Chapter 164
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: The Time Has Come
Three people with weary, fatigued faces appeared in the grand training ground.
Anyone could see their faces were full of languor.
They looked like they had rushed here without rest.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at them.
'One is a warrior from the Demon-Sealing Corps. Then...'
The other two were surely connected to the Fierce Dragon Corps that had already headed to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul also noticed their arrival.
But he paid them no particular mind. He simply gazed at the hundred Fierce Dragon Corps cadets with a complicated look in his eyes.
The cadets from Squads Twenty-One through Forty of the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Once they left, new cadets from Squads Twenty-One through Forty would take their places.
Jegal Myeong's gaze on the Fierce Dragon Corps cadets was equally complicated.
"What are those shields?"
Every single one of them carried a shield on their back.
They gleamed with fresh polish, unmistakably brand-new from the forge.
"Instructor Jegal Myeong bought them out of his own pocket as a gift," Dang Jin-san replied, ever the well-connected one in the Fierce Dragon Corps.
At those words, Ha Mu-baek gave Jegal Myeong a fresh look of admiration.
Not only had he invented and taught shield techniques, but he'd even provided the shields themselves.
And he wasn't even an official Fierce Dragon Corps instructor.
What an impressive man.
In contrast, Moyong Jin-ho's face remained impassive.
This was the Fierce Dragon Corps under his leadership as corps leader, yet he seemed content to simply hold his position.
During this time, he hadn't crossed paths much with Ha Mu-baek either.
"The time has come."
Pang Do-yul looked up at the sky before ascending the platform.
"Cadets of the Fierce Dragon Corps, second-year class of one hundred. You've worked hard all this time. I hereby declare that your training at the Dragon Training Pavilion ends now. As Pavilion Lord, I permit your departure from the pavilion!"
His strong, clear voice rang in the ears of everyone in the grand training ground.
The second-year Fierce Dragon Corps cadets gazed up at Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
Fear was etched on their faces.
They had volunteered for the Fierce Dragon Corps knowing this day would come.
But now that it was here, all they felt was terror.
"As Pavilion Lord, my final words to you are this: thank you. And I'm sorry. I earnestly pray that you all return alive..."
He couldn't quite finish his last sentence.
With that, Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul stepped down from the platform.
He watched the Fierce Dragon Corps cadets from one side, determined not to turn away from their final moments at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Jegal Myeong took the stage.
"You've worked hard all this time. Keep practicing the shield techniques you've learned. Treat the shield on your back like a second life, and come back alive so we can meet again with smiles."
With his final exhortation, Jegal Myeong stepped down.
Only then did the three waiting men ascend the platform.
"I am the squad leader from the Demon-Sealing Corps, here to escort you. You are now officially assigned to the Fierce Dragon Corps under the Demon-Sealing Corps. Follow your section chiefs' orders from here on."
After his brief announcement, he stepped down and paid his respects to Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul. He too was a graduate of this Dragon Training Pavilion.
The two section chiefs hurriedly organized and led away the Fierce Dragon Corps warriors, fifty each.
And so, the hundred warriors of the Fierce Dragon Corps departed the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"That's what we'll look like in a year."
Dang Jin-san said with a complicated expression.
"Indeed."
Dan Mok Un-roe's response carried a faint undercurrent of fear.
The other Fierce Dragon Corps cadets felt the same.
Ha Seol-ran clenched her fists tightly.
Witnessing her seniors' send-off firsthand made her truly grasp what the Fierce Dragon Corps was.
They had left the Dragon Training Pavilion with the faces of men going to their deaths.
"A survival rate of five out of ten."
Ha Mu-baek said flatly.
"After five years of service, only five out of those hundred will return alive."
Tension settled over the faces of the seven cadets.
It was different hearing about it and seeing it unfold before their eyes.
"If things continue as before, two of you will have to bury your bones in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. Since only five out of a hundred come back."
The cadets' bodies trembled.
How could they not?
They had seen the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest with their own eyes.
"What a load of bullshit."
His voice seethed with peak fury.
Dang Jin-san glanced around at the unfiltered words. Just in case someone was listening.
For a mere Dragon Training Pavilion instructor, it crossed the line too far.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to Baek Ri-pyeong. Baek Ri-pyeong understood the meaning.
