The Genius Grandson of the Namgung Family Chapter 70

Chapter 70

The day before Ha Hyeon was to leave for Shaolin Temple.

He was still in the training ground, holding his sword deep in thought.

‘What does it mean to concentrate inner power at a single point?’

It was as ambiguous as a Zen riddle.

He had thought about asking Chwiwol Geolgae, who was now truly his master, what it meant, but he deliberately didn’t ask because Chwiwol Geolgae would likely give him a real answer.

Finding the meaning himself was important.

Rustle-

As Ha Hyeon stood holding his sword without swinging it, there was a sound of dry leaves being crushed underfoot behind him.

When he turned his head, he saw a welcome face.

“Hyeon.”

“Sister. Are you going to start training again now?”

Namgung So-hwa nodded with a slight smile.

After returning from a long journey, she had gone to her room saying she would rest, and hadn’t come out except at mealtimes.

After a week of this, she had finally emerged with a wooden sword.

“I hear you’re leaving again the day after tomorrow, Hyeon?”

“Yes. Somehow it turned out that way.”

“Hmph.”

So-hwa pursed her lips, clearly dissatisfied about something.

“What’s wrong, Sister?”

“I thought we’d train together and play together again, but you’re saying you’re leaving right away.”

“It can’t be helped. I have reasons why I must go.”

So-hwa shrugged and said:

“Of course you do. You sound just like Brother Min.”

“Brother Min?”

“Yes. Even when I was little and asked him to play with me, Brother Min would always say he had reasons why he had to go, and then leave on missions. Anyway, you really resemble Brother Min.”

“Do I?”

Ha Hyeon seemed pleased to be told he was similar to Namgung Min.

“Now who am I supposed to train with when you’re gone? It’s boring to practice alone.”

“There’s Brother Hwan.”

So-hwa opened her eyes wide and said:

“Haven’t you heard about Brother Hwan?”

“Heard what?”

“You didn’t know?”

She took a few steps closer to Ha Hyeon and spoke in a slightly lower voice than before.

“Brother Hwan is going into closed-door training.”

“Closed-door training?”

“Yes. Not for long, about three months?”

“But why would Brother Hwan…”

The Namgung family doesn’t generally encourage closed-door training.

Basically, Namgung Mu-ryong believed that martial arts training is more effective together than alone, and he discouraged it because training alone at their young age could develop bad habits.

However, in rare cases, he does engaging in closed-door training.

This is mostly closed-door training to organize insights.

“Ah…!”

Ha Hyeon suddenly recalled the look in Namgung Hwan’s eyes that he had seen recently.

That wild beast-like gaze when fighting the Blood Sword Squad members.

So-hwa seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she said to Ha Hyeon:

“That’s right. Brother definitely gained something then.”

“I see. Actually, I don’t remember much from that time.”

“Me neither. All I can remember is how crazily my heart was pounding.”

At that moment, Ha Hyeon felt something tickling inside his chest.

Just as Namgung Hwan had gained an insight from that battle.

Ha Hyeon felt something that he could almost, but not quite, grasp.

But So-hwa’s words prevented him from continuing that train of thought.

“Should I ask Grandfather Chwiwol Geolgae to take me along too?”

“If you ask him to take you, he probably would. But can you handle entering a beggar’s den, Sister?”

“A beggar’s den? Why?”

“On the way to Shaolin this time, we’ll be stopping at the Beggar Sect headquarters? Master Chwiwol Geolgae said he’d show me more beggars than he’s seen in his entire life.”

So-hwa backed away, waving both hands.

“No. I don’t want to go.”

“Better not, right?”

So-hwa quickly nodded.

“Sister, you could train with Brother Paeng.”

“The Paeng family?”

“Mmm… the Paeng family.”

For some reason, the usual derogatory term was missing from his reference.

“I don’t know. I can’t stand the sight of him.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“I met him yesterday after almost a year, and do you know what he said as soon as we met?”

“What?”

“He said he’d been training like crazy to beat me, and then he immediately pointed his sword at me!”

Ha Hyeon chuckled.

With Paeng Heon-hong’s serious personality, this was entirely believable.

