CHAPTER: Chapter 16
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Chapter 16.
The heat that had seemed ready to explode from the clearing only moments earlier froze completely with the appearance of a single man.
Mad Blood Saber, Jeok Mugwang.
The cadets were seized by an instinctive terror, like herbivores standing before a colossal predator.
A voice as cold as ice split the roar of the waterfall.
“You lot held an unsanctioned spar, disrupted the discipline of Hidden Demon Cave, and even opened a private betting ring among your fellow cadets.”
He paused for a moment and slowly examined each terrified face before him.
Everywhere his gaze fell, shoulders flinched.
At last, he spoke as though passing judgment.
“Therefore, I shall punish you! Does anyone object?”
It was a trap disguised as a question.
To object was to challenge an instructor’s authority head-on, while to remain silent was to admit one’s guilt and accept defeat.
A heavy silence spread like poison.
‘Let us see what this lot will do. I wonder how many will dare challenge me.’
Jeok Mugwang’s test had already begun.
From the very instant the cadets entered Hidden Demon Cave.
Because the creed of The Strong Are Exalted was not something one could embody merely by reciting it with the mouth and memorizing it with the mind.
“The ringleaders who set this up, step forward!”
The moment the order fell, the cadets’ eyes turned toward Uncheon and Yuha as though they had planned it in advance.
But neither of them avoided Jeok Mugwang’s gaze.
While the others lowered their heads in fear, Uncheon and Yuha looked him straight in the eyes instead.
‘That brat again... And the other one is Yuha. The one from the Ilwol Merchant Guild, is he?’
The rest of the cadets all took a step back, as though to declare that they were not the ringleaders.
Muk Hajin found himself quietly enjoying the situation.
‘Serves them right! If things go well... perhaps Muk Wijin, one of the standout figures among the collateral line, and that brat will both be expelled from Hidden Demon Cave together? Two thorns in my side at once? Heh. This may actually work in my favor if I want to strengthen my influence!’
A smile he could not hide even curled upon his lips.
But as Jeok Mugwang watched that scene, a deep contempt flashed through his eyes.
‘Tsk, it is not as though they are brats from the orthodox sects.’
How had this cult grown so tame?
When they ought to have been waging bloody life-and-death battles, they tucked their tails merely because a sparring wager had been called out.
Did they think Hidden Demon Cave was some backwater martial hall?
‘Utterly disappointing.’
Jeok Mugwang’s gaze paused for a moment on Muk Hajin.
‘The Strong Are Exalted. And not one among them has awakened to its true meaning. The Sagal Muk Family has reared earthworms, not snakes.’
Just as Jeok Mugwang, overcome with disappointment, was about to end everything—
“Instructor!”
The one who shattered the frozen silence was someone no one had expected.
Yayul Hui.
With her fists clenched tight, she stepped forward without the slightest hesitation and faced Jeok Mugwang’s declaration head-on.
“How can it be a crime for cadets of Hidden Demon Cave to clash their fangs and prove their strength against one another?!”
Muk Hajin was aghast, but did not dare raise his voice. He could only mutter under his breath.
“Yayul Hui! That stupid bitch! She is volunteering herself for punishment....”
But Yayul Hui paid him no mind and continued.
In her voice lingered the pride of the Yayul Family, one of the Twelve Guardian Families.
“Rather, is it not the attempt to suppress the feral nature of starving wolves and turn them into meek sheep that runs counter to the creed of The Strong Are Exalted?!”
When her cry ended, even the sound of the waterfall seemed to fall silent for a moment.
Watching her, Yuha nudged Uncheon in the side and whispered so that only he could hear.
“Well now, the pride of the Yayul Family’s daughter is impressive. It is not as though she wagered heavily the way we did.”
“...”
Even in Uncheon’s eyes, she had no particular reason to step forward.
All she had done was uphold the simple principle that it was only natural for martial artists to cross blades.
‘Though she is a Demonic Practitioner, she has not yet been steeped in demonic corruption.’
That attitude was closer to that of a warrior pursuing the Martial Way.
Of everyone here, the most truly martial cadet might not have been Uncheon and Yuha, who stepped forward for the sake of the reward of an Instruction Token, but her.
Only when Yayul Hui stepped forward did a chill smile appear on Jeok Mugwang’s lips.
His eyes were those of a hunter who, in a barren desert, had at last found a lone wolf cub.
‘Ho. A daughter of the Yayul Family again. It could not have been easy for her to step forward. She passes as well. As for the rest, they are utterly worthless.’
Jeok Mugwang waved his hand dismissively, as though annoyed.
“Tsk. Uncheon, Yuha, Yayul Hui. Only you three remain. All the rest of you tail-tucking curs, get out.”
At his command, the cadets scattered in a flurry.
