Chapter 22
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Steak Set, Low Heat Slow Cook
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A brush dipped in ink glided smoothly across the pristine white paper under steady hands.
The horizontal line it drew was neat and straight, just like the personality of the one who made it.
Once the ink had dried a bit, Uihyeon handed me the paper with a warm smile.
“Happy birthday, Yeon.”
“…This is the special birthday gift?”
He’d said he was giving me something special for my sixth birthday, but this? My first-ever birthday present is this?
Sitting cross-legged on the wide wooden floor of the dojo, I shook the paper with the character for “one” written on it and gave him a sulky look.
Uiseong, sitting next to me, pressed down on my head with his big hand.
“You think getting number one is easy? This is a privilege, a privilege, kid. I was number 315.”
“A privilege is supposed to tell you what’s on the test. Not this.”
Grumbling, I looked around at the unfamiliar scenery.
This wasn’t the upper palace on Yeonhwa Peak, which was basically my home—it was the Selection Hall on Nak-an Peak.
I’d just turned six this year.
Mount Hua Sect had opened the doors of the Nak-an Peak Selection Hall to take in the 28th generation of disciples. It had been fifteen years.
And I was the first to arrive at the Selection Hall for this first-come, first-served test.
That was the one and only privilege I’d enjoy in this exam.
‘Just first-come, first-served is boring. Couldn’t they do something like the Hunter Exam code from that one comic…?’
Like, “Steak set, low heat slow cook.”
No steaks here, so maybe “duck roast set” or something.
Mount Hua was a prestigious great sect, one of the top three sword sects in the Central Plains. That’s why there were always plenty of aspiring disciples.
But they couldn’t take everyone. So every fifteen years, Mount Hua held a selection exam to pick its disciples.
Here’s how Mount Hua selects its third-generation disciples.
First, they hold the Core Disciple selection exam.
They accept the first five hundred kids aged six to ten, then select thirty Core Disciples from those five hundred.
Core Disciples discard their family names, receive a Taoist title, sever ties with the secular world, and etch their names into the sect roster—lifelong devotees who bury their bones in the sect. In short, an elite group of chosen geniuses.
Core Disciples are granted access to the sect’s advanced techniques and secrets, with no restrictions on their training.
Only Core Disciples can rise to the positions of Sect Leader or Elder.
Next comes the Outer Disciple selection exam.
Held one year after the Core Disciple exam, so even those who fail the Core Disciple one can try.
They accept the first five hundred kids aged six to thirteen, then select two hundred fifty Outer Disciples from them.
Outer Disciples don’t get their names on the sect roster and can only learn up to the sect’s signature techniques—like the Seven Plums Sword that blooms plum blossoms for Mount Hua.
But if they show exceptional talent here, they can earn a Taoist title and become Core Disciples.
Secular Disciples don’t have a fixed selection period since they’re recruited year-round.
Of course, the donation fees aren’t cheap, so they don’t get overwhelmed.
The level of techniques Secular Disciples can learn depends on their donation. Mostly kids from merchant families.
This exam starting today was the Core Disciple selection.
The five-day selection exam at Nak-an Peak’s Selection Hall was nicknamed Selection Hell among Core Disciples.
I’d heard some still had nightmares about it.
That’s all I knew.
Mount Hua’s adults were annoyingly fair and hadn’t breathed a word about how the test would go.
Wasn’t it too late now? Couldn’t they give me a hint?
Uihyeon dodged my sparkling puppy-dog eyes.
“That’d be cheating, not a privilege.”
I stopped tugging at Uihyeon’s clothes at the casual voice from above and craned my neck back to look up.
A man stood there, arms crossed, gazing down at me indifferently.
‘Even if Uiseong and Uihyeon didn’t know, why’d this guy come along?’
I squinted one eye and stuck out my tongue at him.
Uijin, the junior of Uihyeon and Uiseong, was one of those who didn’t particularly like me.
Not hate, exactly—more like indifference.
So why had this guy followed Uihyeon and Uiseong all the way here to escort me to the exam?
As I glared at Uijin, Uiseong stood up and scooped me into his arms.
“Our little one can handle it without any of that, right? You trained hard—what’s there to worry about?”
“If I had it, I could do even better.”
Uiseong chuckled at my pouty reply.
I squirmed to dodge the hand ruffling my hair, and this time Uihyeon met my eyes seriously.
He gazed at me for a moment, then smiled warmly. The affection and trust in his eyes tickled, making me blink.
“Yeon, don’t feel too much pressure. Take it easy. Even if you fail this exam, you’re still a child of Mount Hua, raised by us.”
Unlike Uiseong’s rough hands, Uihyeon gently straightened my hair, and I nodded, entrusting my head to him. Uiseong cut in.
