Chapter 428
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 428
Chapter Title: Stupid Bastard
Long time since the formation drill.
Long time facing jiangshi.
Was that why?
The start felt a bit off.
Inevitable, since they'd spent the past few days solely on qi circulation and one-on-one spars.
Even if Instructor Ha Mu-baek had drilled the formation into their bodies.
Had it faded a little in the meantime?
The beginning was shaky.
However.
After a few exchanges with the jiangshi.
The formation seemed to slowly settle into place.
Then it displayed a power incomparable to before.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek nodded lightly at the sight.
It was only natural, if one thought about it.
The individuals making up the formation had grown unrecognizably stronger.
Their combined formation had no choice but to be even more powerful.
The initial awkwardness and friction came from forming it for the first time with comrades whose skills had changed.
Not from the long hiatus.
A subtle discrepancy between what their bodies remembered and the actual movements of their squadmates caused the hitch—it was only natural.
Thanks to Instructor Ha Mu-baek's grueling training, they quickly corrected and adapted to that gap.
Adapting their formation to each other's drastically improved skills in such a short time was the truly impressive feat.
That was why even Instructor Ha Mu-baek had nodded.
Clang!Clang!
The sword struck the poison jiangshi's body and bounced off.
What had changed from before?
The sword left a slightly deeper mark.
The fruit of their increased internal energy and accumulated training.
Blocking the poison jiangshi's attacks posed no problem at all.
A truly ironclad defense.
Not just two, but even five poison jiangshi charging in wouldn't pierce that formation's guard.
It had become that solid.
"Good."
A very faint mutter.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek murmured to himself.
Thus, they rotated squads every half incense stick's time, running live drills against the poison jiangshi.
Clang!Clang!Cla-clang!Cla-cla-clang!
This squad unleashed an unusual barrage of swift strikes toward the jiangshi.
Bi Jin-hyeop.
It was him.
He moved with blinding speed, hammering the jiangshi's body.
A glint flashed in Instructor Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
With his rapid movements, he struck the same spot three times for every one hit the other cadets managed.
Even drawing a slight wound.
Swift yet precise strikes.
Excellent.
However.
"Eek?"
When the poison jiangshi reacted, he withdrew at least half a step farther than the other cadets.
Clang!Cla-clang!Clang!Clang!
Jeok Ga-ye.
She displayed perfectly balanced offense and defense.
Leaving deeper sword marks than the others, unshaken by the jiangshi's counters.
She pushed the changes of elite techniques to their limits, striking every weakness of the poison jiangshi.
And then.
The current squad facing off.
Something unexpected happened.
Clang!Clang!
Swords still bounced off the jiangshi's body as before.
Kwachik!
A completely different sound rang out.
Ung-cheol.
His sword sliced halfway through the poison jiangshi's arm and embedded itself.
Not using sword qi.
Just pure full-force swing.
The others had only managed deeper traces, but Ung-cheol's sword dug in.
Astonishing divine strength.
The cadets' eyes went wide at the sight.
Having faced it themselves, they knew.
Their boosted internal energy made them stronger, but wounding that poison jiangshi's rock-hard body had still failed.
Only deeper traces at best.
Until now, only Bi Jin-hyeop had succeeded in even a minor scratch.
And even he needed multiple strikes.
Yet with one swing.
Embedding his sword into the poison jiangshi's arm.
Ung-cheol flashed a satisfied grin at his own handiwork.
That instant.
"Focus!"
Instructor Ha Mu-baek's bellow exploded.
Thwack!
The intact hand of another poison jiangshi slapped across Ung-cheol's face.
"Urk."
Ung-cheol groaned.
Clang!Cla-clang!
His squadmates hurriedly struck as he swung his sword and pulled back.
Bam!Bam!
The linked attacks of two poison jiangshi were blocked by the shields.
Ung-cheol emerged.
Three long gashes ran from the end of his left forehead to his mouth corner.
From the poison jiangshi's nails.
Blood flowing black.
The skin around the wounds darkening to a murky hue.
Signs of poisoning.
"That stupid bastard..."
Instructor Ha Mu-baek muttered under his breath.
Despite such harsh instruction, getting lost in his own success and forgetting.
The sight shook even his squadmates facing the jiangshi alongside him.
First time anyone had suffered a real wound like that during training.
And poisoned by a jiangshi, no less.
"Urk."
Ung-cheol let out a brief groan from the excruciating pain around the wound, then spoke lowly to his comrades.
"Not my place to say, but let's focus."
Training time hadn't ended yet.
No sign they'd stop on account of his injury.
They had to endure the full allotted time somehow.
His words snapped them back; they nodded, biting their lips.
Clang!Bam!Clang!Bam!
Offense and defense resumed.
The change? The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets had turned passive, prioritizing defense.
Natural reaction after seeing Ung-cheol's wound.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek simply watched in silence.
'Better this way. They need to experience it.'
He even thought encountering this in training, rather than real combat, was preferable.
At least it was a situation he could control.
Ung-cheol ground his teeth at his squadmates' movements.
Visibly more passive than moments ago, by his own eyes.
He knew the cause all too well.
Himself.
That was why.
"Snap out of it!"
He shouted at his squadmates.
On his turn to attack, Ung-cheol hurled himself forward.
Shield solidly blocking the other jiangshi's assault path.
Full force into another sword swing.
Target.
The very arm where he'd just embedded his blade.
The half-severed, dangling arm.
Ung-cheol's strike fell upon it.
Slish.
This time, it sliced clean through without halting.
Different from before.
Ung-cheol didn't get thrown off by his own swing, maintained proper trajectory.
