Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ Sword Phoenix (1) ༻

The Namgung Clan.

A famous sword clan that acted as the pillar of the Orthodox Faction and were often called the heart of the Four Noble Clans.

When the Blood Demon brought the Blood Disaster upon the world, the person that slayed the Blood Demon was none other than Namgung Joocheon, the lord of the Namgung Clan at the time.

Before Sword Emperor’s reign, the Namgung was the clan known to harbor the world’s strongest sword wielders.

At the moment, the current Lord of the clan, the Azure Heavenly Sword, Namgung Jin, was talking to his son.

“I told you to take good care of your elder sister, and instead you come back after losing your escort.”

Not only did he challenge a person younger than him to a duel, he went on to lose to him while also attempting to kill him.

Furthermore, he came back with his arms broken as well.

And this is supposed to be my son…

The bigger problem at the moment, however, was;

“Macheol…”

There weren’t many martial artists that Namgung Jin remembered by name.

That was because there were far too many martial artists that were talented.

‘He was a martial artist that reached a peak level.’

Macheol, the martial artist who had been acting as an escort, was someone who held the title of ‘Sword of Azure Wind’.

His was a name that Namgung Jin remembered.

There weren’t many people who reached the level of peak at such a young age, and he had seemed like someone with good potential for his future.

But all of sudden that man had gone missing?

Namgung Jin couldn’t understand this situation.

“You lost a martial artist at the peak realm just because you lost to a young prodigy that hasn’t even spread his name to the world yet?”

Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t muster up a response to Namgung Jin’s question.

He only quietly clenched his teeth.

Not even he could understand what had happened.

What the hell happened?

Namgung Cheonjun understood that there was a high chance that the mission would take a few days.

Because even if he had ordered Macheol out of anger, he knew that it would be a very difficult mission for him to achieve.

But even so, Macheol told Namgung Cheonjun that he’d found a chance and that he would be back.

And Namgung Cheonjun had never seen Macheol fail a mission after he said those words.

That was why when Namgung Bi-ah asked Namgung Cheonjun that she wanted to bid farewell to Gu Clan’s Young Master, he’d allowed her to leave without saying anything.

Since he shouldn’t have been alive anymore at that point.

That was what was supposed to happen…

But instead, when Namgung Bi-ah returned, she told Namgung Cheonjun that she bid the Gu Clan’s Young Master farewell.

And that he was fine and as such, they soon returned to their clan right after.

So… what about Macheol?

What had happened to Namgung Cheonjun’s personal escort?

Was he killed?

That was impossible in Namgung Cheonjun’s mind.

Macheol was a peak martial artist.

It required natural talent for a martial artist to go from first-rate to peak realm martial artist.

It was a level that the average martial artist couldn’t reach no matter how much training they went through.

Namgung Cheonjun knew this much about martial artists who had reached the peak realm.

And Macheol was a certified martial artist that reached a peak level.

So, the thought of him losing to someone who was barely at the second-rate level?

That was simply impossible.

Maybe he was ambushed?

Maybe they knew beforehand that this would happen.

But, how would he know in the first place?

And what did they do for Macheol to just disappear like that?

Whatever had transpired, the fact was that this was a bad situation for Namgung Cheonjun.

It was a huge problem for him to lose his direct escort because of his own stubbornness.

Furthermore, Gu Yangcheon now knew about his actions; or so Namgung Cheonjun thought.

That piece of shit.

Thinking of Gu Yangcheon made him boil inside.

The place he got kicked at and the arm that had been broken by him had all been cured, but the wrath inside Namgung Cheonjun still lingered.

“Cheonjun.”

“…Yes, father.”

Namgung Jin slowly walked towards Namgung Cheonjun.

Namgung Cheonjun clenched his eyes shut.

Namgung Jin never physically laid hands on his own blood.

He only came closer.

The direct descendants of the Namgung Clan possessed abilities to exude pressure on the surrounding, abilities which got stronger as the person themselves grew as a martial artist.

There was nothing more to say about the Lord of the Namgung clan who was known as the strongest asides the three Heavenly Venerables.

This ability was released as the Lord of the Namgung clan slowly closed the gap between them.

