Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Mountain Entry Exam
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The Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.
Monstrous Beings of the utmost strength and potential, incomparable to ordinary Malevolent Spirits—the strongest and most vicious of them all.
The Initiate Disciples' faces turned pale at the realization that these overwhelmingly legendary creatures were sealed within the hall right before their eyes.
However, Baek Hyun stared at the hall ahead with eyes brimming with the utmost curiosity.
Monstrous Beings are typically classified as Spiritual Beasts or Malevolent Spirits based on whether they are hostile to other creatures, but the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts defy both categories.
Just as a person doesn't go out of their way to step on a bug.
Even if a Ferocious Beast isn't inherently hostile to humans, their very ecology and existence pose an extreme threat to humanity.
That is why they are called Ferocious Beasts—Monstrous Beings outside all norms.
The fact that not one, but several of such beings were sealed in this hall...
'Just what principle allows something like that to be possible?'
Unable to contain his curiosity, Baek Hyun released the perception from his Upper Dantian and extended it straight toward the hall before him.
It was the focused perception he had mastered through a year of closed-door training.
Not spreading it in all directions, but shooting it out in a straight line.
The moment that perception reached the interior of the hall...
"...Ah, so that's how it is."
Baek Hyun witnessed it.
The immense number of advanced formations densely packed throughout the Demon Subduing Hall.
And at the center of those formations, the bloodstained wooden staff.
It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary wooden staff at a glance, but through the transcendent senses of his Upper Dantian, where Baek Hyun perceived it with all five senses, he instantly recognized its true nature.
'That's a Divine Weapon.'
An item of the highest grade in this world, on par with his own Red Bow White Arrow.
Though it was something he'd never seen before, identifying its nature was no difficult task.
The staff's material, as discerned through the Upper Dantian, was mulberry wood.
Mulberry wood is a tree that has enjoyed considerable popularity in traditional Chinese culture, appearing in various literary works in different forms and meanings.
But in the context of the Starpoint Sect, the mulberry wood sealing Malevolent Spirits at its center could mean only one thing.
'The mulberry wood club that killed Hou Yi.'
Hou Yi was one of the greatest heroes in all of Chinese mythology, with legendary feats to his name, but his end was a tragic one.
Demoted from immortal to mortal, abandoned by his wife, he lived out his days in solitude, only to be murdered by his own disciple, Fengmeng, whom he had raised.
And the weapon that slew Hou Yi at that time was said to be a club made of mulberry wood.
'To the Starpoint Sect, it's probably in the position of the Spear of Longinus or the cross.'
This happens sometimes.
Cases where an object doesn't become a Divine Weapon due to its inherent mystical energy, but gains fame because it achieved tremendous "feats."
Prime examples being the Spear of Longinus and the cross in Christianity, or Mistilteinn from Norse mythology.
Hou Yi, who had slain countless colossal Malevolent Spirits, was an object of terror to all Monstrous Beings under heaven.
But when such a Hou Yi was killed by a mulberry wood club, the Monstrous Beings thereafter came to believe that mulberry wood possessed mystical power and began to fear it.
Based on these legends, it could be inferred that this mulberry wood staff was likely specialized equipment for combating Malevolent Spirits.
A Divine Weapon tailored against Malevolent Spirits.
If the formations were built around such an item as a medium, sealing multiple Ferocious Beasts would be entirely feasible.
"There's no need for all of you to be so frightened. The Demon Subduing Hall is protected by a special formation called the Peachwood Ghost-Sealing Formation, so once trapped inside, no Monstrous Being can escape, no matter how powerful. You won't have to face any of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts sealed here.
That said, it is true that you must contend with some of the Malevolent Spirits imprisoned within."
The Initiate Disciples gazed tensely at the Demon Subduing Hall.
With the explanation reaching this point, they began to guess the nature of the Mountain Entry Exam.
"This formation exists primarily to seal Malevolent Spirits. However, it can also serve excellently as a test of skill.
When internal energy is infused into the main gate of the Demon Subduing Hall, the Peachwood Ghost-Sealing Formation releases a single Malevolent Spirit sealed within, scaled to the level the infusing martial artist can handle.
The rules of the Mountain Entry Exam are simple: Slay the Malevolent Spirit assigned to you by the Demon Subduing Hall! That is the minimum requirement to become a true disciple of the Starpoint Sect!!"
Having heard the full explanation of the Mountain Entry Exam, Baek Hyun could only stick out his tongue at the harsher-than-expected conditions.
A Malevolent Spirit subjugation for the entry exam... In a way, it was quintessentially Starpoint Sect-like, but for young Initiate Disciples, it was far too burdensome.
He himself had no issue, having killed not just Malevolent Spirits but people several times before, but the other Initiate Disciples were complete greenhorns who had never seen real combat.
They had never taken a life, never been exposed to true killing intent.
They were merely fifteen-or-sixteen-year-old kids who had learned a bit of martial arts.
Could such kids fully demonstrate their abilities against Malevolent Spirits brimming with endless malice?
'No way.'
The difference between a martial artist who has experienced real combat even once and one who hasn't is vast indeed.
The pressure of possibly losing one's life.
The guilt of severing a life with one's own hands.
The confusion arising from countless variables all around.
All these emotions paralyze the mind and body, slowing movements and leading to poor judgment, which in turn drastically reduces one's capabilities.
Even an opponent one could easily defeat at full strength becomes impossible to beat.
'In the end, the key is how quickly they adapt to real combat.'
The Starpoint Sect probably intended this as a test of the Initiate Disciples' minimum resolve and mental fortitude.
After all, as true mountain disciples of the Starpoint Sect, battling Malevolent Spirits and taking lives would be inevitable.
