Only silence filled the Heavenly Blessing Palace because of this extremely sudden information, one that was more explosive than most bombs.
No.
Everything was quiet except for the huffing Sword Saint's breathing.
"Father."
The patriarch, Namgung Ma Hyuk, fitting his position, was the first to speak.
"W, what is a living jiangshi, and why are you mentioning Tae Wi?"
The Sword Saint's gaze looked around the entire Heavenly Blessing Palace at that moment.
Chhh.
That gaze made the battalion leaders get up and close all the windows and lock all the doors.
They knew that people did not gather around the Heavenly Blessing Palace right before a grand assembly, however, they had to act this way based on the Sword Saint's changed demeanor.
"Huuuuuu."
The Sword Saint let out a short sigh.
He looked toward the patriarch. He was the Ancestral Patriarch and the patriarch's father, but Namgung Ma Hyuk was the current leader of the Namgung Clan.
"Patriarch."
The Sword Saint requested to add an item to the grand assembly's agenda.
"Blood destruction. I request to add the destruction of the Blood Cult to the agenda."
The head of the Five Great Clans, the clan with the highest pride in the entire Orthodox faction, had set the enemy to point the Monarch's blade.
* * *
– Human! Toonka fights better than I thought!
Cale subconsciously nodded his head at Raon's comment.
'Wow.'
Although the people in Toonka's tribe had bodies that could not use mana nor aura, their body contained a resistance to magic.
Even among the tribe, Toonka's body was especially special.
"I have this thought while looking at him."
Lee Soo Hyuk sipped some tea as he spoke.
"The natural power of the human body is stronger than everything else."
Cale then heard the Divergent Coalition's leader's son, Sima Jung, shout.
"You crazy bastard…! Why is your body so tough?!"
"Kahahahahaha—!"
Sima Jung's hands were glowing mysteriously.
They were glowing with aura created with internal ki.
Bang! Bang!
Sima Jung pummeled Toonka.
Yes, he kept hitting him.
Toonka's body was large, giving him a lot of places to get hit.
Toonka was also extremely slow compared to Sima Jung, who was using a foot technique, so he could not block the attacks.
Pow! Pow!
"Kahahaha! How ridiculous!"
Toonka was laughing despite being pummeled.
"Hey, hey."
Cale frowned after feeling someone poke his arm.
"What is it?"
"It's just-"
Choi Jung Soo flinched a bit at Cale's brusque tone. He was currently covering his whole face minus his eyes with cloth.
His clothes also looked more like that of a scholar than a martial artist.
"That sir, Toonka, doesn't seem to have done anything to his body. How is he fine after being hit so much?"
Chief Eunuch Wi and the Fist King's ears perked up at Choi Jung Soo's question.
Honestly speaking, they had been quite curious about how Cale's group could be so strong.
They didn't look like they used internal ki, but all of them were quite strong for their age.
This was especially true about Cale, whom Mok Hee subtly leaned toward.
Pow! Pow!
"Damn it! Why won't this fucker die?!"
"Kahaha- that tickles!"
Sima Jung and Toonka were repeatedly hitting and being hit while that happened.
Most of the items on the third floor did not break either.
Other than the chair and table that were broken initially from Namgung Ji Hyuk and Sima Jung's encounter, the rest of the restaurant was fine.
It could not be helped.
Toonka was just standing there, moving a bit each time and getting hit. Of course, Toonka tried to hit him as well.
"Do you really think I will be hit by such a slow punch?!"
Sima Jung immediately dodged them, making all of Toonka's attempts fail.
"Mm. Why is Toonka so tough-"
Cale started to speak.
Even Namgung Ji Hyuk, who had blanked out for a moment, returned to his senses and focused on what Cale was saying.
'Fuck, what the hell?!'
The Unorthodox faction's greatest trash was listening as well.
Sima Jung could not understand this situation at all.
Cale calmly commented.
"Based on what I know, that guy tried to fight against a volcano, a snowy field, and the ocean at one point."
"Excuse me?"
Chief Eunuch Wi subconsciously asked back with a blank gaze.
'Fight against what?'
