Rebirth of the Thunder God

Namgung Hui picked up the half-torn booklet that had been neglected in a corner of the library.

Perhaps because it was an incomplete manual, it seemed to have been ignored by people all this time.

He dusted it off and gently turned the first page.

In truth, the Emperor Sword Form was difficult to consider a sword art.

As the Martial God had said, it was an incomplete martial art, and it was closer to the essence of enlightenment rather than a set of structured techniques.

Literally, it was a Sword Form, not a Sword Art.

The ultimate path of the sword that the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art pursued.

Namgung Hui's eyes grew hot as he faced the traces of his sworn brother after sixty years.

‘Brother. With this Emperor Sword Form, I will raise the Namgung family again. Please watch over me from the vast heavens.’

Namgung Hui savored the incantations of the Emperor Sword Form and avidly read the manual in a corner of the Azure Sky Pavilion.

The incantations were not that difficult.

No. To others, they might have seemed quite difficult, but to Namgung Hui, who had always discussed them by his side, the incantations felt familiar.

That was why he could easily understand the incantations.

‘Now I need to unravel this into a complete incantation. Only then can I incorporate it into a sword art.’

There were several reasons why Namgung Hui, who had been the Thunder God, had gone to the trouble of obtaining the Emperor Sword Form.

Above all, what Namgung Hui needed now was a sword art.

In his past life, the Thunder God was a master of fists, palms, and kicks, and was rather ignorant about sword arts.

The lower one's realm, the more effective weapons were.

Therefore, Namgung Hui, who was at a low realm, had to rely on the utility of the sword for the time being.

So why was he trying to start with an incomplete sword art?

It was because the Emperor Sword Form, which was familiar to Namgung Hui, would actually be faster for him to learn than other sword arts.

He too had been one of the Three Gods, so the complexity of the Emperor Sword Form would not be a stumbling block.

‘It’s already time to go back.’

Looking at the sunlight slanting over the booklet, Namgung Hui realized it was time to return.

He neatly placed the Emperor Sword Form manual back and stood up from his seat.

It was now time to put down the traces of the Martial God and welcome a new guest.

* * *

Now, sixty years after the end of the Great War between Justice and Evil, the Namgung family's fortunes had declined considerably.

It was a natural consequence of having completely lost the latter half of the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art, which only qualified direct descendants could learn.

It went without saying, as the previous family head had even lost his life to qi deviation while trying to somehow recover that latter half through excessive training.

The loss of the family's core martial art, as well as the previous family head, naturally led to a weakening of their power.

As a result, their businesses had shrunk, and their capital and influence were gradually diminishing.

In the end, the current Namgung family had been pushed to the lowest seat among the Five Great Families.

In fact, they were somewhat lacking to even be included in the Five Great Families.

Sixty years ago, if not for the exploits of the Martial God, they would have fallen to a state where they couldn't even be part of the Five Great Families.

Therefore, Namgung Hui felt the need to restore the Namgung family to its original status.

He judged that he had to recover the Namgung family's martial arts, not only for the glory of the family that his sworn brother had built, but also for his own safety.

‘The biggest reason I envied my sworn brother was because he had a prosperous family. To eat well and live well, I have to normalize the family first.’

Cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world.

The Martial God, Namgung Cheonhu, had achieved everything up to bringing peace to the world by creating a harmonious family and killing the Heavenly Demon.

Namgung Hui had no intention of going as far as bringing peace to the world, so he resolved to achieve only self-cultivation and family regulation.

And one more thing.

‘In this life, I might be able to become the number one, not the number two.’

Namgung Hui unknowingly clenched his fists.

A harmonious family.

The number one under heaven.

Just imagining it all made his heart pound.

Enjoying such happy fantasies, Namgung Hui soon arrived at his quarters.

Chohwa, who had been dozing in front of the courtyard, sensed Namgung Hui's presence and woke up, wiping her drool.

“Hup! Young Master! Why are you so late?”

“I went to the library for the first time in a while and lost track of time. Where is the guest?”

“Ah. Physician Hwang? He waited for you and then went to eat. You haven't eaten either, have you, Young Master?”

Come to think of it, Namgung Hui had skipped lunch and had only been looking at the Emperor Sword Form.

