Chapter 25. A Second-Rate Warrior Prepares to Soar (3)
The chief disciple appointment ceremony was held.
I woke early in the morning, washed myself cleanly, took out and wore my cleanest clothes, then tied my hair neatly and lightly applied oil so it would not fly loose.
After offering greetings to the Founders at the Founders’ Hall, I greeted the elders, who were preparing, one by one.
The hall masters, too, unlike usual, had each come out wearing their cleanest clothes today.
Since most of them were new clothes made from the fabrics Wang Geum-san had brought, it was hard to hold back my laughter inside.
After finishing my greetings to all the hall masters, the final order was to greet Jin Tae-san, the hall master of the Outer Hall and my father.
“……”
Jin Tae-san remained silent for a long while with distant eyes.
“The Sect Leader is waiting.”
“Among the elders and hall masters, I was the only one who opposed your appointment as chief disciple.”
“……”
“Were you disappointed?”
“What is there to be disappointed about? It is not as though Father underestimating me has only happened once or twice.”
“When you take on the duty of chief disciple, what arises is not only the authority to lead the disciples.”
His distant eyes had, at some point, grown moist, changing as though he were recalling faraway memories.
“You become the person who always stands at the very front of the disciples, and the person responsible for their lives.”
Was Father looking at me now, or was he looking at me in my childhood?
“From now on, you must look after your junior brothers and junior sisters before your own life. Can you bear that heavy weight?”
“……”
What parent in the world could be pleased to see their child take on a duty that pushed their child’s life to the rear?
I had never had a child in one lifetime, but I had once had subordinates who were like blood kin to me, so I could understand it, if only indirectly.
“Father.”
“……Yes.”
“I will survive no matter where I am.”
“……”
“And behind me, my junior brothers and junior sisters will always be together.”
Jin Tae-san, who looked as though he might shed tears, finally turned his head and waved his hand.
I deliberately stepped away from him and, at the same time, advanced before Hong Mun-gi.
“Disciple Jin So-un. Do you swear before the Founders that you will do your utmost for the development and glory of Taeul Sect?”
“Twenty-eighth-generation disciple Jin So-un. I swear before the Founders who came before me. I will become the disciple who stands foremost among my junior brothers and junior sisters for the development and glory of Taeul Sect.”
Sect Leader Hong offered me a black cloth, the same as the one wrapped around his own head, with both hands, and I, still kneeling, raised both hands and received the cloth.
On the black cloth was embroidered the silver Taeul Sect symbol proving that I was the chief disciple.
I slowly wrapped the cloth around my head and approached my fellow disciples.
Waaaaah.
From all sides, my fellow disciples cheered and rushed in, each offering words of congratulations.
I answered each of them and shook their hands.
After that round of greetings ended, I approached Gye Cheol-yeong and Gye Yeon-seok, who were standing to one side.
“I look forward to your guidance from now on. Senior Brother.”
“……”
Gye Cheol-yeong was in the middle of not knowing whether he should extend his hand or not.
At that moment, Gye Yeon-seok bared his teeth and growled.
“This is not over yet.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You think I do not know that you are trying to steal our Cheol-yeong’s place at the Murim Academy?”
“Are you not misunderstanding something? The Special Admission Track is a place where the Appraisal Envoys choose the most outstanding disciple through objective evaluation.”
“Hmph! We shall see.”
Gye Yeon-seok urged Gye Cheol-yeong on and left Taeul Sect.
I was once again surrounded by the disciples’ hands and began responding to their chattering conversations.
“Damn bastard.”
“Father, what do we do now?”
Worry had now fallen over Gye Cheol-yeong’s face as well.
Feelings of injustice and resentment had piled up within him.
At the Iron Sword Sect, he had attended from the position of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, so he could not step forward when trouble broke out.
Of course, if he had known the Grand Strategist would ultimately side with Taeul Sect, he too could have stepped forward sufficiently.
But aside from those things, the Iron Sword Sect was the largest sect in Anhui Province after the Namgung Clan.
From the position of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, which did business based in Anhui Province, he absolutely could not step forward.
The visit from Namgung San of the Namgung Clan made him feel even more wronged.
