Chapter 383
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 383
Chapter Title: Utterly Absurd
Dawn broke.
Pyeong Deokjo had risen early and was lost in his training, giving it his all.
He didn't give a second thought to the possibility of others watching him.
It was an attitude that said seeing it didn't matter one bit.
Members of the Demon-Sealing Corps began emerging from their simple tents one by one.
The first one up was Gwan Ha-kyeong.
She took one look at Pyeong Deokjo training and picked up her sword, starting her practice of the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade.
Perhaps because of those two.
Everyone else who stepped out of their tents began training as well.
Even Yu Gwi-gwang, and Hwa Ryang too.
The last to appear was Ha Mu-baek.
He nodded.
"Alright, let's go."
With that, he shot straight up to the top of the wall in a single bound.
Pyeong Deokjo sheathed his sword and followed right behind.
He smoothly unleashed Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven and stood atop the wall in an instant.
The Demon-Sealing Corps members and Fierce Dragon Corps recruits stared in a daze.
"V-Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven... H-How...?"
Poong Geon muttered in disbelief.
He'd been constantly shocked from last evening until now.
Ever since meeting Ha Mu-baek, he hadn't been able to keep his composure.
Ha Mu-baek looked down from the wall and asked,
"You not coming up?"
Only then did those on the ground leap toward the rope ladders they'd set up the day before.
Demon-Sealing Corps members used the ladders as footholds, reaching the top in one or two jumps.
Fierce Dragon Corps recruits needed three or four leaps.
Finally, Hwa Ryang climbed up using the ladder proper.
Ha Mu-baek stared at them with a look of utter disbelief.
"You roamed the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest at that level? With the leaping power of those Four River Corpses?"
"We moved as a group and set up ropes for jumping wherever needed. We stuck mostly to confirmed safe zones."
Poong Geon answered.
He immediately followed up with a question.
"That movement technique Instructor Pyeong just used—wasn't it Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"H-How does Instructor Pyeong know the Demon-Sealing Corps' secret technique... It's only taught once you reach the entry stage of peak realm..."
Ha Mu-baek gave Poong Geon a look of pure incredulity.
"Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven is the Demon-Sealing Corps' secret technique? And only transmitted at the peak realm? Hah."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Poong Geon stared back, puzzled by the reaction.
"What's the matter?"
His question was cautious.
"It's so absurd."
Anger laced his voice.
They couldn't help but start sneaking glances at Ha Mu-baek, gauging his mood.
"I could maybe understand calling it your secret technique... but attaching conditions to transmission?"
He muttered to himself.
His anger seemed to be building.
"Instructor Ha, what's this all about...?"
Pyeong Deokjo stepped in.
He had the closest rapport with Ha Mu-baek out of everyone there.
Even if it wasn't by much.
"The sight of it is so ridiculous and infuriating."
His response dripped with irritation.
"Meaning, what exactly is infuriating about it?"
Pyeong Deokjo asked carefully once more.
"Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven."
"Yes."
"Who do you think created it? I did. Demon-Sealing Corps' secret technique? Don't make me laugh."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, the Demon-Sealing Corps members' faces registered fresh shock.
It was a story they'd never even imagined.
"We were told for sure... that the Alliance Leader passed it down..."
Poong Geon tilted his head, recalling what he knew about the technique.
"The Alliance Leader probably did give it to you. He asked me for a copy because he thought your Demon-Sealing Corps needed it."
Ha Mu-baek nodded matter-of-factly.
Everyone except him froze in place.
It wasn't the kind of thing said so casually.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader.
So Hwi-woong, the absolute hero of the Great Martial Tournament.
He was talking about him like the guy next door.
And on top of that.
That same So Hwi-woong had asked Ha Mu-baek for a martial technique.
Of course it was unbelievable.
"I didn't tell you all this for this reaction. Damn it. Only from peak realm? Those crazy bastards. You there—Poong Geon, was it?"
"Y-Yes?"
Poong Geon jumped in surprise and answered.
"How many in the Demon-Sealing Corps have reached peak realm?"
"The Corps Leader is around mid-peak, the Vice Corps Leader just shy of that. Five Corps Leaders at early peak, and five Sub-Leaders who just stepped into early peak."
"So right now, twelve people practicing Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven?"
"Yes."
At Poong Geon's reply.
Ha Mu-baek's robes began to flutter.
His training garb swelled as if about to burst, whipping up fierce winds in all directions.
"Ugh."
The sudden surge of energy from Ha Mu-baek made the ten of them groan and stagger back.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned north.
Toward the Demon-Sealing Corps' base.
"Should I just go smash it to pieces right now?"
Killing intent filled his mutter.
The words came out as if it were nothing.
Yet somehow, it felt entirely possible.
"L-Let's calm down first, Instructor Ha. Don't you have something to do before that?"
Pyeong Deokjo pleaded desperately.
Those words seemed to snap him out of it, and Ha Mu-baek's aura subsided.
"Tch."
A frustrated grunt escaped him, full of pent-up reluctance.
Honestly.
He was pissed enough to lose it.
But now wasn't the time to worry about the Demon-Sealing Corps.
He needed to focus on the Fierce Dragon Corps back at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
There was an order to things.
"I'll deal with those Demon-Sealing Corps bastards later."
His mutter brimmed with murderous intent.
Just hearing it faintly sent chills down their spines.
"Why exactly are you so angry?"
Pyeong Deokjo asked again.
"Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven. How was it to learn?"
"It was useful and great. Minimal internal energy cost. I couldn't believe such a movement technique existed. It's just straight up, vertically."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Pyeong Deokjo's honest assessment.
The last part didn't matter.
That's exactly what it was made for.
"What's your current level?"
"First-rate entry."
"What was it a few days ago?"
