Tangmunjeon - Chapter 307



Only Noblemtl

Episode 307 Namgung Hyeon

The period given to Namgung Hyeon was only three days.

Namgung Myung taught Namgung Hyeon to the best of his ability. On the surface, it seemed like he was just continuing the sparring, but in reality, it was a bit more subtle than that.

“Come on.”

As Namgung Myung spoke, Namgung Hyeon caught his breath and took a stance to prepare for the Great Sword Technique.

The tip of Namgung Hyeon’s sword was not directly in the middle of his body, but was angled toward his left shoulder.

The ready stance that does not hold the sword vertically is not common. It is unstable and limits the direction in which the sword can extend. However, if handled well, it can be extended more boldly and explosively.

On the other hand, Namgung Myung held Namgung Hyeon’s scabbard like a sword and flicked the scabbard lightly.

Namgung Hyun carefully closed the distance, then suddenly swung his sword with all his might. It was a somewhat dangerous first move to use with a real sword in a duel.

But as with the past dozen clashes, Namgung Hyun was confident that Namgung Myung would be able to block the sword strike.

As expected, his confidence was not broken. Namgung Myung took out his scabbard and naturally caught Namgung Hyun’s sword. Namgung Hyun’s sword was caught in the scabbard.

Namgung Myung advised.

“The tip of the sword is hardened. You can forget it from the middle, but you shouldn’t do that from the first bite.”

“All right.”

The tip of Namgung Hyun’s sword had a faint softness and began to wander again. Namgung Myung’s scabbard repeatedly blocked Namgung Hyun’s sword. However, it was a little better than the first time.

But Namgung Myung’s eyes were still full of things to point out.

“You’ve performed the Chainsaw Wing technique in front of me twenty times so far, but they all ended with the Choo-chung-seung-cheon technique. It’s true that the transition between the two techniques is particularly smooth, but you shouldn’t limit yourself by being immersed in its naturalness. I’ll be able to read your moves.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Namgung Hyeon’s sword flew like a swallow again, targeting Namgung Myeong’s weak point.

Namgung Myung stood firm and took a defensive stance, but it was impossible to achieve perfect defense in one stance.

Namgung Hyeon quickly found Namgung Myeong’s weak point and swung his sword.

Namgung Hyeon’s sword seemed to be aiming for Namgung Myung’s right side, but he flexibly changed his target and approached Namgung Myung’s right shoulder.

It is not easy to block the shoulder of the hand holding the sword. It is a position that even Namgung Myung would have a hard time blocking.

However, Namgung Myung seemed to know everything and moved his left arm to approach Namgung Hyeon’s sword.

Namgung Hyun thought that Namgung Myung’s left hand was moving smoothly, like a whip. It was very strange. Namgung Myung’s left arm was a prosthetic hand made of hard wood, so it couldn’t bend. It must have been Namgung Hyun who felt it, but it didn’t actually bend.

But if it just feels that way, it might not really matter whether it’s actually bent or not.

‘How on earth does he move that prosthetic hand so naturally?’

Namgung Hyeon’s sword was swung at a speed close to electric power, but Namgung Myung’s left hand grabbed Namgung Hyeon’s sword.

It was a move that was definitely not in the Namgung Segae’s martial arts. Furthermore, Namgung Hyun was certain that it was not in any other Segae’s martial arts. There would be no martial arts that taught the art of catching an opponent’s blade with bare hands. There would definitely be no fingers left.

Namgung Hyeon tried to twist the sword to escape from Namgung Myeong’s grasp, but once the sword was caught, it was difficult to escape.

He was not in a position where he could only deal with Namgung Myung’s left hand. Before he knew it, Namgung Myung’s right hand had thrown the scabbard into the air and was approaching Namgung Hyun’s wrist. The shape of his hand clearly showed his intention to spread the golden thread.

Namgung Hyeon tried to fight back with Geumnasu, but he was unable to put up a proper fight and soon had his wrist twisted.

In a very short space of time, Namgung Hyeon had his sword snatched away by Namgung Myeong.

‘How on earth did you train to be so flexible and stealthy with your hand movements? Were you naturally good with your hands?’

Then, as Namgung Myung raised the sword he had taken vertically, the scabbard that had flown into the sky fell and covered the sword. It was truly a sight that seemed unbelievable.