And as the Lord stepped forward, Namgung Cheonjun found it harder and harder to breathe.

“Oughh…”

Namgung Cheonjun groaned in pain due to the pressure.

“I’m disappointed in you. Not because you lost to a younger prodigy, nor because you attempted to kill him.”

Namgung Cheonjun knew why his father was disappointed in him.

It was something that had been taught to him ever since he was young.

“I’m disappointed in you because you failed to clean up your own mess.”

Namgung Cheonjun felt like he would vomit due to the pressure that was pressing down on him, but he did everything he could to hold it in.

He knew that his father’s anger would only grow if he threw up then and there.

To keep his dignity and honor as a member of the Namgung Clan.

That was what Namgung Cheonjun prioritized the most.

And if there was a person that damaged his dignity or honor.

It was Namgung’s way to get rid of them no matter what.

“As punishment, you will be imprisoned for three months. Any objections?”

“N-No, father…”

The pressure disappeared after Namgung Cheonjun’s response.

Namgung Jin then asked Namgung Cheonjun who was still struggling to breathe.

“The Gu Clan, you said?”

“…Yes, father.”

The Gu Clan where the Tiger Warrior was their Lord…

Namgung Jin made a strange face after hearing Namgung Cheonjun’s response.

It was an expression that Namgung Cheonjun had never seen on his father’s face.

“…Out of all the clans, it had to be the Gu Clan, huh.”

After those words, Namgung Jin turned around and walked towards the flag that was hung up near the Lord’s room.

The word ‘Namgung’ was written clearly on the flag.

After thinking for a moment, Namgung Jin spoke to Namgung Cheonjun,

“Forget everything about the Gu Clan from now.”

“Father…?”

It was the first time.

That his own father had told him to forget about something.

He had taught him his entire life to never forget about grudges, but all of sudden, he was contradicting his own teachings.

“You will know in the future when you become the Lord of the clan. Up until then, don’t mess with the Gu Clan.”

“…Yes, father.”

In the end, Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t go against Namgung Jin’s order.

All Namgung Cheonjun was able to do was just nod at his father’s words.

“As we might become one with them soon.”

For a brief second, Namgung Cheonjun was stunned by his father’s words.

He couldn’t understand what they meant.

“What… do you mean by that?”

“Your sister agreed to go through marriage with a clan.”

“Father!?”

Namgung Cheonjun increased his voice by accident.

He immediately shut his mouth due to Namgung Jin’s fierce glare, but the news he’d just heard was all too sudden for Namgung Cheonjun to take in.

Her name wasn’t known to the world just yet, but she was a woman who had the most natural talent out of all the family members of the clan.

Namgung Cheonjun’s beautiful, perfect sister.

The flower of the Namgung Clan.

Namgung Cheonjun believed that if his sister was more active in the outside world then she would have been the one to gain the title of the ‘Sword Phoenix’ instead of its current bearer.

…But all of sudden, my perfect sister is going to marry someone?

It was just too sudden for Namgung Cheonjun.

He quickly hid his shaking hands so that Namgung Jin wouldn’t notice, and then spoke.

“T-To which clan, you say?”

Namgung Jin looked at his son.

He easily noticed his trembling pupils as well as the rough breathing that he couldn’t control.

He still lacks so much…

He couldn’t even hide such simple things.

But Namgung Cheonjun was required to rule the clan in the future.

So if he lacked anything, it was natural for him to be corrected.

And those corrections would be instilled by force if it was deemed necessary.

Namgung Jin slowly opened his mouth while looking at Namgung Cheonjun.

Namgung Cheonjun’s eyes widened following Namgung Jin’s words.

“…What?”

Gu Yangcheon blurted out in response to the Second Elder who was telling him crazy things.

“What did you say just now?”

“I said that our clan agreed to an engagement between you and the Namgung clan’s daughter.”

“…Pardon?”

What nonsense is he on about?

***

It had taken us 10 days to return to my clan after leaving Sichuan.

We had hurried on our way to Sichuan because we didn’t have much time to spare, but as we had no such constrictions, we took our time on the way back.

