The Preparations Are Complete

The final trial was a wheel battle against the greatest master of the Namgung Clan.

Naturally, he would not fight at full strength. If Namgung Jinbaek went all out, he could finish it in a single breath even without the constraint of a wheel battle. The trial had a different purpose entirely.

It's a process of letting them witness martial arts through the wheel battle and gain enlightenment.

In other words, the final trial was the clan's greatest master bestowing his teachings so that they could walk out of this place as Azure Dragons.

Good grief.

Given Sun Wukong's extraordinary mind, there was no way he didn't already know this.

"Nngh!"

A frustrated groan slipped through Hwangbo Yong's clenched teeth. The sword he had thrust straight out was stopped by the steel staff.

Sun Wukong had not pulled the staff from the ground. He had simply slipped behind it with an uncanny shift of his body. He had never drawn the staff, and yet he used it perfectly.

Clang! Clang!

The blade struck the steel staff again and again, never so much as grazing Sun Wukong's sleeve. It was as if they were playing hide-and-seek.

"Tch!"

Hide-and-seek would have been preferable. The fists and feet that darted in between exchanges were not merely difficult to answer — they were hopeless. Too fast to dodge, too heavy to block. Before long, livid bruises were blooming one after another across Hwangbo Yong's entire body.

Clang!

Stopped by the steel staff once more. Sun Wukong poked his face out from beside the staff and curled the corner of his mouth.

"Damn it!"

Sun Wukong grinned from ear to ear, as if the whole affair delighted him. It was the beaming, wide-open smile of a child at play — and that only provoked the young successors further.

"I suppose he is pushing the rising talents to their limits, in his own way..."

Namgung Jinbaek shook his head. At this rate, the young successors would clutch the backs of their necks and collapse from sheer rage long before they reached any limit.

"Rather than teaching, it looks more like an older brother teasing his younger siblings."

Namgung Jinbaek let out a sigh and turned to Muhwa.

"I suspect Teacher Sun will only get serious once the Law Enforcement Hall Master steps in."

Muhwa hesitated.

"But I..."

"You're thinking you cannot participate in the Changryong Chulgwan because you are not of the Namgung bloodline, and neither are you an heir of the Five Great Clans."

"..."

Muhwa was older than both Muyoung and Seowol. She had never undergone the Changryong Chulgwan, the Namgung Clan's coming-of-age rite. Because she was not a Namgung.

Everyone acknowledged her as a member of the clan, but the fact that she was not of the bloodline sat equally clearly in every mind. Muhwa herself understood that fact with perfect clarity.

Namgung Jinbaek looked at her face and spoke.

"That does not mean you are not of the Namgung."

"..."

"You take up the sword for the Namgung. You work for the Namgung. You fight for the Namgung. Not a single drop of our blood may run in your veins, but I regard you as my own daughter."

"...My Lord."

"Go in. Become blood of the Namgung Clan, and come out as an Azure Dragon."

Muhwa gazed at Namgung Jinbaek for a long time, her eyes holding something beyond words. Then her face set with resolve, and she clasped her fists in salute.

Namgung Jinbaek smiled with deep satisfaction.

"Nngh."

Hwangbo Yong swallowed a groan and fell back. Next in line, Namgung Muyoung took hold of his sword hilt once more and drew a long breath.

Already his fourth turn. His gaze sank low and swept over Sun Wukong from head to toe, and a nameless, helpless bewilderment settled in his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes.

Is this even a wheel battle?

Namgung Muyoung understood the meaning of this trial better than anyone. It was a chance to keep challenging a master they could not possibly resist. They took turns facing the examiner, and when their turn ended they watched from the side and reconstructed the fight. When their turn came again, they challenged him with what they had pieced together.

And yet...

I can't make sense of any of it.

No matter how he swung his sword, he could not catch Sun Wukong's movements. He exhausted himself and dropped out first, so no amount of reconstruction yielded a way through. The other young successors were no different.

