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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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North of Nanzhili.
Suchen County, situated beside the waters of the Si River, was famous despite not having enjoyed a particularly grand history or prosperity.
It was thanks to two figures who hailed from Suchen County.
And because of these two figures, Suchen County was given a nickname.
Hegemon’s Hometown.
If Pei County, which produced Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, was called the Emperor’s Hometown, then it was only right that Suchen, where Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, was born, should be called the Hegemon’s Hometown.
However, Suchen, which, unlike Pei County, had never been called the Hegemon’s Hometown despite giving birth to Xiang Yu, began to be called the Hegemon’s Hometown anew because a second hegemon had emerged from there.
Dan Un-ak of the Chaos Extreme.
It was the name of the second hegemon born in Suchen County, following Xiang Yu.
And it was also the name of the Black Martial Alliance Lord, who had united the Black Path unorthodox factions after the Blood Cult Calamity and initiated the Righteous-Unorthodox Great War.
Dan Un-ak established the Black Martial Alliance’s main stronghold in his hometown of Suchen.
Because of this, Suchen, once an ordinary county in Nanzhili, rapidly grew into one of the two hearts of the Murim and the second largest city in Nanzhili after Nanjing.
The prosperity of his hometown, brought about by his own hands.
Dan Un-ak liked to see it.
That was why he had a balcony built in the Alliance Lord’s office in the Black Martial Alliance stronghold, allowing him to overlook all of Suchen County.
“It’s truly a fine view.”
Dan Un-ak said, looking at the peaceful scenery of his hometown.
Even if one said he was exactly 20 years old when he first appeared, he would have been well over forty by now, yet his voice was remarkably young.
It wasn’t just his voice.
Dan Un-ak, like Dongfang Huo of the Banun Clan, was one who had sidestepped the passage of time.
A realm of transcendence reached solely through martial arts, without borrowing the power of sorcery or great techniques.
Dan Un-ak had experienced no change in his appearance since he was twenty.
“Indeed.”
Behind Dan Un-ak, who was looking down at Suchen County from the balcony, a more dignified voice resonated.
Unlike his words of agreement, the person seemed to have no intention of looking, sitting in a chair inside the office.
“As you’ve heard, the Banun Clan lost. The rumors are quite rampant.”
“Yes. I’ve heard.”
“Dongfang Huo. I knew he was a man of insidious intent, but I didn’t know he was hiding the Five Yin Demonic Emperor. And.”
Dan Un-ak turned his body and looked inside the office.
A man around the age of thirty, sitting in a chair placed beside his own grand armchair, came into Dan Un-ak’s view.
“I also didn’t know a new prodigy surpassing the Five Yin Demonic Emperor would appear.”
Thump. Thump.
Dan Un-ak’s gait resembled that of a common peasant.
It looked as if he were just walking without any particular footwork, but the man could vaguely realize that this was the epitome of martial arts.
Peerless, because there was no one in the world to compare.
However, there was a disparity even within that.
The Righteous-Unorthodox Great War had clearly shown that difference.
Thus, the world called them, differentiating them, as the Three Extremes and Twelve Lords.
Dan Un-ak was such an existence.
Now that the Peerless One, Mu-geuk, had disappeared, he was an absolute being who might be the strongest under heaven.
Thwack!
Sitting down in the grand armchair, Dan Un-ak continued.
“It’s truly an unfair world. Don’t you think? While such unbelievable talents appear in the White Path Murim following Ha Gyeong, why are there no such individuals in our Black Path?”
“Well. I see it as a generational difference. And, there is one person in the Black Path who reached the Transcendent Realm before thirty.”
“The Moon Lord? Not bad. In terms of talent alone, she’s slightly above Ha Gyeong. But she’s lacking. She has no ambition. She seems to have a decent passion for martial arts, but her ambition is too lacking.”
The current generation, those in their 20s and early to mid-30s, was clearly dominated by the Righteous Path Murim.
Until now, it had been a slight advantage, somewhere between 5:5 and 6:4.
However, with the emergence of new Righteous Path talents due to the recent Yunmeng Showdown, it had definitively tilted.
However, if one looked at the generation above them, martial artists from their late 30s to 40s, it was the Unorthodox Path’s overwhelming superiority.
Because there was Dan Un-ak, who, before even reaching the age of knowing heaven’s decree, no, even earlier than that, was called the Chaos Extreme and vied for the title of the Murim’s strongest.
“Did not the Alliance Lord also reach the Transcendent Realm before becoming thirty?”
“You speak as if you didn’t.”
Dan Un-ak chuckled, then called the name of the man who spoke to him so casually.
“Dugu Wol.”
This man, called Dugu Wol, was, in name and reality, the second-in-command of the Black Martial Alliance.
The Family Head of the Dugu Family.
The very person who had annihilated the Namgung Family.
“Have you grown old? I reached the Transcendent Realm at the age of thirty.”
“That or that, it’s all the same.”
“Indeed. In the Alliance Lord’s eyes, they all look the same.”
Dan Un-ak didn’t react to Dugu Wol’s sarcastic words.
