Reincarnated Swordmaster

"Such an important treasure—did the Nangong Eight Swords trust you with it?"

"......"

As Namgung Myeong fell silent, Mangnyang spoke up from beside him.

"It's not about trust so much as there being no need for it."

"What do you mean?"

"The Sequestered Angler's Hook by itself holds little power even if you know its secrets. Whether it's its purification ability or communication function, neither is directly useful in the martial world. But in a situation like this—say, if someone gets kidnapped, or when scouting an important enemy stronghold—you can use it to make contact. For instance, in a scenario like now where the family head is captured, the Nangong Eight Swords would have tried communicating via the Sequestered Angler's Hook... It only unleashes its power when paired with a companion hook."

"Ah."

"But the inside of the Mok Armor is a separate dimension, so the communication didn't get through."

Mangnyang's explanation made perfect sense. Looking at Namgung Myeong, who seemed utterly clueless, there was no way he could have received any messages from the Nangong Eight Swords all this time. This distorted-time separate dimension within the Mok Armor could even block a treasure of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

"The Sequestered Angler's Hook is everything to our family. Isn't what you've taken already

Swords at this time. This distorted time-separate dimension within the Mok Armor could even block a treasure of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

Namgung Myeong ground his teeth.

"The Sequestered Angler's Hook is everything to our family. Isn't what you've taken already enough? Stop this now."

"Where did you normally keep the Sequestered Angler's Hook?"

"We had a hidden chamber in the annex, secured with mechanisms."

"Tell me its location first."

After getting the hidden chamber's location from Namgung Myeong, I headed to the abandoned Nangong Family compound and checked it myself. Pulling on a small handle produced a deep rumbling sound as the mechanism door slid open.

"Hmm!"

Sure enough, there was a hidden chamber spacious enough for three or four grown men to stand in—that's where the Sequestered Angler's Hook had been kept. Standing in the now-empty chamber, I flashed a satisfied smile.

'From now on, I can go straight to the Nangong Family and grab the Sequestered Angler's Hook.'

Once you've bi-located to a place, you can instant-transmit there directly next time. Shortening my schedule once more left me in a great mood as I returned to Jinrang Valley. I then pressed Namgung Myeong further.

"You, Namgung Hwan, and the Nangong Eight Swords—that's everyone who knows the Sequestered Angler's Hook's secrets? I'm planning to interrogate every last Nangong bastard, so don't even think about lying."

"That's everyone. I swear it. How could we tell such a secret to anyone outside the direct line?!"

After muttering briefly, Mangnyang gripped Namgung Hwan's shoulder hard. Blood sprayed from the shoulder as Namgung Hwan screamed awake.

"Arrrgh!! Father!!"

"Want to watch your son's arm get torn off?"

"Ugh... I'll talk. Please, just..."

Namgung Myeong cried out in a daze before saying,

"Our great-uncle is known in the jianghu as the Shadowless Sword Emperor! There, happy now?"

".......!!"

Startled!

"That guy's from the Nangong Family?"

At that moment, not only Mangnyang but even the silent Jin So-cheong jumped to his feet in shock. Jin So-cheong's surprise seemed especially profound.

"No way..."

I'd never heard the name, so I tilted my head. Then I asked Mangnyang,

"Mangnyang, who's the Shadowless Sword Emperor?"

Mangnyang stood dazed for a moment before snapping out of it and replying,

"A transcendent expert from a hundred years ago. I never imagined he was from the Nangong Family."

"Must be quite the master. But why the shock?"

"Because... he was the World's Greatest Swordsman back then."

"......"

World's Greatest Swordsman!

Simple as it sounded, the title stirred the hearts of anyone in the martial world. It meant boldly claiming to be the absolute best in swordsmanship across the vast Central Plains teeming with eccentrics and hidden masters—a title that practically invited someone to cut you down the next day. Yet surviving to make the name known marked its bearer as a true powerhouse.

