Chapter 303
Chapter 303
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 303
Chapter Title: Not Easy (3)
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'This is totally a checkmate.'
Checkmate was a term from the board game janggi, referring to a situation where no matter what move you make, you're doomed to lose.
Eon Yong-un's proposal felt exactly like that to Baek Ri-gyeom.
'If we refuse it, it's as good as admitting we're connected to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. But accepting it comes with its own problems... How does the Murim Alliance's verification process even work? Could Sang Woo-cheong and I pass it unscathed?'
A situation where he couldn't budge an inch.
Baek Ri-gyeom found himself unwittingly admiring the enemy.
'...They told me to be more wary of Eon Yong-un than anyone else.'
Ever since the Ghost King's faction failed to seize the Taiyuan Family, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's fortunes had gone from bad to worse.
In other words, the righteous martial world had scored victory after victory.
Among them were triumphs worthy of being called great victories.
'Like the assault on Huseong or the slaying of Master Do-ol, the Moon Horse, in Sacheon.'
Instead of bringing up those victories, Eon Yong-un had mentioned the academy fire.
At the same time, he'd framed it as concern for Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong, instantly calming the boiling atmosphere.
And then he'd made that proposal.
'One we can't refuse, and the other examinees have no choice but to welcome.'
The Demon Brain Division had warned even more strongly than the instructors to watch out for Eon Yong-un.
It felt like facing a fox in human skin.
'But at this point, it seems less like suspicion and more like certainty... How did they find out we defected to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?'
Sang Woo-cheong had a fiery temper and made a slight outburst during the Unrestrained Realm demonstration, but that alone wouldn't give it away.
Baek Ri-gyeom himself had never done anything particularly conspicuous.
'I have no idea how they lumped me in too.'
On the first day, when Eon Yong-un led the top-grade examinees on that mountain hike and long-distance round trip run, he'd endured right in the middle of the pack.
'As for forming groups among examinees...'
It was the natural direction of the Righteous Martial Academy's entrance exam, and even the scattered martial academies in Hobuk encouraged it.
Many other examinees had already banded together in groups.
'So why single me out? Could the anonymous tipster be someone who knows the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's plans for this?'
His mind grew tangled, and just as he was about to get lost in the story Eon Yong-un had casually tossed out as an excuse,
Baek Ri-gyeom bit his lip to pull himself together.
'No. That's not what's important right now. I need to think simply.'
The situation had already unfolded.
Dwelling on it wouldn't yield answers.
He had to respond well to Eon Yong-un's proposal to survive first, then plan the next steps.
'Only then can I scheme to revive my family someday.'
Baek Ri-gyeom shook off other thoughts and focused solely on the proposal itself.
The answer came quickly.
'Refusing the Murim Alliance's verification is a surrender in itself—no choice there.'
In truth, the answer was already set.
Baek Ri-gyeom hurriedly sent a transmission to Sang Woo-cheong.
[Brother Woo-cheong. For now, let's go along with submitting to the Murim Alliance's verification.]
[What? If we do that...]
[Refusing is the same as admitting we're Heavenly Demon Divine Cult followers. Let's buy time to get past this immediate crisis first.]
[......]
[Then we can look for a chance to escape later, or expect support from the cult, right?]
With that, Baek Ri-gyeom politely clasped his hands toward Eon Yong-un and spoke.
"You're right. We will sincerely undergo the Murim Alliance's verification process."
Sang Woo-cheong followed Baek Ri-gyeom's lead and clasped his hands as well.
However, Sang Woo-cheong's mind was an utter mess.
'Pinpointing that we defected to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult... It seems the anonymous tipster knows the internal details of this plan?'
At that moment,
the thought flashing through Sang Woo-cheong's mind was, 'Has the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult abandoned me and my faction?'
Unlike Baek Ri-gyeom's cool judgment, Sang Woo-cheong was caught in such thoughts because their hatred took different forms.
Baek Ri-gyeom had joined hands with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to revive his family.
Sang Woo-cheong had done so to avenge his sect's humiliation.
