Chapter 18 :

Chapter 18

Act Three: The Grand Martial Path Entrance Examination (11)

It had been that way from the beginning.

From the moment they first met, both of them had sensed that they would eventually find themselves in this situation.

Hae Unchan steadied his breathing and looked at Yise.

Yise returned his gaze with a somewhat restrained but unmistakable fighting spirit.

“Next. Yise and Hae Unchan.”

Once their names were called, the atmosphere of the martial training ground quietly settled.

The Heavenly Root Physique.

A heaven-bestowed talent said to appear no more than once in a generation.

The Heavenly-Demonic Dual-Meridian Physique.

An immeasurable potential born from possessing the same constitution as the Grand Martial Path Lord.

Although the two boys’ current cultivation realms were still insignificant, their confrontation was interesting enough to arouse the Hall Masters’ curiosity for the first time in quite a while.

The private conversations among the Hall Masters gradually ceased, and their gazes fixed upon the two boys.

Yise gripped his shield firmly and held his small axe lightly, spinning it around as though loosening his wrist.

Hae Unchan did not draw his sword.

He lowered his stance while gripping the sheathed sword, looking ready to charge at any moment.

After all, a swordsman’s attack began with drawing the sword.

“Begin.”

Hae Unchan moved first the instant the signal was given.

Spiritual energy gathered in the soles of his feet.

When he kicked off the ground, his body shot forward explosively.

The Hall Masters observing him exclaimed in admiration at his practiced spiritual-energy control.

He closed the distance in an instant and drew his sword.

It was a clean, orthodox attack without a single unnecessary movement.

However, Yise’s body had already drifted backward as though swimming through the air, and Hae Unchan’s first strike sliced through empty space.

‘What was that leap just now? He couldn’t use that technique two days ago.’

‘As expected, those fluttering movements are strange. It’s like watching a feather drift through the air.’

The two boys’ thoughts crossed.

After his initial charge, Hae Unchan’s movements returned to normal.

He was undoubtedly agile, but he appeared unable to match Yise’s movements after Yise had learned Dokkaebi Steps.

Nevertheless, Hae Unchan would occasionally accelerate as though being launched and unleash a series of threatening attacks.

When Yise concentrated his Spiritual Eyes, he saw Hae Unchan momentarily gather spiritual energy in the soles of his feet and spring forward.

It required extremely precise spiritual-energy control.

The boy appeared to have grown another level in only two days.

Yise inwardly admired him as he knocked aside a sword strike aimed at his flank with his shield.

Bang!

The impact traveled through his wrist and shook his shoulder.

It was heavy.

The force was almost comparable to the blows he had endured against the Mokgwang.

Yise immediately retreated and lowered his center of gravity.

The two constantly changed positions as they exchanged attacks and defenses.

Sharp metallic crashes rang out loudly, and their exchange became intense enough for beads of sweat to form across their foreheads.

Despite the speed at which they moved, neither allowed the other to land a fatal attack.

It was not because they were showing mercy.

Their spiritual energy could only be wrapped around their bodies, so their weapons were comparatively less dangerous.

When Hae Unchan’s thrust was blocked, his balance faltered slightly.

In his impatience, he had invested too much strength in that single attack.

Yise’s small axe descended toward his thigh.

‘They can reattach his leg.’

Yise swung while prepared to sever it if necessary, but the spiritual energy Hae Unchan drew up blocked the axe and knocked it away.

Instead, Hae Unchan’s sword slid up the shield and grazed Yise’s cheek.

A drop of bright-red blood formed there.

‘...He’s fast.’

The spiritual energy inside Hae Unchan’s body reached the desired body part swiftly and smoothly.

Although they were in the same cultivation realm, Yise was clearly inferior in control.

Hae Unchan continued his assault.

High, low, and diagonal.

His sword path appeared systematic and disciplined, growing increasingly threatening with every swing.

Wounds began appearing across Yise’s body.

