Chapter 396
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 396
Chapter Title: Did You Say Jiangshi?
The carriage rolled into Muchang.
Ha Mu-baek had already climbed down from the driver's seat and was sitting beside Pyeong Deok-jo.
"It's been a while."
Pyeong Deok-jo nodded at Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
Ha Mu-baek glanced back at the cargo hold.
"I hope they all like it."
Pyeong Deok-jo gave a wry smile at his words.
Who in their right mind would?
"But is it really okay to just release jiangshi into the Grand Training Grounds?"
He finally voiced the question that had been nagging at him.
"Why not?"
"Well, jiangshi are jiangshi, and they're dangerous... We should report to the higher-ups and get permission..."
Jiangshi were just corpse jiangshi, poison jiangshi, and blood jiangshi.
What was so special or dangerous about a few like that?
It was entirely Ha Mu-baek's opinion.
Others might see it differently.
Pyeong Deok-jo's concern had merit.
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Guess I need to meet the Pavilion Lord first."
Hearing that, Pyeong Deok-jo immediately sensed the jiangshi would be unleashed on the grounds.
The Pavilion Lord wasn't the type to stop this mad instructor's plans.
The carriage passed smoothly through the Dragon Training Pavilion's main gate and headed for the Grand Training Grounds.
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets, deep in training, snuck glances at the sudden baggage wagon.
The deputy commander's gaze, overseeing from the platform, turned that way too.
His eyes met Ha Mu-baek's.
A faint smile tugged at the lips of Ha Mu-baek, who gave a slight bow in greeting, and the deputy commander—no, Wi Ji-gun.
"Keep a good watch on it."
With those words to Pyeong Deok-jo, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
His destination: the Pavilion Lord's quarters.
He needed Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul's permission, after all.
"Come in."
Upon reaching the office, Pang Do-yul greeted him as if he'd been expecting Ha Mu-baek all along.
"I got the report that you'd left, and just now that you'd returned with a baggage wagon stuffed full of something. Figured you'd show up soon."
Reading the question in Ha Mu-baek's eyes, Pang Do-yul spoke casually, as if it were nothing.
"So, what's in the wagon?"
"Jiangshi."
Ha Mu-baek answered nonchalantly to Pang Do-yul's question.
"Pardon?"
But it wasn't a nonchalant matter.
Pang Do-yul stared at him, face asking if he'd misheard.
"Did you say jiangshi? Right now?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Corpse jiangshi, poison jiangshi, blood jiangshi."
He even specified the types.
Pang Do-yul's face paled and stiffened.
"So those cursed demonic things are inside the Dragon Training Pavilion right now?"
Ha Mu-baek looked at him like what's the problem?
Pang Do-yul rushed to the window and peered out.
It was quiet.
If they'd really brought jiangshi in the wagon, it shouldn't be this calm.
Wait a minute.
Could jiangshi even be captured and hauled back like that in the first place?
Pang Do-yul whipped around to face Ha Mu-baek.
"No, how did you even catch those things?"
Ha Mu-baek shrugged.
"They're nicely tucked away in their coffins."
Pang Do-yul stared at him in amazement.
What kind of man is this?
"And?"
"I was thinking of using them for Fierce Dragon Corps training... Just came to ask if that's okay."
Pang Do-yul gawked at him in disbelief.
He seemed serious.
But considering the trip all the way to Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest to fetch them, it had to be real.
"So. You brought back jiangshi... for Fierce Dragon Corps training?"
Pang Do-yul eyed him, wondering what to do with this lunatic.
"Sigh. Do as you like. Just make sure no one gets hurt, and there are no incidents or uproars."
"No problems there."
With that, Ha Mu-baek left.
"Ha... Jiangshi..."
Pang Do-yul grimaced.
Memories of the war's horrors flooded back.
Corpse jiangshi aside.
Poison and blood jiangshi weren't pushovers.
Using those to train the Fierce Dragon Corps?
He seemed utterly insane.
But...
"Well, they'll be heading to Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest soon enough, facing things like that every day..."
He could understand why Ha Mu-baek made the call.
At least the man was dead serious about the Fierce Dragon Corps.
For their survival.
Pang Do-yul gazed out the window.
Shame etched his features.
Before Ha Mu-baek arrived.
The shame of ignoring the Corps' harsh reality, excusing it as beyond his power.
When Ha Mu-baek returned to the Grand Training Grounds.
It was break time.
The Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven cadets approached with joyful faces.
"Looks like you've been training hard."
Ha Mu-baek said, looking them over.
Then.
His gaze stopped on Yeon Ha-min.
Her energy had changed.
Activating the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye.
Sure enough.
New internal energy had taken root in her dantian.
One even Ha Mu-baek hadn't seen before.
He didn't know every martial art in the world, so it was natural.
"Looks like your fateful connection bore fruit."
Yeon Ha-min nodded slightly at his words.
Passing Squad Seven, he exchanged light greetings with the deputy commander, then with Han Seol-bing.
He ascended the platform.
"Formation training starts now. After basics, we'll move straight to live combat. Give it everything you've got."
His voice, infused with internal energy, echoed across the grounds.
Dang Jin-san kept sneaking glances at the baggage wagon Ha Mu-baek had first arrived in.
"That's gotta be where it is, right?"
The squad cadets nodded, sharing the thought.
After all.
The reason Ha Mu-baek left.
"Gotta catch a few..."
Was right after saying that.
