Hell Difficulty
Disappointed Yeop Pung returned to Nagun Peak. His herb garden and spirit beast cultivation plan had failed.
But Yeop Pung had one fact he didn’t know. That was that someone else was also disappointed.
Bone, clueless, headed for the cave where Yeop Pung had been staying. The dog went back and forth several times, scouring every inch of the place. Yet he found nothing special in this rundown cave.
Of course not. Everything had vanished without a trace—what was left?
“This brat must be out of his mind… Coming to this rundown place at night. Did he catch a sleepwalking disease?”
Bone returned to Nagun Peak with a face full of dissatisfaction.
***
After that, the Cheonun 1st Unit endured truly hellish training.
After one horrific real-combat drill, the responsible Duwei Deung Chung was replaced without hesitation. It was unavoidable. No one could now gauge Yeop Pung’s true strength, and even warriors of the Six Meridians Realm could not handle him. Replacement had become inevitable.
The cavalry general of Commander Naeng Chu took over as training responsible. At the Spirit Realm level, he crushed everyone beneath him like a massive mountain.
But in reality, the daily training for the 1st Unit was managed by Sa Cheonseong, who had recovered enough from the injury at Taebaek Peak. Bandages wrapped thickly around his chest, Sa Cheonseong appeared before the Cheonun disciples with a cold, expressionless face. At that moment, the Cheonun disciples felt that a true path of suffering had opened before them.
As expected, Sa Cheonseong gave Yeop Pung not so much as a glance and offered him no chance to display his strength.
Sa Cheonseong spoke without delay.
“If you are soldiers of Cheonun, you must temper your bodies like steel. Today, carry three thousand jin of weight and run for one hour to loosen up!”
What? Three thousand jin? For one hour? This was insane!
The maximum power a 4-Meridian Mysterious Realm body could produce was only four thousand jin. Lifting three thousand jin was manageable, but carrying that weight while running was an entirely different matter. Running for a full hour was no different from trying to kill someone.
But before the people below the platform could react, Sa Cheonseong added immediately.
“Those who cannot do it will receive twenty lashes. And for disciplinary purposes, there will be no dinner tonight.”
“Would you rather starve them to death!”
Yo Yeong-chun could not hold back and let out a low growl from within the crowd.
“What? How dare you speak back to your superior?”
To suppress the rising training atmosphere, the cavalry general standing on the high platform swung his hand and unleashed a qi attack. Even though it was three hundred steps away, the qi strike landed precisely on Yo Yeong-chun’s cheek.
Thud!
Yo Yeong-chun spun wildly and crashed to the ground.
“Yo Yeong-chun!”
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned red, but there was nothing they could do.
Forming qi into a tangible shape and attacking from a distance was the method by which Spirit Realm experts overwhelmed Mysterious Realm warriors. Even Yeop Pung had no way to counter that momentum.
“Lord, please forgive me!”
Beom Undae quickly dropped to one knee beside him.
“I will execute it at once!”
He turned his head and roared at everyone.
“What are you standing there for! Run now!”
It was truly infuriating!
Everyone gritted their teeth and took a step forward. One by one, they walked to the edge of the training ground, lifted the standard black stones, and slung them onto their backs.
“Ugh…”
Mo Soo-mi’s original cultivation realm was only at the 4-Meridian level. The moment he placed the three-thousand-jin stone on his back, his legs sank deep into the ground. Just walking a few steps made his entire body tremble.
How was he supposed to run for an hour in this state?
“Damn it, stop slacking and run!”
Deung Chung, standing energetically behind them, spat and shouted at everyone.
“Planning to fake it again? You brats! If you don’t want to run, I’ll personally beat you with twenty lashes! Run now!”
The scene that followed was one that could not be watched with open eyes.
For anyone below the 5-Meridian Realm, three thousand jin was nothing short of torture. In the blink of an eye, people collapsed to the ground unable to endure.
In Sa Cheonseong’s eyes as he watched from afar, there was no emotion at all.
“Drag them away and beat them with lashes.”
“Understood!”
Deung Chung’s group rushed over like mad dogs, ready to carry out the punishment right beside the training ground.
“Aaaah!”
“Cwueuk!!”
Heart-wrenching screams echoed in everyone’s ears. People felt as if their chests were being sliced by sharp knives.
It was so unjust! It was so infuriating!
But what could they do? Everyone gritted their teeth and could only keep running.
What made them even more furious was the sneering voice coming from Beom Undae, who was carrying a relatively lighter stone beside them.
“Hmph, Yeop Pung, you see? It’s all thanks to you…”
“Shut up!”
But before Beom Undae’s provocation could finish, Wang Maeng’s group shouted from the side.
“You idiots!”
Beom Undae’s face turned deathly pale as he shouted.
“If you hadn’t caused trouble following Yeop Pung, would we have ended up like this!”
“Spit!”
Then Mo Soo-mi, who had been stepping with difficulty, cursed in a weak voice.
“So what? People… rather than living like you—kneeling submissively and acting like dogs—better to live bravely even if beaten!”
“Hahaha, well said!”
