Due to this incident, it seemed to Lee Sungmin like the Namgung Family would be disgraced further by him alone.
Although he was already a public enemy to the 5 Great Families and the other Orthodox factions within the Murim Alliance, he was falsely accused and if anything was their retribution.
Although Lee Sungmin did consider that Namgung Heewon was someone he did care for to some extent and was simply misled by these people. He had no qualms about settling his score with the Namgung family as they openly condemned him just the same as any other group within the Alliance.
They were all the same to Lee Sungmin at this point.
And since Namgung Heewon decided to finally leave his family behind him, Lee Sungmin no longer felt burdened about his actions with them.
Lee Sungmin had told Namgung Heewon enough. It was up to Namgung Heewon himself if he would figure the rest of the corruption out on his own. The organization known as Beyond the Heavens was pulling the strings behind many questionable acts within Murim.
If possible, Lee Sungmin wanted to act with Namgung Heewon, but their situations were different from each other.So, Lee Sungmin had no choice but to at least send Namgung Heewon off safely like this and help him escape.
[What are you going to do?]
Heoju asked in a quiet voice. Heoju was greatly looking forward to what was going to happen despite his complaining.
It was because Lee Sungmin said he wouldn’t kill any of the Namgung Family members out of respect for Namgung Heewon.[Doesn’t that mean you can just beat them up until they’re on death’s doorsteps and leave?]
‘But I can’t be too violent or cruel. It would be embarrassing to meet Namgung Heewon later if I did.’
[Is there any reason to care about such soft feelings? They’re going to try and kill you anyway.]
‘That’s true, but I’d appreciate trying to mend my relationship with Heewon.’
Lee Sungmin recalled when he first met Namgung Heewon at the Shaolin. Namgung Heewon had no particular reason to show interest or care for Lee Sungmin since he was the heir of a prestigious family… but he did and they became sworn brothers.Though they had their misunderstandings later on, Lee Sungmin got to know just how wide the world was through Namgung Heewon and realize there were truly good people in this world.And now, Namgung Heewon and Lee Sungmin had grown up, and had the opportunity to mend their relationship with each other. Therefore, Lee Sungmin felt the need to at least respect Namgung Heewon, even if it would be easier to simply kill all the incoming pursuers.
[Well, it doesn’t matter in the end.]
Heoju felt Lee Sungmin’s emotions through their shared conscience and nodded inwardly.
[If it’s with your skill, it’ll be easy to subdue them as long as none of them are in the Realm of Transcendence.]
Lee Sungmin was in the position of the absolute power within Eria, now that he had finally stepped into Transcendence. Although it was the very early stages and had immense room to grow, there were few in all of Eria that could challenge him, let alone take him down.
Even if everyone in the Namgung Family attacked him at once, it would be impossible for them to harm him.
Although the guards of the Namgung Family felt pity for Namgung Heewon, they had to respect their lord’s wishes and capture him.
Thus, when they heard word of him escaping, they immediately moved to chase Namgung Heewon who was escaping from the square.
“Oh, my god!”
It was that moment.An overwhelming sense of inexplicable fear and murderous intent poured over them, giving them goosebumps all over their bodies.
The horses the warriors were riding were the first to tremble and lose their sanity from their innate senses, screaming at them to flee away from Lee Sungmin.
Along with horses, the warriors swallowed their breaths and hardened their facial expressions.
The warriors were battle hardened, but had never felt such pure intimidation and fear coming from one source like this.
They quickly searched around the desolate square and found one man standing in the center with a spear.
“Who… Who are you?”
A middle-aged swordsman, who was leading the warriors, asked Lee Sungmin in a careful voice.
Lee Sungmin, who was holding his spear wrapped in the purple and golden flames of internal qi giving off the incredulous amount of pressure, stared at the middle-aged swordsman.
“Who are you then?”
A middle-aged swordsman gulped at the question posed by Lee Sungmin. He came down from the horse in a hurry as Lee Sungmin’s question brooded arrogance and indifference towards him.
The middle-aged swordsman put his hand on his sword’s grip unconsciously.
“My name is Namgung Jun, and I am here with…….”Lee Sungmin smirked at the remark and the man’s false bravado.