Blocked the follow-up attack from another poison jiangshi.
Bam!
With his shield.
Shoved it away to topple the jiangshi, then took proper position.
His squadmates startled, yet bit their lips and swung full force.
As if they'd never gone passive.
"Enough!"
The poison jiangshi were restrained and yanked away.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek appeared in their place.
Ung-cheol's squad lowered swords and straightened up.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek eyed Ung-cheol coldly.
"Stupid bastard."
Ung-cheol simply hung his head at the rebuke.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek reached toward his face.
The poison seeping deeper, spreading through his body.
Violent movements in poisoned state accelerated its spread.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek's hand covered the wounds.
For a moment, pure white qi gleamed from his palm.
All the poison in Ung-cheol's body was sucked into Ha Mu-baek's hand.
A casual flick, and the poison crumbled powerlessly to ash in the air.
"Huh? What?"
Ung-cheol blinked in shock.
The poison-induced pain vanished completely.
The wound's raw sting remained, of course.
"Detox done."
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets sighed in relief.
The instructor had said he'd treat any poisoning.
But seeing it for real hit different.
"No more idiots moving like this one."
"Yes!"
The cadets bellowed in response.
Instructor Ha Mu-baek's gaze flicked back to Ung-cheol.
"You—put down the sword from now on and pick up a saber. Training continues."
Instructor Ha Mu-baek ascended the platform as the poison jiangshi dropped back into the drill hall.
Righteous Heaven Alliance.
Leader's office.
Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong, Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong, and Great Elder Yeon Ja-kyeong sat together.
Regarding the Dragon Training Pavilion cadets' field training and the Sa-hwa Alliance.
"So, Strategist, you're saying to exclude the Demon-Sealing Corps from the practicum?"
Gong Son Dan-gyeong nodded at Yeon Ja-kyeong's question.
"Yes. Judging by the Demon-Sealing Corps' reports, the situation in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest is far from normal. Sending inexperienced cadets into that is absurd."
A valid point.
But Yeon Ja-kyeong couldn't accept it from his standpoint.
They were cannon fodder sent to die in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest anyway.
Sacrifices. Offerings.
For that purpose.
'That fucking old bastard. If he was pulling out that monster jiangshi, he should've waited till after practicum started.'
He wanted to scowl, but Yeon Ja-kyeong kept a blank face.
Il-no had thought the same, of course.
That was why he'd directed the Heaven-Annihilating Jiangshi mostly south, where it was less likely to run into the Demon-Sealing Corps.
To let it adapt to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest first and scout terrain.
But it happened to clash with them then.
The Heaven-Annihilating Jiangshi had simply charged its spotted target, and they'd escaped.
That sparked the current mess.
But no communication between the two, and Il-no still hadn't contacted Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Yeon Ja-kyeong couldn't back down easily.
He had to push it through somehow.
"Any further reports from the Demon-Sealing Corps of spotting such jiangshi?"
Gong Son Dan-gyeong shook his head at Yeon Ja-kyeong's question.
"None."
"Then couldn't that report have been a mistake?"
"Even so, the Sa-hwa Alliance is mobilizing."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong handed Yeon Ja-kyeong a letter from the Sa-hwa Alliance.
A declaration of war in all but name.
'These rootless unorthodox scum...'
Circumstances kept obstructing Yeon Ja-kyeong.
"We can't just hand Gangseo Province to the Sa-hwa Alliance."
"Agreed."
Gong Son Dan-gyeong's undeniable words.
"Thus, we plan to dispatch the Dragon Horn Corps and Dragon Child Corps to Gangseo Province."
Yeon Ja-kyeong's brow twitched.
Sending the Elder Council's greatest forces outside the alliance.
Though the Leader's Guard's top strength would go too.
"And Alliance Leader himself will head to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
Yeon Ja-kyeong's eyes quivered faintly.
A move even he hadn't anticipated.
"We view the situation as that grave."
Yeon Ja-kyeong pondered Gong Son Dan-gyeong's words.
'Why the hell?'
An overreaction beyond his comprehension.
So Hwi-woong.
The man leaving the alliance.
Unheard of since the Martial World Great War ended.
He'd been nailed to the Leader's Palace to guard the seat.
'Something I don't know.'
The Heaven-Annihilating Jiangshi.
Yeon Ja-kyeong didn't know its true terror.
Ha Mu-baek had only informed So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Dan-gyeong.
"Doesn't seem that serious?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong questioned.
"No, Great Elder. We assess the current crisis as rivaling the Great War."
So Hwi-woong spoke up.
"Given that, I'd like to postpone sending cadets to the Demon-Sealing Corps."
Yeon Ja-kyeong shut his mouth at So Hwi-woong's words.
A sudden variable in an already settled matter.
The jiangshi attacking the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall's ramparts.
Even Yeon Ja-kyeong hadn't expected that.
Absolute confidence it never would, when they'd built it.
"Could be coincidence."
He couldn't yield on field training.
"Great Elder..."
As So Hwi-woong opened his mouth again at Yeon Ja-kyeong's words.
"But coincidences don't repeat. If it happens again, we'll reconsider."
Couldn't bend, but had to step back for now.
So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Dan-gyeong exchanged looks at Yeon Ja-kyeong's compromise.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong nodded faintly.
"Understood. If it recurs or we spot the culprit jiangshi, no field training to the Demon-Sealing Corps."
The meeting ended thus.
Yeon Ja-kyeong hurried to his office.
'Il-no, you damn bastard.'
He needed to send word to halt that accursed jiangshi's movements.