Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Supplementary Lessons (4)
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Drip. Drip.
The cold sensation tapping against his cheek made Nangong Yun-ho open his eyes.
His vision was dim, with cold droplets lightly wetting his forehead.
'Night dew?'
As he sat up and looked around, he saw students sprawled about, some face-down, others tumbled over.
"You're up first again today."
Was this the instructor's consideration?
'He's a kind man, so he's probably asking me to handle the cleanup.'
Crack. Crack.
Nangong Yun-ho rose, loosening his screaming joints, then silently stood and lit a campfire in one corner.
Crackle.
His hands now moved with playful ease to kindle the flames. He busily fetched the firewood he had prepared earlier, stoked the fire, and pitched a tent with deft skill beside it.
With the tent up, they wouldn't be exposed to the night dew. Next was preparing simple snacks for when the others woke.
Clunk. Clunk.
He skillfully placed an iron pot by the fire, added rice, water, and bits of dried vegetables, then sprinkled in seasonings.
As he worked diligently, the people who had lost consciousness began waking one by one.
The first to come to was Jegal Tan.
"Damn. I woke up too late again."
"Haha. You've got an impressive bird's nest on your head."
"Well, I've been lying here all night."
Baek Ri-seol and Moyong So-hye opened their eyes simultaneously next.
Thanks to the instructor's consideration, the two looked far better off.
"Ahem. Smells delicious."
"Brother Nangong. I'm staaarving."
"Haha. I made plenty, so dig in."
He ladled hot porridge into bowls they had washed the day before. Moyong So-hye's sleepy eyes widened as she took a spoonful.
"Wow. This is really good."
"Yeah?"
"It was great before, but now it's on another level."
Even Baek Ri-seol, who was usually stingy with praise, sang its praises.
"Oh my. It's true. This is peerless—even our family's head chef can't compare."
"It's thanks to those secret spices I got from the training grounds."
Jegal Tan, who had been slurping away, shook his head with a choked voice.
"No. Seriously. Your skills are astonishing, Yun-ho."
"Well, the instructor did say cooking was my second-best talent after martial arts."
"Ugh. The instructor holds nothing back with us martial artists."
"Take pride in it. Coming from him, it's the highest praise."
Not that it mattered much to him.
Nangong Yun-ho showed no displeasure as he looked around.
Everyone sat huddled together, chattering noisily as they shared the porridge, their cheeks rosy from the cleanly burning campfire.
'This is nice too.'
Nangong Yun-ho truly cherished these moments.
Cheerful times he could never have dreamed of in his cold, distant family.
However, there was one person who didn't fit this serene scene.
Thud!
Baek Ri-seol frowned at the dull sound.
"Tch. He's already awake."
Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Un Ho-seung, who had regained consciousness, slamming his fist into the ground.
"Damn it! Goddamn it!"
Thump. Thump.
The noise roused those still sleeping under the tents, who sat up one by one, all wearing deeply furrowed expressions.
'What's their problem?'
Current Nangong Yun-ho couldn't quite understand it.
Gathered around the campfire to warm their chilled bodies, they sat in a circle.
"Isn't it a bit weird?"
Un Ho-seung blurted out.
"Was the taste off? I put my heart into it."
"That's not it!"
Un Ho-seung pounded his chest in frustration and shouted.
"Your instructor—what the hell kind of guy is he?"
"He's pretty unique."
Un Ho-seung shot back at the curt reply, as if it made no sense.
"Unique doesn't even begin to cover it."
I can't grasp what he's getting at.
"Hmm. Kind and dignified?"
"His personality's the worst, though."
Baek Ri-seol and Moyong So-hye chimed in, but it wasn't the answer Un Ho-seung wanted.
Finally, Im So-jeong spoke up.
"Young Master Jegal. You'd understand."
Im So-jeong's voice lowered.
"Those three from Bronze Hall might not know, but you, raised as a prodigy of the Jegal family, should."
"...Yeah. Sure."
"The instructor's strength defies common sense."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
Un Ho-seung brightened and shouted in agreement.
"There are too many suspicious things. Starting with his freakish martial arts level."
Martial arts level, huh.
Thinking about it, just what was the instructor's level? Pure curiosity welled up inevitably.
"I'm the eldest young master of the Yeon Clan of Jinju. You think it's normal for a nobody from that shithole Bronze Hall to beat me?"
"Oh my. All talk and no skill, with an ego to match."
"You. Better learn some manners."
"Hehe. Do I need to? Weakling."
Sparks flew between Baek Ri-seol, hiding her smile behind her sleeve, and Un Ho-seung.
Jegal Tan's words stepped in to separate them.
"It is pretty strange."
"Strange enough for that kind of gap?"
"Yun-ho. Ever heard his martial level?"
Nangong Yun-ho nodded as he tossed in more wood.
"Yeah. First-rate, I heard."
"Hah. Ridiculous."
"?"
Un Ho-seung shook his head too.
