Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 846

Flash!

The old man, sensing an unusual aura, explosively increased his speed.

Watching the old man become a mere dot in an instant, Namgoong Hyeon inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘He’s incredible.’

His grandfather’s martial arts were undoubtedly the best in the world. Namgoong Hyeon believed this without a shred of doubt.

However, he had never actually seen his grandfather’s true martial arts. When his grandfather would occasionally show him amazing sword techniques while teaching, it was enough to make his eyes widen in awe, but he had never seen him use that sword against an enemy.

It was understandable. How many people in the entire world could survive a fight with his grandfather?

His level of mastery was so high that there was no one to match him. He knew that his grandfather secluded himself in the family estate, focusing solely on the sword, because there was no one worthy to challenge him.

Would the day ever come when he could witness his grandfather’s true martial arts?

‘Anyway, what’s going on?’

His grandfather would sometimes perform bizarre acts that defied common sense.

He often stared blankly into the air, and there were days when he would suddenly mutter to himself while teaching martial arts.

At first, Namgoong Hyeon couldn’t understand his grandfather at all, but later he realized that for his grandfather, every day was a continuous series of epiphanies.

‘In any case, I need to pick up the pace too.’

The direction he was heading was toward the Martial Alliance. It seemed he had found something interesting there.

Something interesting.

Namgoong Hyeon’s eyes wavered.

‘…Could it be?’

He didn’t know.

He had deliberately closed his eyes and ears to the affairs of the Martial Alliance, and even the world. How could he navigate the world when he hadn’t even properly honed himself?

He had only learned about the alliance between the Martial Alliance and the Black Dragon Unit a month ago.

‘Maybe it’s there.’

The face of a woman faintly surfaced in his mind.

Namgoong Hyeon tried hard to forget that face. He couldn’t let a mere infatuation ruin his future.

But why?

The more he tried to forget, the more he tried to discard her, the clearer her memory became.

Namgoong Hyeon’s steps toward the Martial Alliance quickened. Without realizing it, his breathing was also becoming a little rough.

* * *

‘It’s become clear.’

Whirr!

The sword was moving at an incredible speed.

The clothes of the swordsman were fluttering wildly. The speed was so fast that it seemed like they might tear at any moment.

‘Is there really someone like that in this world?!’

The old man thought. The world was indeed vast.

He sensed two unusual auras within the Martial Alliance.

One was cold, and the other was rough. It was too far to determine who was superior, but in terms of refinement, the cold one seemed to be slightly ahead.

However, the owner of the rough aura possessed a strange, indescribable power.

And the moment that aura captured him, the old man also grasped the true nature of the power it contained.

Furthermore, as soon as he grasped the true nature, the old man was already flying like a beam of light.

‘Young.’

One thing he could be sure of now was that the owner of the aura he had captured was young.

Not in their fifties or forties. Much younger than that. Although the quality and quantity of vitality differed from person to person, even considering that, they didn’t seem to be older than their mid-thirties.

For the old man, this was a shocking revelation.

‘To reach such a level at that age?!’

He had secluded himself from the world and devoted himself to the sword in order to achieve better sword techniques, higher swordsmanship, and more powerful sword energy.

His family understood his seclusion as the loneliness of an absolute being with no equal, but that was only half true.

There were certainly experts who could match him, though not many. However, they never tried to fight him. Once they reached such a high level, fighting and comparing each other’s superiority became irrelevant.

The old man was different.

He was always thirsty for an opponent to clash swords with. The only joy in his life was to risk his life against another, and to compare whose enlightenment was superior.

To him, who hid such a belligerent nature, his children were all disappointing. Not only their talents, but they had also become enamored with politics before even reaching the end of their potential, let alone striving to reach a level beyond their talents.

A martial artist can only communicate through martial arts. A swordsman can only express his true feelings through the sword.

Once, he had set out to find the King of Fighters, the King of Spears, the Emperor of Sound, and the Emperor of Blades. The King of Flying was impossible to catch from the start, and the righteous Seongcheon [Saints of the Heavens] were all in seclusion, so challenging them would be a nuisance.

However, that attempt also failed. He couldn’t find the King of Spears, the Emperor of Sound, or the Emperor of Blades, and he heard that the King of Fighters was overseas.

He had also considered the Three Monarchs, but soon gave up. He felt a sense of self-disgust as a swordsman for those actions.

In the end, he gave up everything and returned to seclusion. Then he taught his eldest grandson, and later, he taught his depressed second grandson.

Faced with the burning will of his talented grandsons, the old man’s fighting spirit gradually subsided. For the first time, he was able to feel the joy of teaching someone.

But at this moment, the old man realized.

The embers of his fighting spirit, which he thought had disappeared, were still smoldering within his heart.

No, he realized that it wasn’t just embers, but a wildfire that had grown enormous. He had simply been ignoring that fact; his fighting spirit seemed like it would burn fiercely even in death.

‘Who is it?’

Whoosh!

A huge furrow appeared in the place where the old man had passed.

The ground didn’t actually crack, but the accumulated snow was pushed aside, creating a wide path.

‘Just who is it!’

Surprise, and a desire to compete.

Facing the fighting spirit he had consciously forgotten, he was in a state of mental confusion.

