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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Sword Emperor Arrives
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Rumble….
The spar was over. It was Seolhwa's complete victory.
Nohun watched the Namgung child approach with heavy steps, his gaze firm.
"It's over, then."
"..."
"Cowardice!"
Shing—!
The sharp sound of a sword being drawn echoed.
Soon, another person drew their sword.
"Hwasan's Daoist should mind his words. The children's spar was fair."
The one who drew his sword at the child was Yupyo. And the one who stood guarding the child was Cheongun.
"Fair, you say! Didn't she hide her true strength from the start? Knowing Hwasan needed that item, she maliciously deceived us! That's cowardly!"
"Seolhwa originally challenged *you* to a spar. Wasn't it Hwasan who changed the opponent?"
"Even so, her strength...!"
"Hmph! To conceal one's true power is also a skill! How can you call that cowardly? Is Hwasan truly a sect so devoid of propriety?!"
"Are you... daring... to insult Hwasan...?"
A deep, rose-colored aura surged from Yupyo. In response, a blue aura emanated from Cheongun.
As the two auras clashed without an inch of yielding, Seolhwa spoke to Nohun.
"Did you suddenly go soft during the spar?"
Nohun, who had been silently observing Yupyo's outburst, his lips twitched briefly. It was too fleeting to be considered a smile.
He quickly regained his stern expression and shouted,
"Yupyo, stand down!"
"...Yes, Master."
Nohun strode purposefully towards Seolhwa.
"Indeed. You've won. I've seen just how bright the Namgung's future is. I heard you only recently returned to the Namgung. When did you learn the Namgung's martial arts so proficiently?"
"My grandfather taught me a few days ago."
"You're saying you can use a sword art learned just a few days ago with such mastery?"
"My grandfather said so. That I am, after all, the Sword Emperor's granddaughter."
"!"
The Sword Emperor's granddaughter.
The implications of those words were by no means light.
They carried multiple meanings: who stood behind her, where her strength originated, and who one would make an enemy of by denying it.
"Though we lost the spar, we require that elixir. So, state your other conditions."
With this, Seolhwa gained complete control.
Knowing that Hwasan wouldn't give up the elixir even after losing the spar, Seolhwa presented her prepared answer.
"I'll offer two proposals."
"Two, you say."
"One is the same as before. Show me proof that Hwasan and Shaolin Temple traded the Daehwandan."
Nohun's face took on a grim expression.
'He won't be able to say.'
If it only concerned Hwasan, it wouldn't matter, but it would involve the Shaolin Temple as well.
Since Hwasan isn't the only one wanting to keep it a secret, Hwasan wouldn't dare publicly acknowledge the transaction.
Knowing this, she presented it as an option.
'Something impossible and something with a sliver of possibility.'
If two options are presented together, the one with a sliver of possibility will seem relatively more appealing.
"...What is the second?"
"Let me meet Hwasan's Sect Leader."
"!"
"If you let me meet the Sect Leader, I will give it to them directly."
It was then.
Rumble... rumble... rumble....
Suddenly, the ground of the training hall trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
"Seolhwa!"
Namgung Cheongun rushed to Seolhwa, protecting her.
The one who caused this energy fluctuation, comparable to a natural disaster, was...
"You..."
Maehwasingeom Nohun.
Within the pavilion, his aura, which had been somewhat suppressed lest the building collapse, now ran wild like an unbridled colt.
"What do you know?"
"M-Master!"
Yugang urgently tried to stop him, but the aura emanating from Nohun made it impossible to approach.
Swish—
Overwhelmed by the aura, a hairline cut appeared on Seolhwa's cheek.
Such was the Realm of Hwagyeong.
A realm where one's aura *becomes* a sword. Where one can cut an opponent with aura alone.
A profound realm where those unable to withstand its momentum could not even approach.
"Seolhwa! It's dangerous!"
"It's alright, Father."
Seolhwa pushed Cheongun, who had embraced her, aside and faced the aura.
Nohun's aura poured down as if to engulf her, but Seolhwa did not retreat.
Step by step, she advanced towards him.
"As expected, she's a fearless child."
"As expected, you have no conscience. Does an elder of Hwasan truly wish to act like this towards a child?"
"You truly wish to die, don't you?"
"Why are you trying to kill me? I merely wish to meet Hwasan's Sect Leader."
"No."
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle—!
The aura grazed her cheek and forearm, leaving scratches.
Her clothes tore, and hairline cuts multiplied.
However, watching the child who showed no concern whatsoever, Nohun spoke with a voice imbued with internal energy.
