Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Ecosystem Disruptor (3)
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White-Clothed Judge Seon In-hyeok left the Divine Martial Academy after a long time and headed for the Murim Alliance.
When he arrived at the Murim Alliance, the sun was high in the sky at noon, but by the time he passed through the outer citadel's twin gates, reminiscent of a fortress, and then the inner citadel's twin gates to reach the deep interior, the sun was already setting.
"Security seems especially tight these days."
With a string of quite troublesome incidents occurring one after another, it was unavoidable.
After going through an incredibly convoluted procedure, he finally arrived at a place where a massive five-story grand hall stood.
True to its majestic appearance, a plaque written in bold, vigorous calligraphy caught the eye.
Murim Alliance Leader's Hall.
"It's been a while since I've been to the Alliance Leader's Hall."
Even after entering the hall, the inspections continued.
Thanks to that, by the time he reached the top floor, he was mentally exhausted.
Only after navigating the maze-like corridors twisted for defense purposes could he stand before a massive door.
"You may enter."
Guided by a member of the Elite Guard protecting the Alliance Leader, he had arrived.
There, he could finally meet the one who had summoned him.
A robust elderly man with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window.
Seon In-hyeok dropped to one knee toward him.
"Chief Supervisor of the Divine Martial Academy, Seon In-hyeok, pays respects to the Alliance Leader!"
Only then did the old man turn around at his shout.
Woooong...
The moment their eyes met, a wave of overwhelming pressure crashed over his entire body.
'The Alliance Leader's martial arts have deepened even further.'
Feeling the hairs on his body stand on end, Seon In-hyeok mustered his internal energy and barely withstood it.
After a momentary agony that felt like an eternity, the old man, Murim Alliance Leader Yi Jun-ho, finally spoke.
"My apologies."
"Were you training your martial arts?"
"Heh heh. I encountered an old rival in my mind's eye."
Mind's eye training.
A practice where one creates imaginary foes within the heart and engages in battle.
Though fought in the imagination, as martial prowess advances, controlling the mind's eye becomes more demanding than physical movement training.
How much more so for Yi Jun-ho, whose title vied for the world's best.
Mind's Eye Martial Apex Sword.
Those who surpass the Mythic Realm and transcend humanity possess the ability to manifest phenomena within their perceptual range at will.
The Flame Light Blade Demon's Flame Dragon Emergence, which conjures a fiery dragon in reality, and Sword Saint Nangong Chan's Sovereign Swordsmanship, which subjugates all blades—these are examples.
What Alliance Leader Yi Jun-ho wielded was a divine technique that manifested the apex of the mind's eye in reality.
Any complex or legendary martial art could be realized endlessly within the mind's eye—that was precisely the Alliance Leader's supernatural ability. It couldn't be simple training, as the saying went.
"Was that rival the former Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Leader, Gale Wind White Wings?"
"Heh heh. Who else could it be?"
Once, when Alliance Leader Yi Jun-ho was young, his all-night duel with the Demonic Cult Leader was a widely recounted tale.
Even now, the Alliance Leader still acknowledged him as his greatest rival.
"May I ask the outcome of the battle in your mind's eye?"
"I hear new instructors have joined."
Alliance Leader Yi Jun-ho smiled faintly and changed the subject.
'He doesn't want to answer.'
But it wasn't hard to guess the result from his bright expression.
"Fortunately, the Nine Great Sects have sent us talented individuals."
"They've finally realized how unusual the Wangcheon Society is."
"...The righteous martial world owes a great debt to Great Master Wang Wu."
"Indeed. Only after his majestic final moments became known did the sluggish Nine Great Sects finally stir."
What a pity.
Sighing, the Alliance Leader scratched his short goatee.
"The martial world only moves after a righteous man dies. It never changes."
"It's frustrating, but shouldn't we be satisfied with the Nine Great Sects' active support for now?"
"You're right."
Alliance Leader Yi Jun-ho closed his eyes and fell silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.
"In the end, did Mount Hua Sect send that child, Neung Pung-un?"
"You knew?"
"I heard from the Beggar Elder. He lost the brother he gained in his later years, wailed for ten straight days, then showed up with a fearsome glare to tell me."
The Alliance Leader smiled wryly and continued.
"Neung Pung-un. That child's skills are certainly reliable, but it's a shame. If raised well, he could lead Mount Hua Sect to prosperity, no?"
"Indeed."
"To send such talent to a death trap—what are they thinking?"
"...Doesn't talent and heroism require trials like storms to be perfected? Mount Hua Sect must have its reasons."
"Heh heh. Is that how you see it?"
"......"
Instead of answering, Seon In-hyeok quietly bowed his head.
"Keep a close eye on him. He's a student you cherish, isn't he?"
"I cannot show favoritism due to personal ties."
"Don't be so rigid. Distinguishing public from private is fine, but we can't waste talent needlessly."
Yi Jun-ho, hands behind his back, gazed out the window and remarked casually.
"The Iron Chain Alliance is on the move."
"!"
At the mention of the Evil Alliance, Seon In-hyeok's eyes widened.
"...How did the Iron Chain Alliance find out?"
"The Wangcheon Society has stirred up so much chaos that they must have picked up on something about that strange true energy somewhere."
This wasn't a simple matter.
"When you return, relay this to Neung Pung-un. Tell him I'm sorry."
"...I shall obey the Alliance Leader's command."
Seon In-hyeok bowed his head, his face pale and rigid.
The next day, and the day after that.
"Uwaaaah!"
Whenever Neung Pung-un sought him out in the training grounds, Chu Un-hwi felt like he was losing his mind.
His meager patience had long since worn thin, but the real problem was that this guy stuck to him everywhere like glue.
"Because of this punk, I can't even meet my fiancée."
