Chapter 123 :

Chapter 123. The Black Flame Dragon Gives Them a Chance (3)

—Respected Eldest Brother.

I hope you have been well and in excellent health.

As your younger brother, I never doubted for even a moment that you would become the top-ranked student of the academy, but when I actually heard the news, I wanted to run to Wuhan immediately.

Please forgive your younger brother for being tied down here by other matters.

The Taeul Sect has been doing well without any particular problems.

Recently, people dispatched from the Maosan Sect finished installing the arcane formations and moved on to the Wang Family Estate.

Once I finish installing the mechanical formations at the Taeul Sect, I also need to go to the Wang Family Estate and install the same thing there, but I do not know whether I will be able to match the schedule.

At present, the design of the mechanical formations has all been completed, but the problem is that we have no one with the skills necessary to actually manufacture the parts.

The Outer Hall Master and the Wang Family Estate Lord are searching everywhere for skilled blacksmiths, but it does not seem easy.

I desperately wish to finish everything even a single day sooner and go see you, Eldest Brother, but if your junior brother acted irresponsibly, you would surely be disappointed.

I, too, look forward to the day when I can finish my responsibilities perfectly and stand before you as a dignified man.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Eunho sent us an image of your dignified appearance, and it has been a great comfort to me.

I could not tear my eyes away from the golden letters reading "Top-Ranked," and I spent the entire day staring at the painting.

Senior Sister Wang called for a painter and asked him to paint the same image on a larger scale, while the sect leader said he would hang the picture Senior Brother Eunho sent at the very front of Daehyeon Hall, so many junior brothers...

I stopped reading there and practically threw the letter down.

Thud.

"Where did Eunho go?"

Moyong Jaehwa poked her head up.

"Senior Brother Eunho left just after you started reading the letter, Eldest Brother."

"...That damn bastard."

For the past few days, I had often seen him spending time with someone I did not recognize, so I thought he had finally made a friend at the academy.

But that supposed friend had actually been a painter.

"That damned bastard... Where did he even get the money?"

What use was there for money inside the academy when food, clothing, and lodging were all provided?

Moreover, everything supplied here was of an even higher quality than what they had enjoyed at the Taeul Sect.

I did not know about the others, but the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers were extremely satisfied with academy life.

They had never specifically asked me for money either, so aside from the occasional pocket money I gave them, Eunho should not have had much money at all.

"Ah... My body feels stiff. Maybe I should go loosen up a little?"

Seong Moran suddenly stood from her seat.

"Young Lady Seong."

Seong Moran's shoulders visibly flinched.

Suspicious.

Far too suspicious.

"Uh... Seonhwa, want to go spar?"

"Did you know about this too, Young Lady Seong?"

"So you were the culprit, Young Lady Seong."

"N-no! No, I'm not! W-what are you talking about...?! I had nothing to do with it."

"..."

"I-I'm serious. Eunho just said he wanted to have a few paintings made, so I gave him some money."

"He's still an academy student. How did you expect him to pay you back?"

"Ah... Haha, well. It wasn't that much money anyway. You could say I received something in return... Or maybe that money isn't really something I need to care much about anymore..."

Seong Moran rambled incoherently.

For some reason, even Namgung Seonhwa avoided my gaze and fidgeted suspiciously with her fingers.

"Ah, right! Come to think of it, Monk Ilgak sent an invitation. Did you see it?"

Namgung Seonhwa was very awkwardly changing the subject.

I sighed softly and decided to play along.

"Are they holding a banquet too?"

This made three already.

The Twelve Peaks Fortress had moved first.

Next came the Five Great Families.

And now even the Nine Great Sects were announcing that they would hold a banquet.

"Exactly. The academy representative hasn't even held one yet."

Seong Moran fanned herself with one hand as though dumbfounded.

"More importantly, shouldn't we hold one now too?"

"Even if I held one, who would attend?"

Normally, once the academy representative group was fully formed, academic life for the students would begin with its first banquet.

But the others had stolen that initiative.

"But at this rate..."

It had already been two weeks since the academic schedule began.

As we became accustomed to the work, the academy representative group's efficiency increased, and we had completed all the paperwork that had initially seemed impossible for us alone.

But the real problem was that no one would attend the academic schedule I organized.

And if that continued for three months, I would eventually have to step down as academy representative.

