Chapter 198 :

<An Unwelcome Visitor to the Academy (3)>

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Cheol Sunjik drummed steadily on the table.

It was a habit of his whenever he became lost in thought.

After tapping for a long while, his finger stopped.

"What could have happened?"

After they returned from Sichuan, Nam Hwaseong had been the first to bring it up.

[Brother Cheol… What would you think of me joining the representative council?]

The suggestion was so unexpected that Cheol Sunjik could not answer immediately.

[Others will try to join as well, will they not? I will get in first and assess the situation from within.]

Of course, if Jin Sowoon's unstable representative council eventually found its footing, securing even one officer's position before that happened would be advantageous.

That way, they could do at least something to benefit the Twelve Peaks Fortress during the remainder of their academy term.

But—

[…]

Even so, was Nam Hwaseong really the right person to send into enemy territory to play politics?

[Wh-why are you looking at me like that? Do you not trust me?]

Anyone could tell from his unusually flustered stammering alone that he was unsuited to intrigue.

One could hardly appoint Zhang Fei as a schemer.

Despite his size, Nam Hwaseong had a softhearted side. When someone pushed him relentlessly, he would sometimes abandon his own position.

He was a decent piece to use as a battlefield commander, but…

Moreover, something else puzzled Cheol Sunjik.

[Do you truly want to do this?]

Nam Hwaseong did not trust his own intelligence, so he never took the initiative in anything.

For someone like that to volunteer for the thoroughly unsuitable role of a spy was difficult for Cheol Sunjik to understand.

[A-after dealing with him in Sichuan, I learned that he is unbearably rough. Among the Twelve Peaks Fortress, who but me… Ahem, could endure such a difficult task?]

He had not named the person he meant, but Cheol Sunjik understood immediately.

In the end, Nam Hwaseong submitted an application to join the representative council.

The other members of the Twelve Peaks Fortress expressed concern about his choice, but that was all.

They knew very well what consequences his decision might have, not only for Nam Hwaseong himself, but for the entire Samwon Sect.

"Interesting."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

His finger began moving again.

Jin Sowoon and Nam Hwaseong had spent less than a week together.

What could Nam Hwaseong have seen in Jin Sowoon during that time?

"Nam Hwaseong must know what I am like."

Methodical and devoted to perfection.

Wary of variables and irregularities, controlling matters so that events unfolded as expected.

In other words, he did not welcome sudden proposals.

Yet that timid fellow had volunteered of his own accord.

Cheol Sunjik had seen something special in Jin Sowoon too, but nothing remarkable enough to stake his sect's future on.

Tap. Tap. Tap—

His finger stopped.

"Or did he sense something so extraordinary that he forgot to worry about me?"

What aspect of Jin Sowoon could Nam Hwaseong see that he could not?

"Pfft! As if such a thing could exist…"

Cheol Sunjik opened a report.

It was one of the regular reports on recent developments sent by members of the Twelve Peaks Fortress.

It contained information about the confusion within the Righteous Path Association following the events in Sichuan and the movements of the White Path Association.

These were merely outwardly observable facts, but in Cheol Sunjik's hands, they took on a different meaning.

"So the White Path Association is making its move."

They had shrewdly seized the opening left by the Righteous Path Association's absence.

Still, he could not shake the feeling that they were acting a little prematurely.

Jin Sowoon's influence had not yet waned, especially with his public standing elevated by the recent incident.

"They must be impatient. Heh."

It was a struggle between a clam and a snipe.

The Twelve Peaks Fortress merely needed to wait until both sides were exhausted, then collect the spoils.

"Though by then, there will be no place left for the Samwon Sect…"

The positions within the Twelve Peaks Fortress differed from those of the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families.

Any member of the Hundred and Eight Peaks could join the Twelve Peaks Fortress and rise through competition.

Knowing that, the other members had not actively tried to stop Nam Hwaseong.

"Heh… Things will become quite busy. I will need to reorganize the group as well."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Cheol Sunjik's finger began moving again.

The Inspection Pavilion.

The highest enforcement institution for the alliance's laws.

It was the place most feared by otherwise fearless alliance members, and its notoriety extended well beyond the alliance.

It was effectively another institution of absolute power within the alliance.

"The Inspection Pavilion?"

At that name, unpleasant merely to hear, the man glared fiercely.

"Come with me."

He pulled roughly on my clothes, stretching the fabric taut enough to tear.

He truly was a complete brute.

"…Let go."

When I sighed, his eyebrows shot upward.

"Do you not understand what I am saying?"

His grip carried a sense of entitlement.

That he was allowed to do this.

That this was simply how things were.

In my previous life, I had felt countless rough, forceful hands like his whenever I was dragged from place to place.

