Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Training Retreat
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Murim world was undergoing rapid changes, but Tae-seong couldn't care less. He holed up in the Imperial Palace Martial Academy's training hall, completely absorbed in researching the Muscle Heart Method.
In the process, Tae-seong discovered several astonishing benefits of the Muscle Heart Method.
For one, there was no need to sit cross-legged in meditation to recover internal energy.
Amazingly, the Muscle Heart Method allowed him to restore internal energy bit by bit even while moving.
As expected, it was a type of moving cultivation technique.
Put another way, this was no different from vastly increasing his total internal energy reserves.
Of course, it didn't increase the amount he could unleash in a single burst.
But it was a tremendous help in situations requiring sustained use of small amounts of internal energy over long periods—like deploying long-distance lightness skills.
After all, internal energy kept recharging even while running with the Muscle Heart Method.
The other major benefit was that he didn't have to store all his internal energy solely in his dantian.
He could store some of it in his muscles and transfer it to his dantian when needed.
Muscles make up half of a person's body weight.
In a sense, they could be called the body's largest organ.
Among the many functions of these muscles, they not only move the body but also act as a second heart, storing and circulating blood.
And in storing blood, they also serve as energy reservoirs.
The body's primary energy source, glucose, is converted into glycogen by insulin and stored in the muscles.
That's why trainers at the gym tell you to deplete your muscles' glycogen with strength training first, then do cardio to burn fat.
The order in which the body consumes energy sources is carbohydrates, fats, then proteins.
Given that muscles act as energy storage depots, it made perfect sense to store internal energy there as well.
A heart method that partially recovered internal energy even while moving and allowed small reserves to be kept in the muscles instead of just the dantian... This bordered on cheating.
How much time had passed since Tae-seong became immersed in the Muscle Heart Method?
One day, a notice went up on the academy's bulletin board.
The first-year cadets who saw it buzzed with excitement.
It announced a training retreat to a Murim hotspot for the new freshmen.
A full seven-day retreat, no less.
The destination was Heavenly Fragrance City, home to the must-visit landmark, the Thousand Days Tower.
Of course, plenty had been there before, but just as many hadn't.
Tae-seong, who had zero interest in going, felt irritation bubble up first.
'I'm already short on time to train the Muscle Heart Method, and now a retreat? What is this, high school? Seven days is enough time for so many workouts I could crush.'
Tae-seong was forced to pause his weight training for the time being.
Instead, he decided to meditate and organize the insights he'd gained during training.
The dorm room was a whirlwind of activity as everyone prepared for the retreat.
It was downright cute seeing grown men getting so worked up over a trip.
"Heh, we're not kids anymore, getting excited over something like that. Ahem."
"And why are you packing five outfits? I thought we were told civilian clothes were strictly forbidden. You don't plan on wandering around in them, do you?"
"Heh heh, and why are you ironing your clothes twice before dawn? Starching them and creasing the edges—that's a third-year privilege, isn't it? Are you in your right mind?"
"Hmph! Who cares about a single crease? It's just us going—what's the harm? Wash it when we get back."
"Tsk tsk... watch them get demerits. Demerits for sure."
The two bickered like righteous and demonic sect members dying to devour each other, yet they oddly got along well.
A prickly but caring kind of friendship.
As Tae-seong watched their antics, Yang Cho-gun asked him,
"Have you ever been to the Azure Moon Tower?"
"No, first time for me. You?"
"Me? I was too busy scraping by to even wet my mouth."
Tae-seong wasn't much different but didn't let it show.
He turned to his now-familiar roommates.
"None of you have been to the Azure Moon Tower either?"
Jo Gi-myeong, packing his clothes diligently, replied,
"I went when I was really young, but so young I don't remember much. Just that there was a ridiculously tall tower by the lake."
"Well, I've been, but..."
Sima Ryang trailed off while ironing.
Three pairs of eyes snapped to him.
Realizing the attention too late, Sima Ryang flustered and spat out,
"I didn't have time to enjoy it properly back then."
"I see. Anyway, mind doing these too?"
Tae-seong slyly dumped his clothes on the diligently ironing Sima Ryang.
Sima Ryang's face stiffened briefly.
"Even so, this is a bit..."
Tae-seong knew exactly how to handle these demonic sect types.
As five silver taels clinked one by one onto his clothes, Sima Ryang's expression flipped from sour to beaming.
"Right away, sir! How many creases? One line? Two? Three? Just say the word!"
"Ahem. A real man goes for three, no question."
The day of the retreat arrived.
Everyone passed through the Imperial Palace Martial Academy's main gate with relaxed, eager faces after so long, heading for Heavenly Fragrance City.
