Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Namgung Hui! Where did you get this?"

"I just told you. I took care of an elder of the Heretic Alliance, and it came from his robes. This happened when I first met Beak Seolhwa, so you can ask her and she'll know."

"...Really? But why are you giving it to me now?"

"I forgot. I was more focused on the jade plaque symbolizing the Hoicheon Association than his identification tag."

"So this person named Tang Hojin was a member of the Hoicheon Association?"

"Yes. That was the moment I realized the existence of the Association. Come to think of it, if a member of the Tang family joined the Hoicheon Association, it wouldn't be strange for them to know about the Human-Faced Spider Poison."

Tang Soso, as if agreeing with Namgung Hui's words, narrowed her eyes and continued.

"That's right. This traitor was in charge of the Poison Emperor Hall. But one day, he ran away with several of the Ten Great Poisons of the Tang Family and some documents. He probably created the Human-Faced Spider Poison based on the knowledge he gained from there."

"Well, he's dead anyway. And if he's a traitor as you say, then I guess you have no grudge against me."

"Hah. Was that what you were worried about? Is that why you didn't say anything until now?"

"I told you that's not it. I really forgot. The Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers, the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. Weren't those two things enough to keep me busy?"

Tang Soso crossed her arms and glared at Namgung Hui for a moment, but Namgung Hui remained perfectly calm.

"Alright. I'll believe you. Then this in itself might be a serious problem."

"Why?"

"It's a bit much for me to say it myself, but the Tang family's reclusiveness is the best among all the sects, right? But if they were able to entice even a member of our Tang family..."

"I see. So it's a situation where it wouldn't be strange for anyone to join the Hoicheon Association now. But it's alright. I got the list of those who joined the Hoicheon Association from the Black Tortoise Troupe Leader. Most of them were blackmailed, so. I'll take care of this myself."

"That's a relief. And can I take this identification tag to my father?"

"Go ahead. But don't come at me saying you're avenging your enemy."

"Hah. Weren't you really just quiet all this time because you were scared of our Tang family? Alright. My father won't say anything since you avenged our enemy for us. Don't you worry."

Namgung Hui felt a weight lift from his chest.

Now, he was taking one step at a time towards the Hoicheon Association.

* * *

Finally, the long-awaited semi-finals.

It was the day of Namgung Hui's match.

After the semi-finals and the finals, the martial arts tournament would end with a closing ceremony.

In the martial arts tournament, the young martial artists show off their martial arts. And each martial arts family and sect displays their ultimate techniques to show off their continued existence.

Namgung Hui had already seen enough of the other sects' martial arts, so he was not interested.

That was why he had turned off his interest in the martial arts competition and was currently observing someone else sitting in the audience.

'The Mad Dragon. If that guy is from the Blood Cult, there might be an important point of contact in the future.'

On the other hand, he could also be from the Demonic Heaven of the Hoicheon Association.

He had heard from the person of the Divine Spear Yang family that the Demonic Heaven in the Hoicheon Association were also descendants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, so it wouldn't be strange for that guy to have learned the Mad Demon's unique martial art, the Heaven-Shattering Mad Demon Fist.

He needed to quickly figure out how the groups of the Demonic Heaven and the Blood Cult were divided.

'Asking the person directly would be the fastest, but that's too dangerous. I can't make the mistake of beating the grass and scaring the snake away.'

Namgung Hui decided that if he got the chance, he would apply the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent to figure out who the Mad Dragon was meeting, where he was residing, and even his preferred food and tastes.

If he was really from the Blood Cult, he would have different tastes and culture from the people of the Central Plains.

And if he was from the Demonic Heaven of the Hoicheon Association, he would have similar dispositions to the people of the Central Plains.

Namgung Hui looked at the Mad Dragon, then thought about the next match.

In the first match of the semi-finals, the Divine Dragon Muwon and the Sword Dragon Cheonghak were set to face each other.

And unfortunately, Namgung Hui was set to fight Yelu Guang.

The fight between the Divine Dragon and the Sword Dragon was also a very exciting match, but Namgung Hui couldn't help but be concerned about his match with Yelu Guang.

He was the only person he was close to among the participants.

'By the way, Murong Junseong. I need to investigate this guy too, but unfortunately, I don't have enough time.'

