Chapter 142 :

Those Wearing Black Masks

“It brings back memories.”

At Hyeok Mugang’s words, Jegal Somyeong nodded.

“It certainly does. I can hardly believe forty years have already passed.”

Whenever the Martial Academy’s first break began, the two men would send away their guards and take a walk around the academy.

Since it was the first break, few people were staying on campus.

After living for decades with a life where even taking a day off looked like a political move, a person grew tired of people.

Perhaps it was only natural that the two men, who shared similar feelings, would visit the Martial Academy, where they could remember their innocent youth.

“The dormitory buildings have changed.”

At Hyeok Mugang’s words, Jegal Somyeong nodded.

“The old buildings were in terrible condition. When I attended, even the Class A students had to share a room four to a room.”

“You must have felt quite stifled, Chief Strategist.”

“Still, I had a lot of fun with my classmates. We used to sneak out at night and run all the way to Yueyang. The fellow who’s now the leader of the Mount Hua Sect used to be so fond of pleasure houses.”

As Jegal Somyeong spoke, even letting a faint smile touch his lips, Hyeok Mugang joined in.

“I envy you. I have no memories like that.”

“Did you have no friends even back then, Alliance Leader?”

At Jegal Somyeong’s words, Hyeok Mugang’s brow twitched.

“Ah! I misspoke. I meant to ask if you were focused on training even back then…… Hahaha.”

Jegal Somyeong tried to recover, but Hyeok Mugang’s eyes had already narrowed.

“It’s not that. I never missed the top student or academy representative positions, so I never had the chance to experience group life. You know this, Chief Strategist, but the representative dormitory is a little out of the way…… Oh! You were never an academy representative, were you?”

“………”

This time, Jegal Somyeong’s eyes narrowed.

“I deliberately helped that Divine Sword from the Namgung Family become the representative……”

“Were you perhaps not friends, but master and servant?”

“Ghk! It was a decision made for the greater good!”

“You two are friends now, at least, right?”

At Hyeok Mugang’s relentless teasing, Jegal Somyeong let out a long sigh.

“Let’s stop. What use are those old distinctions now?”

“Or…… do you still have to obey the Divine Sword’s orders?”

“You, honestly!”

“Hahahaha.”

Hyeok Mugang burst out laughing first, and Jegal Somyeong, who’d been acting stern, soon joined him.

“It’s so quiet. It’s nice.”

“Everyone must be having a grand time at their sects.”

“Hmm?”

Hyeok Mugang looked around, then stopped walking.

“What is it?”

“It seems someone is still in the academy representative’s hall.”

Jegal Somyeong sharpened his vision and looked in the direction Hyeok Mugang was pointing.

“It’s Jin Sowoon and the Taeul Sect children.”

“Did they decide not to go home this time?”

“Apparently. They must have been waiting for a long time at the Taeul Sect, too…… It looks like they’re sparring.”

“Sparring?”

The two men exchanged a glance, then headed toward the representative’s hall without needing to say who would go first.

One way or another, they were both martial artists who couldn’t pass up a chance to watch a fight.

“Quite a cowardly move, considering how boldly you challenged me. Four against one?”

At Jin Sowoon’s words, Eunho, standing at the center of the formation, gulped.

He said that, but he looked completely at ease.

He must be confident he wouldn’t lose easily.

But this time, it won’t be so easy.

Eunho was confident.

The experience he’d gained through the Martial Academy’s entrance exam, and the new knowledge he’d learned from the formation instructors at the academy.

On top of that, he’d learned the core principles of two sect formations from Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.

Eunho had absorbed it all and advanced the White Tiger Formation by a level, using the Taeul True Scripture as its foundation.

Before facing Eldest Senior Brother, he had tested the new formation against Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.

Namgung Seonhwa had even brought out the Imperial Sword Art, but in the end, she still failed to neutralize the White Tiger Deathblow Sword Formation.

“You’d better be careful this time.”

