The First Test Begins
Jang Muhwi was the only one among the late-stage juniors who didn’t hurry his steps.
Cheolwoo, watching Jang Muhwi stand there blankly while observing the other family’s young talents, shouted urgently.
“Young Master! What are you doing? We need to get inside quickly too.”
“Just wait a moment.”
“But look over there! Everyone’s running. There must be a reason they’re rushing like that, right, Young Master?”
“Just because you sit at the table first doesn’t mean you’ll taste the best dishes the fastest, does it?”
“Young Master, you’re far too relaxed about this.”
Cheolwoo stared at Jang Muhwi with eyes full of worry.
Jang Muhwi slowly crossed the threshold of the Murim Alliance Qinghai Branch.
Even after entering, he didn’t rush.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be in peril.
The same principle applied to this Dragon Gate Assembly.
The reason Jang Muhwi had crossed the threshold of the Qinghai Branch later than anyone else was precisely to observe the faces and demeanors of all the late-stage juniors participating in the Dragon Gate Assembly.
At that moment, Cheolwoo pointed ahead.
“Look at that! The line is ridiculously long. That’s why I kept telling you we should hurry, Young Master.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Jang Muhwi walked slowly toward the end of the long line.
The late-stage juniors lined up in six rows were complaining with clear displeasure.
“What the hell? How many people are here, and they only have six guides?”
“Exactly. Does this even make sense? Isn’t this just them looking down on us?”
At that moment, a massive shadow fell over them.
It was a shadow too large to be cast by an ordinary person.
The juniors all turned their heads at once.
The lips of the late-stage juniors, who had been endlessly grumbling, froze in an instant.
A bear-like man was walking straight toward them.
Judging by his clothes and fierce appearance, he looked more like a bandit than anything else.
Thud. Thud.
Perhaps because of his enormous build, each of his footsteps faintly stirred up dust.
Just by walking alone, he gave the illusion that an entire army was on the move.
When the juniors got a clear look at the man’s face, they flinched and stumbled backward in shock.
What stood out most was the broken saber he carried.
A saber broken in half? There was no way it wouldn’t catch the eye.
And those half-missing eyebrows!
Someone shouted.
“It’s Gudo Mosang.”
“The examiner is Blade Seeker Mosang….”
They whispered among themselves as they retreated in surprise.
Gudo Mosang walked forward as if he had heard nothing at all.
Standing behind the guides, Mosang spoke.
“Quite a lot of juniors have gathered.”
At his single sentence, the late-stage juniors immediately shut their mouths.
They had heard his name so often their ears had grown calluses.
Of course, the most important thing was the personality that followed his reputation.
Mosang was famous for holding long grudges.
If they got on his bad side here, there would be no end to the trouble that would follow.
They quickly closed their mouths and turned their heads away.
Then Mosang continued.
“I’ll guide you in order, so if anyone has complaints, tell me directly. That’s all!”
Having finished speaking, Mosang sat down on an empty chair.
From that moment on, the late-stage juniors maintained absolute silence.
Jang Muhwi, who had been watching the scene from the very back, let out a faint smile.
“He looks healthy.”
“Do you know him, Young Master?”
When Cheolwoo tilted his head, Jang Muhwi continued.
“He’s the branch chief of the Gansu Branch.”
“Ah, the one who supposedly cut down the Blood Hand Demon of the unorthodox path in a single strike….”
“That’s the man. It’s good to see him in such vigorous health.”
“W-wait a second. Young Master, how do you know him?”
“I only heard about him through rumors.”
“But didn’t you just speak as if you’d seen him before?”
“That’s just your imagination.”
Of course, Jang Muhwi knew him well.
In his previous life, the man had stood at the forefront of the battlefield alongside his close friend, Wang Jimak.
If it was Gudo Mosang, he would conduct this event fairly.
Having finished his thoughts, Jang Muhwi looked once more at the long line stretching ahead.
The line showed no signs of shrinking.
To receive their assigned quarters, they had to stand in line, yet there were only six guides.
Only after the guides returned could the next junior receive their room assignment.
Waiting for their turn under the blazing sun naturally made people irritable.
On top of that, these late-stage juniors were the pride of prestigious families.
Where would they have ever experienced such treatment before?
Gudo Mosang watched their expressions with clear amusement.
He even seemed to be deliberately hiding his own expression.
At that moment, a smile formed on Jang Muhwi’s lips.
Why would the branch chief of another region be sitting here like this?
It certainly wasn’t to genuinely help with the proceedings, and it definitely wasn’t because he had time to spare.
The fact that he was here meant the tests of the Dragon Gate Assembly had already begun.
Jang Muhwi gave a small nod.
Since the observation was complete, it was time to submit the correct answer sheet for the problem.
A little while later.
More than an hour had passed before Jang Muhwi’s turn finally came.
A middle-aged man walked up to him.
Though his skin suggested middle age, his graying hair made him look well past his mid-forties.
“Please come this way.”
When the man gestured politely, Jang Muhwi bowed his head toward him.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
“Then, please leave your luggage to me.”
“No need. We can carry it ourselves.”
Jang Muhwi smiled brightly and waved his hand.
Cheolwoo followed behind, tilting his head again and again.
His expression seemed to say, There’s no way the Young Master would act like this, as he let out a small sigh.
When they reached the room, Jang Muhwi casually began organizing it together with the middle-aged man.
