Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Secrets of the Black Forest
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In front of the academy gates, large and small carriages had gathered. They were there to pick up the students.
Each carriage bore flags emblazoned with the symbols of their sects and clans.
Among them were flags from merchant houses and escort agencies as well as sects and martial families, but the most eye-catching by far were those of the Murim Alliance and the Imperial Palace.
"This year's fourth-years weren't much in the way of talent."
As befitting the top escort agency in the murim world, the Golden Name Escort Agency's carriage was large and ornate.
Snow fell outside amid biting winds, but inside the carriage, a cozy warmth prevailed. The seats were as soft as a bed, and a faint fragrance lingered in the air.
Wi Seongcheon had ridden in carriages many times before, but this was his first in one so luxurious and comfortable.
"For a lack of talent, the Murim Alliance and the Imperial Palace still sent theirs."
"We can't afford not to scout them entirely. The Alliance and the Palace are always short on promising recruits."
Jeong Miju said this as she opened a box in the corner.
Wi Seongcheon blinked in surprise at the chill wafting from it.
"...What's that?"
"Fruit."
"Fruit that looks like this?"
The air inside the carriage was warm, yet the fruit handed to him was ice-cold. Strange enough on its own, but its shape was downright odd.
Yellow and elongated, curved halfway, it gave off only a grassy scent when he sniffed it.
"You peel the skin off before eating."
Jeong Miju shot him a look like he was some country bumpkin and peeled back the yellow rind. Creamy white flesh appeared beneath.
Wi Seongcheon stared blankly at her for a moment, then mimicked her and peeled his own.
"Huh...!"
The taste was astonishing. Not just its subtle sweetness, but the texture was utterly foreign. It practically melted in his mouth without any chewing.
Jeong Miju clicked her tongue at his wide-eyed reaction.
"See? My little brother really is a country boy at heart. Right?"
"Ahem..."
Unable to argue, Wi Seongcheon shoved more into his mouth.
"It's no big deal for me, but you'll be heading back to the academy in two months. Straight to Gansu."
Jeong Miju raised her hand. At once, Seo Baek, seated beside her, pulled a tightly rolled sheet of paper from his robe and handed it over.
He had been keeping his mouth shut since earlier, but his reddened eyes suggested he was lost in graduation sentiments.
"...What's this?"
Wi Seongcheon tilted his head as he took the paper from Jeong Miju.
"A gesture of consideration for you."
"What kind?"
"You'll see when you unroll it."
Jeong Miju flashed a smug smile. Wi Seongcheon cocked his head but unrolled the paper.
"I see."
He understood now why she called it consideration.
Wi Seongcheon grinned and looked up at her.
"Guess I can call you big sis now, huh?"
"What else were you planning to call me?"
"Dunno. Maybe Chief Jeong?"
"Cheeky."
"Prepping something like this means you're expecting a lot from me."
"Don't you think you're reading too much into me?"
"So you prepared it purely out of kindness?"
"Think what you want. But you're not ungrateful, are you? Remember that your big sis looked out for you."
Jeong Miju gave a mischievous smile.
"Naturally."
What she had handed him held immense value.
Wi Seongcheon scanned through the several sheets of paper.
They contained information on the Black Forest. Details on the unorthodox world's martial academy were not easily obtained by the orthodox sects.
That was because the Black Forest was even more insular than Yicheon Academy.
'No.'
Wi Seongcheon's eyes narrowed.
'Can you even call this a martial academy?'
Its system was completely different from Yicheon Academy.
The Black Forest lay on an island in the southern seas, making seclusion inevitable.
All sea routes to it were under strict control by the Black Society.
Yicheon Academy took prodigies after age fifteen and trained them for four years, divided into grades and classes.
In contrast, the Black Forest accepted entrants from even younger ages, with no fixed graduation timeline.
"...The strong are revered, the weak despised."
"Right. The Black Forest lives by that principle strictly."
There were no grades in the Black Forest. Students were distinguished not by age, seniority, or class, but by 'strength.'
The measure of that strength was stars.
"Depending on how many stars you hold, the Black Forest can be heaven or hell."
Upon entry, family background and sect meant nothing. Age was irrelevant too.
Every star disciple started with one star.
