Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Omen
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Two years passed in the blink of an eye, and the training of the Starpoint Sect's Initiate Disciples finally came to an end.
During the training, about half of the Initiate Disciples had given up midway or descended the mountain due to insufficient aptitude.
But the remaining children endured the harsh training of the Starpoint Sect and successfully proved their talent.
Among them was a disciple who had proven his aptitude a little... no, quite a lot.
-Shuuuuu...
A solitary chamber filled with hot steam.
In that place, so hot that an ordinary person couldn't endure it for even a moment, a boy who had completed nearly a year of secluded training revealed himself.
"Tomorrow... is the mountain entry exam, you say?"
The first thing that caught the eye was a beautiful body with dense, battle-honed muscles arranged in nearly perfect form.
Shoulders broad as if they couldn't belong to a 15-year-old, a height of over six feet, long arms and legs in perfect proportion.
On top of that, skin as white and smooth as top-grade white jade without a single blemish, combined with refined facial features like those of a noble young master—it was a work of art in itself.
The Second-Generation Disciple So-san, momentarily overwhelmed by that appearance, stammered as he delivered the message.
"Y-yes. So end your secluded training here and rest well so it doesn't interfere with the mountain entry exam. Oh, and don't forget to pay your respects to your senior brother before that."
"Understood. I was just thinking of heading out anyway. Perfect timing."
Baek Hyun, who had now entered puberty, replied in a voice noticeably deeper and more mature than before.
He left Wusim Cave—where he had lived for the past year—with a greatly relieved expression.
His will, which had been bubbling without fully igniting, had finally burned completely after nearly a year and a half of secluded training.
No, it was a year and a half in name only; his actual training time was three or four times that of others.
Unlike others who inevitably had to eat and rest due to the limits of body and mind, he had devoted himself to training literally all day, every day.
A spirit and body far beyond the realm of ordinary humans.
The achievements born from pouring both into his training.
So-san, the Second-Generation Disciple, could faintly feel fragments of those overwhelming accomplishments.
And he intuited it.
The current Baek Hyun was stronger than him.
By quite a lot.
"...Hah, I already thought you were a phoenix."
This is a downright monster.
So-san could only let out a hollow laugh.
After emerging from Wusim Cave, Baek Hyun quickly washed his body, donned a new sect uniform, and headed straight to the hall where Hyun-gang resided.
Hyun-gang served him a cup of tea, then scanned Baek Hyun's entire body before opening his mouth.
"It seems you've made some achievements during your seclusion."
"Haha, it's embarrassing to call them achievements. I still haven't reached the Peak Realm, after all."
"You greedy one. At just 15, were you aiming to cross the threshold of Peak Realm?"
Hyun-gang spoke in an uncharacteristically playful tone.
Today was the last day he needed to show dignity and guide him anyway.
More than that, he realized Baek Hyun had become a martial artist who could take his jokes as jokes, so he showed a more relaxed attitude.
"Martial arts truly have no end. At first, even a little training shot my realm up in one go... but now, even advancing a single step feels burdensome."
"So, do you really feel like you gained nothing?"
"No, that's not it."
Baek Hyun's eyes, shining like the sun, gleamed as he thought.
He had unfortunately failed to reach the Peak Realm, but the past year and a half of secluded training wasn't meaningless.
On the contrary, he had gained so much it was hard to count them all.
His body, constantly tempered through movement, had evolved to near perfection amid the explosive growth spurt of puberty.
The Tower of Martial Learning, which always felt unstable upon reaching the summit, had firmly rooted itself in the ground, becoming utterly stable.
The Solar Body, activated 24 hours a day without rest, had finally grown one step further, leaving only its final evolution.
There were countless other gains, but to sum them all up in one phrase...
"Now, I finally feel like a true martial artist."
If he had focused solely on raising his realm, he might have reached Peak Realm by now and gained far more overwhelming power.
But he had no regrets about choosing this path.
Through the past year's training, he had become more 'complete' as a martial artist.
Hyun-gang looked at Baek Hyun approvingly and spoke.
"Well said. A tree that only stretches branches to the sky breaks easily. Only a tree with deep roots in the earth can become a giant enduring centuries.
You've extended roots grander than any tree through this seclusion. That's far more valuable than visible branches. I guarantee you, no one your age has roots as vast as yours.
So, what will you do now?"
Baek Hyun seemed to ponder Hyun-gang's question for a moment, then downed the teacup in one gulp.
The tea, just poured and steaming hot enough to burn anyone who drank recklessly.
Yet Baek Hyun's mouth and throat were unscathed.
Thanks to a body reforged to the extreme with scorching Solar Finger heat, far hotter than any teacup.
His current body was tough enough to handle any poison or dangerous food.
"I've tidied up my martial foundation as much as I can, and digested all the fortuitous encounters I luckily obtained."
Now, it's time to build it up again.
Hyun-gang nodded in satisfaction at those words.
"In the path of the martial artist, pursuing excessive power is always taboo, but you can do it. You have a vessel larger than anyone else's.
What seems excessive to others, you can surely accept."
Others had to cool hot tea slowly to sip it, but Baek Hyun could gulp it like water.
This applied not just physically, but to his entire martial arts and body.
By forgoing immediate power and realm, Baek Hyun had built a vessel and foundation unmatched by anyone.