At first, I had been frightened.

Later, however, I realized that those were merely the cowardly, feeble hands of men who would be the first to flee in the face of death.

I lowered my head slightly to look at his hand, then met his eyes again.

"I believe I told you to let go."

"…"

Apparently displeased by my words, he developed a bulging vein between his brows.

His grip tightened.

The fabric creaked as though it would tear at any moment.

"Do you think your pathetic authority as academy representative will protect you…?"

He never finished.

"Urgh!"

Using the strength of his grip on my collar, I hoisted him over and threw him to the ground.

Thud.

His back struck the dirt, apparently knocking the breath out of him.

So what if the shock left him unable to breathe?

I had no intention of stopping there.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

I stomped on his face until white fragments flew from his mouth.

"Gurk—you dare… the Inspection Pavilion…"

Seeing him still invoke the Inspection Pavilion, apparently not hurt badly enough, drew a disbelieving laugh from me.

I grabbed his hair and lifted his battered face.

"Are you with the Ak Family?"

"…What?"

His eyes wavered.

As expected.

"Impersonating the Inspection Pavilion is a serious crime."

"What are you—"

"The Inspection Pavilion does not operate alone."

Looking around, I saw only spectators gathering around the sudden fight. No one appeared to be his companion.

I did not miss the flicker of alarm in his eyes.

"And they show their identification token first. That alone is enough to intimidate the other person."

"…"

"What is your name?"

"…"

"So you will not tell me?"

I immediately punched him twice in the face.

Blood streamed from his nose, and another white fragment flew from his mouth.

"Damn you!"

He unleashed Phoenix Wind Hand and retreated.

Then he quickly connected three iron rods at his waist, forming a single spear.

"So you really are with the Ak Family."

"I came as a representative of the Inspection Pavilion."

I sneered at the ridiculous excuse.

"Who sent you as their representative?"

"…"

His eyes darted about.

It would hardly be easy for him to name someone here.

"You cannot say it in front of all these people, can you?"

The name of the Inspection Pavilion inspired fear in everyone.

People trembled at the mere mention of it and were easily manipulated.

I had been the same in my previous life. So had the Sojeong Unit and the White Tiger Pavilion.

"And you bastards took advantage of that."

They would never have dared impersonate it before someone who knew that transferring the Inspection Pavilion's absolute authority to outsiders was utterly unacceptable.

'They must have thought I was easy prey.'

In this life, I had risen fairly high as a promising young talent, yet in their eyes, I apparently looked little different from my former self, a man from the Sojeong Unit.

"Jin Sowoon! Are you not afraid of the consequences of doing this?"

"Consequences?"

I tilted my head.

"A man impersonating the Inspection Pavilion has refused to identify either the person who sent him or his own affiliation."

"…"

"You could be a spy for the heretical faction, could you not?"

"What are you…"

As though I had reached a great revelation, I deliberately raised my voice so it rang throughout the area.

"That is it! You are a spy from the heretical martial world, impersonating the Inspection Pavilion to abduct the Martial Academy's representative. Or perhaps you are a Blood Cult spy who survived Sichuan."

Murmurs began spreading through the crowd.

The stage was set.

Shiiing.

I drew the Black Dragon Sword and raised my internal energy.

Boom, boom.

As I released an oppressive presence that seemed ready to burst my martial uniform, the spectators surrounding us backed away.

Filling my voice with as much righteous conviction as possible, I shouted.

"How dare you enter the Martial Alliance's territory so brazenly! As the Martial Academy's representative, I will punish you and hand you over to the Inspection Pavilion!"

As the situation turned against him, the man twisted his body as though making one final desperate effort.

"…Damn you! I am a member of the Shandong Ak Family!"

He unleashed the Phoenix Soaring Spear Art.

His spear tip shot forward with blazing heat, thrusting toward my vital acupoints.

But what did that matter?

A single sentence was enough to stir people up.

Any amount of evidence offered in explanation could simply be dismissed as fabricated.

"To think you even stole the Ak Family's spear art to impersonate one of their people. You truly are a dangerous man."

I unleashed the Twin Heaven Sword Art with the Black Dragon Sword while performing the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist with my free left hand.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Retreating while parrying the Twin Heaven Sword Art, he then neutralized the following Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist with Phoenix Skyward Palm.

But—

He failed to properly counter the Flying Dragon Claw I had launched amid the fist strikes and stared in horror at the Celestial Silkworm Thread coiled around my arm.

"Wh-when did you…?"

"You must indeed be a spy. No one from the Shandong Ak Family could be this inept."

Rattle.

As I pulled the Flying Dragon Claw taut, the man could no longer withstand the pain and was dragged toward me.

