Chapter 389
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 389
Chapter Title: Field Practice Intrigue
Yeon Ha-min turned the pages of the manual one by one with trembling hands.
Myriad Blossoms Moonfall Sword Dance.
True to its name—said to make ten thousand petals scatter the moon—it was a sword technique that was flashy yet graceful, with bewildering variations.
And yet, it also had fiercely powerful aspects.
Because it had to bring down the moon.
Under the moonlight, Yeon Ha-min read the manual over and over.
She read it time and again.
Until it was etched firmly into her mind.
So she could recall it anytime.
She stayed up all night like that.
Early morning.
As the eastern sky gradually reddened and brightened.
Ha Seol-lan, waking up in her bed, was startled.
The bed beside her was still empty.
The neatly folded blankets remained untouched.
Yeon Ha-min had gone off to talk with Instructor Han Seol-bing and hadn't returned until morning.
Ha Seol-lan extended her qi sense.
Out of worry for Yeon Ha-min.
She soon let out a sigh of relief.
'She's at the training ground.'
Her presence was felt at the training ground of Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven.
She hurriedly changed into her training uniform, washed up simply, and headed to the training ground.
All because she was worried about Yeon Ha-min, who hadn't come back all night.
Tat tat tat.
Ha Seol-lan's footsteps echoed on the quiet stone path of the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"Ah..."
Arriving at the training ground, Ha Seol-lan covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the gasp that escaped.
There stood Yeon Ha-min, slowly moving her sword.
It was a sword technique Ha Seol-lan had never seen before.
Yeon Ha-min seemed to be performing it for the first time as well; her movements were terribly clumsy.
But.
But still.
'It's beautiful!'
Since she was wielding an unfamiliar sword technique, her whole body was drenched in sweat.
The moment a drop of sweat clinging to her chin fell onto the sword hilt, the blade moved again.
Each time Yeon Ha-min's body moved vigorously, the scattered sweat droplets.
Shattered against her sword and sparkled brilliantly in the light of the slowly rising sun.
Yeon Ha-min was emitting a dazzling radiance.
A scene like a painting.
Ha Seol-lan was entranced by the sight.
It was a sword technique that suited Yeon Ha-min perfectly.
No.
Rather than a sword technique, it looked like a beautiful dance, her path of the sword.
Ha Seol-lan lost herself in it blankly.
How long had she been immersed in Yeon Ha-min's sword dance?
Her sword movements seemed to slow, then came to a stop.
Yeon Ha-min's sword dance had ended.
Step.
At the sound of footsteps right beside her, Ha Seol-lan jumped in surprise.
She had been so focused on Yeon Ha-min's sword dance that she hadn't sensed the approaching presence.
Even Ha Seol-lan, whose qi sense was on par with Ha Mu-baek's.
"Instructor Han?"
Ha Seol-lan confirmed the identity of the person who had appeared beside her.
"You're up early. What brings you here at this hour?"
"W-Well, Ha-min didn't come back last night, so..."
Han Seol-bing smiled faintly at Ha Seol-lan's answer.
"It was beautiful, wasn't it?"
Han Seol-bing seemed to have watched Yeon Ha-min's sword dance for a while too.
Ha Seol-lan nodded vigorously at the question.
"Ah, Instructor. Seol-lan."
Only then did Yeon Ha-min notice the two of them.
She had been that immersed in her sword dance.
"How was it?"
Han Seol-bing asked Yeon Ha-min.
"It was great. Perfect, really."
Yeon Ha-min replied with a gentle smile.
There was no trace of the worries she'd had when she first received the manual the day before.
Just the face of a martial artist utterly absorbed in her sword dance.
Ha Seol-lan looked back and forth between the two with a face full of questions.
She had a ton she wanted to ask, but held back.
She believed Yeon Ha-min would tell her when the time was right.
"You must be tired from studying the manual all night and then training. Shall we go grab some breakfast first?"
At Han Seol-bing's words, the three headed to the nearest Devouring Dragon Pavilion East Wing.
"Senior Brother."
Yang Bi-chang visited Do Sim-geuk's office.
"Squad Leader."
Do Sim-geuk looked at Yang Bi-chang and corrected his form of address.
"If you're here on official business as vice squad leader, you need to use the proper title."
Do Sim-geuk, who had been reviewing documents at his desk, stood up and said.
"My apologies."
It was clearly his own mistake, so Yang Bi-chang admitted it readily.
"What is it?"
