Chapter 17
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17
"The exam is over. The four of you may step outside the barrier."
Perhaps reaching a higher realm truly elevated one's composure to an entirely different level. Even as everyone else stood frozen in stunned silence, Kang I-tae steadfastly carried out his duties.
Of course, in his eyes, what had just happened was little different from a newborn baby—one that had barely learned to roll over—raising its tiny fists and letting out a victory roar.
The four of them walked out from beyond the barrier.
Hae Un-chan couldn't hide his disappointment at failing to land the finishing blow himself, despite having had several opportunities.
Pi Ga-ram remained as impassive and expressionless as ever.
Ise strode out with a majestic gait, carrying the enemy leader’s severed head.
And Seol Ryeong…
"What on earth is wrong with him…?"
She watched Ise in absolute horror, completely unable to fathom his behavior.
* * *
The sixth day's exam was meant to be a breather.
In the morning, they took a written exam testing the contents of the Basic Manual of the Great Martial Dao that they had studied so far.
There were a hundred questions in total.
Ise finished the test without much difficulty.
In the early afternoon, they reported to an examiner for a spirit root inspection.
It was a process to determine whether one’s spirit root had awakened, its specific type, and their current cultivation realm.
The examiner grasped Ise’s realm the moment he laid eyes on him.
"You’ve already reached 2-Star."
He can see that?
Surely, he wasn’t judging solely by the amount of spiritual energy.
On the other hand, it was difficult for Ise to gauge the examiner’s realm. However, seeing how the man's spiritual energy didn't flow in pulse-like streams, but instead pooled and sloshed in one place as if contained in a vessel, Ise could roughly guess he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Leaving the spirit root type blank… Is it a unique constitution?"
"Yes."
The examiner’s gaze turned back, peering deep into Ise’s body. But even after a thorough look, he couldn't quite tell what it was, merely furrowing his brows.
Although his curiosity and academic drive as a cultivator reared their heads, the examiner quickly suppressed the urge.
Excessive greed brought disaster. If he had been instructed not to pry, it was best to obey.
"You may return."
Ise bowed his head politely and moved on to the next step.
The third stop was the Medicine Hall.
Here, they underwent a thorough procedure to check if anyone had been injured or poisoned during the previous exams, immediately resolving any issues the applicants might have.
Seeing how their treatment had suddenly grown remarkably better, Ise felt they had finally crossed the home stretch of the examinations.
After the day's schedule ended, the four of them gathered for a debriefing party around a bonfire in a secluded garden tucked inside the training grounds.
While Ise, Hae Un-chan, and Pi Ga-ram all shared a collective 'why are we even doing this' attitude, Seol Ryeong’s stance was resolute.
"In proper tradition, after an event is over, you have to enjoy song and dance and even burn the Flame Robe to truly finish it! You could call it heightening the mood while sending off the spirits!"
"What are you talking about?"
At Ise’s question, Hae Un-chan merely shook his head.
He had decided to simply accept that shamans liked to party whenever something ended.
While Seol Ryeong busied herself around the bonfire preparing for the ritual, Hae Un-chan brought over food and a bottle of takju from somewhere.
Inside a cloth bundle was a mountain of mouthwatering jerky. Ise smacked his lips.
If roasted over the fire, the golden-cooked jerky looked like it would melt in his mouth with a rich, savory flavor.
"Where did you get that?"
"This? My emergency stash."
"Jerky aside, can cultivators drink alcohol? Takju, no less."
"Is it not allowed?"
Hae Un-chan and Ise fell into deep thought.
It was explicitly written in the Basic Manual of the Great Martial Dao to stay away from impure foods.
The problem was that what constituted "impure food" wasn't clearly specified.
At the very least, takju certainly seemed impure.
Hae Un-chan and Ise put their heads together in deliberation before ultimately pushing the liquor to the side.
"Alright, now everybody strip!"
Meanwhile, Seol Ryeong, having finished her preparations, smiled brightly and addressed the three men.
For a moment, the eyes of the three men shifted awkwardly, completely failing to understand what she meant.
"What are you doing? I said strip, quickly!"
"…Could you please explain without cutting out the context?"
At Hae Un-chan’s question, Seol Ryeong giggled as if realizing her mistake and elaborated.