Cheolwoo stood there in a daze for a moment before quickly starting to move items at Jang Muhwi’s gesture.
With both Jang Muhwi and Cheolwoo working together, the room was organized in the blink of an eye.
After finishing the cleaning, the middle-aged man slowly placed the last items in their proper places and headed for the door.
It was then.
Jang Muhwi gave him a slight bow.
“Thank you, Senior.”
“Did you just call me Senior?”
When the middle-aged man tilted his head in confusion, Jang Muhwi nodded.
“That’s right, Senior.”
“Hmm… calling a mere servant Senior…”
“There’s a saying, isn’t there? A sharp awl inside a bag cannot be hidden no matter how hard you try.”
“Why did you think I was the awl?”
The middle-aged man’s tone had completely changed.
Jang Muhwi’s expression remained unchanged.
“No matter how well you hide your energy, you cannot hide the traces of your training.”
“So you’re saying you’ve figured out who I am?”
“I don’t know exactly who you are, but judging from your hands, it seems you’ve held a bow for a very long time.”
When Jang Muhwi said this, a spark of curiosity appeared at the corner of the middle-aged man’s mouth.
“Not a sword, but a bow… Why did you think that?”
“Looking at the size of the calluses around your gokji acupoint and the development of your shoulder muscles, I’d say you’ve been handling a bow for at least twenty years. Archers tend to develop one side of their body more than the other. It must be quite a large bow that serves as your main weapon.”
Jang Muhwi pointed at the area between the man’s thumb and index finger—near the gokji acupoint.
At that moment, the man’s eyes changed.
He looked at Jang Muhwi once more.
Originally, he had planned to reveal his identity after the meal, but the opponent had noticed first in a completely unexpected way.
The man unknowingly smiled.
Though he made no sound, his smile was filled with goodwill.
Finally, he placed a passage token on the table.
“Make sure to carry this with you at all times inside the Murim Alliance.”
Having finished speaking, he slowly left the room.
As soon as he was gone, Cheolwoo let out a long sigh.
“Whew. A master archer from Qinghai? I can’t think of anyone who fits that description.”
“He’s probably not from Qinghai. I’d say he’s from Sichuan.”
“How could you possibly know that? Have you suddenly become a fortune teller, Young Master?”
“You can tell from the sound of his footsteps.”
“I didn’t hear anything at all.”
Cheolwoo dug at his ears several times.
Jang Muhwi laughed at the sight.
“Then what you heard was correct.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Ever since the lantern festival last time, you’ve been acting strangely.”
Cheolwoo shook his head vigorously and resumed unpacking the luggage.
Watching him, Jang Muhwi opened the window wide.
In his field of vision, the middle-aged man was disappearing into a tiny dot on the horizon.
It was true that he had identified the man’s Sichuan origin from the sound of his footsteps.
More precisely, the opponent was a master of both archery and hidden weapons.
Most masters of hidden weapons shared one particular habit.
They handled objects with extreme precision.
Because of this, unlike swordsmen, they rarely made any sound when placing objects down.
With that level of caution, it was clear he had trained in hidden weapon techniques since childhood.
And within the Murim Alliance, the only sect that specialized in such arts was the Sichuan Tang Family.
Therefore, he was undoubtedly from Sichuan.
Sichuan. A bow. And hidden weapons.
When those three elements were combined, only one person came to mind.
Moreover, all six of the guides were clearly people from the Murim Alliance.
Since he had already submitted his answer sheet, all that remained was to wait for their evaluation.
The first test of the Dragon Gate Assembly has begun.
Objective: Determine whether the participant’s eyes and ears are open.
Late that night. Inside the office of the Qinghai Branch.
After the first day’s test had ended, the examiners were reviewing the documents.
These documents were reports written by the Murim Alliance’s officials.
The test had begun the very moment the gates of the Qinghai Branch opened.
The purpose of the first test was to determine whether the participants had their eyes and ears open.
Officials from the Murim Alliance had taken on the role of testing them.
People tended to reveal their true nature more readily before the weak than before the strong.
Most of the documents that had passed so far belonged to the children of influential families from the Qinghai region.
Among the examiners reviewing the documents were Gudo Mosang and Dokhwa Dang Jihwa.
Branch chiefs from other regions were also present, carefully examining the papers.
They had already failed quite a number of late-stage juniors.
Although it seemed harsh, they could not refuse Dokhwa Dang Jihwa’s insistence on following the rules strictly.
Problems always arose when principles were abandoned.
Everyone waited as Dang Jihwa meticulously reviewed the documents.
Her movements as she checked each paper and placed it into the box labeled “Fail” were as decisive as a guillotine, showing not the slightest hesitation.
Anyone who tried to stop her eventually closed their mouth.
No one wanted to make an enemy of the Sichuan Tang Family.
While everyone swallowed dryly, Dang Jihwa picked up the final document.
She had been opening the examination papers without much thought, but her eyes suddenly gleamed.
The name of the late-stage junior looked strangely familiar.
Unfortunately, it was familiar in a bad way—specifically, for his incompetence.
Jang Muhwi.
Dang Jihwa let out a hollow laugh and set the document down.
The name of that famously incompetent junior, whose reputation had even spread all the way to Sichuan, had made it onto the list?
The fact that someone like him had passed the first test meant the Dragon Gate Assembly this time was as good as ruined.
In a way, she thought, this was the perfect opportunity to cut the Dragon Gate Assembly in half.