The transport was ten large ox-drawn carriages rented from a nearby merchant guild, plus horses from the academy stables.
"Advance the vanguard!"
The group of some two hundred set off like an army marching to war.
The academy's imperial banner fluttered noisily in the wind.
The carriage ride reminded Tae-seong of a military truck from his past life.
'Not bad at all. These ox carts.'
Two days later, Tae-seong and the Imperial Palace Martial Academy cadets arrived in Heavenly Fragrance City.
But the atmosphere was far from normal.
A group of about a hundred in white uniforms faced off against a hundred fifty in blue uniforms, glaring daggers in front of the Azure Moon Tower.
The Imperial cadets grew rowdy at the sight.
"Isn't that the Dragon Academy kids?"
"Wait, those are Demon Dragon Academy?"
"What the hell? What's going on?"
"Why are all these bastards here?"
The instructors who'd come along to chaperone looked flustered too.
"Instructor Kang! No intel on this?"
"I-I only got the date from the vice commander..."
"You idiot! You should've at least coordinated dates with the other academies! Is this how you handle your duties? First time as an instructor?"
"S-Sorry, sir."
The panic wasn't limited to the Imperials.
The Dragon and Demon Dragon sides were equally thrown off.
"Professor Song, you scheduled the retreat for today without even checking? Causing this mess?"
Professor Song Baek-kyung bowed his head low.
"S-Sorry, Chief Professor."
Dragon Academy's Chief Professor Jang Man-cheol shot back glares at the Demon Dragon Academy's head instructor, who was glaring murderously at him.
From Jang Man-cheol's mouth came crude words unfit for his stern face.
"Ha, that bastard's gotten bold."
The man glaring at him was Baek Si-ho, head instructor of the Demon Dragon Academy and a legendary killer ghost in the demonic sects.
Jang Man-cheol, chief professor of the Dragon Academy, took the icy stare head-on.
He too was one of the Ten Great Sword Masters of the righteous Murim.
The two had crossed swords endlessly since their youth.
With them facing off, their students inevitably growled at each other too.
"How dare demonic riffraff show up at the Azure Moon Tower?"
"Wonder if you're even qualified to call us riffraff. Anyway, did we crash some place we're not allowed?"
"This is righteous faction territory."
"Hmph! Since when?"
"Maybe since ten years ago?"
"You son of a—!"
The Dragon Academy cadet's jab at the demonic sects' defeat in the last Righteous-Demonic War thickened the killing intent from the Demon Dragon side.
Both sides' hands drifted naturally to their waists.
Unfortunately, being on a retreat, all they had were lunchboxes and bamboo canteens.
"Damn."
"Count yourself lucky."
"You too..."
In this tense standoff, another group of unwelcome guests arrived en masse.
Flutter~ Flutter~
The imperial banners flapping in the wind marked them unmistakably as Imperial Palace Martial Academy cadets.
The eyebrows of the two academies' cadets twisted into inverted Vs.
"What're these beggar bastards?"
"Why're these punks here too?"
"Ha, demonic trash and the emperor's lapdogs—what a circus. Has Heavenly Fragrance gone downhill?"
"Hmph! If we're trash, you righteous scum are the dregs."
"A nobody like you hopping around like a mad bitch. If another Righteous-Demonic War breaks out, I'll kill you first."
"Hmph! Speak for yourself. Don't worry—I'll send you off painlessly."
"I could send you off right now."
"Oh ho? Confident even bare-handed?"
Watching them, it was clear why the last Righteous-Demonic War had happened.
Tourists around Heavenly Fragrance City fled in fear from the standoff between the two groups.
Just as the kids' squabble threatened to erupt into a full brawl...
The adults finally stepped in.
"Enough!"
"Stand down!"
As Jang Man-cheol and Baek Si-ho unleashed their fierce auras from either side, the cadets from both academies recoiled under the pressure.
Having so easily calmed the children, Chief Professor Jang Man-cheol and Head Instructor Baek Si-ho exchanged old rivalries with knowing smirks before quickly reaching an agreement.
"Long time no see, Baek Si-ho."
"You're still kicking too."
"Thanks to you. Anyway, if you don't want the infamy of sparking a Righteous-Demonic War over bad chaperoning, let's call it here."
"Fair enough this time."
"Never thought we'd see eye to eye."
"Me neither."
With consensus reached, the two barked at their cadets.
"Listen up! Anyone causing trouble here will be expelled from the academy in my name. Remember that!"
Baek Si-ho warned his Demon Dragon cadets in a low growl.
"Those who shame the academy will face severe punishment. Go wild at your own peril."
Just like that, they sorted the situation and vanished.
The funny part? They hadn't spared a word to the Imperial Palace Martial Academy instructors.