Yo Yeong-chun, whose face was swollen beside him, was panting but laughed with all his strength. Wang Maeng was also laughing next to him. Everyone’s vision spun, bodies and minds exhausted, yet they all wore the same expression.
With nothing but three-thousand-jin stones and twenty lashes, we cannot break the spirit of the Cheonun people!
Yeop Pung stood silently without saying a word. In fact, he knew. Even if the Cheonun disciples did not resist, their fate would not improve. Maybe they were already all beaten to a pulp yesterday.
This was a hardship that everyone had to face. It had been scheduled from the day Han Buri became the master of Cheonun.
But why was the sect master quietly watching all of this?
Why was the sect master locked away in that suspicious room on Nagun Peak? Had he truly given up like this?
Was he not at all concerned about the Cheonun disciples and elders imprisoned in the jail?
Was he not interested in the safety of the thousand Cheonun heroes selected for the Cheonun Army?
Besides the sect master, what was the thinking of the Meng clan head?
Yeop Pung could not figure it out at all. All he could do was deal with this situation in his own way.
Right now, he… had no choice but to wait.
Until the day the hundred-year herb garden appeared in the world, until the day the rat king Heukgu exerted his full power…. He could only endure and bear it.
***
The grueling day ended.
Even experts like Yeop Pung and Wang Maeng felt as if their skin had been peeled off after one hour passed.
Out of two hundred Cheonun disciples, only about ten managed to avoid the lashes. The rest all had their skin torn by the whips and returned to the dormitories supported by each other.
Ruthlessly, those who had been whipped could not even have dinner to replenish their energy and had to participate in training the next day without fail. This was like intending to kill people.
Hahaha!
When everyone left, the training ground echoed only with the cruel and spirited laughter of the Cheonbong Army.
Yeop Pung and the Cheonun brats! You fell into our hands!
How is it? Feeling good? This ‘good day’ has just begun. Hahaha!
***
For several days, the situation did not improve.
The next day, Mo Soo-mi fainted during training and was moved to the herb garden…
On the third day, Yo Yeong-chun had two bones broken and lost consciousness on the spot…. On the fourth day, fifth day…. The number of Cheonun disciples who could participate in normal training gradually decreased.
By the seventh day, only about thirty people including Yeop Pung could barely stand on the training ground.
The red sunset was setting. Yeop Pung had wounds all over his body and bruises on his lips. Yet he still stood firm like a rock, staring at the beast-like figures on the opposite side who were smirking hideously.
Sa Cheonseong slowly approached him. His every step was so arrogant and overbearing.
“How is it, Yeop Pung? Did you enjoy it for a week?”
Yeop Pung looked at the opponent with a cold expression and said nothing.
Wang Maeng beside him had also lost flesh from hardship. He could not stand seeing Sa Cheonseong mock them like this and opened his mouth.
“Lord, we…”
Before the words finished, Sa Cheonseong’s palm slapped Wang Maeng’s cheek. With his tremendous strength, Wang Maeng staggered and fell to the ground.
“I didn’t ask you anything? Shut your mouth.”
‘You bastard!’
The remaining people were all grinding their teeth in anger. But Sa Cheonseong completely ignored them. He simply looked at Yeop Pung with a satisfied smile.
“You didn’t ask how it is, Yeop Pung? Answer me. Did you enjoy it?”
Whoosh!
Yeop Pung quickly moved his body and helped Wang Maeng up. Then he slowly turned his body to face Sa Cheonseong.
His gaze was as cold as frozen, but still he said nothing. Or perhaps at this moment, words might have no meaning.
Against this beast-like brute who used power to act tyrannically, there were only two options. Either cut him down with a sword and kill him, or endure today and go back to the past to find a solution.
“Hmph, an interesting gaze.”
Sa Cheonseong slowly backed away as if playing with his prey. He still had plenty of time. Yeop Pung was his last cherished prey, and he intended to savor it slowly.
“Hahaha, Commander Sa has shown mercy and given you trash three days of vacation! Take care of your bodies well. In three days, come back and I’ll make you enjoy it again!”
With Sa Cheonseong’s maniacal laughter, the Cheonbong Legion all disappeared.
Yeop Pung stared at their receding backs and clenched his fists. His fingernails dug into the flesh of his palms.
No matter what, this time I must save the Heukgu group!
***
The three days of vacation was actually just a short rest given by the Cheonbong Army after they were too rough and scared the Cheonun Army.
In fact, not only the 1st Unit, but the Cheonun disciples of the other four units were also treated miserably.
The Cheonbong Legion used the ‘carrot and stick’ strategy. First, they broke the fighting spirit with intimidating atmosphere, then gradually broke their will to turn everyone into their dogs.
And this three days was a very important preparation period for Yeop Pung as well. Based on the clues he had observed before, he had prepared sufficiently. He filled the Myriad Realms Wrist Ring with it during the three days, and it was a pity that the space was too insufficient.
At the seventh si, Yeop Pung immediately activated Geumban from his room.
“Golden Disc bro, time is New Martial 35 Year 7 Month 15 Day, location is one thousand li away from the rear mountain of Cheonun Sect. Let’s go!”