With one star, you could do nothing. The only freedom was breathing.
Even using the dining hall or dorms was impossible. You could forage in the forests and seas for food and water, make camp—but always on guard against raids from other disciples. To gain stars, the fastest way was stripping them from others.
One-stars could fight without dropping further, but once you had more, a single defeat meant losing them all.
"In Yicheon Academy, student fights are only under professor supervision. And killing is forbidden. Not so in the Black Forest."
Fights happened daily. Deaths were commonplace.
Unlike Yicheon, the Black Forest accepted anyone from the unorthodox world who desired entry.
A brutal environment where life hung by a thread—yet every year, hundreds of young unorthodox warriors entered.
"Before the Black Demon King, the Black Forest wasn't so different from Yicheon Academy. But after he became leader of the Black Society, it changed completely."
The Black Demon King was the most radical leader in the Black Society's history.
He flung open the society's martial vault, providing the Black Forest with hundreds of years' worth of manuals.
Not all were treasures, but many were divine arts coveted by all warriors.
That lust for supreme techniques drew hundreds of unorthodox warriors each year.
And it wasn't just that. Disciples who maintained high stars received spirit elixirs, vast wealth, and honors.
"The Black Forest divides areas by the number of stars required for entry."
One-star disciples could only roam the coastal fringes; more stars let you venture deeper.
Even inland, insufficient stars barred certain zones, where the Black Demon King periodically placed manuals, elixirs, and other treasures warriors craved.
"Even seeking instruction requires stars."
Like Yicheon Academy's professors, the Black Forest had instructors—but they didn't teach freely.
Most lurked deep inside, requiring stars just to meet.
"Efficient."
Wi Seongcheon gave his honest assessment.
"In a place like this, you'd train desperately just to survive."
"And the rewards are guaranteed. Hell for the weak, though."
"Then they shouldn't have come in the first place."
Wi Seongcheon muttered as he turned the page.
A list appeared of the various unorthodox masters serving as instructors.
"Minimum three stars to even meet an instructor?"
"Meeting one doesn't guarantee instruction. It's up to them."
"Honestly, their faculty outshines Yicheon Academy's."
Wi Seongcheon whistled at the top names.
Black Demon King Baek Ri-muwon, eight stars.
Hundred-Eyed Witch Ju Eun, seven stars.
Green Forest Demon Emperor Sama Jin, seven stars.
Heavenly Killer, seven stars.
Four of the Ten Unorthodox Heroes had their names listed.
"They're named, but except for the Hundred-Eyed Witch, they don't reside there. It's false hope, really. The torment of maybe becoming a disciple of the Black Demon King or another Hero."
"So the Hundred-Eyed Witch stays in the Black Forest?"
"But she's never once instructed a disciple. Hard to even glimpse her face, they say. Why? Want to meet her?"
"A little."
The Hundred-Eyed Witch Ju Eun was the supreme master of the Soul Absorption Great Law, renowned in murim history.
And Heavenly Flower Sect techniques were a variant of it, so she might offer useful advice.
*Fat chance.*
Even excluding the Ten Heroes, renowned unorthodox masters filled the list.
'Reach four stars, and you can seek instruction from most.'
Whether they accept was another matter.
Four stars meant a comfortable life in the Black Forest.
Wi Seongcheon asked as he turned the page.
"If a one-star beats a three-star, you don't automatically become three-star, right?"
"No, that'd make ascending too easy."
"Descending's a breeze, though. Isn't that unfair?"
Lose once, and you forfeit all stars, back to one.
Yet climbing from one-star was no simple task. It all boiled down to this.
'How many stars can you steal.'
The more you had, the more you stood to lose—and the harder it got to gain more.
Even so, top disciples held high stars for years.
The Black Tyrants—unorthodox prodigies—were such figures.
Black Dragon Sanggo Hoo, seven stars.
Under him, other Black Tyrant prodigies dominated the rankings.
Among them, Wi Seongcheon noted Black Swallow Baek Ri-hyang, said to be the Black Demon King's daughter.
'Five stars.'
Snow Flower, who rose with Black Swallow to the Four Flowers, had six.
The orthodox world distinguished Four Flowers from prodigies, but the unorthodox did not. Black Swallow and Snow Flower were both Black Tyrants.
