A Second-Rate Warrior Preparing to Soar (3)
The great disciple designation ceremony had taken place.
I rose early that morning, washed myself thoroughly, donned my cleanest robes, tied my hair neatly, and applied a touch of oil to keep stray strands in place.
After paying respects to the sect ancestors in the ancestral hall, I greeted the elders one by one as they made their preparations. Even the hall lords had dressed in their finest today—most in new garments made from fabrics supplied by Wang Geumsan. I had to stifle a laugh inwardly.
Having finished with the others, it was finally time to pay respects to the lord of the Outer Hall—my father, Jin Taesan.
“……”
Jin Taesan remained silent for a long moment, his gaze distant.
“The sect leader is waiting.”
“Among the elders and hall lords, I was the only one who opposed your designation as great disciple.”
“……”
“Does that hurt?”
“Why would it? It's not the first time Father's underestimated me.”
“Being great disciple doesn't just grant you authority over your juniors.”
His distant gaze grew misty, as if lost in far-off memories.
“It means standing at the forefront for your juniors always—and bearing responsibility for their lives.”
Was Father seeing me now, or the child I once was?
“From now on, you must put your martial siblings before your own life. Can you bear that weight?”
“……”
What parent in the world would gladly see their child's life pushed to the back? I'd never had children of my own in my one lifetime, but I'd commanded blood-sworn subordinates, so I understood—at least indirectly.
“Father.”
“……Yes.”
“Wherever I go, I'll survive no matter what.”
“……”
“And my martial siblings will always stand behind me.”
Jin Taesan, on the verge of tears, finally turned away with a wave of his hand.
I tactfully stepped back, moving forward to Hong Moon-gi.
“Disciple Jin Sowoon. Do you swear before the ancestors to devote yourself fully to the prosperity and glory of Tae-eul Gate?”
“Twenty-eighth generation disciple Jin Sowoon swears before the ancestors. I will become the foremost disciple for my martial siblings, for the prosperity and glory of Tae-eul Gate.”
Sect Leader Hong handed me a black cloth headband identical to the one he wore, cradled in both hands. I knelt and received it with both of mine. Embroidered on the black fabric was a silver Tae-eul Gate emblem, marking me as great disciple.
I slowly tied it around my head and approached my martial brothers.
Woooaaah!
Cheers erupted from all sides as my martial brothers rushed forward, offering congratulations one after another. I responded to each, shaking hands warmly.
Once the greetings concluded, I approached Gye Cheolyeong and Gye Yeonseok, who stood off to the side.
“Looking forward to working with you, martial brother.”
“……”
Gye Cheolyeong hesitated, unsure whether to extend his hand.
At that moment, Gye Yeonseok bared his teeth in a snarl.
“It's not over yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“You think I don't know you're trying to steal my son's spot at the Murim Academy?”
“I think you're mistaken. The special admission is where the examiners select the finest disciple based on objective evaluation.”
“Hmph! We'll see about that.”
Gye Yeonseok hustled Gye Cheolyeong away from Tae-eul Gate. I turned back to my juniors, who swarmed me once more with chatter.
#
“That damned bastard.”
“Father, what do we do now?”
A shadow of worry clouded Gye Cheolyeong's face, resentment and injustice boiling within him.
From the Iron Sword Sect's perspective, he'd attended as a representative of the Gye-ryong Merchant Group, so he couldn't intervene when trouble arose. Of course, had he known the chief strategist would ultimately side with Tae-eul Gate, he might have stepped in. But setting that aside, the Iron Sword Sect was the second-greatest clan in Anhui Province after the Namgung family. The Gye-ryong Merchant Group, which did business across Anhui, couldn't afford to cross them.
Namgung San's visit only deepened his bitterness. In the end, hadn't Namgung San gone easy on him? Had he drawn his sword fully, Jin Sowoon's fingers would be gone, and victory would have been Namgung San's.
It infuriated him that they called this Tae-eul Gate's triumph. And then Wang Geumsan had chimed in out of nowhere…
His plan—to enter the Murim Academy via special admission, befriend the prodigies of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, roam the martial world with them, and one day elevate the Gye-ryong Merchant Group to the world's foremost trading house—lay in ruins.
“No need for disappointment. Even if they resort to ungrateful tricks, the special admission prodigy spot will be yours in the end.”
Gye Yeonseok's vague words fell on deaf ears.