“No, senior brother. Instead of cheering her on to pass, you’re jinxing it—what kind of talk is that for the kid?”
“I just don’t want her feeling pressured before the exam even starts.”
“How do you go through Selection Hell with a light heart? You experienced it fifteen years ago—you know.”
“Clearing your mind helps more than tensing up. I’m giving advice from experience, like you said.”
Uijin tossed in a word toward the two bickering with me in the middle.
“Anyone’d think you were sending the kid out into the martial world alone.”
“Better to send her into the world—I could at least tail her secretly. But this exam? I can’t watch, can’t help at all.”
Uihyeon sighed and shook his head.
“It’s fine! I’ll pass for sure and return to the upper palace in glory!”
Hugging Uiseong’s neck, I declared proudly. Uihyeon took me from him, held me close, and patted my back.
“Yeah, we’ll be waiting, believing in you. Do your best.”
“Yeah! I’ll get first place!”
“Of course. Our Yeon’s top of the class.”
“Right, kid. Who made time in their busy schedule to train you? If you fail, you’re no disciple of mine. Got it?”
“Huh? I wasn’t your disciple to begin with.”
“You always ruin the mood at the end,” Uiseong grumbled, kneading my head.
I waved big to Uihyeon and Uiseong, who kept looking back every three steps, signaling them not to worry and go already.
Unlike the two who left the training hall, Uijin showed no sign of going and stayed behind.
“Why isn’t Instructor Uijin leaving?”
At my question, Uijin, who’d been grinding ink with the neatly cut paper in front of him, replied indifferently.
“Because I’m the Chief Instructor.”
“Oh.”
We’re screwed.
With that guy as head instructor, no secret favors or extra points. No such plot twist.
“So from now on, show respect. Call me Instructor, not junior uncle.”
“Yeees.”
“Short answers.”
“Yup.”
One hour until the exam starts.
To savor the last peace I wouldn’t have for a while, I flopped down flat on the wide floor.
“Hey, number one.”
I clicked my tongue at Uijin, already calling me by number.
He wouldn’t cut me slack as a Mount Hua kid, so he’d probably say something clichéd like “do your best.”
I prepared to let it go in one ear and out the other, rolling over toward Uijin. He beckoned me.
“Come here and help make the number tags.”
…Never mind.
I rolled across the floor to Uijin’s side.
“Any extra points?”
“You think?”
“Then no thanks.”
As I sprawled out again, Uijin forced a brush into my hand and said flatly.
“No extra points, but deductions? Those I got.”
“That’s unfair!”
I shot up, fuming.
“If you don’t like it, you be the instructor.”
“If I said I wanted to, you’d really let me?”
“Yeah. Not now—fifteen years from now.”
I scowled and dipped the brush heavy with ink. Scribbling the character on the paper, I got a deadpan nag.
“Write straight.”
Ugh, bossing a kid around and still chatty.
* * *
Leaning loosely against a tree, I surveyed the bustling Selection Hall. Since my age was the minimum, no kids younger than me were here.
Only children could pass through the Selection Hall gates, so the only adults inside were Mount Hua disciples serving as exam proctors.
This was the first time since reincarnating that I’d seen so many kids my age at once.
I’d never thought ten-year-olds were big, but compared to six, they looked pretty tall.
“Four hundred ninety-nine!”
A girl dashed up the steep peak stairs, passed through the Selection Hall gates, and the Mount Hua disciple recording numbers bellowed the count.
She took the paper I’d diligently written on and clutched her chest in relief.
Naturally, all eyes turned to the one who’d close the gates as the final five hundredth.
The kids’ curious gazes fixed on the Selection Hall gates.
“Gasp…”
Sighs erupted here and there. I let out a regretful groan too.
What appeared at the gates were twins holding hands tightly.
The lucky five hundredth spot went to the brother twin who entered first.
The younger hugged his brother tight, then headed back down the stairs.
With the final five hundredth set, the Selection Hall gates shut. Now those gates would only open to let out failures.
“Everyone, assemble!”
At the heavy shout from behind, the kids reflexively rushed toward the wide courtyard.
Ten Mount Hua disciples stood at the front of the courtyard to oversee the exam and evaluate the children.
‘Tch, it’s Doseon. Totally screwed.’
Spotting the chief exam supervisor among them, I stuck out my tongue.
Doseon was Uihyeon’s master. And he seriously disliked me.
Ever since I was a baby, whenever Uihyeon took care of me, he’d squint and chew him out: “You’d have reached the Five Peaks by now if you trained instead of babysitting that thing.”
I’d never forget him calling me “that thing.”
Anyway, the chief supervisor and instructor wouldn’t help at all. Gotta go straight at it fair and square.
If rumors spread later about me being a nepotism pick or whatever, I’d smash everything.