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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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The very next day after accepting Myorin into their ranks, Namgung-Woo prepared to leave Honghu County.
He had originally thought of resting a bit more before moving, but there was no reason to drag it out.
Peak Realm experts were, literally, those who had reached the extreme limits of the human body.
Upon reaching the Five Dragons Reaching the Summit, which signified the Peak Realm, one would naturally open their middle dantian, even if they hadn’t learned a heart method that dealt with it.
Just by opening the middle dantian, which governs the body’s homeostasis, one’s recovery and endurance improved significantly, so it wasn’t for nothing that Peak Realm experts were called true martial artists.
It was from that point that feats like fighting for days and nights on end became possible.
Yang Jeong, who had just reached the Peak Realm, still had some physical fluctuations, but that was acceptable as part of his training.
Yang Jeong also didn’t want to spend more time because of him alone.
After a hearty breakfast and packing their belongings, as the group was about to leave the inn, their departure was briefly delayed by a person who showed up.
“Please take me with you, Leader.”
In just one day, Geum-shin’s appearance had changed considerably.
Instead of the kasaya worn by monks, he wore martial attire, and instead of the short staff he had been using after his original staff was cut by the Black Sword Demon, he carried a staff similar to old long wooden staff on his back.
If not for his still smooth head, anyone would have seen him as a martial artist.
“Hmm… You’ve changed a lot?”
Namgung-Woo’s ambiguous words.
He didn’t outright refuse, but by using honorifics as he had when drawing the line before, he reminded him of yesterday’s events.
However, Geum-shin was also different from yesterday.
He touched his still hairless head awkwardly and said.
“I’ve returned to lay life. I’m no longer a monk, just Geum-shin. I never had a name to begin with, anyway.”
Since he had no name given by his parents, his Buddhist name was his one and only name.
“Hwaseong Temple won’t get involved.”
Instead, even if Geum-shin were harmed, Hwaseong Temple wouldn’t step forward for revenge.
“Did you say it was dangerous? It’s alright. That’s why I’m following you.”
Indeed, this fellow was not a monk but a born fighter.
“That wooden staff, it’s Great Monk Hang-wi’s, isn’t it?”
Namgung-Woo’s speech reverted to informal.
Hearing that, Geum-shin grinned and nodded his head.
“You’re really pushing forward with this, huh? Good. If you’ve even returned to lay life, there’s no reason not to accept you. Follow me.”
“I’ve been waiting for those words.”
Geum-shin performed a martial artist’s fist-and-palm salute, not a monk’s clasped-hands bow.
Namgung-Woo also lightly clenched his fist and met it with his palm.
“Welcome back.”
Geum-shin, having completed his return, finally voiced the question he had been harboring.
“But, has that Daoist nun also newly joined?”
“That’s right. You two don’t know each other well, do you? Myorin, this is Geum-shin. He’s from Hwaseong Temple, and although he was out for a bit, consider him your senior.”
As Namgung-Woo finished organizing the introductions, Myorin indifferently nodded her head.
“I am Myorin.”
“I am Geum-shin.”
Following Yang Kwai, Yang Jeong, and Peng Ha-ryeong, now with Geum-shin and Myorin.
The number of members now seemed to properly fit a wanderer group.
Just as the two finished exchanging names, Peng Ha-ryeong, who had gone up, came pattering down and appeared.
“Ah, Monk Geum-shin, are you here to say goodbye too?”
“No. Geum-shin has decided to join us. He returned to lay life.”
“Returned to lay life… It must have been a difficult decision… Still, since it’s come to this, I ask for your kind cooperation once again!”
“Haha, I also ask for your kind cooperation.”
As Peng Ha-ryeong showed a welcoming attitude so different from her own, Myorin’s expression twitched subtly, while Namgung-Woo asked Peng Ha-ryeong.
“Young Lady Zhuge?”
“It seems Seon-ah also realized something from the last battle.”
Even while reciting Zhuge Seon-ah’s excuse verbatim, Peng Ha-ryeong had noticed that Zhuge Seon-ah was somehow avoiding them.
She also had one guess as to the reason.
But she didn’t bother mentioning it.
It might not be true, and even if it were, she didn’t want to bring it up.
“Really?”
