Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Kyaak! Let me go!"

As soon as Namgung Hui heard Seomun Hye's scream, he rushed outside in a hurry.

There were only two people in the Namgung family who would be rude to Seomun Hye.

‘The second or third brother has made a move!’

Perhaps they were causing a scene because Seomun Hye was his guest.

When Namgung Hui arrived at the scene, the person he had expected was indeed holding Seomun Hye's wrist.

"Miss Seomun. I've heard all about the situation. Don't be like that, let's talk for a moment."

"I-I'm sorry, but could you please move your hideous face away?"

"What? Hideous? You think you can say anything you want? I was trying to be nice, but I guess that won't work."

The third brother, Namgung Sang, suddenly raised his palm and swung it at Seomun Hye.

Seomun Hye's martial arts were not low, but she was flustered, not expecting someone from the Namgung family to raise a hand to her.

-Swish!

Just before the palm touched Seomun Hye's jade-like face.

-Thwack!

Namgung Hui quickly used his movement technique and blocked Namgung Sang's hand.

"Namgung Sang. You've become bald, and your personality has become ferocious too. Anyone who sees you would think you're a ruffian from the marketplace. Why don't you try going that way? It suits your head very well."

"You bastard, you're calling your older brother's name so casually. Are you going to act like an uneducated person like that?"

"An older brother should act like an older brother. Is a guy who feeds his younger brother poison an older brother? He's an enemy."

"I fed you poison……. You knew all along. Then is this masterpiece also your doing?"

Namgung Sang touched his shiny head.

It seemed he thought that his baldness was Namgung Hui's doing.

Namgung Hui had no intention of denying it, so he readily nodded.

"Yes. It's human nature to give back what you receive. It's very shiny and cool. I'm falling for you."

"You bastard! You're really asking for death! Do you think you can do whatever you want just because we're in the family estate? Do you think Father will protect you?"

"No. I don't need Father's help. But why are you holding onto Miss Seomun?"

Namgung Sang grinned and continued.

"Ah~ this? You didn't know. Actually, Miss Seomun here has no intention of marrying you. The reason she ran away from home was to refuse the marriage proposal. Even though the Seomun family head wanted to be connected with our Namgung family."

This was something Namgung Hui had not expected.

For Seomun Hye to go as far as to run away from home to refuse the marriage proposal.

He roughly understood why his father had told him to spend time with Seomun Hye.

It was probably to try and change her mind.

‘Even if that wasn't the case, I was going to refuse if I didn't like her. Well, since she herself doesn't want it, I have nothing to be disappointed about.’

He wanted a happy family. He had no intention of getting married just because her face was pretty.

Would an unwanted marriage be happy?

Since Seomun Hye had gone as far as to run away, Namgung Hui also didn't feel anything for her.

Seomun Hye also didn't particularly refute Namgung Sang's words. It seemed to be the truth.

"Well, if that's the case, we can just call off the marriage proposal. I wasn't passionately courting her, so it's no big deal. But what does that have to do with you being rude to a guest?"

"Of course, she's refusing because she doesn't like you, so I was trying to push the marriage proposal myself. The Seomun family head would want that too. Unlike you, who are weak, I am a proper martial artist of the Namgung family."

"You think I'm not a martial artist? But would Miss Seomun like a bald man? I heard she said you were hideous earlier."

"That's because you had the Five Poisons Sect do it, so I just need to get the antidote. The Divine Physician Sect is here anyway, so they'll help."

"That's your wishful thinking. Seolhwa."

"Why are you suddenly calling me?"

"Take Miss Seomun with you. I need to have a talk with Namgung Sang."

Namgung Sang, who had belatedly discovered Baek Seolhwa, raised his eyebrows.

He didn't have any hair to begin with, so when only his eyebrows twitched, he looked particularly hideous.

He looked like a hairy caterpillar crawling.

"No. Who is this person? A beauty I've never seen or heard of in the Central Plains. To think there's a beauty I don't know……."