"Ah, right. He fought endlessly against typhoons and storms. He wanted to defeat those things."
Based on the contents written in The Birth of a Hero, before Cale and Toonka met, he was just-
"He just fought against nature. His only weapon was the strength of his pure human body."
'This guy is as crazy as they come.'
That was Cale's thought.
It was at that moment.
"Ho-"
The Fist King gasped.
'Hmm?'
Cale turned toward him because it was not a sigh nor a gasp of disappointment but a deep gasp of admiration.
"…How amazing."
The Fist King looked deeply impressed and Chief Eunuch Wi started looking at Toonka with a different gaze as well.
"It is not easy to fight against nature. But to challenge all those things… I think I understand why this sir travels with you, young master-nim."
Cale felt something was off and looked around.
Mok Hee was looking down at her hands with a deeply concerned look on her face while Namgung Ji Hyuk was nodding his head in admiration.
And finally…
"…An expert of External Martial Arts."
Sima Jung took a few steps away from Toonka and mumbled in a serious tone.
His face no longer looked drunk and his eyes were sinking down deeply.
"…He focused only on one path."
Martial arts could be divided by many standards, but…
It could also be divided into Internal Martial Arts and External Martial Arts.
Internal Martial Arts, simply explained, was gathering ki inside your body and moving it to release explosive strength.
External Martial Arts was training a human's skin, bones, and muscles to their limits.
Usually, people thought that there were limits to External Martial Arts and only used it as a foundation while focusing on developing their internal ki.
This was seen as the right answer based on the experts of the Martial Arts world.
It was extremely rare to find an expert of External Martial Arts in the history of the Martial Arts world.
"…You were someone who is qualified to defend against my Fist Arts."
Although Sima Jung was trash, he was still a martial artist. He glared at Toonka.
"…It is disappointing that the old man Sword Saint isn't here, but I'm going to get serious now."
Ssss–
Purple aura started rising from Sima Jung's hands.
The moment his internal ki thoroughly wrapped around his hand…
"Khahahaha! Yeah, let's fight!"
Toonka charged toward him and Sima Jung's fist art moved in response as well.
– Human!
Cale heard Raon's voice at that moment.
– The worker can't come up to take our order! I'm hungry!
Cale spoke to Choi Han.
"Let's just knock them both unconscious for now."
Toonka would wake up in less than five minutes if Choi Han knocks him out and it would be easier to drag Sima Jung around with them if he was unconscious.
"…But the two of them are sparring?"
It was rare to see Chief Eunuch Wi question Cale's order like this, but Cale calmly responded.
"The worker needs to come up to get our order, but is unable to do so."
"Ah."
Chief Eunuch Wi gasped in admiration.
'He was concerned about the worker and the restaurant.'
His heart truly is kind.
The moment a smile appeared on Chief Eunuch Wi's face…
Boom!
Toonka fainted.
""T, this can't be-"
Sima Jung shook before he fainted as well.
Cale noticed that people were looking at him and not Choi Han and spoke with a slightly proud look on his face.
"Choi Han is an expert at knocking people unconscious."
Just look at Number 7.
He starts shaking whenever he sees Choi Han's hand now.
– Human, Choi Han looks proud!
"Wow."
He ignored Raon and Choi Jung Soo.
* * *
"We should arrive at the Namgung Clan in about thirty minutes, young master-nim."
Cale nodded his head at Ron and looked out the window.
Most of the clans and sects were built on mountains or other rough terrains. Others would set their foundation at the center of a city or within a castle.
The Namgung Clan in this world had a large manor a bit away from the castle. There was also a village with the Namgung Clan at the center.
The businesses were quite advanced to call it just a village.
"Human."
Raon asked in a low voice.
"Does this entire field belong to the Namgung Clan?"
"…Yeah."
This large field was full of green rice plants.
It seemed endless.
'They truly are land rich. I'm jealous.'
The Henituse Duchy was full of rocks and the Forest of Darkness was full of trees.
Unfortunately, Cale did not own a plain yet. He did have that coastline in Section 1 of the Jungle, but that was not suitable for farming.
'I do need to create an orchard eventually.'