Instead, he brought up a different topic.
“I heard an interesting story from Dongfang Huo.”
“…Is that why you called me.”
“Our Sword Lord is quick-witted, I like that.”
Despite being defeated in the Yunmeng Showdown, Dongfang Huo had managed to stay alive.
He had been pushed back to the very front of Mount Tianzi by the Righteous Path forces, but he ultimately managed to draw the intervention of the authorities, forcibly ending the war.
Those who sought a secret method to regain youth and live eternally.
To those in power, especially to Imperial Consort Wan, this must have been a lifeline too precious to lose.
So they had pushed themselves to the limit—even if it meant overreaching—to bring the war with the Zhuge Family to an ambiguous conclusion.
However, Dan Un-ak described Dongfang Huo’s actions thus: he had drunk a poisoned chalice with his own hands.
In the end, the Banun Clan was now forced to prove their own worth, and their position in the equal trading relationship had been demoted to that of a subordinate.
Having lost their standing in the Murim, if they couldn’t show their usefulness to Imperial Consort Wan, the brand of a public enemy of the Murim would be waiting for them next.
At that time, no Murim faction would help them.
It was a mortal future.
‘For them to choose the path of ruin themselves. Foolish ones.’
Putting aside thoughts of the Banun Clan for now, Dan Un-ak returned to the previous topic.
The information Dongfang Huo had conveyed, trying somehow to avoid expulsion from the Black Martial Alliance.
Among the things Dongfang Huo had personally offered, saying he wouldn’t mind becoming the Black Martial Alliance Lord’s hunting dog, there was information that piqued Dan Un-ak’s interest.
“He said it was a Namgung.”
“By that, you mean…?”
“The young expert who killed the Five Yin Demonic Emperor. He’s called the Azure Sword Emperor, isn’t he? That person, he said, is a Namgung.”
Dan Un-ak smiled.
It was a clear smile, like that of a child.
Curiosity and anticipation, and hidden beneath them, an infinitely innocent malice.
Dugu Wol saw these in Dan Un-ak’s smile.
“The policy does not change.”
“If they just abandon their surname, you won’t pursue them?”
“They are those who have abandoned their pride along with their names. I have no intention of pursuing those who have already been defeated.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Dan Un-ak, who had been leaning slightly forward as if his interest had waned, leaned back into the grand armchair.
Resting his elbow on the armrest of the grand armchair and cupping his chin, Dan Un-ak asked.
“What if he says he’ll reclaim the Namgung name?”
At that question, Dugu Wol’s aura sharpened like a blade.
It was an aura so sharp that if it had been anyone other than Dan Un-ak, they would have felt death from it alone.
Dugu Wol’s lips opened, and he uttered a single-word reply.
And only then did Dan Un-ak nod, as if satisfied.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
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Even after the Yunmeng Showdown ended, there were several more battles, but Namgung-Woo did not participate in such pursuits.
The tide of victory had already clearly tilted towards the Zhuge Family and the Righteous Path Murim, and more importantly, Namgung-Woo had a more important task to prioritize over accumulating more merits and fame.
Unlike other martial arts, the Emperor’s Sword Form, which was impossible to use properly even knowing the incantations.
Through the fight with the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, Namgung-Woo realized why he couldn’t use the Emperor’s Sword Form from the beginning.
It was because he hadn’t met the conditions.
Just like the Five Tigers Breaking Gates Saber, which could only be entered upon mastering the Heaven and Earth Infinite Void Divine Art to its peak and mastering the five saber arts of the Hebei Peng Family, the Emperor’s Sword Form also required conditions.
A fully established sense of self and, based on that, the upper dantian’s ability to dominate the surrounding space as one’s own.
Achieving that meant that the chronic imbalance of Essence, Qi, and Spirit that Namgung-Woo possessed had finally been resolved.
Not the realm of an incomplete Transcendent Realm, but the true world of the Transcendent Realm.
Namgung-Woo realized how much he had been forcing himself to imitate the Transcendent Realm.
That his profound internal energy, outstanding divine arts and secret techniques, and the flawlessly perfected power of his body had been forcibly propping up his deficient Spirit.
While tending to the wounds he received in the fight with the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, Namgung-Woo organized the growth and enlightenment he had gained.
And when he had roughly finished organizing what he had realized, Namgung-Woo immediately went out and sought a person.
“Oppa? Are you alright?”
It was Peng Ha-ryeong.
Surprised that Namgung-Woo, who she thought would be in seclusion tending to his internal injuries for a while, had come to find her after just one day, Peng Ha-ryeong looked at him with a startled face, worrying about his condition.
Beside her was Zhuge Seon-ah, who, like the Azure Sky Group that had withdrawn from the pursuit following Namgung-Woo, had decided to stay in Honghu County.
Zhuge Seon-ah was looking up at the suddenly arrived Namgung-Woo with large, innocent eyes.
Namgung-Woo gave Zhuge Seon-ah a simple nod and then looked at Peng Ha-ryeong and said.
“I have something to say.”
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