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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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The Luoyang initiation ceremony was over.
The training ground was completely wrecked.
The stone slabs of the training ground were cracked wide open or shattered to pieces, and the ground was overturned as if hit by cannonballs.
Was this truly a result that could be made by human foot stomps alone? It was a sight that made even the people living in Luoyang gasp in astonishment.
And the two men were standing on the training ground.
Namgung-Woo and Deng Zongyou’s appearances were completely contrasting.
Namgung-Woo wore a blue long robe over black martial attire.
Deng Zongyou wore a black long robe over blue martial attire.
Not only the color scheme but also the condition of their clothes was entirely different.
Unlike Namgung-Woo, whose black martial attire showed hardly any dust, Deng Zongyou’s long robe was covered in dust, losing its original black color, appearing as if it had been a grey long robe from the start.
Deng Zongyou examined his sword.
Namgung-Woo’s sword Qi, which made him worry if the blade had been nicked.
It was the same sword Qi, but the density was different.
It was fortunate that he hadn’t used the sword aura, being mindful of the surroundings.
If there was this much of a gap even with sword Qi, there would have been an even greater difference with sword aura.
Deng Zongyou had experienced a fight with a peerless expert.
He had learned then that the protective aura he thought invincible could be broken or shattered by a more perfectly refined protective aura.
Deng Zongyou reversed his grip on the sword.
He accepted that exchanging more sword blows would be nothing more than dragging out time.
A salute performed while holding the sword with the tip pointing downwards.
The salute, filled with respect for an expert, showed the dignity of a Murim Alliance Division Leader.
“I have lost. Thank you for letting me witness such excellent sword Qi.”
“Me as well.”
Namgung-Woo’s reply was short, but Deng Zongyou could read the sincerity within it.
Deng Zongyou had lived a life of relentlessly accumulating victories.
This was his second defeat in his life, but it didn’t feel too bad.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know defeat, and perhaps it was also because he had discovered a new path to growth by losing to the same lightning Qi martial art.
Deng Zongyou sheathed his sword and said.
“That martial art at that age. It’s astounding. It makes me realize that thinking I was the best in the world at lightning Qi martial arts was arrogant. This, I feel like I’m the one who went through the initiation ceremony.”
“It was a good duel. Next time, I’d like to try going all out.”
“Haha! That’s a frightening yet exciting thing to say.”
Deng Zongyou, with a cheerful laugh, grabbed the front of his long robe and gave it a sharp tug.
It wasn’t a gesture with much force behind it.
However, the result of that light gesture was remarkable.
With just that small action, he created a shockwave that completely dusted off the particles clinging to his clothes.
He must have been wearing a long robe made of special material like Namgung-Woo, but even excluding that, it was an extremely refined operation of internal energy.
Even Peng Ha-ryeong, who had opened all her body’s meridians, would have to concentrate quite a bit to move her internal energy so delicately.
His demeanor, performing such a feat so casually and brushing it off as nothing, showed the aspect of a super expert.
Deng Zongyou clasped his hands again, this time performing a fist-and-palm salute.
“Welcome to Martial Hometown, Luoyang.”
Deng Zongyou’s words became the lead.
“Welcome!”
“Welcome to Luoyang!”
“Great Hero Azure Sword Emperor! Please look this way!”
“Hey, Yang brothers! Thanks to you, I won three silver taels! Thank you!”
The value in Martial Hometown was martial prowess.
Therefore, if one proved their martial arts, Luoyang offered a corresponding welcome.
The Azure Sky Group had proven their martial prowess.
Exceedingly well.
By overcoming even a Division Leader of the Eight Positions Division, who was counted among the top few in Luoyang.
As the events of the Yunmeng Showdown were a famous major incident that had spread even to Luoyang, Namgung-Woo’s name was also known.
And Namgung-Woo had clearly shown that his fame was real.
Such a Namgung-Woo, to the common people of Luoyang, was the very image of a mysterious young expert who had fallen from the sky, like something out of a novel, so it would have been stranger if they weren’t enthusiastic.
Amidst the applause and cheers of the people of Luoyang, the wanderers who had been targeting the Azure Sky Group also awkwardly clapped or feebly joined in.
Deng Zongyou, who had drawn out the welcome of the Luoyang people, approached Namgung-Woo, who was momentarily dazed, and brought up the purpose of his visit.
