Chapter 75

Lightning strikes.
Kwaang!
I spun my body and slashed sideways at the guy who was closing in on me with the thunderbolt, and the guy who had blocked it with his sword face up against the centrifugal force of the blow was pushed back.
I raised my sword and released a thunderbolt, and the creature was sent sprawling into thin air with blue sword energy emanating from the tip. It was a Heavenly Wind Sword Technique.
Quadrup!
Seeing that he had built up enough strength to pierce through the thunderbolt, I briefly marveled. I smiled as I realized that the seven years had not been wasted.
The thunderbolt’s conflicting Heavenly Wind energy was another Southern Palace specimen. The thunder and the wind, the two could not be separated.
One by one, I struck another thunderbolt. Unlike the thunderbolt I had just thrown, this one contained the power of thunder.
Quadrup!
The same lightning bolt of lightning fell, and the guy who thought he could just parry it, clenched his teeth against the thunder energy flowing through the tip of his sword, trying to shake it off.
I didn’t miss the moment.
Kwang! Kwao! Kwao!
Three thunderbolts in quick succession, and finally the creature couldn’t take it anymore and bounced backward, and I drew my lead sword.
“Damn.”
The fallen creature staggered and stabbed his sword into the ground. When he finally got to his feet, he bared his teeth at me.
“……Said it was a sword.”
“After all that killing, you seem to recognize it now.”
“I haven’t shown you everything, so don’t think this is all there is.”
I nodded at the words of the Third Master Namgunggal. He was right. With the swordsmanship and history he’d shown me, he’d certainly earned the right to bluff.
“Move aside. Change.”
The words drew the gazes of both me and Namgunggal together.
It was Namgung-hyeok, the second duke. When Nam Gung-hyeok entered the performance hall as if he had been waiting, Nam Gung-gal grunted and stood up to move out of the way.
“It’s my turn.”
“Come on.”
“I’ll change your arrogant demeanor.”
“You mean me.”
“I almost died trying to save you. They came at me with lights in their eyes.”
“……cough.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter and it leaked out. Nam Gung-hyuk, who was shouting what was so funny about the scene, rushed over with his sword drawn.
* * *
The Return of the Gilded Age.
“Once you’re famous, I’ll applaud you even if you shit yourself. ”
The Zhongyuan clan had a twist on that saying,
“Be strong first. We will applaud you even if you shit yourself. ”
Such maxims were widespread.
It meant that even the lowly Grand Duke of the Southern Palace could be transformed. What a difference in attitude in just seven years.
Of course.
It was partly because Yumimi and Yumo had returned to the Southern Palace and changed the atmosphere in the inner chambers, and partly because Kang Woo-moon and Donghwi had talked to Anhui’s officials and told them about me.
The Southern Palace is in shambles,
I returned to become the Thunder Swordsman at the age of twenty.
He defeated the Green Forest and captured Ye Gong, who had fled from the duel with the Southern Palace.
I became the Grand Duke of the Southern Court, the Southern Court.
And the first thing I turned to was.
“Did you come?”
“Yes, I have.”
“It was a long trip. You had quite a few cases.”
I never thought I’d hear the word “long” from my teacher’s mouth.
“Thanks to you, I had an easy trip.”
“Comfortable,” he said. ”Full of energy, but full of speculation, intolerant of injustice, but cold to evil. With eyes like that, it’s obvious that the Grand Duke hasn’t had an easy life.”
I cringed involuntarily at those words.
“Don’t worry, the Southern Palace has been quiet in Anhui, and just in case you were worried, this old man has been working hard.”
This was the kind of person Elder Nangong Yue was.
He spoke in a joking manner and wore a smile, but his concern was palpable. He was the kind of person who would go out of his way to make sure I didn’t worry, lest my worries interfere with what he was doing.
“Now, this old man is also very unwell, so don’t go far, hehe.”
“…… Master.”
I held out the box I had taken from my bosom.
“……what is it.”
“Open it.”
I strained my eyes at the strange aura emanating from the box. The moment I opened it, Nangong Yue’s eyes widened dramatically.
“……The Thunderclap?”
“Yes. Master.”
“What a surprise.”
The Thunderclap that appeared in front of him was an item that could make even the Heavenly Southern Palace Yue Yue astonished.
“……Go ahead and eat it. I’ll do you a favor.”
I hoped that he would quickly drive out the poison in his heart and heal himself. If he returned to a strong state, he would be able to regain all of his strength.
At those words, Nangong Yue looked at the Thunderclan for a long moment and smiled wryly. Then he said.
“Grand Duke.”
“Yes.”
“I cannot accept.”
With those words, she held out the Thunderclap to me again.
“……What is that.”
“I can see the trouble you took to make this thing. That’s probably why you went to the North Sea.”
It was me. I shook my head, having already thought of this. He showed me three strands of ginseng root.