Viewed that way, it might not be such a bad method after all.
Far better than facing a perilous first real battle without any safety nets—doing it under the watchful eyes of the sect's numerous experts was a hundred times safer.
Dozens of Starpoint Sect masters renowned for the world's swiftest speed, along with the sect leader and elders, were overseeing the exam.
The chance of any Initiate Disciple suffering serious injury here was virtually zero.
"Initiate Disciple Cheongjin, step forward!"
"Uh... are we really fighting Malevolent Spirits...?"
"Indeed. Do you intend to forfeit the exam?"
"N-no, sir! I'll... take the exam."
However, the first fellow disciple to undergo the exam seemed oblivious to such facts, trembling from head to toe as he slowly approached the Demon Subduing Hall.
His expression and gait were like those of a condemned prisoner walking to the execution ground.
Still, he somehow made it right up to the Demon Subduing Hall, plastered with talismans, and placed his hand on the door.
-Clank, rrrumble...
Soon, the tightly shut doors of the Demon Subduing Hall began to creak open bit by bit.
As Cheongjin took a deep breath to steel himself against the Malevolent Spirit about to burst forth...
-Thud!!
A hand covered in stark white fur shot out from beyond the not-yet-fully-open doors.
The unidentified hand seized Cheongjin by the collar in an instant.
Before Cheongjin could even think to draw his sword amid the confusion...
-Crack!!
A crude but powerful fist followed, smashing into Cheongjin's face.
Cheongjin flew back, nose gushing blood in an instant.
Only then did the owner of the furry hand—the one that attacked Cheongjin—fully open the doors and reveal itself.
-Keeek, kiiiii... KIIIIIIIIIK-!!!
A grayish-furred monkey let out a furious screech as it charged toward the fallen Cheongjin.
Baek Hyun, who had pored over the Classic of Mountains and Seas countless times, instantly recognized the monkey that downed Cheongjin.
A low-grade Malevolent Spirit: Gaguk of Ga Nation.
A horrific creature that kidnapped human women from nearby villages to forcibly impregnate them and propagate its offspring.
Its physical prowess was merely at the level of a third-rate martial artist, so Cheongjin, who had reached the second-rate realm, should have been able to defeat it handily.
-Thud! Thwack!! Bam!!!
"S-stop... please, stop...!"
But completely overwhelmed by the Gaguk from the start, he couldn't mount any real resistance and could only helplessly endure the barrage of punches.
In the end, Cheongjin lost all will to fight under the merciless killing intent and violence he was experiencing for the first time.
-Slash!!
"Initiate Disciple Cheongjin, failed."
The examiner declared flatly, slicing off the Gaguk's neck at invisible speed.
The watching Initiate Disciples were left speechless in unison.
This raw, brutal combat—leagues beyond their prior sparring matches—seemed to pose a question to their resolve.
Are you prepared to live not as ordinary boys, but as martial artists?
Can you stand against Malevolent Spirits and wicked demonic cults that spread malice throughout the world, with death ever at your side?
The young Initiate Disciples couldn't easily answer.
Yet not one present chose to abandon the question.
Those who had endured two years of grueling training and remained on Starpoint Mountain were all tough outliers with mental fortitude and perseverance incomparable to ordinary kids their age.
There wasn't a single weak-minded soul who would give up on the exam now.
"Initiate Disciple Dorim, step forward!"
The disciples who challenged after him also struggled against the Malevolent Spirits emerging from the Demon Subduing Hall.
However, not all met Cheongjin's tragic fate.
Having seen Cheongjin's example, the others stepped back from the doors immediately after infusing internal energy, bracing for ambushes.
Some used the Clear Mind Heart Method instead of their prior techniques to calmly adapt to combat.
Others swung their swords wildly in rage to overcome pain and fear.
Though each overcame the pressure of real battle differently, one fact remained the same.
At this moment, they were crossing the threshold from boys to martial artists.
Not all succeeded in crossing it.
Yet their struggles to conquer primal fear and become the selves they aspired to were enough to make the watching adults nod in approval.
"This batch has a lot of talent. A pass rate over fifty percent... Hyun-gang must have trained them well."
Mokheon, the Starpoint Sect Leader observing the Mountain Entry Exam from the high seat alongside the elders, smiled in satisfaction and praised Hyun-gang, master of Azure Cloud Pavilion.
Even in the Starpoint Sect, a Mountain Entry Exam pass rate exceeding fifty percent was a rare occurrence.
"What have I done? It's all thanks to the kids' diligent training."
Hyun-gang replied humbly before adding,
"And it's too early to be surprised. The best one hasn't gone yet."
"Ho, even So-ya from just now was top-tier for other batches... You're saying there's someone better?"
Mokheon's eyes gleamed at Hyun-gang's words.
Hyun-gang was usually extremely fair and impartial, treating all disciples equally.
If such a man called a child the best with his own mouth, it had to be someone with overwhelmingly undeniable skill.
"Initiate Disciple Baek Hyun, step forward!"
At that moment, amid dozens of Initiate Disciples, a boy who stood out unmistakably stepped forth.
Nearing six feet in height, with muscles near-perfectly honed despite his youth.
Golden eyes shining like the blazing sun, and a relaxed demeanor as if strolling leisurely, even on the cusp of real combat.
Mokheon, whose instincts as a Peak Realm master immediately sensed the boy's extraordinary nature, asked Hyun-gang,
"That child? The best one you mentioned."
"Yes. If I may be so bold... that boy will be the future of Starpoint."
At Hyun-gang's declaration, filled with unshakable conviction, Mokheon could only smile with anticipation.
"Then, let's take a look at Starpoint's future."