Then he tried to use that momentum to thrust his spear tip at me instead.

I turned slightly and casually deflected it.

"A good improvisation… But such a simple movement only makes you easy prey."

Imbuing the Blood Dragon Sword with Lotus Flower's principles, I lifted him and his spear through a half-turn before slamming him down.

Having hit the dirt for the second time, he apparently lacked the strength to rise and merely groaned and writhed.

I adjusted my grip on the Blood Dragon Sword and began striking him with its blade.

Crunch—crunch—crunch—

The surroundings fell silent, leaving only the sound of mangled flesh.

The man could not endure even a quarter of an hour before finally losing consciousness.

Underestimating an opponent while possessing neither the skill nor the justification to confront them was the most foolish thing a martial artist could do.

"Or perhaps he trusted his backing too much."

Searching inside his clothes, I found an Ak Family identification token, just as expected.

Oh Ungyeong, Fourth Team.

It did not state which organization he belonged to. Since his surname was not Ak, he was not a direct descendant of the Shandong Ak Family.

I continued searching his clothes, took his money pouch, and checked for banknotes as well.

The spectators began exchanging remarks.

"Is he really a heretical spy?"

"But his martial arts and clothes are so obviously from the Ak Family."

"Is he not really one of their people…?"

They looked uneasy even though it had nothing to do with them.

I was not particularly worried.

'I knew what I was doing from the start.'

It might have been routine for them, but if other institutions learned they had been posing as the Inspection Pavilion, it would become a serious issue.

In truth, they would be the ones who did not want this matter to escalate.

"Still, this has become troublesome. The Ak Family has moved directly…"

Just when I thought I could finally wrap things up and enjoy a peaceful academy life, another incident had erupted.

Never mind my previous life. Did my fate in this life have to be so harsh too?

"…This is all that disrespectful bastard Yaryul Geuk's fault."

After cursing the boy who would be groaning in the dormitory while expelling stagnant blood, I headed toward the meeting place.

A waiter guided me into the detached room, where the atmosphere among those who had arrived first was rather strange.

'Hmm…'

What was the reason?

Well, I had fought alongside Jang Ujae in Yueyang, and there had never been any resentment between us to begin with.

Which meant the culprit behind this dreadful atmosphere was…

"Nam Hwaseong. You actually came."

"…Fuck."

Nam Hwaseong's face crumpled like paper, apparently displeased about something.

"Y-you were the one who told me to come!"

That bastard really had no sense.

"Because you are a member of the representative council. But I did not think you would actually show up."

"…Damn it."

His face flushed so red he looked ready to burst.

But I truly had not expected him to come.

Before the events in Sichuan, Nam Hwaseong had been openly opposed to our representative council.

"Well, I suppose you have your own circumstances?"

"…"

Once I sat down, the unsettled atmosphere more or less subsided.

I looked around at everyone gathered.

"You all know the existing members of the representative council, right?"

Those sitting opposite Jang Ujae and Nam Hwaseong politely introduced themselves one after another.

As expected, my companions never gave anyone grounds to criticize their manners, wherever they went.

Smiling in satisfaction, I looked across the table.

"You all know him, right? Jang Ujae of the Yujang Sect."

"Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Jang Ujae of the Yujang Sect. Regarding what happened in Yueyang… Thank you once again."

As he bowed respectfully, the original members smiled brightly and waved off his thanks.

"Not at all. Are the elders of your sect doing well?"

"Yes. They are working day and night to rebuild the Yujang Sect's foundations."

"That is a relief."

Everyone nodded at Namgung Seonhwa's words, but Nam Hwaseong, who knew nothing of the events in Yueyang, looked bewildered.

"Did something happen?"

"…"

"…"

Nam Hwaseong asked, but no one answered.

Looking embarrassed, he lowered his head and vigorously scratched the back of it.

Why had he insisted on joining such an uncomfortable gathering?

Since I could not simply leave him like that, I quickly continued with his introduction.

"And this is Nam Hwaseong of the Samwon Sect."

Nam Hwaseong abruptly sprang to his feet and clasped his hands in a formal salute.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Nam Hwaseong of the Samwon Sect. Let us send the past down the Yangtze River and write a new history together."

His voice boomed through the detached room.

The others offered a somewhat awkward round of applause.

I continued explaining who he was.

"He is from the Twelve Peaks Fortress and joined the representative council as a spy. So please do not discuss confidential matters in front of him."

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

Nam Hwaseong blinked at me like an ox that had just had its fodder stolen.

"What? Why?"

If they were going to plant a spy, they should at least have sent someone clever.

I had no idea what Cheol Sunjik was thinking either.