Whatever the case, had Namgung San not shown mercy in his hand at the end?
If Namgung San had merely pulled his sword then, all of Jin So-un’s fingers would have flown off, and in the end, victory would have gone to Namgung San.
Rage boiled up in him at the foolishness of those who regarded that as Taeul Sect’s victory.
On top of that, what was this sudden talk of Wang Estate…….
His plan to enter the Murim Academy through the Special Admission Track, form ties with the talents of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Clans, range across the murim with them, and one day make the Gyeryong Merchant Guild the greatest merchant guild under heaven had all been thrown into complete chaos.
“There is no need to be disappointed. Even if they use such an ungrateful trick, in the end, the talent chosen for the Special Admission Track will be you.”
Gye Yeon-seok’s vague words did not enter his ears.
“Do you not know? Even if one becomes the chief disciple, if he falls short in the overall score, he cannot be selected for the Special Admission Track.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Special Admission Track is divided into three tests in total. First, there is a test on common knowledge about martial arts and the murim. Second, they test understanding of forms and inner arts. Finally, there is even a martial duel test for actual combat.”
“In the end, if we do not know what that test is, am I not in the same position as those fellows?”
“You brat! Who are you!”
Gye Yeon-seok flared up and shouted.
“You! You are the legitimate heir of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild! Do you still not realize that from birth, from the very start, you are different from those half-baked fools of Taeul Sect!”
“……”
Just then, the figures of three people entered the grounds.
They were people of varied atmospheres: a scholarly-looking man, a warrior-like woman, and, between them, a middle-aged man wearing a sword and exuding a dignified air.
“Guild Master. It has been a long time.”
“Oh my! You have finally arrived! I have been waiting so long my neck nearly fell off.”
“Since you welcome this Jang so warmly, I do not know where to put myself. Is that child over there Gye Cheol-yeong, the one said to be a famous talent?”
“Haha, a talent, you say. He is merely a little outstanding. What are you doing? Offer your greetings.”
With a dumbfounded expression at the sudden development, Gye Cheol-yeong looked at Gye Yeon-seok.
“You have heard the epithet Ace Instructor, have you not?”
Gye Cheol-yeong’s eyes grew as large as chestnuts.
“Surely not.”
“Yes, this is Jang Sa-gun, the Ace Instructor, who worked as an Appraisal Envoy for a full fifteen years and recently sent every student he taught through pinpoint private tutoring to the Murim Academy.”
Jang Sa-gun looked at Gye Cheol-yeong with proud eyes.
“No matter how foolish a person may be, I have never failed to send them to the Murim Academy. If it is an outstanding talent like you, this matter will instead become easier, so I am all the more pleased.”
Along with his confident tone, and because Gye Cheol-yeong had heard of his reputation until his ears grew calluses, the feelings of injustice that had filled him suddenly melted away.
‘Jin So-un, you insolent bastard, we shall see!’
“Is someone talking about me?”
“How could it be only one or two people?”
As I picked at my ear, I tilted my head and asked Sa-ryeon.
“I have never done anything to deserve being cursed by anyone.”
“But you’ve done plenty of insane things that make people feel like cursing.”
“……”
“Do you know what the kids come running to me and say as soon as training ends? ‘Senior Sister, please tell us the story of what happened at the Iron Sword Sect.’ I’ve told it so many times that now I could do it even if I woke from sleep.”
“Come on, how is that insane? It was just…… that my resolve was different from others.”
“And what about the martial duel with Great Hero Namgung San?”
“……”
“The hall masters gather the kids every day and say, ‘You must absolutely never grab a sword with your hand!’ Is this something that should be taught in a normal martial sect?”
“……Ahem. Would they not know once they grow a little?”
Glare.
Sa-ryeon’s gaze became even sharper, and in the end, I turned my head and avoided her eyes.
“So, why did you ask me to come here? Surely you didn’t bring me here to play hermit with you, right?”
The place I had brought Sa-ryeon to was Mount Hwaun near Taeul Sect.
It was a place where I had gone up and down to play almost every day in my childhood.
Among its places, in a wide clearing halfway up the mountain, the crude hermit hideout that a few of my junior brothers and I had made still remained.