He didn't need to spend that much time, but perhaps because memories of his past life came to mind, he held onto the manual for an unusually long time.

“Yes. I haven't eaten. If I go to the dining hall now, I'll probably miss Physician Hwang again, so I should just skip lunch.”

Normally, he wouldn't wait for someone like Physician Hwang, but now he had important business with him.

‘It’s about time to sort things out.’

To sort out the waiting he had endured so far, Namgung Hui chose another kind of waiting.

As he was trying to endure his hunger, a fragrant smell stimulated Namgung Hui's appetite.

“Sniff. Sniff.”

He flared his nostrils and followed the source of the smell, when suddenly Chohwa held out her hand to Namgung Hui.

“Ta-da~! I knew you'd be like this, so I made some rice balls. You've been liking meat so much lately, so I even minced some boiled meat and put it in. Have a try.”

Namgung Hui almost burst into tears.

Throughout all the memories of his past and present lives, there was almost no one who had taken care of him like this.

In his past life, Namgung Cheonhu. In his present life, Chohwa.

And at the end of his old memories, the Eldest Young Master, Namgung Chan, had also taken care of him from time to time, but after becoming the acting family head, it was hard to even see his face.

Of course, he understood that it was because he was too busy to even catch his breath.

But he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

After Namgung Hui was struck by thunder, the only one who came to visit was Physician Hwang, who was no different from an enemy.

‘Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. He’s coming right on time.’

Sensing Physician Hwang's presence from afar, Namgung Hui quickly stuffed the rice ball into his mouth and chewed and swallowed it thoroughly.

It was a reverent chewing, as if he were chewing and swallowing even Physician Hwang himself.

But Physician Hwang was not alone. He seemed to have brought an outsider with him, but the stranger's attire was not unfamiliar to Namgung Hui.

‘If it’s a five-colored martial uniform, it must be the Five Poisons Sect. They should be in the Southern Man region, though? Why are they all the way here… Ah! They came because of the poison.’

Namgung Hui, whose five senses were extremely activated due to the Pure thunder Essence, could even detect the unique poison scent of the Five Poisons Sect.

To exude this much scent, it meant they were no mere riff-raff.

It meant that Physician Hwang had brought them with a firm resolve.

“Young Master. Didn't I tell you that you need to recuperate for another fortnight? Why did you disobey my words and go out? If you collapse again, I'll be the only one to get in trouble.”

Namgung Hui's current state did not look like that of a sick person at all.

Rather, the faint rosy glow on his face clearly showed that he was in very good health.

But that was precisely why Physician Hwang was reprimanding him.

It couldn't be known that Namgung Hui had become healthy.

‘If a healthy person suddenly dies, there would be nothing stranger. He has to be poisoned while he has a reputation for being sick so that he can be buried without suspicion.’

Namgung Hui also had a rough idea of Physician Hwang's intentions, which was why he had made sure to be seen by the warriors at the Azure Sky Pavilion library.

They would be the ones to testify that Namgung Hui's health had properly returned.

“Well, if I collapse and die from that, then that's just my fate. By the way, who is the person next to you? You seem to have come from far away. Wait, looking at your features, you've come from the Southern Man region.”

When Namgung Hui recognized his origin, the martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect showed a slightly surprised expression and glared at Physician Hwang.

At that glance, Physician Hwang seemed flustered and shook his head, then hurriedly whispered something in the Five Poisons Sect member's ear.

“I-I didn't say anything. It seems the family head must have mentioned your esteemed sect at some point.”

“Hmm……. It hasn't even been a year since our Five Poisons Sect came out of seclusion, has it? How would a person who has been lying down all this time know.”

“Then he must have picked it up from somewhere else. What's strange is not that, but the Fourth Young Master's current condition.”

There was a slight sense of unease in Physician Hwang's words.

To say that the condition of someone who was actively moving around in good health was strange?

He was saying that because the poison they had been feeding him was not working.

The martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect thought that was stranger than anyone else, so he stared at Namgung Hui and opened his mouth.

“Young Master. Excuse me, but may I take your pulse? Our Five Poisons Sect also has some knowledge in the medical arts, so if there is something wrong with your body, we will be able to tell immediately.”

Originally, medicine and poison were separated by a fine line.