He immediately abandoned his offensive stance and switched entirely to defense.

The momentum was passing to his opponent, so he needed to steady his breathing and heighten his concentration.

When Yise focused entirely on defense, Hae Unchan could not keep up with his movements.

Hae Unchan could not gather spiritual energy in his feet indefinitely.

His spiritual energy was limited, and recovering it would take time.

Yise deflected Hae Unchan’s attacks with the smallest possible movements.

As expected, impatience gradually became visible on the young swordsman’s face.

It was a product of inexperience.

At that moment, Yise gathered the spiritual energy he had been controlling slowly into the soles of his feet and kicked off the ground.

At the same time, he used Dokkaebi Steps to increase his speed even further.

Apparently never imagining that Yise would immediately imitate his technique, Hae Unchan swung his sword at the approaching axe with a startled expression.

It was a feint.

Almost no strength had been placed behind the axe.

It was merely intended to hook and restrain Hae Unchan’s sword.

The real attack was the shield approaching from the opposite side.

Both weapons flew into the air, and the heavy round shield smashed into Hae Unchan’s head.

Clang!

An enormous sound rang out like the tolling of a bell.

The impact was great enough to make the whites of Hae Unchan’s eyes show for an instant.

While Hae Unchan was still airborne, Yise gathered spiritual energy into his now-empty right hand and struck him directly in the face.

Hae Unchan’s body slammed into the ground and bounced several times.

‘He isn’t dead, is he...?’

Yise was not yet capable of finely adjusting the amount of spiritual energy he used.

He had effectively gathered all the spiritual energy he could contain at once and struck with his full strength.

Hae Unchan’s body trembled on the ground.

Wondering if he had gone too far, Yise anxiously looked toward the examiner.

“Chief Examiner, if he loses consciousness—”

However, Kang Yitae remained unmoved.

“Not... yet.”

Hae Unchan was getting back up.

His eyes were so unfocused that he could barely see, but his fists remained tightly clenched.

Yise wondered whether he truly needed to go that far, but there was no other way to end the match now.

Yise threw away his shield and drew spiritual energy into both fists.

From this point onward, it was a fight between cultivators—or something resembling one.

Hae Unchan lowered his body and drove into Yise’s lower half.

Bang!

His shoulder slammed into Yise’s thigh.

Yise gathered spiritual energy into his elbow and brought it down, but the blow was neutralized by the spiritual energy covering Hae Unchan’s back.

Yise’s center collapsed, and he fell backward as Hae Unchan climbed on top of him.

It was a situation Yise had never experienced in all his previous sparring matches.

A fist descended.

Thud! Thud!

The blows carrying spiritual energy hammered against Yise’s arms as he shielded his head.

If even the smallest opening appeared, Hae Unchan would be able to land a fatal blow to his head.

The impacts made Yise’s arms go numb.

For a moment, Yise considered striking Hae Unchan’s groin, but he changed his mind.

He did not want to cross that line in a sparring match between men.

What followed was a tedious battle of attrition.

One tried to hammer spiritual energy into the other’s defenses and break them open.

The other desperately protected his head.

Hae Unchan was the first to tire.

Apparently still suffering the aftereffects of the heavy blow he had taken, his barrage of punches gradually weakened.

Yise suddenly infused spiritual energy into his index and middle fingers and thrust them toward Hae Unchan’s eyes.

Startled, Hae Unchan released the pressure holding Yise down and leaned backward.

Yise immediately threw him aside and rose.

A close-quarters brawl followed.

As though wringing out every trace of spiritual energy remaining in their bodies, their muscles hardened further and their movements became another level faster.

Their breathing grew ragged, and their ribs throbbed whenever they took a hit.

They exchanged roughly the same number of attacks, but Yise was subtly deflecting at least some of the force behind Hae Unchan’s blows.

It was thanks to the heightened five senses granted by Dokkaebi Senses.

As a result, the battle, which had initially been unfavorable to Yise, gradually began turning around.