“If you’ve been slacking off in your training, you’ll know that I’ll put you through intensive training for the rest of the break.”

“……Isn’t that a bit much? You said we were going to Dongting Lake.”

“We’re not going there for a vacation. We’re going for work and taking a look around while we’re there.”

“Still!”

He’d promised to take them to Yueyang during the break, and now he was suddenly adding conditions.

Wasn’t that a bit too harsh?

“Eldest Senior Brother’s temper really is the greatest under heaven……”

“What was that?!”

“Nothing.”

“So if you want to go sightseeing, come at me as if you’re prepared to die.”

At the sight of Sowoon drawing the Black Dragon Sword, sparks flew in the eyes of all four disciples.

“Ready?”

At Namgung Seonhwa’s question, as the referee, everyone from the Taeul Sect nodded at once.

“Then…… begin!”

The moment Namgung Seonhwa gave the signal, Sowoon sprang forward like a flash of lightning and thrust his sword.

Clang……

Dongryong, at the front of the formation, barely managed to block Sowoon’s sword. But he was driven back several steps, preventing the formation from activating.

Sowoon had thwarted their plan by breaking through before the formation could take shape.

“Eldest Senior Brother, we didn’t make it this far by being pushovers! Flooding Arrow!”

At Eunho’s shout, the formation shifted into the shape of an arrowhead.

While Dongryong engaged Sowoon, Saryeon sprang forward and fiercely targeted Sowoon’s vital points.

Whoosh!

The fast Small Heaven Sword Technique struck toward his vital points, and Sowoon spun twice before retreating.

“Copper Barrier!”

The formation spread out like the ribs of a fan. Saryeon and Geumpyo took positions on either side of Dongryong, and all three attacked Jin Sowoon at once.

Clang-clang-clang-clang!

In the blink of an eye, more than ten exchanges passed, and Sowoon retreated another two steps.

“Your attacks are quite fierce. Let’s see how your defense holds up.”

Sowoon’s Blood Dragon Sword began to move swiftly, unleashing the Twin Heaven Sword Art. True swords and illusion swords scattered in all directions, beginning to close in on the four.

“Gold-and-Silver Armor!”

At Eunho’s shout, Dongryong and Saryeon fell back as Geumpyo and Eunho stepped forward to face the Twin Heaven Sword Art.

Jin Sowoon’s Twin Heaven Sword Art against the Twin Heaven Sword Art of the two brothers.

The difference was that Jin Sowoon spread his Twin Heaven Sword Art wide, while the two brothers kept theirs close together, creating an effect like a sword barrier.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

Dozens of the Twin Heaven Sword Art techniques he’d unleashed were dispelled all at once, and Sowoon couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Were you always this well coordinated?”

“We’re in the middle of a spar, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“I know, but you’re better coordinated than I expected.”

At Sowoon’s words, Eunho smiled inwardly.

The secret of the Taeul True Scripture they’d discovered through relentless training.

That was what had made them think they might be able to challenge Eldest Senior Brother.

I should tell him, but not during this spar.

For now, they were opponents in a sparring match.

This was a chance to compare their skills, and nothing else.

“Silver Illusion!”

Eunho stepped forward and shouted. The other three retreated behind him, drawing back their swords in unison.

Before Sowoon could even properly identify the formation, Eunho unleashed the Great Heaven Sword Technique with all his strength, blocking Sowoon’s view.

“This is entertaining, but it doesn’t make me think you’re ready to go to Yueyang.”

At Sowoon’s taunt, Eunho clenched his teeth.

“This is only the beginning, Eldest Senior Brother.”

Walking with the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps, Jin Sowoon began closing in on Eunho, dodging the Small Heaven Sword Techniques hidden among the Great Heaven Sword Technique’s strikes.

Clang, clang, clang!

Sowoon easily knocked the swords aside and entered the formation, then suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A faint cutting sound rang out, and Jin Sowoon’s sleeve was sliced.

