Chapter 196 :

<An Unwelcome Visitor to the Academy>

"I have reset your legs, but… even after they heal completely, there will probably be lasting complications."

At the physician's matter-of-fact voice, Ak Jupyeong's face crumpled like paper.

"D-do not give me that bullshit! Do not make excuses for failing to treat me properly because of your own incompetence!"

"…"

"The Medical Pavilion…! Send me to the Martial Alliance's Medical Pavilion!"

"…Only members of the Martial Alliance may receive treatment there. You are not yet an official member."

At the physician's firm refusal, Ak Jupyeong's face flushed and paled.

"You stupid quack! If my family's physician could fix this, why can you not?"

The physician's expression turned cold at his continued shouting.

"You have quite a foul mouth."

"Wh-what is your name? I will not let this matter pass!"

"Sama Jeong. A fifth-grade special member of the Martial Alliance."

Ak Jupyeong's expression faltered.

To have reached the fifth grade at that age meant he was no ordinary physician.

"Why? Do you wish to make an issue of it?"

"…"

"I certainly intend to make an issue of what you said today."

"…"

"So we had better finish your treatment quickly."

With that, Sama Jeong left the inner room.

"Haa!"

Ak Jupyeong let out a long sigh and ground his teeth.

He was not particularly afraid of some lowly physician lodging a complaint.

His family's influence already extended throughout the Martial Alliance, and his uncle held considerable power in the Inspection Pavilion, its highest auditing institution.

But none of that changed the fact that Jin Sowoon had seriously injured him in a sudden attack.

Even if he tore Jin Sowoon to pieces afterward, the damage to his pride would never heal.

"Jin Sowoon… I will tear apart not only your junior brothers, but your entire sect."

Bang.

Someone suddenly opened the door and entered, making Ak Jupyeong's brow furrow deeply.

"Who the hell comes in without announcing…"

Upon seeing the visitor's face, Ak Jupyeong clamped his mouth shut.

The unwelcome visitor entered the room and slowly approached, dragging a chair from the center.

Screeeeech—

The chair scraped across the floor with an eerie sound, filling the room with an ominous atmosphere.

Ak Jupyeong forced down the inexplicable fear tightening around him and glared at the visitor.

Screeeech—

The sound stopped.

The visitor sat astride the chair with its backrest facing forward and looked at Ak Jupyeong expressionlessly.

"Jin Sowoon…"

Ak Jupyeong ground his teeth.

"You bastard… After daring to do something like this…!"

"If you think this will simply blow over, forget it."

"…"

His interrupted sentence had been completed in a strangely fitting way, and Ak Jupyeong pressed his lips shut.

Jin Sowoon draped his arms over the backrest and tilted his head slightly.

"Ak Jupyeong. You crossed the line."

"…"

He tapped the chair's backrest rhythmically with a finger.

"You went far beyond it."

Then, resting his chin on his hand, he calmly looked Ak Jupyeong up and down.

His eyes were utterly devoid of emotion, yet infinitely cold.

"Right now, I feel like breaking all four of your limbs and destroying your dantian."

Ak Jupyeong shuddered involuntarily, then gritted his teeth and answered.

"I-I am Ak Jupyeong of the Shandong Ak Family! Do you think you can do whatever you want to me?"

Jin Sowoon chuckled.

One corner of his mouth rose toward his ear.

"Do you think this is the Ak Family estate?"

"…"

"What good will it do if your family comes after you have been crippled? You will still spend the rest of your life in bed, eating nothing but gruel."

"…"

Only then did the reality of his situation sink in, and Ak Jupyeong trembled again.

Gulp.

When Jin Sowoon reached out, Ak Jupyeong flinched and shrank backward.

But a hard wall pressed coldly against his back.

Without realizing it, he squeezed his eyes shut.

When time passed without him feeling anything, he cautiously opened them a crack.

"…Gah!"

Jin Sowoon's hand stopped just short of his throat.

Then it changed direction and lightly patted his shoulder.

"Do not worry. I have no intention of handling you personally. If I did, that brat would probably come after me like a madman instead of you."

"…What?"

"So hurry up and recover, then get back to academy life. The sooner you recover, the sooner that bastard's craziness can find its proper target and turn on you instead of me."

"What are you…"

Having said his piece, Jin Sowoon turned his back on Ak Jupyeong and walked toward the door, unconcerned with whatever he was saying.

Then he stopped.

"Oh, and do not even think about withdrawing."

A terrifying wave of killing intent poured from Jin Sowoon, enough to make Ak Jupyeong shudder.

"If you do, I really will chase you to the ends of hell and kill you."

With that, Jin Sowoon left the room.

"Huff… Huff… Huff…"

Only after Jin Sowoon left did the tension constricting his entire body ease.

Ak Jupyeong felt an overwhelming humiliation at having been so frightened of someone like Jin Sowoon.

