The Genius Grandson of the Namgung Family Chapter 9

The Genius Grandson of the Namgung Family

Chapter 9

Ha Hyeon’s Victory.

The arena was literally colored with shock.

“Uh…”

Even Namgung Gi-cheol, who had cultivated martial arts to the point of maintaining composure in most situations, let out a foolish sound.

“Ha… Haha… I lost.”

Instead, Namgung Hwan appeared the most composed.

“I was lucky,” Ha Hyeon said while slightly bowing his head.

It was literally luck. Both that Namgung Hwan had let his guard down, and that Ha Hyeon happened to remember the light step precisely. If they were to fight again, Ha Hyeon would lose eight or nine times out of ten. But what’s important is that the one or two times out of ten happened right now. Ha Hyeon extended his hand to Namgung Hwan, and Namgung Hwan grabbed Ha Hyeon’s hand and stood up.

Meanwhile, Namgung Gyu-hyeon suddenly came to his senses.

“No, but how, how did you do it?!”

It was clearly the light step. If no one else, Namgung Gyu-hyeon could clearly tell. After all, he had raised hundreds and thousands of young martial artists, teaching them footwork step by step.

Ha Hyeon seemed to understand what Namgung Gyu-hyeon was asking and answered immediately.

“I remembered the footsteps from the first test.”

“What? Haha…”

When people encounter a situation that’s too absurd, they end up laughing. Namgung Gyu-hyeon just laughed.

‘Than Min… No, perhaps even more.’

Looking at Ha Hyeon, Namgung Gyu-hyeon felt the same thrill as when he first confirmed Namgung Min’s talent.

“Good. You obviously can’t fail. You pass.”

“Thank you.”

“What thanks? You did well. I’ll call for you again in a few days.”

“I understand. Brother. I look forward to working with you.”

Namgung Hwan was smiling sincerely.

“Haha, that’s what I wanted to say. I feel good about having such an amazing younger brother.”

His face showed no signs of frustration or resentment about losing to Ha Hyeon.

‘I wonder how So-hwa will react.’

Namgung Hwan thought as he watched Ha Hyeon leaving the training ground with light steps.

“He’s out!”

When Ha Hyeon came out of the training ground, the candidates waiting for their turn brightened up.

“Looking at his expression not being so bright, did he fail? If I had passed, I would have been jumping with joy.”

“It doesn’t seem to be just that. Doesn’t he look too peaceful for someone who failed?”

“No, no. It’s natural to have a peaceful expression since he probably went in without any expectations in the first place?”

“Right, that’s exactly it.”

The waiting martial artists murmured while looking at Ha Hyeon.

“Next! Peng Xian-Hong of the Ha-buk Peng family, please enter.”

As the next person after Ha Hyeon went in, Ha Hyeon quietly tried to distance himself from them. His plan was to quietly practice qi circulation in his quarters until other contact came.

But there was someone who stopped Ha Hyeon.

“Hey.”

“Me?”

The one calling him was none other than Namgung So-hwa.

“Yes! Who else is here besides you? Just like before. Anyway, that’s not important, did you fail by any chance?”

“No?”

“What? Then you passed?”

“Yes. Since I heard the word ‘pass’ before coming out, I must have passed.”

Ha Hyeon answered calmly.

After hearing about the pass, Namgung So-hwa now looked at Ha Hyeon carefully.

‘His breathing is stable, and his energy is straight. This is the atmosphere you can only see from our clan’s martial artists. This child, he’s already learned martial arts.’

Being born and raised in the Namgung clan meant growing up in an environment surrounded by martial artists throughout one’s life. They say even a dog at a scholar’s house can recite poems after three years. Although Namgung So-hwa was only twelve years old, she could judge whether someone had learned martial arts or not.

“I see? We’ll be seeing each other often then. See you next time.”

Namgung So-hwa greeted Ha Hyeon and returned to her place to wait for her turn. Rather, the ones making a commotion were the waiting candidates who had just been saying Ha Hyeon must have failed.

“Did you hear? He said he passed.”

“Haha. It seems this year’s Blue dragon pavillion entrance exam must be very easy. How lucky.”

“This is my third year taking the entrance exam, finally a light of hope comes to me.”

Namgung So-hwa frowned as if she disliked hearing their words and thought.

‘They said failing to assess an opponent’s level is one of the greatest mistakes in the martial world. I won’t be seeing those people anymore.’

And regardless of what others were saying, Ha Hyeon quietly returned to his quarters. He only wanted to review the movements Namgung Hwan had shown as quickly as possible.

That evening.

Ha Hyeon dressed in the clothes Uncle Jang-chil had prepared for him and headed to the dining hall. Today it wasn’t the regular dining hall where he had been having his meals, but the dining hall used only by direct family members.