“Huh?”

He’d thought he’d knocked aside all the true swords hidden among the illusion swords, but he’d missed one.

As Sowoon paused in surprise, Eunho’s shout rang across the sparring grounds.

“Phantom Bloom!”

Beside the illusion swords Eunho had conjured, the other three conjured illusion swords at the same time.

Dozens…… no, hundreds of illusion swords filled the area, covering Sowoon and everything around him.

Even knowing they were illusion swords, their sheer number was enough to make them oppressive.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

Sowoon swung his sword dozens of times in the blink of an eye.

But his clothes began to tear in places.

“Damn……”

At last, a voice edged with alarm escaped Sowoon’s lips.

“This is only the beginning, Eldest Senior Brother!”

Eunho and his fellow disciples grew even more confident and pressed their attack.

The brilliant lights of Yueyang seemed to shimmer before their eyes.

“I suppose I have no choice.”

As the low words echoed, four Myriad Swords emerged from Sowoon’s sword.

“That won’t be enough!”

Eunho said confidently.

Sowoon gave him a faint smile.

“We’ll see.”

At that moment, sword energy shimmered around the Myriad Swords.

“Huh?”

“What?!”

Eunho and the others couldn’t hide their surprise.

The Myriad Sword was supposed to be unable to wield sword energy.

“Did you think I’d spent all my time playing around?”

As the Myriad Swords wreathed in sword energy began to swing, the illusion swords conjured by the Twin Heaven Sword Art started disappearing.

The illusion swords vanished in an instant, like flying insects being chased by their natural enemy.

Eunho and the others could only stare wide-eyed.

“That’s so unfair……”

“Will you still be calling me unfair after you’re dead?”

“It’s not over yet!”

Eunho met the eyes of the other three, nodded, then shouted.

“Myriad Illusions!”

One Myriad Sword blossomed from each of the four disciples’ swords.

Seeing his junior disciples, Jin Sowoon frowned, sensing something strange.

Ziiiiing—

An uncanny vibration rang out from the formation.

Moreover, the four, who until then had seemed merely well coordinated, now moved as if they were one person.

An ominous energy wrapped around Jin Sowoon’s entire body, and an unprecedented pressure began to constrict him.

“What on earth……?”

He had only started to speak when another Myriad Sword appeared beside each of the Myriad Swords his disciples had conjured.

“What?!”

The four disciples had created eight Myriad Swords in total.

All eight moved at once, weaving the Twin Heaven Sword Art through the air.

Their range was so vast that they enveloped the entire small sparring ground beside the representative dormitory.

Crack-crack-crack!

Thud-thud-thud!

Wherever the Myriad Swords danced, marble cracked and trees were cut down.

It was a vast dance of swords.

A dangerous mist, as if it would shred anything it touched, protected the four disciples as it advanced toward Jin Sowoon.

“Hah!”

On the verge of being struck by the sword dance, Sowoon felt more astonished than afraid.

It was clearly the Ten Thousand Seas and Heaven-Earth Sword Art and the White Tiger Formation he knew.

How could they produce such a strange attack?

Still, I can’t back down and lose face in front of my junior disciples.

It was admirable that they’d grown stronger, but he still wanted to remain a wall they had yet to overcome.

“Then try taking this!”

The sword aura unique to the Taeul Sect—one he’d forged while enduring hundreds of curses from Sword Demon.

Sowoon’s Blood Dragon Sword created two Myriad Swords.

Then sword aura began to rise from the tips of the Myriad Swords.

The Myriad Sword Aura, which even Sword Demon had praised as “pretty useful.”

“Aaaah!”

A furious cry rose from within the sword dance.

As if he found even that enjoyable, Sowoon plunged into the sword dance without hesitation.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

A series of explosions rang out as the sword dance collided with the Myriad Sword Aura.

Then—

Bang! Bang! Crash—bang!

The powerful impacts sent the marble and trees in the sparring ground flying in every direction.