“No. You don’t have to tell me your names.”
Lee Sungmin cleared his throat. He then placed away his spear and armor as he lightly relocated his internal qi to mask over his body like a suit.
One might think this was brooding arrogance, but for Lee Sungmin, he believed this was mercy and an opportune chance to practice some of his other skills despite the handicap.
As long as he was in conflict with the Namgung Family anyway, he would have no choice but to show some of his skills.
‘But that doesn’t mean I have to introduce myself as the Ghost Spear.’
He didn’t even want to introduce himself. Lee Sungmin, stopped the warriors of the Namgung Family in their tracks with his sheer aura of dominance.
Whilst he exuded this utter presence of dominance and fear, Namgung Heewon had completely escaped from the square.
The middle-aged swordsman’s eyebrows twitched when he felt Namgung Heewon’s presence completely disappear from the square, as he had completely left the vicinity. The other warriors of the Namgung Family finally caught up with the middle-aged swordsman and stopped.
The middle-aged swordsman seemed to be the leader of the group and tried to nod to the others, signaling them to split up and give chase to Namgung Heewon.Looking at this small action, Lee Sungmin scoffed and slowly stepped forward and let his internal energy circulate forwards in that one step.
Boooooong!
The pressure of the internal spread out from around Lee Sungmin and weighed down the bodies of the fighters.
Some of the weaker-minded people suffered internal injuries as well as vomited blood, and even some of the older middle-aged warriors were found dead from the crushing energy.
The middle-aged man in charge of the group, had his face turn white because of a shallow internal injury from Lee Sungmin’s pressure.
“We- We’ll stop….”
The thing was, Lee Sungmin was in the early stages of Transcendence. He was able to weigh down on the space with his presence alone,
There started to be desperate groans and even yells.“Stop please- Stop….!”
Yeah, Lee Sungmin didn’t have to even swing the spear. Lee Sungmin glanced at the spear he had placed within his spatial subpocket.
Instead of needing to pull out the spear, Lee Sungmin continued to advance slowly.
As the distance between Lee Sungmin and the warriors decreased, the warriors’ faces turned white. Lee Sungmin’s identity of the Ghost Spear had suddenly registered in their minds.
When Lee Sungmin took 5 steps. Almost all of the warriors couldn’t stand it any longer and collapsed, throwing up blood.
Fifteen warriors from the Namgung Family, who had run immediately to the square, fell down, spasming from the internal injuries caused by the sheer pressure they were suffering from their dantians.
There was no need to even bring out the spear. The warriors that had fallen were just suffering from shock to their dantians, but the injuries were not life-threatening.Not only that, but the injuries from shock would be completely treatable if the healing was done properly, meaning they could continue to practice martial arts.
[What are you going to do now?]
‘We’re going directly to the Namgung Family Head.’
When asked by Heoju, Lee Sungmin answered as if there was nothing to think about. He didn’t think there was much deliberation needed to be done.
Heoju asked back in surprise.
[You’re acting so aggressively by going directly to their family. What’s the reason for that?]
‘If I only subdue them here without much problem, they’ll continue to pursue me further and become more annoying in the future.’
[So, you’re going to go to their Main Branch and hit them directly to send a message?]
‘Isn’t that the easiest and most comfortable way to do things?’
[Hahaha!]
Heoju burst into a pleasant laugh at Lee Sungmin’s answer.
[Yeah, there you go. That’s the easiest and most comfortable way. Not everyone can do it, but it seems you realize what it means to be powerful now. Hahahaha…!]
Listening to Heoju’s laughter, Lee Sungmin looked around.
Lee Sungmin did not feel the need to harm these practitioners further. They were just pawns of the figureheads that were caught in the crossfire.
They realistically didn’t suffer any significant damage.
However, the message was sent to the public, as the citizens were watching from afar. Lee Sungmin had completely dominated the Namgung Family, and they were paying for their consequences of treating his brother and comrade in arms, as well as their own Namgung Family Heir like dirt.
The public knew well that the situation was simple cause and effect.
“Let me ask you a question.”
Lee Sungmin stood around and asked the middle-aged swordsman who was laying on the ground in pain. When they arrived at the square, he was the first man to ask for Lee Sungmin’s identity.