However, when Namgung-Woo briefly questioned her and met her gaze, Peng Ha-ryeong felt as if all her hidden thoughts were being read.
Peng Ha-ryeong bit her lip, wondering if she should speak her thoughts now.
But before an answer to her dilemma could form, Namgung-Woo moved.
“Then let’s go. The contract with the Zhuge Family has been notarized as terminated by the Family Head. The most threatening enemy is dead, and the Banun Clan’s strength has been halved, so the Zhuge Family will handle the rest well.”
By killing the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, Namgung-Woo had already fulfilled his role.
Namgung-Woo moved his feet without any lingering attachment.
If he had tried to take care of every single thing, he wouldn’t have parted ways with the people of the Clear Water Sect in the middle of the Yunmeng Showdown in the first place.
There were bound to be people left behind.
The current Namgung-Woo was already overwhelmed just taking care of the people who remained by his side.
As he stepped out of the inn, Yang Kwai quickly darted forward and opened the door.
People followed behind Namgung-Woo as he passed through the door and headed outside.
Peng Ha-ryeong was first, and after the two passed, Yang Kwai also let go of the door he was holding and stood side by side with Yang Jeong behind them.
Geum-shin squeezed in between the brothers, and Myorin walked a step behind.
As a group of six entered the main road at once, the gazes of the people walking along it gathered.
And they, upon seeing the faces of Namgung-Woo and the others, began to whisper among themselves.
The names and appearances of Namgung-Woo and the Azure Sky Group were gradually becoming known to the world, turning into fame.
Perhaps excited by the fact that there were people who recognized them, the Yang brothers’ shoulders twitched slightly.
Peng Ha-ryeong accepted it with familiarity, and Geum-shin and Myorin, though it was ambiguous, maintained their composure like the former religious figures they were.
Thus, the Azure Sky Group left Honghu County.
Their destination was Luoyang.
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“By the way, boss, I have a question.”
“What is it? Speak.”
“Aren’t you going to give a name to that sword of yours, boss? You know, famous swords have names. Like the ‘Singwol’ that Family Head Peng uses, or the ‘Baekseo’ that Young Lady Zhuge used. Shouldn’t the boss make one too?”
At Yang Kwai’s words, Namgung-Woo recalled the weapon he used to use in Chu-rok Murim.
It was a sword named ‘Extreme Fortune Divine Sword’.
At that point, it was the highest-grade, ultimate weapon.
Perhaps the sword he was currently using, made from the Sky-Gazing Howler’s horn, also held a similar status in this world.
“Well. I haven’t thought about it yet.”
“Then, may I dare to recommend a name?”
Yang Kwai asked in a very polite and courteous tone he rarely used.
Then, a new participant appeared.
If his brother did it, he would too.
It was Yang Jeong, following along as naturally as action and reaction.
“May I also recommend one? Since it’s made from the Sky-Gazing Howler’s horn, how about Heavenly Horn [Cheon-gak]?”
“Aigoo~ This brat has terrible sense. No good. You get out.”
“It’s intuitive and good. Originally, things like this should give you a feeling as soon as you hear them. Look at the Saber Lord’s ‘Singwol’ [Divine Palace]. The character ‘sin’ [new] and the character ‘gweol’ [palace gate/towering]. Doesn’t the feeling of a newly forged Geogwol [Great Towering Sword] come across at once? This is what good naming is. Any rebuttal will be considered an insult to the Saber Lord.”
“What kind of…”
Just as Yang Kwai was about to scold Yang Jeong for such logic, he noticed Peng Ha-ryeong looking at him intently from the side and quickly cleared his throat, swallowing his words.
As Yang Kwai fell silent, Yang Jeong, emboldened, continued.
“Doesn’t this ‘Cheon-gak’ originally refer to a corner of the sky? A weapon is, by nature, a part of the body, and since the boss is like the sky, wouldn’t Cheon-gak be very appropriate in terms of meaning?”
Yang Kwai stared dumbfoundedly at Yang Jeong, who was performing a surprise act of worship.
However, Yang Jeong was unabashed.
It wasn’t just that Namgung-Woo trained in martial arts that took the sky as their imagery, but who was it that took them, who were on the streets, and raised them into proper Peak Realm experts?