“But even I could see he’s improved tremendously. Training together would be extremely effective.”

Ha Hyeon’s words were true.

Paeng Heon-hong, whom he had briefly met yesterday, was truly worthy of having a fresh look. During Ha Hyeon’s absence from the household, he must have undergone blood-draining training, which would make him a good match for So-hwa.

“Ugh! I don’t know. I’ll do it later when I feel like it.”

“Sure. Do whatever you want, sister.”

So-hwa chattered for a while.

Then suddenly she turned away, saying she couldn’t concentrate well here.

When Ha Hyeon asked where she was going, she said she was just looking for another suitable place, but her direction was toward the training ground used by the official members of the Blue Dragon Pavilion.

‘She’s going to see Heon-hong.’

Ha Hyeon had noticed earlier but didn’t mention it since So-hwa didn’t seem to want to talk about it.

After So-hwa left, Ha Hyeon was alone again.

“Condense into one point.”

Ha Hyeon repeated these words once more.

Suddenly something occurred to him.

‘Could “condensing into one point” not be abstract, but literally mean pouring my internal energy into a single point?’

Once a hypothesis is formed, the next step is to test it.

Ha Hyeon grabbed his sword with both hands and slowly released his internal energy.

His target was the sword tip.

Sssss-

The energy rising from his dantian circulated throughout his body, traveled through his arms, and was injected into the sword.

And Ha Hyeon’s energy entering the sword flowed along the blade’s surface, enveloping the sword.

Whoosh-

The sword, now filled with inner power, vibrated making a sound, and soon a sword wind arose.

The sword wind made his sleeves flutter and grew stronger.

And this is where things changed.

Normally, when one channels energy into a sword, it remains in that state.

Surrounding the sword densely with energy.

But Ha Hyeon now began moving that surrounding energy toward the sword tip.

“Urgh.”

There was no way this first attempt would go smoothly.

Since most of the internal energy dissipated while trying to move it, Ha Hyeon continuously pushed in more energy.

‘If only I had a bit more internal energy to spare…’

But there was no use lamenting now.

After all, wasn’t the main reason why grandfather wanted not only himself but also Ha Hyeon to obtain the Small transformation pill to supplement the insufficient internal energy compared to their insights?

But Ha Hyeon didn’t give up.

Little by little, he continued gathering energy at the tip of the sword.

As time passed, Ha Hyeon was drenched in cold sweat, but his expression was gradually improving.

‘So this is how it’s done.’

With each attempt, he gained more skill.

As he gained more skill, it became easier.

In the midst of this, Ha Hyeon smiled slightly.

The feeling of internal energy following his intentions.

There’s nothing more satisfying than that.

Whoosh-!

Perhaps because he’d heard that Namgung Hwan was entering closed-door training to organize the insights gained when fighting the Blood Sword Squad members? Ha Hyeon’s mind flashed back to that battle.

More precisely, the image of Blood Wolf Chae Hyeong-seok handling his blade came to his mind.

Swoosh!

Ha Hyeon naturally swung his sword horizontally.

In this moment, he became the Blood Wolf.

Then, as if recalling a distant memory, he remembered that the Blood Wolf also concentrated energy only at the blade’s tip.

The Blood Wolf’s blade technique.

However, the form and style were fundamentally different from the Blood Wolf’s.

Before he was imitating the outward appearance, now it was different.

The way he handled the blade.

It felt like he was directly transferring those movements of handling energy.

Tss tss…

At that moment, a faint mist seemed to frost at the tip of Ha Hyeon’s sword, then disappeared.

“Huff! Ugh!”

Ha Hyeon unknowingly vomited violently and collapsed to the ground due to sudden weakness and dizziness. 

The rapid depletion of inner energy was the cause. 

The vomiting soon stopped, but Ha Hyeon couldn’t easily get up.

Yet his eyes were still sparkling.

They were like the eyes of someone who had found a treasure.

“Huu… Huu…” After sitting for a long while and catching his breath, Ha Hyeon rose from his place.

He had clearly seen a new world just moments ago.

