Chapter 154: Blue Lightning True Qi, Heavenly Thunder Bell (3) |
Every elder once had a childhood.
Namgung Yu-baek, who embedded Blue Eye Gem into his Namgung Shin’s body, might be cold-blooded, but he too was once a teenage boy.
At that time, the young Namgung Yu-baek, who had just ascended to the position of Young Clan Head, heard a strange term from his father.
“Could you say that once more?”
“It was called Hidden Veins.”
Hidden Veins, using the character for hidden, meant a hidden lineage.
It was an ominous term.
Especially since even Namgung Yu-baek, who had become the Young Clan Head, heard it for the first time.
The place where his father, the Clan Head, took him was a remote mountain area outside the capital of Anhui Province.
An unbelievable story came from his father’s mouth.
“Long ago. One of our ancestors mated with a yokai.”
“What does that mean…”
“It was a great yokai with a white tail that wielded lightning. It’s the story of that yokai, who transformed into a human form, mating with our ancestor.”
Namgung Yu-baek’s face turned red with embarrassment at the shameful story. However, the Clan Head explained it so seriously that it somehow sounded as solemn as a myth.
“So, the one born from that union was Namgung Gyeong-cheon. Have you heard of him?”
“I have not.”
“He created a martial art called Blue Lightning True Qi. It’s a divine art that allows a sword to contain lightning with human strength.”
Namgung Yu-baek’s eyes widened. It was a story he had never heard before.
The Clan Head’s explanation continued.
Only those from the Namgung family could learn Blue Lightning True Qi because of the yokai blood flowing in their bodies.
If the yokai blood becomes too diluted, they would eventually be unable to use Blue Lightning True Qi. That’s why the clan manages it.
“Manage? How?”
“People of the Hidden Veins meet with them once every few generations.”
It meant that relatives bearing the Namgung surname married foxes. And then they return to the main family and mix the yokai blood into the Namgung family through blood union.
So that the martial artists of the clan can continue to use Blue Lightning True Qi.
“But for a long time now, they have not shown themselves. That’s why managing the Hidden Veins became even more important.”
“Then, this place is… the reason why the Hidden Veins are concealed is…”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
The Clan Head spoke reprovingly.
Namgung Yu-baek’s expression hardened.
“If such an ugly truth were to become known to the world, what would become of the clan’s prestige?”
“…”
“When you become the Clan Head in the future, you will have to manage these Hidden Veins. Only a few among the elders are aware of the existence of the Hidden Veins.”
Somehow, a sense of relief could be felt in his father’s voice. As if he felt relieved passing the secret on to his child.
Knowing it was an ugly affair made it all the more so.
Yet, knowing this, they could not abandon Blue Lightning True Qi, the Sword Lightning.
“Still… wouldn’t it be better to keep them at the main house?”
“There’s a reason they cannot be let out. Though rare within the Hidden Veins, there are occasionally those who stand out too much.”
“What does it mean to stand out?”
“You’ll know when you meet and compete with them.”
To meet and compete? Someone appeared suddenly as the Clan Head spoke.
“Is this the child?”
“Yes. This is my son.”
“What a dumbfounded face.”
The one chuckling behind her hand was a girl of the same age. Her attire was as carefree as a boy’s, but on the other hand, her hair was black as ebony, and her skin was white.
Her canines seemed especially sharp when she smiled.
Overall, her appearance was exceptionally beautiful.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello.”
It was the first time he had met a peer who treated him so informally since becoming the Young Clan Head.
Namgung Yu-baek felt somewhat awkward.
“Her name is Seo-ryeon. She was born with especially strong blood.”
“Hehe.”
“Try fighting her with this sword. It’s a sparring sword made to be harmless.”
Aside from her outstanding appearance, the girl seemed ordinary.
He couldn’t understand why his father said she stood out.
Namgung Yu-baek held the sword with a bewildered expression.
He, too, had been proven to be of exceptional caliber by becoming the Young Clan Head. He thought he wouldn’t lose to a girl of his age living hidden in the mountains.
That’s what he thought.
“I won’t go easy on you!”
As Namgung Seo-ryeon said that, her eyes sparkled blue, and then with a crackling sound, the swords collided in mid-air.
He managed to block her only about five times.
Namgung Seo-ryeon was too fast.
The only reason he could block her at all was because Namgung Yu-baek’s swordsmanship was superior to that of his peers.
Unable to win easily, she seemed to become angry as well.
Not long after the sparring started, the sound of thunder roared.