"…Jin Sowoon! You damned bastard! I will get revenge… I swear I will!"

The sound of his grinding teeth echoed hollowly throughout the room.

On my way out after warning Ak Jupyeong, I could not help laughing at the faces approaching me.

Had they heard me laugh?

The instructors and training masters all turned toward me.

"Jin Sowoon… You are under disciplinary action. Who gave you permission to wander around?"

"Disciplinary action?"

When I tilted my head, the training master who appeared to be their spokesman scowled.

"The instructors' council has already begun discussing disciplinary proceedings against you. Do you not understand that, depending on the outcome, you could even be expelled?"

Ha. Who did these bastards think they were fooling?

"What a joke."

"What?"

I let out a derisive laugh at the absurdity.

"No punishment is final until the academy director approves it, is it?"

"…Y-you!"

Do you know who I am?

Huh? Your academy director and I call each other martial brothers!

"Jin Sowoon, show the training master some respect."

"Respect, my ass…"

As I picked at my ear and regarded them indifferently, the training master and the instructors behind him trembled.

"Moreover, expelling a student is a serious matter that also requires approval from the Intelligence Department. The investigation will inevitably address the negligence of the academy's training masters and instructors. Are you sure you are ready for that?"

"…You insolent little brat!"

Wow. Such high praise.

That was practically an admission that he had lost the argument.

"This should be interesting. The training masters and instructors who stood by while a student was beaten to death, and me, who attacked the perpetrator to save that student. Which of us will receive the harsher punishment?"

"…Do you think the White Path Association and the Shandong Ak Family will let this pass?"

"And on top of that, the training masters and instructors who should have remained neutral were attaching themselves to particular factions and granting personal favors to students."

"Why, you…!"

I gestured with both hands toward the room where Ak Jupyeong lay.

"Hurry along and lick his ass. He will appreciate it even more while he is feeling vulnerable, will he not?"

I walked between the training masters and instructors.

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran were waiting in the Medicine Hall's courtyard.

They apparently had some idea of what had happened, because their faces were full of concern.

"Young Master Jin, what on earth happened?"

"It is nothing."

"How can you call it nothing? The entire academy is in an uproar over it!"

"Well, I will probably receive some minor punishment, but I will not be expelled. Not when Ak Jupyeong has committed so many wrongdoings."

Despite my reassurance, neither Seong Moran nor Namgung Seonhwa looked relieved.

They exchanged a glance, then Namgung Seonhwa stepped forward.

"Of the Five Great Families, the Shandong Ak Family holds the most important public offices in the Martial Alliance."

"…Is that so?"

I already knew that much.

But I did not pretend to know it in front of Namgung Seonhwa.

Regardless of my thoughts, her expression was considerably more rigid than usual.

"In particular, many of their people are stationed in the Inspection Pavilion."

"What?"

Huh? What was this?

I hurriedly searched the library in my mind for the personnel records.

Meanwhile, Namgung Seonhwa continued.

"You know that the Third Hall is the most vicious of the Inspection Pavilion's halls, do you not?"

Not only within the Martial Alliance, but even among the heretical martial artists, the Inspection Pavilion's Third Hall was known as a place no one entered and emerged from unscathed.

"…"

Namgung Seonhwa nodded.

"The Third Hall's master, Blood Ghost Flying Spear, is Ak Jupyeong's second uncle."

"…"

At that very moment, as I searched the Inspection Pavilion's personnel records from around this time in my previous life, I found the Third Hall master's name.

Ak Byeongbi, master of the Inspection Pavilion's Third Hall.

Damn it. He was unquestionably a member of the Shandong Ak Family.

"Ugh… Mm…"

Regaining consciousness, Yaryul Geuk was startled by the unfamiliar ceiling and opened his eyes wide.

"Wh-where am I…?"

"You are awake?"

At the sudden voice, he came fully to his senses and turned his head.

"J-Jin Sowoon!"

He had felt uneasy because he thought he had seen that insufferable face in a dream.

"You… If you show your face before me…!"

Yaryul Geuk instinctively bared his teeth and forced himself to summon killing intent.

But with his body still unrecovered, the killing intent he produced was pitifully weak.

Jin Sowoon looked at him and spoke indifferently, as though he could not feel it at all.

"Why did you give up?"

It was an incomprehensible question.

When Yaryul Geuk said nothing, Jin Sowoon took a step closer and asked again.

"Why did you give up?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

Jin Sowoon's eyes flashed sharply.

"They beat you badly, but it was not enough to kill you. Why did you give up?"

"…"

Forgetting even his anger at Jin Sowoon, Yaryul Geuk lowered his head.

"Why did you give up?"

The questioning was relentless.

"I-it is none of your business!"

He tried desperately to resist, but—

"Why did you give up?"

Jin Sowoon continued backing him into a corner.

"Why did you give up?"

