CHAPTER: Chapter 17
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Chapter 17.
“How amusing!”
The gaze of Mad Blood Saber, Jeok Mugwang, was nailed to the clearing at his feet, which had become a churned field of mud.
There was no trace left of the perfect circle he had carved.
Only the chaotic print of hundreds, thousands of footprints and the scars of a desperate battle remained, proving how fierce a battlefield this place had been only moments ago.
Yayul Hui wiped the blood seeping through the tears in her clothing and drew ragged breaths.
Yuha too had shed his easy smile and was forcing his trembling legs to hold.
‘Hundreds of exchanges... no, was it even more than that?’
The first thing that rose in his mind was the force of Yayul Hui’s saber as she had charged straight at him, as though she would rather break than bend.
That savage grit that made her rise an eleventh time even after being beaten down ten. She was still unripe, but the wildness within her was unquestionably real.
‘As expected of the Yayul Family. She is a little she-wolf of the north. She is worth praising.’
Next came Yuha.
The boy had never once clashed head-on, but kept slipping into blind spots and throwing the flow of the exchange into disarray.
‘That strange footwork... is it Bewildering Willow Step, that art which sheds an opponent’s force like a willow before the wind? As expected of the young master of the Ilwol Merchant Guild.’
More than anything, in Jeok Mugwang’s eyes Yuha seemed not to have revealed all of his martial arts.
‘From beginning to end, he merely weighed the board and concealed his hand to the very last. I do not care for it, but that must be the brat’s way... In any case, he passes.’
And at last, his gaze turned to Uncheon, who faced him in silence.
‘That boy....’
The center of everything. A brat dragged in from who knew where.
‘This should have been impossible....’
His movements held none of Yayul Hui’s ferocity, nor Yuha’s technical trickery.
And yet they had been the most flawless of all.
Like flowing water, his steps opened the path for Yayul Hui’s savage charges.
And when Yuha’s sly ambushes were stopped, he filled the gaps they left behind.
‘This is not a realm that can be gained through training. That boy... is reading the pulse of battle. Is this not the very definition of inborn martial talent?’
Even while enduring the pressure of a Peak Realm master, Uncheon had tried to overturn the entire game itself.
Jeok Mugwang rated that fighting spirit in Uncheon especially highly.
‘No matter that I had not drawn my blade... to think he conceived such insolence while standing against this instructor.’
While doing his utmost, if he could not win by force, then he shattered the rules themselves.
Jeok Mugwang thrilled at that answer.
‘That is the purest essence of the demonic.’
It was the closest thing to the Demonic Path as Jeok Mugwang defined it.
It was a vicious hunger for victory.
A competitive will that would not lose to any Demonic Practitioner. Uncheon possessed that.
How could he not be delighted?
“Heh... Hahahahahaha!”
At last, as though he could no longer contain himself, his mad laughter rang through the clearing and swallowed even the sound of the waterfall.
To think that the struggle he had taken for the desperate flailing of brats had in truth been meant to deceive him, the master of the board.
And yet no anger appeared on his face. Instead, there lingered the cold exhilaration of a predator that had discovered something rare.
When his laughter ceased, Jeok Mugwang swept his blood-bright eyes across the three of them in turn.
“Yayul Hui.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Your blade is still rough, but the fighting spirit within it is real. The blood you spill from here onward will sharpen that edge even further.”
“...Thank you!”
Along with surprise, a faint pride passed across Yayul Hui’s face.
“Yuha.”
“...You called for me, Instructor?”
“Your petty tricks were serviceable. But the truly strong do not content themselves with merely laying out the board. The strong decide the course of the board with their own hands.”
Yuha gave no answer. He merely lowered his head.
At last, Jeok Mugwang’s gaze reached Uncheon.
He wore the satisfied expression of a man who had discovered the prey he liked best.
“And you, Uncheon. You were the center of this board.”
As though acknowledging it, he spoke low.
“At this level... it was not mere bravado after all.”
That single sentence carried enormous weight.
Facing all three of them, Jeok Mugwang declared the end of the test.
“You failed to defeat me by strength. But you won the test. Fine. I acknowledge this contest as your victory!”