Zzjejejeong—
Feeling a searing pain that turned everything white, Namgung Yu-baek was knocked back.
His body trembled violently, and his pants became damp.
“Ah…”
The bewildered voice of Namgung Seo-ryeon, a thud of impact, and the girl’s scream.
The Clan Head clicked his tongue and approached his son.
“She often reveals her ferocious nature like that. Emitting lightning from her body… If you become the Clan Head, you’ll need to keep a tight leash on her.”
Namgung Yu-baek nodded with a dazed consciousness.
He was embarrassed about wetting himself.
“Disgraceful things…”
However, he couldn’t agree with his father’s remark.
Isn’t it beautiful? The disgraceful one was himself, who had wet himself and fallen.
Namgung Yu-baek had several more opportunities to meet Namgung Seo-ryeon afterward.
Although she called him a pee-boy, he never felt any animosity towards her.
The problem occurred five years later.
Namgung Seo-ryeon had escaped from the village of the Hidden Veins.
The clan formed a pursuit team to chase after her, but ultimately lost her.
It was five years later that the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon, a demon with blue eyes, appeared.
Having become a public enemy of Murim, she was pursued by all the martial artists.
Coincidentally, the young Namgung Yu-baek was active in the Murim Alliance’s Extermination Pursuit Squad at that time.
No one could guess the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon, who had not used a single martial art of the Namgung Clan—the demon known for her cruel speed and dual swordsmanship, was Namgung Seo-ryeon.
Namgung Yu-baek could never have dreamed of it.
What happened next was an even greater tragedy.
After the death of the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon, or rather Namgung Seo-ryeon, a major incident occurred.
One by one, the people of the Hidden Veins died, and no more clan members were born who could use Blue Lightning True Qi. Whether the foxes were angered…
But for Namgung Yu-baek, it was rather an opportunity.
He decided to erase the Hidden Veins.
The Namgung Clan would no longer depend on the power of yokai. To avoid repeating the tragedy.
However, as the Clan Head of the Namgung Clan, aiming for the revival of the Namgung, he could not afford to lose Blue Lightning True Qi. Even without the strong reaction from the Council of Elders, it was the case.
Then, what could replace the yokai blood?
It was fate that Namgung Yu-baek read the records of the Five Elements Divine Lord.
If there were martial arts like the Five Elements Divine Art, then mastering Lightning Qi wouldn’t be a dream.
He had tried to develop such a cultivation method, but after several martial artists of the clan were lost to Qi deviation, he gave up.
Discovering the map to the Five Elements Tomb was truly fated.
“It might be a case of washing blood with blood…”
A child named Namgung Shin was a subject of experimentation to see if the Blue Eye Gem implantation could replace the Hidden Veins.
It was possible to use Blue Lightning True Qi by embedding the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon’s Blue Eye Gem in the middle dantian area.
However, due to side effects, his body deteriorated, and it seemed he wouldn’t live long.
Namgung Yu-baek deployed Namgung Shin into the Five Elements Tomb.
He was aiming for two birds with one stone.
Firstly, for Namgung Shin to acquire the Five Elements Divine Art.
Secondly, to use the destruction of the Five Elements Tomb as an act of external forces to unite and purify the corrupt orthodox Murim.
It didn’t matter if Namgung Shin died in the process. He actually hoped for it.
“…Your contributions will be remembered forever.”
Namgung Yu-baek had a way to retrieve Namgung Shin’s corpse from underground. He believed he could also find the Five Elements Divine Art that Namgung Shin had secured.
Although the Murim Alliance and other sects might dig through this great mountain to find the whereabouts of the divine art, it was impossible.
Only Namgung Yu-baek, who could find the whereabouts of the Blue Eye Gem that Namgung Shin possessed, was capable of doing so.
In his room, Namgung Yu-baek raised his sword high.
Sword energy quietly blossomed on that sword.
The form of the sword energy, distinctly different from that of other Supreme Peak masters, was like lightning scattering in the void.
This was the true Sword Lightning.
Zzzzzzzing—
Excluding the Hidden Veins, Namgung Yu-baek was the one born with the thickest yokai blood.
When he pushed Blue Lightning True Qi to its limit to produce Sword Lightning, his sharpened senses naturally sought out the power of his kind.
“…”
He felt it.
Somewhere underground, the energy of the Blue Eye Gem that Namgung Shin possessed.
“He was still alive.”
He thought Namgung Shin had died, but the energy of the Blue Eye Gem was particularly strong.
