Chapter 8 : Middle Heaven Training Ground
Seo Hanmu, the instructor of the Middle Heaven Training Ground, had been staring somewhere with his mouth agape for a while now.
At the place where Seo Hanmu's gaze was directed, a person was swinging a wooden sword.
Namgung Il, who had just set foot in the Middle Heaven Training Ground, was swinging a wooden sword there.
'H-how can this be?'
At first, Seo Hanmu had been a little skeptical when he heard the name Namgung Il.
That Namgung Il was coming to the Middle Heaven Training Ground?
They must have finally given up on holding him back at the Lesser Heaven Training Ground and just let him pass, Seo Hanmu had thought.
"In the Middle Heaven Training Ground, you will learn the Great Expansion Sword Style."
If the Azure Sky Sword Style was the basic, introductory sword style that everyone in the Namgung Clan learned, then the Great Expansion Sword Style was the intermediate sword style, the next level up.
The Great Expansion Sword Style was something that could only be learned after the Azure Sky Sword Style had been mastered to a certain level.
Any disciple of the Namgung Clan, no matter how untalented, would eventually reach this stage.
So, it was strange for a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan to not even reach this stage.
It was common for direct descendants to master the Great Expansion Sword Style before they reached the age of twenty.
However.
'Is this really... the same Namgung Il who couldn't even leave the Lesser Heaven Training Ground until a few days ago?'
Namgung Il had not been able to leave the Lesser Heaven Training Ground even by the time he reached the age of twenty.
He would soon be twenty-one after this winter, and it hadn't been long since he had heard that there had been no particular progress even at that age.
Since a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan couldn't do what even ordinary disciples usually did, Namgung Il had become an object of ridicule within the clan.
"Then today, I will show you one form of the Great Expansion Sword Style. Take your time to familiarize your eyes and body with this."
So, Seo Hanmu had planned to teach Namgung Il the Great Expansion Sword Style slowly, tailored to him.
Slower and easier than the usual teaching speed.
However, as if rejecting that teaching method, Namgung Il had said to him.
"Show me the Great Expansion Sword Style from beginning to end, right here and now."
To ask him to show the sword style from beginning to end, Namgung Il's tone was filled with a confidence as if he could make the sword style his own immediately after seeing it just once.
Naturally, that did not look good to Seo Hanmu.
He already knew well that he had no talent, so what kind of nerve was that?
Seo Hanmu, intending to make him realize painfully that the Middle Heaven Training Ground was not as easy as the Lesser Heaven Training Ground, ended up showing him the Great Expansion Sword Style from beginning to end in front of Namgung Il.
And now.
The one whose bones were aching was not Namgung Il, but Seo Hanmu himself.
"Ah..."
Watching Namgung Il's sword style, Seo Hanmu could only let out a sigh of admiration.
Were those really the movements of someone who had come to learn the Great Expansion Sword Style for the first time today?
And all he had taught him was just showing him the sword style once in front of him.
'To show this level of skill after seeing it just once?'
Seo Hanmu had seen various people while being in the Middle Heaven Training Ground.
Among them, there were people who could definitely be called geniuses.
Especially the direct descendants of the Namgung Clan, they showed a level that could be called a crane among a flock of chickens, even among the branch families and ordinary disciples who had joined from outside.
However.
Seo Hanmu could say for sure right here, watching Namgung Il's sword style.
'Among all the people I have taught so far, there was no one who could use a sword style to this extent after seeing it just once.'
There were those who could remember and imitate the form.
But Namgung Il's current sword style was not simply imitating the form, but a movement that truly understood the sword style itself.
What should he call this... It was the realm of a martial god that surpassed a mere genius.
Swish—
Whether Seo Hanmu was thinking that or not while looking at him, Namgung Il didn't care and was engrossed in the sword style.
'If the Azure Sky Sword Style is the sky where sword styles begin, then the Great Expansion Sword Style is the sword style that expands that sky, he had said.'
This time too, Namgung Il was recalling the words Namgung Jeongung had said to him and his movements.
Seo Hanmu's sword style was merely a means to make that memory more solid.
Namgung Il was now swinging the sword, incorporating the subtleties of the Great Expansion Sword Style he had learned from Namgung Jeongung.
'Expanding the sky... At the time, I wondered what nonsense that was, but now that I'm holding a sword and performing the sword style myself, I understand what it means.'
He had always known that he was a great guy when it came to the sword, but the more he swung the sword himself, the more clearly Namgung Il could realize that fact.
Namgung Jeongung, you. You were a much greater guy than I thought.
He was glad that he had at least listened carefully to what he had rambled on about back then.
'Well, still, with 689 wins, 688 losses, and 500 draws, I'm ahead in our spars.'
To have more wins than losses against such a guy, Namgung Il concluded that he was the greater one in the end.
Thud—
Only after performing all the forms of the Great Expansion Sword Style once did Namgung Il stop his movements.
Even at that moment, Seo Hanmu was still standing with a dazed face.
As Namgung Il walked closer, Seo Hanmu seemed to finally come to his senses.
"In your eyes, Instructor, which part of the forms I just performed seemed the most lacking?"
"...Pardon?"
"I feel that the forms in the first half are a bit lacking. What do you think?"
When Namgung Il suddenly asked, Seo Hanmu was so flustered that he couldn't give any answer.
The most lacking part among the forms just now?
In fact, any of the forms could be said to be superior to his own Great Expansion Sword Style, so to be frank, Seo Hanmu was not in a position to advise Namgung Il.
"..."
