Chapter 267
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: Would It Just Hurt a Lot?
Ha Mu-baek gazed at the staggering Wa Dragon Corps cadets with an expressionless face.
He stood still, but the aura radiating from him was anything but simple.
Even so, the Wa Dragon Corps cadets charged toward Ha Mu-baek.
Because if they didn't go to him, he would come to them first.
"Aaaagh!"
Screams erupted without fail once more.
This time, he struck places completely different from before.
It was better than hitting the same spot twice.
But it still hurt like hell.
This time, the Wa Dragon Corps cadets who hadn't fallen.
They formed a sword formation and charged at Ha Mu-baek again.
Thwack! Thud thud!
Ha Mu-baek's hands moved busily, and screams burst from the cadets with each motion.
Dang Jin-san watched the scene and furrowed his brow.
Ha Mu-baek was mercilessly pummeling their entire bodies without holding back.
Han Seol-bing simply watched the spectacle calmly.
How much time had passed like that?
Nearly half a shichen had gone by.
The Wa Dragon Corps cadets could barely move anymore.
Staggering to stay upright was their limit.
Yet no word of "enough" came from Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
At that moment, Dan Mok Un-roe seemed to notice something.
"Why?"
Dang Jin-san's question.
"That... isn't that sweat?"
At Dan Mok Un-roe's words, the Fierce Dragon Corps cadets peered intently at Ha Mu-baek.
It was.
Sweat beads were beading up on Ha Mu-baek's forehead.
Three? Four?
About that many.
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets widened their eyes.
Sweat!
From that monster!
They had never seen Ha Mu-baek sweat before.
Maybe during that intense battle at Fire Dragon Soaring to the Heavens that day.
But...
This monster of an instructor was sweating just from beating up five first-year Wa Dragon Corps cadets?
No matter that it had been half a shichen.
Absolutely not.
That couldn't be.
Yet the sweat beads were clearly visible.
"What is it?"
Dang Jin-san tilted his head.
It wasn't just simple pummeling. There was definitely something more.
"Come to think of it..."
Yeon Ha-min rummaged through her memory and made a slightly surprised face.
"Why?"
"All the spots he's hit so far are the same acupoints. He's striking the exact same places in the same order on everyone. And he hasn't hit the same spot twice."
Even as she spoke, Ha Mu-baek's hands moved swiftly.
The cadets no longer had the strength to even scream; they merely staggered like leaves fluttering in the wind as they took the blows.
A little more time passed like that.
"We'll call it here for today."
Ha Mu-baek left the area.
The five fallen cadets.
Han Seol-bing shouted at them.
"Don't just lie there sprawled out—hurry up and circulate your qi!"
Her shout was sharp as frost.
Unable to twitch a finger, they reflexively sat cross-legged and began circulating their qi.
"It seems like he struck every acupoint on their bodies once..."
Yeon Ha-min, who had been closely observing Ha Mu-baek's movements, murmured.
"You saw well."
Han Seol-bing said with an approving look.
"Striking every acupoint on the body means... surely..."
Baek Ri-pyeong murmured as something dawned on him.
Han Seol-bing nodded, confirming his guess.
"Hah..."
At Han Seol-bing's affirmation, Baek Ri-pyeong let out an involuntary exclamation.
"Pursuing Meridian Stimulation on five people at once..."
His face showed utter disbelief.
Pursuing Meridian Stimulation on five simultaneously, and only a few drops of sweat?
A monster was a monster.
They shouldn't be surprised he sweated at all—they should be amazed it was only that much.
"Pursuing Meridian Stimulation? Isn't that a technique for treating internal injuries?"
Dan Mok Un-roe tilted his head and asked.
"Usually, yes."
Dang Jin-san chimed in.
"It's called Pursuing Meridian Stimulation when you stimulate the opponent's acupoints throughout their body with the appropriate amount of inner power to widen the meridians and boost their inner energy cultivation. But very few people can perform it."
Baek Ri-pyeong nodded vigorously at Dang Jin-san's explanation.
"Even performing it on one person is extremely rare... Our instructor did it on five moving targets at once. With just a few drops of sweat."