Even the poison arts of the Tang siblings, which everyone had been counting on, were useless against Sun Wukong. However much venom they scattered, he simply stirred up the wind with a flick of his hands and feet and blew it all away. If that failed, the crimson ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blade-qi gathering at his fingertips swallowed the poison whole and melted it down.

No matter how I look, I can't see a thing.

He glanced aside. Namgung Seowol was glaring at Sun Wukong with thoroughly furious eyes. She had fared no better. As if determined to torment her properly — perhaps because of that killing-intent-laced spar from before — Sun Wukong had singled her out with particular relish. He would tap and prod and snap the pulse of her sword, until her face flushed scarlet and she actually raised her voice. Namgung Muyoung had never in his life seen that perpetually expressionless face crumple into a pout.

"Hoo."

Namgung Muyoung steeled himself. No matter how great a master Sun Wukong was, he could not remain endlessly at ease against every rising talent of the generation. An opening would come.

He was about to step forward on that thought when a voice cut in.

"Muyoung. I'll go this time."

"...Elder Sister."

Namgung Muyoung's eyes went wide. Muhwa had appeared, drawing a sword that shed a cold, pale light.

"Law Enforcement Hall Master?"

Sun Wukong looked at her as if this were a genuine surprise. Muhwa clasped her fists in salute.

"I have never undergone the coming-of-age rite of Changryong Chulgwan myself, so I will be participating this time. Judging by Teacher Sun's composure, one more opponent shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

Sun Wukong's eyes curved into crescents. He nodded, looking thoroughly entertained.

"Sure thing."

The moment permission fell, Muhwa drove the sword she had drawn into the ground.

"...?"

Even Sun Wukong tilted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his head at the unexpected move. Muhwa clenched both fists and spoke.

"I cannot turn a sword on an unarmed opponent."

"So the Law Enforcement Hall Master wants to fight with fists and feet too?"

Muhwa nodded. Sun Wukong shrugged. She had to know that even her full strength would not be enough — but his question answered itself a heartbeat later.

Sun Wukong's eyes went wide for an instant.

This is...!

A half-forgotten memory flashed across his sight.

They overlapped. Zhu Bajie's twin palms, and Muhwa's twin palms.

Sun Wukong snorted a laugh and threw a fist to meet her, as if greeting an old friend. The twin palms whirled in a circle and clamped down on his elbow.

"Hahp!"

Muhwa seized the elbow, spun her body, and let out a shout — meaning to throw him, just as Bajie once had. Her breath caught short in her throat. Was he using the Thousand-Catty Weight? She poured her inner energy to its limit and still could not budge him an inch, and the shock of it stunned her. Sun Wukong's arm settled around her neck as naturally as breathing. His breath brushed her ear.

"When'd you pick up fist-and-kick arts?"

"T-Teacher Sun taught it to me through sound transmission..."

"You fleshed it out and invented it yourself?"

"Inspiration just keeps flooding into my head!"

Muhwa shouted and twisted free. The instant she slipped out, her long leg snapped out in a sharp kick. Sun Wukong's figure vanished. Her attacks came on without pause, and his smile only grew deeper.

So the Yoryeok called up her memories of the previous life.

The fist-and-kick arts he had once taught her through sound transmission had been Zhu Bajie's. Muhwa had recalled those memories and forged them into a martial art of her own. The shortcomings were plain enough, of course. Sun Wukong needled every weakness without mercy, as if pointing them out for her.

She's a sharp one. Patch up those holes and it'll be something fine.

The wheel battle with Muhwa stretched on. The young successors' eyes shone. It was a chance to watch Sun Wukong's movements for that much longer.

"And you truly never meant to pull that steel staff out, did you?"

Sun Wukong put on an awkward face at Namgung Jinbaek's scolding.

"Ah, I figured they'd pull it out eventually."

"..."

Namgung Jinbaek let out a sigh. He glanced aside. Muhwa sat there with an exhausted face, weakly chewing on a sweet pastry. And she had gotten off lightly.

