highest.”
Jang Chuchyeong nodded and launched himself upward.
The moment he reached the peak, he grasped the wall with his hand.
Crack!
The wall crumbled to dust, revealing a handhold.
Truly a man who lives by strength alone, 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.
This undoubtedly meant something had climbed upward.
I found myself smiling as I continued ascending.
But the cliff was far higher than I had anticipated.
Despite climbing for over an hour, I still couldn’t see the end.
Only after moving for another half hour did I finally reach the summit.
“This… this is…”
In that moment, an entirely different landscape revealed itself before my eyes.
The dense forest scenery remained, but there was a vast open space on one side, and a colossal wall made of metal stood imposingly.
I slowly approached and examined it.
The wall was no ordinary wall.
It was made of metal, but not steel.
Iron that could only be obtained from Namman.
Its hardness surpassed steel, and acquiring it required an enormous sum of money.
To construct such a massive wall using it was extraordinary.
With this much material, one could have built an entire Beast Palace and still had money left over.
“What is this… why is it so hard?”
“It’s Gon-cheol.”
“Gon-cheol? What’s that?”
“It’s a mineral from Namman. It’s not quite as durable as Eternal Cold Iron, but it’s famous for being quite hard.”
“…Hard, you say? But there are fist marks on it?”
Jang Chuchyeong was right.
These were no mere fist marks.
They were traces of martial techniques unleashed against this Gon-cheol wall.
As if someone were comparing their strength.
I understood the reason.
A single enormous fist imprint, deeply carved into the center of the Gon-cheol wall.
The sheer depth and size made me suspect it belonged to Gung-ju, whom Gu Gunbaek had called the strongest in Namman’s history.
It was utterly overwhelming.
Simply by observing it, one could immediately grasp how extraordinary the level of those who had carved their martial techniques here truly was.
It made me wonder if those who had carved their techniques here were the ones who had hollowed out the cave where Gu Gunbaek dwelled.
It would be impossible otherwise, given such a level of mastery.
Then, suddenly, I discovered a new mark.
A punch technique.
Not as large as the one positioned in the center, but the depth was comparable, showing no inferiority.
Judging by its appearance as the most recently carved mark, I suspected it was Gu Gunbaek’s handiwork.
“A fist technique… remarkably refined.”
Though it appeared inferior in destructive force, the one in the center shows rough fractures across its surface from the moment of impact, while what I presumed to be Gu Gunbaek’s fist technique was refined and extraordinarily clean.
I slowly traced my fingers across it, examining the marks once more.
Then I painted a picture in my mind.
The palace masters of the Yesugung 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 presences overlapped hazily.
One was the figure who had thrown a punch in the center, and the other was unmistakably Gu Gunbaek.
Unlike the successive palace masters who had displayed their martial arts in the middle of the training grounds, these two simply stood in one place, gazing at Gon-cheol and delivering a single punch.
The overwhelming sight dominated my entire consciousness and attention.
The moment the torrential fist force struck distinctly.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Suddenly, the sound of swords being drawn came from behind.
Unable to see the conclusion, I furrowed my brow and turned around, only to see the warriors of the Divine Sect 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.”
“You bastards… who are you?”
I quietly observed the one who had stepped forward.
His face was somehow familiar.
I struggled to recall the memory at first, but eventually managed to retrieve it.
At the same time, a sneer crossed my lips.
“So Makjan?”
“…!?”
So Makjan.
A figure under Sin Gak, which Chu Won governs—not quite at Hoyeon’s level, but possessing considerable martial skill nonetheless.
From his appearance, I recognized one fact.
The Divine Sect warriors who had entered this place were certainly unremarkable in terms of raw power, but they were first-rate when it came to formation techniques.
In other words, these men were the vanguard for dismantling the formation.
But the problem was their numbers.
More of them were climbing up than I had anticipated.
I had hoped at least half would turn back, but it didn’t seem that way.
I nudged Jang Chuchyeong’s side lightly.
“From now on, keep your wits about you.”
“Yes! I just need to kill those bastards, right? Leave it to me!”
Jang Chuchyeong clenched both fists, steeling his resolve.
He seemed intent on showing a different side of himself than before.
I smiled and drew my sword.
“I apologize, but this does seem to be the place you were looking for. However, it appears you won’t find what you want here.”
“…Do you know what we seek?”
“You think I wouldn’t?”
“…!”
“But unfortunately, it’s not here. If you really don’t believe me, search all you like. Of course… that’s only possible if you’re still alive.”
I could see the eyes of those gathered narrowing with intent.
I could discern the thoughts taking shape in every gaze fixed upon me.
They were undoubtedly connecting me to Gwanbaek.
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 shock and examined my appearance.
That’s right.
There was no way they wouldn’t recognize me once my face was revealed.
Since I had gone to such lengths to devour the Jin Family of Nakhyang, it was hardly surprising that all the figures 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?”
“What does it matter if I am, or if I’m not?”
“Well… either way, it seems unlikely you’ll survive this. However, if you truly are the Young Master of the Jin Family, before you die, you’ll spill what you know for the sake of your family.”
Confidence gleamed in So Makjan’s expression.
Part of it stemmed from their overwhelming numbers, but it was also because they trusted in their own prowess.
With a slight smile, I adjusted my grip on my sword.
Whoosh—!
At So Makjan’s signal, they came flying at me.
The way they rushed forward in an instant was utterly overwhelming.
But this was far from enough.
I extended my hand.
Thwip—!
Crack!
The Oduks that shot forth pierced through someone’s brow, and they collapsed limply like a lifeless puppet.
Witnessing this, I too launched my body forward.
I did not retreat.
Instead, I charged in and seized the initiative.
No matter how great their numbers, if I could overwhelm them, I had already won half the battle.
Like birds struck by arrows and falling, those pierced let out their final groans as they tumbled across the ground.
I swung my blade.
Shiiing—!
The brilliant flash descended as gently as moonlight, yet its speed was incomparably faster than anything they could muster.
I severed flesh and bone.
That sensation was distinctly felt at my fingertips.
I cut through necks and split skulls.
I pierced hearts and cleaved bodies in two.
Torrents of blood surged forth, and screams pounded against my ears.
“Gaaaahhhhh!”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
With a perfectly executed move that exploited every opening, the sight before my eyes was nothing short of autumn leaves scattering in the wind.
And beyond that.
“Hyah, hyah, hyah!”
Boom—!
Jang Chuchyeong’s fist erupted with flame as it struck.
Wielded with overwhelming power and momentum, his punch was nothing short of lethal.
Moreover, since such tremendous force could not be easily broken, it proved catastrophic for those crowded together against him.
When one enemy flew backward, those following behind became entangled with him, leaving them unable to mount any proper attack and forced to tumble helplessly.
I observed this unfolding chaos while fixing my gaze upon So Makjan.
I could see his eyes trembling violently.
“If you wish to survive, you must give your absolute best.”
That voice struck his ears with force.

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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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