All that remained was to erect a tower more majestic than anyone's, and faster than anyone's.
"Go now. And show it to the Sect Leader and elders tomorrow."
How amazing you are.
-Slurp, slurrrp! Nom nom!!
A remote spot not easily visible to others.
There, the sound of voracious eating echoed after a long time.
"Whew~ After eating nothing but Wall-Gazing Pills for a year, worldly food sticks right to my taste buds~~?"
"...You really haven't changed at all, have you?"
Baek Hyun shoveled greasy worldly foods into his mouth with chopsticks even faster than before, his face rapturous.
Jang So-ya looked at him pitifully but smiled at his unchanged friend's demeanor.
His appearance had changed so drastically in a year and a half that he was unrecognizable, but his essence remained the same as ever.
"When you suddenly said you were going into seclusion for a year and a half, I thought you'd finally lost your mind, but thankfully you haven't?"
"Mmm, you think I did it because I like seclusion? I~t was necessary, so I had no choice."
Well... I might have gotten a bit carried away because it was fun.
"How about you? Were you training hard?"
"Can't you tell? I'm a first-rate martial artist now. Excluding you, I'm the strongest in this cohort."
Jang So-ya boasted of his achievements in a voice more mature than before, just like Baek Hyun.
After Baek Hyun appeared, he was forced into second place, but he had always been an absolute powerhouse among the Initiate Disciples.
His background played a role, but his innate talent was unrivaled among Initiate Disciples excluding Baek Hyun, granting him overwhelmingly superior achievements compared to his peers.
"Ooh, as expected of the chaebol's youngest son! At this rate, you'll snag the Sword Dragon title at the Youth Dragon Tournament!?"
"Shut up, you punk. Hearing that from someone I can't even compare to feels like I'm being mocked."
"Tch, I was trying to compliment you. Born into a good family, bloated with love and recognition, huh."
After that simple exchange of greetings, the two began earnestly catching up over expensive foods.
"Do you know what happened in the main sect while you were secluded? Those damn Southern Barbarian Beast Palace bastards started poking at our outer sect villages a while ago, and they even raided our merchant group's cargo!"
"What? Your merchant group has Starpoint Sect escorts, and plenty of escorts from the transport company too. They raided the cargo? That doesn't make sense."
"Of course it doesn't!! But those crazy bastards did the impossible!? It's basically a declaration of all-out war!!"
Stunned by the shocking news, Baek Hyun had to pause his chopsticks.
He never imagined something like that happened during his seclusion.
"...But why didn't the senior brothers tell me about it?"
"It's adult business anyway. Making things too serious would just sour the mood, so the seniors kept it quiet."
Fair enough. The Starpoint Sect wasn't short on manpower, and even if they passed the mountain entry exam, they wouldn't send freshly ascended Third-Generation Disciples to the battlefield.
It was truly none of their business—an 'adult matter.'
It was natural they saw no need, or desire, to inform young disciples.
"So, what happened? The Heavenly Fragrance Merchant Group got raided; Starpoint couldn't just sit still."
"Yeah. They stole the cargo and caused casualties on our side, so the Shoot the Sun Sword Squad invaded their main base."
"...Even the Shoot the Sun Sword Squad went in? That's practically full-scale war!"
The Shoot the Sun Sword Squad was the Starpoint Sect's strongest force, composed of its top experts—called Hou Yi's arrowheads, the elite of elites who had subjugated countless villains and malevolent spirits.
Their involvement meant the Starpoint Sect was dead serious about punishing the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
"That must have blown things up. But those Southern Barbarian Beast Palace guys, after starting the provocation, just kept running away pathetically. They can't match our speed, so they cleverly sacrificed bait forces like a lizard dropping its tail.
Since they dug in and just fled from their backyard, the Shoot the Sun Sword Squad couldn't do much and eventually retreated."
"No reaction from the government? That's big enough for official intervention."
"That's the tricky part—they only hit our outer sect villages. That's covered under non-interference in sect affairs, so intervention's hard."
"Hah... those bastards are sly."
Baek Hyun set down his chopsticks and fell deep into thought.
The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace wasn't to be trifled with, but Starpoint Sect was the strongest force around Yunnan Province.
If all forces clashed in full war, Starpoint would likely win barring extraordinary circumstances.
But if they dragged it into prolonged guerrilla warfare like now, Starpoint's losses would snowball.
'Whoever came up with that strategy... it's infuriatingly effective.'
But why was the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace picking a fight with Starpoint Sect?
They had nothing to gain clashing with a larger power.
What drove them to provoke Starpoint with such tactics?
There was no way to know right now.
"So, what happened after?"
"What could they do? They beefed up escorts for the cargo as a stopgap and dispatched town-protecting disciples to the outer villages to prepare for raids."
"That's just a band-aid. Starpoint won't end it there."
"Our mountain entry exam's soon. Sect Leader and elders will all attend—it's a major event the main sect can't slack on, so they're holding off until then.
And this I overheard secretly..."
So-ya glanced around before whispering into Baek Hyun's ear.
"Maybe the Sect Leader and elders will personally storm the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace."
"Crazy."
Hard to believe, but not impossible—that shocking statement made Baek Hyun curse involuntarily.
And he intuited it.
Soon, the region's first main story would begin.