So he nodded calmly, signaling his firm intent to stay with the Fierce Dragon Corps despite it all.
"I told you to go home. But you chose to stay. You seven will definitely return alive."
With those words, Ha Mu-baek left the grand training ground.
Two more days passed.
Gu Yang Myeong-won was finally free of Gi Yu-chan's clutches, thanks to a messenger pigeon from the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.
"Did I somehow wrong some ingredients...?"
Gu Yang Myeong-won muttered, recalling the documents he'd reviewed.
Most of them dealt with quantities, quality, and prices of foodstuffs.
Such matters required logistical knowledge from the Supply Division, unrelated to the Dragon Training Pavilion's internal affairs.
It was just a check to ensure nothing was omitted or falsified.
He had scrutinized them obsessively, as if haunted by past issues.
Only after being left alone did Gu Yang Myeong-won open the letter.
"Me, tailing that guy...?"
He shook his head after reading it all.
'If Ha Mu-baek causes trouble with the Zhongnan Sect, it's between them—Righteous Heaven Alliance will not intervene. But do not lose track of Ha Mu-baek's movements.'
That was the order.
Gu Yang Myeong-won crumpled the letter, chewed it slowly, and swallowed.
He was in a bind.
He even missed the documents Gi Yu-chan had dumped on him.
"What?!"
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung bellowed, his face twisted in rage.
His disciple's report left him no choice.
The Dragon Training Pavilion's response regarding Baek Ri-pyeong was utterly absurd.
"The supervising instructor denied approval, so Baek Ri-pyeong cannot leave the pavilion! What nonsense is this?! I, the Sect Leader of Great Zhongnan—I told Baek Ri-pyeong to come, and he refuses?!"
His flushed face betrayed the depth of his fury.
"This won't do. I can't let the Zhongnan Sect's affairs be hindered by some pavilion rule. Who cares about that crap?! Send people to drag Baek Ri-pyeong here!"
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's command.
In his hand was the Zhongnan Sect Leader's seal.
A decree bearing the sect leader's seal superseded all sect rules—an absolute order.
Discipline Hall Lord So Jung-san looked troubled at the command.
And understandably so, for this irrefusable order directly violated Righteous Heaven Alliance regulations.
Nevertheless, the order was issued.
The Zhongnan Sect sprang into action.
Whether they did or not, Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung stewed in fury in his office.
No one dared enter.
Yet a voice boldly called for him.
"Is Sect Leader Senior Brother present?"
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's face lit up at the voice.
"Is that my youngest junior brother? When did you arrive? Come in!"
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung had many senior and junior brothers.
Of them, only nine remained alive to lead the Zhongnan Sect, himself included.
Remnants of the last war.
His youngest junior brother, who had been away on external duties, had returned.
"Greetings, Sect Leader Senior Brother. I just arrived. But the atmosphere seems chaotic. What's going on?"
The middle-aged man, Kwak Sa-hu, bowed with clasped fists before straightening and asking.
"Ah, since you just returned, you wouldn't know."
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung poured out the recent events, venting his frustrations.
Kwak Sa-hu listened intently, chiming in with agreement or sighs as needed.
Emboldened by his junior brother's empathy, Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung spun his tale with even more vigor.
"Hmm. Sect Leader Senior Brother. Wasn't there only one reason he sent that punk to the Fierce Dragon Corps?"
Kwak Sa-hu's tone turned ominous.
"Just one."
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung nodded.
They didn't spell it out.
But they both knew.
After all, it was Kwak Sa-hu who had first suggested sending Baek Ri-pyeong to the Fierce Dragon Corps.
To die in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest two years later.
"No matter how strong the punk has gotten, it's a given he'll go to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest as a Fierce Dragon Corps member. Is there any need to invoke the sect leader's seal just to recall him?"
Kwak Sa-hu had a point.
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung wondered if he'd overreacted to the Summer Combat Festival news.
But thinking of his opponent from that match made him shake his head.
"His opponent was Joo Woo-myeong. Wudang's Joo Woo-myeong. If a man like that is in the Fierce Dragon Corps, they might not send them to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest as easily as we thought."
