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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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There was no cliché like, “How did you know that—.”
Namgung Sol, as if what was bound to happen had come, calmly acknowledged it without any emotional turmoil.
“That’s right. If you’ve come this far, you must have heard from the Alliance Lord.”
The surname Namgung had, in the current Murim, become the exclusive property of those wishing for death, of suicide hopefuls.
Despite the prevailing trend where even tomorrow’s survival could hardly be guaranteed if it became known to the world, Namgung Sol was dignified.
Namgung-Woo hadn’t particularly expected Namgung Sol to show a dramatic reaction either.
In the first place, even the Zhuge Family Head knew about Namgung Sol.
Although he didn’t know for sure how far it had spread, the upper echelons of the Murim would likely have grasped Namgung Sol’s existence, at least roughly.
Who was it that revealed it?
Murim Alliance Lord Gakwon? Sangpyeondang Hall Master Yu Myeon?
No.
They, who were protecting Namgung Sol and worried about her being exposed to the world, would not take such an unreasonable risk.
Therefore, the one who had spread the news that a survivor of the Namgung Family remained was Namgung Sol herself.
‘Was it the Alliance Lord’s side that belatedly concealed Namgung Sol’s identity?’
And unlike her earlier demeanor of pushing others away, Namgung Sol accepted the Alliance Lord’s help.
Moreover, she did so even to the extent of completely reversing her initial attitude of trying to reveal herself.
“I understand. The Alliance Lord is someone connected to the Namgung Family. So, you received help because you weren’t included in that ‘anyone.’ Then, is the Sangpyeondang Hall Master an extension of the Alliance Lord?”
“…You already have a conviction, so it would be meaningless for me to deny it now. That’s right. The Alliance Lord… is someone who cannot be said to be unrelated to the Namgung Family. He was the last Family Head’s… inseparable dear friend.”
The friendship between the young master of the Namgung Family and the greatest talent of Shaolin Temple.
Now that times had changed, it had become a relationship known only to those who knew, but it was a public anecdote that didn’t particularly need to be hidden.
“Now you understand, right? My business is the Namgung Family’s legacy. It’s something I, who inherited the surname Namgung, must bear. So… I cannot drag you into it.”
Namgung-Woo realized the identity of what had been constantly bothering him.
The sense of incongruity that deepened the more he talked with Namgung Sol.
It was the difference in perspective between the two of them regarding the goal called the Namgung Family.
Namgung-Woo saw the Namgung Family as an object of reconstruction.
And although he had resolved to rebuild the Namgung Family, the only thing he shared with the Namgung Family, apart from the surname, was a single martial art, so the relationship was extremely dry.
Therefore, Namgung-Woo did not hesitate at all to borrow the strength of others for his goal.
However, Namgung Sol regarded the Namgung Family not as something to be re-established, but as a grave site she herself had to enter.
Openly revealing herself as a Namgung.
Wanting to leave that place despite knowing the danger and having someone with both the will and the strength to protect her.
Yet, did Namgung Sol possess the same powerful individual martial might as Namgung-Woo?
Not at all.
To put it bluntly, Namgung Sol was treading a path of self-destruction.
As if, because she was a Namgung, her end also had to be with the Namgung Family.
Was it because, unlike Namgung-Woo, she truly inherited the blood?
As a pure blood relative, Namgung Sol harbored some special feelings for the Namgung Family.
Frankly, Namgung-Woo had no right to comment on Namgung Sol’s chosen way of life.
Though the two shared the same surname, they were not blood relatives who shared the same blood.
However, her appearance, pushing away the hands of those around her, was just like seeing Namgung-Woo himself when he had first arrived in this world, and he didn’t want to leave it as it was.
So, Namgung-Woo said.
“If that’s the case, then I must hear it even more.”
Ssshaaaak-
With a rough scraping sound, different from ordinary metal, the Karmic Blade was drawn from the Dragon Eye Wood scabbard.
The Karmic Blade, having been confined in the stuffy scabbard, spewed out streams of Qi as if excited to be out in the world after a long time.
The demonic Qi, suppressed by the sacred Qi of the Guiding Immortal Sutra verses Namgung-Woo had personally carved by invoking Samadhi True Fire and the spiritual Qi originally harbored by the Dragon Eye Wood, burst forth all at once, instantly filling the training ground.
“Ugh…! Wha-what are you doing…!”
Namgung Sol, who instinctively recoiled from the Karmic Blade’s demonic Qi, reflexively raised her sword.
However, before Namgung Sol could even assume a ready stance, Namgung-Woo gathered all of the Karmic Blade’s demonic Qi and passed by Namgung Sol to stand in the middle of the training ground.
“I’ll show you. What kind of sword path you should walk.”
Namgung-Woo’s sword began to trace clear and distinct sword paths.
Even without a single iota of internal energy imbued, shockwaves arose, adding to the power of the sword strikes.
Such was the martial art of a martial artist whose boundary between the inner and outer universe had already crumbled.
Even without drawing out one’s own internal energy, the Qi of the outer universe naturally resonated with the movements.
Namgung Sol froze on the spot.
What Namgung-Woo was performing.
It was a familiar sword art.
It perfectly matched the movements from the secret manual Namgung Sol had looked at countless times, until the paper couldn’t bear it and tore.