"Muyoung still has his succession ceremony as Young Lord ahead of him, and he can barely stand on his own two feet. That is a problem."

"Come on. The kid's a man. How's his lower body that weak?"

Namgung Jinbaek lost his words. They had fought a wheel battle for more than half a day, and the fact that Sun Wukong still looked perfectly fine was almost more astonishing than anything else. In the end, not a single one of them had succeeded in making him draw the steel staff.

Sun Wukong was not entirely without tact, however. He had never pulled the staff, not even at the very end — but he had arbitrarily declared that they had passed the trial.

"Well, those little brats must've learned a thing or two anyway."

Sun Wukong said it in that easy, slippery tone of his. Namgung Jinbaek could not argue, because it was true. They had collapsed from exhaustion, but a strange radiance lingered on their faces.

Having a master of Teacher Sun's caliber personally guide their martial arts for half a day is no small thing.

At first he had grinned and toyed with them like a tease. After Muhwa joined, the entire character of the fight had changed. Namgung Muyoung, looking ready to faint at any moment, had still clasped his fists toward Sun Wukong and offered his thanks. Namgung Jinbaek could feel, with painful clarity, that they had all taken a step forward.

Above all, the exhausted Muhwa sitting there now was the proof.

There won't be a soul left in the Namgung Clan who dares look at Muhwa unkindly after this.

Namgung Jinbaek wore a wry smile. Muhwa held a sure position and real authority, but even in a clan as tightly bound as the Namgung, there had been a few who regarded her poorly. Because she was not of the blood. Those looks would not come so freely now.

Even among the elders, there won't be many who could guarantee a victory against her.

Namgung Jinbaek turned his gaze again. Sun Wukong kept transferring the pastries in front of him into Muhwa's bowl. She had been flustered at first, then proceeded to accept and eat every last one without the slightest protest. Namgung Jinbaek snorted a quiet laugh.

"In any case, thank you for your help, Teacher Sun."

"No need to thank me... If you feel grateful, just don't forget it."

"How could I ever forget today's kindness?"

Sun Wukong smiled, thoroughly satisfied. Namgung Jinbaek was not a man who would miss the meaning.

He's a debtor now.

Not that he intended to collect the whole debt in one stroke.

The real flavor of a debt is wiping the slate a little at a time and wringing out the interest.

From the smallest favor to matters of real weight — Namgung Jinbaek would not be able to refuse Sun Wukong. That did not mean he would seize something certain all at once. He would simply keep the debt sitting there, quietly, insistently, at the back of the man's mind, and put him to use. Keep laying the debt on, psychologically, and that would be enough.

Now then. Time to use the Namgung Clan to hunt those bastards down.

The Namgung Clan's strength — Namgung Jinbaek's martial power in particular — would be a great help to Sun Wukong.

The preparations are complete. The moment something bites, I dig in.

The bait had already been thrown. The Shandong Seven Shadows had been bait. The fragment of the Seven Star Sword in Sun Wukong's possession had been bait. So had Gunei Nosa, who was already dead — and Baek-an-magun, who had lost his mind in the prison cell. All of it was bait.

If even one of them took hold, Sun Wukong meant to sink his teeth in and not let go, with the Namgung Clan at the front. He settled in to wait with the unhurried heart of Jiang Taigong casting his line.

The bait, however, was taken sooner than expected.

"My Lord. A missive from the Myeong-i-dang Hall Master, who went out to receive the Wudang delegation."

An elder came running in with an urgent face and held the letter out to Namgung Jinbaek. The elder's expression had gone ashen. Namgung Jinbaek broke the seal, and his face slowly hardened. He looked at the elder with eyes that had sunk into a heavy stillness.

"Is this... true?"

"It was delivered by a man who went out with the Myeong-i-dang Hall Master and returned. The handwriting is his, and the seal matches as well."

"Then..."

"Yes. The Wudang delegation has all..."

For a moment the hall sank into silence. And in that silence, only Sun Wukong's eyes gleamed.