Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: I'm in Trouble Because My Popularity is Too High
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The sun was already dipping low in the sky. Sweat poured from my body like rain.
The other plum blossom candidates, including myself, had long since collapsed from the grueling training, sprawled out on the ground.
At one point, I even tried to escape, claiming it was time for my personal training session with my master.
But Uijin had already reached an agreement with the plum blossom candidates to stick to group training for the time being. His quick thinking turned my escape attempt into a complete failure.
To think this hell wouldn't end after just one day. I swallowed dryly, recalling the second-generation disciples from four years ago, who had staggered around like soulless husks for days.
"Kids, you tired?"
At the gentle question, I nodded my head a couple of times, my cheek pressed to the ground.
I wanted to convey the depth of my exhaustion with the volume of my voice, but regrettably, my throat was too busy with ragged breaths to manage it.
At least I could nod; the others couldn't even twitch a finger.
Judging by the way he asked if we were tired, maybe he's finally calling it quits?
I looked up at Uijin with sparkling eyes, but instead of the end-of-training declaration, I got a heartbreaking scolding.
"You went through Selection Hell, and this is too much for you? Fetching water from the rocky valley—do it with five hundred people competing? And you slack off! You passed the exam and became core disciples, so you think that's enough?"
"Of course it's... Whoops!"
I muttered unconsciously and quickly clamped my mouth shut. Fortunately, Uijin was too absorbed in his rant to catch my affirmation.
"We have to beat those Wudang bastards, we have to! How long do we have to live with them being called the world's greatest sword sect?!"
The Dragon-Tiger Assembly was clearly meant to build trust and friendship between our sects through exchange. Not to decide victory by scores and chew us out over it.
"But, huff, if we fought like that, the second-generation disciples lost 14 to 16 too, right?"
Panting with rising indignation, I pointed it out, and Uijin—who had also lost to a Wudang disciple at this Dragon-Tiger Assembly—retorted.
"If Senior Brother Uiseong had just won, it would've been a tie, you punk!"
"What about me?"
Uiseong suddenly appeared behind him, plopping a hand on Uijin's shoulder. Uijin jumped back in alarm.
"So, it's my fault it wasn't a tie?"
"Senior Brother, I think there's a misunderstanding—"
Uiseong's face was deadly serious, devoid of his usual levity, and Uijin dropped his typical nonchalance, scrambling for excuses.
But there was no way such attempts would work on Uiseong, who had been so shocked by his first defeat that he'd even run away from home in a bizarre act.
"You know, now that I think about it, didn't you lose this time too? Oh right, you lost last time as well. You think it's fair to push the kids this hard when you can't even win yourself?"
Cutting Uijin off, Uiseong sneered down at him crookedly and jabbed his forehead.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll handle the training, so you roll around with the little ones. We have to win next time. No three-peat losses."
Hearing that brought back memories of when I was four—Uiseong had pushed me too hard in training and gotten an earful from Uihyeon. I could feel the blood drain from my face.
"So starting tomorrow, Senior Uncle Uiseong will take over our training?"
"Yeah, at least Senior Uncle Uiseong won't push us as hard as Senior Uncle Uijin, right?"
"Man, they say no one has to die."
I looked pityingly at my fellow disciples, blissfully unaware of the doom awaiting them.
No, don't be happy. Chant that we'll die even harder than today. This guy's standard is himself.
The next day.
"Kill... me...."
"Ughhhh... Let... people... live...."
"Ah... Ah...."
"I wanna see Mom... Sniff... I wanna go home...."
The plum blossom candidates lay scattered across the training ground, moaning like ghosts or zombies.
Unlike yesterday, when we'd held out until sunset, this was midday with the sun high in the sky.
"Senior Brother, you're gonna kill the kids at this rate."
"Shut it, man. How the hell did you train them that they're whining like this?"
"It's not whining. I'm dying too."
"No one's ever died from training."
"I'm about to right now. And you're one to talk, you who skipped training every day since your third-generation days...."
"What, you little punk?"
Seizing the moment while Uijin and Uiseong were distracted with their brotherly banter, I whipped my trembling body into standing.
Alright. I'm escaping this place.
And so, amid the admiring gazes of my fellow disciples, I succeeded in sprinting alone to Jade Maiden Peak faster than anyone, differently from the rest....
"I figured you'd be here. Come on, let's get back to the fun training, kiddo."
"Save me! Senior Uncle Uiseong's got me in his clutches!"
"I told you I won't let you slack off anymore, didn't I? What kind of clutches?"
Before I could even climb my personal nap spot, the plum tree, Uiseong grabbed me by the scruff and dragged me wailing back to the training hall.