The Great Evolution Sword Art, following the Ten Forms of the Iron Sword, revealed its true form through Namgung-Woo’s hands.
He traced a sword path following the same mind-image as the sword art Namgung Sol had been practicing just moments before.
He wasn’t mimicking what Namgung Sol had done.
The sword art, unfolded based on a far deeper understanding than Namgung Sol’s, was far beyond a level that could be implemented after seeing it just once.
That sword art was not copied from another’s; it was purely what Namgung-Woo himself had learned.
Realizing that, Namgung Sol understood how he could have pointed out the immature parts of her sword art so exquisitely.
“Ah… Aah……”
While all twenty-one techniques of the Great Evolution Sword Art unfolded, Namgung Sol didn’t even perceive the flow of time.
Namgung Sol’s internal clock began to tick again only when the form of the sword art Namgung-Woo was demonstrating changed.
The center of gravity of the movements lowered, and with a fierce firm stance, instead of a strong strike that seemed to split even the sky, a graceful sword path that seemed to gently envelop the empty air bent and extended like a swallow soaring through the sky.
She knew it as soon as she saw it.
The name of that sword art.
The advanced sword art for the women of the Namgung Family, which was thought to have been lost as there wasn’t even a secret manual for it.
“Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword Art…”
Softness instead of strength.
Illusion instead of dominance.
The Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword Art, unfolded based on flexibility superior to men’s, was a sword art entirely tailored for women.
So much so that it would be difficult even for Namgung-Woo to draw out the maximum efficacy of the Azure Sky Flying Swallow Sword Art.
However, Namgung-Woo had learned it.
What did that mean?
It’s that person.
It is that person.
That person was indeed the final successor who had inherited all the true teachings of the Namgung Family.
A being who had grown in the cradle of martial arts built by the Namgung Family and entirely embraced the Namgung Family’s legacy.
The being she had only dreamed of or fantasized about had thus appeared before Namgung Sol suddenly, without any warning.
Namgung Sol did not know what to call this emotion she was feeling now.
Joyful, yet fearful; glad, yet empty.
A contradictory emotion.
The term ambivalent love-hate didn’t fit.
Because Namgung Sol herself did not deserve to harbor hatred.
So, let’s just leave it unnamed.
The swallow finishes its flight and returns to its nest.
Namgung-Woo, who had finished performing the last technique and sheathed his sword in a continuous motion, looked back at Namgung Sol.
Namgung Sol was crying.
With her eyes wide open, sniffling, she let tears flow endlessly.
Even as the tears flowing down her cheeks gathered at her chin and dripped off, Namgung Sol couldn’t even think of wiping her tears and repeated in a tear-laden voice.
“Thank goodness… Really, thank goodness…”
Was it said that if you cry first, you always win?
Namgung-Woo couldn’t bring himself to press Namgung Sol, who was crying, and quietly waited until she composed her emotions for a while.
It was a bit awkward to keep watching, so Namgung-Woo reflexively checked if the Qi barrier he had set up before entering the training ground was still intact.
The Qi barrier, set up to hide his Qi wave and prevent surveillance or eavesdropping, was still enveloping the training ground as it was initially.
Namgung Sol’s tears showed no sign of stopping, but as the atmosphere Namgung Sol exuded gradually began to regain composure, Namgung-Woo asked.
“Has it been proven that I am not that ‘anyone’?”
“Yes… Of course. Sufficiently. More than enough.”
Namgung Sol’s tone was noticeably different from before, when it had seemed thorny.
Namgung Sol, biting her lip and wiping away her tears, spoke without pretense, as if she had shed an invisible yoke she had been carrying.
“I’ll tell you everything. Everything I know.”
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As it was uncomfortable to keep standing in the training ground, the two moved a little.
They sat shoulder to shoulder in a spot prepared for rest on one side of the training ground.
And Namgung Sol’s story began.
Namgung Sol’s story resolved many of the questions Namgung-Woo had harbored.
The Namgung Family had possessed a greater power than the Heonwon Family, currently the number one family in the Murim.
No matter how much strength they had lost in the Blood Cult Calamity, it was strange that they had been annihilated so futilely after being defeated in the Sword Family Blood Feud with the Dugu Family.
Although the Namgung Family Head had died in defeat in the life-and-death duel between Family Heads, which took place after several defeats and when the tide of battle was heavily against them, it was somewhat puzzling that they had fallen to the point where there were no survivors within 20 years.
They say even a rich man lasts for three generations after ruin.
For a family like the Namgung Family, wouldn’t it be plausible for them to escape to the territory of the Righteous Path and dream of a comeback, no matter how determined the Dugu Family was to wipe out their seed?
Namgung Sol knew the reason for that.
“The fall of the Namgung Family was because there was a traitor within.”
“…A traitor, you say.”
A traitor who had sold information about the Namgung Family’s remaining forces’ planned movements to the Dugu Family and bought their own safety.
Because of that, the Namgung Family was robbed of even the chance to plan for the future and collapsed futilely.
And the traitor left the Murim, got married, and had a child.
And gave the child a name.
“Sol [率]. It was a name given with the wish that I live simply, without getting involved with the Murim.”
Namgung Sol said self-deprecatingly.
“That’s right. The traitor who sold out the Namgung Family to the Dugu clan was my mother.”
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