Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: White Tiger Hall
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The Eui Cheon Academy had four dormitories.
Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, White Tiger. The four dormitories took their names from the Four Guardian Beasts commonly associated with the number four, and the one assigned to Wi Seongcheon was White Tiger Hall.
"Second-years are in Vermilion Bird, third-years in Black Tortoise, and fourth-years in Azure Dragon."
Dang Heeran was handling the guiding duties. While Wi Seongcheon met with the dormitory head Nam Myeong to complete enrollment procedures, she had already checked out the dorm in advance.
"The building you were just in is Eui Cheon Hall. That's where the dormitory head's office and professors' rooms are. And that big building over there is Martial Studies Hall. All indoor classes are held there."
"And outdoor training?"
"Outside. The most commonly used spots are the training grounds attached to each dorm."
Dang Heeran turned her head to look at Wi Seongcheon. She furrowed her brows at the meager bundle on his back.
"I've been thinking about it, but isn't your luggage awfully light?"
"What's wrong with that? They provide everything you need here anyway."
Enrollment at Eui Cheon Academy wasn't free. In exchange for the tuition, the welfare for students was excellent. They supplied training uniforms as needed, and weapons and meals were no exception.
"Still, you'll be living here for four years. Don't you have any personal items?"
"Nope."
"...Well, you can buy most necessities at the academy's shopping district. You can also apply for outings...."
"What about overnight stays?"
"It's not impossible, but they rarely approve them."
"It's not a prison."
Wi Seongcheon grumbled loud enough to be heard. Dang Heeran chuckled softly and continued walking toward White Tiger Hall.
"There are still three days until classes start, so not all the students will be here yet."
"How about your side?"
"A few... are around."
No matter how vast the martial world was, it wasn't teeming with geniuses worthy of Eui Cheon Academy every year. This year, a total of 110 first-years had enrolled, boys and girls combined.
"You've been here half a year longer than me. Got any advice?"
"What kind of answer are you looking for? Professors? Or students?"
"No. About classes."
"First-years can't choose their courses. The schedule gets posted after classes start, so right now, all I can say is... Hmm...."
Dang Heeran furrowed her brows. She had been here half a year earlier, but she wasn't used to giving this kind of advice.
"...You don't use any weapons at all?"
"Nope."
"When's the entrance evaluation?"
"Tomorrow."
"Who's in charge?"
"Death-Defying Sword."
Dang Heeran's expression soured. The first thing every student at Eui Cheon Academy did upon arrival was the entrance evaluation.
Simply put, it was a spar between professor and student. Victory or defeat didn't matter.
What they prioritized most in that spar was the student's 'martial arts.' Students submitted what arts they practiced on their application, but not the full manuals.
The easiest way to discern what arts someone practiced was through sparring.
Eui Cheon Academy had many professors. Just because two used swords didn't mean they used the same style.
If a student practiced swift swordsmanship, they should learn from a professor who also specialized in swift swords, even if the exact arts differed. If they couldn't even match that, there was no point in coming to Eui Cheon Academy.
"I've seen how you fight, so... you'll probably be assigned to Professor Hwangbo Gwang, the Defeated Rock."
It was mentioned in Magistrate U's booklet as well.
If asked which clan was the most renowned and exceptional for fist techniques in the righteous martial world, everyone would say the Hwangbo Clan. Defeated Rock Hwangbo Gwang was a member of that Hwangbo Clan.
"Well, the details will be decided by Professor Seok Ijin, who'll spar with you tomorrow."
"What's Professor Seok Ijin's subject?"
"Basic Practical Combat."
Basic. Dang Heeran disliked that. Even for first-years, enrolling in Eui Cheon Academy meant they had long surpassed basics by any shallow measure. Yet Professor Seok Ijin's class was still called 'Basic Practical Combat.'
"I'd tell you more, but we have to wait until after the basic evaluation... What about dorm assignment?"