In the blink of an eye, only the three of them and Jeok Mugwang remained in the clearing.
Only then did Jeok Mugwang reveal his true intention.
“Foolish brats. And still you have not understood what The Strong Are Exalted truly means....”
He faced them with the far more relaxed expression of an examiner.
“In my eyes, the three of you each bared your fangs in your own way. That pleases me.”
Yuha grinned slyly and said,
“Haha, well now... did the three of us somehow end up being the only ones who passed the test?”
“You can still laugh? Do not misunderstand. The test is only beginning.”
Yayul Hui answered him with cold scorn.
‘She is right. There is no way Instructor Jeok Mugwang would simply let this pass....’
Uncheon distrusted his intent.
“Heh, you understand well. Baring your fangs alone is not enough. Frightened dogs bare their teeth as well!”
The moment those words ended, the playful face of the examiner vanished.
The killing intent erupting from his body began to press down on the three of them like a physical weight.
“Ghk....”
Groans burst from all three of them at once.
“Pride without strength is nothing but arrogance, strategy without strength is nothing but petty trickery, and skill without strength is nothing but reckless bravado.”
At that moment, the thick, cruel smile returned to Jeok Mugwang’s lips.
“If you cannot prove your strength against this instructor, then all you have done is indulge in foolish recklessness, and you will all be rated at the very bottom!”
“The very bottom, at this stage? That is too cruel, Instructor.”
Yuha grumbled, still not having lost his ease.
Boom—!
At that, Jeok Mugwang stamped down hard.
The sound was heavy, but the result was exquisitely precise.
A hidden force burst out from beneath his foot and burrowed into the ground.
Centered on his body, internal energy swept once in a full arc and carved a perfect circle.
‘An astonishing level of internal energy control!’
The depth and breadth of the furrow carried not the slightest error.
‘This is nothing like a crude stomp driven only by brute force! He dug out exactly as much earth as he wished, with perfect precision!’
All three could see that profound mystery was contained within that single move of Jeok Mugwang’s.
“Heh... are you afraid? Can you still bare your fangs even after understanding that fear? That is the difference between a dog and a beast!”
From what they had shown so far, Yuha and Yayul Hui were, at best, only at the threshold of First Rate.
For Jeok Mugwang, a master of the Peak Realm, they were foes he could subdue with ease even without using internal energy.
“I shall place a restriction on myself. This instructor will not use internal energy. By whatever means you can, if you force this instructor out of this circle, then you win. Come!”
The moment the declaration fell, the first to move was, unexpectedly, Yayul Hui.
“Instructor, I gratefully receive your instruction!”
Her words sounded respectful, as though she were sincerely offering thanks.
But the draw of her blade carried a razor-sharp edge.
Clang—!
With a shrill cry that rent the air, her wooden saber flashed like lightning toward Jeok Mugwang’s throat.
It was the Mad Wind Thirteen Blades, the signature art of the Mad Wind Yayul Family.
A swift saber worthy of its name.
Yet Jeok Mugwang did not so much as twitch.
Instead of evading the incoming strike, he merely raised his right hand lightly.
Then, with only his index and middle fingers, he lightly caught the tip of the blade that had been flying toward him like lightning.
“...!”
Yayul Hui’s eyes flooded with shock.
Her all-out opening move, One Blade Severing the Wind, could not advance even a single inch, as though an enormous mountain range stood before it.
“The Mad Wind Thirteen Blades, hm? The fundamentals are not bad... however!”
The moment Jeok Mugwang sneered and twisted his fingers, Yayul Hui’s blade was casually knocked aside, and she staggered back several steps.
“Far too light.”
It was then—
from the shadow she cast as she stumbled back, someone sprang upward.
“Now!”
With that shout, Yuha kicked the ashes and firewood from the bonfire toward Jeok Mugwang’s eyes.
At the same time, he dropped low like a snake and darted in, aiming for Jeok Mugwang’s lower half.
“That sort of petty trick would not fool even a blind man.”
But Jeok Mugwang did not even close his eyes. He merely flicked his sleeve once.
Whoosh—!
A violent gust burst from his sleeve, blowing away every speck of ash and even shoving Yuha’s body lightly backward.
It was a despairing sight, seeing both of their attacks utterly neutralized.
“Well now. I thought you might at least be wolf cubs, but you are still nothing more than puppies that cannot even tell their own filth. Is that all?”
“...”
Uncheon merely watched, unmoved by Jeok Mugwang’s provocation.
Because of the weight of the Iron Weights fastened to his limbs, he did not move rashly.
No, there was no need for him to move.
He was not watching Jeok Mugwang’s martial prowess, but the circle in which he stood, his feet, and the minute shifts in his center of gravity.