I also had to spend some time organizing my newly increased Qi anyways.

And after finally returning from the trip that made me exhausted,

The Second Elder who I hadn’t seen in a while, practically just straight out hurled shit at me.

“A marriage has been arranged for you.”

“…What did you just say?”

He’d spouted those words at me the instant we met, without even bothering to respond to my greeting.

My brows furrowed upon hearing his sudden words.

I hadn’t even unpacked yet, and he came at me, saying all of this out of the blue.

In fact, how long had it been since the engagement between our clan and the Peng Clan was annulled?

For me, it was hard to remember as it had been forever, but in real time, it probably hadn’t been that long.

But all of sudden a new marriage had been arranged for me?

This is new…

In my previous life, after my marriage agreement with Peng Ah-hee broke, there were no other marriages arranged for me.

It was, of course, in part due to the rumors of me being a trashy person, which in turn made every clan avoid marriage with me.

I had thought that it would be the same in this life, so, what happened?

I responded to the Second Elder while feeling overwhelmed.

“Lord Second Elder, do you really have to joke around when I’m this tired…?”

“Hey! Do you really think that this old man would joke around with someone like you?”

“You usually do, why are you denying it all of sudden?”

Had a marriage actually been agreed upon?

…I feel like I’m screwed.

I felt like I had messed something up.

Wi Seol-Ah popped up in my head, but I ignored it right away.

“If it’s real, then who am I marrying?”

I thought about all the possible girls that I could marry.

It couldn’t be Peng Ah-hee since we’d already broken off our engagement.

And I didn’t feel like I had many options outside of her.

I was reminded of one in particular from the Moyong clan, but let’s exclude that crazy bitch for now as she only chased around the Lightning Sword even in my previous life.

There were probably many options if I excluded the Four Noble Clans, but I didn’t really know many girls.

I could only count them on one hand if I had to.

Maybe Tang Soyeol…?

This was possible as she didn’t marry anyone in my previous life.

…But someone who gives me poison as a gift is a bit…

Anyways, what could I have done that messed things up so badly?

I couldn’t think of a single thing…

I wondered where it all started going wrong.

No… I can’t think of one because there are too many…

“The Clan your marriage was agreed with…”

The Second Elder spoke whilst picking his ear with his pinky finger.

As if the issue wasn’t at all important to him.

“The Namgung Clan.”

“…Pardon?”

I retorted immediately upon hearing the unexpected response.

What… Where?

“What did you say just now?”

“I was told that your marriage was arranged with the Namgung Clan’s daughter.”

“…What?”

The Namgung clan? Maybe there is another Namgung Clan’s daughter that I didn’t know about…?

Maybe there was another Namgung clan that had a slightly different name?

I begged that was the case as there was only one daughter of the Namgung can that I knew of.

“The daughter’s name was something like… Namgung Bi-ah? They were hinting to me that they won’t hand her over so easily as she was the pride and joy of the clan, so this old man did everything he can to make this possible.”

Fuck me…

Nothing ever went my way in this goddamn world.

What did you even do to make this even possible in the first place…

Me… Marrying that lunatic?

Why? What did he do in order for Namgung Bi-ah to marry me?

While I was still struggling to take in such facts, the Second Elder continued to speak without caring.

“Anyways, that isn’t what’s important, so hear it from your father later, as I have something more important to tell you.”

“…Wait, Second Elder sir, how could you say this isn’t important?”

What could be more important than this?

I’d been arranged to marry that crazy bitch, and you’re telling me that that isn’t the most important thing…?

I tried to talk back to the Second Elder,

But I had to shut my mouth following his next words.

“Your sister has returned.”

“Huh?”

The world’s greatest prodigy, Sword Phoenix Gu Huibi.

She had returned to the clan.

The Second Elder spoke to me while tapping my shoulders.

“Huibi was looking for you as she really wanted to see you. It really makes me happy to see you siblings get along so well. Huibi should be in the lord’s room, so you should— Yangcheon?”

I didn’t let the Second Elder finish.

I only had one thing in my mind right now.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!!! I have to run away NOW!!!

Marriage or whatnot, I just had to run away for now.