“…… You’ve already gotten your kiyeon.”
“Yes, if it’s a gift, I’ve already gotten it. I don’t need the Thunderclap anymore.”
And I held out the Thunder Dancer once more.
“Master.”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t you like to see the Southern Palace I will lead?”
“…….”
“I can’t picture the Southern Palace without you.”
I stared directly into the eyes of Nangong Yue, my Master, and he stared back at me. After a long moment of staring, he shook his head, as if intuiting that my stubbornness could not be broken.
“You said that no master can beat a …… disciple.”
“Good thinking.”
Just like that, Nangong Yue was freed from the vicious aura that had been gnawing away at her life for quite some time, perhaps even becoming a part of her.
* * *
Dodo-dodo!
The sound of footsteps, though not the unsteady ones.
Even though I had nearly doubled in size.
I knew who it was the instant I felt it.
The shadow behind me had a smile that I didn’t need to see.
I could tell even without looking that he was smiling at me.
The moment I realized my back was turned, I whirled around.
“Whoa!”
Wow!
I scooped him up in my arms.
“Hyung!”
It was the Namgung Byeok. His skin was still as white as the North Sea, and his lightly flushed face reassured me.
“Onya, big brother is here.”
“Hehe, big brother, you look even better!”
“The walls are taller, too.”
“Eh, just like you said, I have to protect my mother!”
I couldn’t help but smile.
The walls of the South Palace looked like my old self. At least from my vantage point, the world was a pale gray place.
There was no one to stand by my side.
There was no one to lift a hand to me.
I looked at the world with dead eyes, and it was time to step into the gray world.
But the two eyes of the South Palace Wall were still bright. I was so relieved.
I knew I had to protect them,
and I walked with that in mind.
I would never let the look in her eyes die.
I will make it so.
“Brother, Grandfather Nan Gongyue taught me swordsmanship, but it’s too hard for him to explain. You should teach me.”
I realize that I’m not the only one who has grown so much in the past seven years. I catch a glimpse of the South Palace wall’s cheerful smile.
“You have come.”
“……Ah, yes.”
Mr. Baek, Mrs. Baek.
My mother greeted me. Still looking as healthy as ever.
I was relieved. Her peaceful day seemed to be continuing.
I could only assume that Namgung Yewol cared as much about her as I did.
“I knew you’d come,…… but I’ve prepared a meal for you, would you like to eat?”
I didn’t even have time to think about it. It was none other than the wall of the Southern Palace that snatched my hand.
“Hehe, big brother, let’s go, let’s go!”
The last remaining wall in my heart immediately collapsed.
Oh, it’s so painful.
With that, I shared the joy of reunion with Mr. Baek and the South Palace Wall.
It was a day when I realized why the embrace of home is so warm after a long absence.
* * *
“The atmosphere has changed. The Grand Duke, the Second Duke, and the Third Duke all seem to have grown up. They’ve been taking their own time since they arrived to see how much they’ve grown.”
“I see.”
Unkang’s excited voice didn’t stop at Jia Zhu’s bland answer.
“I feel like I’m seeing the old Jia Zhu. It’s fitting, isn’t it, to think of the Jia Zhu who used to be called the Celestial Sword City?”
“Yun Kang.”
“Heavenly Thunder Sword Castle, how can you be called Heavenly Thunder Sword Castle at your age?”
“Yunkang.”
“Well, it’s a blow to the Southern Palace and the pretender Qing City. At the same time, we brought in a bunch of criminals so that we could still have the high ground. That’s why we’re here, Jia Zhu. That’s enough to make it politically……!”
“Unkang!”
The man called Yun Kang shut his mouth in surprise at the cold words. Realizing his mistake in hindsight, Yun Kang flinched, and Jia Zhu’s eyes sharpened.
“What is so amusing.”
“…….”
“This is just the beginning. You’ve already gotten off track.”
“That, that…….”
“I heard from Qingcheng, let’s see your face.”
Yun Gang’s head snapped up at the words of the Southern Palace Master.
“The master of Qingcheng, Mr. Guangxiang, is coming to Anhui in person.”
“Wow, Master Kwang Seung Jin?”
The famously heavy-assed Kwang Seung Jin Yin was coming directly to Anhui.
He’s either pissed off or he wants to apologize properly.
“……Are you thinking of apologizing?”
“What the hell. You’re responsible for what you did.”
At those words, Yun Gang’s eyes were filled with despair. Even so, the Grand Duke’s eyes were glaring at him, as if he should be responsible for such a thing when the Grand Master of Qingcheng himself had come to visit.
“It’s selfish of you to create a problem that you can’t solve yourself, and then expect the family to solve it for you.”
“……It is.”
“Delegate full power.”
At those words, Yun Gang was forced to nod his head in a haggard manner.
Only after the bowed, haggard Yun Kang had left the room did the Southern Palace Master crush the scroll in his hand.