However, Seo Hanmu couldn't honestly say that to Namgung Il.
To say that he had nothing more to teach a guy who had just entered the Middle Heaven Training Ground and learned the Great Expansion Sword Style for the first time.
Even for the sake of the disciples' gazes that were directed at him, he had to show a semblance of being an instructor somehow.
"...The Great Expansion's Shadow Slash seems to be the most lacking."
"What's that?"
To think that his sword style was inferior to a guy who didn't even know the exact name of the form.
It wasn't that he had never felt a sense of inferiority towards the direct descendants of the Namgung Clan before, but this was... not even on a level where he could feel inferior.
"...It's the name of the third form I showed you."
"Ah, is that so?"
"First, it would be good to learn the names of each form. And after that..."
...What should I do?
You have to have something to teach to teach it.
In all his time as the instructor of the Middle Heaven Training Ground, Namgung Il was the first to make him feel this way in just a short while.
"Instructor, can't I memorize the names later?"
"...?"
"Right now, I want to recall the movements from just now and make the sword forms my own."
Could it be that he could raise the Great Expansion Sword Style to an even higher level from there?
At least in his eyes, Namgung Il's Great Expansion Sword Style could be said to be close to its completed form.
"...As you wish."
Anyway, the current Namgung Il was not at a level where he could teach him anymore.
In that case, it would be standard to just let him do as he pleased.
Geniuses, as a species, always achieved much better results when they were left to do as they pleased rather than being given mediocre advice from the side.
"Thank you."
Namgung Il answered with a calm smile and went back to a corner to pick up his wooden sword.
Soon, the sound of cutting through the air began to be heard again.
Seo Hanmu watched him in silence and was reminded of one person.
'The last time I felt this way was after Namgung Cheon... that person.'
The eldest son of the Namgung Clan's direct line and the person currently considered the most likely next young clan head.
Naturally, Namgung Cheon had also passed through Seo Hanmu's hands in the past.
Of course, it was a few years ago... but Seo Hanmu still remembered clearly when he met Namgung Cheon.
"..."
This is what it means to inherit the blood of the Namgung Clan.
The person who made Seo Hanmu realize that for the first time was Namgung Cheon.
A learning ability that was clearly on a different level from other disciples.
By the time he came to his senses, Namgung Cheon had already completely made the Great Expansion Sword Style his own.
'Namgung Cheon and Namgung Il... which of the two has the greater talent?'
Even from the position of having experienced both, Seo Hanmu couldn't easily make a judgment.
Because with his insight, he couldn't gauge the level of talent of either of them.
However, he could say for sure that the talent of those two was on a level that was an exception among the disciples he had taught so far.
'But... he's unique.'
Watching Namgung Il, who was still performing the Great Expansion Sword Style, Seo Hanmu suddenly had a question.
Namgung Il probably also knew that his Great Expansion Sword Style was at a level where he could pass this place.
Seo Hanmu was puzzled by the fact that he was not moving on to the next stage but was further honing the Great Expansion Sword Style there.
'Is that the difference between the two?'
As soon as his Great Expansion Sword Style reached a certain level, Namgung Cheon had immediately left the Middle Heaven Training Ground and moved on to the next stage.
In comparison, Namgung Il's current action could be said to be quite a contrast to Namgung Cheon's.
Seo Hanmu watched Namgung Il in silence for a while and then shook his head.
'The thoughts of geniuses are hard to read.'
That's why they're geniuses.
Seo Hanmu immediately came to that simple conclusion and decided not to think about it anymore.
* * *
Drenched in sweat, Namgung Il was heading to his residence.
He had been performing the Great Expansion Sword Style in a state of near self-forgetfulness, so he had continued to swing his sword without realizing it was evening.
'Ah, I'm hungry. I have to go and eat a feast until my stomach bursts.'
On top of that, soaking his body in a warm bath would be the icing on the cake.
Wow... So this is the life of a Namgung Clan's Young Master.
He had been living in this body for about a fortnight, but Namgung Il still couldn't help but be amazed by his life from time to time.
'Back in my day, what bathwater? The sweat soaked in my clothes was the bathwater.'
Why are beggars beggars?
Those guys have no noses.
No, it could be said that they had become so accustomed to the stench that they had reached a point where they couldn't even distinguish if they smelled themselves.
Namgung Il had also started from the bottom, so it could be said that he had seen everything there was to see.
'If I hadn't become the leader's disciple there... I wouldn't have been able to endure it.'
To be honest, he couldn't say that cleanliness was not at all a reason why he wanted to rise in status within the Beggars' Sect.
If my status rises, at least I won't have to live with those smelly beggars.
Namgung Il had kept that wish in a corner of his heart and had tried desperately.
And as a result, he was lucky enough to catch the leader's eye and become a disciple in one fell swoop.
'Back then... it was like a dream.'
Namgung Il's case was truly an exceptional situation.
Usually, only disciples of the fifth rank or higher were recommended by the elders, and among them, the leader would choose directly.
However, Namgung Il was only a second-rank disciple, but he was lucky enough to catch the leader's eye and become a disciple in one fell swoop.
A super-fast promotion from the second rank to the eighth rank.
Thanks to that, the elders' opposition was really severe at that time.
'To think of the old days because of bathwater. What a beggar-like...'
It was then.
Namgung Il, who was walking down the road reminiscing, stopped when he saw a figure in front of him.
"...?"
Namgung Ji was standing there as if he had been waiting for him. And next to him stood a man he had never seen before.
(End of Chapter)