Namgung Myung smiled and handed Namgung Hyeon a sword with a sheath.

“Still, it’s a lot better than before. The progress is clear.”

Namgung Hyeon shook his head as he took the sword.

“Thank you for the compliment. However, when I look at your skills, I feel like my progress is small. You were great before you left the family, but now I think you’ve surpassed that level.”

When Namgung Hyeon expressed his admiration, Namgung Myeong responded plainly.

“I tried.”

It’s an effort.

Namgung Hyeon felt that Namgung Myeong’s martial arts were extremely strange.

Clearly, the foundation and framework of the martial arts belong to Namgung Se-ga. However, Namgung Hyeon had a hard time guessing the true nature of the martial arts that covered the foundation and framework.

‘···Did our Namgung family have such martial arts skills?’

In fact, it was natural that Namgung Hyun could not understand Namgung Myung’s martial arts. It was the result of the martial arts of various sects and schools being mixed together.

Even in between, there was a herb recipe that Namgung Myung himself had created. In some ways, it was the sword that was farthest from the purity of Namgung Se Ga, and it was a very messy sword.

But at the same time, there was a clear consistency to Namgung Myung’s sword. No, rather than consistency, I should say directionality.

Namgung Hyeon didn’t know the true direction, but it was the path that Namgung Myeong had chosen and was moving forward on.

People often talk about the Manryu Guijong. However, there was not a single person in the world who understood the meaning of the Manryu Guijong as accurately as Namgung Myeong.

Many martial arts each take their first steps in their own way and advance in their own direction.

However, as time passes and the efforts of many people are added, all martial arts will eventually progress towards the ultimate goal of perfection.

In the process, numerous impurities are introduced. Some call these impurities trial and error, while others call them the characteristics and individuality of each forensic technique.

However, there is no way for a person learning a martial art to know which part of the martial art points to the ultimate perfection of the martial art and which part is just an afterthought, because there is no comparison point.

However, Namgung Myung was different. He had seen a great deal of martial arts and had learned more than anyone else.

The numerous martial arts skills that Namgung Myung learned each and every one of them became a lighthouse that illuminated Namgung Myung’s future path.

Numerous lighthouses beckon that this is the right way. At first glance, the lighthouses appear to be randomly illuminating only their surroundings. An ordinary drone has no choice but to head in the direction indicated by his or her lighthouse. Most drones only have one lighthouse in their lives.

However, Namgung Myung can see dozens or hundreds of lighthouses.

With hundreds of lighthouses erected, if you stand back and look at them from a distance, you can see a unique sight.

The lighthouses erected by each sect and each family light their fires in their own way, estimating where the limit of nothingness might be.

Namgung Myeong found a faint sense of direction among the answers presented by numerous sects.

That was the path to Manryuguijong that Namgung Myung had discovered, and it was the ultimate path that Namgung Myung had discovered and begun to run on.

Of course, I couldn’t convey these insights to Namgung Hyun. I couldn’t tell him the origins of how I learned so many martial arts, and it was a concept that was too complicated for Namgung Hyun to understand and accept.

Namgung Hyun closed his eyes and reviewed the previous sparring, then muttered softly.

“It may be presumptuous of me to say this, but when I heard that my brother had lost his arm, I thought he would never get up again.”

“That’s usually the case.”

Losing an arm isn’t just a matter of not being able to use your left arm.

Losing a limb upsets the balance of your body. The distorted balance upsets all the techniques you have learned so far. It means that you have to re-skill all the techniques you have honed so far. That is why most martial artists who lose an arm give up their life as a martial artist.

If it weren’t for Namgung Myeong and Dang Mujin, he might have abandoned the path of a martial artist. If he hadn’t been gifted a prosthetic arm with the same weight as his original left arm.

The reason Namgung Hyun was able to bring up such a sensitive topic is that

Because I guessed that Namgung Myung had almost completely overcome that problem.

Namgung Myung overcame the crisis and became stronger. He became a sword that was sharper than before.

Namgung Hyeon recalled Namgung Myeong’s past appearance.

Namgung Myung, twenty-one years old, was looking at the wall of the peak from the top of the first-class.

When he heard the story of how Namgung Myung didn’t give up on his path as a martial artist despite losing an arm, Namgung Hyun simply thought, “Even if I lose an arm, I can still overcome the wall of peak talent with that level of talent.”