And Black Swallow had the fewest stars among them.
No wonder the Black Demon King called his daughter's talent mediocre.
"Good thing Yicheon Academy and the Black Forest start exchanges next year."
"Pfft, no way they'd treat exchange students as full disciples..."
Wi Seongcheon recalled the Black Demon King's smile and shut his mouth.
He was exactly the type.
"If you really want to meet the Hundred-Eyed Witch, you'll have to grind for those stars."
Seeing him silent, Jeong Miju giggled.
* * *
A little over a fortnight later, the carriage passed Gansu's city gates.
Wi Seongcheon peered outside with a fed-up expression. The ride was smooth, but two weeks cooped up inside was stifling.
"Jeong Clan patriarch?"
"Dazzling Qi Lord Jeong Jin."
"The young master I'm meeting?"
"Purple Lightning Jeong Uiseok."
"Gansu's major unorthodox powers."
"The Jeong Clan holds the largest force. The only rival is one of the Six Unorthodox Sects, the Ice Palace..."
Wi Seongcheon, reciting like a drone, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
Across from him, Jeong Miju looked up from her clan register and glared.
"My little brother's awfully bored, huh."
"Cut me some slack, sis. Two weeks straight in this carriage."
"You rode just as long to Gansu last time."
"That time I trained. Spar with me, and I won't complain."
"What if you get hurt? We're going to refuse a marriage proposal. Showing up injured would be humiliating."
Jeong Miju clicked her tongue and closed the register.
"It's fine with me, but calling Ice Palace warriors from the North Sea Ice Palace just 'Ice Palace' is a grave insult. They take it as mockery."
"They're not even in the North Sea anymore. Why keep the full name?"
"They did settle there long ago. Now it's overrun by demonic qi, unlivable, but North Sea Ice Palace warriors still dream of returning."
Centuries ago, the North Sea Ice Palace truly lay in the distant north, beyond the borders.
But with the Demon King's descent and demonic beasts rampaging, they fled to the Central Plains' southernmost reaches.
The current generation had never seen the North Sea, yet they clung to the name, vowing return.
The orthodox world mocked them as just "Ice Palace."
"The North Sea Ice Palace ranks among the Six Unorthodox Sects, but its nature resembles a martial clan or mysterious sect like Qinglin. Hundreds of blood kin make it up."
"But not a single unified family?"
"That's why it echoes Qinglin. North Sea Ice Palace warriors aren't fully one ethnicity, but their features differ from typical Central Plains folk."
Seyok people.
"Now the blood's thinned, traits less pronounced, but the palace lord's line preserves it. Others show varying degrees. So..."
"No staring or whispering about looks."
"They're touchy about it. Especially hostile to the orthodox world."
That was unavoidable.
With the Demon King's arrival and demonic beasts, most borderlands became uninhabitable.
Centuries of death and exodus followed.
Many border martial groups were absorbed into the Central Plains murim.
But the orthodox refused them fully, due to prior conflicts.
The unorthodox welcomed them. That was how North Sea Ice Palace took root in Gansu.
Centuries old, yet border sects remembered the orthodox rejection.
"They're extra sensitive these days."
"Yeah."
Wi Seongcheon grumbled, glancing outside.
Many eyes turned to the carriage, some sharp and piercing.
Disciples of the Haomen, the unorthodox world's information network.
Snow Flower Ha Ji-eun, North Sea Ice Palace's young lord.
She had returned from the Black Forest days ago.
"Vacation doesn't even overlap, and we run into this bad luck."
"Black Forest has no vacations to begin with. Four-stars and up can just come and go freely."
"Timing's too coincidental, isn't it?"
"You think it's coincidence?"
Jeong Miju grinned.
"Word that you're riding with me to Gansu spread long ago."
"You didn't even try hiding it."
"Better to advertise outright—makes refusal smoother. And the Black Forest already knows Yicheon students arrive come spring... Now, question."
Jeong Miju wagged a finger at him.
"Did Snow Flower return from the Black Forest because of me, Yicheon graduate? Or you, Wi Seongcheon, confirmed for Black Forest next spring?"
"You call that a question?"
Wi Seongcheon chuckled dryly and shook his head.
"Obviously me."