“You must be mentally and physically drained from coming to Luoyang and going through the initiation ceremony, but I hope you can spare a little more time. There is someone who wishes to meet you.”
Namgung-Woo briefly lowered his eyelids.
And when he opened his eyes again, the Ever-Clear Vision he had been using until just before receded, and his original black irises appeared.
Being surrounded by many people and receiving praise was something he had experienced at Xia Honghu.
However, receiving it from commoners, not martial artists, had a somewhat embarrassing aspect.
Namgung-Woo, who had composed his emotions with a single blink, nodded at Deng Zongyou’s words.
There was only one person in Luoyang who could send a Murim Alliance Division Leader as a messenger.
“Let’s go. I also wished to meet him.”
The meeting with the Murim Alliance Lord came much faster than Namgung-Woo had expected.
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Luoyang was a large city.
Compared to Nanjing, which had functioned as the capital until very recently, and the current capital, Beijing, it was smaller in terms of scale, but the ancient atmosphere unique to Luoyang had aspects that surpassed the two capitals.
Luoyang, built along the Luo River, was divided into north and south by the Luo River.
The north, where the Yiwangfu [ Prince Yi’s Mansion], the residence of a feudal prince, was located, had a strong influence of government officials.
The south, where the Murim Alliance was situated, had weak government power.
Walking along, grateful that there was no need to cross the Luo River.
Namgung-Woo asked about the question that had come to mind after encountering the martial artists who had recklessly charged at them earlier.
“By the way, those people just now looked like wanderers or disciples of small and medium-sized sects, but it seems you don’t particularly control such people?”
“That’s right. To put it coldly, the Murim Alliance’s influence in Luoyang is definitely greater than that of the government officials.”
It couldn’t be otherwise.
The credit for elevating Luoyang, which had degenerated to the level of an ordinary county during the Yuan Dynasty, back to a key city belonged entirely to the Murim Alliance.
The support of Luoyang’s common people for the Murim Alliance was truly absolute.
The reason they could create open spaces and build training grounds throughout the city was that Luoyang south of the Luo River was a kind of planned new city, built anew from its foundations under the leadership of the Murim Alliance.
The Murim Alliance, which had rebuilt Luoyang, reduced to a scale smaller than in the Western Zhou period, into a large city based on the old sites of the Sui and Tang dynasties, was revered by the common people of Luoyang even more than the royal mansion.
This was why the common people of Luoyang did not complain even when they fought, making loud noises from broad daylight.
Even the Yiwangfu acknowledged the Murim Alliance’s authority, and although it collected taxes from Luoyang south of the Luo River, which was included in the fiefdom granted to Prince Yi, it entrusted the actual effective rule to the Murim Alliance.
“However, the Murim Alliance is not the government, you see. We do not interfere with entry into Luoyang. We do take on the role of mediating disputes when they arise, but interfering in government affairs beyond that would be a source of unnecessary trouble, wouldn’t it?”
Come to think of it, the inspection of Luoyang’s city gates was handled by the government officials.
“Ironically, the government officials, in turn, trust the Murim Alliance and hardly control the entry and exit of martial artists. Thus, Martial Hometown does not discriminate against martial artists. The initiation ceremony becomes the only filter. Please don’t think too badly of it. There’s a reason it has been passed down like a tradition.”
“It wasn’t bad. I was able to feel the identity of the city of Luoyang all at once.”
“Ha! Then that’s a relief.”
The Murim Alliance was a single castle.
Although it was not surrounded by walls, if anyone were to express it in a single character, they would give the same answer as Namgung-Woo.
Beyond the low walls, eight outer hall buildings arranged like a fortress, in the shape of the Eight Trigrams, surrounded the center.
If that wasn’t a castle, what was it?
As Namgung-Woo also showed the reaction commonly seen from those seeing the Murim Alliance for the first time, Deng Zongyou thought, ‘Even a peerless expert is the same kind of person,’ and said.
“These buildings are the lodgings and training halls of the Murim Alliance’s Eight Positions Division. The building directly in front, to the south, belongs to the Heaven Division, and our Shaking Thunder Division is located in the northeast.”
“Does it follow the orientation of the Early Heaven Eight Trigrams?”
“That’s right.”
Deng Zongyou, who answered briefly, immediately waved to the gatekeepers in the south to open the gate and headed inwards along the path between the buildings.
“This way.”
Namgung-Woo could also find traces of sorcery in the Murim Alliance’s buildings.
