Seo Hanmu, the instructor of the Middle Heaven Training Ground, had been staring sowhere 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 na 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 interdiate sword style, the next level up.
The Great Expansion Sword Style was sothing 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 sa 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 ti 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 beco an object of ridicule within the clan.
"Then today, I will show you one form of the Great Expansion Sword Style. Take your ti 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 thod, Namgung Il had said to him.
"Show
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 imdiately 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 movents of soone who had co to learn the Great Expansion Sword Style for the first ti 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 rember and imitate the form.
But Namgung Il's current sword style was not simply imitating the form, but a movent that truly understood the sword style itself.
What should he call this... It was the realm of a martial god that surpassed a re 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 ti too, Namgung Il was recalling the words Namgung Jeongung had said to him and his movents.
Seo Hanmu's sword style was rely a ans to make that mory 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 ti, I wondered what nonsense that was, but now that I'm holding a sword and performing the sword style myself, I understand what it ans.'
He had always known that he was a great guy when it ca 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 movents.
Even at that mont, Seo Hanmu was still standing with a dazed face.
As Namgung Il walked closer, Seo Hanmu seed to finally co to his senses.
"In your eyes, Instructor, which part of the forms I just perford seed 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 ti.
Even for the sake of the disciples' gazes that were directed at him, he had to show a semblance of being an instructor sohow.
"...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 na 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 na of the third form I showed you."
"Ah, is that so?"
"First, it would be good to learn the nas of each form. And after that..."
...What should I do?
You have to have sothing to teach to teach it.
In all his ti 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 morize the nas later?"
"...?"
"Right now, I want to recall the movents 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 diocre 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 ti 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 rembered clearly when he t Namgung Cheon.
"..."
This is what it ans to inherit the blood of the Namgung Clan.
The person who made Seo Hanmu realize that for the first ti was Namgung Cheon.
A learning ability that was clearly on a different level from other disciples.
By the ti he ca 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 judgnt.
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 imdiately 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 imdiately ca 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 ti to ti.
'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 beco so accustod to the stench that they had reached a point where they couldn't even distinguish if they slled 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 beco 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 slly 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 beco 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 recomnded 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 beco 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 ti.
'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)
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