"After fighting foul creatures like demon ghosts, you get exposed to demonic energy and splashed with blood. If you don't do a proper debriefing ritual, bad luck will stick to you. So, we’re going to burn the clothes we wore during the fight and hold a simple ritual."
Having finished her explanation, Seol Ryeong rested one hand on her hip and beckoned with the other, as if to say strip right now.
"I get what you mean. But here?"
"Yes, here! Goodness, you’re not little kids, what are you so embarrassed about?"
Frustrated by their hesitant behavior despite her repeated insistence, Seol Ryeong marched up and simply yanked off Hae Un-chan’s outer robe and vest.
For someone so tiny, she possessed surprising strength.
"There. Take off your pants, too."
"Are you out of your mind…?"
Staring at the three men's gazes—which looked at her as if she were some kind of shameless degenerate—Seol Ryeong let out a loud sigh and handed them the spare robes she had brought.
"Then put these on and slide your pants off underneath. I don't get why full-grown boys are being so overly modest."
"It’s because we’re full-grown…"
Despite Hae Un-chan’s murmur, Seol Ryeong merely shook her head from side to side in frustration.
A moment later, with a sharp crack, sparks flew from the firewood as smoke and ash billowed upward.
Seol Ryeong gestured and swayed in a unique choreography. She danced around the fire, performing a brief ritual. Soon, feeling hungry, she grabbed a handful of Hae Un-chan’s jerky and ate it.
The jerky roasted over the embers tasted utterly divine.
More wood was tossed onto the flames.
Ise watched the rekindled fire and asked, "Didn’t we exorcise all the demon ghost corpses at the exam ground yesterday? Do we really need to do this again?"
"That was sending the demon ghosts’ souls to the Bottomless Abyss. This is to remove the foul energy clinging to us."
"Do we have to do this tedious stuff every single time we do ghost exorcism?"
"It’s better if you do, but you should definitely do it at least the first time you hunt a demon ghost. It builds up your resistance."
Ise nodded, as if he had gained another good piece of information. However, there was one problem.
"This wasn't my first ghost exorcism. Does it still have the same effect?"
"What?" Seol Ryeong asked back.
Hae Un-chan and Pi Ga-ram also quietly raised their heads, casting glances over.
"You performed ghost exorcism before entering the Great Martial Dao? When on earth?"
"When I was ten."
"…? Are you joking? So what you said earlier about catching a demon ghost at ten was actually true?!"
Ise merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Even if it’s not your first hunt, the earlier you do it, the better… But why on earth did you hunt a demon ghost at such a young age? By any chance, what kind of demon ghost—"
"Stop right there."
Seol Ryeong had leaned her upper body close toward Ise as she asked, but Pi Ga-ram reached out a hand to stop her.
Seol Ryeong paused at Pi Ga-ram’s serious tone.
"Pampered children from noble families might not know, but when it comes to getting involved with demon ghosts at a young age, there’s rarely anything good that comes from digging into it."
Only then did Seol Ryeong realize that asking deeper questions might pick at painful memories, and she took a step back.
Even if Ise had brought it up first, one needed to know how to maintain proper boundaries in a partnership.
Ise neither confirmed nor denied it. In his seventeen years of life experience, in cases like this, the answer was almost always an affirmative.
"By the way, Ise. Yesterday when you dealt with Mokgwang, why did you push yourself so hard alone?"
Smoothly changing the subject, Pi Ga-ram asked what he had been curious about since earlier.
Ise candidly admitted that he had overexerted himself.
"Sorry for not discussing it with you beforehand."
"I wasn't asking for an apology. We passed the exam easily, so there’s no harm done. I’m purely curious about the reason. You seemed like the cautious and prudent type."
"Even if it meant pushing myself…"
Seol Ryeong, who had been quietly taking a sip of takju, flinched.
"…I needed to catch the examiners' eyes."
"The reason?"
"Because of my unique constitution. I need the privilege granted to the top two candidates: one-on-one instruction from a Hall Master."
The three recalled the commotion that had occurred on the second day. He clearly possessed a secret he couldn't speak of—one significant enough to summon even the Hall Masters of the Great Martial Dao.
As if finally understanding, Pi Ga-ram offered a word of advice.
"Understood. Just in case, it’d be best to keep that constitution a secret from others."
"That’s why I didn't tell you guys either."
Though it was an open secret already known to a few people, Ise appropriately held his tongue.
"I see."