His greatest disadvantage was the amount of spiritual energy he possessed.

As expected of someone approaching the Third Star of the Energy Refinement Realm, Hae Unchan possessed far more spiritual energy.

If one lacked sufficient power, then one had to make the opponent expend two portions for every one.

Yise’s strategy gradually proved effective.

He blocked, redirected, and even endured blows while maintaining his balance.

Then, at a certain moment, both boys realized it.

Their spiritual energy was nearly exhausted.

Their physical strength was already depleted.

With no spiritual energy left to exchange, this would now become a contest of pure physical strength and willpower.

The one who endured would win.

Yise and Hae Unchan extended their fists toward each other.

Hae Unchan’s fist was stopped by an unknown power.

Yise’s fist shattered Hae Unchan’s jawbone.

Both of their spiritual energy reserves were exhausted?

That was true.

Yise had indeed used all his spiritual energy.

His spiritual energy, that was.

A second power remained within his body.

Demonic energy.

Moreover, Spiritual Eyes could not see the demonic energy inside his body.

Only Hae Unchan, who had personally taken the blow, and the Hall Masters in their exalted cultivation realms realized the trick Yise had played.

Hae Unchan’s body flew backward and rolled across the ground.

The whites of his eyes showed, and foam spilled from his mouth.

“The winner is Yise.”

At Kang Yitae’s gesture, the Healers from the Medical Hall appeared.

They fed Hae Unchan a medicinal pill intended for treatment and began administering first aid.

After a short while, Hae Unchan regained consciousness and coughed up blood.

Yise approached, supported him, and helped him stand.

Kang Yitae alternated his gaze between the two boys’ tattered Daoist robes before sighing.

“You aspiring Daoists certainly fought with remarkable elegance.”

Neither boy could raise his head.

On the night when every scheduled event at the Grand Martial Path training institute had ended, a final banquet was prepared to conclude the major occasion.

Once they formally began their lives as cultivators, they were expected to avoid worldly food whenever possible.

The banquet was a consideration intended to let them eat their fill before that happened.

If there was a problem, it was that some of them took the instruction to eat their fill far too seriously.

After the banquet, Kang Yitae summoned Yise.

“You called for me?”

“You used demonic energy during the examination earlier today.”

“That is also part of my power. Weren’t you the one who told us to use any means necessary?”

“Do not use it unnecessarily in the future if you can avoid it. Cultivators in lower realms might not notice, but those in advanced realms will sense its sinister nature.”

“I summoned you because I have three pieces of advice for you, including what I just said.”

Yise quietly listened.

“Until you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, do not accept recruitment offers from the Hall Masters of the Eleven Inner Halls or their True Mountain Disciples. Doing so would violate the Grand Martial Path’s principles.”

“I’ll try, but... I think handling it might be difficult if such a situation actually arises.”

“Deflect them with an appropriately noncommittal answer. Until you can determine the relationships among the Inner Halls and decide which one best suits your goals, do not give anyone a definite answer or promise. A cultivator’s promise develops binding power in its own right.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Yise committed this previously unknown information to memory.

He was not normally the type to make empty promises, but it seemed he would have to be especially careful with his words from now on.

‘It sounds like there are conflicts or rivalries among the Grand Martial Path’s Inner Halls.’

It was a truth he had not particularly wanted to know, but knowing it could not hurt.

Yise grasped the intention hidden between Kang Yitae’s words and committed that to memory as well.

“Lastly, watch your conduct. Although your identity is guaranteed by the Spirit-Guarding Temple, I will continue observing you.”

“...So you still haven’t stopped suspecting me.”

“I am merely fulfilling my duty according to principle. I must consider the final possibility that you deceived Mong Ryeon.”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

“Good. Congratulations on entering as the highest-ranked applicant.”

Kang Yitae patted Yise’s shoulder several times.

At first glance, he appeared to be a rigid and demanding senior, but Yise had grown rather fond of his personality.