“Ye- …yes?”
“Where is the Namgung Main Branch?”
Lee Sungmin asked with an innocent smile as if nothing had happened.
The Heavenly Swordsman, Namgung Baek.
Namgung Baek was famous for being a master of the Peak Realm for decades, but also, when compared to the other 5 Great Family Heads, he was the first of their generation to reach that Realm as well.
Decades have passed since then, and he hadn’t been able to reach beyond that.
It was nothing to feel pity for, Lee Sungmin thought. There were countless others like him among Eria and merely because he was some Great Family Head, this did not mean he was anything special in Lee Sungmin’s eyes.
The number of people who have reached the Pinnacle of the Peak Realm was significantly lower, but among the people who had reached the low to middle stages of the Peak Realm, there were many of them in Eria.
Since there were several ‘Namgung’ Families that had been transmigrated to Eria over the countless years from different worlds and dimensions, their family martial arts had gained more and more insight and was improved from countless different masters within their family.
The current Namgung Family Head was obviously in the Pinnacle of the Peak Realm due to mastering the more complete martial arts.
Therefore, as their martial arts were passed down throughout countless generations, the Namgung Family also had multiple Peak Realm martial artists within their clan along with the Family Head. They regained their fame even in Eria as one of the 5 Great Families.
However, those who had reached the Realm of Transcendence could be counted on one hand. No matter how much a genius one was, the wall of Transcendence was not something talent alone could solve.
The Heavenly Sword, Namgung Baek, was the same.
He had been summoned to Eria as a young boy from his world, bearing the name of Namgung. After being summoned, he trained hard with his talent and became a member of the Main Branch.
He took the Namgung Family’s martial arts from his own world and intertwined it with the passed down martial arts of the Main Branch in Eria, climbing to new heights.
His ambition and skill took him far as he soon started to gain recognition in the race for becoming the Main Family Heir.
With the previous Main Family Head’s recognition, he had eventually, through several battles and accumulated merits, become the next in line.
Since Eria was standardly different from the other worlds they were from, blood lineage was just the basic standard to be accepted into the family. Any kind of previous heritage was stripped and skill and talent were the only things accepted, along with meritorious deeds that contributed to the family, for the title of the Patriarchy.
Only the strongest of those, with the last name of Namgung, would be the patriarch.
Namgung Baek had dreams, aspirations and goals when he first became the Patriarch of the Namgung Family along with his incredible skill with the sword…
However, that all faded over time with him meeting the wall of Transcendence.
It had already been 30 years since he had reached the Pinnacle of the Peak Realm.
He had become more proficient with his sword, honing its very essence with himself along with improving his martial arts, however, it was not enough to take him over the wall.
Just as it took loads of talent to reach the Peak Realm, he understood it was something completely and fundamentally different required to cross over and break through his limits to become transcendent.
At some point, he had given up on that dream, and focused his attention towards raising the next generation of the Namgung.
However, when he paid attention to his son… he realized his son might just have what it takes to do what he couldn’t.
Namgung Heewon had reached the Peak Realm in his twenties and was much further developed in his swordsmanship than Namgung Baek was, when he was his age.
He quickly realized he needed to cultivate this boy’s talent and pass his knowledge and ambitions over to him to raise the Namgung Family to new heights.
He was sure that his son would be able to reach the Realm of Transcendence that he never could. He just knew it.However, Namgung Heewon did not share the same ambition to reach those heights of power. Power was just a means to Namgung Heewon’s goal.
Namgung Heewon wanted to unite those with a common purpose in Eria. That was his goal. He wanted to find like-minded people to himself and grow together with them.
As time went by, Without being aware of it, The Murim Alliance had been sneakily taken control of from behind the scenes. The power that had taken over was something unfathomable to even Namgung Baek.
The Namgung Family and the 4 other Great Families could not escape their roots within the Murim Alliance and were influenced heavily by this unmovable force.
At that point, Namgung Baek knew his son’s goal was futile in the face of immense and unstoppable power.
He knew it well.
“Namgung Heewon has left us.”
Namgun Baek clasped and opened his hand while listening to the report.