The Heavenly Dragon, Murong Junseong, who had been defeated by Yelu Guang.

He should have interrogated him about where he had learned the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, but right now, he was busy with the spies of the Hoicheon Association and the Blood Cult.

But seeing that the Flying Eagle Movement Technique was put up for auction at the Black Market, it seemed he was not unrelated to the Hoicheon Association.

He might be able to find out something if he casually asked the Black Tortoise Troupe Leader, who was very interested in the martial arts of the Diancang Sect.

While Namgung Hui was lost in thought, someone approached him from behind and spoke.

"Brother. What are you thinking about so intently?"

When Namgung Hui turned his head, it seemed Heon Wonsu was on patrol, as he was wearing the martial arts robes of a Black Tortoise Troupe member and was armed.

"It's you, Su. Are you on duty?"

"Yes, as you can see. By the way, today is the day of your match, isn't it? To be honest, I didn't think you'd make it to the semi-finals, but to have broken through those formidable competitors. It's truly amazing. And Guang too."

To Heon Wonsu, Namgung Hui was just a nobleman who had risen from his sickbed.

He sometimes showed an extraordinary side, but his naive actions made his impression closer to that of a country bumpkin.

Such a person had participated in the martial arts tournament and had now reached the semi-finals.

Of course, he had also gotten a bye due to a lucky draw, but the fact that he had defeated the Saber Dragon of the Hebei Paeng family was undoubtedly a testament to his great skill.

Namgung Hui himself might not have realized it yet, but his fame, as well as the reputation of the Namgung family, was rising day by day.

Although it was still far from its past glory.

"I was lucky. Paeng Murin was weaker than I thought. And he was careless because he underestimated me."

"Isn't luck also a skill? And I have eyes too, you clearly overwhelmed him with the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Art without moving a single step. I was truly surprised."

"Look at this guy. Seeing you flatter me like this, you must want something from me. Don't beat around the bush and just say it."

"Haha. You've caught me. Actually, it's nothing else, but could you lend me some money? I heard you made some good money betting on Guang recently..."

"What are you going to use the money for?"

"I'm going to buy a gift for Sister Hye. And lately, my body has been feeling weak, so I'm going to... no, I'm going to nourish my body."

"Hmm... I can lend you that. Here, take it."

Namgung Hui readily opened his money pouch and handed some silver coins to Heon Wonsu.

As he had said, he had bet 200 silver taels on Yelu Guang yesterday and had won a dividend of nearly 15 times that amount.

3,000 taels.

It was an amount that would leave him with no money worries for a while, so he lent 100 taels to Heon Wonsu.

"100 taels...! You don't have to give me this much."

"You said you were going to nourish your body? Are spirit medicines cheap these days? With 100 taels, you might barely be able to buy a hundred-year-old He Shou Wu, so that might not even be enough. Should I lend you more?"

"N-no, sir. What I'm going to buy is not a spirit medicine. Anyway. I'll use it well."

"Alright. I'm not just giving it to you. So be sure to pay me back later."

"Haha. I'll definitely pay you back when I succeed in the future. Well then, I have to go back to my duty, so I'll be on my way."

Namgung Hui, remembering something he had to say to Heon Wonsu who was about to turn away, briefly stopped him.

"Ah, right. Su. While you're on patrol, check carefully if anything is buried in the walls or the audience seats."

"Buried? Did someone take a...?"

"Enough with the dirty talk. You remember the thunderclap bombs that went off at our family estate, right? If those guys are up to something again, there's nothing as easy as that."

"Ah~! If it's thunderclap bombs, I believe not only our Black Tortoise Troupe but also the other Four Divine Troupes are conducting a search."

"Really? Then that's a relief."

Heon Wonsu gave a faint smile, cupped his fist, and disappeared.

Namgung Hui felt like he was missing something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he turned his gaze back to the dueling stage.

Then, as if the match between the Divine Dragon and the Sword Dragon had just ended, the announcer shouted the winner's title.

"Divine Dragon wins! Young Master Muwon advances to the finals~!"

"As expected of the Divine Dragon!"

"Cheonghak fought well too! It would have been different if it were a real battle with sword ki!"