At the repeated question, Yaryul Geuk's eyes finally turned savage.

"What… What would you know? Who are you to interfere?"

"So you really did give up."

"…You crazy bastard."

Jin Sowoon fell silent briefly, then asked in an icy voice.

"Was it easier once you gave up?"

The question gouged at his heart again.

More painfully than a punch.

More sharply than a kick.

But that cold voice would not stop.

"I am asking whether running away made you comfortable."

All Yaryul Geuk could do was glare.

Jin Sowoon chuckled as though finding that glare laughable.

"If it were me, I think I would have remembered my brothers."

"…!"

Fire instantly flared in Yaryul Geuk's eyes.

But Jin Sowoon's emotionless voice continued.

"Especially my dead second brother and my crippled third brother."

"…Y-you!"

As though something had occurred to him, Jin Sowoon slapped his forehead.

"Ah! You took the official examination using the money your eldest brother had spent his entire life earning, did you not? I feel sorry for him too. Imagine how absurd it must feel to have wasted his life on someone so worthless."

Yaryul Geuk thought he heard something snap inside his head.

"You… You motherfucker…!"

Before he knew it, he had lunged at Jin Sowoon.

Whether his body was in good condition no longer mattered.

He could not endure it unless he hurled himself forward.

Launching himself off the bed, Yaryul Geuk unleashed the Mighty Thunder Fist Art, aiming exclusively at Jin Sowoon's vital points.

Tat-tat-tat.

But Jin Sowoon casually neutralized his punches with one hand and immediately pressed his paralysis acupoint.

Yaryul Geuk struggled desperately.

"L-let me go! I will kill you!"

"This is the Medicine Hall. There are patients here."

Lifting Yaryul Geuk with one arm, Jin Sowoon left the Medicine Hall and headed for a training ground.

As soon as they reached a small, deserted training ground, he flung Yaryul Geuk down, having already released his paralysis acupoint.

Looking down at him, Jin Sowoon taunted him.

"You can make as much of a scene as you like here."

Yaryul Geuk immediately rolled his eyes furiously and shouted.

"You… You damned bastard!"

The Mighty Thunder Fist Art erupted from his hands.

His punches were fierce and fast as lightning.

Without even attempting to dodge, Jin Sowoon grabbed his shoulder, hooked his leg, and slammed him into the ground.

Yaryul Geuk tried to scramble up, but this time Jin Sowoon caught him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him forward.

Yaryul Geuk tumbled messily across the ground as though performing the Donkey Roll.

"What? You intend to kill someone with skills like these?"

"Aaaaaaargh!"

The Rainstorm Palm Art poured forth, covering three sides of Jin Sowoon.

Still refusing to evade, Jin Sowoon formed a knife-hand and neutralized the palm strikes.

His movements as he dealt with Yaryul Geuk's desperate attacks were endlessly light and effortless.

"At this rate, I do not think I even need to use martial arts."

Forcing down his ragged breathing, Yaryul Geuk waited for one final opportunity.

Jin Sowoon approached him as though utterly unconcerned.

"Now I understand why Ak Jupyeong tormented you so persistently. People who are all talk never look like much."

Jin Sowoon's fist came hurtling toward him brutally.

Watching its path until the very end, Yaryul Geuk seized his fist and performed Lotus Flower of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.

It was his trump card, a move that had caught Ak Jupyeong and his gang several times before they learned how to deal with it through experience.

'I have got him…!'

Believing his attack had worked, Yaryul Geuk looked at Jin Sowoon.

Jin Sowoon's body rose into the air and rotated halfway around.

If Yaryul Geuk slammed him into the ground now, the impact would knock some sense into him.

Then, if he followed up with another attack—

"To think a brat who does not even understand the basics of momentum would attempt a grafting technique."

For a moment, Yaryul Geuk doubted his own ears.

Jin Sowoon should have been panicking, yet he was saying something incomprehensible in midair.

Tap.

Then he landed, changed the position of his hand, and pulled Yaryul Geuk toward him.

In an instant, an irresistible pulling force lifted Yaryul Geuk into the air.

'A… A grafting technique?'

No one in the Flowing Cloud Gate had ever generated such a powerful pulling force.

When he struck the ground, the impact felt as though it would shatter his entire body. His mind went blank, and his ears rang.

His own force had been returned to him several times over.

With that impact striking his still-unrecovered body, he felt as though he might collapse at any moment. Yet the technique he had just experienced left him no time to register the pain.

More than pain, it was astonishment that threatened to freeze his entire body.

'Th-this is…'

The very thing everyone in the Flowing Cloud Gate had searched so desperately for.

The ultimate grafting technique.

Lotus Flower in its truest sense.

"J-Jin Sowoon… Just what are you?"

That technique had just manifested in the hands of the Jin Sowoon he so despised.

Without a doubt, it had manifested.