“Hah, hah, hah.”

“Haa…… haa……”

Eunho and the other three were sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

“Not bad.”

Meanwhile, Jin Sowoon calmly sheathed his sword.

The four looked at him, unable to hide their disappointment.

“What was that at the end?”

Judging by their internal energy and their mastery of the Ten Thousand Seas and Heaven-Earth Sword Art, the children should have only been able to conjure one Myriad Sword apiece.

But at the end, the four who formed the formation had each created two Myriad Swords.

“We just called it resonance.”

“Resonance?”

“Yes. When we practice the formation together, at a certain point we find that we can use less strength and put more energy into it.”

He seemed to be describing an effect similar to the unified energy of Shaolin’s Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation or Wudang’s Yin-Yang Taiji Formation.

“Haha! That’s amazing.”

“Yeah, and even with something that amazing, we still lost.”

“You did well enough.”

“Does that mean we can go to Yueyang?”

At Eunho’s question, Sowoon gave a small laugh.

“Yes. You’ve done enough.”

At Sowoon’s words, the exhausted disciples leaped to their feet and cheered.

“Eldest Senior Brother, when did you learn sword aura? That was unfair!”

At the same time, the two men who’d been strolling through the Martial Academy and stopped to watch the children sparring still hadn’t left, even after the match was over.

“……What did you think?”

At Jegal Somyeong’s question, Hyeok Mugang nodded.

“So the Taeul Sect has more than just Jin Sowoon.”

“Indeed.”

“The Taeul Sect will rise higher than I expected.”

“Higher? It looks like they’ll reach for the heavens.”

“Chief Strategist, you seem rather pleased with this.”

At Hyeok Mugang’s words, Jegal Somyeong smiled faintly and asked, “Which child caught your eye?”

“I’m interested in the boy named Dongryong. It seems he’s somehow overcome the Heavenly Slaughter Star.”

“I’m glad we didn’t choose the same one this time. I like the boy named Eunho.”

“Oh? Is he a promising talent for the Intelligence Department?”

“I’ll need to find out whether he can perform as well as Jin Sowoon, but judging by his skill at directing the formation, he should adapt well to the Intelligence Department.”

“That good?”

“Did you see how he changed the formation to respond to his opponent in an instant? You can’t do that without a sharp mind.”

At Jegal Somyeong’s excitement, Hyeok Mugang nodded.

The Taeul Sect children’s sparring match had been that impressive.

“By the way, when did Jin Sowoon grow so much in such a short time?”

“Indeed. I thought I was going to faint when he drew out sword aura.”

“He’s a child whose potential I can’t even begin to measure. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

Though they hadn’t managed to finish the quiet stroll they’d hoped for, both men looked thoroughly satisfied.

“Dongting Lake!”

“A vacation!”

Their destination for the break was Yueyang, in Hunan Province, where Dongting Lake was located.

“We’re not going there to play.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Still, it’s not as if we have to work the whole time.”

Eun Seollan and Moyong Jaehwa had wanted to come with me, too, but they had to remain at the academy for extra lessons and personal training, respectively.

“But what could we possibly have to do in this dazzling city of Yueyang?”

Seong Moran asked. She was already dressed in luxurious silk clothes and jewelry, as if she’d blended into Yueyang’s splendid streets.

“There’s someone I need to recruit.”

“Pardon?”

“……What?”

Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa turned their heads with a creak, like wooden dolls.

Had I said something so strange?

“R-recruit?”

“………”

“‘Recruit’ does sound a little odd. To be precise, I should say I want to bring them into our sect.”

A letter I’d recently received from Jegal Cheongi had complained that it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the components needed to complete the mechanical formation.

There were plenty of good blacksmiths near Hefei, but none of them could be called master craftsmen.

The components that supported a mechanical formation, which operated through a complex and delicate process, couldn’t be made with ordinary skill.

That was probably why, in my previous life, Jegal Cheongi had never managed to complete the mechanical formation.