At their explanation, Dan Mok Un-roe's mouth fell open.
Yeon Ha-min and Nak Woo-jin's eyes trembled fiercely.
"It's pretty thrilling. You all should ask him to do it next time."
The moment Han Seol-bing smiled and said that...
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets shuddered all over.
They'd seen it with their own eyes.
And she was telling them to try it themselves.
"It... seems like... it would hurt... a lot?"
Dang Jin-san stammered.
"Would it just hurt a lot? It hurts like you're dying."
Dang Jin-san stared at Han Seol-bing with blank eyes.
Try it? Thrilling?
What grudge did this instructor have against them?
Such thoughts swirled chaotically in his head.
At Dang Jin-san's reaction, Han Seol-bing just chuckled softly.
They wouldn't know until they experienced it themselves.
How much she'd resented Ha Mu-baek while being pummeled.
But after experiencing the results firsthand...
'It really was thrilling.'
"Well, you're not ready yet. Those kids are still low-level, so they'll get another chance later. But not you."
A meaningful statement.
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets tilted their heads at her words.
Joo Woo-myeong fell into serious contemplation.
Listening to Han Seol-bing...
It was making him want to try it once.
"Does it matter what inner cultivation method we use?"
Joo Woo-myeong asked cautiously.
"Doesn't seem picky about it."
Han Seol-bing answered with a smile.
Joo Woo-myeong nodded quietly.
At that sight, Baek Ri-pyeong and Dan Mok Un-roe's faces turned grave.
Dang Jin-san shook his head at their expressions.
"Ugh. You crazy bastards."
Meanwhile,
Half a shichen passed.
The Wa Dragon Corps cadets, immersed in qi circulation, began opening their eyes one by one.
Flash.
Their eyes gleamed sharply for an instant.
Na Jung-cheon examined his body with an incredulous expression.
"What the hell is this..."
A dazed voice.
Eun Hwa-ryang and Yeong Hu-in were the same.
A moment later, Im Dae-chi and Sim Cheol-san, finishing their circulation, also kept checking their bodies.
"How was it?"
Han Seol-bing's question.
"I don't know what's what, but... I can't believe it."
Eun Hwa-ryang answered with a still-dazed face.
"Hm. Their realm is still too low to feel the thrill, I suppose."
Han Seol-bing murmured regretfully.
However,
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets were also staring at them in shock.
Even just watching, they could tell the cadets' auras had changed.
Ha Mu-baek.
Just what kind of man was their instructor?
"Hah. He's not here."
The Sa Hye-ryeon envoy, who had raced to Wu Chang at full speed, muttered in dejection.
He'd come in person because it wasn't something to entrust to a messenger pigeon.
But he wasn't there.
What to do now?
In cases like this,
he'd have to track down the whereabouts.
But he knew no one in Wu Chang.
Then he recalled the sealed letter from Mun In Baek-song.
If Ha Mu-baek isn't at the Dragon Training Pavilion for some reason, open this.
"As expected of the Strategist."
To predict even this—truly the reincarnation of Zhuge Wu-hou.
The envoy tore open the letter sealed with Mun In Baek-song's stamp from his bosom.
-If Ha Mu-baek is not at the Dragon Training Pavilion, go to the Pavilion Lord and ask him. Tell him that Sa Hye-ryeon's Mun In Baek-song has an urgent matter to entrust to Ha Mu-baek and is looking for him.
Reading the contents, the envoy blinked.
"Has the Strategist lost his mind..."
The honest thought slipped out involuntarily.
If this were Sa Hye-ryeon territory, it would warrant a reprimand.
But this was Wu Chang.
No Sa Hye-ryeon warriors here.
In a place like this,
an unorthodox warrior
going to the Pavilion Lord of the Dragon Training Pavilion, where Righteous Heaven Alliance's later-generation disciples trained,
and announcing he was here on the Sa Hye-ryeon Strategist's errand?
Even though they'd cooperated in the last two wars and relations between the orthodox and unorthodox weren't bad now,
he was unorthodox.
This was orthodox territory.
But what choice did he have?
If ordered to shit, shit he must.
The envoy understood why Mun In Baek-song had bothered with a sealed letter.