Three months ago, Namgung Heewon disobeyed his words and Baek decided to imprison his son in a cage as Heewon was growing suspicious of the group.
It was something he decided to do to strengthen his influence over the family and solidify his power of the Patriarchy while shutting down his son’s influence within the younger generations of the clan,
It was useless since the Namgung was only one Great Family in the face of all of Murim and even smaller than an ant in front of the organization running the show behind the scenes.
“How unfortunate…”
Namgung Baek sighed and muttered.The image of his son, who was shouting and accusing with suspicions of conspiring with a group.
It reminded him bitterly of his former glory when he could act like his son. But he had no choice in front of the opposition known as ‘Beyond the Heavens’
Yeah, Namgung Heewon was right about him. But, how hypocritical to hear that he was receiving help from the rogue Ghost Spear!
This Ghost Spear the man who brutally murdered the Ironclad.
His first son deserved to be punished for defending such a person.
“We did send chase after him, If only we had caught the Ghost Spear in the Forest of Temptation….” , One of the Elders in front of him spoke
“You must send a chase party after Heewon.”
Namgung Baek ordered, as he rose to his feet.
“I’d appreciate it if I could take some time. Heewon’s ability is powerful enough to overpower Jihak and the other stars of his generation.”
“Then…Call the rest of the elders.”
Namgung Baek sighed.
“If you can get him to come home, tell him to kneel down, and ask for forgiveness…That’s the only way we can see this through without having to incur his death.”
“But it’s your personality, he won’t want to come back. He chose to be locked in a cage for three months because of you.”
How could Namgung Baek not feel remorseful about his actions with Namgung Heewon? However, it was necessary for his own reign and to ensure that Beyond the Heavens did not think the Namgung were incapable.
It should never happen. No matter what happens, he must stop Namgung Heewon from being rash.
The call to gather the rest of Elders was the right move. They were the truly capable forces of the Namgung Family.
With no youthful vigor and potential for growth, They had been wielding swords all their lives, and they’ve been fighting for no gains, but that made them all the more useful when it came to the military might of the Family.
“I suppose I should go get my rebellious son.”
Namgung Baek said, and the five elders who responded to the call nodded their heads.
The Main Branch was considerable and had years of history ingrained within its walls from the countless generations past that lived in Eria.
He could not lose the remaining power he had. Every pawn was crucial to the Namgung Family’s survival inside Namgung Baek’s head.
Standing in front of the gate leading to the entrance of the Main Branch, Lee Sungmin looked at the patterns of the Namgung Family crest engraved in the center of the gate.
Never in his two lives had he considered he would be showing up at the Namgung Family’s Main Branch. Even if he was uninvited, he wielded the power to be recognized by them, whether it was infamously or not.
However, in both lives, he did not care too much about trying to receive favor from such people or be in their debt. There was no precedent.
[Are you surprised?]
Heoju asked with a smile inside their shared conscience. Lee Sungmin answered the question with a simple smirk.
Lee Sungmin approached the main gate. The gatekeepers who were guarding the door did not even bother to speak words to this foolish man in front of them. They had seen many hooligans and people who did not know their place try to get an audience with the Namgung Family.
So the gatekeepers just swung their clubs at Lee Sungmin to knock him out.
However, they did not have the chance.An encroaching and fearsome aura around Lee Sungmin exploded and surged forth, forcing the gatekeepers to kneel where they stood.
Lee Sungmin stood there in front of them as the gatekeeper’s eyes widened in shock and vomited blood.
[Are you going to open it politely? Are you going to break it?]
“I didn’t even come here with good intentions, so why ask?”
Lee Sungmin muttered and raised his hand. When his hand hit the door, a huge noise came out and the grounds of the Namgung Clan shook and trembled in his wake. BOOM!
A spider web-like crack spread through the metal of the main gate. Lee Sungmin stoically tapped his finger on the door. The cracked and fragile door shattered with just the little pressure applied.
Lee Sungmin passed through the rubble of the gate and entered the Main Branch’s grounds.
‘In order to make them submit, the fastest way is to just go for the Family Head and bring him down.’
Lee Sungmin thought so and expanded the scope of his senses.