That was why the successor of the Three Pure Supreme Sword had stepped down.

"They aren't people we can force to attend in the first place. Rather than spending money on that, it would be better to do something else."

"Something else?"

The information inside my head was useful for more than just processing paperwork for the academy representative group.

I also knew how the Intelligence Department, which controlled and executed the budget, had to be handled to make it function.

And I knew very well how to use that system.

"There's no need to beg them to attend. We simply have to make them so desperate to attend that they can't stand it."

And I had no intention of giving up the representative position easily.

#

"What the hell is all this?!"

Jegal Somyeong shouted irritably, but none of the department members reacted.

The official academy examination had already ended, and there was little work left to do, so everyone had been waiting for vacation.

Yet documents comparable in volume to those generated during the examination had suddenly begun arriving at the Intelligence Department.

"They came up from the Martial Academy."

"The academy? Since when did those bastards process work like this?"

"Not the academy itself. The academy representative group."

"What?"

Jegal Somyeong absentmindedly flipped over one of the documents.

The neatly organized document was flawless, without a single unnecessary detail.

"How many times was this sent back and forth?"

"It was processed in one attempt."

"What?"

Even academy representative groups needed time to learn the Martial Alliance's procedures.

Normally, a document would be rejected several times and undergo repeated revisions before a halfway decent report finally came up.

Yet this felt like something processed by an administrator who had already gone through all of that and accumulated years of experience.

"Did Maeng Juwon finally decide to help the academy representative group?"

Jegal Somyeong muttered to himself, assuming that must have happened, but the department member shook his head.

"What are you talking about? Department Head Maeng was the one deliberately creating even useless documents just to make Jin Sowoon suffer."

"He processed even those?"

He had.

And the amount was enough to shock even Jegal Somyeong, who was rarely surprised by ordinary matters.

"...Crazy bastard. Is he planning to invite all Ten Great Experts Under Heaven and hold a banquet for them?"

The department member merely chuckled without answering.

Sometimes people would request enormous lecture fees under the pretext of inviting famous martial artists.

Jegal Somyeong would never approve such nonsense.

"Obviously, that's not going to happen."

"Well... I think you're going to have to approve it."

"What?"

"These are the plans explaining how the budget will be used."

The neatly organized report went on endlessly, explaining why the budget was necessary, where it would be spent, what effects it would produce, and what benefits the Martial Alliance would gain from the event.

And the writing was so smooth that not a single sentence felt awkward or questionable.

Amid the mountain of documents, Maeng Juwon sat blankly with a devastated expression.

"On top of that, he suddenly requested an enormous budget, saying it was necessary for the academic schedule."

"What?"

"Look at this."

Since the academic schedule prepared by the academy representative group mostly focused on fostering connections, most representatives simply held banquets or invited famous martial artists to show off their personal networks.

"Th-thirty thousand nyang in gold?"

But since that bastard should not have had any impressive personal connections to boast about, Jegal Somyeong had assumed he had merely requested a banquet budget.

"Can we really refuse it?"

This was on an entirely different level from the Elder Hall or Martial Pavilion simply barging in and demanding more money.

There was no way not to release the funds.

No, they would have to cut budgets elsewhere if necessary just to provide the money.

"Hoho... This bastard really..."

Jegal Somyeong even felt that Jin Sowoon had enough ability to immediately take a position around deputy department head within the Intelligence Department.

'Deputy department head? No... I could probably put him in charge of Simhyeon Pavilion.'

While Jegal Somyeong entertained his own hope-filled fantasies, the department member continued.

"Anyway, because of this, the amount of work we have to verify has increased this much. That's why Department Head Maeng is in that state."

"Tsk, tsk. That's what he gets for creating work for himself."

Maeng Juwon, who had been staring blankly at the mountain of documents around him, suddenly snapped back to his senses and slowly turned his head.

The sight was so bizarre that Jegal Somyeong instinctively began stepping backward when—

"C-Chief Strategist..."

"I'm not helping you! You sowed those seeds yourself, so you reap them yourself!"

"Chief Strategist!!!"

Maeng Juwon crawled over on all fours and grabbed Jegal Somyeong by the trouser leg.

"I said I'm not helping you!"

"Have you seen this? This?"

Maeng Juwon waved the budget increase request that the department member had shown Jegal Somyeong earlier.