"Will you stop being so obsessed with women? You're going to drool on my friend."

"Your friend? Did you even have any friends?"

"It's a friend I made this time. Seolhwa. You don't need to worry about this guy, just take Miss Seomun with you."

"Alright."

Baek Seolhwa glared at Namgung Sang and then disappeared with Seomun Hye.

Seeing her subtle anger, it seemed she was also somewhat angry.

Namgung Sang's gaze must have been very unpleasant.

"Hair is really important. To think someone from our Namgung family could look so ugly."

"Isn't it your doing! That's why I'm saying, give me the antidote now. Then I'll at least spare your life."

"Are we going to take each other's lives, brother? Well. You and I probably don't think of each other as brothers, right?"

"We're half-brothers to begin with, why would I like you? And when I think of the humiliation I suffered because of you……!"

"Speaking of which, why is that my fault? Isn't it just because you're uglier than me? Ah. Did I touch a nerve?"

The direct cause of him feeding Namgung Hui poison ten years ago.

The incident where a certain woman had fallen for Namgung Hui's looks.

Namgung Sang still remembered the jealousy from that time.

And he had even distorted it to say that he had been humiliated.

Tremble, tremble-

"Follow me! I'll personally teach my younger. brother. some martial arts and manners today."

"Alright. I'll have to see how great my third brother's skills are. You must have become a great master in the ten years I was lying down, right?"

"Hmph! You can look forward to it. Then let's go to the training ground."

And so, Namgung Sang led the way, and the Firmament Guard followed behind him.

It seemed that what the Lake Chao Sect leader had said earlier about the family being handed over was not just nonsense.

‘The Firmament Guard is the family head's direct military force, why are they following the third brother?’

The Firmament Guard and the Firmament Troop were the representative military organizations of the Namgung family.

They only followed the family head's orders, and in the family head's absence, they followed the young lord's orders.

With the young lord collapsed and his father, the family head, also resting, there was no law that said they shouldn't listen to the second brother, but Namgung Hui felt something was off.

"Now. There will be no damage to the surroundings here. And the Firmament Guard will be the observers."

"But since when did the Firmament Guard follow your orders?"

"Well, Father just came out of seclusion, and the first brother is also bedridden, isn't he? Of course, I, the third brother, also have authority."

"It would be the second brother, not the third. Well, that doesn't matter. Then let's see your martial arts."

"Since the youngest doesn't have a sword, one of the Firmament Guard members will lend you one."

A Firmament Guard member, looking around, opened his mouth.

"Um……. Are you planning to use a real sword, not a wooden one?"

"Where in the great Namgung family do we spar with wooden swords? Of course, it's a real sword."

The Firmament Guard member handed the sword to Namgung Hui with a reluctant expression.

Namgung Hui patted his shoulder and smiled.

"I'll compensate you if it breaks, so cheer up."

"That's not it. I'm worried about you, Fourth Young Master……."

"Don't worry about me. I'm glad that you still have that kind of heart. I won't have to deal with you."

Namgung Hui had been worried that the inside of the Firmament Guard might also be corrupt, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

The Firmament Guard members were also looking at him with disapproval, so it seemed to be a one-sided order from the Firmament Guard leader.

"Now, youngest. I'll yield the first move, so come at me."

Namgung Sang beckoned with his finger and provoked Namgung Hui.

The gesture was quite ridiculous, but Namgung Hui didn't particularly laugh.

‘As expected of the Namgung family. The third bastard is not to be underestimated.’

Even a rotten fish is still a sea bream.

Namgung Sang's appearance might be hideous, but his martial arts were quite decent.

On the contrary, he might have practiced martial arts diligently because of his ugly appearance.

‘Ah, he doesn't look like a sea bream, he looks like an octopus.’

Namgung Hui ended up letting out a chuckle.

To think he would lose his composure and even laugh at such an appearance.

The path of a master is so long and arduous.

Namgung Hui inwardly steeled his heart and stepped forward.

It was the movement technique of the Thunder Sect, not the Namgung family.