So the wagon surely held whatever he'd caught.
"Given the time, doesn't seem like he just caught them... Should've followed somehow."
Dang Jin-san muttered regretfully.
That regret burned in every Squad Seven cadet.
They knew now.
Real combat with Ha Mu-baek pushed them to the next level.
Their thirst for strength was insatiable.
"Wonder what it is."
Nak Woo-jin murmured curiously.
"If it's for Corps group training... probably corpse jiangshi, right?"
Dan Mok Un-roe recalled their first trip to Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Even corpse jiangshi had been nightmarish then.
"I bet there are poison jiangshi too."
At Yeon Ha-min's words.
Dang Jin-san shook his head.
"You know our instructor. I say blood jiangshi at least. No pitch-black iron jiangshi since we haven't faced those."
Everyone made faces like no way.
"Tch. What technique did we use against blood jiangshi back then?"
Dang Jin-san asked, like he was schooling them.
"Three Talents Arts."
Dan Mok Un-roe answered.
"And the technique we're learning in group training now?"
"Myeong Style..."
Baek Ri-pyeong nodded as he replied.
Compared to the Three Talents Arts from back then, Myeong Style was clearly superior.
"But our internal energy..."
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered uncertainly.
Back then, they'd gorged on that bizarre, foul spirit medicine, stacking up a ton of energy.
"This isn't the forest, and the jiangshi are limited. We've got numbers. Jin-san's right—could be blood jiangshi."
Yeon Ha-min quickly revised her view.
She readily admitted overlooking the technique they were learning.
His sharp insights occasionally surprised her.
Silence fell.
They'd been so wrapped up in discussion.
Now, with a rough conclusion, they noticed their surroundings.
The grounds were eerily still.
Squad Seven finally sensed the oddity and looked around.
"Done chatting?"
Ha Mu-baek stared at them intently.
The other cadets followed his gaze to Squad Seven.
The startled squad bowed their heads.
Their napes flushed red.
Who'd think Ha Mu-baek was watching their whispers the whole time?
"Training starts now. Form up by squad."
At Ha Mu-baek's shout, the Corps moved in perfect unison.
As expected.
Trained personally by their master, their movements were swift and precise.
"Max alert, everyone. I'm coming personally. No telling when or where—maintain focus!"
With that, Ha Mu-baek's form vanished.
Silence blanketed the grounds again.
He hadn't reappeared anywhere.
Cadets glanced around restlessly.
They strained to scan their surroundings with max focus.
But none could sense Ha Mu-baek's presence with their skill.
One cadet here could.
The sole exception.
Ha Seol-ran.
But.
Confusion crossed her face.
No matter how she focused her senses.
Even contracting her wide net to just the grounds.
She couldn't detect her brother's presence.
Squad Seven read her expression.
'Seol-ran missed it? How much stronger has he gotten? Our instructor...'
They'd never seen her miss before.
Not even when confirming with her own eyes.
'Brother leaves and returns insanely stronger every time... I need to get stronger too.'
Her fluster passed quickly; Ha Seol-ran bit her lip, steeling her resolve.
Then.
BAM!
A loud crash rang out.
Baek Ri-pyeong staggered back.
Ha Mu-baek's wooden sword had struck his shield.
No warning at all.
Truly.
Even at peak focus.
The shocked squad.
But Ha Mu-baek's aura hit them next, shocking them more.
"Th-this is..."
Ha Seol-ran's voice trembled.
A damp, unsettling energy rippled out.
Skin-crawling chills.
She'd felt something similar before.
But not this intense.
The whole squad bristled with goosebumps.
"...Jiangshi...?"
Yeon Ha-min whispered in disbelief.
Then the second strike hit Dan Mok Un-roe's shield.
BAM!
Another massive clash.
"Get your heads in the game. No more mercy."
His gloomy voice snapped them alert.
Come to think of it, with Baek Ri-pyeong and Dan Mok Un-roe.
He'd deliberately hit the shields.
While they were dazed.
Squad Seven and Squad Twenty's seven cadets moved swiftly.
They formed the sword-and-shield formation per Myeong Style, encircling Ha Mu-baek.
Yet his aura made them hesitate.
Powerful, Damp, chilling.
That foul presence disrupted even the formation.
They gritted teeth, moved legs, swung arms.
Ha Mu-baek's wooden sword drummed shields; cadets' swords flew at him.
True Myeong Style.
But infused with personal insights.
Taiji Benefit Sword, Heavenly Nature Lower Sword, Eighty-One Galaxy Illusion Sword Forms, Spirit Snake Nine Whip, Infinite No-Clothes Eightfold Sword Sea.
Ha Mu-baek was slightly impressed by Ha Seol-ran's advanced realm.
And surprised by Yeon Ha-min's swordplay.
Despite his short absence.
She'd woven her new sword intent into Myeong Style.
Clumsy, but.
Yeon Ha-min was gradually blending Manhwawolnak Sword Dance into it.
They poured their all into the insight-laden Myeong Style.
BAM! KABOOM! BAM!
Crack!
Ha Mu-baek's fist shattered a shield.
Thud! Thump!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
All flew back.
They'd lasted about half a ban (roughly 3 minutes 45 seconds).
Long if long, short if short.
"Next."
Ha Mu-baek glanced at the fallen Squad Seven, then projected his voice.
It rang clear in every cadet's ears.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed dryly.
Ha Mu-baek's form vanished once more.