If they hadn’t met Namgung-Woo, the Yang brothers would still be rolling around as common wanderers, unable to even cross the threshold of the Peak Realm.
All while shouting, “With our brotherly joint attack, we can even face a Peak Realm expert!”
“Still, isn’t Cheon-gak too uninspired?”
The one who refuted Yang Jeong’s claim was none other than Myorin.
Receiving Yang Kwai’s silent, fervent gaze of support, Myorin said.
“I took a peek, and that is clearly a demonic sword. You can’t feel it because the scabbard is imbued with spiritual energy, and that spiritual energy is suppressing the demonic Qi.”
A sword made from the Sky-Gazing Howler’s horn.
And the Dragon Eye Orb scabbard that held it.
Myorin focused on the oppressive demonic Qi hidden within its divine appearance.
“A divine being, yet also considered a king of galloping yokai. Black Dragon [Heuk-ryong]… how about it? No, how is it?”
Myorin momentarily forgot even the pretense of using honorifics and blurted out her usual way of speaking.
It meant she was that serious about naming, surely.
It was confirmed by the fact that her usually expressionless face was subtly flushed.
However, a rebuttal came here as well.
“Oppa’s sword is bluish-white, though?”
“……”
“A Blue Dragon or White Dragon would be more plausible.”
“……As I said, that sword is originally a demonic sword…”
“Honestly, isn’t Cheon-gak better than Black Dragon?”
Even Yang Kwai shook his head as if he couldn’t help with this one.
Three against one.
Faced with the tyranny of numbers, Myorin fell silent.
“Oppa, it would be faster if you just named it yourself.”
In fact, from the moment the name Black Dragon came out of Myorin’s mouth, Namgung-Woo had given up hope and was already deeply engrossed in thought by himself.
Then, he inadvertently let slip the matter he was primarily considering.
“I want to focus on connection…”
“Ah, right, that was given to you by the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wasn’t it?”
“That, and various other things.”
Receiving the horn from Guo Duan, Namgung-Woo had been asked a favor regarding Guo Duan’s direct disciple, Song Wu-jeol.
It wasn’t an obligation, but if fate allowed, Namgung-Woo intended to grant Guo Duan’s request.
Though he didn’t know how much help he could be.
And by receiving that horn, Namgung-Woo had headed to Guya Workshop and became entangled with many more connections.
The Clear Water Sect, Guya Workshop, Hwaseong Temple, Mount Huangshan Sect, Mount Hengshan Sect, and the Zhuge Family.
The beginning of it all was this horn, this sword.
At Namgung-Woo’s words, Geum-shin, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth.
“Then how about Panyeon?”
“Panyeon?”
“It can refer to the mind reacting to an object and changing, or it can refer to relying on a great mirror to cause some action, simply put, forming a connection. In Buddhism, they often say not to form panyeon, but originally, panyeon itself has no good or evil. However, as one becomes entangled with various great mirrors and forms connections, one becomes bound to the secular world, and due to that, worldly afflictions increase, making it difficult to attain nirvana, so they say to keep it at a distance. However, for those living in the secular world, isn’t panyeon life itself?”
Since the Sky-Gazing Howler’s horn met a new master and its nature changed, it was panyeon.
And through this horn, he formed connections with various people, so it was also panyeon.
At Geum-shin’s expounding of Buddhist teachings, the others’ eyes widened.
The apostate monk, who seemed more likely to read martial arts manuals instead of Buddhist scriptures and train in martial arts instead of prostrating himself in cultivation, what on earth made him say such things… that thought clearly appeared on their faces.
“Oh… This time, you really sounded like a monk.”
“It’s not ‘sounded like,’ I was a real monk.”
“Wow, this time, you sounded like a wanderer again.”
Geum-shin shrugged off Yang Kwai’s words.
Namgung-Woo pondered Geum-shin’s words for a moment, then gently gripped the sword hilt.
As if it possessed a spirit of its own, the moment Namgung-Woo gripped the sword, a sword hum arose.
“Looks like it likes it too. Good. Panyeon. From now on, let’s call it Panyeon Sword.” [1]
On the road to Luoyang.
This happened while they were resting on a quiet road.
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[1] The ‘Karmic Blade’ will be used instead of the ‘Panyeon Sword’ in future chapters.
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