Teacher Sun's Real Education
Beyond a silence saturated with shock, only Sun Wukong's crimson eyes and golden pupils flashed with brilliant light.
Stunned groans spilled from every corner of the crowd.
"What... why would Teacher Sun suddenly...?"
The Namgung Clan was no different. Muhwa pressed a hand to her forehead as if her skull were splitting.
"He's not asking for a lesson at the eve festival—he's offering to give one..."
"Hahaha. Hall Master, isn't that just like my sworn brother?"
"..."
"Ahem. Ahem."
Muhwa shot a look at Namgung Jinbaek, who was grinning like a fool. He cleared his throat and casually looked away.
She surveyed the reactions around them, and a sigh slipped out before she could stop it.
Seowol's just thrilled to watch a fight, eyes sparkling. The other Namgung folks look startled, sure, but they're clearly eating this up. Well, of course those lunatics would love something like this.
But Muhwa couldn't simply sit back and enjoy herself. What was Sun Wukong's intention? What kind of ripple would this send through the Namgung Clan? And now that the eve festival—which everyone had been treating like a celebration—had transformed into something else entirely, what consequences would follow? Her head throbbed so fiercely it made her dizzy.
On the other hand...
"...Muyoung—no, Young Master. Have you heard anything about this?"
In private they still called each other older sister and younger brother, living like siblings. But this was a public occasion. Muhwa directed her question at Namgung Muyoung, whose expression suggested he already knew something.
"Come to think of it, it was you who proposed turning the eve festival—which was supposed to unfold freely—into such a formal, grand affair, wasn't it?"
The suggestion had come out of nowhere, but the reasoning—to liven the atmosphere and foster goodwill—had been plausible enough. More importantly, it had been Muyoung's idea, just as he was beginning to take on his duties as Young Master in earnest. The Namgung Clan had readily followed his proposal, if only to throw their weight behind him.
"Don't tell me you cooked something up with Teacher Sun?"
At the sharp edge in her voice, Muyoung flinched. He awkwardly averted his gaze.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call it a conspiracy... but I did push it forward at Master Sun's request."
"What is he trying to pull?"
"I believe he's already pulled it."
"No, no, no. What's his intention?"
"From what I gathered..."
Muyoung hesitated a moment before speaking.
"He said it's a warning."
"A warning?"
Even at Muhwa's follow-up, Muyoung couldn't answer further. A single figure had suddenly stepped up onto the training grounds.
The named individuals numbered six. Every last one of them couldn't hide the bewilderment on their faces.
A request to receive instruction was neither awkward nor unfamiliar. But the current situation was so strange it went beyond unfamiliar—it was downright baffling.
"What did that Great Sage, Equal to Heaven just say?"
"He said he'd... give us a lesson?"
"Wait. He's not asking for one?"
"Well, it wouldn't make sense for someone who beat a Peak Realm expert to ask for instruction, but..."
A statement no one had seen coming. It was eccentricity—an absurd act that raised nothing but questions. What was the intent? What was the purpose? From what angle had this even come?
The murmuring that began spreading through the silence quickly seized the entire surroundings. The named individuals furtively glanced at one another's faces. Every last one of them looked stunned. But for the most part, a sharpness lay hidden and gleaming beneath the shock.
Wang Ju-dae, Elder of the Beggars' Sect, swallowed a groan.
What the hell is that bastard plotting?
Information on the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven was classified as top-tier even within the Beggars' Sect. The more they investigated, the more incomprehensible things piled up. He was the sworn brother of the Heavenly Edge Sword Star, and a master of unfathomable skill. And yet such a man had truly appeared out of nowhere, without leaving a single trace. As if he'd sprung from the earth or fallen from the sky. As if he'd come from another world entirely—his entire past was a blank. Even the information network of the Beggars' Sect, spanning all under heaven, couldn't dig into it.
He seems to have some connection to the Wudang Sect...
For some reason, the Wudang Sect had restricted access to information. That restriction was like a wall they'd never encountered before, so even the Beggars' Sect could only vaguely sense that he had some relation to Wudang. Detailed information was difficult to obtain even for the Beggars' Sect of the realm.
No. That's strange too, isn't it?
Wang Ju-dae's mind grew tangled and chaotic.
If he's affiliated with Wudang, why is he doing this at the Namgung Clan?
Wang Ju-dae pierced through to the truth in an instant.