“Soon, the Appraisal Envoys will come.”
“That’s right.”
“We have to prepare too.”
“We too?”
“Ordinarily, in cases like Gye Cheol-yeong’s, where one applies to the Murim Academy through a lay disciple, people invite a teacher who knows well about the tests given by the Appraisal Envoys and receive private lessons.”
“What?”
Sa-ryeon’s expression became that of someone who had heard something wrong.
“It is a method born because the decision of the Appraisal Envoys proceeds independently of the sect’s decision. Around now, a former Appraisal Envoy has probably been invited to the Gyeryong Merchant Guild as a teacher and is giving Gye Cheol-yeong private lessons.”
Even in my previous life, Gye Cheol-yeong’s habit of liking to brag appeared as his rotten personality before the junior disciples who had failed to enter the Murim Academy and fallen into despair.
Ace Instructor Jang Sa-gun, who was said to have never once failed in the Murim Academy’s Special Admission Track.
They said his predicted test questions had an accuracy rate of seventy to eighty percent.
“Th-Then this is unfair.”
“Yes, it cannot be called fair. But most Murim Academy exams throughout history were like this.”
Sa-ryeon’s face became dejected like a dispirited puppy.
“That’s really too much.”
“There is no need to be so disappointed. We can use the same method too.”
“What?”
“Did I not tell you? Preparing for the exam in advance is not subject to punishment by the Murim Alliance.”
“But we do not have the money to invite such a teacher…….”
Even though their household situation had improved greatly because of Wang Estate, they were not in a position to spend an enormous sum on private lessons for the children.
“I expected that, so I picked out predicted questions.”
“Senior Brother did? With what skill?”
I handed Sa-ryeon a book.
“Do you not know how good my memory is? During my last outing, I went to an old bookstore in Hefei, memorized every question that had appeared over the past rounds, and organized them.”
Of course, it was a lie.
I had merely taken the exam from my previous life exactly as it was and applied it after changing a few sentences and words.
At the very least, if they memorized the entire book, there would be no chance of failing the written exam.
“Senior Brother…… can I trust this?”
“How can you not trust your senior brother?”
“……Well, because you’re too childish?”
“Ahem. This is my first order as eldest senior brother. Have all the junior brothers copy and memorize this book completely.”
“……Understood.”
In the end, Sa-ryeon nodded.
Still, because the book had appeared, she thought she no longer had to feel a vague unease.
Then I began the real conversation for which I had called Sa-ryeon all the way here.
“What is that box?”
I opened the box I had received from Wang Estate’s chief steward and showed it to her.
“Oh, it’s cold. What in the world are these? Why is there such cold energy…… cold energy?”
When Sa-ryeon, who had been speaking, felt a sense of doubt and drew close to the items inside the box.
“Senior Brother, d-don’t tell me these are…….”
“Yes, they are spiritual medicines.”
“Are they just ordinary spiritual medicines? I don’t think they are. This is clearly cold qi…….”
Spiritual medicines also had grades.
Things at the level of ordinary tonics were not effective for increasing inner arts and only served to boost the energy inside the body.
Most such spiritual medicines were no different from ordinary food.
However, spiritual medicines that carried special energies such as cold energy or heat energy brought effects several times greater than ordinary spiritual medicines.
Of course, there were also that many restrictions on taking them, but if they properly met their owner, it was certain they could give wings to that person.
“Wang Estate gave them to me.”
“Wang Estate did? That makes no sense. No matter how much money they have, such precious spiritual medicines……. And not just one, but three of them.”
“……”
At the word three, I felt somewhat pricked by my conscience.
Of the five, the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and the White Serpent Divine Gall, which I could consume, had already entered my mouth.
After staring blankly at the spiritual medicines for a long while like that, Sa-ryeon soon smacked her lips and lifted her head.
“Did you call me here to brag about these?”
Sa-ryeon seemed like someone who entirely lacked the thought that she would eat them herself.
“No. I called you here to feed them to you.”
“What? Me? Why? Senior Brother, you should eat them instead.”
“These spiritual medicines possess the property of Extreme Yin. If I ate them now, at minimum I would suffer qi deviation, and if I were unlucky, I might die.”
