Chapter 163
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: What's Troubling You?
Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong stared at the documents with a look of utter disbelief.
He had already read them twice.
And now he was reading them once more.
'I did hear reports that the aftermath of the Milky Way Sword Hero's death was a mess, but at the time, we couldn't afford to concern ourselves with Zhongnan Sect's next sect leader.'
Gong Son Dan-gyeong recalled those days.
The battlefield had been in frantic turmoil.
It had been fierce enough to claim even the Milky Way Sword Hero.
Besides, choosing Zhongnan Sect's sect leader was their internal affair.
He knew there were doubts about whether Joo Jae-seung had the caliber to lead the sect, but it wasn't for the Righteous Heaven Alliance to meddle in.
Even so, he never imagined the man would turn out like this.
'Vying against the previous sect leader's grandson out of rivalry...'
A personification of lust for power, perhaps.
Or maybe he simply knew well how to protect his own authority.
His talent for eliminating future threats was exceptional, but he had no eye for reading the currents of the times.
And of all people, he had to go after someone who entered Ha Mu-baek's class.
"This is enough to make him want to turn Zhongnan Sect upside down. What a fool..."
It was a tricky situation.
What should he do?
Once Ha Mu-baek set his mind to causing chaos, even the Alliance Leader couldn't stop him.
And now, that very man had come straight to him with a warning.
That he would flip Zhongnan Sect on its head.
His head throbbed.
'And there's that connection with the Milky Way Sword Hero.'
As far as he knew, they had fought back-to-back.
To Ha Mu-baek, he was a comrade-in-arms.
The grandson of a fallen comrade from the battlefield.
And one of the students under his watch.
Given Ha Mu-baek's personality as Gong Son Dan-gyeong understood it, it was more than enough reason for him to step in.
"What a sentimental guy."
He seemed like someone who lived wildly by his own whims, but Gong Son Dan-gyeong knew a part of his inner self.
The reason Ha Mu-baek was still with the Righteous Heaven Alliance was precisely that sentimentality.
His comrades and subordinates from those shared days on the battlefield were still there.
Ha Mu-baek couldn't bring himself to abandon them.
They had fought together against blood-sworn enemies like the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
"There's nothing for me or the Alliance to do here."
It was a matter between Ha Mu-baek and Zhongnan Sect.
Just as the Righteous Heaven Alliance couldn't interfere in their choice of sect leader, there was no reason for them to get involved in this either.
He could only watch and wait.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong picked up his brush.
He dashed off a command missive in one go and sent it off to Gu Yang-myeongwon.
Gu Yang-myeongwon stared blankly at the mountain of documents piled up before him.
'What in the world...'
How had things ended up like this?
He mentally retraced the steps.
After entering the Dragon Training Pavilion.
He had resolved not to let Ha Mu-baek out of his sight and followed him doggedly.
The first place Ha Mu-baek headed was the Pavilion Lord's Residence.
There, he met a clerk.
Ki Yu-chan, he was called.
The man who had dumped this stack of documents on him.
Ha Mu-baek had brought him there, saying he would introduce someone.
At the request to have a brief chat, he had sat down—only to come to his senses two hours later.
Ha Mu-baek, who had vanished somewhere, reappeared.
And spun an utterly absurd tale.
'Can you cover for me if I turn Zhongnan Sect upside down?'
Shocked beyond belief, he had sent an urgent dispatch—not just to the Alliance, but to the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.
After that.
Ki Yu-chan reappeared and led him to this pile of documents, where he now sat.
"No, my job isn't..."
"Senior, didn't you say you'd help out this junior because my workload is overwhelming?"
Gu Yang-myeongwon's incredulous gaze turned to Ki Yu-chan at his words.
Senior?
He had no such junior.
There was no connection between him and Ki Yu-chan.
Not from the same academy, nor in the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.
He had only met Ki Yu-chan a mere two and a half hours ago.
And yet here he was, a key figure in the Heavenly Eye Pavilion, roped into handling paperwork for a mere Dragon Training Pavilion clerk.
It was absurd and bewildering.
He wanted to storm out, but couldn't—because of the other person handling documents alongside him.
The Dragon Training Pavilion Vice Pavilion Lord.
The youngest son of the Hubei Yeon Clan head.
Yeon Baek-jin.
'What kind of place is this Dragon Training Pavilion?'
The thought suddenly struck him.
It all started when he followed Ha Mu-baek into the Pavilion Lord's Residence.
When Ha Mu-baek introduced him to Ki Yu-chan.
'I was done for the moment he introduced that guy...'
He had meant to pester Ha Mu-baek and extract some information.
Instead, he had been thrown into a mountain of work.
Ki Yu-chan had devilishly sorted the tasks, assigning him only those he could handle even without knowing the pavilion inside out.
Ha Mu-baek watched the scene from under the eaves of the Pavilion Lord's Residence, peering through a window with satisfaction.
"Tch. You should learn that if you pester people, it can backfire on you. That clerk Ki Yu-chan... I like him."
Ha Mu-baek muttered to himself and headed to his quarters.
Ki Yu-chan had not only dumped a massive workload on Gu Yang-myeongwon but had also reported it straight to the Pavilion Lord.
In Ha Mu-baek's view, the most essential person in this Dragon Training Pavilion wasn't the Pavilion Lord—it was him.
The pavilion could function without the Pavilion Lord, but not without Ki Yu-chan.
As Ha Mu-baek walked on, he paused for a moment.
'That thing with the Devouring Dragon Pavilion, though. That guy should know about it...'
The memory of that garbage food suddenly resurfaced.
A man who knew every major and minor affair of the Dragon Training Pavilion couldn't possibly be unaware.
How could that have happened?
The question lingered briefly, but he soon resumed walking.
It was in the past, and resolved now.
