#116. <The Black Flame Dragon in Golden Robes>
The Murim Alliance's Elder Hall was no pushover. To claim a seat there, one needed over twenty years of service within the Alliance or genuine representation from their sect or multiple factions. Those who passed this grueling scrutiny were usually die-hard hardliners who despised the black path or natural-born rulers of men.
Which was why the incident with the black path martial world and Jin Sowoon had split the Elder Hall right down the middle.
Those nursing grudges against Jin Sowoon saw red at the mere sight of it.
"Letting someone who colluded with the black path into the Murim Academy? Is this a joke? Or are you just farting?"
"Calm down. It's unbecoming to talk about farts in the Elder Hall. And honestly, can we even say for sure it was collusion?"
"They threatened, intimidated, and stood guard to keep examinees away! If that's not collusion, what is?!"
On the flip side, representatives from the Five Great Families with ties to Jin Sowoon were mounting a desperate defense.
"Yeah, why drag exam-finished disciples all the way to Henan Province for?"
"W-what?! D-do you have proof?!"
"Proof my ass—do you really think we don't know the guy who aced the Jiangnan exam crawled all the way to Henan just to screw over the top scorer, Jin Sowoon?"
"M-maybe he wanted an even better score. Ahem."
The Jeongdo Society members' faces soured, drawing mocking snickers from the Baekdo Society crew.
But the real sticking point wasn't even whether Jin Sowoon had cozied up to the black path. In this exam, disciples from the Nine Great Sects had snagged spots two through five. Without Jin Sowoon, they would've taken first. Because of him, the whole ranking had shifted down by one.
The elders' minds brimmed with the creed: "I can stomach your loss even if it doesn't profit me." For the Baekdo Society, this incident threatened the Jeongdo Society's gains—and that was something they couldn't ignore.
"Disqualifying Jin Sowoon means disqualifying everyone who moved with him. You saying we boot the Moyong Family heir and the Namgung Family heir too?"
And among Jin Sowoon's group were heirs from the Baekdo Society's own Moyong and Namgung Families. No backing down for them.
"...They say Jin Sowoon orchestrated and led it, so disqualify just him for now."
"By that logic, what about his juniors? Those three gold-silver-bronze brothers are the darlings of the martial world right now. Boot them, and the Alliance gets slammed for favoring big-shot sects."
"...They just followed their senior brother Jin Sowoon's lead, didn't they? Let them pass."
"Then what's Jin Sowoon's disqualification reason?"
Politics thrived on compromise after a step back, but the Baekdo Society, having latched onto the Jeongdo Society's weak spot, showed no signs of yielding. They had a perfect justification too: preserving the prestige of the famously fair Murim Entrance Exam.
In the end, the Elder Hall shelved its duty of drafting Alliance laws and dove into endless debate. They decided to drag their heavy old bones to the Murim Academy themselves to judge Jin Sowoon's guilt and clarify the matter once and for all.
# Thankfully, it wasn't outright failure.
To be precise, they said he had to undergo review. In the Murim Entrance Exam—where pass/fail hinged solely on admission tokens—this was unprecedented. The examiner had phrased it that way, and it'd nearly sparked a disaster.
"...Seonhwa, even so, you can't just act like that right away."
"Sorry, unnie. But I couldn't keep my cool."
The moment she heard of my disqualification, Namgung Seonhwa had nearly slaughtered the examiner on the spot. As he tried to explain the reason, her Heavenly Namgung Sword Technique unleashed a flurry of sword energies that nearly severed his head.
Gang Chaeseok, Seong Moran, and Cho Mubin barely intervened in time to save his neck. The review stand got wrecked, and everyone after us had to pick up their dusty pass notices from the splintered floor.
"But... if Young Master Jin Sowoon truly fails the exam, I won't enter the academy either."
"...You too...?"
Moyong Jaehwa, fiddling with the token I'd given him, chimed in.
"I'll go back to Tae-eul Gate with hyungnim too."