The ones he just named...
He hadn't simply called out the strongest renowned masters of the martial world at random. Wang Ju-dae grasped the common thread at a glance.
They're all sects bound to the Namgung Clan by bitter history.
A groan escaped him unbidden. Geom Wi-hyeon of the Mount Hua Sect needed no explanation. Mount Hua and the Namgung Clan had been longtime rivals, and now they were mortal enemies tangled in the grudges of the past.
Zhongnan too, and our Beggars' Sect as well.
Zhongnan also harbored a grudge, though not a deep one, and the Beggars' Sect was no different.
Beggars' Sect intelligence leaked to the Sama Order, and the Namgung Clan suffered greatly for it. But the Beggars' Sect denied it, so...
Orthodox martial world intelligence had leaked to the Sama Order. It wasn't an impossible story, given that it had happened in the midst of the chaotic Orthodox-Unorthodox Great War. But the fact that information had leaked to the enemy was something the Beggars' Sect, as an intelligence organization, could never admit even if it were true. Information management was a matter of trust, after all. Because of that, the rift between the Beggars' Sect and the Namgung Clan had naturally deepened.
And that's not all! Diancang, Kongtong, and even Qingcheng—every last one of them!
Wang Ju-dae's pupils trembled. Every one of them had poor relations with the Namgung Clan. They weren't grudges deep enough to kill or die over, but conflict certainly existed. Weren't they the ones running around the hardest even now, in the fierce underground struggle of competing interests, trying to reduce the Namgung Clan's influence within the Pan-Orthodox Alliance?
A warning to the forces hostile to the Namgung Clan!
Wang Ju-dae's eyes flew wide.
Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. This man is Namgung's. That's certain!
His conclusion was that the Beggars' Sect's unofficial intelligence—estimating him as a Wudang-affiliated figure—contained some errors. If he were a Wudang man, would he need to step forward like this?
How do they think of this so-called Great Sage right now?
Wang Ju-dae's eyes darted toward the named individuals. Faces slowly flushing red entered his field of vision. Once they shook off their bewilderment, what surged up was humiliation and rage.
This isn't a request for instruction, nor is it a challenge issued to a master or an equal. It's an unprecedented statement—that he'll bestow a lesson upon them.
This was absolutely not something that could be simply let slide. The meaning of a superior offering to instruct an inferior, if twisted, had more than enough room to turn malicious. Wasn't there the case of scolding a subordinate while claiming you'd give them a proper education?
Above all, Sun Wukong's attitude was the problem. That languid, faintly smiling face. The slightly slouching posture revealed behind that grinning expression. It was a proposal that would be bewildering even if requested courteously—and on top of that, the speaker's expression, attitude, voice, and atmosphere... every last part of it overflowed with elements that, if you thought about it the wrong way, felt infinitely malicious.
And yet not a single one of the named individuals carelessly jumped to their feet. Setting aside the rage and humiliation—
Just how skilled is that man?
Wang Ju-dae's eyes sank into stillness. Everyone had witnessed it clearly. Gun Myeong-o. Disciple of Gun Wi-ryang, One Blade Shaking Heaven. And at that age, he was already a Peak Realm martial artist. He might only be at the entry of the Peak Realm, but crossing a realm even once was a matter of an entirely different dimension.
How did he neutralize someone like that in a single blow?
Overwhelming martial prowess that, even having seen it with their own two eyes, they couldn't easily comprehend. That was why all those who had been named, even as they seethed with anger, couldn't step forward.
I can't even gauge it.
And look at how helplessly Gun Myeong-o had been taken down. He'd slapped him around claiming he'd give him a character education, then knocked him unconscious.
Education. That's right. Education...
With a feeling of surely not, Wang Ju-dae carefully observed Sun Wukong. The lesson he'd publicly declared he'd bestow upon them—surely it couldn't be something like that. That single thread of unease circled through his thoughts.
It was then. Amid the lingering, awkward atmosphere where no one could step forward, someone shot to their feet and mounted the training grounds.
Wang Ju-dae's eyes narrowed.
"Geom Wi-hyeon, the Scattered Plum Blossom Swordsman of Mount Hua!"
In terms of notoriety, he was the one who commanded the most dazzling reputation even here among the orthodox martial world. The reason he could carry on so unrestrainedly and still remain unscathed was just one: he possessed martial power that formidable.