"Jin Sowoon must join the Intelligence Department after graduation. No, he needs to join right now. Give him my department head position. I'll become the deputy department head—no, I'll become an ordinary member!"

"Y-you insane bastard..."

"Chief Strategist!!!! Please!!!! Jin Sowoon!!!!"

"What are you waiting for?! Get him off me!"

Only after four or five department members rushed over were they finally able to pull Maeng Juwon away.

As Jegal Somyeong left the Intelligence Department, Maeng Juwon screamed after him.

"Chief Strategist!!! Jin Sowoon absolutely must come to the Intelligence Department!!!"

#

"..."

"I truly cannot understand why you refuse to wear it."

The head maid let out a long sigh.

But this was one matter on which I absolutely could not back down.

"...I almost died wearing that."

"What? What do you mean?"

"The sight of myself reflected in the mirror was so humiliating that I wanted to throw myself into the lake."

"...H-how can you say such a thing? This was embroidered over a hundred days by Geumbunne, the finest embroiderer in Hubei Province..."

"That's exactly my point. Why do I have to wear it when this isn't even an official event?"

The head maid was still trying to make me wear the same "Top-Ranked" outfit as before.

"Regardless, academy students and even distinguished figures from the Martial Alliance will be attending, will they not? You absolutely must wear something eye-catching."

"I'm not wearing that even if I die."

The moment I unleashed the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps, the maids who tried to grab my afterimages fell to the floor.

"W-wait! Fine! I understand! Just please don't tell me you're going wearing that gloomy martial uniform that looks as though all sense of aesthetics was thrown away!"

For a moment, I looked down at my martial uniform.

It had not been long since it was newly made, so there were barely any traces of wear.

And I had not been rolling around on the ground much lately, so it was not particularly stained either.

How was this gloomy?

"...We prepared another outfit just in case."

The head maid nodded with an expression as though she had aged ten years, and the maids brought out a new set of clothes.

"Please, at least attend wearing this."

It was the same black color I usually wore, but the fabric had a luxurious sheen, and thin silver embroidery ran along the sleeves, making it look considerably more refined.

"...You should have brought this out from the beginning."

I was not someone who cared much about clothing, but this was perfectly wearable.

My plain black martial uniform really did look too modest compared to what the other academy students wore.

When I stood among them, there were times when even I wondered whether I had come as the representative or as a servant waiting on them.

The upper garment had long sleeves like a Taoist robe, and whenever I walked, the silver-embroidered patterns across the back crossed elegantly over one another.

"If I'd known you'd accept this, I would have embroidered something here too."

The middle-aged head maid still seemed unable to abandon the idea of adding the words "Top-Ranked."

"If you do something like that, I'll never wear this outfit again either."

"Why do you dislike drawing attention to yourself so much? Isn't that why you're having such a difficult time at the academy?"

For some reason, the middle-aged head maid seemed to know quite a bit about my situation.

When I did not answer, her eyes widened like a rabbit's.

"I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn."

"Was there really anything inappropriate about what you said?"

It was not as though she was wrong.

#

I headed toward the banquet being held by the Nine Great Sects.

The road leading toward the banquet hall had been lavishly decorated with lanterns.

People walked along the lantern-lit path in groups of three or four.

Half appeared to be academy students.

The other half were people who attended gatherings like this to form connections with them.

Their luxurious clothing and jeweled accessories made it obvious that none of them came from ordinary backgrounds.

There was still a fair distance to the banquet hall, but cheerful music could already be heard.

Winter had passed and the weather had grown warmer, so drinking tables had been set up outside the banquet hall as well.

The disciples of the Nine Great Sects looked busy moving among those tables, greeting one another and building connections.

"You've arrived."

I turned my head and saw Jegal Jeonggi lightly clasp his hands in greeting.

"Did you come alone?"

"Everyone said they weren't feeling well."

In truth, I had been the one who stopped them from following me.

I already knew they would receive uncomfortable stares if they came to a place like this.

It was enough for me alone to endure that discomfort.

"You're remarkably considerate."

Jegal Jeonggi gave me an ambiguous smile.

"By the way, you're attending a banquet hosted by the Nine Great Sects?"

"As you know, the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families are not enemies."

"But you can't exactly call them one body either, can you?"

If they were not enemies, then why had they fought such vicious internal battles in my previous life?

"You could call it a strategic alliance."

"If so, doesn't your common enemy seem rather insignificant?"