Wait—what? Skipping the academy was one thing, but why follow me back to Tae-eul Gate?
Unaware of my inner turmoil, even the gold-silver-bronze brothers looked resolute, about to speak up. I cut them off quick.
"Stop it. Nothing's decided yet. You think I'll just roll over and accept disqualification?"
If I couldn't pass anyway, I never would've thrown myself at the Four Emperors Peak. And if they were barring me because "Black Flame Dragon" Jin Sowoon supposedly palled around with black path scum, I sure as hell wouldn't die alone.
"Attention! Line up properly! The entrance ceremony hasn't even started."
"You there, close ranks! Why are you all spaced out like that?!"
Instructors barked orders to straighten the lines, but no one budged recklessly. Aside from our spot, the other entrants encircled us like we carried the plague, refusing to approach.
The instructors raised their voices higher, but these were elite prospects—shaky authority didn't faze them. In the end, the lines stayed messy right up until the ceremony. The director entered with the elders, frowning at the chaos.
"What the hell is this mess?"
"Ah, well, the admissions sorting isn't finalized yet."
They couldn't start the ceremony without settling admissions. At this bizarre fiasco, even the parents and affiliates in the spectator stands watching their kids' ceremony buzzed in confusion.
Man... what a picture-perfect shitshow...
In the center of the stands sat another group shunned by other parents and affiliates, just like us: black path heavyweights.
Why the hell are you lot even here?
The funeral procession we'd assumed was headed for the Alliance halted at my disqualification notice. Now denying ties to black path sects was impossible. Talk about black path drama clouding a bright Baekdo future.
"Attention, everyone. Before the entrance ceremony, a major controversy over exam results must be resolved."
All eyes locked on me. They didn't need to hear the details to know it involved me.
"Given the gravity of the issue, we've invited esteemed guests from the Alliance to judge this exam's outcome."
The director courteously introduced them: the Elder Hall members who dominated the Murim Alliance. At their entrance, entrants and spectators alike rose—except the black path bosses, who snickered among themselves at recognizing kin and stayed seated.
"......"
Nearly thirty Elder Hall figures had shown up in force. For little old me, they'd hauled their hefty asses all this way—proof of their black path hatred.
But a curious sight: Jeongdo Society elders led by Myeonghyeon kept a subtle distance from the Baekdo Society ones headed by Moyong Cheong.
"Examinee Jin Sowoon, step forward!"
With a quiet nod from Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, I advanced calmly.
Myeonghyeon, whom I'd crossed paths with in my past life, glared with the same contempt.
"Examinee Jin Sowoon, we hear you brazenly violated the solemn rules of the rigorous Murim Entrance Exam, disrupting the review and derailing proceedings."
"......"
Namgung Seonhwa was the one who'd nearly beheaded the examiner...
"The Murim Academy trains talents on the Alliance's front lines to subjugate demons and eradicate evil. Yet you dared collude with brutal black path fiends, undermining the exam's integrity and inflicting relative deprivation on other examinees."
Myeonghyeon foamed at the mouth, and examinees, academy staff—everyone glared daggers at us.
"Thus, no matter your score, we cannot permit your entry."
Crack-crack.
Namgung Seonhwa stretched behind me. Had she forgotten a Namgung collateral sat among the elders?
"Is that the Murim Alliance's decision?"
"What—how dare you, right here—"
"Or the Elder Hall's consensus?"
"......"
Myeonghyeon glanced at the Baekdo side. The Jeongdo Society had probably won the justification battle, but folding after a loss wasn't true statesmanship.
"As you said, the academy fosters upright later generations for demon-subduing and evil-eradicating."
I stepped forward, infusing my voice with internal energy.
"In that light, I, Jin Sowoon of Tae-eul Gate, swear I passed the exam fairly, without a speck of dirt!! Thus, trying to drop me can only mean the Nine Great Sects, sore over not claiming top spot, pulled strings via Myeonghyeon and the Jeongdo Society!"
"!!"