If he ignored him and pushed ahead with a chance encounter, but she took a liking to this guy, it'd be a headache.
- Older man. Handsome instructor. Righteous faction guy.
He had desperately scraped together those perfect taste-hitting traits, but this guy was born with them.
He absolutely could not allow even the slightest contact.
"I have to shake him off somehow."
Grit.
Grinding his teeth, Chu Un-hwi sought out Moyong Seon-ya.
"...That's what happened."
At a skewer restaurant in Palmi Alley.
As he settled in the back and poured out his woes, Yeo Mae-hong clicked her tongue.
"He's quite something. To win over Instructor Chu's picky students in an instant."
"He's a total pain-in-the-ass level newbie—any way to get rid of him?"
He asked Moyong Seon-ya earnestly.
But unexpectedly, Moyong Seon-ya's reaction was cold.
"...So."
Munch. Munch.
"A bright and cheerful guy approaches wanting to be friends, and you hate that?"
"Yes. Exactly."
"Why on earth do you want to push him away?"
"Our personalities don't mesh."
And while eating, he just plops down next to you without a care!
"It's ruined my appetite."
"Oh dear."
Moyong Seon-ya smacked her forehead and sighed deeply while munching on an empty skewer stick.
"Sigh. What an enviable problem."
"Huh? What's troubling you, sis?"
"We've gotten a few instructors from the Nine Great Sects on our side too."
"Right, you mentioned taking in newbies."
"They're elites handpicked from the nine pillars of the righteous martial world. The problem is their selection criteria. Their character and martial arts are impeccable, but..."
Whoosh!
Moisture welled up in Moyong Seon-ya's large eyes.
"Waaah! They have zero survival skills!"
"...I can imagine."
Chewing on her skewer, Moyong Seon-ya cried out sharply.
"They refuse food touched by fire and demand raw vegetables like it's nothing."
"I saw one send a martial arts trainee to copy scriptures instead."
"That's decent! The one from Mount Ami kicked out all the male students, calling it disgraceful."
"Oh my. Wasn't mixed classes banned?"
"Exactly! He said the next class was for female students and the air was dirtied, so out they went!"
Is that okay, Mount Ami?
"It's a total mess!"
She ruffled her hair and sniffled.
"We got reinforcements, but somehow the workload increased."
"Same here. Overtime's piling up because of cleaning up after the new ones."
"The senior instructors are an issue too. They should be scolded properly, but they're protecting them because they're direct disciples from the sect headquarters."
And what about it?
Moyong Seon-ya glared fiercely.
"Talking about how friendly and sociable he is or whatever?"
"......"
He came asking how to fend off a trash human, only to turn Moyong Seon-ya into a demon.
"Don't get too full of yourself!"
"......"
Everything she said rang true; he had no rebuttal.
"Sigh. I wish I could get one newbie who's got survival skills, is sociable, and a bit of a pushover to boss around."
"I'd be happy if mine would just stop greeting me every morning with 'Do you know the Way?'"
"From Mount Ami, right?"
Having been excluded from the conversation between the two women, Chu Un-hwi poked at his skewer alone.
'Failure. No help at all.'
He'd come thinking it would be simple, but ended up wasting time, which soured his stomach.
'Should I have just eliminated him from the start?'
As he wrestled with regret,
"Haha! Big brothers! Over here!"
A voice he never wanted to hear echoed from the entrance.
'No way...'
Turning with trembling eyes, sure enough, Neung Pung-un was entering arm-in-arm with two drunken senior instructors.
The swaying senior instructors blinked.
"Pung-un. Where are we?"
"Haha. Famous spot in Palmi Alley."
"Didn't know this place existed."
"Haha. It's where regular instructors come."
But get this.
Neung Pung-un lowered his voice playfully.
"Do you know the tradition here?"
"Tradition?"
Playfully picking up the bill from nearby, he whispered.
"The highest-ranking person here has to treat everyone."
"Treat?"
The middle-aged man with wide eyes looked at the bill, sighed in relief, then shouted loudly.
"This much is nothing! Alright! I'm buying today!"
Ding ding ding!
Amid the clinking coins, a silver ingot appeared, and the skewer shop owner swiftly rang the bell.
The junior instructors, who had been chatting at their tables, peeked toward the entrance.
"Ooh! Been ages since the bell rang."
"A VIP's here. Gonna eat big today unexpectedly."
"Your squad leader's impressive. Brought a VIP!"
As the room's patrons joked, Neung Pung-un laughed playfully and cupped his fists in all directions.
"Haha! Enjoy, everyone!"
Then he mingled among the people, arm-in-arm and chatting away.
Watching this, Moyong Seon-ya dropped her skewer.
"His sociability is no joke."
"He even brought two senior instructors."
"What's more amazing is his worldly savvy."
"Bringing those two splits the burden in half."
Amid the cheering instructors, Neung Pung-un masterfully hyped the mood, but his savvy didn't end there.
Staggering drunkenly, he leaned by the counter and smiled brightly.
"Owner. Those two seem busy, so I'll pay first."
"No, the seniors rang the bell."
"Doesn't a good mood deserve a good end to make it even better?"
Praise to the seniors, but quietly settling the bill from behind.
Moyong Seon-ya blinked in astonishment.
"Wow. He even does that?"
"Blocks any morning-after regrets from the booze."
Yeo Mae-hong stuck out her tongue.
"Now I get why Instructor Chu avoids him. Way too compatible."
"What? That's high-class talent, and you call it trash?"
Moyong Seon-ya shot him a look of shock, as if 'How can a person be like this?'
It got even worse next.
"Oh? Squad leader!"
You're here!
Whoosh whoosh!
The overly friendly creature spotted them and came bounding over noisily.