"Are you pretending not to know, or do you truly not understand?"

"..."

"Young Master Jin is a symbol. And quite a large symbol of a fracture."

"Me?"

"Doesn't chaos begin from a small fracture like that?"

Jegal Jeonggi studied me closely before letting out a small breath.

"By the way, why hasn't the representative held a banquet? Since the academy representative hasn't held one, those of us who held ours first are starting to look rather shameless."

"...Would you attend if I held one?"

"Of course I wouldn't. Still, you never know. There may be people who secretly support the academy representative."

While looking around, my eyes met those of Cheol Sunjik, who was standing beside Nam Hwaseong.

For some reason, they looked at me with stiff expressions before slowly turning their heads away.

"So hurry and hold your banquet. If you keep postponing it day after day, won't you eventually become the academy representative who stepped down without holding even a single banquet, let alone properly running the academic schedule?"

"May I ask you something?"

I looked at his grinning face.

"Of course. Anything."

"Why haven't you asked about Jegal Cheongi?"

"..."

For the first time, his expression stiffened.

"As far as I know, the Jegal Family does not follow primogeniture and instead chooses its successor based on ability. Is that why you're wary of Cheon-gi?"

"...That is a matter of the family. It is none of your concern, Young Master Jin."

"Or is it because Cheon-gi is also a symbol of a fracture?"

"..."

Jegal Jeonggi's previously relaxed expression transformed like that of a demon.

"Young Master Jin, you're quite a harmful person. The problem is that you don't seem to realize it yourself."

In my previous life, Jegal Jeonggi had never even regarded me as a fellow human being.

Was this what one would call moving up in the world?

"And you believe everyone in the world except yourself is wrong."

Jegal Jeonggi's voice grew steadily louder.

One by one, the surrounding gazes began gathering on us.

"That is exactly why you're dangerous, Young Master Jin. Do you understand?"

At that moment, a group of middle-aged men approached us.

Every one of them wore luxurious clothing and gaudy jeweled belts.

As though choreographed, each held a folding fan in one hand and fanned himself.

Jegal Jeonggi saw them, jumped in surprise, and hurriedly clasped his hands.

"I greet the esteemed elders of the Martial Alliance. I am Jeonggi of the Jegal Family."

The man standing at the front of the group looked at Jegal Jeonggi for a moment before turning his gaze toward me.

I slowly and lightly clasped my hands.

"My greetings. I am Jin Sowoon."

"How am I supposed to know who you are if you don't say what organization you belong to or where your roots lie?"

The man standing at the front of the group frowned deeply.

"You don't know me?"

"Why would I know you?"

"Just now, you called this 'someone else's banquet.' You said that because you already knew that neither Jegal Jeonggi nor I belong to the Nine Great Sects, didn't you?"

The expression of the middle-aged man in front of me—and of the elders who had effectively become the starting point of the Martial Alliance's internal power struggles—twisted badly.

#

"...Young Master Jin. Do you know who this person is, to behave so rudely?"

A bald man in monk's robes spoke with a visibly startled expression.

It was Ilgak of Shaolin.

"I am Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect."

When I lightly clasped my hands once more, Daoist Myeonghyeon sneered.

"Hmph. I had heard that the arrogance of the Bloodflame Dragon, backed by the heretical murim, was fearsome. It seems the rumors were true."

"Something that wasn't true became accepted as truth because of you, Elder Myeonghyeon, and I've been suffering quite a bit because of it."

"Are you saying it is my fault that you cannot properly fulfill your duties as academy representative?"

"Otherwise, how could the forces of the Nine Great Sects, Five Great Families, and Twelve Peaks Fortress so openly disregard me? All of this happened because you elders interfered with my activities."

"Hah, what?"

An ominous atmosphere settled over the area, and pressure came from every direction.

"Did no one teach you that if you run your mouth like that in the murim world, you won't live very long?"

Not only Daoist Myeonghyeon but also the elders standing around him released hidden force simultaneously as though acting with one mind.

The pressure became so intense that I could barely breathe, let alone answer.

Jegal Jeonggi, standing beside me, was startled and grabbed his own throat with both hands, unable to hide his panic.

The immense pressure tightening around him left him unable to move.

His face quickly turned blue, and he looked as though he might die at any moment.

I immediately drove the Taeul True Scripture to full power and pushed back against their hidden force.