'...The Nine Great Sects.'
Among them, the Jongnam Sect in Shaanxi Province, bordering Gansu where the Kongtong Sect was located, had encroached on eastern Gansu bit by bit under the pretext of 'filling the void left by Kongtong' after the last Great Orthodox-Demonic War, pushing west from Xi'an.
The neighboring Mount Hua Sect and the righteous world's council, the Baekbon Council, had done nothing substantial to stop Jongnam's advances.
The weakened Kongtong Sect was ousted from the Nine Great Sects, and Mount Mosan took its place.
'They call themselves righteous, shared centuries under the Nine Great Sects name, yet they turned a blind eye to Kongtong's fall.'
What loyalty would the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult have to intervene actively in Sang Woo-cheong's affairs?
Besides, the cult needed time right now.
'They're in a position where they need time to regroup after successive failures.'
They could easily sacrifice Sang Woo-cheong and Kongtong as kindling to sow chaos in the righteous martial world.
'Even if the cult didn't submit the tip intending to use us as kindling... Once our usefulness ends, it's over.'
The moment they submitted to the Murim Alliance's verification, their ties to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be exposed—it was only a matter of time.
Baek Ri-gyeom wanted to buy time first and then escape or whatever.
But for Sang Woo-cheong, whose goal had been to enter the Righteous Martial Academy and create an opportunity to wipe out the Nine Great Sects' younger generation, it felt like the end.
'Is this really it? I wanted to prove with my own hands that Kongtong's tears of blood haven't dried yet!'
To get close to those foes worse than enemies, he'd taken the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's hand, steeled himself for death, and accepted their return pills and divine arts.
After such devoted training, he'd come this close to thrusting a dagger at Jongnam and Mount Hua, only to end here—Sang Woo-cheong ground his teeth.
Kaduduk.
At that instant,
Sang Woo-cheong's eyes caught sight of Jongnam disciples chatting with smiling faces.
"Hey, Mount Hua. You're lucky. Those Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong examinees nearly died at the previous gate—if they're disqualified, your rankings go up, right?"
"Shut it, Jongnam."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong agreed to accept my proposal,
the entrance affairs director nodded and mentioned the next steps.
"Then, examinees Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong, please head to the main hall with the graduate assistants in colored uniforms."
The tension filling the hall visibly eased.
- They're accepting surprisingly meekly? Their souls don't even reek of blood... Are you sure you didn't misjudge, Yong-un?
My master went so far as to say that.
Jeonghyeon let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew. They're agreeing to the verification. I don't doubt Young Master Eon's instincts or deductions, but I hope we don't conclude that scions from Baek Ri-se Family or Kongtong Sect have defected to the Demonic Cult."
Namgung Yun added his piece.
"Agreed. What a disgrace. The whole world would laugh."
The other instructors probably harbored similar thoughts deep down.
'They don't want to believe that sects pushed to near-extinction by the Demonic Cult have turned their backs on the righteous martial world to join them.'
It was no wonder the hall's atmosphere seemed to relax momentarily.
But incidents always erupt when tension loosens.
I opened my mouth to tell Jeonghyeon, Namgung Yun, and my younger siblings not to drop their guard.
"Jeonghyeon."
"Yes."
"I don't think your optimistic nature is a bad thing. If anything, mine might be a bit twisted."
At my words, my master and siblings chimed in.
- A bit?
"...A bit, Young Master Eon?"
"You really have no conscience, Eon Yong-un."
"Yeah. 'A lot' or 'way off' would be accurate. Even your blood brother Yong-myeong would admit that much, right?"
"...Ahem."
That alone proved their guards were down.
I furrowed my brow to snap them back to attention.
"Anyway. Everyone, stay alert. Nothing's resolved yet. And things usually happen at times like this..."
Just as the two disqualifyees were quietly leaving the academy cafeteria per the entrance director's words,
Sang Woo-cheong charged straight at the spot where Jongnam and Mount Hua examinees were gathered.
"Receive the fury of Kongtong!"