"We received a cooperation request from the Dragon Training Pavilion."
"A cooperation request?"
"They're sending trainees for field practice."
"Field practice?"
Do Sim-geuk kept tilting his head in confusion.
It was only natural.
There had been no such thing when they were trainees at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"To minimize confusion when they're deployed to the field later, they're sending them during the winter break to gain experience in advance."
"Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps?"
"Yes."
Yang Bi-chang nodded.
"Interesting. Whose idea is this?"
"Seems like Elder Yeon."
Do Sim-geuk flinched at the response.
He knew well whose side his master, Cheon Gi-buk, had aligned with.
Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Yang Bi-chang called him Elder Yeon.
To be precise.
He was one of the only three Great Elders in the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Elder Council.
If that elder was preparing something, they had to cooperate fully.
"But... would any of them actually want to come here?"
The Demon-Sealing Corps that ventures into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
There was the meat shield known as the Fierce Dragon Corps, but still.
The Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps trainees feared the Demon-Sealing Corps the most.
In fact, since the Great Martial War ended and peace arrived, it was the armed force with the highest casualties.
"Elder Yeon says he'll select the personnel himself. Not just us—he's sending them to all organizations under the Righteous Heaven Alliance. Elder Council, Discipline Hall, Heavenly Eye Pavilion, even Shadowless Pavilion."
"What?"
Do Sim-geuk looked shocked at the reply.
"Even Shadowless Pavilion?"
Because that organization was involved.
Shadowless Pavilion was the Righteous Heaven Alliance's intelligence and inspection body, with authority to oversee even the Discipline Hall.
The Discipline Hall, responsible for upholding the Alliance's laws, fell under the Elder Council's influence.
And the Shadowless Pavilion—the only organization with authority to inspect the Discipline Hall—was directly under the Alliance Leader.
The Alliance Leader's office was subject to Discipline Hall oversight.
It was a system of mutual checks and balances.
For the Great Elder of the Elder Council, Yeon Ja-kyeong, to select personnel for field practice at the Alliance Leader's direct Shadowless Pavilion?
Would the Alliance Leader accept that?
Yang Bi-chang shrugged.
"That's what the request says, at least."
"Hmm."
Do Sim-geuk wore an amused expression.
"Oh, and the trainees for field practice will be led personally by your master."
"Master?"
Do Sim-geuk looked shocked.
His master didn't even entrust his own sect, Gongdong Sect, to his disciples—he stayed only at the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
Even as the sect leader.
Yet now, that master was leaving Luoyang, the Alliance headquarters, for this remote outpost?
'Something's up.'
Do Sim-geuk sensed it immediately.
The pretext of field practice.
There was something hidden behind it.
That's why his master was dragging his heavy frame all the way to the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall, here.
Yeon Ja-kyeong sat across from Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong and Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong at the table in the Alliance Leader's office.
To get final confirmation on the personnel assignments he'd proposed last time.
Cooperation requests had already been sent to all Righteous Heaven Alliance organizations, and people had been summoned from the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Now they just needed to finalize the allocations.
"Have you reviewed the list I sent?"
At his question.
So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Dan-gyeong nodded.
Their expressions were calm but firm.
"Impossible."
Yeon Ja-kyeong's face didn't change at So Hwi-woong's reply.
"I allocated them fairly according to the conditions you specified, Alliance Leader. Why is it impossible?"
But his voice was icy.
"There are organizations in there that can't do field practice."
Yeon Ja-kyeong tilted his head at So Hwi-woong's answer.
"Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps trainees are assigned to every organization in the Dragon Training Pavilion. Naturally, we have to allocate field practice to every organization."
He asked as if he truly didn't understand, but the corners of his mouth were slyly smiling.
"No need to go that far. We won't touch the allocations for the other organizations. Great Elder."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong interjected.
Yeon Ja-kyeong's gaze turned to him.
His smile deepened.
"Elder Council, Discipline Hall, Heavenly Eye Pavilion, Shadowless Pavilion. You must know those four places don't assign fresh graduates from the Dragon Training Pavilion."
So Hwi-woong said, looking at Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Of course he knew.
It would be strange if Yeon Ja-kyeong, Great Elder of the Elder Council, didn't know.
Yet he included those four anyway.
"You threw them in as sacrificial pawns to get what you want?"
Gong Son Dan-gyeong asked.
Yeon Ja-kyeong lifted his teacup to his lips without answering.