No! This isn't my Mount Hua...! My Mount Hua...!
Why has Selection Hell descended upon my cozy nest?! Primordial Heavenly Lord, please take this damned Selection Hell away!
* * *
Uiseong's reign of training terror ended after three days, once he'd sent five or six plum blossom candidates to the infirmary.
Grateful that Uiseong wasn't the true demon of Selection Hell, the plum blossom candidates' respect for Uijin—who at least had limits—grew even more.
A week and a half had passed since Selection Hell descended upon the mortal world.
Recalling how the second-generation disciples had endured for two weeks four years ago, the peak seemed just within reach.
If we held out a little longer, we could escape the nightmare of this horrific Selection Hell and return to our peaceful, leisurely Mount Hua.
As always, I woke at dawn, shouted for Namgung Seheon's downfall, chewed and swallowed a piece of fortified rice cake, then went outside and sat cross-legged on the great hall's veranda to circulate my qi.
Before the Dragon-Tiger Assembly, I'd done it undisturbed at quiet Jade Maiden Peak, but now, with Selection Hell training, trekking back and forth was impossible.
After circulating my qi, with a fair amount of internal energy gathered in my dantian, I rested my chin and gazed up at the still-dark dawn sky.
'Oh, my internal energy is building up pretty fast now?'
Even after learning Plum Blossom Mind Method, a superior heart art to Six Harmonies Art, spirit energy had only been absorbed in tiny droplets, like chick tears. I'd estimated full absorption of my potential around three years out.
I'd thought shortening that was impossible without learning something like Violet Harmony Divine Art.
But if the absorption rate had sped up, it must mean this Selection Hell training is effective.
Which means maintaining this training style would help.
My two selves waged a fierce internal battle.
It's helpful, sure, but this is too brutal. Overly intense training can be poisonous....
No, to get stronger, you have to endure this level of hardship. There's no wuxia where you suck on honey and power up. If the protagonist doesn't put in the effort, readers will curse him out.
"Hey, butts not down? Knees sticking out? Arms straight up, everyone! Why are your elbows flaring?!"
I must've lost my mind for a second, mesmerized by my growing internal energy. No need to rush—the Demonic Cult won't rise for three years, so slow and steady is fine, right?
At Uijin's sharp callout, I tensed my quivering arms and legs to keep from collapsing, shaking my head vigorously.
Just then, an angel's call came.
"Biyeon, the Sect Leader is looking for you."
I sprang up from the horseback heavenly palm stance and ran to Uihyeon.
It wasn't just anyone—the Sect Leader himself. Uijin let me go without even saying to come back after training. I waved brightly to my jealous-looking fellow disciples.
Haha, you guys keep spinning! I'll be off!
Having legally ditched training, I held Uihyeon's hand and arrived at the Sect Leader's office in Lotus Pavilion.
Once a place so familiar and cozy to me, it had become utterly intimidating after the owner changed.
"This Murim Alliance conference will be held at Shaolin."
I see. You're going to Shaolin. I nodded blankly, then stared at the Sect Leader. But why tell just me?
At my puzzled expression, the Sect Leader sighed briefly and continued.
"Letters arrived from the Hebei Peng Family and the Namgung Family."
The names instantly brought two faces to mind. Faces very hard to forget.
"They want me to come along?"
His silent affirmation made me stick out my tongue. Ha, this damn popularity. Too much popularity is exhausting.
Peng Haran had said goodbye with a "see you at the next conference," but why Namgung Seheon...? A challenge letter for a duel?
"It's a request, not a demand, so Mount Hua doesn't have to oblige. Of course, even if it were a demand, we wouldn't have to."
It sounded arrogant at first glance, but we could afford to say it. As one of the Nine Great Sects, Mount Hua rivaled Wudang as the world's top sword sect.
'Ugh, so he's not taking me after all.'
No reason to drag a young third-generation disciple without an official sect role or advanced arts to a bothersome conference.
Besides, the current Sect Leader wasn't like Great Grandmaster Grandpa, who had doted on me endlessly. If anything, he'd been strict with me since his first-generation days.
Not the type to yield to my pleading.
As I half-resigned myself, the Sect Leader posed a quiet question.
"Do you want to go?"
What? If I say yes, will he take me?
Well, it's only proper to respond to a challenge letter.
This was my chance to deliver an unforgettable, bone-crushing defeat to Namgung Seheon with my perfected Six Harmonies Sword and newly learned Seven Plums Sword.
I nodded firmly, and the Sect Leader gazed at me with clear displeasure.