I'd been urging my siblings with words but keeping my eyes glued to those two, so I sprang out faster than anyone.
Swaeaeaeak!!!
This moment, as I raced toward Sang Woo-cheong with internal energy swirling around both fists,
my master offered advice.
- He's several levels below you, but don't underestimate him. Kongtong's Seven Injuries Fist reaches the pinnacle of weighted blows. If you let it land...
'Heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, large intestine, small intestine. The body's seven viscera get damaged. That's why it's called Seven Injuries Fist.'
I replied to my master as I deflected Sang Woo-cheong's right fist upward with the Heaven-Splitting Fist Technique.
Pak!
The punch aimed at the Jongnam disciple veered off course.
But Sang Woo-cheong's left hand shot out toward my abdomen.
Swaeak!
I reflexively pulled in my gut and crossed both hands to smack down his left fist.
Pak!
Then, drawing from the Dragon Soaring Style of the Eon Family Fist, I unleashed a barrage of swift Heaven-Splitting punches at his chest like machine-gun fire.
Peopeopeopeok!!!
To the staggering foe, I immediately unleashed the Anti-Dragon Palm.
Kwarung!!!!
Sang Woo-cheong flew back from the single palm strike and slammed into the wall.
Kwang!
As exclamations leaked out like mesmerized sighs from the crowd of watching examinees,
"Th, the world's greatest later-generation talent!"
My younger siblings and the faculty, who had rushed over split evenly, surrounded the wall-embedded Sang Woo-cheong and the awkwardly smiling Baek Ri-gyeom.
"...Hahaha. It just happened that our faces matched up—we're not close. I'm innocent."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The group assignment preliminary ended under the arriving disciplinary officer, Gyeonghye.
"Examinees Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong will be escorted to the Murim Alliance immediately after the entrance exam concludes."
"Yes! Superintendent!"
"Though a messy incident occurred right before the final gate of the entrance exam, the cradle of the righteous martial world cannot halt out of fear of the Demonic Cult. The exam will proceed. Entrance director, please announce the remaining notices, and examinees, give your all until the end."
As promised, the exam went ahead,
and pass/fail was decided.
"I passed! Passed!! I'm a Righteous Martial Academy cadet now!"
"...Damn it! If only my group assignment teammates had been decent, I could've passed with that score!"
Some beamed widely,
others shed tears,
and amid it all, spring break began.
"Then, we'll be off."
"We've taken security measures, but demonic cultists might move. Escort them with extra caution."
"Yes, Superintendent."
Under the strict escort led by Instructor Changryang, Baek Ri-gyeom and Sang Woo-cheong departed for Luoyang, home of the Murim Alliance.
When Instructor Changryang returned with a messenger confirming Baek Ri-gyeom's definite collusion with the Demonic Cult,
"Oath of allegiance!"
The new semester's freshman orientation began with this year's top cadet, Namgung Yeong, leading the oath.
"One. I pledge to abide by the academy rules and treat my teachers, peers, seniors, and juniors with respect. Two. I shall not be swayed by demonic or evil paths, but walk only the righteous way..."
Sitting in the VIP seats as student council president,
I had a clear view not just of Namgung Yeong and the top scorers leading from the podium, but all the cadets echoing from below.
'Mount Hua's Jin-ho. Jongnam's Du Seong-yeon.'
Among them were later-generation talents who played notable roles in the original story.
And even Jang Seon, who barely scraped by despite the absolutely short prep time.
'Haenam gave him an elixir pill, and Instructor Jeong Geuk-gyeong invested every waking moment in him... Still, the exam wasn't easy, so good on the kid.'
But more than Jang Seon, I focused on Dugoh Cheol—the poison I'd let into the academy's fold instead of excluding him at the entrance exam stage.
'He looks like he's saying, "I'm alive."'
I'd only been watching that mix of joy and relief on his face for a moment when,
"......!"
His gaze suddenly locked with mine.
Dugoh Cheol hurriedly averted his eyes,
and I grinned.
'Caught you.'