However, he held onto a single thread of reason. And that reason gradually pushed back the raging instinct, beginning to draw out a bewildered emotion.

‘How can a human…?!’

The young vitality was surprising, but what was even more shocking were the five energies contained within the body.

Not only the four powerful and distinct divine energies of the four colors, but also a bizarre martial art that was neither righteous nor evil, nor even demonic.

And he had implanted something absolute within his body that controlled all those energies.

‘How can that be possible!’

The four-colored energies were of the same kind. It was not strange to handle four energies.

However, the black energy that belonged to neither the righteous nor the demonic was completely different. To be able to contain even that energy without any problems meant that his enlightenment of internal energy was the best in the world.

Thud!

As the old man leaped forward with a rough jump, the huge gate with a blue dragon engraved on it finally came into view.

The old man didn’t care that the gate was the Azure Dragon Gate of the Martial Alliance. He didn’t even think about proper procedures.

‘Are you there!’

The old man’s body instantly became a whirlwind.

Crash!

There was no one to stop him. It wasn’t an aura that could be stopped even if someone tried.

The Azure Dragon Gate, which had displayed the imposing dignity of the newly established Martial Alliance for years, collapsed completely.

Thud! Crash!

The shattered fragments of the gate raised a thick cloud of dust.

Fortunately, the gate guards suffered no significant damage. The force of the impact was so strong that the fragments of the gate were directed inward.

Thump! Thump!

The old man slowed down, stepping on the ground with both feet.

The ends of his clothes, which had been fluttering wildly, were severely damaged. It was because he had increased his speed to the point where his freely flowing energy was interrupted.

And now.

The old man saw two young men.

To be precise, only the scholarly-looking young man in black robes, with one young man behind him, was in his sight.

“……!!”

The old man was shocked to see the young man.

The young man tensed up at the sight of the old man.

There is a realm under the heavens that is not granted by human permission, and because it cannot be expressed by the perception of a person as small as a grain of rice, it is simply called the Limitless (無極) [Wuji, the state of primordial chaos].

Among the martial artists who have entered that Limitless realm, which is like chaos, there are those who have reached a wider universe through continuous training and enlightenment.

The world calls them Seongcheon (聖天) [Saints of the Heavens], with respect.

The name Seongcheon has no distinction between the righteous and the demonic. Because just reaching that realm makes them transcendents worthy of respect, regardless of their faction.

Among them, those who opened the path of enlightenment through the sword were called Sword Immortals (劍仙) [Jian Xian], and those who had explored the inherent principles of the sword to their limits were called Sword Emperors (劍帝) [Jian Di].

Sword Emperor Namgoong Seung.

The undisputed greatest swordsman of the era, acknowledged by all in the realm of the sword.

In terms of personal fame, Sword Immortal Tak Mu-Ja is considered higher, but more people say that Namgoong Seung is the best when it comes to the sword.

The Sword Emperor, whom the entire world respected, had revealed himself in this way.

However, in the eyes of the Sword Emperor, who was praised by all, the new star who had first broken through the realm of the strange and chaotic, rather than his own fame, seemed more impressive.

“You are…”

Confusion filled the face of the old man, Namgoong Seung.

“Just what is your identity?”

The young man, Yeon Ho-Jeong, did not hesitate.

He respectfully clasped his hands.

“I am Yeon Ho-Jeong of the Byeoksan Yeon family of Gangdong, and I greet the Sword Emperor.”

He had never imagined that he would encounter such a person. He didn’t even know that he was coming to the Martial Alliance in the first place.

“Byeoksan Yeon family? Are you talking about that Yeon family?”

“That is correct.”

“……!”

Namgoong Seung’s eyes wavered.

‘Could this guy be…?!’

His eldest grandson had spoken. He had been shocked by the level reached by the son of the Gangdong Yeon family. He had returned, feeling that there was someone with far greater talent than himself, and that he was still lacking.

Moreover, his second grandson, though he hadn’t said it himself, had reportedly felt intense jealousy towards the eldest son of the Yeon family. That jealousy had reportedly ruined his body and mind.

‘This is…’

Namgoong Seung was dumbfounded.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was one thing, but he couldn’t understand his two grandsons and his son.

‘Are these guys out of their minds?!’

Feeling the limits of their talent? Feeling jealousy?

To unleash a fighting spirit or feel jealousy, the levels must be similar.

In Namgoong Seung’s eyes, Yeon Ho-Jeong was no longer a vessel to be judged by age. He was a true powerhouse who had transcended everything and reached the pinnacle of the Central Plains.

It was like fledgling hawks, just beginning to spread their wings and fly, feeling jealous of a divine dragon soaring in the sky? This was completely different in terms of level, talent, and even their innate species.

And how lacking was the insight of his son, who had whipped his grandsons without even recognizing this monster?

Namgoong Seung sighed.

“…I’ve been lurking in the shadows, following the sword, and in the meantime, the core of the martial world has been moving!”

It was a difficult thing to understand.

However, the warriors who had been buzzing with surprise at the sudden situation soon witnessed an even more incomprehensible scene.

“A swordsman proves himself with a sword, and a fist fighter with his fists.”

Swoosh.

The sword, drawn as smoothly as flowing water, was pointed at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

“I want to know you. Bring the means to prove it.”