Chapter 145
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: You Two Outsiders There
The old man was always sweeping in the same spot.
Thanks to him, the area he was in charge of was always spotless.
Even during the last Eastern Tournament, the old man hadn't stopped sweeping.
Not even in that completely empty place with no one around.
He had just smiled faintly and kept at it.
His snow-white hair and beard announced his age, but he had a sturdy frame, and aside from a few deep wrinkles here and there, his skin was taut.
It was proof that he was no ordinary man.
No one could say a word to such an old man.
"Have you come?"
Ha Mu-baek answered Wi Ji-gun's question.
"Yes, Master."
"Lan is still lost in her training trance. The Eastern Tournament must have given her a huge shock."
It was now afternoon.
Ha Seol-ran was still swinging her sword.
"Please take good care of Lan."
Wi Ji-gun stopped sweeping at Ha Mu-baek's words. He gazed intently at his disciple.
"When do you plan to leave?"
"In four days, together with Gung Ryeon-ju."
Ha Mu-baek answered calmly. Wi Ji-gun's eyes grew complicated as he looked at his disciple.
"It's your karma, so you handle it yourself."
That was it.
Wi Ji-gun said nothing more.
And he resumed sweeping.
Ha Mu-baek bowed deeply.
"I'll come say goodbye before I go."
With that, he turned toward the training ground of Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven.
Just as he was about to take a step...
"Always keep Lan in your thoughts."
His master's quiet words.
Ha Mu-baek took them to heart and walked on.
A corner of the training ground.
Yeon Ha-min was focused on circulating her qi.
This was on Ha Mu-baek's advice, back when he'd brought her here.
For the time being, she should concentrate solely on recovering her internal energy and stamina.
If she rashly picked up her sword just to recapture that sensation, she might end up overwhelmed by it instead.
She needed to build a foundation strong enough to endure it first, he'd said.
And so Yeon Ha-min stuck to qi circulation and simple physical conditioning.
Her energy hadn't fully recovered yet.
She had to build it up bit by bit.
Meanwhile, Dang Jin-san and Nak Woo-jin, brimming with excess energy, were swinging their fans and swords like mad.
Their faces were full of determination and resolve: Next Eastern Tournament, no matter what.
Baek Ri-pyeong and Dan Mok Un-roe had also pushed themselves too hard yesterday.
Both had lost to Ju Woo-myeong's Taiji Radiant Sword.
For now, reviewing the previous day's matches came first.
They exchanged what they'd felt while watching each other's spars.
Sometimes things were clearer from a distance.
And so the Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven training ground burned hot.
Afternoon, with shadows growing long.
Ha Mu-baek appeared in the training ground.
The five disciples were simply focused on their own training.
Seeing that, Ha Mu-baek chuckled softly and nodded.
It was rewarding to have raised them strong.
"Instructor!"
Nak Woo-jin was the first to spot Ha Mu-baek.
At his shout, the others' gazes turned to him as well.
"Keep at what you're doing."
Saying that, Ha Mu-baek headed to his usual spot.
He paused just before reclining against the rock.
"Hold on. The Eastern Tournament ended yesterday, right?"
Everyone nodded at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Then it's holiday time now."
The disciples nodded again vigorously.
"Which means there's no reason for me to be here."
Ha Mu-baek straightened up from the rock.
"See you when the next semester starts."
Everyone wore expressions of utter disbelief.
Then why had he shown up now?
Wasn't he the one who'd brought Yeon Ha-min here this morning?
"Baek Ri-pyeong. You're on the right path. Trust it and keep going straight."
Just as they were about to say something, Ha Mu-baek spoke first.
"Dan Mok Un-roe. Your potential is boundless. Don't rely solely on that sudden power you gained."
Dan Mok Un-roe bowed his head.
He'd already heard those words from someone once before.
"Dang Jin-san. You tried the fan at dawn, so you get it now, right? You're no dullard."
Dang Jin-san wrinkled his nose playfully.
"Nak Woo-jin. It's been less than a year since you started martial arts. How long do you think Namgung Ji-hu has been at it? You went a hundred exchanges with him."
Nak Woo-jin scratched his head.
"All of you have grown beyond recognition over the past year. And you grew again at the Eastern Tournament. Now you know it, don't you? You're on the right path—just keep looking ahead."
Since joining the Fierce Dragon Corps, had their instructor ever said so much?
And all of it positive praise, at that.
The instructor who was always nitpicking and going on about self-study.
A smile tugged at their lips unbidden.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to one side.
"What are you two doing here?"
It was Namgung Ji-hu and Ju Woo-myeong.
They stood there awkwardly.
Ha Mu-baek seemed to be saying something to the Fierce Dragon Corps disciples, but they hadn't heard clearly. Probably advice.
So Namgung Ji-hu spoke up.
"Um, do you have any words for us too...?"
Ju Woo-myeong was giving Ha Mu-baek the same expectant look.
One of the reasons they'd come to Squad Seven's training ground was Ha Mu-baek.
The Squad Seven disciples didn't know.
How much depth lay in those casual, offhand remarks he tossed out so indifferently.
Truth be told, Namgung Ji-hu and Ju Woo-myeong didn't fully grasp it either.
Still, they'd gained so much from his advice that they'd come back today, thick-skinned as it was.
Ha Mu-baek stared at the two silently.
At last, he spoke.
"How about you two try learning the Three Talents Sword Method?"
With that, Ha Mu-baek left the training ground.
His steps were those of a man truly off to enjoy his vacation until the semester's end.