It was natural that the Five Poisons Sect was skilled in medicine, just like the Four Rivers Tang Clan.

Namgung Hui readily nodded and extended his arm.

It was a very dangerous thing for a martial artist to let someone take their pulse so easily, but Namgung Hui was confident.

‘My nervous system is in a state of extreme activation, so I just need to pull back before he tries any tricks.’

The martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect stared at Namgung Hui's eyes for a moment before taking his wrist.

He closed his eyes for a moment to examine Namgung Hui's body, then tilted his head and asked.

“Is it true that you were struck by thunder recently?”

“I wouldn't know. I fainted the moment I was struck by thunder. I just assume so because everyone around me says so.”

“How very strange. How is it that I don't feel even a bit of thunder energy? Physician Hwang. Was the Fourth Young Master really struck by thunder?”

“Yes. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. There was a small banquet at the Namgung family estate that day, so it would be harder to find someone who didn't see it.”

The martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect stroked his chin with a dubious expression.

“If that's the case, then I understand for now. On the contrary, for someone who was a sick person until recently, your body condition is extremely clean. It feels as if you received a body cleansing technique from someone.”

It was understandable. When Namgung Hui was struck by thunder, all the impurities in his body were burned away.

Was that all? The thunder happened to strike near the crown of his head, so the Baihui point was also accidentally opened.

Of course, it was a great fortune that he didn't become an idiot.

Perhaps this was also why the memories of his past life came back.

“I've heard that there are cases where one's body is transformed after being struck by thunder. There's no law that says it can't happen to me, right?”

The martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect was knowledgeable about medicine, so he nodded his head and replied.

“That is true. Around the same time as you, the young mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace was struck by thunder and was said to have completely changed as a person. It's not as if there are no cases at all. Then there's no need for me to examine you further. Still, as Physician Hwang said, just in case, you should take care of your body in your quarters.”

For some reason, the martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect spoke favorably, and Namgung Hui was just puzzled.

He had even been secretly looking forward (?) to him trying some tricks while taking his pulse.

‘It ends so blandly. Are they giving up on the assassination?’

“Then, Physician Hwang. Since our business is finished, let's go back.”

Physician Hwang, like Namgung Hui, showed a flustered expression as the situation ended more easily than he had thought.

But he couldn't just order him to make a move in front of Namgung Hui, so he decided to retreat for now.

“Hahaha……. Then, Fourth Young Master. I will visit you again next time. Please take care until then.”

“What's there to take care of.”

As Namgung Hui waved his hand dismissively, the martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect and Physician Hwang quickly left the place.

* * *

The place where Physician Hwang and the martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect headed was the third young master's residence. As soon as Physician Hwang stopped walking, he immediately began to question the martial artist from the Five Poisons Sect.

“No! Young Hero O Mujin. This is not what we agreed on! Didn't we agree that you would make a move if you had the chance while taking his pulse? Why did you just let him go?”

O Mujin replied to Physician Hwang's accusation in a calm tone.

“Physician Hwang. This was not a level that could be handled simply with my poison arts. No. I'm the one who feels wronged. Didn't you clearly say he was less than a third-rate martial artist? The Fourth Young Master was clearly well above second-rate.”

It wasn't just Physician Hwang who was surprised by O Mujin's statement.

The third young master, Namgung Sang, who was listening to the conversation from the side, half-opened his eyes and asked.

“Did you say he was clearly second-rate? It's been over ten years since the youngest gave up on martial arts. I can guarantee that he is less than a third-rate.”

“As I said before, there are rare cases where people suddenly become stronger after being struck by thunder. That's why I'm saying, I think we need to raise the level of the poison.”

“Ha! In the end, you're just asking for more money. You're like a robber.”

It seemed that the reason O Mujin had been playing tug-of-war with them all this time was to get more money.

But O Mujin's claim was not wrong either, so Namgung Sang let out a deep sigh and took out a money pouch from his pocket.

“Then I will give you double. Instead, with your own hands! Make sure to finish it.”

-Thud.

As Namgung Sang, who had finished speaking, threw the heavy money pouch, O Mujin curled the corners of his mouth and replied.

“You will hear news of the Fourth Young Master by tomorrow morning.”

(End of Chapter)