The moment the declaration ended, the tension left Yayul Hui’s body and she swayed.
Yuha quickly caught her.
Jeok Mugwang gestured toward the pile of Instruction Tokens stacked in one corner of the clearing.
“Whether you earned them through the night sparring matches or through wagers makes no difference. They are now spoils that you won by proving your own worth. As victors, take them proudly.”
That alone was an extraordinary reward.
But as Jeok Mugwang turned to leave, he spoke over his shoulder to the three of them as though something had just occurred to him.
“And... here is the true reward for this match. Listen carefully and carve it into your minds.”
“...!”
His voice dropped lower, more secretive.
“Do as you did today.”
The three of them wavered at those unexpectedly brief words.
“In the coming Comprehensive Evaluation, do not cling to visible rankings or the superficial contents of the tests. The true masters of Hidden Demon Cave have no interest in such childish games of numbers.”
A meaningful smile curved across Jeok Mugwang’s lips.
“This instructor is not the only one watching the Comprehensive Evaluation. There are others in the shadows, weighing everything about you.”
He pointed toward the darkness beyond the clearing.
“If you wish to catch their eye, then prove that you are not merely strong, but useful. Just as you proved it to me today.”
With those last words left behind, Jeok Mugwang disappeared into the darkness without a trace of hesitation.
“Though, of course, each of them desires something different.”
After Jeok Mugwang vanished into the dark, only a heavy silence remained in the clearing.
The joy of victory lasted only a moment. His last words had branded themselves upon their minds like an ominous mark.
‘There are others in the shadows, weighing everything about you.’
The first to break the silence was Yuha.
As though nothing had happened, he put that sly smile back on his lips and nudged the mound of Instruction Tokens with his foot.
“Well then, this mood is far too heavy, is it not? We have suffered enough. Let us claim the victor’s due first.”
At his words, Yayul Hui snapped back as though regaining her senses.
“Can you not read the room? Did you not hear what the Instructor said? He practically told us the Comprehensive Evaluation is the real hell!”
“Even if we are headed for hell, we should at least secure our fare for the road. Is that not so, Lady Yayul?”
Yuha smiled in that irritating way of his and began counting the Instruction Tokens.
Though Yayul Hui huffed in frustration, the sheer scale of the spoils soon made her jaw fall open.
“T-This is all Instruction Tokens? Just how many are there?”
Even excluding the Instruction Tokens Uncheon had won from Muk Wijin, the total stake from the night sparring matches alone easily exceeded three hundred.
“We can divide them equally into three.”
That was what Yayul Hui said.
But Yuha shook his head.
“Fairness is all well and good. But is there not one person who deserves the true credit for this round?”
Yuha’s eyes turned to Uncheon.
“The one who read the board, designed it, and in the end caught the Instructor off guard and seized the victory was you, Uncheon.”
For some reason, even Yayul Hui readily accepted his words.
Avoiding Uncheon’s gaze, she turned her head slightly and muttered,
“...Well. That is true.”
It was the moment her pride acknowledged Uncheon’s skill.
Seeing that, Yuha winked and said,
“Then let us divide the Instruction Tokens into three first, and I shall invest half of my share in Uncheon.”
“What? If you are going to give it, then just give it. Why are you suddenly calling it an investment?”
At the word investment, Yayul Hui frowned at once and protested, apparently thinking Yuha was trying to play another angle.
‘Yuha. This bastard never gives anything for free. This is not simple goodwill. It is a scheme to tie himself to me.’
That was more than enough reason to play along with him.
The night sparring matches had shown as much.
Had he not turned ten Instruction Tokens into several dozen times that number in an instant?
Having made his decision, Uncheon opened his mouth.
“Fine. I will accept that investment.”
Yayul Hui, still sounding as though she could not understand it, demanded,
“Hey! Why are you like this too? Then what is the price of that investment?”
Yuha answered with an easy smile.
“A price? What an absurd thing to say. It is merely... a spectator’s pass to the most interesting spectacle, from the closest seat.”
“...Tch. If you are going to put it like that, then I have no choice but to offer mine as well!”