Gasps of astonishment erupted from behind Daoist Myeonghyeon, and I finally gained enough room to breathe a little more freely.

Daoist Myeonghyeon looked at me with considerable surprise.

"So you truly did not get in through luck."

At Daoist Myeonghyeon's words, the hidden force suppressing the surroundings vanished all at once.

Jegal Jeonggi, who had been clutching his throat, collapsed to the ground and spent a long while gasping for breath.

Seeing Jegal Jeonggi collapse while I appeared perfectly fine despite standing in the same space, people's gazes began to fill with newfound interest.

I wanted to gasp for breath just like Jegal Jeonggi, but I gritted my teeth and endured.

"Now then, I've heard that you still haven't properly begun the academic schedule, nor have you held a banquet in the name of the academy representative."

"For whose sake should I hold a banquet that amounts to nothing but empty ceremony?"

"Tsk. This is what happens when the uneducated don't know their place."

Daoist Myeonghyeon clicked his tongue and gave me a mocking smile.

"Then why did you request a budget of thirty thousand gold nyang?"

Gasps erupted from every direction at Daoist Myeonghyeon's words.

"T-thirty thousand nyang?"

"They give that kind of money to the academy representative?"

"What in the world is going on?"

Because of Daoist Myeonghyeon's words, not only the academy students attending the banquet but also those seeking connections with the Nine Great Sects all turned their attention toward me.

"Obviously, it's for the academic schedule."

"Thirty thousand gold nyang?"

"Yes."

"Were you planning to hand out a gold ingot to every person who attends your banquet?"

When I deliberately delayed my answer, the entire venue fell silent like a forest beneath a sudden downpour.

"Of course not."

"Then where exactly do you intend to spend such an enormous amount of money? If you're planning to embezzle it and send it to your sect as a secret fund, that will never happen while I'm here."

"You seem to think we're far poorer than we really are."

"Then tell us where you intend to spend the money."

The music at the banquet had already completely stopped.

It had not been my intention, but thanks to Daoist Myeonghyeon, things were unfolding more easily than expected.

I infused my voice with internal energy and began to speak.

"Everyone here should remember the nightmare that occurred on the Maling Plateau."

"..."

"That horrifying killing formation which, regardless of one's level of martial arts, turns anyone trapped inside into a wandering spirit."

Hundreds of gazes followed me with every step I took.

"To ensure that nightmare is never repeated, I decided to share the method for overcoming the Infinite Buddha Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation. And right now, the Infinite Buddha Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation is being recreated on the Martial Academy's main training ground for that purpose."

Groans and sighs of astonishment erupted from every direction.

"Huh..."

"So that's what that strange structure being built was."

"He's going to teach us that?"

"Even the Maosan Sect said they had no proper method for breaking that formation..."

The brief commotion vanished like shadows exposed to light the instant I opened my mouth again.

"Some of you may already know this, but I am the only person who repeatedly entered and exited that Soul-Destroying Formation while rescuing people. If you attend this academic session, then even if you are trapped in the Soul-Destroying Formation someday, you may be able to save your own life."

The murmuring grew louder and louder.

"Additionally, you may even gain clues that will allow you to install the Soul-Destroying Formation within your own sect."

The moment I finished speaking, the uproar swelled again.

Then someone among the crowd asked a question.

"Can anyone attend?"

I looked toward the source of the voice.

It was Cheol Sunjik, standing with the Twelve Peaks Fortress.

I nodded readily.

"Of course. This event is for all academy students."

I paused briefly before continuing.

"However, since the facility is not yet perfect, there will be limits on both time and attendance. Only the first two hundred people, divided into ten groups, will be able to learn the method for overcoming the Infinite Buddha Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation."

The instant I finished speaking, the commotion exploded.

The banquet had already been forgotten.

Everyone was busy exchanging information about what had happened on the Maling Plateau.

Daoist Myeonghyeon, the elders, and the academy students of the Nine Great Sects stared at me with burning eyes.

I ignored them completely and walked over to Jegal Jeonggi.

"Did you say I was a fracture?"

"..."

His face still showed that he had not recovered from the shock of the hidden force he had just experienced and the things I had announced.

I leaned toward his ear and spoke quietly.

"You saw it exactly right. I am a fracture. And that fracture will become the first hole that breaks apart the dam you people have built so solidly."