"Zhongnan's pride."
Baek Ri-pyeong muttered softly.
"Zhongnan's pride."
Once more.
"Zhongnan's pride."
Again.
How many times had he repeated it?
Yet no answer came.
Why had the instructor brought up those words?
Be proud before the name Zhongnan.
What did that have to do with defying the sect leader's orders?
It was a far cry from mastering the Three Talents Heart Method.
Defying the sect leader's command was tantamount to rebellion.
Regardless of pride, it would be betraying Zhongnan itself.
For a disciple of Zhongnan like Baek Ri-pyeong, it was absolutely impossible.
The instructor had refused to approve his discharge, so for now, returning to Zhongnan wasn't an immediate issue.
"Heh heh. Everyone's gone back, so what are you doing out here?"
Wi Ji-gun's voice, broom in hand, snapped Baek Ri-pyeong out of his reverie.
Dusk had already fallen.
Ha Seol-ran had finished training and returned to her dorm, so Wi Ji-gun had come out with his broom to catch up on cleaning.
That was when he spotted Baek Ri-pyeong deep in thought on the training ground.
"Ah, Elder."
Now he knew.
This old man was no ordinary laborer.
"What's troubling you?"
Baek Ri-pyeong hesitated at Wi Ji-gun's question.
Then his lips parted, and words spilled out unbidden.
Words he hadn't even shared with his squadmates.
"Hmm. I see. Defying the sect leader's orders amounts to treason against the sect... A tough dilemma. There are hierarchies and rules, after all."
Baek Ri-pyeong nodded at Wi Ji-gun's words.
They struck at the heart of his worry.
"But tell me, is the sect leader the sect itself?"
He froze at the follow-up question.
"Are the sect leader's orders the sect's orders?"
Another question.
"Does refusing the sect leader mean refusing the sect?"
They kept coming.
It was difficult.
"The sect leader is a finite being. The sect may not be eternal either, but there have been many leaders, while the sect remains but one. Isn't that right?"
Baek Ri-pyeong's expression grew complicated.
"Oh dear. I've only tangled your thoughts further, haven't I? It's getting chilly—head on in."
Wi Ji-gun said that and vanished into the broom sweeping.
Baek Ri-pyeong trudged back to the Fierce Dragon Dormitory.
He mulled over the old man's questions.
Zhongnan is but one. But sect leaders are many.
Is the sect leader truly Zhongnan?
Does defying his orders betray Zhongnan's pride?
It was hard.
So his footsteps turned elsewhere.
The instructors' quarters.
He stood there aimlessly.
His thoughts wouldn't settle.
Ha Mu-baek, lying on his bed, scowled. He sensed a presence outside his quarters.
"Hah. Such a nuisance."
Ha Mu-baek got up and stepped out.
"What?"
His curt question.
"Ah, Instructor!"
Baek Ri-pyeong, lost in thought, looked up.
"Well, it's..."
Baek Ri-pyeong poured out the issue tormenting his mind.
Ha Mu-baek couldn't just brush it off. The one who had posed the riddle was his own master.
"What do you think Grandfather meant by Zhongnan's pride?"
The words he had spoken returned to him.
Ha Mu-baek recalled the Milky Way Sword Hero as he remembered him, in answer to Baek Ri-pyeong's question.
"The path your grandfather walked is his pride. The title 'Hero' isn't given to just anyone."
"..."
"And I never told you to defy the sect leader's orders. I just said I won't approve your discharge. You're not the one defying him."
It was true.
He had overinterpreted it.
"Tch. That serious personality of yours is exhausting sometimes."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
A look of resentment crossed Baek Ri-pyeong's face.
To hear that from the very man who had plunged him into this worry with talk of pride.
"Worrying about unfair pressure from scoundrels when you're on the righteous path... Your grandfather wouldn't have fretted over that. Just keep walking the right way."
Baek Ri-pyeong's body trembled.
He had completely misunderstood.
The instructor's words about pride meant not to worry about unfair pressure from Zhongnan.
He was simply following proper procedures per Alliance and Pavilion rules.
"Now go sleep. Stop bothering me."
Ha Mu-baek left those words and returned to his quarters.
The next day.
The entire Dragon Training Pavilion was in an uproar.
Most of the Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps students had departed, so it was still quiet.
But the air felt different.
Ha Mu-baek sensed it from early morning at the main hall.
"The grand training ground?"
Pinning down the source of the commotion, Ha Mu-baek headed there out of curiosity.
He also sensed several familiar presences at the grand training ground.
"Ah, Instructor."
Dan Mok Un-roe spotted Ha Mu-baek first.
Gathered there were the Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven students, including Joo Woo-myeong, Ha Seol-ran, and Han Seol-bing.
"Brother, you've come."
"I didn't stop by yesterday since you were so absorbed in training."
Ha Seol-ran nodded slightly at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Just as he said, she had been too focused on training to notice her brother's presence.
"You've improved a lot in just a few days."
Ha Mu-baek's follow-up praise.
A bright smile lit Ha Seol-ran's face.
"But what's all this?"
Ha Mu-baek directed the question at Dang Jin-san.
He was the best one to ask.
"It's the departure ceremony for the second-year Fierce Dragon Corps students."
Dang Jin-san's expression seemed complicated as he answered.
They had completed all processes and were now heading to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Yet their ceremony was so shabby.
Jegal Myeong, the instructor who had taught them shield techniques with such passion.
He was the only one present.
Just as Ha Mu-baek was about to frown.
He sensed two presences approaching the grand training ground.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul and Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned to the second-year Fierce Dragon Corps students.
They had finished everything and were discharging, yet every face was grim.
It was only natural.
Their destination was the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Ha Mu-baek looked elsewhere.
New presences were approaching the grand training ground.