“Don't you know? Even as great disciple, if you fall short in overall score, you won't make special admission.”
“What do you mean?”
“Special admission consists of three tests. First, knowledge of martial arts and the martial world. Second, understanding of forms and internal energy. Finally, a sparring test for real combat.”
“Since no one knows what the tests entail, doesn't that put me on equal footing with them?”
“You fool! Who are you?”
Gye Yeonseok exploded in anger.
“You're the heir to the Gye-ryong Merchant Group! Born and bred differently from those Tae-eul Gate nobodies—haven't you realized that yet?”
“……”
Just then, three figures entered the courtyard: a scholarly man, a martial woman, and in the center, a dignified middle-aged swordsman exuding calm authority.
“Hall Lord, it's been too long.”
“Heavens! You've finally arrived—I was waiting on pins and needles!”
“Such a warm welcome from you, Lord Jang, leaves me at a loss. Is that the famed prodigy Gye Cheolyeong?”
“Haha, prodigy? He's just a bit exceptional. Come on, boy, greet him.”
Gye Cheolyeong stared blankly at Gye Yeonseok amid the sudden turn.
“You've heard of the One-Shot Tutor, right?”
Gye Cheolyeong's eyes widened like saucers.
“No way.”
“Indeed—the renowned One-Shot Tutor Jang Sagun, who served as examiner for fifteen years and recently got all his private students into the Murim Academy through pinpoint tutoring.”
Jang Sagun beamed proudly at Gye Cheolyeong.
“Even I have no failures in sending students to the Murim Academy. For a talent like you, this will be a breeze—I'm thrilled.”
His confident tone, combined with the reputation Gye Cheolyeong had heard endlessly, melted away his lingering resentment in an instant.
Jin Sowoon, you bastard—let's see about this!
#
“Who's talking about me?”
“Like it's just one or two?”
I scratched my ear and tilted my head at Saryeon.
“I haven't done anything to earn that kind of hate, have I?”
“But you've done plenty of crazy shit that'd make anyone curse.”
“……”
“You know what the kids run to me with after training? 'Senior sister, tell us about what happened at the Iron Sword Sect!' I've told it so much I could recite it in my sleep.”
“Aw, that's not crazy. I just… had some extra resolve, that's all.”
“And your duel with Namgung San the hero?”
“……”
“The hall lords gather the kids and drill it into them: 'Never grab a sword by the blade!' Is that normal sect education?!”
“……Ahem, they'll figure it out when they're older.”
Zing.
Saryeon's glare sharpened, and I turned away to avoid it.
“Anyway, why'd you drag me out here? Not to play house in hiding, I hope?”
The spot I'd brought Saryeon to was Hwun Mountain near Tae-eul Gate—a place I'd frequented endlessly as a child. Midway up, a wide clearing still held the crude hideout my juniors and I had once built.
“Examiners will be here soon.”
“Yeah.”
“We need to prepare too.”
“We?”
“Usually, lay disciples like Gye Cheolyeong hire former examiners as private tutors who know the tests inside out.”
“Huh?”
Saryeon looked like she'd misheard.
“Since examiners' decisions are independent of sect recommendations, these methods emerged. Right now, the Gye-ryong Merchant Group probably has a former examiner tutoring Gye Cheolyeong privately.”
In my past life, Gye Cheolyeong's bragging habit had shown up as pettiness in front of failed academy hopefuls.
The One-Shot Tutor Jang Sagun, who'd never failed a special admission student. They said his predictions hit seventy to eighty percent.
“Th-that's unfair!”
“Yeah, can't call it fair. But most past Murim Academy exams were like this.”
Saryeon's face fell like a sad puppy.
“That's too much.”
“No need to despair. We can use the same method.”
“Huh?”
“Didn't I say? Prepping for the exam isn't against Murim Alliance rules.”
“But we can't afford a tutor like that……”
Even with Wang Geumsan's aid straightening our finances, we couldn't splurge on private lessons for the kids.
“Knew you'd say that, so I made predicted questions.”
“You, senior brother? How?”
I handed Saryeon a booklet.
“Don't you know my memory? Last outing, I hit up Hefei's old bookshops and memorized every past exam question, compiling them all.”
A lie, of course. I'd adapted questions from my past life's exams, tweaking phrases and words.
Memorize the booklet, and the written test was a lock.
“Senior brother…… Can I trust this?”
“How can you doubt your senior brother?”