‘The clan head wants to introduce young master to other family members today.’

Ha Hyeon was just beginning to gain understanding of the light step. Just as he was trying to find the differences between the light step, Namgung Hwan had performed and the one he had copied, Jang-chil knocked on the door. Although it was very regrettable that his concentration was broken, there was nothing he could say to Jang-chil.

‘To become a member of the Namgung clan anyway, it’s better to be formally introduced as soon as possible.’

Ha Hyeon, who made an instant judgment, only thanked Jang-chil. Even while walking to the dining hall, Ha Hyeon thought about the light step.

‘Whoosh- Whoosh’

Then, as if thoughts alone weren’t enough to solve it, he occasionally moved his body to better understand the light step.

‘I see, I simply thought it was a method of moving legs, but that wasn’t it. What they call movement techniques and footwork methods were ways of moving the entire body.’

Ha Hyeon began to step through the footwork technique as he understood it, channeling his inner energy. However, he no longer channeled his inner energy only into his legs like before. He evenly distributed his inner energy throughout his entire body. Into his arms that moved to maintain balance, into his waist that kept his center upright.

‘Whoosh!’

And now he steps following the path of the light step which he has completely memorized. There was no need to forcefully try to step quickly here. Just letting the body flow with the rhythm.

‘That’s right. A footwork technique is merely a record of the fastest path one can move along.’

One step, one step. Extending his foot toward where he can go faster, and as soon as it touches the ground, the opposite foot searches for the next path. The pitter-patter of footsteps gradually became lighter, turning into softer tap-tap-tap sounds, until even those sounds faded away.

Swish

Though it was a short distance, Ha Hyeon developed his footwork technique while stepping only on the scattered grass along the path without touching the ground. The realm of Chosangbi (Walking on Grass). Ha Hyeon had achieved what every martial artist aims for in terms of footwork.

‘Thud, Crash!’

“Ouch…”

But soon his limited inner energy was depleted, cutting off the flow of energy being supplied throughout his body. Because of this, he misstepped and fell ungracefully. Ha Hyeon quickly got up before anyone could see and dusted off his dirt-covered pants.

‘Still, this isn’t how I should look for my first appearance before the Namgung family members.’

Ha Hyeon meticulously brushed off the dust stuck to his pants. He must have run quite a distance while studying the footwork technique, as he was already in front of the dining hall.

‘Namgung clan. It truly is an amazing place.’

Even when he was at Shaanxi, there were many martial artists around, but none of them or their martial arts gave Ha Hyeon such inspiration. There was his mother, but she was reluctant to teach Ha Hyeon martial arts. Thinking about it now, his mother probably didn’t want Ha Hyeon to live the life of a martial artist. However, Ha Hyeon had already become a proper martial artist. Whether it was by choice or circumstance didn’t matter. The moment he became entangled in revenge, Ha Hyeon had essentially already become a martial artist.

Ha Hyeon entered the dining hall after once again engraving in his heart the reason why he needed to become stronger.

‘I will obtain everything I can from this place.’

With that bold ambition.

Currently, the direct family members in the clan consisted only of Namgung Mu-ryong, Namgung Gi-cheol, Namgung Hwan, and Namgung So-hwa. There were two more, Namgung Gi-hyeon and Namgung Min, but as they were currently away, Ha Hyeon entered the dining hall where only the four were seated modestly.

“Hey, Shin Ha Hyeon? Did you come to the wrong dining hall? Those who passed aren’t supposed to use this dining hall?”

As soon as Ha Hyeon entered, Namgung So-hwa welcomed him. Just as Ha Hyeon was about to answer, Namgung Mu-ryong, who was sitting at the head seat, spoke first.

“So-hwa, I see you’re already acquainted with Ha Hyeon. I called Ha Hyeon here. You found your way here well by yourself.”

At grandfather’s words, So-hwa’s expression became puzzled.

“Grandfather, you know Ha Hyeon too?”

“Of course. You and Ha Hyeon are cousins. He is your aunt’s son.”

“Cousins…”

So-hwa still seemed unable to understand at once, her eyes still full of questions. Looking around, it seemed everyone else present already knew this fact.

“What, was I the only one who didn’t know?”

“Ha Hyeon arrived at the clan yesterday. We couldn’t tell you today because you were focused on the entrance exam. Ha Hyeon, how old are you?”

“I’m ten years old this year, Great Uncle.”

Hearing Ha Hyeon’s age, Namgung So-hwa grinned.

“Ten years old? Then I’m your older sister.”

“Yes, sister.”

Namgung So-hwa seemed pleased with being called sister and smiled even more deeply. She had lived as the youngest in the clan until now. She seemed very happy to have a younger sibling.