"Second-rate."
Ha Mu-baek looked at the Demon-Sealing Corps members and Fierce Dragon Corps recruits.
All the Demon-Sealing Corps were first-rate.
Among the Fierce Dragon Corps, Yu Gwi-gwang was at the edge of second-rate, the rest second-rate or early second-rate.
"Hear that? Even Pyeong Deokjo here mastered it in two days. And they say you can only learn it after reaching peak realm?"
Thinking it over again boiled his blood, and Ha Mu-baek growled.
The Demon-Sealing Corps members and Fierce Dragon Corps recruits were stunned.
They'd seen Corps Leaders or Sub-Leaders leap dramatically into the air and assumed it was an advanced ascent technique.
But someone who'd just entered first-rate early stage mastering it fluently in two days.
They couldn't deny it.
They'd seen Pyeong Deokjo use it moments ago.
"Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven was made for low-level martial artists to learn easily and evade the corpses. And they're handing it out like that, so only twelve of them— their strongest—have it? Wouldn't that piss me off? Or would it not?"
Ha Mu-baek demanded.
Only then did everyone understand why he was furious.
"Damn it. When I get back to the Dragon Training Pavilion, I need to teach the Fierce Dragon Corps kids Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven first thing."
He spat the words, bubbling with rage.
Ha Mu-baek whipped his head toward the Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps members.
"You lot learn it first."
Sparks flew from his eyes.
And so.
The nine of them began training in Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven.
After Pyeong Deokjo, who'd learned it days earlier, demonstrated a few times personally.
The Demon-Sealing Corps members quickly got the hang of it.
As expected of Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps alumni, their talent shone.
The quickest to progress wasn't Squad Leader Poong Geon, but Gwan Ha-kyeong.
Ha Mu-baek nodded at her form.
'She seems to have learned the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade too. As expected, she's talented. She's a late bloomer.'
She had reached first-rate as well.
Compared to the Summer Combat Festival, she was unrecognizably stronger.
Thanks to nonstop training afterward, plus real combat experience in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Did Gwan Ha-kyeong lose to Joo Woo-myeong at the Summer Combat Festival?
What if they fought again now?
Joo Woo-myeong was first-rate too.
Among the current Dragon Training Pavilion students, only Namgung Ji-hu had stepped into peak realm.
'The others just need a trigger.'
Several students already had their vessels filled to the brim.
They were just one drop short.
And here.
Gwan Ha-kyeong was the same.
It wouldn't be a sure win.
Not like before.
It would come down to a razor-thin, split-second difference.
It could go either way—Joo Woo-myeong's victory or Gwan Ha-kyeong's.
Even Ha Mu-baek couldn't predict it rashly.
After a day, the Demon-Sealing Corps could use Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven proficiently.
After two days, the Fierce Dragon Corps recruits were fairly skilled too.
Only then did they properly enter the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
The Demon-Sealing Corps' mission was to map corpse territories.
And Ha Mu-baek and Pyeong Deokjo's goal was capturing corpse specimens.
However.
Ha Mu-baek didn't seem interested in capturing any.
Every corpse that appeared.
He had Pyeong Deokjo or the Demon-Sealing Corps handle it.
Four River Corpses were no match for them now.
The Demon-Sealing Corps already had plenty of experience.
And so.
This time, they dragged in four: a mix of Four River Corpses and Poison River Corpses.
Tension finally crept into their expressions.
The four Fierce Dragon Corps recruits raised shields and deployed the basic shield techniques Jegal Myeong had drilled into them.
Channeling internal energy.
Incorporating real battle experience.
However.
Some had learned directly from Jegal Myeong, others from those trainees, so flaws showed everywhere.
They were just covering for them with experience.
"There! Push the shields harder! Not enough power!"
Ha Mu-baek's critique flew in immediately.
The Demon-Sealing Corps formed the Graceful Dragon Sword Formation, stabbing at the corpses through the gaps the Fierce Dragon Corps blocked.
They'd clearly learned properly at the pavilion—the Graceful Dragon Sword Method had solid form.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes and mouth worked overtime.
He had to give pointers and orders to Pyeong Deokjo, Demon-Sealing Corps, and Fierce Dragon Corps alike.
He hadn't expected to end up playing instructor here.
Yet Ha Mu-baek drove them mercilessly.
This was truly what would help them in the end.
He'd promised to help, so he gave it everything.
He refined the Fierce Dragon Corps' shield work.
The Demon-Sealing Corps' Graceful Dragon Sword Formation.
And passed named techniques to the Fierce Dragon Corps again.
Even if they returned safely from this mission.
Who knew what tricks the Demon-Sealing Corps might pull next.
Just look at the Vermilion Bird Soaring Heaven situation.
Those guys definitely had ulterior motives.
So these people needed to get stronger.
They needed to raise their realms by a step.
They built real combat experience by slaying corpses like that.
The entities with the greatest impact on Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest territories were powerful ones like Dark Blood River Corpses or Ink Iron River Corpses.
Once their territories were set, the Blood River Corpses, Poison River Corpses, and Four River Corpses followed.
Of course, the very first were the few true monster-class even stronger than Dark Blood or Ink Iron.
They rarely encountered those.
Even in the current territories, those ones' areas seemed untouched.
They confirmed the changed territories, updated old records, and pushed deeper.
With Ha Mu-baek leading, they skirted the Ink Blood River Corpse territories.
And they avoided the Dark Blood River Corpses too, whose reason for shrinking their turf and claiming a spot nearby was unknown.
Dark Blood River Corpses originally held the entire Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest as their domain.
Trapped by the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall now, technically their whole area inside was theirs.
For such a one to claim a fixed spot nearby was suspicious.
Anyway, now wasn't the time to meet them, so they steered clear for the moment.