He had expected as much.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong, that brilliant strategist, wouldn't miss such a petty trick.
The important part came next.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong said he wouldn't touch the allocations, but he'd surely propose other conditions.
Now it was about pushing and pulling.
That was left.
Savoring the tea, he pondered his next moves in his head.
Still, he pushed once more.
Just in case.
"Heavens, no. They don't take fresh graduates, but after two or three years of experience in the Alliance, they end up there anyway, don't they? I thought early exposure would be beneficial, that's all."
"You know those four aren't places just anyone can enter? What's the point if they can't be assigned there even after field practice?"
Gong Son Dan-gyeong said firmly.
'No good, as expected.'
Sacrificial pawns, just as Gong Son Dan-gyeong said.
He'd hoped otherwise, but it was blocked, as anticipated.
Only natural.
Shadowless Pavilion being included was a big reason.
Shadowless Pavilion.
Even Yeon Ja-kyeong hadn't fully grasped its inner workings.
Proposing to send trainees there? No wonder the Alliance Leader and strategist reacted this way.
Couldn't exclude just Shadowless Pavilion, so he bundled it with the other three that don't take fresh graduates.
"You clearly left it to me..."
Yeon Ja-kyeong muttered as if displeased.
As if his face as Great Elder had been slighted.
Laying groundwork for the next move.
No matter Alliance Leader or strategist, they couldn't unilaterally tarnish the dignity of the third-ranked Great Elder.
"We'll go with your proposals for the rest, Great Elder. However."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong paused, lifting his teacup.
Yeon Ja-kyeong's eyes gleamed.
'Here it comes.'
The proposal after "however."
That was the real one.
"For the Demon-Sealing Corps, they go all the way into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. Too early for trainees. For their safety, a few instructors should accompany them."
"Instructors? Which ones do you mean?"
He asked sharply.
This part was crucial.
He'd anticipated they'd demand accompanying instructors.
And who they'd want was obvious.
'Ha Mu-baek.'
The one the Alliance Leader and strategist trusted most.
He had to block that guy.
Among all Righteous Heaven Alliance martial artists, no one knew the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest better.
When he proposed building the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall to preserve part of it.
The guy who threw a fit and rampaged.
If that bastard moved with the trainees, his goal would clearly fail.
'He's a Fierce Dragon Corps instructor.'
There was a pretext too.
If they tried sending Ha Mu-baek, he planned to block it by saying he wasn't a Hidden or Wa Dragon instructor.
"We'll leave instructor selection to you, Great Elder."
So Hwi-woong's reply.
Yeon Ja-kyeong lifted his teacup again.
To hide his emerging smile.
Moistening his lips with the tea.
He hadn't expected it to go this smoothly.
"Hmm. Won't there be fairness issues among the instructors?"
"Then we'll have the Dragon Training Pavilion Lord collect volunteers and send the list. You can assign them appropriately."
As if already discussed with the Alliance Leader, Gong Son Dan-gyeong replied smoothly.
In this situation, Yeon Ja-kyeong grew suspicious.
'What's their angle?'
Things were going his way.
That's why it felt off.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong.
That old fox wouldn't yield this easily.
Yeon Ja-kyeong didn't yet know Ha Mu-baek's temperament.
That even So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Dan-gyeong couldn't control him at will.
During the Great Martial War, they could use him like a limb because it was about exterminating Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
But not this.
Moreover, the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
On that, even Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong and Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong felt indebted to Ha Mu-baek.
They'd agreed to his call for extermination but failed to deliver.
Ha Mu-baek accompanying would be reassuring, but since they couldn't command him freely.
They hid that fact.
And left instructor assignments to Yeon Ja-kyeong.
On top of that.
'The Dragon Training Pavilion's winter break... overlaps with the Fierce Dragon Corps second-years' graduation.'
Gong Son Dan-gyeong smiled inwardly.
The list of Dragon Training Pavilion trainees Yeon Ja-kyeong held.
It only recorded sect of origin, age, gender, and rough estimated martial skill level.
And only for Hidden Dragon and Wa Dragon Corps.
Hubei Yeon Clan had sent no one to the Dragon Training Pavilion until now.
Thus.
He wouldn't know who was among the current Fierce Dragon Corps trainees.
That fact made Gong Son Dan-gyeong smile.
Yeon Ja-kyeong rose from his seat with unease.
Looking back at the Alliance Leader's office repeatedly on his way back to his residence.
'I need to look into it. Have to use confidential intel.'