It felt twice as strong as before, which made Namgung Yu-baek feel something was off.
“…That would be good.”
Soon he might starve to death, or perhaps he would still be alive by the time Namgung Yu-baek came to rescue him.
Namgung Yu-baek retracted the Sword Lightning and caught his breath.
Soon, the warriors from the angered major sects and clans would come.
Especially, the Moyong Clan and the Baek Clan, having lost the Clan Head’s child, would be furious.
Namgung Yu-baek had to face them.
“That son of a bitch.”
“…”
Namgung Shin remained silent at Yi-gang’s curse.
Moyong Jin seemed a bit taken aback. No matter what, calling a Great Elder of the Namgung Clan and the Vice Leader of the Murim Alliance a son of a bitch was…
But Yi-gang didn’t stop there.
“Fucking bastard.”
“…”
“He’s telling you to die. Go in there, find the Five Elements Divine Art, and die.”
“I was bound to die anyway.”
“Yes. Everyone dies someday. But it should have been someone with not much longer to live. Not by sending in a child.”
Despite the small age difference, he naturally treated Namgung Shin like a child.
Namgung Shin was left speechless by the harsh words.
After all, Yi-gang had said he would take Namgung Shin’s Blue Eye Gem. Being angry on behalf of someone he intended to kill was incomprehensible.
“I’m not going to take it out.”
“Didn’t you say you would take it?”
“Yes, but not now. First, we need to go up and find a way.”
“Ah…”
Yi-gang had said he would take the Blue Eye Gem, but he hadn’t said he would take it out right away.
Or had he? Even if he did, he couldn’t remember now.
The fact that Yi-gang suddenly grabbed Namgung Shin by the scruff made it all the more so.
“You fool, so you intended to die?”
“Anyway…”
“Anyway, you’re going to die. Because your parents are locked up.”
“If I enter the Five Elements Tomb, I was promised they would be released regardless of success or failure.”
“Do you believe that? Stupidly thinking ‘Ah, they must have been released’ and planning to die?”
Yi-gang was incredibly angry.
Namgung Shin was taken aback by his vivid anger.
For him, it was inevitable not to understand Yi-gang’s thoughts on death, as he didn’t know Yi-gang was sensitive about matters involving pointing swords at family members and dictating death.
“Shouldn’t you verify it by staying alive? Even if you’re going to die, you should do it after that.”
“…”
Namgung Shin seemed to deepen in thought.
Yi-gang let go of Namgung Shin and looked at the Five Elements Divine Art with an annoyed expression.
It was clearly a great divine art. The claim that it could use Lightning Qi wasn’t a lie. Even though it was a half-baked divine art that couldn’t be fully mastered.
But no matter how much he thought about it, it seemed suspicious. Wasn’t everything fitting together too conveniently?
The discovery of the map to the Five Elements Tomb, and the reason Namgung Yu-baek ended up searching for the Five Elements Divine Art.
Together with that, even the death of the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon, being chased down as a demon, seemed strange.
「There was no one who wished for me to live, so it couldn’t be helped.」
‘Even if the Namgung Clan was afraid of your identity being exposed, it wouldn’t be the same for other martial artists, would it?’
「Murim unites against a common enemy. How proud and happy they must feel to kill someone like me as a public enemy. Those who killed me must have celebrated with a drink afterward.」
Yi-gang closed his mouth.
Still, the suspicion did not dissipate.
“…Once this door opens, maybe we can do something.”
What stood before Yi-gang was an iron door.
Click.
Another pin went in. Seven pins remained.
It meant that roughly seven days and nights were left until something happened.
Yi-gang and his party waited.
Eating fish from the underground lake, healing their wounds, or continuing their training.
Click.
And then, as time passed, the last pin went in.
Fortunately, no traps were triggered.
Grrrrrring—
The door opened.
The interior was a not-so-large room.
There were signs that someone had lived there, but it was covered in dust and decay as if it had been hundreds of years.
Since there was no sign of anyone, Namgung Shin and Moyong Jin lowered their guard.
However, Yi-gang couldn’t do the same.
“What did you say?”
He looked back at Namgung Shin and Moyong Jin, realizing they hadn’t spoken.
「It seems they can’t hear it.」
‘Be quiet for a moment.’
It was very faint, but he could definitely hear it.
It wasn’t something the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon had said.
Life extension… Immortality… Eternal life…!
Was that the voice of Yi-gang’s own mind?
It wasn’t.
Life extension, immortality, eternal life!
Chillingly, it sounded like a ghostly wail.
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