Joo Woo-myeong, disciple of the previous Wudang Sword Sage.
With him in the Fierce Dragon Corps, the Dragon Training Pavilion and Righteous Heaven Alliance might hesitate to dispatch them.
They couldn't send the Wudang sect leader's junior brother to his death, after all.
"If next year he returns even stronger and the Fierce Dragon Corps skips the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, things get messy. Plenty still miss Eldest Senior Brother."
Kwak Sa-hu nodded, acknowledging Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's logic.
"It could block Junior Brother Si-un's path forward."
Joo Si-un.
Zhongnan's top disciple of his generation and Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's son.
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's goal was obvious.
To make his son the next sect leader.
He wanted his Joo family to monopolize the Zhongnan Sect leadership.
Kwak Sa-hu clung to him, aiming for the position of second-in-command.
"Exactly. That's why I'm recalling him. Lock him in the Punishment Cave so he can't cause trouble—let him face the wall for life."
"Conveniently, there's cause. He defied the sect leader's command."
Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung frowned at Kwak Sa-hu's words.
"You think the same as I do. But Jung-san is opposing it."
Thinking of Discipline Hall Lord So Jung-san soured his mood instantly.
Among his brothers, So Jung-san had followed the previous sect leader Baek Ri-dan most closely.
His upright nature mirrored Baek Ri-dan—always clinging to principles and justice.
After becoming sect leader, Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung had tried to remove So Jung-san from Discipline Hall Lord first, but his high esteem within the sect prevented it.
Now that he'd solidified his position, it was time to purge them one by one.
Baek Ri-pyeong was the first target.
The lingering attention from disciples who still missed Baek Ri-dan focused on him.
The shadow of Eldest Senior Brother had to be erased from Zhongnan.
That's why he'd sent him to die in the Fierce Dragon Corps, but he'd grown stronger there.
In the end, he had to keep him under watch, bound and useless.
Discipline Hall Lord So Jung-san let out a frustrated sigh in his office.
"That day... I think we made a mistake."
After Eldest Senior Brother Baek Ri-dan died, nine brothers remained.
One had to become sect leader.
Only Second Senior Brother Joo Jae-seung stepped up.
Supported by four others.
Five out of nine allied.
The remaining four should have united against them.
But they split into two pairs with differing views.
"We can't go on like this. Second Senior Brother is growing more tyrannical by the day."
He knew why.
The stronger his sect leader authority grew, the more arbitrarily he acted.
Discipline Hall Lord So Jung-san rose to his feet.
He planned to seek out the brother who thought the same.
Just as he moved, people departed from Zhongnan toward the Dragon Training Pavilion.
To fetch Baek Ri-pyeong on Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung's orders.
"Eldest Senior Brother, we'll reach Wu-chang soon."
At his junior brother's words, Joo Si-un—the highest-ranking first-generation disciple of Zhongnan—scowled.
"Finally? What a hassle over one rat. Why did Uncle Master send so many for just that punk? Tch."
His voice dripped with irritation.
His frustration even extended to Kwak Sa-hu, who had sent him here.
And rightly so.
Comfortably lounging in the sect, now forced on this errand—how could he be pleased?
His temperament was a spitting image of his father, Sect Leader Joo Jae-seung.
The three accompanying first-generation disciples eyed his attitude with displeasure.
Among first-generation disciples, the famed Eight Swords of Zhongnan, future of the sect.
Three of them moving together, no less.
Joo Si-un didn't rank among the Eight Swords of Zhongnan.
But he publicly called himself the Ninth, including himself.
"Seriously, sending four first-generation disciples to catch one second-generation rat? Just send two or three juniors."
His grumbling knew no end.
Even after entering Wu-chang, his complaints continued.
Nam Hwa-ryong, one of the Eight Swords of Zhongnan, stiffened.
But trailing at the rear, no one noticed.
'Such a command, such an eldest senior brother.'
Joo Si-un wasn't the only irritated one.
The other two tried to soothe him, chattering at his side.
Even that irked Nam Hwa-ryong.
'This isn't the Zhongnan I know.'
The pride he held for Zhongnan swelled in his chest.
Since the previous sect leader's passing, that pride had been chipping away bit by bit.