"First-rate? Bullshit. I'm already stepping into first-rate myself."
The twins joined in.
"Same for us."
"To aim for the top in Silver Hall, first-rate is the baseline. We're not celebrated late prodigies for nothing!"
Im So-jeong eyed Jegal Tan steadily.
"What do you think, Young Master Jegal?"
"Obviously, he's hiding some of his power. In the jianghu, advertising your full strength is the dumbest thing you can do."
"Right. Some instructors are stronger than they let on officially."
Hide three-tenths of your skill to survive in the Sword Forest of Dosan.
An old jianghu adage.
"The problem is the gap."
Three-tenths—or even half—hidden, and he still shows that overwhelming dominance?
"Forget first-rate; it's unbelievable even for a top-tier expert. Not even the senior instructors were this dominant."
Silver Hall instructors were basically peak first-rate.
Some had even stepped into the transcendent realm, it was said.
But senior instructors were peak transcendent masters, according to Un Ho-seung.
"Maybe even someone who looks down on senior instructors."
The listeners all thought of the same thing.
The pinnacle realm for humans—one step beyond that pinnacle.
"Transcendent."
"A transcendent expert..."
Those who mastered sword qi control to the extreme, achieving vigorous inner strength, and seizing the realm of unbreakable rigid qi.
Such superhuman experts were called transcendent—or peak transcendent—masters.
A realm requiring innate talent as a baseline and heaven's luck besides.
Moyong So-hye shrieked in denial.
"That's nonsense! The instructor can't be that amazing!"
She protested desperately, like a child learning her stray puppy was actually a priceless rare wolf she couldn't keep.
"They say transcendent masters exude an air of supremacy with every step."
"What about the overwhelming presence that shakes the world just by existing?"
"He doesn't have even a worm's leg worth of that aura."
Everyone recalled it.
The lazy slouch in every step, the grating presence just by existing.
'Yeah, that's true.'
Moyong So-hye convinced them in an instant.
But Un Ho-seung persisted.
"There are odd bits, but nothing else explains that overwhelming strength."
"Maybe it's his personality?"
"His personality?"
"Unlike other instructors, he doesn't hold back when beating someone else's precious child?"
Other instructors gave students some leeway, apparently.
Nangong Yun-ho, who had been listening, raised his hand.
"I vote for that too."
This time, Im So-jeong shook her head.
"This isn't a joke. A powerhouse like that in Bronze Hall? It's suspicious."
"Transcendent might be too much, but his strength is still abnormal."
"Could be a matter of perspective."
Jegal Tan took the floor.
"Un Ho-seung. Know the difference between first-rate and transcendent?"
How could he not?
The criteria were crystal clear.
"Igniting sword qi makes you first-rate. Freely controlling inner energy to draw it at will—that's transcendent."
"Spot on. Realms are just divisions by inner strength purity. Technique finesse or novelty doesn't factor in."
"...So the substitute instructor's a monster with techniques?"
"He's from a rural sect. No rare elixirs for him. He might have talent to become a sword ghost, but plenty of country bumpkins never build profound inner strength."
"...That's plausible enough."
Even prestigious families couldn't easily obtain spirit medicines.
That's why they concentrated support on top talents.
"Of course, the suspicious points remain."
Nangong Yun-ho summed up the looping talk.
"The real suspicious thing might be a powerhouse like that teaching a dullard like me."
"......"
"And instead of being grateful for a hidden expert's guidance, nitpicking the oddities seems equally strange."
Im So-jeong bit her lip.
"...He just doesn't listen."
"The mock training's what matters now, but making an issue of the instructor's strength looks like pride to me. Right?"
"...I won't deny it."
"Yeah. Admit it. Losing to a country instructor would crush our spirits from the start."
Better to think of it as losing to a 'hidden expert' than some nameless Bronze Hall nobody.
That was the honest sentiment.
Nangong Yun-ho spoke.
"I remember what the instructor told me."
It was recent.
Yet it felt like a lesson to carry for life.
- If you want to survive long in the jianghu, make a habit of seeing your opponent's strengths first.
"How about we end today's talk here?"
His words silenced everyone.
Only after a long pause did Un Ho-seung grumble, ruffling his hair.
"Everyone's got a silver tongue."
Un Ho-seung looked at Nangong Yun-ho and added.
"You can say that 'cause you know jack about Silver Hall."
He brushed off his rear and stood.
"Follow me. I'll show you reality."
Following Un Ho-seung led to a lavish three-story pavilion.
Its red pillars engraved with ornate decorations epitomized splendor, leaving Nangong Yun-ho quite stunned.
"Impressive. This place is...?"
"Don't act so provincial. It's just a restaurant."
This massive building was entirely a restaurant?
"And it's the shabbiest, most rundown one. This is the supplementary class diner."
Silver Hall truly was worlds apart from Bronze Hall.
As Nangong Yun-ho gaped, Un Ho-seung smirked.
"The real shock starts now."