"They said to stay in the mid-tier building until the results come out."
"Yeah, that makes sense. With your skills... you won't end up in low-tier, and upper-tier is within reach."
"Where are you?"
"Upper-tier, of course."
Dang Heeran grinned. The 110 first-years didn't all live in the same dormitory building. Students were divided into three classes within their year: upper, mid, and low-tier. Even in the same year, skill levels varied.
"What, it's this big? You said it's just for first-years."
"Most of it's training grounds. Come on in."
Dang Heeran opened the gate and beckoned. Beyond the walls stood two buildings, separated for boys and girls. As she said, most of the space inside was an empty training ground.
"That side's the storage shed. Training weapons are kept there."
Wi Seongcheon heard her but didn't look in that direction.
He crouched down and touched the soil of the training ground with his hand. Then he approached the wooden training dummies lined up to one side. Thud. A light punch shook the dummy's head.
'Brings back old memories.'
He recalled his childhood, pounding wooden dummies relentlessly in Heavenly Flower Sect's training ground.
Wi Seongcheon chuckled. Dang Heeran, who had been watching him quietly, cleared her throat softly.
"...Anyway, rest well today. Don't get too excited and lose sleep."
"Yeah, thanks."
Wi Seongcheon turned to her with a grin. Dang Heeran glanced at his smiling face for a moment before turning away.
In the end, Wi Seongcheon had enrolled in Eui Cheon Academy. That recommendation letter he carried really was from Won Gwangbul.
Or at least, it seemed so for now... In three days, when the students returned and the class schedules were posted on White Tiger Hall's walls, everyone would learn whose recommendation had gotten him in.
'No need for me to investigate.'
His uncle, whom they parted from, would notice first and reach out. As she walked toward the girls' dormitory, Dang Heeran glanced back at Wi Seongcheon.
He was still standing in front of the wooden dummy. She didn't know how he'd gotten Won Gwangbul's recommendation... but Won Gwangbul stood behind him. The former Shaolin abbot and Martial Alliance Leader.
'How much protection will Won Gwangbul's name provide?'
Thud.
Wi Seongcheon lightly chopped the dummy's neck with his hand blade, lost in thought. Won Gwangbul's name carried great weight.
But Heavenly Flower Sect's name was small... Boldly trading on that name might make life easier.
Won Gwangbul's name was a double-edged sword for Wi Seongcheon. He could lean on its halo for comfort, but scorn for Heavenly Flower Sect would grow even more.
At the same time, that halo would draw in moths who disliked him.
Won Gwangbul's recommendation?
For a sect like Heavenly Flower?
They'd demand he prove his worth. What then? Bow his head? Grin obsequiously, grovel...
'After coming this far?'
Thud.
His hand blade became a fist. Wi Seongcheon pressed it to the dummy's chest center and chuckled.
He needed to change his mindset.
He hadn't wanted to come, but here he was.
His father, the Heavenly Flower Sect Lord... had said Heavenly Flower Sect couldn't bear it all, but he didn't have to swallow every insult.
That was enough.
'That's enough.'
The fist against the dummy's chest pulled away.
Crack!
The dummy shattered into pieces and collapsed. Wi Seongcheon looked down at it briefly, then stretched languidly. He still didn't know why his father had sent him to Eui Cheon Academy. He couldn't grasp the true intent.
But... his father's words when he left Heavenly Flower Sect weren't holding his ankle—they were pushing his back.
"Faster than I thought..."
He had planned to stay at Heavenly Flower Sect at least ten more years.
After ten years, he figured he'd have solid confidence. Regarding the vow from his childhood, Wi Seongcheon had no choice but to be excessively cautious. That's why it was ten years.
But he'd ended up leaving ten years early. Still, it wasn't bad.
While at Eui Cheon Academy, his competitors were only fellow students there—late-blooming geniuses around the same age.