That's why Namgung Sang squinted one eye and opened his mouth.

Namgung Hui had secretly hoped that ink would come out, but that didn't happen.

"You bastard. That movement technique is not from our family. Where did you learn it? Don't tell me you're walking the path of a heretic?"

Namgung Hui extended his sword towards Namgung Sang's eyebrows and said.

"Does this look like the martial art of a heretic? If your insight is only that much, then I can't help it."

-Swish!

Namgung Hui's sword grazed past Namgung Sang's eyebrows.

He didn't have much hair to begin with, and now that even that was being targeted, Namgung Sang couldn't control his anger.

"You bastard! I said let's spar, but you're still playing around! Get ready!"

‘I was trying to shave off all his eyebrows, he's quite good.’

This time, Namgung Sang stepped forward.

It was the movement technique that only the direct descendants of the Namgung family could learn.

The Eight Shadows of the Firmament.

As its name suggested, it was a movement technique that created eight shadows.

-Swish. Swish.

Dazzling afterimages embroidered the training ground.

Since Namgung Sang had no hair, the afterimages were particularly bright.

-Clang!

Sword and sword clashed.

Sparks grazed past Namgung Sang's head.

Namgung Sang, who was needlessly annoyed, roughly swung his sword in succession.

-Clang! Clang!

The Boundless Firmament Sword Art unfolded from Namgung Sang's hands.

Namgung Hui felt a sense of nostalgia, but he also felt something was off.

He even tilted his head at the sudden sense of unease.

‘The sword art is slightly different from what I know.’

There was no law that said martial arts couldn't develop in sixty years.

But from Namgung Hui's perspective, it wasn't a development or a regression.

It felt as if the sword art itself had been modified.

To be precise, it felt like it was mixed with something from another sect.

Anyway, he knew Namgung Sang's skills well.

He had also grasped that he was one of the strongest among the rising stars.

But he was not as good as the Lake Chao Sect leader.

He might be able to barely face the elder of the Heretic Alliance.

‘Now I have to see the end. Should I take one of his arms?’

Namgung Hui had not forgotten that he had been bedridden ten years ago.

And the fact that he had tried to poison him again not long ago was also clearly in his mind.

-Zzzzt!

Namgung Hui performed the Thunder Cloud Step.

Unlike Namgung Sang's shadows, a blue flash remained as an afterimage.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

This time too, the swords clashed in succession.

But in a sparring match, sword ki was as good as forbidden, but Namgung Sang raised a dark blue sword ki.

Namgung Hui's sword blade was slightly damaged.

Well, it was a borrowed sword, but this was also an asset of the Namgung family.

"You're using sword ki in a sparring match, you cheap bastard."

"If you don't like it, you can use it too."

"Alright. Don't regret it if you get hurt."

-Clang!

A gust of wind arose. It was a fierce clash.

The Firmament Guard members who were around also raised their arms to block the wind.

As expected of the Boundless Firmament Sword Art.

Although it was slightly modified, its valiant sword force had not disappeared.

It was not a hegemonic sword, but rather, the profundity of a soft, yielding sword was also mixed in, making it good for deflecting offensives.

Still, it was not enough to deflect Namgung Hui's sword force.

-Slice!

In the end, Namgung Sang's fingers were cut off.

Two fingers scattered in all directions, spraying blood.

At the same time, Namgung Sang's sharp scream followed.

"Keoheok! You bastard!"

Namgung Hui was not satisfied even after cutting off his fingers.

What he had wanted in the first place was Namgung Sang's arm.

Whether it was his left arm or his right arm, he had to take one to be satisfied.

While Namgung Sang was writhing in pain, Namgung Hui aimed for his arm again.

Since he had cut off his left fingers, this time it was the right arm's turn.

-Swish!

A flash of lightning erupted and flew towards Namgung Sang's right arm.

His arm was about to be cut off by the flash of lightning.

Until the scent of plum blossoms appeared.

(End of Chapter)