“……It seems too childish?”
“Ahem. First order as great disciple: Have all juniors copy and memorize this booklet.”
“……Got it.”
Saryeon finally nodded. At least with the booklet, the vague anxiety would lift.
Now for the real reason I'd brought her here.
“What's in the box?”
I opened the box from Wang Geumsan's steward.
“Whoa, it's cold. What are these? Why the chill…… Chill?”
As Saryeon leaned in curiously,
“Senior brother, d-don't tell me these are……”
“Right. Spiritual elixirs.”
“Just elixirs? Feels off—definitely yin chill……”
Elixirs varied in grade. Ordinary tonics barely boosted internal energy or revitalized qi—little different from food.
But those with special yin chill or yang heat held far greater potency. Restrictions applied, but matched to the right person, they could grant wings.
“A gift from the Wang Merchant Group.”
“From Wang Geumsan? No way. Even with their wealth, these rarities…… Not one, but three.”
“……”
Her mention of three pricked my conscience a bit. Of the five, I'd already consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and White Serpent Divine Saliva, which suited my balanced yang-strong and yin-extreme constitution.
Saryeon stared blankly at the elixirs for a while before smacking her lips and looking up.
“You called me out to brag?”
She didn't even consider them for herself.
“No. To give them to you.”
“Me? Why? Eat them yourself, senior brother.”
“These are extreme yin elixirs. If I took them now, it'd be qi deviation at best—death at worst.”
My dantian was mostly pure Tae-eul qi. Even yang-strong experts avoided extreme yin elixirs casually; for my underdeveloped vessel, disaster was certain.
That's why I'd stuck to the Snow Ginseng and Serpent Saliva, balancing yin and yang.
My internal energy's now past one circuit.
Plus, unabsorbed elixir energy lingered throughout my body. Fully integrating them demanded advanced rising arts—which I'd soon need.
“……No. I won't. Give them to other junior sisters via the sect leader……”
“That's why I brought you out secretly.”
“Huh?”
I'd kept the elixirs' arrival from Wang Geumsan quiet on purpose. Right now, Tae-eul Gate needed leaders for its disciples. Equal growth for all took too long; we'd get dragged down before leading.
Minimum three.
That's how many I figured for the Murim Academy, including me. Saryeon and the rice-cake-sharing Dongryong plus brothers Geum Pyo and Eunho were the likeliest.
And these were women-only extreme yin elixirs. Tell the sect leader, and fair distribution might leave Saryeon short.
“Still……”
“I'll give my all in the Murim Academy exam.”
“……?”
“And if I fail special admission, I'll take the regular one to get in.”
“Why go that far?”
“If we don't enter the academy, we can't shield our juniors from mandatory Murim Alliance service. We'll all get swept away together.”
“……Pfft, senior brother, in this peaceful era? It's just a few years' hardship then back.”
Her playful dismissal faded as she saw my stone-hard expression.
“What are you even thinking?”
“Peaceful or not, the western front sees daily clashes with the Black Path. And the Alliance higher-ups don't care much for disciples dying there. You want to entrust our juniors' lives to them?”
“Of course not!”
“Then eat.”
“!”
“Eat and get into the Murim Academy by any means. That's how we protect them.”
Saryeon pondered deeply, then looked at me with moved, teary eyes.
“Fine. I'll eat—but stop with the scary talk.”
“You've learned the Great Purity Divine Art, right?”
The Great Purity Divine Art was an advanced Tae-eul Gate technique, accessible only in Quicksilver Hall. She'd nagged her father the sect leader into teaching her it and the Thunderbolt Sword Method long ago.
She hesitated, then nodded.
“How much do you even know?”
“Take the Frost Pear Inner Core and Frost Lotus Nectar.”
“Two of them?”
“Word is Gye Cheolyeong restocked Plum Blossom Pills. Can you match his internal energy?”
“……”
“The last, Azure Spirit Stone Mushroom—give it secretly to the junior sister most devoted to Tae-eul Gate.”
“All for Tae-eul Gate, right?”
“Yes.”
Saryeon popped one elixir into her mouth and assumed the cross-legged position for energy circulation. I watched briefly, then turned to stand guard.
I've done all I can.
A schemer transforms calamity into fortune. I'd altered many pasts, but steering the grand flow—this was a first.
Vowing never to repeat the same life, I gazed at the fading sunset.
One month later.
The examiners visited Tae-eul Gate.