Cale didn't look toward Choi Jung Soo nor Lee Soo Hyuk and simply looked out the window.
"Oh esteemed Purifier."
He then flinched at Durst's voice.
For some reason, he got the chills more and more as this priest called out to him.
"...."
Durst started speaking after seeing Cale silently looking at him.
"It is not much, but I wish to inform you about something since your plan seems to be to speak about the living jiangshis at the Namgung Clan."
Durst tilted his head as if he wasn't sure before continuing.
"Umm, while you were purifying the living jiangshi, the dead mana was different from what I know."
"Ah! You're right!"
Raon suddenly barged into the conversation.
"Human, human! It felt like something else was mixed in with the dead mana!"
"That is correct. It was different from the dead mana that rose up from the regular jiangshis. It seemed to be mixed with something more evil and thick. The stench was extremely extremely terrible as well."
Durst started sniffing. Cale looked away from him and ended up making eye contact with the team leader.
Team leader Sui Khan nonchalantly commented.
"Since it was a living jiangshi and not a regular one, it seems like the Blue Bloods have some special technique."
"I agree."
Choi Han added on.
"Young master-nim, maybe it was that hard to purify because they added something to the dead mana?"
Ron mumbled in a low voice once Choi Han was finished.
"That is why we are trying to get some info out of Number 7, but it has not been easy."
Ron smiled gently as he spoke to Cale.
"Please don't worry, Young master-nim. We just need to figure out everything in advance so that you never have to cough up blood like that ever again."
Cale gulped.
The Vitality of the Heart spoke in a shaking voice.
– …E, even if you know in advance, you will spurt out b, blood… I need to stock up on strength first...!
Cale just closed his eyes.
It was at that moment.
"Human, what is that?"
Cale got an unexplainable chill at Raon's extremely confused voice. He urgently opened his eyes to see where Raon's short and chubby front paw was pointing.
"…What the hell, what is that...."
Cale was truly anxious.
It would not be wrong to say that this village was built with the Namgung Clan at the center.
This place that was compared to the central city where the Anhui Castle was located, this place that was also called the Namgung Castle…
As the sky turned red with the sun setting through the green fields of rice…
The village should start to light candles or torches for the night.
However, it was a bit different today.
Starting from the entrance-
"Hae-il."
Sui Khan spoke.
"Aren't they all from the Namgung Clan?"
From the entrance of the village to the Namgung Clan located at the center…
A path had been created.
At both ends of the path were numerous people, peeking out of their windows.
No, to be more specific, they were observing the golden carriage that was arriving while surrounded by the Heavenly Guardians.
However, they did not dare to jump out onto the path.
Namgung.
Numerous martial artists of the Namgung Clan were standing on either side with Namgung Clan flags.
"…Young master-nim."
Chief Eunuch Wi cautiously spoke.
"The people standing at the entrance…."
The only people to stand at the entrance of the village…
There were about ten of them.
Cale looked at the Sword Saint.
"It looks like the Sword Saint-nim, the patriarch, and the Assembly of Elders."
The core of the Namgung Clan, the people who were famous for having heavy butts, had all jumped out to greet Cale at the entrance of the village.
It was at that moment.
Do do do-
There was suddenly a vibration from the back of the carriage.
Then they heard hooves.
Chief Eunuch Wi opened the window and observed behind them.
"Y, young master-nim!"
He then spoke to Cale with shock.
"The Lord of Anhui Castle has arrived!"
"...?"
'…Why is the territory lord here?'
These territory lords were comparable to the Duke-Grade administrators of the Roan Kingdom.
The dozens of cavalry the territory lord had brought with him…
Someone jumped out from between them and approached the golden carriage as he shouted.
He seemed to be delivering a message.
"We came to escort the esteemed Imperial family member-nim...!"
The golden carriage Cale was riding…
In front of him were the people of the Namgung Clan who had come out to escort their first benefactor in the last couple hundred years.
Behind him were the people with the Anhui Province territory lord, who were shocked after receiving the Imperial Decree that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was being sent for someone who holds a golden plaque.
—
Translator's Comments
Territory lord be heeeeeaaaaaah!