"Hey! Still, it's the great Shaolin Temple, so of course the Divine Dragon would win!"

"What did you say? Who are you to argue with me? Huh?"

After that, the spectators started fighting, grabbing each other by the collar, saying "what did you say," but they were soon stopped by the Black Tortoise Troupe members.

And so, with the Sword Dragon's defeat, the first match of the semi-finals ended, and it was finally Namgung Hui's turn.

Namgung Hui briefly warmed up in the waiting room and went up on the dueling stage.

But even after waiting for a long time, Yelu Guang did not come up.

A moment later, someone whispered something to the announcer, and the announcer opened his mouth.

"Young Master Yelu Guang will not be participating in this match due to his previous injury!"

"What! How can this happen in the semi-finals!"

Murmur, murmur.

The audience's protests did not subside easily.

Perhaps because of that. When someone who seemed to be of high rank spoke to the announcer, a bright smile appeared on the announcer's face, and his mouth opened again.

"So we will conclude the semi-finals with this and immediately begin the finals~~!!"

"Oh! Then that's a different story! Proceed quickly!"

Rather than waiting boringly until tomorrow for the finals.

It would be more fun for the audience to have the finals quickly today.

Tomorrow, the women's division matches were waiting, so watching that would be another kind of fun.

"Then! We will now proceed with the match between the Divine Dragon, Young Master Muwon, and the Hidden Dragon, Young Master Namgung Hui! All named young masters, please come up to the dueling stage!"

At Namgung Hui's newly attached title, the audience began to whisper among themselves.

"What? Hidden Dragon? I've never heard that title before, can they just attach the character for 'dragon' so carelessly? The Namgung family isn't what it used to be."

"Yeah. That's right. He was lucky to get to the finals with two byes, he should have been eliminated in the quarter-finals."

"He has a face like a male courtesan, did he perhaps seduce the Tang family's daughter and use poison?"

The audience's whispers were mainly slander against Namgung Hui.

Namgung Hui cleaned his ears and remained indifferent.

In contrast, Namgung Hui's opponent, Muwon, received the full attention of the audience.

Muwon, with a somewhat reluctant expression, jumped down from the audience seats.

His appearance was like a Buddha statue falling from the sky.

"Oh! It's the Vajra Unmoving Body Technique!"

"No. That's the Nine-Tiered Lotus Platform!"

The audience argued that their words were correct, but Namgung Hui knew they were all wrong.

'It's neither the Vajra Unmoving Body Technique nor the Nine-Tiered Lotus Platform. He just leaped with pure physical strength and then executed the Thousand-Pound Drop.'

To have leaped that high with just pure strength, without using any movement technique or a single bit of internal ki.

It was only natural that people would think of the Shaolin Temple's movement techniques or footwork.

It meant that his study of external arts was that deep.

Hadn't Namgung Hui also trained his external arts to the extreme at one point?

Looking at such a fist artist, he felt a sense of pride and at the same time, a desire to compete.

Muwon, who had landed lightly on the dueling stage, cupped his fist to Namgung Hui and said.

"Patron Namgung. It is a pleasure to meet you. This is the first time we've spoken, isn't it?"

"Probably so. Monk Muwon."

"Hoho. It's been a while since I've been called a monk. I've always been called Divine Dragon or young master, titles closer to a martial artist."

"If it offended you, I'll call you something else."

Muwon hastily waved his hands and said.

"No, sir. I said it because I liked it. It reminds me that my true duty is always in the will of Buddha."

Namgung Hui looked into Muwon's bottomless eyes and thought.

'This guy. Is he perhaps a master of age reversal or a reincarnator? This is the first time I've seen someone so old-souled.'

It wasn't just because his way of speaking seemed like that of a high monk.

A sea of internal ki of unfathomable depth.

The divine arts and ultimate techniques of the Shaolin Temple, which would take a lifetime to master even if one trained in just one.

Even during the Thunder God era, there was no one who had learned so many of the Shaolin Temple's ultimate techniques.

If there had been such a person, he would have received the title of Divine Monk long ago instead of Sword God.

'This is going to be fun for a change. I shouldn't hold back and go all out.'

-Sreung

And so, as Namgung Hui drew his Thunder God Sword, the final match of the martial arts tournament began.

(End of Chapter)