Geom Wi-hyeon, having stepped onto the training grounds, stood directly facing Sun Wukong. A gleam of interest entered Sun Wukong's eyes.
"The type who takes the beating first?"
"...You said you would give us a lesson?"
"Ah, this Great Sage, Teacher Sun, shall bestow it with all his heart and sincerity."
"..."
Geom Wi-hyeon stared fixedly at Sun Wukong for a while with a peculiar look in his eyes. Perhaps understanding the intent behind that gaze, Sun Wukong yanked out the steel staff he'd tossed aside.
"Ah, with this? This switch might sting a bit."
"Do you always talk this much?"
"If I go quiet, that's when you're in real trouble."
"Trouble?"
"When I actually get angry, I tend to shut my mouth tight. I'm scary when I'm mad."
"..."
Geom Wi-hyeon let out a sigh and drew his sword. A faint vibration ran along the smooth blade.
"A teacher would prefer a student who gives it their all, I imagine."
Geom Wi-hyeon assumed his opening stance. He had merely taken a posture, and yet the earth beneath his firmly planted feet trembled faintly. A thrill transmitted through the skin. A shudder that flowed in on the currents of the air. And that shudder was not felt by Sun Wukong alone. Every person who could reasonably be called a master felt it viscerally.
"Was the Scattered Plum Blossom Swordsman Geom Wi-hyeon this strong?"
"Hoh. I'd heard he was on the verge of the Transcendental Realm, but of course—that's why he came as Mount Hua's representative."
"Isn't this a rare fight you couldn't even see at a martial arts tournament? Just watching will be a great study."
As everyone watched with expectant gazes, Sun Wukong suddenly tilted his head. At that reaction, Geom Wi-hyeon—who had been raising his aura as if about to charge—narrowed his eyes.
"...You're not assuming a stance?"
"No, hold on."
Sun Wukong raised a hand. Then he looked past Geom Wi-hyeon's shoulder.
"Why aren't the rest of you coming up?"
"...!"
Even Geom Wi-hyeon, who had stepped forward so boldly, flinched at the shoulders. There wasn't a three-year-old here who wouldn't understand what Sun Wukong meant.
Geom Wi-hyeon spat the words as if chewing them, his face filled with humiliation.
"All of us? You mean to face us all at once?!"
"I understand wanting one-on-one tutoring, but our student here is being far too greedy."
"I will not tolerate any further mockery and humiliation."
Geom Wi-hyeon raised his sword upright.
"I am Geom Wi-hyeon, the Scattered Plum Blossom Swordsman. Great Elder of the Mount Hua Sect, and acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua at this Grand Assembly of Murim."
"Tsk. I'm the type who always gives it my all. A real educator who doesn't slack off just because it's one person."
No sooner had Sun Wukong's words ended than Geom Wi-hyeon's sword strike came crashing down like a thunderbolt.
KWAANG!
So fierce and swift was it that the air itself tore apart, the roar slamming into eardrums. Fail to react and you were a novice. React after hearing the sound and you were intermediate. Move before the sound even reached you and you were a master.
KAGAGAGAGANG!
The heavy steel staff flicked the sword away as if it were a tree branch. Geom Wi-hyeon seemed to have anticipated even this, immediately moving to follow up. Or rather, he tried to.
THUD!
"Keuhk!"
His eyes flew wide at the violent pain exploding in his abdomen. His body staggered back two or three steps. Trembling legs. A surge of nausea rising from his gut. Geom Wi-hyeon barely lifted his head, his two eyes bursting wide as if they would tear. The meaning in those bloodshot pupils staring at Sun Wukong was just one thing.
How?
It was savage disbelief. He hadn't even seen it. Both of Sun Wukong's hands had been holding the steel staff, and the trajectory had been narrow from blocking the sword. Could he have pulled one hand free in that gap to throw a punch?
As his two legs trembled from the pain, a quiet voice reached his ear.
"Doesn't it feel overwhelming and burdensome, receiving the lesson all by yourself?"
Geom Wi-hyeon's pupils trembled. Sun Wukong grinned and looked at each of the named individuals in turn as he shouted.
Sun Wukong shrugged.
"If you're running away because you're afraid of learning, well, what can you do? Avoiding a strict teacher is just the nature of slack-off trainees, after all."
Sun Wukong smiled playfully.