"Our group hired no mercenaries for the First Gate, spent not a coin for the Second, and passed the Third honorably. What's my disqualification reason?"
"You don't see the problem?! Who passes an exam like that?!"
Like my past life, Myeonghyeon lost reason in excitement, playing right into my hands.
"Ah... so the Murim Entrance Exam is designed to bar the poor and weak? And I somehow passed it?"
"Th-this...!"
Myeonghyeon's face twisted. Prodded by fellow elders from behind, he regained composure.
"What about finishing the expedition colluding with black path thugs?"
"I never colluded with black path scum!"
"Such nonsense..."
I pointed at the black path bosses everyone shunned like plague carriers.
"Conveniently, they're here. Ask them yourselves. Black path minions, hear me! Did this righteous Baekdo hero Jin Sowoon collude with you?!"
The bosses scowled in unison, spitting curses.
"That bastard's begging for a gutting."
"Greenhorn Baekdo punk! Wanna die by the blade?!"
The Four Emperors Peak Lord chuckled.
"Madman's spouting dogshit. You're no Alliance Leader—why would we collude with some Tae-eul Gate disciple?"
I turned back to Myeonghyeon.
"See? Collusion cleared. So, what's my legitimate bar to entry?"
Myeonghyeon's face burned crimson. Jeongdo elders gawked blankly at the bosses.
I poured more energy into my voice, projecting to every corner of the drill grounds and stands.
"In the end... is it just because a Nine Great Sects disciple didn't take first?! Is that it?!"
The Alliance's true engine wasn't force or factions. It was "justification." I wielded their favorite weapon to the hilt.
Why waste such a gem? I wasn't an idiot.
"If so! Then the academy—no, the entire Alliance—has forsaken fairness for self-interest!"
Lumping foes with bystanders was a statesman's dirty trick. The elders' faces soured, as expected.
Time for the finisher.
"I won't enter your academy as you wish. Even if invited, I refuse."
I flung my hard-won tokens to the ground. Pricier than palaces, they scattered like pebbles.
Namgung Seonhwa followed, tossing hers atop mine.
"If it's this unfair, I've nothing to learn. I won't enter."
Clatter.
Fewer and plainer than mine, but the stands erupted far louder.
Seong Moran, the gold-silver-bronze brothers, and Moyong Jaehwa piled on. The discarded tokens looked like river pebbles.
"Urgh...!"
Staring at Myeonghyeon's flushed rage, I set my face resolute.
"I've never once doubted the Murim Entrance Exam! Why our Baekdo disciples bleed fighting each other, why we bankrupt ourselves root and branch. Never questioned it!"
The key to a scam? Emotional buy-in. I pounded my chest till it ached.
"Because I believed it all served the martial world's peace and stability—natural sacrifices. But!! If it's just your ranking game! If our desperate efforts were mere backdrops for you!! Then no honor's worth it—I'll reject it all!!"
Top scorers had historically hailed mostly from the Nine Great Sects. The Five Great Families occasionally, but the Nine's sheer volume made it convention.
My pebble rippled the river. Even they knew the exam was fishy—they'd just accepted it as normal.
"Th-this wretch dares...!"
Feeling insulted, Myeonghyeon's face boiled. His robes swelled, itching to snap my neck.
I subtly gathered energy, just in case—
"Tsk tsk tsk. Why drag your fat asses here just to smear shit on your own faces, you old fogeys...?"
The blatant mockery of the Elder Hall snapped heads around. The voice's owner ignored their glares, strolling casually to center stage.
"Make way. And did you forget—you lack authority to pass or fail anyone?"
Myeonghyeon bulged his eyes.
"Wh-what?! Strategist Jegal, are you defending that Jin Sowoon punk?!"
Regardless of Myeonghyeon's bluster, the uninvited guest's arrival tensed the whole grounds.
He plopped into the vacated director's seat, fanning himself leisurely, ignoring everyone.
"You really stir up trouble wherever you go."
The Murim Alliance's Chief Strategist. Jegal Somyeong had arrived.