Most of the inner arts that made up my Dantian were pure Taeul Qi.
Even a person full of yang-hard energy would not recklessly eat a spiritual medicine of Extreme Yin, and if I, who had not even properly grown my vessel, ate one incorrectly, it was certain that something would go badly wrong.
That was why I had already consumed only the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and the White Serpent Divine Gall, which possessed both yang-hard energy and Extreme Yin energy.
‘Thanks to that, my inner arts have now surpassed One cycles.’
In addition to that, the energy of the spiritual medicines I had not yet properly absorbed remained full throughout my body.
However, if I wanted to absorb all these spiritual medicines, the time had come when I desperately needed a more advanced martial art.
“……No. Even so, I won’t eat them. Rather, rather. Tell the Sect Leader and give them to the other junior sisters…….”
“That is why I deliberately called you out.”
“What?”
I had deliberately not revealed the existence of the spiritual medicines brought in through Wang Estate.
What we needed right now was someone who could lead the disciples of Taeul Sect.
It would take too long for everyone to grow equally together, and if that happened, before anyone could lead them, they would be caught by the ankles and swept away together.
‘At least three people.’
That was the minimum number of people I expected would have to enter the Murim Academy.
Even including me, two more people were needed, and for now, the people with a chance of entering the Murim Academy were all limited to Sa-ryeon and Dong-ryong, who had once left me several-days-old rice cakes, along with his brothers Geum-pyo, Eun-ho, and a few others.
Moreover, these spiritual medicines possessed an Extreme Yin nature that only women could consume.
If I informed the Sect Leader, they might be divided and eaten through a fair process, and if that happened, the amount that returned to Sa-ryeon would certainly be small.
“Even so…….”
“I am going to do my utmost in this Murim Academy exam.”
“……?”
“And if I fail, I will enter the Murim Academy even by taking the Regular Exam.”
“What? Why go that far?”
“If we do not enter the Murim Academy, we cannot become the shields of the junior disciples who will be made to perform mandatory service in the Murim Alliance. In the end, we too will be swept away together with them.”
“……Come on, Senior Brother. In peaceful times like this, what are you saying…… They just suffer for a few years and come back.”
Sa-ryeon’s face, which had taken it as a joke, slowly began to twist as she saw my rigid expression.
“Just what are you thinking?”
“Even if it is a peaceful time, there are battles with the Black Path every day on the front line in the west. And the higher-ups of the Murim Alliance do not care much about sect disciples dying on the front line. Do you want to entrust the lives of our junior disciples to them?”
“Of course not!”
“Then eat them.”
“!”
“Eat them, and no matter what method you use, you must enter the Murim Academy. Only then can you protect the junior disciples.”
After pondering for a while, Sa-ryeon looked at me with her eyes wavering, as though she had been moved.
“All right. I’ll eat them, so stop saying scary things.”
“You have learned the Great Advance Divine Art, have you not?”
The Great Advance Divine Art was an advanced martial art within Taeul Sect that one could only learn after entering Swift Blossom Hall.
Sa-ryeon had long since pestered her father, the Sect Leader, into learning the Great Advance Divine Art and the Flash Thunder Sword Art.
After hesitating for a moment, Sa-ryeon nodded.
“Just how much do you know?”
“You should eat the Inner Core of the Snow Carp and the Snow Lotus Seed.”
“Two of them?”
“I heard news that Gye Cheol-yeong has purchased another Plum Blossom Pill. Can you avoid being pushed behind Gye Cheol-yeong in inner arts?”
“……”
“And give the remaining Spirit Blue Stone Fungus to the junior sister you think has the strongest attachment to Taeul Sect. Of course, you must hand it over secretly.”
“It’s all for Taeul Sect, right?”
“Yes.”
Sa-ryeon put one spiritual medicine into her mouth, sat cross-legged, and began Qi Circulation.
I watched her for a moment, then turned away and began standing guard.
‘I have done everything I can.’
Man proposes, Heaven disposes.
I had changed much of the past, but this was the first time I was changing a great flow.
I looked at the setting sun as I vowed that I would not repeat the same life.
One month later.
The Appraisal Envoys visited Taeul Sect.