Snapping, “I cannot let only that weasel become your investor!” Yayul Hui tore away half of her own Instruction Tokens and stuffed them into Uncheon’s pocket.
Yuha merely gave a shrug.
In the end, Uncheon alone took half of the total Instruction Tokens.
He silently swept his portion into his pocket.
Once the spoils had been divided, an awkward silence flowed between the three of them.
‘There is no need to grow too close to them.’
Even in the face of the goodwill in the two gazes turned toward him, Uncheon had consciously kept his distance.
They were, in the end, the children of the Demonic Cult.
They stood on the side of enemies with whom he might one day have to cross blades.
But at the same time, they were also temporary comrades to whom he had entrusted his back only moments earlier.
‘...There is no need to sink into sentiment. Whether it is their goodwill or their investment, all of it is merely a stepping stone for destroying the Demonic Cult.’
The one who broke the silence first was Yayul Hui.
“I cannot stop thinking about what the Instructor said. Eyes in the shadows... I am going to look into it in my own way.”
She shot one brief glance at Uncheon, then sprang into the darkness.
Uncheon spoke next.
“I have business at Myriad Treasures Pavilion.”
It was a short statement.
He too had merely announced his destination.
Without another word, he turned and walked away at once.
Behind him, the Iron Weights bound to his limbs gave off a faint clattering sound.
In an instant, Yuha was left alone in the clearing.
He looked back and forth between the darkness into which the other two had disappeared, then let out a small laugh.
“This is something else. One is transparent to the core, and the other never reveals what is inside....”
His gaze settled in the direction where Uncheon had vanished.
The last thing Jeok Mugwang had said passed through his mind.
‘...Eyes in the shadows.’
The sly smile faded from Yuha’s lips.
‘It means they want us to display talents that the organizations watching from the darkness would covet.’
In his mind, countless lines of play unfolded, all of them placing the chess piece called Uncheon upon one board or another.
A cold and razor-sharp light, the light of one who designed boards, entered Yuha’s eyes.
‘The Inspectorate, the Black Shadow Corps, the Hall of Myriad Demons... whichever organization it is, they will not be able to help desiring him once they see him. Upon which board would it be best to place the finest chess piece?’
But soon Yuha shook his head.
Uncheon was not the sort of man who would move according to someone else’s design.
That gaze which had never once broken even in hopeless circumstances, that insight which pierced the essence of the board, and that vicious hunger for victory.
‘Yes, there is only one thing he will be aiming for right now. A way to fix his body! One of the Five Exalted Ones—the Demon Physician, the Life-and-Death Exalted One. And the Demonic Bone Rebirth Art that he created!’
Yuha had pinpointed Uncheon’s true objective exactly.
‘In that case, the talent Uncheon must display is already all but decided.’
Uncheon would surely seek to catch the Demon Physician’s eye.
“...The Demon Physician. That works out nicely. Even for him, winning that man’s favor will not be easy.”
A delighted smile returned to Yuha’s lips.
“Uncheon, no matter how capable you are, you will not be able to refuse my help. Not if you want to fix your body.”
At last, Yuha stamped out the remaining embers and vanished into the darkness.
“Heh. I thought this would be an irritating assignment, but Hidden Demon Cave is becoming more and more to my liking. To the point that it will be a pity to leave.”
***
At that same time, Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
“I seek a transaction, Pavilion Master.”
The old eyes of Do Chansu, the Master of Myriad Treasures Pavilion, narrowed as he flicked the beads of his abacus.
‘Is this not the brat who ordered medicinal ingredients to help with internal injuries...?’
Uncheon pulled a pouch full of Instruction Tokens from his robe and poured it onto the counter in a heavy spill.
A full hundred and fifty Instruction Tokens.
It was a vast sum that even a Head Instructor of Hidden Demon Cave would not spend lightly, yet he decided without hesitation to pour all of it into his own body.
“I will give you all of these Instruction Tokens. From now until the day of the Comprehensive Evaluation, spare no medicinal ingredients that will aid the recovery of internal injuries and stabilize qi and blood, and turn them all into Medicinal Pills.”
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