He was ten years ahead, but he had no intention of rushing. He still had over three years left at the academy.
He was really here at Eui Cheon Academy.
Only now did Wi Seongcheon feel gratitude toward Won Gwangbul, who wrote the recommendation, and his father, who pushed him forward.
Before entering White Tiger Hall, Wi Seongcheon opened Magistrate U's booklet once more.
The booklet he'd read several times already.
The first name listed was Cheonin clan's Mu Yeon-jun, a fellow first-year.
Next to it, he had marked "One."
Wi Seongcheon looked at it briefly before turning the page.
Fellow first-year, Iron Bone Hwangbo Seong-woo at Four; Beautiful Swallow Sang Il-rin at Two.
Second-year, Wudang's Sword Dragon Tae Hee-myeong at Three; Four Beauties' Dang Seona at Two; White Orchid Cheong U-bin at Four.
Third-year, Shaolin's Little Buddha Statue Jin-u at Two; Huashan's Sword Peak U Ha-yeon at Two.
Fourth-year, Golden Name Escort Agency's Flame Flower Jeong Mi-ju at Three.
Eui Cheon Academy's students weren't just Dragon-Phoenix and Four Flowers. But the booklet gave little sense of the others.
So far, he'd only met Dang Heeran in person. She was...
'Five? Around there.'
Of course, Wi Seongcheon hadn't seen Dang Heeran's full power yet. What he knew was just her fending off Supreme Spear and Supreme Fist together.
But factor in that she hadn't read the Supreme Spear's move. Plus unseen poison arts and hidden weapons. Accounting for that... tentatively Six. It was relative, so it could shift up or down over time.
But one thing was certain.
'Win chance over eighty percent.'
That was for a head-on fight.
Wi Seongcheon closed the booklet and tucked it away.
The ones to watch most were fellow first-years.
The numbers next to names were simple: his own scale of 'strength.'
Even if the Cheonin clan's fame had faded, Mu Yeon-jun was still a heavyweight. He had over half the Ten Heroes as masters. Thus, One.
Iron Bone Hwangbo Seong-woo. Four. He'd made Dragon-Phoenix, but to Wi Seongcheon, the name didn't impress much.
He wouldn't underestimate Hwangbo Clan arts, but he was inevitably less familiar with fists than swords or other weapons. Thus, Four.
Beautiful Swallow Sang Il-rin.
Ranking her was tough due to scant info. Two—high mark.
Dragon-Phoenix or Four Flowers. Catching even one would make a name.
'If you can catch them, that is.'
Thinking that far was jumping ahead. He'd keep it in mind, but greed could make his already ridiculous situation even more laughable. Wi Seongcheon steadied himself. Again, no rush.
'Smartly.'
He had to know when to bend and when not to.
"What are you?"
The first floor's spacious common room reeked of steamed buns. A guy sprawled on a plush chair, munching buns, stared at Wi Seongcheon with wide eyes.
"...You're not Hwangbo Seong-woo, are you?"
"What nonsense out of nowhere? Who the hell are you?"
Good.
Wi Seongcheon truly thought so. He pointed to the bundle on his back.
"Can't you tell?"
"...Nah, no clue. Not one of the new handymen...."
"Don't people tell you you're oblivious?"
"What?"
"Ugh, the smell. Air it out before eating."
Wi Seongcheon grumbled past the young man. The guy, lips glistening with meat juice, gawked at Wi Seongcheon ignoring him outright, looking dumbfounded.
"Who are you, anyway!"
"Recommendation admit."
"...Huh? What?"
"Wi Seongcheon of Heavenly Flower Sect."
Wi Seongcheon opened a window.
Scanned outside.
No one there.
Then closed it.
"Heavenly Flower Sect... Heavenly Flower Sect...."
The guy blinked, muttering. Wi Seongcheon smiled, waiting for the reaction.
"Bat!"
Just as expected.
Wi Seongcheon clapped and laughed.