“Right! Ah yes! I passed the entrance exam too.”

“I thought you would.”

Ha Hyeon deliberately didn’t mention that among the candidates waiting their turn in front of Blue dragon pavillion earlier, few showed energy comparable to Namgung So-hwa’s. Her pride already seemed to be reaching the sky. Namgung Mu-ryong, who had been watching the two with satisfaction, opened his mouth.

“Ha Hyeon. Come sit here. This will be your seat from now on.”

Namgung Mu-ryong said, pointing to an empty seat at the table.

“My seat…”

“Yes, and move your quarters to this side today. I’ve ordered your mother’s old room to be cleaned thoroughly.”

“Thank you.”

Ha Hyeon barely managed to swallow down something hot that was trying to rise from his stomach to his throat. In a single day, his family had disappeared, and he had endured hardships he couldn’t have imagined before. Then by chance, he met Chwiwol Geolgae, came back to the Namgung clan… and gained a family again.

‘This is my home.’

Even after coming to the Namgung clan, Ha Hyeon had been constantly tense. Just trying to get along well with strangers in a strange place consumed enormous mental energy. Trying to think about martial arts on top of that was bound to be difficult for a mere ten-year-old child.

But Ha Hyeon finally felt at ease. The warm gazes of the Namgung clan members, devoid of any hostility. These were the eyes of family looking at family.

“Come now. Let’s eat.”

Ha Hyeon sat at the table and picked up his spoon. Though modest for the Namgung clan’s reputation, the food was neat and proper. While eating, Ha Hyeon felt his Great Uncle, Namgung Gi-cheol, staring at him intently. Wondering if something was stuck on his face, he touched his face here and there, but there was nothing.

“Haha. I’m sorry for staring. It just brings back many old memories.”

Namgung Gi-cheol chuckled to himself and continued.

“I entered Blue dragon pavillion at exactly you and So-hwa’s age. Together with your mother, my younger sister Yeong-ryeong.”

“I see.”

Namgung Gi-cheol spoke with a serious attitude.

“Training starts tomorrow. It will be tough and difficult, but if you follow along, you’ll show achievements quickly. Your talents are rare even in our clan’s long history… no, perhaps even in the entire martial arts world. But never become arrogant, and keep pushing forward diligently.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

Though Namgung Gi-cheol appeared somewhat intimidating, Ha Hyeon could feel the sincerity in those words. With Namgung Mu-ryong watching all this with pleased eyes, Ha Hyeon’s second day at the Namgung clan came to an end.

The next day.

Ha Hyeon woke up early, changed into the martial arts uniform the servants had prepared, and headed to the training ground. It was a green uniform similar to what So-hwa had worn yesterday. When he arrived at the training ground, he must have timed it well, as quite a few others had already arrived.

Ha Hyeon slowly examined their faces. He had remembered several people who had left strong impressions while waiting yesterday, and without fail, those he had thought had extraordinary energy were present.

After some time passed, a few more people entered, including Namgung So-hwa.

So-hwa smiled and greeted Ha Hyeon, chattering about how she was too excited to sleep well yesterday. Until someone opened the door of Blue dragon pavillion and entered.

“Is everyone here? Yes, thirteen people. Everyone’s here.”

It was Namgung Gyu-hyeon. He entered Blue dragon pavillion wearing the same clean martial arts uniform as yesterday.

“As I mentioned yesterday, I am Namgung Gyu-hyeon, in charge of basic martial arts training at Blue dragon pavillion. Think of basics as laying the foundation. Since a strong foundation is needed to build a large house without it collapsing, I hope everyone will follow along step by step. For responses, instead of long phrases like ‘I respectfully comply’ or ‘I understand,’ we’ll uniformly use a short and clear ‘Yes!’ Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

Namgung Gyu-hyeon seemed pleased with the unexpectedly loud response and continued with a smile.

“This year’s number of successful candidates is much lower than usual. However, this means we can pay more attention to each individual, making it more advantageous for learning. Consider yourselves lucky.”

“Yes!”

Namgung Gyu-hyeon looked at the successful candidates, no, from now on, the basic trainees.

“From now on, you are officially disciples of the Namgung clan. In particular, you are currently at the very bottom. Everyone in the clan is your senior martial brother, sister, and uncle. In our clan, even mere servants learn martial arts. Never act recklessly.”

“Yes!”

Namgung Gyu-hyeon shouted with a joyful face toward the serious-faced disciples.

“Good! The beginning of martial arts comes from a trained body. Among these, the lower body and waist are most important. Everyone take the horse stance!”

At his words, the thirteen disciples uniformly took their stances. Somehow, Namgung Gyu-hyeon had a look of enjoyment on his face.