However, Namgung Myung was not a person who was satisfied with just reaching the peak.

There is only one question that fills Namgung Hyun’s mind right now. Has Namgung Myung reached the next level after the peak? Or has he just gotten close?

Unfortunately, Namgung Hyun’s discernment was not enough to accurately determine whether Namgung Myung had entered the realm of the supernatural.

Namgung Hyeon tried to ask Namgung Myeong directly, but he shook his head.

Namgung Myung is outstanding, but surely, there’s no way he’s like that already.

Instead, Namgung Hyun asked a different question.

“Brother. After leaving the Namgung Sega family, how did you practice?”

“A lot. I learned to face danger instead of avoiding it, I worked hard, and I gained a competitor. I also had a chance to think about what I lacked or was too much of-”

Namgung Myung was talking nonsense, but then suddenly stopped talking.

Namgung Hyeon turned his head and looked at Namgung Myung. Namgung Myung was smiling faintly.

“No. It was just a coincidence. That’s all. The rest just followed.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Even if I tell you now, you won’t know. I hope that one day, a similar relationship will come to you.”

After a brief pause, Namgung Myung changed the subject.

“Hyun-ah. Don’t be obsessed with winning or losing.”

Plain advice. But Namgung Hyun shook his head.

“I will win.”

“You can learn from victory, but you can learn from defeat even more. Hong-Kyeon may be a better guy than you think.”

“It’s too early to predict defeat.”

“The world is wide and there are many eccentric people. Hong-Gyeon may be one of those eccentric people. Hong-Gyeon may be walking outside of your thoughts and common sense. No, he definitely is.”

“But I have to win, and I will win.”

Namgung Hyun’s voice was full of confidence. Some of that confidence had been built up over the past few days, but most of it had been gained over the past few days.

The time I spent learning from Namgung Myung was short.

However, Namgung Myung seemed to know exactly where and how Namgung Hyeon was blocked, and he took the pulse and unblocked him.

Thanks to the resolution of numerous questions that had piled up until now, Namgung Hyeon was able to make great progress in a short period of time.

Now, Namgung Hyun was confident that if he fought his self from three days ago, he would win eight out of ten times.

The beginning of the climax. It feels like that subtle awkwardness has been blown away.

Such rapid and certain progress gave Namgung Hyeon confidence.

However, Namgung Myung looked at Namgung Hyeon as if he felt a little sorry.

There was only one thing I could tell Namgung Hyeon.

“Yeah. I hope it turns out well.”

There was a faint regret in Namgung Myung’s voice.

*

On the final day of the Non-Mu Competition, there were so many spectators that it seemed like everyone living in Mu Chang had gathered. There were even a lot of people who normally had no interest in martial arts or martial artists.

There is not enough to see and enjoy in the world. The final of the non-contest was too good to be a good spectacle to just sit back and take a break.

“Ah, everyone, please be quiet.”

Before the announcer announced the start of the match, Namgung Hyun looked at his opponent, Hong Gyeon.

‘If I can just beat that guy, I’ll win.’

As in almost every game, today Hong Gyeon was an unarmed opponent.

Namgung Hyun gauged Hong Gyeon’s inaction through Hong Gyeon’s small movements and eyes. And he gained confidence.

‘I am stronger.’

The gap between Hong-Gyeon and himself is too small to be expressed as two steps. But at least he is one step ahead. His confidence is rising.

But Namgung Hyun didn’t let his guard down like everyone else. Wasn’t this a game with too many things at stake?

The host of the non-event event spoke loudly to get people’s attention, and then the sound of drums was heard. The commotion died down in an instant, and people’s attention was focused on the host.

The announcer shouted.

“I guess there’s no need to introduce them in detail anymore! Two warriors that everyone knows just by their names. Namgung Hyeon and Hong Gyeon!”

“Whaaaaaahh …

The audience also shouted loudly, not to be outdone by the host who had a good voice. The cheering did not stop for several breaths.

Namgung Hyun’s heart beat faster. He felt as if people were congratulating him on his victory in advance. Excitement enveloped his whole body.

As the cheering seemed like it would never stop, the announcer finally banged a large drum to signal the start of the finals.

Hong Gyeon and Namgung Hyeon.

The two drones lightly waved at each other and took stances.