Ise smiled faintly, and Pi Ga-ram crossed his arms.
Before long, Hae Un-chan and Seol Ryeong were sharing takju from a halved gourd, gradually getting flushed and tipsy.
The lingering feeling that the future of the Great Martial Dao was somewhat dim was a minor issue.
* * *
The final day of the Great Martial Dao entrance examination dawned.
Last night, Seol Ryeong had explained, ‘They say if you make it to the last day, you’ve basically passed the exam. You can think of the final test as more of a ranking match!’
And indeed, the remaining number of candidates had already shrunk to around sixty.
Considering the number of deaths among first-year initiate disciples, it would be difficult to cut any more people here.
Among the applicants remaining until the end, there were eight mortals without spirit roots.
It was said that they would join as Outer Gate affiliates, focusing primarily on information gathering and living comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Unlike Inner Gate disciples, their mortality rate was not high, so selecting around ten people a year was more than enough.
While the applicants lined up in the exam ground and waited, nine men and women appeared on the raised platform ahead, exchanging greetings with Kang I-tae.
Three of them were faces Ise recognized.
The Core Formation Great Cultivators—the core strength of the Great Martial Dao and the very pillars supporting it.
The Hall Masters of the Eleventh Inner Hall had made their appearance.
There were ten in total, but it seemed every Hall Master except Azure Dragon Hall Master Hae Il—who was presumably away on an assignment—was present.
"Have this many Hall Masters ever observed an exam before…?"
The applicant named Wang So-in, who had strutted up to Ise boasting that this was his fourth attempt, muttered under his breath.
It seemed they had gathered after hearing rumors that the talent of this year's cohort was extraordinary.
"We will now begin the seventh test."
Once the somewhat restless atmosphere settled down, Kang I-tae stepped onto the platform as usual and declared the start of the exam.
"The test is simple. Two called applicants will face off in a one-on-one duel. The match ends when one side forfeits or loses consciousness. All means and methods are permitted. The order will proceed in reverse, starting from the lowest rank based on cumulative points so far."
A head-on clash between cultivators.
Ise realized why the final exam—where pass or fail was largely predetermined—produced the highest number of casualties.
This was a stage.
Unlike before, when attention was split among many, this was a moment where all focus was concentrated solely on two people vying for dominance.
Watching them were the Core Formation Great Cultivators, objects of immense respect. It was a prime setup for candidates to overheat in their desire to catch the Hall Masters' eyes. Pride wouldn't easily allow them to forfeit here, either.
Moreover, the opponent was a rival ranked right above or below them.
Naturally, fights between those of similar skill were always the fiercest.
The exam began with duels between the mortals.
Since these individuals had already achieved all their goals just by reaching this point, it felt like light entertainment to warm up the atmosphere.
Once the eight mortals finished their matches, the duels between cultivators began in earnest.
It was an all-out war where they poured out every bit of their trained martial arts and prepared dharma artifacts.
While the Hall Masters casually chatted among themselves, they occasionally cast their eyes toward the ring to see if there were any usable talents.
True to expectation, the atmosphere in the arena burned hot. Though even common dharma spells weren't used, as the applicants' rankings rose, the duels became fiercer than ever, escalating into a truly impressive spectacle.
"Next. Seol Ryeong, Jo Jeong-jin."
Seol Ryeong’s current overall rank was eleventh. Though she seemed to fight fiercely with the twelfth-ranked applicant at first, she soon consumed a massive quantity of hidden dharma artifacts, overwhelming her opponent with absolute firepower.
Pi Ga-ram’s rank was seventh. The eighth-ranked applicant was one of those pre-selected to be at 2-Star Qi Refining, but Pi Ga-ram refused to yield distance despite his opponent's skill in manipulating spiritual energy. He relentlessly harassed the rival with archery and formations before subduing him with a sudden close-quarters ambush.
Both of them proved that they were more than capable of achieving top-tier results, even if their feats had been somewhat overshadowed by Ise’s near-excessive performances.
Near the end of the exam.
When two additional names were called out of the remaining four, Ise and Hae Un-chan met each other's eyes.
Neither of their names had been called.
As the top candidate and runner-up, it meant they were to settle the score at the very end.
"I expected it, but… it really turned out like this. I don't plan on holding back."
Though his voice was calm, Hae Un-chan’s face was filled with competitive fire and excitement.