‘He is strong. But because he is strong, he does not move. That arrogance—that belief that he can settle everything from within that circle—is his only weakness.’
Only after gauging the other two’s attack paths and martial arts did Uncheon decide to move.
Had he moved before properly understanding Yuha’s and Yayul Hui’s martial arts, their movements would only have hindered one another.
By watching the clash just now, Uncheon had already made both of their martial arts, as well as Jeok Mugwang’s movements, familiar to his eyes.
‘Now I have to move.’
At that instant, his gaze, Yayul Hui’s, and Yuha’s met briefly in the air.
No words were spoken, but the meaning passed between them.
‘We go all out!’
Yayul Hui ground her teeth once more and readjusted her grip on her saber.
Yuha lowered his stance as well and began to circle around Jeok Mugwang.
Clank.
This time, Uncheon also joined the attack. The Iron Weights hanging from his limbs gave off a heavy sound.
“Instructor! We are coming again!”
With Yayul Hui’s cry, the three-against-one Coordinated Joint Assault began in earnest.
Contrary to Jeok Mugwang’s taunts, the exchange of offense and defense was anything but trivial.
When Yayul Hui’s swift saber pinned Jeok Mugwang’s attention from the front, Yuha aimed for openings with irregular attacks from his blind spots.
And through the minute gaps created by their attacks, Uncheon’s Limitless Step slipped inward.
In an instant, dozens of exchanges were traded.
Even Jeok Mugwang found himself inwardly impressed by the trio’s immediate Coordinated Joint Assault.
‘They do not even look as though they have ever practiced together... and yet they can move like this? Is it... because that brat is holding the center together?’
Unlike the other two, Uncheon did not attack easily.
He was simply there around Jeok Mugwang, like water—or like a shadow.
His strange footwork kept slipping half a step beyond Jeok Mugwang’s expectations, and that tiny discrepancy created breathing room for Yayul Hui and Yuha.
Of course, that did not mean a proper battle had taken shape.
Boom!
“Cough!”
Thud!
“Argh...!”
Yayul Hui and Yuha were slammed into the dirt and sent flying dozens of times over.
Their clothes were already a complete mess of mud and sweat, and a metallic tang of blood ran from the corners of their mouths.
But they rose again.
Because Uncheon’s presence—still enduring at Jeok Mugwang’s side, never once collapsing—reignited the fighting spirit that had been dying within them.
For the first time, a faint crease formed between Jeok Mugwang’s brows.
‘That brat... what in the world is that strange footwork? He barely attacks and focuses only on evasion and disruption. He does have a knack for enduring.’
Because Instructor Jeok Mugwang had promised not to step outside the circle, Uncheon was exploiting that distance to its absolute limit as he circled him.
Because of that, to Jeok Mugwang’s eyes Uncheon seemed merely to be enduring.
But what Uncheon was aiming for was something else entirely.
From the very beginning, his gaze had been fixed on Jeok Mugwang’s legs.
How much time passed like that?
Enough time that it would not have been an exaggeration to call it hundreds of exchanges.
“You are not without promise, brats. Though I said I would not step outside the circle, I did not expect you to endure to this extent. However, if this continues, your defeat is certain.”
At last, even Uncheon drew a harsh breath and retreated some distance.
Taking his withdrawal as the signal, Yayul Hui and Yuha also staggered back.
Their entire bodies were already smeared with mud and blood.
Meanwhile, Jeok Mugwang still stood at the center of the clearing without the slightest disorder.
Without even a hint of fatigue, he looked down at the three battered youths.
“This is enough. Will you accept defeat?”
His voice brimmed with the ease of a victor.
“What do you mean?”
But Uncheon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and curled his lips into a grin.
“We won.”
“What?”
A crease formed between Jeok Mugwang’s brows. Instead of answering, Uncheon jerked his chin at the ground beneath him.
“Look at your feet, Instructor.”
Jeok Mugwang unconsciously lowered his gaze to the ground beneath him.
“...!”
His eyes filled with shock.
There was no trace left of the clear circle Jeok Mugwang had first carved with his stamped step.
And Jeok Mugwang was not the only one who was stunned.
Only then did Yayul Hui and Yuha understand.
“Ha... haha.”
What Uncheon had been doing over those hundreds of exchanges instead of attacking.
He had not merely been enduring.
Even while fighting, he had been erasing the field itself!
“...You planned this from the start?”
Hundreds, thousands of footprints and traces of battle had been trampled over one another there.
No one could tell where the inside of the circle began or where the outside ended.
Only a churned field of mud remained.
‘The circle is gone.’
The condition of the test had been that they had to force the instructor outside the circle.
That very premise had disappeared.
Jeok Mugwang now stood there, aghast, upon a circle that no longer existed.
“Hahahaha!”
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