Namgung Ji-hu murmured as he watched Ha Mu-baek's retreating back.
"Three Talents Sword Method..."
He'd heard it once before.
During the Eastern Tournament, hadn't Baek Ri-pyeong said the same to him?
And now Ha Mu-baek too.
Ju Woo-myeong also murmured "Three Talents Sword Method."
He'd already heard about it from his master.
The essence is void.
What did that mean for him?
Both wore confused expressions.
That was when Dang Jin-san approached them.
"You two outsiders there."
Hidden Dragon Corps Squad One and Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Twenty.
In Squad Seven's training ground, they were outsiders, plain and simple.
Dang Jin-san's face was full of mischief.
"Better to move than to worry. That's our instructor's policy. I'll teach you well."
Before they knew it, Dang Jin-san had his fan wrapped at his waist and spare swords in hand. He shoved swords into their grips.
A faint blue light gathered in Yeo Cho-a's eyes.
It was a change brought by training in the new divine art.
"Leader. Are you all right?"
Lee Ho-beop asked with a worried face.
"I've only just grasped the first stage. No need for concern."
Yeo Cho-a replied in a dry voice.
"It's still an incomplete art. You're being too hasty."
"I can't just wait around idly until it's finished."
Yeo Cho-a's face hardened with resolve.
"Not when that monster could come charging in here any time."
Lee Ho-beop shut his mouth at her words.
After the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest incident, Haomen had pulled all its eyes and ears from Wuchang.
To avoid giving that man any pretext.
At the All Things Alliance's request, they'd cautiously gathered information again—and been utterly shocked.
They'd known he was a monster. But to that extent?
"He survived the Ten Thousand Heavenly Golden Chain Thunderbolt. A monster beyond human limits. How long before he learns of the manuscript's existence?"
Yeo Cho-a asked anxiously.
"..."
Lee Ho-beop had no answer.
They'd hidden it desperately, but it was surprising that someone of his caliber hadn't even considered it.
Lee Ho-beop could only privately speculate that his overwhelming strength made him think only in terms of his own standards.
The traces of the Ten Thousand Heavenly Golden Chain Thunderbolt.
Learning it had been fired at Ha Mu-baek left Haomen's leadership stunned.
What was that weapon, anyway?
Only a tiny few even knew of its existence.
Haomen's exclusive intel.
After confirming he'd survived, Yeo Cho-a's condition had deteriorated.
She'd begun trembling in preemptive fear and terror.
To shake off that dread, she'd chosen to cultivate the new divine art—still under research.
The manual of the Primordial Chaos Flow owned by Pang Clan Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang.
In truth, the Blood Cult's demonic art: Chaos Blood Destruction Art.
No—a cursed annihilation art.
Ha Mu-baek had shattered those arrangements.
All they'd salvaged were records of Pang Gun-ho's training process and a copy of the manual.
That was it.
Research to fully excise the curse within was still ongoing.
But Yeo Cho-a had mastered a fully verified portion, achieving the first stage.
A mere entry level, yet a blue aura lingered in her eyes.
A messenger hawk from the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Sent via express route, it arrived in just two days.
The old man frowned the entire time he read the letter.
He had every reason to.
It carried news the exact opposite of what he'd hoped for.
"Hoo. Senior Brother. Is your talent truly a wall this junior can never surpass? Is it because of your blood? The child of my blood is nothing but frustrating..."
The old man muttered in lament.
He'd expelled the child who could threaten his position in the sect.
To a place where nothing could be gained—and where he'd die two years later.
The Dragon Training Pavilion's Fierce Dragon Corps.
There had been opposition and murmurs in the sect, but as sect leader, he'd quashed it.
Any later, and the opposition would have coalesced further, beyond his control.
Even after sending the boy to the Corps, he hadn't taken his eyes off him.
He'd even sent his own confidants as Pavilion instructors.
And issued separate orders to the disciples already dispatched there.
Thus monitoring the boy ironclad.
Or trying to.
That strange fellow attached as Fierce Dragon Corps instructor had prevented proper surveillance.
Ha Mu-baek.
An enigma.
Why would a Hocheon Corps Leader meekly accept demotion to Corps instructor?
A man cut loose like a fallen kite.
As Zhongnan Sect Leader Ju Jae-seung, removing such a man should've been trivial.
Yet he couldn't.
Despite countless behind-the-scenes maneuvers, whenever that name came up, people just shook their heads—not a few of them.
Forced to spread a loose net instead.
And the reports that trickled in? Aside from the first, none pleased him.
It had been gratifying to hear he'd been thoroughly humiliated by some Tang Clan branch kid.
After that, though...
Not a single thing went as expected, from his Summer Combat Festival victories on.
And the crowning blow: today's news.
"Runner-up..."
Runner-up in the Eastern Tournament.
Final opponent: Wudang's Ju Woo-myeong, no less.
Disciple of the previous Wudang Greatest Sword, Immortal Mu Yeon-jin.
A figure hailed as the pinnacle late-generation talent among the Nine Great Sects and Eight Schools.
What in the world was happening at the Dragon Training Pavilion?
"This won't do."
Leaving him there was too risky.
After sending him off, the sect's opposition had mostly been sorted.
Now he felt confident there'd be no issue even with the boy around.
And if he was already on par with Ju Woo-myeong, he might not even die in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
If he grew even more there instead, that would be a problem.
"Better to keep him under my eyes after all."
Where he couldn't do a thing.
Having made up his mind, Ju Jae-seung picked up his brush.
To pen a letter ordering Baek Ri-pyeong's return to Zhongnan.