Compared to the Forbidden City or the Zhuge Family’s manor, it felt somewhat lacking, but the Murim Alliance also seemed to have constructed it as a fortress, considering sorcery.
Eight outer courtyard buildings built according to the orientation of the Eight Trigrams.
And four inner courtyard buildings gathered under their protection.
The Murim Alliance Lord’s office was on the top floor of a massive five-story pavilion located in the very center among them.
“We’re almost there. Just past this Inner Courtyard Corridor is the Central Heaven Pavilion.”
Deng Zongyou called the path between the outer eight buildings the Outer Courtyard Corridor, and the path between the inner three buildings the Inner Courtyard Corridor.
And the Jungcheon Pavilion, located right in the middle, was the main hall where all important matters of the Murim Alliance were decided.
Soon.
In a short while, he would meet the one who could be called the representative of this Righteous Path Murim.
Although Namgung-Woo had already had private meetings with Peng Houshang, one of the Twelve Lords, and Zhuge Chong, the head of a fellow Seven Great Families, the weight given by the Murim Alliance Lord felt different.
‘The Murim Alliance Lord… Was he a monk from Shaolin?’
At the time when the previous Alliance Lord stepped down and a new one was being elected.
The Righteous Path Murim, conscious of the Black Path Alliance Lord Dan Un-ak, had tried to seat the Heonwon Family Head, the number one of the White Path, in the position of Murim Alliance Lord.
However, Heonwon Kang refused, saying he was content with just the position of Heonwon Family Head, and the turn then passed to the peerless expert from Shaolin, which held a huge stake not just in the Righteous Path Murim but in the entire Murim.
He was the current Murim Alliance Lord, Great Master Gakwon, also known as Bushal Bubae, Never Killing, Never Defeated.
And the world preferred to call Great Master Gakwon not by his title Bushal Bubae, nor by his position as Murim Alliance Lord, but like this:
The Buddha Lord.
One of the Twelve Lords, peerless experts who watched over the world.
What intentions did he harbor towards Namgung-Woo, to have sought him out?
With a heart half expectant, half worried, when Namgung-Woo reached the front of the Jungcheon Pavilion, a previous guest was already there.
“Ah, this…”
Was it an acquaintance?
Deng Zongyou, recognizing the previous guest, sighed softly and touched his forehead.
The previous guest was a small girl.
Her height was similar to Zhuge Seon-ah, who was on the shorter side.
Still, her physique looked a bit more robust than Zhuge Seon-ah’s.
“Is it someone you know?”
“Well… It’s a bit difficult to explain to you right now.”
It was a meaningful answer.
Namgung-Woo observed the girl more carefully.
Looking closely, her appearance didn’t quite fit the expression “previous guest.”
It seemed like a situation where she was trying to enter the Central Heaven Pavilion, but the guard was stopping her.
Why Namgung-Woo, with his excellent physical abilities, was thinking in the realm of conjecture was because a special formation seemed to be laid around the Central Heaven Pavilion, preventing sound from leaking out.
Perhaps there were defenses in place that also applied to eye techniques to prevent internal spying, but it didn’t seem likely to be able to block Ever-Clear Vision, which even the Forbidden City couldn’t stop.
The moment Namgung-Woo’s eyes took on a blue tinge.
Namgung-Woo’s complexion changed seriously, and his pupils wavered.
“Oppa?”
Peng Ha-ryeong, who had reached a stage where she could guess Namgung-Woo’s mood just by looking at his back, was quicker than anyone to notice Namgung-Woo’s change.
However, Namgung-Woo’s voice, which would usually have returned immediately, did not.
Namgung-Woo’s mind was that much focused on a huge shock.
With a concentration comparable to when he had fought a life-and-death battle, Namgung-Woo examined the girl several times, wondering if what he saw was an illusion.
There was no mistake.
Ever-Clear Vision had no mismeasurements.
Yes.
He couldn’t have seen wrong.
What Namgung-Woo saw in the girl.
The internal energy the girl harbored.
It was too similar to what Namgung-Woo himself possessed.
Namgung-Woo intuitively realized the identity of that internal energy.
‘Great Evolution Heart Method…’
The family heart method learned before entering the Namgung Family’s divine art, the Sky Vault Great Evolution Divine Art.
That internal energy resided within that girl’s body.
‘That child… is truly a survivor of this world’s Namgung…’
The moment he recognized the girl’s identity, Namgung-Woo’s feet were already moving.
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