"You must know something. From what I've seen of you so far, you wouldn't ask to meet the Sect Leader without a reason."
"..."
'What a quick-witted old man.'
"Therefore, I must kill you to silence you. If I kill you and seize the Geumryongokyeolbo, that will be the end of it."
"There are so many eyes watching, though."
No sooner had Seolhwa finished speaking than a group rushed into the Ungaekwon training hall.
They were the Namgung's clan heads, elders, and direct descendants.
"Gasp...!"
"What in the world...!"
Among them, Namgung Cheonghae stepped forward and shouted,
"Maehwasingeom, please retract your aura!"
Nohun merely glanced at him briefly, paying him no mind.
Nohun scoffed and said,
"Do you truly think a bunch of small fry gathering can even be a match for me?"
His opponent was one of the Ten Great Masters of the world.
Though considered weak among the Ten Great Masters, he was still a Hwagyeong realm master, one of only ten in the world.
He was someone whom even ten Peak Masters might not be able to contend with. Yet, there wasn't a single Peak Master here.
"Are you planning to kill everyone in the Namgung?"
"That wouldn't be so bad."
"Hwasan's Dao seems more violent than it appears."
"It is said that true strength is like water. How can one stop the world from being swept away when water overflows its banks?"
"Is it Hwasan's teaching to interpret the words of the immortals however you please?"
"I do as I please."
"I told you, you have no conscience."
Whoooosh….
Nohun's aura grew even wilder and more vast, expanding its presence.
"That arrogance will now come to an end."
It was then that Nohun placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Do you know something?"
Seolhwa's lips curved subtly.
"That a river overflowing is nothing compared to a tsunami."
"Did you just call me... a mere river...?"
Seolhwa shrugged her shoulders.
Just as Nohun began to find her composed demeanor strange.
Whooom.
The world stopped. It was as if a sudden void filled the entire world, engulfing Nohun.
"!"
The aura Nohun had unleashed was nullified. No, it was devoured.
A thick barrier of aura had somehow enveloped him. A void, as if severed from the world, coiled around him.
"A venomous insect has crawled into my courtyard."
Nohun looked down at his trembling hand.
It wasn't trembling from fear. This was the trembling of his instincts reacting.
Nohun slowly turned his head to look at the one who had overwhelmed him and his world.
"...The Sword Emperor?"
Cheonryonggeomhwang Namgung Mucheon.
One of the ten masters who commanded the world. Among them, a master of masters, said to be among the top three.
He was, somehow, already behind him.
"Nohun."
Namgung Mucheon's gaze went past the aura barrier, towards Seolhwa.
"I'll give you two choices."
He swept his gaze over the scratches on his granddaughter's body and cheek—the granddaughter for whom he had poured 70% of his internal energy to perform Beolmo-sesu.
In his eyes, a blue light burned as if blazing.
"Do you want to die? Or do you want to be beaten half to death?"
Even within the same realm, there are different tiers.
Those who have just reached the realm, those who have somewhat adapted to it, and those who have reached the complete realm and are looking towards the next stage.
Even within the same realm, the difference in skill due to mastery and experience was profound, and the higher the realm, the greater the disparity.
In that sense, the disparity among those who had reached the Hwagyeong realm was truly immense.
The difference in internal energy between the initial stage of Hwagyeong and complete Hwagyeong could be as much as sixty years' worth.
Namgung Mucheon took a heavy step towards Nohun.
"I heard you reached the Realm of Hwagyeong, but..."
"Na-Namgung Mucheon...!"
Nohun unconsciously took a step back.
'I heard it would take five more days, but how...!'
"Reaching the realm is one thing, but..."
At that moment, the benevolent smile that had briefly appeared on Namgung Mucheon's face vanished as if it had been wiped clean.
"How dare you flaunt your power in this Sword Emperor's estate without any fear?"
The blue light in his eyes glared at Nohun as if to kill him.
"To dare lay a hand on this Heavenly Dragon's granddaughter. You truly wish to die, don't you?"
"W-wait a moment, Sword Emperor! This isn't what it looks like...!"
"Silence!"
It was a sound like a bolt of lightning striking from a clear sky.
At the shockwave of that aura, not only Nohun but everyone in Ungaekwon beyond the barrier recoiled.
If Nohun's *qi* shook the training hall, then Namgung Mucheon's *qi* was shaking the entire Ungaekwon.
"Who told you to make excuses?! Are you trying to claim there was a valid reason for laying a hand on my granddaughter? And in my own courtyard, no less! You've lost your damn mind!"
Nohun could not utter a single word.
For he was the one who knew Namgung Mucheon's eccentric temperament best here.