Mangnyang continued,

"You might not know since you only care about the current martial world, but anyone who delves deep into its history has heard of the Shadowless Sword Emperor. He's from a hundred years ago, a peak expert whose face wasn't even well-known, but his skill was said to rival the White Lotus Cult Leader of the time. No orthodox sect swordsman could match him—now he's pure legend."

"The White Lotus Cult Leader... Hard to believe. You know how monstrous he is."

"True, but still."

"More importantly, if it's a hundred years ago, wasn't the White Lotus Cult Leader the current one back then too?"

"Probably. Think about Dugoseong."

"Fair point."

Dugoseong was already near-elderly during his expulsion from the Thunder God Style, so he'd

"Probably. Think about Dugoseong."

"Fair point."

Dugoseong was already near-elderly during his expulsion from the Thunder God Style, so he'd be at least in his eighties or nineties now. If even he called the man "uncle," the White Lotus Cult Leader back then was likely the same as today. A thought struck me, and I asked Namgung Myeong,

"If the Shadowless Sword Emperor is your family's Namgung Jo, shouldn't the Nangong Eight Swords have summoned him with the Sequestered Angler's Hook? In a family crisis, he'd have to come, right? But I didn't sense any peak expert like that around."

"He wouldn't have come even if called. He'd cut ties with the Nangong Family."

"The Shadowless Sword Emperor cut ties with the Nangong Family? Why?"

Namgung Myeong hesitated before saying,

"He felt disillusioned with our family's policies. He's completely retired from the jianghu and lived in seclusion for nearly eighty years. He abandoned the family name entirely and lives as a wild recluse."

"Hmm. What's his recluse name?"

"Seoljo. He works as a blacksmith in a small village."

The Shadowless Sword Emperor must have rebelled against the Nangong Family's brutal expansion policies. I nodded and said,

"Fine. Then why did the Shadowless Sword Emperor take the Nangong Family's manuals?"

"He said we weren't worthy to possess them. He'd hold them until someone in the family fully mastered the Sovereign Sword Art."

"I see."

So Namgung Myeong wasn't lying about oral transmission. And if an ancestral master disapproved of them, they might see creating separate manuals as disrespectful. I asked the key question.

"So what's in the manuals the Shadowless Sword Emperor has? The Sovereign Sword Art?"

"I heard it includes the Sovereign Sword Art, other practical Nangong Family secrets, and sword arts unique to our great-uncle."

"Sword arts exclusive to the Shadowless Sword Emperor, huh."

Mangnyang laughed coldly from the side.

"How pathetic, trying to divert attention that way. Hoping to pit us against the Shadowless Sword Emperor?"

"......"

"Baek Woong, that's enough. Time to deal with these guys."

"Got it."

Realizing the moment had come, I approached Namgung Myeong. He'd braced himself, gritting his teeth as he spat,

"You cowards! You said you'd spare us, but you can't keep a promise after all."

"We won't kill you. You and Namgung Hwan will be thrown to the victims and their families just like this."

his teeth as he spat,

"You cowards! You said you'd spare us, but you can't keep a promise after all."

"We won't kill you. You and Namgung Hwan will be thrown to the victims and their families just like this."

"Kehehe... Isn't that the same thing?"

Namgung Myeong laughed hollowly, tears streaming down his face.

"Fine, my son and I deserve death. But do you really think it's right for scum like you wild men to judge us in the name of justice? Who are you to presume to be the will of heaven?!"

"......"

In a way, Namgung Myeong had been struck by lightning from a clear sky, suffering total annihilation in a single day—pitiable. And wasn't he a peak expert renowned as the Sword King? But his usual atrocities were so heaven-defying I couldn't spare him. As I hesitated, Jin So-cheong said to me,

"Baek Woong, let's kill them cleanly."

"What? We have to make it gruesome as planned..."

"Let it slide just this once. The end result's the same."