Ha Hyeon quietly watched the brilliant winter sunlight reflecting off his sword and muttered to himself.

“This isn’t the realm of enlightenment. I’ve already gone through that process.”

When. How. He couldn’t answer these questions himself.

But Ha Hyeon naturally knew.

That it was a realm he would eventually reach.

Ha Hyeon sat cross-legged in his collapsed position.

For now, the urgent matter was to fill his dantian, which had been emptied from the draining of internal energy.

Ha Hyeon began regulating his breath and energy while facing the winter wind.

His expression showed a smile.

He even thought this cold winter wind felt cozy.

* * *

Early the next morning.

Ha Hyeon and Namgung Min stood before Namgung Mu-ryong.

“Because of this foolish old man, you must leave right away without even resting for a few days.”

“No, Grandfather. I will definitely bring back the Small transformation pill.”

“Thank you, Hyeon.”

Namgung Mu-ryong then grabbed Namgung Min’s shoulder.

“Min. Would you be disappointed if I said I wasn’t worried about you at all?”

“Not at all, Grandfather. I will surely repay the trust you’ve placed in me.”

“Thank you. Please take good care of Hyeon.”

“I will.”

Though his response was polite, Namgung Mu-ryong almost laughed when he saw Namgung Min’s face.

‘So Min can make such an expression too.’

Namgung Min’s face showed a curious mixture of anticipation and slight excitement.

Always dreaming of battles with powerful opponents, he was looking forward to seeing how amazing the Eighteen Arhat Formation was, and his face was elated at the thought of exchanging moves with the Shaolin Temple’s senior disciples, known as the top orthodox sect.

“Why is this farewell taking so long? You’re acting like people who won’t see each other for ten years. At most, you’ll be back in three months. Stop making a fuss and let’s depart quickly!”

The Drunken Moon Elite, standing at a distance from them, was showing his annoyance for no reason.

From the moment the Drunken Moon Elite accepted Ha Hyeon as his disciple, he had abandoned unnecessary pretenses and openly displayed his greed for Ha Hyeon.

His current irritation wasn’t really because their goodbyes were too long, but because he was jealous of the touching farewell between Ha Hyeon and Namgung Mu-ryong.

“Grandfather, I’ll be going now.”

“Yes. What did I tell you to do if there’s danger?”

“Run away first, no matter what.”

“Good. Your life is the most important thing in the world. Honor comes second. Remember that well.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Ha Hyeon walked toward where the Drunken Moon Elite was standing.

Just from that alone, the Drunken Moon Elite’s irritated expression visibly softened.

“Master, let’s go quickly.”

“Hmm. Hmm. Yes. Let’s depart.”

And with the following word “Master,” more than half of his annoyance had already melted away.

Namgung Mu-ryong saw this and laughed silently.

“Ha Hyeon, do you remember Goshi County?”

“Yes, Master. Isn’t that where we first met?”

“That’s right. You remember.”

“How could I forget that place?”

The Drunken Moon Elite grinned with satisfaction.

“Today we will run all the way there without stopping once.”

“Without stopping once?”

“Yes! This is also part of your training. Min, can you keep up?”

“If you could slow down a bit as I mentioned the day before yesterday…”

The Drunken Moon Elite burst into laughter.

“Alright. I’ll go slowly. If we can reach Goshi within five time-periods, I’ll treat you to a feast.”

“Master, don’t you have no money? How will you…”

“Haha! Exactly five time-periods from now, the youngest child of Old Man Jang, the second richest man in Goshi, is getting married. We’ll eat there tonight!”

Ha Hyeon clicked his tongue and said,

“Master, you remember such things?”

“Of course. Remembering the dates of rich households’ feasts is the first skill of a beggar!”

Ha Hyeon tried to say something, but his words didn’t reach the Drunken Moon Elite.

He had already deployed his movement technique and leaped far away.

“Sigh… How did I end up with such a master…”

“Hey! Brat, I can hear everything! Aren’t you coming?!”

“Eek!”

Ha Hyeon hunched his shoulders and deployed his movement technique.

He was destined to practice his movement technique non-stop for the next five time-periods.