It was an order to seek out the Pavilion Lord.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul blinked as he looked at the guest before him.
He never imagined
a guest like this would come.
Though the martial world had entered a time of peace,
for the Sa Hye-ryeon Strategist's envoy to seek him out.
The man sat boldly across from Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
"So, what brings you to this Pavilion Lord?"
"Strategist Mun In says he has an urgent matter to entrust to Instructor Ha."
"Hmm."
Pang Do-yul fell into thought.
Ha Mu-baek.
Now even drawing in the unorthodox factions.
Was the wind shaking him even when he tried to stay still, as he'd said?
"Unfortunately, Instructor Ha is away."
"That's why I came to inquire about his whereabouts."
I know where he is.
But that's where the Dragon Training Pavilion's Summer Combat Festival is held.
I can't tell a unorthodox envoy that.
"Wait, and he'll return in about ten days."
It wouldn't be long.
After the Summer Combat Festival ended, he'd return for Fierce Dragon Corps training.
Not a long wait.
At Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul's response, the envoy inwardly sighed in relief as he left.
Not being turned away at the gate was fortunate enough.
And he'd gotten confirmation that Ha Mu-baek would be back at the Dragon Training Pavilion in about ten days.
The envoy wrote it all down and sent a messenger pigeon back to Sa Hye-ryeon.
Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Moyong Jin-ho headed to the Pavilion Lord's quarters at the summons.
He'd been swamped with Fierce Dragon Corps training.
Ha Mu-baek's long-awaited inspection had left him somewhat satisfied, making his shoulders lift a bit.
Even without Han Seol-bing, they'd trained diligently.
Not just him—all the Fierce Dragon Corps instructors.
Though their motivations differed.
"How's the training progress?"
"Good."
"Even without Instructor Ha?"
"You've already heard the report, haven't you?"
Pang Do-yul nodded at Moyong Jin-ho's question.
"In your view, what's their level?"
"Quite impressive. Completely different from previous Fierce Dragon Corps."
"The techniques they've learned..."
"Three Talents Sword Method, sword formations, fist methods, and footwork."
Indeed.
Ha Mu-baek had focused training strictly on the basics.
In enormous quantities.
"Then, what do you think about what we've discussed before?"
Pang Do-yul asked with a subtle glint in his eye.
"Ah? Oh, that."
Moyong Jin-ho briefly puzzled before realizing and nodding.
"Hmm. My thoughts are split fifty-fifty."
"Is that so?"
Pang Do-yul pressed at Moyong Jin-ho's ambiguous answer.
As if pondering briefly,
"Half is pretty good. Then let's implement what we talked about. All first-year squads participate in the Summer Combat Festival. This year, it's mandatory for Fierce Dragon Corps, not optional."
Until last year, Fierce Dragon Corps participation was optional.
Only seven squads had joined.
All twenty first-year squads now?
"Even so, compared to Hidden Dragon Corps or Wa Dragon Corps..."
"Do you think I don't know that? Still, we need to check their achievements. Hidden Dragon or Wa Dragon level makes suitable opponents. Even if they lose quickly. Those kids have to head to Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest anyway."
Moyong Jin-ho had no retort.
"Understood. I'll prepare accordingly."
"You should depart around tomorrow."
Leaving the Pavilion Lord's quarters, Moyong Jin-ho moved busily.
He had to prepare to head to Mount Mokran in a single day.
At the sudden news, the Fierce Dragon Corps first-years fell into chaos.
Full participation in the Summer Combat Festival?
Wasn't it optional?
That's why no squads had planned to join.
Why would they? They'd just get crushed.
Last year's seven squads' legend was just that—a legend.
As the Fierce Dragon Corps cadets wandered around in dismay,
one person smiled alone.
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon.
In truth, she'd been disappointed that it was optional.
All squad members had to agree to participate, which was impossible.
The weakest in her squad convincing them? Unlikely.
She thought she'd lose her chance for revenge against those bastards.
But now it was mandatory for all.
Just what she'd hoped for.
'Just you wait.'
A woman's grudge is fearsome.
Especially an unorthodox beauty's grudge.