So the person I’d decided to persuade was none other than Jang Dowon, with whom I’d crossed paths before.

He was the greatest artisan I knew.

“He’ll probably be quite difficult to recruit. It would be fortunate if I can persuade him before we finish our studies at the academy.”

“What kind of person is he, that Young Hero Jin is willing to go to such lengths for him?”

“He might not seem like anything special at first glance.”

Or perhaps his boorish personality would make you wrinkle your nose.

But the brightest gems were always hidden deep in the mines, weren’t they?

Jegal Cheongi’s mechanical formation, and all fifteen Divine Weapons that the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families had divided among themselves in my previous life, were now gathered at the Taeul Sect.

Just thinking about it made my heart swell.

“Hyung, you said this was mine.”

“Yours is mine, and mine is mine.”

“………”

Anyway, after Young Lady Seong Moran had gone to the trouble of bringing us to an upscale restaurant, why were these three brothers eating like beggars?

“Eat slowly. No one’s going to take your food.”

At my words, Geumpyo roughly wiped the grease from his mouth.

“We know, but for some reason, whenever we eat something delicious, we get this uneasy feeling that we’re about to be attacked or interrupted.”

The Taeul Sect always made sure they had food, and I’d never let them miss a meal when they were with me.

So why were they eating like they were possessed by hunger?

It was baffling……

No, it wasn’t. Heh.

“……By the way, there are quite a lot of warriors who look like they belong to the Diancang Sect.”

As Seong Moran had said, men and women dressed in uniforms bearing the Diancang Sect’s insignia were seated at every other table in the restaurant.

“Diancang’s influence runs strong in Yueyang.”

“But Hunan Province is full of powerful sects, including the Hengshan Sect.”

“That’s true. But in Yueyang, there are Yuwol Gate, an affiliated sect of the Diancang Sect, and Changseong Sect, which has maintained close ties with it.”

Both Yuwol Gate and Changseong Sect ranked among the top fifty of the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

Thanks to those two sects, the Diancang Sect had Yueyang—the greatest tourist destination in Hunan Province—firmly in its grasp.

“Hee, Young Hero Jin knows all sorts of things.”

Compared with the Diancang Sect uniforms, and with the lavish outfits worn by Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa, the three brothers’ black martial uniforms looked terribly shabby.

I liked black, so I’d dressed that way from the start. And thanks to the head maid at my residence, my martial uniform was finely embroidered and made of high-quality material.

By contrast, the brothers’ clothes looked rather pitiful.

They would have been fine if they had uniforms bearing their sect’s insignia.

But the Taeul Sect had only recently stopped wearing patched clothes. It was absurd to expect them to prepare uniforms emblazoned with the sect’s symbol already.

Feeling a little sorry for them, I wondered whether I should have their clothes tailored before meeting Jang Dowon.

“Where did these beggar bastards come from?”

The restaurant was noisy, but the insult came through clearly.

I glanced around, wondering if it might not have been aimed at us.

But it was an upscale restaurant, and everyone else was dressed in colorful silk and gold ornaments.

So we were probably the only ones who could be mistaken for beggars.

The faces of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers hardened, as did Seong Moran’s.

Namgung Seonhwa didn’t wait a moment. She pulled the hairpin from her head, held it like a knife, and rose from her seat, radiating killing intent as she strode toward the voice.

“Who was it? Who called my adorable little brothers ‘beggars’?”

What was that? I thought she was standing up for us.

So why did it still hurt?

In any case, the person who’d called them beggars wasn’t beaten to a pulp by Namgung Seonhwa.

Her body had come to an abrupt halt at the sound of his voice.

“Why, isn’t that Young Lady Namgung Seonhwa?”

His voice rose as if he were delighted to meet an old friend.

The man, surrounded by elegantly dressed people, smiled as he greeted her, then shifted his gaze toward us.

“So it was you lot……?” His voice was thick with contempt.