Muttering that, Jin So-cheong continued,

"Namgung Myeong has the merit of spilling vital information, so he deserves a painless death. But in future reincarnations, 'Namgung Myeong' won't get that chance. This is the only round where he dies easy."

"Hmm..."

I understood what Jin So-cheong meant. I'd keep destroying the Nangong Family brutally in

But in future reincarnations, Namgung Myeong won't get that chance. This is the only round where he dies easy."

"Hmm..."

I understood what Jin So-cheong meant. I'd keep destroying the Nangong Family brutally in every life ahead, so they'd fall as many times as I reincarnate. With nothing more to squeeze from them, they wouldn't even get a chance to beg mercy. Jin So-cheong was saying to grant them one clean death.

But I couldn't accept it and said,

"...That's from my perspective, Jin So-cheong."

"......"

"I'm the one reincarnating. Even if you inherit my memories and experience it indirectly, you're not the same as the previous Jin So-cheong. You only get one life."

I sighed.

"You're the one angriest at the Nangong Family right now—okay to pass up this chance? Can you really hold back?"

"Of course."

Jin So-cheong replied with serene eyes.

"Namgung Myeong once treated me kindly when I visited the Nangong Family. Consider this settling that debt."

"If that's how you see it... fine."

I glanced at Mangnyang. He shrugged.

"No objections. Do as you like."

"Understood."

Slash.

Moments later, my sword aura cleanly severed Namgung Myeong's head, which tumbled off. As a master, I'd made it as painless as possible.

Namgung Hwan, writhing in pain, sat wide-eyed in his chair as he watched his father's head fall. He screamed,

"Father!!! Arrrgh!!"

Even for such vile criminals, killing a parent before their child's eyes felt off. But recalling the father-son duo's heinous crimes against the Nangong Family, I said slowly,

"Don't get mad. Soon you'll envy your father."

"Arrrgh!! I'll kill you! Die..."

"Shut up."

I grabbed his hair, sealed his acupoints, and knocked him out. Then I headed to the Shadowless Gate, where the victim women were protected, and explained to the Sword Demon. He readily agreed.

"Leave him and go. I'll round up people to tear Namgung Hwan into thousands of pieces."

"Thank you."

"This'll be entertaining."

With Namgung Hwan handled too, I returned to Jinrang Valley. Finally feeling the Nangong Family business wrapped up, I stretched and said,

"Now we just hunt down the Shadowless Sword Emperor, right?"

"No."

"Huh?"

Mangnyang shook his head.

"Do that in your next reincarnation. Too dangerous now."

"Hmm. Maybe..."

"No matter that he's cut ties with the Nangong Family and ignored their peril as a recluse—even he couldn't stay calm hearing Namgung Hwan's about to suffer total annihilation in public. We might end up in a deathmatch with the former World's Greatest Swordsman burning with rage."

"......"

Fair point. I'd looked down on the Nangong Family for being weak, but the Shadowless Sword Emperor might be stronger than the whole lot combined—a terrifying foe. Jin So-cheong chimed in after Mangnyang.

"I figure the Shadowless Sword Emperor's reached the realm beyond Will-Intent Pinnacle. Not someone I want to face before I get stronger."

"Next realm?"

chimed in after Mangnyang.

"I figure the Shadowless Sword Emperor's reached the realm beyond Will-Intent Pinnacle. Not someone I want to face before I get stronger."

"Next realm?"

"I think he took the manuals and secluded himself because he feared getting bound by them and forgetting the essence of martial arts. That alone proves he's at the pinnacle of the Central Plains."

If even Jin So-cheong warns against it, better not go.

'Seoljo in Eozhou.'

I'll remember for now.

Finally, Mangnyang said,

"Let's call the Nangong Family matter settled. Now we have one thing left to do."

"The White Lotus Cult."

"Exactly."

Nodding, Mangnyang declared,

"It's time to join the White Lotus Cult."

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